He led them all north to the bend that would take them to the Thunder Run. Johan was getting anxious to see the mighty waterfall. The rumors of its majesty were known far and wide.
As they left Huan behind and turned the final corner leading into the last stretch, he could see even from this distance that he was not to be disappointed.
In the thousands of years since the Second Fall of Man, the world of old had changed unimaginably.
Huge underground explosions had caused many tectonic plates to become erratic, at times tearing the ground apart with the pace of movement it set. Other times, the massive volcanic upheavals had created plateaus of mountain regions in sizes and heights never before seen.
Here at the tip of the Great Range, the large mountains that were around them everywhere were suddenly dwarfed by the titanic Hymleahs farther north. No man could ever enter those peaks. The climb and the thinness of the air was too much for any but the great Stalkers that had adapted to the high ground.
Here, though, the Hymleah headwall ended abruptly in the form of a gigantic cliff face. It was not altogether wide, eventually giving way to more sloping climbs on either side. It was, however, monumentally tall. In its center cascaded the monstrous sight called the Uhluktahn by the Ruskan Stalkers of the area but known more simply as the Thunder Run by the men and women who had traveled this way over the centuries. The Thunder Run was caused by the higher mountains above giving way to a valley that, due to the recent and massive tectonic shift, kept the base layer of rock warm to the touch. The snow and glacial feeds it passed through for untold miles north of where the party stood was the source of its amazingly bountiful water supply.
Many from the area, human and Stalker alike, regarded the formation and its unimaginable beauty as something closer to a spiritual entity, like a church formed from the earth itself. For the two from Tan Torna Qu-ay, one of which had only really seen Tortria Den and its paltry volume to compare this with, it was as if the whole planet gave way to a massive and unbelievably loud wall of water pouring down from the sky.
The huge formation came to a rest at the base of the cliff face in a huge lake called Thunder Head. The deep lake was so turbulent from the waterfall that very little could survive within it. Mostly plants and very small fish that could withstand the massive mini-tides at its shores were all one could find of any kind of life. If someone went swimming in it, they were instantly at risk of being sucked into one of the pressure swells and carried off to be pummeled to death by the crushing downpour, or simply drowned in a never-ending ballet of deep cyclonic surges that simply came and went, up and down, never to be released.
“Impressive, isn’t it,” Stroan said, pulling his horse up beside Johan. “I reacted the same way when I first laid eyes on it. We will travel the road that winds to the west of it, around Thunder Head, and into the heart of the river valley.”
The winds from the large valley they were to follow allowed them a respite from the giant plume of mist that emanated from the lake like a cloud, drifting the opposite of the way they intended to go. When the winds died and it carried more spray to the west, travel was nearly impossible. The rocks of the road became slick with water, the vapor soaking into everything, causing a damp chill that cut right down to the bone. For a valley with such fleeting sunlight to dry things and keep warm, that was not a pleasant prospect.
Chief Rider Wyndam called the party to a halt and summoned his Riders to him. The rest of the carts and people waited as the meeting took place. Most of them were content enough to wait and continue to admire the site sight ahead of them.
The Riders returned to their posts and each conferred with the cart drivers. Stroan pulled up beside Johan and did the same. “The Chief says that we’re to pick up the pace to get past the Thunder Run and farther down the valley before nightfall. When we’re a decent enough distance away, we’ll see if we can set the first camp.”
Johan nodded his understanding, but asked why the need to discuss it now while they were still so far from the waterfall. “Because,” responded Stroan, “once we get a bit closer, the noise will be too much for clear communication. We want to make sure everyone knows what’s going on and why before we reach that point.”
The rest of the people they traveled with who were on foot began climbing onto whatever cart was closest to them and found what spot they could. The horses and folmes pulling the carts were cinched in tighter and prepared for the double duty they were about to undertake. Another Rider began asking the carts
