Free The Legend of the Phantom by Jacob Nelson Page B

no consequence.” Caribo replied, with a hint of merriment in his voice. He clawed at a small outcropping of stone.
    “ Well I want your approval all the same,” Kit replied.
    “If I did not approve, I would have made it very clear to you,” Caribo replied. Looking up he added, “Race you to the top!”
    As they arrived at the top, Caribo swung up his leg as Kit pulled himself up. The result was a nearly a tie with Kit just a hair ahead of the other. As Kit pulled himself over, he just lay there panting for a bit.
    Caribo rolled his body heavily up on the flat ledge and flopped himself over to do the same as Kit, while he caught his own breath. Above them, a few clouds were slowly flitting across the sky, leaving shadows below on the hard desert ground.
    As they watched the sky, Caribo turned his head and noticed the large dome of rock in the middle of the mesa. “Looks like neither of us won,” he said. “There is still more to climb,” he continued as he pointed out the dome to Kit.
    “Well, then...,” said Kit, “Let’s get to climbing.”
    Caribo started off for the dome. The dome was of a different texture than the rest of the mesa. It was smoother, as if it were the top of a soap bubble, which wasn’t far off from reality.
    Once the two of them had climbed to the top, Kit decided to look for Miya. From the top of the bubble he was unable to see straight down the side of the Eyrie and decided instead to climb down to the ledge to look for her. However, he couldn’t see her. He walked around the edge and peered down, going the opposite direction from the brave that had just reached the top.
    Far below , the hidden Navajo braves saw the white man. ‘Who is that?’ they asked themselves. ‘Is it the Great Spirit?’ ‘Is it a Wind Walker?’ As quickly as the pale man appeared, he disappeared from view, heading in the opposite direction of the chief’s son who had just arrived at top.
    As Kit rounded the corner of the dome, Caribo descended. He noticed right away that there was an opening into the dome. Peering inside, he could see that the dome was a huge room with an arched roof. Off to the sides of the large room stood two smaller rooms of smaller arches, which connected to the main room. The floor in the middle of the room was fairly flat and quite large with a six foot diameter indented circle in the middle.
    Caribo decided to show the place to Kit and started to call him when he saw the chief’s son.
    As the chief’s son’s eyes fell on Caribo, he pulled out his knife and leapt forward. Caribo yelled out, “Kit!... We have company! Ughh!” The last part was added as the brave slammed into him, forcing both of them into the domed room, the brave’s knife deflected by Caribo’s wrist guards. The two of them went sliding out of control depositing them within the indented middle circle.
    Kit started running when he heard Caribo’s warning. As he ran around the dome, he heard a terrible cracking sound.
    As Caribo and the chief’s son slid onto the center of the floor, it began to crack from under their combined weight. The crust that formed the top of the lava tube was extremely thin there at that center six-foot section and unable to support the combined 300+ lbs of the two muscular men.
    Pouncing forward, the brave attempted to put Caribo into a strangle hold. As the arms tightened around Caribo’s head and chest, Caribo managed to slip out and quickly grappled the brave instead. Finding himself locked in Caribo’s arms, the brave threw himself backwards. Neither men were going to go down without a fight and twisting like wildcats the two grappled and fell, and grappled and fell; returning to do it over and over again. With every roll, the cracks grew longer and deeper.
    A shadow fell across the men as Kit arrived at the scene. Having sized up the situation, he jumped to his friend’s rescue and pulled back on the brave which dislodged Caribo. Freed of his antagonist Caribo backed against