The morning sun rose through a thin stripe of clear sky that lay between the horizon and the cloud covering their world.
Kerri was shocked by the sight of the storm. The rising sun illuminated the clouds from below, bathing them in shades of red and violet. A spiraling column rose upward to the heavens, then spread outward to cover the sky above their heads in a rolling, circling maelstrom of icy winds and snow. Thunder and lightning crackled and boomed across the sky. She felt as if the roof of the storm was pressing down on her head.
“This is His doing,” Kerri said. “It has to be.”
“We’ll never get around it,” Vin said.
She looked up at him and saw fear in his eyes. “It’s okay, Vin. They are my people on the other side of that storm. I’ll go.”
“It’ll be my people next. We’re in this together,” Vin said.
She saw his brow was wrinkled and furrowed, and his shoulders slumped. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“I want that crystal back,” he said.
“Grab my tail, and don’t you dare let go,” she told him.
“I got you,” he said, holding onto her long, bushy tail with both hands.
Bowing her head and scrunching her neck, she led the way blindly into the wall of the storm. The winds hit them like an avalanche, knocking her over. She felt Vin jerk her tail hard to stop her from flying off. She tumbled over the rock-strewn floor of the pass, but Vin held her tight, dragging her back onto her feet. Leaning into the winds, it took all her strength to move the next paw forward. She felt herself sliding backward, her claws unable to grip against the forces battering them. But Vin’s weight was behind her, stopping her slide.
Step after slow step, the effort was draining her reserves of strength. The icy blasts cut her to the bone. She pushed on, forcing her legs to move. Another step, and it felt like the ice was ripping the fur from her back. Her eyes were slits, barely open. She was locked in her own world of unbearable pain. She could see nothing and heard only the roaring, howling winds. She tried to hold her breath to stop the dust and snow from forcing its way into her nose and mouth. She felt another push from Vin, then the wind in her face was gone.
She fell headfirst amongst the cold grey rocks, dragging Vin down on top of her. Gasping for clean air, she squirmed her way out from under him. Opening her eyes, she saw the storm had swept this part of the mountain pass free of snow. The clouds spun in a revolving circle around them, but within it rose a tower of clear, warm air in the middle. She lay for a moment, unable to take in what she was seeing. Then her senses cleared, and she was hit by a stench so strong, she felt she was chewing on it. In the center of the circulating mass stood rank after rank of apes, all looking forward, hopping and jumping, snarling and roaring in their excitement. They’d passed unseen through the wall of the storm.
“Stay down, Vin, and keep quiet,” she whispered.
Vin rolled onto his belly. A lump formed in his throat, and there was a rumbling of bile in his stomach that threatened to escape. Craning his neck, he could see the apes staring at a battle going on between the Alpha ape and a man. Rubbing the dust from his eyes, he saw Casey.
Casey stood within the eye of the storm with a staff in each hand. Through the gloom, he saw something move. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he made out the shape of an ape, except it was the biggest creature he’d ever had the misfortune to see.
The Alpha stared at him with blazing red eyes. It shook itself, and a cloud of gray dust rose from its fur. It raised its fist into the air, and silence fell over the land. As the dust settled, Casey made out rank upon rank of salivating apes behind the Alpha. They stood and stared at him.
The column of cloud and wind circled them but no longer moved forward. The world seemed to be watching and waiting. Casey’s brain sent an urgent message for oxygen; he hadn’t realized he was holding his breath. He quickly took great gasps of air.
In the low light, Casey saw the ape moving. It took a moment to realize the ape was charging straight at him.
He dropped his right leg back, spread his feet wider to settle his balance, and raised one staff into his defensive position. The ape came bounding on, its eyes burning with hate. Casey felt each thump of its footfall vibrate through the ground.
He held his right arm behind his back to hide the staff. The other, he held out in front, moving the staff from side to side, hoping to distract the ape. When the Alpha was within three strides of him, Casey swung his left staff in a wide arc. The ape fell for the ruse.
As the ape turned to block the left strike, Casey swung his right arm around. The ape never saw it coming. A loud crack! echoed through the still air, but the ape didn’t blink. The staff simply bounced off its head. Casey stepped back, bringing his two staffs together at the same time, hitting the ape below both ears. The ape simply shook its head, then grabbed one of Casey’s staffs and ripped it from his hands. Putting the wood across its knee, it snapped the staff in half, throwing the pieces away in disgust. Casey jabbed to its throat then stomach, but neither had any impact.
The ape charged again, using its forearm to ward off another blow from Casey. It rammed its shoulder into him, knocking him to the ground. The ranks of apes lined up behind went wild with excitement, screaming and howling, hopping from one leg to the other, eager to get involved in the violence. The ape reached down, grabbed Casey by the hair, lifted him back onto his feet, then hooked its arm around Casey’s throat and squeezed.
Casey felt his eyes start to bulge as his brain screamed for air. Holding his staff in two hands, he reached behind, hooking it around the back of the ape’s neck, then leaning forward, he dropped to his knees. He pulled the ape off balance and over his shoulder in a somersault. The ape crashed to the ground on its back.
Screams and howls of rage erupted from the other apes. Casey swung his staff down, aiming for the weak point between the ape’s legs, but it rolled to the side at the last moment. His staff struck the ground. The ape jumped to its feet, but Casey was already swinging a wide arc towards its head. He hit the ape between the eyes. This time the ape dropped back to its knees. A silence fell over the ranks, seeing their leader on the ground. The ape shook its head as if trying to clear its vision.
One ape broke ranks with a scream of anger and ran to the Alpha’s assistance. Others followed in a frenzied charge. Casey saw the movement from the corner of his eye and turned as an ape leaped at him.
The ground shook as His voice, full of menace and anger, boomed through the air. “No!” He commanded.
The leaping ape was stopped in mid-air by an unseen force that threw it aside. The ape tumbled across the rock-strewn ground, then lay gasping for breath as if the air had been dragged from its lungs. The other apes held their charge, fear replacing their rage.
Casey looked around, confused at what had happened. Then he saw the figure at the head of the ranks of apes. He held a rod with a radiating light at its top. His other hand was pointed straight at Casey.
A tingling sensation started in Casey’s head, like an itch inside his skull that needed to be scratched. The itch became a pressure behind his eyes that felt like they were being pushed out of his skull. Then the full force hit him. A thunderclap went off inside his mind, pain like he’d never experienced before. Casey was unable to stifle a scream of agony as the pain ripped through his brain.
“Where is she?” The words exploded in his head. Casey fell to his knees, holding his hands against his tightly closed eyes, trying to stop his eyeballs from popping out.
“Where IS she?” Casey gasped for air but shook his head. He knew who the evil one wanted but was determined not to give in.
He thought the pain couldn’t get any worse until the next blast hit him. His ears seemed to blow outward: a flash of light, brighter than the sun, went off behind his eyes. He felt like a hole had been drilled through his forehead. He screamed again and fell writhing on the ground.
“This is your last chance to tell me—Where is she?” The calmness of His voice was more frightening than His anger. It seemed to imply far worse pain was to come.
Casey lay on the ground, trying to fight against the thunder and lightning that felt like it was ripping his head open. In a final gesture of resistance, Casey rose to his knees and turned toward his tormentor, then spat on the ground in defiance. He felt a moment’s pleasure watching His face turn livid.
Casey recognized His look of contempt, watched Him close His fist, then draw back His arm. It’s the death blow, Casey thought.
Casey closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate but knowing that he’d bought the clan time, and he’d not given in.