Chapter 20: The First Wave

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Josiah's POV-

I found out, as I got closer to the cliffs, that the caves themselves weren't caves at all. It was a dam. The structure was very large and had once been marble white in color. But now, like the village, it too was being reclaimed by the jungle. The stone was now a dirty grey color and there was a deep crack that lined the left side of the dam.

I did see a series a stone steps that led up to the top of the dam. I was about to turn toward them when I saw a raptor standing at the entrance of the flood gates to my left.

I froze. But then I relaxed as I saw that it was just Fern. The young raptor hopped down of the small platform and approached me.

"Josiah, your here!" She chirped happily. "Dose this mean your gonna help our pack?"

I nodded and smiled. "That's right, little raptor, and Phaganax has positioned me here with you and Kara and the other younger raptors. Where is Kara?"

Fern pointed toward the flood gates.

"She's inside the vent with the other young pack members and the eggs as well. The older females of the lower beta positions are guarding them at the end of the vent. Kara has the younger chicks in the middle with some of the older betas who were injured."

"I see," I said, scratching at my chin. "and is Terias there as well?"

"Yep," Said Fern. "His leg is a little bit better, thanks to you. But Kara wants him positioned among the other chicks. Come one, I'll take up to see her."

Both me and Fern turned and walked toward the dam. I saw that the flood gates were up a little high and that there was no way that I was going to be able jump up there. I watched as Fern easily jump onto the platform. I wasn't so flexible when it came to jumping up things that were high.

"Oh, that's easy for you, Fern," I said snottily. "but I can't jump as well as you."

Fern turned to look down at me.

"You humans are all the same, you know that?" She said teasingly with a chirp.

"Ha, ha," I said sarcastically. "very funny."

I decided to move one of the empty boxes by the stairs over and then climbed on it to get to the ledge. It worked.

Fern led me inside the vent and I noticed that it was large enough for me to stand erect in. The ceiling wasn't that low and it looked like the walls weren't all that close neither. The vent had been built inside the dam to help manage water flow. I wrinkled my nose.

The place smelled like damp old water and a nasty combination of rotted bones and mold on metal. A steady stream of water was still flowing through the vent around my feet. The vent did offer shelter to the raptors that were milling around in it. Some of them were the young raptor chicks I had met before. They all looked up when they saw me with Fern but I ignored them. I needed to see Kara first.

I saw her at the end of the vent with a crisscrossing metal grate.

Several female raptors were there with the cluster of eggs by their side as well.

Kara looked up when she saw me coming.

"Josiah," She said, tilting her head in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you some help, Kara," I said, placing my rifle on the floor against the wall along with my backpack. "The way I see it, Darger and the black stripes are both our enemies. And sooner or later, Kara, he'll come for me. So, I figure I can fight with you and the pack to stop him."

Kara smiled and nodded.

I sat down on the floor next to Fern. She placed her head on my lap and I gently started to scratch her along her chin and around the neck. She gurgled contently and rubbed her head against the side of my neck.

Up until that moment, the only thing on my mind was staying in the church for the rest of the week and then leaving the island and the dinosaurs behind.

And now here I was trying to defend a raptor pack's home from Darger and the black stripes.

I looked over at Kara and the other young raptors and realized that they weren't just a simple pack of raptors. They were innocent animals who had lived peaceful, good lives. This was their home. They'd done nothing to bring on the trouble that was about to descend on them from the jungle.

The younger raptors, who had not grown into their neck quills, were not fighters and the eggs weren't even hatched yet. If the black stripes ever got passed the first and second lines of raptors like Tholestes or Phaganax, then it was game over once they came here to finish us off. The vicious bastards would kill everyone in here, including Fern and Terias and the remaining unhatched eggs. It made me hate Darger all the more.

I turned to Kara and asked, "So, what's going to happen if your pack wins this fight, Kara?"

The alpha female raptor looked at me and then let out a soft hiss. It wasn't a angry hiss but more of a tired hiss.

"I'm not sure, Josiah," She said. "Our pack may have to leave and seek out a new territory somewhere on the island that's not inhabited by another pack. If Phaganax or the other betas fail or die, then I'll lead the others to safety beyond our territory and find a new home."

"Do you think the betas can hold back the black stripes by themselves, Kara?"

Kara snorted. "They can hold them back. The black stripes are uncoordinated when it comes to being stealthy or quite. They'll recklessly rush forward at any beta they see on command. That will be the first strike."

I tilted my head curiously. "First strike?"

"The first strike," Kara explained. "will have the enemy come from the front. It won't be from the side. If the betas hold off and kill the black stripe first strike group, then the second strike will try and overpower the first line of our beta defense."

"And that's where Phaganax and the older betas come in?"

Kara nodded. "That's right, but he won't fight the black stripes or try to help the other betas when that happens."

"Why not?" I asked, giving her a concerned look.

"Because he'll be waiting for Darger to approach him and fight him in an alpha's battle to the death."

"Battle to the death?" I said, my eyes wide. "What are you saying? That one of them has to die?"

Kara looked at me and said, "Yes."

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That evening, while the rains had started up again, I sat alone on the edge of the flood gates. With me were my knife and rifle.

The rain run down the sides of the dam and created small streams and puddles that off into the jungle beyond. I wasn't getting wet or anything, but the smell from inside the vent wasn't all that great for my nose. A little fresh air did me good.

I sat staring at the jungle and toward the small clearing where the raptor nest was, wondering how the battle would all play out. I could envision the raptors fighting, what I couldn't see was the end game. Of course, I hoped we'd beat the black stripes before they did any real damage, and that seemed likely. I didn't want to be too overconfident, but the numbers were on our side.

The black stripe raptors were starving, but they had large numbers. This pack, Tholestes' pack, had strength and numbers and were better coordinated with proper alphas to lead them.

As if reading my thoughts, Terias approached me from behind in the vent and said, "If this goes badly, alpha Kara wants us to retreat through the vent and to the other side of the dam. There is a jungle path through a canyon that leads to the open plains beyond and to another jungle."

"Where's Fern?" I asked.

Terias answered, "Kara is talking to her. She's going to be put in the position of delta."

"And what is that, Terias?" I asked, interested.

"A delta raptor is a pack member in training for beta position. They are third in rank to alpha and beta. Delta's do not hold the authority to call medium or large hunts. Deltas usually become the next beta after training is complete but one can remain delta without moving to beta position. When this is the case, if ever the current beta raptor is removed from their rank, steps down, changes rank, or dies, the delta may take the place as the new beta at the alpha's request. There may only be a male and female delta."

"Whoa," I said. "That's rather a huge position to be given. Particularly to raptor as young as Fern. Do you think she's ready to be a delta?"

Terias nodded. "It's honor to be chosen as a delta by the alphas. And one day, Josiah, I'll be one as well."

I smiled and rubbed the young raptor on neck. "You'll get there, Terias. I'm sure of it."

Givin' an encouragement to a raptor was like filling a balloon with air. I could actually see Terias' chest swell up.

As the rain continued to fall I noticed that mist was beginning to come in as well. I first thought that this could be a problem. Would they be able to see in this? With mist that thick and raptors on either side unable to see each other, the odds of the packs attacking one another was unsettling.

And then, from somewhere in the distance, I heard a bloodcurdling shriek from somewhere in the mist.

And sounded like Tholestes. No. The black stripes were attacking!

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