Chapter 26
Melee Weapons
James looked at Shira, "What do you mean? Where?" She said, "Over beyond the ridge, a small outpost of Dino Raiders with about seven people in it. I was just getting some wood for the fire when I saw the smoke from a distance. I got a bit closer and saw the Dino Raiders insignia on one of the tents." James said, "Should we take them on alone?" Shira said, "What? You're going to engage them?" James said firmly, "Yes." Shira nodded and said, "You should take the Smilodon and the Kaprosuchus along for the fight." James said, "Look I don't want you in the fight, but you could follow at a distance behind me with a bow and arrow and snipe some of the Dino Raiders with the bow. You're a great shot, you could do it." Shira nodded. James continued, "I'm going to take the Smilodon and you can take your Kaprosuchus. If I was a Dino Raider I'd think twice before engaging that scaly sawblade!" They agreed, and formed their battle plan.
James was going to use his iron club, since had given his bow and arrow to Shira. She was following behind him in the shadows and James went on ahead, with his Smilodon following beside him. He saw the outpost. There were three huts and about fifteen Dino Raiders outside in the court. It seemed like they were huddled around something. James saw that it was a human! They were beating the person. James couldn't see the person's face, but he needed to rescue him. He kept looking over the scene, trying to formulate a plan when he heard a scream right behind him. He spun around, wide-eyed and saw a Dino Raider dead on the ground with an arrow in his back. James couldn't see Shira, but he waved. He turned back around, and let his Smilodon loose. It roared and sped into the court, tearing into a Dino Raider. This disbanded the Dino Raiders who all ran away from the enraged black Smilodon. James advanced and rushed a Dino Raider, who threw a spear at James. He missed, and James brought him down. He killed another Dino Raider, and then realized that he was alone. He rushed behind a large boulder. He had a good view if any Dino Raiders would come toward him. He had a small slingshot he could fling decent sized rocks out of. He got it out and saw three Dino Raiders come towards him. He killed one with the slingshot and set the Smilodon out, who killed the other two. Suddenly one came from behind the rock and James was knocked to the ground. The Dino Raider raised a knife above his head, but then an arrow hit him and he fell. Shira had saved his life again. He rushed into the court again, and several Dino Raiders were being attacked by the Smilodon, which was now tearing into the Dino Raiders on its own. He whistled for the Smilodon, which came over. James mounted it and rushed on three more Dino Raiders. The Smilodon killed them all and then suddenly the Kaprosuchus rushed down on James. It went up to James, with a note on its saddle. It said, "More are coming. Perimeter guards. Run!" James took Shira's advice, but not before looking for the prisoner. But he was nowhere to be found, so he took the animals and retreated.
James had arrived back at Ark Village, and he took Shira back to their house. Shira looked at James, "What will you do now?" James said, "I'm getting Rhino and Shadow and we're rescuing that man and destroying any other Dino Raider filth there. We must stamp it out! I'll be taking Alan, and Shadow will be on his Megalosaurus." Shira said, "I'm coming too." James said, "Shira no. I can't lose you! You've already been captured by those animals!" Shira responded, "That's why I want to go. I'll be a sniper like you said last time." James didn't like the idea, but when his wife wanted to do something, it would be done, no matter what. Why fight it? "Alright." James said reluctantly.
Rhino and Shadow were in the stables, gathering their armor, "Let's hunt some scum!" said Rhino. Shadow saddled up his Megalosaurus and Rhino mounted Batya. They each were ready, and James got Alan, Shira her Kaprosuchus. After a day they had reached the outpost. Shira was set up on a high cliff with a bow and arrow. She was well hidden, and well armored. James knew that there would be more Dino Raiders coming, and more were probably already there. He looked at Rhino and Shadow. Shadow was the first to charge out on his Megalosaurus, which roared and grabbed a Dino Raider in its vice-grip jaws. Batya sprinted in, screeching. She jumped on top of another Dino Raider which fell to the ground. There were about thirty now, but James saw several of them fall from unseen arrows being shot by Shira up on the ridge. The Kaprosuchus was mauling several others and Alan was slicing through the ranks as well. James got out his bow and arrows and shot at some of them on his way to the cage he had seen. When he got to it, he saw the man inside. It was Pink Guy! This time though, he was stripped of his fur garments and he had a large bruise on his face. James quickly rushed over and Pink Guy looked at James and said, "I guess'n these traders are anti-pengalan." James looked for the lock and found it. He was about to bust it open when a voice he recognized all too well spoke up. "Leave that lock alone." James suddenly looked up at the face of Hijikata. James cringed and stood up. The man looked calm, too calm. He said, "Leave that lock alone, or your miserable wench of a wife will die." James said, "Where is she?" Hijikata drug her from behind him. James said, "I defeated you once. I can do it again." Shira looked at James but she didn't seem scared in the least. She winked at James. James knew she had some sort of plan. She mouthed, "Stall him." James didn't have much time, but he could see Rhino, Shadow and the animals absolutely mowing the Dino Raiders down. James said, "If you touch her again, I will kill you. I should've last time and saved you the trouble of living!" Hijikata suddenly jerked his knife up to Shira's throat. James lunged forward but forced himself to hold back. Hijikata continued, "Apollo has asked for her. I need to take her. You really embarrassed me last time, and I didn't like that much you see. I'm taking her now, and if you resist, I will cut her throat!" Shira suddenly landed a sharp kick with her spiked shoes. Hijikata yelled and dropped her. Shira squirmed out of his grip and ran over to James. Hijikata, with blood running down his calf got up and said, "Always has to be the hard way." He rushed, but James didn't move. Instead, he waited for Alan to catch up. He whistled for Alan, and Hijikata stopped. Alan came up from behind and leapt on top of Hijikata, who yelled and was brought down. James ran off, the last sight being his Raptor ending the threat of one of his deadliest enemies. He rushed back into the fray, and there were only five Dino Raiders left. He shot one, and the Megalosaurus killed the rest. They had won. They all dismounted and started entering the tents and raiding them. James went over to Hijikata. He was dead on the ground. Alan had made short work of him. James crouched down at Hijikata. "Your sins did find you out." he muttered. He got up and left him. They found some suitable armor, and James destroyed the metal lock to the cage and freed Pink Guy. "Thank You'ns for helpin' me outa this'n here place. It's hot enough to cook an egg out here." It was about 45 degrees. James asked, "Why are you here?" Pink Guy responded, "Well I was tendin' to the Pengalans, can't ever leave em' alone, especially the troublemakers! I feed em' and water em' and still they wander off sometimes and I have to herd em' back with my Beatin' Stick and that can-" James decided to intervene, "Pink Guy! How did you get here?" Pink Guy snapped out of it and said, "Oh, sorry. Well these people'n were the traders that come by to give me supplies for the Pengalans. I told em' about you'ns vistitn' and they didn't take to kindly to that. They told me to tell em' all about you'ns and when I told em' all I knew they called me a liar and took me away, and now I'm here in this'n here tropical place. Rhino looked at James and said, "They were trying to get information from him." Shadow said, "Yes but why? What would he know?" Pink Guy shrugged. "I better be gittin' back to the Pengalans. I can walk. See you'ns later!" They waved and Pink Guy strode off, but not before getting his furs out of one of the tents.
They were each confused about the entire affair, but they had won. Rhino said, "Well there's a bunch of Dino Raider trash we don't have to worry about..." Shadow replied, "Yes but I'm sure Apollo will hear about this." Rhino said, "From who? He may not even know that they were out here, let alone look for them. I say that we had a clean victory, and I intend to celebrate. After all, that mangy Hijikata has been defeated forever! He's not in the picture anymore." James and Shadow both looked at each other uneasily. Shadow said, "That's what I'm worried about. It wasn't just a random batch of renegade Dino Raiders, Hijikata was working in closely with Apollo. Maybe Hijikata was sent here for an intended purpose, and Apollo will start to wonder where he is. He'll come looking for him, and find this place and it'll be Hell on earth for us if he attacks." James shook his head, "No I don't think so." Shadow looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" James replied, "When I first saw Hijikata he said that I 'deeply embarrassed' him when I beat him to a pulp in front of Apollo in the cave. He also wasn't wearing as nice clothing as he was when I saw him last, and yes he was working closely with Apollo, but not now. I say he fell out of favor, and he was here to try to redeem himself. Anybody could see that Pink Guy didn't know anything, and the fact that Hijikata took him was a last, desperate attempt at redemption." Shadow rubbed his chin...this was making sense. "Besides, if this was a really important operation I'm dead sure Apollo would be here. Well, he isn't. He's God knows where haunting our village. Every Dino Raider was out here with us, and if there was any leftover that would be sent as couriers, they would have to cross the swamp on one side, or climb the ridge on the other. If they climbed the ridge Shira would've seen them. I don't think Apollo would even care if he heard about this. He may even be glad to have Hijikata off his dirty hands. Bottom line, we won, and if Apollo hears about this, it'll be from another source we had no idea of. Besides, this isn't a permanent village, it's an outpost." Rhino said, "I agree with James. I'd say there's nothing to worry about."
They decided to explore the Eastern way home. The Western way home led through the swamp and forest where they had first tamed the Kaprosuchus. The Eastern way had remained unexplored, and so they packed up and headed back South. Even so, they'd have to traverse more of the chilly deciduous forest. There might be more undiscovered creatures still in the forest that he wanted to find. After packing they each got started making back to Ark Village.
After a whole day of travel they bedded down. It was about 4:00 in the evening and still plenty of light out. It wouldn't be dark for another four hours yet. He wasn't tired, so he decided to explore a bit. He took his Smilodon out but didn't ride him, the cat simply following beside him. He was looking at the ground when suddenly something caught his eye. It was a track. But it was a type of track Jams was afraid he'd see: a gigantic bear footprint. They led down the ridge from where he was at. He didn't bother going back to tell the others, instead following the trackways down until he met something. There was a large tree stump that had been ripped open, with honeycomb littered on the forest floor. It had been done quite recently, as bees were still swarming. "Hungry bear." James said. He followed the tracks down the ridge, still going. He kept moving, tracking it. The footprints were much bigger than even a grizzly bear's. Then the ridge ended and came down to a small lake, about a quarter mile long, and half a mile wide. As he went he saw a creature he had never seen before: A wooly Rhinoceros, or Coelodonta in the fossil record. It was huge, and bulky, with a body shaped like a barrel. It was also quite large, and was grazing on the grass. He admired the creature, and passed by it after quickly sketching it on the notepad he always kept with him. He kept tracking it for two more hours, and then the sun went down. He knew his way back to camp, and he wasn't worried. Then the moon came out, and thankfully was an extremely bright full moon. He got up on a hill and looked down when he saw it. It was a bear the size of which is unrivalled by any today. It was a huge Dire Bear, and about the size of a bison. He stood in awe of it before taking out his bow and arrows. He aimed for the head, and shot. The arrow found its mark, and the huge bear roared and charged. James set the Smilodon on the beast. They collided in an audible crashing together of fur, claws and solid muscle. The Smilodon grabbed the bear, which roared and swiped. James landed several more arrows to it when the bear started to run. He ran after the bear, and the Smilodon charged as well. The bear then spun around, and they began wrestling, both on their back legs pushing, shoving and biting. Then the Smilodon roared and pushed the bear over which crashed into the ground on its back, the Smilodon biting and slashing. Then the Smilodon went for the throat, and killed the Dire Bear. James was breathing heavily, he went up to the bear's carcass. How could this creature be tamed? He knew that it could, but just how it could was a mystery.
After returning to camp with the skin of the bear Shira gasped and ran up to James, "Where were you James I was worried sick!" He held up the enormous skin and Shadow lunged up, "What is that?" James replied, "A Dire Bear." After explaining what it was and where he found it, they went to bed. After traveling for a few more days they came to an enormous plain, and what was in it took their breath away. There was a huge herd of peaceful plant eating dinosaurs in the clearing. There was a group of Sauropods James recognized as Diplodocus, which was undiscovered until now. They were a lot smaller than the Apatosaurus, only about two thirds their size, but looked down at the company and bellowed. One of the Diplodocus broke off from the herd and started to follow James. James tested it. He did an erratic walk and the Diplodocus copied it. he held out a bunch of cycads and the Diplodocus lowered its head and ate them. He had the first tamed Diplodocus, and he didn't even do anything. Shadow was off looking at some of the other dinosaurs. There were Stegosaurus and Triceratops, but there were also some other species in there he hadn't ever seen before. He saw Shadow taming a creature he suddenly got very excited about. It was large, about 18 feet long, and with a large domed head. It was a Pachycephalosaurus. James didn't interrupt the taming process but when the taming was completed Shadow got up on the Pachy bareback. It bellowed and charged forward, causing Shadow to fall off of it laughing. The Pachy, when it realized Shadow wasn't on his back, whipped around, and frantically looked for Shadow, who called out. The Pachy returned, and Shadow pet its scaly nose. James said, "Well I've tamed a Diplodocus without even trying, and you've done the same thing with a Pachycephalosaurus." Shadow laughed, "These creatures are much friendlier than I ever expected. James said, "Those Diplodocus over there seem a little dumb if you ask me." Shadow said, "Less intelligent than the Apatosaurs?" James nodded. They were about to return to the group when Shira and Rhino came rushing over towards them. Shira yelled, "Predators! Giant Theropods, run!" They ran and the creatures came into view. They were large, and white with brown backs, and two crests on their heads. They were about 30 feet long, and there were three of them. He could tell that one of them was the Alpha. They circled a lone Diplodocus, which strangely took no notice of the predators. The Theropods then began slamming their top jaws into the Diplodocus, doing quick bites and slashes before bringing the creature down. James said, "Those are Allosaurus. I've never seen them before. Shadow looked at the creatures, and jotted down notes and quick sketches. The Alpha ate first, and the largest portion, the others not daring to even snatch a morsel. Then the Alpha finished gorging and the others tore into the carcass. They kept watching the beasts. The other Diplodocus hadn't even seemed to notice or care about the hungry Allosaurs when they entered the field. It furthered the theory that this sub-species of Diplodocus was naive indeed.
They reached Ark Village with their two new creatures. Shadow had written up the new dossiers for the creatures, and decided to take another expedition out to the area, with more people of course. The only thing that bothered James was if he was wrong. What if Apollo did know about the mission? Would he attack? Shira was a hair's breadth away from being killed by Hijikata, what if...what if...No. He knew that what ifs were useless and that he'd only waste his valuable time if he thought about it. He'd wait. He'd had his day, and Hijikata was now gone. He'd won. That night he went over to the stables. Shira was there, playing with the Pachy. She and the Pachy both looked up when James approached. "Does Shadow have a name?" asked James. Shira said, "Oh yes, Rocky." James rolled his eyes, "You're joking!" said James. Shira shook her head, "Could've been worse, I persuaded him to call it Rocky instead of Rock Hamster." James laughed, "Rock what?!" Shira shrugged. James laughed, "Of all the names I could've...Oh well." Shira got up. "I made dinner inside. I just wanted to visit Rocky before we ate." James said, "Alright. Let's eat."