Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (33 page)

The forest seemed quiet
enough. To preserve power, she resisted the urge to use her
shieldwatch to Speed her vision. Then realized that her shieldwatch
was unresponsive and her connection with time severed.

Terra fought back a moment of
panic before it turned to anger. No wonder they had let them bring
their shieldwatch and aeon edge. Any gear they took was now
nonfunctional dead weight, but they would still fail if they
discarded anything. She felt a little better when she remembered that
most tirones carried a heavy lead weighted aeon edge.

Terra hiked along the forest
edge, trying to find high ground. She needed to get a good view of
the area. A nearby hill overlooked a large plain. After climbing up a
rock she looked over the area.

The plain she stood bordered a
forest. A river ran between the forest and a bog. A mountain loomed
to the west. She saw an animal herd that grazed on the plains, though
they were too far for her to make out the species.

After getting her bearings,
she climbed down. She decided she would need water first so she
headed to the river, moving through the forested area to avoid being
spotted in the open. Terra was careful not to make noise and avoided
clusters of leaves and underbrush as she tried to leave as few tracks
as possible. Her focus on covering her tracks distracted her as she
almost ran into an odd shaped tree. When she stopped to look she
discovered that it was not a tree, but a huge rib cage. A strong
rotting odor saturated the area.

There wasn't much left of the
carcass save for the car sized rib cage. Terra pondered the species
when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. It was behind a
large mound. Then Terra realized that mounds don't have feathers.

At first the feathers threw
her off, but then she realized what it was. The creature was much
larger than an elephant. It lay on the ground covered in dark plumage
with a long tail and small arms. She saw the rows of sharp teeth when
opened its maw.

Terra went pale. Her pulse
quickened as the dinosaur lifted its large head and sniffed the air.
Terra stood still. It tilted its head sideways, studying her. She
considered running, but instead remained motionless. She didn't know
what species it was as she hadn't read a book about dinosaurs since
she was a little girl.

It smelled the air again
before groaning. It put its head back on the ground like a dog too
lazy to greet its master. Terra let out a long sign. “Guess I'm too
small to eat,” she said. She walked away from the beast. It ignored
her as she left.

“Damn you Lycus,” she said
once she was far enough away. “I can't believe you dumped us in the
cretaceous of all times.”

An hour later she finally
found the river. She hid in brush for a long while watching for other
tirones or predators. A pack of smaller feathered dinosaurs loitered
nearby, busy eating underbrush.

Terra walked out to the river.
After getting herself a drink of water, she wondered how she could
make a canteen.

The dinosaurs shifted their
focus to Terra. Terra glanced to the creatures as a few of them
walked towards her. They were big and stood several heads taller than
her. As they drew closer, they began squawking and charged right at
her. Terra ran.

They chased her and gained
ground until Terra climbed a nearby tree. Flocking around the tree,
they tried to push it down several times. After a few minutes they
grew bored and a few of them laid down next to the tree while the
rest of the herd congregated around them. Every once in a while, one
pushed at the tree, trying to knock it down or shake her out of it.

Hours passed. In her boredom,
Terra spotted the saucer timeship in the sky. It moved on after
lingering in the area for an hour. Thankfully when the sun set, the
herd move on elsewhere.

Terra climbed down, grumbling
as she went. “I can't believe the stupid T-Rex could care less, but
the herbivores try to kill me on sight. And what's with the
feathers?”

She felt hungry in addition to
thirsty after several hours stuck in a tree. Terra avoided the river
bank and found a nearby creek instead. After double checking for
tracks to be safe, Terra finally could drink.

∞

Over the next few days Terra
put her survival knowledge to practice. By the second day she had a
hand made canteen and a host of sharpened sticks for spearing fish.
She also learned that crocodiles of the cretaceous were huge and
fast, so she took extra care when going near water.

At the third day's end she had
figured out the dangerous species from the passive. The T-Rex wasn't
interested in a small creature such as Terra and did not perceive her
as a threat to its territory. Most of the large solitary creatures
didn't pay her much mind either.

Terra was careful to hide from
both native species and a group of three tirones that passed though
the area. They did not find her and continued on without incident.

By the fourth day she had
gathered an extra water skin, a dagger made of sharpened obsidian and
vines, a few weeds that could be milked for ointment, and a single
piece of fruit. Terra wanted to gather more food, but she was running
short on time. She needed to find her strike team. The highest
landmark was a nearby mountain. She hoped to find Zaid there with the
others. Topping off a canteen she had made from the husk of a small
plant, Terra left the creek and ventured into the forest.

As she set out, a loud
explosion sounded in the distance. She looked up and saw a trail of
smoke leading to the ground, but couldn't see what had happened.
After a moment Terra continued on until she heard something else.

Four nights in the cretaceous
period taught to her identify the sounds of the various dinosaurs and
other animals that moved through the forest. These footsteps were
human and there was more than one.

Terra ducked, finding cover in
nearby thick green foliage. She struggled to see the group through
the numerous leaves, but Terra could tell they were not tirones.

They wore dark gray, almost
black uniforms and moved through the forest in a line formation
sweeping the area. As they passed by several paces away, she could
hear their radio chatter.

“Tiger one clear.”

“Tiger two clear.”

“Panther one clear.”

“Panther two in pursuit of
lone target.”

“Tiger five confirms Pearl
Raven is down. Repeat, Pearl Raven is down. Recovery teams, sweep and
secure.”

One figure stopped paces away
from Terra though a tree stood between them. She could just make out
an arm touching a device on his head.

“Tiger three pursuit update.
Trail has gone cold. Going to do another sweep then return to base,”
the man said into the radio before he moved forward again.

“Confirmed Tiger three,”
came a response over the radio. “Once sector three is clear move to
sector four and assist Panther two. Use caution. Gunships for phase
two pursuit will be ready in two days. Until then, continue ground
sweeps.”

Terra watched the figures, the
soldiers she guessed, move away. She waited a short time before
continuing on, thankful she had read up on the evasion section of the
manual and practiced on her own.

The shadows grew long. Terra
felt her stomach twist before looking inside her food pouch and
grimacing. After putting distance between herself and the
unidentified soldiers, Terra searched for food again.

Terra felt a surge of
excitement when she found fruit bearing trees. They hung near the top
of a tree, but she knew it was edible from her studies on temporal
biology. After stretching, Terra climbed the tall tree. She reached
for a piece of fruit when someone on the opposite side grabbed it
before her.

Hikari peeked around the tree.
“Oh, it's you,” she said in a disappointed tone.

Before Terra could respond,
Hikari kicked, snapping the branch Terra held. Terra yelled as she
slid down the tree. Thankfully she rolled with her fall when she hit
the ground. After dusting herself off, she stood and glared at
Hikari. “What was that for?”

Hikari snatched the fruit
before jumping and landing gracefully on the ground. She held a half
eaten fruit in her other hand. “Survival,” Hikari said, tossing
the half eaten fruit in front of Terra before taking a bite of the
other.

Terra narrowed her gaze. “No.
That's called being a jerk!”

Hikari looked up to the next
tree. “Jerk? Is that an insult?”

Terra frowned. “Yes. It
means th–”

Hikari turned her back to
Terra before Terra could explain.

Terra scowled before letting
out a slow breath. She would not let Hikari make her angry. Instead
she climbed another tree that with one piece of fruit at its top.
Once again just before she reached it, Hikari raced past Terra,
grabbing the fruit before her.

Hikari stood above Terra.
“After you beat me at the cliffs, I practiced my climbing,” she
said before shoving Terra down again.

Terra stood after hitting the
ground. “Stop that!”

Hikari jumped down before
pocketing the fruit. “No. This is survival. Survival is competition
even if the competition you provide is meager.”

“We are on the same team!”

Hikari stared at Terra.
“Team?”

“Yes,” Terra said, feeling
her anger flare hot. “We need to find the others.”

Hikari turned and began
climbing another tree. “I don't need them. Go find them yourself.”

Terra then saw what Hikari
sought. A large bundle of fruit hung high on this tree. Terra looked
around and found a fist size rock on the ground. Aiming carefully,
Terra slung the rock at the bundle, sending it falling to the ground
where Terra caught it.

Hikari halted her climb and
glared down at Terra.

Terra grinned while she
hoisted the fruit over her shoulder. “Weakness depends on the
situation, Hikari. Sometimes being alone is a weakness.”

Hikari jumped down and faced
Terra. “I could show you how weak you are. I could take that fruit
from you.”

Terra waved a finger at
Hikari. “Yes you could, but you know that while I am not good at
winning sparring matches, I am good at enduring them. If you fight,
then you risk injuring yourself and without your shieldwatch to
Restore you...”

“What do you want?”

Terra tossed Hikari a fruit.
“I want you to help me find Zaid. Unlike you, I like Zaid. He
actually listens to me. So I will pester you until you come with me.”

Hikari's burning glare locked
on Terra. “No.”

“Too bad. I am not going to
leave you alone.”

Hikari turned away from Terra
and walked into the forest.

Terra followed behind, eating
the fruit she had taken. “I don't get you,” she said between
bites. “Everyone wants to be your friend. Some of them keep coming
back even after you insult them. You could be really popular if you
wanted.”

Hikari hastened her pace,
trying to out walk Terra. She made her way to a small flat that
rested of the side of a hill. It was surrounded by thick vegetation

Terra matched Hikari's pace.
“Why insult everyone?”

Hikari shot Terra a sidelong
glare, but said nothing.

Terra
noted obsidian in the exposed stone as she drew close. It would
explain the thick foliage in the area. The soil was rich in nutrients
due to the volcanism. Thick vegetation combined with the elevation
made this an excellent place for both concealment and as a lookout
point.
This must
be Hikari's camp
,
Terra thought.

Hikari had dug a pit to start
a fire. It had a small chimney to dissipate the smoke. Dense
vegetation surrounded the flat, save for a long wall of obsidian on
one side. Most of the exposed ground comprised of obsidian and dirt.
Terra noted that the fire pit was too close to the dry foliage.

After sizing up her
surroundings, Terra faced Hikari and frowned. “You can't make me
mad, but others might not react as well though. You ever think that
maybe your rudeness might backfire on you one day?”

Hikari bent down to start the
fire with flint and tinder. With a couple of flicks the fire started.
Terra sighed at seeing that as it had taken her forever to start a
fire her second night.

Hikari looked up at Terra. “If
others take offense–”

Several tirones ran out of the
forest into the campsite, cutting Hikari's response short. They
surrounded Hikari and Terra. There, a dozen of them had encircled
both her and Hikari, though Terra couldn't see all of them well
enough to count. All wore their Legion training uniforms and most
carried makeshift weapons made from whatever they had recovered from
the forest.

One tiro stepped forward.
“Hikari, we have decided it is time for you to dust out.”

Hikari's expression remained
calm. “Really?”

Another tiro nodded. “Yes.
First we are going to be–”