Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Chapter 14

A Challenge

The paralysed Unseen felt Virulent's presence hovering over her, but from that position she couldn't quite see her. Virulent was behind her, presumably examining the tail blade. Every so often she pulled at it, or nudged it, trying to figure out how it was attached and how it worked. She was in no hurry. Unseen wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.

Virulent asked if Unseen's monkey-like ally had made it, and jokingly requested that he make one for her. It was an impressive weapon.

Unseen tried to respond, to keep her sister talking long enough to regain her energy, but she could barely open her mouth.

The poisonous raptor apparently got bored and placed her killing claw on the back of Unseen's neck, ready to end her.

Then a thought popped into Unseen's head and she poured every bit of strength into voicing it. She stated that Virulent couldn't do it, could she?

Virulent cocked her head in question and asked what she couldn't do.

Unseen drew a breath and added: couldn't defeat her. She always relied on an unfair advantage: her rank, the pack members; her poisonous feathers; Death's Touch. There was never a time when Virulent had fought Unseen on equal footing, and even so, she had never managed to kill her.

Virulent's feathers bristled. Aha. Unseen had managed to get under her skin.

The alpha stated that she was one of the pack's most powerful warriors. Her cunning, skill and strength were unmatched. Now, having shed, and with Silence gone, there were none in the pack capable or rivalling her.

Silence? Gone? Unseen had a strong urge to ask what had happened to their mother, but focused on keeping Virulent eating out of her hand… err… claws.

She agreed that perhaps Virulent was the pack's most dangerous, but it was not befitting for such a mighty warrior to be so cowardly. What was Virulent afraid of? The chance of losing? If she was so confident in her abilities, why hide behind every conceivable ploy to keep herself from risk?

Virulent grabbed Unseen's skull with her crushing talons and pulled her closer at an awkward angle. There was the old, impulsive Virulent. The trick was working, but Unseen cautioned herself to not go too far and end up dead before the punchline.

The alpha snarled that it was not cowardliness. It was mastery. She simply knew how to orchestrate events so as to ensure victory. Chance would have it that Unseen escaped time after time, but any day, any place, she could beat her sister in a fair fight.

Unseen strained to turn her head as best she could, looked Virulent in the eye, and told her to prove it.

There was a lull.

Virulent slowly sheathed her teeth and her tail began to flick with amusement. She dropped Unseen and made a chuckling coo. That's exactly what it was: a chuckle.

She walked behind Unseen and crushed the weapon in her jaws, hurling the remains into the river. The younger raptor's hopes rose.

Well played, commended Virulent: taking advantage of her pride to a deceptive end. Perhaps Unseen was more like her than she realised.

Without warning, Virulent lashed her tail into Unseen's side, leaving several lethal feathers lodged. Feeling the chemicals spreading through her veins, panic gripped Unseen as her heart rate spiked and a strange energy surged through her muscles. She leaped to her feet with a rush of adrenaline, panting loudly as it faded just as fast as it came.

Virulent explained that that was a new effect her feathers could have. It was good for giving the body a jump start. Shedding had added quite a few upgrades to her arsenal, but she would not be using the poison on this occasion. In return, Unseen wouldn't use her tail blade, not that there was much of a choice in the matter. Virulent was giving Unseen a fair fight, but regardless of any skills or shed-enhanced abilities the latter had picked up along the way, Virulent assured her: she would not win.

The two raptors charged.

Taberah was on his knees in the middle of a small glade. Death's Touch stalked around him, curious about this strange, raptor-skinned creature. The leather armour had protected against much of Death's Touch's electric shock. It was one of the only reasons why Taberah was still alive. The man sized the raptor up in a series of hyper-observant glances, noticing little hints, gestures and marks, including the indentations of an electric collar once upon a time fastened too tightly. It was painfully obvious, to him at least, that this raptor had spent his youth in the custody of humans. The rogue was much older than he looked. Suddenly the black raptor moved forward and flipped up Taberah's hood with his mouth, revealing his human features. The rogue froze, not with fear, but recognition. He couldn't recognise Taberah so much as he recognised his species. At the thought of that species, Death's Touch released a low growl.

In the Utahraptorian tongue, Taberah asked if the violet-feathered raptor, Virulent, had commanded the rogue to do what he had just done.

Death's Touch stared with his midnight black eyes, like those of a great-white shark. He cooed, half-aware that he was idly communicating his thoughts as he vocalised. Now this was a bit of a surprise. A human speaking Utahraptorian? He himself had learned to understand the human tongue in his youth, when they held him in captivity. However, he didn't expect such ignorant creatures to be capable of learning his language, far less caring to try.

He simply stated that he was not following orders. He did what he pleased and had no master.

Taberah flashed a dry smirk, declaring that everyone was mastered by something, whether they admitted it or not.

He pulled his hood back over his head and stood. Death's Touch moved in to shock him again but Taberah boldly told him to stop.

Feathers standing on end in outrage, the rogue asked why he could possibly want to do that.

Because, Taberah answered, he had something that Death's Touch wanted. He stated that he had seen Death's Touch before, at a distance. That was when he, Virulent and the other raptors were scouting the area, presumably looking for Unseen. Taberah had taken note of how great a warrior and hunter he was, and that he easily outclassed the other raptors.

One could practically see Death's Touch's ego inflating. It was unusual for utahraptors to flatter each other and his pride soaked it up like a sponge.

Death's Touch could have almost anything he wanted, Taberah continued, but there was one thing he craved more than food, water or even air: a challenge. He lived for the thrill of the challenge, overcoming seemingly impossible odds day by day. So Taberah had a proposal. They would fight for approximately five minutes. During that time Death's Touch wasn't allowed to use his electricity and Taberah wouldn't use his sword. After that, the rogue could do anything he wanted. Taberah guaranteed that Death's Touch would not find a more interesting challenge in all of Isla Sorna.

The black and white raptor took a moment's thought … then struck Taberah across the chest with a whip of his tail, sending him flying. Death's Touch had his killing claw on Taberah's stomach the moment he touched the ground. The rogue snarled into the man's face. How dare he try to trick him?

Taberah responded calmly, stating that the mighty rogue was scared of losing to a human. He would die with the satisfaction of knowing that the legendary Death's Touch was afraid of him.

The raptor wailed in fury. He stepped off Taberah and lifted him into the air by the shoulder with his jaws before slamming him into the ground. Again he pinned the man, screeching in outrage that he was going to kill him. He knew Taberah was trying to deceive him. Why should he accept Taberah's challenge, he demanded?

Taberah hissed his response, this time in English, baring his teeth with conviction. "Because. You. Need. To."

Death's Touch fumed and got off of Taberah, walking away and pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. He vigorously shook his head every now and then, as if trying to throw off an invisible net. Taberah watched patiently. He had him. The raptor's pride waged war with his sense of reason and second by second it took over his mind and proved to him that it was his master.

Death's Touch glared at the now-standing Taberah, hate and hurt in his eyes. He spoke in a low, chilling growl: Taberah thought he had won, didn't he? Well the battle was far from over. Death's Touch would accept his challenge, but it would make no difference. When the five minutes were up, he would not kill him immediately. He would torture him, and torture him, and torture him until death became a desperate desire.

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