'Burrr it's cold up here' Andrew thought to himself as he walked with the others. The pass that cut through the mountains was a nightmare of narrow cliffs and deep caves it seemed to add credit to the theory that this place was once an ancient lake. Andrew was distracted from his thoughts by a rumble in the distance the sound of thunder it was kinda terrifying the last thing they wanted was to be in the mountains when a storm hit. It was strange though the sky looked so clear you wouldn't think a storm was coming but the had never seen a storm in this world Andrew hoped that the storms here were the same or at least similar to what they had back home on earth.

"Hey Andy!" Emily called out to him.

"Hmm whats up Emmy." Andrew answered as Emily walked up to him with a wave.

"Did you just call me by a nickname? I'm surprised." Emily said with a small smile "Didn't really seem like your thing."

"It's not... I see that you're still going for the whole aztec vibe thing hu." Andrew stretched his arms as Emily shrugged at his comment.

"Got no reason to stop do I." Emily asked she stops for a bit at the sound of thunder in the distance "Seems the storm is getting closer. Me and Don talked with the others we think we should find a cave to hold out in while the storm passes have you guys out front found anything that might be good for it?"

Andrew shrugged to Emily's question "It's not a question of finding a cave it more a problem of finding a cave that doesn't run down since we don't know how bad storms get here we should be careful wouldn't want to be flushed."

"Well that makes sense wouldn't be pleasant to stand in a makeshift river but I'm sure we have enough people that we won't be flushed." Emily said with a small chuckle.

"Well ill tell the guys to be on the look out and let you know if we find anything, personally though i'd like to get through this pass as quickly as possible its cold and if it gets wet well... it will only make the trek harder." Andrew sighed.

"Hmm I see your point there this place is bad enough without adding ice to it we've been going slow just to make sure no one falls." Emily frowns while she considers things another rumble could be heard closer now. "Still we might not have a choice look for a place quickly ill go tell the others to hurry up ok." Emily said as she started to move back towards the main group.

Andrew sighed as he motioned towards his forward group telling them to be on the lookout for caves the main group could hole up in they were more than eager to start the sound of distant thunder made them anxious to find some cover. As the spread out to look Andrew started to watch the sky for the coming storm he was still concerned that he couldn't see it even though it should be more than visible on the horizon.

'Maybe it's coming from behind one of the mountains peaks' As Andrew thought to himself one of his scouts came up to him.

"Sir, we think we found a place it's short distance from here it's near a ledge so it will be dangerous for a lot of people to get there but its has a large number of caves enough room for everyone to find some comfort through the storm." As his scout finished his report Andrew spotted the main column coming up behind them.

"Not a moment too soon let's give them the good news but move forward we should try to cover more ground." Andrew said as he dismissed the boy.

"You got it." The kid said as he went back out, as he left Andrew turned and went to talk to the others in the main group.

"So what did you find?" Don asked as Andrew walked up to him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Not much we found a place that can hold everyone but it's near a cliff face so we'll have to filter everyone in it will take some time to get it done but it's better than nothing." Andrew answered while pointing in the direction his scout had indicated. Just as Andrew was about to continue they heard the crack of thunder.

"Strange it sounds like it's right on top of us." Don said looking up there were clouds in the sky and thick ones to but none of them looked heavy with rain.

"Maybe it's an echo I wouldn't be surprised in a place like this." Lee said as he moved past them "It's not that surprising."

"I didn't know echos could do stuff like that we can't even see the storm but we can hear its echo?" Don asked while keeping up Andrew followed behind.

"Guess it depends on the echo something loud could go along way and while the trees and the thin air would limit how far it goes the tunnels and caves probably help focus it or something." Andrew said "That's my guess on it at least."

"That sound pretty cool it's like we're on a giant tuba or something right." Rachal said Don and Lee both made small jumps as the hadn't seen her coming.

"You're pretty good at that." Andrew said it wasn't easy to make those two startled Andrew would know he's tried plenty of times.

"Good at what?" Rachal asked looking at Andrew quickly but he just raised his hands and waved it off with a smile.

"Oh come on tell me what am I good at! and don't look at me like i'm a child just because i'm smaller than you doesn't mean I can't punch you in the dick bastard!" Rachal ranted as Andrew made a big and obvious step back out of her reach while those two fooled around they moved over to the rest spot.

"I wonder how these caves were formed?" Lee asked as he watched as everyone started filing into them.

"What do you mean wasn't this place an old lake it makes sense for there to be caves." Andrew said as he held Rachal away from him with an outstretched hand.

"Would you two stop fooling around!" Lee yelled at them Andrew sheepishly let go of Rachals head the girl then promptly kicked him in the shin. 'Whatever he deserved it' Lee thought as Andrew yelled out in pain.

"What the heck was that for I didn't do anything to deserve that." Andrew groaned as he hopped on a foot Rachal just stuck her tongue out at him.

"If you two are done... then no an ancient lake wouldn't explain this I mean it could but it's unlikely this could have been a channel but that also doesn't make sense." as Lee pondered this Rachal spoke up.

"Hey look it's a kite." Pointing up they could see a kite flying in the distance it was far away so they could only see its silhouette it was a medium sized kite a simple triangle with a single tassel flying behind it.

"Hu that's strange isn't." Don asked "How's it staying up their?" as they watched the kite hovering overhead it almost seemed to move forward but at a snail's pace they watched for a while till a cloud covered their view.

"Did those clouds just cover the kite?" Andrew asked confused.

"Yep" Rachal said dumbfoundedly.

"Aren't these Cirrus clouds so shouldn't they be about one or two miles above us?" Lee asked squinting his eyes to get a better look.

"Yep." Rachal answered mechanically.

As the clouds paced they noticed that the kite changed positions and looked more like a black line to them now.

"You know it's kinda like a bird." Don said to no one in particular "See it just flapped its wings." As Don had said the kite slowly threw its wings down a slowly pulled them up it was a leisurely thing to watch but after a few seconds the were pulled away from it by the rumble of thunder.

Rachal and Lee looked at each other "Um did that just happen?" Rachal asked him Lee bug eyed just nodded.

"OK we should go!" Rachal said as she started to usher them towards the cave.

"Go why?" Andrew asked he wanted to stay and see this kite creature that seemed to be moving closer to them but as another rumble of thunder came he gave in and let Rachal drag him. 'Probably doesn't want to be caught out in a storm' Andrew thought as they moved closer to the caves.

"EVERYONE INTO THE FUCKING CAVE NOW!!" Rachal screamed out as she hurried Andrew along.

Andrew was still trying to watch the kite creature it was getting bigger now rather quickly to looked like it was coming in their direction as it beat its wings the rumble of thunder could be heard.

'Oh...' Andrew thought as he put the pieces together 'OH... OH SHIT OH FUCK!'

"GET IN TO THE GOD DAMN CAVES!!" Rachal screamed again there was an almost frantic rush as the confused group that hadn't already entered began try to get in.

*ROOOAR*

the sound shock the very world Andrew felt his bones shake from it his ears popped and bleed as ten tons of fire and death descended on them in a fury!