"We've got company!"
Drew's shout woke Leon and Cynthia who instantaneously began readying themselves for some prehistoric threat. Drew's shout was followed by the fearful bellows of the young male Argentinosaurus and a low, predatory-sounding hiss; some predator had found them. When they got out of their tents, Leon and Cynthia soon realised what had given Drew cause for alarm. Several large theropods of various sizes were standing, concealed in the forest, their eyes gleaming in the dark. One of them was recognisable, as the theropod that had pursued Drew in the clearing earlier in the day. These were a pack of Giganotosaurus attracted to the clearing by the prospect of prey.
Drew turned to his teammates and whispered, as so not to attract the giant theropods, "They must have smelt him and tracked him to this clearing. We need to find a way to keep them away somehow." The Giganotosaurus had them surrounded; there was no way for them to escape. And, even if there was… they couldn't abandon the Argentinosaurus to the predators' mercy. Their assessing the situation was interrupted when a Giganotosaurus tore into the clearing, towards the Argentinosaurus, getting within thirty feet of them, before it returned to the rest of its pack, waiting in the forest. This was only a mock charge, an attempt to weed out a potential target.
After the Giganotosaurus had returned to its compatriots, Drew turned to his teammates and whispered, "I've got a plan. Get the lighter fluid, some wood and the lighter. We can make a small fire to scare them off." The team rushed into action; they knew they had to act quickly, before the Giganotosaurus came back. Eventually, a small fire was made between them and the forest; the idea being that both the stink of petroleum and the presence of fire would scare the theropods away.
However, these factors seemed to not dissuade the Giganotosaurus for, as the night went on, they gradually moved closer and closer to the humans and Argentinosaurus, moving with a patience and a stealth that belied such large creatures; after three hours, they were now standing about thirty feet away from the fire, keeping well away from the fire and standing almost patiently, as if they had all the time in the world. Looking at them, Drew realised what they were doing; playing a waiting game. They knew that the fire wasn't going to protect their potential prey for long; all they had to do was wait until it had gone out and then they would have what they were after…
Meanwhile, on Cornubia, Jack, Alice and Adrian watched as the Iguanodon herd began becoming more agitated. The Iguanodon were stamping and bellowing, whilst the Polacanthus were crouched, their armoured tails swishing from side-to-side. However, after a while, the bushes had gone quiet; it was as if the predators had disappeared. The herd briefly relaxed…
When, suddenly, a large theropod burst out of the bushes, moving so fast it was practically a blur, and tore towards the herd; shortly after, it was accompanied by several more of its kind. The herd all took off in the same direction, moving as if a single, unified entity, with the theropods in hot pursuit. The theropods periodically rushed into the herd, snapping at their heels like sheepdogs before recoiling again, in an effort to weed out weaker individuals. As the herd stampeded towards them, Jack turned to Alice and Adrian and yelled, "Now!"; he didn't want to miss the opportunity that this stampede afforded. Alice and Adrian began to set up the portal in the direction to which the herd was stampeding. Not changing their course, the entire herd charged through the portal into the present.
After that, Jack, Alice and Adrian looked to see a weakened Iguanodon, separated from the group, surrounded by the theropods. Now they could see the predators in close-up. They were a truly beautiful-looking animals; each was about twenty feet long from nose to tail. Their bodies were covered in black and yellow feathers, fading to a cream on the underbelly. A crest of red feathers dominated the head, arms and tail. Its sleek, well-muscled body was held in perfect balance by a long, mobile tail. Their three-toed feet were bare of feathers and were viciously taloned; the second toe was longer than the others and held aloft, tipped with an incredibly large, sickle-shaped claw. Jack, Alice and Adrian didn't need the info-packs to know what these were; Utahraptor, the deadliest predator of the age.
The weakened Iguanodon, panicked, ran right past a waiting raptor, which leapt onto its haunches, claws digging deep into the Iguanodon's side. Mere seconds later, a second Utahraptor tore towards the Iguanodon and latched its claws deep into its other side. The weight and shock of the two large predators tearing, kicking and biting at its back were too much for the Iguanodon. Unable to dislodge them, its back legs crumpled, exposing its belly, and the predators were quick to eviscerate it.
The Utahraptors hung back after leaping off the thrashing animal; even a single kick could seriously injure them. Eventually, the Iguanodon's spasms ceased, its breaths became shallower and its eyes glazed over. It was dead. The Utahraptor pack surrounded the carcass and began to feed. The meal was noisy, with much squabbling and displaying to establish who got the choice parts.
Jack, Alice and Adrian hung back; they didn't want the predators attacking them. Jack had observed the raptors and the hunt with a barely concealed awe; especially how they had co-ordinated their efforts to bring down the larger prey item. Particularly, his eyes were focused on the large female that had led the attack on the Iguanodon. His reverie was interrupted when Alice turned to her two compatriots and muttered, "How are we going to get them through the portal? We can't use bait, since they're occupied with the Iguanodon…"
Jack began to think, before an idea suddenly came to him. Jack turned to Alice and Adrian and smirked, "Adrian, pass me the air horn." Adrian looked at him, part flabbergasted and part puzzled and said "Why?" Jack, keeping his wry grin, said "Oh, just trust me." After Adrian had handed the air horn over to Jack, he turned and started blaring it at the raptors.
The Utahraptors, their attention focused to the three humans, turned towards the intruders and hissed aggressively. As they advanced menacingly towards the three humans, Alice opened the portal and the raptors all dived through, moving as if a unified entity. After shutting it off, Jack turned to his compatriots and said "Well, that was exciting!" Suddenly, a shadow moved across the ground and Jack, Alice and Adrian looked up to see the giant male Ornithocheirus flying over their heads. "That's our target", Jack smiled, "The Cessna's refuelled; let's get back to the chase."
They only had to follow him a short distance to a small lake on the other side of the island. By the time they had landed, the sun was beginning to set. They observed the pterosaur on the shore, after landing awkwardly, taking a drink from the water, glowing orange from the sunset. Close behind the pterosaur was a dense patch of pines and, beneath them, an understory of cycads and ferns. It looked peaceful… when, suddenly, a loud, warbling chatter started from the forest. All creatures present ignored the sound until, suddenly, a tiny, brightly coloured creature flew out and dive-bombed the Ornithocheirus. It was then followed by a second and a third; soon, the Ornithocheirus was being attacked by half a dozen of these aggressive little animals.
The team looked to the edge of the forest to see more of these small creatures calling to each other with high-pitched, rasping whistles. It was clear, even from a distance, that these weren't pterosaurs; their flight was far too fast and erratic. A closer look only confirmed this; rather than the muscular flight membranes of pterosaurs, their wings were, instead, covered in long feathers. Their bodies, too were covered in feathers. These were birds.
The Ornithocheirus attempted to snap at the little birds with his fearsome beak, but he never came close. As the birds mobbed him, his only wounds were to his pride, but, in the end, he was overwhelmed and forced to flee… by creatures less than a hundredth of his size. The Ornithocheirus took off, but his progress across the lake was slow; eventually, he found a head wind, away from his little tormentors, to find someplace else to spend the night. Jack, Alice and Adrian looked at each other and winced at the indignity of it all. "Poor thing", Jack muttered.
Turning their attention to the birds, they saw them fly back into the forest, the danger having gone. Looking closer, the team saw that they were beautifully-coloured animals, like tiny jewels against the dull confiers. Their heads were white, with blue bodies and red-tipped wings. As they flew, the birds flashed deep purple under their wings. According to the info-packs, these were Iberomesornis, amongst the earliest true birds.
Looking closer, Jack, Alice and Adrian saw small collections of leaves, moss and twigs in the trees; nests. Jack, Alice and Adrian looked at each other; that was why they had been mobbing the Ornithocheirus. They had thought he was a threat to their eggs. Looking closer at the nests, they found that none of them held eggs; however, the Iberomesornis would be still be loath to leave them. How were they going to get this lot through the portal?
However, their territoriality had given Jack an idea… Jack suddenly, grabbed the air horn and blared it at the birds. Alice turned to her brother and whispered, "What are you doing?" Jack smiled at her, "Oh, ye of little faith; I'm using their instincts to our advantage." The birds all turned to look at Jack and began to mob him, as they had done the Ornithocheirus. As he dodged a bird that tried to nick his arm, Jack activated the portal and the birds flew through it, moving as if a single entity, into the present. Jack turned to his teammates and smiled, "Well, with that out of the way, let's get some sleep. It's getting dark and the big guy's not going anywhere. And, besides, for the last leg of our journey, we'll need to rest up."
Meanwhile, in South America, Drew's team really were in trouble. Their attempts at scaring off the Giganotosaurus had failed; the fire had gone out and the giant theropods had surrounded them and the Argentinosaurus, getting closer and closer. There was no means of escape or rescue for the team. At the Giganotosaurus' mercy, they were all in more danger than they had ever been; whilst the Giganotosaurus were technically targeting the young male Argentinosaurus, they would probably not pass up the opportunity of eating Drew, Cynthia and Leon. The three looked at each other; this would be how it ended for them, eaten by Giganotosaurus in a Cretaceous forest clearing. The Giganotosaurus hissed and snapped at them periodically and were beginning to get closer and closer to them. Drew sat down, almost in defeat and hung his head; at least the end would come soon.
However, he noticed that something was wrong; the Giganotosaurus, despite having their prey surrounded, were acting hesitant and nervous, as if attacking further would invoke the wrath of something. Suddenly, every creature in the clearing became silent as massive footsteps shook the earth; the Giganotosaurus' snaps and hisses ceased and the younger Argentinosaurus' plaintive groans subsided. Drew, Leon and Cynthia looked at each other; they all came to only one conclusion.
Something big was coming…
