With the apes’ attention firmly on their leader, Kerri ran around the far edge of the circling cloud unseen and past the ranks of apes screaming for blood and the imminent feasting on Casey’s body. Coming from the left, she leapt at Casey’s tormentor, swinging her massive paw, striking the side of His head moments before barreling into Him, knocking Him to the ground. Shocked by the unseen attack, his treasure slipped from His grasp, the rod and crystal rolled across the ground. The circling winds immediately slowed down as the crystal fell from His hands.
Kerri rolled to her feet. In a moment of confusion, she looked from the crystal, then at Him. The sight of His face held her rooted to the spot in horror. She couldn’t believe anyone could look that way and still be alive. His face was, by now, more skull than living tissue.
Then she felt it. A tingling in her head, like a hand searching for a way into her mind. Fear gripped her.
The amulet! she thought.
‘My God, be with me. My Guardian Angel, protect me from what I cannot see.
God be with me. Guardian Angel…please protect me…’
As the tingling continued on her forehead, she spoke the words faster, concentrating harder, almost screaming the chant in her mind, over and over, afraid to stop and afraid that He’d find a way into her head.
Fear held her frozen while all around, chaos erupted. An ape grabbed her, but the touch spurred her into action. Kicking out, she freed herself from the grip but felt a mass of fur ripped from her back. Time seemed to stand still with her indecision.
She saw Casey suffering the agony of his attack—the man who’d taken care of her, loved and supported her, now lay crawling in the dirt. She guessed her clan must be waiting outside the wall of circling winds without any idea they were about to be overrun by so many apes. They had to be warned. But then she saw the rod and crystal lying on the ground. She knew it was the key.
Her world moved in slow motion. With a voice that didn’t feel like it belonged to her, she screamed to Casey, “Get out of here and warn the others!”
She saw the apes charging at her, reaching for her, their stink overpowering her senses. And she saw Him, scrambling over the ground on hands and knees, trying to reach the crystal.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a mass of white fur fly through the air, flatten Him, and pin Him to the ground.
“Get it, Kerri! Get the crystal and run!” Vin shouted at her, spurring her into action.
The apes couldn’t seem to decide whether to protect their Master, go after the crystal, or help their Alpha leader. It was enough of a delay to give her a chance to move. In two bounds, she grabbed the rod and crystal in her mouth and ran.
“Casey!” Kerri screamed, racing towards him. He turned at his name being shouted, and staggered to his feet, still holding his head. Regaining his focus, he instinctively knew the charging wolf was Kerri. She dropped the rod at his feet.
“Get rid of it,” she urged. “I gotta help Vin.”
She turned back towards the melee but felt Casey grab her tail.
“You take that crystal to Lulu. She’s there,” he said, pointing. “I’ll help, Vin.”
“No, you’ll…”
“Kerri! Take it and go. Now!”
It was the voice he used during their countless hours of combat training. A voice that said, ‘Do it, without argument!’
She picked up the rod in her jaws and ran towards the cloud wall. She leapt into the howling winds and was momentarily blinded by the dust. She emerged on the far side of the storm, unsteady on her feet and disorientated by the circling winds.
She felt snow beneath her feet, and her senses returned. Looking back, she saw the column of wind and cloud was slowing down and starting to collapse in on itself. The lifted snow and dust began falling in a boiling, expanding cloud, rushing outwards.
Inside the protected bubble within the eye of the storm, the Alpha ape saw Kerri grab the crystal and escape into the wall of the storm. A wave of hatred came over him. At that moment, everything within his world became meaningless: He saw Casey getting to his feet. He saw Vin being attacked by the other apes. He saw his Master and tormentor scrambling to His feet.
But seeing the crystal being stolen caused his anger to explode, which blocked out all other thoughts. It was his crystal. He was the one who had rescued it. He’d been touched by it—he’d felt its warmth in his hands, felt its power surge through his body, and felt its possibilities in his mind. He would hold terrifying power when he had it in his own hands. Never again would he have to suffer the torment and humiliation of Him. It was his place to rule and conquer. He’d seen the future, and it was his.
Ignoring the shouts of command from his Lord and Master, the Alpha ape let out a bellow that shook the air around them. All fighting stopped as the apes looked up to their leader.
He charged after Kerri, and the others followed blindly, their hearts burning with hate, screaming and snarling as they left the protection of the storm. They knocked down and trampled over Casey in their rush to follow their leader.
“Kerri!” Turning, she saw a wolf leaping through the snow toward her.
“Lu?” She recognized the voice and her scent, even though it had been such a long time since she’d seen her friend as a wolf. Lulu rushed to greet her.
“Thank God, you’re alive. When I couldn’t call you, I thought something dreadful had happened.”
‘Lu, we are about to be attacked. You’ve got to take the crystal. Get it away from here and out of their reach.”
“But where’s Carter?”
“Carter’s gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?” Lulu asked.
Kerri took a deep breath but couldn’t bring herself to say the words aloud. She shook her head, “There’s no time, Lu, you’ve got to take it quick. I’m going back to help Casey and Vin; they’re still inside that storm.”
“Tell me what’s happened,” Lulu said.
“He’s come to take revenge on your Mom. You gotta warn Salli and get that crystal back to the bears. They’ll know what to do with it. We’ll try to stop them here for as long as we can. Now go!”
Lulu looked around, unsure what to do. My place is here, helping the clan. But the crystal is the key to everything. Mom will know what to do with it.
Lulu made her decision. She picked up the rod holding the crystal and ran for the mouth of the pass and the trail down the mountain.
Kerri turned to her clan and was momentarily shocked by how many young faces looked up to her for guidance. Fear gripped her, and she suddenly knew they would not hold this line.
“The apes are coming. Make two defense line positions. NOW!” she shouted.
Without question or hesitation, the clan grabbed their staffs and rushed forwards to form up into lines. Their endless training meant they could have moved to their positions in pitch darkness or with their eyes closed.
“I’m going back to help…”
But before she could finish, someone shouted, “On Guard!”
She heard the warning call and spun around. As the collapsing cloud of dust and snow rolled toward them, she saw the shape of the Alpha ape emerge, followed by line after line of screaming apes.