by Eddie Patin
Through the freezing wind and the muffled, silent night, Jason heard his father’s voice mutter something, and then he found himself staring down the slope at where the portal should be...
As Lexi started moving back to the door again—collar jingling—Jason started walking.
He wanted to stay. More than anything, he wanted to stay with Mom and Dad. It was a second chance. He could find a way—he knew that he could somehow coexist with another, more successful Jason! If it meant that he could have his parents back, then to hell with his old life! He could live here and be happy! He could have the years that he'd lost back again; those times in the photos on the walls. He could go hunting with his dad again, and go sailing with his family.
Jason realized that he was heading down the slope, back to that spot in the shrubs, his boots slipping in the snow as his feet moved without thinking...
"Wait, what?!" he cried. He tried to stop.
But he wouldn’t stop. And now that he was on the incline, heading down to the ravine bottom, he was running at a jilted pace, hitting the ground with his cane with every other step as if he meant to do it.
What’s going on?! Jason thought with panic. He wanted to stay! He had to live here, with his Mom and Dad; to sleep in a real bed and talk with them for hours about all of the years he had missed!
That thing in his stomach moved again, pulling Jason toward the dark spot of snow and scrub where the portal sat invisibly in the night air. Something in his body pulled him like a magnet to that spot...
"No!" Jason cried. "No—I want to stay!"
He slipped then found himself sliding along the snow at the bottom of the slope until he was suddenly back on his feet, sprinting at the portal, which sudden opened with a fluttering sound and a snap that made Jason’s heart leap, full of fear! Jason was suddenly flying toward the vortex that sputtered and stretched open like a swirling maw; sparks flying around its rim, roaring and crackling like a wildfire...
"No! It’s not fair! I don’t wanna go!"
Chapter 26
Jason was flying for just an instant, falling, then he tumbled...
After a blinding flash of orange and a loud pop, the man appeared in darkness once again, falling forward. With a surprised cry, pushed out of the word ‘go’ that he was still bellowing, Jason thrust out his arms to protect himself from face-planting on the ground wherever he was...
Crashing painfully on the ground, Jason send bones flying out around him and lit up the dark cavern with the impact of whatever piezoelectric crystals were under his fall or disturbed by the scattered debris. He landed with an oof, his mouth full of flying dirt that tasted like death. Several chunks of bones jabbed him from all over: on his right shoulder, the left side of his belly, his left thigh, right forearm.
It only took an instant to recognize his surroundings.
"Shit!" he cried drawn out and vibrating with the pain of his landing.
There was a flurry of blue light as the crystals embedded in the cavern floor activated and rippled outward across the open area in a chain reaction. The portal had disappeared before he hit the ground. Its brilliant orange light was gone. Only the blue glow of the stones remained.
Jason took in a heavy breath of hot, humid air and the stench of the wyvern’s kills and offerings discarded all around him.
Suddenly filled with a wave of terror at the thought of not being alone, Jason sprang to his feet in the darkness and looked around blindly, trying to tell if the beast was in here with him. He immediately felt at his backpack and his gun to make sure nothing was gone, and bent down with wide eyes to feel around for his cane. He found it.
"Shit! Gotta go back!" he exclaimed, digging in his pocket for the folded bills. He pulled the money out, holding it before him in the darkness like a talisman.
He had it! A world with his parents in it was even better than going home! He had to get back!
Gimme somewhere to go, he thought. Bring me home. Show me a world with money like this...
Jason focused. He visualized his house from the back. He thought of his video game consoles under the TV and his painting of the Dreadwraith. He imagined his DnD books and papers and dice that he’d left on the table in his crafting room—the third bedroom. He thought of his parents with their features aged, and imagined his dad's blue robe and grey t-shirt and his mom's red robe like he saw in the alternate world...
Then he heard the wyvern shriek outside the cave and barely avoided pissing himself in naked fear.
Nothing was happening...
The beast’s roar wasn’t far—maybe it was just outside. It sounded like the beast was higher perhaps—up in the air? Maybe the wyvern was returning from hunting? Was this even the same world? Or had Jason gone to another dinosaur world that was similar but different? Was his cave still there? Did the Ettercap monster still live there with its pet spiders?
Another bestial sound came from outside and Jason imagined the wyvern’s wicked mouth letting out some sort of grunt or curious chirp.
The sound was closer.
"Shit!" Jason hissed, stuffing the money back into his pocket. He had to get out of the cave!
Stumbling through the bones and animal remains, Jason set off in the nearly pitch-black cavern, heading toward the dim and barely visible area that hinted at the light coming in from outside. The way out was through a low, curved tunnel, but in such deep darkness, Jason could detect a change in one direction—just a hint of light. The chain reaction of blue sparks that rippled around on the floor of the cave helped to light his way...
Jason found the tunnel and felt his way along its wall as quickly as he could until he could see well enough to get the hell out of there. When he had enough light to avoid killing himself by colliding into a stone wall or impaling himself on long, grisly bones, he hustled, then ran until he saw the cave mouth up ahead bathed in the golden light of sunset.
Damn it!
Just like before—back when he first appeared on this world—Jason ran up to the mouth of the tunnel and emerged immediately darting off to the right to plunge into the bushes he knew were there. With a skip of his heart, he realized that he only just avoided the wyvern spotting him. The monster was beating its large, bat-like and leathery wings, hefting the smoking and mangled body of a man-sized dinosaur into the air by its hind claws. It had been turning around when Jason dove into the bush, barely missing seeing him as the beast headed toward the cave to drag the carcass inside. Jason buried himself into the underbrush as deeply as he could, praying that the terrifying wyvern didn’t notice him.
He could hear the whooping sounds of the cannibals. From here, he could even hear the rapid footfalls of them sprinting around near the rocky slab. Then, the creaking of the wyvern’s wings became louder, and he heard the thing let out a guttural sound like a mix between the bellow of a crocodile and the shriek of an eagle. There was a crash in the gravel outside the cave as it landed again, and Jason heard the beast dragging the body inside just on the other side of the big, fat leaves around him.
Oh God, he thought. The beast almost found him. If he'd escaped a moment later, Jason would have been stuck inside the cave with the beast when it dragged its food inside...
Once it was obvious that the wyvern had crawled deep into the tunnel, Jason sat bolt upright and looked down to the sacrificial stone. Cannibals were collecting burning sticks and pieces of wood, waving their crude torches around in the evening air. They made all sorts of sounds of excitement, hopping up and down as many of them hightailed it into the woods.
The sun was setting behind the wyvern’s cave and Jason peered to the ridge—to the east—looking for his cave in the distance, far up the slope and above the thick forest. The side of the ridge was well-lit, and after some searching, Jason could barely make out the little black hole of his tunnel...
He was far away, and the sun was going down soon.
If he waited until the cannibals were all gone, it would be dark, and he’d be intercepted by rap
tors for sure. They hunted in the darkness of the night—the big ones, especially.
Pulling his flashlight out of his pack, Jason tightened everything down, got a good grip on his cane, then made a break for it.
Exploding from the bushes—hoping that the wyvern wouldn’t choose that moment to come out again for some reason—Jason sprinted down the slope, aiming his painful run into the largest gap between the busy cannibals. He made it pretty far too before they reacted, eying him with flat reptilian features stretched in surprise. The savages were like a mix between apes and lizards with dark, speckled eyes that glittered in the blazing sunset.
Jason passed the sacrificial slab and the largest group of primitives and made it into the valley before one of them finally appeared in his path. It sprinted at Jason with long, leaping steps to intercept him.
Slowing down just enough to aim, Jason stopped the cannibal by punching the tip of his cane into the creature’s throat. He felt a solid hit and kept moving as the cannibal fell away to the side, clutching at its neck while responding with a loud and gravelly "Ooh!"
As Jason ran, dodging through the sparse bushes and plowing through the tall grass, he caught sight of the three mini-rexes a little to the south in the valley. Adrenaline flashed through him like a bucket of ice water. Even though his terrified mind begged him not to, Jason spared a glance over there to see if they’d noticed him.
He saw the lead mini-rex staring back at him across the distance, its face just as curious and impassive as it always was, its front teeth hanging over its lower lip as it cocked its head.
Huh, the carnivore's expression seemed to say. Food.
"Oh, good God—no!"
He wouldn’t make it. Jason looked across the valley. Even though it was shorter across here by the wyvern’s cave, there was no way he’d lose the mini-rexes before reaching the creek.
Jason ran on for a moment, madly searching the valley for ideas...
His eyes landed on a marshy area full of cattails. There was a large, fallen tree there, sunken partway into the bog.
Sprinting to the log, ignoring the pain growing in his right knee, Jason kept his eyes wide, taking in the details, flying with adrenaline. He didn’t look back—he knew that they’d be coming. The man knew that the three big predators would be loping their way over to him like lions strolling over to check out something interesting. His gaze flew over the log, and he saw that the nearest end of it was mostly hollow.
When he made it there, Jason dove into it feet-first. It was previously a huge pine tree—much bigger around than Jason’s body—and it thankfully had enough space in its rotten interior for a human to squeeze inside.
It was tight—his backpack was really in the way—but Jason slithered in through the mud and rotten insides and God knows what else was in there. He pushed himself backwards deeper into the log, feeling his legs squelch through all sorts of sludge and unidentifiable things of random softness. His senses were overwhelmed with the strong odors of mud, shit, and old rot.
Good, part of his mind said. Maybe they won’t smell you...
Jason pushed and jammed his body backwards as far as he could, shimmying and slithering through the rotten log. He felt tiny things scurry across the skin of his face and in his hair, and it was all he could do to keep from screaming. He thought about giant insects being in there with him and prayed that they wouldn't eat him alive...
When he felt the thumps through the ground of the mini-rexes approaching, Jason froze.
His heart pounded in his ears, and he could smell—taste—the pungent mix of rotting organic matter all round him. He realized that he was taking small, shallow breaths as the huge predators walked around outside the log.
There was a low grunt that vibrated through Jason’s bones.
Oh God, he thought. He could picture the three of them out there, dark and terrifying in the orange and golden light with their deep brown feathers ruffling in the breeze. He’d become very familiar with these three mini-rexes by now and could imagine the two big ones and the slightly smaller one in his mind's eye. Jason wondered if his shots of 9mm had even hurt them at all. He visualized them sniffing around out there and he succumbed to the horrors of his imagination: seeing one of them crunch through the log’s shell with one powerful clawed foot and rip him out of the organic soup inside, dangling by one leg. Once again, the scene of Jason being torn in half or limb from limb played through his mind like acute torture. He imagined the crushing pain and the teeth lancing through his flesh; his skin and tendons being stretched before separating...
Something moved across Jason's face, and he felt a sharp sting above his eyebrow.
He clenched his eyes shut to keep the insects from getting inside and held his breath...
His left hand was surrounded by wriggling, feathery legs...
There was another low sound and the beasts’ heavy footfalls thumped around the log some more. Then one of the mini-rexes let out a loud, shuddering roar, and they all burst into motion—shaking the earth—running away to the south again.
"Oh God ... oh shit..." Jason muttered, feelings bugs swarm over him. He felt them tickling his calves as them crawled up the legs of his pants.
He tried to keep calm; tried to breathe long and low. His skin creeped and crawled as bugs explored his body...
Another one bit him on the ear; sharp and stinging. The smell of rot and its vapors were so strong that his eyes and lungs burned. Jason tried not to cry out in madness. It was so hot and humid and rank that he could hardly breathe...
Wait a while, he thought, shuddering. Several bugs moved around him when he did. Wait for them to be gone. Just wait...
Finally, either a handful of seconds or an eternity later, Jason perked up, listening fiercely. There were no sounds—no thumps. He moved forward on his elbows, pulling his body out of the sludge, trying not to cry out in revulsion. Eventually, Jason made it to the edge of the log. He paused before crawling out entirely, exposing only enough of his head to stare frightfully to the south, looking for the mini-rexes.
He saw the shadow of one of them move between the grass that obscured his vision. It was hundreds of yards away.
"Oh thank God!" Jason exclaimed, pulling himself out of the log.
Bugs were all over in his hair and clothes—Jason didn’t know if they were ants or spiders or what—and he shook violently, pulling at himself all over, removing as many of the bastards as he could. He saw many tiny black and brown glimmering forms fall to the mud, but it was getting too dark to see them clearly before the insects disappeared into the grass and bog.
Jason spent a good minute de-bugging. Eventually, his skin still alive with revulsion, he felt like he'd done the best he could—at least until he could do a more thorough job back in the cave, if he could make it home without being eaten. Still, Jason's skin crawled and pricked and waves of gooseflesh passed over him like cold flames.
Continuing into the woods, the man brought out his flashlight when he couldn’t see the underbrush anymore. He ran as fast as he dared, shaking his head to whip his hair around and still feeling his skin crawl.
Before he made it to the river, he heard the trills and calls of raptors in the dark begin.
"Come on," he said. "Almost there..."
Carefully descending the slope to the rapidly-moving black water, Jason paused for a moment to scan for crocodiles, but decided that it would be impossible to avoid them. In a moment of insanity that he didn’t understand later, he crouched and quickly filled up his coffee cup at the water’s edge—it was like some sort of weird, auto-pilot habit—before plunging through to the other side. The rushing water cooled the frazzled skin of his calves and he felt a little better. He climbed the other side like a madman, hurting his knee with each step of his right leg.
No crocodiles this time, he thought.
For all he knew, there might be one running along after him in the dark, its longer-than-typical legs plopping along to its funny gait, its long jaws
cracked open in a casual grin in the twilight...
Jason hurt, crawled with revulsion, and was almost dumb with fear, but he ran up the hillside through the forest until the land opened up. He followed the white spot of his LED, praying that he was still on course and would run right up to his cave...
When he saw the tunnel’s opening, Jason laughed.
"Yes!"
He stumbled up to the cave's entrance, noticing that the ground was wet and the turtle shells were full of rain water.
More luck.
Throwing a quick glance backwards to make sure nothing big and toothy was following him, Jason let out a dramatic sigh and ducked into the cave mouth. He could hear the trills and chirps of raptors all around him as the world of night started to come alive. He pushed through to the main chamber, desperate to rip all of his clothes off and get rid of the damned bugs. Then, he would make a fire in the entrance to keep raptors away, and—
Jason gasped when he emerged into the small cavern, illuminated by his flashlight and the glow of the bioluminescent mushrooms on the wall. He was home—cave home, anyway. But he wasn’t alone. Two cannibals squatted on the floor, their skin dark and dusky in the dim light. When Jason flashed his light at them, they hopped to their feet, eyes gleaming in the dark and strange faces full of shock!
One of them was holding a stone-ridged club that immediately caught Jason’s eye. The other was holding something more resembling a stone axe—its head made from knapped stone and lashed onto the end of a stout, wooden handle.
The two primitives let out similar screeches and leapt at Jason, raising their weapons...
Chapter 27
Two cannibals rushed across the dim cavern at Jason.
The man’s eyes landed like laser beams on the one with the stone axe, who came at him with the tool held high and flying down to crush him. The creature’s eyes were as unreadable as the other dinosaurs and monsters of this world, and Jason caught a quick glimpse of its pointy teeth, gleaming in the dark.
