Primordia 2: Return to the Lost World

by Greig Beck

  It didn’t stop or even deviate, but simply accelerated, opened its mouth, and shot its head and neck forward to thump into the flanks of the Giganotosaurus and then clamp its jaws down hard. Immediately, the snake’s massive body was brought into action, throwing itself forward and wrapping itself around the great beast’s torso.

  The Giganotosaurus must have known the dynamics of the battle had shifted as it dropped the first snake, which fell limp to the ground, and tried to bite at the muscular coils that were now wrapping around it.

  The two colossal legs of the dinosaur planted and it raised itself to its full height as the body of the snake engulfed it—loop after loop, until the massive theropod, still upright, was bound in place and could only scream its primal rage.

  “Look.” Ben nudged Emma and pointed to the gargoyle images of the carved intertwined deities at the temple’s entrance.

  She nodded. “Yeah, this battle has played out before.”

  “Come on, quick.” They bounded up the steps and sprinted inside.

  “Drake, Helen,” Ben yelled into the cavernous space so his voice could be heard over the titanic struggle going on outside.

  “Yo,” came an answer from the furthest room. Drake’s light appeared and then he and Helen followed it.

  “Goddamn monster burst outta that portal. Went past us like we didn’t exist.” Drake looked pale but managed a grin regardless. Helen just looked ill.

  Ben pointed to the room with the steps to the basement. “Now’s our chance. Those bastards have bigger fish to fry than us.”

  Ben led them down the steps and slowed as he approached the ink-black hole in the wall. He leaned in and shook his head. “Still stinks in here. A nest for sure.”

  “Yeah, and even the young ones are bad news.” Drake lit a flare and tossed it as far in as he could manage.

  The red glowing stick bounced a few times and came to rest about 60 feet in. The carved portal opened out into a cavern. The smoke of the flare blew toward them.

  “A breeze,” Emma said. “Warm air rises, so this is the best news we’ve had in days.”

  “Years.” Ben grinned at her, but then turned back and tilted his head, listening.

  Emma watched him for a moment. “You hear something in there?” she whispered.

  “No, and that’s the problem. It’s gone quiet, but I mean from outside, and that tells me the fight is over.” He moved his remaining explosive spears from one hand to the other. “There’s no choice now; we’ve got to stay ahead of the snakes, and stay ahead of the gateway closing.”

  Ben stepped inside.

  CHAPTER 41

  Ben led them in, walking carefully, holding the rifle up. Emma was at his left shoulder, gun ready but pointed down for now. Her eyes were wide and she was as alert as a hawk.

  On Ben’s other side, Drake also had his gun ready, but also had Helen clinging on tight to his arm. She looked on the verge of panic—not good, Ben thought. If things went bad, they needed to remain cool and clear-headed, and able to move quickly. Ben knew from his mission firefights that it was indecision, hesitation, and panic that were always the first killers.

  He had a spare gun and would have liked Helen armed, but given her state, he bet that when the chips were down, she’d more than likely drop it, or shoot one of them by accident.

  Ben held up a hand. The cavern had opened out and then forked. There were several passages before them, and the gentle slope of the ground they’d been traveling on meant they were probably already quite a way below the surface. They’d left the flare far behind and were at the edge of its faint red glow, but their next discovery told Ben they were still well within the danger zone.

  “Coprolite,” Helen observed as they passed the balls of chalk-like packages.

  “Their shit,” Emma added. “And no, not fossilized.”

  Some of the crap balls were the size of footballs, and some the size of large watermelons. In amongst the droppings, there were the remains of crushed bones. Ben didn’t want to think that the remains of Fergus or the others would soon end up deposited here. He shuddered; for that matter, he didn’t want to end up that way either.

  The rocks inside the cave were smoothed, as if they had been polished by something heavy sliding over them over and over. And he knew what.

  “Is this the nest?” he asked.

  Helen peered around Drake. “No; there’d be clutches of eggs scattered around. This must just be an antechamber.”

  “Damn; I have no idea which way,” Ben whispered as he flicked his light into each of the passages in front of them. “Emma, this is your field. Which way do we go?”

  Emma turned slightly, spat on her hand, wiped it on her pants, and then held it up in front of her face. She moved it around and then pointed.

  “The entrance on the left; that’s where the breeze is coming from.”

  “Good enough for me,” Ben said.

  “Hey, look.” Drake had his flashlight shining up against the flat wall. It was heavily carved with glyphs and drawings. “Je-zuz.” He shook his head.

  Ben added his light. “They were as bad as the snakes.” The images showed men, women, and children all roped together by the neck, dozens and dozens of them, and all being led out past the gargoyle statues of the carved snake and beast.

  The next image showed them standing before the monstrous snake. And the last image was of the snake beginning to consume them, as the tied-up victims stood calmly as though simply waiting for a bus ride.

  “Bastards,” Emma spat. “I used to think they killed their people first and then fed the parts to the Titanoboa. That was bad enough. But it’s worse; they fed the snakes with their own people goddamn alive.”

  “I think they got what they deserved,” Ben said. “Looks to me like the snakes got tired of waiting for their dinner to be brought to them and decided on a little self-service.”

  “Karma is a bitch,” Drake said, chuckling. “And now the snakes run the place.”

  “Let’s keep going.” Emma glanced over her shoulder.

  “How much time have we got?” Ben turned to see her still looking over her shoulder the way they’d come. “Emma?”

  “Huh?” She turned to him. “Sorry?”

  “You okay?” He followed her gaze, but there was nothing to see and the cave now extended back well beyond their light beams. “Time left, how much have we got?”

  She didn’t even need to check her watch. “Based on the last apparition of Primordia, I estimate we’ve got 1 hour and 20 minutes. We must be below whatever line it is, or we all stay.”

  “Okay. Give us a countdown every ten minutes to keep us focused and, you know, motivated.” Ben half-smiled at her.

  “Yeah, motivated.” She grinned back.

  He led them on through the passages that were still large enough to run a truck through. Ben had hoped they’d narrow, but guessed it wouldn’t matter, as the snakes were able to fit in fairly small spaces. He hoped they could go some places where the snakes couldn’t, but anything real tight, there was a chance they’d get stuck. He’d risk it, they all would, if it gave them even the slimmest chance to get the hell out of this place.

  Ben swept his light from one side of the cavern to the other, spotting an alcove in the left rock wall that seemed incongruous. It narrowed to no more than a few feet wide, but inside, there were stones—cut stones—stacked up, almost sealing it off.

  Around the outside, there were gouges in the rock walls, as though something had tried to force its way in. Ben leaped up and shone his light in between two of the stacked rocks.

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” He stood back. “Looks like I wasn’t the only sap to get trapped up here once.”

  The others took turns crowding around and looking inside the walled-off alcove. Ben knew what they were seeing—a skeleton, small, and brown with age. There were the remains of feathers and colored stones that were dappling the ribs and must have been some sort of necklace jewelry.

 
Whoever it had been, man or woman, they had sealed themselves in. And as the snakes had obviously been trying to get in, they had never been able to get out.

  “They were trapped,” Ben said. “So they just sat back and waited to die.”

  “Jesus—trapped in Hell.” Drake bared his teeth. “That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.”

  “Yeah, it’s Hell. But you know what they say, when you’re going through hell…?” Ben turned and grinned.

  “You keep going,” Ben, Drake, and Emma both said at once.

  Helen had her arms wrapped around herself and stayed closed to Drake full time now. “Appropriate, this being Hell, I mean.” She gave them a broken smile. “Some ancient Amerindian races believed that down, being the underworld, was Heaven. And the sky was where the devil lived. That’s why they used to carry their dead deep into caves.”

  Drake turned his back on the tunnel to face her. “Then we better find our way back to Heaven.”

  The snake struck then, grabbing Drake by the thigh. The soldier yelled, more in surprise than pain, and was thrown backward by the force of the attack. Helen screamed and Drake pummelled down on the reptile’s head as it immediately began to throw coils as thick as the man’s waist around him.

  Ben remained calm, turned, and fired controlled bursts from his rifle. The gunfire was near deafening in the confined space, and the bullets zippered along the snake’s flanks.

  Emma held her gun in a two-handed grip and also fired, taking care to avoid the downed man. Helen backed up against the wall and held her hands over her ears.

  Drake managed to pull his knife, and using the entire upper half of his body, swung the blade into the eye socket of the creature, sinking the steel deep.

  It opened its mouth and hissed with pain and fury. Drake then twisted the blade, and it was like the creature was receiving an electric shock, as the snake went mad, thrashing around and jerking Drake up and down. Eventually, its head lay still, while its tail seemed to be trying to coil itself into knots.

  Ben was first to his friend and dug his fingers into the mouth and pried the jaws open. It took a while to unhook him, as the backward-curving teeth were sunk like fishhooks into his flesh.

  “Fuck it,” Drake yelled, as Emma wrapped her belt around his thigh.

  “You were lucky,” she said.

  “Yeah, for some reason, I don’t feel it.” He grimaced as she tightened the tourniquet.

  “She’s right,” Ben said. “It was a small one. If it was an adult, next time you made an appearance, it’d be like that.” He pointed to a huge ball of snake shit in the corner. He helped pull the man to his feet.

  Drake hopped for a moment and then put his foot down gingerly. He shook his head. “I can move, but if it comes to running…” He just shook his head. “Ain’t gonna win any medals this week.”

  Ben handed him the rifle, and Drake used it like a walking stick.

  “Yeah? Well, I’m betting if that big mother makes an appearance, you’ll win medals.” He slapped Drake on the shoulder. “Let’s move out.”

  CHAPTER 42

  Rib bones the size of a full-grown man’s torso on the theropod began to compress. The Giganotosaurus’ massive jaws were of no use if it couldn’t get anything between them, and the Titanoboa knew to keep away from them, using the coils of its colossal body to bring a titanic pressure onto the huge predator’s chest.

  It squeezed some more, and the eyes of the theropod bulged and its mouth sprung open. A few large gasps emanated from its throat as it tried to suck in air. Another squeeze, and then like cannon fire, the ribs broke, one after the other. Finally, the massive heart exploded under the pressure.

  The monstrous snake lowered its head close to the open mouth of the Giganotosaurus, and its tongue flickered out. It tasted the saliva, the blood, and felt for any trace of breath or a heartbeat—there was none.

  The giant theropod predator was too large for the Titanoboa to eat, but hunger always burned within it. The snake could continue to crush the beast down, turning it to mush, but even then, it would be a challenge.

  At that moment, the booming sounds emanated from the stone building. The snake released the gigantic corpse and turned to the temple, and its nest. Like a molten river of glistening scales and muscle, it flowed toward the doorway.

  CHAPTER 43

  “This way.” Emma followed the faint movement of air. Her hands ached from gripping the gun and flashlight. Added to that, her nerves were piano-wire tight. She didn’t doubt for a second that there were more snakes in the caves, and only prayed that they ran out of snakes before their bullets did.

  Ben had dropped back to cover their rear now. Though Drake would still be a formidable fighter, his ability to move quickly was compromised. She turned and looked briefly at Helen, who looked pale and scared half out of her wits. As long as she kept up, then that’d do, she thought.

  Emma wiped an arm up over her face that streamed with perspiration. Thank God she could feel the soft kiss of a breeze on her cheeks. It had to be coming from below—it had to be another entrance—please be another entrance.

  She dared to check her watch and winced. Time was moving too fast on them. “We got forty minutes to go,” she said over her shoulder.

  “Got it,” Ben said from back in the darkness.

  They’d come too far to turn back now, she knew. There was no backtracking and trying another route. It was all in or bust.

  After another few minutes, the cavern began to get smaller and the gentle breeze started to turn into wind. As of yet, there was nothing but the smell of dry dirt, ancient dust, and just a hint of the musky scent of the monster reptiles.

  As a caver, what she was desperate to find was a chute that dropped them down into the heart of the flat-topped mountain. One that was climbable, yet steep enough to get them below the distortion line quickly.

  She held a hand up and shone her light at her palm. There seemed to be a mist or fog filling the cavern, and it rushed past her on the breeze.

  “It’s starting to happen,” she whispered.

  But then the mist slowed, and then stopped, just hanging listless in the air. Oh no, she thought. Emma turned slowly. The wind had stopped dead now, and the mist hung heavily around them.

  There was only one reason for it—a blockage. She turned and met Ben’s eyes. “Something’s coming.”

  CHAPTER 44

  “From in front or behind?” Ben spun to look over his shoulder, and then back to Emma. “Shit.” Where they were, there were few vantage points, no places of concealment, or even opportunities to mount a real defense.

  It didn’t matter; he’d seen what the monsters could do, and trying to fight one in an enclosed area was not a good tactical move. He had to assume it was one of the creatures coming up from behind them. And a cave blockage meant it was a big one.

  “We stay ahead of it.” Ben spun to Drake, and his voice became authoritative. “Sergeant.”

  Drake’s head snapped around. “Sir.”

  “We are going to double-time it, and you will keep up.” Ben glared at his friend.

  “Damn right I will, Captain.” He put more weight on his leg and grimaced.

  Helen grabbed his arm tighter. “I’ve got him.”

  “Go.” Ben began to jog, taking the lead with Emma who was right on his shoulder. A few more paces back, he could hear the quick clacking sound the gun muzzle made as Drake jammed the barrel into the cave floor.

  Ben spotted the narrowing of the cave and went through a natural archway. He immediately slowed as they found themselves in a huge cathedral-like cavern.

  He began to walk. “Ah, shit.” He lifted his gun. Emma did the same. The huge cave was filled with piles of eggs, eggshells, and twisting snakes. Most were no more than 20 feet in length, but some were larger.

  “Look; at the far end of the cave.” Emma pointed.

  On the other side of the huge cavern, there was what looked like a well, with hand-carved stone bl
ocks built around a hole in the floor. Around its edge were eight-feet-tall stone idols of natives in headdresses, huge, two-legged beasts roaring to the sky, and rearing snakes with the green gem eyes.

  “This must be it. This is how the natives were climbing up here in the wettest season,” Emma said. “We just need to get through.”

  “Well, no time for diplomacy.” He turned to Drake. “Shock and awe.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Drake grinned with zero humor.

  Ben turned back. “Then let’s make some space.” He pointed his gun at the largest snake and fired twice in quick succession. The bullets created twin holes right between the 30-foot snake’s eyes, and it shuddered and fell to the cave floor.

  Drake balanced on one leg and started firing the rifle, picking his targets and never missing. Emma followed, drilling holes in anything that moved.

  The room quickly filled with a mist of blood, smell of cordite, and the sound of a furious hissing that grew so loud that it almost hurt the ears. But in just seconds more, most of the remaining snakes had vanished like smoke.

  “Cease fire,” Ben yelled, but he had no choice. “I’m out anyway.”

  “Me too,” Drake said.

  Emma jammed in her last magazine and went to point her gun at a rapidly retreating, but wounded snake.

  “No!” Ben yelled again. “Save it. It’s all we have left.”

  Emma reholstered her weapon and looked quickly at her watch. “Shit; hurry.”

  They ran to the edge of the well-like pit and looked down. Emma grabbed her last flare, punched it against her thigh, and dropped it.

  It floated for a moment on a wind rushing up into their faces, and then fell slowly. It kept on spinning and falling into a pit that seemed bottomless.

  “Look.” She pointed. On the outside of the 20-foot-wide hole, there were steps carved into the stone in a corkscrew design.