Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane by Hideyuki Kikuchi Page B

disbelief.
    Distance-wise, it must’ve still been a couple of miles away—a line that looked like
     a twisted metal wire tied the heavens to the earth. It was bizarre the way that either
     end was blurred, seemingly dissolving into the sky at one extreme and the ground at
     the other. As far as Clay could see, it just kept growing thicker and thicker.
    Riding full-tilt, the younger Bullow pulled even with the wagon. Granny Viper also
     wore a look of desperation as she gripped the reins. She recognized the tornado for
     what it was now.
    The door opened, and Tae’s face appeared.
    “Don’t come out here,” Clay barked, but it was the old woman’s expression, instead,
     that stiffened at the remark. Tae remained as devoid of emotion as ever.
    Clay rode up on D’s right-hand side. For a split second the desire to take a shot
     at the Hunter from behind surfaced in his brain, but it quickly faded again. “What
     the hell’s the story with this tornado?!” he shouted. “It’s following us! A while
     back, I joked it was looking for us, but this is just—”
    “It’s a strange desert, isn’t it?” D said in a rare response.
    “Damned if I ever heard of a tornado chasing travelers all night long. But we managed
     to give it the slip once already. We’ll just do it again, right?”
    Giving no reply, D flicked his gaze to the rear.
    Imitating him, Clay looked back as well…and groaned despite himself.
    The tornado looked like it was three feet thick now instead of a thin wire. The distance
     was dwindling; it wasn’t a mile away now, or even five hundred yards.
    Shouting something, Clay kicked his horse’s flanks. As he shot away from D, he heard
     the Hunter behind him say, “The wagon’s going to be sucked in.” His voice was cold,
     like a machine’s. Clay quivered, as if an electrical current had just shot through
     his powerful back.
    “Do something, D!” Granny cried, her voice trailing after the Hunter.
    Grains of sand buffeted all of their faces.
    “This seriously ain’t good,” Clay muttered as he pulled back on the reins. Letting
     D pass him, he pulled up next to the wagon. “Granny, send the girl over here,” he
     shouted. His eyes were glittering.
    “Don’t make me laugh! Why, I’d no sooner trust a goddamn rapist like you than—”
    “I’m a lot faster than your wagon. We might just be able to get away.”
    “Give it a rest. Before I’d ever give her to you, I’d let the whirlwind have her.”
    “If that’s the way you want it.”
    Clay flew into the air. His huge form seemed to become feather-light, and he landed
     right next to the old woman. He then bulled his way to the door.
    “Stop it. If you don’t, I’ll—”
    Powerful winds tore away the rest of Granny’s cry. Not only did it tug at her words,
     but her body as well—the instant the edge of the fiercely writhing, sand-lifting pillar
     of black touched the wagon, both the vehicle and its three passengers were thrown
     high into the sky.
    .
    III
    .
    As Tae’s consciousness pulled away from the darkness, the conviction that she had
     returned to reality hit her. She was lying down. Beneath her, it was soft. Sand, no
     doubt. And it was hot. The sand was scorching. Slowly, Tae moved her limbs. She wasn’t
     in great pain. The dull throbbing she felt here and there was from being tossed around
     inside the wagon when it was picked up by the tornado. Propping herself up with both
     arms, she looked all around. A sense of incongruity dug into her spine.
    The endless expanse of sand was gone; right before her towered a fairly high mound
     of stone. It looked about a hundred and fifty feet high. Come to mention it, she was
     surrounded on all sides by rocks large and small. As it occurred to her that it wouldn’t
     be that strange to find such a rock formation in the desert, Tae picked herself up
     off the ground. Sweat spread across the back of her neck. She had no idea what time
     it was.
    “Well, little lady,