I spent the next few days mining out more ore from the side of the cliff, chopping down trees for wood to burn into charcoal, smelting ores, and forging my tools. Fortunately for me, cobanium turned out to be really easy to work with while hot, but turned really strong when quenched. The pickaxe I made was still pointy and sharp after smashing it against the stone over and over.

After the pickaxe, I made tongs so I can hold the hot metal better. I just made two rods, basically, and bent them into shape, then punched a hole with a steelthorn for the joint. After the tongs, I made an axe. A small-ish axe head with a flat back to use as a hammer if I wanted to. The axe made chopping trees down way easier... seriously, it became super easier. Then I made a hammer, a simple rectangle with a hole in the middle for the handle, so I could finally stop using a rock. Then I made a knife for everyday use. I sharpened it as best as I could on a flat river stone, then used it to butcher the hunts that Nora brought back, to whittle sticks for tender, to cut apart vines for fibers to make cords. The knife was super useful.

After the knife I finally made the speartips. The speartips were triangular in shape and were fairly long. I made them long so I could make them as thick as the spear shaft, that way there won't be anything to slow down the spear as it stabs. At the center of the base of the speartips are tangs, which have two small holes for pins to secure to the spear shaft.

I grabbed my spears and untied the cordage holding the teeth in place. The teeth were wedged in a split on the end of the shafts, so I just pulled them out and jammed the tangs of the speartips in. For the pins to hold the speartips in place, I used steelthorns. I hammered them in like nails then used my new knife to saw off the extra bits of the steelthorns... which took far more effort than I thought it would. They really did live up to their name.

Lastly, I made a pot. I flattened a chunk of cobanium into a large circle. Then, while it was glowing bright orange, I hammered the sides up while making sure it stayed smooth on the bottom and along the sides. I made two sides a little taller then bent them outwards to form a large lip to use as handles. On each of those handles, I used a steelthorn to punch two holes while it was glowing hot. Then I heated the pot up until it was all glowing then ran to the river to quench. The pot was larger than my old ceramic clay one, so I was happy.

Each piece that I made turned out to be a dark blue color, which was pretty cool. The only problem though, with all these metal pieces, was that they were heavy. But what could I do? I didn't want to leave anything behind. I might need them later!

Anyways, I couldn't think of anything else that I might need to forge, so I started whittling. I needed a safe way to carry everything. I couldn't do much for the spears, because they needed to be ready to use at a moment's notice, but the knife, axe, and pickaxe needed sheathes or something.

I knew that if I just used leather and cords then my knife would just slice right through, so I used wood instead. I used my axe to chop a log in half, then I split one of those halves in half parallel to the first cut, so that I got a rough plank... a really rough plank. I used my knife to smooth away the rough bits, then used charcoal to trace two outlines of my knife. It took a long while, but I eventually got those outlines cut out along the outside edge of the charcoal line. The bit of charcoal I used was a good half-inch thick, so the wood was larger than the blade. With one, I whittled it as thin as I could and as flat as I could. With the other, I whittled it down to be a bit thicker than my knife blade and, along the inside edge of the charcoal line, started whittling away the inside so the blade could lay inside smoothly. Once that was done, I put the two pieces together using tree sap that I melted down. I only used a little bit because I didn't want to risk it being squished into the sheath and making the blade sticky. Once that was done I couldn't figure out how to attach it to my belt so I decided to wrap it in leather so I could sew a belt loop on. I cut a piece off from the spares, sewed a loop on one side then wrapped it around the wood so the loop was on one side of the sheath, and sewed it tightly. And there it is, a sheath.

For the axe, I just cut a groove into a stick that I debarked and smoothed, and tied cords around the ends to loop around the axe head. Easy. I did the same for the pickaxe, a small stick for each end.

Now that safety has been taken care of, it was time to continue our journey.

I packed everything as best as I could into my backpack. The handles of my tools poked out from both sides of the top flap and I just tied the pot to the outside of my bag. As for the spears, I carried them all tucked under an arm. They were a lot heavier than before, so I switched arms a lot as we followed along the river but I got used to it after a few days.

The forest we were traveling through was plentiful of fruits and veggies. I found more carrots and apples and even found new things to try. Nora didn't warn me about most of them, so I tried them all. Whatever vegetables or fruits that I liked, I saved their seeds in a leather envelope. I also used my new pot as a pan and made stir fry... it wasn't that good to be honest but it was something different so I ate it.

And, like that, we traveled. We faithfully followed the river, hoping that we would find some sign of civilization.

<<<>>>

Two years. Nora and I have followed the river for two years as it snaked its way through a massive continent. It must be a super large continent. Why else would a river take two years to travel along? And just how long was this stupid river anyways? Well, it didn’t matter anymore because the river finally came to an end... at an ocean.

The journey was just the same as it had been in the first few months, except that we didn’t need to stop to make entirely new things. All of my tools were holding strong, only needing to replace the handle on some of them a couple of times, but that was quick work. When any of my tools or spears got dull, I easily sharpened them on a wet river stone.

Speaking of the spears, they worked amazingly! They easily punched right through any of the dinosaurs’ tough hides. And with my aim getting better over the years. But honestly though, the spears are a pain to pull out of my kills. The speartips keep catching on things on the way out. Maybe, instead of triangle shapes, I should make them as diamond shapes...

Anyways, the winters just plain sucked. For both winters, we settled down in a nice forested area and built a large teepee that both Nora and I could fit into, then stockpiled resources. Firewood, more furs, lots of smoked jerky, and as many vegetables that I could find. The veggies didn’t last that long because I couldn’t find that many, but I did have lots of jerky that lasted most of the winter. Of course, we did still hunt for fresh meat which was still plentiful for some reason... Was it even necessary to stockpile the jerky? Probably not.

At the start of spring, we started traveling again. Surprisingly, during these last two years, we only traveled through forests, grassy plains, and hilly areas, none of any of the other biomes. I wonder why that is?

We ran into another one of those T-Rex-looking things that almost killed Nora one year ago. Just like before, the beast roared its challenge and charged at us. Nora stepped up and was going to go fight, but I stopped her. I wanted to see if I could kill it. The last time we fought one of these things, my spears barely scratched the thing. But that was when I was using bone tips, now I’m using cobanium tips.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I squared my shoulders, nocked a spear on my atlatl, aimed... then threw with all my might. My spear pierced deep into its chest, staggering the beast as it roared in pain. It continued its charge and I prepared my second throw. My second spear buried itself in the beast’s throat. The charge stopped as it staggered around trying to shake off the spears. The third spear to the chest finished it off. I just grabbed my spears and didn’t bother taking any of the beast’s claws or teeth.

Other than running into the occasional dinosaur our travels were pretty peaceful. We followed the river, only leaving its banks to hunt for food or if we saw something interesting looking, but we’d return to continue our journey.

And now, two years later, there we were standing on the rocky shores that overlooked the ocean. We watched the river pour into the ocean quietly, with only the sound of the waves to accompany us.

“Two years, Nora,” I sighed, “Following a river. Surely, we would have found some sign of civilization by now.”

She woofed softly.

The coast line went from northeast to southwest. Nora, when I had first met her, said that she had already explored that area for about thirteen years and hadn’t found anybody, so that meant that we should follow the coast heading southwest. The only problem was that we were on the wrong side of the river.

“But we shouldn’t lose hope yet, Nora. Maybe the people of this world are just starting out. Back on my world, civilization started around two rivers... maybe we were just following the wrong river. Let’s follow this coast to find a different river, and hey, we might find them along the coast!”

Nora woofed again.

“We just need to get on the other side of the river. Any ideas?”

She pawed at the water a bit then growled, before looking upstream and barking.

“You think we should go back upstream?”

A bark.

“Hmm... It really is too wide to cross here... and wasn’t there a narrow bit a ways back?”

She barked.

“Alright, sounds like a plan. Thanks, Nora!”

With a final look over the ocean, we turned around and followed the river back upstream. It took a couple of days to reach the narrow section of the river. This section was only about forty to fifty feet across. Nora held my backpack and spears in her mouth and easily swam across. I jumped in the river after her and swam over. Obviously, I ended up further downstream than her, but it was easier than expected. All that traveling and hunting really made me fit!

Now on the other side, we followed the river back to the coast. Once there, we continued our long journey southwest, our hope to find civilization still pushing us forward. Well, it seemed like Nora didn’t care one way or the other. I think she was just happy being with me. Me though... I would like to find other people. I did want a wife after all, someone to love, have kids, make a family with. I can't do that if I don't find other people. Nora is great and all, but yeah, she's a giant wolf. Can't exactly start a family with her. No, I needed to find civilization for that... and to also have other people to talk to. That would be nice. If we can't find civilization... Well, that would suck. I would hate to spend the rest of my life basically alone on a world full of dinosaurs.

"Hey Nora," I said as we walked, "I really thought that we would find other people by now... along that river I mean."

She didn't say anything. She just let me think and get it out.

"Is there really nobody else on this planet? You and I both come from worlds with people... so why wouldn't there be people on this world? How did we even get here?"

I sighed and kept on walking in silence for a bit.

"If we don't find anybody... are we just going to spend the rest of our lives on this planet?"

Nora growled suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts. I hefted a spear and looked around for a threat. Nothing. I lowered my spear and looked up at Nora.

"Was that growl a response to me?"

She barked.

"Huh?...Wait, what? No, we won't spend the rest of our lives here?"

She nodded her head.

"... I don't get it."

She rolled her eyes then looked up at the sky.

"Wait, are you saying that we'll be taken to other worlds?"

She barked.

"But how do you... oh, you've been to other worlds, haven't you? How many worlds have you been to?"

She nodded then barked four times.

"Four other worlds... Was it always that freaking rainbow that pulled you into a new world?"

She barked.

"... Does it hurt every time?"

Another bark.

"So... we'll be taken to another world... Do you know how long you have until then? I mean, you've been here, what? Fifteen years?"

She nodded, then tilted her head in thought before she growled, then barked four times.

I stopped walking and just stared up at her, mouth dropping open.

"You think you will only be here for four more years?" Just the thought of Nora leaving...

She barked softly. I dropped my spears and tackled her side, hugging as much of her as my arms could hold.

"No..." I tried to talk but a lump was forming in my throat. Nora was going to leave me. Vision blurred as tears started dripping down my cheeks. I was going to be truly alone... But I was also going to travel to another world again.

"Nora," I choked out, "Is it possible to go with you? Through those rainbow lights?"

Nora, with her large head pressing against my back, hugging me, growled.

"... do you know how long it'll be until I get taken to another world?"

Nora growled and then barked ten times.

"About ten years?"

She barked. I just buried my face into her fur, letting the conversation die out. After a few moments, I let her go, wiped my eyes dry, and picked up my spears.

“Come on, Nora,” I said and started walking again. “Let’s keep on going.”

We both walked along the coast, continuing our journey. We now only had four years to find civilization, or else I would have to fight the dinosaurs by myself. I could do it, but it would be far better to have someone else with me.

The coastline was always changing. From sandy beaches to rocky shoals, from tall cliffs to lush forests. We traveled for another few weeks just following the coast, looking out for any signs of life. Winter just ended a month ago, so Spring was in full swing. Flowers and pollen were spreading everywhere.

We were attacked by various dinosaurs as we traveled. It was mostly by different kinds of raptors, but there were also large cats as big as Nora, an ankylosaurus that would not stop chasing us for some reason, and another one of those T-Rex looking beasts. We managed to kill them all, even that ankylosaurus despite all of its armor plating.

"Is it just me or have we been running into more and more dinosaurs lately?" I asked, using a strip of leather to bandage a cut on my left forearm that I got from the most recent raptor attack.

Nora barked, looking around the area for more dinosaurs.

Seeing nothing else, we pressed on with our guards up. We were constantly watching out for dangerous beasts. Luckily, we were able to spot some from a ways off and avoid them, but we were still attacked every once in a while. Traveling so carefully like that slowed our journey considerably. We went from crossing twenty or so miles to crossing about ten miles a day. We kept at it though.

After another two months we came across a large... beach? The coast line was weird. We were following along cliffs about a hundred feet high when suddenly the ground sloped down rapidly to the large beach that extended off into the distance. Along the coast, the beach extended farther than the eye could see, while the beach only extended about fifty or so feet inland. What was weird though was that despite the sand of the beach ending only fifty feet away, the ground beyond was completely flat and had almost no plant life.

Nora and I carefully made our way down the rocky slope to the beach. The sand was damp and the ground was a bit squishy.

"A marsh or something? I don't even know what a marsh looks like... is this it? It's wet..." I looked at Nora. She just shrugged and went sniffing around.

I also shrugged and just kept on the journey.