‘Shhh,’ Vin whispered again soothingly, ‘you must be quiet.’
Carter nodded his understanding, and felt the pressure release on his mouth.
‘What is it?’ Carter whispered.
‘There’s an ape close by, but it’s heading away from us. You were shouting and thrashing in your sleep. You were having a nightmare.’
‘It was Holly again, in my dream, she was begging me to hurry, she sounded so scared,’ Carter explained.
‘We’ll be there in a day or two, then all this’ll be over.’
‘I’m okay, you can get off me, please? I’m having trouble breathing!’
Vin rolled away from him. Sitting upright, he called gently to Naz, ‘Is he still here?’
‘No, he’s heading up the mountain, we should wait ’til it’s dark, to make sure he doesn’t spot us,’ said Naz.
‘That was close, he came sniffing around here for a while like he knew what he was looking for,’ said Vin.
‘I’ll keep watch now if you guys want to rest. I’ll be okay,’ said Carter.
‘I’ll prepare something to eat,’ said Vin.
‘Come on up,’ Naz said to Carter, ‘I’ll show you where he is.’
Carter climbed to where Naz lay on the boulder, keeping well below the top, peering over the ledge.
‘That’s him, there.’ Naz pointed to a speck on the far slope, barely discernible against the grey rock face, except for its movements upwards towards the summit.
‘I’ll keep an eye on him, Naz. Sorry about the noise.’
‘It’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t want to. Anyway, no harm done.’ Naz lowered himself into the crevice, to sit beside Vin while he pulled the supplies from his sack.
Carter lay watching the speck in the distance slowly disappear into the haze of the setting sun. Darkness arrived very quickly, once the sun had dropped behind the peaks. With it, the temperature dropped, reminding Carter of what was to come. He shivered involuntarily, not against the cold, but at the memory of the night in the mountains, the night when the raging storm arrived, cutting him off from Holly, and leaving her alone to guard the pass. He heard Kerri’s voice again. “It wasn’t your fault, Carter, it was the storm.” she’d said. I wish I was with her now, he thought.
When they’d finished eating, they picked up the crumbs, to leave no sign of their passing. Naz climbed the boulder, to lay beside Carter.
‘Any sign of that creature coming back?’ he asked.
‘None that I’ve seen, he was still climbing when I lost sight of him in the darkness,’ said Carter.
‘He’s heading straight into a storm. You feel how the wind has increased from the north, and you see that plume blowing off the peak over there?’ Naz pointed to a long finger of cloud being dragged away from the upper peaks. ‘That’s the sign of a storm raging up there. These mountains are so big they create their own weather.’
‘I wouldn’t want to be up there tonight,’ said Carter.
‘You’re right there,’ said Naz. ‘We’ll keep to the lower slopes and head north. We’ll try and skirt around the worst of the storm, then move to the higher slopes before morning. It’ll be some time before the moon comes up, so let’s get moving now.’
‘I’m with you, Naz,’ said Vin, ‘I’ll take the lead.’
Moving out of the boulder field, the climbing became much easier. They made their own path through the mountains, keeping away from any animal tracks, believing that apes would likely take the easiest route to follow.
Towards midnight, Carter stopped to watch a half moon rise over the eastern peaks, throwing a dim grey light over their side of the valley. It was still bright enough to cast eerie shadows as they climbed steadily upwards. Carter watched Vin making his way forward, his head bent low against the cold northerly wind blowing in their faces. Carter felt uneasy but couldn’t explain to himself why. He checked the upper slopes again, but could see nothing, no movement, no silhouettes. But he still felt something was wrong.
For a moment the wind stopped. Carter sniffed the air again. There it was, just the faintest hint of danger. The wind picked up and Carter lost the scent. But it was a smell he’d never forget, not since he’d tried to save Kerri from a charging ape, possessed and enraged and determined to do her harm. He felt sick with disgust at the thought of the creature.
‘Vin, STOP!’ he shouted to be heard above the howling wind.
Vin looked back. Seeing Carter sniff the air, he knew something was very wrong. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement on the rock face. Vin turned in time to see an enormous boulder hurtling down the mountain, across his path where he was about to step. Vin dived back towards Naz and Carter. When he looked upwards, he saw an ape charging towards them, a crazed look of hatred on its face. The three stood, rooted to the spot, momentarily in shock.
‘I’ve got this!’ shouted Naz, who stepped ahead of the other two.
Leaning forward, bracing himself for the impact of the ape about to hit him, Naz planted his feet to gain a solid hold. The ape came at full charge, mindless of any plan or tactic, intent only on ripping and tearing at Naz with teeth and nails. The ape took a flying leap at Naz, who timed his move to duck below the creature in mid-air. In the same movement, Naz reached forward, grabbing the ape by its throat and leg, using the ape’s momentum to throw the creature down the mountainside. The ape hit the rock face with a sickening THUD! and continued tumbling over and over down the rock face, unable to stop nor protect itself from breaking arms and legs in the fall. The three watched as the ape finally came to a stop, far below them in a cloud of dust, quickly borne away on the north wind. The creature lay, unmoving with limbs twisted at impossible angles.
Naz straightened himself up, breathing deeply to calm himself.
‘Thanks, Naz,’ said Vin, ‘you sure dealt with that one quick enough.’
‘Thank Carter, he’s the one that warned us.’
‘I’d be underneath that rock if it wasn’t for you,’ said Vin. ‘You know, we’ll make a Guard of you yet.’
‘Is the pay any good?’ asked Carter.
‘Lousy,’ Vin and Naz said together.
They looked at each other and burst into laughter, releasing the tension that the sudden danger had put them in. Naz rummaged in his sack for the water flagon. Passing it around, he said, ‘Did you notice that ape tried to knock us off the mountain before it attacked?’
‘What do you mean, Naz?’ said Vin.
‘Well, it planned something, it planned the rock fall. Don’t you see? It was thinking how it could attack three of us. It wasn’t just a mindless, violent, full-on frontal attack like they used to do.’
‘Hmmm… see what you mean, Naz. These things are getting even more dangerous, especially when you think they’re now working together. Remember the Southerners said they saw them at the Gateway, when they were looking for the lost people?’
‘That’s right, we’ll have to start thinking differently about these things, and being even more careful.’
‘You’re right there, Naz. They’re getting to be tricky devils.’
‘Still, nothing a Guard can’t handle, eh?’ said Naz, trying to raise their confidence.
‘Yer, right,’ said Vin without enthusiasm. ‘But you know, I think this land really is lost for good.’
‘Aww, don’t talk like that, we’ll get them out one way or another.’
Vin let out a deep sigh, his shoulders visibly slumped when he took one last look down the mountain at the dead ape. He turned away, and with a heavy heart, led them on the long climb to the High Pass.
*
Crossing the snow line, they noticed a further drop in temperature. The biting wind added to the discomfort they all felt. Cutting a path through the deepening snow, Vin lead them through the high alps. After some hours Naz called a halt to their trek.
‘I remember there’s a cave a little further on. We should stop for a break,’ Naz said.
‘That sounds good to me,’ sa
id Vin. ‘What about you, Carter, you want to stop for a while?’
‘I’ll be happy to get this over with,’ he said.
‘I hope it’s not our company?’
Carter laughed. ‘I would like to eat something though.’
‘Good idea,’ said Vin,’we’ll make for the cave.’
Carter’s ears suddenly pricked up. ‘Did you hear that?’ he said.
‘What did you hear?’ asked Naz, immediately on guard, scanning the mountain face around them.
‘It sounded like someone screaming.’
Naz and Vin swallowed deeply, both suddenly realising what it was.
‘The town is just over the next ridge,’ said Vin.
‘I know,’ said Naz.
‘There was only one person left there when the townsfolk ran away,’ said Vin.
‘I know that too,’ said Naz.
‘Duma?’ asked Carter. The lump in his throat making it hard to swallow or even form the words.
‘Duma!’ confirmed Naz and Vin.
‘This is not a good place to be, I think we should forget about stopping, and give this area a wide berth,’ said Vin.
‘The wind’s stopping, let’s get out of here. You okay to lead the way, Vin?’ Naz asked.
Vin took them higher above the snow line, but in the now still mountain air, the screams and wails echoed around the mountain face. The cries of despair sent shivers running down the backs of the three travellers, who could do nothing but endure it.
‘I kinda wish the wind would start blowing again, at least we wouldn’t hear him,’ said Vin.
‘That scheming, lying, dirty, rotten, no-good Duma, the one that starting all this mess by stealing our Crystal, deserves anything he gets.’ said Naz.
‘Yer, treated him like family, we did, then he turns around and runs off with our most precious artefact,’ added Vin.
‘Terrible liar, he was, Carter. Once he’d taken the Crystal across our border, that’s when the apes started going mad. The apes knew where it was then, you see, and they wanted it back. They wanted it bad,’ said Naz.
‘You see, we kept it hidden from them all those years, to stop them running amok. But once that good-for-nothing, cheating, thieving Duma got light-fingered, well, that’s when all our problems started. We’d all be living quietly now, if he hadn’t turned up at our Oasis, looking like he’d been dragged through a sandstorm backwards and begging for water.’
‘Yer, we should have sent him on his way,’ agreed Naz. Carter noticed a troubled expression pass across Naz’s face. After some moments Naz said, ‘I know he was a nasty piece of work, but even so, I don’t think he deserves all that suffering, Vin.’
‘Suppose you’re right, Naz. It must’ve been going on for days and days now. I wonder what they’re doing to him down there to get him to make so much noise?’
‘You don’t wanna know, Vin.’
‘Yer, you’re right there, Naz. Let’s get away from here, quick as we can.’
Vin led the way over the ridge until they were well out of sight and sound of the town. Once clear of the steeper slopes, Vin increased their pace to a gentle run. Crossing the entrance to the first High Pass, Vin failed to notice the ominous looking mounds covered in snow that were scattered throughout the pass, but the smell alerted Carter immediately.
Carter stopped in his tracks, on guard. It was a few moments before Vin realised the others were no longer behind him. Turning, he saw Naz and Carter staring off into the pass. Retracing his steps, he crouched behind them, staying low, he whispered ‘What is it? What can you see?’
‘It’s what I can smell that’s bothering me. There’s death in that pass, and a lot of it,’ said Carter.
‘If it’s death you can smell, then there’s nothing we can do,’ said Naz.
‘I agree,’ said Vin. ‘I can’t see us having any influence on whatever’s gone on here before. I think we should stick with the mission.’
‘You okay with that, Carter?’ asked Naz.
‘I just want to find Holly. Can we go? I don’t think there’s any threat to us here.’
‘Let’s step up the pace a bit, Vin,’ said Naz.
They ran on, past the second High Pass that Carter had been forced to guard during the violent storm. It was with relief but also dread that they finally approached the third pass.
Carter took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was to come. ‘This is it, this is where Holly fell,’ he said. Naz and Vin heard the distress in his voice.
Carter seemed almost fearful to enter the pass. They stood for a moment, taking in their surroundings. The sun had risen over the eastern ridge, bathing the mountain face in a golden orange glow.
The snow in the pass was untrodden since the night Holly had fought with the bears. It had been blown into smooth drifts by the north winds coming down through the pass and it crackled when stood on. Its crispy surface sparkled where millions of ice crystals reflected back the morning sun. The mountains to each side looked majestic in their enormity, seeming to hold up the richness of the sky, their whiteness in stark contrast to the depth of the blue above. They could almost feel the weight of the mountains bearing down on them.
‘Do you remember where she fell?’ Naz asked.
Carter could only point, still afraid to speak in case he lost control of his emotions and let the grief that he felt come spilling out. Naz and Vin pushed their way through the thick snow in the direction Carter had pointed. They could feel the ground rising beneath their feet, until they were looking down on the pass.
‘This is where I’d have made my stand if I’d been here,’ said Naz, ‘on the high ground.’
‘There’s no animal tracks, I don’t think anything’s been here since the battle.’
‘Terrible waste, Vin. Poor Holly being told to fight against our Guards, just to make sure that cheating, rotten Duma could hold onto the Crystal…’
‘Which wasn’t his anyway.’
‘Yer, which wasn’t his in the first place. And what good did it do him, eh?’ grumbled Naz, as they continued to plod through the deep fresh snow.
‘Hold up, Naz, look! Do you see that rise over there? It looks a bit out of place. What d’you reckon?’
‘Won’t know till we check it out,’ said Naz.
The bears looked back at Carter, who stood frozen to the same spot where they’d left him.
They each took a deep breath, hoping for the best, but trying to prepare themselves for the worst.
‘Come on, Vin, let’s get this over with.’
3
Chapter Three
Northlands
HOLLY LAY ENTOMBED inside her coffin of ice. The cold had long ago seeped into her very core. She knew she was unable to move any of her limbs or muscles, no matter how hard she’d tried to focus her mind on just moving something, anything. A finger, a toe, all were beyond her control. Except for one. She knew she could open her eyes. But after the last time she did so, she now used all her mental strength to keep them closed tight. She’d seen the stark whiteness of the snow covering her face, lit by the unbearable brightness of the sun. But it was the silently moving shadows across her face that scared her the most. Had the bears returned to finish her? Was it wild animals looking for food in the snow? She’d nearly lost her self-control. Instead, she held her breath, not willing to make a sound, not a shiver. She’d squeezed her eyes tightly shut and called, in her mind, over and over and over. Carter… please hurry… Carter… come back, please…
It was while she ran through her prayer for rescue that she heard a sound. Something’s there! Something was definitely moving, coming towards where she lay. She felt her heart start to race, her breathing coming in shorter sharper gasps. Her senses suddenly on full alert, straining to identify the slightest noise.
CRACKLE! Was that a footstep on the snow?
CRUNCH! A foot falling through the crispy surface to the ice beneath? Another, even closer. Now she could feel the panic starting to rise.
>
Is it him?
Then she heard it. His whispering sickly voice, coming from the depths of her consciousness, coming to crawl around through her inner thoughts. That evil voice that had been tormenting her all these days and nights; he’d returned.
She felt herself on a precipice looking down into hysteria.
Another sound! Another crack in the ice. He was out there, coming for her. She screwed her eyes closed as tight as her muscles would allow, clenching her teeth. Her breaths coming more and more rapidly. It felt like her heart was shaking, shivering in fear. She concentrated on one word, on one image in her mind, like a mantra to hold her back from screaming. Carter… Carter… Carter…
‘Wake up my little bird. Wake up. Your time has come.’ The voice in her mind seemed to creep and crawl over every part of her consciousness.
Another noise. She recognised the sound of snow being brushed away from above. She could sense the sunlight getting stronger on her eyelids, held tightly closed in fear of what she’d see. She felt a touch against her skin as more snow was brushed away.
It’s him… It’s him… She was very quickly losing the last remnants of her sanity, panic taking over all her senses.
‘Here she is.’ It was a voice she couldn’t recognise, a deep booming voice.
Something touched her eyelids, brushing snow away. She couldn’t squeeze them shut any longer. Her eyes shot wide open. A face looked down at her, long snarling teeth, deep dark far away eyes, BEARS! They’d come back to finish her!
She couldn’t move, couldn’t run away, so she did the only thing her body was capable of. She screamed… NO!
But no sound came out. She screamed again and again but still she couldn’t hear her own voice. In her mind, her screams ran around and around without any escape to be heard. She kept trying to scream until tears came from her eyes.
*
Lost Lands Page 5