by Dan Thomas
The pack in the distance fanned out, a couple raising their jaws into the air and stretching out their long serpentine necks. Others lowered their heads toward the ground as they moved away from each other. One dino, with a larger crest and a silver sheen to its scales, stepped forward, watching them with nearly the same intensity as Lis watched back. Max’s mount eyeballed the wild pack and stamped her feet as she struggled to stay still.
“Can we not just back up and go around?” Max asked.
“I don’t think so,” Chopsticks replied. “While the Marshosaurus doesn’t have the size or bulk of our Abelisaurus, they’re a lot faster. Look at those long legs, built for running down prey. If you guys turn your backs, they’ll be on you before you can say thagomizer.”
“I say we go through them; they don’t stand a chance against Abe and Lis.” Pez gave Abe a hearty pat.
“Just be careful, they’ve got numbers on their side, and Abe and Lis aren’t that experienced yet,” Sam cautioned.
Max furrowed his brow and looked to the sky. “Thagomizer?” He snapped his eyes forward as the largest of the Marshosaurus let out a screeching roar. The five dinos to its side tucked their heads down and broke into a charge, heading straight for Max and Pez.
“Pez!” Max yelled.
“I know! Split up, we’ve got to break up the pack!” Pez yelled as Abe jumped into action, running heavily over the flat ground away to the right.
Nocking an arrow, Max heard the sharp crack of a gunshot and saw a spray of red mist as one of the faster Marshosauruses took the bullet to its leg, roaring out in pain.
As if they had communicated, the pack split up, three of the carnivores broke off and charged flat out toward Pez, who fired off another shot with his rifle. The dino that had developed a limp from being hit in the leg ran at Lis, with the larger, silvery dino in tow, though the latter seemed to make a point of staying behind.
Max eyed the two charging dinos, while Lis gnashed her teeth, letting out short, chuffing rumbles, building herself into a frenzy.
Max placed his free hand on the warm scales between Lis’ broad shoulders. “We can take them. Come on then, Lis! Go!”
Like a spring that had just been released from tension, Lis surged forward, nearly throwing Max out of the seat. With her neck down, she had locked onto the leading Marshosaurus, and she was going for blood.
Squeezing the thick leather saddle with his legs, Max pulled back his bow and fired a shot. The arrow arced through the air and landed in the ground someway short of the limping Marshosaurus. Max grabbed another arrow, trying to keep a steady aim while bouncing around in the saddle.
Despite its injury, the wild carnivore covered the ground quickly, its long legs pumping as it let out another roar, kicking up clumps of grass with every footfall. Max let loose another arrow, a grin of satisfaction on his lips as it struck the dino’s chest, though it did nothing to deter the rampage.
And then the dino was in front of Lis, who raised her head, swinging her jaws wide to meet it. The Marshosaurus ducked its head down as it ran and opened its jaws to show a wicked set of serrated teeth, aiming for Lis’ leg.
With the jaw full of daggers just inches away from her flesh, Lis slammed her muzzle down, clamping them around the wild dinosaur’s neck with a sickening crunch.
“Oh, shit!” Max yelled as the full force of Lis’ body collided with the Marshosaurus. The attacking dino’s body crumpled under her weight, pulling Lis’ head down when she refused to let go. Her feet went from under her as she tripped on the body of her victim, and she tumbled forward, catapulting Max out of the saddle.
As the two beasts crashed to the ground, Max sailed through the air, seeing the grass fast approaching. At the last second, Max thought to activate Brace, feeling his muscles tense as his body prepared to take the impact.
He hit the ground, bounced then rolled to a stop, letting out a loud yell as the impact hurt his still damaged body, despite the small amount of damage he took being reduced even further by Brace.
Grunting, Max got his hands underneath him and pushed his face away from the coarse grass and dry dirt. He shook his head as he fully regained his senses and wished he had picked up the Trait to reduce fall damage.
Assessing the scene around him, he noticed that Lis had let go of the Marshosaurus, and both giants were racing to get to their feet. Clouds of dust surrounded them as the two giants contorted their bodies to swing themselves upright from their backs. The Marshosaurus was a little sluggish with a gaping row of puncture wounds down its neck to match the bullet wound in its leg.
Max leaped to his feet, reaching for another arrow as he felt the ground tremble underfoot.
He turned around to see the silvery Marshosaurus had changed targets and was running at him, intending to take out an easy prey while he was defenseless.
“Crap.” Max raised his bow and fired off a shot without taking time to aim, the arrow glanced off the beast’s bony skull.
Despite the Marshosaurus only standing a little higher than Max at head height, there was no way that he could attempt to take on the fifteen-foot-long beast.
“Lis!” Max called as he backed up, swapping out his bow for his spear. “Lis!”
The dino opened its jaws as it came within feet of Max, who was hit by a wall of hot stinking air as razor-sharp teeth loomed over him.
As the Marshosaurus brought its head down, its jaws snapped shut around thin air as Max launched himself to the side to avoid certain death. Max hit the ground flat, scrambling to get back onto his feet. Without a pause, he spun around to face the dinosaur, which had run past him as it slowed down.
With a deep rumble, it turned back to face Max, swinging its serpentine head menacingly toward him. With more deliberate steps, the dinosaur stalked forward, its head low as it pulled back its scaly lips to reveal rows of sharp teeth.
With a yell, Max jabbed his spear forward, waving his arms around to try to make himself as intimidating as possible, but the dino didn’t even flinch as it advanced.
Max kept his spear high as he considered his next move. He might be able to dodge a charge, but he wouldn’t be able to move quick enough if this thing just leaned down and chomped him. Adrenaline filled his body as he faced down the huge beast. If he was going to be eaten, he was going to give the Marshosaurus the worst sore throat of its life.
It was just a few steps away. With its cavernous mouth wide open, Max could see the remains of its last meal stuck in its teeth, even the glint in its dark eyes. Dark eyes that flitted up to look above him.
Max almost fell to his knees as the deep bellow hit him like a freight train. Lis stood over him, her feet planted wide, her body low and her jaws hinged open.
The Marshosaurus took a step back, looking up at Lis as she stopped roaring. She closed her jaws and watched her rival like a hawk. Grumbling at such a pitch that Max felt it more than heard it, the dino snapped its jaws at Lis, who returned the gesture by stamping her foot and letting off another shorter roar, spraying blood and hot drool into the air.
Not wanting to make Lis’ intervention in vain, Max reached up, patted her chest, then ran from under her. Spinning to grab onto the saddle rig he bounded up the few rungs and into the saddle, feeling much safer being off the ground again.
Max heard a thumping behind him. Turning in the saddle to look behind, Lis he could see that the first Marshosaurus had managed to get to its feet and was stumbling toward them. Blood dripped off of its neck and ran down its narrow chest from where Lis had bitten into him. It was a pity she hadn’t finished the job.
Lis focused on the creature in front of her. She stepped forward with an aggressive chuffing sound as she gulped air down. The Marshosaurus responded by taking another step backward, not moving its gaze from its larger opponent.
Max slipped his spear back over his shoulder, and drew his bow, turning in the saddle and taking a second to aim at the slow-moving target behind. He needed to protect their backs while Lis dealt wit
h the threat before them. The freshly made arrow flew true, sticking into the injured beast, which grunted in pain.
“Come on, go down already,” Max growled as he nocked another of his quickly dwindling supply of projectiles, shooting the beast again, this time hitting its back.
Max hurriedly fired a third arrow and managed to clip the beast’s side, but he could not slow the approach of the Marshosaurus as it came within yards of Lis. He stowed his bow, swapping back again for the spear. Lis might have been able to take on one of these dinos, but even with one of the carnivores injured, Max had to fight too, or they were both doomed.
He felt his mount shift underneath him. He glanced at her head to see that she had turned slightly, spotting the second dino.
That was the opening.
The silver Marshosaurus lunged forward, its jaws wide, aiming for Lis’ neck.
Lis reacted fast, stepped to the right, and swung her head down into the dino’s flank, using her bulk to shove it to the side with her skull.
Max held on tight as her body pitched underneath him, but he kept steady, readying his spear as the injured Marshosaurus made a last charge, stomping forward, mouth open.
As it came close, about to bite down on Lis, Max leaned forward and thrust his spear down, feeling the resistance of flesh as the flint tip pierced the beast’s skin just behind its skull.
Gripping onto the spear, Max managed to keep hold of it as the Marshosaurus went limp, its body flopping to the ground. Max quickly raised his leg to avoid it being crushed as the dino crashed into Lis’ leg, who staggered from the weight but stayed on her feet.
She stepped to the side of the body, keeping her turning circle tight and her head toward the silver dino as it tried to get around her.
Lis let out a menacing growl and the Marshosaurus shied away, but not too far. Not far enough.
Another gunshot rang out across the plains. Max looked past the fallen Marshosaurus to see Abe maneuvering around two more Marshosaurus who were trying to get on either side of him. Pez was frantically reloading his rifle as they stalked him, his attention flipping between the two beasts.
A third Marshosaurus lay dead on the ground, covered in wounds.
“If you don’t do something soon, Pez is going to be toast,” Sam said.
“On it.” Max nudged Lis mentally to attack.
She stormed forward, coiling her neck in then snapping it forward viciously.
The Marshosaurus in front of him ducked, moving to the side, and Max heard the force of Lis’ jaws closing around empty air. Lis quickly recovered, readying herself to dodge a counterattack, but it didn’t come, the Marshosaurus remained just a few yards out of reach.
In the distance Max watched Abe struggling to keep both dinos at bay and had a fresh gash down his side.
“It’s blocking you,” Chopsticks said. “It knows that Pez and Abe aren’t going to fight off the last two dinos.”
“There’s no way that they’re thinking through strategy.” Max pulled out one of his few remaining arrows and aimed the Marshosaurus that regarded him with dark eyes.
“Whether it’s thinking that way or not, that’s the situation! You need to get past it!” Sam said.
“All right. Come on, Lis!” Max yelled.
Lis lurched forward, on course to go straight through the Marshosaurus, which quickly ran to the side, out of the path of the larger dino.
As they passed, the Marshosaurus turned to pursue. Max twisted around in the saddle, drew the string back, and released an arrow. The dino shrieked as the arrow pierced the side of its scaly neck.
Lis picked up speed fast, thundering across the grass toward the others.
Abe let out a roar, one of the Marshosaurus had gotten behind him, and clamped its jaws around the base of his tail while he was fending off the second dino. Abe fought fiercely as his attacker ducked and lunged, looking for an opportunity to get past his teeth and bite into his neck. Abe swung his jaws to meet his attacker, which then backed up again, looking for another angle of attack.
Pez had turned around, moved back off the saddle, and sat on Abe’s hips. Club in hand, he battered the head of the Marshosaurus that had grabbed his mount, but at such an awkward angle, he couldn’t do much damage to the thick skull of the dino.
Holding tight as Lis sprinted toward Abe, Max glanced over his shoulder to see that the silver dino was in hot pursuit, but there was no chance of it catching them before they reached their target as the distance toward Pez quickly diminished.
Max was nearly thrown from the saddle again as Lis’ gait shortened as she slowed down just a little, her maws snapped open.
She hit the Marshosaurus gripping Abe with shuddering force, the sudden deceleration shunted Max out of the saddle and onto Lis’ shoulders, closer to the sound of flesh being ripped from the bone.
The wild dino immediately let go of Abe with a shrill screech, like metal grating. Max felt the muscles down Lis’ neck bulge as she bit down harder, stubbornly gripping the Marshosaurus as it tried to turn around and pull away, but Lis had its neck pinned in her teeth.
Now free of his attacker, Abe shot forward and Pez nearly slipped off his back as the Abelisaurus rushed the carnivore in front of him. The dino saw it coming, and with a nimble dodge to the side, the Marshosaurus stayed out of reach.
“All right, Lis, let go,” Max said, hearing the stomp of the silver Marshosaurus approaching behind them.
Reluctantly Lis released her grip, and the dino almost toppled over as it staggered away, blood pouring down its neck as it headed back to the remains of the pack.
Lis swung around to face the three other Marshosaurus, who were regrouping. The two dinos that had been attacking Abe marched to join the apparent leader of the group. Ready for a final battle to the death, Abe moved to stand beside Lis, with Pez firmly back in the saddle.
“Thanks, Max, that was close.” Pez didn’t take his eyes off of the remains of the pack.
“Don’t mention it, I wouldn’t let one of Chopsticks’ babies get eaten,” Max replied as he slowly drew another arrow, waiting to see what happened next.
Both Lis and Abe were breathing heavily. Max checked out the damage to the Abelisaurus and winced as he assessed the wounds down Abe’s side and tail. He was going to need some TLC, but despite his injuries, there was still a fire in his eyes, and a guttural rumble emanated from his chest. He was eager for round two.
The Marshosaurus didn’t share his willingness for another fight. The larger dino let out a low chuff and lowered his head, however, the other two dinos hesitated, quivering with anticipation.
The silver dino let out a harsh barking sound, the others flinching before lowering their heads in submission and backing away.
The leader gave Max and Pez one last simmering stare before turning to follow them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Max let out a sigh of relief. “That was a bit more intense than I had been expecting.”
“You’re telling me.” Pez slung his club over his back. “That was some pretty good fighting. Good for you, Murf.”
“I can’t take all the credit, Lis did most of the work after all. Didn’t you, girl?” Max patted her neck. Lis gave a loud snort, and Max felt the tension leave her muscles. “Is Abe going to be all right?”
Pez leaned over to look down Abe’s side. “Sure, he’ll be all right. Some rest and Pluck will put him right, but he’ll be okay for the journey back. A snack will help him out, though, after all that excitement.”
Pez didn’t even have to finish the sentence before Abe was on the move, bee-lining for the closest Marshosaurus carcass.
Lis craned her neck to watch Abe as he headed for his next meal.
“Go on, then,” Max said. Lis jogged over to join Abe, leaned down, and joined him in tearing into the meat. The pair ripped off pieces of flesh, their huge heads bobbing as they gulped it down.
Pez leaned back and stretched his arms. “Looks like you put those arrows to good
use then.”
Max looked down at the arrows he had left over. “I think I hit my target with most of them, it’s questionable how effective they were, though. Those dinos had tough skin.”
“I think they did the job. And even in your noob suit, you haven’t lost your touch,” Pez said over the sound of crunching bones.
“Cheers, dude. And some good combat like that should give a kick to my stats,” Max said. “I’ll have to sit down when we get back and figure out how to use them to get the best out of such a low character.”
“Murf isn’t so bad.” Pez winked at him. “I’m even getting used to his face. Dark hair, rounded features, you’ve even got that quirky smile. I think you’ve got a type.”
“Hey,” Max replied. “When this is over, there will be a return of Holic.”
“By the time this is over, Murf might be a higher character than Holic,” Pez smirked. “We’re gonna train him up.”
Max shook his head. “It’s going to take more than a week to get to the same progress of several years.”
“Now who is being defensive.” Pez cracked a smile and then breathed deeply. “Smell that?”
“Smell what?” Max asked as he sniffed the air, making a face. “All I can smell is dead dino.” He looked down with a frown at the carcass, quickly being stripped of flesh by the two Abelisauruses.
“No, not the dino chow. The smell of pollen from the grass. That’s the scent of home. I know we’re very much south of the base, but this is still the same grassland we hunt on. There’s something homey about it even all the way out here.” Pez patted Abe on the neck. “Come on, bud, we’ve gotta get moving.”
Taking one last mouthful, Abe pulled his head away from his meal.
Max asked Lis to do the same over the mental link, but she stubbornly tore off another chunk of meat. “There’ll be time for that later.” Max gave her a light kick and told her again to move on. With a grumble, she pulled away from the half-eaten carcass and moved to join Abe as he began walking.
They kept to a light jog as they journeyed across the endless grassy plains, Abe keeping up well even with his wounds.