Chapter 21
Harry found Godric and some other trainee warriors just finishing the butchering, reaching out he sensed Godric's mind was in a bad state of nausea and calmed his soul-brothers mind a bit. Godric looked up and sent him a feeling of gratitude.
What has you so excited? Harry quickly told him everything he had heard from the council. Harry that's called eavesdropping.
So? You were the one listening in on their last meeting! Where is Cleatris?
It's the ladies turn to use the bathhouse today. Are they going to announce this patrol tonight?
Yes.
I hope the pass is still unblocked- He was cut off as a slight tremor ran through the ground, everyone went still and silent, it passed and slowly everyone went back to work. Fifteen minutes later a bell sounded, calling the tribe to dinner.
That evening after everyone had finished eating the council stood up facing the tribe and told them of the possible giant quake.
"There's been huge quakes all over the world, so far we've only had little bits of those, according to the traders when we left the summer home every land but ours had had these quakes, now it may be our turn. The results of a major quake would be catastrophic. Tomorrow the 16s, Tiger, Snake, and Snow Shoe Hare will accompany them to find out if 1: the pass is still open, 2: if the mountains have undergone any changes due to the small quakes we've had, and 3: to check if Mt. Phoenix is showing signs of a coming eruption. Last time it erupted the quakes were so powerful they built most of this mountain range. All of you go and prepare, good luck, you'll leave at dawn tomorrow." The sixteens exited the hall with the three warriors in silence, this was no training patrol, it was the real thing. Mountains during an earthquake are very dangerous; rockslides, avalanches, and Mt. Phoenix's possible eruption could kill them all easily.
Before dawn all of them were up and packed. They had their horses saddled and ready. At first light the started off towards the pass.
They rode single file and in silence, scanning the terrain. They had packed light, only the essentials and nothing more. Everything they would need had been shrunk and put into saddlebags. There was no such thing as earthquake detection spells so they watched and monitored their horses for signs of a coming quake. They got to the valley rim around noon and continued on. So far the pass appeared to be open.
**
Two days later they had traveled through part of the pass and it was only about a half-day's ride to the base of Mt. Phoenix. They had ridden hard the whole way and everyone was tired. Harry, Godric, and Cleatris got the first watch. They chose three ledges all in a row, all facing a different way jutting out from the cliffs. It was near the end of their watch when suddenly a scream broke the quiet. Harry leaped to his feet and sensed Godric, ten feet away on his ledge, do the same. A few seconds later everyone had assembled.
"Where's Cleatris?" Godric asked as Harry joined them.
"She's not at her post, there's yeti prints on the ground and some blood." Harry replied.
"Break camp and split into groups of two, we'll search the surrounding hills, yeti aren't that fast." The Tiger said.
Harry and Godric rode back to where the prints were and began to track the yeti. The prints were fresh, but from the different sizes there was more than one yeti. They trailed them to where the yeti had split up, here the Snake, Relmar and Tanya went after one group, Harry and Godric followed the other.
The mountains were jagged and covered in sharp boulders and ice blocks. Little grew here, a few hardy bushes and shrubs, and lots of low vines. It was very pretty in the spring when everything bloomed and a little grass grew, but for the rest of the year it was cold and harsh. It was still three hours to dawn when Harry and Godric rounded a pile of ice-covered rocks to find Cleatris lying among some rocks and vines. She was unconscious and blood seeped from huge gashes on her left shoulder. Yeti claws were not long, but they were blunt and strong. The yeti that inhabited the mountains also had a few magical abilities, which they sometimes used to sharpen their claws. The two leaped off their horses and made sure Cleatris was still alive, she was. Harry pulled some bandages and medicines from a saddle bag and began to clean the wound while Godric kept watch.
Harry sat back, he'd doe the best he could, as he turned he saw a dark shaggy figure for a second before something hit him hard from behind. Harry rolled with the impact, biting his lip against the sudden pain in his back. Suddenly the area came alive with the huge dark furry shapes. He felt a tremor shake the ground. Harry jumped to his feet as another quake shook the earth. He turned, just in time to see Godric get struck by a yeti and fall, rolling down the mountainside until he came to rest against a boulder. Another yeti tossed Cleatris after him, Harry pulled out his sword and jumped to the center of the small level clearing, yeti hemmed him in, getting between him and his friends. Harry shouted and struck out, he fought his way to them and stood in front of them. They yeti regrouped and attacked, Harry sent a few spells flying at them before they were upon him. The first one fell roaring; his fur aflame, Harry took the second's head off and drenched the third with acid. A blasting spell knocked another into the air where he fell down quite a ways before impacting on the mountainside. Harry hurled a block of ice from his sword (which had his wand inside it, enabling him to use both at once) before driving his sword through another yeti's head. Suddenly the ground shook even more violently, the yeti ran, one of them with its fur still smoking. Godric struggled to his feet behind Harry. There was a great rumbling sound, and the creak and snap of ice breaking loose. Both of them turn to look up in horror, the huge sheet of ice near the mountain top had broken off and was falling down the mountain, driving a wave of rocks and ice before it. Harry levitated Cleatris up and they ran. The horses had already taken off in fright.
Down the winding trail, between boulders and blocks of ice and rock jutting up from the ground they ran. Behind them the avalanche came down, destroying everything in its path. They reached an open stretch of ground, the ground tilted up and over, a small hill, but high enough to stop the avalanche. They ran up it, at the top they could see the others, just on the other side, beckoning to them, Tanya held their horses reins in one hand. As they sprinted forwards the ground abruptly opened up before them as the earth rocked. A steep wall of rock rose up, on all the mountains around them Harry could see similar things happening. Their mountain suddenly began to rise, huge sections of it pushing out while others vanished down great rifts that appeared from nowhere. They were knocked off their feet and slammed down, behind them the avalanche had caught up, but them the ground behind them broke away and fell down. The mountain rose higher, the sides falling away in some places, bending out or rising with it in others. The spot where they had camped rose until it was level with them, then broke apart, some of it falling their way, showing them with rock and ice fragments, while the rest twisted out away from them in a tall straight pillar of rock that remain for a second, before falling into the side of the adjacent mountain, exploding off its sides and causing half of the mountain to break apart and fall away. On three sides Harry was shaken and sent rolling by a sudden rise in the center of the small ledge they were on, he stopped himself just inches from the edge. On three sides he could see open air, and the ground well over two hundred feet below. He turned and rolled back, behind them was the mountainside. They were on a tiny thin ledge, sticking out into the air. A sound like an explosion came and the side of the mountain to their left broke off and moved away until the mountain was split down the center, then the two sides smashed together again with the thunderous roar. Far off to the east the sun could be seen as on of the mountains collapsed into an abyss. Harry could see three dragons to the east rising skywards as their home shook apart. Smoke appeared, clouding the sky he looked west. Mt. Phoenix stood high, nearly twice as high as they were, and it was rising higher. Smoke poured from the top and was sprouting from a spot on its side. A huge cloud of ash rose above it and with a deafening blast the top thirty cubic meters or so blew off. Huge avalanches tumbled down it sides, Harry could see nearly a hundred phoenixes rising from their roosts on its sides which had always been kept warm geothermal. They tried to fly to safety, but the falling ash and debris smothered them. A few of the fastest made it away, but them the mountain to Harry's right exploded, the whole thing just blasted away, magma spurted out as the whole thing just dissolved in molten rock. Something hit Harry hard, he grabbed it, it was a phoenix, a very young one, covered in gray ash. Harry rolled back to his friends, Cleatris was awake and staring, Godric was lying beside her, he tried to speak but Harry could hear him.
Is that phoenix alive?
Yes. LOOK! Behind you! Harry pointed frantically, not far behind their mountain had been the grassy steppes and rolling hills that gave way to plains near the shore. Now those were being pushed up into mountains. A wave of rising earth came at them, the earth rose on the giant quake that came through the ground like a wave does through water. Behind it the ground dropped down to normal height. Now the wave was cresting, pushing the acres and acres of hills up into mountains and flinging them against the already existing ones. They could see a small heard of deer rise up on what once had been low hills and be flung against the mountain not far below them. In this same manner the Fire Lions who had been hunting them were thrown. The great cats, deer, and even, Harry had a fleeting look at a large fish that moments before had been swimming happily in its river, along with that river and tons of earth hit the four on the ledge. Harry heard the cats screaming with terror as they were thrown up against the mountain. Something hit him across the head and everything went black.
Oh no! Are they gonna die? Please review!
Harry found Godric and some other trainee warriors just finishing the butchering, reaching out he sensed Godric's mind was in a bad state of nausea and calmed his soul-brothers mind a bit. Godric looked up and sent him a feeling of gratitude.
What has you so excited? Harry quickly told him everything he had heard from the council. Harry that's called eavesdropping.
So? You were the one listening in on their last meeting! Where is Cleatris?
It's the ladies turn to use the bathhouse today. Are they going to announce this patrol tonight?
Yes.
I hope the pass is still unblocked- He was cut off as a slight tremor ran through the ground, everyone went still and silent, it passed and slowly everyone went back to work. Fifteen minutes later a bell sounded, calling the tribe to dinner.
That evening after everyone had finished eating the council stood up facing the tribe and told them of the possible giant quake.
"There's been huge quakes all over the world, so far we've only had little bits of those, according to the traders when we left the summer home every land but ours had had these quakes, now it may be our turn. The results of a major quake would be catastrophic. Tomorrow the 16s, Tiger, Snake, and Snow Shoe Hare will accompany them to find out if 1: the pass is still open, 2: if the mountains have undergone any changes due to the small quakes we've had, and 3: to check if Mt. Phoenix is showing signs of a coming eruption. Last time it erupted the quakes were so powerful they built most of this mountain range. All of you go and prepare, good luck, you'll leave at dawn tomorrow." The sixteens exited the hall with the three warriors in silence, this was no training patrol, it was the real thing. Mountains during an earthquake are very dangerous; rockslides, avalanches, and Mt. Phoenix's possible eruption could kill them all easily.
Before dawn all of them were up and packed. They had their horses saddled and ready. At first light the started off towards the pass.
They rode single file and in silence, scanning the terrain. They had packed light, only the essentials and nothing more. Everything they would need had been shrunk and put into saddlebags. There was no such thing as earthquake detection spells so they watched and monitored their horses for signs of a coming quake. They got to the valley rim around noon and continued on. So far the pass appeared to be open.
**
Two days later they had traveled through part of the pass and it was only about a half-day's ride to the base of Mt. Phoenix. They had ridden hard the whole way and everyone was tired. Harry, Godric, and Cleatris got the first watch. They chose three ledges all in a row, all facing a different way jutting out from the cliffs. It was near the end of their watch when suddenly a scream broke the quiet. Harry leaped to his feet and sensed Godric, ten feet away on his ledge, do the same. A few seconds later everyone had assembled.
"Where's Cleatris?" Godric asked as Harry joined them.
"She's not at her post, there's yeti prints on the ground and some blood." Harry replied.
"Break camp and split into groups of two, we'll search the surrounding hills, yeti aren't that fast." The Tiger said.
Harry and Godric rode back to where the prints were and began to track the yeti. The prints were fresh, but from the different sizes there was more than one yeti. They trailed them to where the yeti had split up, here the Snake, Relmar and Tanya went after one group, Harry and Godric followed the other.
The mountains were jagged and covered in sharp boulders and ice blocks. Little grew here, a few hardy bushes and shrubs, and lots of low vines. It was very pretty in the spring when everything bloomed and a little grass grew, but for the rest of the year it was cold and harsh. It was still three hours to dawn when Harry and Godric rounded a pile of ice-covered rocks to find Cleatris lying among some rocks and vines. She was unconscious and blood seeped from huge gashes on her left shoulder. Yeti claws were not long, but they were blunt and strong. The yeti that inhabited the mountains also had a few magical abilities, which they sometimes used to sharpen their claws. The two leaped off their horses and made sure Cleatris was still alive, she was. Harry pulled some bandages and medicines from a saddle bag and began to clean the wound while Godric kept watch.
Harry sat back, he'd doe the best he could, as he turned he saw a dark shaggy figure for a second before something hit him hard from behind. Harry rolled with the impact, biting his lip against the sudden pain in his back. Suddenly the area came alive with the huge dark furry shapes. He felt a tremor shake the ground. Harry jumped to his feet as another quake shook the earth. He turned, just in time to see Godric get struck by a yeti and fall, rolling down the mountainside until he came to rest against a boulder. Another yeti tossed Cleatris after him, Harry pulled out his sword and jumped to the center of the small level clearing, yeti hemmed him in, getting between him and his friends. Harry shouted and struck out, he fought his way to them and stood in front of them. They yeti regrouped and attacked, Harry sent a few spells flying at them before they were upon him. The first one fell roaring; his fur aflame, Harry took the second's head off and drenched the third with acid. A blasting spell knocked another into the air where he fell down quite a ways before impacting on the mountainside. Harry hurled a block of ice from his sword (which had his wand inside it, enabling him to use both at once) before driving his sword through another yeti's head. Suddenly the ground shook even more violently, the yeti ran, one of them with its fur still smoking. Godric struggled to his feet behind Harry. There was a great rumbling sound, and the creak and snap of ice breaking loose. Both of them turn to look up in horror, the huge sheet of ice near the mountain top had broken off and was falling down the mountain, driving a wave of rocks and ice before it. Harry levitated Cleatris up and they ran. The horses had already taken off in fright.
Down the winding trail, between boulders and blocks of ice and rock jutting up from the ground they ran. Behind them the avalanche came down, destroying everything in its path. They reached an open stretch of ground, the ground tilted up and over, a small hill, but high enough to stop the avalanche. They ran up it, at the top they could see the others, just on the other side, beckoning to them, Tanya held their horses reins in one hand. As they sprinted forwards the ground abruptly opened up before them as the earth rocked. A steep wall of rock rose up, on all the mountains around them Harry could see similar things happening. Their mountain suddenly began to rise, huge sections of it pushing out while others vanished down great rifts that appeared from nowhere. They were knocked off their feet and slammed down, behind them the avalanche had caught up, but them the ground behind them broke away and fell down. The mountain rose higher, the sides falling away in some places, bending out or rising with it in others. The spot where they had camped rose until it was level with them, then broke apart, some of it falling their way, showing them with rock and ice fragments, while the rest twisted out away from them in a tall straight pillar of rock that remain for a second, before falling into the side of the adjacent mountain, exploding off its sides and causing half of the mountain to break apart and fall away. On three sides Harry was shaken and sent rolling by a sudden rise in the center of the small ledge they were on, he stopped himself just inches from the edge. On three sides he could see open air, and the ground well over two hundred feet below. He turned and rolled back, behind them was the mountainside. They were on a tiny thin ledge, sticking out into the air. A sound like an explosion came and the side of the mountain to their left broke off and moved away until the mountain was split down the center, then the two sides smashed together again with the thunderous roar. Far off to the east the sun could be seen as on of the mountains collapsed into an abyss. Harry could see three dragons to the east rising skywards as their home shook apart. Smoke appeared, clouding the sky he looked west. Mt. Phoenix stood high, nearly twice as high as they were, and it was rising higher. Smoke poured from the top and was sprouting from a spot on its side. A huge cloud of ash rose above it and with a deafening blast the top thirty cubic meters or so blew off. Huge avalanches tumbled down it sides, Harry could see nearly a hundred phoenixes rising from their roosts on its sides which had always been kept warm geothermal. They tried to fly to safety, but the falling ash and debris smothered them. A few of the fastest made it away, but them the mountain to Harry's right exploded, the whole thing just blasted away, magma spurted out as the whole thing just dissolved in molten rock. Something hit Harry hard, he grabbed it, it was a phoenix, a very young one, covered in gray ash. Harry rolled back to his friends, Cleatris was awake and staring, Godric was lying beside her, he tried to speak but Harry could hear him.
Is that phoenix alive?
Yes. LOOK! Behind you! Harry pointed frantically, not far behind their mountain had been the grassy steppes and rolling hills that gave way to plains near the shore. Now those were being pushed up into mountains. A wave of rising earth came at them, the earth rose on the giant quake that came through the ground like a wave does through water. Behind it the ground dropped down to normal height. Now the wave was cresting, pushing the acres and acres of hills up into mountains and flinging them against the already existing ones. They could see a small heard of deer rise up on what once had been low hills and be flung against the mountain not far below them. In this same manner the Fire Lions who had been hunting them were thrown. The great cats, deer, and even, Harry had a fleeting look at a large fish that moments before had been swimming happily in its river, along with that river and tons of earth hit the four on the ledge. Harry heard the cats screaming with terror as they were thrown up against the mountain. Something hit him across the head and everything went black.
Oh no! Are they gonna die? Please review!