The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 66a: Hunter

“Bring the allies who trust me most… What does that mean?”

Skyler looked on at the other Book Club members. They seemed to be staring her down as she walked up to them. Did any of them really trust her?

“H-Hey everyone,” Skyler said, raising her hand to wave at them. Sunny raised an eyebrow at her, and turned away to continue talking to Gary. Paige rolled her eyes, and Bobby and Simon began to whisper amongst each other.

“I just, um, wanted to say, we should all go, to this cave. In one of my dreams, the dragon uh, she told me that I’d find something there that could activate the obelisk-”

“Another dream, huh? You’re such a good prophet,” Sunny sneered.

“Yeah, absolutely not. The newcomers are already off to find Tiffany, Chris is gone, and Ben disappeared randomly, so, I’m not gonna bother going. If all of us just end up leaving to do our own thing, and they come back to see this place lookin’ like a ghost town? Who knows what they’ll think.”

Rick stood up from the ground with his trusty book by his side.

“I’ll go with you,” he firmly said, “I believe you’re right.”

“Oh is that so,” Paige snickered, “Just don’t let Skyler almost kill you again, okay?”

“Paige, it was an accident. So quit it,” Rick snapped. Paige smirked again, and leaned back on the log. Skyler looked amongst everyone else.

“Um. Anyone else?”

Nobody else seemed to respond, nor care.

“I guess it’s just going to be us two,” Skyler said. The two gathered their things and began to walk out the gate. She thought, “Will there really be anything there? I sure hope so. I don’t want the only person who trusts me in this group to despise me.”

“Hold on, wait!” someone cried out. Skyler and Rick turned around to see Gary running up to them wearing a strange chestplate that seemed to be made of scales. He came to a skidding stop and put his hands on his knees.

“Let me come too,” Gary asked, “I won’t let just you two go alone. I won’t let you get hurt out there.”

Skyler smiled at Gary. So there were two.

“Of course. Let’s go, guys.”

The three began to walk south, toward the cave that was revealed in Skyler’s dream…

~

“So this is the cave?” Gary asked. Skyler smiled as she stared on at the thin opening, covered by vines and overgrowth and hidden within this small ravine. Her dream had come true. There really was a cave!

“Yes, yes it is!” Skyler said almost giddily. She began to walk forward into the cave, when Rick grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

“Wait. Something’s off,” Rick told her, “The book… The book never told us how they got their artifacts.”

“It never did? How do you know that?” Gary said with a raised eyebrow.

“I may or may not have read a little bit of the book,” Rick muttered under his breath.

“And you’re telling us this NOW?!” Skyler screamed, “We sent out so many people just to find Tiffany! And you’re telling us you’ve read the book already?”

“Okay, a correction, I read some of the book. Not all of it. But I do know the basic gist,” Rick explained, “And why shouldn’t we find Tiffany? It’s proof that she was correct about her book. We wouldn’t want her to survive out there alone.”

“Rick, we’ve already lost Chris, all the newcomers, and maybe even Ben. We don’t want to take any more chances. For all we know, they died out there. We have no means to communicate with them at all. We have to move on without them…” Gary said.

“But, but what about the book? We need it!”

“Not anymore. We already know that Skyler’s dreams have some truth to it, if partial. Skyler can lead us the way home,” Gary argued. Rick paused, looking away at a herd of Triceratops which grazed along the fields. He looked back, and unhooked his knife from his belt. Gary took out his pistol.

“Fine… Let’s just go in and get that artifact. If there is one.”

The three stepped into the cave, and then they were immediately shrouded in darkness. An eerie cry echoed throughout the cavern’s walls, and water dripped down onto the ground from leaking respiration.

Skyler reached for her belt and pulled out a pair of nunchucks. She twirled them around, both handles in her hands. She led the way for the trio, and as they descended further and further into the cave, eventually, they spotted something bright and shiny, something that pulsated with power.

“Woah… Is that it?” Gary asked with wonder.

The artifact was made of a strange, unrecognizable metal and was growing a bright green. It almost looked like a replica of a part of the green obelisk. Skyler walked forward to grab the artifact, but then, there was a strange shuddering noise.

BANG!

A metal wall had suddenly shut them in, blocking the way out of the cave. The fog that hung in the room began to dissipate, and the screeching of spiders filled their ears. Large spiders the size of humans began to crawl into the room from the cliffs above. The artifact rose in the air to the ceiling, out of reach.

“What’s going on?!”

SCREEECH!

Spiders began to swarm into the arena, and Gary raised his pistol.

“I think it’s pretty obvious!” he announced, “It’s just like a video game.”

“We’ll need to survive through the waves and hordes of monsters to get that artifact!”