DREKETIER!

[thundertail]

DREKITEIR:
_

BY: Timothy E. Smith
(Thundertail)

_

ONE: "The Dawn"

Fire raged on the other side of the calcium curtain as he waited for the only shadow he knew to return to rumble phrases of comfort, even though the fire was comfort enough. His tiny claws worked the inside of the shell, scrabbling uselessly at the unyielding material. He would soon break free from this amniotic prison, he knew it was soon...!

A roar from somewhere in the dark startled him out of his prebirth musings, echoing through the space that was outside of his own realm. A thundering sound with an even tempo resounded off the unknown space, making his little body hitch and shake with anticipation. The caregiver who gave him life was returning from parts unknown; and he knew like he never knew in his entire brief life that today was the day he was going to see that caregiver face to face! He had been saving his energy for this very day, getting stronger for the final push, and be free from this calcium prison once and for all!

The caregiver rumbled, snuffled the egg and blew fire on it, raising the flames around the firy nest and making the little life inside warmer and more active as his last hours as an egg aproached a conclusion. The mother, a young and beautiful looking specimen of tawny browns and tealy greens, stretched her wings and roared a pleasant tune; for she too knew that her little one was about to be born, and so did her mate - where ever that good-for-nothing had gone off to! She looked around the dank but warm cave for signs of where her echo might be before turning the egg with a foretalon, then turned and flew off into the mid-Jurrassic pre-morning once again, letting off a mighty roar...!

As the caregiver's voice faded into the light moaning wind flowing into the cavern, the tiny dragon tried again; squeezing and wrenching his body in an attempt to break free, and slumped back into a fetal position at the bottom of the egg. Sucking in the albumin forever present inside, the baby dragon paused as he panted in his amniotic breath. Curse this egg!, he fumed; and swiped a forelimb against the side, causing rippling turbulence within the egg. As the future hatchling waited for it to subside, he stopped and thought of the dilemma he was in; and the many possible ways to get out of it, to be free at long last! Before too long his little brain ran out of ideas, and he cursed himself at his lack of mental faculty; lurching forward in rage and banging his barbled muzzle painfully against the shell, he noticed that the blow weakened the offending membrane slightly! The tiny dragon presently got to work poking his way out of the egg...
_

A gigantic majestic shape filled the morning sky, too high above to be noticed by the many dinosaur below; but those that looked that way reasoned it was just another Pterosaur, too small to be a threat and too far away to be a bother. The savage huntress plied the skies, keen eyes scanning for any movement, especially the movement that spelled prey to her carniverous eyes. She swooped over forest and plain, through rill and rocky crag, never veering from her quest of finding something succulent to bring back to her nest. The herd of many sauropod were too large for her to bring down, and even thier young could seriousely injure her in thier fight for survival against her strong talons and vicelike bite; so onward she flew, low as to show them who was queen of the sky, and through a mountain pass until she spied the perfect kill.

Below in a wooded plain thousands of Strutheomimus grazed, but many of them seemed nervous for some reason; and the reason wasn't because of her as she was still a long way off, so other predators must be down there making all of them nervous. Her nemisis was in the shape of the Tyranosaur, strong like her yet bound to the earth; and the Veloceraptors and other scavenging carnivores harassed her kills more often than not. She would need to be on her guard if she was to score a successful kill today!

The dragon climbed on a thermal, then dove to treetop level to mask her aproach to the herd; which worked well this time, for she was right on top of them when the entire herd of Struts scattered. The chase was on as she singled out a small family group in the crowd, then that group split up further, leaving a yearling to scurry down a rill - right in her path! The other carnivores in the area used her surprise tactic to single out specimens of thier own, and soon three kills of thiers laid scattered loosely in the meadow, thier killers proclaiming ownership loudly.

Her quarry ran onward, and she caught up with this beast easy enough; her talons strafed the creature off his feet, and he went down braying. She circled quickly, and fell on the Strut like a hawk on a rabbit; tearing the throat with her viselike jaws. The female dragon ate with gusto, eating way more than she knew she could. She had to do this for two reasons. The one most prominent was due to the other carnivores in the area, for she had to get a meal without becoming one herself. The other reason being her knowledge that her egg would hatch as soon as today, and the chick would no doubt be hungry; and she would need to disgorge much of the meat she was now eating, for her maternal instinct said that this was necesary.

She scooped her tenth mouthful down her throat before looking up and scanning the woody rolling meadow all around her, nose working past the bloodsmell to detect any intruders. Her nose soon picked up the scent of small scavengers, and smells of much larger carnivores that could make a meal out of her instead. Before any could make themselves seen, the dragoness spread her wings and swooped off into the sky. She scanned the terrain below, and the many carnivores now filling the killing field. It didn't take long before her kill was being ravaged over by Veloceraptors, and many Tyranosaurs were doing battle among themselves over the rest of the kills. She circled and headed back toward the wooded hills and craggy mountain peaks of home, smoldering volcano twenty or more miles in the distance before her...
_

The tiny dragon inside his egg was slowly getting a headache! The shell was far too tough for him to poke out in just one blow, but he never gave up. The fruit of his efforts were tiny cracks forming on his side of the shell. He snarled happily to himself and redoubled his efforts, painful though it may be. Within moments the egg was rocking back and forth in its' firy nest, raising up wooden cinders and making the emmoliable wood crackle. The little one inside squeaked with the pain and squawked with the gleeful effort at every crashing blow.

His mother soared through the mountainous peaks, avoiding crags and outcroppings; then made a beeline to the rocky valley that her cave was right in the midst of. She swooped down and screeched at the cave entrance as she glided by in an effort to scare off any would be creatures wishing to use her cave as a home - or worse, the ones that intended to use her egg for a meal. At long last she flew around and landed at the stone rampart that led to the pitch black entrance of solid rock. Before she ambled her body around in an effort to traverse the trecherous mud encrusted entrance, she looked around one last time to watch for any who would spy on her abode.

She traversed the puddles and the gorgelike stream that ran across the cavern floor, then onward to the first steeply dipping split in the shaft. She became silent as she passed the massive chamber that came into view by her night enhanced vision, for there were millions of tiny flying creatures that lived in there; and the stench of thier guano rankled even her acute sense of smell. More so the fact that any sudden noise would send the whole colony of flying creatures into a squealing panic, making a cloud of squealing mammailian nuissences. As she passed that area, the stench abated and the passageway ahead became dramatically cooler; and she knew she was aproaching her lair as the dim orange glare from her nest became aparent a short distance down the passage.

The tiny dragon in the egg was definitely making headway, in more ways than one. There were deeper cracks all along the shell now, and the orange light from the nest became brighter at those cracks. His head hurt, but he didn't care; for he would be free of this calcium prison despite any pain or injury. He found that if he used his front teeth to peck at the shell, it would lift and give way before sinking back into the structure of the egg. But now, and as desparation filled his brain; he began to shoulder and shove at the weakened structure, and this made the pieces lift more dramatically than before! Just as he performed his most powerful shove yet, the egg toppled and fell the few feet to the cold stone floor; splitting open slightly, and allowing him to finally break free...!

As the amiotic fluid drained away, his dampened ears focused and heard footfalls of the most eerie variety; for he was used to the muffled sounds coming from inside the egg. His head shakily rose to the sound, and he saw the most hideous creature coming into the space his nest was in. It bore a snarly looking muzzle, grotesque membranous wings and a hide rumpled like the cavern walls all around him! Instead of lunging for the tiny creature, the thing turned and vomited gobs of reddish gelatinous material before coming closer; of which she came and snuffled him lovingly. He smelled this creature in turn, and found out she smelled like himself; and the tender tongue lashed about all over his body.

Though rather humiliating, it was extremely enjoyable; and the newborn dragon reciprocated in turn, gently nipping at the rapidly flailing tongue. All too soon for his tastes, the larger one stopped this service and went back to her pile of offal; returning with a tiny chunk, nudging it closer to him with her muzzle. He looked up at her questioningly, and she nibbled off a small corner; mimicking chewing and eating, swallowing at the end. The baby sniffed at the offal, licking the stuff and testing it for taste; and figuring that she meant that he was to eat it, took a sample into his mouth. The goodness of it all exploded on his tastebuds, and he dug into the small gobbet of meat with childlike gusto!

As he ate, his mother cooed and grunted in a cadenced soliloquy, a language that he didn't yet understand; and a language humans could never understand, provided such creatures had been around in this prehistoric time:

"My son...! My beloved son...!", she was saying. "May you grow strong and wise...", the little one looked up to her fondly, then resumed his first meal...
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[thundertail]

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TWO: "Avalon..."

The young dragon spent the next several days inside the nest chamber of the cave, never knowing the time for the constant gloom of the space and never knowing life outside these cold stone walls. He hadn't a mind to know what lay outside, only this place and his mother; whom cared for and nurtured him in the firy gloom of the only world he knew. One thing was for certain for this little one, and that was the fact that this world was a whole lot bigger then the shelled confines of his egg; which was now shattered into hundreds of shards on the uneven floor, a gesture of disdain on his part at being imprisoned by it!

As the days went by the meat on the floor diminished, for a growing dragon needed all he could eat; and his mother left him for several hours as he was left to his own devices to pass the time. This time was spent learning the basic things a dragon needed to know in order to live, like walking correctly and developing his muscles in an awkward and childish sort of way. He would drunkenly scrabble across the uneven floor, try to turn and fall several times before he got the maneuver down right; and berate himself in the process whenever he had gotten it wrong. The little dragon was hard on himself for not being as agile as his mother, but such was his demanding view of himself.

His mother had been vocalizing with him ever since he was out of the shell, and he tried to mimick the sounds as best as his rather underdeveloped vocal cords would allow; but even that was a difficulty, and this he cursed himself with that as well. Alone he would screech and say the sounds to himself, listening to the echo and wondering where the other dragon was; for if there was another dragon here, he would have himself another companion to play with! He knew in the back of his mind that if he found this noisey fellow in the other part of the cave, he would surely catch him and eat him; proving to his mother that he could catch his own food, a thing she would be most proud of!

When mother finally returned that day, she did not disgorge the food like she usually did, but carried a creature smaller than herself; and only a little bit larger than himself, and the thing resembled nothing like what the baby dragon was used to. The creatures' neck was torn out, and the ducklike muzzle was leaking blood; but otherwise the creature was whole and intact. The smell of the thing was like nothing he had ever smelled before, and smelled nothing like his mother or himself. She looked intently at what her son was doing as he sniffed the carcass, smiling intently at his awkward reactions; then she rumbled more of her words that her son could little understand yet.

"These are the things to eat.", she rumbled. "The world outside is just full of them. There are more creatures out there than you can possibly eat!"

"Sreee..., yaww-awwl...!", the baby tried to mimic, then sniffed the carcass once again. "Agga... foooo!...", he stared at her.

"Yes! This is food.", she told him, then took a modest bite from the flank. "Good, huh?"

"Yaap...!", he said, dragon smile showing.

"Pretty soon you will join me in the hunt, but that will not be for a long time.", she said after a while. "Before then, there is a lot you need to know."

"No-o-o-o...?", he said.

"Yes!... For one thing is your name, what others will call you and what you call yourself.", said his mother, looking at the entrance of thier chamber. "I am called 'Avalon'; which means 'Noble Huntress'."

"Araa-on...?", he tried to say.

"You'll say it better...", she nodded as she led him to the nest. "As for you, what should I call you?..."

"D...rek-kee...teerrr...", he vocalized loudly enough to echo.

"Is that what you want?", she said with a surprised smile. "Drekkitier?"

"Yaaa...!", he chirped.

"Then that is your name!... 'Drekkitier'...!", Avalon said, happy tear forming. "May that name live well past your years!", she nuzzled...
_

Even the strange creature mother, who was by name Avalon, had brought in only yesterday didn't last too long as the baby dragon, who was Drekkitier, grew, and so did his appetite. Avalon stayed with him for over a day, and she had had some of the yearling Strutheomimus as well; which was the reason it didn't last too long. So presently Avalon got up and made her way out of the nest chamber and into the caverns that she knew so well. She told Drekkitier not to venture out of the chamber, and she would be right back; but all he did was nod affirmative, having opposite thoughts as her shadow left the chamber entrance.

He had wanted to know where the other dragon was that haunted this cave, and the only other place he hadn't searched was what was on the other side of the portal. Today he would find the maker of that voice, and show him who could scream the loudest! This he was certain of as he paused by the nest to make sure his mother had truely left, and waited some more as he was unsure if he should do this. His childlike reasoning told him he could do it, and his more cautious side said that he had never done such a thing before. But what would his mother think if she found out that he was too cowardly to see what lay outside the nest chamber? She wouldn't love and care for him, he figured; and stamped a foot on the cold stone floor at his cautious side, readying himself for the plunge into the unknown.

Crossing the floor of the nest chamber, Drekkitier made it to within a few yards of the portal before pausing; listening for the noisey interloper and trying to bolster his courage enough to continue. He sniffed at the entrance and detected no other smells save for himself and his mother. Perhaps the interloper was too frightened of his mother to come this close to the nest chamber, he thought as he at last made it to the opening. His night vision, so used to the firy gloom of the nest behind him, worked to bring what his serpantine eyes saw to focus; and within a moment the uneven topography of the surrounding shaft before him came into view. The well worn path on the stone floor shone smoother than the virgin rock that made up the walls of the cave, and dipped and undulated until it went out of view around a bend in the shaft. Drekkitier cautiousely paced out of the nest chamber, not daring to make a sound as he feared the reply of the interloper.

The stench of the other dragon seemed even stronger out here, rank and reeking with ammonia as his clawed feet shuffled along the path; that echoing along in the little dragon's wake. Filtering the stench from his nostrils to detect other odors beneath it, Drekitier snuffled this way and that, not daring to make a sound as his earslits focused ahead and behind. The gloom brought out the faint tendrils of heat coming to his heat seeking eyes from ahead and slightly to the leftward chamber, and he figured that the creature that made those noises was in the chamber. He grunted and entered that chamber, and nearly swooned as the extreme concentrations of stench rose up directly in front of him!

The pile of guano was several spans higher than his head, and writhed with unseen life; and such heat as it gave off was as intense as the smell. The maker of this offal must be gigantic indeed, and Dreketier backed away slightly, moaning and mewling slightly; but when this noise didn't produce instant death, he yapped and tried to look for the maker of the pile. Sounds almost higher than his earslits could hear became apparent to him just then, and perhaps they were part of the ambviance of the chamber all along; but he noticed the noise as coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once, and this confused him to no end, and he roared tremendousely in his frustration. Instantly he discovered that this was a big mistake, for all of a sudden a wall of dark shapes descended from the ceiling of the chamber; ultrasonic screeching intensifying as the tiny animals that flew choked the very air with thier bodies. Drekkitier was brave, but his entire resolve disappeared instantly at the situation he found himself in at this moment; and he bolted out of the chamber as fast as his inexperienced legs would allow him!...

_____

[thundertail]

_____

THREE: "Drekiteir..."

The many days passed in the dank cave, and Dreketier became increasingly bored with its' sameness. For fear of the monster in the dark, he brooded beside the nest; ever mindful of the tawny fire and the light it gave off, for with light there was hope of escape from the monster. Thusly he spent his days alone, worrying and wondering what lay outside the cave; and where his mother went when she parted from him, wishing he could tag along.

Vile indeed was the time alone for him, but eventful and entertaining for him when his mother returned; for during her visits both food and instruction were the gifts she bore, and both his body and mind were sated in those times. Many a meal was spent in her company, and many a tale from the outside world did she have to say; for hers was a life of high adventure in the wild world just outside these rocky confines, and a life that Dreketier wished he would soon join her in!

"Mother, I had an adventure the other day...", said he after an extra lengthy rendition of how she hunted a creature much bigger than she. "All by myself!..."

"And what is that?", asked Avalon, and chuckled when Dreketier finished telling her about his journey into the cave; and how he followed the other monster's sound to where the dark shapes were. "Silly boy!... You were following your own echo; your voice bounced off the walls, and returned to your ears..."

"But what of those shapes, and about that smell?", he asked.

"It is true there are no monsters that share our cave; but we do share it with other creatures.", said Avalon. "Those tiny flying creatures are known as 'bats'. They live here by the thousands, and have been living here for countless generations. What they mostly do here is rear thier young and fly out at night to eat insects. You should respect thier privacy, and remain quiet as you pass by if you go by there again."

"Why?", he asked.

"Well, it would seem rude if they disturb us; don't you think?...", she chuckled. "So it would be nice if we don't disturb them."

"I will...", Dreketier said.

"I want you to remain in our chamber while I'm away from now on.", said she. "The cave has other dangers besides bats; and you could get lost forever if you stray too far."

"Aww...!", he roared in a juvenile way.

"Now, none of that!", scolded Avalon mildly. "Let's continue your study..."

Dreketier was an extremely intellegent child, and his mastery of thier language improved by leaps and bounds as his days of tutelage wore on. This discovery brought pride for his mother, and her compulsive praise gave him ample reason to be proud himself. Already he was master of simple talk, and his repetoire of words and phrases grew by tenfold in a tenth of the time any normal dragon would.

When he was left all alone in the cave, his mothers words he would obey concerning his wanderings; but his curiosity of the cave would compell him to sneak a look every once in a while! When his curiosity became sated for the time being, he would then remain in the chamber and practice thier language; listening to the echo of his voice, smilingly listening to the echo's crude attempts at the dragon language...
_

As weeks wore on, Dreketier's physical growth soon rivalled the growth of his intellegence; a direct result of a combination of the youngster's hunger and his mother's indulgence. Avalon knew that young dragons need all the food they can get, and she was determined to raise a happy and healthy son; an unspoken desire of hers that Dreketier was eager to have fulfilled! From being a mere nestling, his stature grew quickly to knee high on his mother; and then his stance grew by inches seemingly every other day, much to both dragons' delight.

It was soon time, as Avalon quickly noticed he being nearly half her size many full moons later; that Dreketier be allowed more freedom, and his knowledge of the prehistoric world to be expanded. One day, as she prepared to leave the cave and her son dutifully lingering near the nest; she turned to him and came closer, cupping his slender jowl as she bent toward him.

"You have grown tremendousely since you left the egg, my son.", she told him. "I think you may now join me in today's adventures..."

"Will I be allowed to hunt?", asked he.

"Perhaps not.", she smiled toothilly. "But before you do, there is a whole world out there waiting for YOU to discover!", she hugged. "Maybe if there is something small enough near by, you may try!...", she led him to the entrance to thier chamber.

Dreketier remembered the lessons from before, and remained completely silent as they passed the chamber where the bats resided; staying close to Avalon's legs as they traveled through areas of the cave that were unfamiliar to him. Soon the dimness of the cave began to brighten by degrees; but not with the ruddy glow like the fire at thier hearth, for the light was white and pure and growing almost blinding in its' increasing intensity. Also the young dragon noticed strange air flow coming from far ahead. Being used to the predictable breezes wafting through the cave, this breeze was fresher and colder and at times blowing at twice the velocity he was used to.

Suddenly a bright white hole appeared around a vast curve in the cave walls up ahead in the distance, and strange yet wonderful smells arrived at his nostrils. The air was sweet and mingled with virgin earth and the tang of things alive, which brought a smile of anticipation to his lips. As his eyes grew used to the increasing light, the hole of white grew until it encompassed the both of them; and dreketier looked up at the enormity of the hole of white. Nothing was heard for the longest time save thier breathing, and then sounds of rushing waters, rustling foliage and calls of many unseen things reached his ears; and when the hole opened up, it revealed a cornucopia of color and shape, all of which were extremely foriegn to his virgin eyes.

Dreketier mewled a sound of wonder involuntarilly, and Avalon looked down on him with a knowing grin.

"This is the outside world, vast and uncharted.", she said. "There are as many wonders here as there are dangers; and I ask that you do not stray too far from me until you are used to things."

"It is all so beautiful!...", Dreketier breathed. "Our cave has nothing like this!..."

"Too true...", she rumbled, taking a few steps from the rocky borders of the cave entrance to the softer terrain at the nearest stands of trees. "You may wander a bit and explore, if you wish.", she scooted him along with her muzzle.

Presently Dreketier did so, padding carefully on the strange ground at first; and gradually walking with more confidence, running and bounding into and around his mother's legs, around this or that tree or rock outcropping. he discovered a small stream, looking in and seeing his own reflection; which confused the lad until his mother explained what it was, and looking into the distance to see all the vastness his eyes could see. A group of smallish animals occupied the stream, the trees and in small niches all over the place; and thier diversity he asked his mother what they were all about. The day grew long, and soon hunger took over his mind; so Avalon looked about to see no ready game, so she went about to try to conjur the smallish creatures: Lizards and amphibians and insects and the like.

"See these creatures?", she asked him in passing. "These are also good to eat.", she trapped one with a forepaw. "Take this one into your mouth and kill it."

"It's alive!...", he looked worried. "Most of my food is already dead!"

"To make your food dead, I kill it.", Avalon told him. "This will show you how to procure your own food. Bite it and kill it!..."

"Well...", Dreketier leaned down and grabbed the small lizard below the neck.

It squealed pitifully as his jaws clamped shut, and the blood spurted into his throat deliciousely; and even so he felt guilty to cause the little creature such pain, but Avalon looked down on his deed and smiled approvingly. She stepped away as he ate it, and coralled another of the little beasts; and when he was done he came over to see what she was doing.

"I will let this one go, and I want you to catch it.", she instructed. "Then you may kill it and eat it as before."

"Ok,...", he said, trepidation slowly diminishing.

When ready Avalon lifted her foot, and the little creature began to scamper away thinking it was free; but the pint sized dragon was hot on it's tail, snapping as he stalked the miniature reptile. The lizard turned it's head to look, then redoubled it's erratic and evasive scampering; making Drekitier's snapping bites miss all the more, and Avalon paced after the pair to keep them both in sight.

The lizard scurried up the trunk of a tree and around the far side of it, but Drekitier scrambled around the other side and jumped; snagging the little creature by the tail as he dragged it back to the ground. The lizard fought by tail whips and nips of his own, but the young dragon's bite was stronger, and the little reptile squeaked as it's back was bitten through. Dreketier growled protectively as his mother approached, protective of this, his first real kill; but smiled impishly at her as he soon began devouring his prey. Instead of being offended at such defiance, she smiled all the broader; and showered him with rumbling praise...
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[thundertail]

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FOUR: "Spring!"

The tiny dragon named Drekkitier spent the next several days outside his cavern home, Avalon his mother showing him the wonders of Nature and instructing him in the ways of the dragon; and the younger one grew in both knowledge and strength as he romped amid the greenery and occasional watering hole populated with a myriad of interesting and tasty creatures. His quick mind absorbed every detail as his growing body absorbed every morsel his mother could obtain, for he still lacked skill to bring down anything other than what Avalon could trap for him; and this irked him all the more as he set out flushing out the occasional lizard on his own, and pounded the dirt in frustration at every failed attempt!

“You try too hard!...”, Avalon rumbled amusedly as the carp slapped him on his spiky muzzle and swam away. “Our food is not fish anyway...”

“But I wish to be the best, mother...”, Dreketier stated as he shook off the water. “The best fisher as well as hunter!”

“You will, my son...”, Avalon said as she scanned the far plains beyond the watering hole. “But it takes time to learn to do it well.”

“Awww!...”, he moaned, then cheered. “But for me, It will not take too long!”

“I hope so, my son!”, Avalon looked around, sensing a change in the titanic dinosaurs in the herd she detected in the far clearing.

The herd of dinosaurs were on the move, but took their time; and this meant they did not sense carnivores around, and she knew that would lull them into becoming easier prey! But Avalon knew to wait for the perfect moment to strike or else the Apatasaurs would stampede, making an unstopable force that would alert every other kind of dinosaur in the area of her presence; and this would ruin any chances of her obtaining prey for herself and her offspring today, and she suddenly turned to her son as she felt the time to fly was right.

“...But what I want you to do right now is to stay in this area...”, Avalon told Dreketier quickly. “I will be back shortly with more food; and you may watch me hunt from afar if you like!...”, she trotted to a small rise in the land. “Now OBSERVE!!!”, she roared as she took wing.

Avalon spread her long and strong irridescent leathery wings majestically and merely beat her wings twice before she became airborne, lifting nearly verticle until she was just below tree level; then she swooped in an arc to skirt the trees and veered along the treeline to come around to the leeward side of the herd of sauropods she had spied earlier, and Dreketier watched her progress with the awe of the young and the envy of his still young and untested wings. He watched her progress until she flapped out of sight, sighed and soon lost interest as hatchlings were apt to do; and remembering his failed fishing exploits and vowing to at last catch that carp that had eluded him earlier, he scrabbled to the watering hole and began to scan the water.

Soon his gaze into the water veered downward, and he saw the image of another dragon like himself; leathery head sporting an array of spikes and upturned nostrils, and slitted eyes peering back up at him. He was enraged that another dragon was interloping on his private fishing hole, and snarled at the creature that seemed to be coming up from the water at him; but the other dragon seemed to be snarling back at him, even though this creature made no sound that he could hear! A moment of indecision and Dreketier's toungue lashed out, flipping up to slather just under his eye; and to his suprise the other dragon did the exact same thing, perplexing him all the more! His quick mind soon realized what was going on, and he cursed himself for being angered at his own reflection in the water; and turned away from the watering hole, gladdened that his mother hadn't witnessed his foolish blunder. As he traversed the slight rise in the area to see where Avalon had gone, he scanned the scenery all around him; and saw flecks of color amid the drab greenery in the foliage all around in the distance; and his curiosity bade him to wander and investigate this phenomona, even though he had promised his mother not to do so.

Setting out on a familiar track, Dreketier meandered through stands of bushes and ferns until he came upon the first patch of color; and found that it wasn't a brightly colored animal for him to take down, for it seemed that the tops of some strange-leafed plants had grown fronds at their tops; some crimson like blood while others took on a lighter hue of red, and others took on blues like the sky and other colors he had no words for. There were a myriad of flying insects not like the ones that constantly plagued mother and himself flitting from frond to frond, dipping their probosci into the exact middle of these formations and drawing back whitish yellow dust all over their bodies; and they harassed him as he tried to whisk them away from these strangely growing things, and some of them would try to bite him and prick them with barbs at their hind ends! Dreketier snapped and bit at these tiny monstrosities to no avail until he could not stand their constant stinging, but he had to protect these growing bits of color so his mother could see them; so he went to another patch that seemed to not have so many of these insects and began to uproot many of the plants, making sure there were many such colored fronds as evidence of his unexpected discovery.

As he dragged the mass of foliage back toward the area of the watering hole where Avalon told him to wait, he kept on sampling the pleasant sweet aroma coming from these plant fronds; nose detecting the suibtile nuances of each and every variety, some rather pleasant while others acrid and pungent – but none of the mingled scents seemed utterly disgusting to the young one. As the saphire pool drew nearer Dreketier noticed that mother hadn't yet returned, but saw in the farther distance tha dust swirling through the trees; and the faint bellowing and hoots of many beasts in distress, and knew that mother was still hard at work obtaining their meal! As he dropped the foliage next to the path, Dreketier went back to the watering hole for a drink; for the dry and dirty clump he had carried in his nouth made him extremely thirsty, and he wished to continue to stalk that cursed elusive carp! Seeing nothing for many long moments, his earslits picked up the swooping sounds of something large flying: and as he looked up he saw the familiar shape of his mother looming around for a landing, a rather small long necked creature dangling from her bloody foot talons. Avalon roared to announce herself to her son and dropped the creature between her son and the beginnings of the animal trail leading from the watering hole, thudding to a landing many yards from the watering hole; then sauntered up to Dreketier to nuzzle his capering body, he returning the gesture gladly.

“Greetings, my son!”, Avalon rumbled happily. “Look at what I caught!”

“Hello mother... What is that?”. Dreketier said, looking at the strange smelling creature bleeding on the ground.

“This creature is an Apatasaur.”, Avalon walked to the little corpse, he following. “They travel in great herds, and the adults are extremely large; but this is a mere hatchling, perhaps no older than you...”

“Why the long neck?”, Dreketier sniffed him. “Smells kind of gamy... like a swamp...”

“Well, the long neck is so they can eat leaves at the tops of trees, and they mainly roost in swamps.”, Avalon explained.

“Well, I think the trees should grow shorter...”, Dreketier said as Avalon chuckled quietly at his reasoning. “And perhaps they should live in cleaner smelling water...”

“But they are very tasty, my son!...”, she said amusedly. “Now eat up so you will grow strong!...”, she dipped her head to eat as well.

“Oh, mother!”, Dreketier said after several bites, suddenly remembering his adventure today. “I found something really strange today...”

“What is it?, She asked.

“These...”, he sacmpered over to the colorful plant fronds and dragged them over. “They came from the plants, and grow all over in places... Tiny stinging insects were all over them, and stung me when I got near!...”

“Those are called flowers, child...”, Avalon told him. “They are a way that some plants reproduce... Those insects are called bees and wasps, and the plants produce the flowers to attract them. These insects pollinate the flowers, and in return the flower gives them food in the form of nectar; which is a sweet smelling liquid, and the bees just love it!... Many such symbioses often occur in Nature.”

“Sym... symbio...?”, Dreketier tried to say.

“Symbiosis.”, she corrected. “That is an agreement made between the flowers and the bees... The trade is food for pollination, and protection of the agreement is mutually beneficial.”

“I guess that is important to them...”, he replied.

“Yes, and that is why they attacked you when you got near, for they were protecting their food” she smiled, showing teeth. “It is just like the agreement we have between the bats in our cave and us... If we are quiet and do not bother them, they do not bother us...”, she took a breath of the clean air and sighed. “Bees and flowers are a sure sign that Spring is upon us!”

Dreketier nodded at the information. “Like we would protect our food from interlopers...”, then he became unsure. “What is Spring, and why is it so important?”

“Spring is a reawakening of life...”, Avalon explained. “During Winter, when things are so cold, nothing grows very fast and life comes to nearly a stop. In Spring things come alive again, and life starts anew. Plants begin to grow and animals begin to reproduce, and life in general slowly becomes easier.”, she got close. “And that's the way life continues on this planet!”

“That is a wonderful thing!...”, Dreketier said, smiling. “Tell me more, mother!...”

“Indeed it is, my child!”, Avalon chuckled. “but first let us continue our meal, so we all can continue to grow!...”, both went back to their hatcling Apatasaur meal...

_

That day was one of many that were full of new and wonderous discoveries for young Dreketier all during that spring, he finding the wonders of certain plants that grew leaves during the season as well as the growing diversity of life that manifested itself to him as he wandered around his ever expanding realm. His mother Avalon would accompany him on his long excursions, councilling him on what she knew of each and every object that sparked his interest. His growing base of knowledge bade him to pose harder and harder questions to the older dragon, but her profound knowledge and wisdom seemed not to be overly put to the test; and when such an occasion would seem to happen to her, she would reply to his avid questioning by either jokes or nuzzles that humored him on taking a less pressing tack!

One of the major lessons that Dreketier would need to know that Avalon knew was vital to his survival was to show him how to hunt, and took pains to involve him in observing her prowess at it by allowing him to follow her on the ground to the hunting grounds; and though his knowledge in this subject grew at a prodiginous rate this way, his size also grew until he was nearly half the size of his mother by the time that summer came around. As this process went on during that time, Dreketier saw Avalon's methods of hunting; and the most profound thing to her secret to hunting was the fact that she could fly, a thing that Dreketier and his inadequate wings could not do. It was a fact that he was becoming more proficient in catching larger prey than mere lizards and fish and the like, but this involved chasing them down or cornering them or other such methods; but he was a DRAGON and dragons were mightier than any other meat eating creature, and they had special ways of obtaining their food – like flying!

“Mother, can I ask you something?...”, Dreketier asked Avalon meekly after he witnessed her strafe a herd of Parasolophus to pluck a yearling from the herd and drop her near his feet; for he had been in hiding fifty yards away when she did that, and he watched her work with envy.

“What is it, my son?...”, she replied.

“Am I old enough to learn how to fly yet?”, he asked, sniffing the carcass almost twice his size. “I mean I try, but I can not make my wings work right...”, he flapped slowly and unevenly a couple of times.

“You ARE beginning to get old enough to learn...”, Avalon considered. “But it takes much instruction and practice to master it.”, she took the first bite. “For me it took four complete full moons before I took my first flight...”, she swallowed. “I nearly broke my leg when I landed, though!...”

“Oh... Then you landed too hard!”, Dreketier said sadly after taking his first few bites. “Perhaps you should have flapped your wings more...”

“Yes indeed!”, Avalon said, looking at him in a new light. “You are indeed observant and smart!”, she gave him a lick. “Perhaps it would take even less time to train you to fly than it did me... And you will get your first instruction in flying as soon as we finish this delicious Parasolophus...!”, she dipped her head.

“You are observant as well!”, Dreketier replied. “This Parasolophus IS delicious!...”, he ate as well as she chuckled.

Within many moments the carcass was reduced to nearly bones, and after more moments to allow everything to settle; Avalon paced several yards west of the carcass, and grumbled at Dreketier to follow her. It was a small clearing of sorts, on a rise and sporting a myriad of breezes coming from many directions; and as Avalon waited for her son to stand by her side, she took in great lungfuls of the rushing air. Without words she bade her son to do the same, showing with her blissful expression the importance of breathing to clear his head before instruction such as this; Then without warning she suddenly spread her wings and held them aloft, Dreketier following suit as her wing membranes fluttered in the breezes. She mumbled to him to gain a feel for the wind on his wings, and to concentrate on the direction he thought the breezes were coming from; for she told him that such a sense was crucial to staying aloft in flight, and she instructed like that until she was certain he knew it by heart.

“And so concludes your first lesson, my son...”, Avalon rumbled.

“Is that all?!...”, Dreketier stomped. “I thought there would be more!...”

“The art of flying should not be rushed into.”, she told him. “Just like when you first learned how to walk, flying takes many small steps to master. Once you master all these small steps, then and only then should you take your first flight!...”

“Yes, that is a wise course of action...”, Dreketier said after considering. “I wouldn't want to almost break my leg too!”

“My boy!...”, Avalon chuckled. “Fear not, for one day soon you will fly... And I'd wager you would be a tenacious flyer when you do!... Now let us go home, for the sun is sinking in the sky...”, she led the way back to the cave.

A mere several days later Dreketier quickly became adept in many of the techniques of flying, even though in all that time his feet never left the ground; and even if Avalon's hunting expeditions came up empty, she would always return and continue the young dragon's training. He would often watch her hunt, hiding in the bushes near her target herd and marvel at her prowess; wishing in awe that it was he that was bringing down their food instead of her, and impatiently for the day his desores would come true. Dreketier knew his day would soon come to pass, for he had learned so much of flight these past few days that his first flight would certainly come soon; but was drawn out of his desires by the nearly fatal swoop Avalon took in bringing down the yearling Ankylosaur from the herd she had culled out, and he ran out with concern from where he was hiding to help her kill this still thrashing beast. He rushed out and pounced on the whipping tail and hung on with teeth and forepaws, but he was still shaken mercilessly for many minutes; but that was when his mother got a firmer grip on the beast's head and neck, wrenching it from side to side until a crack was heard and the beast finally lay limp in their midst.

“Well... done... son...!”, Avalon panted. “This one... was nearly... too big... for me...!”

“This one was strong!...”, Dreketier said. “He hit you a few times with his club-tail, mother...”, he looked at her. “Are you hurt?...”

“Maybe some bruises...”, Avalon said bravely. “But I'm all right...”

“But please rest anyway...”, he told her. “You may eat first... I will keep guard...”

“No, my son...”, she replied. “You're still growing, so you first!...”, as Avalon stepped away, Dreketier noticed her wincing gait, and this worried him as he took a tenative and armored mouthful.

“Mother, do you want me to help you hunt?”, he said after swallowing his first bite. “I mean you try so hard to feed us both...”

“Oh, son. You are still too young to hunt as I do.”, she told him. “But you are indeed learning!... Perhaps you may help if you wish, but I suggest hunting more as an ambush hunter; or perhaps act as a diversion, for if the prey sees an attack from the ground, they would not expect one from the air...”, she went back to her meal.

“You mean we could work as a team?!”, the lad nearly shouted in excitement. “Oh mother!... This is just the thing I was hoping for!... I could begin to be the greatest hunter in the world, at long last!...”

“Indeed you will be, my son!”, Avalon chuckled. “But to be one, you must grow strong!”, she nuzzled. “Now please continue your lunch or you'll never grow strong enough to become all that you wish!...”

They ate at a leisurely pace after that, reducing the juvenile Ankylosaur to bones within the hour; and as they were finished they slowly strolled back to the watering hole on the way to their cave, she chatting instructions while he played and capered at her side. Both were so intent on this that neither had any idea of the gory monstrosity that had smelled them from afar, and was slowly stalking them down wind and hidden from then by the undregrowth hundreds of yards to their rear; creeping ahead as quietly as his five ton weight would allow, he moved when they moved just like his Tyrannosaur mother taught him over twelve seasons ago. He saw them slowing as they neared the watering hole, and crept to within a hundred yards of them before an errant stick crack gave him away; and as they turned at tha sound the full grown male Tyrannosaur broke into a charge, knowing that when his cover was blown to go in full bore with fangs blazing!

“What's that?!!!...”, Dreketier shouted.

“Run, son!!!...”, Avalon roared, taking a stance. “I'll hold him off!!!” The Tyrannosaur charged closer, slowing to confront her!

Dreketier did not need to be told twice, for he ran away down the path as fast as his legs could propell him; but then something strange happened inside him and his wings began to flap, even though his eyes were slitted in the throes of running. He could hear the dual roars in his head and earslits, both of the larger Tyrannosaur and those of his mother; and he heard the rumbling and stomping as the two squared off and posed threateningly, but this was soon replaced by the sensations that his feet did not seem to be touching the ground – marveling to himself that he was running so fast that his galloping gait touched the earth so lightly! He remembered to open his eyes just then, and when he did he was several dozen yards off the ground; and his wings were spread and flapping like mad, and that was when he realized that he was at last flying like the dragon he was! He swooped up until he was just below tree level, circling around until he was just getting over the watering hole; but as he turned to see where the carcophany of battle Avalon was currently engaged in, he saw the strangest sight indeed.

Both the Tyrannosaur and his mother were scratched and bloody, a natural state when two large carnivores did battle that were about evenly matched; but Avalon seemed to be getting the lion's share of the injuries, and the Tyrannosaur seemed to be circling around for the kill! All of a sudden, out of an act of sheer desperation; Avalon reared back and took a deep breath, and out came a thirty foot plume of fire! The Tyrannosaur reared back, screaming at the sudden pain of emolation; and tried to shake the fire off his head and chest, but Avalon inhaled and hit him again with the plume. Having enough of the agony of this unstoppable secret weapon, the Tyrannosaur staggered out of the line of fire and hobbled back off into the underbrush; and Avalon went back down on all fours, panting and whimpering at the pain of her own wounds. Dreketier was so engrossed on what he had just witnessed that he inexpertly twisted in air, sudden gust of wind sending him pinwheeling out of the sky; and he landed with a splash right in the middle of the watering hole, and scrambled out as quickly as he could for fear of the nibbling fish he knew was there.

Just as soon as Dreketier made it to shore, he saw his mother shamble slowly back up the path toward him; and the pain on her face and her multitude of minor wounds told him she was hurt pretty bad, and he cautiousely approached her to meet her half way. No words were said as he helped her to the water, trying to administer to some of her wounds as she drank by licking them clean; and did so gingerly as she winced and yelped at some of the more sore spots, then turned to him smiling as she finished quenching her thirst.

“Mother, are you all right?”, Dreketier said at last. “I thought the other one would have killed you!”

“I am all right, my son...”, she rumbled. “It was just that the Tyrannosaur surprised us, is all...”

“But what you did was amazing!...”, he beamed. “I did not know we could breathe fire like that!...”

“It is true, but we only do it as a last resort.”, she said as she led the way back to the cave, only really slowly! “That is because it is so hard to do.”

“How is it done?...”, Dreketier asked as he followed.

“It all has to do with the gas we produce in our stomachs...”, Avalon said.

“Oh!... You mean why our belches are so smelly?...”, he asked as she chuckled.

“Yes, that gas is a mixture of Hydrogen and sulpher.”, she told him. “It is very volitile, which means it can catch fire easily.”

“How does it catch fire like that?”, he inquired.

“It takes using a catylist, an element that reacts with the gas and ignites it.”, Avalon told him. “I eat rocks made of Magnesium and flint. I will show you where I get it when you are old enough...”, she began to gag and cough, and Dreketier thought she was injured in the battle worse than he thought! Suddenly a tiny chunk of silvery metallic material was spat out. “This is for you, my son...It is some of the catalyst I use... Smell it before you eat it, so you can detect it when the time is right...”

“When WILL the time be right, mother?”, he asked.

“When you master the art of flight, of course!”, Avalon smiled. “To go where I gat my catalyst, it is a long flight to the Erupting mountains...”

“Mother, I have a little suprise for you!...”, he smiled. “When I ran away during the battle with the Tyrannosaur, I took my first flight!...”, he then described his entire ordeal in the air, ending with his watery landing.

“Well done, my son!... With more practice, you may soon be flying all on your own...”, she thought, looking sad. “Too bad I missed the spectacle... I'm sorry, but I must have been preoccupied at the time!...”, she nuzzled him. “Now let us go home, for it has been a long and tiring day.”...

_____

[thundertail]

_____

FIVE: "The herd"

All they talked about into the night when they got back to their cave was the exploits of the day, how Avalon had defeated that Tyrannosaur with her fire and how Dreketier had flown for the first time in his life; and many was the praise and compliments on both feats well done. At length the lad convinced his mother to begin training him on how to breathe fire as well, and the catalyst that she had shared with him promised that she would one day; but she would not say exactly when that day would be, and through the following days he began to grow impatient. Some more days passed outside their cave, and he practiced flying by testing the air with his wings and running all up and down the meadow by the watering hole to try to recreate the conditions that enabled him to inadvertently fly that fateful day; and after Avalon returned with their food for the day, began to instruct him verbally on the art of breathing fire. This seemed like a simple enough procedure to him as she explained things, belching stomach gas into the lungs and snapping ones jaws shut before exhaling; she explaining that the catalyst in his crop would be exposed to the gaseous air that way and ignite the gas as it passed his lips, and not to worry about being burned as the fire went through as dragons mouths and esophogusses were leathery and quite fireproof. After this she demonstrated by billowing out a rather short plume, saying that one could regulate the flow by how hard one exhaled; but smiled as she explained that these techniques would be perfected over time, and that he was still quite young and that he should try to concentrate on the instruction she had already given him, for it was a lot!

“Son, it is morning...”, Avalon called as she went from the entrance of their chamber in the cave over to his nest a few mornings later. “Time to go and hunt...!”, she nudged.

“Unnnnn...”, Dreketier groaned and rolled over. She saw he was still sleepy – or was he sick? She knew he had pestered her day and night on the arts of fire breathing and flying as of late, and stayed up all nights in restless anticipation; so she figured he had to catch up on his sleep for that, and also rest was important as he was due for another growth spurt soon.

“Very well, my love!...”, she said at last as she poked him with a face horn, getting a twitch. “You may sleep, and I will get glory getting breakfast instead of you...!”, and then she sauntered out of the chamber.

Dreketier listened for Avalon to leave the chamber before opening an eye a slit, hearing poised to listen to her sauntering steps as they echoed to nothingness; then he rose and crept to the mouth of their chamber, smiling as this was the moment he was waiting for. All through the days he had been asking about the art of breathing fire, but he promised her he wouldn't try it just yet; but he had to try it out just once, and he didn't want her to know about it. He feigned being extra sleepy this morning, his actions of the past few days and subsequent restlessness a perfect ruse to insure she wouldn't be the wiser; for now he was alone in their cave and ready to breathe fire! The young dragon had found enough of the catalyst that he injested in a most sneaky manner, finding it in his mother's dung for the most part; and knew his stinky stomach gas was volitile enough to be ignited, for his mother said so. Once Dreketier knew that his mother had finally left the cave, he crept out of their chamber and into the labyrinth of caverns leading out of the cave; but instead took a side tunnel he had explored as a youngster that led to deeper parts of the cave, and knew that a chamber deeper down had an air shaft leading up through parts unknown.

Here the floor was craggy and uneven, and water gurgled into a pool off to one corner of the larger gallery; but there was plenty of space to set off a plume of fire, and seeing he was completely alone in this dark space he drew a clear and deep breath. His exhalation produced nothing as he forgot to snap his teeth together like he was instructed, but the smell told of it's putrid readiness to ignite; so he took another deep breath, remembering what to do this time. His teeth caused friction with the catalyst causing a small spark, and as the gas passed his lips exploded in a hot stream that lit up the entire gallery; and automatically his palate clamped shut as the remainder of the plume began to scorch it, but still his lungs emptied to expell the volitile gas. Panting, he opened his eyes after the heat went away; and smiled his broadest at what he had done, but knew it was an inexpert attempt never the less and filled his lungs once more for another try. This time he did it better, but the air was quickly becoming stale and smoky and heated to almost an uncomfortable level; so he paused after his fifth plume to quench his thirst at the pool on the other side of the chamber, going to one of the vent channels in the rock to gather fresh air.

An idea occurred to him as he inhaled the sweeter air coming from the shaft, for if he could vent the heat and noxious gasses of his fire; he could easily practice his fire for a prolonged period of time, and the vent channel in the rock would surely do the job! Dreketier took a deep breath and set off his fire through the hole, and the flame disappeared up the shaft; going through unseen channels within the rock to places he hadn't had a clue, leaving the air in the gallery cleaner and sweeter. He did this eight more times until the gasses in his stomach waned and the catalyst he was using dwindled to uselessness, but noticed strange noises echoing through the caverns; noises familiar but made strange for the distortion through the rock, familiar since the sound seemed to be the sound the bats in the chambers near his and Avaslon's chamber usually make. Another strange revelation was the fact that it was indeed morning and not night when they were most active, and her thought it strange they were up at this unheard of hour; but since he was indeed finished practicing breathing fire, he made his way back to the chamber within the cave of his birth.

During this time, in the chamber where the colony of bats made their roost, heat began to build up near the base of their guano pile at the floor of the chamber; for the air shaft that Dreketier had chosen to vent his fire breathing practice into led directly to there, and the firy plume had made it's way through channels in the rock directly to there. The guano, extremely flamable in it's own right, quickly rose in temperature to it's ignition point until it began to smolder; then an errant breeze from another air channel fanned it until a small fire began at the pile's base, a thing that the thousands of bats gradually became aware of many moments later. The bats first noticed the noxious smell, and several individuals dropped and flew by the guano pile, and they noticed the smoke coming from the base of the pile; and these ones flew back up to the ceiling of their lair, screeching a distress call in their ultrasonic language. This began sending a storm of flapping wings and panicked screeches, all beginning to circle around to both see for themselves and line themselves up to bolt for the exits! In a matter of seconds the whole colony began a panic stricken exodus from their chamber, flooding out through the passages to the entrance of the cave; and flew off as a stormcloud into the midmorning day, causing the other animals outside to look up in confusion at the bat's untimely exodus.

One of those animals that noticed the bats leaving the cave was Dreketier's mother Avalon, she as she was flying toward home carrying the young Triceratops that was to be her and her sons next meal; and found it strange that the bats would go on an insect hunting expedition in the day like that, and wondered what her son thought of it as it might have woken the lad up. She landed near the entrance to the cave as the last of the little mammals scurried off in flight, then dragged the carcass into the cave on the way to their lair chamber deep below; noticing the foul, noxious stench coming from the direction of the bat's chamber along the way. The smell was not like the usual odor of guano she remembered, more like the smell of smoke or other foul odor; but paid it no mind as the bats had probably caught some different species of insect, and it translated the smell of their guano into something different. When Avalon finally made it to their chamber she saw Dreketier, lounging in his nest and lazilly cleaning his muzzle and face as she told him many times to do; for being clean was necessary for being healthy, and smiled as she dragged their breakfast before him as he remembered her cleanly advice!

“Good morning, my son...”, she greeted. “Look at what I caught!...”

“Greetings, mother...”, he smiled back. “Sorry for not joining you... I was soooo tired!...”

“I saw...”, she replied. “I guess that means you're growing...”

“I did not know growing was such tiring work!”, he said as she chuckled.

“Um, did you hear anything this morning?”, she asked. “The strangest thing happened. I was returning to the cave, and saw the bats leave the cave for some reason...”, she looked at him. “Do you know anything about it?”

“That must have been what woke me up...”, Dreketier lied, glad he remembered to clean off the fire residue from his snout! “Wonder why they did that...”

“I don't know...”, Avalon said. “But their guano sure smelled strange this morning... Must have been something they ate...”

“Well, insects are very strange things to eat.”, he reasoned. “Their guano would smell a lot better if they ate meat like us.”

Avalon chuckled at her son's reasoning and nudged the Triceratops carcass near, and both feasted for the rest of the morning; both finally leaving the cave several hours later, they drank at the watering hole and began Dreketier's training for the day. Over the interviening days Avalon deduced what really happened to compell the bats to leave their cave that day, discovering the chamber that her son had used to discreetly rxperiment with his fire; and instsantly saw how this could possibly spook those little mammals into their premature flight, and began devising a way to coax Dreketier to admit his actions. However, she did not need to coax him too severely for him to admit the act, for she had raised him to be an honest creature; and through several offhanded comments on the subject he finally admitted it, telling her that he wanted to suprise her by already knowing how to breathe fire like her. Avalon nuzzled him and told him she was already proud of him, and that he needn't try so hard at being a dragon like her as she knew he would already be the best dragon in the land; and then she surprised him by asking if he would demonstrate to her how to breathe fire, a thing he was more than eager to show her!

Over the rest of spring and into summer Dreketier became all the more proficient in hunting, and flew as was necessary to get from one hunting ground to another; but practiced his fire breathing sparingly, only doing so when flamable things were scarce. A wisdom Avalon taught him about fire was it was a skill to be used only as a last resort, for dragons were almost the only creature that could do it and it was an unfair advantage they had; and said that the only other creature she knew of that used fire was the Bombidier Beetle, an insect that stored reactive chemicals within itself to be mixed when attacked – only as a last resort as well. He had mentioned the attack of the Tyrannosaur that resulted in him being burned, and she said that she had to protect him and herself; and that a T-rex was far stronger than she, and it was the only thing she could do to ward him off – another last resort. He nodded at this information and promised not to use his fire while hunting, and not to do it unless he was attacked; and then they went back to their hunting expedition, he flying off to hide in the underbrush while she flew off to stir up the herd of Galimimus they both spotted at the same time.

Just like Avalon had trained him for, Dreketier was becoming an expert ambush hunter; and any of his intended prey that was lucky enough to escape him was usually snapped up by his mother in flight. Before the summer was long they were bacoming a well-oiled hunting team, and seldom went hungry as the weeks and months of Summer marched on. In his studies Dreketier grew more skilled in flying and breathing fire, but seldom used these budding skills in hunting just yet; and even though he so wanted to do this, he grudgingly took his mother's suggestion and relented for now...

_____

By midsummer Dreketier had gained experience until he was nearly at a skill level of hunting as his mother Avalon, and his size was that so he was nearly as large as she; but she knew he would have to practice a lot more to reach her level of experience, a thing she knew he would get very soon she was sure! Midsummer usually marked the time of the greatest volume of migrating dinosaurs through Avalon's vast territory, and every carnivore large and small knew this too; and even though the hunting would be fantastic for one and all, the danger from competition would be magnifyed tenfold for all the carnivores Avalon knew was in the area. Even though she had instructed him well on every aspect of hunting, she didn't know how he would react to the possibility of others stealing their hard won food; creatures that would rend creatures as frail as they like they would rend their regular prey, for surely the danger would be great – for the both of them, she was sure!

“Are you ready for the best day of your life, my son?...”, Avalon roared through the wind they were flying through.

“Most definitely!...”, Dreketier roared back, wind drying out his teeth as he grinned. “What are we hunting today, mother?...”

“What ever turns up,... what else?!...”, she replied, chuckling, and scanned the terrain below. “There should be something down there any time now,... I can feel it!...”

Less than an hour later and many miles further on, they were flying over sparsely growing trees that had shrubbery and morass hidden between them; and grazing amid those trees were hundreds upon hundreds of Strutheomimus, and the entire area of almost a square quarter of a mile was dotted with these medium sized, bipedal creatures.They were alternately grazing and covorting with each other, meandering through the trees in pursuit of quality fodder; and thus far none of them noticed the pair of dragons approaching them from the air, but Avalon and Dreketier landed just south of the perifery of the herd to make sure of this.They began by stalking a huge herd of Strutheomimus, mother going to the right of the herd and son taking the left; both coming to within clear sight of the nearest of them, trying to gague the herd while picking out the weakest of the group.They soon played their time by alternately stalking on the ground and with short bouts in the sky off well away from the giant herd.

Pretty soon one of the Strutheomimus looked up as she sensed some movement, but it was only another of her kind browsing at a near by bush; so she continued to feed as well, keeping an ever present vigil on the outskirts of the herd. In another part of the herd another one sensed something from high above, but then it vanished as quickly as it appeared and he went back to his eating; and then another heard rustling in some foliage dozens of yards away, but the Didelphodon that emerged was too tiny to worry about and the Strutheomimus wandered on for fresher fodder. This continued on for the herd for many long moments before several raised their heads, for the wind had shifted and brought a scent to their nostrils; a scent of carnivore, and a scent that they did not like one bit! By ones and groups they paused their feeding and brayed and called in nild distress, a sentiment they all soon shared as all caught a whif and worried all the more; and then one began to bolt followed by namy of her neighbors, and soon the herd mentality of flight became the agenda of the entire herd! They took off in the direction away from the scent they smelled, but other carnivores were in the area as well and they veered at a run through the trees to avoid them too; and Dreketier could see from his distant flying that the herd was weaving willy-nilly through the forest, trampling both fauna and themselves trying to escape the trap they found themselves in.

Avalon spied what was going on from her vantagepoint in the sky as well, and knew the time for stealth was over; for the other carnivores on the ground had spooked the herd, and she had to move swiftly or else the others down below will have taken it all! With a roar to Dreketier who swooped up into view a quarter of a mile away, she swerved around and bore down on the left flank of the herd; and her son roared in his own right and turned and descended on his end of the herd, him noticing all the other carnivores bolting out of cover to join in the chase. All in a matter of a few moments many of the Strutheomimus fell to other carnivores, one being ambushed by an Allosaur while three others perished at the mercy of two Tyrannosaurs; and dozens fell as seven Dromeosaurs took out the first half in three seperate groups, and even more fell at the claws of three groups of three Velociraptors each. In desparation the remaining herd bolted out of the sparse forest and into a vast plain beyond, really pouring on the speed as they knew they were far faster than at least the slower carnivores chasing them; and their phalanx converged into a vast teardrop shaped stampede as Dreketier and Avalon noticed the formation from above, then both dragons converged and really bore down on the herd!

The herd of Strutheomimus thought they were in the clear now that they were out in the open, for the runners in the rear saw that they had left most of the other hunters far behind; but if any of them had chanced to look up in the sky, they would not have grown so confident, for descending toward them were two fully grown dragons! As soon as their shadows darkened the last in the group, Dreketier and Avalon swooped and strafed several off their feet; and those that were strafed bowled many more off their feet, giving an added boon to the landlocked carnivores rushing into the fray from behind. Both dragons rose above the herd once more and each decided to procure kills for themselves this time; so instead of ascending after their next strafing run, they fell on the next bevy of Strutheomimus they bowled over. Unseen carnivores on the other side of the plain in their path emerged like ghosts and headed off many of the rest of the running game, who tried to veer away to the left and the right; but more carnivores emerged from the trees on either side and began to chase the rest, and Avalon and Dreketier saw from their meals that not many Strutheomimus survived this massive attack! As the dust cleared nearly a hundred carnivores were too busy to notice the other carnivores enjoying their own kills, and Dreketier found himself scant yards away from three Dromeosaurs feeding in oblivion; and between bites Avalon noticed a few Tyrannosaurs buzy with their dozen kills on a rise directly to her right, and it seemed to her and all carnivores around her that a truce had been issued in the clearing that day.

Several hours later Dreketier burped and retreated from his second Strutheomimus, nudging what was left toward a very young Velociraptor that was capering for it near by; and then waddled toward Avalon with a smile, who growled at him until she recognized him. “What a great day...!”, he rumbled before belching once again.

“Indeed it is, my son...!”, Avalon smiled back. “And look!... Peace reigns this day among us carnivores!...”

“Well, there's so much food here, no one much feels like being rivals...”, he observed. “I gave my remains to that little one over there...”, he pointed with a snout.

“So generous...”, she replied. “And such hunting prowess you have shown me this day!...”

“It was you that showed me how, mother.”, he said. “Without your expertise, I would never have done it...”

“You are now an expert hunter, I see.”, Avalon told him. “I can not teach you any more than you know now, and soon will come the next step...”

“What IS the next step?”, Dreketier asked.

“You will know when the time comes...”, she said with sadness, for she regretted what she had to do to him in the hear future. “Now let us go back home, before the others become hungry once more...”, she sniffed and prepared to take wing, and he followed suit...

_____

[thundertail]

_____

SIX: “The seperating...”

The glorious first summer of Dreketier's life seemed to fly by, and he began to rival his mother in bringing in their kills. He was successful more times than not, and Avalon allowed him to go out on his own to hunt many times; secretly testing him on his hunting skills and what the young adult dragon could bring home, and seeing how he might do when he went out on his own. She knew that he would be ready soon, seeing how well he was progressing; and Dreketier had no clue as to what was going to befall him in the very near future, for kicking him out of her territory was a thing that would certainly break Avalon's heart! This was on her mind as he at last entered their chamber of the cave, dragging a nearly fully grown Ankylosaur behind him; and he stopped dragging it when he reached the center of the chamber, sauntering to his own sleeping nest across the chamber from his mother's.

“I can not believe it!...”, he said, giving Avalon a wink. “Gone all morning, and this was all that was out there... No other animal within miles!...”

“The months of Autumn are coming our way.”, Avalon told him. “The animals are migrating to warmer lands.”, she spied the kill. “Something must be done about this...”

“You mean we should migrate as well?”, he asked. “But I like this territory...”

“I do too, but it will only support one dragon once the snows come.”, Avalon went to the kill to feed.

“We will starve...”, Dreketier considered. “But since I want to be with you... And things will be lean soon...”, he looked at her. “You mean one of us has to leave?... I preferr that we migrate instead...!”

“Things will work out, just wait and see...”, she finished eating in a few moments. “Now it is your turn to eat...”, he did.

As morning rose Avalon did not even stir, just like she had been doing all the weeks previous; but when he returned he found she had already been out hunting, and told him to eat his own kill. The next day when Dreketier failed to make a kill, Avalon refused to share hers; growling at him when he edged near, and telling him in no kind words to get his own. Even though he shared his kills with her, she would still refuse any sharing; and any time he would return to the cave, the looks she gave him contained more and more acid every time she saw him! As the weeks went by her greetings became increasingly hostile, and once during this time he inquired why she was giving him the cold shoulder routine; she snapped that he should sleep outside the cave that night, and puffed fire at his retreating form!

“Mother...”, a worried Dreketier said as soon as he saw her emerge from the cave the next morning. “Why are you treating me so mean?... Is it something that I did wrong?...”

“My son...”, Avalon said as she passed. “There comes a time in every dragon's life when they are to move on...”, she licked him. “You are my only son and I love you very much, but you are all grown up now... There is nothing more I can teach you, and I feel you can make it on your own...”

“Perhaps, but I wish to be with you!...”, he was near to tears. “We make a great hunting team, and we do well together...”

“That may be true, but this land can only provide us with so much.”, she told him. “The land can only provide for one dragon... And truth be known, this territory is MINE!...”, this she roared! “You MUST leave!...”

“But I don't want to...”, he noticed her taking a defensive stance! “Mother... Please!!...”, he backed up a pace.

“Please go!...”, Avalon snapped, then crouched. “I do not want to do this, but I MUST!”, she charged and roared, he backing up even further. “GO!... GET OUT OF HERE!...”, A huge plume of fire emerged from her lips as Dreketier turned and took to the air as quickly as he could.

“Mother... I will miss you...”, Dreletier called as he circled. Analon produced more fire to quicken his pace. “I will miss you...”, This he whispered as tears rolled down his face.

“Good bye, my wonderful son...”, Avalon said to the shrinking form, tears of both joy and anguish emerging from her eyes. “I will miss you too...”, She eventually turned and retreated to the cave to cry, suddenly not interested in hunting today...

_____

'This is the worst flight in my life...', Thought Dreketier as he flew away from the cave of his birth, not knowing what he was to do now. 'What posessed my mother to do this to me?...'

No answer came as he flew over the warteing hole he had drunk from so many times, but he dared not stop to drink as he feared his mother might be following; rather he continued to pour on speed as he blasted over the near by forest and several smallish meadows rivuleted with rolling hills, never daring to look back for the longest time. He had more troubling things on his mind at the time besides the fear of being chased, for he had to figure out why Avalon had turned on him; and could not quite figure this dilemma out no matter how hard he tried. Ever since he hatched he tried to be the best he could, and showed pride and curiosity befitting the best of his species; and excelled in all the things his mother had taught him, and this he feared was the reason she had suddenly threw him out of her territory and childhood home!

It might be that he was indeed better than his mother, and she had turned bitter and jealous because of it; but all he did was to learn all he could from her and use that training to hunt and defend himself, but maybe she thought she had trained him too well and it hurt her pride that he was better than she! He didn't want to make Avalon jealous of him, for all he wanted to do was to please her, not hurt her pride by surpassing her! His noble side begged him to turn around and apologize to her, but his good common sense told him this was not the time to try to make ammends; for she would no doubt still be upset with him, and it may take a long, long time for her to settle down enough before she could be talked to rationally. There was one thing for certain in Dreketier's mind, that Avalon's demeanor this morning had certainly upset HIM; and it was no lie as he admitted to himself that it would take a little time for him to settle down enough to think clearly, for he desperately needed to think of what he was to do next!

The suddenly disposessed dragon circled down low, to one of the streams he had drunk from before which was one of the farthest watering areas he had been to on his mother's territory; and landed by the water's edge to drink, and he figured his mother would allow him at least that much. Even though he sensed that Avalon was not out tracking him down, he figured she would smell his presence there sooner or later; so he quickly took to the sky when he was done, and circled around to see if he was being followed or watched. Dreketier knew of many such watering places around this territory, but was still too remeniscent of his life before this to actually leave the area; so he decided to fly low and inspect all the watering places in this section of the terrain, time permitting as he knew his mother would be angry if she found him sticking around for very long! He dipped low toward the vast plain where he had enjoyed the colossal communal kill a few weeks ago, which seemed to be like just yesterday to his musing mind; and once done there he visited many other places where memorable kills took place or vital lessons were learned, and did this for several hours as time passed without his notice. Once his memories all seemed in place, Dreketier paused to think of what he was to do next; for he was out on his own now, and needed a plan.

The first thing he knew he had to do was to leave the territory, but which way as any direction would be better than suffering his mother's wrath; and the second thing he knew was he had to prepare for a potentially long journey to another unclaimed territory, and who knew how long it would take for him to establish one for himself? He decided to first gather some supplies, and since he had already drank his full; the only other real thing was food, but scanning the ground from above proved there would be very little to hunt – and besides, he may not have enough time to do so before Avalon decided to check up on him. The only other thing he needed to do since he felt himself running low on it, was to gather more of the flinty catalyst that were up in the mountains near the middle of the territory; so he flew low to the mountain peak in question so as to not be noticed and found the vein of ore with his nose, the coppery smell leading himn right to it as he clawed and injested many pounds of the stuff before quickly moving off to the sky. By this time his brain reasoned the correct way he should go, for since he knew that the animals had migrated out of this territory from a wide pass to the south; and reasoned that this was the way he should go as surely fresh game would no doubt be in that direction, so off he flew until he reached the pass that marked the southern edge of his mother's territory.

“Well, this is it, mother!...”, Dreketier said aloud to only himself. “I will miss you, and do you proud!...”, and off he flew down the valley and out of the territory that nurtured him since birth.

Avalon spent a good hour in the cave crying for what she had done to her son, and forced herself not to respond to the compulsion to go after him and take him back; but she emerged from the cave and flew discreetly to the paek of a near by mountain where sha could see her entire realm, and from there observed her son pouring over the land he once shared with her. She would let him remenisque over the spots he was visiting instead of giving pursuit and driving him off, for he was a good boy and would no doubt move off as soon as he was done; and she watched him for more than an hour bafore he decided to fly off south, where the sloping valley meandered out of her territory.

“Good luck , my son!...”, Avalon said aloud to only herself. “I love you very much, and will certainly miss you!...”, she stared at his shrinking form in the distance until only a fading dot was all that was left of him, her last sight was filtered through teardrops...

_____


Dreketier finally had enough of mooning over the loss of his former life, berating himself mercilessly as he tried to decide what to do; and when he did he decided to follow the migrating herds south, and he remembered a pass where many of the herds had left the area – then wheeled around and followed that valley all the way out of his childhood home. Though Dreketier had been this way before, he had not gone this far from his mother's territory in his life; but his mother had said that the valley led further south, and had told him that the further south one went the hotter it got. He was quickly growing hungry, but so far no game large enough to satisfy that hunger made itself apparent through the mixed landscape ahead of him, but maybe he could find fish in the bodies of water that might lay ahead if the need arose. He was still pretty upset about what his mother had done to him, but reasoned that he would do the same thing to her if the situation were reversed; and did not blame her a bit for it, after all he indeed was quite capable of taking care of himself, he thought!

The trails through the trees and across the small meadows showed the paths the various herds of creatures had talken, and proved that these were natural highways used every season over the years; and from this he knew that he would be on the hunt in a very short time, this being proven as he spied the dust of the last herd through here billowing in the extreme distance. As he traveled the interveining miles toward the dusty horizon, he noticed that the herd was the herd of Strutheomimus from that gigantic hunt so many days ago; herd only making it this far in their wanderings, which was decimated to within a third of it's original population. He saw the reason as he swooped low at a discreet distance from their flank, for their slow browsing told of their extremely slow pace; but as he landed he startled another creature in the unferbrush, and this one scurried for it's life to warn the herd of something dangerous close by.

The herd began to move off at a quick pace, but not at their fastest as what atartled them was merely another herbivore like they; for they simply trotted out of the thin forest they were in and into a small clearing, where they pasused on the other side of it to continue their feeding. Dreketier sneered as he decided to use stealth to stalk these faster creatures, slithering through the trees and sneaking through the bushes that circled this part of the clearing; then at the right moment when a likely Strutheomimus wandered near, he would spring – bagging his first solo kill that he needn't share with anyone else! For the next twenty minutes he silently shifted from one hiding spot to another as the herd mingled, and finally a likely candidate came near his current position; so out he bolted into the field and barreled down on the suddenly startled beast, who charged the other way in an instant and set the rest at a run! Cursing his clumsiness, Dreketier took to the sky and used his speed up there to catch up with his intended victim; and the Strutheomimus screeched as Dreketier fell on her and she tried to bite back as he wrung her neck, and the rest of the herd had fled the field by the time that Dreketier roared at his first victorious kill alone!

Smelling his first kill, he savored every bite; and swore that the meat tasted better than he had ever ate as he fed for many minutes in carniverous bliss; but others were in the forest too, and were swiftly converging on the noise of the battle. A pack of seven Velociraptors huddled by the forest, debating quietly whether or not they should illicit the kill from this much larger carnivore; but at last agreed to wait until that monster left before scavenging the carcass, and most of them melted back to a safe place while two subordinates were assigned to monitor the dragon's feeding progress. The small meadow sported many sorts of small mammals, and they poked their heads up and down curiousely as they saw what was going on; only to retreat again if Dreketier made a move, which was often due to his feeding frenzy. The birds of the field that were startled to flight when the hunt began started to return to their roosts, but only those whose nests were far enough away were brave enough to return; and the tiny scavenger dinosaurs began showing up unseen, poking their heads above the grass to gague their chances to sneak a morsel. Some of these dared to take a chance and come close and see, and these went unnoticed by the dragon for the longest time; and this prompted more to become braver, and some were even bold enough to peck at the carcass with Dreketier right there!

“Get out of here!...”, Dreketier growled and snapped at them as he noticed the intrusion. “There will be plenty left!... Wait until I'm done!...”

The group of Compsagnathus would not, so he puffed out a tiny plume of fire! “I said SCAT!!...”, he roared before taking his next bite, and this prompted the tiny scavengers to keep their distance!

Dreketier continued feeding for many minutes more, ever vigilent for the chirping sounds from his unwanted dinner companions; and then backed away drunkenly and let out a belch, but in his stupor let out a giant cone of fire that startled even him! He looked arounf guiltily scanning the terrain for more dangerous carnivores that might have been attracted by the noise of his kill, and saw gleaming eyes of the two Velociraptors waiting at the edge of the clearing; and these two called out into the forest when they saw him pull away from the carcass, and the dragon decided to take to the wing as he knew not how many of their companions they were calling. Dreketier circled the clearing now empty of prey items yet swiftly filling with carniverous beasts and smiled, for his first solo kill would feed these creatures as well; and chuckled at the Compsagnathus as they jockeyed for food at the carcass, then heard their chirruping as the Velociraptors began driving them away again!

The lone dragon plied the sky once his attention was released from the activity below, and then he began to scan the horizon to see which way he was to go; and through all of his experiences he had not a clue, and despite his immense ego he dared to betray to himself that he was indeed frightened of his fate in the near future. All he thought to do was to continue to travel south for now, for it was his only lead and only direction he decided to go; and maybe something might turn up to indicate further events in his currently young life, though Dreketier hoped that nothing extremely terrible would happen any time soon. He ascended up into the cloud layer and plied the winds there as the vast landscape scrolled out before him far, far below...

_____

[thundertail]

_____

SEVEN: "Next Of Kin..."

Two months later Dreketier was some three hundred miles south of the territory of his birth, meandering this way and that to scan the greatest amount of territory. The humting seemed marvelous to him as he had grown by at least ten percent in the interveining time. Though most of the time he flew to eat up the miles, many times he hiked through forest and field and morass to scout terrain that might possibly suit him for a territory of his own. Instinct had told him that a potential mate would appreciate a dragon that had an established territory, and this was one of the major reasons he was scouting the land so intensively. Needless to say that Avalon had explained to him the many nuances of mating, explaining things in a way his young mind could comprehend; but Dreketier knew that the act of mating was much more involved than that, for his instincts on the matter did not lie! In the many spots he would have chosen, they all had flaws such as sparse food and no water and little shelter to roost in.

At last, near a headwater of a river there was a wooded canyon seen; green and pristine with a swampy river running through it, and diversely colored birds galore that suggested a vibrant ecosystem beneath the leafy canopy. The game within seemed abundant and varied, and seemed nonplussed at his approach; and that meant that carnivores were few and far in between as well, and that meant that this land ripe for the picking! Dreketier landed near the river's edge to drink, savoring the pure clean water and spying the many species of fish that alternately hunted each other and avoided being hunted in the sandy current below; then he noticed the tracks of many creatures there, most was of the smaller mammal variety while others were of slightly larger saurian design. Noticing that his hunger needed sating once more, he could not decide whether or not to hunt these smaller land dwelling creatures or ply the water and troll for the aquatic life; but since the fish were so close at hand, he settled for the several catfish he had snared.

Dreketier belched and smiled, for at last he quite possibly found himself a home; and after a moment to clean his face, he took to the wing again to survey all that he could see. If this place was to be his, he would have to learn every crag and rill in the landscape; even the terrain under the trees as well as above them, and there were some near by peaks he hadn't examined yet. Above this utopian landscape were the rocky crags of mountaintops, and the smell of his flint catalyst lay everywhere up there; and best of all, there were many caves in these crags to make himself a home in! Some of these caves were etched into high crevices while others were carved by erosion lower down in the slopes; and even though many of them were mere depressions in the rocks, others went in deep enough to be considered livable. While exploring these caves, he found many not really suitable to make his nest in; but one stood out, for it was huge and went in deep – and no bats.

The cave itself emitted a smell as odoriforous as it was familiar, for any dragon worth his salt would know dragonstench when he smelled it; but it seemed that the dragon that once occupied this cave did not care where he made his excretions, for the foul stenches of dragon dung and urine prevaded the entire stretch of the cave! He slowly entered this cave, cautiousely as the maker of that stench might still be around; and looked deep inside many of the side tunnels along the way, footing being tested as the floor of the cave sloped down and was somewhat uneven. Near the entrance of one rather small seeming chamber within, rasping breathing was heard; and he froze out of instinct, listening to see if it was his own breathing echoing from there. Dreketier tested his hypotheses by holding his breath, but when the sound commenced once more, he knew he was not alone in the cave!

Venturing braveness, he took a step just inside and called nicely. “Who's there...?”

“Get lost...!”, yelled a completely strange voice, which almost made Dreketier bolt out of the cave!

“Um..., sir...”, Dreketier said, figuring out the gender and the fact this creature was indeed another dragon by the voice. “ I am looking for a territory to call my own.... I did not know this territory was yours, so I'll leave...”, he turned to go.

“Wait, boy...”, the other crackled. “Could you do me a favor?... Could you please light the pile of wood near the entrance?... It's to your left...”

“Sure...”, Dreketier pointed his head in the right direction and spat a plume of fire at the large pile of wood, and it caught ablaze right away. He then turned to the dragon at the back of the chamber and gasped!

“Thank you, son...”, this extremely ancient looking dragon said as the warmth soon reached him and he preened. “I dragged the stuff up here weeks ago, but didn't have fire enough to do it myself... Took all my strength, it did!...”, he cackled. “Mighty cold in this cave at night, too...!”

Dreketier looked at the gangly form before him. Though this creature was nearly twice the size of him, the form looked like he hadn't seen food in a long time; skinny and emaciated with no muscle tone, ribs showing and all sorts of starvation-related appearances. And he looked ancient beyond all reckoning, horns and scales yellowed and flaking; ragged wings hanging loosely by his sides, tail scales worn off with raw skin showing. Though he was definitely a dragon, he seemed to be a slightly different species; for his tattered wings grew out of his shoulder blade area instead of being vestages of his forelimbs like himnself. The face had few horns, but sported twin barbels from the upper lip like a mustache; and the chin sported many more barbels, looking like a ropy beard. The face and muzzle was a roadmap of scars and creases, and the eyes were rhumy and one seemed to contain no sight; and the fangs that protruded from the face were split and chipped and tarnished almost to uselessness, signs of a dragon that had seen a full life. Dreketier couldn't guess just how old this creature was, nor dared to ask him; but he figured him to be very ancient indeed, perhaps close to five hundred years if his moither was right on the longevity of dragons.

“Stare if you must, pup!...”, the elderly dragon noticed Dreketier's gaze. “But it would take all the luck you posess to be as old as I!...”

“Sorry...”, Dreketier lowered his eyes. “That was rude of me...”

“It's OK... And to answer your unspoken question, I am indeed ninety seasons old!...”, his nasal barbels twitched. “And there is something else you are rude at... What is your name, boy?...”

“Oh yes!... Sorry!... My name is Dreketier...”, he told his elder. “This is my first season away from the nest.”

“Name's Thorip... Put 'er there!...”, Thorip extended a gnarly forepaw, then lowered it weakly as it began to quiver. “Dang...”, he whispered.

“You seem weak...”, Dreketier looked worried. “When was the last time you've eaten.”

“A few weeks, I'd say...”, Thorip considered. “Maybe more, or maybe less... I forget...”

“Well, to me it sounds like you're starving...”, Dreketier stated. “How about this, Thorip... I am a pretty good hunter, even if I do say so myself...”, he smiled, but Thorip was not impressed, so he continued. “What do you think if I go out and hunt us up some food?...”

“What's out there, if you noticed?...”, Thorip asked. “Ain't been out in a while...”

“Mostly smaller dinosaurs, and I can down them easilly!...”, the younger dragon told the older. “They're so small I'll have to bag a lot of them, though...”

“Well, it sounds like a plan if you can swing it...”, Thorip sounded skeptical, trying to gague Dreketier's character.

“I can!... Honest!...”, Dreketier said almost like a child!

“Then scoot already!...”, Thorip winked, and out Dreketier scooted!

The younger dragon bolted out of the smallish chamber of the cave and launched himself into the sky at the cave's mouth, eyes instantly adjusting to the sudden daylight sun as he rose above the trees in the valley floor above; on the lookout for any kind of game hiding in between the underbrush, and so close to the home of the ancient dragon he had found himself with that game seemed practically nonexistent. Down by the slow moving river in the center of the valley ha landed to gain bearings and look around for any more tracks, which were even more abundant since the last time he was there; and saw slightly larger tracks in the mud, nearly cloven footed and as big around as the palm of his forepaw. These tracks led into the bushes, and he followed them in until he came upon a well worn trail that meandered through the tree trunks beyond; and following the trail he found several piglike creatures rooting around in the leafy morass he had never seen before, and the shape and size was exactly the same that his mother described to him to be Protoceratops. He was equally clueless on how to capture one of them, but since they looked like baby Triceratops; so he would hunt them like those were hunted, so Dreketier slunk in the bushes waiting for the perfect time to strike.

The Protoceratops group negan moving off through the forest before he could finish thinking all this, and he all too quickly chased after them; but this was enough to alert the seven creatures they were being stalked, sending four of them into a loping gallop while the other three turned and stood in a defensive mode. The dragon flew over the defensive group and went to pursue the running ones, where he had to swiftly land and bolt off after them; and it was a good thing that this species of Ceratopsian could not run very fast for their stumpy legs, for he quickly overtook the training one and swept him off his feet. Being a tough species, this Protoceratops righted himself and bared his pointy beak; snapping it with bonecrushing intensity as Dreketier came near, and this unnerved him to the point of giving up. Smiling to himself, he feigned being frightened and ready to run away; but just at the last instant took to the wing and grabbed the piglike beast along his back with his rear talons, taking the squealing beast high into the air. When he reached treetop level, Dreketier dropped the beast several hundred feet; and the Protoceratops was dashed on every other branch on the way down through the canopy, dragon landing just as the Protoceratops rose and shook his head – what a sturdy beast this was! Dreketier landed and immediately ravaged the beast's neck until he lay limp in his jaws, for the dragon was tired of hunting this nearly invulnurable creature; and panted shamelessly for many moments before hefting it, slowly taking off toward Thorip's cave.

“Here's the first one...”, Dreketier said after dropping the carcass in the center of Thorip's resting chamber. “I'll be back with more...”, and off he scurried out of the cave.

Thorip waited, silently eyeing the Protoceratops until the younger dragon left; then fell on it with all the ravenouseness that his extreme hunger made him posess, and Dreketier noticed the noise as he left the cave – poor dragon must have really been starving! He flew back down into the forest below, near the river again to see if the Protoceratops group was still around; and finding they had no doubt left the area, went in search of other game. Further down the valley he found signs of other creatures, small seeming and many by the tracks; and soon came upon a large herd of Harpymimus, and knew that these pint-sized bipedal dinosaurs were extremely fast on their feet. He knew that chasing them down was not an option, and his quicker speed in flight was the only way to capture some of them; so he waited in the bushes next to a clearing they would certainly have to cross for the thickets and waited, and the many moments felt like hours to him as he planned on strafing them off their feet before administering a killing blow. At first the Harpymimus meandered into the field, snapping up any flying insect they were scratching up from the grasses; and as soon as the first one got within easy distance to him, Dreketier leapt into the sky and chased down the now scurrying herd!

He immediately descended upon the nearest one and took him off his feet before rolling onto him and wringing hid neck, then rose up and took out a second one before she could make her hairpin turn; and then ravaged her badly before taking two more off their feet, and that was all he gould down before the rest bolted in all directions through the forest. Dreketier gathered up his kills and, since they were so light grasped all three by the neck and took to the wing; but he flew unsteadilly due to the uneven weight, and slowly made his way back to Thorip's cave. He padded back into the older dragon's chamber, noticing the disembodied bones of the protoceratops he had deposited earlier; and dropped his bevy of herpymimus there before him, Thorip licking his chops from the feast he had eaten. He turned and spied the younger dragon and the abundance of meat in that order and rumbled pleasurably, Dreketier slumping down on the stone floor in weariness before looking at his elder questioningly; and neither spoke for the longest time as both rested, then Thorip broke the silence at long last.

“You did well, boy...”, Thorip said. “It has been a long time since I've eaten this well, and I am grateful...”

“Well, you looked half starved...”, Dreketier told him. “And you seemed to weakened to hunt for yourself...”

“I was one of the strongest dragons in the world in my day...”, Thorip stated. “Perhaps you will not live as long as I, but in a way that could be lucky!...”, he dragged a Harpy his way. “To be this old and grow this helpless is no way for a dragon to be...”

“With your great years, you must have done many great things...”, Dreketier stated. “Your wisdom must be vast indeed!...”

“True, I know many things...”, Thorip told him. “And if you stay further, I may tell you of them...”, he looked at the remaining food. “Now eat, before this stuff goes bad!...”, Dreketier complied...

_

The night soon turned into morning, and Dreketier began to remember where he was; a guest of the much older dragon named Thorip, a creature whose advanced age prevented him from hunting. The poor beast seemed close to starvation and infirmary, Dreketier thought; and somehow he knew that they were related in some remote way, and even though his brain could not fathom ithe connection his instinct certainly did. But even though his feeling might be wrong, his sense of etiquite of what is expected of a houseguest bade him to earn his keep at least; and since Thorip could not do all the things necessary for the upkeep of his cave, he vowed to clean up the place once he had gotten to this morning's hunt. He had found the chamber in the cave where Thorip had been doing his business, and it was a good thing that it was far enough away from the chamber that housed the underground stream he had been drinking from or he would have been dead of disease a long time ago; but other than that the place he had choisen to do his business was one of the least accessible chambers in the place, so it was going to take a while to have it all removed and even longer for the majority of the stench to go away – at least Dreketier had the good sense to do his business far away from the cave!

Ha had dragged several loads of wood up to the cave, lighting it with his own fire as Thorip said he had no catalyst within him; but ha knew his combustive gas was beginning to build up as he was now eating on a regular basis, but he had to find a way to allow him to light his own fires to keep himself warm. Dreketier's next mission a few days after that was to make a pilgrimage to one of the many catalyst deposits he had detected along some of the mear by mountain ridges, and when he was through he regurgitated many chunks onto the chamber floor beside his host; saying that this would do until he was strong enough to fly up and obtain some of his own, a geature that Thorip said he was most grateful. Other chores included removing the bones of the kills he had hunted for them, tossing them back into the balley where great piles of bones could be found; evidence of Thorip's success in his younger days.

True to his word, Thorip related many exciting times of his life, great successful hunts and long treks in pursuit of females; and the two times he had participated in clan gatherings, an event where hundreds of dragons gathered and shared their lore through stories passed down from generation to generation. He told of dragons that performed great deeds like damming up rivers to keep vast areas fertile so the game they hunted would stay longer than they normally would rather than being driven from the territory by drought, banning together to fend whole regions from overpopulated species of Tyrannosaurs or Allosaurs and many more great deeds such as that; and the tales of geneaology where many could piece together each dragons lineage – some discovering that they were descendants of very brave and noble dragons indeed!

“Who was your mother, boy?...”, Thorip asked at last.

“My mother was named Avalon, and looked about like me...”, Dreketier told him. “I never knew my father, and she would not tell me of him...”

“Avalon, hey?...”, his nasal barbels twitched in thought, repeating the name namy times before a light shone in his eyes. “I knew a dragon named Farinais, and she had a sister named Grimoire; and she told me she had seven offspring one year, and I believe she mentioned that one of them she named Avalon...”

“Then you know her?”, Dreketier could not believe it!

“I know OF your mother, I never met her...”, he smiled. “But it seems I did mate with your step-grandmother once!...”, he chuckled.

“Would you know of my dad?...”, Dreketier asked.

“Perhaps not... But maybe I have met your grandfather or other cousins...”, Thorip admitted. “Sometimes us dragons mate and then leave like that... I would not, but some males can not stand the responsibility, I guess!...”

“I see...”, Dreketier digested, then a smile parted his lips. “But this means you are related to me!...”, then saw the accusing stare. “I mean very remotely at best, of course!...”

Instead of being angry at the insinuation, Thorip simply smirked and regailed Dreketier with yet another of his tales; telling it to him until evening finally set, and presently both bedded down for the night. It was many more days before the elderly dragon was strong enough to leave his chamber, and another day before he was able to take his first steps out of his cave; inhaling the fresh air and tasting the clean water of the streams that ran down the nountainside, and seemed like a hatchling once again as he slowly quickened his pace toward the forest. Dreketier thought it looked like a scene from his childhood, only the roles were reversed; he serving as the personage of his mother while Thorip acted as he once done, and just like his mother he was proud of Thorip his transformation from an infirm lump on the cave floor to this new and invigorated creature seen here today. Even though Thorip still did not help with the hunting, preferring to attempt capturing the fish abundant in the eddies of the stream; he seemed more apt to do his business well away from the cave and any hunting trails he happened to come across, and agreeing after a confrontation about it that it was indeed less offensive to do it out here rather than in the enclosed confines of the cave!

As the days went by the elder dragon grew strong enough to take to the wing again, ragged wings lifting the larger beast clumsily into the air; but only allowing him to stay aloft for pitifully short periods of time, but as weeks passed his flights became longer and longer. Dreketier still did a majority of the hunting around Thorip's territory during this time, but that was merely due to the older dragon's lack of stamina; and judging by the way he hunted these days, Dreketier surmized that he was an extremely formidable hunter in his prime. As several more days passed, the younger dragon noticed that his host would abandon him for the longest time during the day; and upon his meek inquiry of the deed he would get a terse reply to mind his own businness, then Thorip would apologize and explain he was visiting other realms of his territory. He said there were areas of great battles and conquests of females, and other deposits of catalyst where even Dreketier's acute sense of smell could not detect for the distance; but one time the younger dragon had stealthily followed his host, and simply found him fallen asleep in a meadow of sweet smelling grasses!

“Yes my boy, there were times long, long ago where the creatures came...”, Thorip told Dreketier one evening several days previous. “These creatures were super powerful, even though they were puny in size...”

“What were they?...”, Dreketier asked. “Where did they come from?...”

“Nobody knew what they were, and some say they came from the stars!...”, Thorip told him.

“Impossible!”, Dreketier said. “Nothing can come from a star!... Perhaps they flew like us, and only landed at night so it looked like they came from stars...”

“No, boy!... These Others came not from earth, but flew with strange shining abodes; which landed on the ground and they lived there for a time, and then these abodes would rise to the stars once more after their business was done...”, Thorip said. “Fates cursed the ones who saw them, and those that survived were never sane again!...”

“How do YOU know of them?...”, Dreketier accused. “You are old and addled, but not insane; so you no doubt hadn't seen them...”

“I had been to many clan gatherings, and heard the many tales of the Others; told by many who knew other dragons who encountered them and lived to tell.”, Thorip said. “If you ever go to a clan gathering, you will hear such tales too!...”

“I apologise, kind sir...”, Dreketier bowed in shame. “But such tales to me sound extremely far fetched!...”

“It is all right, son... And I agree the tales do sound strange...”, the elder one stated. “But I have had too many friends say such tales too many times to have it be false...”

“I see...”, the younger one said. “Did any of them say what they looked like?”

“Some say they had grey shiny skin and two large eyes that dominated their faces, and no other facial features were seen...”, Thorip continued the tale. “They stood vertically on two hind legs, and their stance was merely as tall as your elbow... Their heads were the shape of a lava dome, and their forelimbs could manipulate the objects they posessed...”

“Why were they so powerful?...”, Dreketier was really interested now! “Why were the ones who encountered them so powerless against them, they being so small?...”

“It is said that these Others are Elementals, spirits of great power that wield the forces of Nature...”, said Thorip. “It is said that they can compell other creatures to do their bidding, and imprison them against their own volition by a sheer compulsive force...”, he looked sad. “The ones that escape the Others are so bewildered by these practices that they can never be the same again – an empty shell of their former selves, a hopeless case for the rest of their lives...”

“That is so sad... And those Others are so cruel!...”, Dreketier said. “If I see them I will drive them away!...”, Dreketier told Thorip. “Just wait and see!...”

“It is an unwise vow you make, boy...”, said the elder. “Those who witness the Others return different than when they started, as I have told you!... It is best if you fly the other way when you see their abodes – and fly away as fast as you can!...”

Just then Dreketier made a sly grin, this after Thorip's relaxed demeanor. “Oh... you are just trying to scare me!...”, then turned to his nest. “Just trying to make me have a scary sleep vision, is all!...”, he chuckled and went to bad.

Shrugging, Thorip turned and followed suit; but the look on his face told no one that he was not joking the things he said, for he knew his father's father's uncle was one such guest of the Others! They both fell into their dreams quite a while later, but it was Thorip that had the bad sleep vision that night; and this compelled him into a bad mood for days following this, making Dreketier wonder why. The lad saw through this moody bout that perhaps it was his fault Thorip was acting this way, for his tales began turning from enthusiastic telling to that of almost bland instruction; and the elder would stay away from the cave for hours past sunset and come back even more close mouthed as ever, and the thought was growing in Dreketier's mind that perhaps he was wearing out his welcome. He knew this old one could have destroyed him had he been much younger, and probably could have indeed in his prime; but even through all this and his current mood, Dreketier really looked up to Thorin like a mentor or even surrogate father. He knew hw was his friend, for none would let him stay and share his wisdom; not in a harsh environment as Prehistoric earth, with creatures as wild and formidable as dragons!

“Thorip, I have something to tell you...”, Dreketier said one night two months after he arrived there. “I have not known anyone of my species outside of my mother and you... She has taught me many valuable things, and so have you...”

“Well boy, youngsters like yourself need all the help they can get...”, Thorip was cut short.

“What I'm trying to say is you will forever be my friend, and...”, Dreketier was cut off this time!

“Now woah, boy!...”, Thorip balked. “I never said we were friends!... I was down and out when you first saw me – I should have never let myself go like that in the first place...”, he got back on track. “You helped me out a lot, and I appreciated it... That was why I let you stay on... To let you find your feet before moving on...”

“I know, and I appreciate THAT!...”, Dreketier returned. “And I also appreciate all the tales you told, and all the wisdom you gave me...”

“Thanks, but there was one thing I could never figure out...”, Thorip said.

“What was that?...”, the boy asked.

“You saw the way I was when we first met...”, Thorin illustrated. “With any other dragon, seeing another in such a state; they would have certainly killed me, then they would have taken over my territory...”, he squinted. “Why didn't you?...”

“My mother taught me never to take anything that wasn't rightfully mine...”, Dreketier told him. “Especially if the owner was still alive... Another reason was probably pity, for I saw you there all helpless like that, and felt sorry for you; but since I was younger and stronger, I thought there was something I could do about it...”

“And you did, boy... You did!...”, Thorin smiled, then mumbled. “In my day, I would have killed if some acted for me of pity...”, he then smiled. “But I guess I was too weak to entertain that pride any longer...!”, he looked at Dreketier. “You did well...”

“You do me much honor...”, Dreketier told him. “But what I really wanted to tell you is I think I should be leaving soon...”, he shuffled. “I am thinking that you are now strong enough to take care of yourself... And maybe I'm wearing out my welcome...!”

“I was beginning to feel crowded out at that...”, Thorip smiled at his own rejoinder. “But no,... you can stay as long as you like...”

“It will probably take a few days to prepare...”, Drekeier told him sadly anyway. “I guess we can say good bye then...” , with that he shuffled to his nest.

Dreketier began the next morning by hunting for the both of them, then he loaded two of the adjoining chambers with wood and an extra pile in Thorip's chamber for good measure; and then he went out to hunt again, bringing a feast of many Scuteloasuruses that was both memorable and tasty – if not a tad too bony. As several days wore on his strength reserves were replentished with many other such feasts of various small dinosaurs, and soon he knew the time had come to move on; and though the old dragon would not admit it as they hugged, Thorip was really going to miss the young whipper-snapper! As Dreketier turned to leave the territory of his elderly friend, Thorip smacked him affectionately on the rump; and that made Dreketier stumble in his takeoff run as he chuckled at the old fool, his voice echoing through the valley as he shrunk out of sight...

_____

[thundertail]

EIGHT: "Allosaurs...!"

The flightpath that Dreketier was continued as he took off from the territory of the elderly dragon Thorip, using the gentile valley as a rough landmark to make it from the boggy river system below through to sparsely wooded terrain slightly beyond it; he scanning the area below while musing over his experiences with his temporary friend and care receipient, both taking his tales seriousely and chuckling at the demeanor of the provider of that wisdom. He chuckled more to himself as he continued southward at the aged antics of the beast, letting himself go to the point of teetering on the brink of starving to death and becoming so weak that it would have been easy for him to defeat him and take over his territory; but even though he might have done so easilly, Dreketier had found something inside him that felt pity for this decrepid creature. He saw within those rhumy eyes something of himself, and compassion to help a creature that was a dragon like himself; and it was a good thing he relenting in killing him that day, for Thorip had within his brain valuable information and wisdom his advanced years had afforded him. And the ancient dragon, in gratitude and relief of his continued existence; told Dreketier many things, and a friendship of such that could be had between two carnivores was forged. Truly Dreketier would miss the old creature, and he was sure he would remember Dreketier for the rest of his days as well; and as the musing of these memories ebbed somewhat, the young dragon turned his attention back to the landscape below.

The sparse trees were giving way to low mountains and rolling hills, and Dreketier flew in a meandering pattern to take advantage of the light updrafts the region provided; and it was a perfect pattern for scouting out and scaring up any prey this area might produce, but it seemed there was vewry little animals to be had in this landscape. The reason why this was so bacame apparent to him as he scouted the land and saw very little water sources down there, save for thin streams that wandered through the feet of the foothills and amid the trees; and certainly not enough water to support vast herds like those that were in previous territories behind him, even though in winter the far mountains would no doubt have snowy peaks in winter that would provide meltwater enough for passing herds.Seeing that this was not a place to set up his own territory, Dreketier scanned the horizon for any sign of better terrain; thinking of the wisdom Thorip had told him and wondering on his own fate as he found direction over passes and hills, his mind full of uncertainty - worrying about the future hardships in his uncertain future. As he flew past this area barren of prey, most of the day had passed since he first took wing that morning, and needed to rest a bit before moving on; so he scanned the ground below for a place to land, hopefully near some cover.

Once the sparse landscape receeded Dreketier spied vast patches of coniferous forest, planted between rills of rocky crust and sporting rivultes of underground springs that fed these newly evolved trees; and there was plenty of cover there, so he found a flat space of rock that he could land on, then spring to the hidden seclusion of these trees. Doing so he realized that a fire years ago had felled many of these hundred year old pines, and their descendants were just beginning to reclaim the space their ancesters once occupied; and as he noticed all the smaller aminals and insects creeping and crawling through the ground litter, he found that this might be a good feeding ground for certain potential prey that might be around but still unseen. Dreketier stood still and craned his neck to hear, and all he could really hear for the longest time was the usual carcophany of birds and other smaller creatures and insects; and in the distance the rumblings of much larger beasts far afield, but froze where he was when he heard the roaring bellow of an obviousely large carniverous cerature even further away than that. Thet one bellow was enough to cause silence throughout the entire forest, for the rest of the creatures there knew the maker of that roar was on the hunt; and since Dreketier did not want to be on the menu as well, hunkered back deep into the forest where he found many bushes to hide within! When no further vocalization was heard for many long moments, the rest of the forest began making their own sounds again; and Dreketier figured it was relatively safe enough to come out and scout for some easy prey, only in an extremely stealthy way for fear of the other carnivores that may be about.

Dreketier only dared to capture several small tree lizards and a Didephodon family that were in the area, and then remembered a lesson about the latter mammal that his mother Avalon had told him; for if Didelphodons were around, creatures were around that were nesting. He knew that eggs were the favorite food of such animals, and since they were so small the risk of getting said eggs were great; for mothers were quite protective when they were nesting like that, and would kill anything that would hunt them – whether or not they be carnivore or herbivore! If there were nesting creatures around, Dreketier reasoned that he had better be careful too; for if these nesting mothers would do that to small creatures like Didelphodons and such, they would do no less to him! He crept through the undergrowth for more prey, ever watchful of anything that moght give away his presence; and even more watchful of things that moght consider him a meal, even though he was sure he could defend himself if need arose. Presently, through an opening in his cover, he saw one of the carnivores that claimed this territory their home; and even though Allosaurs were basically solitary creatures by nature, he found that these creatures ran in a pack or family group when several more came into the area – forcing Dreketier to scuttle deeper into cover before he was detected! These Allosaurs seemed to be an organized group, and Dreketier found they used a carnivore language as they related their morning experiences to each other as their snapping, grunting voices faded with his distance; and they were saying that they could not find the interloper they had detected in their territory while the evident leader telling them to redouble their search, telling the dragon they were looking for none other than him!

This was something Dreketier did not want to hear, for this meant that he had to leave immediately; but he was still weary from his flight from his elderly friend Thorip's territory, and needed more time to rest. He definitely did NOT plan to spend his resting time trying to evade a pack of Allosaurs, but it looked to him that his wishes were not meant to be; so he ducked under more bushes and skulked out of this area, planning to sneak away through the forest as quietly and as unseen as possible. In his haste to escape the area, Dreketier slithered around some rocky outcroppings in between the tree trunks and came out onto a small clearing; and he saw eight or ten large nestlike beds amid the grassy area the clearing held, and within many of then one or three large eggs sat. At first he did not know which species had laid them, but when three mother Allosaurs emerged from the forest beyond and tended to these pre-hatchlings; Dreketier realized that he had accidentally stumbled upon the Allosaur's nesting ground, and tried to disappear from there as quickly as he had arrived! Dreketier did not bother to use his nose to find out if there were more of them about, but if he did he would have soon found out that he was slowly becoming surrounded; and as he drew his head out of the last stand of bushes he had used for cover, he discovered that this fact was true and he was all but doomed!

“Halt and prepare to die...!”, roared the leader of this pack of Allosaurs, all others standing back to watch the play. “How dare you invade our territory?!... Speak I say...!”

“Greetings, sir...!”, Dreketier roared in kind, backing out into the open to face him. “I am traveling, and stopped for a rest...”

“Without my permission...?”, the Allosaur sneered.

“What are you waiting for...?”, roared a subordinate far behind in the clearing.

“Kill him and get it over with...!”, shouted another.

“SILENCE!!!...”, roared the leader. “I will decide when and where this... CREATURE!... dies...!”

“I am sorry I tresspassed...”, Dreketier interrupted.

“THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO!!!...”, the leader shouted in Dreketier's face! “It is my guess that we need not hunt any more today, my clanbrothers, for we have found ample meat right here!...”, he considered. “But you seem a brave carnivore, if not foolhearty for stopping here!... Before you die, what are you and what are you called?...”

“Who wants to know?...”, Dreetier stated. “Before I die, I want to know who is killing me...”

“OH!... An obstainate one!...”, the leader said. “I am Deathtooth, leader of this clan and the best Allosaur in the world...!”

“Greetings, Deathtooth...”, Dreketier bowed, still keeping his eye on all of them. “I am Dreketier, a dragon of reputable birth and exceptional skill... But one of bad luck, I'm afraid...”

“That you are, Dreketier the unlucky dragon...!”, Deathtooth chuckled, and so did the others, which had grown by several more by this time. “So... Now that the formalities have been taken care of, let me usher you to oblivion!...”, and with that he charged!

Dreketier was waiting for him to spring, and had been inching his way around to clearer ground for takeoff; and he had been purposefully keeping his wings tightly folded to his body, and thankfully the Allosaurs hadn't noticed he had wings! He spread his wings, which startled them all; and leapt into the air within a split second, missing Deathtooth's toothy lunge by mere inches in the process. The Allosaur leapt up to intercept him, but he was far too high for the four ton animal to reach; and the others were converging to intercept, positioning themselves to catch Dreketier in case he landed. Dreketier's next wingflap sent him around to spy the quintet of Allosaurs snapping in the air; following him on the ground and waiting for him to come back down, but the young dragon knew better than to do that! Instead he swooped around and strafed them all with his fire, missing many of them on his first pass; but grazing Deathtooth and one of his subordinates as they screeched in sudden pain; then Dreketier spat some more flame in the path of the rest, causing three of them burns as well as a good piece of the clearing for good measure.

Dreketier circled one more time and chased the rest with his fire, sending three more plumes into their midst before they all scattered into the forest starting every tree in their path ablaze; and Dreketier rose above it all smiling to himself at all the Allosaurs he had defeated, yet saddened at his setting the forest ablaze. Dreketier was not one for vengance, but he figured that this territory was far too dangerous with this clan of Allosaurs occupying it; and needed a way to make the place safer for others that passed this way, so he sloped around in search of their nesting grounds. He hated to destroy life that hadn't been born yet, and it wasn't the female Allosaur's fault that their mates chose to cause him trouble; but he knew he had to even the odds around here, so he dived down low when he spotted the nesting grounds in the distance. As he passed over the area, his fire emolated the forest and the clearing with eggs and nests; and he cremated three females in the bargain, his heart breaking at the mewling roars of their demise...
_

With the screams of the Allosaurs still ringing in his ears and the smoke from the burning forest behind him making visibility become difficult, Dreketier decided to leave this entire region of the prehistoric world; for this area was far too dangerous for any creature that was on it's own, and certainly no place for him to set up his own territory! He traveled southward like usual across the vast expanse of pine forest and tundra, seeing the sameness of the land before him decided to travel on; and as nightfall began and morning rose he was still over this forested wasteland, but the only place that was not the same throughout this region was a tiny table of rock that jutted up between these conifers. He landed on this and discovered it held a level of just above treetop level, and he could get quite a commanding view of this forested area to see if there were any dangers; and most important to his currently growling stomach, to scan the terrain for prey. As Dreketier was doing this he realized that during his firefight with that pack of Allosaurs, his supply of his flynt catalyst was running mighty low; and if he didn't find any soon, he would not be able to defend himself with fire until he did.

Scanning through the trees with his eyes, he saw many Sorolophans of many species, and several Ankylosaurs mixed in with a herd of dozens of Triceratops meandering further afield; and turned his head at a carcophany occuring to his left in the distance obscured by trees, and concluded there were many large carnivores here as well. Sniffing the air proved there was no catalyst around, nor would it be likely there would be caves or any other safe place to roost either; and though water seemed to be plentiful here for the herds of larger dinosaurs, all Dreketier would be able to do here was to make a kill to cure his hunger and then move on as quickly as he could. He was just about to fly off and scout for prey when he saw through the trees three Allosaurs moving in a flanking pattern, maneuvering their way toward a medium herd of Parasolophus; and thought this could not be good, for they would spook the herd and ruin his chance at a kill – those darn Allosaurs, he thought! He veered far away from the herd they were chasing, and then had a great thought; for he could use their presence to spook the herd, and then pick off one that might go astray! He began following the Allosaurs, skirting the forest well away from their sight and well away from the Parasolophus from detecting him as well; flying low and silently, waiting for his turn to strike.

Within the span of an hour the herd detected the Allosaurs, and began to bolt through forest and field; and through a passage of rock the herd was seperated into seven groups, and each Allosaur took three of the herd fragments well to the west – which left the grouping veering directly under Dreketier solely to him! Off he flew toward the herd below, strafing many of the adults just to scare them further; and then luck finally found him and a stray yearling took a wrong path through the now thinning trees, making her both all alone in the forest and the prey of Dreketier! Just as the young Parasolophus emerged from the pine forest, the young dragon swooped down and nearly strafed the creature off her feet in the first pass; but it only startled her into veering her course, sending her further out into the clearing. With Dreketier's second pass, he caught her dead on the back with his talons; but he didn't let go just then and swooped up in the air with her, she bleating and struggling in his grasp as she rose with him. At nearly treetop level he released her for her struggles, and she plummeted directly into the branches of the pines on the other side of the clearing; and her fall snapped many bones including her neck, and she lay on the ground beside it – dead before Dreketier had a chance to land. He grasped the dead Paresolophus and rose in the air with her dead form, and took her to the only safe area in the region he knew to feed upon her; that being the plateau of rock he had first landed on when he got here, then when he landed he dug in with all the gusto his carniverous hunger made him posess!

Once he was done two hours later he pushed the remains of the female yerarling parasolophus over the escarpment into the coniferous jungle below, then flew down to a stream he had spotted in the forest for a drink; then went back up to the escarpment to take a rest from his hunt and his flight previous, looking this way and that for signs of trouble before finally closing his eyes. When Dreketier finally opened them again, he realized that he had slept the whole day and into the night, morning sounds finally drawing him up out of slumber; he then guiltily rose and stretched, and though well rested he was hungry once again. Instead of going out to hunt, he clambered down to where he threw the remains of the Parasolophus and began to feed on the remains; now brought to extra flavor for it's sitting overnight, and looked around at the startling noises in the forest once he was done. At length he reasoned that this pine forest was not really a safe place to make his home, taking to the air to land back onto the escarpment to get his bearings; and tried to scan the horizon to discern the best direction to fly off to next, scanning the forest below while he was at it. Below there were many larger dinosaur browsing through the pines, and off hiding stealthily behind them Dreketier counted no less than six Allosaurs stalking them; and dreketier concluded that this place had way too much competition for his tastes, and turned to continue scanning the horizon for the proper direction to fly.

Dreketier didn't have any special direction to go, but there was the thin veil of mountains in the extreme distance to his south; and since that was the way he was going anyway, he presently took off and flew in that direction. He spread his wings and took off from the promentory he was on, sailing out over the vast expanse of forest toward the chain of mountains in the distance; but as the hours of flight turned the day nearly too dim to see, the mountains seemed no nearer to him. He had to land for the night, and found a clear spot in the trees to spiral down into; but it seemed that this region many miles away from his previous position was equally populated with Allosaurs by the sound, and he spent a nervous night listening to their nocturnal hunting. With no more food than the smaller creatures scurrying in the underbrush, Dreketier quickly took off again; leaping up the heaviest tree trunk in the area for a flying takeoff, and soon began heading south once he circled to regin his bearings. Near dusk he attempted landing near a swampy area where he sensed namy small herds of Parasolophus and Hadrosaurs, easy hunting if one can sneak up on them; but still those pesky Allosaurs dominated the area, though they were less populous here unlike the region he had passed through a few days ago.

Fortifying himself with a juvenile Mosasaur in a weedy bog, he found a bit of rest before hunting in earnest there; eventually downing a yearling Parasolophus as he rose from the bog in ambush, and the feast he had from it proved to be even more memorable that Dreketier would admit for his apparent near starvation Dreketier stayed in the general area for nearly two weeks, feasting on the herds of dinosaur while evading the few Allosaurs that claim the area as theirs; but he found the area barren of the flint catalyst all dragons need for fire, and soon realized he needed to leave in case he had to use his fire for defense. Belly full and many more meals behind him, Dreketier finally decided to leave this area; and not because the pickings wasn't so great, but the fact that there was so much competition! He headed out away from the boggy territory, and sensed that somehow that his southerly direction did not seem right; so Dteketier eventually decided to slowly veer toward the southeast, though he did not have a clue as to why...

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[thundertail]

NINE: “The Brave one.”

Many miles further to the southeast, Dreketier had finally lost his trepidation of the carnivore infested land he had landed in previousely; and decided to fiund rest on the ground somewhere, but the blasted land he found himself flying over looked like it would afford him no such place. More so, it looked like this land would give him no peace in the carnivore department either; for he saw many such creatures skulking around anid the craggy rocks below, they thankfully not looking up to see him flying high above them. His weariness bordering on complete exhaustion leaves him no other choice but to land anyway, and he chooses to alight on a high rocky crag; perching there like an arborial creature would atop a high tree branch, and scanned the boulder strewn landscape below to find a safe place down there to rest. Though there are no trees for the animals to hide behind, the area sports a profusion of bushes amid nearly barren rocky and rilly soil; which is a sure sign that this area was once mountain peaks spawned by ancient volcanic activity, and another sure sign that there would probably be his flint catalyst about as well as ample caves.

Even though there is nothing to support the larger dinosaurs he is used to hunting, he noticed in the steep valley below the trails his quarry might use when migrating; and he concluded that this might be a perfect place to ambush these creatures when they are passing by, but he saw that migrating season evidentally had long past by their absence. The many carnivores he had seen in this area were spread far apart, and their appearances suggested they hadn't eaten in a long time by their build and demeanor; so Dreketier reasoned not to have any encounters with them for his entire stay in this region, which he planned to make it as short as possible. Once he knew he hadn't been spotted Dreketier flew off the pinnacle he was clinging to, spying a rivulet stream in a finger canyon after a time; and drank the water that tasted of mineral before quickly taking off again, for he had heard rustling and stone tumblings very close by! On foot he scampered to the cover of a finger canyon, plying the uneven terrain as quietly as possible; trying to not dislodge stones or shuffle in the gritty footing, ears ever watchful for sounds of others that he was sure were looking for their own prey. Fairly soon a cave was found by him, merely a cleft in a stone rise that could serve as a resting spot if he chose; but it seemed to go into and under the stone plume for quite a distance, and he chose then to investigate as his size would allow.)

It was almost an unfortunate blunder as he turned around in there for his size, for the cane was not a cave at all; but a short tunnel that went all the way through the stone rise, other entrance being far too small to exit out the other side! Cursing himserf his mistake, he wriggled ouit backwards the way he had come and looked around to see if any other creature had seen his mistake; and he vowed to kill any such creature as he scrabbled to the top of the plume to see, and to spy out any other place he could roost for the night. Even though there seemed to be no other place to roost for the night that he could see but cold stone ledges that crisscrossed the area, this was furthest from his mind as the noises of the canyons were becoming nearer and more frequent; telling him that there were other creatures here other than himself, and chances were that they were carniverous of nature, bidding him to use the utmost caution. As Dreketier scabbled through the rough terrain in search of a spot that was more secluded, the noises of his feet crunching over loose stone was echoed by the noises of the others presumably following him; he knew this as his slight echoes were brought back to his ears in an incongruent way, and this made him take greater effort to utilize the greatest amount of cover.

With greater intensity the scrabbling noises increased, coming closer and closer as thundering sounds could be heard within the growing carcophany; and this told Dreketier that a stampede of one kind or another was heading his way, hundreds of beasts of unknown species fleeing and prompting him to take cover immediately! Several moments later such a place was found, and just then the dust of the stampede reached his location along with the deafening footfalls of this massive herd; and as Dreketier snuck a look over the sharp boulders he was hiding behind, he saw that the herd consisted of nearly a thousand Triceratops – braying and grunting mournfully in fear of what ever had spooked them! Many moments went by and the bulk of the herd had passed, and many moments later the cause of the stampede made their presence known; for hot on their dust came several extremely large Tyrannosaurs, several small packs of Dromeosaurs trailing them hidden by near by crags – and this prompted Dreketier to hunker down into his hiding spot again!

As Dreketier was hiding, he was too preoccupied to look around his general vacinity; but as he paused to catch his breath, he noticed tiny rustlings a mere few feet to his right; and being on high alert as it was, turned his head abruptly to see a tiny creature huddling in a cleft of the same sharp boulders a few feet away from where he was hiding. This creature was a hatchling of a female Triceratops that had just passed by, and was too busy being scared of the other carnivores to notice Dreketier hiding a few feet away from him; and Dreketier was too busy hiding to think of him as a meal, which would merely be a mouthful to him. Instead of scooping the little one up, Dreketier edged closer and began sniffing near the baby; but instead of being frightened by this large carniverous creature, the baby Triceratops merely sniffed back curiousely.

“Well, well!... What do we have here?...”, Dreketier asked the tiny one as quietly and as gently as he could. “Are you lost?...”

Though he was too young to speak Ceratopsian let alone Dreketier's speech; the little one shook his crested head yes, sitting down near the dragon like he belonged there!

“I see...”, Dreketier smiled, endeared by the tiny creature's naiivitie. “You seem to be a brave one...”, he considered. “But then again, you must not know who I am...”, he said quieter as he had heard more ruetlings coming even closer.

The baby mewled in fear and scuttled back into the cleft he was huddling in. “Shhh!...”, Dreketier whispered in caution. “It will be all right...”

Totally unprepared to be a babysitter, Dreketier gathered the infant next to him; coddling and cooing until the tyke slowly stopped whimpering, taking many moments as the dragon listened for noises in the distance. As the hatchling drew comfort in the carnivore's company and silenced to relaxing breathing, Dreketier began asking himself what he was doing; treating this hatchling that was not even his own species like he was his father or something, a thing that none of his species would ever do! But he reasoned that this little Triceratops was seperated from his mother, and would not last a day without help; and the hatchling like he was trying to hide from common enemies, a thing that if the child made any noises at all they would both perish! It began to dawn on him as the rustling sounds ebbed that this child was not unlike himself, one that was seperated from the only creatures that ever loved him; and this resemblance Dreketier recognized as the kindred similarity, for like he this creature was all alone – and this was his motivation to help the little guy out. One thing Dreketier knew was that his decision might prove to be more trouble than it was worth!

As his ears began telling him there were no other creatures in the general area, Dreketier put his thinking cap on; for the little one might be hungry or thirsty. “Say kid...”, he said kindly. “Are you hungry?... I thought I saw some yummy plants earlier...”, the hatchling seemed to know, and nodded as he squeaked.

“Well, come on then!”, the dragon shooed him forward, “I thought I saw some water too...!”

With each little shove, the hatchling made slight protests as he moved along; but dreketier had managed to lead the little one several hundred yards through the rocky terrain to a stand of prickly flora, and then gestured with his forepaw that this was food. Once the baby Triceratops grasped what he was to do with it, he pulled a mouthful off the mass; but it was too thorny and tough for him to masticate, much less swallow! After several of the little ones' failures at eating, Dreketier knew what he had to do; and he took a mouthful himself; allowing his much tougher throat to chew the distasteful mass to a pulp, gratefully disgorging the mass when the task was completed.

“Go ahead, little one...!”, Dreketier said sweetly, still roiling his tongue to get rid of the foul taste. “It's good...!”, he smiled.

The little one looked like he didn't believe this larger creature, but his hunger won out and he began to taste it tenatively; and even though he was appalled at the extra taste of dragon spittle mixed into it, he eventually finished the whole wad. “That's a boy...!, Dreketier smiled despite himself.

The baby Triceratops belched a little and sat back down, looking at Dreketier expectantly. “What's the matter?...”, he asked flatly. “Not good enough...?”

The youngster licked his beaked chops and feigned licking the stones before him, a trick his mom evidentally taught him to procure saliva to cure thirst, Dreketier surmized. “I see... Now you're thirsty...!”, the dragon sniffed for water.

Though the stench of carnivore was heavy in the air, most of it eminating from himself; most of the rest of the other carnivores had long gone, evidentally off in pursuit of this little ones' kinfolk. That aside, he thought he had located a water source fairly near by; but the mineral smell it was tinged with told that it was probably an underground stream near by, and he probably could not dig for it through nearly solid rock. Tuning in his hearing, Dreketier soon heard gurgling not too far away toward the east a bit; and roused the tyke once again, nudging him on as the baby Triceratops grudgingly complied. Near a funnel shaped cleft of rock, a small pool was welling up from the rocks below and a miniature stream meandered through incongruencies in the surrounding stone; and the infant took the lead as he smelled and saw the water, Dreketier giving chase in case the little one should slip and fell or hurt himself in the water.

“Woah there!...”, Dreketier finally caught up and slowed him down before he hit the water. “Careful!...”, by this time the infant was already drinking!

The little one was done many moments later, then flopped beside the spring and rested. “Hmmm... A thirsty one!”, he reguarded the little threehorn. “Me too!...”, Dreketier drank as well.

As the dragon was just finishing up, he began to wonder what in the world he would do with this tiny creature; and since he didn't have the heart to eat him, he had to do something! He reasoned that the herd must be miles away by now, and it would be impossible for the hatchling to walk all that distance; and it would be unfair to just let him go, left to wander about this wasteland – and possibly get picked off by the next carnivore he encountered. There was only one other choice left to this kind hearted creature, and that was to physically TAKE the baby Triceratops back to his herd; but how would the little one take traveling the way Dreketier was going to take him, for flying him there would be the fastest and safest way he knew.

“I got an idea...”, Dreketier said to the little one. “You want to go back to mama, don't you?...”, the baby nodded yes. “Well, I got a way, but it won't be pleasant... What do you think?...”

Mewling, the Triceratops hatchling seemed to consider things; then came near the giant dragon, looking up expectantly as he waited for what was to come. It turned out the little one did not like it one bit as Dreketier grasped him with his left rear leg, struggling and wriggling in the dragon's light but caging grasp; and as soon as the little one ceased his struggles somewhat, Dreketier spread his wings in preparation for flight. In a sound resembling fear and awe, the little one brayed as the large dragon left the ground, tiny passenger in his talons not used to such motion. Within moments Dreketier was flying on a level course, and the baby Triceratops ceased his struggles; instead marvelling at the fantastic view scrolling by under his feet, clinging to a middle toe as the rocking motions of flying seemed to be unseating him. Dreketier clutched the little creature firmly, but left his grip loose so as not to crush him; and he looke down along his body to smile at his new passenger, baby trying to act cheerful despite the buffeting.

“Hang on back there...!”, Dreketier said through the wind of his wake. “Now let's go find your mother...”, this he said as he looked forward once again to scan the terrain.

It took nearly an hour to detect signs of this little Triceratops's herd, clouds of dust still settling through the box canyons that crisscrossed this area; and the dragon with his passenger swooped down along this flightpath, little one oohing and awing at the pretty scenery going by. In a little while more evidence was seen, as quite a few Triceratopses lay strewn along the path; and carnivores along with scavengers were picking at these carcasses, too busy to notice things flying in the sky. Dreketier spotted the herd about twelve miles further up the canyons, where they opened up to a shallow and rocky valley; and they seemed calmer as they werte not being chased, many nibbling on the scrub bushes that managed to grow among the rock formations. Dreketier circled around to the head of the herd, landing behind a rill of rocke as he landed with one foot and let his passenger loose with the other; and then snuck a look around a boulder to see the position of the herd, shushing the baby Triceratops as he would give them both away!

“Shhh...!”, Dreketier told him. “I bet your mama's in there, you think?...”, the baby nodded. “Ok then, why don't you go find her...!”

The hatchling Triceratops took many steps toward the herd, but paused before he could get within range of their superior sense of smell; then he mewled and ran back to Dreketier, imparting a nuzzle of thanks that Dreketier gladly returned. “Have a nice life, Brave One...”, he sniffed despite himself. “I'll miss you...”

The hatchling Triceratops then turned and clumsilly galloped toward the herd around the boulders, mewling goodbye behind his back as he did so; and Dreketier watched him go, secretly wondering what the herd would do to him when they found his dragonsmell all over him. He took a peek and saw some of the adults treat him with mild trepidation for a while, but soon a large female came out oif the crowd; scrutinizing him carefully before excitedly giving him licks; and this was when Dreketier knew that his good deed was completed, and also that it was his time to go. He shuffled well out of the area and spread his wings well out of sight of the herd; circling around low until he located the southeasterly track he had been traveling before this whole thing started, and as the sun was just beginning to set for the day he at last cleared the morass field, on his way to places he hadn't a clue where...

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