Caveman Alien's Riddle - Calista Skye Page 0,69

went somewhere else.

She is strange. Not dragon-like.

I close my eyes briefly. That’s the point, isn’t it? That’s why she intrigues me, that’s why I enjoy her company so much. She’s different. Totally. And she lit up my world.

My hand goes to my chest. The ache has worsened considerably since the encounter with the cavemen. They caused further damage in the wound, and it keeps seeping thin ichor.

Who must pay?

The one who has erred.

Surely, Jennifer erred in injuring me. It is she who must pay.

With what? She has no hoard, as such. She tried to give me that diamond, but I can’t tell if it’s real, and it didn’t work.

Perhaps if she got it polished. Or if she had something else of value. A little bit of gold would do fine.

Maybe.

I get to a clearing in the forest, and it takes me several heartbeats to realize it’s the same one where the tribesmen bound me and tried to violate Jennifer.

I hiss in frustration and bang my fist on a nearby tree, breaking it in half. I’ve been walking the wrong way!

“Curse this ground-slaved form,” I seethe as I turn on the spot to hurry back the way I came. I’ve lost a lot of time, and I’m not getting any stronger. My cache is still far away.

I need to find it, to heal and to Change so I can talk to the other dragons from a position of strength. I must still convince them to come with me to Earth, inside the Plood ship.

They will be skeptical, thinking it’s a trap. I most certainly would think that.

But they are desperate for hoards and will ultimately join me.

And then the universe will be mine.

22

- Jennifer -

It’s the smoothest ride I’ve ever had, including some ferries and airplanes. The bobont makes its way through the wood, flattening everything it encounters and breaking massive trees at the root like toothpicks. But I barely notice it up here, it’s so far below me.

I only hear the occasional crack when a particularly thick tree trunk snaps. Otherwise, I’m above and ahead of everything.

The whole creature flexes gently with each long, lumbering step, and the head is kept as still as if it were fastened to the ground. The whole thing reminds me of videos I’ve seen of hawks and owls that keep their heads perfectly still, even if their human handler moves their body around. As I recall, it’s because their eyeballs are fixed in their skulls and they can’t move them, so they have to move their entire heads instead. I guess something like that is going on here.

It’s unexpectedly pleasant and comfortable, and I don’t remember Heidi mentioning riding on a bobont. Maybe I’m a trailblazer, at long last. I could do without the smell, but it’s not that much worse than your ordinary landfill on Earth.

Our progress may look slow from a distance, but we’re easily moving three to four times faster than I could walk. And in a straight line, totally ignoring small hillocks or streams or fallen trees or anything else that would force me to walk around.

I can also pretty much ignore other creatures — I doubt any dactyl would want to get close to this thing. It’s a totally peaceful dinosaur that only eats leaves, but the sheer size has an intimidation factor that should not be ignored.

I’m controlling it with a spear that has a string with a dangling, fake butterfly on it. It’s Heidi’s method that I’ve been prepared for the whole trip, and finally I can use it.

It shouldn’t be possible, but the bobont is obviously also somewhat scared of those fluttering things, despite its thick hide. I guess it worries about one of those things stinging it in the eye or maybe in one of its small, trumpet-shaped ears that are pink on the inside. Those must be the only vulnerable parts of it.

I only have to keep the butterfly dangling in front of the one eye I can reach, but that’s enough. As soon as I lowered my fake butterfly and shook it, the bobont got to its gigantic feet and started walking straight ahead because I kept the butterfly fluttering right behind the eye, almost out of sight.

I travel like this until early afternoon, when I look down and recognize the place. The village should be to the right, and I want to check on it. I dangle the butterfly on the left side of the eye, and sure enough, the humongous dinosaurs