Chapter 33: Clinging to a Ladder

This time, Miguel didn’t hesitate.

Did the razor-lizards see their prey better when they moved? He didn’t really care at this point, and nor was he going to concern himself with moving quietly, or wait to find out how far down Aluna had climbed.

As Razor-lizard Rex’s enormous head lunged towards him, the jaws wide open to reveal a mouth large enough to swallow him whole with ease, Miguel half-climbed, half-fell into the shaft, grabbing at a rung with both hands and clinging on for a moment before finding his feet. His head was only about a foot down from the surface when the great lizard’s teeth gnashed together just above him.

It must have got a mouthful of leaves and dirt, Miguel thought to himself, as he moved a few rungs further down and paused, panting. Now, as Rex raised his mighty head again, Miguel chanced a look below.

It was hard to make out much, but a flickering light was coming from somewhere, and he could just see Aluna’s silhouetted figure just a yard or two beneath him, the dagger that she held in one hand glinting.

“Are you okay?” he whispered. His mouth also felt so dry that he could hardly speak.

“Yes. Great find! When did you see this place?”

“Just before I got to the lake. Pity you weren’t all with me at the time.”

“Yes.”

It was strange to speak to Aluna from his position clinging directly above her on the ladder, but Miguel knew that descending further down the shaft could be risky.

Just then there came a blast of warm, moist air from above, and Miguel looked back up to see that Rex had stuck the end of his gator-like snout into the top of the shaft. Its two wide, moist nostrils were immediately above him, the jagged front teeth visible too. Despite the terrifying close-up, Miguel was at least fairly sure that Rex couldn’t open his jaws in such a confined space, or get his head any further down. That was one advantage of the beast’s engorged size.

He clambered down another couple of rungs, clinging on hard with his left hand, and then narrowed his eyes as he looked back up at the creature.

Equip crossbow

Managing the crossbow would normally be very difficult with just one hand, and the angle was awkward. However, on the positive side, it was pretty straightforward to rest the weapon against the corner of the shaft they were in. Miguel held it as still as he could, focused, then squeezed the trigger. A bolt flew out, banging loudly once against the concrete side of the shaft above him, and then ricocheting directly into Rex’s face with a sickening thud.

Notification: You have gained 315XP

"Woah..."

The great razor-lizard screamed and raised his huge head away from the entrence. As it did so, drips of blood splattered down upon Miguel and Aluna. Miguel licked at the blood on his left arm, and saw a notification appear straight afterwards:

You have gained three hit points; You now have 10 out of 19 hit points remaining.

“Urgh... that tastes like shit, and I’m hella thirsty,” he murmured.

Voices could be heard from somewhere down below now, and Miguel thought he could make out distant shouts from somewhere above, too. Rex gave another screeching, rattling cry, after which there were a series of further thumps from his huge footsteps. The great lizard king was... circling them? No – moving away. He listened hard. Was the beast getting closer again?

It was hard to tell what was happening, but Miguel felt he needed to take the precaution of moving another couple of steps further down the hatch.

Unequip crossbow

As he moved down a couple of rungs the razor-lizard’s footsteps faded into the distance, he glanced back down at Aluna. “You know, I never got a chance to drink anything at the lake,” he murmured. But just then he remembered – he had picked up a water canteen from the team that they had defeated, and it was still clipped to his belt. Still holding on to the ladder with one hand, he raised it and gave it a shake. There was something inside it, at least.

Looping one arm around the ladder, he managed to open the canteen and took a swig. The water inside tasted fresh and clean, and he drank deeply, then passed it down to Aluna.

“Here – take something to drink if you like.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Hey, did you hear voices from below us a minute ago?” he added, after she had drunk from the vessel and passed it back to him.

She paused, and Miguel perceived that she was listening. Then she moved a little further up the ladder towards him, her hands now level with his knees. “I think so,” she breathed. “Any idea how deep this shaft is? I still can’t see the bottom.”

“I dunno. But I assume that there is something worthwhile down there. Supplies or something. Hopefully ammo, too.”

“Well, I sure am hungry,” she muttered.

“I don’t think I got any food...” Miguel said to himself: Inventory.

Inventory: backpack (1); composite bow (1); crossbow (1); crossbow bolts (19); shovel (1); vial (2); water bottle (23% full); unidentified object.

“Well, then we go down, and fight for whatever’s there,” she replied. “Let’s just hope there aren’t more than two enemies down there. If there are two, I think we can take them.”

“For sure. That reminds me – I better spend what experience I have gained on more hit points.”

He then said silently: Profile!

Strength: 14 Speed: 18 Melee: 4 Ranged: 14 Spirit: 1 Agility: 6 Hit points: 10 of 19 Experience points: 1246 Hunger: 40% Thirst: 97% Fatigue: 23%

He called out mentally: spend six hundred experience on hit points!

You have added four hit points at a cost of 450XP; you now have 14 out of 23 hit points remaining; 646 XP remaining.

“You did it?” asked Aluna after a moment’s silence.

He nodded.

“Yeah, but I still have a bit to spare. Hang on.”

He focused again, pondering the value of his ranged weapon skill and speed. It would be best if both were even higher... On the other hand, that crappy agility score was a pain in the ass. And his melee skills weren’t much better.

He spoke inside his head again: Spend one each on agility and ranged weapon skills, and two on melee, please.

You have added one point of agility at a cost of 150XP; your agility attribute has now been updated, agility: 7; you have added one point of ranged weapon skill at a cost of 150XP; your ranged weapon attribute has now been updated, ranged weapon: 15; you have added two point of mell weapon skill at a cost of 300XP; your melee weapon attribute has now been updated, melee weapon: 6; 46 XP remaining.

Then, Miguel looked back down at Aluna. He could see her much more clearly now, his eyes no doubt adjusting.

“It’s not perfect,” he said softly. “Four more hit points, but I still need to heal up to my max.”

She raised her weapon hand from the ladder and pointed up towards the entrance. “Well, you know, there might be more razor-lizard blood up there around the hatch. You got it good with your shot.”

“True... and it would be good to get an idea of what’s happening. You need some more healing, too?”

“No. But I do enjoy tasting the blood.”

He shook his head softly, and then began climbing carefully back up.

Miguel paused, his heart thumping once more, as he reached the last few rungs. Could Rex be lying in wait, ready to bite the moment he stuck his head out?

The logical part of his brain said ‘no’. This wasn’t a foe that seemed particularly intelligent, and it was more likely to charge after Chloe and her crew than stick around here.

All the same, he could barely bring himself to move any further. It was as if his hands and feet were stuck.

“Something wrong?” murmured Aluna from below.

“Uhh... just better be ready. Just in case.”

“You got enough crossbow bolts?”

“No spares, but I just reloaded. Still got nineteen.”

“Good. Then let’s move.”

He paused, and then nodded. It felt churlish to point out that it wasn’t her head that would have to stick out first from the top of the hatch, and with a vast and monstrous dinosaur somewhere nearby.

With a great mental effort, Miguel focused on moving one hand at a time. Left. Right. Feet to follow. Repeat.

One rung at a time, he moved further up... then slowly poked his head from the opening.

Nothing.

He twisted around, looking in all directions, but apart from the shattered nearby tree, there was nothing untoward to see. Miguel listened, but so far nothing. Perhaps... perhaps a distant thumping, he told himself? Or he could be imagining it?

He looked down. Aluna had been right – there were traces of razor-lizard blood in a broad streak near one corner of the hatch. He dipped two fingers into the nearest patch, and then raised them to his lips.

You have gained one hit point; You now have 15 out of 23 hit points remaining.

Miguel then repeated this several times, gaining another hit point or two each time. The blood had mingled with dust and dirt; this hardly improved the flavor, but soon he was up to his new maximum – twenty-three hit points.

“Time to go and face whatever’s at the bottom of the ladder,” he said, looking down at Aluna. “But just give me a second or two to try something else.”

Miguel pulled out the first of the vials, and was in the midst of filling it with the blood-dust mixture when he paused and fell silent, looking in the direction of the small river.

“Wait – was that a scream?” he murmured, speaking mainly to himself.

Frowning, he listened hard. At first, he was fairly sure he could hear human footsteps running, the direction hard to gauge. Then, a chill ran through him as he made out another familiar sound: the booming footsteps were coming back. He murmured a familiar command: enemy stats.

Attacker profile Type: Razor-lizard, Type Five (1) Maximum hit points: 1500 Current hit points: 1312 Speed: 20 Attack: Bite, claw, charge, trample, stamp, kick. Maximum damage: 140 XP gain: 5000 (progressive)

His senses tingling, Miguel glanced down at Aluna again, keen for her to begin moving back down the ladder. “Come on. Our lizard friend is on his way back.”

Aluna obligingly began to descend again...

...but faster than Miguel could have imagined, two human figures burst into the small clearing nearby – Chloe, still clutching a bow, and the sword-bearing man from her team.

And just behind was Razor-lizard Rex.

As Miguel, panicked, began to hurry down the shaft once more, he caught a glimpse of the swordsman slashing at Rex’s leg, only for the beast’s clawed foot to lash out, slicing one of the man’s arms clean off.

As Miguel ducked lower, the severed arm bounced once on the ground and then entered the hatch, hitting him with a bloody squelch and then plummeting down, down, down...