Chapter 21: Rage Incarnate

John was leading with Brennan behind him and Cory was bringing up the rear when they emerged onto the logging road. Night had fallen and they had to proceed with the flashlights. A glow on the horizon promised moonlight in the next hour or so but, until then, they had to rely on the flashlights.

John crouched with his head swiveling, sweeping the beam of the flashlight ahead of him. "I hear a motor idling," John whispered urgently over his shoulder to his companions.

Cory moved up beside John with the other light sweeping the beam in expanding arcs.

"You know," Brennan said drily. "Those lights make awful good targets in the dark."

John's breath caught and Brennan continued, "I don't think you need to worry. If someone was going to shoot at you, they would have already done it."

"I don't sense anyone," Megan said. "Sean showed me how to search for people, but Brujos can hide from detection. That's what they did when I was born." She felt more than saw Brennan nod.

They heard a 'woof' farther up the logging trail and Megan said, "That's Lightning. Let's go."

Two men's bodies emerged from the darkness. The first man's head was at an unnatural angle on his neck.

"That one had a rifle," Megan said, pointing to rifle stock and strap still on the man's arm.

They heard another 'woof' from a little farther up the trail that seemed to be impatient.

The second lifeless body didn't have a throat left. It looked like a giant ice cream scoop had removed the front of the man's neck where the jugular would have been.

John sniffed at the two men before shaking his head. "Neither of these guys were a Brujo," he said.

"They left us some transportation," Cory said, indicating the still idling ATV, about fifteen yards farther up the trail.

John looked at the spin marks the tires had made in the soft earth and said, "It looks like that one tried to get away and Lightning stopped him."

Megan nodded and said, "Lightning's waiting for us."

"Only two can ride on that thing," Cory pointed out.

"It will need to be Cory, Brennan and me," Megan said authoritatively. "John, let Seth know what direction we took. He might be able to find this logging road on the map. Maybe he can get some help to us. Brennan, take the rifle."

"The rifle's ruined," Brennan replied angrily as he inspected the weapon. "It must have been under him when he went down. The breach hit rock. I can't get the slide to come all the way back."

Brennan dropped the useless weapon and said, "I'm not riding that thing if Cory drives. Seriously, he's dangerous operating a motor vehicle."

Lightning whined and stood, looking up the logging trail.

"Then you drive," Megan snapped. "We need to get going."

"But," John said in protest. "I have to go with you. You need me to follow them."

"Lightning can follow them from here," Megan said as she tried to steady herself while Brennan man-handled the ATV back onto the logging trail. It had nosed against the brush on one side of the trail.

Brennan turned on the ATV's headlight and bathed the little group in the glow of lights.

"John," Megan said when she saw his distraught look. "Only two adults and me can ride on the ATV. Someone has to stay behind because the third can't run fast enough in the dark to keep up. Lightning can run fast enough and still follow them. Cory and Brennan have a life time of working together in dangerous situations. It doesn't make sense to split that team up. Besides, someone needs to let Uncle Seth know what direction we went so he can get some help. We don't know what kind of shape Sean will be in when we get him back."

John's shoulders slumped in defeat as he nodded his agreement.

Cory traded looks with Brennan and nodded his approval of the young Sorceress.

Brennan grimly smiled back and nodded his own head in agreement. He was unsure about taking a four year old into battle, but he also knew that she wouldn't allow them to leave her behind.

"You should probably take the shotgun," John suggested, shrugging off the ready sling that Seth had shown him how to rig. The sling supported the weight of the shotgun and kept the weapon in a ready firing position. Seth had learned it in Viet Nam.

"Keep it," Brennan said, shaking his head. "If we get close enough to use a shotgun, we'll have other weapons to use that we're more familiar with." To demonstrate, a wicked looking knife appeared in his hand and as quickly disappeared.

Lightning whined again, turned in a circle impatiently, and woofed.

"We need to go now," Megan said urgently.

"Get on, Cory," Brennan ordered.

The Irish Wizard clambered onto the back of the ATV uncertainly and gripped Brennan's waist.

"Hang on and try to lean forward," Brennan instructed his friend.

"Ah, not so hard," Megan said breathlessly as she was squeezed between the two.

The ATV lurched forward as Brennan let out the clutch. It's forward motion smoothed out after a couple of jumps and, the headlight leading the way, headed up the mountain. The large gray shadow of Lightning could be seen in the periphery of the light, guiding the rescue team towards Sean.

Megan would remember that trip up the mountain, even if she lived to be a thousand years old! It was uncomfortable riding in the improvised carrier. She was tired! Despite her worry for Sean and the position she had to ride in, she drifted off to sleep several times during the ride.

Cory had drifted into sleep a few times too. Megan could tell because his head bobbed forward to rest against her back.

Brennan was a rock. He never wavered. He never seemed to lose focus. Brennan was like an arrow flying towards a target and nothing would deter him from reaching that target.

Megan's mind wandered during that long trek up the mountain. She thought about Brennan's and Cory's relationship. She wondered about her future. She knew that she would need a second, at some point in her life. She would always be with Sean. Megan had no doubt about that. But, that was love that even her young mind recognized. A second was as close as a husband or wife, but the relationship was different. Megan resolved that one of the first things she would do, after getting Sean back, would be to talk to Sean about the best way to get and prepare seconds for them.

There was only one stop during the long night. The ATV they were following had turned off the logging trail and headed straight up the mountain. They would have missed the turnoff without Lightning's warning and directing them on the new trail. They found the ATV they were following about a mile from the logging trail. The trail the ATV had followed simply ended against a basalt cliff.

Lightning didn't hesitate in finding the path to continue up the mountain. Fortunately, the moon was well past its peak and the path was illuminated.

Brennan pointed out scuff marks and where a body was placed on the ground. They knew they were on the right trail, even though they knew that the dog wouldn't make a mistake like following the wrong one. Seeing was believing and they all felt relief.

It was after four in the morning when they hit the first drifts of snow. Megan tried to remember how much of a snow cap the mountain had, based on her view of it the day before. She realized it was still a long way to the top, and she had a feeling they would need to go all the way to the top of the mountain.

They started shivering in the cold air. Megan tapped into the moisture in the snow and created a bubble of warmer air around them. It wasn't hot enough to make them sweat from their exertions. Megan had read, someplace, that sweating in a cold environment could be as dangerous as the cold itself.

Cory and Brennan were both breathing hard in the thinning air by a little after six o'clock when they had to stop. The trail ended in a vertical cliff.

Lightning anxiously cast back and forth at the base of the cliff. He was looking up and whining.

"How in the hell did the bloke manage that," Cory muttered as he looked back and forth, searching for a way around the obstacle.

Brennan was crouched at the base of the cliff and Megan was peering over his shoulder.

"That's how," Brennan growled, pointing at barely discernible rope fibers on the rocks. "The wankers above used ropes to pull the bloke up. They knew someone would follow and had planned on a way to stop us."

"Not going to happen," Megan snapped angrily. "Lightning, we can't follow them up the cliff. Find another way up the mountain. Show us a different way to get up the mountain, boy."

The big dog looked at Megan for a moment before woofing in agreement and bounding away.

"That dog scares me, sometimes," Brennan muttered.

"I'll bet he scares our enemies more," Megan said. Her pride in Sean's dog was obvious.

"It could be miles to another way to the top," Cory said.

"I don't think so," Megan replied.

"Why not?" Cory asked curiously.

"That was a game trail we've been following," Megan explained. "Udit taught Sean and me about how game trails are created. A trail doesn't just go to a cliff and stop. Why would an animal do that. They have no reason to come to this cliff and stop. Animals always have a reason for what they do."

"Why would an animal come up here to start with?" Cory said gesturing around. "We've got three or more feet of snow. There's no reason for an animal to be here."

"There's no reason that we know about," Megan agreed. "But the trail could be the result of animals traveling in the summer when the snow is off the mountain. It could be a hundred things that we don't know about, but the trail doesn't end here. I know that."

Lightning emerged from the shadows at a run. He skidded to a stop, whirled around twice, and ran back the direction he had come from.

"Let's go," Megan said. "Lightning's found something."

The trail did continue upward, a couple of hundred yards farther along the cliff. The trail was steep and treacherous, but it did continue upward. The trail was a cleft in the face of the rock that was choked with snow and ice. Loose rocks rolled under their feet as they fought their way upward. It took nearly an hour to get to the top of the cliff.

Cory and Brennan were panting from the exertion and the thin air. Megan felt like she was near exhaustion herself. She had been feeding energy to the Wizard and his second nearly all night long.

They tried to go back to where their quarry had scaled the cliff but were blocked by a gorge, the cleft in the rock had widened as they neared the top of the cliff. The only way to the top had been on the side of the gorge away from their quarry's path.

"We have to go up this side," Cory panted as he looked towards the summit.

"Maybe there will be a way across farther up," Brennan said hopefully.