I crept to the door and peeked out already knowing what I would see on the other side. Or at least, I thought I knew, turns out, I was wrong. There wasn’t one croc out there, but two. And they were snuffling and growling and pointing to each other as they made their way toward the barn. One of them was a giant like the one at the pub, the other was the regular kind of toilet croc. That’s a thing now, okay? We were screwed.

I hurriedly turned and searched for another way out, but it was a barn. It only had one really big and really easy-to-open door. There wasn’t enough hay in the world that could block the door. Stella, Sob and my new friend Frank were all staring at me like somehow, I’d get us out of this. The bird was ruffling his feathers and hopping from foot to foot in agitation. I had no idea where the thing had come from but at least it was being quiet now.

“Sob,” I whispered. “I’m going to ride you, you’re gonna have to deal with it. Stella, get ready to run. Frank… Do whatever you want.”

I know. I’m talking to a bunch of animals like they can actually understand what I’m saying. You’d be doing the exact same thing if you were here and you know it. Just be grateful I wasn’t hiding in a corner somewhere balling my eyes out as I rocked back and forth. Or you know, torn into pieces, eaten or left to rot. That wouldn’t make for much of a story.

Shut up and listen. Stop looking at me with your judgemental eyes.

I grabbed a hefty chunk of something from the ground and crouched by the door, pulling back on my slingshot. I aimed for the open arched window at the top of the tower, this would either work or we were dead meat.

“Ready…” I whispered.

The crocs drew nearer. The larger of the two crouching to sniff a pile of you-know-what that Sob had left out there. Gross.

I let loose the clump and ran for it. The church bell rang as I swung up onto Sob’s brand-new saddle.

New Achievement: Bell-ringer

Congratulations! A few more of these and you’ll officially be a Tower Grabber! Do it, grab the tower! You know you want to.

The crocs roared and their pounding footsteps retreated. I thumped my heels against Sob’s sides and grabbed a hold of his mane as he jerked forward into a full-blown gallop. I braced my feet in the stirrups and leaned forward keeping my elbows near my knees. Stella ran beside us as we burst through the barn doors.

We tore across the beaten track aiming to the north and away from the church. The crocs were by the door to the giant whitewashed building. They gave chase but Sob was faster, leaving them and their ear-splitting roaring behind.

I sighed in relief when I could look over my shoulder and they were no longer there. Sob barked and slowed to a trot, unable to keep pace with the horse anymore. I adjusted my seat and Sob slowed. I had to be grateful to Gordon right now, Sob might be a dick but he’d been trained well.

I stroked his neck and said, “good horse. That was perfect.”

Sob slowed to a walk and let out a too-loud bellow, bucking uncomfortably beneath me. It didn’t take a genius to know what he wanted. He stopped in place, and I immediately slid off, taking a few cautionary steps away. I guess I should be glad he didn’t just toss me off.

Frank appeared from nowhere, settling in the space I’d just left on the saddle, and began preening his glossy black feathers. Sob didn’t seem to mind the bird as he started walking again. All I could do was shrug and march after them.

We walked almost all day before Dead Drop came into view. It towered over everything around it in the barren landscape. Its slope was painfully vertical until it ended at a sharp point over an enormous drop in a shadowed crevice that split the ground from horizon to horizon. If nothing else, it was incredibly impressive.

A track led up the steep incline where it stopped by the top at a fenced-in area. I wondered how many people had climbed over the pathetic attempt to stop curious onlookers just to catch a glimpse over the edge.

We’d made it, and now we had to figure out what the quest actually wanted us to do. I knew I had to find a cable snake, but I didn’t know what that was. I’d never heard of that kind of snake before. Not that that was surprising, there were so many in this damn country that it was almost impossible to know every single one of them, but how was I supposed to find a particular kind if I didn’t know what it looked like? Hopefully, the thing would be lit up in gold like so many other things in this weird ass game. That would help. All things considered though; a cable snake sounded less dangerous than the death adders that loved this area.

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Sob stopped at the base of the crag, unwilling to climb the thing. Stella didn’t seem to mind though, she trotted along beside happy with the hike. I chomped on a strip of jerky as we climbed and drank a good amount of my dwindling water supply. By the time we’d reached the top I was breathless and clutching the stabbing pain in my side as rivulets of sweat dripped off just about every part of me. I dropped to my knees in the boxed-in viewing area just sucking in air. God damn, that was a hell of a climb. Was I really that out of shape?

When I’d caught my breath, I cupped my hand and poured some water into it for Stella. She lapped it up in record time, but it didn’t stop her panting.

Right, well. Despite the pain, we were here, and with a bit of sunlight left too which was helpful. I started looking for the blasted snake, but I was no expert. Besides, since I was a young kid, I’d been told to avoid snakes at all costs, so looking under rocks and in crevices and grooves was making me very uncomfortable. I used my fancy croc skin boots to kick over a few of the larger flat rocks, trying not to yelp as lizards and bugs scattered from being exposed. It’s not like I’m scared of the things but damn they run fast, and my caveman brain doesn’t like that.

No luck. Apparently, there wasn’t a single snake on this damn ridge.

“Stella, help me out, girl. Find the blasted cable snake.”

The dog looked up, her ears perking at her name but otherwise, she just stood there, staring at me. I climbed over the dodgy rusting fence and started searching near the edge, being very cautious not to get too close to the drop-off. I didn’t want to survive the croc's invasion just to die from being an idiot.

There was nothing. Why was there nothing? I bellowed and swore and kicked a rock over the edge. Stella whined at my burst of anger. I opened my minimap but all it did was show a dot that I assumed was me sitting right on top of the quest marker. Not helpful.

I rubbed my aching neck as I did a little spin. Looking for anything at all that I might have missed. The flapping of wings overhead drew my attention. I looked up to see Frank circling me.

“What are you doing?” I yelled up to him.

The raven squawked and dropped. I held my arm out and the bird landed with a heavy thud, gripping my arm a little too tight with its talons.

He ruffled his feathers and screamed in my ear. “Bad. Bad, bad, bad. Frank come back.”

I frowned not sure if the thing was trying to tell me something or if he was just repeating something he’d heard once upon a time. The way he talked he must have had some sort of owner or caretaker before. My head jerked around as Stella started to bark incessantly. Blood drained from my face as I saw the problem.

“Bad!” Frank screamed before flapping back into the sky.

Bad is right. A croc topped the rise, its muzzle covered in blood and half a dingo gripped in its claws. Stella ran, squeezing under the fence to stand beside me. We were stuck right on the edge of oblivion. I backed up as far as I could glancing down into the gaping maw of darkness below.

The croc roared and raced forward, throwing the half-eaten dingo, and gripping the fence yanking it from the ground. I ducked as the hunk of metal went flying over my head, tumbling into the abyss below. I grabbed a sharp rock and shot it at the beast. The croc bellowed as the stone smashed it in the face, its health dropping just a little.

Stella barked and launched at the creature, grabbing it by the leg and tearing in to it.

“Stella, no!”

The croc roared and reached for her. I shot another rock. The croc snarled and looked at me as it grabbed her and lifted her high into the air. I ran toward the beast ready to wrap my hands around its neck, but it was too late. With a roar, the beast tossed her into the air. She yelped and twisted in the air as she tumbled over the edge and fell.

“No!”

I ran to the edge, skidding to a halt on my knees as I reached out into nothing. She disappeared from view with a solemn howl. Tears joined my sweat as I grabbed another rock. I screamed as I shot the thing. The croc charged its health bar just below half.

“You won’t take me,” I bellowed. “Not like this!”

I turned and leaped. The croc snarled and reached for me, its claws just barely missing my skin as I fell into the darkness. The wind tore at my hair. I clutched my slingshot and turned, not wanting to watch the ground rush up to crush my body.

Strands of something broke beneath me. Sticking to my body and wrapping around me. The threads, whatever they are, slowed me and tangled around my legs and arms. I gasped and coped a mouth full of the gunk. There was no taste to it, but I started coughing. It was like someone had shoved a ball of hair into my mouth. I bounced and jolted from side to side, caught in a ball of the stuff like I was stuck in the center of a wad of cotton candy.

What the fuck was happening?

A whine caught my attention. “Stella?” I called. “Stella, where are you?”

The threads around me shuddered, making me bounce again. I struggled and tore at the stuff, but it held me tight. It was too dark in the depths of the crevice to see much.

“Dude, would you stop wiggling already? Do you know how hard I worked on this?”

I yanked my head around at the sound of the voice and let out a scream that echoed all around. The half-man half-spider barrelled down on me gripping my shoulders as it shoved its face in mine.