Chapter 29: "Let There be Blood"

The female tyrannosaur bellowed as she stomped into the square, curses and profanities laced into her roars. All the while she kept asking, “Where is that bastard? Bring him to me!”

Caseus and Shawk exchanged looks. Arabella had already assumed a cowering position behind the Pachycephalosaurus.

“Nuuu! Mama!” she wailed.

“M’lord, what should we do?” Shawk anxiously queried.

“Who can say?” Caseus shrugged his shoulders. “If I had to make a guess, I would say this is just another petty dispute, directly or indirectly caused by Father.” He bent down and scooped Arabella up in his arms, cradling her princess-style… or perhaps infant-style was more accurate? “In any case, let us hasten on our way.”

Shawk stamped his foot. “Enough already! Honestly Caseus, how long do you plan on acting like this?!”

“Until Father learns the error of his ways, or this wretched country burns down, whichever comes first!” Caseus snapped. Arabella winced at the outburst, tears in her eyes.

Another roar came from the dinosaur. The pair’s spat went largely unnoticed amid the chaos unfolding around them as more civilians fled, while several went against the grain, making their way towards her.

“There, you see?” Caseus nodded toward them. “The citizenry here seem to have enough sense to deal with Father’s mistakes.”

The group was made of several men, as well as a few Primordial Beasts: a foreign Long-Neck, the club-tailed Shunosaurus, its hide adorned with tribal tattoos of Pradesh; a brother and sister pair of large dromaeosaurs, the bulky, man-sized Achillobator that dwarfed many of their kin; as well as a Megatherium, also known as a giant ground sloth, its shaggy coat having been trimmed and groomed to nearly nothing in the coastal tropics.

“Is this not Regina, the guardian of the southern pastures?” one of the men asked.

“Aye, ‘tis so!” another responded. “What has caused her such wrath?”

“She seeks Astarides!” replied one of the Achillobators.

“I cannot imagine what would provoke her so!” One of the men said, oblivious. Another cart was sent flying by the tyrant lizard. “We can sort it out after we restrain her!”

“Right!” the others emphatically agreed.

Oh, Caseus thought, of course not a single one of them is a Shaman.

The Beasts exchanged unsure looks with each other.

“But sir,” the sloth said, “she seeks a man, specifically-”

“Now quickly, Long-Neck! Bring her to heel!”

The shunosaur had an uncertain look on his face as he cautiously approached. The tyrannosaur had begun shoving her head in doorways as the square had almost entirely emptied of people, still growling for this Astarides.

“Please, Lady Regina!” the Long-Neck pleaded, “Just tell me what grievance you have with this man-”

“You would be wise to stay out of my way, Long-Neck,” Regina growled. “This does not concern you!”

“Very well, if you will not talk,” the shunosaur said, and he reared on his hind legs, before slamming down. The ground seemed to liquify beneath the T.rex, gravel, dirt and cobblestones all turning to quicksand.

“Well done!” one of the men called out. The small band raced forward, ropes in hand. “Now, quickly!”

But the fools were premature, as she had barely sunken a foot into the mire. That is to say, her jaws and tail were still more than capable of inflicting damage.

And that they did, the tail swinging about to send two of the men flying. The sloth was quick to respond, charging forward with his awkward, waddling gallop, his bulky body and enormous curved toe claws hardly being built for speed. Nevertheless, he grappled with her tail, wrestling to keep it still with his massive clawed forepaws.

Regina roared, turning to bite at her restrainer, when the Achillobator siblings made their own move. The pair leaped through the air, covering an impressive distance, and latching onto the larger Beast’s face. Suddenly blinded by the two raptors obstructing her vision, the tyrannosaur began to shake her head back and forth.

“Off! Off of me you damn kurs! You know not my business, leave me be!”

While the Beast thrashed, the men had regrouped, and began to throw ropes across her back.

“Please! Just be still! Do not be so irrational!” the raptor sister snapped. “Do not make this more difficult!”

Watching from the sidelines, Caseus gestured to the sight. “See Shawk? Even an uncoordinated motley bunch can solve problems without the intervention of a prince or king.”

“Caseus,” Arabella spoke before Shawk could, “I understand your attitude, but please… ‘tis unbecoming…” Her voice was timid and meek still, but it seemed as if she had again returned to her senses.

“What would you have me do?” Caseus asked. He had softened his voice somewhat, but remained stern. “I cannot control my form at will, so what should I do? Talk sense into a ravenous Beast?”

“M’lord, do you hear yourself?” Shawk snapped. “‘Ravenous Beast?’ Unable to talk sense into them? You sound no different than the Rrolando Venators, or that brat from Zab!”

“Enough-”

“No!” Shawk stamped his foot. “Where is the man who tried to negotiate with a pack of raptors? Where is the man who I would call king?!”

A cry from the restraining group interrupted. One of the raptors had lost its grip on Regina’s head, and the great theropod had tossed it aside, promptly followed by the other. The two landed atop an abandoned wagon with a noisy crunch; whether the sound came from the cart’s wood or the raptor’s hollow bones was unclear.

Now with her vision clear and mouth unobstructed, the tyrannosaur snapped at the ropes pulled taught across her. Some of the men, or rather, the smart ones, immediately dropped them and fled, while the stubborn fools among them tried in vain to keep them pulled tight. They only lost their grips when the sudden g-force acceleration from being yanked skyward became too much, and they came tumbling back down onto the stones in crumpled, limp heaps.

Seeing his allies being dispatched so quickly, the shunosaur trotted forward, not to cast Terra Magicke again, but spinning about, aiming to strike with his club tail. But Regina saw it coming, and met the swinging tail with open jaws. There was a sickening cracking sound as the club sent several teeth flying from the tyrannosaur’s mouth, followed by a bellow of pain from the Long-Neck. Despite wounding her, Regina had still clamped her jaws down on the tail. Hard. A half-dozen teeth missing did not spare his flesh from countless more banana-length fangs slicing in, like many butcher’s knives.

The great herbivore let out a bellow of pain, unrepeatable profanities were they spoken in a human tongue.

“No!” the sloth gasped. He had doggedly maintained his grasp on the tail, but only now realized how dire things had become.

“Very well, M’lord! If you will do nothing, then I-” Shawk did not finish, as he was already turning to run.

“Wait! Don’t be a fool!” Caseus was moving almost on instinct. He set Arabella down and began to run after, despite every thought he had screaming “It is not your problem! Let the old fool have his way!”

A hand grasping his vest stopped him. “Nuuu! Dunntgo!” Arabella lisped hysterically, furiously nursing at her thumb, tears in her eyes. Again, her senses had fled from her as quickly as they had returned. He felt a wrenching in his heart at the sight of her like that. He thought he had grown accustomed to seeing her in this state, but… he couldn't recall her looking more terrified. Psaltria's absence probably wasn't helping either.

The shunosaur gave another great bellow. Regina was pivoting, flexing the immense musculature of her neck, veins straining to the point it looked like they would burst, as she tried to drag the immense Long-Neck by his tail. That, or she was trying to rip it off.

“Lady Regina!” Shawk called as he approached. “Please! Tell me, what is it that has angered you?” He stopped short of charging in; the boundary of solid ground and the quicksand was surprisingly difficult to make out.

“I’ll be right back Hatchling, do not worry!” Caseus said hurriedly. And then he gave her a kiss on the forehead. Again, it was like his body was moving on its own. He had scarcely met this girl, so why…?

Despite being such a minor and quick peck, the kiss did silence Arabella for the moment. Her tears stopped flowing, while she silently touched where his lips had just caressed.

A cacophony of Beastly pain and chaos quickly swelled to fill that silence, as if the universe were not content to allow any reprieve. The shunosaur was dragged along, unable to hold its ground and quickly losing its footing, Regina apparently aiming to fling him as she twisted her head and body as far as the quicksand would allow. Then there was a great squelching sound as she pulled one of her feet of the muck.

Now with the stability of a foot on solid ground, she continued her pivot. Like a woman in labor, the shunosaur gave a tremendous groan as his front left leg gave out, and its hide was scraped across the square. With only one front leg providing support, the great neck swung low- and right into Shawk. The elderly Pachycephalosaurus was sent sprawling from the blow, and left gasping for air. It had knocked the wind out of him.

But it did not stop there. Another squelch, and the other foot came free. Now fully mobile, the tyrannosaur spun hard, snatching her tail free from the sloth, knocking the giant omnivore off balance, and plummeting head-first into the quicksand.

Pitiful blubbering, squelching and splashing noises briefly filled the square as the sloth struggled to keep its nostrils above the muck, but they were promptly silenced as Regina released her hold on the shunosaur, which stumbled, slid and finally collapsed in a heap atop the sloth, plunging the mammal into the muck well over its shoulders.

“No-” Caseus choked. “No!” A wave of anger, terror and self-loathing washed over him as he dashed forward. Shawk had managed to force himself into a sitting position; he was nothing if not a resilient codger. But muffled screaming and bellowing was bubbling the quicksand. The sloth was spasming and thrashing its clawed hind limbs, along with one of its hands that it had managed to pull free, and those blind swings rent great gashes in the Long-Neck’s hide.

Truthfully, Caseus had no idea what he would do. The square was almost completely devoid of any bystanders to help, and he knew good and well that, at least as a human, he had nowhere near enough strength to lift either Beast.

But he felt the sudden weight of his responsibility crushing down on him, and it would not let him rest-

A familiar maw lunged in front of Caseus. Regina glared at him, her hawk-like eyes narrowed. She deftly stepped over the quicksand, positioning herself between him and the Beasts.

“Now,” she growled, “I will not ask again. Bring me Astarides! I shall devour that murderer, and any that get in my way!” 

A sharp whistle pierced the tense atmosphere like an arrow. All parties that were able turned to the source: a man clad in pale tunic, calmly approaching. Unarmed. His dark hair was shaven on both sides, exposing a patchwork of scars across his scalp.

“Here I am, o Beast,” Astarides said nonchalantly. “Come, have at me. Let us get this over with.”