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I t was both Miarr, huhting for his life

Miarr was a shed little - five Miarrs equaled the weight of Fat Crowe, and two Miarrs equaled the weight of Thin Crowe Which ainst the Croins, Miarr was effectively outnumbered seven to one

Miarr had been on the Watching platforered in with their ropes and thrown them to the floor Miarr had asked what the ropes were for and was told, "Nothin&039; fer yer to bother about - not where yer going"

One look at Jakey Fry&039;s terrified face told Miarr all he needed to know He had scuttled up the foot-pole (a pole with footrests placed on either side), thrown open a trapdoor and taken refuge in a place that norht

The Arena of the Light was the circular space at the very top of the lighthouse In the center of the circle burned the Sphere of Light - a large, round sphere of brilliant white light The Light was encircled by a narrohite ht, on the island side of the lighthouse, was a huge, curved plate of glea silver, which Miarr polished every day On the seaward side were two enorlass lenses, which Miarr also polished every day The lenses were set a few feet back froh which the Light was focused The eyes were four ti They were open to the sky and, as Miarr slammed the trapdoor shut and fastened it down, a fresh summer breeze scented with sea blew in and made the cat-man feel sad He wondered if this would be the very lasthe would ever smell the sea air

The only hope that Miarr had was that the Croould be too scared to coenerations Miarr&039;s fa secondary dark eyelids - LightLids - through which they could see without being blinded by the Light But anyone without that protection who looked straight at the Light would find that its brilliance seared the eyes and left scars in the center of vision so that, foreverht in a black absence of vision

But when a battering began on the underside of the trapdoor, Miarr knew his hope was in vain He crouched beside the Light and listened to the thud s of Thin Crowe&039;s fists on the fliht, not Crowe-proof He kneould not last long

Suddenly the trapdoor flew off its hinges, and Miarr saw Thin Crowe&039;s shaven head sticking through the hole in the earing two dark blue ovals of glass over his eyes, looking like one of the giant insects that invaded his worst nightmares Miarr was terrified - he realized that whatever it was the Croere about to do had been carefully planned Thin Crowe pulled himself onto the ay, and Miarr waited, detero the other They could go on a long tiht But Miarr&039;s hopes were suddenly dashed Fat Crowe&039;s head, coh the trapdoor With utter horror - and ah the tiny hole and pull him out onto the here he lay, winded, like a blubbery fish on a slab

Miarr closed his eyes This, he thought, is the end of Miarr Now the Crowes began their party piece - the Pincer- Splat It was so that they had practiced down an when, very slowly, they would approach a terrified victim from either side The victiure out which way to run - then, at the very moment of decision, the Croould pounce Splat And so it ith Miarr He shrank back against the wall opposite the trapdoor and, through his LightLids, he watched his night the , the Crowes ca closer The Crowes herded Miarr toward the eyes of the lighthouse, as he had known they would Finally he stood in the space between the eyes, his back to the wall, and he wondered which eye they would throw hilance at the rocks far below It was a long way down, he thought - a very long way down He said a silent good-bye to his Light

Splat! The Crowes pounced Working in harrabbed Miarr and lifted hihthouse, on the fourth platforoose buhtness of the cat- - rasp, up in the air, out through the left eye and into the empty sky For a fraction of a second - which felt like an eternity to Miarr - he hung poised between the Crowes&039; throw and gravity&039;s pull He saw four bizarre ies of himself reflected in the Crowes&039; insect eyes: he was apparently flying and screaht for what he was sure would be the last tihthouse flashed past him at - literally - breakneck speed Catlike, Miarr autoround and, as he fell, the rush of wind forced his ar his sealskin cloak to spread out like a pair of bat&039;s wings Miarr&039;s pluust of wind not knocked hihthouse - he would very likely have landed on the Marauder, directly below

And so it was that Miarr used up one(he had used one when he was a baby and had fallen in the harbor and another when his cousin had disappeared)

Lucy and Wolf Boy did not hear the sickening thud of Miarr hitting the lighthouse wall It wasof Theodophilus Fortitude Fry&039;s approaching footsteps Lucy and Wolf Boy had notThe terrible yowl froh both of them and, as Skipper Fry&039;s steps neared the final turn up to the landing, Wolf Boy whispered, "It will be us next"

Wide-eyed, Lucy nodded