Beyond the Valley of Mist (14 page)

***

All the next day, they
worked at preparing dried meat and fruit, gathered a supply of
firestones, and packed blankets and hides to keep warm and provide
shelter from the rain. They took extra care in packing the knives,
shields, and arrows, and then watched the sun go down as they
talked excitedly about seeing their families again.

“
Tomorrow,” Zen said, “when
the sun rises, we’ll follow the new river and hope it will show us
a way around the Valley of Mist.”

***

Chapter 16

The Burning
Mountain

For days and days, they
traveled west. The river was clean, with various colorful fish that
were so plentiful; the group could catch them with spears and
didn’t even need to use the fishhooks that Lox had made. The
sunlight glistened off the bright water as it splashed and tumbled
over the rocks. They all marveled at what seemed to be a perfect
day.

As they proceeded upstream,
the water got colder. Zen commented on how different this river was
from the one in the Valley of Mist. “It flows between the
snow-covered mountains on the south and a row of hills on the
north. The hills on the north extend west and continue to rise
until they, too, become snow-covered. Those mountains are what
created the misty valley, by not allowing the wind to blow the mist
away. The snow-covered mountains on the south are the ones that
Father and I saw in the distance, which gave us hope that there was
another side to the Valley of Mist.”

“
The melting snow creates
the rivulets that drain into the larger river,” Jok
noted.

The hills that formed the
north side of the valley had trees that were different from any Zen
and his party had ever seen--tall and straight, with branches that
did not grow out to provide much shade, like the trees along the
river of mist—these leaves were just spindles of green. Since the
wood was easy to burn, and the green branches gave off a pleasant
odor, the couples gathered the branches and placed them in piles,
for soft beds.

As they climbed higher into
the mountains, the nights grew colder and they had to sleep under
more blankets.

After they had been
traveling west for about four moons, they awoke one morning to find
their blankets covered with snow. They shook the snow off and
donned warmer clothes.

It was becoming more and
more difficult to get the meat they needed. Wild goats with large
curving horns grazed on the mountains, but they were not easy to
shoot with bows and arrows. They could run very fast, jump and leap
around the rocks with amazing speed.

If they were able to catch
a goat, the hide made wonderful garments, so the men caught enough
to make coats for Ador and Lela. The ground was so cold; they had
to make heavier covers for their feet. At times, they had to travel
through snowdrifts.

One morning, the sky was
very clear.

“
Let’s ride to the top of
that tallest mountain and see if we can see Lalock,” Zen said
hopefully.

When they reached the top,
the mountain fell away to a long, rolling plateau. In the distance
was a mountain standing alone, with smoke coming from its top. On
the eastern slope, a dark-green valley covered with clouds extended
east as far as they could see.

“
I wonder if that could be
the Valley of Mist,” Jok asked. “It is very wide, and I think I can
see a river entering it from the north.”

“
If it is,” Zen said, “then
Lalock is located where that river enters the valley. I think we
should go and see.”

“
If that is the river we
floated down,” cried Ador, “our families will be waiting for us
where the river flows into the mist. Let’s hurry. I want to see my
mother and father. I want them to know that we are still alive, and
I want to tell them that there’s a better life waiting for them at
our new village.”

“
Not so fast!” Zen
exclaimed, hugging Ador. “There is much we have to do before we can
rescue our families. First, we must know if we have actually found
a way around the valley. We don’t even know for sure if that is the
valley we are looking for. We must get past that burning mountain
before we can get to the valley, and it will take many phases of
the moon to reach it.”

“
I’ve never seen a burning
mountain before,” Jok said, marveling. “I didn’t even know a
mountain could burn.” And then to Zen, “But, I also didn’t know
that there was a rock with fire inside it until you showed one to
us. Do you think the fire rocks come from that fire
mountain?”

“
It is possible, of course,
but I don’t think so,” Zen replied. “I think that is a very
dangerous mountain. We must get past it before we can get to the
other side of the valley covered with clouds. The smoking mountain
is far away, and it will take us days to get to it. I can see
rolling hills, covered with trees and streams running through them.
We still have a long and dangerous journey before we can determine
if we have found a way around the Valley of Mist.”

“
Let’s start down this
mountain,” Lela said. “It will get warmer as we go down, and I’m
tired of being cold. I would like a bath and a warm place to
sleep.”

“
Then let’s go,” agreed
Zen. “But be careful with the horses; it’s going to be steep in
places. We’ll have to go around some of the canyons.”

“
I know it’s cold,” Ador
said, “but I’d like to stay here on top of this mountain and watch
where Sun enters Mother Earth. Maybe that’s why the mountain is
smoking. Could that be where Sun enters Earth?”

“
I can see Earth going on
beyond the mountain,” Jok said. “I think Earth is without
end.”

“
Maybe so, but Sun still
has to go somewhere. Don’t you think we should find out, now that
we are here and have an opportunity to know?” Ador
asked.

“
I thought you were in a
hurry to get to your mother and father,” Zen said,
laughing.

“
I am,” Ador shot back.
“But I’d like to know where Sun goes. Well, we’ll have to cross
this mountain again on our way back to our new village. I guess we
can watch Sun enter Earth then.”

“
Then let’s get off this
mountain, Ador,” urged Lela. “I’m cold.”

They began picking their
way down the north side of the mountain. They had to lead the
horses, as it was too dangerous to ride. They traveled all day,
stopping only to eat, drink, and rest. It was much easier going
down than it had been climbing up, but still tiring and difficult.
At dusk, they entered an area where once again the trees had big
leaves for shade.

“
This looks familiar.
There’ll be lions here,” Jok noted. “We’ll have to guard the horses
carefully tonight. Those on watch will have to stay alert. We’ll
need a big fire, and we'll sleep with our weapons
close.”

They built a fire and tied
the horses out in the open where the big cats could not jump on
them from the trees.

“
Lela and I will take the
first watch,” Zen said.

The night was dark, and
they could hear the roar of the big cats echoing through the
hills.

Zen and Lela huddled beside
the fire, talking of things they would do after they rescued their
parents and returned to their new village.

The horses were getting
nervous and neighed. Suddenly, Zen and Lela saw three pairs of eyes
glowing just beyond the light of the fire.

“
You take the pair of eyes
on the right and aim for the center; I’ll take the left,” Zen said.
They placed arrows in their bows and took steady aim. “Now!” Zen
said; they released their arrows at the same time. Two high-pitched
cries of pain came from the darkness. Zen and Lela retreated behind
the fire.

One set of eyes charged
right past the flames, whirled and came straight toward Lela. Zen
grabbed his long knife, met the lion’s charge head-on, and
penetrated the animal's throat. It lay dying at his feet. Lela
stood over it, prepared to release her second arrow into its heart,
but there was no need. Zen’s knife had done its work, but he had a
few minor wounds from the claws of the lion.

“
Without these weapons,”
Zen said, “we would have been the victims of these
beasts.”

“
Do you think we should
wake Jok and Ador?” Lela asked.

“
No, let them sleep. The
other lions will smell death and leave us alone for tonight. We’ll
continue our watch and wake Jok and Ador when it’s their turn to
stand guard.”

When Jok and Ador came to
relieve Zen and Lela, they saw the dead lions.

“
It looks like you’ve been
busy,” Jok said. “I hope you have convinced the rest of the lions
that it will be unhealthy to try to invade this camp. I’m glad you
were on watch and prevented them from getting at the horses or us.
I shudder to think what would have happened if you had not had
those new weapons.”

Then they noticed Zor’s
wounds.

“
Shouldn’t we dress those
claw scratches before they become infected?” Ador said.

“
Yes,” Zen replied. “Lela
can do that. We had a few exciting moments, but now we’ll get some
rest. I hope you don’t have as much trouble defending the camp as
we did,” and added with a smile, “Call us if you encounter more
than you can handle.”

The night passed without
further incident.

***

The next morning, the four
continued in the direction of the mountain with a plume of smoke
rising from its top. It took them days just to reach the
base.

“
Let’s continue around the
east side of this mountain until we reach the other side,” Zen
said, “then we should be able to turn east and follow the north
side of that cloud-covered valley until we reach
Lalock.”

“
I just felt the ground
shaking!” Jok exclaimed, “Did anyone else feel it?”

“
Yes, I felt it, but I
thought it must be my imagination,” said Lela.

“
No, I felt it, too!” Zen
said.

“
There it is again!” Jok
exclaimed.

Ador yelled, “Look! Fire is
coming out of the top of the mountain!”

“
Yes!” exclaimed Lela, “and
a river of fire is flowing down this side of the mountain, and it’s
coming our way!”

“
I think we should run, but
I don’t know which way to go,” Ador said.

“
It looks like the river of
fire will be running into that green, cloud-covered valley,” Jok
remarked.

“
If we don’t get past the
end of that valley before the fire gets to it, we’ll be trapped on
this side,” Zen noted.

“
I don’t think we should
try to cross; I think we should go around the south side of the
mountain,” Lela said.

“
That will take a long
time,” Ador noted.

“
Yes, but at least we’ll
survive,” Zen said. “If we get caught by that river of fire,
there’ll be no way to cross it without going into that awful
valley, and there’s no way these horses could cross all that
boiling mud. We would be trapped. We can’t cross the river of fire,
and we might not survive that terrible valley again. I agree with
Lela, we should go back, and go around the mountain.”

“
I also agree,” Jok said,
“and we’d better hurry. That fire is coming fast, and it’s burning
everything in its path.”

“
Then, let’s go!” said Zen.
“I can see two streams of fire coming down now. One is coming down
ahead of us, and the other is going to come down behind us. Hurry!
Hurry! We must get back before it overtakes us! Jok, you take the
lead. You girls follow him, and I’ll bring up the rear.”

“
I don’t think we’re going
to make it,” Jok yelled.

“
We have to make it! Run!”
Zen hollered.

They rode as fast as they
could, crossing ditches and valleys. The river of fire was coming
rapidly down the mountain from their right.

“
We have to get across that
deep canyon ahead,” Jok called back. “That’s where the fire is
going. Follow me as fast as you can. I remember how we crossed the
canyon when we were not in such a hurry. If we can get across that
canyon, I think we’ll be safe.”

As they rode into the
canyon, they could see the fire only a few hundred paces above
them.

Zen urged the girls to ride
as fast as they could. The river was only a stone’s throw away when
Zen’s horse started up the other side of the canyon. Jok had
reached the ridge and was yelling for them to hurry. The noise of
the fire was deafening, and the horses were frightened. They
scrambled up the other side just in time to avoid the deadly
flow.

When they reached high
ground, they looked back and saw the river of fire tearing away the
mountainside as it cascaded into the densely forested, mist-filled
valley below. Steam billowed from the valley, and they heard animal
screams coming from the burning trees. When the stream of fire
cooled, it changed color, and in only a short time, the river of
fire became a river of stone. The stones they were standing on
looked like the ones being formed by the river of fire. That flow
was not fire—it was molten rock.