Return To Primordial Island by Rick Poldark (namjoon book recommendations TXT) 📗

* * *

On the Island

Date and Time Unknown

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jason bit his lip, eyeing his comrade, as they hid with several tribal warriors in the bushes about one hundred feet from the temple entrance.

“I have to,” said Peter. “I woke them up. I have no idea why they’re attacking us.”

“They’re not attacking you,” said Jason. “You’re their god.”

Peter grimaced at the label. “I hate it when you call me that.”

Mary placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Well, to them you are. Tell them to stop. Tell them we can all coexist on this island.”

Peter wiped the sweat from his brow, which was in part due to the humidity and in part to the fact that he was terrified. “Man, talk about the law of unintended consequences. I was just trying to do the right thing, but by slaying one monster, I created another.”

Jason swatted a mosquito feasting on his neck. “Yeah, and this one’s worse.”

Peter sighed. There was something even worse yet on this island—the something that had manipulated Mike Deluca. Peter caught a glimpse of it—or was it more of a feeling? Either way, he gleaned it was much older than this race of lizard men he woke up, and very evil. Peter didn’t think these lizard men were evil; he believed they were acting according to their nature.

Then again, so was this other entity, whatever it was. Peter knew it was trying to get off the island. He was relieved when the island had phased out of his home dimension, trapping it here.

Jason elbowed him in his side. “Come on, mate. We need your head in the game.”

Peter cleared his head. “Yes. Right. So, here’s the plan. They won’t attack me. I’m going to walk right into the temple and demand to speak to their chieftain.”

“What are you going to say?” pressed Jason.

“I’ll explain what Mary just said, that we can all coexist. I’ll tell their chief. If I can make him understand, maybe he’ll back off.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

Mary leaned in and spoke softly into Peter’s ear. “You know what you have to do.”

“I know. I know,” said Peter. He knew what she meant—using the death orb to wipe them out wholesale. “I…I just feel funny about it. I brought them back.”

“And you can send them back into extinction,” said Mary.

Jason shot Peter a sideways glance. “You act like they’re your children or something. They’re freaking lizards, man. Pests. Stamp them out if they won’t listen.”

Peter knew there was a better than average chance that his appeal would fall on deaf ears. When the lizard men raided the Umazoa village (that’s what Peter called them, because the word they used to reference themselves as a group sounded like ‘Umazoa’), Peter had tried to talk to them, to forbid them from ravaging a people that had become his friends. However, they had just ignored him, slaughtering men, women, and children in brutal fashion.

“They want access to the river,” explained Peter. “They can have it, peacefully. If only I could explain it clearly. We can share it.”

Mary leveled her gaze at Peter. “We’re low on ammunition, and there’s no more coming. Food is scarce because they won’t let us hunt. The dinosaurs are starting to figure out how to access the plateau, likely with the help of the lizard men. Something’s got to give, or we’re not going to survive.”

“I’ll see to it that we all do,” snapped Peter.

“Not if we’re eaten,” said Jason. “Even you can’t do that with your…powers.”

Peter took a deep breath, steeling himself. He knew they were right. He also knew he bore the responsibility for bringing this down upon the Umazoa. “Then I guess I can’t fail, can I?”

Mary and Jason both shook their heads.

The tribal warriors listened intently, trying to follow the conversation. In their time together, Peter and the Juwai (what the Umazoa called those from the other dimension) had learned some of the tribal language, and the Umazoa had learned some English.

Peter stood up. “Okay. Here I go. If I don’t come back out, go back to the village and begin preparations to evacuate.” When Jason shot him a look, he said, “If I don’t return, it’ll be your only option.”

Mary stood up and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “Then you make sure you return.”

Peter nodded.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” asked Jason.

Peter shook his head. “No. If this doesn’t work, you’d never make it out in one piece, and I can’t risk that.”

Jason pulled his handgun and handed it to Peter, who shook his head, waving it away. “I won’t need that.” Even he found his sureness to be strange. His newfound power had transformed him and was continuing to change him in ways he couldn’t comprehend. He knew things at certain times with an uncanny certainty.

Jason nodded. “We’ll be waiting for you right here.”

Peter looked up at the sun, now low in the sky. While he sensed the lizard men were warm-blooded, for some reason they returned to their subterranean realm during the night. “Watch your backs. There may be some stragglers returning home.”

“That’s why I think we should wait till nightfall,” said Jason.

“No,” said Peter, “I’m counting on running into a few of them returning.” There was a roar in the distance. “Watch out for dinosaurs. Remember, if I’m not back in a couple of hours…”

“Head back to the village,” said Mary. “We got it.”

Satisfied, Peter turned away from his friends and began to cross the clearing to the Umazoan temple. He wished Mary and Jason hadn’t come along, but there was no dissuading them. As he approached the temple entrance, he looked at the posts driven into the