The first sign of anything out of the ordinary is a low, steady rumble underfoot.
Jae looks at his spade and frowns, uneasy. He’s never felt anything like this before; it feels like the beginnings of an earthquake. Last time, when the avalanche had buried his home under a pile of snow, there had been no warning whatsoever – the first clue they’d got that anything was wrong was when the immense blanket of snow began to tumble down the mountainside. Wary, Jae looks up at the mountain towering over him, but sees nothing out of the ordinary – at this time of year there is hardly any snow, even at the peak of the mountain, although today there is none at all. Perhaps this is just a mini-earthquake which will all be over in a few seconds. Comforted, Jae returns to digging up the carrots.
A few minutes later, a feminine scream rips apart the air. Without a second to lose, the leader of Falcon Point drops his tools and runs in the direction of the sound, his heart thrumming in his chest; he knows that voice. Skidding round the corner he finds little Dream standing at the entrance of the house, her mouth wide, one shaking index finger pointing up at the mountain. As he reaches her, Jae gives her a quick check and finds no injury; wrapping his arms around her, he follows the line of her finger and stares up at the mountain which had peaceably stood over their home for so long.
“Look,” says Dream, a little tremor in her young voice; “it’s smoking.”
And smoking it is. Jae hadn’t been able to see properly from where he’d been standing, but the very peak of the mountain – where the falcons nest – has begun to billow out clouds of black smoke which get thicker and larger with each passing second. There’s a hissing noise, accompanied by the rumbling which he’d felt earlier, and the ground starts to shake. A white-faced Aerianna emerges from the house and Jae pulls her close, refusing to take his eyes off the mountain which, it transpires, is not a mountain at all.
It’s a volcano.
Jae doesn’t stop to think. Hoisting Dream into his strong, dark arms, he bellows the evacuation call and charges down the side of the hill. Luckily, since the avalanche he had moved the village further down nearer to the base of the mountain, which made for a clean getaway. From various houses doors fling suddenly open and suddenly he’s not just running beside Aerianna but Nine, Zoey, Ophelia and their respective children too. The heat is beginning to glow on the back of Jae’s neck, making the hairs stand on end. It’s difficult to run when the ground is shaking so, and more than once he stumbles, but each time with a combination of Aerianna’s assistance and his own sure-footedness he manages to carry on without tripping. There’s a horrendous roaring and hissing noise behind them, which Jae can only bitterly suppose is his new home disintegrating under the fast-flowing currents of molten lava. Only when they’ve made it to the territory’s border does he pause and look back.
The lava is just reaching the village. Already, with glowing red molten rock flowing from its tip, the mountain no longer resembles the place which has been Jae’s home for so long. Coughing ash, he grits his teeth and snarls with emotion, torn between the desire to break down and cry and the need to get his family to safety. A scream from Aerianna jolts him back into reality.
“Emma!” She cries, “Jae, Emma is still in there!”
It’s every father’s worst nightmare. He drops Dream and starts to run back up the mountain, but Ophelia and Nine grip his arms and hold him back. He’s shouting – words, noise, anything, he doesn’t know what – his mind feels numb and he’s fighting with all his might to get back up the mountain and rescue his daughter. Within seconds, the lava has completely overrun the entire village, leaving no doubt that anything and everything within it is completely dead. Ophelia and Nine tentatively let Jae’s arms go, but they needn’t be cautious – he isn’t going anywhere. He stares up at the volcano, wondering why he isn’t at least feeling emotional or traumatised. He feels... nothing. Just, nothing. Empty.
“Jae,” Ophelia’s voice is shaking, and it sounds very distant. “Jae, we have to go. We have to go to the Silver Cove where it’s safe – the lava isn’t going to stop here.”
Still numb, Jae allows himself to be led at speed away from his burning home.
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