A New World
Chapter 2: Attack within the Rainy Basin
Morning soon came as the half-siblings, and Shorty made their way to the same booth that they had tried to get tickets at yesterday. The people within the village were already out, and walking around as they went about their daily lives selling food, and other items to their customers. Once Karl, Tabitha and David came to the booth, the man at the desk was already expecting them. Luckily they didn't need to pay for anything as the short man handed them their tickets.
"Cart eleven," the man told the half-siblings before pointing them in the right direction. "Better hurry, over there."
"Great, thank you," said David with a grateful smile.
"That sure was lucky," spoke Tabitha as she placed her ticket in her left pocket. "I thought we'd needed to pay for tickets on this island."
"As I said, the rules are different here," said David with a shrug.
Tabitha gave her half-brother a friendly eye roll before she spotted a familiar figure in front of them.
"Hey look, it's the girl from yesterday." Tabitha said as she pointed towards the girl that just finished buying supplies from a local trader.
The half-siblings walked up to her before Karl spoke. "Excuse me?"
The girl turned to look at the half-siblings when Karl spoke to her.
"Um…hi," greeted Karl with a friendly smile. "My name's Karl and these two are my brother and sister, Davie and Tabitha."
"It's David hi," David corrected his brother.
"Nice to meet you, and this little guy who is riding on my shoulder is named Shorty." Tabitha added as she pointed to her little friend, who sat on her left shoulder as he gave out a chirp of greeting.
"Hello, my name is Marion," the girl said kindly.
"You were pretty impressive yesterday dealing with that…whatever it was," said David.
"Ankylosaurs," Marion corrected David warmly.
"I have to admit, you were pretty brave to handle a situation like that." Tabitha complemented as she placed her hands on her hips. "But, weren't you a little bit scared?"
"I'm training to be a leader." Marion replied as she began to walk through the crowd with the half-siblings following after her. "I must be calm in a crisis if I am expected to inspire others."
"That's a pretty big responsibility to have on your shoulders," said Tabitha with a shrug of her shoulders.
Marion only smiled at Tabitha before she took notice of the clothing that all three of the half-siblings were wearing.
"You're not from around here are you," she said as realization came over her.
"Uh…no, not exactly," replied Karl.
"We had an accident and we swam ashore," explained David before he showed Marion his ticket. "Now we're trying to get to Waterfall City."
"Oh, that's my destination," said Marion with a smile.
"Small world," voiced Tabitha with a smile of her own.
"Now I understand what's happened," continued Marion in a calm voice. "But don't be afraid, you're not the first. When you arrive at Waterfall City everything will be explained just as soon as you register."
Tabitha and her half-brothers stopped in their tracks when they heard the word 'register' come out of Marion's mouth. They quickly glanced at each other for a second then looked back at Marion.
"Register?" echoed Karl as Marion turned to look at him. "We don't want to register for anything. We just wanna get home."
"I imagine that so," said Marion as she gave the half-siblings a sympathizing stare. "This way."
The half-siblings followed Marion to their bus, and what they saw both shocked and amazed them. Towering in front of them was another dinosaur that was much larger than the first one they saw yesterday. The dinosaur had dark grey skin and an extremely long neck. Tabitha could only guess that the dinosaur's size was either twenty or thirty feet.
"Woah!" exclaimed Tabitha in amazement as they got closer to the gigantic dinosaur.
They walked up a flight of stairs as they came to the platform that was leveled with the dinosaur's back. On the dinosaur's back was a large domed shape compartment with seats that could hold at least six or seven people.
"This is the bus?" asked David as he, Tabitha and Karl stared in shock at the creature in front of them.
"He's a Brach," explained Marion with a smile.
"As in Brachiosaurs?" asked Tabitha as a large smile appeared on her face.
"Yes," replied Marion with a nod before continuing. "We'll be traveling with him across the Rainy Basin."
Tabitha noticed the armor plating being placed on the dinosaur's body along with her half-brothers.
"What's that for?" asked Karl curiously.
"Armor, that's to stop him from getting killed," explained Marion.
The Brach let out a gentle hum of delight as he glanced towards the people that were placing the armor on him.
"He says he much appreciates the protection," said Marion when she translated what the dinosaur had just said.
"You can understand him?" asked Tabitha in amazement.
"Once you've learned how to speak saurian, it just comes naturally to you," replied Marion with a smile.
Tabitha let out a hum of interest as she glanced at Shorty for a sec. She turned her eyes back onto Marion before she pointing to her little companion.
"Can you understand what he says?" asked Tabitha curiously.
"I'm afraid not," replied Marion gently. "You see, Shorty is a different kind of creature that my people and I don't know anything about, and can't seem to communicate with. His kind is very different from the dinosaurs that we have befriended on this island."
"His kind?" echoed Tabitha with a raised eyebrow. "You mean there are more like him roaming around this whole island?"
"Yes," spoked Marion. "Though we don't know where they come from for they always seem to disappear before we can make any kind of contact with them. The creatures will sometimes appear when we least expect it."
Tabitha frowned in thought before the bus driver called out to the people who were standing on the platform.
"The bus is secured. We will be leaving in five minutes, Waterfall City direct!"
With that said, the half-siblings and Marion took their seats with Karl sitting up front with Marion, while Tabitha and Shorty sat beside David. Shorty dropped down from Tabitha's shoulders, and curled up in her lap with a purr as he settled down to take a nap. Karl glanced nervously at the Brach that they would be riding through the Rainy Basin before he glanced at Marion.
"He won't eat us will he?" asked Karl.
The Brach turned to glance at Karl, slightly offended at what he had just heard come out of the boy's mouth.
"Brach's are plant eaters." Marion informed Karl with a reassuring smile.
"Meaning that they don't eat meat," added Tabitha with a smirk. "I thought you knew that Karl."
Karl turned to glare at his half-sister in annoyance, while Shorty let out a little scratchy chuckle before laying his head down on top of his paws. Once the rest of the passengers were in their seats the Brach began to walk forward. Another Brach followed after the first one as they started out on their journey towards the Rainy Basin. There were two people riding on two Parasaurolophuses as they escorted the Brach's to their destination. The ride to Waterfall City was a quiet, and pleasurable ride as the Brach's and their guard walked across the wide open plains. Marion spoke to the half-siblings as she explained their destination route.
"To get to Waterfall City, we have to cross through the Rainy Base. It's the domain of the carnivores," said Marion calmly. "We only cross when it's absolutely essential and then only in convoy."
Tabitha tensed when she heard the word carnivores and shared a look of horror with her brothers. They were journeying to a place that had meat eating dinosaurs living there?
'So much for a peaceful and relaxing bus ride,' thought Tabitha sarcastically.
Marion turned to look back at the half-siblings to give them a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, we carry extra food to appease them."
"Appease them?" echoed both David and Tabitha.
"The carnivores aren't evil," explained Marian. "They're just hungry by nature."
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better." Tabitha grumbled with a deadpanned look upon her face.
The Brach continued walking as Karl looked around the compartment that they were all in, before he turned his attention on Marion again.
"So, do you have any weapons?" asked Karl.
"We won't fight the carnivores," said Marian as she looked at Karl in confusion.
"He means if they attack us," clarified David.
"I understand," said Marion before explaining to the half-siblings. "Dinotopians don't carry weapons. Weapons are enemies even to their owners, third code of Dinotopia."
"Wait, you have a law that says you can't defend yourself?" asked Karl appalled by what he had heard from Marion.
"There are ways to defend yourself without using weapons," said Marion. "And besides, it's only one in five convoys that are attacked."
"Oh goodie," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm.
"Now just complete this hideous picture for us," spoke David nervously. "Exactly what kind of dinosaurs are we likely to encounter?"
"Tyrannosaurs Rex of course," replied Marion plainly.
"Of course," said David in sarcasm.
'This is gonna be a long trip,' thought Tabitha quietly to herself.
After that nothing else was said as the Brach's continued their trek across the plains, before they reached the boarder of the Rainy Basin. Tabitha tensed as she looked around at the dense trees of the Rainy Basin. Shorty, who had woke up from his nape, also became tense when he sensed some distress going through his friend's body. He glanced around in worry when he realized where they were. Darkness began to fall as the Brach's walked half way through the misty jungles of the Rainy Basin. They suddenly came to a complete stop as they let out uneasy groans and roars.
"What's going on?" asked David as he and the others looked around in confusion. "Why are we stopping?"
"It's the Brach's. Something's scaring them," said Marion.
The bus driver dropped a rope ladder over the side of Brach and began to climb down it. The half-siblings watched in confusion as to what the Bus Driver was doing.
"Where's he going?" asked David.
Tabitha stood up with Shorty on her shoulders as she looked towards the forest of the Rainy Basin. She saw a large group of trees lying on the ground as if something had crashed through and knocked them down.
"What is it?" asked Karl curiously.
"Tyrannosaurs," voiced Marion.
Tabitha gulped before she followed her half-brothers and Marion down the rope ladder along with the rest of the bus occupants. Once on the ground the group followed the Bus Driver, Padfoot, and Marion through the jungle, while Tabitha looked down at the three toed footprints that had been made in the mud.
"These droppings are fresh," said Padfoot as he looked at the footprints. "And the tracks, there are hundreds of them."
"I've never seen anything like it," spoke Marion as she gazed down in bewilderment at the tracks. "Tyrannosaurs never hunt in herds."
"These ones did," said Padfoot.
"Which only means big trouble for us," voiced Tabitha to herself.
She quickly stopped for a second when she noticed a set of footprints that were out of place. The footprints that Tabitha was looking at had four toes instead of three, and were slightly larger than the Tyrannosaurs footprints. Tabitha bent down to get a closer look as she examined the footprint carefully, before her half-brothers and Marion came up to her, wondering why she had stopped before noticing the footprint as well.
"What is that?" asked David nervously.
"I don't know, but I got a feeling that the Tyrannosaurs aren't the only predators living within the Rainy Basin." Tabitha answered as she looked up at Marion and her half-brothers nervously.
Marion turned to look at Padfoot with a worried expression upon her face. "There's a small outpost at the edge of the jungle. We've got to make sure they're safe, come on."
Tabitha stood up and began to follow the group when Shorty let out a whimper as he stared around at the forest fearfully. Tabitha gently took Shorty off her shoulders and held him close to her chest.
"Shh…it's alright," voiced Tabitha as she gently stroked Shorty's back before she began to follow after the group.
Unknown to Tabitha, she was being watched by a pair of blue/green eyes that studied her with a look of curiosity, while it hid within the darkest parts of the forest. Another thing that Tabitha didn't notice was that there was another footprint within the mud, which was half hidden underneath a few fallen branches. The footprint wasn't that of a human or dinosaur, but a paw of a creature that looked slightly human.
The walk through the jungle was quiet as the sky grew darker, both as night fell and as storm clouds began to gather within the sky. It wasn't long until the group came to where the outpost was, but what they saw was something that they weren't expecting. Before the group was a destroy and abandoned village. A few of the buildings were smashed into pieces with a few houses slightly burned by fires, which had gone out long before the group came.
"Oh boy," muttered Tabitha fearfully as she, and the group journeyed closer towards wreckage.
"What's happened here? Where is everybody?" spoked Marion as she glanced around at the wreckage around them.
The group split apart to see if they could find any survivors before Marion stopped in her tracks, and looked down at a broken, black stone that was lying on the ground.
"Look," said Marion as she picked up one of the pieces of the broken rock and began to examine it.
"What is that?" asked Karl as he and his half-siblings gathered around Marion to get a better look at the strange rock.
"Is it some kind of precious gem or something?" asked Tabitha as she stared at the rock in confusion.
A look of horror came over Padfoot's face when he saw the rock. "The sunstone has failed."
"What's a sunstone?" asked David curiously.
"It's our source of power," explained Marion. "It keeps the Outposts and outer settlements safe. This one's dead."
Tabitha frowned in confusion at how a small stone like the one Marion was holding could keep an outpost safe from Tyrannosaurs. Tabitha then went stiff when she suddenly heard a loud rumble along with Marion, Shorty and Padfoot.
"What happened to it?" asked Karl, not hearing the rumble.
"Quiet," said Marion as everyone grew still.
Marion knelt down and put her ear to the ground with Padfoot mimicking her movements. Tabitha placed Shorty on her right shoulder before she also knelt down, but instead of putting her ear to the ground she placed her right hand firmly down upon the earth. Tabitha could faintly feel a soft vibration going through the ground, and frowned before she stood up, along with Marion and Padfoot.
"What's going on?" asked David.
"I'm not sure David," answered Tabitha with a shrug as she turned to look at her brother. "But I thought I felt a vibration going through the ground just now."
"It must have been the thunder," said Marion as she looked towards Padfoot. "We should get back to the Brach's."
"We can't" said Padfoot. "The next outpost is more than five hours away. The Brach's will never carry us through the storm."
"Well that's just peachy," muttered Tabitha in sarcasm as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Then we'll have to find shelter here," said Marion.
"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea," said Tabitha as she nervously looked at Marion. "What if the Tyrannosaurs come back?"
"We don't have much of a choice here Tabby," spoke Karl firmly.
Tabitha sent her older half-brother a glare when he called her by her nickname. Tabitha wasn't fond of the nickname that Frank had bestowed upon her when he had taken her in. So if anyone ever called her 'Tabby', they would wind up getting their heads bitten off, along with a getting a good hard punch in the shoulder.
"Don't call me Tabby!" exclaimed Tabitha firmly as she glared at Karl. "Unless you're looking for a good whack upside the head?"
Karl only frowned at Tabitha before he and his half-siblings followed after Padfoot and Marion to a building that wasn't destroyed. Once inside, Marion and the half-siblings made themselves comfortable, while Padfoot went back outside to tell the other passengers about the situation. Marion was preparing some food, while David and Karl sat on one of the beds within the room. Tabitha sat on another bed with Shorty curled up on her lap as he slept without a care in the world.
"Would you like something to eat?" offered Marion.
"That'd be great," said David when he realized that he and his half-siblings haven't eaten anything all day.
"I could eat anything at this point," spoked Tabitha as Shorty lifted his head up at the mention of food.
"Yeah, I'm starving," said Karl as he stood up to look at Marion, "any chance of a stake?"
Marion stopped what she was doing as she turned to look at Karl in confusion. Karl decided to try something else.
"A burger or some chicken?" asked Karl.
Marion stared at Karl in disbelief. "You want a bird, to eat?"
Tabitha looked at Marion curiously with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you guys eat meat around here?"
"We only eat fruits and vegetables in Dinotopia," answered Marion as she pointed down to the food that she was preparing. "Do you eat meat?"
"My mother always told me to never lie so I have to say yes," replied Tabitha with a small smile. "But my mother also told me that I have to eat my greens as well. So I'm not really against eating fruits and vegetables as long as it gives me a health body."
Marion gave a small smile back at Tabitha showing that she understood before she looked over at David.
"And you, do you eat meat as well?" asked Marion.
David grew nervous at Marion's question and quickly lied. "Me? No, no I'm a strict vegetarian."
Karl rolled his eyes at the lie his brother had come up with before picking up a strange fruit from the table. Marion walked up to David with a plate filled with green apple slices. David thanked Marion before Tabitha, with Shorty riding on her shoulders, walked up and took a couple pieces of the fruit off from the plate. Tabitha held one of the apple pieces up to her little friend. Shorty sniffed at the fruit curiously before gently taking it from Tabitha's fingers, and began to chewed on it. Karl took a bite out of the strange fruit he was holding, and cringed at the taste as he pulled the fruit away from his mouth.
"Oh...it's bitter," said Karl with a frown.
"You're supposed to peel it first." Marion informed him before she walked off to sit at one of the tables to eat her own meal.
"I see you haven't lost your touch Karl," said David with a smirk, while Tabitha and Shorty laughed at Karl.
Karl only glared at his half-siblings before walking off to talk with Padfoot. Tabitha and David looked at each other before they booth let out a quiet chuckle. The people within the building began to settle in for the night, while the half-siblings, Marion and Padfoot stayed awake for a little while longer. Tabitha was sitting at one of tables with David and Marion, while Shorty laid on top of the table's surface. They all watched in amusement as Karl taught Padfoot some fancy handshake from 'their' world, while Tabitha gently stroked Shorty's back.
"Karl has a restless spirit," said Marion as she observed Karl for a while before looking at Tabitha and David. "Has he always been this way?"
"I guess so," replied David with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've never really spent this much time with him."
"You're brothers, but you don't live together?" asked Marion in confusion.
"No, we hardly ever see each other," said David before he began to tell Marion everything about himself and Karl. "My father, he led a very active social life. Karl and I were born just a few months apart, while Tabitha was born a year apart from us, but we all didn't grow up together."
"Well…until I had to live with both Frank, that's the name of our father, and Karl," spoke Tabitha as she stopped petting Shorty, while a frown of distaste appeared on her face. "I didn't have a very good relationship with either of them, because the two of them are so alike, and Frank left my mother after he found out that she was pregnant with me. I was forced to live with them after my mother…died from a deadly disease that infected her lungs."
Shorty lifted his head up to look at Tabitha, curious as to why she stopped petting him. He saw the sad expression upon her face before he gently nuzzled his head against one of her hands. Tabitha blinked when she came out of her thoughts at the feeling of Shorty nuzzling her hand before she smiled. She gently began to stroke Shorty's head with him letting out a soft purr in the process.
"In the end I never connected with them," continued Tabitha with a sad smile on her face. "Karl was always the type of guy who would skip school or quickly drop out of clubs that he signed up for. Frank tried to bond with me, but after what happened between him and my mother I didn't want anything to do with him. David was the only real person that I was able to connect with…somewhat. We don't argue very much and we've never really hanged out very much either. Yet we have a bit of respect for each other."
"And I have to admit that you can be a little stubborn at times," added David with a smirk.
Tabitha playfully stuck her tongue out at her half-brother, while Marion gave out a small chuckle at their antics before a sad frown came over her features.
"I'm sorry about your father David," spoke Marion sadly before she looked over at Tabitha. "And I'm sorry about your mother Tabitha. She must have been a remarkable woman to have raised you all by herself."
Tabitha and David glanced over at Marion as small smiles appeared on their faces.
"Thank you," said David.
Tabitha only nodded her head at Marion before smiling down at Shorty, as her little friend nuzzled his head against her hand once again to comfort her. Suddenly, everyone heard a couple of loud screeching and chirping sounds outside as Karl and Padfoot walked up to the table to stand with David, Marion and Tabitha. Shorty let out a hiss as he became tense when he heard the creatures that had created the noise outside.
"Do you hear that?" asked Karl.
"They're harmless," answered Marion calmly, "creatures of the Rainy Basin."
Tabitha frowned as she listened to the noises that the creatures were making. She felt a sense of dread going through her before looking down at Shorty as he seemed to shrink in on himself in fear.
"Well something is making them panic," said Karl.
"Something is making me panic," added David nervously.
"You aren't the only one," said Tabitha as she gathered Shorty up in her arms, and held him to her chest.
"We should all try and get some sleep," said Marion after a moment of silence.
With that, everyone went to their respective beds and settled in for the night. Throughout the night, Tabitha cuddled Shorty close to her chest so that her little friend could feel comforted by her presences. Tabitha was sleeping peacefully within her bed before she quickly sat up. She had been jolted awake by a loud rumbling sound that vibrated through the floor. Her sudden movement had also startled Shorty awake as well. Tabitha bit the bottom of her lip as she looked around the room to see that everyone was still asleep. But David soon woke up as well when he also heard the same rumbling sound through the floor. Tabitha and David looked at one another as Shorty quickly crawled up onto Tabitha's shoulders.
"Did you hear that?" whispered David nervously.
Tabitha only nodded her head before she quickly jumped out of bed, and made her way over to Karl, along with David, while making sure not to wake anyone else up.
"Karl," whispered Tabitha once she reached her half-brother's bed and began to shake him awake. "Wake up, come on!"
"What, what is it now?" grumbled Karl in a tired voice.
"Didn't you hear that?" asked Tabitha impatiently.
"Hear what?"
"We swear that we heard something," whispered David as he knelt beside Karl's bed. "There was like a rumble coming through the floor."
Karl let out a groan of annoyance. "Just go back to bed you two."
Tabitha frowned at Karl before Shorty let out a whimper as he huddled down on Tabitha's shoulders in fear. Tabitha stood up and walked around the room for a moment, before Karl was startled awake by the same loud sound that David and Tabitha had heard just a few moments ago.
"Now were you able to hear that?" questioned Tabitha with a glare.
Karl slowly stood up from his bed, with David standing up as well. "Let's check it out."
The half-siblings slowly made their way towards one of the windows as Karl looked outside to see what was causing the noise. Tabitha and David stood back as they wait to hear what Karl would say, but after a tense moment David asked.
"What? Can you see anything?"
Karl only frowned before he turned to look back at Tabitha and David with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Nah, nothing but jungle out there," replied Karl.
Tabitha frowned as she watched her two half-brothers walk away from the window. She walked over to the window to see if she could spot anything out there. Tabitha didn't listen to her brothers' conversation as she stared intently out through the window at the jungle for a while. Lightning flashed across the sky and for a moment she thought she saw something moving among the trees. It disappeared after that, but Tabitha couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen. That was when Tabitha heard a female voice shouting inside her head.
"Hurry, run! They're coming!"
Tabitha was started for a moment, but quickly turned towards her brothers and shouted loudly for everyone to hear her.
"Wake up, we've got to get out of here now!" exclaimed Tabitha.
Marion and Padfoot shot up from their beds in surprise, while David and Karl looked at their sister in confusion. That was when chaos erupted within the building. After Tabitha's outburst, the ceiling within the building came crashing down on them, which had been caused by a giant three toed foot. The foot was accompanied by a loud roar as everyone jumped out of the way from being crushed by the owner of the foot.
"Outside, run!" shouted Marion as everyone quickly shot out of the building.
The other passengers, who had heard the commotion, quickly ran out of their shelters as well. Tabitha and her brothers followed Marion as she led them to one of the broken down buildings.
"Quickly, over here!" shouted Marion.
The foursome quickly pressed their backs against the wall to catch their breath. They remained quiet, along with Shorty as he sat tensely upon Tabitha's shoulders. Tabitha watched in horror when she saw the giant mouth of a tyrannosaurs through the large crack of the destroyed building. Nobody moved as two other tyrannosaurs wandered around the destroyed outpost in search for the passengers. Suddenly there was a loud roar as the tyrannosaurs knocked down the building that Marion and the half-siblings were hiding in. The foursome quickly got out of there and started to run for their lives. One of the other Tyrannosaurs spotted them and gave chase, determined not to lose their next meal.
"Keep going!" shouted David.
"Run as fast as you can!" yelled Tabitha.
The foursome pushed their legs to the limit as they tried to escape their pursuer, but Marion soon tripped and fell to the ground. Tabitha and her half-brothers quickly stopped in their tracks as they turned in horror to see one of the tyrannosaurs standing over Marion with a hungry look within its eyes.
"Marion!" shouted Karl.
Tabitha quickly handed Shorty over to David before she ran back to where Marion laid paralyzed with fear on the ground.
"Tabitha no!" shouted David.
Tabitha didn't hear her half-brother as she quickly snatched up a large thick stone from the ground, before creating a wide berth around the Tyrannosaurs. Tabitha quickly chucked the stone at the dinosaur, which hit the Tyrannosaurs direct in the left eye. The meat eater let out a roar of pain before it turned its head towards Tabitha in anger.
"Hey, ugly, over here!" shouted Tabitha as she taunted the Tyrannosaurs. "Come and get me you over grown reptile!"
The Tyrannosaurs let out a roar of anger before it began to run after Tabitha, who quickly turned towards the jungle of the Rainy Basin. Tabitha panted as she ran for her life, while the Tyrannosaurs chased her towards one of the thicker parts of the forest.
'That's right, follow me you stupid lizard,' thought Tabitha as she neared her destination.
But she quickly stopped in her tracks when another one of the Tyrannosaurs cuts her off from escaping. Tabitha froze in fear as she stared up at the creature that was now going to kill her. The Tyrannosaurs let out a snarl as it got ready to lunged forward to snap its jaws down on Tabitha. But it never got the chance as out of nowhere a loud whistling sound suddenly echoed throughout the air. The loud noise made the Tyrannosaurus pause for a second before it looked up in confusion. Then, without warning, a medium sized blue ball of fire appeared from out of the sky, and struck the Tyrannosaurus that was going to eat Tabitha in the side. Upon impact the ball of fire exploded with a bang. The Tyrannosaurus let out a cry of pain before it fell to the ground with a thud. The other Tyrannosaurs that had been chasing Tabitha stood in shock at what had happened. The same whistle sounded again as another blue ball of fire struck the Tyrannosaurs in the side of its head. The same result happened as the second Tyrannosaurs also fell to the ground. Tabitha stood where she was as she stared in utter astonishment at what had just happened. She quickly got her wits together and ran back to her brothers and Marion. David quickly pulled his half-sister to his side as they all looked at the Tyrannosauruses that fell to the ground. Marion stood with the group as she watched in shock, and confusion at what had just happened before her eyes. Karl, David and Tabitha also stared, while Shorty hopped onto Tabitha's shoulder as he let out small chirps, and hisses to voice his own confusion. Weakly, the two tyrannosauruses slowly staggered to their feet, and the group saw the chard skin where the balls of fire have impacted. The Tyrannosauruses looked up towards the sky in fear and confusion. Suddenly a giant winged dinosaur flew out of the sky and zipped between the two Tyrannosauruses. The Tyrannosauruses let out roars of anger as they snapped at the winged dinosaurs that flew close to their jaws. Tabitha watched the winged dinosaur in amazement, before it was accompanied by many more winged dinosaurs that flew around the Tyrannosauruses.
"What on earth…"voiced Tabitha.
Shorty chirped from her shoulder as the two of them gazed up at the creatures in awe and confusion. Marion smiled when she saw the winged dinosaurs flying above them before she spoke to the half-siblings.
"Don't worry," she said with reassurance. "They're Skybax. They're here to help us."
"Skybax?" echoed Tabitha in confusion.
She continued to stare up at the winged dinosaurs for a bit before she noticed that there were people riding on the dinosaurs' backs. The winged dinosaurs continued to dive-bomb the tyrannosauruses for a while until the carnivores were overwhelmed, and began to run out of the abandoned outpost. Once all of the tyrannosauruses ran back into the underbrush of the Rainy Basin, one of the winged dinosaurs began to fly down from the sky. It landed on the ground six feet away in front of the three half-siblings and Marion. The rider dismounted from the winged dinosaur, and walked up to the group with the visor of his helmet pushed up to reveal his face.
The rider was wearing a red uniform with armor attached to his back, and Tabitha saw that the man was dark skinned. She could only guess that the rider was African-American and that he must be in his thirties. The man's face was firm and he held an aura of authority within his stance.
"I am Oonu," spoke the man in a monotone voice. "Squadron leader of Skybax corps."
"I think you've just saved our lives," said David as he let Tabitha stepped a few inches away from him.
"Yes, this time you were lucky," said Oonu firmly.
"Lucky or not, you still came by at the nick of time to save all of us." Tabitha said as she turned to look behind her to stare at the passengers, who had all survived the T-Rex attack, before turning back to look at Oonu. "Otherwise we all would have been a midnight snack for those Tyrannosauruses."
Oonu turned to look at Tabitha as he gave her a firm nod before he turned to stare at the rest of the passengers.
"I'm going to recommend this bus survives be suspended until further notice," said Oonu.
Karl was staring at the large winged dinosaur that was waiting for his partner in awe and began to walk towards it.
"We cannot guarantee the safety of the passengers…you, stop" said Oonu as he stopped Karl from approaching the winged dinosaur. "No one, but a rider ever approaches a Skybax. These are not, tame birds. If you value your life, stand back."
Karl quickly stood back beside Marion and his half-siblings, before Oonu continued speaking to them.
"I will provided you with an aerial escort for the rest of your journey," finished Oonu and he began to take a step back when Marion spoke.
"What happened to everybody here?" she asked.
"We've rescued the rest of the staff earlier just before the storm broke out," answered Oonu solemnly. "But three people and their triceratops patrol are still missing. As yet we've had no sightings…I fear they are dead."
Tabitha sadly frowned at this information as she looked at Shorty, who let out a sad purr as he turned to glance at her as well.
'Those pour guys,' thought Tabitha. 'The Tyrannosauruses must have gotten to them before the Skybax riders could help them.'
Oonu than spoke again with firmness in his voice. "Okay, let's go!"
Everyone within the bus group began to make their way back to the Brach's with the hope of not seeing those Tyrannosauruses again, but Tabitha's thoughts weren't on the Tyrannosauruses. Her thoughts were on the blue balls of fire, which had just saved her from the two carnivores that had almost made a meal out of her.
'But…where did those two blue balls of fire come from?' thought Tabitha to herself.
Tabitha paused in her walking to look up towards the sky from where the fireballs had come from. For a moment, she thought she saw some kind of black shadow flying through the clouds. It almost looked like one of the dinosaur birds that had saved her and the other passengers a few moments ago. But before she could get a good look at it the shadow disappeared into the storm clouds. Shorty let out a chirp as he curled himself around Tabitha's neck before nuzzling against her cheek.
'Just what is going on here?' thought Tabitha once again before she heard her half-brothers calling for her.
Tabitha quickly ran after the group as they all headed back to the Brachiosauruses, not knowing that she was once again being watched by the same pair of eyes again. The owner of those eyes watched Tabitha intently for a moment before they disappeared into the darkness of the night.
To be continued
So just to let you all know, dragons aren't going to be the only beings that will be in this story. But I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you all just yet. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what will happen next.
White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!