As soon as we made it to the boulder site, I asked the troodons to perform their perimeter search while we all climbed up the first step and studied the table.
“Yeah,” Trel said as she shot me a coy smile. “It is really big and thick, kind of like something else I know of.”
“Ha!” I laughed. “Can you move it?”
“Galmine said they weren’t connected back here?” Trel asked as she looked at the joint.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “She said we would just need to wiggle it out.”
“Hmmmm.” Trel tapped her full lips with her finger and then turned her black eyes to Liahpa. “Can you make only part of something heavy?”
“What do you mean?” the floating woman asked.
“Like with the spear that Sheela held when you first showed us your ability, did you think of making the whole thing heavy, or just one side?”
“I don’t know what difference that would make,” Liahpa said with a shrug.
“It makes all the difference,” Trel sighed. “Can you try it?”
“Uhhh, yeah I guess.” Liahpa looked at the spear she carried in her hand. “I don’t really know how to test it.”
“I know,” I said as I held my hand out for her spear. “Sheela and I will each hold one side. You try to make one side heavier, and we’ll let you know.”
“Ahh, good idea,” Liahpa replied, and she held out her spear to both of us.
“I will make Sheela’s side heavy,” Liahpa said as she moved her hand to the part near where Sheela gripped.
For half a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then I felt the weapon start to twist out of my hands toward Sheela. The blonde woman tensed her arms, and I tried steady my own side, but it felt like I was grabbing on to a weighted mallet, and my part of the haft began to lift up as Sheela’s arms flexed against the weight.
“It is working,” I said, and then I felt the weight slowly ease up.
“Good,” Trel said. “This just got a thousand times easier. I already thought your ability was useful, but now it is even more powerful.”
“It is?” Liahpa asked as she tried to hide her pleasure.
“Yes.” Trel nodded and then she gestured to the long table again. “There will be three steps to this, the first is freeing the far corner from under the lip of the step above it, the second will be lowering the table down this first step, and the third will be moving it back to our camp. We will use your ability for each step. I will tell you what to do, but you must follow my commands perfectly and carefully, or we all might get crushed beneath the boulder.”
“I am confident in myself,” Liahpa said with a nod.
“Okay,” Trel said as she squatted down and picked up a small stone from the top of the shelf. It was maybe one inch in diameter and she held it up for everyone to see. “This will be our fulcrum for the table, but I will need some way to get this underneath. To do that, I will need two larger rocks to use as a fulcrum.”
“What about those small boulders?” Kacerie asked as she pointed behind Trel. “I actually think they would make good stools.”
“Hmm,” Trel said. “They would make good stools, but they might be too tall for a fulcrum, but let’s try. I need two logs that are each six to twelve inches in diameter.”
We all looked down to the ground surrounding the pile of boulders. The first log we found pretty quickly. It was about eight feet long and ten inches in diameter, but it was slick with rainwater and covered in mud. Trel told us it wouldn’t matter, and we scattered around the boulders in search of another one. After about ten minutes, Liahpa found a tree that would work, and we quickly moved to cut it down, trim the branches, and carry it up the stairs.
“I need this block,” Trel said as she pointed to one of the stool sized stones, “pushed over right here. Try to push it first to see if it will slide across the wet stone beneath. If it doesn’t move, then we’ll find another fulcrum and tip it over.”
Liahpa, Sheela, and I moved to the first stone and the three of us leaned into the wet side of it. For half a moment, it seemed as if it wouldn’t budge, but then some of the moss at its foot broke loose and we easily pushed it across the step to where Trel indicated.
“Now move that other one over here,” Trel said as she pointed at the next stone and a new position some two feet beside the first rock.
Liahpa, Sheela, and I put our shoulders into the next rock and muscled it over to where Trel indicated. Once we had it in place, the obsidian-haired woman clapped her hands and gave us a big smile.
“Now we must use these levers to lift up the side of the rock.”
“Question,” Liahpa said as she pointed to the table. “How can we lift it without getting the logs under it?”
“It will be an upward push,” Trel said. “We just have to press the logs into the side and then tilt them up. A concern I have is that the table might slide against the wet stone step it rests on. To combat this, Kacerie will take this stone and press it against the other side as kind of a jam.” Trel handed the pink-haired woman a stone that was about the size of a brick. “This is the most dangerous job, so you need to shout if it looks like either the table is sliding toward you, or if it tips over too much. It will need to tip a little so that I can put this small fulcrum rock underneath, but if it goes over too far, it might topple on top of you.”
“Uhhh, really?” Kacerie’s pale skin turned a few shades whiter.
“It probably won’t happen. I just need a few inches of lift on this side, and the table is very heavy.”
“Okay,” Kacerie said as she exhaled.
“Let us know when you are there,” Trel said, and Kacerie nodded before she moved to the other side of the table.
“I just push it against the bottom like a wedge?” she asked.
“Yes, but use your legs so you are sitting on your butt and can see the top of the table.”
“Got it,” Kacerie said. “I’m ready.”
“Sheela and Victor, you are going to wedge your logs down between the smaller blocks we just moved and the table, then you will put your feet on the top corner of the table and push up and out against the logs in a horizontal position.”
“Got it,” I said as I put one of the logs against the two rocks.
“What do I do?” Liahpa asked.
“Put one foot here and one foot there,” Trel said as she pointed to the blocks that we were using as a fulcrum. “Just to keep them from possibly shifting. Then I want you to reach up and touch each of the levels that Sheela and Victor are pushing on.”
“Like this?” Liahpa asked as she set her feet on the slab behind the smaller boulders and reached up to grab the logs. She was kind of spread-eagled a bit, and she glanced at Trel with a bit of confusion on her face.
“Yes,” the spider woman said as she stepped over the log and stood close to the table. “Sheela and Victor put your feet up and get ready to push.”
“Got it,” I said as I climbed up on the boulder. It was definitely a weird position since I was kind of hanging horizontally between the pole and the table, but I could see where Trel was going with this. If I tried to pull on the pole from below, I would only be able to use my bodyweight. If I pushed sideways-up on it, I could potentially use more strength.
“On my signal, Victor and Sheela will push very lightly, emphasis on the very lightly. Liahpa will use her ability to make the poles heavier, and Kacerie will scream if the table looks like it will topple. Everyone ready?”
The team gave their approval, and then Trel took a deep breath.
“Begin.”
I pushed out with my legs, ass, abs, and arms, but I only used a bit of my strength. I almost expected the massive boulder-table to not even budge, and I gasped with surprise when I felt the edge where my feet planted lift up easily.
“Hold!” Trel ordered. “Don’t move. That is far enough. Kacerie, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I can’t even see it tipping.”
“Good,�
� Trel said, and I saw her crouch down and slide her arm under the table. A second later she had placed the stone, pulled her hand out, and ordered us to stop pushing.
“That was it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Trel said with a laugh. “The next part will be harder, though. Liahpa, make this end near the ledge heavier. Do it slowly, and I will tell you when to stop.”
“Okay,” the silver-woman said, and she reached out to touch the end of the table that was closest to the ledge.
“Stop,” Trel ordered after a few seconds, and then she turned to me. “Victor, can you please push on the end that is under the shelf? Push slowly and towards Kacerie.”
“Sure,” I said as I raised my eyebrow, but as soon as I pushed on it, the whole table began to spin toward Kacerie as if it was floating in the air. “Damn, is it all balanced on that small stone?”
“Yep!” Trel laughed as she clapped her hands. “With Liahpa able to manipulate the weight, we have found the perfect balance point. We could have done the same with a bunch of stones stacked on top of that side, but her ability will make it much faster.”
“That’s crazy,” I said as I thought about the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge. Trel had made the whole process pretty simple, but I almost couldn’t believe I was spinning such a massive boulder balanced just on a small rock.
“Stop there, Victor,” Trel commanded, and I halted my movement almost when my edge was about to go off the shelf.
“Now we’ll put one more stone fulcrum here,” Trel said as she moved to place one near me under the table. “Now Liahpa can bring the mass back to its normal state.”
“It’s done,” the silver woman said after the weight of the table kind of settled on my end. Then Trel moved the stones at the base one more time, while Liahpa fluctuated the weight, and it became obvious that we were slowly walking the table toward the edge of the step.
“So, the next movement will also be somewhat challenging,” Trel said as she pointed to the logs we had used as levers. “We need to cut those up into rollers. We’ll set them down below on the ground, and then Liahpa will make the stone heavy on this end. I will adjust the fulcrum one more time, and then Sheela will stand at the very far end of the table. Liahpa will slowly return the weight on her side to normal, and Sheela’s counterweight will slowly bring the front of the table down the step. It needs to land on the rollers, and then we can just push the table the rest of the way off the shelf and onto the logs.”
We went to work cutting the logs into smaller pieces and soon had them set like rollers on the ground below the step. Then Liahpa took her position on the back end of the table, raised the front by increasing the weight, and waited for Trel’s signal.
“Sheela, go,” Trel asked, and the cat-like woman carefully got on top of the table and crawled to the end.
“I’m ready,” Sheela said with her usual stoic nod, but her golden eyes were narrowed with concentration.
“If I tell you to jump, then jump,” Trel said.
“Yes, Trel,” Sheela nodded again.
“Okay, Liahpa, slowly let the weight off.”
The silver woman nodded and the front end that hung over the edge of the step began to creep down toward the ground and rollers. The movement was very controlled, but I still held my breath, and we all exhaled when the front of the table settled on the rollers.
“Victor, now we need your dinosaurs to help,” Trel said after Sheela had jumped off.
“I’ll have the three parasaurs push on the back end,” I said as I commanded Sonny, Cher, and Bob to climb up the first step.
“It will scrape a bit on the edge,” Trel said as she pointed to where the bottom of the table teetered on the edge of the step, “but the stone is very wet because of the rain and covered with moss, so I think it will mostly slide across.”
The parasaurs moved to the tipped-up end of the massive stone slab, and Bob leaned into it while the other two reached their arms up. I imagined them gently pushing on the table, and it slowly began to move down the edge.
“Kacerie and Sheela, you have to keep moving those rollers from the back to the front,” Trel said. “Keep them spaced a foot apart so we don’t run out of them.
“Got it,” Kacerie said, and they both went to work grabbing the rollers and moving them forward. Just as the edge of the table was about to slide over the edge, Trel motioned for me to stop, and she crouched down so that she could look at the gap.
“I thought we could make the transition smoothly, but now I realize that I need a big log here, maybe two feet in diameter so that there is some space for it to fall onto.”
“That one should work,” I said as I pointed to one some thirty feet from us on the side of a hill.
“Perfect, Victor,” Trel said. “This will wait if Bob, Sonny, and Cher can hold their position.”
“They will hold it. Let’s go.” We had only brought three axes, so Liahpa, Sheela, and I worked on the tree. Sheela and I were old pros at chopping down trees, but Liahpa was crazy strong, and each of her chops almost seemed to make the earth shake. Soon the tree was almost at a point where we could push it over, but I heard one of the troodons let out an urgent growl, and I looked in time to see a shadow dart through the trees about fifty yards past us. Then there was another shadow to my left, and I turned my head in time to catch a blur of black feathers.
It was at least two Utahraptors, but I knew that if I saw two of those assholes, there were even more where I didn’t see them.
Chapter 15
“Get up on the step!” I shouted as I turned around toward the rest of the group. I could see the three parasaurs tense their bodies as if they wanted to run, but my command had told them to hold position at the end of the table, and they didn’t budge from their assignment.
I hadn’t really given Tom an assignment other than to stand still, so he twisted his body around in place so that his back was to the tipped boulder.
Liahpa, Sheela, and I sprinted to the first step of the boulders where Trel was, and Kacerie followed.
“Is your Lance recharged?” I asked Kacerie even though I already knew the answer.
“No!” she hissed as she held her spear out.
“I just saw the two,” I said. “Anyone else see any more?” I commanded Tom and the troodons to move back so they were close to our step, and I saw that they were all looking to the right at like 2 o’clock. We had been cutting the log at about 3 o’clock position, and I wondered if there were only two.
“Trel, can they let go of the--”
“No!” she hissed, “it might fall over and crack.”
“It looks pretty set on the edge,” I whispered as I looked around for some sort of hint as to where the Utahraptors were. “I’d rather we risk it than all get eaten.”
“Fine! Ugh!” Trel moaned, but she clenched her spear in her hands with white knuckles.
“Sheela, I want you to hit one with your Critical Strike as soon as you get a clear throw. I don’t care how many there are, we need to take one out as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Victor,” the blonde woman whispered, and then we all gasped as a black shape darted to a tree so that it could hide. They were just about as big as Hope, and smaller than Bob, Sonny, and Cher, but the raptors were solid muscle, teeth, claws, and attitude. I had seen a group slaughter two brontos, and I had no doubt it would only take a few of them to kill my crew.
But then again, I had something the Utahraptors didn’t. I had my brain and complete control of my team. I knew I could get us out of this, I just had to devise a strategy that would lure them out into the open.
Come to think of it, it was kind of weird that they weren’t attacking yet. It must have been obvious to them that we saw them. What were they waiting for?
Their plan dawned on me a second later and I spun around to see one of the massive black raptors sliding down from the boulders behind us. I hadn’t heard him over the sound of the rain, but he was about twenty feet from us, and he was
crouched down in a pouncing position.
“Sheela!” I screamed, and my lover spun with her spear pulled back in her arm.
The raptor jumped, but he was an instant too slow, and Sheela’s spear point hit him right in the skull. He didn’t even have a chance to let out a screech of pain, he just went limp as he fell through the air, and I stepped out of the way of his horse-sized body.
“Victor!” Liahpa, Kacerie, and Trel shouted, and I spun around to see the other two raptors springing toward us. Their plan was simple enough, but it would have worked if I hadn’t turned around in time. We still weren’t out of danger though, and I commanded Tom to turn and face the pair while I had the troodons sprint to our right.
Both Utahraptors seemed a bit confused by the movement of the five tiger-striped troodons, and the one on the right actually got a little distracted and turned to chase them. It was what I wanted to happen, and I ordered Tom to charge forward and hit the other Utahraptor head on. This fucker glanced at the troodons as he ran, and I guessed that he had expected Tom to try to run instead of charge. The black feathered raptor was caught off guard, but he twisted out of the way at the last second, and Tom’s right horn only tore a long scratch down the raptors flank.
I made the troodons split formations, so the males went left deeper into the forest while the females went right and leapt up the boulders. The Utahraptor surprised me by turning left to follow the males, but that was just fine by me. I had both Daphne and Velma sprint back around past my position, leap off the step, and then flank the other Utahraptor as he tried to nip at Tom.
The black raptor saw my two female troodons coming at him, and he turned his head to the left so he could snarl at them. That was also fine with me, and I commanded Tom to dart forward and sink a horn into the fucker’s shoulder. The Utah twisted back with a yelp of pain, but then he tried to face the troodons. I threw my opponent for a bit of a loop by making Daphne and Velma dart under Tom’s belly and come out around on the other side of the trike.
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