Shortly after daybreak the party was sitting on a hill about an hour east of Ashenhold, overlooking a wide, mostly untouched area below. To the southwest there was forest heading all along the base of the mountains for as far as they could see. To the southeast it was grasslands full of life. And where the two biomes seemed to met was a well worn road.
“Are those… dinosaurs?” asked Celeste. “You want us to fight dinosaurs?”
“Yes and no,” replied Wendell with a smile. “Those are dinos, but we don’t want to fight them.”
With the perfect timing that normally only happens in the movies, a loud roar rumbled from the forest as a massive dinosaur walked out of the forest.
“We just want you to fight that one.”
Liam looked over to Dakota and Wendell, looked back at the dino, and back to his brothers. “You want to fight a T-Rex? Why in the hell do you want to fight a T-Rex?”
“There’s a trade route that runs through this area that’s historically been fairly safe. Until this guy moved in. He has it out for us lesser mortals. Doesn’t just kill folks when he finds them. He actively hunts them. Military was about to send out a platoon to take it down. We asked for the first shot at it.”
“It’s like four times our size,” replied Miguel
“Yeah, so. The ooze was four times bigger than that, we still won.”
“All you did was distract it so that the dwarves could stab it with a rock made of baking soda setting off a chemical reaction,” replied Celeste.
“So, are you saying you won’t help?” asked Dakota, sounding down.
“Of course not! I just wanted to make sure you realized how crazy this was,” said Liam. “Now, how are we going to do this? Do we know for sure if we can cut through it’s skin? Also, how fast is it?”
“We’re relatively sure we can cut it. The speed is an issue. We’ve seen it run down some of it’s prey and it is quick. Also, one of the messengers that came up from the south said that they witnessed it out-pacing a horse at full gallop.
“If it hates people so much we shouldn’t have to chase it. But if things go wrong it’s going to make retreating rather difficult,” observed Celeste.
“Exactly,” said Wendell. “If we commit to this fight, we have to win. We’re not sure if even Sage can outrun it and she’s faster than any horses we’ve seen.”
“Wendell, can your mind magic work on it?” Liam asked.
“I’ve not been close enough to try. It should, I wouldn’t expect a T-Rex to have a whole lot of willpower but I won’t know until I try.”
“Then, here’s what I’m thinking,” started Liam.
The team spent the next couple hours putting together a plan. Liam used his [Horse] spell to summon a mount for everyone and they road down the hill and toward the area where the beast was feasting on a recent kill.
As they got within a few hundred feet, the T-Rex stopped eating and stared at them. As they continued to get close the beast started walking toward them.
“Wendell, got anything?” asked Liam
“Not yet.
Not yet.
Got it!”
At Wendell’s call, they all stopped.
“It’s unable to communicate beyond base emotions. All I’m getting is hate. It’s refusing to leave.”
“Well, time to get to work then,” stated Liam. As he did so, everyone except Wendell started moving. Some straight at the T-Rex, some swinging out to the side.
Dakota casted [Enlarge/Reduce] and doubled Sage’s size. Unfortunately she still wasn’t even half as tall as the T-Rex but there was more to her that just height. As she neared the enemy, Sage pounced. Liam was waiting for this and as Sage left the ground he quickly cast [Weighted], greatly increasing her weight and thus momentum. When her body collided with the T-Rex, it roared in pain as it tumbled backwards and to the side.
As soon as it hit the ground, Miguel cast [Entangle] and Wendell cast [Brain Chains]. Liam released the weight he’d placed on Sage and instead put it on the T-Rex.
Then Sage attacked, her claws raking at the neck of the beast, her maw clamping on what ever it could grab.
Celeste and Deandra had flanked around to the side hoping to be near the head when it fell. Unfortunately it landed so that they were near the feet and far too close to the tail that was sweeping back and forth. Timing her attack, Celeste yelled to her daughter, “Hang on!” as she charged in closer, hand raised, [Fire Spray] coating the T-Rex’s feet in flame before spinning her horse around and fleeing the incoming tail. Deandra had her bow out and was peppering the T-Rex with arrows but they didn’t appear to be doing much.
Miguel and Liam charged straight at the monster’s head. They were suppose to be taking care of the monster’s feet and tail to prevent it from getting up. But they had contingency plans. They each chose an eye with the intent to blind the creature.
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Dakota felt wasted just sitting on Sage as she attacked, so he hopped down and left her to do her thing while he ran toward the T-Rex’s feet. By the time he made it there, Celeste had already burned them a couple times and Deandra was filling them full of arrows. Just as he was thinking they had it under control something changed. The beast shifted. Wendell screamed out for them to move. Dakota realized how far he was from Sage and knew he was in trouble. Through his bond, he called for Sage to run as he followed his own advice and cursed himself for not sticking with the plan.
The sound of snapping vines filled the area as the dinosaur rolled over. Its feet started digging into the ground as it tried to right itself. Figuring he didn’t have anything to lose, Dakota turned and cast [Grease] several times covering the T-Rex’s feet and ground around it. Then he sent a quick [Message] to Deandra, “Think you can hit that area with a flaming arrow?”
Deandra asked her mom to swing around but Celeste wouldn’t listen. In an act of preteen defiance, Deandra jumped from the horse. After rolling to her feet she used one of her new spells to light an arrow on fire and took aim at the T-Rex that was just getting to it’s feet. Less than a second after she loosed the arrow, the grease ignited. A roar of anger and pain was her answer. Looking up Deandra saw that the T-Rex was looking straight at her with it’s one remaining eye as it took it’s first fiery step. “Looks like they missed one,” she thought to herself as she turned to run. Never before had she hated having short, dwarven legs as much as she did in that moment. She ran with all her heart. Ahead she saw that her mom had turned the horse around and was charging toward her. Back into danger. But Deandra couldn’t die. Her mom could. Deandra waved her mom away, “Run, I’ll be okay,” she shouted before turning around and loosing an arrow. Looking at how fast the creature was running, she thought she might be able to get three, maybe four off before it reached her.
Draw
Aim
Release
Draw
Aim
Release
“It’s nearly here” she thought to herself.
Draw
Aim
Release
Draw
Aim
And then her world started to spin.
Celeste knew her daughter was protected by a ward but when the T-Rex’s tail whipped around and launched Deandra into the air, Celeste felt her heart stop for a beat. Then it thundered. She was pissed. How dare this creature attack her daughter! Standing in the stirrups of her horse she started to cast. Formulas spun in her mind as her hands waved drew symbols in the air. The T-Rex wasn’t intelligent like people, but it wasn’t dumb either. It knew this woman was dangerous and so it ran straight for her as she cast. As it got within eighty yards of her, a lightening bolt the size of a telephone pole erupted from a clear sky a slammed into the dinosaur, causing it’s muscles to lock. It’s momentum carried it forward as it fell. The ground rumbled as it landed and continued to slide. Celeste had not stopped casting. Between her and the beast a black sphere appeared and grew into an oval shaped opening just large enough for the T-Rex’s head. As the creature slid into the aperture, Celeste made a circular motion with each of her hands before throwing them out to the side. As she did, the black oval snapped shut and the head of the dinosaur was gone.
For long minutes, nothing else happened. The world itself seemed scared to exhale. Then, slowly, animals started to move again. Sage approached Celeste. She turned, expecting to see Dakota but was greeted with the sight of Deandra, clearly excited but trying to hide it. “Yes, you’re in trouble, but now isn’t the time. What has you so happy?”
Deandra stopped fighting in and let her smile take over her face, “I got another boon!”
“Seriously? For what?”
“Look!”
With that Deandra shared part of her status screen:
[Boon unlocked]
For flying through the air with enough force to crush walls, and surviving!
Living Cannonball: Take 20% less damage when you hit things while flying.
“What the hell!” cried Celeste, knowing that this would just make Deandra want to do more stupid things.
Deandra, still riding her high, missed the tone in her mom’s voice. “I know! Isn’t it cool!! I wonder what other boons are out there that I could earn? Maybe someone has a list and I could do them all!”
Celeste wanted to yell at her daughter. To yell at the gods for rewarding such behavior. Instead she took a couple calming breaths and just waited for the rest of the group to arrive so they could decide what to do with the multiple ton dinosaur in front of them.
As the party gathered together, Wendell was holding his reigns in one hand and a sending stone in his other, communicating with someone. Once he finished he updated the team, “A squad of butchers, tanners, and general laborers are on their way. We’ll just need to hang around here and make sure nothing tries to still our bounty and then escort this group back to the city.”
Celeste, Miguel, and Liam looked at one another before looking back to Wendell, Liam asking what they were all wondering, “You just happen to have all these people ready?”
“Of course. I knew you all weren’t going to miss an opportunity to fight a T-Rex. And, I used our clan name to lock in really good prices, though we are going to miss out on some profit since it’s head is missing. Those teeth were valuable. Even split five ways, it’s more gold that most folks earn in a year.”
Deandra looked at her uncle, “Five ways? So you’re not getting a share?”
A deer-in-the-headlights look crossed Wendell’s face as he tried to decide what he should say. He hadn’t expected to give Deandra a cut. But he also hadn’t expected her to get launched across the field like a rocket either. Wendell hung his head, “Well, split six ways is still a lot of coin for a morning’s work.”
“Let’s wait and see what the crafters say once they’re done,” suggested Liam. “Perhaps it’ll be more than we’re expecting since most of it’s hide is undamaged. Or it may be less because the eyes are the most valuable part and I damaged one of them.”
“You damaged it? I’m the one that hit that eye!” cried out Miguel.
Liam looked over with a confused expression, “What are you talking about, you were totally on the other side.”
“No, I was on the right.”
“Yeah, but it was on the ground so it’s reversed. When he stood up, your right would have been on the left.”
Miguel just looked at Liam for a moment trying to decide if the man was serious or not. Liam kept a perfectly blank face, not giving away anything. Miguel just shook his head, always go with the safe bet and with Liam, the safe bet was he was trying to trick you. “No, that’s bullshit. I know I’m the one that messed up his eye.”
The rest of the group chuckled, including Liam. “Had you going for a moment.”
They all talked for a bit when Deandra asked, “What are we doing next?”
Liam took up the explanation, “Tonight we get paid, eat T-Rex steaks, and plan out our trip to the south. The dwarves have given us a great gift by preparing us for this world. Tomorrow we leave to go find the rest of our family.”