Chapter 146: The choice is made

The sun was going down when dozens and dozens of birds and dinosaurs from the Montain gathered at the 'cutting stones'. It was an area in the arid steppe where the stones were particularly sharp, which is why they called it that. If anyone had seen that scene they probably would have been confused a lot: hundreds of dinosaurs (generally dromaeosaurids), birds and even some pterosaurs gathered all together without threatening or hurting each other was a really strange sight. Suddenly the sky darkened for an instant and a large winged creature landed on the largest rock. It was a large pterosaur with a wingspan of at least eight meters. An azhdarcho. "I see that many have answered the call" he said looking around. "It's the first time I've seen so many animals gathered together" "Welcome, noble Rostro" a hawk greeted him, bowing his head respectfully, and all the birds immediately did the same. The dinosaurs don't emulate them, but they nodded respectfully to him nonetheless. Rostro was the last of his kind left in the Montain. In the past, when the land was not so barren, there were many azhdarcho flying in the skies, but the number dwindled and dwindled to a single individual. And soon there would be none: Rostro was quite old, being nearly forty. He survived in the Montain on carcasses. Given his age, he enjoyed a certain respect among other animals (or at least those who could communicate), and even great prestige among birds. Being the oldest to fly in those skies, all the animals that could fly considered him a sort of example to follow. Despite the appearance of [Linguistican(2)] and therefore the ability to speak even with pterosaurs, Rostro, while deciding to join Sobek's herd, had chosen to continue to maintain his solitary life. After all, he already had all the food he needed and he knew that if he joined a group of dinosaurs, birds or pterosaurs he would have to lead them. The strong rules over the weak: that was the rule. And Rostro was too old to care to lead a group of birds. However, the fact that he had continued to live on his behalf didn't mean that he was extraneous to what was happening in the Montain: the other animals often turned to him when there were problems, since he was the oldest and therefore the wiser. Since the appointed time for the meeting had arrived, some of the dinosaurs and birds stepped forward and formed a circle, while the others remained to one side. Those were the leaders of the various animal groups of the Montain. Just like in Sobek's herd, a pyramidal and hierarchical structure was formed there too. Therefore, at a meeting aimed at the survival of all groups of dinosaurs and birds, only the leaders could speak. When they had arranged themselves in a circle, one of them, a large dakotaraptor, spoke first: "Now that we're all here, I'd say it would be good if someone explained to us why we're in such a hurry." "I agree" "Me too" "Yup" All the leaders nodded at the dakotaraptor's words. At that point, an eagle spoke: "I'll explain it to you. In case you don't know, I'm Roc, the leader of a flock of birds. Today, by an unfortunate twist of fate, my flock came across in human beings" The feathers of all animals became ruffled. All of them feared the humans, and just mentioning them, especially in an urgently convened meeting like this one, meant trouble. "These humans have captured one of our comrades, Pip. As you well know, the pack leader's orders are never to attract the attention of humans, and never to interact with them. We all know that approaching humans means death, and none of us ever wished to betray the pack leader's trust. Therefore, we often abandoned our mates when humans captured them" Even though Sobek wasn't present in the Montain, everyone knew that he was dictating orders, even those who had never seen him. They knew that if they did not comply with his orders they could lose the benefits due to the [Contract], and no one longed to return to their difficult life before. Also, everyone knew that Sobek was the strongest of all animals and that there was no one who could match him, so it was normal to recognize him as the leader of the pack. Even though the dinosaurs, birds and pterosaurs of the Montain had split into various groups due to the absence of a strong central figure, they knew that they were all part of the same herd and that there were rules that everyone had to follow, namely not fighting each other and not attracting the attention of humans. "Normally, we would have done the same. But my scouts have discovered something dangerous: Pip is still alive" continued the eagle. "Apparently, the humans want to do something with him. We don't know what it is, but it puts us all at risk. Pip is loyal to the pack, but if what the humans did to him was very painful, he could... communicate with them unintentionally" The dinosaurs and birds present widened their eyes and looked at each other in fear. Everyone knew what the consequences would be if humans realized they could talk. Every animal in all of the Montain, indeed in all of the world would have been at risk. "That's why we asked for this meeting" concluded the eagle. "Since this is a matter that concerns us all, we must all decide" Silence fell for a moment, then one of the leaders, a saurornithoides, exclaimed: "If really he is still alive, then we can't simply do nothing and hope he doesn't reveal anything. We have to do something!" "But if we did, we would be violating the pack leader's orders" opined another leader, a deinonychus. Suddenly the sound of a claw pounding on the ground was heard. "The pack leader's orders are just to stay low! We just have to make sure we leave no witnesses" said the largest of the leaders, a utahraptor with a long scar in his left eye. "Besides, let's face it, we're all tired of letting humans do what they want! It's time to teach them a lesson" "Svern, we all know about your hot blood, but get a handle on it and use your brain. By teaching them a lesson we would put everyone in danger" "Tsk! What if we don't give it to them instead? Will they keep coming here to kill us? Or capture us? Have they started taking us hostage now? I'm tired of standing by!". The utahraptor let out a snort. "How many of us have lost a family member or friend to humans? And how many will we lose in the future? We need to act! We can't stand out, but we can get rid of those who want to hurt us! Corpses don't talk, remember!" Many of the animals nodded to his words. Svern's thinking was shared by most of them. Initially after the creation of common speech, birds and dinosaurs didn't care too much if one of their mates was captured, unless it was a family member. But after several weeks and months of living together, chatting and sharing food and tasks, very strong interpersonal relationships had been created. By now, abandoning a companion to his fate had become a painful act. There were not a few who wanted a change. "Here's what we have to do. I say we have to go to where these humans live and save our brother crow!" yelled Svern, and immediately everyone in his group cheered him on with high-pitched shrieks. "And how are you going to do it? Humans are dangerous" another leader, an achillobator, reminded him. "Didn't you try to think what would happen if we were to attack humans? They have guns, we don't. What will we do when their bullets start hitting us? When your wings and legs are torn apart by that little metal bullet traveling as if blown by the wind? Are any of you here by any chance made of rock? Are any of you invincible?" The animals immediately calmed down. Faced with reality, they immediately had second thoughts. Everyone knew that humans, even if they seemed harmless, possessed weapons. And against weapons there was little animals could do. But Svern wasn't willing to give up. "You!" he said looking at the eagle that had brought the news. "You said you sent scouts, right? How many humans are there?" "Apparently, only two. However, one of them recently left their shelter. There is currently only one" "One! And you are intimidated by a single human?" Svern growled, then looked at the achillobator. "Are you really that coward, Tok? Does a single human scare you?" The achillobator's eyes narrowed. Animals respected strength, so no leader liked to be called a coward. "I'm not scared, I'm cautious. Our role as leaders is to protect our subordinates. True, in all likelihood we could easily overwhelm a single human, but how many of our brothers will die? Is it really worth it?" "But we have [Ambush]" suddenly said another leader, an austroraptor. "We could take it from behind" "Or strip him of his weapons before he knows it. Then he'll be helpless" added another leader, a troodon. "But the human will have shut himself up in his refuge" pointed out another leader, an albatross. "How are we going to get in" Svern snorted. "We can do it. We just have to use the cunning and strength we have" "Do you have a plan?" Tok asked. "We can study one together" "So you don't have one. Do you expect us to go and die without a plan?" "That's not what I said! Don't put words into my mouth I've never said, you coward!" "Don't you dare call me a coward!" "Well, that's what you are!" "I'm just not going crazy! We can't win against humans!" "If we continue to believe it, nothing will ever change!" The animals quickly got into a fight. Before long that little patch of Montain was a cacophony of squawking, snarling, clawing paws, and flapping beaks. But suddenly a voice drowned out all the others: "ENOUGH!" Old Rostro's wings spread wide and even the wind seemed to move. All the animals immediately fell silent. "It is clear that there is a divergence between us" said the pterosaur. The other animals watched him for his wise judgment. "The question is simple: should we or shouldn't we attack? Here are some who say yes" and he looked at the animals led by Svern, "and others who say no" and looked at those led by Tok. "They both have very good reasons. So let the claws decide! Let the two sides pick a champion each, and let them battle it out to determine our decision!" Among animals, there were no such things as democracy and voting. When faced with a difference, there was always and only one solution: fight. Whoever won made the final decision. Even though they had developed language, dinosaurs and birds hadn't changed their behavior. For them, it was impossible to think of a different way to resolve disputes. In fact, the animals immediately agreed with Rostro, and without wasting time the two factions regrouped to decide the champions. In the end, the chosen ones were Svern and Tok themselves. Being a utahraptor and an achillobator, they represented the two strongest dinosaur species present in the Montain; and as both led their own pack, they were also the strongest of their kind. They were, therefore, the best challengers. The animals formed a circle at least twenty feet wide and the two combatants lined up on opposite sides of each other. As soon as everything was ready, Rostro spread his wings again: "Begin!" The two challengers began to circle around keeping a safe distance from each other, like two sharks, emitting puffs and ruffling their feathers to scare their opponent. That standoff went on for nearly a minute, then the two snapped and charged at each other. Sobek forbade them only to not attack each other, but a confrontation decided by mutual agreement couldn't be considered an attack. Therefore there was no problem in hurting one's opponent like that. Both knew that the first blows would be decisive ones. Between the animals, the battles lasted no more than a few minutes. In most cases they didn't even last a few seconds. Svern, being a utahraptor, was bigger and stronger, but Tok, being an achillobator, was faster and more agile. Both contenders had equal chances. As the two collided, the sound of claws clashing was dispersed for several meters. Tails, teeth, paws and claws collided simultaneously. It was a deadly dance that lasted for just a few seconds, and then the two challengers separated again and moved to a safe distance. Tok had a wound on his sternum, clearly left by one of Svern's large claws. The utahraptor, for his part, had two deep cuts on his face a few inches from his right eye. If the achillobator had hit him just a few inches below him it would have knocked out half his vision. The two challengers charged again. Their deadly dance resumed and was once again over in seconds. This time Tok suffered a wound to his right shoulder and Svern a bruise to his left foot. The two collided and repeatedly walked away three more times. It was a battle of resistance: it was all about conserving and maintaining one's strength better than one's opponent. At each fight each of the two tried to hit the opponent's vital points to make him more tired. After the fifth time, both were covered in deep wounds and were panting heavily. However, Tok realized he had the advantage: Svern's slightly askew stance underscored his weariness. His defense was down! That was the right time! The achillobator sprinted without warning and pounced on the utahraptor, who in contrast seemed confused by the sudden attack. But as Tok was about to pounce on Svern, the Utahraptor's expression changed from a worried one to a pleased one. Tok's eyes widened, realizing he'd been tricked. Svern was just pretending to be in trouble! The achillobator tried in vain to stop his momentum, but before he could the utahraptor threw a fistful of sand into his eyes. From a human point of view, tricking one's opponent into throwing sand at him would have been considered incorrect. But this was not a battle between humans. The animals relied on any means to get the better of their adversary. Fang, claw, poison, sand, trickery: anything was allowed. The only rule was to survive. The winner took it all, the loser lost it all. Things like respect for the opponent and sportsmanship made no sense in nature. No animal would ever accuse Svern of being unfair, not even Tok himself: from their point of view, what Svern had done was absolutely valid. Tok went blind for a few seconds, but that was enough. Svern lunged at him and kicked him off balance and fell backwards. Tok tried to roll away and get up, but the utahraptor was immediately upon him and pinned him, then aimed its huge claw at his throat. The battle was over. Tok let out a sigh, then whispered, "You've won" Svern allowed him to get up. As soon as he was on his feet, the achillobator lowered his head and didn't look his opponent in the eye, a clear sign of submission. Svern growled in satisfaction. "Yes. I won" he declared. "Therefore, the choice is made! We will go to the rescue of our companion and show the humans that they can't kidnap us whenever they want!" All the animals cried out in appreciation, even those who had previously been against it. Their law was that the stronger commanded. Svern had won, so no one had any more doubts that he was right. ************* Billy was finishing packing as he had said, when a sudden noise caught his attention. He was alone in a wasteland where there were no other people, and it was too soon for Alan to return. Logically, there shouldn't have been any noise. He heard another one, but this time he came out to identify the source: the crow they had caught was banging against the bars of the cage. Evidently the anesthesia had worn off, or was wearing off rapidly. "I guess you don't like staying in there, mh..." he murmured seeing how eagerly the bird was trying to free itself. Billy sighed. He didn't like keeping animals in cages, but this time it was necessary. He went back to packing, but still some anxiety had remained with him: strangely the initial noise hadn't seemed to him to come from the crow's cage, but from outside the trailer. He was probably just imagining it. THUD. Billy jumped up. He hadn't imagined this: something had banged against the trailer door. THUD. THUD. Billy went to the gun closet and took out a shotgun. Living so close to nature, he and Alan obviously had plenty of weapons. Most of them were only suited to narcotize, not kill, but for what they did they were just fine. Oddly, he noticed that the crow had fallen silent. Reluctantly, he opened the door, making sure his rifle was in full view. "Alan? Is that you?" It couldn't be Alan, his car was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Billy noticed a glint in the darkness. Then two. Then several dozen. It didn't take him long for him to realize that those were thousands of eyes staring back at him. Billy's biologist instincts kicked in immediately: judging by the height of his eyes and their size, there must have been different kinds of dinosaurs around him. Based on eye level above the ground,, none of them looked smaller than a velociraptor. In any case, they were dangerous dinosaurs, very dangerous. He raised his rifle and fired into the air. He wasn't going to hit anything: he just hoped the noise would scare them and they'd flee. His eyes flickered in the dark, clearly startled by the sound of the shot, but he didn't move. Billy grit his teeth. He considered shooting one of them (he'd just be drugged anyway), when suddenly a croak came from inside the caravan. "CAW! CAW! CAW!" It was the crow. It was cawing at the top of its lungs, louder than any crow Billy had ever heard. As soon as they heard the sound, the dinosaurs moved in a confused way. Suddenly another cry was heard, louder and clearly from a larger creature, and the dinosaurs wheeled around and disappeared into the darkness. Billy immediately closed the door and took a deep breath to calm himself. He didn't like that situation at all. Without wasting a second, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Alan's number. Unfortunately, the call signal went off: probably the friend was passing through some tunnel, or was in an area where there was no signal. She didn't know if she would have chances later, so she decided to simply leave him a message: "Alan, something is wrong here. I don't know how to explain it to you, but I feel like I'm in danger. Please come back soon and take with you someone with a gun. If we find out there was nothing to worry about, I'll take full responsibility. But please, do as I tell you, and do it quickly." Billy switched off his cell phone, hoping Alan would see the message as soon as possible. He glanced sideways at the caged crow: the bird had become motionless and hadn't opened its beak since Billy had closed the door, and was now staring at him with a defiant look. "What did you tell them?" the boy whispered, even though he knew he wouldn't have received an answer. An instant later, the small window above the crow's cage shattered.