by Tom Hunter
As if reading his thoughts, Abby admitted, “It was as much for me as him.” She moved toward Mochni and put a hand on his shoulder but said nothing. “Lt. Whipkey was a great teacher. He told me many stories and legends of the Woidnuk people and the Kisgar. He was a gracious host.” Abby stopped herself and laughed.
“A host!” she exclaimed. “Well, that is rich. More like a Yoda to our Jedi knights,” she explained and at Robbie’s incredulous look exclaimed. “How old do you think I am? I saw Star Wars, too, ya know.”
Smiling ruefully, she added, “He was a new friend. And now another senseless loss.”
“I hardly knew him,” Pediah said quietly. “But, I agree with Abby. There was no reason for him or Mochni’s mother to perish.” Walking up to Mochni, Pediah held out his hand. Mochni looked at it for a long minute, then extended his as well. As the two shook hands, Pediah said slowly and softly. “I am sorry, Mochni. I am sorry your parents are gone. We are sad, too.”
A long sigh of resignation escaped the boy’s lips as he remarked, “My fah-ter want me learn. I want to learn. For fah-ter.”
Robbie looked down at his shoes and offered a small smile. Abby had this way about her, he knew. Her kindness so strong, you’d do anything for her, including swallow your own pride and pain to make her happy. Looking up at Mochni he offered a silent thank you and, in an out of character move, clasped his hands together briefly as if in prayer.
He felt a rush of pride as he realized he didn’t care who saw it and that there was now someone else as attuned to Abby’s needs as he was. Mochni had now cemented himself as a kindred spirit, brother-in-arms, in Robbie’s eyes.
Robbie’s quiet contemplation, and the low voices of others was shattered, when the low rumbling they’d heard throughout the tunnels gathered steam. Like waves on water, the earth had been gently rocking their small team as if they maneuvered on the deck of a ship. It had given them no warning. In a false sense of balance, the earth suddenly shook them to their knees and undulated beneath their feet violently.
But, it wasn’t only the four of them it had its sights set on. Parts of one wall which had once seemed to hem them in suddenly dissipated. What they once thought hard packed sand and dirt made strong with millenia of pressure had cracked, crumbled, and fallen into rubble, creating a new land bridge of sorts.
Pediah wondered with a start if this was how all the land bridges throughout the caves had been formed, his archeological mind at work. He mentally took notes to suggest the same to Thomas later. Then, out of his eye, he caught a flash of clothing rolling toward the edge. The rumblings and the undulating hadn’t stopped…it was Abby!
Before he could react, Robbie and Mochni had flown to her side as one. The two young men caught her up in their arms. Robbie held her fast while Mochni glanced over the ledge one last time.
“Sh!” Mochni put his finger to his lips and motioned to Robbie to turn off his headlamp. In the same instant, he motioned for darkness and waved for the team to follow him. He’d seen something in the newly created chasm. His heightened sense of sight was inestimable in the now pitch darkness of the cave.
Mochni’s sense of hearing was also heightened, he realized no footsteps followed in his wake. He turned his head to see what the matter was and found the three of them rooted where he’d left them. Confused, at first, he continued motioning to them to follow him, his signals getting more aggressive as he strained to get the message across. Then, it hit him suddenly. He was used to the darkness. They weren’t. He’d told Robbie to kill his light, leaving them blind.
Shaking his head, he turned back and grabbed Abby’s hand. Abby, standing back up, tossed something to Robbie and Pediah. Both men, taken completely off guard in the dark, fumbled as they tried not to drop the objects. Each had a small pair of what felt like glasses or goggles for swimming, but when they put them on, they gasped. Where had Abby been hiding night vision goggles?
Now, ready to follow Mochni, they weren’t far into the hidden cave he’d seen when they heard a screech and a deafening rumble of falling rocks. Thanks to their goggles, they could see the spectacle of a Kisgar breaking through a wall. Three of them stifled a gasp. Mochni was silent. This was what he thought he’d seen.
The four of them watched the Kisgar as it sniffed the air and licked its lips. The creature looked familiar. Was it one of the ones they’d ridden topside, then learned how to control on the way back into Mochni’s village? If that was the case, Pediah thought, then maybe they could tame it.
A chill wound its way up Robbie’s spine. He leaned close to Mochni and whispered. “Can they track us by smell?”
Mochni didn’t answer. Instead, he put his finger to his lips, took a deep breath, and held it. He motioned for Robbie and the others to do the same.
Pediah had spent his entire childhood around beasts of burden and had never seen this particular tactic used. But, he followed suit in the hopes Mochni knew what he was doing.
Abby had been around long enough and seen enough strange things in her lifetime, she chose to err on the side of trust. She knew in her heart that Mochni wouldn’t steer them wrong
Robbie watched as each of them silently made their choice, guessing at their rationale. He hadn’t spent time around beasts of burden like Pediah, and he hadn’t been immersed in the archeological world, but he trusted them both. Though he was more of a small animal man – cats, dogs, hamsters, and such – he was pretty sure holding your breath was not the usual answer to hiding your scent. But, he reasoned, he’d seen things in the last few weeks, he’d never imagined were possible. Somewhere between the spirit of safety and solidarity, Robbie held his breath, too, and waited.
He was glad for his choice when the creature who had been sniffing and licking the air in search of them moved closer to their hiding place. Mochni once more placed his finger to his lips reminding everyone to be quiet, then lowered his hand and motioned everyone to back up slowly. As they watched the Kisgar advance, they followed his direction without question and moved back as one.
Barely hidden behind a formation of rock which stood sentry to the opening, the Kisgar grew nearer, its breath hot over them. Robbie had a sense suddenly of how the stories of dragons had come to be. Perhaps they weren’t the first to come across Kisgar after all.
The Kisgar’s breath was hot, and smelled of something he couldn’t put his finger on. Sulfur, maybe? Rotten eggs? He shook his head still trying to place the smell, when the Kisgar’s head came so close to their hiding place, it nearly filled the small opening. It howled, with a wrenching, hollow wail.
Robbie wasn’t sure about the others, but every hair on his body stood on end as he fought the urge to scream. Holding his breath was only caveat to an intense desire to turn and run. He caught a quick glance of Pediah and Abby’s eyes, both filled with fear, and wondered if Mochni had chosen poorly in his decision to have them follow him toward this creature. In his despair, had he led them now to their doom?
Twenty-Eight
Thomas Knight’s plan to follow the tracks he remembered had been obliterated. There were no tracks to follow. It was if someone had come and swiped their feet across them to clear any path forward. It made every hair on his body stand on end. The air smelled of death and its silence only echoed his fears.
Instead, he’d had to rely on his directional sense and his memory of the turns and curves they’d first traveled. They’d had an entourage of tour guides, weapons drawn. As he walked and remembered, he heard a slight scraping sound. It was one he’d heard many times before. Thankfully, whatever was in the walls wasn’t interested in coming out. Yet.
As the thoughts and fears swirled in his mind, he slowly reached for his gun. The weight of it in his hand didn’t make him feel better, but it helped to keep the shadows of his psyche at bay. The light of his headlamp illuminated the passage before him, and he was strangely relieved to see the ledge from which Mochni had first jumped leading them toward the village.
Sounds pricked
his ears. He worried that he didn’t hear voices, then recalled the Woidnuk were a stealthy civilization and imagine they were quietly guessing how long it would take him to find them. It would be just like Lt. Whipkey, with a sly smile creeping across his face in the wake of his fears.
At every sound, he looked over his shoulder and hesitated. Then, with a brisk shake of his head would chastise himself. You are not Shaggy in the Scooby Doo cartoons. Pull it together, man!
From muscle memory, he’d cocked the gun, safety off, ready for what or who may come. He knew from experience a gun against a Kisgar was a losing battle, but reasoned it was all he had.
Thomas wished he’d asked one of the guards or Dr. Cunningham to accompany him. Or, better yet, Pediah.
The deafening silence grated on Thomas as he neared the village. He walked slower and with more purpose, snaking the gun around any corner so as not to be surprised. Had he sent them all to their deaths? He prayed it wasn’t true.
Thomas Knight wasn’t much of a praying man, but sometimes, he figured, just a little wouldn’t hurt – him or those he loved. He pictured them now. Abby’s fierce determination to find the good in everyone and everything. The ultimate mother hen personality. Pediah’s assured confidence having found his calling in spelunking and his own archeological and academic works in the field. And Robbie, a young, cocksure near adolescent who, when the time called for it, found the hero within.
“I don’t care what it costs me,” he muttered to himself in the shadows. “I don’t care what I have to do to get them back. It will be done.”
Something caught Thomas’ eye, and he turned suddenly. But, the lights of his headlamp and flashlight hadn’t caught it. Only a feeling, the rising hairs on the back of his neck, led him to fathom a guess as to what he’d seen.
Thomas stifled a cough, as the subterranean dust invaded his lungs. A silhouette appeared on the stones. It was that of a Kisgar. He realized with a start the scraping he’d tucked neatly in the back of his mind had been getting nearer. Either they were following him, or he had come upon them. He wasn’t sure, nor did he much care.
Thomas ducked for cover behind a stalagmite. From his vantage point, he could observe while he searched for a way out. He had to get to the village, but the only way he knew in or out was now blocked by a Kisgar.
Debating his options with himself, Thomas was startled to hear Robbie’s voice. It had been a quiet voice, an echo really. As he tried to recall what Robbie had said, he realized it was some sort of question. To Mochni, perhaps? Thomas guessed. Something about a Kisgar following scent.
Scent?! Alarm bells sounded in Thomas Knight’s mind as he realized two things. He’d found the team, but if Kisgar found people by smell, then they would soon find him. How do you hide your scent from a Kisgar?
Whatever he’d done had made the Kisgar’s scraping sounds stop. Thomas racked his brain, trying to work out what he’d done and if he could do it again. At the same time, the knowledge he’d found the team or at least Robbie and Mochni for sure, made him wonder how he’d make himself known to them. He looked around him and almost laughed. “You are quite literally caught between a rock and hard place,” he muttered.
His heart raced as he tried to figure out what to do. When the creature’s digging and scraping at the wall became more intense, his heart thumped all the harder beating in his ears like a drum. He wasn’t one for visions, but suddenly had an image flash in front of him. It was that of an hourglass turned over with the sands raining downward. Time was running out.
He had to do something. Right now. The weight of the gun in his hand felt like lead, but it served as a reminder that he had a weapon. Something to distract the Kisgar and draw its attention away from the rest of the team. It was the only way he could do both.
Slowly, he raised himself up from behind his small fortress of stalagmites. Then, stepping in front of it, he swallowed his fear, and sent a little prayer to whichever gods happened to be listening. I’m not particular. Just do your job.
The Kisgar’s nose was still wrinkled, its tongue flicking across its mouth. Thomas was surprised to see it was one of the one’s they’d ridden out of the caves. But, it looked decidedly different. In a rush, all his senses came flooding back, and the terrors wrought in the village were understood on a primal level.
For a brief interval, Thomas Knight waited. Then, when the Kisgar turned toward him, its eyes wide still with battle fury, he pulled the trigger.
The report of the bullet echoed and reverberated in the cavernous chamber. It had the Kisgar’s attention. Finding its target, the bullet only scraped at the creature’s thick scaly skin. It must have been something like a bee sting to the beast, Thomas surmised, as he watched the creature dance and stomp wildly searching for the bullet’s source.
For a moment, the two stared at each other neither making a sound. Then, the Kisgar opened its mouth and let loose a shrill cry. Not unlike the war cry of a Native American tribe, Thomas thought detachedly, as the creature leapt for him.
Twenty-Nine
“Robbie!” Thomas bellowed hoping his raspy voice would carry. “Get everyone out of here. Fast as you can! Is everyone with you?” Thomas ducked, to avoid the creature’s great claws. “Pediah, you and Robbie get the others to safety. There’s a…an outcropping with a natural wall” – more dodging – “just the other side of…” He hoped Robbie and Pediah could follow his non-existent directions. Pediah had a sort of sixth sense about these things, and Robbie had picked up some things on his own adventures. He had no doubt they could take care of themselves and anyone with them.
“Me, on the other hand,” he mumbled as he dodged the Kisgar’s wild swings, its great swipes like a gust of wind across his face. “I’m doomed, I think.” Then, silently, he added. But, as long as everyone else gets out safe, this will be worth it. They’ll know what to do with the artifacts when I’m gone.
As he dodged the Kisgar’s swings, Thomas thought of an old story. In it, a predator didn’t fight directly. It exhausted its prey, then struck. He knew how that creature felt. He was drenched in sweat, dirty, and dusty. His clothes were like a second skin, and the gun began slipping from his clammy grasp. He quickly wiped a hand on his shirt, already shredded from being caught against rocks, and adjusted his grip. He reminded himself guns can’t kill the creature. “You tried this once already, idiot. Remember?” he admonished himself, out loud. “It almost didn’t work out so well, and you had a full team at your disposal. Anyone who could have helped you now, you just sent away. Where the hell is your mind these days, man?” He knew he must sound crazy talking to himself out loud, but he didn’t care. He needed a sounding board and he was all he had.
Rather than taking aim directly at the creature, Thomas instead used it as a distraction. He shot over its head and around its wide girth. He let the report of bullets fly in quick succession above his own head, praying one didn’t ricochet into him. Agitated and distressed, the Kisgar swiped randomly.
Regaining its bearings, the creature lunged toward him. Thomas leapt out of the way. The Kisgar’s footsteps caused the earth to buckle. Thomas spiraled toward the edge of the chasm.
He grabbed hold of one of the stalagmites for support, as he struggled to regain his balance. One arm snaked around the rock, the other still holding the gun, he looked up to make sure Robbie and the others had heard him. With Robbie in the lead, Mochni and Abby in the middle, he caught sight of Pediah’s bright suspenders.
Pediah glanced over his shoulder and saw Thomas clinging to a rock. For a moment, he was immobile. At a crossroads with himself, he debated staying to help Thomas or following Robbie to relative safety.
Thomas frowned when Pediah smiled at him. What the hell is he smiling about? Thomas wondered, frantic for him to get away. He waved for Pediah to go, and was surprised when Pediah shook his head no. Thomas’ brows were knitted tight in confusion.
He felt the hot breath and the reverberations of the creature’s footsteps as it gr
ew nearer once again braving the bullets. He hadn’t hit it again except for the first attempt and only scared it now with loud sounds. It was getting braver. More desperate. But, Thomas was getting desperate, too. He needed a plan and looked around, then glanced at Pediah wildly waving to get his attention. Stop that, man! He wanted to shout. Then, Thomas realized Pediah had seen something from his vantage point that was out of his view.
The ledge he nearly dangled from didn’t end at another ledge just below. This ledge was like the one they’d saved Ramon from. It went into an abyss. He nodded, at last, in understanding. Pediah gave him a thumbs up and turned to catch up to Robbie and the others.
The team had been walking slowly, so as to make as little noise as possible. Even Mochni had walked on tiptoe to keep his naturally weighted steps light. The report of the bullets Thomas had fired had covered up any sound they accidentally made.
As Pediah turned the corner and Thomas lost sight of him, he shouted at the Kisgar, “Hey! Over here!” The creature stopped for a moment and turned its head. PEE-OW! PEE-OW! PEE-OW! Thomas fired at will overhead, his hand wildly flailing, so as not to give the creature anything to lock onto. The sound must have been like nails on a chalkboard because first the creature cringed at the sound, not in fear, but in fury. It whipped its body around to face Thomas and lunged.
“Steady. Steady.” Thomas willed himself not to move as the creature leapt. It seemed more graceful in the air than on land. Or perhaps, Thomas rationalized, the moment was so surreal he understood in a flash how sailors could have mistaken seals for mermaids.
He could feel the heat of its body and breath as it grew closer then, using the support of the stalagmite, he swung himself away and rolled to safety. The Kisgar had misjudged and overshot its target, flying over the edge and into the abyss.
