Chapter 87: Mountain Spirit: The Black Yeti

In the last chapter I had misgendered Gahck as a man, Gahck is a female now.

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After several miles of hard running, they began to hope they had escaped for the day.

That hope lasted only a few more steps.

A huge black figure dropped from the sky like a meteor and landed directly in their path.

All six tribal members froze solid, staring up at the towering mountain spirit.

Up close, the creature looked even more terrifying, with every single strand of its dark ash fur swirling as if it possessed a mind of its own.

The black Yeti crouched down slightly to bring its glowing orange eyes level with theirs, opening its massive jaws to let out a deep, echoing growl.

“Did you all cause the avalanche?”

The words came out in a strange, booming language that none of them understood, but the sheer power vibrating through the air was impossible to mistake.

“WAS IT INTENTIONAL?”

Afiya was the first to break under the pressure. She had sun-kissed, slightly tanned skin that looked striking against the white background, along with rich brown hair braided with small bone beads, and sharp golden eyes that were currently wide with pure panic.

She dropped on her knees, pressing her forehead deep into the snow while crying out loud in desperate tribal prayers.

“Torok mor-du! Mē Gāṇḍū! mēr̥i Gāṇḍ marlo!” the rest of the squad screamed in unison, dropping beside her and weeping for mercy like frightened children.

The mountain spirit stared at them for a moment.

Then it stepped forward, its massive shadow falling over the trembling group like a dark cloud blocking out the sun.

With one swift motion, it grabbed both Afiya and Gahck by their arms and roughly lifted them up like they weighed nothing at all.

Gahck let out a strangled yelp, her legs dangling uselessly in the air, while Afiya squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to meet her ancestors.

Before anyone could react, the spirit released them.

Both of them tumbled back onto the snow in a heap of fur and limbs. Gahck landed face-first with a mouthful of ice, spitting under her breath. Afiya landed on her side, her golden eyes snapping open in confusion.

And then the mountain spirit disappeared from existence.

Just like that.

Afiya looked down at her trembling forearm and noticed a strange, black mark on the back of her hand, sitting right where the mountain spirit’s dark fingers had gripped her skin.

There was no ‘visible’ black mark on Gahck’s hands.

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The front door of the Dunphy house clicked open. Luke casually strolled inside carrying a plastic grocery bag full of cold soft drinks.

He had grabbed them from a nearby store as a quick alibi. Yeah, “I was in my room” wouldn’t cut it since he had left his room unlocked.

When he walked into the living room, he found his dad in the middle of a bizarre, twisting routine. Phil had a lifelong obsession with magic, but right now, his awkward arm flailing made it look like he was trying to swat a very aggressive, invisible bee.

Luke pulled a cold soda can from the bag, stepped over to the kitchen, and tucked the rest into the refrigerator.

“What’s up, Dad?” he asked, casually popping the tab. “Did you finally nail that trick you’ve been trying to do since this morning?”

Phil paused mid-pose, then slowly untangled himself. His expression shifted from concentration to mild frustration as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I thought I had cracked it,” Phil admitted, gesturing vaguely at the empty space around him.

“I was actually about to come find you to show you—I had this whole reveal planned, dramatic pause, the works. But when I tried it one more time after that…” He shook his head. “Nothing! What the heck am I missing? Ugh!”

Luke gave him a supportive nod, taking another sip of his drink. “I see. Keep it up, Dad. You’ll get it eventually.”

He started toward the stairs but paused, turning back over his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. Alex called a little while ago. She got fed up with Antarctica and is coming back early in a helicopter. I think it actually arrived right as she ended the call. Everything was shaking.”

“Awesome!” Phil instantly perked up. “Let’s make sure we give her a warm welcome when she gets home… we don’t want her turning into a total Chilly Dunphy!”

Phil chuckled at his own joke, clearly proud of the pun, blissfully unaware that she was literally about to become one.

“Haha. Nice one, Dad,” Luke said with a dry chuckle, turning back to the stairs.

He walked up to his bedroom, stepped inside, and locked the door with a sharp click.

He flopped flat onto his mattress with a heavy sigh, staring up at the ceiling as he quietly replayed the last twenty minutes in his mind.

Operation Rescue Alex officially lasted a grand total of exactly twenty minutes.

He closed his eyes and replayed everything that had happened, like a movie running behind his eyelids.

After saving Alex and her teammates from imminent death, he had spotted those tribal freaks running away in fear. That was when he heard the distant sound of helicopter blades cutting through the frozen air.

Normally, rescue choppers might have taken a bit more time to arrive, but this was Alex’s transport helicopter, the one she had mentioned during their call.

Luke had flown to the peak of the mountain after that, just to make sure Alex was taken safely. He could not exactly walk up to the rescue team and hand her over with a polite smile, so watching from a distance was the next best thing.

While he waited, his mind wandered back to those tribal people. Their presence here was way too suspicious.

Tribes in Antarctica… he had some idea about what they could be linked with… the Savage Lands.

Luke’s knowledge of Marvel came from movies, shows, and a couple of fanfics. And he had read about Savage Lands in only one of the few fanfics that he had come across in his past life.

The Savage Lands was some mysterious prehistoric-like region hidden somewhere in Antarctica. It even had dinosaurs and shits…

But their presence here was far too suspicious. For a fleeting moment, anger surged through his veins. What if they were the ones who had caused the avalanche? The thought sent a cold edge through him.

Luke needed answers.

Unfortunately, dropping down from the clouds to confront them had turned out to be completely useless.

They spoke some unknown language. Luke also could not spend more time trying to uncover everything at that moment, since he could not be gone from home for too long.

Since he had to wrap things up quickly, he had taken the practical route by slapping a pair of Flying Thunder God seals on the two people who seemed to be running the show.

He had assumed the large woman in the thick pelt was their chief and the girl with the bone beads was their village shaman, completely unaware that his random gut feeling had actually hit the absolute bullseye.

To leave a lasting impression, Luke deliberately made the mark visible on the woman’s palm as a black warning symbol. And judging by their fear it seemed like they viewed his ten-foot ash Yeti form as a terrifying, spiritual being or something.

To take advantage of that fear, he left a visible seal on her skin would keep them far too spooked to try any more stupid stunts.

All in all, saving his sister and scaring the daylights out of ancient tribal warriors made for a pretty productive twenty minutes.

He could relax now, Luke thought.

But once again, he was a bit wrong…

His phone started to buzz, and it was a video call that he absolutely did not want to join.

Manny, Peter, Brie, Betty, Mischelle… and Gwen.