Fight

Several days had passed since Fulcher had begun wandering the ancient world. Quickly enough he had realized how many different kinds of dinosaurs there really were. Small things he had never heard of before darted around the forest floor, and sprang up among the reeds of the flatlands. Thin feathered critters scattered up trees and glided across the canopy as Fulcher walked closer to them. Even by a river he had stumbled across, the basking forms of ancient crocodilia and amphibians alike slunk back into the river’s murky waters before daring to allow Fulcher a closer look.

He had spent about a day following the river, and eventually had found his target. A wild styra leading its herd to the river’s edge. Among the lumbering giants were several smaller styras, bouncing and running into each other. Fulcher and Arrow slipped into a nearby patch of jungle to observe the herd without being seen, tracking the patterns of the younger styras.

Maybe if I can tie one of those up, I could carry it in the basket? Fulcher thought, That, or I’d need to make some sort of rope to pull it. Can’t be any harder than pulling a dog along.

Despite the situation Arrow was behaving remarkably well, keeping his body low and his ears forward at the herd. Fulcher continued to watch the herd move as they all drank from the river. He noticed the young styras wandered further than the adults at times. Specifically one baby, younger than the rest. It roared and bounded after its siblings into the open clearing, easily becoming distracted by the grass that surrounded it as the others ran back to the safety of their parents.

That one. When it’s darker, I’ll need to snatch it from the rest. I can use Abyssal Black to hide from them, but– Fulcher’s thoughts were interrupted at the sound of rustling leaves behind him. He turned to peer back into the darkened woods and found nothing in particular to meet his gaze. Though Arrow had now fully turned as well, growling at the underbrush. A call further down the jungle’s edge caught Fulcher’s attention. He watched as a group of orange feathered dinosaurs burst from the underbrush, sprinting on two legs with arms reaching forward. Each was about as tall as Fulcher, with long waving tails that made them look incredibly long as well.

Raptors? But, I thought raptors were tiny! Fulcher thought in a panic, I thought all those old movies where they were big got it all wrong!

He watched as the raptors worked quickly to cut off the young styras from the herd, some working on downing the herbivores while the rest flared their feathers and claws at any of the adults that challenged them.

“Arrow, let’s go,” Fulcher said. Raptors were too much, and he spotted seven or eight of them. Before he could move Arrow began growling, and barking loudly. Fulcher looked down at the wolf as he shook in fear, continuing to bark loudly.

“Arrow! They’ll hear us!” Fulcher hissed. But that’s when his eyes caught the shape that had appeared in his vicinity. One that had not been there a moment before.

He turned to meet the eyes of another raptor. This one had dark black feathers with patches of feathers missing across its body. It stood a head taller than Fulcher as it stared down at him, close enough that he could reach out and touch it. As Arrow barked it tilted its head to the wolf, eyeing it with a curious hunger. It had never seen a wolf before. Fulcher broke from his terror enough to grab the hilt of his sword, and that was enough to make the raptor switch its attention back to him.
With a horrifying scream the raptor lunged forward, maw snapping for Fulcher’s wrist.

It knows what a sword is?! Fulcher thought as he ripped his hand away. The raptor clamped down on where Fulcher’s arm had been a moment before, only catching the hilt of his weapon. Fulcher tried to wrap his arms around the raptor’s maw to prevent it from opening its mouth, but quickly found that it had plenty of tools left to attack with. Its hands reached up to claw at his arms, easily tearing through the thin fabrics he had purchased. He yelled as his forearms were torn up, letting go and stumbling into the open near the river.

The raptor’s toe claw clicked against the ground as it prepared to leap at Fulcher, but Arrow was too quick. The wolf darted forward and bit down on the raptor’s ankle, causing its leap to result in more of a stumble. Fulcher stood and aimed his hand at the raptor.

“Abyssal Black!” he shouted. Darkness poured from the ringcaster, coating the air in midnight. As it reached the raptor’s black feathers the creature shuddered as the darkness cascaded around its body. Fulcher did his best to aim the ring for the creature’s head, but the magic seemed to just slide off the raptor like water. Chunks of manifested darkness bounced off the creature, falling to the ground as if repelled by an unseen force. Fulcher’s body began to tremble as the raptor’s head tilted towards him. A rumbling came from the body of the creature, a rumble that sounded like laughter.

Fulcher could do nothing but watch as the raptor bent down and clamped its teeth into Arrow’s back. With a yelp the wolf was forced into the ground as the raptor placed one of its massive feet on the wolf’s side.

“NO!” Fulcher yelled, scrambling up for something, anything. He could only watch as the raptor’s claw tap-tap-tapped against the water pouch on Arrow’s side before plunging in. What clear water remained drained quickly, before the deep crimson of Arrow’s wound leaked from the hole instead. Fulcher roared as he charged the raptor, crashing his shoulder into the beast’s side. It hardly budged as it reached its neck around and clamped down on Fulcher’s shoulder, the pressure intense enough to crush the bones underneath. With wild abandon, Fulcher slammed his fist against the raptor’s body.

“Glacial Core!” he yelled. Frost crackled from the ring and began to spread across the raptor’s feathers, the beast recoiling with a screech of pain. He tried to shift away but Fulcher pressed forward, wrapping his legs around the creatures as he once again pressed the ringcaster to its flesh.

“Glacial Core!” he repeated. The spilt water from Arrow’s harness now crawled up the raptors body, beginning to encase it in ice.

“Glacial Core! Glacial Core! Glacial Core!” Fulcher spit out, his fury and sorrow reaching a peak. The raptor shuddered and fell onto its side as ice and frost began to coat every part of its body. It tried to scream, but ice soon blocked its mouth. After another moment, the entire creature was left encased in the block of ice.

Fulcher slid off, battered and bleeding as he stumbled over to the labored breathing of Arrow. He knelt by the wolf, placing his trembling hand on Arrow’s head.

“Hey, I’m here. I’m here… buddy,” Fulcher muttered. Arrow’s soft whimpers reached his ears as his vision blurred. His own tears began to fall onto the wolf’s coat as he pet his head slowly.

“Shhh I’m here. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he murmured. He buried his face in Arrow’s fur, fighting back sobs as he tried to comfort the pup.

Before he could do much else though, a red glow began to emit from the wolf’s core. Fulcher sat up and looked Arrow over in confusion, the red light glowing past the wolf’s mouth like a spotlight.
He watched as the slow trickle of red from Arrow’s side stopped, and the crushing bite along his spine reset itself. He watched as wounds sealed and fur grew back in place, before eventually Arrow wriggled under his hands. Fulcher leaned back and allowed the wolf to stand, shaking his fur of dirt and dried blood as if nothing had happened. The realization came crashing into Fulcher only then.

“Crimson Vigor?”