Treachery (The Terra Trials Book 1)

by Dan Thomas

  Max, Chopsticks, and Sam filled Pez in with the full story of Max’s adventure so far, from Max meeting with the collector Indigo to his chase with the Coelophysis and even his close encounter with a Rex. Max and Chopsticks made sure to keep quiet about a few details about how Max had managed to get into that mess in the first place.

  Pez then regaled them with how he had managed to fend off the Crew he had encountered, telling them how he had managed to get one of the Abelisaurus into denser foliage and set up an ambush, laughing about how anyone could miss such big dinosaurs.

  As Pez finished his story, Max’s gaze fell upon the two carnivores as they strode across the ground. “Considering how long these guys have been going, they are holding up really well.”

  Pez nodded. “Yeah, I gotta hand it to you, Chopsticks, you’ve whipped the pair into really good shape.”

  “What can I say, they’re my pride and joy.” Chopsticks didn’t even try to hide the mix of smugness and pride in his voice. “I make sure they keep a varied diet of meats, and I’ve been experimenting with adding Staples to their diet. I’ve read a few different opinions on it, but from what I’ve seen, they can stomach small amounts of plants, and it seems to boost their development. Also, I’ve been hunting and training them regularly. On that topic, I’ve been thinking, do you reckon we could add a fenced area onto the dino pen? I think a few of the dinos could do with more space to move when we’re not using them.”

  Pez chuckled. “See, even with everything we’ve got going on at the moment, Chopsticks is still making plans for more dinos.”

  “I bet Sienna wishes you gave her as much attention as you do the dinos.” Sam laughed.

  “Hey! I can be a very affectionate person.” Chopsticks feigned indignation.

  “It’s true, I’ve seen him make love to food,” Pez joked.

  “You say that, but I still maintain that food is the greatest joy in this world,” Max said.

  The conversation carried on, the shadows lengthened and the background melody of insects chirping became progressively louder in the warm afternoon. The plains became more broken up by pockets of trees that Max and Pez skirted around, and in the distance, through the heat haze, Max could see the Caudover Rise, the mountains that backed the jungle their base was built into. And if he squinted, he could just about see a dark green smudge between the pale green of the plains and the blue sky.

  Much closer to them, Max could see a rocky outcrop that jutted out of the sea of grass, beyond that was a squat wooden outpost that had popped up a few months ago, and to the west was a dip in the land leading to a shallow lake that they often stopped at on their longer journeys. While Murf had never seen this terrain, Max was back in familiar territory.

  “For some reason, it feels like it’s been so long since I’ve been home.” Max gazed across the plains.

  “This weekend’s been a long one,” Pez said. “That skirmish took hours. You have to be so careful when you’re out on your own.”

  “We have so much of Primeva, of Terra Verse, to explore.” Max half-turned to look behind him.

  “Yeah, but sometimes it’s nice to be in your own back yard,” Pez responded.

  Max looked up at the sun, which passed its peak and was beginning to fall toward the horizon. “Do you think we should make camp?”

  Pez glanced at the sky and shook his head. “We’ll be all right. We should be home just before sunset, and I don’t want to spend another night out here unless absolutely necessary.”

  Max frowned as he looked at the bloodied wounds Abe was still sporting. “Will Abe be okay?”

  Pez laid a hand on Abe’s thick neck. “He’ll be all right. There’s no cover out here, the best thing we can do for him is get him back to base and let him rest up.”

  They kept traveling at a steady gait as the evening drew on, and after some time, they reached the northern edge of the plains where it met the wall of darker green as the jungle began. The setting sun did little to illuminate the understory of the jungle, concealing the rustling forest floor in darkness. They guided the dinosaurs to run along the edge of the jungle then slowed them to a walk as they looked for the stone marker that they had put in place to indicate a path in and out of the thick jungle.

  Pez spotted it first, guiding Abe onto a wide trail that cut through the dense trees. Max followed close behind, not wanting to lose sight of Abe in the low light.

  The jungle was alive around them, the sound of hidden critters moving around high and low as most began to settle down for the night, while others stirred into the dark nocturnal world once again. Max glanced from side to side, peering into the undergrowth for threats, knowing that although they were close to home, they weren’t out of danger yet. He took reassurance from Lis’ confidence; she barely batted an eye at the sounds around them as they trekked down the dirt path.

  The trail took them farther into the jungle, the light from the plains fading fast. As they reached a large Kousa tree, many of its large limbs trimmed back, they cut away from the trail. The dinos stepped down a small bank into a dried stream bed that curved away from the trail, heading farther east. Sand and gravel crunched beneath the dino’s feet, and Max and Pez had to duck most of the way to avoid being slapped by the branches and vines that hung over the dried stream.

  The stream bed eventually petered out, the banks becoming rockier and steeper. At the end of the stream was a worn narrow path that cut up through the bank, heading back up into the trees.

  Abe and Lis stepped up onto a stony trail, pushing themselves up onto the bank.

  Through the trees, Max could see their destination.

  In front of them was an area of cleared trees, cast in shadow by a high cliff face that extended above the jungle. Across the clearing was a smaller ridge of mossy rocks that rose just over twice the height of a person at its steepest. Spikes made of wood and wrought iron lined the top of the ridge, behind which stood a stout wall, made mostly of logs and cross pieces of wood, with areas that had been replaced with stone brick. Lit torches lined the top of the wall which glowed against the gloom.

  The ground sloped up around the ridge to the right where a tall gate stood in place of the wall, hinged onto the rock face of the cliff that backed the ridge.

  As they came out of the trees and into the clearing, Max let out a sigh of relief. They’d made it.

  “Woohoo! Home sweet home!” Pez drove Abe into a jog over the dirt track worn into the grass and headed for the gate, Lis followed close behind, their strides lighter now that they were home.

  Pez nimbly hopped from Abe’s back and approached the gate. Down the center of the wood and metal gate were four metal cylinders, each with a different symbol of a dinosaur outline on them. Pez spun them around, a mechanical clunking sound coming from the mechanism within with every turn. As he spun the last one around, there was a loud thud. Pez pushed against the timbers, and the gate swung open, revealing the grassy plateau on the other side.

  Abe ambled inside the base then stepped to the side of the path to allow Lis to pass him.

  From atop his mount, Max gazed across the base which was the pride and joy of the Coprolite Crew. A well-worn dirt track cut across the plateau, leading to a large cave entrance nestled in a recess in the cliff face at the far end of the compound. Left of the path was the long, low wooden barn where they stored many of their bulkier building materials. To the side of that was an open stone construction that housed their forge and workshop. Right of the path was the split-rail fencing that encircled an area of plowed ground which was covered in creepers, some that ended in colorful fruit, dotted with small bushes and flowers.

  There were two mounds to one side of the growing area, one where they burned wood to replenish their charcoal supply, and the other which was a kind of covered compost heap that slowly made saltpeter for gunpowder out of dino dung. Something that Max had always wondered whether it was true to real life.

  To the other side of the growing area was a cutout in t
he cliff. There wasn’t much light inside, but Max could hear shuffling movement and heavy breathing from within. They had originally dug the cliff face out as another storage area, but as Chopsticks kept insisting they needed more dinos, it eventually became a second stable of sorts for their beasts of burden, and where Saturn and Jupiter had a large pen to themselves, which for now would be empty.

  Max heard the gate close behind him, the locking mechanism clunking as he guided Lis toward a fork in the path, turning right where the track curved around the growing patch.

  Behind the small farm area, the cliff face was covered in dark green moss, which glistened in the flickering light of torches dotted through the base. Along the ground at the bottom was a line of wooden troughs with metal shelves jutting into the moss, where a steady trickle of water coming off of the moss flowed over and into the trough.

  Lis stepped toward the wide water troughs, dipped her head into the water, and took big gulps.

  Abe stepped beside her, they sniffed each other before they both turned back and drank.

  “Well, I’d call this a success so far.” Pez placed his hand on Lis’ scaly leg.

  Max stretched his arms over his head. “I’d say so, I don’t think it’s ever been this good to be home.”

  “I’m just thinking about how good it’ll be to get into bed and sleep this all off.” Pez turned and looked at the rest of the base, lit by pockets of firelight. “Come on, let’s get these guys inside then we can call it.” Pez walked away, Abe turned around to follow and walked slowly to stay behind him.

  Max gave Lis another pat. “Come on then, let’s get you to bed so that I can get to bed.”

  Water dripped from her snout as the Abelisaurus followed the others down the path around the growing patch, then taking a right to walk through the rest of the base toward a large double gate set into the cliff.

  Movement caught his eye from behind the barn. “It’s good to see Cerberus is still on the night shifts.”

  “Huh? Oh, right, yeah, I think he enjoys rooting through the long grass and chasing the moths around the torches,” Pez said from in front.

  Max cracked a smile; it was sweet watching the small, feathered frame of the guard dog Velociraptor diligently trotting around the base to keep an eye out for intruders. Though the only trespassers they ever seemed to have were curious flocks of birds that sat atop the walls and buildings, watching the ongoings of the Coprolite Crew.

  Pez unlocked the gate in the same way he had opened the main gate. Once the tumblers fell into place, he pulled on the thick handles to swing the two gates open, revealing the main hall within.

  Knowing the routine, Abe led the way. Lis stepped onto the smooth stone floor and followed behind him.

  Their main hall was nearly thirty feet high; the torches were inserted into stands throughout the room and also set onto the walls, but they barely lit the wooden support beams that crossed across the stone roof. Blue and red banners with embroidered patterns hung from the beams, and half-finished carvings of various dinosaurs covered part of one wall.

  To the left and right were two more large doors, one leading to their secure storage area, while the other led to their main dino barn. At the end of the hall was a much smaller door which housed their living room, where the Crew would play games such as dice or cards without having to travel to meet up or have players from other Crews over for meetups. Deeper into the complex was their workshop and their vault, in which they kept their most valuable resources, which were usually from off-world, along with their Crew Nexus, which was the heart of any base.

  The main doors clanged shut, and Pez jogged past the waiting dinos to open the gate into the barn. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you,” he called as he ran past.

  “How chivalrous.” Max inclined his head as he rubbed his sore eyes. It had been a while since he’d played for such a long stint, and it was getting to him.

  Pez glanced back over his shoulder. “And don’t forget the saddle packs.”

  Max looked down. “Oh, yeah.” He reached down and undid the rope tethering a leather saddlebag to either side of Lis’ hips. The packs of supplies dropped to the floor where Max left them. They could be sorted out later.

  Pez opened the door to reveal a long, wide corridor that was nearly as high as the main room. Loose straw and dried plant matter was scattered over the stone floor.

  This room did not share the same ruddy firelight as the main hall, though, a much softer glow from evenly spaced crystals suspended on rope bathed the area in a steady light. On either side of the passage were stout wooden walls and gates. On the left side, the stables were small in comparison, the gates shorter and the separating walls closer together.

  The right stables were much larger, the walls built up with much thicker planks and logs.

  Pez led the way inside and Abe followed at a respectable distance behind him. Lis strode into the corridor, and from his vantage point, Max could see over the doors and into the stables. He could see the shapes of their four Deinonychus—a type of raptor much smaller than the fearsome Utahraptor so that it couldn’t be ridden, but larger than the Velociraptors. They often made up the bulk of any attack force on Primeva with their versatility and viciousness. Which was hard to imagine when they were curled up snoozing in one corner of their stable in a nest of straw and sticks.

  Opposite them were Cello and Harp, the much larger Iguanodons, which watched them walk past, lazily munching on a mouthful of fresh ferns from a large manger.

  They walked to the end of the corridor, past most of the Coprolite Crew’s modest collection of dinos toward the end of the passage. Max glanced in at their small pack of medium-sized Stegoceras, a kind of dino common around their base known as a bonehead because of their thick domed skull.

  As they walked past each stable Max got a whiff of the distinct smells of each dino, grimacing a little as he realized the herbivores had a sweeter smell to the musk.

  He smiled wryly as he looked into Charlie’s stable, which now housed the newest addition to their Crew, the Mononykus.

  “I plan on taking him out tomorrow to gather up a load of mortar,” Pez said from farther down the corridor.

  Max took his eyes off of the sleeping dinosaurs. “It’s a bit of a trek to the Termite Mounds.”

  Pez unbolted the largest gate at the end of the corridor, opened it, and stepped inside. “It’s not that far to the Kaolin Lowlands. I’ll take one of the Iguanodons to do all the heavy lifting. I should be able to bring back enough mortar from the Termite Mounds in two or three trips, which will be made a lot faster with him doing the digging.”

  Abe promptly followed Pez, twisting his body to fit through the narrow gap, the end of his tail catching the wooden wall on the opposite side.

  Max asked Lis to follow suit. She craned her neck and curved around through the door, her scaly tail scraping on wood as she squeezed into the stable.

  The Abelisauruses had the biggest enclosure that they had built so far. There was plenty of room for the two carnivores to lie down next to each other if they chose, with a thick layer of straw on the floor which was piled someway up the walls to make sure that they were comfortable. In one corner was a trough filled with clean water, and along the back wall was a thick rope with three big chunks of dried meat tied up. As soon as they stepped inside, Max could feel Lis fixate on the food.

  “Easy, girl. Almost there,” Max said softly. “We’re going to need to expand again soon.”

  “I’ll put it on the list, right after revenge, Chopsticks’ new dino enclosure, and a vacation,” Pez said without looking away from where he was undoing Abe’s gear. “Plus, it’s going to be difficult to dig out this rock without our mining tools, see the top of the to-do list.”

  Once Lis was inside, Max turned himself around in the saddle, leaned back, and began to slide down while feeling around with one foot for the ladder. Once he had found a foothold, he turned around onto his belly and climbed the short way down the
dino’s leg.

  When his feet were on the floor, he reached up and grasped hold of the metal clasp that held a strap in place around her leg which kept the ladder steady. Standing on his toes, he then undid the buckle around her chest, before ducking underneath her to reach the buckle around her tail.

  Stepping back around her leg, he grabbed the ladder, which now hung loose. Max took a step backward and tugged at it. With a grunt, Lis stepped away as the rig slid off her and fell to the floor with a thud.

  Before the dust had even settled, Lis beelined for the hanging meat. Her massive jaws hinged open, her eyes wide as she took a huge bite out of the food.

  “Hey, while you’re there, you should see if Lis has leveled up from that fight?” Chopsticks said.

  “Good point.” Max focused on the link he had with Lis through the Shard and brought up her stats.

  Lis

  1 Level up available

  Health: 6750/6750 (+150)

  Stamina: 1800/1800 (+100)

  Bonding: Acquaintance-This creature has met you, and is a little less likely to ignore commands

  Species Traits: Cold blooded-Gain negative status effects from being cold much quicker and at much higher temperatures than normal

  Large-Take less damage from small weapons and creatures, sprinting takes much more stamina, hunger and thirst decrease faster

  Snacker-Deal double damage to small creatures

  Individual Traits: Ferocious-Gain buffs to damage, stamina, and damage reduction the longer this creature is in combat

  New Traits available

  Players had a lot less control over how creatures leveled up in the Terra Verse, most of their stats working more or less behind the curtain. The only way to influence how creatures changed as they leveled was what activities they were doing that would influence how their stats would change, and what Individual Traits they would get.

  Max focused on the latter, bring up a screen similar to the Character Trait Screen he had been using earlier.

  One icon was highlighted, that being the Ferocious Trait that Lis already had, showing a small picture of her powerful jaws. Three other icons were shown that showed their names when looking at Durable, Efficient Metabolism, Culler.