my hand and we walk fast further into the jungle, away from the remains of the old spaceship.
Neither of us talk. We both realize this could be very bad.
Shit. I think maybe climbing up on the edge of the old spaceship was not a good idea. We must have been visible for miles around, and dactyls have good vision with those dead, dinner plate-sized eyes. And if they know we’re here, then they might not give up so quickly.
The jungle goes darker as the trees get denser above us, but not fast enough – the screeches from the flying monsters are much closer.
Brank’ox stops in his tracks. And there is the first moving shadow above us.
It zips past right overhead, only partly visible as a long, dark shape. If it continues straight ahead, then we might be safe.
Just as I’m about to feel relieved, the shape lazily turns, and a screech like a thousand nails on a blackboard resonate through the woods.
And then there’s twenty new dactyl shadows churning right above us, screeching and spiraling down to the treetops until the leaves are rustling all around. We’re surrounded.
“They will soon be here,” Brank’ox says tightly. “We must find shelter. I spotted something on the way here, but it’s far. Can you run?”
“Yes.” I nod eagerly. Right now, I’m so on edge I could probably fly by flapping my arms if it meant escape from the dactyls.
“Then we run.”
And we do, Brank’ox dragging me along through the trees and the underbrush and me doing my best to keep up.
But I can’t. I’m too slow.
After twenty yards, I trip over a low branch and Brank’ox has to steady me.
Without a word, he lifts me onto his shoulder with one arm and runs on, much faster.
I cling to his waist, my head hanging down behind his back while he has a firm hold on my thighs just above the knees. It is plainly the best way for a caveman to carry a woman, and right now I don’t care about the degrading factor.
Tree trunks and bushes and rocks speed by, and I swear I can hear the slipstream whistle around my ears over the now almost continuous screeching from above. He runs fast, as if he wasn’t carrying a fluffy girl at all.
There’s a violent rustle of leaves and a sharp crack as the first dactyl comes swooping down, breaking a tree in half like it was just a toothpick.
I can’t see properly, but in a terrifying chaos of green and gray and huge, yellow eyes and jagged teeth the dactyl comes close enough to open its huge gape.
Brank’ox takes a fast step to the side and slashes his sword at the beast, connecting with a hard, metallic twang.
The furious screech that follows feels like it pierces my eardrums as the dactyl flaps its leathery wings and crashes back up through the canopy of tree crowns.
The circling dactyls answer, filling the air with a nightmarish cacophony.
Brank’ox runs again, then takes a sharp turn to the right and sprints on for a hundred-yard dash that would secure the gold medal in any Olympic games. He stops and carefully sets me down. “Over there. The cave I saw. I will distract them while you run there. Go!”
He points, and I have no idea what he means. There isn’t even a hill here, much less a rock face where I might find a cave.
Brank’ox puts a massive hand on my back and pushes, not too gently. “Run!”
There’s a cacophony of breaking branches overhead as another dactyl comes swooping down.
I flee aimlessly in the direction Brank’ox pointed, seeing nothing but jungle.
A hundred feet on, the ground suddenly ends. I try to stop my progress, but the forest floor gives way under me, and I scream thinly as I plummet through thin air.
8
- Dolly -
I land on one knee and my face, and if this had been a normal hole in the ground, I would have needed a lot of reconstructive surgery. But the ground is soft and slippery with rotting leaves and something else that stinks pretty bad.
It takes me a moment to collect myself. The hole I fell through is small, with rounded edges. It’s ten feet up, and I can’t possibly get out of here.
Except this is much more than a hole. It continues underground for as long as I can see, and the ceiling is rocky and has been ground smooth by eons of erosion. It’s an underground cave.