Beyond the Valley of Mist (15 page)

“
Let’s get out of here!”
Zen yelled. “This is a place of death!”

They rode around the
mountain to their right as fast as they could. They had no way of
knowing how far it was and what danger they might face before they
got to the other side. By the time they reached the west side of
the mountain, the sun was low and had an ominous orange
glow.

This side of the mountain,
however, was beautiful. Green valleys stretched from the base of
the mountain into the west. About an hour's ride ahead to their
right, they saw huge caves. In the distance was a large overhanging
rock, with something that looked like a village underneath. Vine
ladders led to stone dwellings.

“
I think we’d better spend
the night here,” Zen said. “We’ll hide under these trees until we
can find out if these people are friendly. They might be glad to
see us, or they might take us prisoners. We can lead the horses up
under the rocks, where we’ll be able to defend ourselves with bows
and arrows. Whatever tries to get to us will have to climb up the
face of that cliff. It will be difficult to get the horses up
there, but I think we can do it. We’ll have to eat smoked meat
tonight.”

The horses didn’t like
climbing, but the four friends pulled and coaxed them onto the
rocky ledge. Using their sharp knives, they gathered grass for the
horses to eat; the horses were nervous, but settled down after
being fed. Zen and Jok had to use their arrows on two occasions to
chase lions away. It was a long night. Even though everyone was
exhausted, no one slept well. Finally morning came. They climbed
down from their perch and rode to a nearby stream to drink and
bathe, giving the horses time to graze while they tried to decide
how to get around the village without being seen.

Suddenly, a frightened man
came staggering, trembling, into their camp. Although his long
black hair covered his eyes and his clothes were torn, they all
recognized him at once. He was a man from their old village,
Lalock.

“
I know you,” he said to
Ador. “Your father is the medicine man in our village.” He stared
at the others. “Aren’t you the people who ran away into the Valley
of Mist? We thought you were dead. No one has ever come back from
the Valley of Death.” Then he noticed the horses. “Why do you have
those animals with you?”

“
Well, we know you, too.
You’re Nadd,” Jok said.

“
Why are you coming into
our camp so frightened and asking so many questions?” Zen
asked.

Nadd stammered, “The fire
in that mountain is the God of these cliff dwellers. The mountain
is angry, and they were going to sacrifice me to the fire. They
believe that if they throw me into the pit of fire, their God will
be appeased, and will not destroy their village.”

“
How did you happen to be
their prisoner?” Jok asked.

“
My two companions and I
were hunting, and we traveled farther west than anyone from our
village had ever traveled. These cliff dwellers saw us and took us
captive. They sacrificed one of my companions to the fire last
night, but the mountain is still angry, so they are going to
sacrifice me and my other companion tonight. I managed to escape,
but they still have my friend. They’ll soon be hunting for me. Will
you help me?”

“
Who was with you on your
hunting trip?” Jok asked.

“
Cam and Den. They threw
Den into the flames last night. Cam was still all right when I
escaped, but they’ll be guarding him closely now.”

“
We’ll help you to rescue
Cam, if you and Cam will help us to rescue our parents from
your
awful God of Fire,”
Jok offered.

“
I can’t do that!” Nadd
pleaded as he got on his knees. “My God would reject me. No telling
what might happen. Who knows what revenge the Fire God might
take?”

“
We defied the God of
Fire,” Zen responded. “The priests forced us to flee into the
Valley of Death, yet we survived. You submit to your God, yet
you’re in danger of being thrown into the mouth of yet another God.
How do you account for that?”

“
I cannot defy my God,”
Nadd cried.

“
We’re sorry to hear you
say that, Nadd.” Zen shook his head. “We cannot help you if you
won’t help us, and we cannot allow you to return to your village
and tell the priests that we’re coming. They’ll kill our mothers
and fathers.”

Nadd clutched Jok's arms.
“It’s too bad about Cam,” Jok said, shaking his head. “He’s a good
man. But it’s better that he dies than our mothers and fathers be
killed by the priests.” He released Nadd’s hands from his arms.
“Why does anyone have to worship Gods who throw people into
fire?”

“
Not everyone’s God kills
people,” Zen corrected. “The God of the people in the Village by
the Sea does not kill people. Sorry, Nadd, we cannot help you if
your fear of your God is so great that you cannot overcome it long
enough to rescue your friend.”

“
Oh, all right,” Nadd said
reluctantly, wringing his hands. “I’ll help you, but you have to
promise never to tell anyone that I did. If they find out, I’ll
have been saved from being sacrificed to this Fire God only to be
sacrificed to my own Fire God.”

“
One is about as bad as the
other, isn’t it?” Jok commented in disgust. “Don’t you think it’s
about time you realized that?”

“
But we have to have a
God,” Nadd insisted.

“
Then worship one who
doesn’t require people to be killed,” Jok admonished.

“
Before we can save Cam,”
Zen contemplated, “we have to find a way to get to the other side
of this village without being seen. When we rescue Cam, we’ll
outrun these people on our horses, and then we’ll ride in the
direction of Lalock. But first we’ve got to teach Nadd to ride a
horse. Then he and I will go into the village, rescue Cam, and meet
the rest of you at our new location. You’ll have to be ready to
ride away fast when we return.” To Lela, he said, “Bring one of the
horses for Nadd. We’ll teach him to ride.”

Lela led one of the mares
to where the men were talking.

Nadd was frightened. “I
can’t get on that animal. He might bite me.”

“
It’s not a he; it’s a
she,” Lela said, “and she won’t bite you. Here, let me show you.
I’ll get on her back and show you how to guide her. If I’m not
afraid, why should you be?”

With a little coaxing, she
got Nadd on the horse and led them around until Nadd felt
comfortable, gave him the reins and showed him how to get the horse
to go where he wanted her to go. After a time, Nadd was riding well
enough to go with Zen to the village to rescue Cam.

Ador and Lela rode double
on one of the horses until they were deep into the forest at the
base of the mountain. By the time the sun reached its highest
point, they were on the north side of the village. They found a
place where they could keep the horses concealed.

Nadd shuddered. “I don’t
want to go back into that village. If they catch us, they’ll burn
us inside their mountain for sure. You should have heard Den
screaming last night when they threw him into the burning
mountain.”

“
Did he scream any louder
than the girls scream when they are being sacrificed to
your
Fire God?” There was
real anger in Zen’s voice when he asked that question.

Nadd knew he had better not
refuse to help Zen rescue his friend. He knew that Zen didn’t have
to go into the town, but he was going anyway.

“
Zen, let me go,” Jok said.
“Cam is my friend. You stay here with the girls.”

“
Thank you, Jok, but it’s
better that I go. I’m counting on the cliff dwellers being
frightened at seeing the horses. I’m hoping they’ll leave Cam
unguarded long enough for us to ride in, grab him, and get out of
there. You just have everything ready when we get back. We’ll all
ride away fast, and be gone before they know what happened. Let’s
go, Nadd. We’ve got to get this done and get out of here before it
gets dark. You lead the way, but stop when we are close enough to
see where they are holding Cam.”

Nadd led Zen about three
stones’ throw from the cliffs, stopped and said, “They’re holding
Cam at the base of that cliff.”

“
Yes, I see him; he’s tied.
When I yell, ride in fast. I’ll get off my horse, cut his bonds,
and put him behind you on your horse. Tell him to hold on to you
while you ride back to the others as fast as you can. I’ll be right
behind you. Are you ready?” asked Zen.

“
No, but if we’re going,
we’d better go before I lose my nerve,” Nadd answered.

Zen and Nadd let out a
blood-curdling yell and went riding in at a full run. The startled
guards looked up and began racing as fast as they could up the vine
ladders. Zen jumped off his horse and quickly cut the bindings
holding Cam. Cam’s eyes were wide with fright, but then he saw Nadd
and realized he was being rescued.

Zen got him on the horse
behind Nadd, who whispered, “Hold on tight, Cam; we’re going to
ride out of here!”

Cam was so surprised, he
didn’t know whether to be frightened or happy, but he hung on as
tightly as he could.

The men on the cliff threw
spears at Zen, who grabbed his bow and arrows and quickly shot two
men. They fell to the bottom, screaming, and the others withdrew.
This gave Zen time to mount his horse and ride after Nadd and Cam.
The cliff dwellers were stunned and didn’t know what to do. Zen’s
plan had worked.

***

Chapter 17

The Return

When the rescuers returned
to the camp, the others were waiting. They all galloped away into
the forest, leaving a surprised and confused village. They rode
without stopping until the sun was almost down, and then set up
camp for the night at a secluded spot that would be easy to
defend.

Zen remembered that they
had surprised the raiders who had kidnapped the Zorian women, and
he didn’t want to be surprised in the same way, so he posted two
well-hidden guards. Fortunately, no one had followed
them.

They slept a nervous sleep,
and the next morning, as soon as it was light, they mounted the
horses and were on their way. After traveling east for days, both
Zen and Jok began to recognize the landscape.

Zen called a halt to the
ride.

“
Let’s set up camp early;
we don’t want to be seen by hunters. They might tell the priests
that we’re here.”

“
I know a hidden cove from
which we can ride to Lalock in half a day; it would be a good place
to set up a temporary camp. We can stay there until we contact our
parents and let them know that we have returned.”

“
Cam,” Zen said, “I think I
can trust you, so I want you to know what we’re doing and why. We
need your help.”

“
You saved me from being
sacrificed to the fire mountain,” Cam said. “I’ll help you, no
matter what I have to do. I would be dead if you had not risked
your lives to save me.”

“
Cam! What about our God?”
Nadd asked, shocked to hear Cam’s response.

“
Nadd,” Cam replied calmly,
“I was almost sacrificed to a God last night, and I think I will
reconsider what kind of God I worship from now on. Hearing Den
scream while he was burning made a lasting impression on me. The
Creator of all things would not do such a terrible thing to one of
his creations. Why would He? Nadd, if you even attempt to inform
the priests, I personally will see to it that
you
will be the one the priests
burn.” He asked, “Zen, my friends and I will help. Now, what would
you have me do?”

“
Thank you, Cam. We need to
let our parents know that we’re here, and that we have come to
rescue them,” Zen replied. “Tell them we’re building a new village
beyond the Valley of Mist.”

“
It’s a much better place,
and they can live free,” Jok added.

As they sat around the
fire, Jok told Cam and Nadd about their harrowing experiences of
going through the Valley of Mist, about the Village by the Sea, and
all the wonderful things they had learned. He then told about the
village they were going to build beside the river with clear water,
and that they had already built their first home there. Zen showed
them the firestones and the blankets made from wool.

“
I can see the horses,” Cam
said. “I see the knives and the bows and arrows. I have seen what
you can do with these weapons. I’d like to bring my family and go
with you. I want to help you build a better village and a better
life. May we join you?”

“
We would be pleased, Cam.
You and your family would have a better life, and we need all the
help we can get. Nadd, how about you? Will you join us?” Zen
asked.

“
It sounds wonderful, but I
don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. You’re asking me to give
up my God, and that’s asking a lot.”

“
You don’t have to give up
your God, Nadd, but you must stop the killing of people in the name
of your God. You must let others worship whatever God they want to
worship, so that you might have the same right.”