‘He thinks we’re leaving, so we can send help to Carter and Holly, to guide them home,’ said Lulu.
‘We’ll need to send a lot of help to deal with those apes. We have to get that Crystal back here. We need it to fight Him and it’s the only way I can see to defeat Him.’
‘How will you use it, Mom?’
‘I won’t. You will, but I’ll show you how when the time comes.’
*
Lulu walked quickly from the meeting hall. She could see the Lost People, practising staff work with Kerri. She saw the urgency in Lulu’s walk and rushed to meet her.
‘Trouble?’ Kerri asked.
‘We need to send help for Carter and Holly.’
‘What’s happened, Lu?’
‘I think the apes will be hunting for them in force.’ Lu decided not to reveal all she knew. If Kerri found out what Sonny was doing, then a fight between her and Sonny would only lead to one conclusion.
I don’t think anyone could stand up to Kerri if she found out they intended to hurt Carter or Holly. Their life wouldn’t be worth living, Lu thought. I’m glad she’s MY Companion.
‘I’ll go,’ said Kerri without hesitation.
‘We’ll all go. Have you seen Casey?’
‘He’s on the beach, training.’
‘Bring him, now. We’ll take everyone that’s trained and ready.’
Kerri ran to a group of men standing in a circle around Casey, who stood head and shoulders above the tallest man there. He was easily parrying a series of attacks from members of the circle, who, without warning, stepped forward to attempt a strike at him. With a staff in each hand, Casey easily blocked and counterattacked each attack.
‘Case! Casey!’ Kerri called, running down the beach.
*
Lulu walked to where she saw Dray undergoing his own training with one of the Clan. ‘Dray,’ Lu called. ‘We need you.’
He nodded his thanks to his trainer and stepped over to Lulu.
‘What is it, Lulu?’ he said, approaching.
‘We’re leaving for the mountains. We’ll need all your trained people to help us.’
‘I’ll have them here immediately. Anything you can tell me?’ Dray asked.
‘Carter and Holly are coming this way, and they’re likely to have an army of apes in pursuit,’ she said.
*
Casey and Kerri returned at a run. ‘Do you know which pass they’ll come through?’ asked Kerri.
‘There’s only one. Avi found it, so they must come through there.’
She turned and pointed to a gap between two towering peaks, heavily laden with snow and with clouds streaming off the peaks like white scarves in the wind, pointing directly to them.
‘An easterly storm’s coming. We’ll need plenty of supplies to survive that,’ said Dray.
‘Kerri, will you find Ben and see to it?’
‘I got it, Lu.’
‘Dray, we’ll need your mountain expertise to get us through there,’ said Lulu.
‘We’ll get through, Lulu. I guarantee it.’
Lulu smiled at him. ‘Thanks for saying that. It’s what I needed to hear. We have to get to them first.’
‘I understand. I’ll get things moving,’ said Dray
‘Casey, my father can’t come, no matter how much he insists. Those peaks in a storm are no place for him.’
‘I’ll make sure he stays, even if I have to tie him to a chair. But Lu, you shouldn’t be going either. Your place is here, leading the Clan. Dray and I can deal with this.’
‘I’ve a part to play in this as well. I’ve been there already. I know what to expect. Anyone who hasn’t learnt to change to their animal form will be our rear guard at the lower heights. That includes you, Casey.’
‘My place is next to you, Lu!’
‘No, your place is leading the rear guard. Those storms are no place for anyone who is not a mountain lion or a hound. You’ll never survive the night.’
‘Lu, you’ll need…’
‘It’s decided, Casey.’ She calmed her voice. Touching Casey on the arm, she said gently, ‘I understand your concerns, Case, but I’ll have Kerri next to me. Who could ask for more?’
He looked down and nodded, almost in defeat.
‘Come on, big boy,’ she said with a laugh, squeezing his hand. ‘There’s no time for sulking, let’s get moving.’
12
Chapter Twelve
Into the Mountains
HE SAT BACK in the cold marble seat. In his arrogance, he’d started to think of it as his throne. The white stone felt solid and deathly cold. He savoured the feeling of permanence in the marble, and the everlasting strength. With elbows resting on the armrests, he massaged his temples, bringing his thoughts into coherence and his emotions under control.
Breathing deeply to calm a rising feeling of excitement, he looked back over the years of constantly refining his strategy. Of moving pawns into position, nurturing some, destroying others, but never losing sight of the endgame. The Crystal was now within reach.
Letting his mind roam over all the scenarios, there was still a tiny nagging doubt hiding in the furthest recesses of his conscience. Something still called for his attention, something not quite right. What was this thing that needed him to stop and look deeply into it? He couldn’t bring the irritation to the fore. He couldn’t put his finger on what was holding back his euphoria.
Is it because all the years of waiting will soon come to an end? he thought.
Or is it because, with all the power soon to be mine and mine alone, there is no one to see what I have achieved, no one to marvel at my greatness?
Without Salli at my side, to see the power that I will control, who then will appreciate what I have done?
‘Salli!’ he sneered the name aloud. An immature little girl, afraid of hurting her father, even if it meant power without reason and without end.
‘I’m better off without her,’ he said to the empty hall.
His voice echoed off the stone walls, rebounding back to him across the polished stone floor again and again, in the place that he thought of as a temple to his own greatness.
But there was still something, waiting for him, calling him, that he couldn’t quite grasp.
‘Why… go… west?’ he asked himself aloud, thinking on each word, as if the answer to his problem lay in the words themselves.
Why didn’t they run south, for home? It would mean crossing the plains and my apes would soon catch them in an open run. To go north, they must know they are surrounded, the passes are under my control. And no one would be stupid enough to go east, straight into my hands. But are these children and infantile bears capable of such reasoning? Is there something I’m missing? Why would they go west, and not run south for home?
His thoughts went around and around in ever-decreasing circles as he tried to unpick every point in the scene now being played out that he believed was under his control.
Sonny is going to find Carter and destroy him. Holly will be his for just the slightest moment, he laughed at his own perceived cleverness.
To play games with children’s emotions is so… uplifting?… no… rewarding? Yes, rewarding is the word.
Why should I be the one to lose what was promised to me and then watch the less deserving find happiness? What right has this child, Carter, to find happiness, when I had to sacrifice my own love for my destiny?
His corrupted and disjointed reasoning led him further and further into self-justification as his conversation with himself spun a web of arrogance inside his mind.
But there is an interesting battle waiting to reach its conclusion.
What truly will be the strongest emotion?
Will it be fear? Have I destroyed Sonny’s inner confidence enough, so that he will be afraid to protect Holly from my apes? Just as his fear of his father stopped him from taking the Crystal and bringing it to me.
Maybe it will be jealousy? The blind revenge that’s unleashed wit
h the realisation that what you want most in life has been promised to someone else.
He laughed again to himself at the memories of his games played with Sonny’s subconscious. A moment of doubt surfaced for just an instant.
Maybe the Ancients will be right. Maybe Love is the strongest emotion, as The Book of Wisdom announced, as if some secret law of the universe had been discovered and revealed only to the worthy, he sneered aloud to himself, remembering the simplistic teachings laid out in the book. The book that he’d studied night after night, day after day, until he could recite the pages backwards, always believing that there must be some hidden meaning beneath the ancient text.
And what secret wisdom did it reveal to me? Love conquers all?
He laughed at the idiocy of it.
What did they know? These Ancients without the slightest understanding of man.
Love is not the strongest emotion! It is the want for power. Power over man and beast, power over life and death, power over the world and the universe around us. And it is all hidden in The Book of Power, that was once mine. Stolen from me by Sallinia to protect her father.
His anger began to rise, to bubble in his throat at the memories of that night.
Salli, lost when the river flooded with the most treasured possession in our world. No, not the most precious, he reminded himself. There is still the Crystal.
His thoughts returned to the nagging doubt.
What were they doing sailing all that way to the west?
Did they find something that they plan to take back to their little clearing by forest? They’ll soon be within the grasp of my apes, when I decide to let those worthless creatures finally have their fun with the Southerners.
They need to return very soon. They will not survive for long on the other side of the border. It may be fun to watch them grow so very old before my eyes, as those worthless people of Duma have been doing. No one survives for long outside of their own borders. They should know that. They age beyond hope without the protection of their animal genes.
But why were they sailing to the west?
Maybe they were looking for the fabled land across the ocean that The Book of Histories told of?
More fantasy legends, to give these worthless creatures hope and a make-believe understanding of their past. The Ancients told so many lies.
They will return very soon to their meeting place. They must, or their time and their people will run out. And once there, they’ll be at the mercy of those disgusting apes, he sneered to himself.
The thought of apes brought him back from his reverie, the final pieces to be played. He roused himself, returning to the brazier holding the golden bowl in which his potions simmered gently. Removing it again, he sprinkled in a few grains of the ground ochre powder. After the mist had cleared, he called, his voice deep and resonating, aggressive and commanding, into the swirling vortex spinning down to the bottom of the bowl and beyond.
‘Crag,’ he growled. ‘CRAG!’ He spat the name out, sending his contempt across the distance, violently attacking the mind of the ape that he’d designated as the leader for the moment.
He heard the whimpering of the ape, as he tried uselessly to duck whatever was putting intolerable force on his head.
‘Answer when I call, Crag, or next time I will not be so lenient.’
Crag nodded vigorously now that the pain was easing.
‘The girl, Holly, is running to the west with the boy and two worthless bears. Split your apes. Half will go quickly to the west, through the lower slopes to cut off their escape should they turn south. The other half will pursue them through the peaks to the pass.
‘Now run, run quickly, run for your lives, or your lives will be mine. They must not escape.
‘And remember, the girl is mine. She is not to be harmed. If there is one hair missing from her head, you will suffer, slowly and very badly. She is not to be harmed. You may do as you wish with them. BUT THE GIRL IS MINE!’
Crag nodded vigorously, trying to keep the voice from inflicting more pain on him.
‘Go now and go quickly. Take all your beasts with you. Take everyone. THEY MUST NOT ESCAPE!’
Crag bowed his head, hoping this would be pleasing to the powerful one.
Through the spinning fluid, he watched Crag let out a mighty shriek, calling the apes around him. With a wave of his hand across the surface of the mist, he saw the vortex spin slower and slower before disappearing into itself.
‘Now for Sonny,’ he thought with a smile.
*
They hid beneath an outcrop of ice-covered rock. Carter looked back at the furrow through the snow beneath them that clearly pointed out their path into the mountains. In the far distance, he could make out tiny black specks outlined against the stark white of the snow field showing the slow progress of the apes pursuing them.
Their bodies are not built for such a climate and the cold will take its toll on their progress soon enough, he reminded himself.
‘I can smell them from here,’ said Carter aloud, in disgust.
‘Can you see that other bunch racing to join them? That’s an army they’re sending after us,’ said Naz. ‘There must be at least forty coming to join them.’
‘There’s no way they’ll miss us, Naz,’ said Vin. ‘We’ve no chance of losing them. Our tracks are plain to see for the world to follow.’
‘You’re right there, Vin.’ Naz looked down at the pursuing apes in the far distance. ‘Carter, I gotta ask, are you really sure they’ll be at the pass to help us?’
‘You’ve got to believe in me, like I believe in Lulu, Naz. She’ll be there, in the west, and she’ll help get us out of here.’
Naz, nodded his head and looked at Vin.
‘We got no choice, Vin, we gotta move.’
‘I’m with you, Naz.’
‘West it is. Let’s make tracks.’
With a nod from Naz, they scrambled from beneath the outcrop as one, knowing they would very soon be seen and give the following apes extra impetus to increase their efforts to catch them.
Vin and Carter led the way, forging a route forward. Carter’s leaps and Vin’s charging gallop carved a path, making it easier for the others to follow through the deepening snow in their search for the pass that would take them through the mountains to safety.
*
They ran through the day, following the sun across the sky, always heading west. During the late afternoon, they stopped for a moment to drink and rest. Naz was the first to notice the clouds coming in from the east. With the lowering sun, they took on a red glow beneath, but a deep grey tinged with purple, that was a sure sign of heavily laden clouds moving over the high peaks.
Naz nudged Vin, and motioned with his eyes to look up at the approaching storm that was now building over their heads. They looked at each other, both knowing what the sign meant.
‘It’s a dilemma, Vin,’ said Naz.
Carter looked up from his drink, ‘What’s a dilemma?’
Naz pointed to the approaching storm. ‘It’s going to be a big one,’ he said. ‘If we go higher, we may get caught in it. If we move to the lower slopes, we may not shake those apes off our trail.’
‘Please, Naz, we can’t get caught in another storm, please, we can’t!’ Holly sounded desperate, remembering the last encounter with a mountain storm.
‘We can try to outrun it,’ offered Vin.
‘Holly, I’ll protect you. I’ll be with you all the way this time and promise I won’t leave you,’ Carter said.
‘Oh, Carter, not again, please.’ The desperation in her voice was heartbreaking for them to hear.
‘Those apes are gaining on us on the lower slopes, Holly. We are cutting a trail for them, making it easier for them to follow us. We gotta go higher, it’s the only way. I promise, me and Vin won’t leave you. We’ll stick with you no matter what happens, and Carter won’t leave your side,’ said Naz.
‘You promise? You promise you won’t leave me?’
‘Come on,’ said Vin, ‘let’s see if we can outrun this storm. There’s still a chance.’
He took the lead, with Carter close behind. Holly and Naz scrambled after them.
With the setting sun, the temperature dropped quickly and with it rose the wind. It blew from their backs, pushing them forward, but still chilling them to the bone. By the time it was dark, the wind was howling around them. The flying snow powder made it impossible to see further than an arm’s length ahead and the screaming wind made it impossible to hear. Vin stopped for a moment for the others to close up. He pulled them close, huddling together in a circle to be heard.
‘We need to stay very close together, hold on to each other like we did before. But don’t let go of the person in front, not for anything. Do you understand, Holly? Don’t let go… not for anything,’ shouted Vin above the screaming wind.
They all nodded in understanding.
Vin led the way, with Carter gripping Vin’s staff. Holly held onto Carter’s tail with Naz holding hers. They moved forward, heads lowered and shoulders hunched against the cold. The swirling snow blinded them every time they tried to look up. The howling wind covered all sound of their crunching through the snow as they dragged each leg, trying desperately to step forward.
*
With their supplies packed, Dray led them away from the coastal plain. Rising quickly into the hills, they were startled by a group of tall strong animals that stood proud, watching them in calm silence. They showed no fear of the band of strangers moving across their land.
‘Maybe that’s the horses that Vin was telling us about?’ said Ben, making a wide detour around them.
At the centre of the group, one raised its head high to watch the strangers’ progress. Shaking its head to call the others’ attention, the mane along its neck fluttered like a banner in the breeze. The other animals looked to their leader. The stallion turned and led them away to the lower slopes, away from the strangers passing by.
Lost Lands Page 23