Chapter 45 - Lost Island

“Bjorn,” I said to the tanned dwarf, waving my hand over my mouth and coughing as the pungent ammonia smell pierced my nostrils and made me gag. “This stuff is… cough… disgusting!”

Bjorn applied another generous dab on Rosalia’s hips, who was similarly covering her nose, then corked the bottle with a piece of dried wood. “Eh, you get used to it. You’ll thank me later.”

“Since you two have made my territory map obsolete, you’re gonna help me map out a new one. And in exchange, I’ll teach you the ropes of surviving in these forests. Deal?”

I looked at Rosalia, who nodded at me. It was a fair offer given the circumstances, and after all, both sides would benefit. “Deal.”

“Let’s go then. And tell your golem to follow, but not too close.” Bjorn walked towards the forest, peeling back the fern and motioning us forward. As we left the shoreline, Bjorn tapped both his shoulders and then thumped his chest with a closed fist. “May Thor watch over us.”

At the look of my confused face, Bjorn tried to explain. “It’s a dwarven custom, at least among my clan, to pray to Thor before a great undertaking.”

Stepping through the ferns into the prehistoric wilderness, I felt uneasy due to the dense foliage and lack of sight lines. “Isn’t the shore safer than the forest? We can’t even see anything around here.”

Bjorn took a swig from his canteen and walked along the side of a fallen tree, as we followed behind him, and Siege Golem swatted high branches out of the way as he followed from a distance. “Aye, the shore is safer in general. However, you’ll be cut off from the rest of the island once the territories start shifting and you might find yourself in deep shit. It’s best to start moving now, while the scent marks are still lingering.”

He had a fair point. After all, the very fact that a lone dwarf was alive after all this time in a monster infested region was a testament to how good Bjorn’s survival instinct and meticulous planning was.

“Now you see, different animals require different approaches,” Bjorn continued to explain. “That’s why gauging territory is so crucial. An approach that works against an allosaurus will not work against a T. rex.”

“T. rexes are solitary hunters. They’re one of the bigger predators around here, and are highly territorial. Allosauruses are different. They might be slightly smaller than a T. rex individually, but they hunt in packs, and they’re most active in the morning.”

Bjorn pulled out a map and pointed out several natural features of the island. “See here? This natural bridge to that mountain is allosaurus territory, and from this lake to the edge of the island is the domain of a few male and female T. rexes. Raptor territory should start around here, but I’ve seen them poke around over the bridge a few times into allosaurus territory. They aren’t completely scared of the allosauruses, but they stay the hell away from T. rex territory at all costs.”

Rosalia rubbed her neck and spoke. “Is there any way off this island?”

“There’s no easy way. You’d either have to dig your way out or climb a four hundred meter high vertical drop. I’ve been working on a tunnel through the mountain, but it’ll take months or maybe even a year or two to finish.”

You have discovered a new location, Lost Island.

You have gained a level.

Level 84. I almost forgot about the level up mechanic. Killing two adult spinosauruses didn’t even tip me over the edge because the experience needed for the next level increased exponentially, so with the new location discovery I finally reached the next threshold.

Levels in this game were critical to your success, not only because of the stat gains each level but also because they put you one step closer to unlocking class advancements, which had the potential to be game changing. I was very much looking forward to my second class advancement, whatever level that may be.

Doon, doon.

Siege Tank Golem’s heavy footsteps were reassuring in a place fraught with so much danger. Speaking of the golem, it was possible that the Forgotten King’s Tomb was here on this island.

Suddenly, Bjorn stopped in his tracks and motioned us to the side, gesturing for us to be silent. Peeking from behind a thick tree, I saw the flash of a tail appear within the bushes ahead. And then another. Then, one of the animals emerged from the foliage. Standing at adult human height, the way the creature’s head jerked back and forth as it scanned the perimeter was almost bird like. Its name was highlighted in dark red, almost black, signaling extreme danger. The creature turned back and let out a deep, repetitive chirping sound. A moment later, another one stepped out of the bushes and began vocalizing to the first.

Velociraptors, Bjorn mouthed. Stay quiet.

Rosalia blinked in thought, then began to levitate, but Bjorn grabbed her shoulder and shook his head no. Too risky, he mouthed.

I agreed with him. Even the adult spinosauruses did not have their names highlighted in a deep red so close to black. I shuddered to imagine why these small creatures were marked in a higher danger category than those massive cannibalistic fish eaters.

The velociraptors sulked around the clearing, sniffing the air and investigating the surroundings. They must have heard us earlier. I pressed my back against the tree with Bjorn and Rosalia at my shoulders, and held my breath. Rosalia clung to my arm in fear, as she looked nervously behind her shoulder without poking her head out of cover.

Scratch, scratch.

Sniff.

Sniff, sniff.

The snarling velociraptors paced through the area, right behind where we were hiding. Suddenly, the rustling of leaves stopped. One of the velociraptors sniffed loudly, then began yelping, making an unnervingly docile sound that carried a tinge of high pitched vibrato and guttural purring. I readied myself for a fight, but Bjorn motioned me down again.

A few more communicative yelps persisted, and then, as if they were caught doing something bad red handed, the velociraptors ran back into the bushes. The rustling of the bushes continued, away from us.

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When it was finally safe, Bjorn let out a tense exhale. He spoke in a low whisper. “They caught one whiff of Rex urine and took off. Good. They’ll warn the rest of the pack not to come near here. Strange though, I never expected them to send scouts already.”

“Scouts?” Rosalia said. “Are they really that intelligent to have scouts?”

Instead of responding immediately, Bjorn pulled up his sleeve and showed us an old jagged scar across his forearm. “You know how I got this? When I was foraging for berries, I saw a few fish lying in a pile in the middle of the woods. The moment I saw that, I started running. The velociraptors were trying to bait prey with fish, which shows how cunning they are. I got away, but only after getting this nasty scar from rolling down a hill.”

“From a dwarven or a human point of view, it’s obvious that a few fish left in the middle of the forest is bait, but it shows that they’re more than capable of planning and strategic thinking far beyond the capabilities of a lesser animal, which makes them very dangerous.”

Bjorn scribbled a note on his map with a granite rock he had sharpened into a fine point. “Let’s go back to my base first and restrategize. And tell your golem that he’s getting too close. He’s not fast enough to protect us well if we actually encounter any danger, and the footsteps are a dinner bell to the predators that have evolved tremor sense.”

I frowned. “Are you sure? If he was closer just now, he could’ve helped us against the velociraptors.”

Bjorn shook his head dismissively. “Were you not listening before? Velociraptors hunt in allosaurus territory. Do you know how scary allosauruses are? They’re massive carnivores, evolved to be able to hunt down eighteen ton sauropods with bodies large enough to displace a small lake. They can easily bite us in half without much effort. And they hunt in packs. The largest allosaurus pack I’ve lived to see was five.”

“If velociraptors aren’t even scared of dipping under a pack of allosaurus’s noses to steal prey, why do you think they’ll be deterred by a moving boulder?”

The dwarf’s reasoning was sound, but it raised another alarm in my head. If the allosauruses won in size and were equal in number, why were the velociraptors confident enough to invade their territory? Something wasn’t quite adding up here. Maybe the velociraptors were even more dangerous than they first appeared. If that was the case, I was glad that we didn’t engage them earlier.

The foliage was progressively becoming denser and more jungle-like, and Bjorn cut through the thick vines with a self crafted stone machete. “Here, take this,” I said, taking out an adamantite battleaxe from my inventory.

Bjorn’s eyes glinted when he saw the green hued axe blade. He took the axe from my hand carefully, running his fingers over the blade and shaft, caressing the weapon as if it were a woman.

“No wonder I didn’t find any weapons on the beach… I should’ve known you took all of them,” Bjorn said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen a weapon made with a real forge, and it’s been masterfully forged too. Look at the wave pattern on this blade.” He traced down the off white finish of the axe’s curve. “Beautiful.”

“It says it was forged by Halfdan Rangarsson,” I said.

“That’s that dwarf operating the smithy and the mortars,” Rosalia said absentmindedly.

“Mmm… you’re right, I do recognize his work in this blade. Good to know that that old fox is still alive and kicking.”

Bjorn replaced his makeshift stone machete with the adamantite battleaxe, and cut through the vines and overgrowth in our way with ease, as we climbed up the island. On the map he showed us, we were making our way out of spinosaurus territory towards Bjorn’s base.

Two hours later, we were greeted by the sound of a roaring waterfall spilling from a gorgeous mountain top into a mega lake surrounded by tall natural walls. The sheer scale of it was unfathomably large. If I were to walk from one end of the waterfall to the other, it would take at least half an hour.

Lounging in the mega lake was a family or herd of sauropods. The largest of the herd had a torso half the size of a fully grown blue whale, and a long neck that I had to climb several trees to even fully see. There were many juveniles of various sizes, from ones that were easily bigger than the spinosaurus, to pint sized sauropods the size that could fit into my palm. I almost mistook them for another species until I saw them moving.

“They’re so big,” Rosalia exclaimed in wonder, her mouth open as if she was saying oh.

“My base is on the other side of the waterfall. We’ll have to swim through and then climb up a ledge,” Bjorn explained.

Before he could explain any further, three allosauruses appeared from the side of the lake, eyeing the sauropods hungrily.

Guuuuuuuu-

Sensing danger, the larger sauropods grunted and slowly circled around their young, pointing their powerful tails threateningly at the allosauruses.

“Quick, while they’re busy,” Bjorn motioned. “Let’s go.” He dove down from the ledge we were standing on, straight into the water with no reservations, then began paddling his way along the side of the mega lake. Deep baritone grunts rang across the lake, as one of the largest sauropods slapped its tail down into the water with a deafening hit, causing the allosauruses to back off for a moment.

With a quick glance at Rosalia, I dove into the water. Looking back, Rosalia stepped off the ledge and began to hover gently through the air right above us. Although it wasn’t the biggest deal at the moment, I mentally noted to tell her later that that particular angle was somewhat compromising…

Siege Tank Golem also thunked into the water behind us, wading through because it was tall enough to walk even in the deep water. We made our way through the lake as a terrifying melee began right in our line of sight. Another allosaurus joined up with the rest of its pack, and they were darting into the water to try to nab one of the juvenile sauropods, which was half the height of a tree. Every time an allosaurus lurched forward, it was met by a defensive swish of a tail.

Are those things able to swim? I wondered to myself, alternating between freestyle and breaststroke to keep an eye on the chaos. From above, Rosalia continued to glide effortlessly above the water. Thankfully, her [Descent] ability kept her just about out of range of an allosaurus on land, and far out of reach over water.

Bjorn kicked up a storm swimming through the lake, and I followed suit. From the corner of my vision, I saw one of the allosauruses jump into the water and begin paddling with its claws barely scratching the surface of the lakebed. Its air sac filled, low density bones gave the animal a surprising amount of buoyancy, as it navigated through the water with the aid of its tail. The other allosauruses in the pack also jumped in, and began swimming towards the herd.

“Are you sure this is a good idea??” I shouted at Bjorn between the sounds of the waterfall and the colossal creatures moving and splashing somewhat nearby.

“Yes! This is why I said let’s go quickly, when they’re busy!” Bjorn replied with a hasty shout. “This is the best time to go, when they’re hunting something else!”

One of the allosauruses snapped up a juvenile sauropod the size of a teacup, skewering it on its sharp teeth before swallowing the baby whole.

“No!” Rosalia exclaimed in horror at the gruesome display of predation. It reminded me of that video of a yellow baby chick on a farm squeaking and hopping on the ground, right before it was picked up by a cow, of all things, which began to munch on it without any hesitation.

A whole mess of splashing and flailing in the water began as the allosauruses closed in on a more sizable juvenile.

“Summon love whip,” I said. The idea just came to me that the weakness of using love whip to transport myself was how it managed to almost dislocate my shoulder every time I tried it, but the situation might be different while underwater. I ordered the whip to wrap around my arm, and bring me forward.

With a sudden jerk, I torpedoed through the water like a submarine with a jetpack, and grabbed Bjorn by the waist as I passed him. The surprised dwarf flinched initially, before loosening up to enjoy the ride as we barreled through the lake at mach speed, leaving Rosalia and Siege Golem behind.

After covering a significant distance and feeling that if I held on any further, my arm would be torn off, I unsummoned love whip and floated my head above the surface. We were between the shadows of two massive sauropods.

One of the sauropod legs lifted up, and I could see the wrinkled skin and soft, circular bottom of its foot. The massive foot came down like an industrial grade presser, as I swam to the side just in time. The sauropods could easily crush me to death without even batting an eye.

Before I could even catch my breath, a massive jaw surfaced less than twenty meters away from me, grasping a thrashing juvenile sauropod by the foot. An entire grazing bite was taken out of the sauropod’s side, which left a bloody raw sheet of exposed flesh.