CHAPTER 223
On top of the brachiosaurus Daniel twirled the knife around him faster. The two male velociraptors leapt upward and latched onto the herbivore's belly. The brachiosaur moaned in distress as the pair of hunters scaled her ribcage with their piercing talons.
Daniel was shifting his eyes like a hawk, anticipating the first attack. The moment he saw the first raptor's face creep up at his right he flung the blade. The knife shot straight at the raptor like a spear, and the carnivore shifted so that the blade grazed past it by a hair. The male seemed surprised that Daniel could fling the weapon with such speed and precision. As it went by, the knife took a tuft of feathers out of the raptor's mane with a puff of plumage.
Daniel snapped his arm and recoiled the blade, putting it back into an idling figure eight around his body. For the moment the raptor ducked back into hiding.
As Daniel was scanning for the next attack he felt that the brachiosaurus had picked up speed and was moving more erratically. It bellowed frequently and shook its head. Daniel steadied himself and continued to watch for danger.
At his left the other male popped up and Daniel flung the knife. This raptor narrowly shifted aside as well, though as the blade whizzed past it Daniel heard the first male at his right. The velociraptor sprang at him, and he threw a high rear kick at the underside of its jaw, driving with the heel of his boot. As the raptor fell back Daniel retracted his knife and then whipped it into the raptor's throat. It stuck deep into the male's windpipe, but Daniel quickly recoiled it with a tug and flung it back at the second male who was leaping at him. The velociraptor dodged his blade with a mid air contortion, and Daniel had to tuck and roll to avoid being tackled. Laying on his back Daniel saw the raptor coming at him, but the brachiosaur had tromped into a large springy branch that did not snap as the herbivore pushed through. Sliding off the brachiosaur's neck the branch whipped over Daniel and took out the velociraptor with a loud whack.
Daniel got back to his feet and drew his knife up like an anchor from where it was dangling over the side of the brachiosaur. He huffed, "that was easy."
Standing near the brachiosaur's neck he searched for more velociraptors. Daniel did not have to look far, as four more raptors were waiting in the tree tops ahead. When the brachiosaur reached them they all dropped from above, cornering Daniel against the back of the herbivore's neck.
Spinning his knife back into a whirling figure eight between him and the velociraptors he grinned, "what took you so long?"
Turning, Daniel whipped the vine up around the brachiosaur's throat and used it like a rope swing to hurl himself out in front of the long neck. Behind him two of the velociraptors had leapt forward onto the back of the herbivore's neck. Daniel used his momentum to follow around, and he slammed into both of them with his boots, knocking them off the brachiosaurus. Daniel kicked off the opposite way and swung back to the front of the brachiosaur's long throat. Before he could figure out what to do about the other two velociraptors the brachiosaur had stumbled into a curtain of vines. Daniel found himself enshrouded in the dense hanging growth, and it was difficult to see. The vines brushed past him and slapped at his face and body. He hung against the brachiosaur's throat, swaying back and forth. Bracing himself against the dinosaur's neck he tried to get his bearings. That's when Vulture burst through the vines and pounced on him.