Chapter 24: End of the tyrant

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Tholestes POV-

I was the first to get to Darger. With my claws outstretched and jaws opened, I charged at him.

I hadn't anticipated that Darger was stronger then I am. He was after all an alpha male and was older then myself.

Darger took my tackle attack head-on and pushed me sideways to the ground. I got back up quickly and jumped at him again. He sidestepped me again. I missed.

"I will give you this much credit, little one," Darger seethed. "You are stronger than your grandfather. But that means nothing to me now that he's dead. If killing his grandson is meant to be, I am more than happy to be your executioner."

He lunged at me. I ducked and rolled away from him.

"You have been practicing, forest rat" He said. "No matter. You are still a weak little hatchling."

He came at me with his claws again. This time his movements were shorter, quicker. He slashed his remaining killing claw at me. I avoided the slashes but couldn't avoid his upper claws. A talon raked me across my snout. I tasted blood on my lips but I ignored it.

"Go back to your pathetic territory, Darger," I taunted. "You have no chance of controlling our home. We're too strong. The pack is too strong. You are over your head if you think you will win."

"Rahhhh!" Darger roared, and unleashed another attack. I dodged two of his slashes, spun, and cracked him on the side of his head with my tail, knocking him off balance.

Josiah stayed where he was nearby, his knife drawn and ready. I didn't want him to attack just yet. I had to weaken Darger just enough so that he wouldn't be able to fight back.

Darger shook his head from the blow and snarled, "Your bravery is impressive, but foolish, you are not unbeatable. You will meet the same fate as Sorsha… and your grandfather."

I attacked. He was ready for me. He countered by slashing at me with his claws. I moved quickly enough so that I wasn't sliced, but the talons grazed me in the back, stinging. I had committed the number one mistake we raptors always followed; Never make the first attack when facing an enemy. I wouldn't do it again.

I stood where I was and faced Darger. I could still feel blood dripping down my back. He was bleeding as well and was breathing pretty heavily as well. I had to smile at this. Being an older raptor alpha past his prime meant that you were slower.

I had the edge because I was younger and more quicker with my attacks.

"Come now, little sickle claw," Darger taunted, breathing hard. "Don't you want to kill me? This is your chance avenge your grandfather. Just the two of us. Alone."

"You forget, Darger, I said, "my pack never fights alone."

At that moment Phaganax lunged from behind Darger, his claws outstretched. Darger turned around and tried to block the attack he knew was coming, but it was too late. Phaganax's claws slashed him in the neck.

Darger screeched in pain. Phaganax landed beside me and I could see that he, like Darger, was bleeding as well. His wounds looked like they were deep. But it didn't bother him.

"Your joining the fight?" Darger asked, wincing from his wound. "Phaganax, how dare you..."

"How dare I?" Phaganax counted, his nick quills quivering. "You kill my mother, you try to take over my pack's home multiple times, you kill Sandar, and for what? For a piece of dirt?"

"That may be, Phaganax," Darger snarled. "but I want it!"

With an angry roar he charged at Phaganax, claws out and his jaws open wide. Phaganax crouched down and lunged at the airborne raptor.

Both of them collided, claws slashing, teeth biting and ripping. Phaganax's attacks were fast but Darger's were lethal and hard.

Both raptors were in their prime and were not giving up. But would Phaganax win... or Darger?

Josiah's POV-

When Phaganax and Darger hit each other in midair I thought that the two of them were just a blare of scaly bodies. But when the fight got serious, when they both started circled each other, I knew that it was going to be a close one for our side. Phaganax was not a young raptor anymore. And Darger was the same. But the both of them were not giving in. This was a fight for control.

And whoever had the control...had the power.

Unfortunately, Darger was the one who had the power.

The raptor had pulled a fake slash and had butted Phaganax in the head with his own. The blow had stunned Phaganax, causing him to wobble backward. Darger then lunged and bit down upon his neck with his jaws. Phaganax tried to break free but Darger was too strong.

Then it it happened.

With one quick movement, Darger used both of his claws and twisted Phaganax's neck. There was a sickening 'crack' and Phaganax's body became still. Darger then flung Phaganax away into the grass, his body not moving.

I couldn't move. I felt the knife in my hand starting to slip from my fingers.

I think I was in shock. 13 seconds before, Phaganax looked like he was going to win. Now he lay dead on the ground. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. It all felt so impossible. But it wasn't. Phaganax was dead, and if I didn't snap out of it, I knew I would be next.

Darger let out victorious roar to the sky. A roar that sounded like it couldn't have come from a raptor at all.

He stepped over Phaganax's body and faced Tholestes and me. I saw the fury in his yellow eyes. We were next.

"Now..." He hissed. "Time to die…"

Tholestes quickly looked to the other raptors, hoping they'd come to give us aid, but they were preoccupied with the black stripes. We were on our own.

I shifted my feet, dispersing my weight over a wider area. I clenched My knife in my gloved hand and held it ready against the approaching raptor. Darger was bigger, stronger, and more brutal than me, but I hadn't come all this way to Isla Sorna to be killed by a big lizard.

Darger lunged forward and both me and Tholestes dove to the side, tucking into a roll as we went. I stood quickly and turned in time to see a claw-full of talons reaching for my throat. My foot went up, blocking the strike. I ducked under another swipe and struck out with the point of my knife, though I only succeeded in giving the evil raptor a good minor scratch on his side.

Darger screeched in anger, beginning another barrage of attacks. I dodged and ducked through the flurry of strikes, but eventually one caught me. Darger's claws gouged a groove across my recently healed shoulder, causing me to yell in pain and fall backwards onto grassy ground.

Darger then faced Tholestes and lunged forward. Tholestes took his attack full on. The two raptors rolled on the ground for several minutes before Tholestes was knocked away by Darger. He fell hard against a stone in the grass and didn't get up.

I got to my feet and let out a roar of rage. Tholestes was my friend. I wasn't going to lose him. Not like this. Not to Darger!

I charged Darger and thrust the point of my knife at him again. The weapon found its mark and the raptor snarled angrily at his new wound that opened in his shoulder.

"Give up, human!" He told me. "You don't stand a chance against me!"

I only settled into my fighting stance, waiting for Darger's next attack. Seeing this, Darger growled evilly and leapt at me. I brought my foot up again and kicked him in the snout, and successfully prevented him from ripping out my throat. The kick itself was strong enough so that Darger toppled backward. That was when I took that moment to finish him. I drove the triangular point of my knife forwards to meet the massive raptor that was still shaking it's head from the kick. The blade penetrated Darger's throat with enough force that it knocked him sideways onto the ground.

I felt the powerful raptor under me as I landed on him, keeping my hands on the handle of my knife that was still deep in his neck. Blood spurted and flowed from his neck.

Darger wasn't about to let me win. I felt his foot press against my stomach and kick at me. Lucky for me that it was the foot with the broken sickle claw on it. But the two smaller claws still dug in a little.

I could feel the knife starting to slid out from his neck. If that happened I wouldn't be able to finish him off. I would be dead.

Adrenalin rushed through me and I tightened my grip on the knife's handle. I was not going to lose. Not here and not now!

I jumped off of Darger and pulled out my rifle from my holster. Lifting the weapon with my finger on the trigger, I aimed at the raptor and fired.

'BANG'

The shot hit Darger square in his scaly face and knocked him backward onto his side. A cloud of greyish smoke rose from the raptor's head as he lay there, unmoving.

My hands were shaking. I felt sweat drop into my eyes as I felt the heat of the grassland all around me.

I had killed Darger. I had won. It was over. It was all over.

Or so I thought.

I turned my attention to Tholestes. He was lying where he had fallen, still not moving. I ran to his side.

"Tholestes!" I called to him. "Wake up! Come on." I shook him and gently slapped him on the snout. The young raptor opened his eyes slowly.

"Josiah?" He asked, groaning. "Watch out for Darger…"

I smiled. "It's okay, Tholestes; I took care of him. He's dead."

Tholestes shook his head. "No, watch out for Darger..."

I then turned my head around and my eyes went wide.

Darger was standing up and he was right behind me. His raptor snout and lower jaw were blown completely off, blood gushing down into the grass. His yellow eyes, now red and weeping blood, were full of rage.

He raised his sickle clawed foot and just when he was about slice me into red ribbons, somebody unexpectedly came to my rescue. It wasn't Kara. And it wasn't Terias or Fern either.

It was Pava.

The black stripe female raptor lunged forward from out of nowhere and slammed Darger in the side. The two raptors rolled on the ground for several moments before Pava was feebly kicked away by Darger.

"What are you doing?" Darger demanded, spitting blood.

He was surprised when Pava stepped forward and took a defensive position in front of Tholestes and me.

"Leave... Tholestes... alone," Pava said threateningly as two female raptors joined her side. I recognized them as Sandah and Dulia from before.

"Traitor hatchling, how dare you do this!" Darger snarled as got to his feet, more blood gushing from his neck. "You are my niece. I took care of you and your sisters. Why?"

Pava snorted and stepped forward. "Because you cannot keep doing this."

Darger coughed and blood shot out from his jaws. "Doing what? I provided our pack with food and with order."

"No, uncle," Pava said with no emotion. "You provided our pack, my mother's pack, with nothing but misery and starvation. We had order and you came and took that all away. You made us over-hunt and you forced us to live a miserable life in that human building. The pack hunted for pleasure rather then for food. We could have done better, but it wasn't enough. You abused your position as an alpha and you nearly ruined our pack's lives."

Darger hacked and coughed again as more blood flowed from his ruined jaws. His eyes looked desperate and wide. He turned to Sandah and Dulia for support. Both raptors stood where they were, with no expression on their reptilian faces. Darger's eyes started to roll up into his head. His body shuddered and he fell to his knees, one forearm holding him up. He was losing blood and was dying slowly.

"I didn't want this to happen, my dear niece," He wheezed, his gaze still on Pava. "Perhaps I have been too arrogant. I can admit that. There is a better way. We can still beat the forest pack and have a better territory. All of us. That was always our goal."

Pava then said in an icy undertone, "No, uncle. That had been your goal. It was what you wanted for yourself. It was never for our pack."

Darger turned to me and let a raspy sort of snarl that soon turned into a cough. Blood splattered on the grass in front of him, staining the ground.

"You..can't..win.." He rasped, his head lowering as more blood dribbled down his neck and jaws. "There are..other packs on this island that..will finish you for good. (cough) It is only a matter of time..before that..happens. And deep down you know it..I know you do."

Tholestes got up and approached Darger, his body movement not showing any signs of fear.

"You killed Phaganax and my grandfather, Darger," He hissed, his voice cold and angry. "and that is what I know now."

I got up as well and stood beside Tholestes. Darger looked up at me again as his head lay on the grassy ground which was now soaked with blood.

He coughed again and his eyes were beginning to close.

"Humans... Pava... are... our enemy..." He wheezed, his breath shallow as he turned to her. "Be thankful you..were never born in a..keeper's...cage...like I was."

Pava knelt down to Darger and gently touch his burnt and blown off snout with hers.

"I am no keeper's caged beast, uncle." She said with a gentle growl to the dying raptor. "I am free, like my mother. And now you are."

Darger wheezed again and then his wheeze turned shallow. Blood still flowed from his snout. He coughed softly and tried to keep his eye open, to try and gaze into Pava's eyes for one last time.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the raptor. Even if he had tried to kill me and Tholestes, I didn't think a slow death from an enemy would be this hard to watch.

But I watched anyway.

Darger's eye finally closed and his breathing stopped for the last time.

The alpha of the black stripes was dead. His reign of terror on Isla Sorna had ended. The raptors of the forest pack were finally free of the tyrant that threatened their home and their lives. In doing so, they took back control of their territory and their home.

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