Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly

Author:Erin Entrada Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

Only a Mountain

The Pasa brothers had already broken off from the path when the rain ended. Hetsbi and Cade continued on for some minutes—Cade ahead, as always—but when the clouds suddenly cleared, they both stopped and looked at each other. They were dripping wet. They leaned their heads back and studied the sky. Rain never behaved this way.

Their sandals pushed into the soft mud.

“Strange,” said Cade.

The boys continued on and didn’t stop again until they heard the distant sound of thunder. They paused and turned toward the sound. It was coming from Kahna.

Cade put his hand on his ax-saw.

“What’s that?” he said, more to himself than anyone.

Hetsbi looked at the mountain. It stood mighty and tall, but there was something unusual about it, too.

“It’s changing shape,” Cade said, suddenly breathless. “It’s—”

He was right. The mountain was both changed and unmoving, as if one side of its face was slipping away while the rest of it stayed in place. There was no smoke, just a groan. The ground shook under their feet.

Cade’s eyes widened. “Kahna is coming!” he hollered. He gestured at Hetsbi to follow him, then took off at an incredible speed. He yelled to anyone who could hear him as he ran: “Kahna is coming! Kahna is coming!”

Hetsbi ran, too. Not as fast as Cade, but faster than he’d ever run before. Because now he understood what it meant—the terrifying sound and the shifting mountain. His greatest fear was happening. The mountain was hungry and angry and it was coming for them. His heart caught in his throat as he encountered other boys on their way home from school, many of whom had figured out what was going on and were running, too.

Hetsbi thought about his mother and sister.

He thought about how the mountain would feel when it clenched its teeth around them.

Cade ran and screamed—“Kahna is coming! Kahna is coming!”—and others joined him in the warning. The village erupted in panic.

Cade and Hetsbi parted ways as soon as their houses came into view. Hetsbi found Veyda and his mother outside, staring at the sky.

“Kahna is coming!” yelled Hetsbi.

Veyda understood right away and pushed Hetsbi and their mother into the house, to the wall that was farthest away from the mountain. Lo Yuzi told them to curl into balls and hold each other. So they did.

They listened to the screams, wails, cries of fear outside. They felt the earth shake.

Hetsbi saw it all as if it had happened already—the three of them being pushed by the mountain, trampled by its force, buried forever. A thousand images flashed through his mind—his final thoughts, he assumed—but one picture that kept appearing again and again was that of Cade looking at him after the fight.

I will die a coward, Hetsbi thought.

He closed his eyes.

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