Perry Taylor finished lowering the drawbridge."Finally!" he said.
It was still morning. The young man walked beside Stoutpoint, the short-horned dinosaur that had accompanied him to this familiar spot, and patted the saurian's smooth snout. Before them stood an ancient vertebral drawbridge, stretching forward like the bones in a sauropod's neck. On the other side of the bridge, as far as Perry could see, was thick forest.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stoutpoint squawked.
Perry smiled. Stoutpoint had been Perry's friend for many years. As a Montanoceratops, he was bigger that any of the Protoceratops individuals Perry had seen on his infrequant visits to Waterfall City and Sauropolis. And yet Stoutpoint would never approch the size of the largest horned dinosaurs, like Torosauruses and Triceratops.
"I appreciate your concern," Perry said. "But I never break a promise. Besides, I'm not a hatchling anymore."
Actually, Perry wasn't as confident as he was trying to sound. This was, after all, the Rainy Basin he was looking at, home to Diontopia's carnivorous dinosaurs. Many of them were fierce, unpredictable creatures that had long ago chosen to reject civilization and continue living according to the "old ways." He recalled "Honest" John Matthews, back in the village, and the tales tho old merchant had often told about this place. For a moment, Perry felt an unsettling tingle run up and down his spine.
"B-but..." Stoutpoint was plainly fishing for the right words. "No one-human or saurian-ever goes there alone...at least, not if they plan on coming back."
Perry knew that perfectly well. But a certain big theropod was, after all, the very reason Perry had come here. The reson that, after so many years, he had journeyed back to the Rainy Basin.
"If you've got to go," the Montanoceratops went on, "at least let me go with you. Like last time-for protection."
"As I recall, last time turned out somewhat differently than you expected." Perry shook his head. "Thanks, but not this time. Anyway, I have my own protection."
Perry fingered the Giganotosaurus tooth that always hung from a thong around his neck. It was milky white in color and about six inches long. The tip was sharp and the edge jagged. For a moment, the tooth caught the sunlight and glowed brightly.
Stoutpoint snorted. "You really believe that old tooth will save you if some Tyrannosaur decides to make you his dinner?"
"I'll be fine," Perry said, trying hard to believe his own words.
Stoutpoint was grumbling. "Easy for you to say," he said. "Do I need to remind you what short memories some of those big meat-mongers have? It's been so long!"
"Has it really?" Perry asked.
"Ten years," Stoutpoint said. "Which isn't long enough for me." The saurian shook his head, the end of which widened into a frill. "Well, if you insist on going alone, I'm not going to budge from this spot until you've returned safely. Even if it takes forever!"
"I'll be back in less time than that, I Promise," Perry said. "And it won't be as some carnivore's main course."
Stoutpoint snorted.
"He'll remember me," said Perry. "I know he will."
"You hope he will," the saurian replied.
Perry sighed. "Breathe deep, seek peace," he said. With a last wave, he started across the bridge.
The young man had been walking for a while, first along the Cross Basin Trail and then through thick forest. He was trekking now beneath a great canopy of trees that blocked out much of the sunlight. The ground dense with vegetation, was still wet with dew.
Although ten years had gone by, much of the Rainy Basin was as Perry remembered it. Only the flora had changed. The main trails-long stretches of barren ground bearing the footprints of countless theropods-were still there. Other landmarks, including a large, pyramid-shaped rockand the remnants of an ancient meteorite, pointed the way to Perry's destination. Trees cluttered what the boy had remembered as open areas, while a large clearing he recalled from before was now home to a family of cycads.
If this had been any other day, Perry would have delighted in the variety of plant life around him. He would have noted the frens and the trees and even the weeds he knew by name, andpaid special attention to those plants that were new to him. Today, however, he had other things on his mind. Every sound,every movement, every stirring of the underbrush captured his attention. The Rainy Basin was a treacherous place, and his survival depended on his staying alert and watchful.
So far, Perry had not encountered any real danger. At one point, he'd hidden behind the thick trunk of a conifer tree as a fin-backed reptile crawled by. Dimetrodon, Perry thought as the lizardlike animal disappeared into the Foliage.