CHAPTER 378

Richard got a sinking feeling in her body as she realized what Vulture was saying. The three raptors that had just been slain weren't the only ones who knew their location.

Out of the smoke Falcon's entire clan emerged like an army of large ghostly raptorial birds from the haze, surrounding them completely in one big ring. The fog slipped around their skin and slithered amongst their plumage as the hunters gathered.

Vulture's pack was crucially outnumbered. Falcon's clan barked and hissed at them from all angles. Their claws raised. The sound of their talons on the concrete pipes was frightening as the pack began to close in.

Dr. Levine shuddered, "you plan to take them all on then?"

Vulture issued no response.

Kyra and Seth stood back to back with their weapons at the ready.

Kyra was breathing heavy. "So this is how we go out?"

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Seth said.

Kyra laughed uneasily.

"Kyra?" Seth said over his shoulder.

"What?" She glanced back.

"Go out with a fight."

Kyra gripped the wrench in her clutches and faced the velociraptors.

Those closest to her sneered and poised to leap.

This was it. Yet in this moment Vulture, Roadkill, Needles, and Ghost stood in almost a relaxed fashion. They were too calm, and Dr. Levine noticed this.

"What the hell is going on?" She thought, but then her question was answered.

As Falcon's clan took their final steps before springing into a full attack Vulture raised her snout and let out several sharp barks into the air. Falcon's clan froze. Levine did not understand the implication yet, but among the opposing raptors it was understood. Vulture had called for help.

From behind the closing circle of Falcon's posse there appeared an entire new clan of raptors. They were Vulture's loyal band of misfit hunters, and they had Falcon's raptors surrounded. The odds were evening out.

Falcon's clan was off kilter. Their faces turned with surprise and confusion. Vulture's pack of motley velociraptors made no hesitations. The predators sprang upon falcon's clan, and as they did this, Vulture, Roadkill, Needles, and Ghost launched their own offensive from within the circle.

In moments there were dozens of velociraptors locked in battle. They wrestled on the ground, bit at each other's throats, and raked their killer claws into one another's bellies.

Dr. Levine jumped aside as Needles tumbled toward her with his body entangled in the clutches of an opposing raptor's sickles.

Seth and Kyra jumped back as two other raptors rolled at them from another direction. Seth and Kyra ended up crashing into Dr. Levine, and all three of them almost fell over.

Blood was spilling in the dirt everywhere. Raptors were screaming and slashing at each other.

Kyra was regaining her balance when a length of intestine hurled through the air and wrapped around her face with a splat. She tore it away in disgust and wiped her eyes clear. Dr. Levine was bent in front of her and opening her mouth to speak, but a splash of blood sprayed across her lips. She turned away and spit and then faced Kyra and Seth again.

Motioning to the far wall of pallets they had been headed toward she shouted, "come on!"

The three of them stayed low and they began maneuvering through the battle. They only made it a little ways before a raptor leapt out of the smoke and pounced on Kyra. Dr. Levine turned to shoot it, but Ghost jumped out of the murk after it and began to drag the raptor away before it could sink its claws.

The raptor partially wriggled free and chomped down on Kyra's foot, but only clamped the sole of her shoe. Seth was ready for blood, and he thrust down with the butt of his pistol. Strike after strike he bludgeoned the raptor's skull until it let go and Ghost drug it back into the smoke.

Levine hoisted Kyra up and yelled, "keep moving!"

They started running again, and moments later Seth felt a snare at his ankle. He fell to the dirt and started getting dragged by his leg into a concrete pipe. As he was swept into the shadows of the tube he could hear the snarls and growls of a raptor echo up from his feet. He also heard Kyra yelling after him. Seth tried to grasp the opening of the pipe, but his fingers ripped off the edge. As he slipped further in he felt a pair of arms grapple over him from the opening and hold him in place.

A voice shouted, "lay low!" And then a gunshot cracked through the tube.

The raptor that had snared Seth let go, and he felt someone pull him from the tube and up onto his feet. Seth found himself looking at Dr. Levine. She gave a quick nod and then started moving again. Seth and Kyra followed.

In the smoke around them they saw the shadows of velociraptors still engaged in brutal assault with one another. Moment after moment a pair of raptors would tumble across their path and back into the smoke. Time and again blood rained through the smoke and splashed across in buckets. Bits of entrails hurled by like chum being thrown from the deck of a ship.

They kept moving. Another velociraptor burst out of the murk and tried to grab them from behind. Roadkill caught it and slashed its belly open before it could strike.

The fire on the surrounding pallets was erupting into orange flames that thrust into the air with a roar. It was rapidly spreading toward the far wall and the passage within it.

Levine shouted, "hurry! Hurry!"

The three of them picked up speed as blood still spilled from every direction. They ran until they reached the end of the stacks of concrete pipes. There, something lashed out from the right and threw Dr. Levine into the air.

Seth and Kyra stopped so fast that they fell on the ground. Dr. Levine landed in the smoke about ten feet away. She groaned and curled on her side. As she got up she realized her gun was gone. She looked around, but in the screen of smoke it was futile. Then she spotted Seth and Kyra. They were on their feet and cowering beneath the menacing bulk of Falcon.

Dr. Levine rushed forward and grabbed Seth and Kyra by the shoulder. The thickly feathered utahraptor scowled and took a step forward. Her plumage expanded around her, and the scales on her face crinkled as she looked down on them. Falcon's tail lashed with a stiff bushy whip, rustling the feathers along its length. With little flicks of her plumage she shook away hot embers as they flurried from above.

Dr. Levine drew Seth and Kyra back a step, and Falcon took another pace forward. Beside them the fire was lashing through the pallets and leaping across the throughway they were hoping to escape through.

Richard's eyes darted around in hopeless search for some way out of Falcon's clutches, but there was nothing. The utahraptor stepped closer and shined her teeth.

Seth turned his barrel on Falcon with a dark glare. He didn't want to waste his only bullet. He knew a single round from the pistol was hardly enough to bring down an animal of her size and ferocity, but maybe it would buy even a moment for one of them to get away.

Before Seth could pull the trigger something of roughly equal stature to Falcon burst through the smoke and tackled her. As both creatures fell to the ground it became clear that Falcon's attacker was Vulture.

Vulture pinned Falcon and bit her throat with a roar. Vulture began digging her killer talons into Falcon's ribs, but Falcon twisted and kicked her hind claws at Vulture's legs and belly. Vulture was thrown from her attack mount, and she landed on her back.

Richard, Kyra, and Seth leapt aside as the fight hurled in their direction. Falcon sprang onto Vulture and they tumbled in a ball of ripping claws. Chunks of plumage went flying from the brawl as they slammed against a stack of concrete pipes and broke apart. The two utahraptors sprang to their feet and threw themselves at each other again. Locking fore talons they bit at each others throats and kicked one killer hind talon or the other at one another between holding ground and wrestling back and forth.

The utahraptors were stumbling toward Richard, Seth, and Kyra again. The three of them dodged towards the pallets, but they were a blazing inferno. Recoiling at the deadly heat they started to back away, but the battling utahraptors were blocking them. Richard looked one way along the pallets, and there were two velociraptors coming out of the smoke. She looked the other way, and Seth and Kyra were already backing away from three more velociraptors. They were trapped.

Falcon had wrestled Vulture to the ground. She planted one foot into her belly and was about to deliver a fatal slash from one end of her gut to the other.

It was a thunderous crash that stopped her. The blazing stacks of pallets were collapsing at them, but it was more than that. Through the fiery planks of wood, smoke, and bursting red embers another pair of battling dinosaurs emerged.

Rebirtha fell like a toppling redwood through the flames, and the abomination of a spinosaurus crashed on top of her with wide roaring jaws.

Seth, Kyra, and Dr. Levine had dove away from the falling beasts. Feeling the burn of hot planks on their skin they jumped to their feet and brushed out tongues of fire that were eating at their clothes.

Rebirtha groaned and bellowed as she lay upon hot coals and burning wood. Vulture was half pinned beneath the tyrannosaur's snout and could not break free until Rebirtha lifted her head.

Vulture wriggled out and rushed over to where Richard and Seth and Kyra were standing. There she looked back to see what had become of Falcon.

The great utahraptor was just beyond the two super predators. She was circling in place and biting at small fires that had ignited all over her plumage.

Vulture had an upper hand. With a running leap she jumped onto the back of the spinosaur's neck. Falcon saw this and knew she had to ignore the flames breaking out over her body. Vulture tried to jump onto Falcon but the spinosaurus lifted her head in rage and started thrashing about. Falcon sprang up onto the other side of the spinosaur's neck and latched on. Before she could get a good hold Vulture clambered over and dug all her talons into Falcon's back, ignoring the fires that were licking through her opponent's feathers. The spinosaurus lifted her head more and shook around violently, but she had, in doing this, let go of Rebirtha. The tyrannosaur reached up and bit onto the spinosaur's lower jaw. The spinosaur in turn reached blindly with her forearms and shoved at Rebirtha's throat. She awkwardly throttled the t-rex and Rebirtha eventually let go. Still with two utahraptors grappling on her shoulders, the spinosaurus backed off of Rebirtha, shaking her whole body in an outrage. Rebirtha charged to her feet and plowed into the spinosaurus. The impact sent Falcon and Vulture flying off the spinosaur's back, each to an opposing side.

Landing in piles of burning wood the utahraptors sprang to their feet quickly and turned at each other. They looked through the stomping legs of the spinosaurus as her feet kicked up sparks and fire, eying one another and plotting their next attacks. The flames in Falcon's plumage had become smoldering plumes of smoke throughout her feathers, some glowing like the ends of lit cigarettes. Despite her scorched skin she was fixed on the fight.

Dr. Levine, Kyra, and Seth watched as Rebirtha wrestled the spinosaurus into the embers and flames. The crocodilian beast shrieked upon the heat. Both dinosaurs had patches of scorched scales all over their bodies, and through the smell of burning wood the stench of singed flesh was potent.

Richard scanned for the other velociraptors. She could see two of their silhouettes within the smoke. The fire had stunted their attack, but they were looking to close in again. Richard suspected the other three were not far.

She looked to the large opening in the pallets that Rebirtha and the spinosaurus had made. It was wide, and the perimeter of the concrete pad was just on the other side of it. She could see the jungle as a faint wall of shadows through the smoke, and she could tell well enough that it was beginning to burn, and the throughway was hot with smoldering rubble.

Levine pointed. "We have to go through there!"

Kyra and Seth looked at the passage. The air was rippling with heat, but there was little other choice. They both nodded, and Dr. Levine lead the way.

Behind them Rebirtha and the spinosaurus were wrestling through the embers and coals. Intermittently Vulture and Falcon had moments where they could lock eyes with one another. They scowled and circled the battling titans, each biding their moment to strike again.

Seth, Kyra, and Dr. Levine were making their way into the passage. The fighting carnivores were hidden in the smoke behind them. The air in the throughway was hot, smokey, and hard to breath in. Embers danced through the rippling heat as ash drifted like snow. Planks of wood popped with sparks and boards crackled with orange flame.

All three covered their mouths and noses with their shirt and shielded their eyes with one hand as they hurried through the smoldering passage. When they reached the other side they were at the edge of the concrete pad, and the jungle was before them. The foliage had begun to burn as the fire spread into the trees. Thick moisture laden plumes filled the vegetation and spread into a dense haze.

Directly to their right was the looming figure of a parked excavator with its long metal digging arm arching up and over. It's dense metal scoop rested only a matter of feet from where they stood.

Dr. Levine, Kyra, and Seth looked at the smokey jungle, where fiery palm fronds crackled and shriveled amongst the flames.

"We could use the jungle for cover," Richard suggested.

"Or we could just make a run for it," Kyra looked up the edge of the concrete pad toward the river. Much of the pallets in that direction had burned through, being less of a blaze and more of a low crackling fire.

Behind them they heard the bellows of the super predators accompanied by the shrieks of raptors. The sounds of the battling dinosaurs quickly reminded them that there was little time to spare for consideration.

"The jungle," Seth said.

Looking at each other they nodded, and they started making their way to the trees. It was then that the fuel tank on the excavator combusted.

Rebirtha and the Spinosaurus were uninterrupted by the sudden fireball that billowed into the sky above them. Falcon and Vulture both watched it for a moment. Falcon was distracted by it for a crucial second longer, for when she turned back around Vulture was scaling over Rebirtha's hide to try and get a jump on Falcon.

Falcon sprang into gear at once. Leaping onto the back of the spinosaurus she dug her talons into the animal's tall dorsal fin.

The spinosaurus reared up and snapped her jaws around, but she could not reach Falcon. Meanwhile, Rebirtha started stomping in circles as Vulture held on. As the rex rotated in place Vulture waited until she was close enough to the spinosaur, and she leapt on top of her head. The spinosaur shook like mad, and Vulture was thrown to the ground. As she faced the sky she saw the underside of Rebirtha's foot coming down on her. Rolling aside she missed being crushed, but in another instant Falcon had leapt from the spinosaur's back and landed on Vulture. She only had Vulture pinned for a second before one of the spinosaur's feet scooped Falcon away. Falcon hurled through the air and landed on her side with a flop. She rolled to her feet with haste, but Vulture plowed into her and they both tumbled.

The two utahraptors wrestled about, biting and clawing without restraint. The fighting went back and forth, but in the end it was Falcon who had Vulture pinned into submission. Vulture struggled, but she knew there was no getting away. Falcon was about to slice her wide open.

As Falcon raised her killer claw to strike a killing blow the fight between Rebirtha and the spinosaurus rumbled around towards them. Both super predators were on the ground and wrestling each other. As the brawl reached the two utahraptors one of the spinosaur's hind legs shot straight out and kicked Falcon off of Vulture.

It had happened so fast that Vulture blinked in disbelief. One moment Falcon was looming above her. The next she had vanished.

Vulture jumped to her feet and found Falcon writhing on the ground a dozen feet away. Without hesitation Vulture leapt to pounce. She was inches from sinking her claws into Falcon when Rebirtha's tail slapped her in mid air.

Vulture landed and Rolled through a pile of embers that crackled about her. She got to her feet, but Falcon was already coming for her again. They locked arms and teeth and snarled at each other. Out of their peripherals both raptors spotted a huge toppling shape. Rebirtha had been lifted in the air and was falling like a demolished skyscraper. Vulture and Falcon jumped apart as Rebirtha's head landed between them with a mighty thud. The t-rex bellowed and thrust her legs at the spinosaurus, knocking her off her feet. As the spinosaur hit the ground both utahraptors leapt up and clashed in the air above the super predators. Landing on the spinosaur's belly they bounced and rolled as they fought and eventually tumbled down her back, along her dorsal sail, and into more crackling embers. The two raptors broke apart and leapt to their feet, but the super predators had also climbed back to their feet as well. Vulture and Falcon attempted to rush back together as the spinosaurus backed over them. Dodging her massive ankles they danced around below the beast.

Rebirtha charged in strong despite her exhaustion. The rex plowed right into the spinosaur, pushing her back, and in another instant it was Rebirtha's girth that was engulfing the space around the fighting utahraptors. As the t-rex pushed through, the feuding super predators masses moved away from thundering above Vulture and Falcon. As the stomping feet were no longer an obstacle the utahraptors collided back together and fought with ruthless brutality.

Knocking each other to the ground they slashed and clawed and bit at one another until they were both thoroughly bloodied and tattered. Once more it was Falcon who eventually gained the upper hand as her greater girth and strength simply overpowered Vulture when uninterrupted by the super predators. Vulture was more cunning and clever, her intellect far superior, but that would not save her here.

Once again Vulture found herself pinned beneath the ruthless mass of Falcon's muscular body. Once again the hooked form of a giant killer hind talon was rearing back to spill her vital organs in one long slice.

Vulture looked eye to eye with Falcon, and they exchanged a final contest of menacing glares, then Falcon moved to strike.

Amidst her lethal act a sudden shape engulfed Falcon's body and closed on her with crushing force. A fraction of a moment later she was hoisted into the air.

Feeling Falcon's weight leave her Vulture looked up and saw her opponent clamped between the mighty jaws of Rebirtha. Rebirtha herself was writhing in agony. The spinosaur had raked a mortal wound into the tyrannosaur's gut with the talons of her hind foot.

Rebirtha dropped her head and chomped repeatedly upon Falcon's torso as the spinosaur pulled out her entrails.

Vulture backed away, watching the brutality unfold. Rebirtha expired shortly thereafter. In one final gurgling breath her jaws loosening around Falcon and her eyes became empty.

Vulture was not certain if Falcon was dead or alive. She backed away further and hid against a stack of concrete piping as not to catch the attention of the spinosaurus.

The spinosaur had begun to feast on Rebirtha's corpse, but in any case Vulture did not want to disturb the beast. From her vantage she watched Falcon, and soon she spotted signs of life. The utahraptor shifted and turned her body. Eventually lifting her head Falcon slowly drug herself off of Rebirtha's teeth and began to crawl through the piles of fiery embers.