Mondo's Clan

Chapter 17: Shadow

Runt took point with Malo right behind him. Ahead we could see where the valley made its right turn, the river also made the turn. It was still over a mile before we would able to see around the corner and into the Shadow. Bruno oped along at my side, since he was calm so was I I looked at the river, it was getting swifter and was glad we hadn't had to continue in the water. There was a roaring that seemed to get louder with each step . The water began crashing against large boulders and white roaring that seemed to get louder with each step . The water began crashing against large boulders and white water was spewing. It was if we were walking in the rain Once we reached the bend and looked around, the river had swollen to almost cover the cavern floor that greeted us. Yes as we suspected there was a cave. Far in the distance we could see a faint light.... Maybe an opening? The area beside the river became narrower with each step, in some case it was wet and very slick. Also it seemed the land was tilting and we were going slightly down hill. As we neared the opening the noise was almost deafening Our walk way was almost gone when we emerged. The river cascaded over a cliff about thirty feet high and crashed in to a beautiful lake below. There was a natural and quite well defined but little used game trail descending to the Lake below It appeared that at one time animals used this trail to enter the valley but an avalanche had changed the river by dumping large boulders into the river. Also making it impossible to cross to the river to gain access to the valley Here we had found another Valley but maybe not as peaceful as ours. The first thing we heard was the yelping of Dire Wolves. Dire wolves were smaller than our cats but they hunted in large packs that could overwhelm us, our plan was to avoid them if possible. Malo pointed to a disturbance in bushes along the lake shore. We watched from concealment as a behemoth burst through it was a Woolly Rhinoceros and calf being chased by the dire wolf pack. The front horn was about 2 feet ong, the rhino stood over 6' at the shoulder and weighed almost a ton and a half. The calf was about 4 ' at the long, the rhino stood over 6' at the shoulder and weighed almost a ton and a half. The calf was about 4 ' at the shoulder. Mother and calf ran into the lake until the calf was neck deep then they turned to face them .The wolves jumped into the water and attempted to reach the calf. The adult would scoop with it's horn and lift and toss the wolves deeper into the lake. There was a swirl and the wolf disappeared, a pair of eyes arose above the water Another toss, another swirl, another pair of eyes. This continued for awhile and the wolves seemed to be losing more than half their pack was gone. They finally gave it up and retreated, mom and babe climbed out of the lake. Mother Rhino turned and looked out into the lake and made a cuffing noise, as if to say thanks. One by one the Mother Rhino turned and looked out into the lake and made a cuffing noise, as if to say thanks. One by one the eyes dipped underwater and were gone I asked Lateen if he had ever seen anything like that. All he could do was shake his head no as he continued to look over the smooth lake. We remained alert, realizing this was not our Valley. This area was teeming with animals some of which we had never seen. We almost walked in to a barren looking area with what looked like piles of mud some of these were10' tall. While we were trying to figure out what they were an odd creature waddled in to the area. It looked to have armor plating like the rhino. It had a pointed mussel and a tiny mouth with a very long sticky tongue. On its have armor plating like the rhino. It had a pointed mussel and a tiny mouth with a very long sticky tongue. On its front feet were claws t least 6" long It climbed up the side of one of the mud spires and began digging in with its claws. Ants went every where. The creature ran out its sticky tongue and began to eat the ants by the thousands. An ant landed on my arm and stung me I smashed him but it didn't stop the stinging I had seen all I wanted this made me really appreciate our Valley and I decided it was time to go back. As we retreated back to the trail Runt ran past and headed toward the water fall then he disappeared into it. Bruno followed, we followed him, We found ourselves in a small cave behind the falls. We heard voices, turned and peered thru the cascading water Two lomen... they were following our tracks as they neared the trail to our valley , I motioned and Bruno and Runt burst thru the water and brought them down before they had a chance to breathe Malo said, "Wonder if it works for us" he dragged one of the lomen to the lake edge and gave him a shove he drifted a few feet then...a large swirl and another the crocs were having a feast . So we decided to give them the other one We went back over our trail and cleaned the ground of all tracks. When we reached the trail we covered the trai with fallen branches to make it unnoticeable and impassable.