Chapter 21
The Dodorex Hunt
"Well what am I supposed to do about it?" "I don't know but you'll think of something. You've done it a hundred times before." James didn't know what to do. Shira had been pestering James to do it for days now, and it was getting on his nerves. James replied to Shira, "I may have done it a hundred times before, but not to something so heck bent on not letting me do it." Shira gave James a look, "She might be a bit stubborn but she's a beauty, and I'd really like to ride her." James sighed, looked down and said, "Anything for you my dear." Shira raised an eyebrow and said, "Sarcasm? You must really want to do it James." James shook his head. No indeed he didn't. Shira had obtained a new Carnotaurus the previous week. She had named it Aqua. It was light grey, with a teal teardrop mark behind its eyes. It was already tamed, but it still needed to be taught to bear a saddle. Normally, it isn't all that hard to do, but this Carnotaurus was making a point out of being really stubborn, and not learning to bear one. This was much to the frustration of James, who had volunteered to help Shira out and teach the Theropod to bear a saddle, well, James could honestly say this good deed went far from going unpunished. He had tried, failed miserably several times, and then gave up, which is when Shira started badgering him. She never badgered him for anything else any other time, so James knew how much this Carnotaurus meant to her. Before they got into the stables, James looked at Shira and said, "Actually Shira, I hear Carnotaurus make great beasts of burden." Shira, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes said, "But they make even better mounts."
After the fiasco in the stables, Shira, breathless, with her back against the wall said, "You know James, Carnotaurus may actually be very good beasts of burden."
James was on the beach, looking up at the stars. They seemed to be so much brighter here than they were back home. As he stared up, he saw a shooting star. "Oh." said James contentedly, "A commit." As he gazed, he heard something running up the beach. It was Rhino, on his Doedicurus. He looked very excited about something. James stepped towards him, "Rhino, what's wrong?" Rhino threw a case down on the ground. "I found this on the beach, it washed up a few hours ago." He opened it, and James gasped in disbelief. There was a semiautomatic rifle in the case with about 400 rounds of ammo. The case was very large and heavy. James' eyes were wide and he said, "Rhino where on earth did you get those? Rhino explained, "I found them on the beach, it washed up as I was passing by. The case was waterproof, thank God, and I was able to get it." James was still terribly confused, "Where could it even have come from?" Rhino said, "I think I know." He pointed to a label on the case that said, Property of the E.S.C. James looked up, knowing. The letters stood for, Explorers Society of the Congo. James said, "It must've come up from the helicopter wreck, but how could it have remained underwater for a year and a half, and then wash up on the beach to boot without sinking? It was a minor miracle, but here it was. Rhino said, "I'll lock it up, we shouldn't use the ammo unless we absolutely have to." James chuckled and said, "Or unless we have to intimidate some Dino Raiders that try to kill you." Rhino huffed and said, "If that mongrel Hijikata dares to show his ugly face to me again, I will personally send one of these really nice bullets up his backside!"
The next day he went out with Shadow to collect some berries. Both men went on their raptors, Shadow on the faithful Ronen, and James on Alan. They were both going out to collect some berries. Shadow was gathering some for the village storehouse, and James was gathering some for his ravenous dodos, James chuckled, "Shadow, between the village and my dodos, I have no clue how any more Mejoberries can possibly still be here on the island." Shadow laughed, "I hear you. It's getting a bit harder to find them each time we go hunting for them." They each got their sacks ready, and went off towards the beach, and after a few hours, they had collected almost all the berries their sacks could carry. As they went back towards the village, they both saw something odd on the shore. It looked like a Tyrannosaurus, but it definitely wasn't, as it had a strange looking head. When they got as closer look they both lay prone on the ground, and gasped in amazement. The creature was unlike anything either of them had ever seen before. It was feathered, about 50 feet long, with the body of a T-rex and the head of a...Dodo bird? Its arms were also longer than a T-rex's, and they looked like wings almost. Shadow and James both looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. Shadow's eyes were wide, "What is that thing?!" he hissed. James shook his head. They were both transfixed when the creature roared, which sounded like a Tyrannosaurus with a horrible frog in its throat. But what happened next is what the two men never forgot. The monster breathed a huge stream of fire from its mouth. James and Shadow both crawled back a bit, and Shadow said, "James we better get out of here." After mounting their raptors, they went off to tell their friends what they had seen.
Rhino, Shira and David had met, along with Edmonto, who happened to overhear their conversation. Rhino said, "James, do you realize what this means?" James said, "Rhino, you may not know, but back where I'm from we have experts who discover dinosaurs and creatures and then put their fossils in museums, but in this place they aren't extinct." Rhino puzzled a bit, and then said, "So these professionals haven't discovered this creature yet?" James said, "Rhino have you even discovered this yet?" Rhino shook his head, "No, I haven't even heard it ever mentioned by our old tribe." Edmonto said, "We should each split up and look for it tomorrow. I'll go out on Midnight to find it, we could each go from there and see if we could find it.
The next day, they each split up. Edmonto went out with his father Tobi on Midnight, Rhino went out with Shadow, and James went out with Shira, who was the most excited James had ever seen her. As they went into the stables, Shira looked at Aqua, "Ah, it's alright girl. Maybe when you start to listen we'll go out with you." James got two Pteranodon saddles from the wall, and said, "Shira, we'll look around where I saw it yesterday. We'll each go out on our Pteranodon to get a good aerial view before we go out on our other dinosaurs." she agreed, and they each pushed off. When they pulled the Pteranodon into the takeoff zone, Shira asked, "So where exactly are we going?" James replied, "North. It was north where we saw it, and it headed north when it left. That's where we'll head." Shira nodded, "Alright." With that, they mounted their Pteranodon and took off.
After a few minutes aloft, James shouted over to Shira, "We have to take an offering to the Dodorex," which is the name they had given to the creature. "Maybe a dodo or something." Shira shouted back, "I don't know if it's a cannibal or not, but if it is, then sure take a dodo." James found one, and Jetstream swooped down and picked it up. "Yes! Now we have an offering for our lord and savior." Shira laughed, "You're not carrying that poor thing all the way to the Dodorex are you?" James said back, "I'll drag whatever I have to for that thing." James looked behind him and said to the dodo, which seemed oblivious to its situation, "You're going to make a tasty treat...like KFC." Shira said, "Oh James please don't mention that place. I might never see it again!" James said back, "Don't worry Shira, I could make you some KFD." Shira said, "What on earth is that?" James responded, "Kentucky Fried Dodo!"
After a few hours in the air, James and Shira decided to rest their Pteranodons. They gently soared down to the ground, the dodo still in tow. When they set the dodo down, it promptly fell asleep. James and Shira got a bit uneasy when they saw a Raptor and a Pulmonoscorpius dashing right towards them. Shira pointed, James nodded. The two predators got closer, then even closer, then too close, and then right on top of them before they both flew into the air. Suddenly James realized, "Oh no! No! My dodo's gone!" Shira shouted, "Leave it! Leave it! We'll find another dodo!" James didn't hear her, and he spiraled down, "Oh no they're both going for it!" shouted James, as the Pulmonoscorpius and the Raptor began ripping the dodo to shreds. "No! My peace offering!" shouted James. "It didn't stand a chance." Shira said, "It's alright James you'll get through this!"
A few more hours in the air and not a sign of the Dodorex. Suddenly, they saw something James had never seen before. There was an Argentavis in the air, but it was being swarmed by three gigantic bats! These were known in the fossil record as Onychonycteris. They looked like a cross between a flying fox and a vampire bat, but they sure didn't eat fruit, but dined on fresh meat. James stopped Shira, who yelled over, "I've never seen those before! Ah! They're horrible!" James didn't know how far they had flown, but obviously into a part of the island neither of them had ever been to before. The Giant Bats wheeled around, as if abandoning the Argentavis, and then with screams that could've given a warrior nightmares, the creatures began swarming James. James directed the Pteranodon towards them, but the Pterosaur was already fighting them on its own. Shira's Pteranodon joined in, and they dipped and darted, attacking the freakishly giant bats. Shira shouted, "We should carry one's carcass back to the village to show Shadow!" "If we ever get there!" shouted James back. The Pteranodon bit with their beaks, pecked, and swooped, grabbing a bat with its talons. The Bat spiraled down like a World War II fighter plane, and then hit the ground. The other two bats were still harassing James. He swooped down to the ground, hoping to get the bats off his trail. They kept on coming. He swooped back into the air, alongside Shira, who had come back. Jetstream killed another of the Onychonycteris, before the third bat flew off as fast as its dragonish wings could carry it. Shira went down to the ground, picked up the body of a dead bat, and put it in her satchel. James winced, she'd do anything to help put a new species in the book, which Shadow was doing anyway. "Here's one for the dossier book," said Shira. James said, "Shadow will be happy to put a new dossier in the book, but sorry Shira, you'll be the one carrying that thing!" Shira grinned. Though she could be squeamish with certain things, she had no qualms about handling dead carcasses, something James couldn't bring himself to do. She stuffed it in the saddlebag, which was quite impressive given the huge size of the bat. Shira gave James a look and said, "Why James, can't you handle it?" James shook his head. Shira said, "Well, let's keep looking. We probably won't have much time left. It's getting towards evening." James looked towards the horizon. She was right. The sun looked like it was dipping lower and lower in the sky. He nodded, "Alright. If the moon is bright we can keep going, if not we can rest for the night. Are you okay with going by moonlight?" Shira nodded vigorously, "Oh yes, I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to." James said, "Same here, let's go."
It was nighttime, but fortunately there was an exceptionally bright moon that lit up the night sky. James looked down and saw what looked like a Tyrannosaurus, but it was white. What puzzled him were the huge things surrounding it. It turned out to be a white Tyrannosaurus that was being attacked by a flock of three Argentavis, each swooping down and attacking the T-rex, which was white, with black stripes on its back. They quickly left the premises, and departed further north away from the village.
As they kept going north, they saw what looked like a frozen wasteland far in the distance. What? How was that possible? Shira looked at James and said, "How is there a frozen artic-like area here? We're almost on top of the equator!" James was just as puzzled. They had gone further north than ever before, but their Pteranodon knew the way home, so they pressed on. They landed on a snow covered boulder, near a large coniferous forest. As they landed, they heard growling and pitter-patter of paws on the snow. Suddenly a gigantic wolf sprung out of the undergrowth. It was white, and was far larger than a normal wolf. It was a Dire Wolf, according to the fossil record, and it was here, on this freak bizarre place. Jetstream tore into the air, and Shira yelled after getting some more air time, "Tell Shadow to put that into the dossiers!" James was still trying to process this. They had gone far off course from the Dodorex, but seeing this frozen wasteland here, on the island, which was apparently far bigger than James or the entire village had ever thought, awakened a fire within him, how many more species lay undiscovered in the island? How many more dinosaurs or extinct creatures lay waiting to be added to Shadow's book of dossiers, which he had begun compiling only a few weeks ago, after James and Shira had tamed the Mosasaur. James remembered seeing the gleam in Shadow's eyes, as he proudly announced he was compiling a large book, with in-depth species profiles of all the animals discovered. James had helped, and they had most species down. But now, there would be two new species to add that were previously unknown by any on the island.
After several hours of flying non-stop quite fast, James and Shira returned to Ark Village. They may not have found the Dodorex, but they had discovered two brand new animals, much to the excitement of Shadow, who quickly drew up pictures of the animals, though he'd write the text when they knew more about it. Shadow was incredibly excited by the news, "Two new creatures! I can't believe it! How far north did you go?" James said, "Nearly to the tip of the island I believe. There was actually snow on the ground it was so cold, but I can't think how it could be cold enough for snow to be on the ground." Shadow raised an eyebrow, "Snow? What's that?" James suddenly realized that Shadow wouldn't have had any concept of snow, since he had never seen it before. James tried his best to explain, "Shadow, you know the frozen white stuff that sometimes forms at the bottom of the freezers?" Shadow nodded, "Imagine that all over the ground as far as you could see." Shadow looked as if he was trying hard to figure it out, but shook his head and replied, "That doesn't make sense." James gave up, "Don't worry Shadow," he said, "You'll see it if we mount an expedition to the northern areas of the island." Shadow said, "If? You mean when! I'm going to get there if it's the last thing I do. Just as soon as we either capture or kill the Dodorex." James nodded, "But we have to find it first." he said.
Two days later and they set out again, this time heading in the opposite direction. This time, they took James' Spinosaurus Morten, and Shira took Shullershy, her Carnotaurus. They decided that they should stick a bit closer to home this time, and not go far out like they did the other day. As James was walking alongside Lake Lore, on the far, far side away from the base, he saw another horrible creature that he'd never seen before. It was a gigantic spider, as large as a man! It was known in the fossil record as Araneomorphus, and while those spiders were as large as a human head, this spider was large enough to take down a Raptor! He had taken his assault rifle this time, and when he saw the monster, he unloaded a volley of hot lead into its crusty exoskeleton, killing the horrendous beast. "One more for the dossiers," said James.
Later, while riding Morten, he stomped to the shores of Lake Lore, and saw a very sorry sight. A white Tyrannosaurus was being attacked by both a Stegosaurus and an Apatosaurus. Each of the creatures looked like they'd been going at it for quite a while. "James said, "Everybody looks a bit worse for wear here..." The dinosaurs hardly noticed James arriving on his titanic Spinosaurus. Shira came up on Shullershy. She chuckled and watched the comic spectacle, before something that looked like a streak of electricity burst from the fray, sending all the dinosaurs running away. James then understood. The Tyrannosaurus wasn't being attacked, in fact, it was actually helping them. James knew what had burst out of the tussle. That white streak could only be caused by an Alpha Raptor. James told Shira to get down. James mounted Morten, who roared, and got uneasy. James knew that an Alpha dinosaur was the only thing that could intimidate a full grown Spinosaurus. James ordered Morten to fight, and he saw the Alpha Raptor whoosh back, attack the Stegosaurus like a bolt of murderous white lightning. The Stegosaurus fell, and then the Raptor stood still, its blood-white eyes staring holes in James. Morten roared and swiped the air with his claws. James got out his assault rifle and aimed at the Raptor. He fired, but at that instant the Raptor seemed to teleport over to the other side of James. He dismounted, and saw the creature screech, with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. James yelled, and the Alpha Raptor kept darting back and forth with unimaginable speed and agility. James was wearing his armor he had got from the Dino Raiders, and he saw the Raptor turn on a dime and swipe him. The claw marks dug into the iron armor, but didn't touch James, who shot the Alpha Raptor, but he didn't know where. Suddenly, the Alpha Raptor was on top of James! James quickly grabbed his dagger, and plunged it into the Raptor's face. THe Raptor jumped off screaming, and James grabbed his assault rifle. James kept firing, but the creature was too quick, so he mounted Morten and the Spinosaurus charged. The vicious Alpha Raptor lunged onto Morten's head, but Morten clawed it off, and clamped its jaws down on it, killing it. James dismounted and took a look at the creature. James couldn't help but thinking, 'And Shadow actually thinks he'll be able to tame this thing?" Shira looked at it. This was her first time actually witnessing a fight with an Alpha Dinosaur. "And you killed an Alpha Carnotaurus." she said, "How did you do that and live to tell about it?" James chuckled, "I have no idea."
It was nightfall, and still no sign of the Dodorex. They kept going along the beach when suddenly they heard a huge squawking roar, and then a stream of fire came from over the hill. James pointed, and Shira's eyes were wide. Then they came to it. It was 300 yards away, and standing on the beach. Shira told James, "I think your best bet is to get on a Pteranodon and shoot from high up." James thought it over but said, "No we're too far away from the village, and that thing will be gone by the time I get back." Besides, we have our Spinosaurus, and you have your Carnotaurus. I think we can hold our own quite nicely. James quietly advanced, and he held out his assault rifle. The Dodorex, suddenly looked over at James and breathed a tremendous stream of fire before charging James. He yelled in terror, but the Dodorex was gaining on him. He thought he would surely be killed by the monster when suddenly Morten slammed into the Dodorex. The Dodorex stepped back, roared, and rushed forward, with its head lowered, Morten, with claws outstretched, roared and clamped its jaws down on the creature's neck. The Dodorex roared, and tried to bit the Spinosaurus, but Morten kept the monster pinned down with its two muscular arms. The Dodorex roared in violent frustration, before breathing a stream of fire. This startled Morten, who let go. The Dodorex attacked, slamming its body into the Spinosaurus, who tripped. The Dodorex lunged, but Morten regained his footing, and slashed the Dodorex's face. The Dodorex roared, but Morten kept on coming, bowling forward, claws outstretched. The monster was hit by the Spinosaurus' tremendous arms, and Morten grabbed the Dodorex's head, before bringing it to the ground. The Dodorex roared, but the Spinosaurus stepped on its head, before finishing it off with a bone shattering bite to the neck. The Dodorex went limp, and the Spinosaurus roared in victory. James stepped forward, and so did Shira. Suddenly out of the bushes came Shadow. James ran over, "How did you find us?" asked James. Shadow replied, "When a Spinosaurus gets in a tussle, you know!" Shadow approached the feathered monster. He breathed heavily. He showed James and Shira his dossier for it, before taking the skull of the beast, and returning to Ark Village.
James and Shira presented the new dossier to the village, along with the other new dossiers. It got James and Shira thinking, what else lay on the island? Still, somebody needed to explore the icy area in the far north of the island, and very, very soon they would.