The Yeti

by Mike Miller

  Briefly flummoxed by the setback, Baxter sat up on the branch and pinned the firearm between his legs with the barrel pointing skywards. His free hands grabbed at the ammunition in a mad dash to reload as quickly as possible.

  “That’s not good,” murmured Conrad, watching his panicked friend readying for a second attack.

  Standing across the fire from Conrad, Jah spun the sword nimbly in his good hand while anxiously watching Baxter prepare another shot. The warrior boy’s vision was clouded and murky, though not unpleasant. The sword was old yet felt quite comfortable in his hand. Jah greatly enjoyed juggling the handle over his knuckles and palm, and seeing the flashes of flame reflect in its steel.

  When Baxter finally reloaded the weapon, he lay down upon his belly and nestled the barrel into a conveniently located groove in the wood. Peering through the scope, he could not find the monster at first, but then found it hurrying down the hill, nearly twice as large a target now. With some quick calculations, he pointed the rifle to the spot where the monster should be by the time his zooming bullet arrived.

  Depressing the trigger, another loud explosion announced the firing of the next round. Half a second later, he watched the Yeti rush right through the shot, uninhibited and unaffected. If Baxter did not strike the creature in its most fortified spot, then he had missed altogether.

  “Get ready!” Baxter announced loudly while simultaneously cursing the rare misfortune of flubbing a far easier shot. He scrambled to reload his weapon for possibly one more attack before its arrival. The tail of Baxter’s scarf blew into his face which needed to be shooed away as another disruption. When the cold bullet slid into his hand, he wondered if he had in fact been abandoned by any spiritual assistance, left to die with these two sinners who were damned from selfish greed and malicious vengeance.

  “Mercy,” cursed Conrad, now lowering his gaze from Baxter above to the dark ground below. The firelight provided limited vision into the layers of forest before succumbing to a shroud of blackness.

  “You ready, mate?” asked Conrad to Jah. With but one hand dangling free to support the sword, the boy’s diminutive stature was exaggerated in its frailty, especially in contrast to the two robust soldiers. Jah’s hazy outlook persisted from the wounds and painkillers. But he refused to demonstrate any lingering weakness for the coming battle.

  “Are you?” sneered Jah in a bitter and mocking tone. The cold, angry glimmer in the Asian’s eyes was thoroughly encouraging, for Conrad wanted as many mad killers as possible at his side to face this beast.

  Baxter had reloaded and was ready to take aim again except that his target was now lost. Removing the scope from his eye, he twisted nervously in his perch to locate the monster. Given its rapid descent and last whereabouts, the monster had inevitably arrived at their campsite by now. The Yeti’s massive size should have made it easier to see, but it remained invisible to his querying eyes.

  “Where is it?” hollered Conrad from below.

  Baxter’s head spun around like a top. While scanning the outskirts of their dark enclosure, he found no hints of the large beast. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  At the confession, both Jah and Conrad whirled around to face backwards, away from the heights of the mountain, and into the thick woods downhill. With their backs to the fire in the centre of camp, both men began slowly pacing away from each other until they were at opposite ends of the blaze. Like the syncopated gears of a clock, they began to circle the flames, where both warriors were carefully on the lookout for the vanished beast.

  The crackle of dead branches breaking like a small Chinese firework made all three men focus on a mysterious spot. Jah was closest to best peer out into the black space. “Anything?” hissed Conrad in a quiet whisper.

  With his back turned to both soldiers, Jah silently approached. His shadow from the fire stretched outwards in a black spectre that merged with the lines of the woods.

  From their roaring blaze, Conrad fetched one of the branches. Its end was lit like a giant match. “Here,” he said, readying to throw it to Jah. Sticking his sword into the ground, Jah’s only hand popped open expectantly to receive the torch. With a graceful underhand lob, Conrad sent the burning piece of wood skilfully over towards the boy. Its burning head remained alight as it glided through the air.

  A huffing grunt brought their attention back to the woods. The Yeti trampled forwards on all fours at Jah, dry wood crashing and snapping as its massive frame ran over and through the dead tree limbs.

  Jah dashed away from the beast and leapt to intercept the torch midair with his hand. Upon landing again with the speeding beast only a few feet away, the youth tumbled aside in a leaping somersault, careful to keep the fire burning and off the ground despite the rolling acrobatic feat.

  But the monster rushed past Jah without any hesitation and headed straight towards the fire. The creature’s formerly immaculate white hide was dirty and scarred, long black streaks mapped its entire battered body. With one horn completely broken off, its face too had dark wounds ripped across its brow and into its lips. The strangely resurrected beast even had bits of broken staff still punctured into its back and chest, the nubs protruding like dark spikes of bone. But despite its clobbered condition, the creature still moved with an unholy zest in its agility that betrayed both its size and condition.

  Digging its two front hands into the ground, the Yeti shovelled a heaping spray of dirt and snow onto the camp fire, and the large blaze all but extinguished. It planted its hands again in the ground for another fling to smother out the smouldering remains.

  From above Baxter fired down a shot into the monster’s left shoulder, a thick spray of the beast’s black blood sprayed out as the beast fell to a knee at the unexpected ambush. The Yeti recovered easily and looked skywards to bellow angrily at Baxter, locating him instantly in the trees. Undaunted by the demon’s howl, he scrambled to reload.

  Jah dashed over to the nearest patch of dried kindling and touched his torch to the fuel. Flames slowly danced from his own wood onto the other pieces, an effect helped by the strategic placement of the dry sticks coated with flammable opium oil.

  “The fire!” Jah shouted.

  Conrad understood completely and instantly. Given the beast’s focused assault and priority to extinguish the fire, Conrad knew that it had to therefore be preserved at all costs. With the beast distracted by Baxter, Conrad boldly recovered another torch from the burning kindling that yet remained alive.

  The Yeti saw the festering blaze Jah was initiating. The combined sight of both a new flame and his old rival made the monster vigorously gallop towards that prey. Jah sprinted aside as the Yeti skilfully skid its feet to send a wave of snow onto the small patch of blossoming fire, immediately smothering it.

  With wide swipes of its arms, the Yeti sent two thrashing strikes for the diminutive Asian. The lad tumbled under the first attack then over the next. The Yeti threw a looping uppercut at Jah, who stepped aside and caused the beast’s long claws to wildly scrape across a tree trunk. With the whirling dodge, Jah spun back around to tickle the underside of the beast’s triceps with the flames of his still torch.

  The monster yelped as it recoiled its arm, even going to nurse the sore spot with its other hand. While the beast was bewildered, Jah dashed forward, leapt into the air, screamed with abandon, and plunged the tip of the burning wood into the centre of beast’s chest, directly into the large black sore where his left forearm was left.

  Like grinding out the butt of a cigarette, the wood fizzled out in the monster’s chest, but made the Yeti squeal with a piercing whine ringing of an unexpected and agonising pain. Jah used the monster’s own thigh to stand astride the beast and stab the now dead torch farther into the bloody hole. But the monster defensively spun its hips and swiped a backhand across its chest, dislodging both the smouldering spear and the man wielding it.

  Jah’s body awkwardly flailed helplessly through midair before a tree branch interrupted his trajec
tory. He bounced off the limb of wood and thumped against the ground on his stomach. A hollow gasp marked the strained inrush of air into his lungs.

  With a snort, the beast took a pair of long strides to stand stride its fallen and breathless opponent.

  Another thunderclap from on high, and the Yeti’s head jerked forward as if it had been slapped from behind. Baxter cursed himself as he was aiming for the monster’s neck but struck the impenetrable skull instead.

  Still afraid to engage the monster, Conrad used the distractions to continue lighting several small blazes around the periphery of the camp. Though the beast had stifled their main campfire, the liberal spreading of the oil began to burn throughout the surrounding forest.

  The beast turned to again find the cursed African, the one that had foiled him on numerous occasions now. Somehow that one could crush mighty blows upon it from such a far distance. After squashing this feisty one first, the Yeti resolved to destroy that treetop thing next. But the beast’s distraction had been enough for Jah to vanish into the dark forest.

  The monster growled at its prey’s temporary survival, than bounded off towards Baxter. Now that the monster was at the base of his tree, Baxter tried not to let its arrival deter him from his rifle’s quick reload. A jarring tremor sent the newest bullet from his hand to fall through the air towards the ground below. As several small fires had blossomed in the perimeter of the forest, Baxter noticed that beneath him the Yeti had clamped one hand onto the thick trunk of the tree. Then it thrust another onto the trunk as it began to climb the large shaft.

  Baxter scooted anxiously around to better face the beast while his hand fished into his pouch for another bullet. The monster growled loudly, its eyes affixed on Baxter as it scaled the tree. Fortunately the branches were mild obstacles that helped hinder the monster’s ascent. Its bulk could not fit without swiping them away. On some of the larger branches, the Yeti simply resorted to crawling around them. But like a feral cat, the creature climbed towards Baxter with murder in its small eyes.

  Watching the beast climbing up the tree towards his mate, Conrad ran up to the base, wondering how he could help. “Hey,” he screamed upwards in an attempt to distract the monster, but it was to no avail.

  Jah dashed past Conrad and ran up the tree trunk, a final jump allowing him to grab a low branch. He swung himself up to perch atop the branch, though not without a sharp grunt of effort.

  “Set this tree on fire,” Jah spoke before leaping again to the next level of branches.

  With a fresh vial of opium oil in his hand and his torch in the other, Conrad hesitated to stranding Baxter and the boy. But the monster was a bigger threat than the burning tree. So he followed Jah’s instructions and poured a small ring of fuel around the tree’s base. Upon touching his flame to the moist oil, Conrad ignited a small ring of fire around the tree’s base. Conrad also infused a small touch of faith into his thoughts that Baxter could escape the predicament somehow.

  As Baxter remained seated towards the end of the tree branch, the creature had now reached the same level. Preparing to advance, the Yeti slid one arm out onto Baxter’s branch while its long black tongue devilishly lashed from its giant maw. The Yeti placed another hand atop the branch, and fearlessly ran out on the limb towards Baxter.

  Locking the bullet into place, Baxter did not need to look down the sight to aim at such a close target. The Yeti descended on the soldier, its sharpened teeth and claws ready to slay when Baxter barely swung the firearm up from the hip and pulled the trigger.

  The muzzle exploded in a breath of flame and smoke just inches from its target. The Yeti not only stopped its progress, but even fell backwards on its haunches. Its hand was weakly frozen in midair to defend itself too late.

  When the sulphur and sound dissipated, Baxter saw that he had blasted a wet chunk of flesh from the monster’s forehead and cheek. While its left eye socket was grimly exposed, the creature’s eyes were bright with life. Despite the gruesome injury, the Yeti made no loud sound of pain, but only grunted a short huff.

  Baxter flipped the rifle around to hold the still hot barrel in his hands. With the mightiest overhead swing he could muster from his awkward seat, he clubbed the stunned beast over its head. The stock splattered into the exposed meat of the monster’s face. The Yeti staggered slightly from the hit while the gun clattered from Baxter’s hands and fell down through the trees.

  The monster now screeched furiously at Baxter, and he was left without any further recourse. He saw Jah rushing to the rescue up through the trees, but he would arrive too late. The fiend was winding a hand backwards for a finishing blow, either to shred Baxter apart or knock him from this unforgiving height.

  So Baxter leapt.

  With both his hands and feet propelling himself from the limb, the departing surface was not so sturdy as to tremble from the force of his shove. But it proved an adequate enough surface in that Baxter managed to lob himself outwards and down towards another thick branch on the same tree.

  Baxter’s waist collided with the branch, though his momentum and weight then sent him sliding off the side. His arms had to scramble for a hold as they slipped on the bark. He caught himself at chest height, finally tugging himself up from gravity’s grasp.

  The move had bought Baxter another few precious seconds of survival. The white demon stepped backwards and stretched over to grip the new branch that housed Baxter. Like a spider, all of the Yeti’s limbs worked in harmony to shift its giant mass to trap Baxter again.

  From his waistband, Baxter drew his sword. He carefully balanced his feet on some of the smaller, off-shooting branches to afford him a fighting stance.

  The beast leapt forward, landing nimbly on the wood to wobble Baxter in his perch. A huge claw swung towards Baxter, so he chopped his own blade into the onrushing palm, deflecting the attack but almost losing grip of the sword.

  The Yeti dipped its head and tried to advance, but Baxter lunged forward to jab the blade into the beast’s head. The measly strike that might not have had any effect on the beast save that the tip speared into the freshly exposed meat of the monster’s face that had been torn apart by the gunshot.

  The creature yowled in pain and shook its head. Its giant horn knocked Baxter’s sword aside and from his hand. As the weapon clattered through the dead branches to the ground below, Baxter was now totally unarmed with the Yeti a mere few feet away.

  When the beast’s cold eyes locked on Baxter, he turned and ran. As the branch quickly tapered off, he only managed two quick steps before he vaulted out into open space away from the beast and the burning tree.

  He prayed that he could survive the landing.

  The fire and the stars provided scant light for his eyes to adapt to the onrush of tiny streaks that marked the next tree’s network of branches. Unfortunately they all seemed too far and out of reach, so Baxter’s descent hastened as his trajectory angled downwards into a direct plummet.

  His arms and hands extended as far as they could, reaching for anything that would catch him. When Baxter’s palms brushed against a strong rod of wood, his fingers clamped themselves to the miraculously extended branch. This lifesaving piece of wood thrust out from the pack especially for him as if the tree was trying to catch him.

  The branch shivered under the load, creaked loudly in protest, but it remained firm enough for him to dangle high above the ground like a Christmas ornament.

  The Yeti snarled contemptuously at his target’s intrepid and fortuitous escape. It reared back and readied itself for pursuit, knowing it would be easily capable of covering the same distance that the smaller man was so lucky to have crossed.

  Just as the Yeti was about to hurdle across the gap, a metal hook rattled around its unbroken left horn. The line jerked its head backward to prevent any departure. The metal device was connected to a long chain, tautly wound around Jah’s abbreviated left arm.

  The creature yanked its head away defiantly, and Jah used the force to briskly whisk
up through the branches towards the monster. A sadistic smile on his face indicated that he had no complaints about approaching the beast. With a sword coiled behind him but pointed forwards like a scorpion’s tail, the one-armed warrior skipped across a row of branches to advance up towards the beast. Roaring wildly, the boy slashed the sword down at the beast’s head. The Yeti deflected the blade with its forearm.

  The sword scarcely penetrated the thick woolly limb, but the momentum of the attack drove both man and monster off the beast’s perch. The Yeti fell but quickly grabbed at a branch with its arm to stop its descent. Jah swung down with the chain bending tightly around one branch. With the Yeti dangling just feet away from him, Jah lunged forward to stab the creature in its heart.

  The monster released itself, and its elongated toes nimbly secured itself to some branches below to stand again. One hand clubbed aside Jah’s blade, while its other shot forward claws first.

  Jah ducked another of the beast’s attacks and hopped up around the arm to assault the creature’s undefended head. With a graceful spin, the sword sliced towards the beast’s throat.

  But a quick jerk of the Yeti’s head wrenched the chain that was still attached to the warrior. The tangle line tugged Jah away from his opponent, cracking him against some hard wood.

  Flames had now engulfed the entire trunk of the tree and had spread up the first few levels of branches below the two combatants. With mounting heat approaching, the Yeti decided it was now time to depart the burning roost.

  The monster nimbly hopped over to the next tree, dragging the semi-conscious Jah along for the ride as his body thwacked along branches of both trees.

  Landing high above with Jah swinging limply from the line, the Yeti adjusted itself into the perch of the second tree which Baxter had finally scaled down to the earth. He was immediately greeted by Conrad. “Zounds, that was incredible,” Conrad gushed. “We’re really up a creek now.”