The Hunt for Freedom

Chapter Forty

    Brilliant reds faded through pinks and oranges to an almost eerie golden yellow as the sun let its grasp of the day weaken and die. The glorious cover of night spread and the last of the water receded. Waves again raged war with the cliffs and on a night like thousands before, the cliffs stood firm. Before he conked out for good Dakari had broken off a stalactite and charmed it into a magic flashlight. It's light was enough for Lainey to see and placing it between her teeth she began to climb.

Higher and higher she climbed until she reached the location she thought she had seen the large crevice. The darkness was too dense even with the light to see the size of the breaks between the rocks of the cliff and she found herself feeling her way. The roar of an incoming wave sounded like a stampede of horses and she held on tightly as the salty water poured over her and nearly knocked her loose. She was already drenched, and the water actually felt warm to her cold skin for a moment. She knew this to be the trick of the ocean. Her father had warned her against hypothermia when she was out on his fishing boats.

She could see Dakari on the ledge across from her, but he was still asleep. Remembering her earlier landmarks she knew she must be close to the break in the rocks. She would find the crevice first and wake him with a plan. No point in stopping his recovery time if the hole was too small to slip through.

Unable to let go and wipe her eyes dry, Lainey continued to feel with her eyes closed. When her foot slipped on wet moss she feared the fall back to the bottom would break her leg, but instead she found herself sitting, straddled on a rock, half in the cave and half outside!

Using the makeshift flashlight she examined her situation. Half her body was outside the cliffs, while her one leg remained inside. She felt on the outside rocks for a handhold and found one just a little to the left of her current seat. She could reach it if she didn't slip in the moss again.

Grateful the black of night covered the knowledge of what lay below, Lainey pulled herself out completely and stood hugging the cliff. A small wave pushed at the back of her legs, cold and steady, more of a current than a wave. It's small push almost dislodged her legs and she realized what a large wave could do. Fear that should have paralyzed her instead had her rushing to find safety before another big wave swallowed her.

She scrambled back inside, and moving on sheer adrenaline tried to quickly descend from her rock perch. Her father had always cautioned her that impetuous behavior would lead to her peril. Thinking of him she tried to slow down but her handhold gave way as she was thinking this and she felt herself begin to fall. Grasping for anything to stop herself from tumbling onto the cave floor below, she accidentally dropped the light. Bouncing off rocks and shattering into tiny pieces did not dismiss its light, instead Lainey now had tons of tiny flashlights that lit the whole cave. In an instant she saw a flat rock that appeared to be moss free and jumped for it, landing in a deep squat to absorb the impact.

She had done it! She had found a way to the outside. Now all she had to do was wake up Dakari.

—————————————————————————————

Katalea could feel the feline shriek in her very soul. As everyone surged the stairs to the main floor Katalea tore off her clothes and shifted. She took the stairs in two bounds and was racing out of the house towards the sound. The sun had pushed its way through the earlier storm leaving only small puddles for remnants, easily avoided by those who got out first. Katalea's enormous strides covered copious amounts of ground until she pulled up short. A large shadow passed overhead unlike anything she had ever seen. It let out a screech she had heard before, and her insides liquified. Flying overhead was an enormous black dragon, with a very limp Dalya hanging from its talons.

She roared in frustration. Not another, not Dalya. As much as she disliked her as a child they had a mutual respect for each other now. Even on the worst days she wouldn't have wished this on her. The others stood, some shifted, some not, all looking towards the sky.

"How could this happen here?" Abe raged. "How did that thing invade our island?" He turned his rage on Katalea. "You brought this here. Nothing like this happened before you came into the picture."

Everyone stopped. Mouths fell open in astonishment. Abe had just insulted their princess. Their alpha. The punishment for this was death or banishment. They all knew it, there were no exceptions. The laws had stood for thousands of years, and would stand for thousands to come if their Pride still existed.

Katalea shifted and Maggie immediately covered her with a long coat. She felt all eyes on her and knew she must be strong and decisive. Surprisingly she felt no heartbreak for what she must do. The only loss was for the father, who had stood as chief counselor to her Grandfather. If only she could seek his counsel before having to deal with this.

"I understand your grief over your sister. We will find her and she will be reunited with your family. After that, you will leave the island. You will have no more access to the war room or the training ground. You are to remain confined to your home until adequate arrangements can be made. Food will be brought to you and you are forbidden from hunting. You are hereby banished from all gatherings and have a gag order placed on you. To disobey these orders would be punishable by death."

Katalea turned to the small crowd. "You will all bear witness to the events today if need be. Two of you please escort him to his home and stand guard. He is no longer welcome here."

As Abe was dragged away he doubled down on his insults. "No one respects you as a leader. They all want me to be alpha. They only put up with you to get to me," he shouted. His mouth opened to hurl more insults, but one of the younger guards stepped to him and sucker punched him in the mouth.

Rather than acknowledge his words and give them any credibility Katalea turned from him. The others followed suit. From that moment on, Abrax Kalb was invisible to them. In the life of the wild cat, there could be no other way.

Turning her head back to the sky she thought she saw a distant speck heading north. "Search the beach for any clues, bring everything back to the basement. I need to find Mr. Kalb immediately."

The shock was still on their faces. They looked to the sky and back to one another. Too much had transpired in too short a time to be believable. It took a moment before anyone moved. Then as if a bell sounded, everyone moved at once.