“Are you alright?”
Rosella hurried over.
“Aye…”
Barbara pulled the crystal free from the spider’s twitching carcass.
Dark fluid dripped from the point.
She rotated her fractured arm.
Then the other.
“I don’t even feel fatigued.”
Barbara stared down at her enormous hands.
“This is insane…”
Elias observed the spider from several paces away.
Its legs had finally stopped twitching.
He cautiously approached.
“Are you certain it’s dead?”
Barbara looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Elias immediately pointed along the wall.
“Then let us continue.”
Barbara stared.
Rosella stared.
Elias had already started walking.
Barbara shook her head.
“Charming.”
They continued along the cavern wall.
Another stream eventually crossed their path.
Cold water rushed over the dark stone and disappeared into the shadows beyond.
They crossed.
Then kept going.
Several minutes later, the wall ended.
Elias stopped.
“Tsk…”
He looked ahead.
Nothing.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Then turned toward Rosella.
“What a waste.”
Rosella folded her arms.
“I said maybe.”
Elias paced along the edge of the stone.
“Without a sufficiently energy-dense fuel source, we will be incapable of generating the temperatures necessary to induce reduction within the ore and—”
“Shut it.”
Barbara pointed across the cavern.
“It’s over there.”
Elias stopped.
Silence.
Then turned.
A black seam protruded from the exposed stone several metres away.
He walked toward it.
Then faster.
Then broke into a run.
Rosella watched him go.
Barbara chuckled.
Elias dropped to his knees beside the deposit.
His fingers scraped across the surface.
SCRAPE.
Black dust clung to the bone.
Silence.
“Remarkable.”
Another scrape.
More residue.
His red eye lights brightened.
He pressed against the exposed seam.
“The material is brittle.”
CRACK.
A fragment broke free.
Elias caught it.
Turned it over.
Then scraped his thumb across the surface.
Black residue remained.
“Carbonaceous.”
A pause.
He examined the fracture.
Then the surrounding sediment.
Finally, he stood.
“This appears to be coal.”
Silence.
“Excellent.”
He looked along the seam.
It continued into the cavern wall.
His eye lights brightened further.
“Absolutely excellent.”
SWOOSH.
“HAH!”
Sid swung the spear through the air.
HAH!
HAH!
HAH!
Kaya groaned.
“Would you stop that?”
Sid lowered the weapon.
“I’m preparing in case of an attack.”
He puffed out his nonexistent chest.
Kaya stared.
“You’re more likely to attract one.”
“I require practice.”
“Can’t you practise quietly?”
Sid tilted his head.
“But sufficient striking force originates from proper breathing technique.”
Kaya stared at his empty ribcage.
Sid raised the spear.
“Like this.”
SWOOSH.
“GUAAAAAAAR—”
Something moved behind the vegetation.
Thump.
Sid stopped.
Silence.
Thump.
Everyone looked up.
Thump.
Another pause.
The sound was wrong.
Not the slow, earth-shaking impacts of the Tyrannosaurus.
Faster.
Lighter.
Deliberate.
Edgar slowly stood.
Alan turned toward the vegetation.
The footsteps accelerated.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Something was coming.
Kaya backed away.
“Sid…”
The vegetation exploded apart.
A creature burst into the clearing.
It landed low.
Four limbs.
Its shoulders rolled beneath thick muscle.
A massive skull hung from the end of a powerful neck.
Two enormous canine teeth curved downward beyond its upper jaw.
Its lips peeled back.
Rows of yellowed teeth glistened beneath them.
The creature stopped.
Yellow eyes fixed on the skeletons.
Alan froze.
“Is that a gorgonopsis?”
Everyone turned toward him.
Silence.
Alan pointed at the creature.
“WE NEED TO RUN!”
Sid tightened his grip on the spear.
“This is a perfect opportunity to test our new pointy stick.”
He spun it.
Badly.
The crystal tip passed inches from Edgar’s skull.
Edgar ducked.
“WATCH IT!”
The predator didn’t react.
Its yellow eyes had shifted.
Past them.
Toward the stream.
Toward the remains of the goblins.
Its nostrils flared.
Once.
Twice.
Then it started forward.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Alan backed away.
“It’s only a lizard…”
Sid muttered.
Alan’s head snapped toward him.
“It’s nearly as long as Barbara!”
He gestured wildly at the approaching animal.
Sid lowered the spear.
Then raised it again.
Pointing the crystal directly at the predator.
“Hehe.”
His jaw rattled.
“I’m going to make excellent use of your bones.”
The creature stopped.
Silence.
Its nostrils flared.
A low growl rolled through the cavern.
Sid’s jaw stopped rattling.
The animal lowered itself.
Its hind legs compressed beneath its body.
Alan’s amber eye lights widened.
“Sid—”
The creature exploded forward.
Sid stared.
“Or…”
A pause.
“Maybe not?”
He turned.
Sid was the first to run.