Tamer- King of Dinosaurs 4

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “I am still getting used to the idea of being so close to a man,” she said, “but I cannot argue with anyone here when they say that you are a good leader and a nice person.”

  Emerald smiled at the other woman, turned to me, pointed at my mouth, and the gestured to the spot above her breast like she had earlier when we were digging the grave for Will-Lack. I finally understood that she was telling me that my words make her like me, and I stared into her strange eyes for a few moments.

  “Thank you, everyone,” I said, and then I took another bite of meat and asked for a status update.

  “I have made hafts for four spears and about twenty arrows,” Sheela said.

  “We’ve got some knives from the obsidian,” Liahpa said as she gestured over her shoulder to our work bench boulder. “We’ve also made points for Sheela’s weapons.”

  “The meat we aren’t cooking is cut into thin strips,” Kacerie said as she pointed to one of the far campfires. “I don’t know if this is the right way to do it, but I have a plate covering the hole so that the smoke moves to the side and kind of cooks the salted meat.”

  “It is similar to how my people would smoke meat,” Sheela said, “we normally used a large vessel with grates so that the smoke could dwell inside the container for some time.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s how my people did it too. I’ve never smoked meat before, but I saw smokers for sale at the hardware store. We’ll keep trying different methods until we see what works best. We don’t seem to have that much trouble finding meat right now, so we can experiment.”

  Kacerie nodded at me, but I saw Sheela frown and then stare into the fire. I knew that she was worried about the change in the weather, but I couldn’t do that much about it right now.

  “I have finished the most important work,” Trel said after she cleared her throat. “The first funnel for our water filter is baking in the largest kiln. I’ve also made some plates and cups. It will take me a few days to get the amount you have promised the other tribe, but I will have it done ahead of schedule.”

  “Damn, you are fast.” I smiled at the dark-haired woman, and she winked at me.

  “I am a genius.”

  “Yep, we know,” Kacerie sighed.

  “I know you know,” Trel laughed, “but I keep saying it so that you all will feel better.”

  “Feel better?” Liahpa asked as her mouth turned up into a grimace.

  “Of course,” Trel said. “With Victor’s strategies and dinosaurs, and my genius buildings and design work, we will have the most wonderful and safest fort possible. Then you all will be able to live in comfort and luxury. I want you all to be safe so that is why I work so hard.”

  “You are a tough one to figure out,” Liahpa sighed as she shook her head.

  “Excuse me?” Trel scoffed.

  “I just can’t tell if you are an arrogant bitch or really nice,” the red eyed woman said.

  “Can’t I be both?” Trel laughed.

  “Uhhh, yeah, I guess you can.” Liahpa let out a laugh that matched Trel’s and the two women smiled at each other across the fire.

  “I am almost done making a poultice with the bounty we gathered,” Galmine said, and I turned to see her mashing something in a clay bowl with a stone. “It should be done in a few minutes, and then we can apply it to Nicole’s wound before you stitch it up.”

  “Victor, can I do that?” Kacerie asked. “I have sure hands and I am used to sewing hair weaves.”

  “Sure,” I answered, and the blue-eyed woman smiled at me.

  We all ate and chatted a bit more about our jobs for tomorrow, and then Galmine declared that the poultice was ready.

  “Wow,” Kacerie said when Galmine handed her the bowl. “This smells like it would peel paint off metal.”

  “It’s a mixture of garlic bulbs, horseradish, ash from the fire, and some tree sap. It should stick to her leg without need of a bandage.”

  “Got it,” Kacerie said as she looked over to Nicole. “Can one of you get me a light?”

  Sheelai and I quickly lit sticks on fire, and then we all walked over to stand around Nicole’s wounded leg. The cut was about eight inches long, and still bleeding a bit, but the slice looked pretty uniform. I didn’t see any dirt or grass in the wound.

  “It looks pretty clean,” Kacerie said as she looked at the wound. “Do you all think I should put this poultice on first and then stitch it closed?”

  “I think you can probably stitch it up first,” I said as I tried to remember about operations that my parents had performed in their clinic. They had always washed cuts first before stitching them up and then applied a bandage with healing ointment. We didn’t have any more soap, though, and I didn’t know what would happen if the herbs stayed stuck in a cut that we then sewed up.

  “Okay,” Kacerie said as she handed the bowl back to Galmine. Then the hairdresser reached into her pocket, grabbed the needle, and double checked that the sinew thread was attached.

  Then we all leaned in close as she pushed the bone needle through the flap of loose skin.

  I half expected Nicole to jump or grunt, but the trike just shifted her head around to look at us out of the corner of her eye. Kacerie didn’t seem to notice, but she did smirk as her fingers pushed the needle through the top flap of skin.

  “You all are making me a bit nervous,” she chuckled. “Been a while since I’ve had this many people watching me do something.”

  “Hard to tell you are nervous,” Liahpa said. “Your hands aren’t even shaking a little. Are your people naturally calm?”

  “No,” Kacerie answered. “I just have sure hands.”

  As she talked, she pushed the tip of the needle through the second piece of skin, looped the thread around the point twice, and then pulled the needle the rest of the way out.

  “Why did you do that loop?” I asked.

  “So if one section accidently gets ripped, the whole thing won’t fall apart. Watch.” Kacerie moved the needle down to the next flap, pushed the tip through, and then did another double loop around the point before pulling it out.

  “Ahh, I get it,” I said as I continued to watch her.

  It took her another few minutes to finish, and everyone but Kacerie let out a long exhale of relief as soon as she tied the last knot in the stitching.

  “That should do it,” she said as she put the needle in her blouse pocket and reached for the bowl of the poultice which Galmine made. As soon as she got it on her fingers, Sheela inhaled sharply and took a small step back.

  “Yeah,” I said as I smiled at the cat-woman, “that is pretty damn strong. I’m almost crying from here.”

  “I’m sure this will kill any bacteria on the wound.” Kacerie sniffled, blinked, and then wiped the mixture on and around Nicole’s cut.

  “I think it smells delicious,” Galmine said cheerfully.

  “Uhh sure,” Kacerie said as she finished applying the stuff to Nicole’s leg. The pink-haired woman held out her fingers, grimaced, looked around at us, and then wiped what she could off on the grass. “I need to make more soap. A lot more soap.”

  “It is done then?” Trel asked as she leaned in close to study the wound.

  “Yep,” Kacerie said as she patted Nicole’s leg. “Let’s hope she heals fast.”

  “I’m sure she will,” the spider-woman said. “After all, Galmine made the remedy, and you stitched her up. I’m going to go back to work on my filters. Does anyone need me for anything else before I dive back into my designs?”

  We all shook our heads and Trel nodded at us before walking back over to her side of the work bench near the kiln.

  “I’m going to go work on more soap,” Kacerie said as she pointed to the side of the cooking fires where she kept her soap bowls.

  “I should--” I began to say, but Sheela rested her hand on my shoulder.

  “-- rest,” she said, and the other women nodded.

  “I’m fine,” I said, but then on cue, I felt a yawn
coming that I had to cover with my hand.

  “You did quite a lot today,” Liahpa said, and her red eyes stared into mine intently.

  “Yeah, we all did,” I said with a shrug. “We saved a bunch of people’s lives. We should be proud of that.”

  “But controlling your dinosaurs makes your tired.” Sheela’s fingers squeezed my shoulder, and I turned to face her. The expression on the stoic warrior’s beautiful face convinced me that I wouldn’t get away with arguing.

  “Alright,” I said. “I’ll head to bed. Sheela, come with me.”

  “Yes, Victor,” she whispered as a small smile spread across her lips.

  “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning,” I said to everyone else, and they all bid me a good night as I walked around the corner, through Hope’s door, and into the central fort area.

  Hope was still sitting in her stable, and she let out a happy toot when she saw me.

  “Hey, sweetie,” I said as I scratched her head and neck. “Are you feeling okay? You haven’t moved from this spot all day.”

  Hope let out another happy toot, and I shrugged and turned to Sheela. “I should get her some water really quic--”

  “I will do it after I have relaxed your body,” she interrupted me. “You just need to rest.”

  “Relax my body?” I chuckled, and then I walked into my hut with the beautiful blonde woman.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Tell me what you want, Victor, and I will give it to you.” Her eyes glowed in the pale light coming from the small fire in my hut, and I let her question roll around in my mind for a few moments. I had just made love to Galmine less than an hour ago, but I was already hard again, the purr of Sheela’s eager voice was driving me wild.

  “You should take off my clothes first,” I said. “And then I can think of one muscle that really needs to relax.”

  “Yes, Victor,” Sheela said, and then her hands moved to unhook the bottom two buttons of my shirt.

  Then she removed my shoes, my pants, and my underwear. Sheela’s touch was gentle and slow, and she surprised me when I lay down by beginning to massage my chest and arms instead of straddling me.

  “That feels nice,” I muttered as my eyes drifted closed.

  “Hmmm,” she purred, and her hands moved to rub my thighs.

  “You are going to put me to sleep if you keep that up,” I sighed, but then I gasped when I felt her fingers wrap around my erection.

  Then I gasped again when I felt something else wet and tight wrap around me. She had her feet flat on the ground, and her bikini bottom pushed to the side so that I could easily see my penis slide into her.

  I moved my arms behind my head so that I’d be propped up, and I let my breathing relax in time with her lifting motions. After a few minutes, Sheela’s breathing became more urgent, and her body began to convulse as she tightened around me.

  Much later, after we had enjoyed each other a few times, she lay on top of my chest and absently traced my chin with her fingers while we stared into my fire. My own fingers traced down the light fur of her back, she actually began to purr like a kitten.

  “I am content,” she whispered.

  “Me too,” I replied.

  “But contentment is a precursor to laziness,” she said. “The night is still young. I should work on more arrows.”

  “Orrrrr, you can stay here with me tonight,” I whispered as I ran my fingers through her light fur. “The work can wait.”

  “That is a very un-Victor-like thing to say, Victor,” Sheela chuckled.

  “A sexual innuendo earlier today, and now a joke?” I said with a mocking gasp. “What has gotten into Sheela, the proud and stoic warrior woman?”

  Sheela chuckled and then shifted her body a bit more so that more of her was touching me. “Perhaps I can stay a bit longer, if you are fine with it.”

  “Ahh,” I laughed. “I forgot to order you. Sheela, spend the night with me, and make love with me again in the morning, or maybe in the middle of the night if we both wake up.”

  “Yes, Victor,” she purred, and I felt a shiver run down her body. “What about the guard shif--”

  “They will figure it out,” I laughed. “They are intelligent women that know we need someone to be watching every night.”

  “You are right,” she said, and her body seemed to sink into me as she relaxed more.

  “Oh, that reminds me. Have you seen my hat?”

  “Hmmm,” Sheela sighed. “I have not seen it for many days. Last I remember, you had it when we were first building our inner fort walls. This was right before the green feathered raptors attacked.”

  “Huh,” I grunted. “Galmine said the same thing. I think I lost it during that fight.”

  “No,” Sheela said. “It was in the hut the next day, I remember seeing it.”

  “Well, fuck. I wonder where it went.”

  “It will turn up,” she said. “I will look for it tomorrow.”

  “One other topic I wanted to speak to you about,” I said.

  “Yes?”

  “What do you think of Emerald?” I asked. “Galmine loves everyone, so I don’t know if I trust her opinion. Trel thinks everyone is… well, you know what Trel thinks.”

  Sheela didn’t speak for a few moments, and then she exhaled slowly and turned her head up so that her golden eyes could stare into mine.

  “I do have some concerns,” she admitted.

  “Okay, good,” I sighed. “I’m not the only one. Why do you have concerns?”

  “She watches you,” Sheela said. “She studies your movements and actions with a strange intensity. I was more worried before she kissed you.”

  “Oh,” I said. “You saw that?”

  “Yes,” Sheela said. “It looked passionate. What were you both speaking about beforehand?”

  “I had asked her what her occupation was. It took a bit of us going around in circles, but she is apparently some sort of queen or other type of ruler with some four billion people at her command.”

  “Four billion?” Sheela asked, and her eyebrows raised with disbelief.

  “That is what she told me.” I shrugged. “It also seemed like she controlled them with the gems on her face and behind her ears. I got the feeling that her subjects didn’t have much choice, and that she wasn’t the only one with powers. She was trying to conquer her world.”

  “Like you control the dinosaurs?” Sheela asked, and her face betrayed her concern.

  “She did point to the dinosaurs when she spoke of it, but I’m gonna guess that it only works on her own species.”

  “Why would you guess that?” Sheela asked.

  “If she could control us or the dinosaurs, wouldn’t she have done so already?”

  “I suppose so,” Sheela answered. “She might be waiting for the right time. Ahhh, I might be thinking too cynically. I have not noticed any sinister or malevolent behavior from Emerald. I have only noticed her staring at you, and it is probably because she finds you desirable.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Some looks she has given me have been a bit creepy, but she has done nothing other than try to help us. She may have been this ruler of her people, but she is also humble enough to help me dig a grave for the body of a man she didn’t know. I’m probably being too paranoid.”

  “It is good to be paranoid,” Sheela said as she smiled at me. “Your paranoia has kept us alive these many months. We might have died in the cave if you didn’t believe me about the orange birds.”

  “It was a good idea to build a fort, even without the orange birds coming,” I said.

  “Have you asked Kacerie about Emerald?” Sheela asked.

  “Not yet. Do you think I should?”

  “Yes,” Sheela answered. “She has proven herself to be loyal and trustworthy. She is also creative and hard working. I am glad that she worked out with us. When she first arrived, I feared that we would have another person with Trel’s difficult personality.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m glad it
worked out too. I’ll talk to Kacerie tomorrow. I don’t think we have anything to fear from Emerald, but I want to make sure everyone is coordinated.”

  “Good,” Sheela said, and then she turned her face away so that she could lay more comfortably on my chest. She must have been more tired than she let on because her body began to twitch with the first stages of a deep sleep not even three breaths later.

  I slowly wrapped my arms around her narrow waist, took a long inhale of her long blonde hair, and then closed my eyes as well. I didn’t fall asleep immediately, but Sheela’s breathing lulled me to a kind of in between world, where I had dreams of riding winged dinosaurs up into castles that floated in the sky. In the dream, I wore badass looking knight armor and carried a lightning spear. I landed next to one castle, kicked open the door, and walked down a long hallway.

  There were two massive thrones at the end of the hallway. They looked like they were made of gold and they were carved in the shape of two twisting dragons. Emerald sat on one of the seats, and her white eyes bore into mine as I approached her. When I reached the end of the hallway, we stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Then she gestured to the throne next to her, and I walked up the stairs to the dais so that I could take the seat by her side.

  Chapter 8

  I startled awake when I felt something slimy run across my face. I gasped, flung my naked body to the side, and then waved my arms in front of my face to ward off whatever it was. My hands closed around the small feathery body, and Jinx let out a squawk that sounded like he was just as startled as I was.

  “You scared me,” I laughed as I relaxed my fingers around his body and began to scratch him.

  He wiggled closer to my chest, and I glanced outside of the hut door while I petted him some more. It looked like early morning, and I shivered when I saw that my fire had burnt down to only embers. I set Jinx down, put my underwear and pants on, grabbed some wood from the corner of the hut, and then had the fire up and going in a few minutes. The warmth felt good against the skin of my torso, and I let my body warm for another few minutes before I put my socks, shoes, and shirt back on.