Dominant Species
Issue #22
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter 24
Amphibian Trails
A solitary rowboat moves through the darkness towards the shore. With a torch held high, the boat stands out against the blackness of the night. Stroke by stroke, the boat propels towards the shore. Howlingmad and Bearslayer provide the manpower, while Derrick stands as the navigator. His night vision allows him to see the shoreline with ease, while the other men can barely make out where the ocean ends and the land begins.
The salamander men are long gone into the jungle and are oblivious to the approaching boat. With the humiliation of being caught and leaving with almost nothing, the salamander men decided to head back to their safety of the burrow. Better to run away with their lives than to fight and die. There will always be more ships to raid. Their obsession with shiny things is not so great to cloud their judgment and make them do something that borders on suicidal.
One by one, the salamander men enter the muddy hole and disappear. Past the hole is a long descending tunnel that is nothing more than a hole dug in the ground. They make numerous such tunnels to their lair and if needed, they will close a hole. So it is not in their best interest to put too much work into an entrance as they do not know how long they will keep it. After a hundred feet, the tunnel begins to fill with water. In a single file line, they dive into the murky waters. The tunnel follows a nearly straight line. It is a short distance through the water until they come out in a lighted cavern. The large cavern glows from a light emitting moss that grows along the walls. All around the cave are adobe like houses. These cave like dwellings are made from a mixture of mud, grass and twigs. The salamander men fashion bricks from the materials and use them to build homes. While sloppy looking in design, they are actually quite sturdy. And with no rain to wash the mud away, they hold up quite well. As the creatures climb out of the water, they are greeted by numerous dull colored salamanders. The females all come out to greet the men and see what shiny items they have collected. The females are slightly smaller in size and do not have the bright colored stripes. They are all either black or brown in color. One big difference is the females have a large sack on their abdomen that is used to carry their young. It looks like a kangaroo's pouch and little salamanders can be seen peeking their heads out.
Tired and hungry, the salamander men walk over to a series of hand dug ponds that are a short distance from the houses. The small ponds are surrounded by a foot tall wall that is composed of the same material as their homes. Each one grabs a long pole with a net on the end and dips it into the pond. Swishing back and forth, they move the pole until they capture a fish and then scoop it up and pull it out. Reaching into the net, their stubby hands with claws on them, grab the fish and pull it from the net. Wriggling to break free, the fish struggle as it is pulled towards the mouth and bitten in half. In two bites, the fish is gone and the salamander man is looking for another fish.
At least once a week, the salamander men will take large barrels up to the rivers and fill them with as many fish as they can catch. Then they bring them back and fill these holding ponds. They like their food fresh and it is the best way to insure they have a steady supply of fish and it is fresh. While they have moved from chasing the fish in the water, to catching them with nets, they still have not learned how to farm fish. They are not intelligent creatures, but they are able to learn from watching others do something. They saw fishermen use nets to capture fish and were able to learn the technique. Now, they string nets across rivers and grab all the fish that swim by. In a few hours, they catch more fish than they ever did by swimming after them.
As the rowboat reaches the shore, Derrick scouts the area for any potential threats. While the island was safe during the day, the night always poses different dangers. The beach is unusually quiet. The monkeys from earlier are gone for the evening. The only sounds is the waves crashing on the beach and some random bird noises that echo from the jungle. Derrick jumps out of the boat and pulls it into the shore. When it hits the sandy bottom, the other men also leave the boat and help pull it in. Their first order of business is to tie it securely to a tree and insure they have a ride home. The tide is not very strong now, but with water elementals and other creatures in the ocean, there is no guarantee that an untied boat will be there when you return.
Taking a rope off his shoulder, Derrick hands it to the other two men and tells them. "Hold onto this rope and follow it. I will lead the way." Howlingmad looks at him and says "We need light. Let's make a torch." Derrick does not want to let the salamander men know their coming, but he also does not want his friends fumbling their way through the dark. "I will find some material to make a torch, stay here."
Leaving the others behind, Derrick heads into the heart of the jungle. It is times like this that his heighted night vision comes in handy. He can see every tree and vine as clear as day. As he goes deeper into the jungle, he hears a strange noise. It sounds somewhat like a pigeon, with the familiar cooing sound. But it is louder and deeper sounding than any pigeon or dove that he has ever heard. After he hears it, more identical sounds come from various directions, like a conversation is going on. It intrigues him and he decides to check into it. Concentrating, he goes into stealth mode, where he walks without making any sound. Slowly, he walks towards a clearing in the middle of the jungle. He stops at a tree and looks out into the small clearing and sees a flock of large birds. The birds are walking around and eating fruit that has fallen off the trees. They are various sizes, with the biggest ones being about three feet tall. He looks closely at them and they look familiar. With the large beaks, small flightless wings and waddle to their walk, he knows that he has seen them before. There are a dozen large birds in the group, with another six smaller ones and another eight babies. The birds are making quite a bit of noise as they call out to other groups that are elsewhere in the jungle. He can hear them responding back. As he looks closer at them, it finally dawns on him. He has seen these birds before. In an old book about extinct animals, there was a chapter devoted to one of the most famous extinct birds, the Dodo Bird. He smiles as he watches them foraging. Thinking back to the book, he does not remember them being nocturnal. But in this world, many animals had to adapt to survive. Being a slow, flightless bird is dangerous during the day. But at night, they have a better chance. They also learned to communicate from one group to another to warn of dangers. And while they are flightless, they are hardly easy prey anymore. The claws on their feet are longer and sharper. Their beak is also sharper and stronger. While they will always run first, Dodos in this world can hold their ground. A large group like this can chase off a lion. And they are not that slow anymore. While they are still pudgy in shape, their legs are stronger and they can run quite fast in short bursts.
The peaceful scene of the Dodos eating the dropped fruit ends abruptly. Out of the sky swoops down four giant bats. The large creatures stand five feet tall and have a wingspan that is more than double that. Like shadows in the night, they move with total silence. The Dodo Birds are eating one second, completely oblivious to the danger overhead and the next moment, four of them swoop down and attack. Before they know what hit them, the bats have four of the Dodo Birds pinned to the ground. The sudden attack sends the rest of the Dodos fleeing for the safety of the jungle. In all directions, the pudgy birds rush as they seek the cover of the trees. And they sound out alarm to all the other dodos in the area as the jungle erupts in noise from the Dodos.
Derrick watches in shock as the giant bats quickly kill their prey. Their large claws keep the birds pinned to the ground and allows them to easily administer the death bite. Within seconds, they are draining the blood out of their prey. The Dodos make a screeching sound for a few moments before they are silenced for good. Derrick steps back in fear as he tries to distance himself from the scene. He steps on a branch and it makes a cracking noise that alerts the bats. They turn to face him and use their echo to locate him. The closest bat glares right at him and bares its fangs. Blood drips from its mouth as it hisses at him. It then looks up in the sky and sends out a screech. As Derrick looks up, he sees a dozen more giant bats flying overhead. They are circling the area like vultures as they scan for more prey. A sense of fear overcomes Derrick as he thinks about the two men he left back on the beach. They are in mortal danger as they are out in the open and blind in the darkness. They would not see the danger until it was too late.
This causes Derrick to rush towards the beach. Knowing that
his friend's lives are in jeopardy, he runs as quickly as possible to get there.
Knocking back branches and vines, he heads towards the beach. As he rushes out,
he sees them standing there. "What is wrong?" Bearslayer asks as he sees that
Derrick is winded and has a worried look on his face. Not having time to
explain, he looks up to the sky and sees the bats flying over the trees towards
the beach. "We need to get into the jungle and fast." he says in a winded voice.
"What's wrong?" Bearslayer asks as he wonders what is spooking Derrick. "Just
trust me." he replies as he pulls them into the jungle. Reluctantly,. they
follow him.
In the safety of the jungle, Derrick tells them the dilemma. "There are giant bats out there. I saw them attack some Dodo birds. We need to stay in the jungle until they leave." Howling mad laughs at the notion. "Bats are no threat. We chase them away back in the village." Bearslayer nods in agreement. "We have dealt with big bats before. They steal our food if we don't cover it." Derrick looks at them with a shocked look as he says "But these are giant bats." He holds out his hands to try and show how large they are. Howlingmad pulls out his fire sword and holds it up. "This will chase away any bats, no matter how big they are."
Realizing that he is not getting through to them, he thinks of a spell he once knew. Back when they were playing "Into the Catacombs", he all but maxed out as a thief. He started to learn magic user spells to become a better character. He never made it very far, but he did learn a handful of simple magic spells. One such low level spell was called "Illuminate" and it did as its name suggests, it illuminated an area. The higher the level, the larger the area of illumination. Unlike most spells, it was not based on what level as a magic user you were, but your total level. So he could illuminate a very large area and keep it lit for a long time. Until now, he completely forgotten about the spell as he has night vision and never had a need for it. But since they doubt the threat, he decides to show them. He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment on the right words. It has been ages since he used the spell and is fearful that he will forget the words. He thinks hard and mumbles the words that come to mind. When he finishes the chant, he raises his hands in the air and light literally flows from his fingers. Within seconds, the sky above them is illuminated and for the first time, they see the giant bats flying overhead. The sudden bright light stuns the bats and forces them to turn and try to escape it. Bearslayer and Howlingmad stare in disbelief as they see the threat that was overhead. Those bats are much, much larger than anything they dealt with back in the village.
Bearslayer looks to Derrick and says "How long can you keep the spell going?" A few beads of sweat build on his forehead as he keeps his hand raised. "I do not know, it is the first time I ever cast it." Bearslayer rushes over and unties the boat. "Well, keep it going as long as you can." With that, they push the boat into the ocean and hop on board. Fighting the waves, the two men row with all their might. They know the bats are out there and will return as soon as the light fades. Derrick keeps his hand raised as he strains with the pressure. Unlike magic users, he is not used to casting spells and it is taking its toll. His mental strength is weak and it is showing as the light is beginning to fade. He struggles to keep it up, but the light is slowly giving way to the darkness. Soon, it is down to just the immediate area around the boat. He can see the bats are returning. There are more than a dozen bats now flying overhead as they wait to attack. The ship is still a distance and Derrick knows he cannot keep up the light much longer.
Dominant Species ©
2006 - 2009 Tom Zjaba