A.N. Alright everybody. This is it! The final battle of LNoW! Phew, this one is quite a ride! Marc and I did some massive battle planning and tag teaming to take this bad boy down. You guys already know the disclaimer. We don't own anything, except the characters we created. Enjoy!
Soundtrack: Titans will Rise by Gothic Storm/Patchi the Hero by Paul Leonard-Morgan/The Final Battle by Yasuharu Takanashi
Hazel slowly brought her head up, cautious to what was outside the cylindrical wooden fortress. The small earth tremors and the roars to the right were telltale signs of a dinosaurian battle. Fortunately, all she could see were hardy winter vegetation, rocks, and snow rather than a maw of teeth ready to chomp her up. She hid in that log for several minutes, but it felt like hours; hours of impending terror of being turned into lunch and worrying about everyone else.
As she cowered in that log, she thought about how things were faring outside the forest. Without her radio, she could not call and ask any of the staff members the status of the war. Hazel worried for the worst. Without her leadership and guidance, things would surely fall apart. And the signal she needed to send out was paramount right now of all times. She could only guess things have gotten worse since she went quiet.
A sonorous roar brought her back to reality. Looking behind yet still crouching with the vegetation, she could see Aladar and Patchi brawling with Gorgon. It was fortuitous that it was only him, but she still stayed on alert if any of his lackeys were still around.
The fight overall was a stalemate, but it would not last long. Aladar and Patchi may have Gorgon outnumbered two to one, but he was giving them a hard time with his speed and cunning. The two herbivores managed to get some good hits in, with the Iguanodon's strength and thumb spikes and the Pachyrhinosaurus' charges and jabs making some good in the fight. Both alphas were tag-teaming the carnivore, where one would get one hit on while the other would follow up with theirs. It went on like that for several minutes.
The fight turned to Gorgon's favor when the predator managed to throw Patchi against a tree. Stunned, the tyrannosaur then pinned said herbivore on the tree via his foot, the horned warrior now at his mercy.
"Tell your family I said hello," Gorgon said darkly.
The blue predator opened his maw, ready to end Patchi's life. Hazel held her breath and scrambled to get her gun ready. She took aim at the tyrannosaur, ready to end him before he could end Patchi.
Only, she did not need to. A blue savior came in and broadsided Gorgon. One blink later, she saw it was Aladar that came to save him. He and the Gorgosaur put up a good fight, giving Patchi some time to recover.
Aladar did well holding his own. His quick jabs, swipes, tail swipes, charges, and shoves did the trick with getting him away from the downed Patchi. Hazel had to maneuver herself to the other side of the "fight ring" just to avoid getting Gorgon's attention. Gorgon did stumble after a series of good hits, almost to the point where he lost balance.
That was, until Aladar was suddenly besieged by several other Gorgosaurs that came for him from all sides. Hazel gasped and ducked towards the nearest underbrush, her whole body nearly consumed by the green cover. Her skin paid no mind to the prickly leaves and ice attached. Aladar had been taken down effortlessly. Gorgon placed a foot onto his neck in a foothold, essentially choking him. The ornithopod squirmed under the weight and the pain. Around him, the other Gorgosaurs growled and snarled, ready to come in for the kill as soon as their leader was done.
The horrified Hazel readied her gun once again. There was just no end to this guy's machinations. And the fact that one of her best friends was about to die in front of her made her even madder.
"You are really getting on my nerves," said Gorgon.
Hazel felt the sting of tears well up. Thoughts of every single horrible thing she wanted to do to Gorgon pervaded her mind. She wanted to kill him, make him suffer for all he had done. She aimed the gun at his head. Aladar was a big part of her family. If he died…
No, she won't let that happen. Not on her watch! Her finger fell on the trigger. All she needed to do was to pull it.
That was when Aladar saw her slightly peeking through the brush. Neither of the tyrannosaurs seemed to have noticed her at all. They were too focused on their captured prey. He looked at her, first in surprise and then in urgency. He started to mouth something. It did not take very long for Hazel to figure out what it was.
Run.
Hazel furiously shook her head. She would not dare abandon him, especially when he was in a precarious situation like this. Abandon him at the mercy of tyrants with compassion equivalent to that of killers? No way!
But even her answer did not sway him. He told her to run again.
And again, she refused. The tears in her eyes started to fall. She stifled her sobs so as to not give away her position. Hazel used her sleeve to wipe them away, the cold feel of the fabric stung her skin. Sorrow was becoming more and more prevalent, along with another emotion. Anger. Anger towards Gorgon and his goons for killing without remorse, for going through with this massacre. Anger towards the situation the park came to. Anger...towards Aladar for telling her to go.
Hazel needed him. Their friends needed him. His herd and his family needed him! She made a promise to Neera she would bring him back. She would not stand for this!
"Time to see if your blood really is blue!" Gorgon cackled with a snarl.
Gorgon reared his head back, ready to make the kill. Hazel pulled the trigger ever so slightly, ready to make her shot to get him off her friend.
Suddenly, the circle of killers was broken when a red blur came crashing in. One of the tyrannosaurs was swiped away by a tail swipe, their body colliding with Gorgon's and onto a nearby tree. Aladar gasped, now able to breathe properly. Said red blur was throwing the other carnivores willy nilly in all directions via his jaw. The roars were enough to put the smaller carnivores off guard.
Hazel nearly dropped her gun when she saw him. Aladar, though partially recovered, was shocked at who had come to save him. There was only one other individual they knew who could attack so mercilessly and had enough strength to match even a full grown rex.
It was Diablo.
"Diablo," Aladar coughed as he slowly regained his bearings, "You saved me?"
Their opponents now giving them a wide berth, the large carnivore looked over at the stunned alpha. Rather than giving him a toothy grin, he merely gave him a restrained sneer.
"Don't get comfortable with me, wretch. If anybody's going to kill you, it's going to be me."
That gave both Aladar and the hidden Hazel chills. He still had a grudge on the alpha, and by extent his friend circle. Hazel was very unnerved by that, but now was not the time to dwell on a resolution for it, even though he did sort of mellow out with the park. All that mattered now was that he was here to help. The added muscle from the ornery carnivore was a welcome sight, albeit a little disturbing.
The next few minutes were like an action movie to Hazel, only instead of parkour moves from humans, aliens, robots, or super beings, it was dinosaurs. Aladar and Diablo fought back to back, making sure no tyrannosaur got between them. One moment involved the Carnotaur literally grabbing a Gorgosaur by the chest cavity, lifting it up, and bringing it over to Aladar for him to stab in the neck before it bled to death on the ground. Another involved the Iguanodon ducking out of the way from a tyrannosaur that jumped for him and allowing it to collide with Diablo's jaw.
The teamwork sequence was further increased when Patchi got back in. Now recovered, he was charging at tyrannosaurs and bringing them over to the circle where Diablo could finish them off. They were all being brought over like a barbecue skewer. Every moment that passed, Hazel could not help but watch in awe.
Her trance was faltered when Gorgon jumped into the fray. Dodging out of Diablo's hits, he managed to get some good attacks on the two herbivores. Gorgon shoved Aladar towards a group of Gorgosaurs that were ready to rip him apart, only for him to be preserved by Diablo when he got in the way and started fighting said tyrannosaurs before they could cause serious harm. Gorgon also managed to bite Patchi on the frill, with the ceratopsian shaking his head madly before he succeeded in getting him off. Diablo would have gotten a chance to have at the smaller tyrannosaur if it weren't for the other Gorgosaurs that were having at him.
Hazel blinked and shook her head. She needed to act. The battle was going nowhere. She moved herself to another part of the battle glade. Readying her gun, she took aim at the sparring blue predator. Her gun once again aimed for Gorgon's head.
This was it. If she could put Gorgon down here and now, the war would end. His cronies will run for the hills. No more death will come this day. She and her friends will live. All she needed to do was to pull the trigger…
"He's the only family I have left. Please promise me you'll try to get him to surrender."
Hazel gasped. Azura's desperate plea stopped her. She remembered the promise she kept, one where she would try to get her father to surrender.
She grit her teeth. Fuck...so much for ending this quickly. Her eyes diverted to the trees behind the battle. Hazel aimed and fired.
The shock bolt colliding with the bark sent thousands of wooden shards flying. Gorgon, who had been too close to Aladar and Patchi, had jumped back and landed on his side. Neither of her allies had been harmed as they were a good distance from the shot. However, that blast also caused them to duck and cover.
Gorgon growled and turned his attention to the source of the shot, towards the human. Hazel's ploy had worked.
"Hey! Jerkosaurus! Over here!" she called out to him before flipping him the bird. "Your mother was a salamander!"
Hazel took off, running towards the field. The Gorgosaurus, while clueless as to what those names were or that hand gesture, felt rage explode within him. He wanted her dead. The tyrannosaur got up and chased after her. What he didn't know was this had also gotten Aladar's attention.
"NO!" he cried out. The Iguanodon quickly got up and ran after the predator. Following close behind him was Patchi.
As they ran, the tyrannosaurs that survived their triple assault rushed after them. Diablo had cut them off with his girth and his strength, giving the herbivores enough leg room. Some tail swipes and head swipes were enough to do the job, at least until more came back. The action, however, was enough to get their attention.
Seeing the red warrior surrounded, both alphas stopped and decided to go and help him. But this was halted as he turned to roar at them.
"Leave them to me! Go help the girl!"
Neither of them said anything about that. Diablo was risking their necks to save them, and Hazel. They could not turn down such kindness, no matter where it was from. While Patchi continued on ahead, Aladar needed to do something first. It twisted his insides the more he thought about it, but it was the right thing to do.
"Diablo!" he called out.
The carnivore, while surprised that his titular grudge would call him, was lucky to even take a glance at him as the enemy reinforcements were not there yet. What happened next made even the large predator pause.
Aladar gave him a smile. "Thanks!"
With that said, he turned and ran, leaving the red carnivore to his thoughts. This was really too confusing for him. He had a lot of reasons to hate that wretch and his friends. But to hear him speak some gratitude? It was...off. Diablo hated him! He ruined his revenge and had a hand in his mate's death, no matter how miniscule! But this?
All he was doing was stopping the very creatures from taking his revenge from him. He just didn't want anyone to steal his thunder, that was all. Aladar being alive was what drove his hate. That's what kept him angry. And nobody was going to steal that from him.
Let him think he is being saved. He'll have his revenge. For now, he just needed to make sure it was all his.
Diablo roared and clamped his jaws onto the nearest tyrannosaur, his teeth piercing the thick hide. The screams of agony were deafening to him, but at least the fight helped him get his mind off of the nonsense.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the Park Hub…
The walls around the park were barely holding. Those in the walls were holding on for dear life as the tyrannosaurs within tried to break out while those outside, barring those that got impaled to death by the wooden spikes, were either pushing at the walls or trying to climb them via the mounting corpses.
Those with the shock guns were faring a little better in terms of ammo. But the archers were another case. The arrows were almost out. The archers had to use other means to deter the carnivores. In this case, they switched to using rocks to throw at the carnivores.
Zini was in the fray. He and some other lemurs with him were busy throwing sizable rocks down at the maws of teeth. Unfortunately, even their stamina was weighing heavily on them. Except for Zini, his comrades chose to retreat back to the forest to take cover, seeing this fight as futile. Not for the yellow lemur though. He was not going to give up so easily.
Before he could throw his next rock, he was startled when he felt a small gust and a toothed-avian land right next to him. The male lemur had thrown his rock back, nearly hitting an unfortunate human on the head with it.
"Gah! What the-!?"
"Hola amigo," Alex greeted, perking his head.
"The heck are you doing!?" yelled the annoyed simian.
"Lo siento, but I was wondering if you'd like to help me out with something," he asked, his beak creasing into a grin.
Zini listened in on the bird's offer. He was interested in what he was hearing. So much so that he could not help but smile.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hazel sometimes hated it whenever her quick thinking had a catch. In this case, it was something she knew full well and just did not take the time to think more on. Getting Gorgon's attention and saving her friends was a great idea. Now, she needed to save herself! And it certainly did not help that there were hundreds of ways to die out in the valley right now.
Other than worrying about ambushes from tyrannosaurs, she also had to contend with weaving around warring dinosaurs. Well, there was Martha who was batting some tyrannosaurs away with ease and she was faring quite well thanks to her massive size, tusks, and fur. Then there was Broken Jaw who was on a tyrannosaur's back momentarily before delivering the final blow to the neck by driving his jaws onto it like an axe. Hazel's small size made her a barely noticeable target, and her speed was lacking compared to that of a large carnivore. She could get trampled, swiped away, or crushed by someone's body!
And it was also made worse by an angry Gorgon that was not far behind her. Her only saving grace was the constant battles around her that were slowing the Gorgosaur down. That and her quick parkour with dodging around them.
"Get the human!" Gorgon roared. "She's getting away!"
Hazel rolled her eyes. Wonderful, now she's got more on her tail.
She took a quick glance to see five tyrannosaurs coming after her. The other warring dinosaurs that were in their way were either dodged around or trampled over by their raging stampede. While the woman did have a good berth from them, she knew even a few seconds to stop would be enough for them to catch up to her.
As Hazel kept running, she swung her arm back and fired her gun, not knowing whether her shots hit their marks. When she bypassed some Residents, she was relieved when they charged after the predators. This bought her enough time to make a quick turn towards the park, where she knew most of the hills were. She just needed to get on top of one to send up a flare.
"Hazel!"
The human looked back and saw the giant form of Aladar stop right next to her. He and Patchi had caught up to her. The snow and dirt kicked up from the friction he made. The alpha leaned a hoof forward and gestured to his back. Stopping on her other side was Patchi.
"Get on!" he said.
Taking no argument against that, Hazel climbed up the dinosaur's blue hide and situated herself on his back. Within moments, they were on the run once again. Her friends' appearance gave her legs and lungs reprieve from all that running she had to do.
The next few minutes were once again a replay of cat and mouse. A few tyrannosaurs had caught up to them; both groups dodging around separate battles as well. The predators nicked at their tails, driving them on. One Gorgosaur was about to snap at their back when Patchi managed to broadside it, which made it slide on the ground. Another one then came on their left and jumped up, ready to tackle them. Aladar weaved out of the way in time for it to crash on the ground and lop on its side. In between each bout, Hazel would turn on her back and fire some shots like what Chris did before; she was really getting the hang of doing it.
In no time flat, they reached the base of the hills. Just a few more seconds and they'll be at the top. Hazel reached into her pocket and found the flare gun. Her stomach relaxed when she felt the signal weapon in there.
Before they could make the climb, several tyrannosaurs blocked their way. The herbivores skid to a stop, almost making Hazel fall off. Her quick grips preserved her just in time. Maws of teeth and claws barred their way.
They turned around, hoping to get around them, only to find that more came up from the rear. Soon, the left and right were blocked by giant predators.
They were trapped.
"Kid, get between us," Patchi told her. "When we tell you to run, run."
Hazel obliged. Carefully, she dismounted from Aladar. Both alpha's placed one hoof in front of her, creating a sort of barrier. The humans had to take care not to get in the way of their legs, lest they accidentally squish her. Now in the barricade of legs, she peeked through the gaps to see the crowd of tyrannosaurs parting. Coming through the opening was an amused, yet peeved, Gorgon.
"Well, you three certainly gave me some...entertainment," he chuckled before becoming serious. "But that stops now."
Patchi stomped his foot, which was just a few inches from Hazel's form. She backed away in surprise as a result. "One more step and we'll run you through."
"Go ahead," replied the aloof Gorgon. "If you do, you'll leave her wide open. Try as you might to defend her. One of us will get the kill."
"We're not going to let that happen," went a resolute Aladar.
The Gorgosaur sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course you won't. Boys, seize the leaf eaters!"
Before any of them could react properly, Aladar and Patchi were grabbed by two sets of jaws, one on the torso and the other at their tail bases. The puncture of the teeth was enough to get them to scream. As they were being pulled away, they tried their hardest to stay close to Hazel, but to no avail. All three of them yelled for each other, with Hazel trying to go after the Iguanodon alpha first, but only to get blocked and driven away by one of the tyrannosaurs. When her attention fell on the alpha Pachyrhinosaurus, he was already too far away and surrounded by too many oppressors for her to get too close.
Her two friends were now at the mercy of the tyrannosaurs. They struggled in their grasps; the more they did, the deeper their wounds became. Already, she could see the hints of tears in their eyes that they tried to hide. The tyrannosaurs around them giggled in malicious glee.
Hazel drew her gun and aimed at Gorgon. She contemplated bringing out the flare gun, but feared that doing so would only put Aladar and Patchi in a worse situation than they already were. They could die when the fire went up. They were all cornered.
"Let them go right now, or I'll shoot!" she threatened.
Gorgon huffed, unfazed by the feeble threat. "You do that and they will kill your friends. And one order from me and they'll kill everyone in this valley, even when I'm dead."
The human choked a gasp, her eyes still fixated on the predator. "You have me surrounded, but I won't go down like a coward."
"Typical. But fear not, I won't kill you. Not yet."
With that said, he started to walk around her in circles. Hazel did her best to keep her eyes on him.
"You really thought you had us there. You and your unity. I have to say, I am impressed you managed to amass an army within a short span of time. It took me longer to get enough warriors so we could take this valley. But, it was short-sighted. Your overconfidence is your downfall. You really believed your noble words and human tricks would take us down."
Gorgon laughed. "You're wrong. In the end, you're just a sniveling little girl hiding behind weaklings you call friends."
Hazel grit her teeth at the jab he made regarding her size. Nearby, she heard Aladar call out to her.
"Don't listen to him Hazel!"
He let out a pained groan when the tyrannosaur at his torso bit harder. Already, streams of blood started to fall from the teeth marks.
"Quiet!" went one of the tyrannosaurs next to him.
"And don't think we forgot about the rest of the prey in this valley," continued Gorgon, who was now at Hazel's right. "Those refugees that are hiding somewhere in this valley will soon be found by us, and we'll tear them apart piece by little piece."
Hazel stared at him, hiding her shock. How did he know that? Did he send someone to spy on the park? But it couldn't have been any of their new allies. They defected from him.
The silence made Gorgon chuckle. "Don't look so surprised. I knew well that most of your 'herd' would not dare fight us. I didn't even need to send out spies to fish them out. They never had the guts. Of all your underlings, they're the smart ones. You should have fled this valley while you had the chance."
While relieved that neither of the park's warriors gave away their position, she was still bothered by the "advice" and "what should have been" he was giving her. It only served to make her angrier.
"If we did that, you'll still be tailing us until none of us remained!" she retorted.
Gorgon stopped in front of her. Just a mere few feet and he could gobble her up if he wanted to. Hazel stood her ground, her gun still at the ready. The next few words he said made her feel as small as an ant would to a giant.
"Quite true. But at least you'd live a little longer. Face it shrimp, you're alone here. No one is going to help you. We're going to kill everyone you know and love right in front of you, starting with these two!"
Hazel felt her blood boiling. Shrimp? Nobody calls her a shrimp and gets away with it!
The predator smiled amusingly at her. "Humph, and to think, a puny creature that could break like a twig could stand up to the likes of us."
Puny!? That's it! She raised her gun again and prepared to fire. She remembered Azura's promise and sought to shoot him in the gut, someplace that was far from the heart and the face. She then made a last minute change to one of the legs; crippling him would give him no choice but to surrender.
Then she thought about Aladar and Patchi. She looked over at both of them, at how trapped they were. They tried to squirm free, but that only served to tighten the toothy grips on their bodies. She saw the urgency in their eyes, along with hints of sympathy. If she fired her gun, it was over for them.
Hazel was caught at a crossroads. Shoot Gorgon and win the war, at the cost of her friends? Or not shoot Gorgon, surrender, and try to get everyone to flee while having a minute chance to save her friends? The longer she waited, the more of their army died. Either way, there was loss on both sides, neither of which Hazel liked. If there was one thing she wouldn't stand, it was losing her family.
Then she thought of the futility of it. Whatever choice she made, they were all still going to die anyway. This wasn't a war.
It was slaughter.
"Hazel," said Aladar, catching her at a moment where her tears fell again. He gave her a smile despite the pain he was going through, "it's okay. We did our best, but it wasn't enough."
"Aladar," she wiped her face of the sorrow that was apparent, "I'm sorry. I thought we could do it together. I brought you all to your deaths."
"Kid, don't you dare think that way," said Patchi, who had a mix of anger and pain in his tone. Looking at him, he was making every small attempt to wriggle free, only for him to be brought back to his original position in a mist painful manner, "You didn't order us to go with you. You inspired us. It was our choice to go. A few folks I know taught me that. Don't you go making the same mistake I did."
That's right. Patchi had this same problem. And Hazel was in that same mindset until that same dinosaur pulled her out of it. Her speech before inspired others to follow her. She did not force them to fight. They all did it out of their own will. They went out there to risk their lives because it was the right thing to do. They fought for everything they held dear.
She gazed back at the restrained Aladar, remembering the other promise they kept the night before.
"We made a promise that we'd come back alive."
Aladar swallowed to wet his throat. "I know."
The tyrannosaur next to him burst out giggling, unable to contain his enjoyment of the situation. While this angered Hazel, the other predators around them found it annoying as well.
"Haha! This drama is hilarious! We should do this more often!" he guffawed.
One of the other predators nearby gave him a snout shove, making the tyrannosaur reeling in pain at the dinosaurian comparison to a punch in the face.
"Quiet you!"
Ignoring the minor distraction, her eyes fell upon the rest of the carnivores. She was pissed at the predicament they were in. All this work to defeat and deter the enemy all surmounted to nothing. They, no she, was in over her head. She believed all this planning and ingenuity would be enough to take them down. They had the countermeasures, but they weren't enough.
They lost.
We lost.
I failed them.
Hazel really was out of her league. To think she could take on the burden of leading a whole park, to lead an army into war, to overcome the challenges life would throw at her. She really was just a child playing a game only adults knew. She was never meant for this.
Perhaps if she did give up, Gorgon would in some way give them some reprieve. If she could negotiate, perhaps he could give them a head start in running, thus giving them a chance to escape.
No, what was she thinking!? He would give them no quarter! But maybe she just needed to accept it.
"I'm sorry Nigel," she thought. "I failed."
Wait...Nigel? He supported her, he trained her, he practically raised her in a way after high school. Her chosen team, made up of Chris, Ellis, and Daisy; all the times they argued and came together in agreement. Allowing Hanna to see her other life and to experience what she experienced. Her mother tried to take her away from her friends, yet her own child stood up to her. All the trials and tribulations that Hazel went through led up to this. And they all had one thing in common.
Those moments had trained her to be the one thing she was born to be; a leader. Her army, her friends, followed her into battle, because they all believed in her.
Suddenly, something inside spoke to her. It was a small, indescribable and tiny voice. It was faint, yet she understood it.
She was not alone.
The revelation hit her like a brick wall. They were all in this together. There was no way she would allow the park to go down like this. No matter the odds, they will die fighting. And this war will be something these jerks will never forget.
Hazel stared at Gorgon, anger and determination in her eyes. He made her feel small. He made her feel alone. He was wrong. He was going to pay.
She saw something in her peripheral. It went too fast for her to see. Whatever it was, she needed to focus on the battle at hand.
"You're right, Gorgon," she said, making him grin in a smug manner, "I am small, and fighting in a war along with leading may be out of my league."
Hazel placed a hand on her chest. "But I embraced those challenges. I overcame such boundaries to prove I could do it. Me, a girl just in the first stage of her adulthood. We may have been outgunned by you, but we will get out of this. We will win," she made a cutting manner in the air with that same arm.
"Hahahaha! Look around you!" Gorgon moved his head from side to side to gesture to his circle of goons. "You think you've won? We have you cornered!"
"That may be, but I've got something that will resolve that. Something that's helped me overcome my trials. Something I can depend on. Something you'll never have nor will you understand."
"Hm...and what's that?" he sneered.
The girl smirked. Moments passed, and she finally said it. One word was all it took.
"Friends."
Just then, two screeches sounded off from above. All the tyrannosaurs, including Gorgon, were caught off guard when two Pteranodons swooped down onto the predators that held Aladar and Patchi captive. Their arrival confirmed Hazel of the objects she saw mere moments earlier. It was Flia and Aeros coming to the rescue.
Together, they pecked at the eyes and the thick hides, all while avoiding those teeth-filled jaws. Their mastery in the air allowed them to stay out of their grasps.
This little distraction allowed the captive Aladar and Patchi to wring themselves free from their clutches. They used their bodies and the weapons nature gave them to beat the predators before coming together to shove Gorgon out of the way. It was fortuitous that he was still in that stunned stupor otherwise Hazel would have already been harmed.
Aladar gestured to Hazel to get on his back. But as she was in the process of doing so, something else had caught their attention. And it wasn't just them either, it was all those that were present.
"Incoming!" hollered the unsuspecting voice of Zini.
They all turned and looked up, curious as to why the simian would be in the air. Their answer was given when they saw him hanging onto the talons of Alex. They were both flying over them and around the circle below, announcing their arrival like they were some comedic heralds.
"The calvary is coming!" proclaimed the Alexornis.
One of Hazel's brows went up. What the heck were they talking about? Was it just them? They'll get themselves killed!
"Charge!" Alex screeched. As he flew forward, he suddenly banked left and downwards, carrying the now irritated Zini with him. "Ooh I spy some tasty bugs. Snack time!"
"Hey wait! What are you doing!? The battle's right there! You nitwit!" the lemur complained.
Hazel really wanted to face palm. What kind of a charge was that? This was an embarrassment.
Just then, they felt the ground shake. The human had to spread her legs a little just to maintain her footing. The other dinosaurs had the same problem as they did their best to keep their balance. It was like a mini earthquake was happening. Remembering what little geography she retained from the past, she knew they were on the west coast and they were close to the nearest tectonic plate boundary. Earthquakes were bound to happen. But how and why would Alex and Zini know about this? Unless…
The bellows sounded off from behind the hills. Aladar and Patchi gasped, knowing what was going on. Flia swooped down, hovering above them.
"You guys get out of here! Hazel, grab my legs!"
Hazel slung the gun over her shoulder. Figuring out the flyer's ploy, she jumped onto Aladar's foremost leg, climbed him, and onto his back. From there, she jumped off and grabbed onto the pterosaur's clawed feet. The two of them ascended quickly with the herbivores charging towards the left. The tyrannosaur circle had an opening thanks to the predators stumbling out of the way in confusion. They took cover in the forest nearby.
As she and Flia ascended, they first saw Aeros bank towards the park, most likely to investigate what was going on. When they followed him, they were met with shock.
They saw large shapes crossing over the terrain. The sauropods from the park came charging in, ramming their immense bodies on the predators that frightened them before. Leading them were Charles, Woodstock, and Yin. Hazel was touched and amazed that they joined in the fight. Neither she nor the rest of the park forced them, but the fact that they came to help in this time of need was welcoming.
And their arrival was not the only surprise. Following close behind them were scores of other dinosaurs. Iguanodons, ceratopsians, Parasaurolophus, Struthiomimus, Stygimolochs, other sauropods, and even humans that rode on them, armed with bows or guns, joined in. The familiar form of Baylene was also a surprise as she roared at the top of her lungs despite being one of the slowest in the group.
All the refugees, or at least most of them as Hazel did not see the younglings or any of the smaller dinosaurs, had joined the fray.
"Holy crap!" Hazel breathed out. "This...this is…"
"It's everybody!" Flia finished for her.
"But how!?"
The pterosaur laughed. "Who cares! Hazel, I'm going to do a swing so you can do your thing."
"Oh right!" Hazel replied, remembering what she was really there to do.
She felt Flia swing back, bringing her with her in her arc. At first, it was small, but then it turned into large arcs. Seeing her legs dangle, the human felt like she was in some huge swing ride in an amusement park. As she swung, she felt Flia release her right hand, allowing Hazel to dig into her pocket to grab the flare gun.
"On the count of three," Flia started. "One, two, three!"
At the height of it, Hazel aimed her gun at the sky and pulled the trigger. The loud pop resulted in a smoke flare to rocket up with green smoke. The makeshift mini comet made an arc as it slowly came down, but the flames from the tip emitted a light at the end. Anyone from miles around could see it. While harmless for the most part, it did its job despite the huge delay.
The final phase of the battle had begun.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Just a few minutes ago…
Ellis and Espantos plopped onto the snow, having managed to lose the ambush party of tyrannosaurs earlier. While the avian fell on his side, the human fell onto his back, impact pain ignored. For Espantos, his legs were aching, while Ellis was exhausted from shooting a lot and having ridden on his partner for an extended period of time. His arms and legs were already strained. Seriously, how does Hazel do this sort of thing?
Suddenly, they were surrounded again. All around them were tyrannosaurs that gathered around them in a circle. But they did not attack them. The two that approached them were none other than Tundrous and Sitka.
"Okay...judging from you guys not attacking...we made it," Ellis gasped as he tried to relax. He's already had enough surprises for one day.
"Bleh...so much running…" Espantos groaned. "I need a bowl of steak after this…"
"It took you both long enough to get here," Tundrous rumbled. "Most of us were getting anxious."
"Sorry," the human apologized as he got back up to properly speak to them all. "We ran into some problems along the way. Your former buddies caught up to us and cut us off. Then we got word the boss lady was having issues with sending the signal up. Anyway, that's the gist of it. We're here."
"What's going on out there?" Sitka asked with worry. "How is the battle?"
"You want the long version or the short version?" went the engineer.
"Uh...short?"
"We're getting our asses whooped!" he exclaimed with a flail of his arms, making the tyrannosaurs take a step back from the overreacting human. "We really underestimated Gorgon and his goons. No offense to you guys, since you used to work for him."
Tundrous, unfazed by the reaction, merely huffed. "We need to get in there."
Ellis rubbed his temples. That was not part of the plan at all. If Tundrous and the others did this then the whole battle plan will be jeopardized!
"The longer we wait, the more of your friends will get slaughtered by our former comrades. The plan has failed. We're going now!"
"No! Please! Just wait! She'll do it! Just give her time!"
"And how do you know she will succeed?"
Ellis sighed. "It's a hunch. Just trust me."
This time, he really hoped he was right. Hazel needed to pull through for them. His part of the plan was to go to the front edge of the valley and meet up with Tundrous and Sitka's group. Then they needed to wait for Hazel to send up the signal to unleash phase 4. The problem was, Hazel had been delayed by Gorgon and his goons and who knows what sort of trouble she was in.
Per Breezy's advice, they had to keep going with their part of the mission. With that now done, they needed to wait for her.
The wait was agonizing. The screams and roars in the valley were nightmarish enough as it is. Ellis could imagine the pain and suffering those in the park were going through. He really wanted to just get in there and fight, plan be damned. But if he did, it would be a suicide mission.
He thought about all the possibilities his boss was going through. Gorgon probably already caught her and was chewing her up. Or he was torturing her to the point where she would surrender. Or maybe she and some friends were beating the crap out of him to further weaken the enemy.
The thoughts were too stressful and he needed to get his mind off. Propping open his backpack, he pulled out the packed food he saved for himself and Espantos. For him, it was a tuna and cheese sandwich and a power bar. For his avian friend, he generously wrapped a few slabs of pork loin for him. After what they went through earlier, they deserved a break.
Several minutes of waiting led them to just sitting around the tyrannosaurs. Thank goodness he had his phone and Airpods otherwise the boredom would have killed him. As he listened to his music, Ellis sang "Light'em Up" by Fallout Boy as a good song to perk everyone up. Following that he sang "Comeback" by Redlight King and "This is Gonna Hurt" by Sixx AM. Whether the tyrannosaurs listened in on him was anyone's guess, but at least it made the wait go faster.
All that waiting paid off when they saw a green ball of fire rocket above the trees ahead. Ellis smiled. Hazel had pulled through for them.
"That's the signal!" Ellis exclaimed, alerting everyone.
The tyrannosaurs huddled together, grouping in formation to prepare themselves for what they planned. Ellis woke the Terror Bird and the two of them rode up next to Tundrous and Sitka. The leading Rex bull gave them a toothy grin, happy to know the plan was coming along well.
"Ready for the fun bit?" he asked them.
The two park denizens chuckled. This was the moment they had been waiting for.
A few seconds later, the whole group came charging out of the trees, with Espantos and Ellis in the lead. The rexes behind them roared to alert the masses ahead. The human brandished his gun, aimed, and yelled a catchphrase he remembered from one of his favorite movies.
"FOR THE MOTHERLAND!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Gorgon saw the flare, he immediately knew something was up. The stampede on him and his army was already bad enough he was having a hard time keeping his footing, all while dodging around the massive feet and girths that could crush him if he did a misstep. Coupled that with the onslaught of more herbivores and he could get run over. He had never seen such long-necked giants in his life, but he heard tales of creatures like them in the far south. Then there was the other surprise of more humans mounting the prey and literally shooting at them!
The enemy had gotten their second wind, and things were not looking good for his team.
He finally managed to get to the edge of the stampede close to one of the forests. When he did, he was approached by a battered young rex.
"Boss! We just got word there are more predators coming from the rear!"
Gorgon snorted, a little pleased. "Good! About time we got some reinforcements!"
The young one shook his head. "It's not that! They're killing our buddies in the back! They're defectors!"
The leading Gorgosaur's jaw dropped. "Defectors!?"
It was then that Gorgon just realized it. The words of his other comrade from before had come crawling back into his mind. Their army was reduced by a significant amount, not much to get his attention though. Now, it just did. With this huge herd stampeding from this side, and the rogues in the back…
It was a two pronged attack! Did the girl plan this!? If so…
Gorgon growled, angrier than ever. "Clever girl…"
He believed the stampede was all part of the girl's plan, but in reality, it wasn't. The stampede was a neat yet unexpected addition. As he waited on the side to catch his breath, his army was getting whittled down by the force of the two-pronged attack. If his comrades did not get crushed by those huge feet or trampled to death, then they were either torn apart by the defectors or taken down by some other means.
The deaths were gruesome. He was used to that. But to see them on his own comrades? It was a whole new level. Guts and bone were adding to the stain in the Arctic terrain. He tucked himself behind some tree trunks, obscuring his form to make sure neither one of these low-leveled, no, these pests, spotted him.
He watched several members of the army try to attack the giants. While some did get a few good hits in, those only served to make the huge prey madder. They were swept away by those huge tails and necks or shoved by their strength. And of course, if any predator was unfortunate enough to be in front of them, they got squashed. His army failed in stopping them.
As the fight dragged on, he noticed more tyrannosaurs running in the other direction. The stampede had already dissipated, giving him the chance to run up and see the damage from behind. Gorgon stomped his foot in desperation. They were fleeing! All because a bunch of leaf eaters got the guts to rise up against them!
They're incompetent idiots! All of them! They can't at least come up with an idea to take down the huge herbivores! Everything was going up in smoke! Or in this case, blood and bone.
The sound of a gun cocking behind him made him turn. Standing behind him, ready to attack, were the two herbivores and the human from before. The female flyer had already dropped off the human so she could help in the stampede.
"It's over, Gorgon. You've lost," Hazel told him simply.
The dinosaur snarled angrily. "Not yet, I haven't. I won't stop until all of you are dead!"
The two opposing groups charged, commencing a fight to the death that would decide the fate of everyone in the valley.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A full-on frontal assault was a dumb move, even when you're outnumbered three to one. That much Hazel knew. So Gorgon lunging at them all meant one thing to her; he had really lost his marbles. Nevertheless, mad or not, they needed to be careful.
When Gorgon lunged at Aladar, his teeth had scraped his hide. Following that, he dodged a charge from Patchi and hit him with a tail swipe.
Hazel chose this time to go in with her dagger, after storing her gun on her back. Unfortunately, one heavy stomp from the Gorgosaur made her go off balance as well as have her nearly get bitten in half. It was only from quick thinking and reflexes that she was able to evade his gaping maw. Despite her negative feelings for the crazed predator, the young leader had to admit that Gorgon was practically a savant in battle for being able to handle multiple attackers at once. He seemed to flow from Aladar to Patchi and to Hazel almost seamlessly to at least make sure they can't simply gang up on him. Hazel didn't expect this level of battle competency to come from a dinosaur, but apparently, she was discovering all sorts of secrets that Nature had hid from humanity.
Minutes into the fight and neither of them were doing so well with getting solid hits on him. In his crazed state, Gorgon had gotten smarter. The few bouts they had before had taught the predator a thing or two about them.
Before Hazel and her friends could devise a plan to counter Gorgon's swift yet powerful attacks, another squad of tyrannosaurs arrived, instantly outnumbering the trio eleven to three. They must have seen their leader fighting them since they were adamant enough to join the fight. Although, they still had scrapes and bruises from their run in with the stampede.
Great...they were outnumbered again.
Three of the tyrannosaurs sprang at the trio while the rest was with Gorgon or circled them, waiting for an opening before killing them. Aladar, Patchi, and Hazel did well with tag-teaming on the three, with the Iguanodon doing a tail swipe towards the Pachyrhinosaurus, who had skewered the second and added the stunned tyrannosaur to the pile. All the human had to do was do some small dagger swipes on the legs before dodging out of the way of Patchi's charge. The first two predators lay barely moving while the last had a hard time getting back up due to the scratches and the big hit.
When that was done, they were met with more opposition when Gorgon went for Patchi and a subordinate went for Aladar. The two bellowed in retaliation. Hazel had no time to prepare to save them as she scrambled to get her gun out.
Before any of them could react, a giant black horn crashed into the Gorgosaur while a toothy maw snapped up the other tyrannosaur by its neck and tossed him to the side, dead before hitting the ground. Getting a clear look at the mysterious saviors, Hazel found herself smiling.
It was her team and their Partners. Well, save for Diablo, but because Chris was with him, she didn't mind making him a proxy for the team. They came in like some kind of army in a movie; Chris was at the forefront next to a snarling Diablo, Daisy was riding Kerato's back while he pawed at the ground and snorting out hot air like a bull, Ellis dismounted Espantos as he aimed his rifle and the Terror Bird puffed out his feathers to look more intimidating, and Hanna (who was with Chris and riding on the Carnotaur) nocked an arrow from the top of Diablo aimed right at Gorgon.
"What the heck are you guys doing here!?" she hollered at them after they encircled the trio. "You guys should be at your posts!"
"Oh great, are we really doing this again?" Ellis groaned and rolled his eyes.
"We got everything under control back at the safe zone," Chris started, "but then we got kind of worried when you didn't fire up the flare to signal the pincer to the other Tyrannosaurs. So we decided to go look for you and see if you needed some help."
"It was a good thing we got here," Daisy came next with a smile, "Now we can finish them all off."
"Hey you guys, I want to make some good hits on that Gorgon jerk, so make sure you leave some room for me please!" Hanna exclaimed from the top of Diablo, who just snorted out of annoyance.
"I don't think that'll be a problem," the head keeper replied before turning his attention back to Hazel. "We'll deal with his underlings while you go after Gorgon."
Even though she was a little frustrated at them, Hazel could not help but feel touched that her friends came to her aid. With them here, she, Aladar, and Patchi could get their bearings and retaliate against Gorgon's siege. As for the Gorgosaur, he had already recovered from that last attack, albeit angrier than before.
From then on, the battle had resumed. Aladar and Patchi worked together in getting Gorgon's attention by doing warning shots on him. While he succeeded in warding them off, he made an error on his part. Hazel took this opportunity to attack him at the legs, which he left wide open. The tyrannosaur roared furiously at the new scratches he obtained from the stupid mistake he made.
Seeing the new opening, Gorgon lunged at the nearby human to chomp her. Hazel skillfully dodged by backing away. However, the telegraphed attack and the human dodging had been part of Gorgon's plan; the blue tyrannosaur switched the lunge into a tailspin and whipped around for a tailwhip. Having been caught off guard, Hazel only had enough time to raise her rifle in defense before she got launched away from the attack; the rifle absorbed the attack but snapped in half in the process.
Hazel screamed and groaned as the electric shocks went through her body. Her entire being felt like it was on fire for a brief moment. While it was short, the discharge was still painful. However, it was nothing compared to getting electrocuted through the brain; that was a very painful experience. Any other forms of electrical shocks were miniscule. But still, being familiar with electric shocks did not mean she enjoyed them.
Before Hazel's impromptu launch could send her rocketing into a tree, rock, or any other unyielding solid object, the young woman crashed into a large body, who immediately enclosed his arms around her and helped to try and cushion her momentum. The person, who turned out to be a man, partially succeeded as his added weight slowed them down, but both of them still impacted heavily into a pine tree; the impact shaking the tree and having the snow on its branches cascading down on them. The cold sensation of the snow kissed her skin, freezing her.
"Okay...ow…" she groaned, her head a little dizzy.
Quickly wiping the snow off of herself, as well as the now broken pieces of the rifle, and ignoring the bitter cold feeling, she turned around to properly help and thank her savior. It turned out the one who helped her was Chris Sinclair. She was amazed he caught her and managed to break her fall as well as he did.
The young man shook the snow off and groaned as well, holding the back of his head with one hand. "You okay, Veran?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay, for the most part. Thanks for catching me."
A roar brought her attention forward. Gorgon had broken off from his attack on the alphas and was now after her. His roars and thundering footsteps alerted her it was time to go.
Hazel quickly grabbed onto his sleeve and heaved him up. "Chris move it! Now!"
Shaking his head and adjusting himself, the young man found himself looking upon an ornery Gorgon coming at them at full speed. Without any argument, he took off with Hazel into the forest. Unbeknownst to them, the alphas were attempting to catch up to Gorgon, but more carnivores showed up and kept them occupied. Now, the leading Gorgosaurus was flanked by two other tyrannosaurs.
"Get those humans!" their furious leader commanded.
Hazel and Chris weaved their way through the practical forest of trees and other battling patrons that moved their fight in that area. As they ran, they bypassed a bystanding Diablo who had just finished taking care of a small group of tyrannosaurs by himself. Of course, seeing the chasers going after the humans, he went after them regardless.
The Carnotaur managed to snag one of the tyrannosaurs in his stout jaws and then suplex that carnivore onto the other one flanking Gorgon. Considering they were a lot smaller than him, lifting the creatures posed no issue. He would have tried to get Gorgon, but the duo that he attacked quickly recovered and countered Diablo with bites of their own.
The two humans took a quick glance and saw a little bit of the action. They appreciated the assist, but that did not stop Gorgon from chasing after them.
The continued marathon brought them further in, which turned out to be where the rest of the reinforcements were. Both Ellis and Hanna had been harassing the oppressors with hit and run techniques, or in the younger Veran's case, her archery from a high enough branch which Diablo dropped her off on after their initial attack earlier. So far, things were going well on their end.
"Yo Lady Legolas!" Ellis called out to the younger Veran. "Make sure to shoot their eyes out!"
"Isn't that what I'm doing!?" she nocked another arrow. Her aim was spot on as it made contact with one tyrannosaur's eye. The poor predator reeled back in agony and collided with a few of its comrades due to its new blindness.
When Ellis noticed Hazel and Chris coming, he did something that most would deem crazy, even in his standards. For Espantos, the crazy thing was something he was practically okay with. After getting his message out to the Terror Bird, he made a run towards Gorgon, jumped, landed on the avian's back, and was launched into the air. One flip in midair later, he popped a few shots from his rifle and electrocuted Gorgon's back. The human landed and cheered, satisfied it actually worked.
"Oh ho man! Now that's extreme parkour! HAHAHAHA!"
Gorgon, while snarling in pain, fought through the shocks. His attention now on the lonely engineer, he proceeded to go and snap him up in his jaws.
"Oh shit! HELP!" he cried out, ready to run.
Hearing Ellis' panicked cries, Hanna fired off a flurry of arrows in Gorgon's direction. Luckily, Hanna's aim was impeccable and practically flew around Ellis' form and found their mark on only Gorgon. Many hit his face, snout, and neck. The spikes that protruded from his blue hide now made him appear like some kind of disheveled porcupine.
"Eat my arrows you disgusting newt!" Hanna jeered as she fired her multitude of arrows.
As the younger Veran proceeded with the volley attack, Ellis had ducked and rolled into the snow to avoid the assault. His partner had run up to him and allowed him to mount up. When he was fully situated, the duo sprinted off towards Hazel and Chris. The arrow barrage made for a good distraction.
It did not last long though. Gorgon charged into the tree that Hanna was perched on. With a headbutt, Gorgon dislodged the teen archer, which she fell to the ground, seemingly towards Gorgon's maw. The poor teen was hurtling down towards her doom.
"Help me! Help me! Aaaahhhh!" she screamed as she fell.
Before she could get eaten, Daisy rushed up and with her Electrical prod, tased the large carnivore. With him seizing up, Hanna landed on Gorgon's snout before sliding down safely to the ground. Funny enough, she was able to get a "foothold" on the tyrannosaur and slide down like some surfer. One second of recovery and his attention was on the human girls. He was going to eat the frightened females when Kerato charged at him and sideswiped him to the ground. Oddly enough, the rhino decided against finishing him off via multiple attacks.
Instead, Kerato prioritized Daisy's, and he supposed Hanna's, safety over victory. Gathering up the girls, Kerato took off to regroup with Hazel and Chris, with Gorgon now following close behind.
Said chase ironically led towards the group's training course they took on earlier during their stay. They bypassed the still standing obstacles; despite them not being in use, they weaved around them to serve as obstacles to slow down the predator, whether it was getting him to accidentally bump into them or weave around them. Soon, they reached their destination; the bell area.
They led Gorgon to the center, the predator knocking over the bell posts in his rush, and surrounded the tyrannosaur. His backup was still being kept busy, thanks to the humans' friends and partners. The tables had turned on him; this time, he was surrounded by humans. Even though they had some reservations about taking care of Gorgon on their own, his relatively smaller size meant that he would be easier to deal with. Their ancestors fought off Mammoths and other large game during the stone age with spears, so their group could fight off Gorgon if they played it smart.
"Alright guys, we got him cornered now," Hazel commented, her eyes still on the tired yet still pissed carnivore.
"Geez, all that work and he still wants our heads," Chris sighed while flexing his arms to rid them of minor cramps.
"Any advice, Ate?" asked Hanna.
"Yeah," she answered. "You know how they fight. Stay light on your feet and strike when you get the chance."
Daisy let out a light chuckle. "You forgot to mention 'don't die'."
The woman rolled her eyes, taking light of that joke. "Oh yeah, that too. Now let's take this motherfucker down!"
"Yeah!" Ellis let out a battle cry of his own. "LEROY JENKINS!"
Together, they attacked as one unit, each of them exchanging turns one after the other. Each person harassed Gorgon or got his attention and while he lunged or tried to target one of the Crew, the person in his blind spot would either shoot hit with their Electro-Rifles, or Hanna's bow or hit him with their melee weapons (Daisy's Electrical Prod, Hazel's dagger, Chris' Axes, which he had retrieved before coming to Hazel's aid earlier, and Ellis' Bat).
With each attack they made, Gorgon found himself having a difficult time keeping up. After one swipe from Hazel's dagger and going for the kill, he would be distracted by a shocking sensation coming from that other human's lightning stick. Then there was Chris' curved sharp weapon hacking at his legs, which felt like something was eating at him, and then following that would be hard hits from Ellis' club.
They also made things difficult when they switched their tactics by "improvising". The human with the axes had thrown his weapons onto his legs, which was very irritating. Then the daintier human female saw fit to use those weapons as a means to climb onto his back. Hazel kept his attention on her by calling him every single profane label in the prehistoric book. When it was too late, the vet had straddled his neck and used her lightning stick to hit him at the base of the neck. Naturally, the electric shocks caused him to jump and move erratically. This was made even worse when she stabbed him on the neck by one of those sharp objects like the one leader possessed.
The human rode him like some prehistoric rodeo rider before he bucked her off. Chris, who managed to retrieve them after they fell off the tyrannosaur's leg, caught the girl in a damsel in distress fashion.
Oh and let's not forget their lightning weapons and the arrows either. Those were very annoying for Gorgon as even a tail swipe to bat them away would mean him getting hurt regardless!
It took some time, but eventually Gorgon was getting exhausted from the constant effort. He found it ironic that the humans were using a common Pack tactic against him. He recalled using something similar when he had a smaller pack and not the army he led now.
In several million years' time, human hunters would have an advantage over animals. Because humans can sweat, they have relatively more stamina to chase down and harass prey/animals. While animals can only pant to relieve their exhaustion, it's not on par with the Human's system. This however, provided enough leeway for Hazel and her team to get the upper hand on the dinosaur. Their constant attacks and the insane effort of fighting the war caused many of the animals to exhaust themselves, making it easier for others to take them out who aren't as tired.
Having multiple strikes from arrows, lightning, or melee weapons took their toll on Gorgon's body. With a clumsy lunge at Daisy, which resulted in a Cattle Prod to his face to stun him, Hazel, Chris, and Ellis did something crazy and all together; they tackled Gorgon's side, making him topple over. During this unexpected push, his 3 ton body tripped over a few of the bell posts, as a result of poor footing, Gorgon put on his weight on his right foot, which gave way and made him break his leg. Roaring in agony, Gorgon's entire mass followed suit and he slammed onto the ground.
Backing off, the humans took a moment to gather themselves. Hazel was the first to recover and cautiously approached the downed carnivore. Seeing her wield her dagger and twirl it in her fingers, the Gorgosaur warily groaned.
"Do it," he winced from the pain shooting up his leg. "Finish me."
Surprisingly enough, the human sheathed her weapon and shook her head.
"No. You've been through enough."
The dinosaur roared angrily. "You fool! A leader, a human leader at that, won't even give me the decency of dying in battle!?"
"It's over, Gorgon," she spoke, keeping her resolute approach. "You and your army are beaten. You're severely hurt. Surrender now, and we can help you."
Gorgon snarled. "Disgusting creatures. You're mine!"
"Stop it!"
The tyrannosaur was about to lunge at her, broken leg hindering him, when a familiar voice told him to stop. His eyes widened and a gasp escaped his throat when he found himself staring at the otherwise unharmed form of Azura, who had approached from behind the human female. Following close to her was her aunt, and his bond-sister, Anaeth. Both of them seemed exhausted, yet without any mark of injury on them.
"Azura? But...how? Where were you!?"
"Daddy, please stop, now. There's no point in fighting anymore," she started with sadness in her eyes.
"Why didn't you come home last night?" he growled, trying to get up but having difficulty due to his injuries.
"Aunt Anaeth and I left for this place, this...park. You hurt my friends, Daddy. You were about to slaughter a whole herd just to get your way!" Azura protested. "This herd that you objected to because of their 'weak ways' are not as bad as you think they are. When we came to them, they fed us. They healed us. They told us that there is a home they can provide, where we don't have to fight for survival. We could have gone for a more peaceful solution...but you decided to kill them to get your way."
"This is all wrong," she continued, now with sorrow in her features. "There's been so much killing today. But that can all end. Please Daddy, just let them help you. They can fix you up and we can live in peace."
Azura sobbed, tears falling down her face. "I don't want to lose another parent."
Gorgon stared, his maw falling open. The tearful huntress looked away, trying to hide away her sorrow, but to no avail. Her aunt craned her neck over to comfort her. Neither of them batted an eye at the dying Gorgosaur.
After going through all this work to conquer this valley, to feed his family, he was met with rejection. No, he was met with more. He did this for survival, and the prey refused to give in. Yet his only close relation was telling him to stop. This was that night all over again, when Mora walked out on him. Now...it seems his daughter was doing the same thing. He did all this for her and she wanted none of it.
It was then Gorgon finally understood. This war he started was all in the sake of survival, he wanted to keep his family happy. But he did not consider Azura's opinion. Or others for that matter. He was given ample warnings, from Tundrous and his family, to Anaeth, and even the human and her friends. He had multiple chances to stop and think, yet he squandered them all. He hurt Azura's friends, he drove his closest allies away, and his army abandoned him.
It was over.
With a heavy sigh, Gorgon rose to his feet, his broken leg hindering his progress. He slowly walked up to his daughter and nuzzled her. The humans around them backed away to give them ample space, not that he cared as he had no intention of attacking them.
"I'm sorry honey," he rumbled sadly. "You deserve a better life, one where you can choose to live the way you want. But...I've done too much wrong to deserve such a reward. I've done a lot of disgusting things because I couldn't stand to lose anything else from my life. But you...you don't have that problem."
Azura sniffled, her eyes meeting his tired gaze.
"Go. Live in peace. Live the life you've always wanted. I'm sure your mother would have wanted that too."
"Daddy…" his daughter cried, holding back a sob.
His gaze fell on his nearby bond-sister. "Keep an eye on her, Anaeth."
The elder female nodded, her gaze softened at the defeated predator. "I will."
Finally, he turned towards Hazel. He limped to her, his grimacing prevalent with each step he took. Every footfall resulting in the gashes in his broken leg to spurt blood. The woman fought every urge to wince at the disturbing sight; the only thing that stopped her was the amount of determination he had to stop and face her.
"Hazel, if you're telling the damn truth about this 'paradise' you kept talking about, you better treat my daughter as damn royalty and have her want for nothing."
Hazel nodded briskly, the gruff language gave away its intended point. "Don't worry, we will. But what will you be doing? Without proper treatment, those injuries are going to kill you."
Gorgon chuckled. His lighthearted response was a clear contrast to the agony he was feeling. "Me? Don't worry. I'm just going to take a stroll in the woods. Walk off these injuries."
Hazel nodded again. She eyed the rest of her team; they all had the same, quiet expression. They all knew what he meant by that. The undertone gave it away.
As he turned towards the forest edge, he stopped to take one last look at the group of humans. His expression now showed regret and a hint of amusement.
"You know, if I met you two-leggeds earlier in my life, things would have been different," he said regretfully. He slowly sauntered away into the woods, those present watching him go.
Even as the group retreated away after he was long gone to clean up the mess in the valley, they all thought about how things would have been if they had met earlier, different circumstances and all. Perhaps Gorgon would not have gone through great lengths to feed his family. Maybe he would have had better family relations. Maybe his output in life in regards to survival would have changed. Maybe, he would have some better friends to help him.
Regardless of the possibilities, the outcome of today was clear. Those in Gorgon's army that survived had already run for the hills, knowing full well to never return to this valley again. The fear that pervaded the valley was gone. Gorgon's reign of terror has ended. What should be a triumphant victory was only replaced by a somber, quiet tone.
The war was finally over.