Chapter Seven
The herd was still asleep when Aladar woke up before the rising of the sun to the west of them. As long as he could remember, the young iguanodon preferred to beat the sun to rising since he always liked the view. It looked like that his grandparents would soon join him as well and Kron was getting an early start on being a horrid leader as well. He was looking around at the herd, caught a glance of Aladar, then quickly turned away like he was afraid of him. However, Aladar soon realized that for once, it wasn't because of him that Kron turned away quickly: it was because one of his scouts returned.
"I don't get it, three left but only one came back," Aladar said.
"Oh no," Yar said slowly. Aladar looked to his grandfather whose face slowly paled with epiphany as to what was happening. Plio looked in the same direction and caught onto what was happening as well, which also caused her to pale with fright.
"Grandpa, Grandma, what is it?" Aladar asked.
"Carnotaurs, they're the reason Noah and Parka are not coming back and Landen is so out of breath," Plio answered.
"Not just any carnotaurs: younger siblings of the one that killed your father, Aladar. Broken Horn and Little Beast, One-Eye's brothers, have finally begun to gain on us and One-Eye is never too far away wherever his brothers are. If Kron is wise, sleep or no sleep, he'll get the herd moving now," Yar shouted. Sure enough, the bellowing to move began and it wasn't long before everyone in the herd was up and ready.
The alphas of the other herds ran over to Kron, asking him what was going and it was easy to see that he told them there were carnotaurs approaching. "But even One-Eye never comes this far north, there usually isn't enough food for him and his relatives," Plio said.
"You forget, love, that we moved up from his usual hunting ground thereby forcing him and his brothers to do the same. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other carnotaurs just waiting to take their chance on our ranks," Yar replied. Aladar had to admit that was kind of gloomy but at the same time, his grandfather did have a point on that matter. Kron led the herd through the only trail that he knew did not have carnotaurs and had not been reported by the scouts to be dead ends. Everyone knew better than to defy him too, had accepted that if it wasn't the carnotaurs now then it'd be another predator later on.
The parasaurs joined up as did the pachys and the styracosaurs, not to mention the struthiomimus clans, the stygimolochs, and the microceratops. They'd have to now that they knew they weren't concerned about just raptors anymore. Even One-Eye's brothers incited enough terror and fear in the hearts and minds of the herds before them, much less him. For three days, the herd kept up a voracious pace of movement, even the elder members of each herd ran as fast as they could. But finally, the calm began and the herds around them decided to divide at long last; they figured it'd be easier to confuse the predators with multiple trails rather than one.
Sure enough, before they approached a swollen portion of river, there was a place where the trails divided just right for all the herds to leave. Microceratops, Stygimoloch, and Struthiomimus left together while Parasaurolophus and Pachyrhinosaurus did the same. The styracosaurus left alone as it came, figuring their formidable displays could ward off even carnotaurs. Meanwhile, the iguanodon herd continued straight ahead and arrived at a swell in the river which had been only wide enough for drinking further down. Kron scouted ahead on an outcrop of rock that jutted forth from the hill, looking to see if there was anyway around the swell.
Aladar and his grandparents were among the iguanodons at the front, Baylene sadly being lost during the chaos. Eema had barely made it and was lamenting the loss of her sister though it did not take her long to accept that it had happened. Still, there was something wrong about this whole affair: the river was too deep to see the bottom which always meant trouble. Even Aladar, who had never seen anything like this before in his life, knew that there was something wrong. "Grandma, do you think you'll be alright?" Aladar asked as the herd stopped, Plio finally catching her breath with the rest of them when they did.
"I'll be fine, Aladar," she assured him. She nudged her mate's head when he rubbed his just beneath her eye as an affectionate show of concern for her. Meanwhile, hatchlings retreated behind their parent's front arms as Aladar rose his head up to gaze upon Kron. The alpha of their herd had been in ponderance this entire time but something told Aladar he wasn't pondering much.
"Something doesn't feel right," Aladar admitted. Seconds later, his grandfather had his usual reply on the matter of Kron's expertise in leading the herd. It was somewhat sarcastic considering he had preceded Kron, years before and had been loved at least while Kron wasn't.
"I'm sure Kron knows what he's doing, Aladar. We have only lost two under his leadership and that isn't bad," replied Yar. Yeah but Kron sent those two right into the mouths of carnotaurs Aladar thought but didn't say. Aloud, he simply confessed that he hoped so even as Kron ordered the herd into the water with a single bellow. The herd began to enter the water even as some pushed and shoved to get ahead which concerned Aladar.
He even decided to shove some of them back, keeping them out of the way of his grandparents. "Grandma, Grandpa, stay close to me!" he ordered. Too old and weak to survive in any other way, though Eema was older, Aladar's grandparents were inclined to agree. So Plio especially stayed close to her strong grandson and the three of them made their way through. Meanwhile, in the back, Zini made his way around the iguanodons and since he could sense the same trouble ahead as Aladar could he decided to see if he could find another way around.
Further down river, he founded his answer and hopped across the rocks provided by the additional flood water. After all, there were two waterfalls and the herd was crossing through an intersection between the bottom of one and the feed to another. Zini was over to the other side by the time the first dinosaurs were halfway through their journey. Now, he waited until he could see if Aladar and his grandparents would make it across the water which he smelled wasn't right. At the water, however, Aladar focused especially on making sure that his grandmother made it with him as his grandfather had ordered him to do time and again.
Not long after Aladar began leading the way, one of the other iguanodons rammed his way into his grandparents in a moment where he scouted ahead. Fortunately, it was only currents and its anxieties that made this happen rather than any disrespect to the fallen alpha couple. Nonetheless, Aladar knew better than to abandon his grandparents to their fate and swam back for them. Below the waves however, there was a small underwater amphibian (a baby koolasuchus) that swam to and fro below the massive iguanodons above. It headed down, figuring that it would be safer closer to the bottom than if it remained close to the top.
However, as it reached the bottom, a hungry eye opened within the mud that dissipated when it did so. Before the baby koolasuchus could register what was happening, the beast whose eyes opened snapped up and bit him in two, eating the front half. The jaws revealed that the beast who was stirring was a deinosuchus and it wasn't alone: there were dozens of them stirring. Unfortunately, as the baby koolasuchus would have learned if he had survived, the deinosuchus preyed on other animals who dared to swim across or take a drink from the water. As Aladar recovered his grandparents from a boulder they'd been smashed into, the crocodiles made their move.
Eema, the elder iguanodon, was the first one to be taken by one of the beasts with a single cry of pain. The iguanodons became alerted to the presence of the crocodiles and panic ensued once more in the herd. Anarchy and fear ruled even as Kron tried to organize them back into order after the survivors made it across the river. Meanwhile, Aladar did the best he could to watch over his grandparents, helping his grandmother. "Are you alright, grandpa?" asked Aladar.
"I'm right behind you, son. Just get your grandmother to shore," said Yar even as he briefly disappeared beneath the waves.. Aladar obeyed, making sure to keep beneath his grandmother above him so that she could make it across. He also kept his head above the water so that he could breathe and it didn't take long before they made it. When they did, he let Plio drop and rest for the exertion of the journey and Aladar grew excited that his family had made it.
"We made it, Grandma, we made it," he said. Plio smiled at her grandson with pride even as she took a moment to catch her own breath, same as him. Then Aladar turned, called for his grandfather but noticed that Yar was still out by the boulder that jettisoned from the water's center. "Grandpa! Grandma, stay here and rest: I'm going to get Grandpa over," said Aladar, who charged in even as herd members just coming in bumped into him during his charge.
Yar tried again to swim while Aladar began his rescue operation but three crocs were approaching fast. Kron heard the splash of Aladar returning to the water for Yar and was surprised to see the young iguanodon racing for one of his elders. Unable to understand what could be so invaluable about Yar, even with his superior wisdom, Kron spoke out. "Aladar, come back at once!" he ordered. Even as he kept swimming, Aladar turned only briefly to acknowledge that he had heard Kron but quickly whipped his head back to keep going.
Even as Kron forbade Aladar to save his grandfather, Aladar kept swimming back into the croc-infested waters, deep into where most of the attacks had occurred. He couldn't let his grandfather die, not when he still had a chance to save him from those things in the murky depths. His grandfather swam towards him at the same time but was soon pulled under even as the last of the herd was completing the crossing all around Aladar. By this time, so many had been killed that one would have thought the crocodiles would have been content to feast on the dead. However, three were biting down on Yar's neck and limbs beneath the waves though just enough to keep dragging him under.
Aladar knew this because he had taken the most massive gulp of air that he could and swam under to rescue his grandfather. He firmly nudged one away from his grandfather's foot and another from his neck before the third simply let go. Both emerged from the water and Aladar carried him along in much the same way he had carried his grandmother to shore. They joined the last of the herd in crossing even as Plio impatiently awaited their arrival. Kron had turned his back on the duo, being more surprised if they made it than if the didn't.
By Gotama, he was actually hoping that they didn't make it so that it would be easier to simply abandon Plio in another panic and forget about further threats to his power. Nonetheless, Aladar and his grandfather reached the shoreline as not only Plio but also Kron's sister watched. Neera couldn't fathom the idea of one of her own kind being so brave as to go back for one of their elders in croc-infested waters, had never seen such behavior before. The strength and power Aladar had to carry both his grandparents along began to earn her admiration. Even as she still feared her brother, she watched as Aladar brought his grandfather to safety, reuniting him with his beloved mate just before the crocodiles could eat them.
The crocodiles made a last hiss before retreating into the water, eager to feast on the iguanodons already killed during the crossing. Meanwhile, as Plio and Yar reaffirmed their bond through caressing each other's necks and heads, Aladar looked on at the site of all the death. A tear developed as he realized that Eema and a couple of Aladar's former nursery friends were among the dead but the fact that there were even any dead to begin with still shook him. "It was wrong to cross here, I knew it," he said with a heavy heart.
Yar, by this time, had rejoined him in mourning the dead as he had never seen such catastrophic losses of life since before he was alpha of the herd. Still, there was not going to be much more time before the herd was going to move on under Kron's orders. "Come Aladar, we must join the herd," Yar said. Aladar noticed that his grandfather also cried for the herd's losses and was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one. Even Plio grieved for the loss of some of her friends who were killed by the crocodilians that had tried to take her mate away.
Aladar didn't know it but when he went back to recover his grandfather, he set into motion a chain of events that Old Gotama had once foretold would occur. Kron didn't know it either but unfortunately for him, he wouldn't have liked where his involvement lied in the prophecy of Old Gotama. In the meantime, now that the crocodiles were having their fill, they returned to their usual worries of raptors, carnotaurs, and other bipedal predators that awaited them in their journey. Zini also rejoined the herd by this time, having seen everything that happened as it was happening and waiting for Aladar to return. When he did, he reported where he had been as well as the fact he saw a new trail that the herd could take in order to go on.