Revenge
Chapter 17: Pact
David and Marion sprinted as fast as they could. Heedless of the trees and bushes in their way they pushed on.
"I think we lost the T-rexs," David gasped between his laboured breathing.
Both of them stopped as Marion and David both tried to catch their breaths.
"Close shave," Marion wheezed as she leaned against a tree for support.
"I'll say."
They stared at their alien surrounding. Tall trees towered over them their semi-translucent leaves dappling the forest floor with bright spots of emerald green as the sun shone through them forming spears of light whenever they managed to get past the canopy above.
David looked around trying to get his bearing. But everything was unfamiliar to him. All the trees and bushes looked the same. With a sickening feeling in his stomach he realised they were lost in T-rex territory.
Marion looked at him as he stared back at her. Both of them had a shocked look on their face.
"Uh oh..."
26 was panicking as Karl hugged her tighter to his chest murmuring soothing words to her. Lief ran beside them, seeing as there was no other choice Karl followed him.
"Where are we going?" Karl shouted at the young bus 'driver'.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Lief yelled back.
"Great... just great..." Karl muttered.
With the T-rexs' roaring still ringing in their ears they sprinted on.
Marion and David froze as they heard something crash through the forest.
"What is it?" David murmured.
Marion knelt down and put her ear to the ground.
"It's not a T-rex," she whispered half to herself, "Too quiet."
David glanced around looking for a heavy branch. Weapons weren't approved of at Dinotopia but as David saw it, it was better to fight then just stand here and get eaten.
Seeing one he picked it and tested its weight. Smiling grimly he hefted it up ready to swing at the intruder.
"STOP!" Marion yelled as David swung.
Lief ducked instinctively as the branch whizzed past his head just missing him by centimetres. Marion breathed a sigh of relief as Lief glared at him.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"Sorry," David apologised as he dropped the branch.
"Fancy seeing you here," a familiar voice drawled.
"You made it," David greeted his brother.
Karl smiled and shrugged.
"Running away from T-rexs. What else is new around here?"
Marion interrupted looking around worriedly.
"Where's Cherry?"
Cherry watched in horror as Songcall whipped her armoured tail around. The T-rex roared in pain as the ironclad tail slammed into its ribs. The other T-rexs closed in hissing and spitting at the young saltasaurus. Cherry felt helpless in the face of these gigantic carnivores. Songcall swung her tail around warningly.
'Leave them be!' a commanding voice roared.
The pack snarled at them and backed off drifting back into the forest. Cherry breathed a small sigh of relief as she clutched at Songcall's pillar-like legs weakly.
"Who was that?" Cherry called up to Songcall.
Songcall sniffed and swung her tail around restlessly.
'I do not know,' she said tightly.
Cherry patted the saltasaurus's leg comfortingly knowing the reason for her behaviour.
"You did great," she reassured Songcall, "the T-rexs are gone."
'But Lief and the others have disappeared,' Songcall concluded sorrowfully.
"We'll find them."
The forest burst into confused chatter as the forest's residents reacted to the high-pitched screech that resounded through the forest echoing through the trees.
"What was that?" Cherry murmured looking around her eyes wide with shock.
Songcall stood silently as another screech reached them. Cherry gasped in shock as her mind managed to grasp what the screeching was trying to tell her.
'HELP! HELP!'
Marion felt the hair on the back of her neck rise as the screech continued to filter through the forest.
Karl and David stood and listened as Lief paced around nervously.
"Sounds like a infant T-rex," he murmured.
Karl and David glanced at each other as 26 whimpered. A T-rex's attachment to its child was legendary. David glanced around at the dense foliage half expecting to see a T-rex come crashing out from the forest.
"I think it's time we left," Karl spoke up.
"We can't!" Marion protested, "What about Cherry and Songcall?"
"There's only one thing to do," everybody turned to Lief. The young boy's face was pale and he was sweating heavily.
"We've got to find them... fast."
'HELP! HELP!'
Compelled by the distress in that voice Cherry took a step forwards.
'STOP! Don't move!' Songcall yelled at her.
Cherry felt like she was in a trance. She seemed to have no control over what she did. She knew she was moving but she couldn't help it. Slowly step by step she moved towards the voice.
'CHERRY!' Songcall yelled trying to block her way with her huge bulk.
Cherry merely climbed over Songcall's armoured tail and plunged into the trees. With a sigh of frustration Songcall took off after her.
Cherry felt as though she had just waken up from a deep sleep. She blinked drowsily and peered at her surrounding. Hurriedly she closed her eyes again wishing she really was sleeping and this was all a dream.
'Human...' a menacing voice spat.
Cherry forced herself to open her eyes. Five T-rexs peered down at her their lips peeled back revealing a row of vicious black teeth. The stench of death drifted out from the jagged gaps between each one. Cherry stood petrified, her numb mind trying to process what she was seeing and hearing.
'She is of no use to us,' a cold, domineering voice commanded.
Cherry caught a glimpse of a large T-rex as the others advanced on her their footsteps causing the earth to shake. She was surrounded by a ring of vicious killers. But yet she did not feel fear, she felt peaceful and calm. She knew she ought to be screaming or weeping by now but she stood perfectly composed her emerald eyes meeting the cold gaze of the large T-rex.
"So what you're just going to eat me up?" she said coolly, "Somebody called for help and I'm not leaving until I find out who."
The forest was silent as Cherry mentally kicked herself. She was stupid, utterly and completely stupid. She had to open her big mouth and make the situation worse. She may as well yell at them to eat her.
'Aren't we a brave one?' one of the T-rexs chuckled nastily, 'Bravery won't save you now.'
Cherry braced herself waiting for two rows of sharp teeth to reduce her to bloody shreds. Nothing. She opened her eyelids slightly. The larger T-rex looked at her thoughtfully.
'Brave but foolish,' the T-rex exploded into a hideous string of growls and grunts.
Laughter. The T-rex was laughing at her. Shouldn't they be eating her right now?
'I like courage. Perhaps you can help us...'
The whole pack of T-rexs stiffened as the sound of clanking reached their ears. Cherry cocked her head and frowned in confusion. The noise grew louder as the T-rexs faced the forest a growl of warning forming in their throats.
'CHERRY! RUN!' a familiar voice screamed.
Cherry sighed in relief as an enraged armoured saltasaurus burst into the opening swinging her tail around, ready to do battle.
'RUN!' Songcall screamed.
"Don't worry," Cherry said reassuringly, "I think we're safe... for now."
The saltasaurus stared at her, dumfounded.
'What?'
"How on earth did you manage fall in there?"
Cherry peered over the side of the ravine and stared into the grumpy face of a juvenile T-rex. The T-rex growled at her and snapped its jaws together.
'How do we get her out?' Songcall questioned.
Cherry stood and thought for a while. She wondered if it was even possible to get the young T-rex out. But she had to. Her and Songcall's life depended on it.
The T-rex leader had promised to spare her life if she managed to rescue his daughter from a ravine she had so foolishly fallen into. Cherry peered down at Swiftfoot and grimaced seeing the steep slopes of the ravine. Dragging her out was not an option even if she could drag the one-tonne dinosaur. Perhaps a crane... Cherry laughed at herself mentally. A crane... she seriously doubted that Dinotopia had even develop cranes. She glanced at Songcall to see if she had any ideas.
Cherry smiled. Maybe there was a crane she could use...
'I'm not sure about this,' Songcall called down nervously at Cherry who had joined Swiftfoot in the ravine.
Cherry ignored her as she continued to tie a kind of net with the ropes she had in her hands.
Using a large sturdy branch as a lever, she somehow managed to half roll Swiftfoot onto the net she had fashioned. She ignored Songcall and motioned for her start lifting. Once again she blessed the person who had enough common sense to put rope in Songcall's packs. Fashioning a kind of noose with the rope Cherry had managed to wrap it securely around the saltasaurus's neck without strangling her and with her very limited skills Cherry had managed to create a net in which Swiftfoot can be carried in.
In short Cherry was using Songcall as a crane. Grunting with exertion the young dinosaur got to work slowly raising her neck. Inch by inch Swiftfoot was raised out of the ravine.
"Steady. Steady... now let her down!" Cherry called, "You're doing great!"
Songcall backed up slightly and lowered her neck depositing a meek Swiftfoot onto the forest floor. The leader of the T-rex pack lowered his head and poked his daughter with his snout.
'Maybe that'll teach you not to wander off,' he scolded.
Swiftfoot remained silent still sulking about her accident. Her father sighed as Cherry climbed her way out of the ravine.
'You have saved my daughter,' the T-rex said humbly, 'I am eternally in your debt.'
Cherry stared up at the massive carnivore in shock.
"Umm... what's you... your name?" she stammered nervously as the full extent of what the T-rex's comment hit her.
'Gar-en-dor-oca,' the T-rex replied in his natural tongue, which was a long string of growls and roars.
The clearing burst into saurian laughter as Cherry attempted to pronounce it. She gave up after she developed a sore throat.
"I think I'll call you something else," she said hoarsely, "How about... Jaws."
Whilst the T-rex and the infamous movie shark had nothing in common but Cherry thought it was a fitting name seeing the dinosaur's immense jaws.
'Jaw... Jaws...' the T-rex repeated the name over and over again trying it out, 'A fitting name for one such as me.'
"My name is Cherry," she smiled up at Jaws, "this is Songcall."
Songcall sniffed disdainfully as all the T-rex's head swivelled round to look at her.
"I need your help," Cherry began.
'I am in your debt,' Jaws repeated.
"Good, I need to find my friends."
Lief and 26 was the first to sense the danger.
"Go into the trees and hide!" Lief hissed.
It was too late. The trees shook as the group stood rooted to the spot hoping against hope that whatever it was would go away. No luck. The sound of T-rex growls reached them as the carnivores neared.
Karl felt his heart skip a beat as a huge T-rex burst from the forest. It lowered its head and sniffed them carefully.
"SONGCALL!"
Everybody whirled around as more T-rexs appeared behind them. Lief almost cried with relief as he ran to his saltasaurus partner and hugged her leg tightly.
"Well, well, well what do we have here?"
"CHERRY!?!"
"This is Waterfall City?"
"Here it is," Marion replied simply.
"Wow."
Cherry tried to take in the scene before her. Perched on the top of a giant network of roaring waterfalls stood a city whose beauty rivalled any other city on earth. The architecture was different from any Cherry had seen but its beauty was flawless. The whole city seemed to be floating on an ethereal cloud of mist.
'It is here we leave you,' Jaws growled.
Cherry smiled at her newfound friend and patted his snout.
"Til next we meet," she told him from her seat on Songcall's back.
'Til next we meet,' Jaws said gravely.
"And don't fall into any ravines whilst I'm gone!" Cherry called to Swiftfoot.
Swiftfoot sniffed, not wanting to be reminded of her accident. Jaws laughed at his daughter's disdain as he returned back to his forest kingdom.
'Til next we meet!'