by Dan Thomas
“Nice,” Chopsticks breathed. “That’s one of the new dinos. What are the chances we’d find one already? Here of all places?”
“We need to tame it,” Holic stated the obvious to no one in particular. “Selling one of those at the Hub would make us more than this whole month’s mining haul.”
Chopsticks was right, the unassuming insectivores had only recently been released into the game, meaning that their population had yet to grow. From what Holic had read on the Terra Verse forums, these guys would soon be one of the best ways to harvest Mortar from termite mounds, which was needed for building strong walls. And these things were as rare as unicorns right now.
Not that unicorns were rare on Mythia, the fantasy world of Terra Verse. But that was another story. A story where Holic and his crew had learned that dragons were not as easy to deal with as dinosaurs. And that getting burned to a cinder while fighting them got old really fast.
Not even the lure of possible treasure hoards was enough to tempt the Coprolite Crew back to the mythology-filled world. Holic smirked at his Crew’s name. They had struggled for ages to come up with a name, and something that had been a joke just stuck.
“So, let’s do it. Do you have a Taming Shard?” Chopsticks asked.
“I’ve always got Shards. And of course, a cool plan.” With a thought, Holic opened his inventory screen, which displayed all the items he had in the bag slung across his back, in the pouches on his belt along with the stiff hide armor he had equipped. Even his bow and spear were shown. He scanned over the images of items to see if he had any nets on him. He could just rummage through his bag but doing it through the User Interface was quicker and quieter.
“Yeah?” Chopsticks whispered expectantly.
“Well, first, you’re going to sneak back to the mine and grab the others, and bring them back here. We’re going to fan out and surround the clearing and try to net this thing before it can make a run for it. It’s pretty small, we’re going to have a hard time finding it again if it bolts.”
“Right.” Chopsticks nodded and slithered backward out of their hiding place.
As he turned away, Holic grabbed his arm. “Make sure they tether the dinosaurs. They should stay put if we tell them, but we’re not risking them deciding to go walkabout.”
“What about Charlie?” Chopsticks looked over his shoulder at their dinosaur. “I could call him over and get him to follow me up to the mine and tie him down.”
“He’s found a patch of Acralica Shoots, he’s not going anywhere.” Holic smiled fondly at Charlie. He was like a big dog, only he didn’t eat meat, he ate leaves, but he was just as loyal and affectionate. Probably because he was the first animal the crew had tamed, and they’d all spoiled him. Which was likely to be the reason he was also bad at following commands.
Chopsticks nodded and crawled away, skirting a cluster of poisonous Tentor Polypores hanging from one of the huge trees. Holic hadn’t seen them as he joined Chopsticks and was thankful he hadn’t happened to walk underneath it. An entangle with the poisonous fungus would have finished his day off completely. Not in a good way.
Alone, Holic turned his attention back to the two dinosaurs. Both were caught up in their own feeding. He kept an eye and an ear out for any dangers that might be in the area but aside from the occasional flying animal moving about noisily in the canopy, or something small rustling in the bushes along with the distant sound of a larger creature moving through the forest, everything seemed mostly peaceful.
Holic sighed as he watched the Mononykus pause eating to listen, only to return to pecking at the colony insects. He wanted to take a closer look, but didn’t dare risk doing anything that might jeopardize their chances of capturing the new dino.
His gaze grew unfocused and the sounds around him faded as he began thinking about how they could pull this off.
There was little point chasing it on foot if they could avoid it, it would outrun them, and eventually, they’d lose sight of the small frame of the creature in the jungle. Just over half the height of a person, it had the advantage of being able to duck for cover with ease.
Their best bet was to surprise it and then net it.
“Damn it,” Holic hissed to himself. Why hadn’t they brought one of their faster dinosaurs? They could have ridden after the Mononykus and caught it easily. But all they’d expected to do today was mine.
“But one way or another, you’re ours.”
Faint rustling told Holic the others were arriving. He kept his belly on the ground and crawled backward to rejoin his Crew. Chopsticks was doing a crazy-fast combat crawl while being glared at by Pez. Ticket was at the rear, looking tired and hot, TOD having shifted his position to sit behind her head as she crept forward.
“Okay?” Holic asked, his eyes grazing over Ticket’s face before his attention fixed on Pez.
“Yep. All loaded up. Ticket had to climb on Jupiter and haul the iron up. As she got down, he stood on her foot.” Pez arched an eyebrow as if warning Holic that if this was a bust, it would be bad news.
“It hurt,” she huffed. “This might be a game, but it still hurts when a ten-ton dinosaur stands on your toes.”
“Only three tons.” Chopsticks grunted as he reached Holic, who gave him a warning look. Oblivious, Chopsticks scrambled to his knees to look at the Mononykus. “Still there. I thought you might have frightened it off by now, Holic.”
“Nope, still there. It seems to have made friends with Charlie.” Holic lifted his head to watch the dinosaurs interacting. Charlie took a moment to look away from the Acralica and sniff at the smaller dino, who watched him warily, before turning back to his leafy buffet. “Maybe Charlie will tell it we come in peace.”
“Yeah, right.” Pez moved a couple of leaves aside and peered through them into the clearing. “It’s on the move.”
“Damn, Charlie must have put it off sticking around.” Holic watched as the brown-feathered body began weaving its way through the bushes.
“We should move before we lose sight of it, or it runs for the thicker undergrowth,” Chopsticks suggested. “A Mononykus is an insectivore, so I doubt he’s going to stay around here long. He’ll venture out of the forest to find a termite hill or something equally tasty.”
Pez wrinkled his nose as he glanced sideways at Chopsticks. “You really are a walking, talking dinosaur encyclopedia, aren’t you?”
Chopsticks shrugged and grinned. “What can I say? No matter how many tutors my mom hired for piano, violin, fencing, cricket...”
“We get it. You were just a nerd who liked to put his nose into a dinosaur book as a kid.” Pez sighed.
“Yup. And Mom finally gave up when all I learned to play was Chopsticks after a year of piano lessons.” Chopsticks chuckled softly.
Pez, having heard the anecdote so many times, didn’t acknowledge it and instead turned his attention back to the dinosaur. “Pity you can’t get that mechanical rat of yours to catch him for us, Ticket.”
“He is not a rat.” Ticket put her hand up to where the small tin dragon sat on her shoulder. It made a soft electrical hum at her touch as it looked around. “Maybe I should train him to breathe fire at your head. I bet he could singe your hair off at least.”
“One hair at a time.” Pez chuckled. “The damn thing is next to useless it’s so small.”
“One day we’ll show him, won’t we, TOD?” Ticket said to the mechanical dragon in a cooing voice. “So, what is the plan?” Her voice held none of the sentimental sweetness she used when she spoke to TOD. Ticket was back to business. “It’s too good an opportunity to miss.”
“Yeah, because we all know we need the coins.” Pez eyed TOD once more, but a warning glance from Holic shut him up.
“We split up. Chopsticks and I will take the left flank but stay in front, and you and Ticket the right, staying behind it. Try to net it by surprise, but if we miss, herd it toward the Strangler Vine patch, we should be able to trap it or corner it, we net it, and call it a job
well done.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Ticket stood up and looked at the small blue-feathered crest of the creature that was still visible a little way away through the green. “There’s no way that thing won’t get snared by the vines.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” Holic got up and took a couple of steps backward. “I figured if you two walked behind it and tried to get it to move calmly forward, we’ll stay in front in case it runs. As long as no one makes any threatening, loud, or sudden movements, it should just move away from you. Hopefully, it doesn’t see players as too much of a threat yet.”
It was a good plan. They all knew where the Stranglers were, they’d been one of their most useful projects so far. This would work.
But Holic knew his crew. “This should work.”
Chapter Two
Holic had known Chopsticks since first grade. They had been best friends through school and stood by each other’s side through battles with trolls, both on and off the D&D board.
It was one of the reasons Holic put up with Chopsticks. Even though Pez made it clear he thought Chopsticks was almost useless, both in and out of the game.
But sometimes, no matter how hard he tried, Chopsticks just liked to prove Pez right.
“So, what if I get on Charlie and try to catch the Mononykus instead?” Chopsticks suggested as they got ready to move out.
“No, stick to the plan,” Ticket said quickly. “It’s a simple plan, and they’re usually the best ones.”
“Yeah, man. There is no way Charlie can outrun that little dinosaur.” Pez moved away from them through the undergrowth. “So do as Ticket says and stick to the plan.” The warning edge in Pez’s voice was lost on Chopsticks, who was beginning to make his way around the clearing.
“But...” Chopsticks cut his sentence short as he lost his footing and fell to his knees. The air around him suddenly filled with sickly green spores falling from above. He doubled over with a hacking cough before staggering back toward them and away from the toxic spores falling from the canopy. “Ouch. Fuck.”
Holic watched in dismay as the Mononykus, which had previously been calmly mooching through the bushes, lifted its head, swinging it from side to side in fear. It might be a new dinosaur in the game, but instincts told it that anything loud and larger than it meant danger. And it should run!
“Chopsticks!” Pez clenched his fists and for a long moment, Holic thought he was going to rip Chopsticks’ head from his shoulders. But despite his mood, Pez knew the only way they had a hope in hell of catching and taming the thing was if they all worked together. “If that was a meat-eater, I’d feed you to it.”
“Okay, the damage is done.” Holic needed to get the group together and moving or they would lose out. “Let’s go. Similar plan, fan out, keep it moving forward, we just need to push it toward the Stranglers.”
Pez ground his teeth together as if fighting to stop himself from saying something to Chopsticks he might regret.
Holic just needed to find a way to get them off the knife-edge they seemed to be walking on.
“Right, spread out, we got this, guys!” Holic gave an air fist before turning and diving through the thick stems of the plant they had been hiding behind.
The group sprinted across the clearing past Charlie, who turned to look at them in mild surprise before turning back to his meal, and spread out as they chased after the Mononykus, which they could still see darting through the undergrowth.
Holic moved farther left with Chopsticks, who ran ahead, weaving in and out of the trees, jumping over plants like a gazelle. Holic had to admire his nimble friend, since running in prehistoric forests was no walk in the park.
The plants whipped at him as he charged through them, and he kept his eyes darting from his prey to the path he was taking, watching for movement or signs of obstacles.
Holic sidestepped around a bush, then ducked low to dodge a prickly pear-like tree before stumbling through a thicket of ferns. As he emerged from the ferns, he stopped dead just feet away from a large Iguanodon that spooked at him. “Whoa!”
The dino bellowed loudly before turning and rushing away, more heads turned and glared, before the small group of creatures crashed off into the forest calling to each other in alarm.
Holic took a breath before moving forward again, wading as fast as he could through the waist-high plants. “I’ve lost sight of it!” he called out.
“It’s going left!” Pez’s voice, breathless from sprinting through the forest, sounded a warning.
“Got it!” Chopsticks shouted back.
Holic looked toward the voice and could see him ahead. Chopsticks dug his hand into the leather pouch he wore slung low on his belt and grabbed a handful of something.
“Go for it!” Holic yelled, his foot snagging on a tree root the size of a grown man’s thigh. He managed to let his momentum carry him through the air for a moment, his arms windmilling as he got his feet back under him, landing without missing his stride.
Chopsticks threw something to their left, and Holic heard the familiar, firecracker noise of Snap Nuts popping as they hit tree trunks and landed on the ground. A shrill call filled the jungle as the small, bright explosions startled the Mononykus, and a flock of something bird-like that dropped from the boughs of the trees, scattering away from the noise.
Holic kept running forward, closing the gap a little as the dinosaur paused for a moment, its head frantically swinging from side to side before dashing off again. It was back on track and heading toward the Stranglers.
Pez had used the opportunity to rush ahead, now in an ideal position to keep the Mononykus from running off into the denser jungle, where they would have no chance of finding it again.
The plan was coming together.
Holic glanced over his shoulder, Ticket was keeping pace, TOD clinging onto the leather shoulder of her armor.
Yeah, this was going to work. They would bag the dino, sell it on along with most of the stuff they’d mined, and finally have some spare currency to spend on some better equipment, or maybe even a few otherworld goods.
Drawing on his remaining stamina, Holic kept his legs moving despite the burn. Up ahead, he could see more sunlight filtering through the leaves, highlighting the purple fruiting bodies of the Stranglers high in the trees, and showing the thick brown trap vines hanging in between the tall trunks, falling into a sparser patch of vegetation. This was their net, and their prey was about to fall straight in.
“Keep tight!” Pez called as they reached the belt of trees where they had trained the Strangler Vines to wrap around many of the branches. Hunting a short-frilled Avaceratops, a smaller species of Triceratops, had inspired the idea. The damn thing was like a bulldozer, nothing would stop it until it ran through this glade of naturally growing vines and got so tangled up, it looked like a bird trussed for dinner.
Holic’s pace picked up as he reached the swath of open ground they kept clear around the Stranglers for easier hunting.
“Keep him on track, Chopsticks!” Holic yelled as the Mononykus sensed the world closing in on him. “He’s small and nimble enough to escape along the outer edge.”
Chopsticks stuck his hand in his pouch and brought out another handful of Snap Nuts. “He isn’t going anywhere.”
Lifting his hand, Chopsticks aimed as the fleeing dino stopped, beginning to panic, trying to find a direction to run in.
“Crap!” Pez voiced the reaction of the Crew as there was a crack, then a whipping sound. Chopsticks’ legs were pulled out from under him as a Strangler Vine that must have grown out into the forest was triggered and the fibrous creeper whizzed up into the air.
Throwing his arms out, Chopsticks avoided capture in the snare that would have launched him into the canopy above. As he hit the earth, his hand opened, flinging the nuts into the air, causing them to land with a sharp bang.
The Mononykus startled and shot forward, leaping over the first tangle of vines and into the clearing. Chopsticks scra
mbled to his feet and tried to grab at the creature as it jumped, but was nowhere near close enough, and stopped short of the vines covering the ground.
The Mononykus ran on, unfazed by the few Stranglers that triggered, too slow to ensnare the running animal.
Holic came to a panting stop, before hearing a breathless voice behind him. “I’ve got this!”
He turned to see Ticket, still running to catch up, reaching for TOD. Her hand curled around its metal body, grasping him firmly as she slowed, took aim, and threw the mechanical dragon into the air.
Its wings curled around a metal body, the creature tucked its head and tail into a ball, sailing through the air away from Ticket. Maybe it was supposed to do that. Or maybe its battery had run out already.
Just. Our. Luck.
As TOD hit the apex of his trajectory, its wings unfurled, body snapping straight. The air caught under the membrane of its wings and there was a low-pitched sound that the crew felt more than heard. Suddenly TOD accelerated forward as jets of blue flame shot out beneath its wings.
“Whoa!” Pez ducked as it hurtled forward, whistling through the air.
The dragon tucked its wings in and dove in between the thick mass of trees and vines with surgical precision, before the jets shut off again. Holic held his breath. The little dragon was going too fast, it would overshoot its mark...
TOD angled its wings forward, beating hard to slow its momentum, reaching out with metal talons as it came level with the fleeing Mononykus. In a precise, calculated movement, TOD veered right, before quickly cutting left and colliding with incredible force into the small dino’s back, forcing it to the ground.
“That was awesome!” Pez jumped into the air as the little dragon, its metal talons gripping the hardened skin of the dinosaur, opened its wings and huddled over its catch. The dino struggled against its grasp, warbling in panic.
