Page 91 of The Last Warrior

“Very well. I will stay here.”

He nodded. “I will always love you.” Springing to his feet, he was gone.

Within moments, she heard Black Lion striding across the clearing, to the spot where the lightning had last crashed. He came to a position, stopped, and she heard him say, “I am here.” Suzette watched as Black Lion raised his arms into the air, heard him say, “If you wish to speak to me, Thunder Being, I dare you to face me, man to man.”

Suzette could hear a rumble in the skies, then a sound much like laughter rang out.

No sooner had it started than another crash of lightning hit the ground, causing the mud, snow and dirt to fly in all directions. Suzette cowered within the bushes, witnessing at the same time that Black Lion jumped involuntarily. But he did not retreat. Instead, regaining his balance, he paced forward, toward the spot where the ground had been ripped apart.

“Are you afraid to meet me?” he challenged, while she listened and wondered what she could do. “Are you afraid to confront me with nothing more than human prowess? It is well known that a god can kill a man, for it takes no courage. But can a god—as a man—kill another man? I dare you to discover this, my enemy. Meet me face-to-face, and we will see who is the better.”

Was he crazy?

More laughter, this time terrible and loud, rang out through the wintry air, and she forgot whatever else she had been thinking, for it was the same voice which had visited her in her dreams—and the Thunderer was saying, “You are puny, human. I could kill you in an instant.”

“We all know you could. Yet it would take no valor and be without honor,” countered Black Lion. “But come, meet me one against one, and we shall see who is the better,” he dared. “Come and meet me.”

Gray clouds dropped to the ground, while miniature whirlwinds spun fast and furiously, without advancing anywhere. From within those whirlwinds, a man stepped forward.

Suzette pinched herself to be sure she was awake. The Thunderer’s image was exactly as she remembered it to be. He was a man, yet not. His coloring was, as she had noted from her dream, blue and gray, like those of the angry clouds from which he came.

The Thunderer was pacing toward Black Lion, and Black Lion spoke to him. “Why do you hate us so much? Have we not paid enough for our past misdeed?”

“Never!” cried the Thunderer. “Those who have gone before you have been clever of late, I admit. They are free and have freed the bands of their clans, while my children, who committed no wrong in any of this, are dead. Yours is the last of the Clan still entrapped. Know this. It is my intention to keep you entrapped forever.”

“Ah, and now we know. But, as the wise ones have said, all things must come to an end, even curses and your hatred. Look at you! How can you live with such animosity? How can you bear it? No, your children would not have wished this for you, I think.”

“Would they not?” challenged the Thunderer. “Though I have their images in stone, their spirits haunt me. Were they here, they would demand I seek retribution for their deaths. I know it! Haiya, I will not rest until I see a fitting punishment for this evil your people have done to me.”

“Is not an eternal life in the mist punishment enough?” countered Black Lion.

“Nay! Never! Had I the strength, I would put a hex on you that would be a hundred times more powerful.”

“If this is how you see it, then come and kill me now,” Black Lion summoned. “You can end this thing. Come, let us do battle, for I would show you kindness, and if we are lucky, the victor may yet free his own people.”

“Haiya! You know I cannot battle with you and give you the chance to show me kindness. But…” The Thunderer paused, then he laughed again, sending shivers up and down Suzette’s spine. “But I can kill those close to you. There is one here who hides in the bushes.”

“Hiya! You will never get to her, for I protect her. You would have to kill me first.”

“Aa, yes, I can see this is so. And there is little I can do about it, for I cannot disobey the Creator and kill you…yet. But there are others who are dear to you. Ah”—the Thunderer pointed southward—“I see your friends now. There is a show there.”

“My friends have done nothing to you,” cried Black Lion. “They are not part of this.”

“Are they not? Did they not make the mistake of seeking to be friends with you?”

“Hiya! Do battle with me now. I am prepared to fend off your advances. Or do you lack the courage and must place your anger upon innocents?”

The Thunderer’s reaction to this challenge was another misplaced laugh. “Three days,” roared the Thunderer. “This will be all the time you have to save them. Three days.”

“Hiya!”

But further protest was useless. Stepping into the spin of a whirling cloud, the Thunderer retreated, then disappeared, back into the darkened night above them. The clouds began to move, and, indeed, they traveled south.

“Hiya! Hiya! Hiya!” Black Lion shouted to the heavens, and then, “Damn!” he shouted in English. “Come back!”

But there was no answer.

“Hiya!” he cried again, then as though he spoke to another, he said, “If he can, he will kill my friends. We must go back to the show, and in a hurry if we are to be there in three days. You and the Song Bird must return as well. How far away from us are you?”