Legacy: Infinity (Book 3)

Chapter 14: Thunder Falls

Chapter 14: Thunder Falls

After the chill and the heat, the mountains entered into a period of rather consistent weather. In the morning the sun rose into a cloudless sky with hues of gold light dancing across the benign gray mountains. The shadows moved with the sun across the valley as the fireball heated the inhabitants.

By sun-high, clouds started moving across the sky. Feathery and few at first, they grew in size and number until the sun was in a constant game of hide-and-seek behind them. They also grew darker; from snowy white to eventually a dark gray.

Not long before dusk a rain shower would move through; lighting, thunder, and fierce winds not uncommon company to those showers. They didn't last too long and the winds carried them swiftly down the mountain and by twilight only a few trailing clouds remained. Leaving the valley dripping wet and refreshed.

The clouds continued to clear out over night, leaving the silver-dusted sky clear for the pleasure viewing of the creatures with more nocturnal instincts. The night was cool as a fresh spring brook and the senses were heightened by the refreshed feel of nature. The moon rose and set in its own time and all was reset for the next day.

Not more then two days had passed since Jay had narrowly escaped falling into Ash's play act and met up with Midnight. The night was as previously described, crisp and fresh, albeit a little brisk but perfectly silent with not even a faint whisper of wind; which was odd for the mountains.

Jay had met up with Amelia as she did every third night, but she found it difficult to sit still through the report. The grass was wet and uncomfortable to sit upon, the slate colored sky was interrupted only by the tiny specks of light that freckled it. The moon, more then a half-moon now and waxing toward full, seemed large and close at paw, sitting just at the peak of the northern mountain.

"Are you listening?" Amelia mewed, a bit impatiently.

Jay looked at her, thanks to the moon's light she could see everything on the open hillside, it had made her consider moving their meeting to beneath the trees where the shadows hid them. But not a thing stirred the silence or moved across the landscape. Not even Ash, whom she knew was skulking about on his own business.

"You were saying you have found the leaders of the cats controlling the pass?" Jay mewed, stifling a yawn of boredom. Her kits were shifting impatiently in her belly and she hoped to take a short walk before meeting up with Ash so that they would sleep soundly all night long. Not that she had much hope of sleep, a light repose was all she could hope for and was all she was used to.

"Yes. There are four cats who commonly take command. I even have figured out the chain of command," Amelia mewed, not waiting for Jay to respond as she continued on in her monotonous report. "The top cat's name is Brie, she's not very imposing in size but she isn't tiny either. Her fur is pale gray with black brindle stripes and she's got white paws, they're disproportionately wide, as all mountain cats' paws are, and she has green eyes."

"Doesn't sound like anything special," Jay grunted, "What about her age? From what the valley cats say, they're all fairly young."

"That is the case," Amelia agreed, "Mostly they're around your age, I would say none of them are more then seventeen moons old. Also, Brie has a littermate, a tom named Eagle. He doesn't resemble her very much besides being unimpressive in size; his fur is dark brown and not at all marked. His eyes are amber, nearly brown."

"And these are the two that have the most power in the group?" Jay affirmed.

Amelia nodded, the tips of her black ears sparkling in the moonlight and her amber eyes gleaming. "They are also the two who are most familiar with Python. I still haven't found their connection yet, so let me continue. The two others who often hold command are older then Eagle and Brie, but they all seem to be close friends. One of them is a tom named Salt, his fur is a creamy white and he is rather large for a mountain cat, nearly as large as Python and he is the one who does any battle training that the cats sometimes partake in."