Xion the Author: Hello again, readers. Thumbs up for KaylaDestroyer for pointing out I had grammar errors. Not writing in … months… is very unproductive. I am slowly forgetting what I've learned.
FORGOTTEN WORLDS
Chp. 13: Tooth and Fire
Gusts of wind passed through him as the valiant weasel rode on his pet. Buck kept his eyes forward, consumed by determination. He clenched unto Andrew's fur, latching hardly on to him as he ventured nearer to where he kept Amelia. The glint in Drako's taunting stare told him he would be waiting.
Inevitably, there would be a trap lying in wait for him there. But if there was anything he had learned in the past few years he spent living in a world of dinosaurs trying to forget a tragedy mistaken, was that he learned how to survive. He had learned how to tame the wildest of beasts and conquer the farthest of chasms. Doing what others would deem impossible, like breathing underwater.
Buck didn't think of a plan. No, he didn't even think of how to take him down. All he thought was that he would, like the crazy mammal chauvinist that he was. He simply thought that in the end all the dragon was, was a giant breathing fossil.
Right. Nothing but a giant fire -breathing fossil. It would be just like facing Rudy. Standing on the razor's edge of oblivion, staring into the eye of the great orange beast; with only one difference: the beast had wings.
A bright light pierced through the end of the bamboo plantation, making Buck squint his eyes to readjust. Emerging from the shades, Buck finally reached his prime destination.
A large elevated island, as if "floating", lay midst upon a dark empty chasm. Judging from the direction Drakon led him to, this could be the place where he took Amelia to. The only way to find out is getting there, but that seemed to be a problem. Taking a few side glances, Buck luckily spotted a distant stone bridge connecting from the island to the original landmass. How many wonders this world had, perhaps would be left for him to uncover. "Woah boy," Buck heeled before he got off and landed his feet on the ground.
But before proceeding, Buck contemplated on his current situation. Charging ahead with pure guts and quick wits was all he had needed to live in this world of dinosaurs. But now things were different – incredibly different. All he had to risk then was his own life, but now he was risking the life of another as well; the life of someone more important to him than his own.
Buck turned to face his pet mammal. He could never have gotten this far without him. But under no circumstance should he take him along. Andrew won't be as useful against the flying behemoth.
"But then… what about me?" Buck pondered. Just like Andrew, he didn't quite have a pair wings growing on his back.
He needed a plan.
Scanning the familiar plants and flora growing around him, he noticed a tree growing above the rest. At the sight of its leaves, Buck scurried towards it and quickly climbed up. He snagged up one of its large green leaves and rolled it into a cone. He filled his lungs with air before blowing it all out through the small hole. An eerie distinct sound came out of the leaf-fashioned horn. Buck blew it as hard and loud as he could.
Amelia, who was carefully making her way down the mountain, heard a faint tenor sound coming from afar. She flicked her ears upon detecting it. In a gut feeling, she felt it more than just nothing. She took in a breath and proceeded to go back down once again.
After letting out his last breath, Buck dropped down and threw the horn. "Hopefully that worked," he muttered his mind in a doubtful tone.
The natural made bridge connecting the original landmass to the islet appeared to be narrow and unstable. "Stay here Andrew," the weasel instructed. Just as he was about to cross the bridge, Andrew whimpered and followed his master slowly nonetheless. Buck felt Andrew's large protruding moist snout rub against the fur on his back with a tickling sensation. "No boy, back!" Buck commanded, making his pet whine backwards.
"Stay here Andrew. I'll be back before you know it," Buck said in a soothing tone before he went on his way. His pet reluctantly stood in place as Buck traversed the narrow ten-meter bridge. His pet was shaky, and it whined and whimpered all the more with each step Buck took. Most animals had the primal instinct of sensing danger when it would come, something the weasel had acquired during his days in the more-than-prehistoric world. But Andrew had lived here for all his life, and he was more worried than brave unlike his master. The Andrewsarchus paced from side to side, barking a few times to tell his master to stop. But his "words" of caution were of no use. Each step was so unsettling that on his last step, Andrew surrendered to the ground, laying down as he anxiously placed his paws over his large snout.
Buck took a while to inspect his surroundings. Before him he sees a forest of black trees glowing with stripes of a strange orange light. A familiar color, for as soon as he realized it he took off the necklace dangling from his neck. It was amber, and Buck knew he was at the right place.
"The Devil's Belly…" Buck slowly muttered. Out of all the once he's named before, this one was named from no gag or joke. Buck sucked in a breath. After all this time you'd think you'd get used to fear.
This wasn't the first time the weasel faced off against winged creatures, nor would it be the first he had to avoid deadly things coming out of their mouths. But this one was a deadly combination of perhaps everything he had fought before. From that giant Rudy to a band of flying pterodactyls, it even had the capability to summon the anger from a volcano itself. But what truly made this foe fearsome was not the combined ferocity he had.
This would be the first time he would ever have faced, against a creature of significant intelligence.
Buckminster gripped his knife tightly, enough to feel a pained strain on his palms. He ventured forward until he could no longer hear the sounds of his pet canine making yelps.
And then… silence; nothing but the sound of his anxious breath.
The weasel thought that he might at least spot such a humongous creature in plain sight at such an obvious terrain.
A deathly silence reverberated. Buck could feel the tension in his chest. He made a long sigh to relieve some stress. And, after the sound of his breath, his ear flicked to a distinct flap from afar until suddenly the sound of rocks crashing and tumbling whilst the ground he stood on shook violently. He flinched before he turned to see the stone bridge shattered into pieces, and before his eyes was a giant orange figure emerging from below the chasm. Drakon appeared hidden before him in surprise. The dragon had destroyed his only escape route.
Buck could hear Andrew suddenly barking wildly. He watched the titanic dragon soar to the sky, rising higher with each wing beat.
And, at the final of the consecutive flaps, he dramatically spread his long tattered wings. Then, Buck decided it was time to leap into action as well. Buck lifted his legs and started running further into the amber-tree forest while above him Drakon was descending towards him. The weasel sprinted as fast as he could with the dragon gaining speed up on him. He looked back and caught glance of its mouth glowing. He estimated the seconds he had left before an expected fire-breath attack. Buck counted the decreasing seconds before his anticipated attack. And, immediately he leaped to the side at the back of a tree, feeling the close warmth of the flames on the back of his neck. The weasel took cover behind the sturdy-enough tree trunk as Drakon brushed fire all over the surroundings before being forced to arch back up to the sky.
The ground around him quickly embered to a crisp. The liquid amber-flowing trees however haven't gone to a crisp immediately. But as Buck felt the tree behind him bending slightly towards his back, he quickly dashed forward to avoid its impending fall.
Buck quickly looked up to see Drakon making another turn, swooping down once again for another breath attack. The weasel quickly leaped from cover to cover as the dragon sprayed fire to his direction. The thin trees quickly burned up with a pungent smell as the resinous amber burned away into ashes.
"I'm a sitting duck out here!" Buck exasperated. "I have to think of an idea."
He ran towards cover and hid under a fallen tree trunk. From its holes he watched the dragon fly by, scouring for him.
"Do not think that you can hide from me," Drakon taunted from above.
Hearing the earth-shaking roars of a battle that has begun, Amelia looked from above to see the bursts of fire shower from the sky.
"Buck…" she muttered. She stood hesitantly before mustering her courage to run towards the battle.
Buck crawled inside the hollow of a dead tree trunk, arched his back on the side and kicked his feet forward, making it roll down a slope. He quickly sprinted to a tree hidden under view and leaned into its crevices. He could feel his fur hit the sticky amber leaking from the tree, but he kept his aggravation in.
And upon sight, Drakon sprayed liquid fire at the rolling tree trunk, making it fumigate almost immediately. Hidden from sight, Buck watched the flying demon intently. He locked his eyes on the swooping behemoth.
Drakon emitted a volley of incinerating fury, brushing over his islet without a second thought. And after the attack, Buck saw it.
Unlike the smaller flying dinosaurs he had encountered, Drakon was less versatile. A giant body like his needed more time to move back up. Even with the beat of his powerful wings, it would the dragon more time than the average.
Deciding to put his hypothesis to the test, Buck picked up a rock and pitched his arm powerfully. The stone flung quickly into the air. It landed on Drakon's scales with barely a dent or scratch. At the impact of what was merely a pebble to him, Drakon turned his attention to its origin to see the weasel from afar. Buck readied himself while once again studying Drakon.
And again he saw it. Drakon couldn't make any sharp turns, which was proven by the fact that it took him a long curve to change direction. With its great strength and brutality, Buck decided that its lack of finesse and agility should be taken advantage of.
But his ways to exploit his weakness would have to come later, as Drakon was coming in for a dangerous attack. Buck ran back with a jolt going as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder to see the terrifying thing gaining up on him. Just as Buck turned his eyes forward, he immediately stopped. "Uh oh…" In front of him was the edge of the islet, and without anywhere to hide Buck had to think quickly.
When Drakon once again procured a fire breath attack, the radiating orange blinded him from seeing clearly where the weasel might go. Buck dropped down and clinged onto a loose edge on the base of the islet. He could feel the heat of the fire searing on his fingertips as he desperately held on. Satisfied that he had burned everything to a crisp, Drakon flapped his wings and flew away from the vicinity.
The weasel pulled himself up. His feet landed on ember hot earth. He quickly ran towards a tree to cover himself. "That the best you could do!" he taunted loudly. Buck was sure Drakon heard it after hearing an earth-splitting roar.
Buck made his way deeper into the amber-tree forest whilst keeping an eye at the sky. Amelia was rushing forward while also making sure Drakon wasn't around. Then, the two immediately stopped running as they collided into something in front of them. They gave off an "oof!" as the bounced onto their rumps.
Buck shook his head and looked ahead to see what it was, and in front of him was Amelia caressing her head due to a bump on it.
"Amelia!" he cried light-heartedly. Amelia opened her eyes to see him jolting towards her.
"B-Buck!" she cried out in return as they hugged warmly in their reunion. Amelia wanted the hug to last longer, but Buck broke their hug sooner than expected.
"Amelia, get tuh the haighest point of this islet as fast as possible," Buck said.
"Wh-what? What are you saying?" Amelia asked in reply.
Buck placed his hand over her cheeks as he forwarded his face close to hers. "Don't worry. I'll get us out of here."
"No – Buck, you have to listen to me," Amelia said quickly. "Drakon, he's relentless. He's not going to stop no matter what. You have to find a way to get yourself out of here, it's the only way!"
"He's not the first relentless beast I've faced," Buck said with a grin. "I've got a plan. Just do as I tell you. Trust me." The weasel ran off in a hurry.
"W-wait! Buck!" she called out. Buck stopped for a moment to turn around. He nodded with a smile at her, a sign to reassure her everything will be alright. As Buck dashed off, Amelia thought it was best to do the part she was asked to. "Please stay safe…"
Buck ran off to a clearing, where he could be visible in sight. At the sight of the dragon soaring with his wings high, Buck taunted at him. "You just gonna fight like that, you bloody coward!" he insulted.
Drakon growled fiercely as started to dive down towards him. Buck readied himself in case of another breath attack. "Bet you can't fight me like a real man, eh!" He bellowed. Drakon roared furiously, and at a turn of events, he closed his jaws and came in closer and shadowed above him. Buck turned to witness the large beast land down in earthshaking slam.
"Hmph," the dragon said as he turned to face the weasel, towering over him. "You little whelp. You think you can challenge me? I've burned down over a thousand things of your size."
"And I've wrangled up a dozen of yours," Buck retorted. "I wondah which one of us did bettah."
"Enough!" Drakon roared, brandishing his scaled wings into the air. "You have been a thorn at my side for far too long!"
"That so?" Buck said defiantly. "Then let's see what you are like in a real fight, ol' man."
Drakon laughed in bemusement, landing his well sharpened claws at the ground. "I will enjoy seeing you struggle in your final moments."
At last, the two finally face off against each other. Amelia's fate is decided by the victor. And only one can walk out of this confrontation alive.
Xion the Author: :3 Yes, I am not dead. I will still continue to update this, don't worry. Hopefully I still have my old readers. I don't know. Please review to tell me your still reading this :P