The Yeti

by Mike Miller

  Baxter tripped and slipped. As he fell to the ground, his hands sprawled out to slow his fall, but they instead helped him to ski down a short but steep embankment. Crashing into the suddenly horizontal ground, he somersaulted to a stop, dizzy and sore.

  Something clutched Baxter’s chest. It was a pair of hands trying to snatch his heart from his ribcage. While Baxter’s hands fended the claws from his coat, he could not free himself as he was jerked aside quickly into the shadows. Next a hand slapped down over his mouth, and a very bearded man held a finger to his lips to mime a shush. This area of the cavern had far more light available than before, though the surrounding dark blue framed the mysterious figure’s dark silhouette. The moment that Baxter realised he was being restrained by Conrad was enough to steal away his breath and render him speechless without any reminder to remain silent.

  The two appreciated the miraculous reappearance of the other for a fondness-filled second before Conrad nodded silently to the cave above. A large white hand with pointed claws for fingernails gripped the lip of a wall before hoisting the Yeti into view.

  The pair shrank back into the shadows where Baxter drew his gun. Conrad held a palm to the weapon and nodded his head no in protest. Shaking the gun for emphasis, Baxter’s eyes pleaded for reconsideration, but Conrad was steadfast in objecting that strategy.

  Sinking to all fours, the monster descended into the space, crawling across the steep towers of ice like a spider. Hidden from view, the two men cautiously observed the monster’s investigation. The two thin slivers that served as nostrils flared and snorted, and the creature moved into a new tangle of rock to find its prey.

  As the Yeti advanced, the two syncopated their own movements for retreat, constantly sliding away and behind wherever the monster sought.

  Evading its sight was difficult enough, but moving in complete silence proved more troublesome. Baxter’s foot stumbled on a loose rock. The tiny clatter might as well have been a cymbal crash.

  The demon turned its attention towards the two soldiers, who scooted away in terror to the darkest shadows available. As the monster approached, they found themselves cornered into a dead end.

  Huddled together, Baxter again presented the rifle to which Conrad now nodded in the affirmative. Placing the familiar firearm up to his cheek, Baxter trained the sight upon the corner where the Yeti would inevitably appear. Conrad took the pistol and readied to shoot. The Yeti’s huffing breath and crunching footsteps grew louder by the moment. Together the two friends braced for their final stand.

  A tapping on the shoulder diverted Baxter’s attention away from his aiming. “I’m sorry,” whispered Conrad. His light eyes twinkled with regret as they pleaded for mercy.

  Baxter smiled back and gave a curt nod.

  The shadow of the Yeti appeared first on the nearby wall. The creature followed close behind, the knuckles of its white hand wrapped around a wall mere feet away from Baxter.

  Then a voice said, “Oy, mate.”

  Both the Yeti and the men were puzzled by the mysterious new participant. “Yes, you ugly bastard, I’m addressing you.” The voice rasped the insult with a weakened wheeze, but the lingo unmistakably belonged to Douglas. “You damned piece of filth,” he continued in a low but defiant tone.

  The Yeti would not suffer the insolence. It moved away from the two men and back towards the heckler.

  When the creature came upon Douglas, the scoundrel was much as the beast had left him. The steady coughing of blood had left Douglas with a dark red necklace of dried bile from his chin down his chest. The man had shrunk in size, but lay paralysed in the same prone position the Yeti had placed him. Only his mouth now seemed to work. “You’re nothing, you know that? Bloody worthless. And you smell like shit. In my day, I’d have taken you easy.”

  The monster issued a short snort as if to repudiate the preposterous claims.

  “You can’t stop me, you beast. You can’t. You can’t kill me!” Douglas began to shout, the volume of his cries rattling his frail body. His voice cracked and tears began to flow down his face, but his tirade continued with even more impassioned gusto and intensity. “Me, I’m going to live forever. This ain’t the end!”

  Sliding its thin fingers under Douglas’ torso, the monster wrapped its hand around the sobbing man and lifted him to take a closer look. His broken body burned with agony at the movement, forcing Douglas to cry aloud. His weeping flowed and mixed with the dried blood to make it damp again.

  Conrad and Baxter took advantage of the diversion to slide safely away into another sector of the chamber. When Baxter looked over at the helpless Douglas, the scoundrel suddenly looked so old and scared. “I did it all!” screeched Douglas, his face was now but inches from the Yeti’s own. “You can’t kill me!”

  The monster snapped its jaws close around Douglas’ head, even severing off the entire neck and part of a shoulder with the vicious chomp. As Douglas’ whining was now silenced, the creature quickly spat out the head and growled abruptly, hurling the decapitated carcass onto the ground with contemptuous disgust. Douglas’ head careened across the icy floor like an expertly shot carom piece. The creature quickly clamped its mouth onto the nearest block of ice-covered rock and gnawed at it, the act reminiscent of a canine’s rough chew play.

  Horrified by the act, Baxter turned away to find a black figure standing above them. The living shadow extended a long staff that pointed straight at Baxter as if he were being sentenced.

  “Hurry,” hissed Jah.

  Baxter thankfully grasped the rod and was hoisted back out of the depressed floor while scrambling up the side with his feet. The moment Baxter reached the top, he dropped to his knees and beckoned Conrad to follow suit.

  Confused and uncertain, Conrad still dutifully gripped the staff which the mysterious man offered in aid.

  But as Conrad started to ascend the side of wall to freedom, the Yeti noticed the group of men. With an enraged little shout, it bounded immediately towards the three. The monster would be upon them before Conrad could get to the top, before the other two could flee.

  As the monster descended upon the defenceless back of Conrad with fangs spread wide, Jah ripped the staff from Conrad’s grip to slam it like a mallet down upon the Yeti’s skull.

  The beast stumbled aside whereupon its head collided forcefully with the wall. But Conrad began to slide back down the sloped wall away from Jah.

  Baxter caught his friend’s sleeve before he could plummet any further. “Hurry!” urged Baxter through clenched teeth, while offering another outreached hand for support.

  Jah clapped a hand onto Conrad’s other scrambling appendage, and together with Baxter, they lifted Conrad up out of the pit to join them.

  “Go!” commanded Jah as he pointed down an escape route. The bellowing command broke the carefully maintained silence so much that the word sounded alien, and took a moment for either man to comprehend. Then the two Englishmen began scrambling like mad down the long corridor. At first, Jah followed behind them, but then he broke from the pack to pursue a different channel.

  The angry monster could be heard crashing and raging after them. As Conrad and Baxter raced away, the beast’s snarling grew louder behind them. But then its callings quieted when it followed Jah down the side passage.

  Conrad noticed the monster’s departure and slowed his sprinting. “Hey,” he called after Baxter. “It’s stopped chasing us.” Conrad jerked a thumb back over his shoulder towards a quiet emptiness devoid of any gigantic white monsters.

  Baxter ground his heels into the ice and slipped to a stop. “What happened?” asked Baxter.

  Conrad shrugged innocently as the two peered back through the murky light of the long cavern. Half expecting to watch the creature emerge from its dark recesses, the pair was pleasantly disappointed. “Your friend’s gone too,” Conrad remarked. “Or I assume you were with him since I would not believe such miraculous serendipity otherwise.”

  “No, no,” said Baxter, h
is broad chest still heaving from the run. “I mean, yes. To be frank, it’s more that I’m with him.”

  Suddenly Conrad gripped Baxter in a crushing bear hug. “My Lord, it’s so good to see you,” he gushed tearfully. “I thought you’d bought it.”

  Baxter wasn’t certain how to react, tempted to spitefully ignore the man altogether. But then the lingering embrace softened his heart. “You too,” answered Baxter, though he refused to completely surrender to sentimentality, still cautiously playing sentinel for a Yeti attack.

  “I thought I would die here alone,” Conrad confessed.

  “You still well might,” said Baxter. “Though not alone.”

  Conrad laughed at the joke but was sorry that Baxter seemed mirthless. “What, still sore at me?” he asked.

  “Possibly,” admitted Baxter, “though I’m definitely concerned with the whereabouts of the Yeti.”

  “The what?” said Conrad.

  “Yeti. That’s the monster’s name,” Baxter explained.

  “Ah,” Conrad nodded, a bit upset he hadn’t guessed as much.

  “Maybe the monster’s circling around behind us,” suggested Baxter. Conrad twisted in fright to survey the path before them.

  The old corporal noticed the young private smiling at the antics. “You’re scared,” said Baxter with an impish grin.

  “And you aren’t?” said Conrad.

  “Deathly,” said Baxter. “But I thought you were only afraid of heights.”

  “The jokes,” gushed Conrad, playfully tussling Baxter’s cap down over his eyes. “So many jokes from you, you must be in a spanking good mood.”

  Despite the looming death, Baxter indeed was happy. Clapping a hand onto Conrad’s shoulder to acknowledge the fond sentiments, Baxter swiftly resumed business, “So what do we do now?”

  Conrad reciprocated the hand on the shoulder and said affirmatively, “Flee.”

  “Perhaps,” mused Baxter. “But maybe we should help Jah?”

  “Are you delirious? Why would we help that beast?” demanded Conrad.

  “What? No.” Baxter nodded in disbelief. “Jah, the lad who lifted us from that pit. The boy in black,” Baxter explained with a sigh. The monster is called the Yeti.”

  “Right, right. Yes.” With eyes closed, Conrad bowed his head to concentrate on remembering which was which. “Still how can we help? Do we help him die? We can’t stop that creature. That-- Yadi? What was it again?”

  “The Yeti,” said Baxter. He wanted to refute Conrad, insist that this hellish freak could be conquered and overcome through merit and heart. Yet even the Asian at his fearsome finest was no contest, as the monster had easily overcome his fleetness and power. Baxter knew the right thing to do was to help the boy, but what if that would yield no better result? “He saved me, you know,” said Baxter softly. “And then he saved the both of us.”

  But Conrad didn’t respond, he was lost in his own pensive trance and had wandered down a branching corridor. As if Conrad could feel Baxter’s curiosity, he turned back to say, “Do you see this?” The aged corporal resumed his inspection of this newest chamber to vanish into the darkness.

  “What is it?” Baxter asked, drawing his rifle when unable to ascertain if the development was good or bad.

  Conrad’s movements were slow and languid, as if being beckoned by a hypnotic force. “I don’t know,” he said softly walking into the black cave.

  Chapter XLVIII

  Jah versus the Yeti

  The Yeti galloped into the room, then stopped. Unlike the other chambers of the lair, this part was brightly illuminated in a large, open space. With a high ceiling and multiple tunnels branching outwards in various directions, parts of the cave were even exposed to the air and atmosphere outside the mountain’s peak. At the far end was an especially large portal which opened into the afternoon sky like a broad balcony. Through this wide opening, the sun was a small white disc submerged beneath layers of grey and green clouds.

  The Yeti squinted at the burning circle of fire in the sky and snorted in resentment at it. Lowering its snout to the floor, it sniffed at the ground to hopefully catch wind of its prey’s scent. The monster patiently examined the area, knowing that the boy’s trail led to here. The creature crawled across the surface like a hound as it scanned for signs of the runt.

  When the creature’s erratic searching caused it to finally scramble into view directly beneath Jah, he released his grip on the ceiling by retracting his staff and feet. From above he silently plummeted onto the oblivious beast. With the creature’s skull presenting a ripe target, Jah brought his staff down in a full, two-fisted overhead swing fuelled by his rage, vengeance, pride and glee.

  The end of the staff collided atop the Yeti’s head with such power that it drove the monster’s chin into the ground. The tips of its horns even burrowed into the icy rock from the force. But the bone in the beast’s brow was resiliently sturdy, breaking the end of Jah’s staff in two so that a small piece bounced across the rocky floor.

  With little hesitation despite the astounding revelation that his sturdy weapon was even capable of shattering, Jah twirled the staff around in his hands so that his hands were now atop the large pole.

  Seeing the jagged teeth that now poked from the bottom of his staff, Jah plunged the sharpened rod down into the small wound which Baxter’s puny sword had opened in the Yeti’s shoulder. The wooden pole sank into the hole to send bits of dark blood splattering up from the widened gash.

  The creature howled wildly, and it lashed its arms about in blind defence. While the Yeti’s claws did not strike a target, they did force Jah to relent from his assault to tumble away for safety.

  His staff remained engorged in the monster’s back as the beast began to hunt down Jah. The Yeti’s already hellish features were even further permuted by its unbridled hostility. Travelling towards the broken shard of staff, Jah scooped the fragment up into his hand as he quickly ran past it. The monster’s long legs and talons’ firm grip on the ice helped it to close the distance in a heartbeat.

  Just as the Yeti was within reach of Jah’s heels, the deft Asian began to run up a column of ice that was the edge of two snaking hallways. Planting each footstep up along the vertical incline, he first ran up the wall. Then he flipped himself back over the Yeti’s head.

  When the beast looked upwards to catch the flying man, the galloping monster clumsily collided into the hard wall. During his summersault, Jah grabbed his spear which still protruded from the thing’s back. He swung on the pole, using the full momentum of his leaping frame to screw it deeper into the creature’s body.

  With one arm manoeuvring an acrobatic flip around the stuck staff, Jah twirled around to slam the second broken piece he had collected into another exposed spot on the beast’s back. The creature screeched at the new blow.

  Spinning about to take another slash at the spry attacker, the Yeti missed Jah, who twisted out of its path by springing off the monster with a backflip.

  But with a wide swing with the opposite hand, the creature caught part of the Asian’s leg as he landed, sending him crashing to the earth awkwardly.

  The Yeti reached for Jah, who quickly slid himself towards the beast. Passing under the monster’s long arm and through its legs, he jumped upwards to grab the still lodged staff, then ripped it back into his possession again.

  He swung the pole into the creature’s left kneecap, but it rebounded back with no effect. With the backside of the staff, Jah blasted it into the monster’s ribcage, though that shot barely reverberated through the monster’s stout hide.

  With unfocused anger, the Yeti swung madly at the nimble warrior who danced under, over and around each attack. In between each of the beast’s swipes, Jah connected on his own strikes but with minimal impact.

  Nearing a rounded passage, Jah devised a ploy. He charged past the Yeti to run up the curved incline of the corridor. The monster pursued, but became disoriented when the warrior kept moving. Jah’s speed zipped
him all the way up to the stony ceiling of the hall where a swipe from the Yeti only grazed stone. By the time the monster rolled its head completely around in a circle following its quarry, Jah had already completed the loop and was ready to assault this prime target.

  Jah flung the butt of his staff upwards to jab the creature in the precise middle of its face. The soft click of breaking bone announced success. The monster staggered away and placed a hand to its face to nurse the surprisingly effective hit.

  Recognising the opening, Baxter planted his staff on the ground and propelled himself up onto the cavern wall. With two points of contact between the ground and the side, he used both to thrust himself at the creature’s face and drive his heel through the beast’s chin. Another series of little crunches sounded from the animal’s face.

  As the Yeti’s head turned from the latest shot, so did its large, spiral horns. One of them struck Jah, more from happenstance than any calculated assault. The blow sent Jah onto his back.

  Next, the creature’s tail slapped at Jah, who could not fully block the thick mass with his staff. So the boy was punished with a heavy blow that felled him against the unforgiving ground.

  Needing to attack behind itself, the monster whipped a backhanded slash that Jah handily ducked. The Yeti followed its first attack with a looping swing of its tail, forcing Jah to hop over the broad club.

  Momentarily lost in the air with nowhere else to move, Jah’s only recourse now was to gather his staff before himself and brace for the creature’s final move in the combination, a ferocious slash with pointed fingers stabbing straight for his chest. With his wooden rod up before his torso, Jah absorbed most of the blow with his weapon. However, the strength of the monster still snapped the wooden bow in half to send Jah sprawling backwards.

  He landed off-balance while combating dizziness to stay on his feet. With one piece of staff in each hand, he tautly held both shards aloft before him with a sneering stare at the wild demon. “Come,” he said, though the fiend had already resumed its pursuit.