Black Mountain

FORTY-ONE

Hammerson held up his hand. ‘Quiet.’

‘Huh?’ Matt said, looking up from the creature’s body.

He saw that the HAWC commander was focused on something along the ridge. Matt stood, and Sarah came up quickly beside him and took his hand. As they watched, a hulking figure appeared at the rim of the ravine, outlined against the moon. Sarah gasped and crowded even closer to Matt.

The HAWC woman said something in what sounded like Hebrew, and edged towards Hammerson.

All four of them were backed together, forming a ring in the snow and staring up at the many creatures that now surrounded the ravine.

The beasts were silent at first, but then their eyes found their fallen kind. Low grunts and rumbles built to a whooping sound, a terrifying cacophony that made Sarah cover her ears. When Matt turned to her, he saw that her eyes were crushed shut too.

Some of the massive creatures rocked from side to side, but others uprooted huge trees and flung them down at the group. Others pounded the ground, the resulting tremors causing debris and snow to slide down into the ravine.

‘Don’t move,’ Matt said, reaching out to take Sarah’s hand again.

She grabbed it, and pressed closer to him. ‘Like that’s gonna happen!’

The HAWC woman held a throwing spike in her hand, which looked comical as a defence against the horde that would soon be bearing down on them. She whispered over her shoulder, ‘No, I think we should move — away from the body.’

Matt nodded, keeping his eyes on the ridge. ‘She might be right, Sarah. Mountain gorillas have been known to grieve for their dead, and these things’ behaviour seems a lot higher order than that.’

Sarah nodded jerkily. ‘Okay, let’s do it… slowly.’

Like a single, many-legged beast, they edged towards the centre of the small valley. As they moved, the howling, whooping clamour increased, then stopped. The largest of the creatures had roared them all to silence. Now, it moved down the slope towards the small group, sometimes on all fours, sometimes in a shambling man-like stance.

‘Do not make eye contact,’ Hammerson ordered in a whisper.

Alex saw the creatures ringing the edge of the rift, silently staring down at the humans below. He got as close as he dared, then stayed low and watched. He could feel the fear emanating from the small group huddled together on the valley floor. One of the beasts was climbing down towards them. As it came upright, Alex saw that it stood a foot taller again than the creature he had slain. The moonlight glinted off the silvered hair on its impossibly wide shoulders and back, and in one massive hand it grasped a tree trunk that probably weighed as much as a man.

Alex marvelled at its size and power, and wondered what the world must have looked like all those millennia ago when it ruled the land. His admiration evaporated when he recalled what he’d seen in the cave — proof of the creatures’ thirst for human blood.

They killed your mother, the voice inside his head reminded him. They killed the last of your family; your chance to know your history.

Alex saw his mother’s face silently screaming in the stinking pitch-black cave. Those monsters had mutilated her… had eaten her.

As the giant leader roared and charged the group below, Alex leaped. He landed in the snow between it and the humans, his arms wide. He screamed into the enormous face and it halted, probably more out of surprise than fear. It came up onto its hind legs, its fist-sized eyes showing white around the dark pupils.

‘No old women or children here,’ Alex yelled.

He held the large Colt at his side, waiting. He knew he could never kill all the creatures if they decided to come at him at once. But he would send as many as he could straight to hell.

The beast blew out its cheeks in disdain as it passed Alex to crouch and sniff at the giant corpse in the snow. It closed its eyes and slid its hand over the face and chest, slowing at the gash in its side. It brought its fingers to its lips and tasted the blood, then touched the corpse again, this time on the face.

Alex looked at the two creatures nearby, then up at the ring of beasts lining the edge of the ridge. Even though their boiled pink gargoyle-like faces looked the same, there were differences in the features — just as there were amongst humans. He looked back at the two on the valley floor; they shared a similarity that suggested a blood tie.

Alex smiled grimly. ‘An eye for an eye then.’

He had spoken softly but the creature straightened as it heard his voice and wheeled and charged at him. He heard the civilian woman in the group scream.

The mountain of flesh and stinking fur stopped a few paces short of Alex and roared down into his upturned face. Alex didn’t flinch.

‘It hurts to have your family killed, doesn’t it?’ he yelled.

The beast’s face loomed closer and its eyes narrowed. Alex sensed the emotions coming off it — fury, hate, contempt, the promise of retribution.

Its nostrils flared as it inhaled Alex’s scent and then it screamed, so loud that Alex thought his eardrums might burst. Had it detected the blood of its kin on Alex’s body? It swung a huge arm at him, striking him in the chest with a sickening crunch and propelling him dozens of feet back into the snow. Alex lay still as the creature stared at his prone body, the gun still ready in his grasp.

But it seemed to be finished with him. It blew air out through its puffed cheeks again, showing disdain, then swung back to its fallen kin. It tapped the body several times, then took hold of one of its mighty arms and started to drag it away.

After a moment, it made a guttural sound in its throat, and several of its kind clambered down the slope to help. Together, they carried the body back up to the ridge.

Alex got to his feet and followed.