Primal Saga Volume 1: The Queen of Silence

Chapter 22: Rapids

My hands thrashed wildly as I tried desperately to grab a hold of something. Anything. Water splashed against my face as I was sent into a tumbling towards the side of the Jungle Cat. My hands caught the metal railing and I felt Miaybi's gauntlet-covered hands grab my other arm. She looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you ok?" She supported me in her arms." I'm sorry I-"

"I'm fine. Thanks for saving me."

"Don't thank me yet-"

A loud roar drowned out Miyabi's voice. 

We were currently in a small canyon being violently dragged along by the current. Above us, beyond the mangled remains of the metal canopy, following us along the edge of the canyon with drool-soaked fangs was an onikibasaurus. The green wrinkled-faced dinosaur just stared at us with its board looking as it walked along the raised bank, looking for an opportunity to attack again. It shooked its head causing the steering wheel that was stuck on one of its tusks to fall into the canyon and bounce across the hood of the Jungle Cat with a loud bang.

I looked down the canyon and-

"Dear god there's another one!" 

Wading in the river downstream was a second onikibasaurus. This one was brown and lacked tusks, a female. The dinosaur was tall enough so that the water was just over its ankles. It looked at us with hungry eyes as we drifted toward it. The male on the right bank continued to follow us with big booming strides. Further down stream the bank was lower and therefore would give him an opportunity to pounce on us. My heart began to race in my chest when I realized they had us cornered. Without the steering column, I couldn't steer this thing up to the bank, but even if I could get us ashore this thing doesn't have the speed to outrun the onikibas. Miyabi looked at me with uncertainty in eyes waiting for a suggestion on what to do.

Then I remembered something. I reached down to the side of the cab and undid a pair of latches and removed a pair of oars that was clipped to the side of the vehicle. I tossed one to Miyabi and pressed a button on mine causing it to extend. "Use the tachi to cut a piece of this end," I said, showing her the back end of the oar. She drew the tachi and sliced the end creating a sharp point. Her eyes lit up when she realized what I was planning to do. She cut a slice off of the end of her oar to create her own spear. We now had a long pair of sharp polearms.

The male onikibasaurus stepped into the water and charged the amphibious vehicle. Miyabi positioned herself on the right side of the vehicle and thrust the sharp oar handle into the body of the beast causing it to recoil in pain. The oni roared at Miybai, blood oozing from its scaley side. "Aim for the underbody! The hide there is less thick than their heads," Miyabi shouted.

There was a deep bellow. The female onikiba began to walk upstream towards us, white water surging around its feet. I walked out onto the hood of the cat and braced the butt of my spear against the vehicle. When the dinosaur was in range I angled the spear into its body using the moving vehicle as leverage. The spear went deep in the dinosaur's side, causing it to pull away and move to the left bank. The titan turned sharply, swung its tail,  and hit the side of the cat almost knocking me off. The female oni roared in frustration as she backed away.

Both dinosaurs continued to follow us on either side of the river, like sharks eyeing their prey. In turn, Miyabi and I had our spears ready. 

The river angled down again and the banks both became raised. Both animals climbed opposite banks. Now their heads were high above us. As long as we stayed towards the middle of the river we can keep out of their reach.

"Oh no..." I said as I turned my head. Downstream there were large rocks just above the beating waves. The current was pulling us toward them. Even worse still, if we managed to get around it would put us close enough to the bank for one of the onis to get at us.