Jer Patch
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Chapter 34: Don’t fall
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 15:00:06 +0000 UTCThe guide appeared standing next to the area where the ground dropped away. “It is an obstacle course,” answered the guide, responding to Hammy’s outburst as though it were a question.
Different pathways stretched across the sky, from a vine bridge stretching from one standing stone to another to the canopy of a bunch of what must be really tall trees, given how high we were. The third included stone pillars and the occasion tree. The last was literally a single wire, stretched taut from a tree growing from the edge of the cliff to one on the far side.
“What about the eggs?” I asked, pulling mine out of my inventory.
That toothy smile appeared, but this time he spoke instead of ignoring the question. “The final trial requires finding 5 eggs to open the temple. Each path before you has a single egg.”
I let out a sigh, before trying to spot any fliers in the sky. This couldn’t be everything. Before I could ask, the Guide vanished.
“I can’t do those rocks, guys…” Heavy breathing came from Hammy as he shuddered.
“Who said you need to take that path?” asked Lenna, frowning. “Dengu is taking that one.”
Visible relief washed across him.
“Dengu is quick,” added Lenna.
The dinosaur nodded and padded closer to that pathway, studying it.
“Do you want the rope, or the treetops?” I asked, glancing between the two.
Lenna scrunched up her nose, studying the wire stretched between the two trees.
“We’re going to be attacked…” I paused. “He didn’t say we couldn’t do a path more than once, either. We only need 3 more golden eggs.”
“Of course we’re going to be attacked,” said Lenna. “I can take the wire. You did the harder path up here. I’ve had time to rest my shoulders.”
I stared at the single wire, my fingers aching just thinking about it. “I don’t see where the egg is.”
“Isn’t it in that pouch halfway?” asked Hammy.
I marched closer, staring at the wire. Indeed, halfway across there was a pouch dangling, a branch from the tree had blocked it from my view earlier.
“Hammy should go first, find his egg and get to the other side,” I said, before looking at the dinosaur. “Then Dengu. If either needs air support, Lenna can provide that from the vine bridge. If you both find eggs, I’ll take the treetop route, which is out of sight of the fliers.”
“It can’t be that easy,” grumbled Hammy, still shifting uneasily from side to side.
“Of course not, but it's a plan.”
No one argued with my plan, such as it was, and Hammy carefully approached the bridge before setting a heavy foot on it. When it held, he slowly marched across the first bridge without trouble.
All of us remained on edge, waiting for the twist.
Eventually, he made it to the halfway point and knelt, grabbing something. He held up a golden egg before continuing. He made it to the end without a problem.
“Strange,” said Lenna, stepping closer to the vine bridge. Her bow rested in her hands as she searched the skies.
“Yeah, I don’t trust it. Dengu, you’re up.”
The velociraptor leaped across the air, landing on the first stone pillar with ease. He paused for a moment, then jumped. His claws dug into the tree branch he landed on. Each jump went well until he hit the half-way point. His head poked down, then lifted with something gold in his teeth.
A flier appeared in the sky above, and Lenna fired at it several times as it dodged. One arrow grazed a wing, making it fly away.
By the time Dengu made it to the other side, Lenna and I were pacing on this side of the course.
“Something isn’t right,” I muttered.
“I can’t hit something at the halfway point with your challenge.” Lenna approached the vine bridge. As soon as her foot touched the bridge, several more fliers appeared in the air.
“That’s the trap!”
She jerked back, but the damage was done.
Arrows flew. One fell from the sky, while another flew away as an arrow touched its wing. It didn’t take long until only a few remained, all out of reach and twisting farther away.
“Change of plans, you do the tree top challenge and get to the other side. Take care of those fliers, then I’ll figure out what’s next.”
Lenna nodded as I paced on this side, planning my next move.
She vanished within the trees, but now and then an arrow flew out striking another target. It took longer than the other lanes had, but eventually she joined the others. She flashed me a thumbs-up with a golden egg in her other hand.
That was all the eggs we needed.
A sharp grin covered my face as I eyed the vine bridge. I crouched down, readying myself. As soon as I landed, they’d appear.
“I got this.”
I wasn’t going the wire path. It felt like a bigger trap than this.
Then I leaped.
My spear stayed in my hand, ready to go. The pillar holding up the vine bridge loomed large, then I landed, stumbling slightly as I regained my balance. I took a single breath, then leaped again.
Fliers flew at me from various directions, but arrows rained down from Lenna. One got too close as I arched closer to the ground and I snagged them with my spear.
Down it went.
[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 28 Pterodactylus. Your experience is banked.]
My landing this time worsened as one tried to snatch me with its claws. I cut them off, before leaping again into the sky. This one was higher than the others. My spear struck at any fliers close enough, but when I touched down a new group joined the attack, and I was now facing a much larger flock than I had expected.
The far cliff side grew closer, and Hammy dodged out of the way as I crashed down. That was when the fliers behind me attacked. My team tore into the flock as I stumbled to my feet. One missed snagging me, as I twisted about.
“The temple!” The opening loomed ahead, glowing a golden color.
The others heard my cry, and we all moved to the opening.
Part of me wondered about the campsite, and why this path didn’t have one.
It worried me when another standing stone didn't appear. Instead, a golden glow came from the archway. Hammy blazed through it first, followed by Dengu, then Lenna.
My spear burned a few more fliers that tried to grab me, and a talon went flying. I tumbled through the opening and crashed into Lenna, who grunted.
Bright blue sky loomed overhead as I scrambled to my feet, untangling myself from the green girl. Thankfully, I didn't get her with my spear and she didn’t stab me with an arrow.
Nothing attacked us as we situated ourselves. By the time I stood upright, Hammy and Dengu were both hiding behind a low stone wall in front of us. It only reached my waist, and curved around the inside of the temple. Sand and dust blew around the inside of the wall.
My jaw dropped staring at our surroundings. It reminded me of an old image from ancient Rome. Giant steps rose in a circle around the outside of the round building. The only break was the archway we’d entered through.
A dark shadow traveled across the sands, and both Lenna and I dove closer to the low wall. I kept my back to the stone and gazed up, trying to spot the creature.
[Giant Pterodactylus, level 30, Predator, Tasty.]
It passed overhead, carefree and not even glancing in our direction. Then it was gone, beyond the towering stands.
“Holy smokes,” I whispered to myself, blinking at the size of the creature. Somehow it was only level 30, yet that big. Its wings had to stretch out as large as the shuttle.
When it didn’t circle back, I peeked over the wall to see what else this place had.
In the middle of the sands, tree limbs created a large nest that I could barely see over. Three giant eggs sat in the nest, but nothing else moved in the arena. Several smaller nests rested in various places in the stands, seemingly without rhyme or reason. None of the nests nearby had eggs in them. Near the low wall surrounding the stands stood five golden statues of fliers. They glittered in the sunlight, with sharp beaks pointed to the skies and with wings stretched out on either side.
I stared at one of the golden statues.
[Golden Pteranodon, level 30, Unknown, Unknown.]
“I didn’t expect something like this.” Lenna glanced at me with a frown. “The challenge must have some sort of trick.”
A trick. Or a puzzle to figure out.
The dark shadow rippled across the arena again, this time smaller. It flew higher up in the sky and didn’t react as I stood there staring.
“How does this work if it's flying?” asked Hammy. “Do we need to attack the eggs in the center to draw its attention?”
I climbed up on top of the stone wall to get a better look into the nest in the distance.
[Giant Pterodactylus Egg, Very Tasty.]
My mouth watered thinking about scrambled eggs, and how much food any one of those would create. The biggest thing I’d taken inside my inventory was the Dimetrodon, and these were around that size, but oval. I wasn’t sure it was possible to take them with us.
“That might be an option,” I said, less convinced. “It might piss off the Giant flier though.”
The five statues kept drawing my attention. To enter the temple, we needed 5 golden eggs, and now 5 golden statues stood on the edges of the arena. One on either side of the archway in front of the wall, and then three more at the three remaining compass points.
Maybe the nest was the trap, while the statues were the trick we had to figure out.
“Stay here, but be prepared for anything,” I said, dropping to the sand inside the low wall. After waiting several seconds, the giant shadow didn’t reappear and I padded closer to the Golden Pteranodon. I stood a few feet in front of the closest one on the sand. From here, the detail in the statue made it look almost lifelike, just frozen.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled the golden egg out of my inventory and held it up in the air in front of the statue.
One second the egg was there, the next second the golden Pteranodon’s beak snagged it from my hand, gulping it down.
Its head lowered, staring at me for a moment, making a shiver run up the back of my spine, though it didn’t feel dangerous. Rather, it felt like it was judging me.
The shadow appeared behind the Golden Pteranodon, then flew over us and across the sands. The golden creature’s beak tracked the Giant creature, eyes narrowed. It glanced back at me and growled.
Then it lowered its head, as if bowing.
[Friendly Golden Pteranodon, level 30, Ally, Unknown]
A countdown in gold appeared in the corner of my eye. Ten minutes.
The friendly bird stepped closer to me, its giant talons digging into the sand.
‘To sky, must kill the invader.’ The words echoed in my head, making it ache. They came from the creature in front of me.
“Yes, we will kill the Giant Creature,” I answered.
“It’s a temporary bond,” said Lenna jumping over the low wall, watching the two of us with amazement on her face. Dengu squawked loudly.
“What good is a…” I cut my question off. “To the sky? You can take me?”
It nodded once, then launched itself into the air, sending a cloud of sand all over. I snapped my eyes closed to protect them. It cleared quickly as my new friend circled once overhead and then swooped down.
I realized what it was going to do seconds before its talons encircled me. Then my feet were in the air. Somehow it had a talon under each armpit, holding me up. My hands clenched its feet as we gained altitude. I shook ever so slightly as I pushed the panic away. The arena grew smaller beneath me, and I forced myself to keep my eyes leveled, not looking at the ground.
We rapidly gained height, the flier moving faster than any I’d seen before.
Seconds later, I understood why.
The Giant Flier flew underneath us, and it didn’t bother glancing up.
My friend stopped flapping his wings, and we glided on the wind that tried to rip my clothes off. It kept high above the back of the Giant Flier, before suddenly diving closer.
‘Prepare.’ The voice made my ears ache, and I didn’t respond, unsure of what would happen.
Then it let me go.
Panic rushed through me. This was too high. Noseen had been right; I needed wings.
I resisted screaming, and instead aimed my feet right at the giant flier’s back. My fingers wrapped around my knife at my side, extending it into a spear. I had one shot.
This was gonna hurt.
If this was how I died, at least it’d be epic.
Claws grew from my left hand, and the tingle of pain pushed thoughts of dying out of my head. Screw dying, I needed to get wings. Maybe I’d earn them with this tasty, tasty flier heart.
Then I hit.
