The yeti in the center—who sported a black streak of hair on his otherwise pale head—called to the others with a gravelly roar. The two yetis stomped over to their counterpart, and the trio leaned in and barked at each other.
“Are they…huddling?” the doctor asked.
“They are a communal species,” Tashi explained. “Everything they do is by committee.” Tashi cleared her throat and made several sounds similar to those emitted by the yetis. The striped creature turned to her and responded with the same noises.
“Are you talking to them?” a stunned Chriscanis asked the young warrior. Tashi nodded and continued her dialogue with the yetis.
“Why didn’t you talk to them before?” the doctor inquired, a touch exasperated.
“They do not listen when they are in a rage,” Tashi replied matter-of-factly. “They say they are tired of playing games. They want the claw.”
“What a surprise. Tell them they can’t have it,” the doctor advised.
Tashi made a few more of the sounds, but the striped yeti appeared to lose interest. He turned back to his counterparts, and they continued their huddle. A moment later, the three yetis turned and started toward Sam.
“Why are they heading for me?” Sam said in a panic. “I don’t have the claw!”
“They will use you as leverage,” Tashi answered, as if the answer were obvious.
“Run, Sam! Before they can corner you,” Dr. Vantana ordered.
Sam eyed the converging yetis and saw an opportunity. He ran toward the creatures at full speed.
“Good gracious! You’re supposed to run away from the monsters!” Chriscanis exclaimed.
But Sam kept moving. Even the yetis appeared confused by his behavior. He sucked in a breath, then slid right between the legs of the striped yeti. The creatures were not prepared for the surprise move and took a moment to react. It was all the time Sam needed. He shot across the cave, leaping over jeweled cups and treasure chests filled with golden baubles as he made a beeline for Tashi, Vantana, and Chriscanis. The trio were cheering by that point, amazed and elated by his daring move.
“Now what?” Sam asked Tashi, when he finally reached the cave entrance.
“The gryphon’s claw is no longer safe here. We will bring it back with us to Kustos. Yeshe will know what to do.”
The yetis had redirected and were now lumbering back toward the entrance. Sam and the others spun around and sprinted through the stone doors. As they rushed outside, Tashi hung back and hit the door with the tip of her shekchen. A pulse of electricity spread across the stone surface, and the doors began to close. The yetis were too slow to reach the entrance in time. The massive stone doors shut, trapping the creatures inside.
Exhausted by the encounter, the group took a moment to catch their breath.
“Oh, for a pug’s sake,” Chriscanis said.
They turned to see what he had suddenly become aware of: the cave was behind them, but there were now two dozen abominable snowmen in front of them. The yetis had friends, and they were lined up side by side, their teeth bared, ready to fight.
—
Dr. Vance Vantana knew the score. The quartet was grossly outnumbered and outmatched. It was time to surrender. He could immediately tell his decision was not well received by Tashi. The warrior had never backed down from a fight; it was an entirely foreign concept to her people. But Vance reminded her she wasn’t the only one in this battle.
“We’ve got a responsibility to look out for the kid,” Vance whispered to her as she gripped her shekchen, preparing to take on the beasts solo if necessary. “And we’ll be useless to protect the gryphon’s claw if we’re all dead.” Tashi eyed him, then finally nodded in grudging agreement. Vance winked. “Don’t you worry. I still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Let’s see where this goes.”
* * *
The march to the yeti village was a bone-chilling struggle through ice and snow along a narrow, winding path that skirted the edge of the mountain. It was also downhill, which made slipping and falling to one’s death an ever-present possibility. Vance hoped someone would come searching for the quartet and find their tracks until he saw the snowmen covering their trail. It was fascinating. Two yetis at the rear of the pack blew the footprints away, expelling a large gust of air from their lungs. The force of the wind returned the landscape to its pristine state.
“What are they going to do with us?” Sam asked, unnerved.
“I haven’t a clue,” Vance told him. “But we’re still alive, and I always count that as a positive sign.”
“Until we’re not, that is,” Chriscanis quipped. “I’m hoping they’re vegans. But with fangs and an anger-management problem like that—”
Vance caught Sam’s terrified expression and shot the cynocephalus a warning glare. Chriscanis instantly quieted. “Sorry, mate,” he whispered to the doctor.
There was a part of Vance that was excited about the journey they were on, despite the circumstances. After all, he was a scientist at heart, and no human had ever laid eyes on a yeti village. Some believed they lived inside a cloud; others theorized that their village was invisible. Vance soon learned that there was truth to both of these notions.
When the yetis led the group through a slender passage between two mountains, they were engulfed in a fog so thick Vance couldn’t see two inches in front of his face.
“It’s like walking through cream of mushroom soup,” Chriscanis observed.
“Dr. Vantana?” Sam said nervously.
“Take my hand, Sam,” the doctor replied. “We’ll be fine.”
The doctor quickly felt Sam’s hand clutch his own. The group finally emerged from the haze to find themselves looking down on a hidden valley. The yeti village wasn’t invisible or in a cloud; it was concealed beneath a canopy of clouds and surrounded on all sides by mountains. From this height, Vance could determine that the village was structured in concentric circles. It reminded him of the bigfoot habitat in Redwood National Park. The two creatures were distant cousins, so the similarities weren’t surprising. In the center of the village was an enormous dome of ice like a massive igloo.
When they reached the valley floor and Vance could get a closer look, he deduced that the circles represented different social levels of the yeti culture. Those on the lower end of the hierarchy occupied the outer rings. These yetis were workers who lived in single-room igloos built closely together. They growled and snarled at the group as they were ushered by. The yetis occupying the inner circles appeared more sophisticated and lived in elaborate ice dwellings with multiple rooms. They stood straighter and didn’t bare their teeth in an aggressive way. On the contrary, they studied their guests in a pensive, inquisitive manner.
The group was led past the center of the camp and beyond the dome. Vance stole a glimpse inside the structure and saw dozens of yetis trading goods and holding meetings, while yeti youth were attending what looked like school classes. Outside that lay a sloping embankment. They were marched to the bottom, where they found a darkened cavern cut off by a large frozen door and vertical bars made of thick stalagmites and stalactites. The doors were opened and the foursome was pushed inside. The doors then shut, and two yetis remained to guard their new prisoners.
“We’ve been arrested by abominable snowmen,” Chriscanis said, incredulously. “If we ever get out of this, it’ll make one heck of a pub story.”
“Despite the look of it, this is not a terrible development. We can rest up and consider our options. Form an escape plan,” Vance explained. He glanced at Sam, who had dropped to the cavern floor, exhausted. “We’ll find a way out of here,” he assured the boy.
At that instant a voice called out from the darkness of the inner cave. It had an older sound to it with a tone that was familiar to Vance. “I was hoping the cavalry was coming to rescue me, not keep me company.” Vance immediately looked toward the origin of the voice.
“Who’s there? Come into the light, where we can see you,” he demanded.
A second passed and a figure emerged from the shadows. He was an older man, past seventy, with a gray beard and mustache, kind eyes, and a warm smile. Vance’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Henry?” he said in amazement.
Dr. Henry Knox, the head of the Department of Mythical Wildlife, the author of countless books on mythical beasts, and the man who had disappeared three months ago, nodded.
“Miss me?”
It had been nearly three months since Dr. Vance Vantana had seen his mentor, Dr. Henry Knox. In that time, Vance had come to realize just how much he relied on the legendary scientist professionally and how much he missed him personally. They had met when Vance was just a boy. Knox had taken him under his wing and shown him a world he never knew existed or thought possible. He was part teacher and part family member—the latter became more pronounced over the years, as Vance devoted himself to his work and had little time to develop outside relationships. It was a major reason why Knox’s disappearance was so devastating. It had helped Vance to believe that Knox was out there somewhere, alive, and that he would eventually return or be found. Of course, he hadn’t expected to find him in a yeti prison. But there the old man was, tired and scruffy but in good health. Vance couldn’t help himself—the rush of emotions was too great. He bounded over and embraced his mentor.
“Based on this welcome, I’m supposing you thought me dead,” Knox posited. Vance broke the hug, looking sheepish. He tried to hide his embarrassment with irritation.
“Where the heck have you been?!” Vance questioned Knox like a mom whose kid had stayed out past curfew. “One day you were there and the next”—he snapped his fingers—“Poof! Gone.”
“I’ll explain it all to you later, if we get out of here alive. Perhaps you could introduce me to your friends?” Knox suggested.
“Right, right. Of course,” Vance said. “I think you already know Chriscanis, Chase’s successor.”
Knox approached the cynocephalus. “Yes, I believe we’ve met, if briefly. Congratulations on your new position.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Hopefully, I’ll survive my first year,” Chriscanis added wryly.
Knox set his sights on Tashi next. “The perfect posture, fierceness in the eyes, and an extraordinary strength of presence. You must be a Guardian.” Tashi nodded.
Sam London was just too excited to wait for his introduction. He stepped forward and shot his hand out. “I’m Sam. Sam London. I’m a really big fan of yours, Dr. Knox. It’s an honor.”
Knox shook Sam’s hand and studied him. Then he looked at Vance. “You brought a boy on the most dangerous journey on earth?”
“He’s very persistent,” Vance explained with a guilty shrug.
“I am,” Sam added.
Knox smiled. “You must be.”
“He saw Phylassos,” Vance revealed. Knox looked to Sam with surprise and the boy nodded his head affirmatively.
“Well then, I look forward to hearing more about you, Sam London,” Knox said, impressed. “Now, what are you all doing here?”
Vance explained the events of the last few days and the recent battle in Phylassos’s cave. Knox was displeased to hear that the yetis had secured the gryphon’s claw. He called the entire affair confounding.
“The yetis have never been known as an ambitious species. Territorial, yes. Obsessively territorial. But certainly not power hungry,” Knox mused.
“I reckon they’re being manipulated. Like the gargoyles that attacked us outside Bakersfield,” Vance surmised.
“It would seem so. But by whom?” Knox asked.
“Whoever it was, they knew to use us to gain entry into the cave. We were pawns,” Chriscanis said.
“Indeed you were,” Dr. Knox replied. He then turned his attention to Tashi. “Do you still have a charge left in your shekchen?” Tashi nodded. “Good. We will need it. And we must hope that your brethren have been alerted.”
“You mean the other Guardians?” Vance asked. “How would they know?”
“The claw has been taken. They will sense it,” Tashi explained. She shifted her attention to Knox. “But they still may not find us.”
“They will. We just have to—” Before Knox could finish his sentence, there were two yetis opening the prison door. One of them pointed at Sam, then gestured for him to step forward. Sam immediately looked to Vance for help. Tashi, Vance, and Chriscanis took a position in front of Sam as Knox stood by, watching.
“Tashi,” Knox said, “ask them what they want with him.”
Tashi made several guttural noises and motioned to Sam. One yeti replied with a string of staccato barks. Tashi responded and the yeti followed. She turned to Sam. “They wish to ask the boy who saw the gryphon some questions.”
“They can’t be serious. I’m not lettin’ him go off alone with them snowballs,” Vance asserted. “I’m responsible for him.” The yeti growled at Vance.
“You’re not invited,” the young warrior replied, in what was likely a refined translation of the yeti’s utterance.
“Vance, it is our best opportunity. We cannot take on an entire village of yetis single-handedly,” Knox explained. He faced Sam. “Sam, can you do this?”
Sam nodded. “I think so. What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to stall them for as long as you can. And when you see the signal—”
“How will I—” Sam started.
“You’ll know. When you see it, you’re going to take this…” Knox slipped Sam a small metallic device. It was capsule-shaped, with a button on the end. Vance’s brow rose.
“Is that…,” Vance began to say, but was silenced by a nod from Knox.
“You push this button and then you run, boy. You run like the dickens. You find a place to hide and you stay put until you hear us call for you. Do you understand?”
“I think so.” Before Sam could get a grasp on his orders, the yetis entered the cave and grabbed him. Tashi pulled Vance back to avoid an altercation.
“You will do us no good dead,” Tashi reminded him.
“I agree, old boy,” Chriscanis added. “Best if we stand down. Let this play out.”
Vance attempted to relax, but seeing Sam dragged away by the yetis was tough. He had to keep reminding himself that Henry Knox had never failed him before. Time and again, Knox had saved Vance from dangerous situations. Vance wondered why he found it so hard to trust his mentor now. Perhaps it was because he had already been through so much with Sam. It took all his strength to call out and reassure the boy as he was led away. “You’re going to be okay, Sam,” he said. But he couldn’t hide the uncertainty in his voice.
—
Not surprisingly, being dragged up an icy embankment by two abominable snowmen was an unpleasant experience. They weren’t exactly gentle creatures. But Sam London couldn’t help thinking the worst was yet to come. If they could somehow get over the language barrier without Tashi’s help, the yetis would likely have questions to which Sam didn’t have any answers. And then what? What would they do to him? It had already been a tumultuous day, punctuated by imprisonment in a yeti cave-jail and meeting Dr. Henry Knox. If the yetis hadn’t taken his book bag, Sam would have loved to have Knox sign his book on gryphons. Yet instead of enjoying this encounter with the famous author, Sam was being sent by him to distract the yetis and give them all a chance to escape. Sam wondered what the device was that now sat snugly in his pocket, what it could possibly do to save them, and what the signal would be to use it.
The creatures marched Sam toward the center structure. What had been teeming with yetis just moments earlier was now completely deserted. The village was eerily silent, except for the haunting whistle of the wind as it wound through the icy buildings. When they rounded the massive dome, Sam finally got a look at his destination—or, more importantly, the creature that was waiting for him. It was six feet tall with sickly dark blue skin. It sported mangy black hair that fell just below its shoulders, and bloodshot eyes. The creature was dressed in a dirty black cloak that
fell loosely around its body but was open in the back to allow for its wings. They were inky black, shorter than a gargoyle’s, and flapped softly, constantly, and almost hypnotically, without ever pulling the creature off the ground. When it spoke, it did so in a breathy, rough voice that was high in pitch. This living nightmare was apparently female.
“Bring the boy closer,” the creature said, gesturing to him with talonlike fingers. Sam could see razor-sharp fangs in its mouth and a long nose that hooked slightly toward its chin when it talked. One of the yetis pushed Sam closer as the hideous being leaned in for a better look. It ran a talon down Sam’s cheek, then smiled a terrifying smile.
“Do you know who I am?” the creature asked in a vile whisper. Sam eyed her, studying her features. They were familiar to him. He searched his memory and then realized—
“You’re the creature my teacher told me about. The aswang,” Sam said.
“And you are the boy who saw the gryphon. Tell me, was Phylassos worried about his precious claw?” the aswang asked with an air of superiority.
“Claw?” Sam replied, feigning ignorance. The aswang pulled the golden gryphon’s claw from within her cloak.
“This claw. The one that has sustained the unjust curse for all these centuries,” the aswang said with a simmering anger. “The one that has forced our kind to live in the shadows, when it is we who should rule over simple creatures, like you.”
Sam looked back to the prison: still no signal.
“They cannot help you now, boy,” the aswang snarled.
She was right, Sam thought. He was on his own. He swallowed his nerves and relied on the one skill that had gotten him this far.
“You’re talking about that claw as if it’s the real one. You can’t trick me,” he said confidently.
The aswang eyed him. “I can smell the magic on it from miles away. Enough with your feeble attempts to—”
“I fell for it too,” Sam bluffed. “Until I found out where the real one was. But don’t feel too bad. Everyone knows how sneaky the gryphon is. To be honest, I’m a little upset at myself for not realizing it sooner. It’s so obvious. I mean, why would he hide it here, of all places? Especially if he thought it was in danger. It totally makes sense that he would have hidden it—” Sam stopped and quickly cupped his hand over his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, he began again. “I can’t believe I almost said it out loud. Man, would I be in trouble.”
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