II – The Evergreens

Mist lay awake on the cold cavern floor. The images from his dream persisted well after the dream itself had ended. Memories of a time so long ago. It had become a routine for him; every time one of his dreams ended, he would lie there for a prolonged period of time and ponder it.

The dreams always seemed to take place in the Land of Mists. It was where he had grown up as a child, and he could only assume it was where his name had come from as well. Even without his dreams to remind him, the image of the landscape would always be with him. The cold, eerie, fog-covered marshland that stretched on and on. A dark and desolate place, yet one that was strangely cozy too. For despite its occasional dangers, Mist had always recognized it as his home, before he'd been separated from his family and came to live in the mountains instead.

His life in the mountains had not always been plagued by the dreams. The dreams had only started up about a year ago, but they had been recurring ever since. He did not know why they kept happening. All he knew was that they were a reminder of his happier life from long ago. More than the Land of Mists itself, it was the faces from his dreams that haunted him so much. His parents, who were almost certainly long dead by now, yet would forever linger on his mind. And the young female threehorn, who was strangely familiar to him even though he never remembered meeting her.

It was followed by sadness and longing. The same crushing despair that always followed these dreams of his. For as much as the sadness overwhelmed him, it was an all-too familiar feeling. He used to try and escape the melancholy whenever it hit him. He would fight it as hard as he possibly could. Yet no matter how hard he tried to escape the feelings, he never could. All he could do was lie there helplessly in the darkness and let the loneliness consume him, until the tears came. He used to try and fight those too, but he had since learned there was no point in that either.

After a while, when Mist's sadness faded, as much as it was going to, he rose to his feet and navigated his way out of the cave. Hunger was calling to him again.

He hesitated once more at the mouth of the cave. Although it was daylight out, he still had an uneasy feeling about leaving the cave, even more than he usually did. Was it something in the air? Or was it some sixth sense of Mist's telling him that he shouldn't go out today?

He left the cave, despite his apprehension, and headed to the same evergreen forest as before. He took a different route than usual. It was a longer and more roundabout path, but he'd departed early enough in the day that he would have time to make it there and back before nightfall… he hoped…

He arrived at the evergreens. For the first fifteen or so minutes, he ate in a comfortable silence and relative peace. Then he heard it. A low, quiet noise at first, but one he recognized immediately. The sound of flapping wings. And not just any wings. The sound of herwings. The Flyer. It wasn't night, yet she had come anyway. Mist's heart hammered. He looked all around the skies, but it was soon overcome by his greater instinct. To hide.

He dove beneath the nearest tree, burrowing himself as far down into the snow as he could. The flapping grew rapidly louder. It couldn't have been more than ten seconds later when the Flyer passed directly over the tree Mist hid under. Mist didn't see her, but he heard her. The only solace was that she seemed not to have noticed him, but he could hear her circle around and around a few more times overhead. It was only a matter of time; Mist was sure of it. The Flyer would spot him and swoop down. Perhaps she sensed his presence already. Already he could see her in his mind's eye. Her muscular, towering figure. Her pitch-black skin and her deep red eyes.

The flapping began to subside, although Mist did not allow himself to feel relieved just yet. He waited, as the flapping faded further, and then gave way to silence. Still his heart pounded.

It was in the very next moment when the silence was broken by a shrill roar that made Mist leap out of his skin. It must have come from a different dinosaur. He listened. Almost immediately came more roaring that made him jump even harder. It sounded like some sort of struggle, although it was hard to tell from how far away it was. Many times Mist was on the verge of bolting out from his hiding place and making a run for it, all in the hope that the confrontation going on elsewhere would serve as a distraction to help him slip away. Yet the fear kept him paralyzed where he was. And, perhaps, the sense that fleeing from his spot would only reveal himself.

The conflict eventually subsided. It was followed by another cold, dreary silence which lasted for far too long. At last, Mist worked up enough courage to come out from his hiding place. The sensible thing to do would have been to hastily return to his cave. Instead, he was driven forward by curiosity. It was a short distance out beyond the patch of evergreens where Mist found the body of the other dinosaur.

It was a longneck. An adult female. Mist was shocked. He hadn't seen a longneck in such a vast length of time; certainly not up here in the mountains. She was a brownish-purple colour. At a different point in time she'd probably stood tall and proud, but now she lay there helpless and feeble.

Although Mist had not bore witness to the confrontation, it was clear enough how it had played out. The longneck had put up a brave fight, no doubt, but in the end the Flyer had been too strong. Too vicious. The longneck lay on her side, her stomach completely torn open. Blood and intestines soaked the surrounding snow.

Against his better judgment, Mist came closer. And closer. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was the morbid fascination of seeing a dead body up close. It wouldn't have been his first time with such fascination.

Only, it turned out the longneck was still alive. Her eyes shot open and she gasped. Mist jumped back. The longneck's eyes darted all around. She tried to run away, but she was too weak to move. Then her breathing began to subside.

Mist came up to the longneck. He rested a gentle paw on the side of her cheek. Then he watched the life fade from her eyes.