Tamer- King of Dinosaurs 4

by Michael-Scott Earle

  Then a two hundred pound rock slammed right onto her back and brought her to her knees.

  I glanced up to see Liahpa and Sheela lifting another pair of rocks toward the cliff edge above us. Both Trel and Kacerie were screaming something as they gestured down at me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the noises of the male T-rex, Tom, and Nicole.

  I turned back around to the melee and saw that the male T-rex had let go of Tom’s crest. The predator was twisting on his back and trying to get his feet under him, but Nicole was wedged under one of his stubby arms and was raking her two longest horns across his chest while Tom was trying to stand up from his side. The male trike was having a bit of a problem getting up because of the slope from the hill, so I commanded Bob and Sonny to push on his side so that he could roll over easier.

  As soon as Tom was back on his feet, I ordered him to plow into the side of the pinned T-rex, but the predator managed to nick Nicole’s shoulder with a random claw strike from its free right arm, and I had to order her to fall back so that he couldn’t cut her seriously. This meant that the massive predator wasn’t pinned, and he rolled toward Tom as he kicked out his clawed feet.

  I made Tom retreat away from the T-rex’s kicks, but the beast was still laying on its side, so I commanded the troodons to swarm the male’s unguarded side. Scoob, Shag, Fred, Velma, and Daphne instantly complied, and the five tiger-striped dinos jumped out of the grass like pouncing ninjas. In half a moment, they were all over the massive T-rex’s back with their claws and teeth, but it only took me a few seconds to realize that the troodons weren’t really doing anything against the giant predator. Their claws were only leaving light scratches on the T-rex’s scales, and they couldn’t really bite the much larger dino. They were nothing more than a pack of kittens on the back of a horse, but the male tyrannosaurs did get distracted by their attack, and he tried to roll over so that he could shake them off.

  I ordered the troodons to jump off before they got crushed at the same time as I sent Tom back in with a charge. The T-rex had rolled away from the trike when he tried to get the troodons off, so now his back wasn’t protected by his thrashing legs and arms.

  Tom was only about ten feet away from the T-rex’s thrashing legs when he charged, but it was more than enough space for the trike to get up some good speed and plunge his three horns deep into the back of the predator.

  The T-rex screamed and tried to bend around Tom’s crest so he could bite at him, but I commanded the trike to shuffle to the right away from the tyrannosaurus’ jaws. My trike’s horns were still stuck inside the back of the predator, and the movement ended up twisting the predator on the ground so that Tom actually had his back to the cliff face where Katie was trying to keep the female T-rex positioned so that Sheela and Liahpa could chuck rocks down on her.

  Both the female and male tyrannosaurus let out frantic screeches of frustration, but then the female’s voice was cut short when a massive stone the size of a motorcycle fell right on top of her skull. The tyrannosaurus crumpled to her knees from the force of the blow, and her head swayed as if she was punch drunk.

  I ordered Katie to attack, and the trike slammed her two long horns into the T-rex’s skull. The predator didn’t let out a sound, it just toppled over with Katie’s forward momentum until my trike sandwiched it into the cliff face.

  I turned back to the T-rex male and commanded Tom to push forward into the predator’s back. The big trike did as I asked, and he began to plow the tyrannosaurus across the field, away from the wall, and toward the cliff drop where Quwaru’s bridge had once hung.

  Toward the forty foot drop into the lake below.

  The T-rex seemed to understand what was going to happen, and he frantically wiggled, savagely bit, and whipped his claws at Tom. The carnivore didn’t have any real leverage though, and Tom’s horns were buried into the beast’s back right next to his spine. I didn’t know for sure if the wounds were fatal, but the T-rex wasn’t going to be freeing himself from the trike unless I pulled Tom back.

  And I wasn’t going to pull Tom back out, or the T-rex might just come at us again.

  Dinosaurland was unforgiving. It was kill or be killed here. It was eat or be eaten. The two tyrannosaurus rex’s weren’t monsters, but they were forces of nature that didn’t care about my feelings. They just wanted to eat everything they could, breed, and then keep eating. Maybe I wasn’t any better, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to protect myself and the people I cared about.

  And by people, I also meant the dinosaurs who I had tamed and made a part of my tribe.

  The T-rex made an effort to snag one last claw at the side of the cliff, but then Tom raised his head and pushed the massive predator over the edge. There was a shower of blood when the horns came loose, and then there was a long howl before a giant sounding splash.

  I walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the distant water. The T-rex was thrashing frantically with its puny arms, the water was turning red from its injuries, and I didn’t think it would be able to keep up the doggie paddle.

  Then the king of predators let out a final bellow and sank beneath the surface of the water.

  I took a step away from the edge and turned back to the female that Katie had pinned. The predator was obviously dead, so I commanded the trike to back away from the wall so the corpse could fall free.

  Then I took two steps before I felt my head smack into the grass.

  I wasn’t unconscious. Or at least I didn’t think I was. I might have fainted, or maybe I had just decided to lie down. Either way, I was staring at the blue sky, and Scoob was licking my face while the other troodons nuzzled my hands, stomach, and chest.

  Then I saw Trel’s beautiful face above me. Her face looked concerned, but I couldn’t hear her when she moved her mouth. Was she speaking? I didn’t quite know, since the sky had started to spin, and I now felt like someone had taken a hammer to my head.

  “Victor? Victor? Victor?” Trel’s chitinous fingers were rubbing my face, but then I felt another tongue across my cheek. “Scoob, leave him alone! He doesn’t need licking now!”

  “I’m okay,” I said as I pushed my elbow into the ground. “I think I just needed to lie down for a bit.”

  Trel wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me against her. She didn’t speak for a few moments, but I could feel her heart hammering against my own chest.

  “You scared me,” she whispered.

  “I’m fine,” I replied. The headache was starting to go away, but I was still a bit light headed.

  “Just sit here for a few moments,” she said when I tried to stand.

  “Can’t,” I said. “They are going to think I am weak, and it will be harder to negotiate.”

  “I don’t care what those idiots think,” Trel hissed in my ear as she continued to hug me. “You saved them twice now.”

  “Perception is important,” I said, “I don’t want it to seem like I have any weaknesses. Please help me up.”

  “I don’t see any weakness in you,” Trel hissed and then I felt my body lift off the grass. She didn’t loosen the tight grasp her arms had on my shoulders, and it took me a half a moment to realize that she had used her spider-legs to lift us up.

  Then I was standing, and I turned to see Emta and Keefaye poking their heads out from around the far corner of the cliff trail bend.

  “It’s fine!” I called out as I waved to them. “I took care of the problem.”

  The two women looked at each other, and then their head disappeared around the corner for a moment before the group began to make their way back to me.

  “Let me do most of the talking,” I said to Trel.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Cause sometimes you are a bit… uhhh rude when you first meet people,” I said as I gave the obsidian-haired beauty a smile. “We are having a good discussion and I’m trying to figure out what we can trade with them.”

  “You should ask them to join us,�
�� Trel whispered. The group was still too far away to hear us, but I was glad that she realized our conversation needed to be private.

  “I’m surprised you think that way,” I whispered back.

  “Of course I think that way,” Trel said. “They owe us their lives. Every kingdom needs peons and peasants to do the work. Look at that one with the hair that twist and turns. She looks like she has a strong back.”

  “Trel, we aren’t going to make slaves out of people we help,” I said.

  “Who is talking about slavery? They should know you are their better and offer to serve. That is what peasants do. Can you imagine how much more building work I could get done if I had a team to do my bidding? We could devote more time to more interesting activities.”

  “Here they come,” I said as I fought against a smile. “Remember to be nice.”

  “Pfffttttt,” she raspberried. “I am always nice and charming. Everyone loves me.”

  “I cannot believe what I saw,” Quwaru said as the group reached me. “Those were the largest ones we have ever seen, and you seemed to deal with them easily.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I do.” I shrugged and fought against the desire to admit to them that it had been really fucking hard and I had been terrified the entire time.

  “Who is your friend?” Keefaye asked as she gestured to Trel.

  “I am Trel-Idil-Iria, Duchess of family Iria, first wife of Victor Shelby and leader of our tribe,” Trel proclaimed proudly as she held her chin up. “Victor has saved your group twice now, so you are indebted to him. What tribute do you offer to your betters?”

  “Uhhh, that’s not quite what--” I started to say, but Trel had turned toward Nomi and a disgusted look came across her beautiful face.

  “What is wrong with that one?” Trel asked as she pointed a bony finger. “Is she ugly? Why does she wear her hair like that?”

  “I am not ugly,” Nomi replied. “It is the light--”

  “It does not matter,” Trel said as she wiggled her fingers. “As long as you can work under my direction without whining, then we will get along splendidly.”

  “Who said we were going to be working for you, bitch?” Emta growled.

  “Have you any tribute?” Trel asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Or do you not intend to pay your debts to my husband?”

  “I don’t owe your ‘husband’ anything,” Emta seethed.

  “Ahhh, then you have no honor,” Trel shook her head and tsked. “Such a shame. Can’t be helped, I suppose. I don’t have time to teach you dignity. You may stay here and wallow, the others may offer tribute, or come with us to serve at our camp--”

  “Trel,” I interrupted her as I rested my hand on her smooth shoulder. “I got this. Can you let everyone else know I’m okay?”

  “Hmmm,” Trel sighed as she gave one last look at the other group. “I suppose I could do that.”

  “I’m almost done,” I said. “Have them meet me on the hill.”

  “Yes, Victor,” Trel replied, and then she nodded to the others before her spider-legs lifted her off the ground and carried her back to the cliff face. As soon as she reached the wall, Trel Doctor Octopus-climbed up the vertical surface, and I turned back to Quwaru’s group.

  “Victor,” Quwaru said as she cleared her throat. “What your wife said about us coming to serve at your camp--”

  “You all don’t need to join us,” I said before she could continue. “Trel is just a little over the top sometimes.”

  “Oh,” Quwaru replied with a thankful sigh, and the rest of her tribe nodded with relief. “We are thankful that you have helped us, but we would prefer to stay here. This is our home now, and we--”

  “It’s fine,” I said with a laugh. “You guys can do your thing over here and we’ll do our thing.”

  “That woman, Trel? She said she was your wife?” Keefaye asked with a raised golden eyebrow.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “What does that mean?” Adella asked.

  “They are joined through law,” Keefaye explained to the mermaid looking woman before she turned back to me. “But are you two exclusive?”

  “Ahhh, ummm,” I started to say.

  “I would also be interested in your answer,” Adella said as she blinked her big green eyes at me.

  “We just fought the Burners so that we didn’t have to be sex slaves,” Emta growled, “and you two get wet for the first male who shows up afterward.”

  “Victor seems nice,” Keefaye said with an unconcerned shrug. “He is also powerful and handsome.”

  “I like being wet,” Adella said with a musical laugh.

  “Ugh,” Emta grunted. “You know what I mean.”

  “I know that you are crabby,” Adella said.

  “Probably because she isn’t having any orgasms,” Keefaye replied.

  “I am not--” Emta started to hiss, but then Quwaru raised her red hand.

  “We might be oversharing a bit,” the succubus said as he fixed her silver eyes on me. “Victor’s sex life is his own business, as is ours. Now, tell me, what do you want from us?”

  “Youleena,” I said as I nodded at the white-haired woman with the black eyes. “Can you tell me a bit more about your ability?”

  “Of course,” she said. “What do you wish to know?”

  “You said it takes you a day to shape a rock that size?” I asked as I pointed across the chasm toward the mouth of their cave.

  “Yes,” she said with a nod.

  “Is that because it is so massive? Or is it that you can only do a few inches every hour? How does it work?”

  “Hmmm,” she said as she bit her lip. “I have never thought about it in the way you have asked me.”

  “Have you tried carving smaller stones?” I asked.

  “Just for my sculptures,” she said. “I do not really carve them though. I shape them.”

  “Shape them?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered as she held up her fingers. “The rock is the rock. The stone is the stone, I move parts around so that it is how I wish it to be.”

  “Huh,” I said as my brain thought through what she was saying. “So when you carved-- sorry, I mean shaped, those rocks. You didn’t change the mass of them? They are the same as they were before? Just in a different shape?”

  “Yes.” She nodded again. “I move the excess parts from my sculptures to the base of the statue. The rocks that you see on the face of our cave are all consistent size and shape on one side, but they have different depths because they were not all the same mass to begin with.”

  “Hmmm,” I said. “I was interested in having you help us build stone walls for our fort, but I’m guessing that isn’t going to be as easy as I think it is.”

  “I would need to come with you,” she said as she glanced toward Quwaru. “I ahhhh, I would not have a problem with that, if you wished for me to come. I would want to return though. These are my friends.”

  “Yeah, I’m not saying you need to stay with me forever,” I chuckled as I held up my hands. “Like I said earlier, you all seem to have--”

  “What if we wished to come with you?” Nomi interrupted me, and we all turned to face the woman with the dark hair hanging in front of her face.

  “Uhhh. Do you want to come back with me?”

  “Would you let us join you, if we wanted?” Nomi asked, but because I couldn’t see her face, and her voice was soft, I couldn’t quite tell if she was serious or not.

  “Yeah,” I said as I glanced at Quwaru. “I’m not going to force anything--”

  “We are fine here, Victor,” Quwaru said. “Thank you for understanding.”

  “We should consider joining Victor,” Nomi said, and I noticed Adella and Keefaye nod.

  “No,” Emta growled. “We have a home here. We built it ourselves and have defended it our--”

  “We almost died,” Youleena said as she fixed her black eyes on the orc-looking woman. “We would have if not for Victor. Will-Lack has passed into
the next life, which leaves you, Zoru, and Quwaru to defend and hunt for the rest of us. I do love our cave, but I love you all more, and do not wish to put you in danger. If Victor can protect us with his dinosaurs, I would think that is our best course of action.”

  The eight of them all spoke at once, and it quickly became impossible for me to tell who agreed or disagreed. The various members of the group did shoot glances at Quwaru as they spoke, so I could tell they still respected the red-skinned woman, but she couldn’t seem to get Emta, Keefaye, and Adella to calm down. Finally, I turned to look at Bob, Sonny, and Cher. The three parasaurs were ready for me, and they let out a tuba-like blast that stopped the argument in its tracks.

  “Let’s talk more about Youleena’s powers,” I said as I turned back from the parasaurs. As I did, my eyes fell on the corpse of the female T-rex, and I noticed the arrow that Sheela had put in its eye.

  Then I got an idea.

  “I can come with yo--” the white-skinned woman had started to say, but I waved my hands to cut her off.

  “Hold on a second,” I said as I crouched down and ran my hands through the grass. “You said that you just shape them? How narrow can you make the edge?”

  “Narrow?” she asked, and her head tilted slightly in confusion.

  “Yeah,” I said as my fingers found a stone about the size of my thumb. “Can you shape this like an arrowhead?”

  “What is that?” Youleena asked.

  “An arrow is what one of my friends shot at the tyrannosaurs,” I said as I gestured over my shoulder. “It’s a small, straight, shaft of wood with feathers on one side to help it fly and a sharp point on the other. We were just shaving the wood to a point and then burning it to make it hard, but I was planning on finding some rocks that we could sharpen and then attach to the tips so they could cut through stuff easier.”

  “Ohhhh, shit,” Emta sighed, and I saw her cover her face with her hands. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Can I step closer to you all?” I asked as I looked down the line toward Quwaru. We were still standing a good twenty feet apart, and I didn’t want to invade their space.