False Horizon - Alex Archer [37]
“It smells like perfume,” Annja said. “Floral.” She paused. “Gardenias?”
Tuk shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know my flowers so I can’t say.”
He heard something.
Annja heard it, too.
And then Tuk saw something he didn’t expect to see. There appeared in Annja’s hands a sword that glowed and cast off a dull glow in the cave’s interior. Tuk gasped. It was the same sword that cleanly sliced through the fuselage of the airplane earlier when Tuk tumbled out of the back compartment.
“What in the world is that?” he asked.
Annja held up her hand. “Stand behind me, Tuk.”
“What for?”
“Because that smell doesn’t belong here. We would have noticed it earlier. That means there’s something else in the cave with us.”
Tuk moved behind Annja and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Can you see it?”
Annja shook her head. “No. Not yet. But I can feel something. Something is in the cave with us.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be Mike?”
Annja shook her head. “I don’t think so. Mike doesn’t wear perfume.”
Tuk felt her suddenly move forward to the front of the cave. She was headed toward the opening.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he whispered.
“I’m not sure of anything anymore, Tuk.”
Tuk felt himself drawn along. At least Annja had the sword. But how well would it work in the close confines of the cave? Tuk had to ask himself another question. If they really were in danger and couldn’t fight, where could they run?
They were trapped.
14
With the sword held aloft in front of her, Annja could see several shapes now in the cave itself. That was the good news. The bad news was they were large. Very large. In fact, to Annja’s perception, they could have barely fit inside the cave at all, let alone come through the narrow opening. This puzzled her. If they hadn’t entered that way, then where had they come from?
She and Tuk had been working at the only part of the cave that might conceal something. But now it looked like they had missed entirely another possibility up near the cave’s entrance.
Something had been, in effect, hidden in plain sight.
Annja flexed her muscles as the energy from the sword ran throughout her body. It felt good to have it back in her hands again. It warmed her and energized her at the same time.
She could sense Tuk behind her and he didn’t seem overly panicked. She marveled at the little man and what he’d been able to accomplish. If he hadn’t been afraid then, she doubted he would fear much now.
But the question still remained. Who or what were these things in the cave with them? And where did that floral smell come from?
She drew closer to the shapes in front of her. They appeared to be large shambling figures that vaguely resembled human beings. But large humans. A thought poked into her mind and Annja frowned.
They were, after all, in the land of the yeti. Could there be a pair of abominable snowmen in the cave with them right now?
If that was the case, would they be friendly or hostile? Annja didn’t relish the idea of having to cut them down in order to protect herself and Tuk. But if she had to, she would. She still had to find Mike. His injury needed some serious help if he wasn’t already dead by now.
She moved ever closer to the cave’s entrance. The smell of the perfume, wherever it was coming from, was intoxicating. It seemed heavier toward the front of the cave.
Annja pressed on. It was now possible to see a lot better as she approached the cave entrance where the snow made everything brighter.
There was no mistaking the appearance of the two creatures. They were large and covered from head to foot in a coarse brown fur that hung long and matted about their bodies.
Yeti.
Annja racked her brain trying to remember everything she could about these things, but the one thing that stood out were reports by witnesses usually complaining of an awful smell in the presence of them.
Yet, Annja and Tuk were now extremely close to the yeti and Annja couldn’t smell anything horrible at all. In fact,