The Winter Letter (20 page)

A deafening roar shook Will’s chest, and through his clenched eyelids he saw a flash. 

Instantly, the screeching of the Amokians stopped. Will opened his eyes just as the last streaks of some strange white light zipped through the trees. The streaks did not fade, but rather danced through the limbs until out of sight. The roar had come from all three lions at once, who now stood, with shown fangs, staring hard at the beasts. All of the monsters, but the leader, had lost their smiles and color. They were frozen in motion, with blank eyes, pale and hypnotized. The leading monster lay on the ground with his hands over his eyes, trembling. Beyond the tree-line surrounding the camp, snaps and thuds came as others retreated into the returning dark. 

Then, through the trees, came a light breeze, and the lead Amokian watched in horror as his frozen comrades, as well as his own legs, crumbled into piles of grey ash and blew away. From his knees down had completely disintegrated. Once the wind stopped the monster looked at Tselem with pure hate. “But you, your kind was weak! How did you, a filthy cat, do this?!” he growled through gritted teeth.

Tselem stepped forward. His large eyes looked troubled. “Never mistake mercy as weakness young one. You will learn this in the Great City of the King of All,
if
you are granted entrance.”

At the mention of the King of All the beast twitched and sneered. “If I meet the King of All I’ll bore out his eyes!” he screamed. “And for you, you will not make it through the night you filthy cat.” With this he slumped to the ground, and with the last heave of his chest he let out the most penetrating animal shriek any of the three magi had ever heard.

Wohie stepped forward and peered into the darkness. Her eyes widened. “Guys, we need to go. Now!” she screamed. She stumbled back and pulled herself onto Parah’s back. 

“What is it?” Gatnom asked.

Tselem pawed the ground. “She’s right, mount up! We must retreat!”

Then from every direction beyond the camp, the same shriek began to repeat and stack onto itself. From ten thousand mouths the sound came, like a million wounded dinosaurs, and each shrill said they were surrounded, camped in a nest of Amokian hate. Will and Gatnom were on the backs of Radah and Tselem in an instant. The shrieks grew louder and louder as one by one, over the hill, over the top of each other, thousands of Amokians flooded towards the dying scream of their own. Will held his ears; the terrible sound was driving nails into his brain.

All at once the screams stopped, and for a moment the stillness was deafening, as if the spirits of the wind were tuning in to watch what would happen next.

“Go!” Tselem roared, but before the word cleared his lips hundreds of Amokians poured in from every direction. They were snarling, clawing, and trampling over one another for a chance at their prey. Tselem, Parah, and Radah cleared a path Lion style, trampling through the torn beast. From each side pale green fingers, long yellow fingernails, and mouths with black teeth hissed and snapped at the three young magi. Only the speed and paws of the lions kept the monsters from snatching the three young magi to the ground. Tselem had taken the lead and was walking over the horde like snow, sinking one moment, then finding good footing the next.

“Where are we going?!” Gatnom asked as he kicked one of the monsters in the face.

“Fire be!” Wohie said. A flame ignited an Amokian who had been reaching for her leg.

Tselem threw an Amokian to the left with a toss of his head. “We must enter the peaks!” he yelled. “It’s the only escape! Not even these monsters would enter the peaks so long after they had risen!”

“But the peaks, if they descend, we’ll die!” Gatnom screamed. He threw a quick light spell, pushing the monsters back for a moment. 

“There is no other escape. We must,” said Tselem as he slapped another Amokian with his large paw. The beast fell sizzling and convulsing. Will was so scared that he watched without interacting. He was fiddling with his mom’s locket, trying to remember how to do magic. He had forgotten every spell he had learned. Beneath him Radah was tearing Amokians apart two at a time.

“Mr. Will!!! Watch out!!!” Jabber screamed, diving from above like a bomber. Then, with a slice of pain, Will felt four claws slice through his jeans and push deep into his leg. An instant flow of blood began flowing the moment the beast’s yellow fingernails slipped from the wound. Jabber slammed into the monster’s black eyes, wildly attacking with all six of his arms. Will’s scream died in its middle, as his eyes rolled back in his head and his stomach jolted. The last thing he felt was a flash of heat, either from the wound or from the stream of fire Gatnom used to roast the attacker. 

“Mr. Will!” Jabber screamed again. Again Will jerked violently and would have fallen from the back of Radah had Wohie and Parah not pushed over and steadied him on Radah’s back.

“Gatnom! The wound is foaming white! The claws are poison!” Wohie screamed. She roasted another Amokian just as Parah ripped one of its arms off. To Will, the sounds of the commotion was muted by a new pain pulsating from the wound to the tips of his fingers and toes. He even felt the pain in his scalp.

“We have to go!” Gatnom screamed as he and Tselem tramped over next to Will and Radah. He grabbed Will and pulled him onto the back of Tselem.

“Make a path Radah,” Tselem commanded. 

Without an answer Radah began to plow through the swarm of Amokians, raising up on his hind two feet, snatching, biting, and roaring. He pushed down the hill right up to the cave opening, which was at least fifteen foot tall. Hundreds of Amokians were fighting each other trying to get out of the cave entrance. The path into the peaks hugged each side of the black opening like a double balcony stairway in an antebellum home. From everywhere, growling men who years ago forgot they were not animals, screeched and slobbered as they fought each other for a chance at their new enemy. The riot was so intense that the lions had to slow. They were stuck in the flow, trying to paddle up a waterfall. With every new light spell Gatnom and Wohie conjured, the closest beast retreated, but almost immediately those beyond the first splashed down upon them. No matter which way they went, not matter where they looked, they found themselves caged in growling faces.

“Wohie!” Gatnom screamed as a beast began to drag the young girl from her saddle. She and Gatnom both screamed more fire words, but it only killed a dozen or so, and those alive were on them as if there was never a break.

Will was drifting into a fog. He slumped in Gatnom’s arms. “Master Tselem, do what you did before! Will’s drifting!”

“I cannot. The poison in his blood would boil at my roar and kill him!”

Gatnom watched in slow motion as the beings pulled at his friends. A familiar feeling, one he had pushed down a million times since his parents had died, began to tighten his chin. He hated this feeling, this helplessness. It seemed, as usual, there was nothing he could do to protect those closest to him. He felt the same as he did the night he was snatched from his home and his parents were murdered. It was more than he could take, but this time it created something new, something normally forbidden and deadly. Out of his helplessness came rage, an emotion not created for small issues, but for big ones requiring war. This was such a time. Gatnom pulled Tselem around and stepped directly into the horde. His eyes glowed bright red, just as Will’s had in the cave at the lake, and without realizing it he spoke magic words he had never spoken before. “
Pur Hudor Egeiro
!” he shouted as he threw both hands above his head and slammed them down hard. A flame, but not just a flame, a bomb, a wave, a tsunami, of liquid fire became and crashed down upon all the enemy at once. 

Every Amokian in sight fell to ash.

“What was that?!” asked Wohie. 

Gatnom could not believe what had just happened. He didn’t even know what he had said. His senses were popping, heightened like never before, and with them he notice two new things.  One was the rumble from the inside of the cave. More Amokians were on the way, and the second was a light shining down from atop the hill. 

“Wohie, what’s that?!” Gatnom asked, pointing up. 

Wohie gasped. Her eyes could see what the others could not. “It’s the spy! It’s Andrias!” she screamed.

Andrias it was, and he was at the wood line atop the hill, staring down at the young magi. He and Wohie’s eyes met for a moment, then he lepta from the hill, running straight towards the cave entrance.

“He’s coming!”

“Go!” Gatnom shouted.

The lions spun and ran full blast up the path leading into the Sudden Peaks. The rumble from inside the cave grew louder as thousands more Amokians tore each other apart trying to get outside. Even from inside the cave their screeches made Wohie grimace. With her cat eyes Wohie could see the spy coming down the hill, but luckily they were going faster up than he was down. When he reached the cave entrance he stopped. He bounced from toe to toe like he was excited, then he planted his feet firmly. His blue glowing eyes danced back and forth behind his mask, from the retreating magi to the cave entrance, then, just in time, as the silence was broken by the return of the hideous shrieks, he turned and stared straight into the cave. Amokians burst forth like water crushing a dam. The disfigured torrent pelted down upon the spy from every angle. Flashes of light, like lightening inside a cloud, popped two a second, and monsters flew up and away from Lord Andrias in waves. It was as if with every spell he became a giant stone of fire being dropped in a pool of shallow water. He tossed them about like nothing, but there were so many that even he would be fighting for hours. 

Wohie turned Parah and caught up with Gatnom and Tselem. “The beast have stopped Andrias,” she said.

“Then we must stop. We have no time to waist; Will is fading quickly. Let’s get off the path,” said Gatnom. A bit into the bush they laid Will down underneath a quiet tree. Gatnom spoke words of light magic that lit up the area. Will had only one eye opened, only part of the way, and he had lost all color in his face. 

“What do we do, Gat?”

Gatnom looked up at Wohie with scared eyes. “We must heal him before it’s too late. The poison is strong.” 

“Heal? Only magi with the strongest type of magic can heal such a wound. Only magi who are willing to die in the place of someone else. How are we going to heal him?” Wohie started crying as she spoke.

Gatnom placed his hands on Will’s chest. He felt as if a giant tear was trying to force its way from his heart to his eyes. Will was a brother now, and he had truly grown to care for his sad friend. He had compassion, and compassion was required for healing. He knew he could do it. He shut his eyes tight. 

“Be healed,” he said. 

Will didn’t move. 

“You have to wake up Will. Wake up!” Gatnom screamed. There was heat in his palms, but nothing was happening. He thought he felt something, but perhaps it was just his imagination. “Wake up! Be healed!” he screamed again. Again, will didn’t move. He lay there, twitching. 

“King of All. Please, help us,” cried Gatnom. He felt his heart roll in his chest, then something pushed its way up and out of his mouth. “
Iaomai
,” he said, and with the word a rush of power shot from his trembling hands. 

Will sat straight up. 

“Will!” Wohie screamed. Gatnom leaned back and let Wohie take over. All of his strength was drained.

“Young one.” It was Parah speaking. “You must force the poison out of his leg. Press on the sides. Yes, like that.” Will screamed in pain as the poison began to seep from the wound. “I’m sorry young one. I know it hurts, but we must do it. Try to hold still. Once those beast get there claws into you their poison stays until you push it out and replace it with something good. There, I think that’s all of it. Do you see any white?” Wohie shook her head. 

Tselem stepped forward and dropped a piece of fruit from his mouth. It looked like a banana with the peeling of an apple. “Eat this; it has healing powers. It only grows here, in the low parts of the peaks.” Will forced himself to bite, then he ate the whole thing at once.

“Hungry?” Wohie asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Will answered. Will took the first look at his leg. There were four slits with dried blood. He felt the fruit go down his throat, then he felt a warmth travel from his belly to his finger and toes. As the warmth reached the wound the holes closed, each slit disappearing one by one. Will moved his leg; there was no pain.

“Better?” Gatnom asked, still trying to catch his breath.

“Yeah.” Will stood and bent his leg in and out. He squatted. “All gone. Man, thank you!” 

Gatnom smiled and looked down and away.

“Good,” Tselem said. “Now. We need to move. Andrias is close behind.” Down the path towards the cave the sounds of the fight continued. “If you can make it to the western ranges of the peaks, through the valley, you’ll be okay,” Tselem added. “The western range hasn’t fallen in a thousand years. Before you go to the city you can rest in the valley. From there, the only other pass, other than the trade road with the city, is much too high. You will have to plan.” 

“So how long until these things fall again? This one?” Will asked.

“Two days at the max. We have no time to lose.”

Will and Wohie looked at each other to see if the other was scared. They both were. “How far is the valley?” Gatnom asked.

Tselem looked to Radah, directing the question at him. “We must move fast. We will need all the time we have.”

“They should know our plans, mighty Tselem,” said Parah, quietly.

“Yes, you are right,” Tselem replied. “Young magi, once we reach the valley you will be forced to continue alone. We cannot make the pass with you.”

“Why?” Gatnom asked. He sounded exasperated.

“There is a part of every journey that must be faced alone. Sometimes the lonely road is the only one leading to victory. Besides, what you have told me about Lord Andrias and the Kingdom is weighing on my mind. There is something stirring...” With this Tselem’s voice faded out as if he had moved unknowingly from talking aloud to speaking silently to his two brothers.