The Broken Lives Saga: Short Story Collection – Fever Dream
By Dinohunter55
"Alex," a voice whispered in the dark.
Tyrannous opened his eyes. His heart hammered and body ached. The world was fuzzy at first and then slowly came into rough focus. His breath came as a shuddering rasp and he looked around.
The world was bright. Cold grey walls surrounded him. The air was rich with a chemical tang. He did not know where he was at first but then it slowly dawned on him. He was in a human building. How did he get here?
Tyrannous tried to remember where he was and what he was doing. His mind swam with broken thoughts. He struggled to focus on any one. He closed his eyes as pain shot through his mind.
"Alex!"
Tyrannous looked around. He was in a cold grey room. It smelled earthy and strongly of damp leaves. The room was dark save a single entrance where gnarled roots partially obscured the way. Pains wracked his body and his muscles seized. Tyrannous cried out in helpless agony as his body tried to rip itself apart. His mind slipped into darkness as the pain became too much but he soon came to again as one pain subsided only for another to begin.
Tyrannous screamed!
"Alex!"
Tyrannous was in the building once more. His mind throbbed with the heavy beat of his heart.
"Alex," a voice hissed like a faint breeze.
Tyrannous snarled and looked around. There was nothing. He was in an empty hallway. He tried to scent the air but the chemical tang drowned any other scent. He shook his head to clear the smell but it only grew stronger.
Something dripped and splashed against his feet. It stung a little.
Tyrannous looked down and saw he was bleeding from several lacerations. No, it was not blood. A thick black ichor drooled from his open wounds and pooled about his feet. It reeked of the chemical tang. He saw his reflection in that black pool but the longer he stared, the more twisted it became. His mirror self lost its scales first. The green shards fell like emerald sand from his body. Next, the muscles ran like congealed blood and fat boiled away until he was not but bone. His eyes lingered a little longer but the icy blue orbs started to crack until they collapsed inward and disappeared into nothingness.
The skeleton stared at Tyrannous. The empty eye sockets held the black abyss of eternity.
His heart ached as it beat against his ribs to escape the terror and the trashing made it hard to breath.
The skeleton reached out of the black pool and sank its teeth into Tyrannous's leg.
Tyrannous screamed and kicked hard.
He was back in the dark room of earthy smells. Another creature was with him. A shadowy form stood silhouetted against the door. It howled and tried to pull away from where his sickle claw hooked through its ribs. Tyrannous obliged and ripped his claw from the creature's body.
Black ichor splashed across Tyrannous and he was back the bright room. The skeleton was broken about his feet. The black pool spread and rippled. He saw several more leering faces forming in the substance.
He had to escape.
There was a window in the hallway now. Tyrannous jumped through it. He landed hard and rolled on the ground. The faces were around him, ghostly like wisps of fog. Skeletons took form from the mist and nipped at his body. They surrounded him.
Tyrannous fought back. He sank his teeth into one and felt a tooth break against the bone. The pain was lost as several other skeletons bit at his legs. He kicked one and bones scattered across the ground only to regroup and rise again.
His body trembled. Or was it the earth itself?
Another kick sent a skeleton reeling. It broke against the ground and did not rise.
"Alex!" A voice like thunder boomed.
The skeletons broke off their attack and turned back into mists, leaving him alone.
The earth trembled.
The world was too bright for Tyrannous to see clearly. He was outside of the building, of that he was sure. But where he expected trees, he saw twisted metal towers with wiry branches and artificial leaves that smelled of chemicals and dust.
Tyrannous felt sick to his stomach at the sight. It reminded him too much of his youth.
The earth shook.
He heard the heavy steps before the creature pushed through the canopy. A massive human stepped forward. It wore a white lab coat. The other details were difficult to discern or even focus on but looked scaly. It reached for him.
Terror and rage held Tyrannous in place for only a second. He darted past the reaching hand and passed between the giant's legs. The temptation to sink his claws into the meaty thigh passed without action as he ran onward.
"Alex!" The voice growled.
Tyrannous paid the voice no attention. He knew the human was chasing him. He had to escape.
The world passed in a blur of distorted shapes and forms. The towering metal spires closed in around him. He saw great boulders that turned into deflated balls and twisting vines that became thick ropes. Several skeletons appeared and just as quickly fled his path. Yet, he still felt the heavy steps of the human behind him.
A second human appeared and reached for Tyrannous. This one wore the familiar beige of the rangers. The hand brushed his side and sent him tumbling down a hill. He landed in water and thought he would drown. The waters caressed his bottom lip. Only when he realized it was safe did he gasp for air. His whole body shivered.
At the top of the hill, the two humans met.
"Alex," one grumbled.
"Alex!" The other snarled.
Both humans looked down at Tyrannous.
Tyrannous got up and ran.
The open world of metal towers gave way to a roofless flooded hallway. One of the humans towered over the wall to his left while he heard the other stomping down the hallway to his rear. Tyrannous felt his body failing as another muscle seizure built and threatened to overwhelm him.
A vent appeared in the hallway ahead. He dared to look back. The human was nearly upon him. The reaching hand was almost able to grab hold of his tail.
"Alex!" The voice cried as Tyrannous dove into the ventilation shaft. The reaching hand brushed his tail.
Tyrannous hit a dead end but it was far enough. The reaching hand could not get him and even when one of the fingers lengthened to hook him it could not reach. The air reeked of death as the fingers splayed wide. His vision flickered and he could have sworn he saw teeth jutting from the fingers.
"Alex," The voice roared but Tyrannous was lost to the world as his body seized and pain swallowed him whole…
When Tyrannous knew the world again, it was dark, and cool, and silent. Outside the ventilation shaft, no, that was not right. It was a cave. He was in a cave. His mind ached. Thoughts came slowly, like sap leaking from a wound in a tree.
"Alex," a voice whispered in his ear. It was so close that he could feel the breath.
Tyrannous turned but found nothing beside him. He was alone. His heart raced. Who was Alex? Why was the voice haunting him? Was the voice calling him? Tyrannous winced as his ears rang with a high buzz. After a minute, it passed and he blinked away his fuzzy vision.
"I am Tyrannous," Tyrannous whispered. He was not entirely sure he was however. Everything was foggy. If only he could think properly. A wave of dizziness swept over him and he curled around himself. Twitching limbs kept him from sleep for a long time but in the end, he managed it for a little while at least.
With the coming of dawn, Tyrannous stirred slowly. The aches were not as bad but his head continued to hurt. He was cool and shivered. Outside the cave, he saw a gentle rain. He tried to move but his limbs were stiff and refused to respond.
He closed his eyes and focused on his ragged breathing. After a while, a thick bloody slime slid up his throat and oozed out of his mouth. Each breath grew easier after that.
The day wore on and eventually Tyrannous could flex his limbs as the rain stopped and the midday heat wafted into the cave. As strength returned, his mind cleared.
He was Tyrannous. He just fought three velociraptors with their terrible bite. No, that was the previous day. He was not sure. How long had it been? He was certainly hungry enough that it had to be over a day. The bite marks were still raw but not bleeding. His flesh puckered around each wound. They would take a while to heal properly.
"Alex."
Tyrannous snarled. That name, that unrelenting name, who was calling to him! He knew that name but from where? "Who is Alex?"
The voice stayed silent.
Tyrannous crawled out of the cave and the heat washed over him like a balm to his aching body. The world was still for the moment. He could smell once more, finally free of the chemical tang, and the scent of tyrannosaurus lay lightly on the air. He moved away from it heading with the current of the gurgling stream as it snaked along the gorge until it would eventually run into the sea.
The tall redwoods loomed over the narrow gorge as Tyrannous walked. He began to remember. It was small things at first. He was Tyrannous. That was his name and he was confident of that. The redwood forest of the southeastern part of the island, that was the location of where he was. He walked this stream many times in the past. Few large predators patrolled in this section due to the tyrannosaurus pair now. He was likely safe to follow it.
Smooth gravel crunched underfoot. Birds sang in the trees overhead. A distant edmontosaurus trumped. Hunger gnawed and grumbled an empty stomach.
The three velociraptors he fought came to mind. They left bloodied and possibly dying. At least one would die, of that he was certain. They left their mark on him but fought with the brash recklessness of the unexperienced and uncoordinated. The venom slowed him down after the first bite and grew worse with every successive bite.
Still, he knew how to fight. He earned his scars.
A shadow moved in the corner of his vision.
Tyrannous turned at the last moment as the shape solidified into a velociraptor. Its killing claw caught him in the guts and pain seared along the width of his stomach just above his groin and running from thigh to thigh. He screamed.
The shadow burst against him and blew away like smoke.
Tyrannous looked beneath himself, expecting spilling guts again. He saw none. The corded scar across his underside throbbed with heat and pain. Lying down for a moment, Tyrannous examined the wound. Despite the years, the scar held a clear break along his belly. Only the edges were barely visible from the side and he rarely lay with it exposed for others to see. It was a secret shame that he did his best to hide from his pack.
"Alex," a voice said.
Tyrannous froze. Shadowy figures stood around him.
"Alex," the voice said again. This time it held a sorrowful tone.
Tyrannous leapt up as a figure reached for him. Jaws snapped on empty air as the figure burst like smoke. His broken tooth ached. He struck another with his tail and it disappeared.
More figures appeared around him. He saw a glint in the darkness as one of the figures, definitely a human, reached out with a needle to inject him with something.
He ran.
Shadows leapt out from nowhere with needles and tried to stab him. When one got in his way, he shoved through it and the apparition burst into smoky tendrils that clung to his body. Cold hands formed and held his sides. Soon, shapes were running beside him. He felt the cold pain as a needle pierced flesh.
Tyrannous snarled.
"I'm sorry Alex," the voice came again. It was soft, mournful, and feminine.
Tyrannous stopped and the shadows were gone. The pain was gone.
Flashes of memory stirred his mind. It was a long time ago that the humans tried to introduce him to the other pack. His scar throbbed duly.
"Seth," Tyrannous whispered. The name brought fresh rage. And sorrow.
Tyrannous was the first of his kind that the humans tried to introduce to the pack and he was the last. Seth was the alpha of that pack and rejected him immediately. The minutes and days after were a blur of shattered consciousness. Somehow, the humans put his guts back into his body. He should be thankful for that but the years trapped in a cage and experimentation did not leave room for any warm feelings.
The shadows were gone for the moment. A look around confirmed that. Tyrannous carried on his way. Where the opportunity presented itself, Tyrannous made his way up an embankment and followed the gorge from the top so that the cliff protected one side and the mountains the other. He walked a little taller.
As the monotony of the present settled in, Tyrannous inexorably looked to the past. The humans kept his kind in cages for a long time. There was not much to think about surrounding that save the movement from one cage to another. They rarely escaped. The days blurred together. It was only when they moved over the ocean that circumstances changed.
His pack and a group of Seth's kind moved to new cages over the sea. An illness plagued them for a while before the move happened, several died. Tyrannous had the unfortunate experience of watching the transfer from on the deck of the ship. The cargo hold was full with the other cages. That is what the men loading the ship said. He remembered their words vaguely.
Tyrannous froze. He remembered the sounds the humans made but did not understand the meaning at the time. But, he did understand now. A pain shot through his mind and he opened his mouth in a silent scream, nearly collapsing as nausea swept his senses. It passed and he breathed hard.
"Alex," the voice whispered.
"Go away," Tyrannous hissed.
He looked around but everything was normal. He kept moving, a wary eye on his surroundings. Why that name? He knew it from somewhere but could not place it. The name taunted him at the edge of memory, ever elusive when he tried to look for it.
He fell back into the past. The ocean was rough during the crossing and tossed him about the cage. The ocean spray drenched him more than once. When they reached the harbor, he was never more grateful to have land under his feet, even if it was beneath the floor of his cage.
The experimentation started not long after. They called themselves veterinarians. They poked and prodded his kind, isolating those that worsened, and carried away the dead. Some disappeared and he never learned their fate. The phantom feeling of needles pricked his sides. A faint knowledge of their purpose entered his mind. It gave him a headache the more he focused on it.
The humans took blood, ran tests, and then took more blood for more tests. In the end, only a fraction of his original pack survived the disease. The group of Seth's kind remained as Tyrannous and the remaining members of his pack traveled back across the sea. They were the last survivors and disease free at last. The humans relocated them to a large bowl shaped valley where the only way in and out was the single entrance where a large fence kept them from leaving. It was more spacious than any of the cages before and held a pond of drinkable water.
The humans introduced a group of young velociraptors, the same kind as him, not long after but no new members followed that event save one.
Thrascar.
The first introduction to that thing was when the humans set up a separate enclosure against the fence. Thrascar was young then, a little younger than a year. For all the outward appearances, he simply looked like a different colored one of their own. He carried a familiar scent even though it was strangely close to Seth's at the same time. It was only when Tyrannous watch him hunt through the bars that he realized something was different about him.
The humans released a goat into the pen and observed from the safety of the other side. Thrascar chased the prey half-heartedly about the pen as the creature bleated in terror. Tyrannous saw the single bite Thrascar made before breaking off the chase. It was nothing serious.
The goat continued to run for a short while before it slowed. The bleating quieted. The goat dropped and convulsed. The humans took notes on their clipboards and adjusted a camera they used to record the test. For some reason, he remembered the humans discussing Seth's original pack mates and something about crossing them with his own pack and another species. It was very confusing.
How did he know what they did, what they used, and what they were saying?
Pain stripped the wonder from his mind and he stiffened. Breaths came short and shallow.
Tyrannous focused instead on Thrascar and the pain eased but his anger grew. The day came that the humans introduced Thrascar to the pack and it went well. They were comfortable with him so near for so long that they took him in but were wary due to his hunting style. It was another year before Thrascar got into a fight with the pack's alpha and challenged him. A single bite changed the pack forever…
"Alex," the voice whispered. "I'm sorry for what Seth did to you."
Tyrannous looked up and around. He saw a kneeling figure, ghostly and dark, an outstretched hand pressed against empty air like glass.
"Tes-s-s-a," Tyrannous whispered. The apparition vanished like smoke on the wind.
Tessa was the name of one of the humans and the name the humans gave to the velociraptor he took as his mate. They were very different. Why would he see the human and not his mate? Why would she be sorry for what Seth did? Why was she haunting him? His head hurt as he thought on her words.
Tessa the human was one of the primary handlers of the velociraptors. Seth was her favourite. Tyrannous remembered that. And, Tessa the human was Seth's favourite.
Tyrannous looked down and saw his foot rested on the back of a prone figure. He jumped back and watched a terrible furrow tear down the creatures back. The form looked back at him with sunken weeping eyes. It was Tessa the human.
"Alex," she whispered as her body vanished into nothing. "Why?" The words lingered in the air with no one to speak them.
Tyrannous shook. His breathing quickened, heart raced, and eyes widened. An overwhelming dread welled inside him. Or was it guilt? Could he feel guilty over killing the human? Why had he done it? Was it to get back at Seth? He roared out his anguish.
"Why," the voice drifted on the wind.
Tyrannous ran. He had to escape it!
"Why?" The word followed him no matter how fast he ran.
The redwoods moved past in a blur. The whole world was a blur. Incoherent thoughts rushed through his mind. A low passage over the mountains brought him into a transition between the redwoods of the east and more lush vegetation of the west.
Tyrannous stumbled and landed in a long clearing. He crawled forward, desperate to keep moving but his legs would not let him rise. How long had he run? He looked back and saw a sign. It was a literal sign, one that the humans used to mark the direction of their buildings along the roads.
How did he know that? Pain purged the thought.
Tyrannous opened his mouth to scream but only a hoarse breath escaped. He pushed through the pain and the sign made some sort of sense to him at last. To the north laid a place of power and lightning while to the south laid the place workers lived. He also knew that the pack of velociraptors lived to the south.
A deep longing for companionship settled in Tyrannous. He knew that Silver Claw's pack would never take him in due to the war and the part he played in it. But the pack to the south, they might take him or they would kill him.
His weakened state was a problem. He needed a pack to help him recover, of that he was sure. If he remained on his own then another predator would find him and kill him before he got the chance to regain his full strength. He did not know how much longer the venom would affect him but he needed time.
He tried to stand but his legs resisted. He did not have the strength and so he simply waited. The afternoon turned towards dusk. He heard the distant sounds of herds moving but the closest he saw was that of a small group of gallimimus following the road. They startled at the sight of him and fled squawking to the north.
He stood but his legs shook too much for him to try walking just yet and he sank back into the grass. His muscles ached dully but he thought that he would be able to walk again soon.
"You look like you've been through a lot," a voice said.
Tyrannous looked up and where he expected the shadowy visage of another apparition, he saw a velociraptor. This time it was real. Flesh, blood and claw. It was a female of the pack from the south.
Dread filled Tyrannous as he saw a second velociraptor emerge from the trees to his right, a male. Tyrannous was vulnerable, the most he had ever been, and he was not sure he could stand just yet. A third approached from behind but the first spoke and drew his full attention before he could look at it.
"You are trespassing in our territory green," the female hissed. "It has been a long time since we saw one of your kind." She bore faint markings that were barely visible against the brown of her scales but her scars showed clear.
"I…" Tyrannous said.
"What are we going to do with you," the female approached with her claws raised. "It looks like someone attacked you already."
"The wounds smell venomous," the male said. He stood beside Tyrannous.
How did he get so close without Tyrannous noticing?
"Those are raptor bites though," the first velociraptor said. "I smell the hint of the noxious ponds on him. You survived a nasty fight with your own kind perhaps? Are you exiled?"
"Venomous bastards," Tyrannous hissed.
"Are you alone?" The female seemed suddenly unsure of her surroundings and backed off a little.
"Yes," Tyrannous whispered. He tried to rise but a foot pushed him back down and a claw tapped a rhythm against his spine.
"Stay down," the third velociraptor hissed.
Tyrannous turned his head and saw the unmistakable white scales of the out of place pack member that he stalked last time he was in the area. He wanted to laugh at the cruel irony of the situation. Part of him wanted to buy his life with his secret knowledge immediately and hope they let him live but prudence won out. Even in his weakened state, his mind worked its cunning.
"These wounds are at least a few days old," the white female said.
"Should we just kill him?" The male asked. "Doesn't look like he's got much fight left in him?"
"I wish to join your pack," Tyrannous said and showed his teeth. He looked the first velociraptor in the eyes. He knew the ability to answer was beyond her in the pack ranking.
"The answer will be no," the female hissed. "You would be a burden on our pack."
"Yet, the answer is not yours to give," Tyrannous felt his strength returning and his mind clearing as his heart quickened.
"No one would know that we killed you," the female said and licked her lips. "Who would care?"
"You would have to live with the burden of my blood on your claws and never knowing the circumstance of my injuries or other things that I may know," Tyrannous said. He licked his lips and flashed his fangs.
"Kill him," the female snarled.
Tyrannous felt the foot tighten to send the sickle claw into his spine. "You don't want to do that Sophia."
The claw stopped before it pieced flesh.
"What did you say?" The white female snarled.
"I said that you wouldn't want to do that Sophia," Tyrannous cocked his head to look at his would be executioner.
"You know him," the first velociraptor hissed. Her claws flashed as she readied to pounce.
"No," Tyrannous said. "But I know her and what happened to her pack."
Sophia snarled. "How do you know me?" She took several steps back.
"In time perhaps," Tyrannous said. He rose from the ground to his full height. Renewed strength filled his limbs. He could kill at least one of them if he had to now, of that he was certain. The longer they waited, the stronger he would get. His legs only trembled a little but that could be the excitement.
Tyrannous got a good look at the male. He was only a yearling. Tyrannous could kill two of them if needed. He towered over the other velociraptors. They backed away from him warily. An amused realization struck him. Sophia was a bit taller than Silver Claw yet she was the younger. She looked like she might put up some of a fight and in his weakened state she actually stood some chance.
"What's your name?" Sophia snarled.
"Alex," Tyrannous said. The memory came back to him. It was the name he had at birth, the one given to him by the humans. It is what they called him all his captive life. He was different back then and that difference suited him now. "I am Alex."
Sophia showed no recognition. He was sure she would have recognized Tyrannous and possibly attacked him over it. The possibilities laid out in his future toyed with his mind. He had to address his primary concern first, joining the pack and recovering fully. The other games would need to wait for now.
"Shall we go speak to your pack?" Tyrannous said and flashed his fangs.
The female cowered a little. "We'll take you to the alpha."
"Then please," Tyrannous said, "lead the way."
He followed the female south. The others flanked him. Tyrannous saw the whirling mind of Sophia from her darting eyes and tense body language. He saw fear in the young male. He could work with both if needed.
"Alex," the voice whispered on the breeze. "Why?"
Tyrannous ignored the voice as a ghostly apparition moved at the edge of his sight among the trees. It was weaker now that it had been. He had more pressing things to focus his attention on than the past right now. He wondered what he would say to the alpha and fortunately, the pack had no reason to hate him outright. He could work with that. He would work with that.
"Alex," the voice whispered as it at last slipped away into a nothingness from which it could not return. "Why?"
Tyrannous licked his lips and flashed his teeth as he remembered why he had done it. He wanted Seth to suffer just as much as he had and in that Tyrannous succeeded.
