There’s nothing I can do.
Even at that thought, Cade felt a twinge of guilt, just as he had felt many times over the past year. It was the same guilt he had felt after Finch had attacked Spex. Was this who he was?
A survivor.
No.
A coward.
Cade set his jaw. There was more at stake than ever.
He began to climb down.
THIRTY-FOUR
Cade ignored the ache in his legs, hurling himself down the last few steps and onto the crumbling floor. Compies scattered out of his way, screeching their displeasure, but Cade ignored them and ploughed on, waving his hands in the air.
‘Hey,’ he yelled, sidestepping a ceratopsian that was blundering past, its great horns jutting like elephant tusks.
Still they didn’t hear. The animal noises were louder on the ground, a veritable thunder of grunting and lowing. Yet none of the creatures seemed perturbed by Cade – the running, shouting boy in their midst.
So he ran on. He could see the others now, Finch and Spex along with Scott. The three of them were pressed up against the pillar, scared to move among the scores of enormous animals passing them by. Most of the dinosaurs seemed to be giving them a wide berth, though more likely because of the fire than anything else. Finally, Scott spotted him.
Scott stood, a wide grin on his face, but it was soon replaced with confusion as Cade turned his waving into a frantic beckoning motion with his arm. Then Scott was speaking to the others, pointing at Cade. Behind them, the family of sauropods neared, the juveniles ambling ahead in their youthful exuberance.
The trio passed out of Cade’s sight as a herd of hadrosaurs wandered between them, honking through their duck-bills. Cade cursed. His view was blocked by a wall of moving mottled flesh, the creatures alternating between four legs and two like ungainly kangaroos.
He waited a few panicked seconds. Then he saw the boys jogging towards him, puzzled looks upon their faces.
‘Run!’ Cade shouted, preparing to lead by example.
But before he could turn, a croaking nose echoed from the jungle, setting dozens of pterosaurs flapping from their roosts and into the skies. Again it sounded, deep and menacing.
Silence fell – and the crocodogs burst through the trees, their long tails lashing back and forth as they tore across the ground.
Pandemonium. The ground shook as a hundred giants thundered in all directions, jostling for position as they headed for the side streets or continued on their way through the plaza. It was all Cade could do to avoid the thundering feet, diving one way or another as they hurtled by.
Scott sped past, followed by Spex. Cade went to follow them, but something barged into him, sending him crashing to the ground. His skull hit the dirt, stars flaring in his vision, but he saw the culprit, Finch, scramble up and keep on going.
A juggernaut of ceratopsian flesh passed within inches of his face. Head spinning, Cade rolled aside and curled up in a ball, trying to reduce his size as clawed pillars of meat and bone slammed down around him. He counted to five, his eyes tight shut. It was surprisingly hard to open them again.
Luckily for Cade, the stampede had passed him by, but he found himself in a far worse predicament. Because he now lay right between the crocodogs and their prey. Out of the frying pan, into a blazing bonfire.
The sauropod family had formed a protective ring around their babies but, strangely, each had their side turned to the approaching crocodogs, like ancient battleships presenting a broadside. In the other direction, the crocodogs had stopped. One stood on its hind limbs, and Cade realised that they alternated between four legs and two.
It seemed to Cade that these ambush predators had intended for the panic to separate the young from their parents, and they were now forced to re-evaluate their plan of attack.
He didn’t plan on being their consolation prize, but the predators had spread out in their approach, blocking the way back to the temple. The simple answer would be to run for the nearest building, but he couldn’t be sure that running wouldn’t set them chasing him instead of their intended prey, and they’d definitely catch up to him before he reached it. The nearest place of – admittedly dubious – safety was with the sauropods themselves.
He thought of the line from Jurassic Park, that the T. rex couldn’t see you if you stayed still. That wasn’t the case here. Already the crocodogs were peering at him, cocking their heads to the side.
What was this strange blue-brown creature that hadn’t run away from them? Hopefully the answer wasn’t lunch.
Slowly he got to his feet, looking the crocodogs in the eyes, trying not to show fear. It wasn’t easy. Up close, he realised how large they were too. Each was almost twenty feet long and taller than a small horse.
As he forced himself to glare at them, the Codex drifted across his view, unharmed by the stampede. He had almost forgotten it was following him. Time for a distraction.
‘Codex,’ he whispered. ‘Tell me what those are.’
Immediately the drone zoomed towards the closest of them, and the predator fell back, mystified by it. When the blue light flashed, Cade turned and ran, limping and hopping his way towards the sauropods.
‘Remnant identified as Postosuchus,’ the Codex intoned, returning beside him as he ran. ‘This species is a member of Pseudosuchia, the lineage of archosaurs that became modern crocodilians—’
‘Shut up,’ Cade snapped. ‘Scan all of them.’
The Codex zoomed off to do his bidding while Cade took advantage of the distraction. He staggered beneath the belly of the nearest sauropod, its four legs like tree trunks on either side of him. The juveniles squalled, and the giant above rumbled its displeasure at his presence.
Message received. Stay away from the young ones.
Luckily for him, the crocodogs had not given chase, though they were each in turn snapping at the Codex as it flitted between them. Flash after flash of blue followed before it rocketed back, though this time it stayed silent. Now Cade could only wait to see what the outcome of the standoff would be. He hoped the crocodogs would slink off in search of easier prey.
The sauropods certainly looked formidable, and now that he was among them, he noticed that they had what appeared to be bony plating studded along their backs. Useful, should the crocodogs succeed in mounting them.
But it seemed the predators did not share his opinion of their chances. They were prowling back and forth, switching positions and making mock charges, edging ever nearer with each lap. Soon they were only a stone’s throw away, eliciting groans of anger from the sauropod above him. Then Cade realised why the giants were facing the predators side on.
A long tail swept through the air, whip-cracking as it broke the sound barrier, and bowled the nearest crocodog away. The monster tumbled head over heels until it rested against the foot of a pillar. It didn’t move.
The sauropod above him stomped a great foot, the thud reverberating as it swept its tail in warning against more approaches. But the crocodogs were undeterred. As one, they charged towards the waiting parents, leaping fluidly across the ground with a pace Cade could hardly believe was possible.
His eyes widened as one made a beeline straight for him, then the monolithic neck above swung down like a mace. Only this time, the crocodog was ready, clutching the dinosaur’s throat as it slammed the ground and scrambled up it. The sauropod lifted the crocodog from view, though the giant’s bellows of pain reverberated through the chest above Cade’s head. Suddenly, Cade found his path ahead clear as the remaining predators engaged with the adults on either side.
He ran, forgetting the pain in his legs, forgetting the throaty vocalisations of the battle behind him. Ahead, he could see Quintus’s palace and the cavernous entrance at its base. But even as he ran, movement stirred in the corner of his vision.
The crocodog that had been knocked into the pillar was getting up.
‘Hurry,’ a voice yelled. Scott appeared in the palace entrance, followed b
y the others. They waved him on. Quintus was nowhere to be seen.
Cade staggered on, glancing back to see the injured crocodog had given chase. The creature was scrabbling across the ground in a half-crawl, barely using one of its back legs. Yet it was still gaining on him, its claws digging between the cobblestones. Its hungry eyes locked with his, and Cade turned and broke into a faltering run.
The palace entrance loomed larger with every step, but he could hear the panting croaks of the beast behind him. Even as he crossed into the shadow of the complex, his leg was yanked back and he fell. His boot was torn from his foot as he scrambled away.
Meanwhile, the crocodog went into a death roll, shaking the boot in its mouth. It released it a few moments later before dropping into a crouch. It was going to leap.
Cade groped for a weapon. But it was too late. The sky was blotted out as the creature launched itself into the air, and Cade could do nothing but cross his arms over his head.
The impact never came. Only a spatter of warm liquid across his face, and a rasping croak. Cade opened his eyes. Quintus was crouched over him, his gladius outstretched, buried up to its hilt in the crocodog’s chest.
The creature coughed again, its lifeblood spraying across the pair of them. Then it fell away, jerking the sword from Quintus’s grasp as it spasmed in its death throes. Quintus lifted Cade to his feet and together they stumbled into the threshold of the complex.
Scott spoke first.
‘I think I liked it better at the Keep.’
THIRTY-FIVE
The scent of cooking meat filled Cade’s nostrils as he tore into the hunk of greasy flesh in his hands. It tasted like fish-tinged chicken, but to his starved stomach it was heavenly, if a little on the rare side.
It was but a few minutes after they had absconded back to Quintus’s home in the temple, but not before the young legionary had retrieved both Cade’s boot and his own gladius from the crocodog’s corpse and lopped off the foreleg that all of them were now eating, sitting in a circle on the floor. It turned out that Quintus wasn’t the best of cooks, nor the most patient, cutting slices with his bloodied sword and handing it out to the others while the meat was still roasting.
Cade made sure to keep his own blade by his side. In part because of what had happened, and in part because Finch had been eyeing it with interest.
Introductions had been made, but the girls were reticent as the three new boys entered the room, not least because of the leer Finch gave them. They had hardly spoken a word since.
In contrast, the guys had taken meeting a quartet of English teen girls from 1985 in their stride. Cade was yet to tell the boys of their capture and escape, though.
Cade had felt a profound sense of relief at finding the others, though Finch’s presence had marred the feeling somewhat. If they worked together as a team of contenders, their chance of winning the qualifying round must be stronger. All he had to do was convince them.
Now they sat in silence, their hunger outweighing their curiosity as the smell of cooking meat permeated the room. The compy that most of them had eaten the night before had definitely not hit the spot.
‘So, elephant in the room. Or should I say … weird caveman-looking dude in the room,’ Scott began, eyeing Quintus as the boy buried half his face into his piece of crocodog. ‘Who is he?’
‘Quintus. He’s a legionary from the Ninth Legion,’ Cade said. ‘But he can’t speak English and his hearing isn’t so good.’
Scott shrugged. ‘Sounds about right,’ he said.
‘Does he know anything?’ Finch asked.
‘He says gods brought him here, but he ran away from the Keep when his legion marched off and didn’t come back. Make of that what you will.’
‘That legion sure has a habit of disappearing.’ Finch let out a bitter laugh, then went back to his meal.
‘What happened to you guys?’ Cade asked, resisting the urge to talk with his mouth full. It felt like forever since his belly had been satisfied.
‘We managed to get the boat to shore in one piece.’
Cade sighed with relief. They would need the food inside it if they were to make the trek back to the Keep in time. Of course, he still needed to convince them to take part in the qualifying round.
‘It stopped next to that red ship,’ Scott mumbled through a mouthful of primordial reptile. ‘Weird-looking thing. It was all broken up, but it looked like an old Chinese boat. I mean really old, with a sail and everything. Had “Sea Dragon” written on its side in English, though, and there was a diesel engine on there. With diesel to spare in rusty old cans.’
Cade shook his head. An ancient Chinese vessel with English lettering and a modern engine? That didn’t make much sense, but then nothing here did.
‘Yoshi thinks he can clear out the gunk in the Witchcraft’s engine,’ Spex said. ‘Fill it with fresh diesel from the new ship. Drive us back up and try one of those tributaries, or try to make it through the rapids.’
‘Delusional,’ Finch muttered from the corner.
‘We saw footprints leaving the Chinese ship,’ Scott said, glaring at Finch. ‘Decided to follow them, see if there were any other people here. We drew straws and the three of us got the short straw.’
‘And did you find anyone?’ Cade asked.
Scott’s gaze fell.
‘There wasn’t much left of them,’ he muttered. ‘No clue who or what they were, but it can’t have been more than a few days since they were killed. After that, it got dark, and we got lost trying to make our way back. Ended up here.’
‘What about you guys?’ Spex asked, turning to the girls. ‘Do you know why we’re here?’
Bea gave them a soundless shake of her head.
‘Talkative bunch, aren’t they,’ Finch said, pointing at them with a crocodog claw. ‘Dinosaur’s got your tongue?’
‘I heard it almost got yours,’ Amber retorted. ‘And the rest of you.’
Finch grinned. ‘Oh, I like you,’ he said, giving her a wink.
Amber’s nostrils flared, and Cade noted the axe laid out across her lap.
‘And you?’ Finch asked, glaring at Cade with suspicion. ‘Why didn’t you come looking for us up the river?’
‘I did,’ Cade snapped. ‘But it’s not easy when everything out here is higher up on the food chain.’
Finch snorted.
‘I think you know something,’ he said, narrowing his eyes. ‘You didn’t fall, you jumped. And you took the Codex with you. Now you show up here with your fancy sword and your Roman friend. There’s something you’re not telling us.’
‘You think I’m in on all this?’ Cade growled, struggling to his feet. ‘After what I just did for you?’
Finch spat derisively and muttered under his breath.
‘Shitskin.’
Cade felt the anger boil up inside him like bile in his throat. This time, he wasn’t prepared to let it go.
‘What did you say?’ he demanded.
Finch stood and squared up to him, bringing his face an inch from Cade’s own.
‘You want to do something about it?’ Finch asked. ‘I’m right here.’
There was the sound of a blade scraping against stone, and a cleared throat. Quintus looked up at them with a blank stare, but his meaning was clear. There was to be no fighting in his house. To Cade’s surprise, Amber and Grace had also stood, though whether it was to help him or not he wasn’t sure.
Suddenly, Finch jerked his head forward, trying to make Cade flinch, then backed away with a sneer.
‘Can’t trust anyone here,’ he muttered.
‘Now who’s delusional,’ Amber snapped. ‘Leave him alone and eat your dinosaur.’
The temperature in the room seemed to cool a few degrees as Cade returned to his place on the floor.
‘Thanks by the way, Cade, for warning us,’ Spex said, pushing his thick glasses up his nose. ‘I should have said it earlier.’
‘Yeah,’ Scott said. ‘You basically traded place
s with us, you fool.’
Cade grinned, though he didn’t expect any thanks from Finch. He returned to eating his meal, but the knowledge that time was ticking away was nagging at him. He had the girls here, and several of the boys. This was it.
He sighed and handed his meat to Scott, who stuffed the whole piece immediately into his mouth.
‘There’s something I have to tell you,’ Cade announced.
‘See,’ Finch said triumphantly.
‘Shut up,’ Scott mumbled. ‘Go on, Cade.’
Cade turned to the girls first.
‘When we arrived at the Keep, the Codex started a timer,’ he said. ‘It said we had to take place in what it called a “qualifying round”. And if this “round” is anything like what we experienced when we arrived here, it doesn’t sound like a walk in the park.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us that before?’ Grace said, crossing her arms.
‘It didn’t come up,’ Cade said, running a hand through his matted hair.
This was not good. Already they were suspicious of him, and he hadn’t even got to the worst part yet. Now he turned to the others.
‘Both Quintus and the Codex told me that to win the qualifying round, we’re supposed to defend the Keep from something. It’s what the Romans had been doing before they got wiped out. If we don’t replace them, we lose the game.’
‘The game?’ Trix asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. ‘I thought you were joking before. What is it?’
‘We don’t know,’ Cade said. ‘All we know is that it’s deadly. Fighting monsters. Mutants of some kind, maybe. We don’t know for what … or for whom.’
He gave an involuntary shudder, his mind drifting to the creatures the Romans had fought in the film.
‘Told you it was a good idea to leave that place,’ Finch said, nodding to himself.
Cade held up a hand. This was it.
‘Quintus told me something else,’ he said. ‘Something big.’
The room fell silent, and Cade took a deep breath.
‘He said if we don’t take part, or we lose … Planet Earth will be destroyed.’
Contender: The Chosen: Book 1 Page 18
