Chapter 23

  Natural Retribution - Max

  Max had spotted the storm, getting worse outside the doorway. As he was the closest one to the doorway, he was glad that the sand didn't come in very far. But when darkness fell across the cavern, Max guessed that he wasn't going to be able to do anything, and he was just going to have to wait in the dark with all the rest.

  Max wondered why the guerrillas were waitingto light a fire. His only thought was that each was opening one of the other gorillas would light the wood. He understood that someone would start a fire, so he wasn't too concerned. He'd spent enough time out in the storms on the lower plains and standing in darkness that this was just a mild inconvenience. He'd been fascinated by the room and really wished that he could talk to Link about it, but with the storm, Max realized he couldn't, even if there wasn't a storm. He didn't think he could whisper quietly enough in this room that the gorillas wouldn't hear.

  Max focused on his hearing. Though he used his excellent hearing to catch any other sounds, the only thing he was hearing was the howling and scraping of the storm outside. He guessed that the guerrillas would be talking or saying something, at least complaining, but Max realized that he couldn't hear anything but the storm. It was now that Max guessed that they probably couldn't hear anything else either.

  The experience was disconcerting for Max. It made him feel alone. He couldn't hear or see anything. He could smell the onitment that Bond had put on him and feel the sand in his nose, but nothing else. The room around him was lost, so he moved his feet just a little to feel the ground to remind himself he was standing on stone. This wasn't like a darkness in the storm or darkness on the Lower Plains. Max could only feel the stone between his feet, the rope around his neck, and the wailing of the storm in his ears. It felt uncomfortable that the only thing that felt real was the storm. All of a sudden, a wave of fear swept over Max.

  "Help me, please," Max whispered, convinced that no one except the creator would be able to hear him.

  Max stood there for a minute or an hour, he wasn't sure how long, when all of a sudden he thought he felt something. He wasn't sure what it was. He asked himself, Is it the rope?

  Yes, Max was certain the rope had moved. Then all of a sudden, he felt it. Something smacked his trunk and pushed on one of his tusks. Max didn't know what it was, but reacted on instinct. He reached his trunk out, wrapped it around whatever was there, and threw it with all of his might. In the process of throwing it, Max felt the restraint of the rope nearly break, but Max had enough room to throw the creature as far away as he could.

  A moment later, Max was surrounded again by the sound of the storm, the darkness, and nothing else. Immediately, he realized that the thing he grabbed had to have been a gorilla. And that this gorilla, whoever he was, had been thrown to the side. Max knew his instinct; this reaction was something he learned from his father. It was how to defend oneself, without killing a person. Max's father had taught Max that his size could kill. Max throwing something to the side could give him a chance to move the danger away without killing it by stomping on it. Max wasn't sure that the elephants in the lower plains would act the same way.

  Max wondered, Did I just give myself away? Did whoever this was was now going to figure it out that he was more than he appeared? Max shook his head, not believing what he had done, but also not knowing what he could have done otherwise. Max sighed and just stood there, feeling the rope around his neck, the stone beneath his feet, and the howling of the wind. The fear was gone, but now dread tried to fill him.

  Max thought he heard something else, a wailing, crying, or was that a scream? A moment later, Max nearly pulled back from the rope that was holding him as light filled the room. Max looked over and saw a Conquest, holding a torch. Max tried not to respond in an inappropriate way that would give away his heritage, even if he was certain that the secret was already lost. Max saw Conquest holding the torch high, Bond sitting next to Link, and off into a corner, other guerrillas huddled together in a corner. Max could see them; their eyes were wide, and they were shaking. Max was surprised to see that these seasoned warriors of Conquest were so afraid.

  Max looked around in the little light that came from the torch. To Max, it seemed like he and Link, the two captives, were the ones who were free. Conquest didn't look afraid, but there was something else he could see that spoke of bondage.

  Conquest yelled words no one could hear, and then he threw the torch toward the wood in the firepit. Conquest then turned and ran past Max out toward the entrance.

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  Max turned to look that way, knowing he had spotted the gorilla that he had thrown in that direction. Max watched, preparing to respond in the event the gorillas decided to attack. The light grew quickly as the fire caught on the dry wood. More light entered the room, and Max could see what Conquest was doing. The lead gorilla ran and grabbed the limb of a gorilla who lay mostly outside the cave in the storm. A moment later, a sight that Max wished he would never remember was played out in front of him.

  Conquest had grabbed the gorilla and pulled him in. Max saw that side of the gorilla's body that was exposed to the storm had the fur completely stripped off; some of the skin was red, but the rest was gone, exposing the muscle and tissue beneath.

  Max had never seen anything like it. Even the sight of a lion stripping a gazelle was mild. This creature was screaming, but Max could barely hear it above the storm. The site caused a shiver to go through his body.

  Max could see that Conquest was waving his hands, and finally, Bond and a couple of the gorillas that Max didn't know came over and helped carry the gorilla over next to the fire. After they had the gorilla laid down, they walked over to the bowls that were on the wall, reached in, and cupped out water with their hands. Once they had the water, they brought it over and poured it onto their comrade's wounds.

  Max had hoped he would never hear the sound of a sandstorm again. Yet now, Max was grateful because though he could see the torment on the gorilla, he now realized that he was unable to hear the full torment of the screams.

  After a while, Max closed his eyes and tried to forget what he'd seen. To his surprise, he slept. Tonight, the dreams of white sticks did not enter his mind.

  It seemed to Max that all that filled his mind was the sound of the storm, wailing. Sound filled his ears, his mind. When he awoke at one point, he didn't know if he was dreaming or still asleep. Although light now filled the room, the sound still filled the space. However, when Max looked around, he realized he was awake. He took stock of the gorillas and realized it was the body of Storm lying on the ground, surrounded by blood and water. Now, he knew he wasn't dreaming.

  He assumed that his actions had caused this to happen to Storm. Max thought it was probably good that he was unconscious, not responsive, because he could not imagine the pain the gorilla must have been in. As he looked, guilt filled him. Yes, Storm was an enemy. Storm clearly did not mean him, his family, or the forest of animals any good. Yet, he was still a creature of the Creator. He was still one of the speaking animals, one of the chosen. And Max's heart broke at the torment and the pain that his actions had brought.

  Max examined the distance between him and the doorway. He didn't know how he managed to throw the gorilla that far, but he knew he must have. There was no way anyone would walk out into the storm, not even Storm. The only small comfort Max had was that perhaps Storm would not be able to tell Conquest what he had done.

  As Max stood there and watched, a shiver went over him, and then Bond was standing in front of him.

  "It's okay. It's okay," Bond said, rubbing the annoying ointment back on his trunk. "Don't look over there. It's okay."

  Max was relieved that Bond thought that it was an animal's normal reaction to pain and fear that caused him to shiver, and not the fact that he was a rational being, so he allowed the gorilla to draw his eyes away.

  Bond untiedthe rope that was tied to the column and led Max over to the bowls on the wall. Each one was filled with water, and Max took a drink and then another. It helped. He felt better.

  Max took another drink. This time, he noticed that as he emptied the bowl, it refilled. Max wondered how much he could pull out, and he pulled even harder, taking in as much water as he could into his trunk. Yet the bowl kept filling up as much as he took. Finally, when he could hold no more, Max wondered what he should do. He thought about putting it in his mouth, but no, no. Instead, he splashed it across his back, trying to wash the sand off. And as Max did, he turned slightly and saw that besides dousing himself, he completely soaked Link and Bond.

  Bond had released Link to come over to get a drink. Because of the storm outside, Max had no idea they were beside him.

  Max could tell that Bond was not happy. He was stomping his feet on the ground, yelling, waving his arms, and shaking the water from his body. As Max looked over, He saw the rest of the guerrillas had seen what had happened and were laughing. Conquest, who had been watching, was laughing.

  Link stood there with just a smile on his face, and in that moment, Max laughed. Because of the storm, no one saw or heard it. In that moment of laughter, Max found a moment of relief from the guilt that had tried to envelop his soul.

  "Creator, thank you for the laughter," Max said, thankful that he could actually speak and not have to worry about anyone hearing. "Please help me as we go forward to not just react but to do what is right."

  Things quickly calmed down, and everything went back to the way it was.

  Still stomping and shaking, Bond led Max back to the pillar and tied him up once again.

  Max could see Link was enjoying the water, doing as much as he could to cover himself with it, clearly enjoying it. When Link started to climb up and sit in one of the bowls, Bond was back, holding him back.

  Though no one could hear the words, everyone could tell Bond was saying, "You're not going to do that." Finally, Bond ledLink to the place where he had been tied up and tied him up again.

  Max stood there, thinking about the day, about where he was, and did the only thing he could think of. He prayed again.

  "Creator, I hope this storm passes quickly, but I am just as afraid of what is to come. Give me strength."

  Max thought about his family again, both his families. The one that adopted him and the one in the upper plains. He recalled the memories he had had with both. All that they had done together, and eventually, to the sounds of the howling outside, Max once again fell asleep.

  Max stood there. He was in a large cavern, and lying on the cavern floor in front of him was the white stick. Max knew what he needed to do. He went up and picked up the stick and looked around, and sure enough, off in the distance, there was a haggard otter, his friend, Link, who looked like he had been beaten up, but with a smile on his face, hands outstretched, ready to catch. And so Max again played catch with his friend.

  As the stick later came back toward him, he reached up and noticed everything had changed. There was no stick. He was in a cavern, but it was not the same cavern. Light was coming in from the opening, and all that Max heard was the snoring of gorillas.

  Max sighed. He was awake, and the storm had passed.