Evolution Island: Kill to Survive

Across the sandy shores

As soon as the selection was complete, a full-sized Ankylosaurus landed in front of them. It was one of the non-avian dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, measuring well over 8 meters and weighing as much as a large school bus.

The reason why Aaron had chosen this particular dinosaur as his new mount soon became clear to Zach. While the Ankylosaurus wasn’t as big as its other herbivorous cousins, it was built like a tank. With bony scutes covering its entire back and a thick scaly hide, it was as well armoured as a Triceratops. The two horns curling backwards offered it a good attacking option, but its main weapon was its thick muscular club-shaped tail. Whereas the Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were slow moving giants, the Ankylosaurus had speed on its side and could easily traverse dense forests due to its compact size.

Riding a mammoth was a lot different than riding a dinosaur. Aaron could feel his heart racing as he approached the massive beast. Though the Ankylosaurus was a herbivore, it was still a dangerous animal. If it felt threatened, it wouldn’t hesitate to charge at them.

With trembling fingers, Aaron touched the dinosaur’s sturdy right leg. It immediately turned its horned face towards him, making him freeze on the spot. Their eyes met and slowly the beast brought its face closer to Aaron’s. It sniffed him from up close, making Aaron’s heart pound faster than before. Zach readied his staff just in case.

A few seconds passed in silent anticipation. Then, finally, the Ankylosaurus let out a low bellowing sound. It didn’t attack Aaron, but gently licked his left cheek, coating him in thick sticky saliva.

“I’m glad you’re the one who gets to choose the mounts,” Zach remarked.

“I guess this is what true immersion feels like,” Aaron joked and broke into a smile.

He relaxed his stiffening muscles and breathed a sigh of relief. Cleaning the saliva from his face, he patted the Ankylosaurus on its head and climbed onto its back, which was already fitted with a saddle.

After Aaron had secured himself on the first saddle, he pulled Zach up and helped him get onto the second one. They had a long way to go and only 5 hours of daylight left. The lair of the Cyclops was located on the other end of the island. To get to the cave, they had to cross Zittorac Forest and head north east, towards North Beach.

Holding the reins in his hand, Aaron took control of the dinosaur. Before starting his journey, he opened the digital map of Solaris and placed a marker on North Beach. So far, they had explored almost all of South Beach, which gave them a clear vision of all the roads and hidden routes in that part of the island. Aaron noticed that there were three paths he could choose to reach North Beach: one cutting straight through Zittorac forest, the second one through Exile’s Grotto and the last one across the sandy shoreline to the east.

Going through Zittorac forest was the quickest way to reach the other side, but it was fraught with dangers. They would once more have to deal with the Pterosaurs and the Crying Oak. Even after that, there was no telling what kind of ferocious carnivores lived deep inside the forest. The Grotto would be a safe bet to avoid wild animals, but such caves were often riddled with traps and contained ancient curses which could result in permanent stat reduction or something even worse.

“What’s the hold up?” Zach asked from behind.

Aaron closed the map and replied, “We’re not going through the forest. We’re going around it.”

“That’s gonna take a long time, man.”

“It’s better late than never.” With those words, Aaron tugged at the reins and set off in the direction of the shoreline.

The Ankylosaurus was a fast mount and moved quickly across the sandy beach. Out here on the beach, there were no real threats, except the small groups of Stoneclaw Crabs near the sea.  

Riding across the vast stretches of sand on a hot summer afternoon was an arduous task for most animals, but the Ankylosaurus’ thick scaly skin protected it from the extreme heat. As for Aaron, his stats were all permanently boosted due to the Solar Absorption passive. It also granted him a 10% HP regeneration buff. Zach, however, was having the worst time of his life. Since he was an Aquamancer, the direct rays of the blazing sun caused blisters to form on his moist skin, causing his stats to take a sharp hit. Every second under the intense sunlight was draining his life force.

It didn’t take Aaron long to notice Zach slouching in his saddle. His human body was slowly fading and being replaced by his Aquamancer form. As the minutes rolled by, his outer skin covering started liquefying and even his internal organs became visible.

“Oh, God, I’d totally forgotten about this,” Aaron cried out in panic. He wanted to turn the beast around, but Zach caught his hand.

“It’s too late already. If we turn back now, we’ll never reach the other side before night falls.”

“You’re hurting. I can’t do this.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine once the sun goes down. You just focus on the road.”

Aaron consulted the map again and found they had covered half of the distance already. There was no point in going back now. They’d have plenty of time to recover once they reached North Beach.

Instead of turning around, Aaron commanded the Ankylosaurus to go faster. The dinosaur lowered its head and broke off into a run. Leafy coconut trees rolled by in the distance, as they rushed ahead, leaving behind an uneven trail on the scorching white sand.

Aaron held on to the reins and leaned forward. His squinting eyes were scanning the horizon, when suddenly a faint rumbling noise shook the ground, kicking up a gust of sand in the distance.