Polar Yeti And The Beasts Of Prehistory by Matthew Dennion Page B

valley.”
    Jun-Tuk nodded then he turned and walked out of the barracks. The old man watched as the arrogant hunter continued to shout orders at the expedition members. Jun-Tuk shook his head in disgust. He knew that he was looking at the hunter who would either find his own death in the valley or bring death to all of those around him.
     
    When Gina woke up, she found that the Yeti was still sleeping next to her. She took the time to study the Yeti in a somewhat more controlled setting than when she was first taken by the monster. As she looked at the Yeti, she realized that monster was even more terrifying than she had originally thought. The monster was clearly and apex predator and a killing machine. An up-close look at the monster’s teeth and claws, quickly confirmed for her that the Yeti could kill a large steer with a single swipe of its hand. Gina was taking mental notes on the Yeti when she realized that she should give the creature a name as opposed to just referring to it by its species designation. After all, the Yeti had to be a member of a larger population. It was extremely unlikely that the monster was a King Kong-like last remaining member of species. Even if the Yetis were a solitary species, she figured that there was a decent chance that she would encounter other members of the species at some point. Gina had never really thought much about Yeti’s. In fact, the only thing that Gina could even remember about Yeti’s was the Bumble from the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer claymation Christmas special that they show on television every year. She vaguely remembered there being a character named Yukon in the movie. As she looked at the Yeti, she nodded her head. “Yes, Yukon the Yeti, I even like the alliteration in the name.”
    A loud trumpeting sound that Gina immediately recognized as the sound of the mammoth herd echoed through the cave. As soon as the sound reached the cave, the Yeti’s eyes snapped open and Yukon stood up. The cave that they were in was huge but when the Yeti stood up, his pointed head nearly touched the cave ceiling. The Yeti looked briefly at Gina then he approached the cave entrance and roared. After he had roared, Yukon went running down the slope of the mountain with at a speed that Gina could not believe the massive creature was capable of attaining. Gina may not have been a zoologist but she knew hunting behavior when she saw it. She sprinted to the entrance of the cave to observe how Yukon was going to prey on the mammoths.
    At the sound of Yukon’s roar, panic spread throughout the mammoth herd. The alpha male trumpeted loudly and Gina watched as the adult mammoths moved the infants to the inside of the herd. The alpha male then began running away from the mountain and the rest of the herd followed his lead quickly creating a stampede. There was a large bull mammoth toward the back of the herd that was not able to run as fast as the young mammoths, and when Yukon saw the beast fall behind, he changed direction and began running toward it. The mammoth was still trying to catch up with the rest of his herd when Yukon ran up alongside the animal and dug his claws into the mammoth’s side. Bright red blood sprayed across the white snow as Yukon raked his claws across the mammoth’s back. The mammoth bucked wildly and he was finally able to shake himself loose from Yukon’s grip. The mammoth quickly spun around and faced Yukon. The mammoth pawed at the ground and trumpeted at the Yeti. The injured bull then lowered his head and charged at Yukon. The mammoth moved faster than Yukon was prepared for and its huge curved tusks slammed into Yukon’s chest and knocked the Yeti to the ground. Yukon was lying flat on his back as the mammoth quickly moved forward, bent his head down, and attempted to gore the Yeti. Gina watched as Yukon’s hands shot up and caught the mammoth’s tusks before they were able to reach his body.
    Gina then watched in awe as, despite the weight