Grizzly King

Chapter 18

Langdon almost cried out when he saw the large grizzly bear staring at him.He tried his best to hold back, panting intermittently, feeling that he was about to suffocate.The short ten seconds seemed as long as several hours.

He immediately realized that it was over, completely over.He even had nowhere to run, with the rock wall behind him.He couldn't jump down the valley because it was a sheer cliff, a hundred feet high.Langdon faced death, a death more horrific than the Hound's.

However, at the critical moment, Langdon was not intimidated by fear.He actually noticed the redness in the eyes of the vengeful grizzly bear.He saw the bare scar on the grizzly's back where his bullet had taken him.He also saw a bullet hole spot where another bullet from his had passed through Thor's front shoulder.Langdon looked at these, and he guessed that this was Thor's deliberate pursuit, following him along the ledge, driving him here, and probably doing whatever he could to avenge the damage he caused it.

Thor moved, but only a step forward; then he reared up and straightened, with a slow and graceful movement.Even now, Langdon was thinking, Grizzly looked great.Langdon didn't move at all, he watched Thor calmly.If the giant beast came at him, he had already figured out how to deal with it.He would jump off the ledge by himself, and there was at least a one-in-a-thousand chance of surviving.He might be caught by a ledge, or a ledge.

Look, Thor!

Suddenly, it actually walked up to the person.This is the animal that hunts and kills itself, this is the person who has hurt himself!The animal is now so close that it can crush him with its claws!However, this person looks so fragile and pale now!Where did that weird booming sound go?Where is the burning lightning?Why didn't he make a sound?
Even a hound reacts more strongly than this man.The hounds would grin, growl, and fight; but the fellow did nothing.A big question slowly passed Thor's huge head.Is it really this person who hurt it?Look at this man, he's curled up in a ball, he's terribly scared, he doesn't mean anything.

Thor sniffed the man's scent. It was strong, but this time it was safe.

After a while, Thor slowly landed on all fours again, looking calmly at Langdon.

If Langdon had moved, he would have died.However, Thor is not a murderer, much like a human being.It waited another half minute, waiting for Langdon to hurt it, for the threatening signal to appear.But nothing happened, and Thor was puzzled.It swept the ground with its snout, and Langdon could see the dust kicked up by the grizzly's hot breath.After that, another 30 seconds passed.These 30 seconds are both long and terrifying. The grizzly bear and the person look at each other.

Then Thor slowly half-turned, he was puzzled, he growled, and then he half-closed his mouth.For the moment it saw no reason to fight, for the dwarf was pale and cowering against the rock, and had no intention of fighting it.Thor found that the wall cut off the ridge, and he could not go any further.Things might have been different for Langdon if there had been a trail.

Unexpectedly, Thor walked in the direction it came from, and gradually disappeared; it lowered its huge head, and its long claws made a "click click" as it walked

It sounded like the beating of ivory castanets.

Only then did Langdon seem to be breathing, and his heart seemed to be beating again.With a crying voice, he took a long breath.He stood up, but his legs seemed limp.He waited, a minute, two minutes, three minutes, and then he walked carefully to the bend in the ledge where Thor had gone around.

The surrounding area of ​​the rock pile was empty and silent, and Langdon returned the same way, walking towards the meadow, observing as he walked, still clutching the broken rifle.He reached the edge of the meadow and immediately jumped onto the back of a large rock.

Three hundred yards away, Thor was slowly climbing over the crest of the hill, toward the valley to the east.It wasn't until the grizzly reappeared on a farther ridge and then disappeared that Langdon came out and followed.

When he reached the hill where the horses were hitched, Thor had vanished altogether.The horse is still in place.Langdon mounted his horse, and at this moment, he really felt safe.Then he laughed, sounding nervous and staccato, but happy.As he scanned the valley, he added some tobacco to his pipe.

"You are a giant of bears!" he whispered, every cell in his body trembling with excitement, "You... you are a giant, your heart is bigger than a human!" Langdon didn't seem to realize Talking to himself, he added in a low voice, "If I push you that far, I will kill you! And you, cornered me, let me go!"

He rode to the campsite.On the way, he realizes that this day, like the crowning touch, has completely changed him.He met the King of the Mountain, and faced death face to face; but at the last moment, the quadruped he had hunted and wounded showed mercy.He believed that Otto could not understand, nor could he understand.However, for Langdon, as long as he is alive, the significance of this day and this moment will never be forgotten.Langdon knew that from now on, he would never hunt Thor and his kind again.

Langdon arrived at the bivouac and prepared some dinner for himself.Mascar was by his side while he was eating.As he ate, he made new plans for the days and weeks ahead.He'd have Otto go after Mitusson tomorrow, they weren't hunting grizzly bears anymore.They'll head toward Skeena, maybe even up all the way to the edge of the Yukon; then turn east, into caribou territory in early September; area.He will take Muska with him and return to human settlements and cities, and he and Muska will become good friends.But what will this mean for Muska?Langdon hadn't thought about it.

It was two o'clock, and he was still dreaming of the trail to the north, which was new and unknown.Just then, a loud noise disturbed him and Langdon was awakened.For several minutes he paid no attention to it, for the sound seemed to be only a hum in the valley.But the sound continued, gradually covering up the hum.Langdon lay with his back against a tree.At last he stood up and walked out of the woods in order to hear better.

Muska followed suit.When Langdon stopped, so did the brown-faced bear cub.It raised its small ears curiously, and turned its head to the north.The sound came from there.

In a blink of an eye, Langdon recognized it, but he was thinking, his ears must be playing tricks on him, it couldn't be the hound barking!At this time, Otto and Mitusen should be far to the south with the hounds-at least Mitusen is there, and Otto, he should be on the way back to the camp.However, the voice became clearer and clearer.Finally, he understood that it was unmistakable, the hound was approaching the valley.There must be some reason why Otto and Mitusen turned north instead of south.The hounds were howling.Judging from the ferocious and excited barks, the hounds are following the tracks to track new prey.Suddenly, he felt shuddering all over: in and out of this valley, there was only one living thing that Otto and the hounds would chase, and that was the grizzly bear!

Langdon stood and listened for a while longer.Then he hurried back to the bivouac, tied Muska to the tree, took another rifle, and mounted his horse. Five minutes later, he rode his horse and ran towards the mountain where Thor had let him go not long ago.

(End of this chapter)