That Which Devours

Dinosaurs were amazing creatures until one tried to eat you. Then it became very clear where you stood in the food chain. I huddled in the dropship packed with other survivors while something roared and screamed outside.

Several people were out there fighting it, whatever it was. Trying to either drive it away, or kill it so we could eat it. The last couple of weeks had been filled with me trying to stay awake long enough to help, and me failing and falling unconscious. Today was the first day I’d felt steady on my feet and nothing weird happened if I turned too quickly.

Around me were a few others my age who hadn’t gotten classes yet. All of us either joined the mission with our families, or as orphans. Randy was a goofball who loved math and hoped to apprentice under the engineers. Cass’s family hadn’t lived through the crash, but she held up as best as she could. I knew her from the training classes; we were around the same age, and both of us wanted to make something of ourselves. They huddled on either side of me, all of us excited to start training with my father one moment, then running to hide in the ship the next as the alarm bell rang.

“Do you think everyone will be okay?” asked Randy. His dark eyes stayed locked on the doorway in the distance, while his fear stood out on his pale face. Abby guarded the doorway with a spear, her back toward us.

“It will be what it will be.” I kept my voice low and wished he hadn’t asked. Cass’s face paled at his question, and given what’d happened to her family, I didn’t blame her. I was lucky everyone I cared for had survived the crash.

Though, right now Dad and Benny were out there fighting with the others. John worked on fixing up the one shuttle that the survivors had partially recovered from this side of the dropship.

Finally, the sounds outside calmed down and Abby exited the doorway. That was the signal, though most people didn’t leave just yet. Not wanting to wait, I took the opportunity to move first and headed out to see if I could help.

Outside under the gray sky an enormous creature with spikes running up and down its back was dead. At one point, it had stood on two legs, and it reminded me of a Ceratosaurus. That was a meat eater that, at least on Earth, usually went after small prey. Though, this didn’t look like the pictures from the museum. It had brighter colors striped along its back.

My father stood near it with blood dripping down his spear. Several spears stuck out of the creature, though a few of them were broken off. Abby spoke with my father quietly. Other survivors stood around smiling, though one fighter had a small group around him as he held his arm. It looked like it was broken.

People whispered about the levels they had gained. More and more were crossing that level ten mark my father had passed weeks ago. Everyone who passed it needed less food and water, not to mention less sleep. It was a huge advantage, or so I imagined. Without a class, I didn’t have a level, so all I could go on was what others said.

“Alright, everyone with a good sharp knife, to me. We need to cut this up and smoke as much of it as possible. We’ll be eating well tonight,” said Abby.

More cheers broke out and people started coming out of the side of the dropship at the noise.

My father headed my way with a grim look. “Looks like training will start a little late,” he said. “Can you gather up the other laborers?” He motioned away from the ship and closer to the lake. “We’ll meet up in ten. I need to clean up first.”

I nodded, and he strode away toward the lake, while I turned back to the ship looking for Cass and Randy as people gathered around.

That was what I wanted, what I needed. A class and the strength to back it up. The ability to take down dinosaurs and prove myself to everyone. I needed to figure out how to get a class as soon as possible. It was time to get to work.

***

“It worked!” John called out toward my father and I as we practiced next to the lake. “The crystals can be used as energy sources!” He raced toward us with a big smile on his face. John had long brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail. A streak of grease sat along the left side of his face and it’d been there for over a day now. That, at least, wasn’t any different from how things had been back home.

He stood taller than me, but so did everyone else in the family. My father took a step back holding up a hand to me to stop. I resisted the urge to attack when his guard was down, and instead I rested the butt of my spear on the ground. Not that it was much of a spear. More a branch with a sharpened point, but it was at least something.

While a bunch of weapons had been within the dropship, the guns were useless with the batteries destroyed. Just like all the other batteries or explosives on the dropships, anything that was a store of energy had simply exploded. No one knew what had caused it, but it happened at the same time we crossed into this new ‘System Universe,’ whatever that was. Everything holding condensed energy went boom. The batteries in the shuttles had been drained for transport before we left Earth, which left them in better shape than anything else with them.

John approached us with a crystal in hand. The hunks of what looked roughly like quartz were all anyone could talk about. Somehow, they created a humming noise which kept the beasts away.

“Dad, hold on to this.” He held it out to him, which my father took. “Now, try to make it glow.”

Nothing happened for a few seconds, then suddenly it flared to life. Dad dropped the crystal to the ground. “Woah…”

“Did you get the skill?” asked John.

I bent down to pick up the crystal.

“Yes, that… that will be handy,” said Dad, as his eyes flickered over something we couldn’t see.

John held out his hand for the crystal back, but instead I tried to make it glow. Nothing happened.

“You might not have the ability,” reassured John. “Since you don’t have a class yet.”

I narrowed my eyes and focused on the crystal even more. If Dad and John could make it glow, so could I.

Several minutes went by and John held his hand out again. “I need to see if anyone else in the settlement can get the skill.”

Yet, Dad held up his hand. “Let her try.”

That drove the stakes even higher, and I gave it everything I had. I pushed at the crystal. It just needed to do something.

Then it flashed a bright yellow color, brighter than it had for Dad. It heated in my hand, and I quickly dropped it as my fingers warmed. My head felt dizzy, and I felt Dad grip my shoulder.

[Skill Category Unlocked: Crystal Skills.]

I blinked twice at the green words, smiling as I read them. This was my sixth skill category, if I remembered correctly. Training with the spear and a knife had gotten me those skill categories, plus cooking with Abby had gained me that category as well.

Now, here was another.

I’d asked Cass if she had gained many categories, and she said she didn’t keep track but it wasn’t many. Here I was with yet another one.

“I got the Skill Category for it.”

“That’s great,” replied my Dad, before turning toward John. “John, test as many people as possible. We need to see who else can use these crystals. Who knows what you can come up with using these?”

“Was it supposed to get hot?” I asked, rubbing my fingers together. It hadn’t burned me, but it had gotten pretty warm.

“It got hot for you?” asked John, his eyes narrowing before he bent down and picked it up. “My skill says nothing about it getting hot. I’ll need to experiment more.”

“I can help you after training,” I added with a hopeful look. I wanted to see what else I could do with the crystal.

“You’re assigned to Abby this afternoon,” reminded my Dad. “Don’t miss it.”

I nodded. I hadn’t forgotten, but no one really understood how much I packed my days full of things outside of my assigned job for the day. Anything to unlock class selection. Cass had talked one of the archers into offering a lesson around noon for Randy, her and I to hopefully unlock the class. All of us felt the need to get one as soon as possible. Each day, it seemed another laborer was gone from the pool and using their new class to help in different ways.

Maybe half of us were left at this point. It was frustrating.

John headed back toward the shuttle, which sat near the dropship. In the distance, the sound of people cutting down trees filled the air. Different classes had unique skills which let people do various related tasks faster. Each day, we discovered more about the strange system that now guided our lives.

“Let’s get back to it. You might be better than the others, but that doesn’t mean you stop training,” said Dad.

I smiled as I took a step back and readied my spear. Even though I didn’t have a class, I at least had talent with the spear. It was something to focus on each day.

By the time I finished up training with my Dad, sweat dripped down my back and I needed a break. The smell of food drifted over the trees, but instead of stopping for lunch, the three of us walked through the area toward the archery practice area for our mid-day lesson. It wasn’t a big space, just a place that a tree had fallen that someone had set up targets on.

Cass and I hurried through the trees to catch up to Randy, who had set out before us. The thud of an arrow into a tree caused us both to slow down. Adam stood next to Randy and shot another arrow into the target in the distance. He was ex-military, like my father, and stood the same way. His head was held up high and he was always watching everything. Adam’s class had unlocked during the crash, like most of those with prior training. His bow was from the old world. The armory crates that had been recovered had some bows in them, but only a few. Only those who unlocked the class could use them.

Adam noticed us joining them and gave us a nod, but turned back to Randy. Randy looked like a teenager next to the broad-shouldered man. “Alright, take the bow and stand like I showed you.”

Randy quickly complied, and Adam moved his limbs into the correct position. Both Cass and I copied him nearby, even though we didn’t have bows. Practice was practice.

It took ages before Adam let Randy try to shoot an arrow with his bow. The first couple didn’t fly far at all. Eventually, he fired one with a little more power, and the metal arrow flew toward the target. It missed by feet, but Cass and I cheered for him all the same.

Yet, Randy didn’t move from the pose he stood in.

Adam’s eyes grew wide and he smiled, showing off a kind look. He ran his hand through his short gray hair.

Cass stepped forward, but he held up a hand.

“I think he’s in class selection,” said Adam. “Let’s give him a few moments.”

All three of us remained quiet, until Randy lowered his arms, blinking. “Holy shit, I’m an archer.”

“Congrats, man! We need to get you set up with a bow. I think there might be one left from Earth. Otherwise, we’ll need to get started with one of the wooden ones.” He set a hand on Randy’s shoulders with a smile. “First, though, you need to recover the arrows you shot. You might have gotten a skill to help you locate and recover them.”

Randy slowly nodded then held the bow out to Adam. “Yeah, it shouldn’t take me long. I got one to sharpen them as well.”

“That’s great progress.” Adam took the bow and turned toward the two of us. “Well, who’s next? Let’s see if we can get two more archers on the crew. The more people up in the trees keeping watch, the better.”