Chapter 25: Judgement

"The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die." - George R.R. Martin

"Give up already! You're dead anyway, little fuzzball!"

She didn't listen to those taunts coming from the small sharptooth flyer chasing her. She only focused on evading the constant attacks from him, as he was a masterful flyer indeed while she herself was only capable of short glides. And even though she slightly outmatched him in size, even though she had more dangerous claws on her feet, that male sharptooth flyer had a much bigger snout filled with bigger and deadlier teeth with which he would be able to kill her with one lucky bite.

No, she would have to flee until he had enough. Since she was way faster and nimbler than him while moving on the ground, though, she figured that the chances were quite in her favor. Obviously she was utterly afraid, having been threatened before already, but betrayed and now being chased like this for the first time in her life. And yet she definitely regretted calling out for help just recently. She realized by now that this had been a potentially fatal mistake. No one would come to her aid anyway, and all it would achieve was attract bigger sharpteeth if she were to scream again.

So she just continued using the small trees, trunks and bushes to dodge the flyer's relentless attacks, running on the ground for a few moments and then climbing back up a trunk to glide again after changing directions. The sharptooth flyer already started falling behind as he couldn't run on the ground or foresee her swift movements, making her confidence rise to unparalleled levels by now.

And then the flyer finally slowed down and disappeared somewhere above her.

Ok... Ok... Finally! Now... one more and then change direction...

Having reached her target, the last tree in close range, she pushed herself off into another direction. And that was when disaster struck.

Thud!

"Gotcha!"

The sharptooth flyer had simply gained altitude, disappearing from immediate sight for a short moment, and then dived down again to build up speed, easily intercepting her glide and smacking her onto the ground, now keeping her in place with his wings. She couldn't even see him as she was lying on her chest, only able to feel his hot breath in her neck, lusting to rip her apart. Slowly, enjoying it.

"Hah! Stupid little shit!" He exclaimed mockingly, but just as much as if this would be the most casual conversation ever. "Did you seriously think your relationship with us was over? Just like... that? Although, come to think of it... Sister lets you know she is very thankful for all your help. We could've gotten used to this. You did lovely indeed, fooling that stupid, fat fastbiter! You've really outdone yourself, this time! I almost envy you. But... How shall I put it...? Sadly, she said you're no use to us anymore... You know, now that 'she can fly again'..." He let out a dirty chuckle at this point, licking his teeth. "Well, to me, you actually still are. Oh, I wonder if your flesh is as tasty as it looks..."

Although she still wasn't able to see his face, the flyer's wide grin after that statement would've been discernible to a blind dinosaur.

"You disgusting bastards!" She shouted back in rage. "I did everything you wanted! We had an agreement!"

"Until today... As you know, my dear sister likes to change her mind from time to time. Especially since you've drawn a lot of attention to us... And did we ever agree on letting you stay alive?" The sharptooth flyer said again, as calmly as before, just even more taunting this time. "So, any last words? Hm? No? Well then... Time to..."

Shluck!

The flyer's final taunt was promptly, but mostly violently, interrupted and the gurgling sounds and those of ripping flesh which followed from him made it obvious that she had indeed attracted a bigger sharptooth with her screams. It was quite clear to her what would happen to herself now. Out of instinct, as soon as the weight on her back lessened, she rolled over...

Oh... my...

...and stared in utter horror at what stood right in front of her.

It was a female fastbiter with white skin, blue eyes and of way above average size, even for the standards of her already large kind, the sharptooth flyer impaled on one of her massive sickle claws. And she stared back down at her as if she was her next target. As the fastbiter then suddenly opened her hand, switched looks between what lay in it and before her, her own eyes widened even further. Because even though her nose wasn't all that great, she could still just about smell her own scent coming from whatever this fastbiter was holding in her forelimb. Or maybe she was just imagining things in her fear. In any event, something was very odd here.

What frightened her even more was that the fastbiter just stood there, unmoving, staring down at her again. As bizarre as the situation already was, though, she wanted to act, do something. This strange sharptooth refrained from killing her outright, so maybe she had just been nearby and decided to help her. Such a thing as helpfulness did apparently exist even for sharpteeth, after all. Also, the fastbiter had obviously found herself a little snack in this disgusting sharptooth flyer. Surely, she wouldn't kill her as well in this case.

"Th... Thank..."

But before she could finish her statement, the fastbiter suddenly reached out for her and grabbed her with her free forelimb, completely restricting her movement with a firm grasp around her body and wings.

"Hey...! What...?!"

"Shut up." Alba commanded in a tone that frightened even herself in retrospect. "You're coming with me. I think a friend of mine would like to meet you..."

"Where... are you taking me...?"

No answer came from the female fastbiter, obviously and as expected, as she was carrying the dead flyer between her teeth and didn't seem to be very talkative anyway. She did notice, however, that she was starting to slow down, meaning they were just about to reach their destination. And there really was no destination she wanted to reach less than the upcoming, she figured. It would probably be the last journey of her life, and she wasn't even given the opportunity to move there by herself, wasn't even given a reason for this. Just when she thought that the final day of horror was over, that she was free again, free from those treacherous flyers, this happened.

Still, she was determined to change this fastbiter's mind. Somehow. After all, what could she have done wrong to her? Or to that 'friend' of hers, whatever he or she wanted from her. Actually, she had quite a few problems believing that this big female sharptooth even had something like a friend, considering her strange, almost repelling looks and quiet demeanor. Then again, she has been alone for so many years herself that this insulting thought rather quickly disappeared, turning into something that felt more like pity. If it was pity for herself or the fastbiter, this eluded her conscious mind.

But just as she was about to open her mouth in an effort to convince her to let her go, the fastbiter suddenly stopped. In front of them lay the entrance to a cave. It seemed like she finally reached her destination, the destination which she had so much hoped she would never reach. The fastbiter proceeded to place down her kill on the ground before assuming a normal posture and taking a breath, raising her voice.

"Specter! I'm back."

Several moments in which nothing happened went by. She starting questioning herself once more if this white fastbiter was some sort of lunatic with an imaginary companion, but if that really was the case, what could possibly happen next? More terrifying even, if nothing happened, what would happen to herself?

Following this, however, something did happen. A pair of big, yellow eyes, one of them only half-opened, appeared in the blackness which embraced everything inside that cave. Those eyes were unmistakably from another fastbiter, but this just couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be. They were mounted so high up that this sharptooth must've been something else. Anything but a fastbiter.

But came the next moment, the massive sharptooth slowly emerged from the cave, and as more and more details from it became visible, her eyes grew even wider than before. First the big, yet still very shapely head, decorated with golden crest feathers on top, then the two forelimbs, also decorated with feathers, this time black ones with golden outlines, and lastly the main body, which was almost completely covered in black feathers, only the back and tail crested with golden ones again.

The size of this male fastbiter wasn't even her main concern and source of utter fear and horror. It was his looks, those black and golden feathers. And, of course, the easily visible slash right next to his right eye.

Specter was a bit puzzled right now. He was massively disappointed, curious and surprised at the same time. Instead of a nice meal, Alba came back with this. A small pterosaur and a just as small feathered creature, which was still alive. Had she actually thought that this would be enough for the two of them? Had she actually not been able to hunt something bigger?

He immediately started doubting this, so his curiosity was the emotion which stayed for now.

Hmm... She's killed herself a Dimorphodon. Huh, got it finally right with those, at last... Messed him up good, as well. Gotten a bit angry that he was faster than you, huh, big girl? Hm. But... what is that?

He moved a step closer to Alba and looked down at the little dinosaur in her grasp, which was looking up at him as if he were at least twice as big and covered in blood and innards. At first glance, this small female looked more like an oversized bird, being roughly the size of a Velociraptor. She sported extensive, colorful feathering, the colors ranging from mainly red to orange and even spots of blue and black, noticeable wings and a small, delicate snout. But then he looked down at her winged legs, which were sticking out from below Alba's paw, and realized what this little carnivore really was. In the vocabulary of this time, she would be called 'glider'. However, the Microraptor who was living in the Great Valley, Guido, too, was a glider, yet differed quite a bit in size and hunting capabilities from this one here. So, like always, Specter wanted to be precise.

Very slim build, must be weighing four kilos at best... Stiff tail, very long feathers on arms and legs... Yeah, basically four wings. And she has sickle claws, too. Microraptor? No, she's way too big for that... just over a whole meter in length, even a bit longer than that Dimorphodon... But it still fits. She belongs to the clade of the Microraptoria... And with that size, it would make her a... Changyuraptor.

Having settled this, Specter's curiosity turned back into confusion, so he gave Alba his full attention and simply tilted his head in an asking manner. Alba's reaction to this was that she raised her left forelimb, stretched it out to him and opened her hand, revealing a red feather. It was a perfect match to the glider's very long tail feathers, which were making up a good third of her whole body length. But Specter was still unable to connect the female Changyuraptor to this feather in such a way that it would make sense as to why Alba seemed so angered and cold right now, and why she had come back without any 'real' food.

That should change quite quickly, however, as Alba spoke up.

"I happened to find this at the place where someone attacked you." She spoke in an emotionless, analytical monotone, waggling the feather between two of her fingers a bit. "And then I happened to overhear that our little sharptooth here, who scared my food away with her screams, was coincidentally involved in your hunt as well."

There had not even been a need for Alba to continue her explanation. As soon as she had finished the first part, Specter's face suddenly contorted, all his curiosity and surprise vanished, and he fixated the glider in her hand with a murderous stare. It made complete sense to him by now, what kind of creature it was which had ruined his hunt and almost sliced one of his precious eyes out. Everything was a perfect match. This female Changyuraptor had fitting claws to cause a precise cut such as that on his face, had the ability to glide fast and in complete silence with her long feathers, and since she was also a 'raptor' by definition, a prehistoric bird of prey, he was dead certain that she was the one who had scared the Altirhinus juvenile out of cover with that high-pitched screech, imitating a much larger predator.

And now, there were many, many things he would've liked to do. Things he would've liked to do either to or with this glider. Most of them involved lots of blood and death.

However, none of those things would he enact just yet. First, he wanted to hear what she had to say to her defense. Only then, he would issue a judgement. Just this one, quick thought about this made him aware of the power he was now holding in this time, as a relatively big dinosaur. That female glider's life lay in his hands, she was completely at his mercy, yet it was different from hunting. Hunting was about sating his hunger, one of the most basics needs, but this right here was more about retaliation. Nature did not provide any laws for this. And so what he now realized was that he was the so called 'three powers' in one. Executive, legislative, judicative. All combined into one being. Nature allowed him to make his own laws and rules, judge others by and also act by them himself.

It would've filled him with joy and satisfaction, were he not the kind of person he simply was. Right now, it filled him with nothing more than bits of fear and worry. And although this thought process happened in the subconscious part of his mind, he couldn't help but feel glad that humanity had decided to firmly divide those three powers in most political systems. No one should possess this grade of might. Though, this didn't change the fact that he was wielding it right now, choosing to utilize it.

Ultimately, Specter continued to wear his expression filled with rage and contempt as he reached out with his own left forelimb and opened his hand. In doing so, he maintained eye contact with the glider, noticing that she was beginning to fall apart internally with fear and horror at the sight of his claws and current behavior. It would make his upcoming decision all the easier, he figured.

Alba has never seen Specter like this, swathed in such a strange mixture of anger and determination. And truth be told, she was a little bit worried what he planned on doing next. Still, she would hold true to her thoughts. She would let him judge the glider. After all, that dastardly little sharptooth had stolen his prey, injured him, and even had the nerve to risk his life by alarming the leaf-eater herd beforehand. Maybe she would not like Specter's upcoming decision, but she would still let him have it.

As soon as Alba opened her hand, the glider tried to flee in an outburst of her instincts. But she should get no chance to do so, as Specter had expected this and immediately caught her, pretty much squeezing her in his big paw. He lifted her up close to his face and continued to stare at her, presenting the little cut she had inflicted on him, not even uttering as much as a faint growl. He knew that silence was the most terrifying choice of words, to say nothing at all, very useful in many situations. Silence could break people. And it was no different here.

Almost half a minute of complete silence went by, with Specter still searching for something in the glider's eyes. That one, single feeling. He has seen many things in that short time frame, but not what he really wanted to see.

It should stay that way for now, as the glider began to speak.

"Please... don't kill me... I... What have... I done to you? I don't... even know you... Please..."

Specter kept unfazed, keeping his mouth shut along with it. Soon after, the extended effects of his tactic showed. The glider's unsuccessful pleas turned into unintelligible whimpering, and tears began forming in her eyes.

All of this, however, abruptly stopped as he shot out with his other hand, now pinching her neck between two of his fingers.

"One more lie and I will snap your damn neck." Came his daunting addition, in leaf-eater to emphasize how certain he was about this. The female's reaction to this was that she stared in overwhelming shock at him, if only for a brief moment. She stared away from him afterwards, but her look prior to this was all he ever needed to see to confirm what he knew anyway. Then he switched back to sharptooth. "You messed up my hunt, almost took my eye, and then fucked up her hunt, too. Let me tell you something... We have lost a good friend and leader, just yesterday. He sacrificed himself for us, was taken from us without mercy. There were only lies, betrayal and deception where we started our journey, and we've been on the move since then... Both of us have not eaten anything in almost two days by now. Two long fucking days... And had it not been for you, you and your fucking greed, we would've had a nice day for a change... But you don't care, do you? You only care about yourself, isn't that right? Give me just one damn reason why I should not kill you."

"No... No, it... It was an accident..." She replied hesitantly and shakily. "They... forced me... I... I didn't mean to... I would never... I... I didn't know... I'm... sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Following this, her head dropped and she went limp in his left hand, refusing to fight any further against her fate. Specter noticed this in satisfaction, even though he didn't get to see the look from her which he wanted to see. Fear, horror, confusion, regret. He had found each and every single one of those feelings multiple times in her eyes, but none of those interested him. Right now, though, it seemed like her word would simply have to do, he figured, and so he didn't hesitate with his judgement, didn't feel any concerns or doubts about it.

"Sorry is not good enough..."

Crack.

That soft sound seemed to be as loud as a roaring Tyrannosaurus in the current silence, echoing through the night. A disgusting sound which went beneath everyone's skin. Not the sound of cracking bones, though, but of joints. Specter exhaled and slowly retracted his right hand, relaxing the muscles in his three fingers there after all this tension. But he kept his left hand firmly shut.

"No, I will not kill you. I'm not a murderer, and you don't deserve to die like this." He continued in a bit more neutral tone which then turned into sobriety. "But neither will I let you go like that."

It took the glider what seemed like ages to realize that she was still alive, that he had not broken her neck by giving his fingers an indifferent twitch. Then she slowly raised her head and restored an unsure eye contact with Specter. He didn't soften up his stern gaze at all, but it lost the anger it carried before. Now it carried a plan, a plan that would soon be set in motion, whether this glider liked it or not.

Still, he was gambling here, he knew this very well. The stakes were not high at all, yet also not really low enough for him to risk losing them. Not to mention that he found the small sharptooth to be in his debt right now. But he knew just as much that killing the little raptor like that would benefit nobody. With this glider, he had an ace in his imaginary, feathery pocket for the job that still needed to be done. Now was the time to draw that card, soon the time to play it.

"I did a little bit of scouting just before you two arrived." He deadpanned. "Apparently, the leaf-eaters from earlier are still around. You know, those who you have warned of me. And I believe you also know very well who my original target was."

"Y... Yes... But... What..." The glider tried to speak up before almost choking on her own words in her still very prominent fear. She had to gulp audibly, only then she was able to continue. "What do you still need me for, then?"

"Simple." Specter answered. "The oldest one of them. He is their leader, and I've chosen him as my target for several reasons. It was you who has warned his herd, so it will be you whom he will trust. He would be smart to do so, at least. And if he doesn't, make him trust you. Think of something, I don't care what. Fly there, get him to leave his herd and lead him to us. I bet they will leave this area quite soon, so you better be quick. We will do the rest. You do that, we're even... Mostly."

The glider gulped again, the agitated undertone in his voice gave her no other option. But ultimately, she offered a halfway firm nod. Specter returned this simple gesture, then looking back at Alba. She had not touched her kill, was just standing there and waiting.

"Forget about that guy." Specter said dismissively, pointing at the mangled Dimorphodon. "I don't know about you, but I think we deserve something more filling after all this crap. So, shall we?"

Though Alba seemed to be very unsure about his plan, she nodded as well and joined his side to move out into the night.

Only around ten minutes of speedy, northbound movement went by until the two fastbiters stopped, now standing in front of moderately extensive flora. And it was also only now that Specter softened up his grip around the Changyuraptor, something she took full advantage of by taking multiple very hasty, deep breaths in his hand. Which then stopped as Specter took an audible breath of his own.

"This should do. This is where the two of us will ambush him. From here, the herd is close enough for you to get the drop on them, as well."

"Do you think?" Alba now spoke up, a lot of doubt in her voice. "They're right ahead, yes, but that's at least ten longneck-lengths away, maybe even more. And she can't fly. She's a glider."

That obvious statement was followed by nervous twitches from the small raptor, Specter noticed easily why, of course, but he had just the reply for this.

"Don't worry, I'll make her fly." He answered with a faint grin which he only showed to Alba, turning his attention back to his forelimbs. This was now followed by an asking look from the glider, at least until Specter slowly opened his left hand and flexed his neck around to look at his own behind. "Hold on to my tail until I give the signal."

The sudden freedom and huge fastbiter looking away from her obviously gave the glider a lot of ideas, but she realized that most of them would end unhealthy. Besides, she didn't want to help the two sharpteeth because they forced her to do so, like those flyers had. She did it for an entirely different reason, though she did not understand that this was exactly what the male sharptooth had gambled on. So instead of trying to flee again, she did as the massive fastbiter commanded, jumped out of his paw, on his back, climbed on his immensely long tail right up to its tip, letting herself hang down from it with her forelimbs, and waited. She didn't understand at all what this strange, feathered sharptooth planned on doing now, and she wanted to express that.

But she should not even get the chance to open her mouth, as Specter bent his tail all the way to one side, raised his leg on the other side and then mirrored his move, swinging his tail with full force diagonally towards the above.

"Now!"

The glider let go right at the last moment and shot up into the night sky, extended her wings, circled once and actually allowed herself to do a barrel roll before gliding towards where Specter pointed out the leaf-eaters would be. Specter himself on the other hand allowed himself an honest, satisfied smile. Mostly because he would soon be allowed to feast on some fresh meat and share that moment with Alba, but also because he was certain that he has made the right decision.

This will be good... Third time's the charm, after all. However, if she fucks this up... or tries to fuck me over... I'll be done with my leniency... Then... I will...

"I didn't know you could be this scary." Alba remarked from right next to him, making Specter aware of his surroundings again.

"Neither did I..." He started in a bit of jest, shrugging once. Then his voice turned serious, though. "I shouldn't have done this to her, but she owes both of us. A lot. I am very forgiving when there's a reason to do so, like I had with you, but there is only so much I can accept." Following this, he looked at her and changed up his voice to a very formal one. "I'm guessing the flyer you killed was one of those 'they', who 'forced her', right?"

"Yes, that's what I think happened."

"What else did you hear? Every detail helps."

"Well, they didn't talk much, and I only got to hear the last part. I'd say... she probably owed those flyers something, they took advantage of her, and betrayed her in the end." She returned in her usual, dry tone. "Even so, do you really trust her story?"

"For the most part, yes, I believe her." Specter responded instantly, but also very contemplatively. He noticed that Alba didn't quite share his opinion, judging by the uneasy look on her face, which he was glad about and something he wanted to talk with her about soon enough anyway, so he decided to explain. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I think she showed remorse, so I decided to grant her that chance. I have given her the opportunity to free herself from debt, and that is why she will do as I said. Still... Once we're done here, I want her to tell me that story. Then I will decide if I really want to forgive her..."

"I see." Alba just said acceptingly, turning her attention towards the as of yet unseeable herd in the distance.

Specter presumed that nothing more would come from her until the actual hunt started, so he wanted to use the time to set some things straight.

"While we're waiting..."

"Yes?" Alba asked when she noticed that Specter hesitated a bit, turning her full attention back to him.

"What am I to you?"

That sudden question left her pretty dumbstruck for a moment, as it had multiple, very possible meanings indeed. She hesitated, but then decided to give the most blatant answer.

"What... do you mean? You're my friend, of course."

"Yeah, I know..." Specter responded with another smile. "But... you never really questioned my word so far. You obviously don't like what I'm doing here, and I just don't want you to..."

"Accept you as my leader?" Alba finished for him, leaving Specter surprised now. "Why would I not? You're the bigger sharptooth. And you know Seeker, and the way there. Is that... a problem for you?"

"Yes... No... I mean..." He sighed in exhaustion, thinking about how to put it. "It's just that... See, in my old life, I was trained to become a leader. I was trained to listen, to understand, to take responsibility not only for myself but for others, too. And I always thought I could do it, leading others to happiness and success... But it's different in this time... That's why I don't want to be anything like a leader to you. I don't want you to... blindly follow my 'orders'. One bad decision and you could die... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if let that happen..."

"But you won't let that happen. I know you won't."

Alba's grave, yet very honest words were just another one of those wake-up calls for Specter, feeling like she had gently given him a verbal tail slap to make him regain his confidence. It worked out in some ways, in others not. He couldn't find the right words in this case. He was just too uncertain about this, and his answer should reflect that.

"Just... promise me that you will never stop doing this... Never stop telling me off or letting me hear your opinion."

"I promise." Alba said firmly, still wearing a smile, which earned her a dear nuzzle from Specter.

"Good. Thanks." Came his grateful conclusion. Then he carefully analyzed every scent he managed to pick up for a few seconds, making sure that there was enough time for this, before speaking up again. "One more thing... We have never hunted together. You know, just the two of us without any support. It probably won't matter in the end, but I'd like to make sure everything goes smooth from now on. And you have been playing this game for much longer than I have. So, what do you suggest?"

Hm... Not even... Shade... had thought about this when it really mattered... Alba quickly pondered Specter's words, remembering how her first meeting with Chaser went. But she forced herself to not drift off to those memories, as this might've led her to question her past behavior otherwise, like if it had been the right decision to stop Chaser from killing Shade.

"I'm not sure..." She then stated honestly, and not only because it was the first time in her life that she has been asked for a definitive plan. "But we took down that fastbiter from yesterday together as well, didn't we? So... do what you always do, and I will think of something."

It was risky and not exactly what he had expected coming from Alba, but Specter couldn't really disagree with her logic. Even if it really was only plain luck on the last day, he had to admit that it has felt like as if he and Alba already were a deep-seated team with years of experience, after that short fight against Morso. And if she would just use her own experience to read and adapt to his moves, enhancing her understanding of his way of thinking, they would probably become quite the deadly duo in the future. Though, he was aware of the fact that this was a bilateral relationship. He had to read and adapt to Alba's moves, too.

But for now, he would just do what he always did. Using his size and weight to overpower his prey. This was anything but the hunting style he had in mind when he first arrived in this time, yet it still was the easiest and most straightforward for him.

"Very well. But don't complain afterwards that I've stolen you all the... Ow!"

Alba's more forceful nip on his sensitive arm feathers cut his playful taunt short. And just in time, too, as Specter now noticed that two scents were closing in on their position. Two scents he knew all too well. Though his face was still a bit contorted in mild ache, he had to grin widely, very much feeling pumped and looking forward to this.

"See? Told you. And now... Let's hunt..."

"And you're sure the other one is not here?"

"Yes. I would never have proposed this to you, if I were unsure."

"Good... Then it is finally time for this disgusting abomination of a sharptooth to see what loss feels like... However, I still don't believe in your reasons. You are a sharptooth as well. Why would you help us?"

"You do not need to know about my reasons, just know that this is something very personal... Your nephew, my parents and sisters..."

"Ah, so it is revenge... or is it prevention?"

"Neither... It's compensation... You figure..."

"I figure that you are very nervous... Might there be a reason for that?"

"I... No, there is not. I just... finally have the chance to get even with that bastard... To be free again."

"Hm... I see... Well, maybe a few of you sharpteeth actually seem to have..."

Shluck! Thud! Slice! Shluck!

And in a matter of seconds, the unusual conversation was over. Forever.

Emerging from out of the darkness, Specter had done his usual thing whenever he was dealing with moderately big prey like most adult Hadrosaurs. A full-force pounce to one side, already gravely injuring his target with his two lethal sickle claws, to violently throw it over on its other flank, keeping it pinned to the ground. The following part had been Alba's doing, namely appearing from Specter's opposing side, jumping on the leaf-eater's just about prone form and then precisely piercing the Altirhinus' throat at a critical point, killing it almost instantly.

As soon as the final, shocked, surprised, shuddering breath of life vanished from the leaf-eater, Specter and Alba both exchanged looks, nonverbally congratulating each other on a hunt well and swiftly executed. Then they jumped off their prey, joining sides, analyzing their handiwork again for another quick moment.

"Well?" Specter spoke up when he noticed that this 'quick moment' turned into almost half a minute of continued silence. "What are you waiting for? You have the honors."

And it took Alba seemingly just as long to understand the implications. For the first time in years, she was allowed to have the first bite again. Had Specter tried to indirectly grant her this by letting her work out this 'plan', to just let him do his thing, she asked herself. Thus, had he held back and waited for her to act and claim the kill for herself? Had he actually thought this through, too?

In any event, she showed a quick sign of gratitude by nuzzling his flank. Then she closed in on the leaf-eater's belly and wasted no time digging into her kill.

As mildly disgusting as the sight of a feasting carnivore from an external point of view to him still was and probably always would be, Specter smiled faintly at it. Though, honestly, also because this sight, and especially the scents, forced his senses to be on overdrive, forcing him to keep his instincts and desires in check for now along with that. After all, before he would sate his hunger, there was one last thing left to do.

"Well done." He said towards the dead leaf-eater first, only afterwards slowly turning to whom he actually wanted to tell this to.

The reason for this rather unusual succession was that he had never expected the red-feathered glider to stick around. He certainly wouldn't have if he were in her position, he figured. But she was indeed still there, lying on her back and staring up at him, as she obviously had to get out of the way quickly, once two such big Utahraptors wreaked havoc upon a single Hadrosaur, without any prior warning as well. Though the glider's eyes were once more filled with fear, she didn't even move a single muscle. And Specter noticed this, so he decided to act now before it was too late.

However, just as he even did as much as raise his foot to walk over to her, the Changyuraptor snapped out of it, rolled over and jumped multiple of her own lengths backwards. Specter immediately stopped his planned movement in response, and presented a passive, non-aggressive stance.

"Are we 'even' now?" The glider spoke first, using the gravest voice she could apparently manage.

"Yes, we are." Specter gave his calm response.

"Then I'll be leaving..." She immediately retorted and spun around.

"Wait!"

Surprisingly, the little raptor did exactly that, froze in her tracks and flexed her neck around to look at him again. Her look was very much unreadable at this point, being somewhat a combination of emptiness, annoyance and anger. Knowing that he most likely would not achieve anything with his words now, Specter quickly turned back to the dead leaf-eater and carefully used his sharp claws to cut out a fitting piece of meat. Alba did not let this bother her, but she still showed a bit of interest in what he planned on doing now, even though it was pretty obvious.

"I'm sorry I made you do this." Specter said, presenting the piece of meat to the small female. "Alba here told me a little bit about what she overheard when she found you and that flyer... Knowing those types, my guess is that you didn't even get to eat anything from that leaf-eater you stole from me." He paused there for just a second, analyzing the glider. He could see that she frowned a bit and nodded after hearing this. With that confirmed, Specter got to the point. "So, you did what I asked of you. And you did it very well. Thank you."

Having said that, he shortly bowed his head, lowered himself to the ground and stretched out his right hand with the meat in it. The glider hesitated for several seconds, she seemed surprised but distrustful of his sudden, kind gesture. Yet ultimately, though very slowly and carefully, she moved towards him. Until she was standing right in front of his paw.

Specter could only let out a faint sigh as he jerked his hand upwards.

Thud.

That was the sound of the piece of meat hitting the ground, the glider now firmly restrained in Specter's hand once more.

"Hey! Let me go! You... You damn bastard! You said we're even!"

"I said mostly even. I also said I won't let you go like this." He responded dryly. "Now, tell me about those flyers. What did they want from you, and why?"

She tried to get out of his firm grasp for almost ten more seconds, not giving an answer just yet. But after that, same as before, she went completely limp, looked up at him in defeat, sighed in exhaustion and slowly started talking.

"They're... siblings. There were once six of them... five, after tonight... Several cycles of the Night Circle ago, I was... just hunting some food... Scaly crawlers, ground crawlers... I don't need much... It went well, until I chased after a gliding scaly crawler... That's when... I met their leader. She was hunting as well... She went after the same crawler as I did... I flew right into her... I was so focused on that stupid crawler... I wasn't careful enough... She lost balance, hit a tree, injured her wing... She couldn't fly anymore... But she wasn't even angry at me, so I wanted to make it up to her... I caught her many crawlers, she thanked me, said it was fine, her wing would heal and I'd have nothing to worry about... The next day, her siblings came to find me..."

Specter began to frown noticeably, as he could very much guess what had slowly become out of her 'relationship' with the small flyers. There were still some odd things, though, like why insectivorous Dimorphodons would want her to kill actual dinosaurs, but he wanted to let her continue right until she was finished.

"They told me their sister still couldn't fly... that they'd kill me if I wouldn't bring her food from now on... I just did as they wanted for some time... and she always thanked me for it... It tired me, but I thought I could handle it, that they would leave me alone in time... But then, at some point... they found out that I could speak leaf-eater... They were nearby when I asked a longneck if I could have the crawlers from his treestars... They didn't want buzzers and crawlers anymore, from then on... It started with hatchlings... but they became greedier every time they came to me... then they wanted me to lure younglings away from their parents... and then was today... They said their sister was almost able to fly again, something to celebrate... I thought they would finally let me go if I gave them something really big... But to kill something big... I needed to find a big sharptooth... Namely... you... But I didn't mean to injure you... I really did not... And... when I showed them the dead leaf-eater, she came... flying... like nothing ever happened... She only pretended... She used me... She said they would go back to hunting for themselves... to be ready for the Red Coasts, next warm time... that this leaf-eater would last them until then... and that they lost their use in me..."

At this point, her head dropped again in anticipation of her demise. She felt empty, her emotions sucked out.

"Why didn't you just leave?"

Specter's simple question caught her off-guard, making her frown in anger nonetheless.

"Because this is my home! It's all that I've left... I have no one else to come back to..."

From then on, there was silence for a while. Noticing this, she closed her eyes and waited. The fastbiter had obviously heard everything he wanted to hear, just to make her suffer a bit more before killing her. Maybe she had even brought this on herself by yelling at him.

But then, all of a sudden, the fastbiter opened his hand.

"What if I gave you someone to come back to?"

This made her rip open her eyes and almost fall out of his paw. But she was certain that this was just another taunt, just another attempt to toy with her. The fastbiter, though, was not done just yet.

"You're free to leave, of course, if you want to. I can't and won't force you to join us. We're running away ourselves right now, soon about to fight a fight that does not concern you. But you do realize that if you stay here, you will die, right? Do you really think those flyers will let you go now? Now that one of their own is dead?"

The glider didn't dare to give an answer to this. She knew that anything else would've been stupid. The fastbiter was right, after all.

"You're a competent, little hunter. You can even speak leaf-eater. I would be very happy to have you along on our trip. And so would she, right?" Specter continued, flexing his neck around to look at Alba, who had finished her meal by now and gave him a simple nod in response. "You know where our cave is. Tomorrow morning, we're moving on. Think about it."

Having said that, he lowered himself to the ground once more and put the Changyuraptor back on firm soil. Not saying any more words, the female glider grabbed the piece of meat he has given her and slowly went off into the darkness. And Specter would let her. She obviously needed time to think.

"Just one thing..." He spoke up anyway, just as she was about to disappear from his sight. "What's your name?"

"Xiang..."

"Specter. It was nice meeting you, in the end."

And after that final exchange of names, the glider disappeared in the underbrush.

Specter looked after her invisible form for a while longer, but ultimately turned around and walked back to the dead leaf-eater, joining Alba's side.

"Sorry for doing this without your consent... again... You're really fine with it?"

"I am. She doesn't need much to eat in the first place, and if you do that thing with your tail, we can use her to spot food and danger alike." Alba answered. "And now stop caring so much about others and eat already, fuzzball."

"I can't be helped..." Specter answered after an exhausted sigh with a faint smile, returning Alba's. Soon as he was done with this, however, he hungrily dug into the carcass, too. And while the metallic taste of blood greeted his senses again, there was one thing he was certain of.

He had judged correctly.

And so, finally, I have managed to finish this. And I think you might have already noticed what could've happened, looking at the very obvious cuts between the three chapters. Let me give you a very quick summary regardless. I turned 22 on the 10th or March, and had planned to release a little gift for all of you. I had planned to put the events from Chapter 23, 24 and 25 into one, which was to carry this one's heading. However, I quickly realized that I had massively overburdened myself, and so I had to somehow divide them. A single, 25,000 words Chapter would've been just too much, in my opinion. Still, think of Chapters 23 to 25 as one. :)

So yeah, this is basically what happened. I didn't expect this to turn out this detailed.

Having said that, I hope it was worth the wait and you guys find all three of them enjoyable. Now, I will not give another estimate as to when the next chapter might come up, as I will have a bit less time over this month and don't want to make any false promises. But what I can say is that it will be something 'different', just like Chapter 11 was back then, should it work out like I have planned.

So, all in all, I hope you liked this trilogy of events, and as always:

Take care, and until next time!