The blood from the Tanystropheus' tail clouded the water like a red smokescreen, reducing visibility to zero. All Alice could see of the attacker was a large, vaguely serpentine silhouette. Then the water cleared and Alice was face to face with the attacker. It was a reptile some thirty feet long, with a sandy brown colouration. It had a vaguely crocodilian, with pointed, tooth-filled jaws. Its limbs were large flippers, with the ones at the front being larger than the back, and a fluked tail. Its body was long and vaguely serpentine. It stared at her with an expression of cold indifference, the Tanystropheus' tail still hanging in its mouth. The creature moved with a sinuous grace, its tail propelling its whole body. "Ummm, Leon?", Alice asked nervously.
Leon scrutinised the radar and his eyes widened, "From what I can see, the animal's about thirty feet long. There's only one animal in the area that's that large; Cymbospondylus." The Cymbospondylus began swallowing the tail and gave Alice a look of cold interest as it advanced sinuously through the water. "How dangerous are they?", Alice asked.
"Very dangerous. And there are others heading towards you", Leon said and, sure enough, several more were advancing towards her from all directions, "If you have anything to defend yourself with, now would be a great time to pull it out." As he said this, Alice searched through the dive bag, before pulling out her cattle prod; it was the only thing that she could use to defend herself against these things. If she used it right, she should be able to lure them into the portal without having to injure them much.
The ichthyosaurs, moving closer to Alice, started to snap at her in aggressive curiosity, but she responded by moving her cattle rod. The shock from the stick didn't seem to hurt the reptiles much, but it was enough to deter them; at least for a while. However, a while was all she needed. Just until she got the portal ready…
Eventually, the Cymbospondylus began to ignore the deterrent and moved closer and closer towards Alice, surrounding her. As the nearest advanced sinuously towards her, Alice reached for the remote. When it was mere feet away from her, she activated the portal, which it swam through. The Cymbospondylus stared, transfixed at this shining orb, before, one by one, they began to follow their comrade through, into the present. Once they had all gone through, she noticed the Ancient Mariner moving above her, waiting to pick her up. She swam up to the surface, climbed back on board, changed out of her diving suit and met with Leon. Leon turned to her and said, "I think that's enough animals, wouldn't you say?" Alice nodded in agreement. She had enough marine animals for one day.
Back in Arizona, the Placerias gave out a roar of pain as an unseen predator burst from the bushes and grabbed its leg. The Placerias bucked and struggled as the predator pulled at its flesh. Eventually it broke free, but with the cost of a gaping wound torn into its back leg. As the Placerias staggered away, the carnivore began to emerge from the bushes in order to pursue its target.
Drew and Adrian backed away the minute the carnivore showed its head. It looked like a cross between a crocodile and a T-rex and, from head to tail, it must have been some twenty feet long. Its legs were long and tucked under its body, with its front legs smaller than its back ones and it had armour plates along its back. The body was counterbalanced by a long tail. Its scales were crimson along in its back, gradating to a paler red on its flanks. It looked an intimidating sight. "I'm assuming that's the top predator of these parts.", Adrian said, careful not to attract its attention. "Postosuchus", Drew said and nodded as they continued watching the hunt.
As the Placerias shambled away, its leg wound slowing it down, it began to slow down with every step it took, due to the shock and blood loss from the attack. The faster Postosuchus was easily keeping pace with the injured animal, sometimes on all fours and sometimes just on its hind legs, stalking it and waiting for it to collapse. Eventually, the Placerias collapsed on the ground and the Postosuchus, with a brief hiss of triumph, went in to finish the job. Briefly assuming a two-legged stance, it raised its arm, equipped with a large curving claw, and slashed open the Placerias' underbelly. Intestines snaked out like fat sausages and the Postosuchus began to feed.
Drew and Adrian knew this was all a part of life; predation was what came naturally. Neither of them were squeamish, but the sight was still unpleasant to see. "I think we should leave", Adrian whispered, "I doubt we'll be able to lure it at the moment." Drew nodded in agreement and the two went off, quietly as if not to anger the big predator.
Walking away from the lake, the sound of a low squawk alerted them to a commotion coming from a clearing. They crept in to see a small group of dinosaurs, of all ages and sizes, standing in a clearing. The first thing Drew and Adrian could confirm is that these were not Coelophysis.
Like the Coelophysis, they stood bipedally on two large, muscular legs, whilst their arms were short and three-fingered. Their necks were long, and their heads, deeper than the Coelophysis, had a short, rounded pair of crests . Their bodies were counterbalanced by a long tail. They were also much larger; the largest was about fifteen feet long. They were covered in sandy brown feathers, with black stripes along their sides and a small tuft of red feathers on their heads. Drew knew what they were immediately, "These are Liliensternus. Surprising to find them here; I thought they were only found in Europe… I can only guess that, since all the continents are joined together, they're visitors."
Drew and Adrian soon noticed that two individuals in the group of carnivores were currently looking at a burrow. One started to get close and begin digging; it was clear that, since the entrance had already been exposed, they had been doing this for quite some time. As the Lilliensternus stuck its head in the burrow, something burst from the hole and let out a low growl. The theropods recoiled in surprise as a bristly creature about the size of a medium-sized dog emerged from the burrow and let out a low bark at them. There was a vague resemblance between it and the Euchambersia back at the park; only this was much smaller. "That's a species of Cynodont, like the Euchambersia", Drew said. Adrian turned to Drew and said, "The cynodonts are the ancestors of the mammals, right?", to which Drew nodded. A second cynodont joined the first at the entrance and joined it in snapping at the dinosaurs. Eventually, the dinosaurs stalked off at this display of resistance, disappearing into the bushes. As they left, Adrian had to ask, "Why were they digging at the burrow so obsessively?" Adrian's question was soon answered, as three small, furless entities moved up to the entrance of the burrow, alongside their parents. "The burrow had young in it", Drew said, "For most predators at the time, a baby cynodont is a perfect-sized snack." Drew's point was made clear when a small group of coelophysis emerged into the clearing and surrounded the burrow like vultures. The nearest, with the speed of a striking cobra, grabbed a squealing pink morsel from the burrow and swallowed it whole.
To be continued