As they walked, Erik determined that they were traveling in a south by south-easterly direction, at least according to the orientation of the map in his HUD. Which meant that they had spawned in nearly the most northern point available. It wasn’t immediately useful, but he figured that eventually he’d be able to get a sense of the larger game world. Not for the first time, he regretted that E.L.E’s format wasn’t more collaborative. Not that Battle Royales weren’t fun—there was a certain intensity to being in such a target-rich environment—but it didn’t lend itself to a cooperative spirit among the players. There was only so much about a game world this deep that three people could figure out on their own.
They sloshed forward, angling from one small patch of growth to the next, stopping to rest whenever they found a bit of solid ground. Like desert travelers leapfrogging from one oasis to the next. Except deserts had sand and heat, and this prehistoric swamp was full of murky water and large, hostile wildlife. The thick swamp air clung to them, damp and heavy, carrying the sour scent of decaying plants. Erik was certain he’d seen something in the distance. Some large animal disturbing the water's surface as it swam lazily onward, its slow progress creating ripples that caught the sunlight before fading into the shadows. It seemed utterly indifferent to their presence in its swamp.
Initially, there had been open stretches of shallow water with occasional islands spread out across it, but the further they traveled, the denser the vegetation became. Tangled roots sprawled outward from trees, dipping into the water like the gnarled hands of some ancient giant. The patches of solid ground were slick with moss and rotting leaves, making every step feel precarious.
“Somehow, this is even hotter than the jungle,” Marcus complained from where he walked behind Erik’s triceratops. Erik’s snort was his only reply. He could tell it was warm, but the heat didn’t bother his dinosaur body. Erik was almost certain that Marcus only even brought it up because no one had said anything in hours.
Sarah, who had gone on ahead, spoke to them suddenly through the game’s telepathy-like whisper system.
“I’ve found the tracks of another team,” she informed them.
“How can you tell?” Marcus asked.
“Three sets of tracks, three different animals. It’s not rocket science.” Erik flicked his horned nose and his HUD popped up, with a few more motions he navigated to the map screen and quickly locked Sarah’s dot.
“You’re not too far ahead of us,” he said, picking up the pace as he spoke. Trotting through the belly-deep water with a series of sloshes, the noise of his passage momentarily drowned out the sounds of the swamp.
“I hear them,” Sarah said, her dot showing she had kept moving south, following the curve of a long island that Erik could see from where he was running. “Sounds like there’s a fight.”
“Don’t let them see you,” Erik said, his flat feet pressing down into the spongy moss and mud of the island’s bank as he left the water. The wet ground squelched loudly with every step, and he followed the treeline with Marcus on his tail. Together, they made their way up to where Sarah had stopped, finding that the team she had tracked was indeed fighting another team.
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“Well, that’s lucky for us. We can let them wear each other out,” Marcus whispered. Sarah’s raptor head nodded, as if this was the most natural suggestion in the world, and Erik couldn’t deny the pragmatism of it. This wasn’t a friendly game, after all. Everyone was here to win, and there could be only one first place. But still, he couldn’t deny that there was something distasteful in the idea of ambushing weakened players. Expedient as it was, it felt too much like admitting they needed underhanded tactics to win.
Sarah had found a spot set back into the trees, from which they could easily see the teams struggling against one another on a bare, muddy stretch of shoreline that slanted very gently into the greenish-brown water. The combatants were fierce, Erik had to admit as he watched, but he also couldn’t deny they weren’t very good.
They had paired off in their combats, each time fighting three duels, rather than working together. The triceratops were smashing their heads together, trying to shove each other backward—to what end Erik wasn’t really sure, since neither of them had grown to juvenile yet, and they lacked the sharp horn his own dinosaur had.
The two Rexes, which likewise brawled with one another, were not yet juveniles, somehow still in the hatchling growth stage. At a glance, Erik would have guessed that Marcus outweighed both of the hatchlings combined.
The raptors were the exception, as both of them seemed to have advanced their growth stage. They also seemed to be the least enthused to fight their counterpart, more content to circle each other with occasional feints. All in all, Erik had to admit they made quite the circus.
“How are they still babies?” Sarah asked in a low whisper, which her raptor translated into a soft owl-like hoot.
“Can’t find food, I bet,” Marcus said from her other side. “I mean, look at them. They’re hopeless.”
It was not an unmerited criticism. Even if Erik allowed for the horrible strategy of fighting a series of one-on-one duels, they were individually not great. It was clear that every participant on both sides wasn’t really committed. Some part of them held back from seeking to deliver a death blow, and it was then that Erik understood. They weren’t comfortable attacking other players.
“No guts,” Marcus said, echoing Erik’s thoughts. They watched the slow melee progress for several moments before Erik noticed the disturbance in the water. The force of something approaching beneath the surface sent small waves off to either side.
The raptors below both noticed it at the same time, as did one of the triceratops, who turned his head and took his eyes off his opponent. His opponent seized that opportunity to knock him down with a charge, driving him deeper into the shallows.
Before anyone had a chance to call out, water exploded as a long shadow stretched forward. The fallen triceratops vanished in the spray. The water churned violently as the massive predator twisted, dragging the struggling triceratops into the depths. A long tail, ridged with bony plates, thrashed against the surface before vanishing beneath the murky swamp.
For a heartbeat, everything was still. Then one of the raptors shrieked, the sound sharp and panicked, breaking the silence.
“What the hell is that?” Marcus hissed, his head swinging toward the disturbance.
“Doesn’t matter,” Sarah snapped. “They’re screwed.”
Erik’s heart pounded as he watched the teams below scatter, their half-fought battle forgotten. The remaining triceratops roared, backing into the trees, while the raptors bolted in opposite directions. The two Rexes—too slow to flee—looked around wildly, their hatchling frames trembling.
The surface of the water rippled again, and Erik’s stomach dropped. “It’s coming back.”