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

Susan lay her spears down on the ground beside her. She smiled, working on untying Mary’s wrists which were bound with a crude twine. “I’m here to rescue you, silly.”

Her hands free, Mary rubbed her wrists. “Who was that?”

“That was Jason, causing a diversion so I can get you out of here. Can you walk?”

Mary looked up at Susan. “I-I think so. I’m so tired.”

“You’ve been walking all day,” said Susan. “You’re probably dehydrated.”

Movement in front of them caught both of their attention. It was the fallen lizard man. He was on all fours and looking right at them.

“Crap,” said Susan. “Come on. We have to get you up.” She reached under Mary’s armpits, pulling her up, trying to get her to stand. However, in her weakened condition, Mary stumbled, trying to regain her footing. Susan thought she felt a bit heavier than she looked.

The reptilian man crawled his way over toward them in the dirt, blood oozing out of the wound in its chest. Despite its injury, it moved with a purpose and closed the distance faster than Susan had anticipated.

“Kill it,” said Mary, dropping to her knees. “Kill it, Susan.”

Susan didn’t know what to do. Mary was having difficulty standing up, and the lizard man was almost upon her, hissing in rage. She released Mary and snatched a spear from off the ground. She turned it in her hands, pointing the sharp end at the advancing lizard man. It reached up and snatched the tip of the spear in its one clawed hand. Susan pushed the spear down, but the reptilian man’s grip was firm, preventing the thrust.

Susan gripped the shaft of the spear with both hands and pushed down with all of her body weight. The lizard man’s grip buckled for a moment, and the spearpoint slid down closer to its face, but stopped again.

“Kill it. Kill it, Susan.”

Susan grunted as she pushed down with all her might. The lizard man swept its tail and caught her leg, throwing her off balance. She went down hard on one knee, but she didn’t let go of the spear. It slid a bit more through the monster’s grip, the tip now only a couple of inches from its face.

On its knees, it reached up and grabbed the end of the spear with its other clawed hand, reinforcing its grip. Mary crawled over to Susan and pulled herself up on Susan’s back.

Susan groaned under the weight of her dehydrated friend as she continued to push the spear down against the creature’s vice-like grip. Mary gripped the bottom of the spear shaft and added her weight to the effort, leaning on Susan.

The lizard man flared its dewlap, its arms trembling from exertion, blood cascading out of the wound in its chest. It let out a high-pitched whistle as the spear slid through its fingers, the point hitting it in the throat. The sharpened tip slid into its flesh, and its whistle turned into a whine. Blood poured out of its neck as Mary and Susan collapsed on top of it, all three falling into a heap in the dirt.

Susan lay face-to-face on top of the creature, Mary lying on top of her. It let out a deep breath and became still underneath her.

“Off me,” grunted Susan.

Mary rolled off Susan’s back and onto hers. Susan rolled off the lizard man, panting. She looked over at it. Its dewlap flopped to the side, unfurled and inert. Blood continued to leak from its two wounds, but after a couple of twitches, the body remained completely still. At last, it was dead.

“I think…we got it…” wheezed Mary, catching her breath.

Susan pushed herself to standing, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. “We need to get out of here. They may return.”

  “What about…Jason?” asked Mary.

Susan stood over her, extending a hand to help her up. “He said he’d lead them around the jungle and then circle back, meeting us at the river. We need to follow the river.”

Mary nodded and accepted Susan’s hand. This time she helped push herself up. She steadied herself by throwing an arm around Susan’s shoulders. Together, they hobbled their way out of the clearing, heading for the river.

“Where are the Umazoa?” asked Mary.

“They went with Hiu to rescue the others.” Susan explained her exchange with Hiu.

Within minutes they heard the river’s current, and they saw it glistening in the pale moonlight.

“Water,” gasped Mary. She released Susan and got down on all fours. She crawled to the river’s edge and thrust her face into the water, taking in large gulps. Susan, anxious to leave the area, waited patiently as Mary gasped, coming up for air, only to dunk her head back into the river for more.

When Mary had drunk her fill, Susan helped her up. “Come on. We have to go.” Susan turned to walk south, but Mary didn’t follow.

“Where are you going?” asked Mary.

Susan gestured in the direction with her hand, as if the answer was obvious. “South.”

“Why south? Shouldn’t we go back to help Hiu?”

Susan shook her head. “Jason said he’d meet us down river.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Mary, lost in thought.

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“The lizard men left Jason behind because he was too weak to continue. He was succumbing to infection from his wounds. But now I just saw him stab one of them and run off into the jungle.”

“Maybe he just needed a rest,” said Susan.

Mary shook her head. “No, he was burning up, and he couldn’t even stand.”

“So, maybe the fever broke.”

“Without any kind of intervention? Fevers like that don’t just break.”

“Well, we can discuss first aid as we walk south,” said Susan looking around, uneasy. “If we stay here, we’ll be discussing it with the lizard men. There’s nothing we can do for