Chapter Four
"Our survival, our future, lies across the plains! Now let's head home, now!" Kron exclaimed. Aladar and his grandparents looked on with disappointment that Kron would kill some many alphas as to warrant a takeover of ten thousand individuals. How could he possibly watch over so many unless he planned to round up the more powerful individuals in each herd? And even if he succeeded, how did he hope to stand a chance against stopping any one of them from overwhelming him then taking back their herds?
Nevertheless, the herds followed him mostly out of fear even when members of the herd like Aladar spoke out against him. The spirit of Bruton was indeed alive and well in his son, Kron noticed, and while he didn't aim to trample it, he did aim to undermine it when possible. As luck would have it for him, a pack of velociraptors began to follow the large herd in their flight. Kron responded by issuing a proclamation that the slowest and weakest of the herd would be abandoned and left to their fate. Anyone foolish enough to try and aid them would be left behind as well, a decree he declared in the hopes of ridding himself of Aladar without his blood on his hands.
But the problems Kron faced when he was not worrying about the threat that Aladar could pose were more numerous than Aladar and his family could ever be. For one thing, ever since that fireball in the sky came down, the traditional pathways the herd had relied on to find greener pastures had either been destroyed or at least distorted in unrecognizable ways. Worse than that, Kron lacked Yar's experience with recognizing natural markers in the pathways that remained though he'd have never admit it to the older iguanodon. "Something's not right about this path, I can feel it," Aladar said.
"Don't worry, son, if anyone can find the way to greener pastures then it is our esteemed leader. Kron is, after all, the alpha male now and he has done what even I could never do: unite thousands together for a common cause," said Yar. I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or you actually believe that Aladar thought. Frankly, he was inclined to the former but he didn't take his grandfather as being sarcastic, having never heard him speak so in his life. Plus, his grandmother had always taught him that it was better to approach resistance to Kron's authority with civility.
If an opportunity came for violent rebellion, never take it, that was how they looked at rebellion. But if an opportunity to speak out and gain followers that could overwhelm Kron's supporters in great enough numbers then take that instead. Brutality ensured leadership by the day but charisma would win it for the years, it simply needed patience and nurturing. Aladar would sigh reluctantly when he would hear this and accept out of respect for the wisdom of his grandparents and the fact they raised him when his parents had perished. Such a gift of life deserved consistent gratification on his part, on top of the respect they already paid him through their love.
But their perils were far from short as Kron was first to realize. In addition to the raptors and his lack of navigation skills, there was a heavy drought. Water was difficult to find even in long standing forests like the one they had just traversed to get to these plains. Worst of all, the plains themselves had next to no grass and what little there was could not supply everyone. Dust storms erupted when winds blew at more than ten miles an hour and some veered off course. One looking upon the herd from a distance would find it no surprise that those who strayed were immediately seized by the raptors.
But even through the storms, Aladar was adamant about never losing his grandparents in the storms. Sometimes, they got so bad that Kron would order the herd to hunker down and wait despite the risks to that. However, every time there was a storm, Aladar asked his grandparents to gently bite down on the end of his tail to hold on and not lose course like many in their age group. One time, during a milder dust storm, this move caught the attention of two elderly iguanodons who had survived both the reign of Yar and the last years of his father's rule. Their names were Eema and Baylene, two sisters who still could recount frightful experiences.
"Perhaps the most frightful times in our herd's history were when carnotaurs started attacking the herd in great numbers. Normally, you'd get no more than two or three and that was already formidable enough whenever they came to eat," said Eema.
"But there were times when twelve or fourteen were seen within a single month or pair of months. Worst of all, these weren't isolated incidents from various pairs or trios of carnotaurs," added Baylene.
"These were coordinated family attacks by beasts that were already dreadful alone! By Gotama, it was awful how we had to endure attack after attack by an emboldened family of killers," Eema agreed. Aladar knew of carnotaurs, though he'd never seen one, and he knew their formidability even when hunting alone. He could scarcely imagine a whole family of twelve to fourteen times as many making attacks against the herd.
"Was this family ever stopped?" Aladar asked them. Eema and Baylene looked at each other, trying to think if they could remember whether or not that happened. Then the lightbulb donned on both of them about how that feat was accomplished.
"Though at great cost to our herd, yes." said Baylene.
"How?" Aladar continued. But at that moment, Yar interjected, the ladies both bowing respectfully to their former leader. It was Aladar's guess that his father overheard the comments about the carnotaur family and had come to see what it was about.
"Bruton, your father, declared war on the family. When I objected, he laid out a plan of attack for killing the older ones and dispersing the younger ones that I couldn't object to. So I temporarily surrendered power as an alpha to him so that he could execute the plan. Many of our brethren died but we took ten of the thirteen carnotaurs with the casualties we experienced. Come Aladar, that'll be enough reminiscing on the past for now, I mean it," replied Yar.
But Aladar only pretended to join his grandfather until Yar was far enough out of sight before he asked Eema and Baylene one more question. "If my father was such a great warrior, how come he isn't with us today?" he asked them.
"Because one of the surviving members of that big carnotaur family killed him," Eema said.
"He died protecting the herd from that beast, he even saved a straggling pachyrhinosaurus from doom. Besides that, he gave his life so your mother could bring you into this world: that is, before Kron killed her and your twelve siblings, too," Baylene told him. Aladar let his head drop, trying his best to process everything he had just been told even as he thanked the old sisters for their knowledge. Then he headed back to join his grandfather, who by now was probably concerned that his only heir would disobey him like that. Sure enough, when Aladar regrouped with him, he had that stern look that said he was disappointed in the boy.
"Sorry grandpa," Aladar begged.
"I asked you courteously to come with me and you disobeyed to my face. What do you have to say for yourself?" snapped the older iguanodon.
"Yar, do not be so harsh on him. He was only curious to know the past we never told him, the past I wish we told him sooner rather than let him hear it from those kind sisters," said Plio. Aladar's mind perked up then, upon hearing Plio refer to Eema and Baylene as "kind sisters", probably meaning their words were true. Nonetheless, he knew better than to simply assume with them and spoke up in those moments.
"So Baylene and Eema were telling the truth? So my father was really a hero of the herd while Kron was a coward?" Aladar demanded. Plio nodded but Yar quickly added that Aladar should not go around telling that story openly in case Kron heard about it. Though the rumor mill would die down in a herd of this size quickly, there'd be no way to guarantee that Kron didn't have a spy right in their presence. Still, Aladar wasn't mad: to be fair, he also hadn't asked to know about his parents and only got curious when two herd sisters starting talking.
There was no reason for him to be made when that was the case and his grandparents were in the right to deny him such details. So rather than focus on what might have infuriated him, had the circumstances been different, he asked a fair and relevant question. "What became of the carnotaur that killed my father?" he asked.
"He and two younger brothers who survived your father's initial wrath still hunt pachys and parasaurs but they haven't attacked our herd in a while. Sometimes, they'll scavenge the bodies of our fallen but they haven't been seen since you hatched. We can always tell the beast from his siblings by the fact your father gouged out his right eye before he killed him," Yar said.
"We've had more sightings of his siblings, one of whom has a broken horn from a fight for dominance he had with One-Eye where he lost badly. The third we recognize because he's smaller than the other two but they're brothers who usually work in unison. Sometimes, the small one will scout ahead and let his brothers know what's happening. We can also tell him apart from his brother by the bite scars on his nose from One-Eye," said Plio. Sounds like this One-Eye is mean even for carnotaurs Aladar thought.
"Sounds like they're vicious savages," he said aloud.
"Yes and you better consider yourself lucky we're only followed by the raptors for now. Raptors know when to quit but when a carnotaur has drawn blood, they don't stop until either you're dead or you've killed them," snapped Yar. Then they were off again for new pastures, Kron had spotted a mountain range in the distance that looked massive. I think I recognize those mountains from my youth: Gotama's Pass lies in these if I'm right! Kron thought excitedly. He bellowed for the herd to march as best it could without a care for stragglers, young or old.
"What's with Kron? He's never been this excited about anything so far," Aladar inquired.
"It looks like Kron found the mountains that contain Gotama's Pass. A good thing too, if he did: Gotama's Pass is a trail every herd member ought to travel at least once. Even the carnotaurs know it though they'd never hunt us along it, too narrow for their favorite tactic," Yar said.
"My sight isn't what it once was, how can you tell from here?" Plio asked. Aladar looked ahead, even standing up on his hind legs to see if he could spot the mountains from his position. However, Zini (who largely kept quiet up to this point) used the top of his nose to scout ahead and see if he could catch sight of the mountains.
"Well, I see mountains but I've never been this far away from my home before. I'm the last person you should ask about whether or not it's Gotama's Pass," said the lemur.
"Aladar, what are you doing with that hairball in tow?" Yar asked.
"Hey, cheer up, Grandpa! If anybody can spot mountains from here better than Kron, it's this guy," Aladar retorted.
"As long as he isn't causing any trouble, what's the harm, Yar? Besides, hairballs like him always had better sight than we did even in our prime," Plio admitted.
"A dinosaur with humility? Never thought I'd live to see the day, you getting this Aladar?" joked Zini. Aladar flexed his neck to let Zini know he needed to mind his manners, especially when the only dinosaurs that couldn't squish him flat here were the infants. Still, it didn't strike Aladar as shocking his his grandfather was mistrustful of the hairy little primate. It was an old feud that went back possibly to Old Gotama's day if not before.
Meanwhile, Kron bellowed again to confirm he had found the mountain range of many herds' childhoods. The iguanodons around them grew excited at the prospect of finding something they actually knew for a change. Unfortunately, in all that excitement, the herd began moving at a pace that made it difficult for Yar, Plio, and their peers to keep up. Aladar quickly looked around to see if Baylene and Eema were anywhere to be seen. He was thoroughly relieved when he saw them too far ahead to be left behind even if they could still be trampled.
It meant he didn't have to divert his energy toward helping them and his grandparents, the latter of whom he was accustomed to doing for as long as he could remember. He focused especially on helping his Plio since Yar frequently ordered him to do that when he started out. This was no different, not even the part where Aladar accepted the order on condition that Yar held onto his tail the way both his grandparents did during the sandstorm. Just in time, Aladar could see tiny shapes hissing and squeaking at the flanks. They walked on two legs and skipped across the sides of the herd with greater speed than Aladar had ever seen before.
"By Old Gotama, the raptors have never been this bold before!" Plio said as she rested her head on her grandson's neck. Raptors? They don't look so bad Aladar thought quietly.
"Those are raptors? How are they dreadful again?" he asked aloud.
"No questions, get us going! Now!" Plio asked as the rest of the herd began to panic. Unfortunately for Aladar, he was about to bear witness to why they were so feared even with their small size noted.