A testament to my old religion, and an inability to craft anything better, I set a cross in a cairn of small stones in memorial to Lyssa overlooking the endless water stretching away from the spot where I had first come to.
I was definitely lonely. The small company Lyssa provided was company regardless. A companion I had not had, someone truly by my side. Now, I only had my revenge to keep me company; keeping an eye on the gator each day, building my contraption, and running over my plan over and over again in my mind.
Today I would enact it.
I stalked along the ridge, my eye looking for the dark ominous mass sliding beneath the water. I stood above the patch of land where it had taken Lyssa and did not see it.
It’s usually around here… Frustrating. Time to look for it from the second vantage point.
A bit further down the ridge I saw it emerge from the water at the bank and have one of the oddly-shaped chickens as a snack. It was not close enough to either vantage point for me to work my way down, and it was dangerous that it was across the river just before the swamps.
I made my way as close to the first vantage point as I could, stalking along the trees, keeping the gator in sight. It had re-entered the water and was swimming closer to the first vantage point, just not close enough to it.
I heard light steps next to me, swiping through the grass to my left, working its way through the trees. Startled, I looked next to me. An enormous bird, no, a dinosaur, a Pterodactyl stood over me. And it opened its very large, toothed jaws and its tongue virbrated in the air as it let out an ear-splitting grok. It leapt into the sky right at me, flying low and I dove to avoid it. Too late, I realized that the direction I threw my body did not have enough sprawling earth below me to keep me on the ridge.
My hip struck the jagged stone edge of the top of the ridge, sending me flailing in a sort of spin off the cliff and down towards the water. I spread myself out, my heart felt as though it stopped. In the air, I wanted to be able to fly, even just control my descent and tailor my trajectory closer to the ridge, which would have made me slide down into the water. Instead, I was hurtling toward the shallow bank. I splashed with my stomach, pelvis, legs, and chest out even, and the water only barely managed to break my fall, though not enough. The wind knocked out of me and in reflex, I sucked in water.
My right arm took the brunt of the impact and I feared I’d have burst open my old wounds, still scabbed lightly at the top. My left arm was oddly outstretched because I reached for the ridge as I fell, but my right arm, I tried to catch myself.
I spluttered hard, coughing and choking on the water. Choking when you had some air in your lungs was one thing, but to be drowning when you had absolutely no air in your lungs was painful. I coughed up water every time and it seemed to pour from my nose, eyes, and mouth each time, my body forcing me to try and inhale after each gut wrenching cough.
My head was swimming, and my hands kept sliding because I realized that I my legs were not working. They were not paralyzed, I was simply so disoriented that I had not incorporated them into trying to stabilize myself. And then all at once, alarms went off in my head. You are on the same level as the gator, you need to move!
And I saw it, snaking towards me in the distance, just below the surface of the water, one of its body-length’s away. I had to guess because judging distance in the water was tricky. At times, the shadow cast was distorted due to the light or lack thereof.
I dashed off along the ridge as best I could trying to keep my feet in the shallow and sure to pick them up and take the longest strides possible. I heard the pattering thump of it behind me, hissing as it had leveled onto the ridge in pursuit.
Vantage point one, get to vantage point one!
I reached the sandy shores near my camp and made a hard right up the ridge back towards the swamps. I stalled, and looked back, and it was much closer than I had anticipated, already on the shore and rounding the ridge seamlessly, rising up towards me.
Upon the top of the hill was the contraption, covered in thatch, camouflaged. I posted myself not but 5 feet before it and posted up in the center, turning to face the oncoming gator. My hands trembled, the timing had to be right or I would die.
It came more into view, growing closer in size, its mouth closed tight and its powerful legs storming it towards its meal. Just as I felt the pounding if its weight on the ground before me, I saw its jaw quiver with a slight jaunt and dove to the side hard and fast. It lunged overhead right into the thatch covered spiked wall. I’d made over two-dozen spears, put up a large, thick spit, dug them into the ground hard in opposition, and lashed them down.
The gator skewered itself. It had attempted too late to twist around at me and only managed to impale more of its long body along the strip of spears, jamming more of them into its underside. It thrashed and the spiked wall crumpled beneath its power and weight. I brandished my only spear left and backed away. I had practiced throwing the spear a bit and although I was not certain I would throw with enough power to actually pierce its hide should it attack, I would not run. If this did not work, I would die wounding it in the hopes it would not ever recover.
But after another thrash around to its back, it gave its final struggle and drew limp, sagging over the broken spears. Lyssa was avenged.
Explorer's Wrotes 