Chapter Two
Suri watched helplessly as Bruton made one last stand against the Carnotaur, sacrificing himself to save the herd as he had volunteered to do against the raptors. But where most of the herd saw tragedy and strife at their greatest warrior being lost to them, one saw opportunity. Suri had managed to save two eggs from the nest she and Bruton had created together, the one that had been in the middle being included. The herds waited several long moments as the carnotaur decided it wasn't a good idea to devour Bruton on the plains where herbivores could watch. After all, it had just been spiked in the eye by its latest kill which made it vulnerable to bigger and more threatening elders of its species if they chose to come along and take the carcass.
So despite the herds watching with heavy hearts, the beast grabbed Bruton's corpse by the neck and dragged him away to be devoured far beyond the normal grounds of the herd. When they knew it was long gone, the herds slowly and reluctantly returned to their nests. Unfortunately, by the time they did, several found that the eggs they abandoned would soon be lost even if they tended to them and postponed the inevitable. The nest that had held Bruton and Suri's clutch was thankfully one of the few exceptions but Suri knew better than to restore it fully. Now that Bruton was dead, there would be those who would contend for her as their mate even if it meant destroying the clutch: she already knew Kron would if that was needed.
So rather than put all the eggs back in the same nest, she took the thirteenth one and put it in a separate mound that she hid from his sight. For this, she chose a spot that was fairly self-regulatory in temperature and could be buried too deep for egg-thieves. She needed to be sure that at least one of her children survived even if Kron or someone else killed the rest. Sure enough, as she feared, Kron began making his advances on her not three days after Bruton died. "My condolences for your mate's death, Suri," he began.
From Kron, it was understandable to hear this as many members of the herd expressed their sympathies at the loss of their bravest warrior. But she knew that with him, there was more to the story than just simply offering condolences even as she thanked him. "You know, Suri, now that he is dead you and your hatchlings will need a new mate in order to survive long. Unless the whole herd decides to waste what little time and effort they'll have when they aren't taking care of their own," Kron said.
"I know where you're going with this Kron and I'm not interested. My grandparents have long since laid their last eggs but they're willing to help me with the ones I've got," Suri said.
"But of course the alphas would help their own daughter, the leaders of our herd have always had a soft spot for their own but not the rest of the herd. Better hope I do not become leader and change all of that for you or your family," Kron told her. She knew what he meant too, because Bruton had always been in the way of his ascension and now that he was no more? Now that Bruton had given up his life for the herd, Kron was free to challenge her father without fear of anyone being strong enough to stop him. Still, she thought she'd ask him in case she was mistaken in the implications he was making against her.
"Are you saying you'd destroy my nest if that was what it took for me to become your mate?" Suri asked aloud. She hoped to Gotama that she was wrong about him but she wasn't going to count on it. Kron had always been jealous of her mate, jealous of the bravery he had to kill half a raptor pack and drive off a small pair of carnotaur brothers. Not to mention, stand up to this one that killed him and gouge out its eye before his life ended and he became its dinner.
"I'll destroy your nest and your parents, if I must do it. You will be my mate, one way or the other, this I can promise you!" Kron snapped. She knew it in her heart that this was exactly the kind of iguanodon that she had already suspected. Not bad enough Kron had failed to help Bruton with that raptor attack and fled before the smaller pair of Carnotaurs in the months before. Now, he was daring to suggest he was deserving of Bruton's lasting legacy or else he would be the one to destroy it.
"If that is the attitude you're going to have, I will never be your mate! In fact, I will never again have a mate beside Bruton for as long as I live!" Suri exclaimed. Kron sniffed then marched off, agitated that she would defy him even if she was beside herself with grief. Bruton's blood trail still stained the sand near where he fell before the Carnotaur took off with him. How dare she, when she knows her parents cannot help her forever! Kron thought to himself.
Kron decided that the time had come for him to take what was his by right and secure his final position. But Yar was prepared for this as much as anyone would be, seeing Kron's desire to challenge him in his stance. "Plio, go watch over that thirteenth egg while Suri watches over the rest. I don't trust Kron to limit any fight he has in him to me," Yar said. Plio nodded and left just as Kron declared he was challenging Yar for leadership of the herd before charging into him.
Yar sidestepped him then whipped him in the side with his tail, hard enough for Kron to be forced to take a few steps back. But Kron's anger allowed him to recover quickly and when he did, he rammed his head into the older Iguanodon's ribs. The force of the blow knocked the old dinosaur off his feet but it wasn't long before Yar was on his belly and raising himself up again. Then he and Kron clashed chests against one another, sizing each other up by wrestling with the arms held to their side so that they couldn't easily use their deadly thumb spikes. For several moments, it looked like the two of them were evenly matched until Kron gained an advantage.
The younger iguanodon drove his elder opponent over a rock that tripped him on one foot before pushing him down onto his side. In addition to that, Kron quickly pinned Yar under his hands, holding him down by way of his neck and chest with the use of his full body weight. He had avoided using the thumb spikes as Yar had had to do when he took the mantle of the leader. But now, Kron had won, having kept Yar pinned for long enough to take the leadership in a fair fight which meant danger for Suri. If she defied him now, it would be his right to kill her or smash her eggs as he pleased in retaliation.
It's a good thing we kept at least one egg separate from the rest of the nest. If Plio is successful in rearing that one to hatching, it matters not what happens to the rest of them. Though truly, I would have much rather had thirteen grandson than one if I do say so myself Yar thought glumly. Victorious, Kron declared himself the new leader of the herd and strode in triumph back to the daughter of his predecessor. "Well Suri, what do you think of me now that I am your new leader, hm?" Kron asked.
"Frankly, you're even less impressive now that you're the new leader than you were when you were cowering under Bruton's shadow. Go away before I take the position of leader back from you!" she hissed. But this time, Kron would not be denied by anyone least of all the former mate of the fallen Bruton.
"Bruton let himself be eaten by a Carnotaur so that you and the family might live. You dare dishonor that with your defiance against me?" Kron demanded. Then he rammed her with his head, clearing her from the nest and smashing three of her eggs with a single foot. When Suri had cleared the way, he brought another foot over and smashed another three beneath his heels. After that, he squatted down with his full weight and destroy the rest, rolling left and right to make sure.
When he arose again, he was surprised to see Suri bringing a thumb spike across his chest, scarring him with the cut it made. The sting he felt from this ran deeper than the physical sting of the blow itself, it was the emotional blow of knowing what her attack meant. It meant that even after all this, she would still reject him in favor of remaining faithful to Bruton. What did he have that I don't even now? Why did she love him so much when he was alive that now she won't take another!? Kron thought as he made his reply.
He rammed into her chest, knocking her down like he had knocked down her father but with one difference. Where he had knocked down her father completely over, he knocked her down just enough to make a good jab to her throat with his thumb spike. Suri cried out in pain but Kron did not care, instead he powered on, jabbing his thumb spike several more times until she was no longer crying out. Even when he knew that she was not breathing, he made a few more stabs to make sure that she was dead. After all, if Kron could not have her then he was going to make sure that no one else did now that Bruton was dead.
When he finished with her, he left her as she fell and he had a feeling it wouldn't have been long before scavengers came. As if being dealt a good hand for a change, many of the babies were already beginning to hatch. This included one that had escaped Kron, one that hadn't been smashed when he killed Suri and the rest of her brood with Bruton. He knew that it would be a few days before the scavengers came for meat which would be all that he would need. The young only needed a few days before they would be ready to leave the nest and move with the adults.
So when he saw the eggs starting to hatch, he grew ecstatic at the notion that he could soon lead the herd away from predators. During all this, Plio had dropped by to see a private hatching of her own. The thirteenth baby that Suri had hidden away as one of her final acts of maternity was stirring at roughly the same time as everyone else. While Kron was busy deposing her mate and killing her daughter, Plio knew that his downfall was assured with this hatching. Not because this one would be the strongest though the hatchling was the strongest she'd seen, not because he was the quickest, but because she could see this one was the most resilient.
This one never gave up like Suri had never given up, had courage like Bruton, and she knew that combination would be enough with the proper nurturing. Sure enough, as it emerged, Plio sensed that this one was going to be a male and so she knew just what to do besides helping him. "Come on, enter the world left behind by your parents. Come now to see what the herd has to offer..." she said, hesitating before she gave the hatchling his name. She decided it would be simply better to hold off on naming the child until Kron could see it with his own eyes.
So she helped the hatchling with getting the yoke off, helped it remove shards of eggshells, and even watched as its egg tooth fell off. Then she carefully grasped it in her mouth and carried him back to the safety of the herd, Yar being the first to greet her when she did. "By Old Gotama, is that...?" he began. Plio simply nodded and marched on with the child in her teeth, bringing him down only when he could see the rest of the herd who hardly believed their eyes.
"By Gotama, that can't be anything else! That's a grandchild who survived Kron!" said one member.
"Plio's too old to have children of her own, that has to be a grandchild!" said another. Kron heard the commotion and came forth to meet his predecessor and his mate to see what this was all about. When he arrived, his eyes widened with shock and his stance became slightly more cowardly than they were accustomed to seeing.
"Is that...?" he asked. Plio and Yar both nodded, smiling as they realized their future was still assured even if Kron had just signed away his. The older pair were never one to feel vengeance but if they had been, their revenge would have been assured through their grandson.
"Kron, as new leader of the herd, I'd like you to meet a potential successor in the future. Meet... Aladar, a name Suri suggested for him before you killed her," Plio said, taking a dramatic pause before introducing her grandson. Yar looked shocked himself, having never seen this kind of fire in his mate, not even when the two of them had first been smitten by one another. It was then that he realized why his love would probably outlive him whether or not by very much.
"Aladar, huh? There hasn't been a member of the herd with that name since your mate's father, Plio. Was it truly Suri's suggestion or are you telling me it is in an attempt to scare me senseless?" Kron demanded.
"I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that question, Kron. You just don't want to admit it," Plio replied. Kron snorted in disgust and turned back to the herd, telling them to prepare to move out in a week to nine days. It wouldn't take long for predators to return when there was the reek of death in the air, thanks to Bruton's fall and Suri's murder. The herd knew this and had seen the signs around them with the parasaurs and the pachys getting ready to leave.
Their babies had not yet hatched but they were already on edge, thanks to the events of their iguanodon neighbor's succession crisis. But now that it had passed, a life on the move for the iguanodon herd was about to begin. A life filled with hardship, deprivation of food, and death at every turn imaginable. It was hardly the sort of life to bring a hatchling to, warrior-child or no.