Christoff bowed his head, pushing upward far enough for the other men and the woman to escape with the younglings out onto the ledge. He groaned as the mountain shuddered, as if in protest that anyone would escape its anger. Christoff turned to order the Curizan to leave him. As he opened his mouth to speak, the boulder pressing down on them suddenly splintered, shattering into a million pieces and raining down on them like dust. The sudden release of the weight sent him to his knees as a wave of weakness and astonishment coursed through him at the power it would have taken to shatter a boulder that size.
“Let’s go,” the Curizan ordered in a harsh voice, pushing up off the ground.
Christoff rose shakily to his feet, bracing his hand along the rough wall of the cave. He shook his head in
