by J. J. Egosi
“Ursula, no!”
Alexa rushed to get her before the monster did, but she was too late; the creature grabbed her with its free arm and ran off with her deep into the jungle.
Ursula’s panic clouded her mind. She couldn’t even get herself to fight back as the creature dragged away. With her friends too slow to catch up and rescue her from her nightmare-come-true, she screamed out for help as their faces faded away into the thickets.
“Ursula! That monster!” Alexa unleashed her wings, ready to retrieve her. She didn’t make it far, as Michael quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” Alexa said.
“We need to calm down. The only way we’re going to get her back is with a strategy,” he said.
“This is my fault.” Tears began to trickle from Alexa’s face. “Had I not allowed my damn greed to get the best of me, she wouldn’t have been taken.”
“We’ll get her back. Don’t worry,” Michael said. “We just need a strategy.”
Michael’s words had a calming effect on Julianna and Isabella, but Alexa’s panic only seemed to grow.
“No! No! No!” she suddenly blurted. “What have I done? It’s too late!”
“What do you mean it’s too late?” Isabella asked. “For what?” The air of panic returned.
“The thing that took her is a lizardman!” Alexa said.
“We know that much,” Julianna said. “If we start chasing it down now, we should be able to catch up in no time.”
Alexa shook her head and paced. The group fell into silence and watched Alexa, waiting for an explanation that couldn’t come soon enough.
Isabella’s eyes began to well with tears. “Alexa, what’s going on? What else aren’t you telling us?”
Alexa sighed. “The lizardmen are spiritual to a point of delusion. They have sacred temples where they worship their gods and believe that they must give an offering to receive a bountiful harvest.”
“In other words, they’re going to feed her to one of the bigger lizards?” Isabella said.
“I thought you despised the girl when we first met you two. Seems that’s still the case.” Julianna scowled.
“After all, this whole fucking quest was your idea!” Isabella shouted.
Michael stepped in. “Can we all calm down? This isn’t the time to point fingers.”
Isabella went quiet, but her eyes did all the screaming at Alexa.
“The gods they worship are actually the volcanoes on this island. They”—Alexa paused. How was she going to put this?
“They what, Alexa?” Michael asked.
“They’ll throw her into one of them.” Isabella and Julianna gasped. Michael fought to hold back his reaction. “Their rituals take place at sundown.”
“Shit. That hardly leaves us any time,” Michael said. “Do you know which volcano they’re taking her to?”
“If I had a guess: it’s probably Mount Ornox. It’s the largest volcano on this island, located nearest to their temple.”
“Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get the fuck out of these feeding grounds and find her!” Isabella said.
Alexa nodded. “Follow me.” The four of them stormed in the direction Ursula was taken.
“What about the steamcraft?” Julianna asked.
“It’ll only attract more attention,” Alexa said.
“Are you sure?” Julianna asked.
“Trust me. Anything gold is the last thing you want to wave around in front of lizardmen.”
The others looked with a bit of confusion before shaking it off quickly to focus on the task at hand: rescuing Ursula from the guiles of a reptilian monster.
As they sprinted, Julianna noticed a scatter of nesting grounds full of eggs.
I’ve seen this before, she thought as she recalled the nests of the fire elemental hatching during her quest. I have to warn the team.
“Guys, watch out for the eggs!” she announced.
“No time. Just run!” Alexa said.
“But, the eggs”—
“Damn it! I don’t fucking care about a bunch of eggs. Just keeping running!”
Shocked by the hastiness of her words, Julianna silently nodded and followed suit until the four of them emerged from the jungle and into an open field. They all momentarily stopped to catch their breaths.
“It looks like we made it out. Now, to find that volcano,” Isabella said.
She looked in the distance. Despite being unsure of what a volcano was, she looked in the distance in search of what seemed most unfamiliar to her.
“That way!” Alexa said, pointing straight ahead at the massive mountainous structure in the distance.
“Great!” Isabella said.
“Wait a minute,” Michael said.
“The time for waiting is over, Michael!” Alexa said.
“I’m serious. I think I heard something.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“I think I hear it, too,” Isabella said.
The group went silent as they heard the thundering thumps in the jungle. Their hearts raced as the thumping crescendoed. Whatever it was, it drew closer and closer as scales came into view through the trees.
“It sounds pretty large.” Julianna held her hands up; ready to conjure her swords for battle. As she tried to do so, she came empty-handed.
“What’s this?” Her eyes widened. She couldn’t feel an ounce of power from her fingertips. “My sword? Where is it?”
“I told you before you wouldn’t be able to fight it,” Alexa said. “That’s because our magic doesn’t exist in this dimension.”
The others gasped. Their blood boiled from the revelation and the senselessness of holding it back until now.
“What the fuck?” Julianna said. “You’re just telling us that now, too?”
“Was your goal to get us all killed?” Isabella asked. “If so, you’re doing a quality job.”
“Again, I was caught up in the money. I forgot that detail,” Alexa said.
“You forgot?” Julianna shouted.
“Enough arguing, you three,” Michael cut in. “None of that will help us now.”
“Right.” Alexa took a deep breath. “Whatever comes out of those woods, just stand completely still. Don’t move a muscle.”
“Are you sure that’ll work?” Michael asked.
“Why should we listen to you after the mess you’ve gotten us in?” Julianna.
“Because I promise I’ll do everything in my power to get us out,” Alexa said with a rare sincerity.
Michael, Julianna, and Isabella looked at one another, surprised by the remorse. They resolved that she could be almost fully trusted again.
“I never should have taken this quest and put us all in danger. I don’t know how to fight these beasts, as I said, but I do know how to keep them from fighting us. You just have to believe in me.”
Julianna and Isabella looked at one another one more time before taking deep breaths.
“Alright, then,” Julianna said. “I’ll put my faith in you.”
“Just tell us what we need to know,” Isabella added.
“Reptiles have incredibly weak eyesight. They won’t notice us if they don’t sense any movement,” Alexa said with a tremble in her voice as the thumping grew more thunderous.
“Can’t we just fly now?” Isabella said. “We’re in an open field.”
“That won’t work. Not when this island is full of flying monsters ready to feed,” Alexa said.
Suddenly, the head of the beast emerged from the woods. It was a tyrannosaurus rex with green scales. Atop of it sat a lizardman similar to the one that captured Ursula, clad in golden armor. The hulking creature left them petrified.
“I think it spotted us,” Michael whispered.
“I can see that much.” Alexa gulped.
“What is that? A dragon?” Michael asked.
“Not a dragon. A dinosaur.” Alexa gulped as the lizardman upon it grin
ned, flashing its sword at them.
“That’s a dinosaur?” Isabella said with a tremble in her voice.
“Yes. And there’s little outrunning one of those,” Alexa said.
“Perfect. With no flight and no magic, we’re basically on the same level as humans. Maybe even worse!” Julianna shouted.
Her heightened tone alerted the lizardmen. Upon their dinosaur cavalry, they took a step forward that shook the ground and their hearts.
“Well, there’s a little magic energy. Enough to summon a basic weapon and not much more. That’s actually one of the many reasons why dimension walkers believe this dimension predates all others. Because the low level of magic suggests an ancient era where magic wasn’t yet prevalent,” said Alexa.
“That won’t help us now,” Isabella said.
“Right now, all we have are unenhanced blades to defend ourselves,” Julianna said.
“That’s if we’re lucky enough to even get an opening,” Alexa said, shaking, as the dinosaur growled and slowly opened its jaws.
Michael looked over at her, staying frozen in place.
I’ve never seen her so scared, and I can’t blame her, he thought. She has nothing but that mallet of hers against these armored brutes.
The beast closed in until they were just inches from its dozens of teeth. It lowered its head and sniffed the team, starting with Alexa.
Staring into its gaping eyes, sweat began to trickle down their faces as they did their best to hold their breath as it examined it.
“What is it doing?” Michael said.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Isabella replied. “It’s hungry.”
Alexa shuddered as she saw her reflection in its bloodied teeth. “Not hungry. It’s looking for something and believes we took it.”
“Well, this creature has it the other way around. They’re the ones that took Ursula,” Isabella said.
Julianna’s eyes widened, remembering what she saw on the trail. “Someone must have taken its eggs. I’m certain of it. The question is who?”
She slowly turned her eyes around to the rest of the group. She noticed yolk and slime covering everyone’s feet.
Her eyes widened with despair. Damn it. I told them to look out for those eggs. She looked down at her soaking feet. I should have looked out, too.
The beast made its way over to Michael. He held his breath to remain still, but the shakiness prevailed. He kept his head up, pacing his breathing until a tickle in his nose prompted an unexpected sneeze that sent terror in the others.
The tyrannosaurus rex’s eyes widened. It cocked its head back and roared, opening its jaws in his direction.
“You asshole!” Alexa shouted.
“I’m sorry. I”—
Her anger turned to fear when the beast’s teeth darted for Michael. She and the others let out a scream. They were too afraid to move and too horrified to say a word as it attempted to swallow Michael whole.
“Looks like the beast was hungry as well as mad.”
Michael gritted his teeth, as both the torment of his past and the allies of his present played through his mind. Now he had to deal with the danger posed on Ursula, too.
But, I won’t go down like this. I won’t!
Michael stopped the beast in its tracks with just his hand; clamping the jaws of the dinosaur open.
“No way…” said Isabella, in awe. “He stopped it?”
“Where is he getting the strength?” Alexa asked.
They were all stupefied and relieved as he halted the attack and stood his ground before the monster.
“He seriously grabbed the beast by the mouth,” Julianna said.
She nervously gulped, watching the blood trickle from his hands as the teeth dragged deeper inside. He grunted from the pain.
“Michael, you’re hurt!” she shouted.
“Don’t worry about me. Run to that volcano and get Ursula. I’ll stay behind and deal with this beast,” Michael said as the struggle to keep its mouth open intensified.
Isabella gritted her teeth. “That maneuver may help you for now, but what happens when the lizardman gets hungry?”
The beast upon it snickered as it clawed its way toward Michael, ready to snatch him from its cavalry’s jaws and into another’s. Suddenly, a surge of bolts stopped its hand in its path.
“Am I really seeing this?” Isabella turned toward Alexa. “I thought you said we couldn’t that amount of magic?”
Alexa was stupefied and left in silence for a moment as she watched him defy everything she knew.
“It seems gods play by their own rules.”
“Not exactly,” Michael grunted under the crushing pressure. “I can only use a little bit like the rest of you, and what I have is very weak.”
“In other words, for a god, that’s a little bit,” an impressed Isabella said.
“That’s right,” Michael said. “And I’m running out fast.”
The lizardman hissed in fear and the dinosaur swayed from the agony as electricity coursed inside its jaws. All as Michael’s grip tightened.
“My lightning should keep them both at bay. Now, get going.”
“But, Michael,” said Alexa, “don’t go pressing your luck.”
“She’s right. You need to save this energy for rescuing Ursula,” Isabella said.
“You heard me before. Ursula needs you. I can handle myself here,” Michael insisted.
The lizardman on top started swinging its sword to close the distance as the bolts formed. Grunting from the pressure, Michael’s heels dug into the dirt. The dinosaur’s jaws were closing in from his fatigue, hanging over his head.
“You’ve lost your mind!” Julianna said.
“No, I’ve just lost a friend for the moment. That’s why you need to get her back while I handle this beast!” said Michael.
“We’re not leaving without you!” Isabella said.
“More importantly, we’re all in this mess because of me. Let me help you however I can.”
“And we owe you that much after you slayed the bog beast,” Isabella said.
“You haven’t enough magic. You’ll just get yourselves killed!” Michael shouted.
The jaws began to close in on him and blood leaked from his neck.
“Just go!”
Michael began losing feeling in his arms—except for the crushing grip of the dinosaur’s jaws. He closed his eyes, accepting defeat. The girls screamed in terror. Ignoring their better judgment, they ran to his aid.
Before the beast could consume him, however, it was swiftly knocked over by another dinosaur storming into the scene from the jungle.
A dinosaur of a different breed now took the beast’s attention with a fight—filled with roars and chomps—for territory. However, they were all too preoccupied with the direness of their own situation to bat an eye in its direction.
Michael was hurled onto the ground. The impact disoriented him as he now faced the sky. He slowly crawled to his feet, gasping profusely.
“Are you alright?” Isabella rushed to his aid with the others.
“I’ve been better,” Michael said. With an overwhelming sense of relief, he looked over at the two dinosaurs combating now. “How fortuitous another beast arrives to snatch me out of the jaws of doom.”
“That’s the good fortune of a god, you could say,” Isabella said. “And maybe a little nature, too.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Michael gritted his teeth. He looked at his arms covered in blood and bite marks. His neck was in the same state.
“Oh, no. Your arms. I think they might be broken. Let me heal them,” Isabella said. “And your neck. Unholy shit, just look at you!”
“Your healing magic won’t work here. Remember?” Julianna said, her voice breaking in panic.
“Damn. You’re right. What can we do then? He’s seriously hurt,” Isabella asked.
Michael struggled to stay on his feet without their help as blood trickled down from more places than he could co
unt.
Alexa gritted her teeth. “You’re just gonna have to hold on for the time being. Alright?”
“Is that supposed to be funny? He needs immediate care!” Isabella shouted.
“That moron. He’s always trying to carry the burden on his own,” Alexa said, folding her arms in disapproval.
“The sky’s getting dark,” Michael said, struggling to keep his eyes open as Isabella held him in her arms.
Alexa began to panic. “What was that?”
In the meantime, a thud shook the ground as the tyrannosaurus was knocked onto the ground by its spine-bound enemy with a crocodile-like head. The tyrannosaurus got back onto its feet to carry on with the fight.
Alexa looked at them both in wonder and horror while still trying to focus on Michael’s wounds.
“It’s the tyranno against the spinosaur. Two of the strongest members of the lizardmen army. They won’t stop until there’s a victor—which means death in a place like this.”
Isabella shivered as the two beasts continued to collide their jaws in a ferocious frenzy drawing closer to them.
“We need to protect Michael at all costs.”
“Absolutely. We need to evade. Find somewhere safer.”
“The sky… it’s getting darker,” Michael said once again.
Isabella looked up at the sky. Tears fell as she gazed at the clear blue sky and a bright sun hanging over.
“I know it is, Michael. We still have time to save Ursula… and you. I promise.”
“Why is it getting darker? Does this mean… I’m out of time here?” Michael said, reaching his hand toward the setting sun.
“He’s losing blood too quickly. He needs medical treatment fast!” Julianna shouted.
Alexa and the others nodded. They carried him off as far away from the battle as they could as a trail of blood followed them. They offered him as much help as the volatile environment could allow them. They elevated his head and wrapped him with spare bandages to stop the bleeding, and poured orange juice down his throat, making sure he swallowed every gulp.
“Michael, you’re going to be alright. We’re gonna get you treated. Just keep your eyes open and you’ll be fine,” Alexa said, frantically looking through her infinity bag for more first-aid supplies.