A terrible tremor shook the island, dust falling from the ceiling of the temple, raining down like ash as the island voiced its displeasure.
YOU HAVE BROKEN THE PACT,boomed a deep voice that seemed to come from the earth itself.THE PROMISE BETWEEN THIS ISLAND AND HUMANKIND HAS BEEN DEFILED. NOW KNOW MY WRATH!
The soldiers, faces locked in masks of fear and uncertainty, turned and ran.
But with them went the sacred idol and the treasures of the people.
And the Storm Boar was angry.
With a gasp, Shinji opened his eyes, seeing the chamber and the white pig in the center of the lava pool. The white pig was growing, becoming bigger by the second. Lightning strands flickered to life along its hide, and the air grew sharp with the smell of ozone and rain. The boar was now the size of a grizzly bear, but it kept growing, towering over them with no signs of slowing down. Its bristly fur was now a blinding white, its tusks longer than Shinji’s arm, and its eyes were the electric-blue-white of a lightning strand.
“Shinji.” Lucy knelt beside him, her eyes wide with fear. “Are you all right? What’s happening?”
“I…” Staggering upright, Shinji clutched at his hair,
trying to make sense of the images he’d just seen. Horror filled him as he realized what he had done. Lucy had been right. In freeing the Storm Boar, he had put everyone in danger.
“I know what happened,” Shinji whispered, pulling away from Lucy. He felt sick, but the immediate threat of the angry Storm Boar shut out everything else. “Let me go; I have to talk to the Storm Boar before it destroys the whole island.”
“What?!”
Thunder boomed, shaking the ground. Sinji, Lucy, and Roux lost their balance and fell, sprawling to the stones, as the massive Storm Boar raised its head and bellowed. Rocks came loose from the walls, plummeting down and landing with loud splashes in the lava. The mountain beneath them shuddered, long rumbles coming from deep within the earth.
“If you’re going to do something, do it fast!” Roux called, shielding his face as a melon-size chunk of rock landed with a crash a few feet away. “Before this angry sausage brings the whole mountain down on top of us!”
“Storm Boar!” Shinji scrambled to his feet, throwing out a hand, and the huge pig turned to glare down at him. It towered over Shinji, a mountain of bristling fur and sizzling lightning strands. “Listen to me!” he called up to it. “I know you’re angry, but the people who are responsible for this aren’t here anymore. Those men who took your artifacts are long gone.”
The Storm Boar roared, so loudly the ground shook again. More rocks plummeted into the lava, causing splashes of red-hot magma to splatter everywhere. Roux yelped and scrambled away as drops of lava rained down near him. Lightning flashed from the Storm Boar’s hide, striking the walls and causing several explosions of rock and stone. In the magma pool beneath the boar, the lava surged up, waves crashing against the sides and spilling over the edge. Cracks opened up in the ground, growing wider as the entire mountain continued to shake and tremble.
Run,whispered a voice in Shinji’s head. He was unsure if it was the Storm Boar, the Coatl, or his own instincts, but he didn’t question it. Leaping back, barely dodging a rock as it smashed into the floor, he spun and saw Lucy still on the ground, staring up at the boar as it squealed and thrashed about. Rushing over, Shinji grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.
“We’ve got to get out of here!”
“Oh, you think?” Roux snapped, staggering up beside them. His eyes were wide, his hair standing on end as lightning flickered and sizzled around them. “What was your first clue: the rising lava or the giant rampaging lightning boar?”
“Come on!” Lucy cried, and they fled the chamber, through the jaws of the boar statue, as the real Storm Boar’s furious squeals and bellows rang out behind them.
I caused this,Shinji thought as they burst out of the room
and began running. Rocks and bits of the ceiling rained down around them, plinking off the stones and stinging his skin.If the Storm Boar destroys the island or hurts anyone else, it’ll be my fault.
The mountain continued to shake. Lucy tripped and fell once, crying out as she struck the bottom of the stairs. Both Shinji and Roux immediately whirled, caught her by the arms, and pulled her upright.
“Tinker!” she gasped, looking around wildly. “Where’s Tinker? I lost him.”
A squeak caught their attention. Tinker was racing toward them over the rocks, his body a metallic blur against the dark stones. Pebbles pelted down around him, and he dodged from side to side as he scampered.
“Come on, Tinker!” Lucy cried, holding out her hand.
A shadow fell over the mouse as he lunged forward, and a huge chunk of rock dropped from the ceiling. It was too big and too fast for Tinker to dodge, and Lucy gasped as it plummeted toward him.
Shinji acted without thinking. He raised an arm, and a gust of wind rushed across the floor, catching Tinker and blowing him out of the way just as the rock smashed into the stones. The mouse reached Lucy and raced up her arm. She clutched him to her in relief.
Roux caught Shinji’s eye as they started running. Lucy had been too concerned with Tinker’s safety to notice, but Roux had seen Shinji use his magic again. But there was
no time to question it. Massive chunks of rock dropped from the ceiling and crashed to the ground, causing tremors beneath their feet. The noise was deafening. Shinji, Lucy, and Roux wove through the cavern, breathless, and ducked into the tunnel.
With a roar, the ceiling behind them collapsed, filling the entrance with stones and blocking the way back to the cavern.