Jurassic Park: The Broken Lives Saga by Dinohunter55
Book One
Broken Lives
Chapter 1: The Mists of Isla Sorna
The ocean mist curled and rose over rocky shores, weaved through tightly pack jungles, snaked up deep valleys, and poured over sheer cliffs. Isla Sorna lay two hundred and seven miles west of Costa Rica in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Across the island, creatures stirred. Their waking cries heralded the breaking dawn with a chorus from a time older than the island itself.
Within the misty jungles along the western side of the island moved a shape, sleek and fast. It was not alone.
Silver Claw, a velociraptor of the Western Ridge Pack, raced for his life. His long body and stiff tail weaved between trees with a fluid grace as two legs pumped to keep him moving forward. His breath came hard and fast as crimson eyes darted between potential paths, a keen mind with a hunter's practice seeing the difficult paths he would drive prey down but now avoided. He was the prey.
The ground ahead eased from pass to valley though the density of jungle changed little. Silver Claw dared not look back though he did not hear the footfalls chasing him. The rush and thrill of the hunt was lost on him as being prey tested every ounce of his fortitude like nothing else. It was easier to chase than be chased.
The jungle ahead broke into a small glade cast with the diffused orange glow of the rising sun through fog. Silver Claw rushed through waist high grass to its center and leapt onto the aged trunk of a fallen tree. He took a moment to catch his breath. He had to stop as exhaustion crept into his aching limbs.
The distant rumbling of brachiosaurus and trumpeting of parasaurolophus drew his gaze. The herds were further down the valley and had he been with his pack, he might have stalked the parasaurolophus and tried for a kill. A closer sound drew his mind to the present. Something moved in the grass, racing away from him toward the place where he entered the glade. It was small and hidden by the grass.
The urge to chase it surged fresh strength into his body but Silver Claw restrained himself with great effort. Instead, he turned and ran. The jungle swallowed him. Soon he heard the creature shriek in terror. It was a young pachycephalosaurus and it had just run into his hunter. With luck, it would distract from him but probably not for long.
A minute later, the jungle parted again but into a long trail. It was one of the roads used by the humans when they claimed the island as their own. He followed it to gain distance on his hunter. Silver Claw had never seen a human but was told what they looked like, a description that stirred something in his mind and give him a clear vision in his mind's eye of several without the need to actually see them. It was odd to him that the description of a human would cause such a reaction and not with other creatures but he never brought that up with the rest of his pack.
His pack, his family, went by the name of the Western Ridge Pack. The name was chosen for the original nesting site but time, conflict, and changing territorial boundaries of larger predators forced them further west. He was young at the time and the move was not long after the loss of his mother and siblings to another pack. The pack was larger then but split during that relocation to avoid a growing conflict over food needs. Another death, his father and the pack alpha, forced relocation to the current nesting site.
His pack survived and thrived in the new location. The area had plenty of prey and was far from the territory of other packs. He had not seen the other members of the original larger pack from before the split but heard mentions by the more far ranging members of his current pack that they yet lived in the central area of the island. He was not allowed to range too far from the nest still despite being nearly an adult. Mostly it was due to his duties watching over the nests. Since the death of his father, Silver Claw fell to the bottom of the pack ranking and was not strong enough to climb his way back up among the other members. Eating last or what was left did not help in that regard.
A dark towering shape loomed out of the fog. Silver Claw continued until the chain-link fencing appeared and he stopped at the open gate. Ahead the radio tower stuck and imposing site, nearly imposing as a brachiosaurus but far less threatening. At the base of the tower sat a series of metal boxes and pipes that lead into the large shed nearby. The door was ajar. That was new.
Silver Claw sniffed the air. He smelled the faint oily smell of the vehicle, somewhere nearby but hidden by the fog. Then, the distinct metallic tang of blood caught his attention. It was close. A disturbed area of grass caught his eye but the distinct sound of footfalls caught his attention before he could investigate.
His heart raced. He got distracted and now his hunter had caught up to him. Silver Claw raced forward and leapt behind the metal pipes and boxes where the grass grew tallest. He crouched down and stilled. Breaths came fast at first and then slowed until they were a whisper.
The air was cool but the warming rays of the rising sun brought a shift in the air that sent the dense fog curling about surfaces of everything solid. The footfalls stopped. The shrill song of a nearby bird broke the silence. A shape moved in the mists, slowly at first. Silver Claw's heart pounded in his chest.
Another velociraptor slipped from ethereal to solid as it reached the gate. It was taller than him by only a little and covered in milky white scales peppered with black spots, a distinctive cluster grouped around the base of her skull. It was a female of the same breed as him. The males of his breed had distinct blue scales with a bright blue stripe running from head to tail, paler underbelly, head quills, and reddened eye crests upon maturity while the females were white with black spots of various patterns and amber eyes. Her amber eyes met his own crimson for a moment but passed on not seeing him.
Silver Claw relaxed slightly. She sniffed the air, drawn to the same spot in the grass he noted.
She loosed a snarl, "I know you're here Silver Claw."
His heart thundered and his breathing broke from whisper to heavy. He twitched.
She tilted her head, listening. Her amber eyes fell upon the door. She hissed.
Silver Claw could only watch as she lowered into a threatening crouch with claws splayed and ready. She moved, slowly but steadily, in a curving pattern that would bring her to the blind side of the door. She would move right past him.
He had a chance.
"Come out, come out," the velociraptor cooed.
Silver Claw tensed. He got his breathing under control but not his heart. He would have one chance and only one chance. Her attention was fully on the door and that blinded her to her surroundings. It was a mistake though one that he was guilty of often. It would cost her.
The female velociraptor reached his position. Silver Claw leapt onto a metal box while he loosed his most threatening shriek. He caught her fully by surprise and she bounced while letting loose a pitiful squeal of her own. He had her.
But then the box he was standing on buckled under his weight. Silver Claw was tossed forward. He slammed into the other velociraptor. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and claws. He felt the prick of teeth on his neck and the distinct sickle claw of a velociraptor press against his inner thigh. He froze and so did she.
Silver Claw breathed hard. After a minute, the pressure against his thigh released and the jaws parted to release his neck.
"I could have killed you."
Silver Claw looked down into the hurt amber eyes of the velociraptor, his friend, Sophia. "But you didn't and I'd say the look on your face was worth it."
Hurt turned to rage and before he could blink, Sophia threw Silver Claw over and was atop him, looking down at him instead. "Was it," she whispered in his ear.
"Maybe," Silver Claw whispered. He earned a nip to his snout for that.
"I win," Sophia said.
Silver Claw looked at her dumbly for a moment before remembering their game. He was the prey of their hunt after all. "I guess you did."
He felt her weight shift until she was firmly atop him. He tried wiggling free but she hooked his neck with her clawed hands and rested her head on his. She had been doing this more frequently as of late.
"It was a good chase," Sophia said, "Better than the last few."
"Are you going to let me up?"
"Maybe," Sophia whispered.
They were silent for a while. He could feel the steady beat of her heart through his back. It was quicker than his despite the brief rest. They had known each other their whole lives though Silver Claw was few weeks older than her. She was the only egg in her clutch to survive an attack on the nests. That left her in a similar position to Silver Claw, no siblings and no other hatchlings. There had been no successful births since either. She still had the love and attention of both parents to guide her. Her mother assumed the position of pack alpha after Silver Claw's father but they prioritized the raising of their own blood over him. A little haughty and distant at times, Sophia had become increasingly attentive to him over the past few months. He did not know why.
"You smelled the blood?" Silver Claw asked.
Sophia sighed, "Yes. I think it's recent."
She released him and they both rose to investigate.
The grass lay broken in a narrow area where a body fell. It was no longer there but the blood remained. Silver Claw sniffed the air while Sophia got a closer look.
"Do you know what it was?" Silver Claw asked.
Sophia was unusually quiet for a while. "I think this was a human but I smell a velociraptor as well."
"Is that why our pack told us not to leave the nest last night?"
"Maybe, but I don't recognize the smell." Sophia stood straight and looked around. "We should get back."
"Sophia?"
"I don't think it was one of ours," Sophia whispered. Her gaze was on the surrounding jungle. "I doubt it will have gone far."
A barking sound carried on the gentle breeze. Silver Claw and Sophia both snapped their heads in the direction. It was a cry for help. The nest was under attack!