See part one for explanation and disclaimers. I don't own 'Dinotopia', James Gurney does. Hallmark still owns the characters and I'm still not profiting from this. Hope you're enjoying this. Still recommended for teens and up for action/violence and mild language.
It was the distant roar of a T-Rex that brought Frank back to consciousness. The last thing Frank remembered was the burly dark-skinned man who clobbered him with some sort of powder and the sound of Jack calling to him…and then nothing until he'd awakened to cold, dampness, darkness, and the sounds of the forest. He became aware of his arms next---of burning from his shoulders all the way to his numb wrists, owing to the fact that he was hanging by his bound wrists at the end of a rope several feet above the ground. There was an iron grate, which covered a dark pit, in the clearing directly below him. It could only be a hunter's trap.
Also below him was Payden Borale. The Outsider crouched among the underbrush near the edge of the clearing, unmoving. Not even the cries of the nearby predators elicited a movement or a response from the man.
Frank didn't know where they were, other than that they were in the middle of the woods somewhere near (or inside) carnosaur territory. There wasn't even the glow of a sunstone here, only the moon lit the landscape. There must have been a river not far away…only far enough away that the pounding of the water wouldn't mask the sounds of approaching predators. A trail disappeared into the forest, leading in the direction of the sounds of the river. Payden stared in the direction of the river noises as if expecting someone or something to come up the trail.
"So, I guess I know who to thank for that trap that almost took off my leg," Frank growled at the Outsider. Payden didn't even twitch in response. "If you've hurt one of my kids…"
"Your children aren't my concern, Scott. It's not my way to hunt children…most of the time." Payden spoke softly, accustomed to moving through carnivore territory without detection. He would have silenced Frank with a blow to the chest, but if David Barrett was in the vicinity, the boy could follow the babblings of the off-worlder to Payden's trap.
"But you're fine with kidnapping?" Frank asked sardonically.
"A trap needs the proper bait to lure its prey. You've nothing to fear…unless you keep speaking so loudly that a predator decides to hunt you," the Outsider warned, still not moving.
What 'prey' could Payden possibly expect to catch using Frank as bait? The Outsider wouldn't have come halfway across the island to specifically abduct Scott just to lure a dinosaur---that would have been way too much work. If he wanted live bait for a carnosaur, he could have grabbed anyone on the island. If Payden wanted Frank, he had to be after something that would come after Frank…or someone.
"What prey---?" And then Scott remembered: He had told Karl about Dane's meeting with David Barrett that morning. That meeting was surely over with now, but Frank hasn't heard back from Karl. That wasn't unusual, given his relationship with his older son of late, however Karl's errand and Payden's sudden interest in Frank couldn't be coincidental. Maybe Karl ruined their plans and they were after some payback by way of his father. "Is it Karl? I told you if you hurt one of my kids, I'll…"
"And I told you, your children are not my concern."
"Then who?" Frank demanded.
The Outsider still wasn't a bit perturbed by his complaining prisoner's threats or insistence of bellowing in carnivore territory. "That is not your concern either."
"It sure the hell is if you're using me as bait!" Frank disagreed. "I have a big problem with that. Aren't you supposed to be on a submarine heading for the Razor Reef with your buddy Dane?"
There it was---Payden twitched, almost imperceptibly, in surprise. "What?" Frank grinned. "You think I can't figure out why Dane's in Gull's Bay? You want off this island as bad as I do. Personally I don't care if you both end up at the bottom of the sea---" As long as you don't take David down with you, he added to himself.
Payden now turned his head towards Frank, just a bit, keeping the trail visible from the corner of his eye. "The arrogance of the off-worlders is amazing. Not everyone on this island longs for life in your off-world land. Your 'home' is of no interest to me. I have a home already right here. I don't share your desperation to abandon this island."
"I'm only thinking of my children."
"As am I," the Outsider said. "My children are safe from the evils of your world here…the monsters here can be exterminated."
"Better living through saurian genocide? That's inhumane," Frank spat.
"Humans are predators, too. The most clever of predators. Both of your children are alive, Scott. When you've watched a scalie devour one of your children, you can speak to me of what is 'humane' and what is not." For the first time, Frank saw some emotion in the stoic Outsider. It lasted only a second, but grief darkened Borale's eyes.
There was nothing Frank could say to that. On his worst days on this island, he'd have been glad to see the dinosaurs gone. He had wished away the carnivores every time Karl had risked his life flying a mission against them. He'd seen families devastated by the loss of loved ones to the monsters of this island, and he'd sympathized with their anguish. It was a fact of life on Dinotopia that dinosaurs killed people. Even though the native population had learned to accept it as best they could, Frank knew if he lost one of his boys---especially to those predators---he would simply cease to exist, would be dead inside. He'd do anything in his power to stop that from happening…but actively, indiscriminately wiping them out as Dane and Payden were trying to do offended Frank.
"And hunting people is okay, too? You didn't go to the trouble of singling me out as bait for a dinosaur. And if you don't want Karl or Jack, who do you want? Whoever it is, I'm not going to sit here while you murder them!" Frank promised. He wished Payden were stupid enough to step closer. His hands might be tied, but Frank was sure he could do the Outsider some damage just using his legs. This guy is psycho…no wonder David ran from the pack…
…ran away and rescued Marion. She had said so. Rescued her and escaped through carnosaur territory. Through these hunting grounds. Right around the same time Gabriel Dane lost most of his hand…
Oh crap.
The brush along the trail rustled, the noise barely audible above the sounds of the river. There was also the distinct noise of feet crunching the dirt and twigs along the path. It wasn't the heavy, ground-jolting thuds of T-Rex steps; it was the light gait of a human. Frank drew a breath to shout a warning, but Payden guessed his intentions at once. In two steps, the Outsider strode over and delivered a punch to Frank's chest that knocked the wind—and any ability to speak---right out of the off-worlder. Frank could only gasp for air that wouldn't come while Payden hid behind the trees.
Moments later, even as Frank struggled not to lose consciousness, David Barrett walked into the clearing.
David looked around the clearing. Below Frank Scott was a steel gate covering one of the pits that Dane and Payden used to protect themselves from carnosaurs. A small fire burned near the pit. Beside the grate, there was a leg iron. It was meant to hold sheep and small animals in place to lure T-Rex and pteranodon into the clearing so Payden or Dane could kill the scalies. The small cuff that held small mammals had been replaced with a larger shackle…ankle sized. Obviously, Payden intended to use different bait for the carnosaurs tonight. Just out of reach of the leg shackle and chain was the lock for the grate. David was familiar with the lock. It would have two settings: The first was the weight-trigger setting, where any weight on the grate would open it. The second was the lock setting, where the grate wouldn't open even if a T-Rex stood on it, thus protecting whoever was in the pit beneath the grate.
"We missed you at the rendezvous this morning, Payden," David greeted. "Now I know why." A bone dagger was tucked into Payden's belt. Borale could draw the blade and slit Frank's throat before David could run across the clearing, so Barrett stopped where he was.
"You didn't expect forgiveness from Gabriel Dane, did you Barrett?" Payden tsked.
"No. I know---betrayal undermines authority with the pack, blah, blah, blah. I'd say kidnapping isn't your style, Payden, but is there anything that isn't your style?" David watched for any hint of movement from the larger man. "This is a lot of trouble just to kill me."
"You've caused Gabriel a lot of trouble. I tried to warn him about you. From the day I pulled you out of the sea, I knew it was a mistake bringing you into the pack."
"The weakest link, right?"
"You were never weak, Barrett. Not here…" Payden pointed to his temple. "The weak-minded can be trained. If they can't be educated, they'll become obedient through discipline…"
"Discipline as in kicking the crap out of them?"
"…but off-worlders have their own ideas. They're intractable. Untrainable. Strong in the mind. Gabriel thought you could learn the ways of the pack. I didn't. I saw in your eyes that you would never have the stomach for the pack life. You don't have a hunter's heart…a predator's heart. I tried to tell Gabriel that, but he had to find out the hard way." Payden grinned, almost in approval. "Still, I admit, you surprised me in one way---I never expected you'd have it in you to sic a T-Rex on Gabriel. Neither did he. Maybe you learned something after all. You must have—you kept yourself alive without us…until now."
"And that's why we're here? The T-Rex thing? Dane takes things too personally."
"I agree. Emotions get you killed…but look who I'm talking to, a man foolish enough to die over an old off-worlder."
"But it's real genius to abduct a dino-scout's dad just because Gabriel tells you."
Payden belly-laughed, nodding in concession. "I do miss our debates, Barrett."
"Debates? I disagree, you beat me into a pulp. Not exactly an enlightened exchange."
The outsider pulled a tightly-packed bundle of leafs from his coat and tossed it onto the fire. Green smoke with a sweet odor filled the air. "Do you remember what this is?" Payden asked.
"Brindlebar." David worked to keep his tone neutral. The leaf was a favorite of the carnosaurs. The smell of its smoke was meant to attract the T-Rex.
"You always did have a good head for botany." Payden's smile turned to a scowl in the blink of an eye. The slightest twitch of his arm was David's warning before the outsider pulled a bag of powder from his pocket and pitched it at the younger man. David dodged, his hand going into his own pocket. He withdrew an identical power bomb and hurled it at Payden. The large man sidestepped easily, and his smile returned. "You learned very well. Very well indeed. What a shame to have our lessons end here…but fitting."
"Okay, I'll bite, how so?" David asked, keeping his eyes carefully on the outsider. Behind Payden, his father was beginning to stir. David didn't want to alert Payden to that fact.
"I saved your life. Now I'll correct that mistake."
"You know you have to let the old man go, Payden. You aren't stupid enough to take on the entire dino-scout corps."
"You didn't bring them along, did you?" Payden asked, suspiciously.
David made a face. "Like they'd help me?"
Borale shrugged. "I can't be sure---you've been making some strange friends lately: Scalies, Le Sage…"
"You know how it goes---just out of the pack, needed some new friends. Figured after you and Dane, the pterosaur was a trade up." It was no fun insulting Payden—barbs just rolled off the man---but David couldn't resist, especially if it distracted the man from hurting Frank.
A T-Rex bellowed in the distance…the agitated cry David knew all to well was in response to its first sniff of brindlebar smoke. It would start seeking out of the source of the smell now. They were running out of time. He had to get Frank off that rope and into the pit before the carnosaur showed up or he was going to die right along with David. "What do you want, Payden?"
Payden pointed to the shackle. "Step in."
David didn't move. "The old man---put him in the pit first."
Frank finally found his voice. He coughed out a protest: "David, don't---"
Payden silently agreed. Without a word, he swiftly drew the dagger and sliced through the rope holding Frank. Frank dropped onto the grate, which popped open at his weight and dumped him into the pit. Payden kicked the trigger and the grate locked in place. David let out the breath he'd been holding: Frank wouldn't be able to get out until Karl came to get him, but at least he'd be safe from the predators.
Payden used the knife to point to the leg iron. "You know better than to cross me."
"Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with." David crossed over to the pit. Payden stepped back, staying out of David's reach, as the younger man put one foot into the shackle. Holding the knife ready, Payden checked to be sure the iron was secure around Barrett's leg, then produced a key and locked the shackle in place. It was painfully tight, even with David's boot between his leg and the cuff. "Happy now?"
Payden didn't look happy. He put the tip of the dagger to David's throat. "I promised Dane to leave you for the predators. He wanted you alive when they started chewing on you. I, on the other hand, hate messy endings…and I think a sacrifice like the one your making for the old man merits a more merciful death. Besides, the blood will bring the predators faster…"
David felt the blade pressing into his throat just as Karl's voice boomed, "David!"