Atawna

Adventures in the Lost World

Episode 1

Atawna and the Lost World

Chapter 2 Pursuit

Atawna had been right. The two young women moved off through the treetops in a leisurely manner, swinging easily from branch to branch. It took only a half hour of travel to realize that they were being followed, and right through the region in which they were so much at home. Moving along the ground in great numbers were hundreds of Cinzani, and scrambling through the treetops were several of the creatures who were smaller in size and better able to navigate the heights.

Atawna quickened her speed, Chara following. There was little danger of the Cinzani being able to catch them, but she wanted to open some space between them and her pursuers. Eventually, she and Chara would need to rest. If they did not get far enough ahead that would be impossible.

Chara watched the sylphlike form of her sister move from branch to branch ahead of her. She was remarkably graceful. Her smooth muscles seemed to flex without effort. She had braided her ebon hair into a single long braid that she had wound about her head to avoid entangling it in the branches of the trees as she leaped fearlessly through the air. Chara envied her, she seemed so strong and sure of herself. She had admired her older sister most of her life. Atawna seemed so much better than she was at everything she tried. Her sister settled on a large branch just in front of her and waited.

“We have to move faster,” said Atawna. Chara noticed that her sister was hardly breathing hard in spite of the exertion of hurtling herself through the top of the rainforest. “If we don’t put enough distance between ourselves and the Cinzani, they will never give up and we will never be able to rest. Sooner or later they will run us into the ground.”

Chara nodded. She was still tired from her ordeal at the “hands” of the Cinzani, but she knew Atawna was right. “Lead on, big sister,” she said with a smile. “I can keep up.”

Without answering Atawna moved off rapidly through the treetops. Chara could not see her face, but there was a slight smile on her elegant lips. Her little sister was a tough one. Atawna had always known that Chara was stubborn. Even when children, the pretty little blonde had sought to assert herself. Now as a young woman she was showing that she was capable of living up to the standards of a Trelana warrior. Of course, she was terribly headstrong, even foolish. Being captured by the Cinzani was proof of that. But she could tell instinctively that Chara also was aware of the imprudence of her actions. She would not make the same mistake again. In the meantime, there was the problem of throwing the Cinzani off their trail. The strange creatures were tenacious and would not give up as long as there was any chance of catching them. They had to keep going and returning to their tribe was out of the question until they did. Leading several thousand Cinzani back to their homeland was out of the question. Somehow she had to find a way to put enough distance between her and the pursuing Cinzani to allow herself and Chara to escape.

The problem was that she had no idea where she was going. She had never been in this part of the great forest before. There were any number of places near her tribal territory that she might have used to evade the Cinzani, but she dared not lead them there, just in case they discovered her people. The last thing the Trelana needed was another war with the Cinzani. Over the centuries the two species had learned to leave one another alone. She would have to find some other way of losing the persistent creatures.

She moved higher in the treetops. In the centre of the canopy, some sixty feet above the forest floor, she could see little of the surrounding countryside. She needed to go higher, but not too high. If she broke through the canopy she would be isolated in a single tree and then the Cinzani would close about her and Chara and it would be all over.

Light broke over her as she neared the top of the canopy. Above her head was the strange sky of Pellucidar; a sky that was never dark. She could now plot her course to a place of refuge. A great mountain loomed just ahead of her. It seemed very close, but Atawna suspected that it was farther away that it looked. Still, it should be a goal that they could attain if they kept on moving. Whether or not it would provide her and Chara with the opportunity to escape she did not know. But she could think of no better plan. She dropped down into the canopy and slowed her pace. Now that she had a goal in mind, there was no need to exhaust herself and her sister. She would conserve her strength for later when it might be needed.

The mountain was very close now. It loomed above the forest like a giant sentinel. For the last hour Atawna and Chara had been swinging through trees that climbed the mountainside. Now Atawna could see something that she had not noticed when she first chose the mountain as her target. Hanging over the mountain was a dark cloud that was lit from below with a red glow. Far off she could hear a low rumbling sound as of some great beast growling. Suddenly, she was filled with apprehension, but realized that it was too late to turn back. She and Chara were committed to climbing the mountain.

But she saw as she neared the lower slopes that her decision had been a mistake. The trees or what was left of them were no more than charred stumps. Everywhere she looked there was desolation. Horrified, she stood on a branch of a tree on the edge of the forest and gaped at the destruction. Chara alighted beside her. “What could have done such a thing?” her sister said. “It looks as if the gods have gone mad.”

Atawna nodded. A foul stench assailed her nostrils. Strange fumes rose from the ground. “I do not like this place,” she said. “Some great evil has occurred here.” She looked behind her. There was no sign of the Cinzani. Perhaps there was still time to turn back. But she realized that both she and Chara were at about the end of their rope. They had been running from the Cinzani all day. Retracing their route would be suicidal. It would take them back to the Cinzani and neither she nor Chara had the strength to evade them for much longer.

“We will have to go up the mountain,” she said. “It is the only way. Perhaps the Cinzani will fear to follow us into such a place.”

Chara nodded agreement. She sensed anxiety in her sister’s voice and demeanor, but knew it was the only way. She touched Atawna’s arm reassuringly.

Atawna smiled. “Let’s go,” she said. Seizing a trailing vine she lowered herself to the forest floor and stepped into the desolation. Unable to think of any better direction to go, she headed straight toward the top of the mountain. She expected that she might find a path of some sort that would lead around it.

Both young women walked in silence. From time to time one or the other of them looked back the way they had come, looking for some sign of the Cinzani. They tried to keep up a good pace knowing that if the eight-limbed creatures caught them out in the open, they would be completely at their mercy.

It was not easy going. The rocky surface of the mountainside was broken and uneven. Strange smoking holes in the ground gave off stinking fumes and from some of them a distant roaring sounded. The air became harder and harder to breathe as they climbed higher. Atawna consoled herself with the thought that the vile stench that plagued their nostrils would make it difficult for the Cinzani to catch their scent.

They went on for about an hour in this way. The forest slowly dropped below them, but their progress did not become any easier. Instead the thickness of the air seemed to increase, the fumes becoming ever more acrid. Suddenly Chara made a faint sound. Atawna looked at her. Her sister was looking back the way they had come. Atawna followed her gaze. Far down the slope were hundreds of tiny figures. The Cinzani had caught up with them.

“Perhaps they won’t follow us,” said Chara, hopefully. But Atawna shook her head. The persistent creatures were already rushing up the slope. They had only a few minutes before they arrived.

Atawna quickened her pace. It seemed that they had run out of luck. There really was nowhere to hide on the side of the smoking mountain. There was nothing to do but run.

Closer and closer the pursuing Cinzani came. They were moving at least twice as fast as the two girls, but Atawna did not break into a run. She wanted to conserve her strength and that of her sister for one last battle. If they were to be caught then they would die fighting. She would not allow herself or her sister to be taken alive. In the meantime she and Chara climbed ever higher in the vain hope that somehow they might find safety.

The two girls were moving as fast as they dared over the broken surface of the mountain, but the Cinzani were moving faster. Their four legs seemed to have much less difficulty climbing over the fractured ground. In a matter of less than a minute they would be overtaken.

A high pitched keening sound came from behind them. The horrible noise sent chills up the spines of both girls. Atawna had not realized that the Cinzani could make such a sound. It was frightening, almost freezing her and Chara in their place. It was a cry of triumph, the Cinzani knew that they had their quarry.

Atawna slowed her pace, letting Chara get a little ahead of her. Then she whirled to face her foe, unlimbering her bow as she did so. Behind her, she heard Chara stop running. “Keep going, sister,” she shouted. “I’ll hold them as long as I can.”

“If you die, I die,” Chara replied. She took her place at Atawna’s side. Without a word Atawna handed her sister her knife. The girl already had the blade she had dropped when captured. The girl stood with a knife in each hand, awaiting the foe.

Atawna wished that Chara had kept running, but it was too late to argue. They would die together. She nocked and arrow to her bowstring, the Cinzani were less than a hundred paces away.

The ground convulsed beneath her feet, sending her and Chara sprawling. She tried to get up, but was immediately hurled flat again. There was an enormous roaring sound, louder than anything Atawna had ever imagined a noise could be. The air was filled with choking sulfurous fumes and a wave of heat surged around her. Crawling, she made her way to her sister. In the incredible din it was impossible for any words to be heard, but she grabbed Chara’s arm and pulled her in the direction they had been fleeing.

Scrambling on their hands and knees the two girls attempted to move away from the Cinzani. Fortunately, the insect-like creatures were just as confused as they were. In spite of their superior footing, the Cinzani were milling about in complete disorder, their intended victims forgotten for the moment. The mountain thundered again, shaking the ground even more violently. By now the stifling fumes were almost asphyxiating. Keeping their heads low, Atawna and Chara tried to take advantage of the cleaner air close to the ground.

The ground shook violently again and then was still. But now another horror emerged. From the top of the mountain a blood red stream flooded down the mountainside. To Atawna and Chara it appeared that the mountain was bleeding. But the heat radiating from the red liquid revealed that it was not blood, but molten rock, and it was headed straight for them.

Atawna managed to make it to her feet. Her head was reeling from the stench of sulfur, but she fought through it. Taking Chara’s arm once more she pulled her away from the approaching flow. The ground was shaking less vigorously now, and she was able to keep her footing. With a strength she did not know she had, she fought her way farther up the mountainside, dragging her sister with her. The heat of the approaching lava scorched her skin. A wave of giddiness swept over her. For an instant she thought that she might faint, but somehow she battled back from the edge of unconsciousness. Stumbling she staggered another six paces, collapsing just as the white hot flow of liquid rock surged past in an unstoppable flood.

She must have blacked out, because the next thing Atawna was aware of was the pull of Chara’s arms as her sister dragged her farther away from the river of magma. The heat was beyond anything she could have conceived of. It seemed to saturate every fibre of her being. Blisters stood out on her arms and shoulders and she thought she would faint again. But she managed to hold herself together. Pushing with her feet, she helped her sister haul her clear. As she moved farther from the overwhelming heat her strength increased. Even though the air temperature was still almost searing, it felt cool relative to where she had been. Shakily, she forced herself to stand. Together the two sisters leaned on one another, trying to get their breath.

“We’ve got to keep going,” Atawna gasped. “We will be cooked if we stay here.” Chara did not answer, but began to struggle farther up the slope. Slowly, they managed to put enough distance been themselves and the incandescent river. Sprawling on the ground, they lay gasping like fish out of water. The cooler air helped to revive them, but neither girl felt strong enough to stand. At the same time, they realized that they were still in terrible danger. The only positive factor was that the Cinzani seemed to have disappeared. It was hardly surprising. The place where the creatures had been swarming was now covered with bubbling lava. However, Atawna realized that at any second the mountain could destroy them. Somehow they had to get off the slope. Unfortunately, they could not go back the way they had come. The lava flow had put an end to that.

Struggling to her feet, she helped Chara to stand. The girl needed no explanation. If another flow of lava did not kill them, the choking sulfur fumes would. Together they set off around the shoulder of the mountain. Before them was a slight ridge. If they could just get behind it they would be shielded from the heat. At that moment she heard a sound behind her. It was a different sound from the crashing of the mountain and the clatter of falling rock. She turned just in time to see a Cinzani warrior emerge from the lava. How it had made it across the bubbling rock was beyond her understanding. The creature was both terrible and pitiful to behold. It four legs were burned down to stumps, and it was pulling itself along the shaking ground by two of its arms. The other two were raised to strike, the razor-edged claws gleaming reddishly in the glow of the volcano. Drawing her knife Atawna waited until the last second and then darting past the upraised forearms she drove her blade to the hilt into the Cinzani’s head. The many-toothed jaws gaped wide and then the creature collapsed, its head coming to rest on Atawna’s right foot. With a look of disgust, she pulled her foot free and then stooped. Looped about the creature’s neck was a length of the ultra fine rope the Cinzani crafted. Good rope was always useful. Carefully she wound the coils about her waist and then gripping Chara’s wrist tightly, she led her sister over the top of the slight rise in the ground and stood transfixed in dumb amazement. Before her was a yawning chasm. It seemed she had come to the end of the earth. She turned to look the way they had come. Above them loomed the exploding mountain. As she watched smoke and fire belched from its summit, showering the mountainside with lava bombs. A few of the smoking missiles landed a few feet away emphasizing their danger. Behind them the river of magma widened and lapped toward them. They could not go back the way they had come, but could they go into the bottomless pit that opened in front of them?

A shiver of fear ran down Atawna’s elegant back. It seemed they had come as far as they could go. She peered over the edge, and then she saw it. Below them was a narrow ledge that sloped down into the abyss. There was no time to wonder how far it went. They would have to take a chance. “Come on,” she said to Chara, and pulling on her sister’s elbow started into the vast gulf. Anther peal of thunder from the mountain stressed the need for haste. Taking the lead, Atawna moved down the narrow ledge. Would it lead to salvation or to death?

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