Chapter 20: Pursuit

17 May, 1980

Lightning topped the ridge and slid to a stop beside Lian's still form. He sniffed her one time before continuing to an area of disturbed dirt and grass. His head swiveled back and forth and frantically for a moment before taking a few steps down the ridge. He scratched the ground three times, leaving three long gouge marks in the dirt and grass, pointing the direction.

"Even humans can follow that!" Lightning thought, in a rudimentary way. He began running down the ridge following the scent of three men.

Sean had learned, long ago, that animals don't use the same thought processes that people use. Animals don't have the same 'cause and effect' rationale that humans use to find solutions. Sean's interaction with Lightning hadn't given the big dog human like thoughts, but Lightning did have very heightened goal oriented thoughts, more so than other animals. Many animals display goal oriented thoughts. A dog can herd sheep or work with other dogs to hunt. A cat can worry at a piece of food in a cat toy until they get it out. Lightning was easily at the top of the pyramid of animal intelligence and his ability to set goals and reach them far surpassed any others in the animal kingdom.

Lightning could smell the anxiety in the three men he followed. A wolf joined the men within a hundred yards of the scene of the attack. Lightning knew the wolf smell was wrong in some way. It smelled like the wolf was nearly crazed with pain. Lightning couldn't be concerned with that now. Nothing mattered, except that they had taken his reason for living. They had taken Sean.

The trail was easy to follow because there was a hiking trail that followed the ridge line. Lightning followed at an easy lope for nearly a quarter of a mile. The hiking trail continued on the ridge line but a dim path branched off going north.

Lightning quickly checked both paths before standing in the opening between two boulders that led to the branching path. He scratched three more times, showering the path with pebbles and loose dirt, and clearly indicating the direction those following him needed to take. Then his nose went back to the ground and he followed the trail.

The dim trail had nearly reached the bottom of the hill, when Lightning spun to the right. The wolf that had been with the group of men snarled at him. The wolf was nearly as tall as Lightning, but the poor creature was nearly wasted away. The wolf's eyes burned with pain and rage.

Lightning could feel the pain the wolf was in. He could sense how another mind, an evil human's mind, had grasped the wolf's pain centers in its brain. Lightning knew how to reject that control in his own mind, but didn't know how to protect another from that same control. He felt sad, in a pragmatic way, because he knew that he needed to kill this wolf, and quickly.

The wolf lunged and Lightning stepped to the side and crouched. He felt burning on his shoulder as the wolf missed his neck and scored a gash on his shoulder. Lightning whirled, using his greater weight to stagger the wolf with a shoulder butt. He sank his teeth into the wolf's throat and clamped down. Blood sprayed as the wolf feebly scratched and fought to get free.

Lightning felt when the human's mind released the wolf. He could feel when the pain eased and all that was left was the relatively minor pain of the torn out throat and approaching death.

"Thank you, brother!" seemed to echo in Lightning's mind as the wolf died.

Lightning dropped the body of the wolf and looked towards the north. He felt the evil human's mental tendrils try to insinuate itself into his mind. He remembered the pain the wolf felt. Lightning gathered that pain, along with the hopelessness and despair he had felt in the wolf. He 'fed' that knot of pain and despair to the scrabbling mental fingers.

A cry of pain could be heard in the distance, to the north.

If a dog could smile, Lightning would have been smiling, then. He no longer needed to follow the trail. He bounded into the trees and through the forest towards that distant cry of pain.

"Damn," Seth muttered under his breath as he stood up. He watched Lightning disappear in the trees. "We need to get up there."

"I need to check on Cory," Brennan said anxiously as he stood. He turned south and ran down the path that Cory had taken with Megan.

"We're going after Sean and Lian," Seth called after Brennan. John, grab the shotgun out of the van. You and Udit, go with me. Liz, stay here," Seth ordered before turning to follow Lightning. John and Udit were right behind him.

"Bullshit," Liz yelled as she ran to the van. She had a first aid kit in a backpack. She grabbed it and followed Seth. "That was a shot. Are you telling me that if someone's hurt, that you can take care of them better than I can?"

"Keep up the best that you can," Seth called back. It was his only reply before disappearing into the trees.

Liz ran as hard as she could to catch up.

"What's going on," Cory called breathlessly as Brennan appeared through the trees.

"I don't know," Brennan said, breathing easily, even after his run. "Lightning looked in the direction that Sean and Lian went. We heard a shot, and Lightning took off."

"Something has happened to Sean," Megan repeated as she slid down Cory's back. Her four year old legs couldn't carry her at the speed she wanted to go so she had ridden piggy back on Cory. It was awkward for Cory but it was the best they could do. "Can you carry me?" she asked Brennan. "I think I'm wearing Cory out."

"Climb on," Brennan instructed as he squatted in front of Megan.

The four year old wrapped her arms around Brennan's neck and clamped her legs around his waist. "Let's go," she ordered.

The three of them started back through the trees. Cory was still breathless. Megan reached out to the lake and drew energy until she started to glow slightly. She started trickling that energy into Cory and Brennan. Their pace increased and Cory's breathing evened out.

Less than five minutes later they arrived back at the camp.

"They went up that trail," Brennan said motioning towards the trail going north.

"Wait a minute," Megan ordered. "You need a better way to carry me. Get John's backpack from the van."

Everyone had small suitcases to carry their clothes and small items for the trip, except for John. He used a large backpack.

Cory looked at the little girl and Brennan tried to look over his shoulder at her.

"Believe me, we'll need it," Megan said firmly.

Brennan met Cory's look and Cory shrugged before turning towards the van. Brennan squatted to let Megan down.

Megan quickly grabbed two bottles of water and the canteen Sean had left at the camp site. She shook her head as she held the canteen. Sean carried it everywhere he went. Today, he hadn't taken it because Lian had said she wanted him to practice without a crutch.

"Dumb boy," she thought to herself. "Please be okay!" the thought continued desperately.

Cory hurriedly opened the back of the van and pulled out John's backpack. It was a military style with a built in frame to distribute weight down the back and onto the hips. The green nylon material was lightweight but strong and water proof. He dumped the rolled up clothes and toiletries inside the van before holding it up.

"Are you going to ride in it like this?" Cory asked frowning at the backpack.

"Cut holes in the bottom for my legs to fit through," Megan said as she ran to Cory.

Cory looked around fruitlessly for a knife to cut the holes. "Brennan, use your knife to cut the holes," he ordered.

"Don't use a knife to cut it," Megan said in disgust. "The nylon will rip if you cut it. Hold it open with the bottom facing me," she ordered.

Cory held the backpack open facing the little girl. She may be a little girl, but the old Wizard responded to the commanding authority in her voice just like any other person would.

Megan used her finger to trace two holes in the bottom of the backpack. As she traced where the holes should be, the smell of melting nylon filled the air.

"I don't have much of a fire talent, but it's enough for this," Megan muttered.

Megan had two small holes, just large enough for her legs, when she finished. The edges of the holes were melted and sealed so the nylon wouldn't rip. She inspected her work critically for a moment before nodding.

"Brennan, put it on and adjust the straps," Megan ordered.

Brennan glanced at Cory before complying. He shrugged the pack on then started adjusting the straps. He was taller and heavier than John. He was thicker through the shoulders and chest than John. It took a few moments to get the pack adjusted so it fit.

"Squat back down," Megan ordered.

Brennan complied and Megan slid the two water bottles into the side pockets of the pack. She looped the strap of the canteen around her own neck and contemplated the pack uncertainly.

"Cory, would you lift me in?" Megan asked in frustration.

She was so tired of being short!

Cory lifted her up and helped her settle into the backpack without comment. Her legs fit through the holes in the bottom of the pack but she couldn't see over Brennan's shoulder.

"Would you adjust it so I'm higher on your back, Brennan?" Megan asked. "Cory, There's a big flashlight in the back of the van and another in the back seat. Would you grab those?"

Cory nodded and dived back into the van in search of the flashlights.

Brennan pulled the straps and adjusted the cinch until Megan was high enough to see over his shoulder.

Cory reappeared and handed one of the flashlights to Brennan.

"Now we can go," Megan said.

The three of them hurried into the woods, heading north.

Seth slid to a stop as Lian's motionless body came into view. He quickly looked around for some sign of Sean. Udit and John stepped up beside him.

The three of them warily moved forward until they reached Lian.

"A brujo has been here," John announced as he wrinkled his nose.

Seth squatted beside Lian and touched her neck while his head continued to swivel and search for danger.

"She's alive," Seth said in relief. He looked down at the body and said, "She's been shot and it looks like her head hit this rock when she went down."

Liz ran out of the trees and skidded to a stop at the sight of the three men. She was panting heavily but that didn't stop her from running the last fifty feet to reach Lian's side. She sat her pack on the ground before gingerly feeling Lian's neck.

"Alive," Liz agreed, "but weak. Her pulse is weak but it looks like her blood is already clotting. That's good." Liz continued her examination of the Oriental Sorceress.

"Three of them," Udit said from higher on the ridgeline. "Large tracks. It looks like men were waiting for them, one a Brujo. They had a large dog or wolf with them."