Jer Patch
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Chapter 26: Between a Rock and a Herd
🕑 Added 2025-02-10 16:00:03 +0000 UTCThis time, I led the way across the symbol. Energy rushed up from under my feet, making my legs tingle. It quickly disappeared.
A breeze rippled through the ferns lining the path like a switch turning on the section of dungeon in front of us. The smell of grass and leaves rushed at me as I stepped forward. My spear hung lazily in my hand, but my senses strained forth for anything to indicate what we were about to face.
The last time, it’d been a gauntlet.
Ahead, the path opened up as two giant fern leaves rustled in the breeze. Tall grasses took over on the left, while shorter grasses spread out to our right. A familiar tall stone sat a few feet into the field on the left.
The ferns abruptly changed to a sloping field stretching far ahead, with a lake off to the right. Sunlight streamed down overhead and the temperature picked up like passing under a heater. The water rippled with a light breeze that blew up over the shore and into the grass. Large creatures with spikes running up their spines rested in the water. Each sported a tail topped with a spiked club. I studied the closet creature.
[Spiked Stegosaurus, Level 30, Prey, Unknown.]
They were beautiful. Different from the drawings that adorned the books I’d read as a child, but still a dream come true. They were even spikier than the ones from the colony fight. Greenish blue scales covered them, with each spike being brighter blue. The spikes on the ends of their tails were white, like sun-bleached bone. Each head stood as tall as me with the rest of great beasts towering taller.
Massive, beautiful, and just chilling. I wished I could touch one, without trying to kill it.
Lenna joined me studying the scene in front of us. “Strange. Do we need to fight them?” One of her hands held the leaf back, and Dengu stuck his head over her shoulder. Hammy hung back, but could see around me.
Pavers ended as the grass started, but here and there I spotted one in the shorter grass. The pathway continued past the herd, toward the far side of the field with a few scattered boulders in between. The only trees were a few around the sparkling water providing shade.
Bright green ferns grew again in the distance.
I paused, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do. Then I noticed Dengu wasn’t looking at the Stegosaurus, but at the slightly taller grasses on our left side.
The standing stone glowed there, but this time, instead of the entire rock shimmering, symbols appeared.
[Can you make it to the other side?]
The notification flashed once, and then vanished.
My eyes widened as the tall grasses moved, a tail flickering in view just for a moment.
“Oh no,” whispered Hammy.
“We gotta move,” I replied, keeping my voice low but quick. Using my side, I shortened my spear into knife form before putting it away, then crouched down, ready to go.
Two of the Stegosaurus turned to face the taller grass. One bellowed a warning as the wind shifted back toward the water. Others quickly stood up, making it clear just how large the herd was. The water had hidden several that climbed up from bathing, keeping only their heads above the water. Now they were preparing to defend the herd.
Anticipation built inside my chest, and I darted into the open. Seconds later, a streaking form launched itself from the grasses at the herbivores.
The question of what it was answered itself.
Raptors.
Lenna followed me, but Dengu held back.
The first boulder sat a quarter of the way across and I made it without a problem, dodging two raptors and a stegosaurus’ clubbed tail.
I kept the rock between me and the stegosaurus, since this was the path of spikes. That proved to be the correct thing as a literal spike shot at the Raptors from a tail. They dodged, but it gave time for the herd to face the running raptors tails first. Some looked more like clubs with hardened bone, while others were completely covered in bone spikes.
The heat suddenly picked up again, as I watched the chaos unfold for a second. My mouth went dry as I tried to map out a path across the fight. Sweat dripped down my back at the sudden temperature spike. Different potential paths stood out to me as I readied myself for the perfect moment.
Lenna reached the boulder behind me after dodging a flying spike not aimed at her. “We need to keep moving.” At that moment, a stegosaurus charged from the herd, heading directly at the raptors, way too close to where we crouched next to the boulder.
I immediately launched myself across the open space of the field, leaping over a Raptor that got hit with a tail. Then I rolled underneath a different tail, then followed up with a hit to the same raptor.
Two more Stegos charged ahead, with others shooting more spikes into the air, careful to not hit their allies in the fight.
A raptor dodged in front of me, not even paying me any attention as it leaped toward the lead Stego. It landed on the larger herbivore’s back, just missing the spikes on its spine. Yet, a spike slammed into the raptor’s shoulder, knocking it off right into the path of another charging dinosaur. Painful chirps filled the air.
I didn’t watch to see what happened to that particular raptor as I raced to the next boulder.
Must keep moving. Must keep moving.
Racing around a shadow, I tried to keep count of how many Stegos were involved, but it didn’t add up. Somehow, more dinosaurs were entering the fray and the loud stomping and slamming filled my ears, making it hard to focus. Dust rose slowly upward, making it harder to see. The raptors in particular vanished in the brown dust. The Stego’s shadows stood out just because they were so large.
Dengu appeared behind me and just kept going right on by, leaping out of sight.
A lull in the dust made it easier to see the next large boulder with a smaller one right next to it. From what I recalled, it sat just over halfway across the field, in the densest crush of fighting. I didn’t stop to catch my breath as more dust rose.
An enormous shadow raced through the dust and I leaped away to not get crushed under the feet. Instinct forced me to lower my head as a spike shot through the air, and I heard a screech near where it went flying. One raptor leaped across in front of me onto the face of a running stegosaurus.
The spiked giant veered toward me, and I leaped away again.
Yet, this time something grazed my calf, making me stumble my landing. I calculated a path out of the dust and raced away, dodging as needed the last several feet.
Luckily, I made it out of the dust cloud and started running again. Over my shoulder, I couldn’t see much besides brown air and dark shadows fighting within. Dengu stood on the last boulder, which was a little to my left. I’d gotten off track while in the cloud, but Free Spirit got me through the obstacles.
My heart pounded, but it only took a few deep breaths to get my breathing under control. The increases I’d made to my constitution since the run from the Carnitor were showing their worth. I almost wished I could repeat that chase and fight with my new stats.
Seconds ticked by without a sign of Hammy or Lenna, and worry itched the back of my mind. Dengu turned toward me with a low chirp before looking back at the dust cloud.
“Just a couple more seconds. They’ll appear,” I tried to reassure the purple raptor.
Dengu jumped off the top of the boulder onto the ground next to me. The tall ferns formed a barrier just beyond the rock, but neither of us moved closer to it.
A dark form appeared near the tall grass skirting around the edges of the dust. Hammy came into view, stomping forward slower than he should be moving. Grass stains covered his left side, mostly around his knees. Dust covered his face, with tear tracks leading down. His once-healed shoulder now had a spike sticking out of it.
I raced forward to help him and yanked him down as another spike went shooting by. A painful yelp escaped him. The weight of the suit made it harder, but he realized I was trying to help and went with the flow. Another spike flew overhead.
“Have you seen Lenna?” I asked.
“She followed you,” he said with a grimace. “I knew I wouldn’t make it through that and tried to go around. Spikes kept appearing like the dungeon knew I tried to take an easier way.” As soon as we made it to the boulders, he stopped walking and used the suit to keep himself upright. Sweat soaked his shirt, especially around the collar. “I knew enough to not yank it out, but it hurts. Bad.”
“Don’t you dare touch that,” growled Lenna as she stumbled out of the dust cloud. She didn’t have a scratch on her, but she coughed several times. Dengu launched himself at her and pulled back at the last minute to only nudge her shoulder with his head. “It’s all good, I’m fine. Didn’t expect the dust.”
“None of us did,” I added, taking a deep breath to gauge my energy levels. I’d need to eat some more from all the leaping. “How about we finish this be–” My voice cut off as a rogue stegosaurus stumbled out of the cloud, swinging its tail in every direction.
I shoved Hammy away, and he tripped backward as the tail flew overhead, spikes missing my head by inches. He slammed into the ground on his back, groaning.
I climbed to my feet and then helped him, straining with all my strength. The exoskeleton he’d used as the base for his suit was designed to carry heavy things. It was heavier than it looked.
“That was too close. Let's move…”
Dengu chirped in agreement. He sniffed at a scratch on his back. Lenna peeked out from behind the rock before heading toward the ferns. “I hate dust…” she grumbled, stomping away from the field.
Once each of us crossed onto the path the sound from behind us cut off like someone pausing a video. My shoulders relaxed immediately.
Lenna turned toward Hammy and got up in his face before staring at the shoulder. Her eyes blazed with fury, as she pulled out the crystal from under her shirt. “Don’t you move,” she demanded as her fingers wrapped around the spike. Then she yanked.
Hammy cried out, his eyes snapping shut as he trembled.
She pressed the crystal against the wound as blood started flowing from the gaping hole. It stopped as the light dimmed from the stone. Sweat and tears flowed down his face.
Lenna pulled back and hid the stone again. “It’s not healed all the way…” She shook her head and glanced at me with a frown. Some of the anger was gone.
Hammy trembled, still upright with his eyes closed. Both hands clenched and released multiple times before he opened his eyes. “How do you deal with the pain?” he asked in a shaky voice.
“Practice,” I said, simply. It was hard, but true.
His face fell as he took a step forward, gritting his teeth.
Lenna brushed past me, holding out the spike.
I took it, weighting it in one hand. The heavy bone came to a point on either end.
[Stegosaurus Spike.]
“I can’t do this,” he whispered to me, not moving after the initial step. “It hurts so much.”
I let out a shallow breath after tossing the spike into my inventory.
“What scares you more, the pain in your shoulder, or not leaving this dungeon?”
