Chapter 3: "First in Line for Retribution"

At the sight of Kai’s blade, the pachycephalosaur, Shawk if he'd heard right, immediately wheeled about, putting himself between the two men. He held his domed head low, and pawed the ground with his hind feet like a bull, ready to charge. The shattered stone pieces on the ground painted a more frightening picture than Kai's imagination could.

Before his companion could run Kai down, Harada placed a restraining hand on the dinosaur’s side.

“Now Shawk, there will be no need for that,” he said, with that same serene evenness he had earlier. It was like he had effortlessly slipped back into character. “I take it you have seen enough then.”

Kai nodded. “So you're a Shaman, I take it? A Shaman, masquerading as a Venator? And one willing to sacrifice innocents for your own bizarre ideals.”

“If that is what you surmise, then you clearly weren't listening.”

“Then you are a scoundrel masquerading as a Venator and a Shaman, whichever suits you at the moment!” Kai snapped. “After all, what Shaman that preaches harmony with Beasts would call a man a fool for not being able to kill one?”

“Seems I struck a bit of a nerve, then,” Harada locked eyes with the boy. His blue eyes were firm. “Granted, it was a bit harsh. But such is life, and such are the times we live in.”

“What does that mean?” Kai asked. The knife twitched in his hands. He was beginning to feel that unquenchable bloodlust bubbling back to the surface.

“I mean that we live in uncivilized times. You surmised my ideals would have men and Primordial Beasts living at peace together, and that is correct.” Harada began to pace back and forth in front of Shawk, arms folded behind his back like a lecturing teacher. But he made no move to approach Kai.

“But the Royal family, or rather the new Queen, sows discord and strife between us. And so, despite my desire for peace, a man would be wise to not enter the woods defenseless. Clearly not all Beasts or men wish to coexist, after all.”

“The Beasts create the strife when they attack us! They're animals, an unclean form of life! Not fit to even lick the filth off our shoes!”

Shawk scowled, and pawed the ground again. Again, Harada stopped him.

“How old are you, boy? Twelve years? Thirteen? You do know that our coexistence is not some children's nursery tale, nor a bygone era? It is living memory for most.”

“The royal scholars say otherwise.”

The hunter shook his head. “So first we replaced priests with shamans, and now shamans with mere scholars? And who do you think funds the scholars?”

“You call them mere scholars, but who are you? What authority do you have to question them?!” Kai took a step forward as his temper flared.

“Do not ask questions you don't wish to know the answer to, boy.” The steel blue eyes suddenly pierced the boy with such intensity, as if he had been physically struck. He took a step back.

Harada looked to the now violet sky, the moons just barely visible, then gave a begrudging sigh. He spread his legs, broadened his stance. He raised his arms into a defensive posture.

“Well, if you won't listen, then I suppose there's nothing left to say.”

“My Lord, are you sure about this?” Shawk asked, though the boy only heard the sound of snorting.

“Do not worry, Shawk,” Harada said. “He'll live.” Under his breath, he added, “So long as this is over before dark.”

Without another word, Kai finally lunged. His muscles bristled in anticipation as he closed the distance between them. The past two years of smithing work had left his body toned, his hands adept at working tools. His opponent may be a hunter of Beasts, but he was unarmed. He wasn't even moving as Kai raised the blade-

A sudden sharp pain plunged into his abdomen. The knife fell from his grasp as he doubled over. With blistering, almost imperceptible speed, Harada had struck him in the gut, knocking the wind from his lungs.

For a moment, the only sound was Kai’s awkward gasps as he lay crumpled on the ground. Then, Harada’s voice, now calm and sympathetic.

“Isha’s death was a tragedy, Kai. It is one I intend to spend the rest of my days atoning for. If you had perhaps spoken with her family, you would have realized that.”

The man stood.

“But, as my friend here has been keen to remind me, I have something important to reclaim, and a journey to complete. And I cannot die until I see it through.”

“Y-you… You think your life matters more than hers?” Kai’s voice was somewhere between a wheeze and a hiss.

“Hardly. But there are other lives depending on me.” Harada crouched down, meeting the boy at eye level. He picked up the knife, and handed it back to him, handle first.

Kai looked at it, dumbfounded. What sane person would give an enemy back their weapon? Harada had a grim smile on his face as he did so; a smile devoid of any happiness or smugness.

“I have made many enemies. You are not the only grieving family member I have failed. When my work is done, you shall be the first in line to have retribution.”

Kai lunged again. His mind had blanked. To him, all words coming from this mouth were naught but empty platitudes. Blood, and blood now, was all that would satiate him.

The knife completely missed, while the momentum of the swing carried Kai forward, falling headfirst… directly into Harada’s knee, which rose to meet his nose with a sickening crunch.

For a minute, Kai saw nothing. He kept his eyes clenched shut as he lay moaning in the ground. When he finally opened them, his vision was blurry and narrow, as much from tears as from the swelling. He could feel blood pouring from his shattered nostrils, soaking his clothes.

“Stay down, boy. Please.”

Through his blurred vision, Kai could just make out the image of Harada and Shawk in the distance, heading north, farther up the mountain pass. It was hard to distinguish them, and the falling darkness was not helping.

A reasonable person would begin making their way back down the mountain. But at this point, reason had forsaken the boy. The rage had consumed his mind in flames, his utter impotence and humiliation only further fueling it. He forced himself to stand, and step by agonizing step, he stumbled after them. With nightfall, they surely wouldn't go far. They'd probably set up camp somewhere else along the trail.

He'd wait until they fell asleep, and then… then Isha would be avenged.

With ragged, pained breath, Kai staggered down the trail. In the fading light, it was hard to make out Harada’s tracks. The larger three-toed tracks of the heavier pachycephalosaur and the cart it dragged were comparatively easy to discern-

The boy froze. Harada's tracks had vanished. Several paces back, it looked like he had taken off his sandals, the footprints now bare. But then, it was like they just disappeared, leaving only Shawk’s prints.

At first, he thought nothing of it. So the bastard had begun riding the thing again, it didn't matter.

In the sky above, Amnestia and Alsanna had risen again, but were promptly covered with clouds, plunging the trail into total darkness. Still he pressed ahead. The pass was narrow, with no more outlets for a mile at least. The tracks really wouldn't be needed to follow them.

Then he stumbled, nearly falling headlong to the ground. He felt a wave of pain as more blood suddenly rushed out his nose, and he cursed. There was a sudden depression in the trail. Had some passing caravan carved a rut?

Suddenly, the trail was bathed in magenta light. The clouds had parted, and the moons shone unobstructed. Now that the pass could be seen clearly, Kai looked down, and his blood ran cold.

It was no rut he was standing in. There was no mistaking it, the distinct three-toed shape…

He was standing in a dinosaur footprint. But not just any footprint. The tracks of a large predator, a bipedal theropod. Perhaps an allosaur, or maybe a carnotaur? But the track was too big, for that…

With growing horror, he recognized them. These were the same tracks that he had seen last night.

The same predator had, just as silently as before, outmaneuvered him, without any other trace. When had it managed to do that?

Frantically, the boy began looking around the pass for any signs. His gaze followed the tracks back, looking to see where it had come from.

Oddly enough, the tracks only began just past the spot Harada's tracks disappeared. As if he had been suddenly picked up and carried off, and the beast had taken his place.

Did it eat him?

But looking at the tracks showed no sign of struggle, no indication that the man or his dinosaur companion had reacted.

Suddenly the knife in his hand felt as useful as a child's toy.

A low rumble reverberated through the pass from further north. Kai looked up, wondering if it had been thunder.

When his fellow villagers found him passed out the following morning, he awoke a gibbering mess.

He could only recall seeing one thing before he blacked out: standing atop a rise in the mountain trail had been two Primordial Beasts. One was Shawk.

Towering over the Stone Head though, had been an enormous Tyrannosaurus. There was no mistaking it, from its massive head and jaws, to the distinct two-fingered hands.

And yet, the large predator showed no interest in the smaller prey right beside it. No, both were staring directly at Kai. In the harsh night light, both their eyes glowed. It was hard to tell on account of the pink tint the moons’ cast, but Kai was sure the tyrannosaur’s eyes were glowing a steely blue.