Jer Patch
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Chapter 53: Planning
🕑 Added 2025-04-11 14:00:09 +0000 UTCThe trees weren’t spaced as far apart as last night, and the moon hadn’t risen yet when I took off on my own. I knew the general direction I needed to go, and followed that pull marking the quest center.
My dark vision kicked in as I traveled, traveling as quietly as possible. My stealth kept each footstep silent, but it was slow going. The farther I traveled, the more intense the pull became. I found an area with a larger gap than normal, where two trees had fallen. With ease, I climbed one of the pine trees to the very top and tied the red leather onto the uppermost branches.
By the time I returned to the ground, moonlight drifted down through the branches. It made it easier to stick to the shadows, which was a definite plus.
A breeze picked up, blowing in my direction, and I almost gagged. The smell of rotten eggs and decaying meat filled the air. My eyes watered, and it took several moments for me to be able to ignore the scent. The problem was, it was all I could smell. My stomach roiled twice threatening to revolt, and I had to pause each time to gain control over myself.
As I kept going, it became clear where the smell was coming from. Three trees were knocked down, creating a bigger opening in the forest. I crept forward, hiding in the shadows by the fallen trees. I ducked under a huge tree trunk which rested on another, creating a darkened area, and I held still.
In the center of the clearing lay a dead triceratops, its stomach torn open without much meat remaining. The tail was gone, but the head with the horns pointed to the sky against a rock. It’d been dragged here from a different location, given the blood trail through the trees. Flies filled the air, the buzzing loud from them. Thin bones littered the area near the kill, but they didn’t match the dead creature. There was obviously more killing that had gone on here.
Water glimmered in the moonlight between the trees in the distance to the south, where a well-worn trail wound down to the edge.
The cliffs I’d hunted last night continued on my right, now less tall as they approached the water. Peering at the cliff, the moonlight revealed an opening filled with dried bones and claw marks in the stone. The light didn’t reach far enough to see an end to the opening. An unfamiliar smell rose from the cavern, but it wasn’t as intense as the triceratops, making it hard to separate from the reek in front of me.
The draw leading me here tugged at my chest to the opening in the cliffs. My target must be inside. A strange scraping noise came from the darkness farther in.
I had plenty of time until dawn and settled down to wait underneath the tree, covering myself with my dark cloak. The more information I gathered, the better prepared I would be during the actual fight.
My foot fell asleep as I waited, but eventually the scraping noise ended, and heavy footsteps came from the cavern. A narrow snout peeked out in the moonlight, filled with razor-sharp teeth. The long head had two bright yellow eyes that searched the area. They glowed in the moonlight. The creature’s head swayed back and forth before it stepped out of the rock.
[Aggressive Spinosaurus, Level 50, Predator, Unknown.]
Dark blue splotches, along with orange markings, covered the creature, including the amazing fin on its back. Rimmed in orange with ovals of blue, it was like a masterwork of art. Yet, as the monster walked by me, the ground shook, reminding me this work of art was dangerous. It was maybe the length of three shuttles without its tail, which was around half-again its length. It stood taller than I could measure, but not as tall as the cliffs.
The spinosaurus ignored the meal in front of it and stomped to the trail down to the water. I counted how many seconds it took to get to the edge of the water. It kept going before vanishing under the surface.
The lake had to be giant to let the creature vanish beneath its surface.
I stretched my senses, to see if any crystals grew in the depths of the lake, and felt a lite buzzing sensation. That made sense, if the dinosaur lived here. Healing crystals in the water would help it feel better after a fight.
It wasn’t long before the tug of my quest showed it leaving the water.
Again, I counted, and got the same count of fourteen. This time it headed for the meal it had ignored earlier.
The spino’s head lowered, yanking off a large hunk of bone and meat before swallowing it whole. Repeating its action, this time pieces of a leg went flying. One landed close to the trees I hid under. The putrid smell increased, and I closed my eyes, barely breathing.
My eyes snapped open as the creature huffed, its head reaching down to the hunk it had flung near me. Its teeth closed around the hunk of meat, barley 7 feet away, and I froze, waiting for it to move on. Each time it breathed, I wondered if this was it.
Finally, it turned, lifting its head, and stomped back to the cavern.
I counted another five seconds before the sound of scraping returned.
Coming at it from the ground wasn’t going to work, since I wasn’t sure taking out an ankle was possible before getting stomped on or bitten in half. That meant my usual tactics of falling from above.
I silently scooted closer to the edge of the shadows, to study the cliff face.
It wouldn’t be hard to climb it. The cliff was less vertical here and a more like a tough incline. The easiest one I’d faced yet. Right over the cavern opening, the rock jutted out, and I’d be able to hide on top of it.
As long as it didn’t come out when I was climbing, I’d be fine.
I backtracked out from under the tree trunks and kept them in between me and the cavern opening. My climb up the rocks started away from it, just in case. Two tall trees cast shadows on the rock, and I stuck to those areas.
Under my breath, I started counting, wishing I’d done so sooner.
All my focus remained on the scraping sound still coming from the cave. As long as it continued, I kept climbing up the rock, careful to not make a sound.
The scraping sound stopped.
I froze in the shadows of a short, almost bare tree, not where I wanted to be. Tucking myself as close to the jagged rock as possible, I waited.
The stomping came, and again I counted fourteen as it vanished into the distance. It had to be at or in the water, but the shadows didn’t cover the next part of my climb.
So I waited, huddled behind the cold rock next to the rough trunk, keeping my breathing shallow and soft.
The pull of the creature increased, and I started counting again. This time it didn’t stop at the rotting meat. A wet splat made me want to peek, and I did, ever so carefully. Next to the carcass of the triceratops now sat half of a -giant fish, almost the size of the shuttle. The thin bones around the clearing now made sense.
The Spinosaurus’ head lifted to the sky as it swallowed.
Then it marched back to the cavern.
I wanted to know what was inside the cavern, but first I needed to kill this thing. The moon headed for the horizon and I needed to get into position before the sun came up. I started counting as the scraping sound picked up again.
This time I snuck a little faster under the moonlight, climbing toward the outcropping above the cavern. As I climbed, I tried to come up with something besides just leaping onto its back. The fin blocked attacks from one side, and I needed to be careful. That neck had to be flexible.
My mind raced as the way to the outcropping evened out.
The moon reached the horizon, and the shadows lengthened, creating a darker atmosphere. Soon, it’d be time.
Now, I needed to hope the Spino’s timetable lined up with mine.
***
I had to be missing something. My father was on board with Alex’s plan to take on this level 50 monster. He grumbled something about the next quest in the path to citizenship. I snorted. I still needed to help take down a greater creature. Even with Alex’s high level, dad was determined to help her, and I didn’t think Alex needed that help. Not after saving my ass from that cat, or the shuttle from that Carnitor.
Everyone else in the group had taken part in a hunt with Hawk while we waited for Alex. Even Randy got a shot in, though he still had trouble leveling. Instead of helping, my experience was getting banked, and I wondered how far I’d go once I helped down one of those greater creatures.
“She’ll be fine, you know,” said Lenna.
I smiled at her. She waited next to me as everyone buzzed around camp. Dengu patrolled with Randy along the inside of the crystals.
“I know, she’s crazy good at all of this.” I motioned vaguely around us. “It just makes sense to her, whereas I feel like I’m trying to keep a hold of the world we came from.”
Lenna patted my shoulder, making my cheeks burn.
“If this world is where you plan to settle…”
“It is,” I added hurriedly.
“Well, then embrace it. Alex said something smart to Ham. If you don’t like your class, do something about it. You have time.” She stared at me, her pretty eyes almost black in the light.
“I feel like I’m behind everyone,” I whispered, before glancing away. “Alex’s my little sister, and she’s the strongest person here.”
“Aren’t you waiting to complete the quest so that you can help others?” asked Lenna, head tilting to one side. “I find that a worthy cause.”
Again my cheeks blazed.
“Thanks.”
Dengu chirped as he went by, and Lenna flashed him a thumbs up.
“Good luck,” said Lenna. Again she patted my shoulder, then hurried after Dengu. She took her role of protecting the camp seriously.
I swallowed, watching her go, and turned back toward my ship. It was true. I wasn’t sure if being a fighter pilot was for me, but I had ideas. Ways that wouldn’t limit me to this ship, but still let me provide aerial support. I just needed the materials to make it happen, and to get our new settlement up and running.
First, we had to help Alex do this. Though, now, part of me wondered. Did Alex actually want our help? Dad said she was over level 40 now, and who knew what her stats were at. Hammy had made an offhand comment on her mentioning stats way higher than his, even when she was his level.
The secrets of her class I still kept to myself, hoping the insane bonuses she had were enough for her to succeed at this mission.
I sat down in the pilot seat of my shuttle, taking a deep breath. We’d get this done, then I’d get the rest of the supplies from the dropship, and on to my plans for my class.
I will take down a greater creature, I repeated inside my head.
Dad, the guys from the compound, plus Hammy loaded into the shuttle. His heavy footsteps echoed through the cargo hold. I’d need to spot the red leather strips hanging from a tree to drop these folks off. Then it’d be me and Doc in the air. Hopefully, he didn’t blow the shuttle up. Crashing a third time wouldn’t be fun.
I prayed the modifications we’d made to Hammy’s suit worked. We didn’t get much time to test them out, since we weren’t sure how loud it’d be.
“We good?” I hollered back over my shoulder.
“Yep,” answered Hawk. He led this mission, since Dad had backed off. He couldn’t be rational with Alex leading the charge.
I flipped a switch, and the shuttle hummed to life, with the ramp rising in the back. Then I lifted us off before circling camp.
Everyone in camp stood around and waved, including Lenna.
I smiled as I turned the ship to the south.
“Let’s find our red flag,” I whispered to myself. “Alex, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
