“Why are you mad at yourself?” Galmine reached her hand up, and I helped her stand.
“Don’t worry,” I said as I planted a big kiss on her lips. “I just figured out something amazing, all because of you. I’m going to need your help really quick, but then we are going to get back to planting.”
“Of course,” she said. “What do I need to do?”
“Come with me,” I said as I grabbed her hand, and we walked over to the campfire area.
“Trel! Sheela! Liahpa!” I shouted, and the three women looked up from their work. They must have sensed the excitment in my voice because they all quickly jogged over to where Galmine and I were heading.
“What’s wrong?” Trel asked.
“Galmine just figured out how to solve our water problem,” I said as I smiled at the green-eyed gardener.
“She did?” Trel asked.
“I did?” Galmine asked.
“Yep,” I said. “Ladies, we are going to dig a well, and Galmine is going to tell us where.”
Chapter 9
“A well?” The four of them asked in unison.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll have Bob get us started with the hole, and then we’ll continue on with sticks. When we dig deep enough, we’ll have plenty of water, and we won’t need to make as many trips to the river.”
“And I can make a pump that goes from the well to my filter system!” Trel laughed from her belly and tapped her finger tips together. “Victor, it is a genius idea.”
“It was Galmine’s idea,” I said.
“Awww, not really,” Galmine laughed, “but I am happy to be your muse, Victor.”
“How deep will we need to dig?” Liahpa asked, and she was having a hard time keeping the excitement off her face.
“Hmmm,” the green-eyed woman said as she looked around the grass. “I will need to walk around some and feel the ground.”
“Should we put it in the inner fort?” Trel asked me.
“Hmmm,” I considered as I looked around the camp. We were in between the garden and the cooking fires, and there was a lot of empty space around us, and I could see our camp eventually expanding to a point where it might be a bunch of traffic going in and out of the doggie door, but I did like the idea of it being closer to the huts, especially if Trel set up her filter there.
“Galmine, can you check and see if we can dig a well near the walls by the huts first?”
“Sure,” she said, and then we all walked together through Hope’s big doggie door and into the inner fort.
Galmine strolled around the inside area for a few minutes. Maybe “strolled” wasn’t quite the right word, she moved like she was doing a slow dance with the wind, and I noticed that the other women were smiling as they watched her move.
“Does that help you find the water?” Liahpa finally asked.
“Hmmm?” Galmine looked over to us and then tilted her head.
“You are kind of dancing,” the floating woman said. “Does it help?”
“Oh,” Galmine laughed. “No. I just like dancing. Don’t you?”
We all laughed, and then Galmine pointed to a spot that was in between my new hut and Hope’s stable. “There is water here. Ten or so feet down. It is the best spot inside these walls. There might be better spots outside. Should I go look?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t know if I’m going to build one inside or outside.”
“Inside,” Trel said.
“I agree,” Sheela said. “It is easier to defend if it is inside this wall.”
“Maybe,” I replied with a shrug. “I won’t be able to use Bob to dig the first part if we do it in here, since he can’t fit. The troodons and balaur bondocs can help, but they won’t be able to get out if I make it too deep. They also won’t actually be able to scoop it out. Doing it in the main area of our camp will probably go a lot faster.”
“Hmm,” Trel said as she tapped her finger to her lips.
“We could always do wells in two spots. Then you can build two filter systems.” I winked at her.
“That is a good idea,” Trel said, and she smiled wide enough for me to see her vampire-looking fangs.
“I might even be able to work on both at once,” I said as I thought through the process.
“With the dinosaurs?” Liahpa asked.
“Yeah,” I said as the plan took shape in my head. “I need you and Sheela to get sticks we can use as shovels, some sort of platform we can use to pile dirt on and then drag away, and then we’ll need baskets to haul the dirt up the holes.”
“I could make something out of clay,” Trel said, “but it won’t be ready until tomorrow.”
“I don’t think it will be worth the time investment,” I said. “The baskets we made with the thicker branches will probably work, since they are larger than the ones we made with the tight leaves, but the dirt will fall through all the holes, so we’ll need some wide leaves as a liner.”
“I know of a plant on the edge of the clearing on the west side that has wide leaves,” Sheela said. “I will run over and grab--”
“Ride Bob over,” I said, and the blonde woman nodded slowly. I guessed that she wasn’t completely comfortable riding the dinos yet, especially alone, but this was a good chance for her to be out of the fort without me. It would probably help her confidence, and Bob was easy enough to ride.
“I’ll get the shovels then,” Liahpa said, and the two athletic women jogged out of the inner gate.
I ordered the balaur bondocs to come into the fort and stand next to me. Phoebe came in first, but the rest of the group arrived shortly after. The white, cream, and brown feathered raptors didn’t seem to have the playful mood that the troodons did, but then I reached out to scratch Monica’s head, and she let out a grateful sounding hiss. I gave each of them quick pets and then turned to the spot where Galmine had told us there was water.
“Alright friends, we are going to dig a hole here. Make it about this wide at the top.” I measured a space about four feet in diameter and the raptors glanced at both marks I made with the heel of my boot.
“Try to throw the dirt close to the door,” I said as I pointed, “but don’t get any on Hope, okay?”
The group hissed in agreement, and then I gestured to the hole. “Let’s see what you can do. If you can get it done quickly, we’ll go out hunting again.”
The muscular raptors hissed with noticeable excitement, and then they all began to rake their front claws against the dirt.
At first, it looked like they weren’t making much progress, but then the top layer of soil got loosened by their paws, and the dirt started to fly away like a wave from the ocean. I stepped aside, so that I didn’t get hit, watched them for a few more moments, and then walked out of the doggie-door so I could check on Galmine.
I found the gray-skinned woman on the north side of the wall closer to the base of the massive redwood tree than I would have expected. She was carefully stepping over the roots that lay above the ground as she glanced up high to the tree’s canopy.
“Is there water over here?” I asked.
“Yes,” Galmine said as she smiled at me. “I am slow to walk, so it will take me a long time to journey across the whole courtyard. I thought that this handsome guy might be able to guide me in the right direction if I looked at his roots.”
“Ahh,” I said.
“He is magnificent, isn’t he?” she asked as she looked up again. “We have nothing like this on my world. It is all gray and dying. It makes me happy to see him every day.”
“Yeah,” I agreed as I looked up at him. “He is pretty--” the words caught in my throat when I saw something dart through the clouds in the distance.
“Did you see that?” I asked as I pointed to where I had seen the shape.
“I was looking at the tree,” she said. “What did you see?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, and I felt my heart start to hammer in my chest. Then I saw the movement again, and I was able to get a
better look at it.
The shape looked like a person with wings, not a dinosaur, and looked like they were flying in this direction.
“I need you to get inside the inner wall,” I said. “Go as fast as you can. Actually, nevermind.”
“Victor, what is-- ohhh!” Galmine gasped as I picked her up in my arms and started running across the roots.
“Kacerie! Emerald! Get inside the huts!” I shouted to the two women working on the trike saddle, and they darted in through the doggie door without saying anything.
I turned toward the far entrance to the gate, Liahpa was in the process of grabbing sticks from the pile, but she had turned to me to see what I was shouting. Sheela was riding on the back of Bob, and she’d also turned around in the saddle to look at us.
“Take cover! Hide!” I shouted. “Be quiet!”
For half a second, it didn’t seem like they heard me, but then Sheela jumped off Bob’s back and dove under the large pile of loose branches with Liahpa.
“What is--” Trel started to ask, but I just nodded my head toward the hut as I ran in with Galmine.
“There is a survivor flying this way!” I hissed as soon as we had all crammed into my hut and I had commanded the balaurs to run into the other hut and the troodons to sink into the grass where I left them relaxing by the campfire.
“You should invite her--”
“I don’t think it was a her,” I interrupted Galmine. “It looked male, really big, with large wings. I know he saw our camp, and I don’t want any of us out in the open.”
“But we don’t know for sure if he is bad,” Kacerie whispered, and Jinx let out a chirp that sounded like he disagreed with her. We all turned down to look at him, and he spun around in a circle and let out another scared sounding chirp.
“We don’t,” I agreed, “but Jinx is right, most of the men I’ve met on this world have been assholes. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Is your Lance ready?”
“No,” Kacerie said as she shook her head.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Okay, we are just going to hold tight and wait for him to fly over.”
“How will we know?” Kacerie asked.
“I can try to open a hole in the roof of this hut and look up,” Trel said as one of her spider legs moved up to tap on the ceiling.
“You probably won’t get a good enough angle,” I said as I crouched down and tried to lean my head out so that I could see the cloudy sky while still being inside of the hut. The view kind of worked, but the door was facing east, which was the opposite direction of where the figure had been flying from.
I felt someone tap on my shoulder as I crouched, and I turned around to see Emerald tapping on her chest with her other hand.
“I’m not sure that’s a good--” I started to say, but the green-scaled woman shook her head violently and then held out her hand.
“What does she want?” Trel asked.
“She is going to make a doppelgänger and then go out there and be our eyes,” I said, and Emerald’s head changed from shaking to nodding.
“That would be a good way to see if he is friendly,” Kacerie whispered. “She could just stand out in the open and wave to him. If he lands and is friendly, we’ll know.”
“And if he’s not friendly…” I sighed and then looked at Emerald. “Are you sure? We keep using you to scout and sacrifice yourself. I know that it hurts, so if you--”
Emerald punched me lightly in the arm, brought her hand back down, and then shook her fingers as if she was telling me to hurry.
“Alright,” I said, and the beautiful reptilian woman smiled as I grabbed her hand.
My skin felt warm, and then she blurred for a moment. I blinked, and then there were two Emeralds holding my hand. Both of them wore the same outfit and looked completely identical. There was even a loose thread of cordage in their hair by the ear, and I reached up my hand so that I could pull it from the hair of the woman whose hand I still grabbed.
The other Emerald darted out of the hut and then sprinted out the doggie door and into the main courtyard of our fort. I hissed at her to try to get her to stop, but she kept running, and I turned back to Emerald.
“She should stand right outside our hut so that we can protect her, or at least see what happens to her.”
The real Emerald shrugged, but then I heard a loud flapping sound over our heads, and we all ducked low in the hut.
I ducked back down to the ground at the edge of the hut opening and stared up into the sky. I’d been right about the creature flying toward us being a man, or at least somewhat male. The creature had a muscular and broad chest, legs like tree trunks, and arms coiled with thick ropes of muscle. His skin was black like asphalt, and the wings on his back looked like giant bat appendages, except the outer sides of the wings were covered with shark-like teeth. Instead of feet, he had bird-like talons at the end of monkey paws.
I couldn’t see his face, since his trajectory took him eastward away from me, but then his head twisted down and I could see that he had a jaw full of teeth with tusk-like mandibles, a nose that looked like a pig’s, and three giant black eyes. It didn’t look like the flying man was wearing clothes at first, but then I realized that he had baggy pants which matched the color of his wings and skin.
Then he swooped down into our camp and was hidden behind our walls.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath, and I then took a hesitant step out of the hut.
“Victor!” Kacerie and Trel both hissed at once, but I waved my hand back and then took a few more silent steps toward the doggie door.
Hope was in her stable, and I raised my finger to my lips so that she wouldn’t toot at me. The parasaur figured out what I wanted and didn’t make a sound. I continued alongside the well hole that the balaurs were digging and then made it to the edge of the gate so that I could look out into our courtyard.
The large winged-man had forced Emerald’s doppleganger to the ground and was in the process of grabbing her ankles with his feet while she kicked and punched him. It only took me a moment to realize that the fucker was going to try to fly away with her in his grasp, and my brain spun when I tried to figure out what I should do.
Part of me expected what I saw, but another part of me really wanted this guy to be friendly. We needed help to survive, and it was hard enough living with the dinosaurs on Dinosaurland without all the super powered alien survivors trying to kill each other.
The troodons had been hiding near the campfire, and I gave them the order to sneak up behind the fucker, but as they crept nearer to the man wrestling with Emerald’s doppelgänger, I wondered if attacking this guy would be the right decision.
It looked like he was trying to abduct her, not kill her, and if he was trying to abduct her, he might have had a camp with other survivors. If he took the doppelgänger there, then Emerald would know where they were, and we could go on the offensive instead of waiting for them to come back.
I hated the plan.
I knew this wasn’t really Emerald, but this motherfucker was still attacking one of my women, that could have easily been Galmine, or Kacerie, or the real Emerald. I wanted to find out if this fucker had a camp or a group of allies, but not as much as I wanted to kill him for trying to take one of my women.
I gave the orders to the troodons, and they wiggled through the grass toward the man with the bat wings. He was not really fighting Emerald’s doppelgänger back. He was letting her punch him and kick on him while he focused on holding her down with his left hand while he tried to position his feet properly.
Then the troodons were within range.
I was a millisecond away from giving them the order to tear into the asshole, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw Emerald standing behind me and I saw the other women leaning out of the hut door watching us.
“He’s about to grab her!” I whispered as urgently as I could while still keeping it a whisper that I didn’t think the
asshole could hear.
Emerald shook her head and waved her hand up in the bird, circled around her head and the pointed northward. I knew she was telling me to let them go, but I shook my head.
“We can kill this fucker now,” I whispered. “I don’t want him to take her. I protect all of you, even if she isn’t the real you, I won’t giv--”
Emerald interrupted me by pulling my face toward hers and kissing me. Her movement surprised me, and I felt the air leave my lungs as she gently tugged me away from the doggie door.
I heard wings flap on the other side of our wall, and I gently pulled my mouth away from the beautiful scaled woman’s exploring tongue. Then she gestured for us to go back into the tent and nodded before we sprinted across the inner fort.
“What is happening?” Kacerie asked.
“He is taking her,” I said as I pointed out the door. Then I saw his head crest the top of our inner wall, and I held my arms out as I stepped back deeper into the hut. My friends all got the idea, or maybe they heard the wings flapping, and they stepped back with me and went quiet.
My heart slammed into my chest, and I felt rage burn a hole in my stomach like an uncooked chili hot dog. I still wanted to stop the guy, but now I knew that I had lost my opportunity.
For now.
Emerald’s left hand began to massage my shoulder, and then she cupped my chin with her right fingers and turned me so that she could stare into my eyes. The strange woman was smiling, and I knew that she was trying to help me feel better.
Then I didn’t hear the wings anymore, and I looked out to see that the large winged man was just a speck in the sky to our north east.
“Why did you let him take her--” Kacerie started to say, but then Trel interrupted.
“Victor didn’t let him take her! He wouldn’t let anyone hurt us. He must have a plan.”
“Yeah,” I said as I turned away from Emerald and looked at Trel, Kacerie, and Galmine. “Emerald will know where his camp is located, and if there are more of them.”
“Ahhh!” Trel cackled happily as she tapped her finger tips together, “It is very cunning.”
Tamer- King of Dinosaurs 4 Page 17
