Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

were fresh! He knew this could only mean one thing: he was close to the fortress of the Ancient Skull, the legendary city of monsters, which held such gold and glory for the one who could find it. Oh … and also danger and possible death. That was okay with Dillon though as he knew the risks. He had trained all his life for this moment. A little danger wasn’t going to stop him now!

Suddenly there was a massive sound of crashing trees and low guttural grunts as something huge barrelled through the trees toward him. He quickly dived to the side and rolled off the path and through the brush, landing firmly on his feet in a ready stance. Sliding his long slender sabre from its sheath he readied himself for the fight.

The creature blew through the trees with ferocity, sending leaves everywhere and splintering branches from their perch upon the Amazon trunks. It was huge; much taller than Dillon. Even though it was slightly hunched Dillon could tell that it was at least eight feet in height. It had the face of a man but the teeth of a gorilla. Its huge mass was ripped with muscle, and the way it stood and walked resembled that of an ape. Its upper body was hairless while its lower body had thick ape-hair all over it. He had to dive out of the way in order to avoid being crushed under the massive hulk of the beast and the flying debris it has caused!

He rolled around and slashed at the back of the creature’s legs but the beast’s hide was too thick to do any damage. It turned around and Dillon saw its terrible red eyes boring into him. It roared. Spittle sprayed from its mouth as it issued its challenge. And its breath! Oh the stench! Despite the frightening nature of the creature Dillon’s resolve to make it to the fortress of The Ancient Skull was not deterred. Dillon’s resolve to fight his way through was at its height.

It came in with its fangs barred, but Dillon nimbly dodged out of the way and delivered another blow, this time in the thigh. Clearly it was irritated as it roared; spit issuing from its foul mouth … again. Dillon laughed. That must have confused the dim-witted creature, for it looked at him with a puzzled expression on its face. This gave Dillon the opportunity he needed to dive gracefully around the side of the creature, roll, and come up in a dead run down the path as he sheathed his sword. Dillon knew now that he couldn’t fight this thing on even ground. It was eight feet tall with razor sharp fangs, and breath that rivalled even his little sister Gwen’s when she woke up in the morning!

No, for now, he was content running through the woods like a maniac, seeking for some advantage he could use against the beast. And there it was: the bridge of Kazakdoon!

The bridge stood about thirty feet long and spanned a gulf that was at least a thousand feet deep!

As he started to run across the bridge he began to feel the sway of it and the warm wind on his face. Dillon knew that he was in more trouble than he first realized when, at the half way point of the bridge, he heard the roar of the Giant Hape Crusher as it crashed through the trees and onto the bridge. The sudden jolt of its weight sent Dillon flying into the air, but he somehow managed to land on his feet and kept running. As he glanced back he saw the monstrous creature bounding towards him with such ferocity that it drained the blood from his face.

Dillon’s heart pounded. The beast was gaining on him and it was pretty clear that he might not make it to the other side in time. As he ran, he realized that the only way he might make it was to leap from the bridge and hope that he was close enough to the other side for his momentum to propel him far enough to the ledge of the cliff.

Dillon could almost feel the hot breath of the beast on his back which made him realize that it was now or never. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, drawing on all the resources his body could muster—pressing himself to the limit—trying to make up as much distance as he could before the jump. He glanced back for a moment and saw the creature reach out for him. He leaped with all his might.

The Giant Hape Crusher lunged for him as he sprang into the air; its long stocky fingers brushing the back of the air-borne adventurer’s shirt. As Dillon flew from the bridge he took note of the clump of vines that sprouted from the edge of the cliff. He knew that those vines were the best shot of him getting out of this alive. He slammed into the side of the cliff and desperately grasped onto any of the corded plants he could. As he hit the edge of the cliff he smashed his knee on the rocky face, but it barely phased him as he knew he had bigger problems to deal with—like not falling a thousand feet to his death!

Thankfully the vines seemed to hold. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the Giant Hape Crusher staring at him in disbelief. It howled wildly, not sure of how to proceed. Luckily, because of the momentum he gathered from the run, Dillon landed only a few feet short from the top of the ledge. Quickly he scrambled up the cliff before the dumb creature realized that it was still within striking distance of the kid if it hurried off the bridge.

The agile adventurer scrambled to the top, looked back, and smirked at the dumbfounded creature who scratched its head stupidly.

“See ya!” Dillon yelled as he took off again through the trees, a little bit slower this time due to his banged-up knee. The wild scream that the Giant Hape Crusher issued told Dillon that the stupid creature just realized it could still chase him, and was probably doing just that.

Dillon wound through the path once more with as much haste as he could muster, but the stubborn creature was still pursuing as he could hear the trees crashing aside as the beast plowed through.

I have to find a spot to hide, he thought to himself as he suddenly realized that there was no way of out running this thing; even without his banged up knee. Besides, Dillon also had to admit to himself that he was starting to get really tired and needed to rest soon.

Just then, as he stumbled through a small creek, he saw what looked like a small hole in the side of a hill that had an overhang of vines coming down from it. Quickly he dashed inside, and not a moment too soon! For, as soon as he had touched the back wall to the small make-shift cave, the beast came bounding through the trees and into the creek. It continued to move on, about to step into the tree line beyond where Dillon was hiding, when it suddenly stopped. It lifted its nose into the air and sniffed around as though it had been tracking him by his scent this whole time.

Dillon froze, not even daring to breathe. He had his hands planted against the back of the hole and, as he was trying to readjust just a little in order to ensure that he was fully hidden, his hand grasped something that was lodged behind a root. It felt small and smooth. Dillon didn’t have time to examine it, so he pulled it out and quickly placed it into his pocket.

The beast came back toward the creek with its nose in the air. It sniffed around, up and then down, and then it looked in the young adventurer’s direction. Its red eyes bored down toward the small hideout. Dillon could see through small openings in the overhanging vines that the creature probably knew he was there. Slowly it stalked over as it continued to sniff. It was made starkly clear at that moment that there was no way out of this except to fight, no matter how futile that might be. He quickly slid his finely crafted sabre from its sheath as the creature approached. When it was about ten feet away Dillon stepped slowly and calmly from his would-be hideout. The two locked eyes and the creature hunched down and snarled, ready to charge. Dillon positioned himself in the best defensive stance he could and awaited the rush.

The Giant Hape Crusher roared one last time and then lunged! The agile warrior came up with the sabre leading and then … off in the distance Dillon heard a distinctive call, “Dillon! It’s time for dinner!” The call was faint, but brought the young boy back to reality. The beast was almost upon him. It closed in and then … Dillon felt the lick of its floppy tongue on his face. It knocked him down as it playfully licked him all over.

“Okay okay!” Dillon said to his dog, Bruno. “You got me! Ah! The fierce Giant Hape Crusher has triumphed!” Dillon laughed as he pushed his dog away.

Bruno growled playfully and issued a bark as he pushed him off. “Sorry boy, but it’s time for dinner. Let’s go!”

Bruno bounded after the young adventurer as he led the way back through the small forest and onto Glenview street. Dillon’s house was literally right across the road from this most awesome “play zone” as he always called it. Unfortunately, there weren’t many other kids in the neighbourhood who found it as enjoyable as he did. But that was okay. Dillon was content as he always had Bruno to play the other roles in their adventures. Sometimes he actually pretended that Bruno was a giant wolf that he saved in one way or other, and that he was bound to serve and protect him as they hunted for treasure and lost artifacts.

As he walked toward his house he pulled the object he had found from his pocket. He held it up in front of him and turned it over in his hand. It looked like it was a small pocket watch. Cool! he thought, as he examined it. It was really tarnished and dirty, and the chain that was supposed to be attached to it was missing. It had a few dings on it and when he pushed the button in order to open it he had to pry it a bit before it unlatched. The inside was plain, the face of the watch was faded, and the hands were missing.

“What’s goin on today little man?” Mom asked, as he walk into the driveway, breaking him from his thoughts of curiosity concerning the watch.