Chapter Twenty-Three: Lava and Claw-Hands
Remy stretched. Last night had been a surprisingly decent sleep. The air hadn't been too warm, and Littlefoot was as comfortable as the pillow she slept on at home. She was the first to wake. Streaks of sunlight colored the lightening sky. Glad she woke by dawn, Remy climbed to her feet. The girl refilled her water canteen in the oasis and magically called the nearest tree to drop a few fruits. She might have brought rations, but fresh fruit was far better than the dried meat and roots she had packed in her hiking bag.
As she was digging into her meal, Littlefoot rose from his slumber. He sleepily blinked at her. The sleep in his russet eyes immediately vanished when he saw the three slumbering sharp-teeth. He scrambled to his feet, tail instinctively lashing until his memories caught up to him. He and Remy had just given the hatchling sharp-tooth to her parents and had stayed the night. Still, it was heart racing to wake up next to two killer giants.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Littlefoot lumbered to the nearest bush and began to eat. Remy stayed where she was, still eating her fruit. She watched Chomped-Dragonfly and Shane sleep, a little surprised that the young man hadn't woken up earlier than her. He appeared peaceful while he slept on the sharp-tooth's flank. Remy wondered what he had been doing all his life after high school. Was he just living his life in the dinosaur realm? Why? Remy may love the magical world, but she didn't know how long she could stay before she missed her friends, family, and comfort of her home realm.
Remy's thoughts moved to the two adult bone-crushers. They were just as peaceful as Shane, happy to have their missing daughter back. Cricket-Chirp was curled against her father's side. Remy couldn't see Cicada-Shriek but assumed she was sleeping on the other side of her mother.
The girl finished her breakfast just as Chomped-Dragonfly and Shane started to wake. She let them stretch as she checked on Littlefoot's progress of devouring his breakfast. It sometimes took him a while to eat his fill, being such a giant dinosaur. He was just about finished, though, the plants grown by the Shard-fueled oasis more nutritious and filling.
"Should we get going?" Remy asked, hand on Littlefoot's shoulder. "It'd be nice to get to the Great Valley before midday. I should also think about heading home in a few days too." She twisted her gold and quartz bracelet.
"Yeah. I'll let you say goodbye." He gestured to the family of carnivores. "I'll wait." It was clear that Littlefoot was still uncomfortable being close to the large sharp-teeth.
"Thanks." Remy left his side and approached Chomped-Dragonfly and Shane. She told them that she and Littlefoot would be going soon but that she wanted to say goodbye. Chomped-Dragonfly smiled and waved, hoping to see her again. Remy approached the slowly waking adults, patting Cricket-Chirp's head. The yellow-green hatchling chirped, following it with a soft trill. Remy then walked around the adults, stepping up to Gentle-Aurora's other side. She opened her mouth to say goodbye to Cicada-Shriek, but the dark green feathered hatchling wasn't there.
"Cicada? Where are you?"
Remy's question immediately roused the adults. Gentle-Aurora climbed to her feet and looked around her sleeping place. There was no sign of the dark green hatchling. Quickly, Chomped-Dragonfly sniffed the ground, trying to pick up his sister's scent. He followed the trail through the wasteland and down a path between two jutting rocks.
"The trail keeps going," he called from a distance. "And it's fresh. She must have gotten up early and wanted to explore. I'll go find her." Before Chomped-Dragonfly could take another step, Shane ran to him. The young man climbed onto Chomped-Dragonfly's back. After a tense exchange of glances, Remy and Littlefoot followed them. They couldn't leave until they knew Cicada-Shriek was safe with her family.
The trail continued, weaving between large stone pillars and into shallow craters. As they walked, the earth gurgled.
Shane swore under his breath, recognizing where they were. "Sulfur pits. Don't fall in." He stared past the steam wafting from the pools of foul-smelling, boiling water. "I see her." He pointed to a dark green shape sharp against the brown of the landscape. Cicada-Shriek was chasing after something, leaping and snapping at the air.
"Come on," Shane pushed them forward as he slipped off Chomped-Dragonfly's back. Remy followed his motion. The group crouched forward into a few straggly bushes, not wanting to scare the hatchling off.
Chomped-Dragonfly froze mid-step, crouched in the straggly bush that barely concealed his bright hide. A flash of beige and grey appeared behind the hatchling. Frozen, Chomped-Dragonfly watched as the claw-hand stepped out of the foliage. The darker form of Strut was crouched in the bushes with Oz, keeping a lookout. Strut's yellow-orange eyes grew wide, and he pointed in the direction of Chomped-Dragonfly and the others just as Oz wrapped his long fingers around Cicada-Shriek.
Chomped-Dragonfly and his companions didn't need to see the claw-hands to know his sister was in danger. The shrill shriek pierced the air, loud enough to even bring her parents running. But the claw-hands knew that too. Oz clamped a hand around Cicada-Shriek's snout, silencing her shrieks. The hatchling struggled in his hands, her little claws digging into his injured hand, breaking open several of the blisters.
Hissing in pain, Oz dropped Cicada-Shriek. She hissed and lunged, latching onto his hand, her tiny teeth tearing into the already injured flesh. When Oz raised his hand, Chomped-Dragonfly lunged into action. His roar split the air. Strut screamed, and Oz froze, staring at the lavender sharp-tooth charging toward him, jaws parted and fury in his eyes.
Oz flattened himself to the ground, Chomped-Dragonfly's teeth pulling a clump of grey feathers from his back. Chomped-Dragonfly charged past Oz, unable to stop his momentum. Scrambling to his feet, Oz snatched Cicada-Shriek and ran, following his brother's dull-yellow tail feathers. Chomped-Dragonfly roared, running after them. Remy, Shane, and Littlefoot could only try and follow, much slower than the claw-hands and adolescent sharp-tooth.
"Isn't there something with those Shards that can make you go faster?" Littlefoot asked, desperate.
"No." Shane's voice was sharp as he pushed ahead of Remy. Bright blue electricity crackled across his body. The Shard on his bracelet grew brighter.
Remy stared at him, flabbergasted. "But how…" She struggled to talk as she ran. "You're faster than me. You weren't in track."
Shane either didn't hear or chose to ignore her, focused on the chase ahead of them. Remy slowed, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up with the claw-hands or Chomped-Dragonfly. But Shane kept running, his speed inhuman. He was catching up to the dinosaurs. Remy and Littlefoot hung back and watched the fight. This was Chomped-Dragonfly's sister, after all, and Shane was his companion. This was their thing to deal with.
Strut huddled against his brother's side, urging him to drop the hatchling and run, but Oz wasn't having any of it. This was his meal. The hatchling had always been his meal, and he wouldn't give up on it. It had been days since he broke into the shell of an egg, and he would never touch grass unless he was half-dead from starvation. If the egg he was going to eat had hatched, it was still the egg he was going to eat, just a few days older and no shell to break. Young flesh was just as good as the yolk of a newly laid egg.
"Ozokerite. Please. He's going to kill us. Let the hatchling go." Strut pleaded, watching as Chomped-Dragonfly and Shane slowly approached.
"We are eating this hatchling even if it's the last thing we do," Oz snarled, his amber gaze locked on the approaching pair. "We already lost our other eggs and that other hatchling. I won't lose any more food." His claws dug through Cicada-Shriek's feathers and pierced the scales beneath. "If I kill this thing, they can't do anything about it."
Oz raised the struggling hatchling, shifting his grip so that one hand was placed under Cicada-Shriek's chest, his middle finger posed in front of her throat. The deadly claw was just a twitch away from plunging into her soft neck.
Strut stared at his brother, horrified. "But…but…she's just a hatchling. We can't—"
"You've eaten hatchlings before, Strut. They just hadn't hatched yet." Oz drew back the claw, eyes still locked on Chomped-Dragonfly and Shane, who had stopped.
"It's not right." Strut shook his head, his stomach churning with the memories of broken eggs and fully formed hatchlings just days from hatching. But those hatchlings had never moved. They weren't as lively as the dark green sharp-tooth clutched in his brother's grip nor like the glowing frill-head hatchling who froze Oz's hand. "I can't…"
"What do you mean you—" Oz was cut off, knocked to the ground by Strut.
Cicada-Shriek dropped to the ground. She leaped to her feet and ran to the nearest rock, and hid behind it. The claw-hand brothers untangled themselves. Oz turned on Strut, rage burning in his amber eyes. "What were you thinking. We just lost our meal!"
Strut wasn't able to open his mouth when Chomped-Dragonfly's jaws drove the two apart. Strut stumbled back into the foliage while Oz stumbled over his feet. Burning with anger, Oz turned on the lavender sharp-tooth. Swearing in his native tongue, he lunged. His claws sliced through Chomper's snout. The sharp-tooth drew back, shaking his head.
Oz made another lunge, but Chomped-Dragonfly's human companion was upon him. The claw-hand's body seized as the bright blue electricity crackled across his body. He collapsed in a heap, unable to move as Shane straddled him, hands locked around his throat.
"Give me a reason why I shouldn't fry your heart right now?" Shane snarled, squeezing Oz's throat.
"Don't! Please! Don't!" Strut stumbled from the foliage. "He's my brother."
Shane stared back at Strut, electricity flickering from the Shard around his wrist.
"I don't know what I'd do without him," Strut continued. "He's all I have. We were kicked out of our flock. Our parents are dead, and our sister wants nothing to do with us. Please. He's my brother. Don't kill him." Strut shakily approached Shane, his claws flexing. "Or I'll...I'll have to..."
Shane frowned. Strut was more powerful than he looked. It was him, not Oz, who had given him the gash on his stomach. With fear coursing through his body, the claw-hand was unpredictable. At this position, Strut could lunge the moment Shane activated his electricity. The young man was risking his life if he did anything to the vicious male.
Slowly, Shane stood up from Oz's still stunned body. Immediately, Strut rushed to his brother's side. Oz shoved him aside as he slowly sat up. He rubbed his throat, scales bruised. His amber gaze slid to the rock that Cicada-Shriek hid behind. Remy and Littlefoot had finally reached the group and were comforting the hatchling. Oz had no hope of getting his meal now.
He turned to Shane and Chomped-Dragonfly, who stood next to his human companion, jaws parted. Oz couldn't do anything. He and his brother would have to go hungry for another night until they found another nest. His jaw clenched. It was unlikely that they would find a nest out in the barren wasteland of the Mysterious Beyond. A meal stood just out of reach. If there weren't any of the other troublesome creatures, he and his brother could finally have a meal.
"Ozzy…"
Oz turned to his brother. The fear in Strut's eyes made him sigh. "Let's go." Sending a sharp glare at the sharp-tooth and human, Oz walked away.
Strut stared after his brother, unable to believe that he was just walking away. He looked up at the pair staring him down, but they did not move. Swallowing hard, he began to follow his brother, but the ground started to shake. A roar split the air. The trees parted, revealing a set of fang-filled jaws and a scaly grey, three-toed foot.
Then those powerful jaws drove down toward Oz. Strut screamed as they clamped around Oz and lifted him into the air. Oz's screams mixed with his as he was thrashed side from side. Blood splattered. Oz's screams stopped. The claw-hand lay limp in the predator's jaws, amber eyes glazed over as they stared back at his brother. Then, the predator lifted her head, tilting her jaws to the sky. A beige tail hung from her jaws before it disappeared down her gullet.