Treasure of Sorat

by Anthony G. Wedgeworth

Chapter 6

  The Valley Beyond

  Waking up to the sounds of a bird poking at Thorik’s pack to get at the food he had tucked away before leaving his grandmother’s home, the Num realized it was time to get moving again. The wolves were gone, but he didn’t know which way they had traveled. He had followed the instructions and found the Old Man’s Mouth, but still hadn’t found the Runestones or his parents. If Su’I Sorat’s directions were correct, the cave should lead him to the valley where the treasure was hidden.

  Sitting up on the ledge, the bird flew away, deeper into the cavern.

  “If you can get out that way, hopefully I can as well,” he told himself.

  Ever so quietly, he lowered himself back to the cavern floor and headed away from the entrance as the light slowly dissipated. And just as it did, a new light source began to fill the cave in front of him. There definitely was a second entrance and this one led to a new valley.

  He quickly realized that he had overslept and it was already midday. If what he was looking for was on the far side of the valley, he would be lucky to reach there before dark. It was then that he asked himself, “What am I looking for?”

  Stepping out of the cavern and out to the end of an outcropping, he gazed at the green valley below and the muddy and rocky terrain along the upper valley walls. Several small rivers had carved wide paths when filled by heavy snow melts and let to a grassy open end of the valley. Squinting, he looked for his parents in broad strokes across the entire region. “They have to be here someplace.”

  Patience was key as he decided to comb through the valley with his eyes in order to focus on one small area at a time as he made long passes back and forth across. It finally paid off when he spotted figures moving on the far side, just above the tree line. It was now just a race against time.

  Light on his feet, Thorik raced down the hillside, avoiding trees and rocks along the way. One wrong leap and the pain he would feel from the collision could knock him out for a day. He felt that he had to take the risk before his parents moved too far from where he had spotted them.

  It was in the lower valley that was the most stressful. Thorik was able to move quickly, but the trees had obstructed his view and he could only guess as to his parent’s location.

  Leaping from boulder to fallen tree over streams and crevasses, Thorik gave everything he could to racing up the far valley hillside, reaching the tree line on the opposite side sooner than he had assumed. Once there, he struggled to breathe as he spun around looking for his parents.

  It was already starting to get dark again and the rains had once again returned. The ground was so saturated that any new rain simply ran down the sides of the valley, causing trees to uproot and loose rock outcroppings to give way. The land itself was now simply dangerous to be on and there was nowhere to be surefooted.

  The ground began to shift under his feet and he could feel the vibration of each tremor below him. The challenge, however, was from above him as a mudslide rolled down the valley’s walls toward him.

  His instincts clicked in and before he even realized what he was doing he was in a race for his life back down the hill through the trees toward the nearest stream. The sounds of trees snapping and falling behind him added adrenaline, but his muscles had been taxed to their limits and he couldn’t move any faster.

  Reaching the stream’s wide wash area, Thorik raced back over the stones he had used when crossing the first time. As he leaped from the final stone the mudslide slapped against the ledge bordering the wash basin of the stream and sprayed the youth with muddy water before turning and flowing down the open wash area.

  Trees and boulders continued to tumble into the stream along with what appeared to be his mother’s cloak clinging to a large limb. It wasn’t long before the thick mud eventually slowed to a crawl along the streams sides as the minor landslide lost momentum, leaving the flowing water to carve a path down the middle of the mud-caked area.

  Thick as paste, the once small stream in a large river wash was now a wide slow moving muddy mess filled with everything in its path.

  “Mum?” Thorik jogged along the far side of the bank to keep up with her cloak, hoping to find her nearby. He soon found some additional gear floating on the surface and other items stuck in trees, but his parents were not to be seen. “Mum! Father! Are you there?”

  He continued to yell until he heard a distant cry for help. Listening closely, he traced it to an area filled thick with branches. Assuming it was her, he jumped into the dense muddy streambed and pulled himself over to where he had heard the noise. Once there, he removed several limbs before finding his mother unconscious. “Mum!”

  With the rain increasing and working against him, he yanked limbs and stones away in a nearly futile effort to pull her body free. “Mum! Wake up! You have to help! I can’t do this on my own.”

  Slowly opening her eyes, she immediately knew she was trapped. “Save yourself, Thorik,” she said while pulling herself awake. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

  Lightning snapped across the valley and thunder echoed against the stone walls as additional rain softened the muddy river, causing it to start moving quicker again. Trees underneath the surface locked against boulders and launched themselves up into the air. Limbs began to fling back and for as though they came alive while others became lodged into place and created dams for floating debris.

  The softening of the mud did allow Thorik to pull his mother free, as he held onto her with one hand while he clung to one of the embedded trees with his other hand.

  The flowing mud pulled at their bodies as he struggled to retain his grip on the tree. His fingers burned as he held on for not only his life, but that of his mothers.

  A crash of lighting and thunder occurred at the same time, setting a nearby tree on fire. Rain increased and the river began to flow faster. Everything seemed to be working against Thorik until he felt a sudden push back upstream toward the tree by his mother. She had been given the gift of a momentary support of a newly lodged branch under the surface. But it came at a price as her hand slipped away from her sons. “I will always love you,” she shouted before being swallowed by the muddy river.

  Thorik screamed in horror as the rain pounded upon his body. Clutching the tree, he tried to wish it all away as though it was a bad dream. The vision of her washing away would be engrained in his mind to the end of his days, which could very well be in the next few minutes as another branch slapped him in the face.

  “Grab it!”

  Thorik looked around for the origin of the voice, hoping desperately that it was his father, only to find Brimmelle standing along the shoreline holding a limb out for Thorik to grab.

  “Hurry up!” Reaching out as far as he could, his uncle prodded the boy in order to wake him from his own fear. “You’re lucky Gluic told me you’d be here in trouble!”

  Struggling to let even one finger soften its grip, his muscles stayed locked into position even as his mind wanted to grab the branch to safety. “If I grab it, I’ll end up pulling you in as well!”

  “Thorik Dain, you do as I say! Grab this branch right now!”

  Somehow the direct order from his uncle caused enough of its own fear that it released him from the terror of the mudslide. As one hand freed itself to grab the branch to safety, a loud thunderclap shook the valley and triggered an even larger mudslide as a massive layer of the valley wall dislodged and began roaring down toward them, collecting everything in its path.

  Brimmelle stepped back from the ledge and fought his instinct to run for safety from the horrific sight. His internal struggle of fear inadvertently caused him to pull the branch away from his nephew.

  Thorik’s free hand reached out and missed the branch as it was pulled away from him. It was like some bad hoax to tease the boy, leaving him dangling in the waterway clinging by one hand as new branches and bushes and even rocks slapped up against him from the surging mud flow.

  His uncle’s eyes darted back and
forth from the mountainside barreled down at them to Thorik and then downstream. He stood frozen with his own fear as lightening raced overhead in a spectacular display of power.

  “Uncle Brimmelle!” Thorik screamed as loud as he could to catch the Num’s attention. “Fir Brimmelle!”

  Snapping out of it, his uncle braced himself the best he could along the ledge and reached forward with the branch.

  Thorik fought against the stream’s current to turn his body enough to reach out once again for the branch. He was exhausted and this would be his last attempt possible. It was then that the tree he had been holding onto snapped into pieces from the flood’s pressure.

  Pushing past the point of safety, Brimmelle leaned out further just in time to allow Thorik’s free hand to grab the branch.

  Being dragged by the mudslide’s flow, Thorik hung on as Brimmelle attempted to stay in place, allowing the end of the branch to make an arc to the shore downstream. Once there, Thorik quickly grabbed at the ledge of the wash and pulled himself to safety.

  However, safety was only temporary. The larger mudslide was nearly on top of them and it would easily blow over the top of the existing river wash and onto the other side where they now stood. Massive trees snapped from their roots as the twenty foot wave of debris slammed through the forest, devouring all in its path.

  Grabbing Thorik by the shirt, Brimmelle began to race up the opposite hill to avoid certain death. The ground was slick and it wasn’t more than a few steps into the woods when he slipped, tossing Thorik forward to the ground. His eyes darted back to the mudslide and stream once again in a trance like state. He had never felt such terror.

  Thorik returned and shook his uncle out of his daze. “Uncle! We have to keep running!” Helping his uncle to his feet the two moved up the far hillside as quickly as their bodies would allow.

  The valley continued to rumble as the massive wall of rocks and mud consumed the landscape. Rolling into and over the stream, it sloshed its way across to the other side and attempted to continue up the opposite hill. Fortunately the river depleted enough of the energy to prevent it catching up to the Nums, who had fallen to their knees, out of breath and strength.

  Exhausted, Thorik and Brimmelle watched the events unfold from their new vantage point up the hill. It somehow didn’t seem true and yet it was all too real to handle. Mesmerized by the sight, they sat there and watched as the rain eventually lightened up, the storm moved on to the next valley, and the mud thickened and stopped flowing.

  Downstream a bit, the mud had washed out onto open flat grasslands, causing the boulders and trees to stick out of the now thin layer of drying mud. It was a wide swath of land coated with debris from everything the mudslide had swallowed in its path.

  “We have to find my parents,” Thorik said softly to his uncle, who was in no shape to argue about anything.

  It would be an undertaking that lasted days before they found his parent’s bodies. Su’I Sorat, however, was never found. Few comments were spoken by Thorik, while his uncle never uttered a word. Greif and anger had consumed the elder Num. Thorik on the other hand felt completely alone.

  Pulling their bodies out of the muddy open area, his parents were placed side by side as Brimmelle and Thorik dug a single large grave for the two of them to spend the afterlife together, holding hands for eternity. After the holes had been dug, Thorik took a few moments with each of his parents as Brimmelle struggled to make eye contact with him.

  Wrapped around the body of Thorik’s father was a satchel that contained an old beaten up sealed metal box. Upon searching inside it, Thorik found a sack with a note on it saying, ‘Happiest of birthday wishes, my son. You are special, just like these stones.’ It was a card that his father had filled out before leaving on his journey in hopes to finally give his son a unique birthday gift. A slight tearful smile crossed Thorik’s face as he recalled how often his parents told him how special he was. Opening the sack he found several old hexagonal Runestones with gems embedded into them.

  “They had found the treasure and were on their way back.” Thorik stared at the note in his father’s hand writing. “He always said that one of these days he would give me something unique. I just never figured it would be at such a high costs.”

  Turning toward his mother, his lips thinned and began to tremble. “You sacrificed yourself to save me, Mum. I’m sorry I wasn’t here soon enough. I tried, but I failed. I hope you’ll forgive me.” Placing his hand into hers, he rocked back and forth for a bit. “I wish we could dance again. I should have spent more time with you when I had the opportunity. What I wouldn’t give for just one more moment to tell you that I love you, Mum.” Breaking down, he collapsed onto his mother and cried until his stomach and chest muscles hurt too much to continue. He had nothing else to give. He was depleted.

  The long silence was eventually broken as Thorik wiped his eyes and nodded to Brimmelle to help move them into their final resting place. Once in the shallow graves, the young Num had his final words to them. “I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have you until it was too late. I took for granted you would always be around to bring a smile on my face when I felt sad, or to encourage me to try again when I had failed at a task. Your efforts to teach me morals through your actions instead of your words were overlooked until today. But I pledge this to you, my parents; I will not let you down again. I will never take for granted the opportunity I get with anyone that comes into my life. I will do the right thing whenever possible and as often as possible. I will make you proud of me, I promise this to you both.”

  Brimmelle kept his eyes from the boy’s view as tears ran down his face.

  “Thank you,” Thorik continued. “Thank you for giving me what you had. Not wealth or power, but love, trust, and respect. You have given me more than any son could ever ask for.” Wiping his own tears once again, he straightened up and pulled his shoulders back. “May you find each other in the afterlife.”