Where New Life Begins

Late Cretaceous

3 years to Fireball

In a large rounded nest, several eggs lay warm. Warmed by the decaying plant matter around them, the small oval eggs were near hatching. Their parent sat nearby, an apex predator of the time. Massive, with a slight frame, a set of massive wings, tearing talons, a double horned head, and an innovation of evolution that granted dominance over other predators.

The female prehistoric dragon slept, feeling assured that no scavenger or egg thief's would try to take her offspring. But a feeling meant nothing in the late Cretaceous.

While she slept, not too far away, a herd ran in fear from one of the large, predatory dinosaurs of the age. Their stampede led them straight into the path of the nest, a disadvantage to nesting in open ground. She first awoke to shaking ground, the pebbles shaking and moving around her. Then came the frightened calls of the herd, alerting her to their presence.

She immediately stood up and looked at her nest, seeing the two eggs. She picked one up in her jaws, and looked down at the other and turned away, before running into the dense jungle away from the incoming herd.

She did this not out of malice, or cruelty, but for survival. She could only take one egg, and if one of two offspring survived, then it was worth it.

Finally, the herd rushed through the area, many different species rushing to escape the threat behind them, unknowingly demolishing the nest of the dragon in front of them, yet the egg was not destroyed, moved yes, but not gone.

The herd passed, and in their wake came the scavengers. Mammal scavengers.

The egg was found by a large mammal, resembling a black and white opossum with a posture like a lizard.

The mammal grabbed hold of the egg in it's jaws, ready to feed in the safety of it's den.

But halfway through it's forest journey, it was attacked by a raptor, a small one with coloring like a peacock, who attacked the mammal, devouring it, while the egg rolled down an incline to a small clearing. A clearing currently inhabited by an azdarchid pterosaur, walking like a giraffe towards the egg, sensing a meal.

The azdarchid, resembling a Zejiangopterus, clacked it's bill and picked the up.

Looking around the clearing the Zejiangopterus broke into a trot, and jumped into the air, flapping upwards, gaining altitude to reach its home.

It flew over rivers, mountains, herds of dinosaurs, and most importantly, it reached the ocean.

It was headed towards a small island close to shore, ready to feed it's shrieking offspring.

It glided to it's nest, but it was accosted along the way by swarms of Icthyornis, all trying to get the egg from the larger flyers beak.

Not wanting a confrontation and not wanting an aggressive swarm of birds to attack it, the Zejiangopterus let go of the egg, falling into the forest canopy below.

2

'Oh not again.'

These were the words that ran through Yard mind when he saw the egg, looking similar to the newly named Aladar's egg. The lemurs trip looked in wonder at the egg, though Plio was missing from the troop as she was back at the Clan Tree, trying to find something to feed Aladar.

Yar, on the other hand, now had to wonder if Ena herself was letting eggs rain down from the sky, as this one had landed not three feet away from him while he was eating, scaring him so bad he nearly fell out of the tree.

"Stay back," He gestured to the rest of the troop to stay behind him in the dense canopy, "it could be dangerous."

"Come on Grandpa! Maybe it's another Aladar?"

Yar frowned at his grandson, and was about to say something along the lines of assume nothing, when the egg gave a crack and pushed outwards.

The troop, Yar included, jumped back, except for Zini, who hopped along the branches and stopped right in front of the egg.

"Zini! Get back here!" Yar yelled for his impetuous grandson.

Zini didn't listen and instead gently opened the egg. And was treated to a strange sight.

"Woaaah….it's not an Aladar…"

Zini carefully lifted the scaled infant from the egg, holding him like he had seen his mother and the other females hold little ones. He stared in wonder at its black and white sticky form. He had a pointed head with two nubs at the back of his skull, bulbous eyes still closed shut. He had long legs, with tiny talons on the end of them. The little guy wriggled a somewhat short tail in Zini's arms, but what Zini was staring were his arms. Leathery wings instead of arms.

"Grandpa…..Come here."

Yar hopped his way over to his grandson, and saw the strange infant in his arms. Yar noticed his features, and immediately grew fearful.

"It's a flesh eater! Zini put it down!"

The younger lemur held on to the infant tight. He didn't want the infant to die.

"But why? We kept Aladar. Why can't we keep this one?"

Yar put his hand on Zini's furred shoulder,"It's a flesh eater, like the ones down below the trees. We can't keep it." He said this in a quiet tone that conveyed love, fear, and knowledge.

Zini looked down at the infant in his arms, the infants wings pressed against his body, and handed him to Yar.

Yar nodded,"No go home son."

Zini wiped his eyes and hoped along the branches, heading home. Though he smiled when he saw a very familiar white and brown pelt fly past him, hopping with great speed.

"Yar! What in the name of Ena are you doing!?"

Yar flinched at his daughters voice and turned around, seeing Plio looking angry with little Aladar in her arms, the baby cooing at Yar.

Yar kept the dragon in his arms, keeping it somewhat hidden from her. Also kept quiet and looked away.

Plio looked in his furred arms and saw a glimpse of a horned head.

"Dad….show me the little one."

Frowning, Yar did, "It's a flesh eater. It's got the teeth of one."

Plio looked at the strange little infant. His pointed head had a pair nubs coming from the back. Instead of arms he had wings, almost like those of the bats that roosted around the forest regularly. A pair of long thin legs with dulled claws. And he had a short tail.

"Dad. We both know that twice would mean they are gifts of Ena."

Yar huffed, but didn't argue with her. Without saying anything, he handed the black and white scaled infant to her.

"Don't worry dad. We'll teach them to hate meat."

Yar smiled,"You said that already Plio."

She chuckled, and hopped away, being careful with the bundles in her arms. She stopped before reaching the Clan Tree, and looked closer at the new infant, very different from Aladar.

She saw sharp little teeth, realizing he was a flesh eater. But he was also a gift. She got an idea, and hooted to a nearby female to take Aladar off her hands for a moment.

"Thank you. I'll be back shortly."

She started hopping through the forest, and found exactly what she was looking for. A small Masiakosaur was fishing from a stream and had collected quite a haul.

She quietly crept down the tree and stalked through the underbrush, heading for the small fish pile.

She quickly grabbed a fish from the pile and ran through the underbrush, though the predator had noticed her and gave chase.

"SSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEECK!"

She jumped and hit tree bark, her clawed hand and feet grabbed hold with the fish in her mouth.

She scaled the tree and looked down, the toothy flesh eater hissing at her. She turned away and used a claw to tear open a hole in the fish, and dig out several small pieces for the dragon.

When she waved the meat bits in front of his nose his bulbous eyes opened and his head snapped forward, grabbing and scarfing down the fish meat.

"What shall we call you little one?"

The little dragon looked at her, then nuzzled her.

"You are Echram, the Flyer."

The newly named Echram dozed to sleep in the lemurs furred arm, blissfully unaware of his future.