Blackwood Flats Safari: Part 5

Mathaira watched as Rico and Lt. Tates climbed awkwardly atop the large saurians. She turned to Gareth and grinned as if to say This is going to be a long trip. The twinkle in his eyes confirmed that he agreed with her sentiments. To the surprise of the native Dinotopian, the dolphinbacks soon adjusted to their new mode of travel, much to their credit. Rico's wiry frame and natural agility enabled him to accustom himself to the rhythm of the saurians movements beneath him. As muscular in build as Rico was compact, the rigors of Lt. Tates' life in the military and at sea had developed in him a natural athleticism which now served him in good stead as he rode atop the large dinosaur towards Chandara.

Settled comfortably into the saddle, Mathaira busied herself with checking the contents of the pack slung over her shoulder. Having been jostled about considerably during the storm and its aftermath, Mathaira had carefully tended to the unhatched Rhamphorynchus egg before climbing into the saddle. Knowing that it was imperative that the egg remain warm and moist, the hatchery worker had unwrapped the parcel from her tunic and carefully peeled back the outer palm frond. She then dampened the sand and inner palm frond which encased the egg before re-wrapping the entire egg parcel and gently placing it back into her pack. The dampened sand and palm frond would keep the egg moist and the heat from her body would keep it warm.

As she had cared for the egg before the group set forth, Mathaira thought she had heard the first faint pipings of the Rhamphorynchus inside. Usually audible before the egg hatched, the pipings grew louder and more frequent as time for the emerging drew nearer. Though there was still some time before the egg hatched, Mathaira was sure that it would do so before the group reached Chandara. She smiled to herself as she thought that this would be one more surprise in the lives of the recently arrived dolphinbacks.

Gareth strode along between the two massive hadrosaurs, his long, cross country strides easily keeping pace with the dinosaurs. A brisk wind, all that was left to remind him of the storm, whipped his hair around as the young warrior walked along, talking rapidly in English and saurian with the various saurians and humans that wandered or rode near him. He had been stranded on the island some years before. The only possessions he still had were a pair of long ceremonial daggers and his life, as well as the clothes he swam ashore in. Since then, he had taken to wandering the land, helping with problems where not necessarily swords but amazing speed, precision and dexterity were needed. Gareth had spent two of his five years on the island among the residents of the lost city, learning the troodon's way of fighting to supplement his own, self-taught skill with blade and staff. He had also spent time among the raptor clans, single-handedly besting the leader of the Burning Talon clan of raptors without weapons. He had also there made one of his greatest friends, Azonthus, the young leader of another clan of raptors.

A comment from Rico snapped him back to the present.

"When are we going to reach Chandara, Señor Gareth?"

"Uh, we should arrive at the city by tomorrow morning if we keep up this pace. You should get some sleep; you're going to need it!" replied Gareth.

“Hanging on back there?” Tamith asked her friend.

“Yes…” he replied none too happily. “Had better days though.”

“Maybe from this one you’ll learn not to pounce creatures with five times your strength, genius.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled weakly.

“You know, I was wondering,” she started.

“Mmm?”

“What did you tell the lead dolphinback when he came over to check on you before we left?”

“That there would soon be someone coming for them from Waterfall City- family of mine,” Dylan replied.

“Think he understood?” Tamith insisted.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because Granda didn’t drill English into Kael and me in vain. I may not use it much, but he said the equivalent of an affirmative,” Dylan told her, then smiled. “Don’t worry, help is on the way. And besides, how much more havoc can they cause here?”

Tamith chuckled. “Let’s hope they aren’t like you, then.” She then looked up and noticed the dolphinbacks’ riding the enormous Karua and smiled. “He seems to be behaving,” she commented.

Dylan looked up to his partner and nodded. “As long as they don’t kick him or a carnivore comes into view, they should be fine. He’s the greatest for a partner.”

Tamith would have said more, but then she heard Mathaira gasp. She turned around worried, but the Hatchery worker smiled back at her reassuringly.

“It’s hatching,” the other young woman said. Tamith then noticed for the first time what Mathaira had treasured within her pack all this time: an egg.

She smiled happily knowing what an honor it would be to witness and be present in the welcoming of another life in this land she so loved.

He climbed the last ridge and looked out onto the wide plain that surrounded Chandara. The city of marble and gold glittered in the middle, like a precious stone in the middle of a field of lapis lazuli, backed by a tossing field of deep, watery blue. He heard a shout from below.

“Gareth! Come back! The egg is hatching!”

He ran back down the grassy slopes and found the group dismounted below. All of the natives were crowded around Mathaira; the young woman was seated on the ground in the middle of the circle. The two dolphinbacks were standing on the edge of the circle, unsure. Gareth ducked through Ava’s legs and knelt down next to Mathaira.

“Chandara is just over the next ridge. Do you think the egg will be able to travel for another hour?” Even as he said this, Gareth realized that the egg would have to stay. Hairline cracks were starting to appear on the large, rounded side of the egg and the squeaking of the tiny dinosaur inside could be clearly heard.

“No, we need to stay here; it wouldn’t survive any sort of rough transport until it is fully hatched from now on. Tell the others to get some food and rest. No, hang on. Maybe Ava could take you and Dylan into Chandara to get some people out here. I might need some assistance from a senior hatchery worker to help this little creature out of his shell. D’you think you could manage it?”

”No problem, you just take care of the egg. I’ll be back in no time!” With that, he stood up and, calling Dylan over to him, rapidly explained what they were going to do before vaulting lightly onto Ava’s back. The big dinosaur trod carefully until she was some distance from the egg and then broke into a full tilt run towards the city, massive strides shaking the earth

“Neque sa runata! Sine diligenter, vulner Dylan fera. Nos dois atient Chandara pair solcache, neque una ginrai.” (Not so fast! if you’re not careful you’ll hurt Dylan. We only need to get to Chandara by sunset, not in the next minute)

Ava honked an affirmative and slackened her pace slightly, bending with each step to allow the mighty tendons and muscles in her legs to absorb the shock and make riding much less painful on the spine.

Soon they were racing through the meter high grass of the plains, gold and green stalks rustling and tossing like an extension of the ocean that lay a few miles to their right. Chandara loomed up ahead, a great mass of brilliant white and gold, an island of stone among the plains of eastern Dinotopia.

Within an hour, they had come across a wide clay road leading towards the city and they went quickly along the way. Ava blew a merry tune through her crest to humor herself as she jogged along.

They came to the great gates of the old city several hours before sundown and passed through the ruined walls, reminders of the time when Chandara, Baz and Poseidos stood against each other and the now peaceful island was rocked by bloody conflict. All Dinotopians had vowed never to let such a time come again and the ancient wall stood as a reminder to keep that oath. They slowed as they entered the modern city. Traffic flowed in and out of the great city and the bazaars and markets were still in full color and volume. Gareth made passing remarks to acquaintances and shopkeepers as Ava walked slowly, avoiding the swarms of smaller dinosaurs and humans that crossed the boulevard. She made for the central square, as Gareth had asked her to.

”If we need to get help for the others then we may as well speak to Paki about it.” Paki’tar was the speaker for Chandara, a respected diplomat and one of Gareth’s friends. He was one of the youngest saurians ever to be elected as the voice of Chandara, being only twenty years old or so, hardly out of saurian adolescence.

They arrived in the main square. A canal flowed to one side of the towns meeting area and a magnificent building, as large or larger than many houses of parliament in the outer world, flanked by two statues of Stegosaurs standing on their hind legs, one foreleg extended the other cradling a bunch of flowers, to the other. A grand fountain, featuring dolphins, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and other aquatic creatures, topped by a bare chested god, net and trident held aloft, standing on a chariot pulled by porpoises, stood in the middle of the square. It dominated the area, some form of lighting illuminating the intricate stonework from underneath, the flowing water cascading like liquid light into the bowl, tinkling softly as it splashed. It was a sight that overtook the grandest architecture of Rome and Florence. Ava came to a halt outside the broad sweeping stairs of the senate. Walking through into the great antechamber of Chandaran parliament, Gareth and Dylan went through a small door at the end of the room as Ava went to find a drink and something to eat at the local sauropod barn.

As they approached the door that led to Paki’s office, the familiar sound of a reading-treadmill filtered through into the corridor. Gareth knocked on the door and, after hearing the reply, opened it and followed Dylan inside. Paki jumped off his treadmill; the Deinonychus was obviously startled at their windswept appearance.

“What on Earth’s happened to you two? You look like you just spent that storm running around in the middle of nowhere being chased by rogue Tyrannosaurs.”

Gareth grinned “Quite.”

Dylan stretched his arms. “This might take quite some time to tell.”

Dylan and Gareth took turns narrating the events of the past several days, each adding how he had come to the finding of the newly arrived dolphinbacks. Paki listened attentively and waited until they were finished before asking questions.

“And you say you sent a message to Waterfall City?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Dylan replied. “My partner sent for a party of ambassadors from there. I assume they should soon be on their way if they have not departed already. However, I do not know how long they might take.”

“Then, we will see what we can do to aid them,” Paki concluded.

“Umm…” Dylan started. “If it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could get me some pain killers? The ones my partner Tamith gave me before we left have kinda worn out…”

Gareth sat down heavily as Dylan wandered out, following Paki's directions to the infirmary.

"Brave kid," the deinonychus noted, "Hope he gets better quickly." The large raptor scratched his head as he settled into the couch and unrolled a large scroll.

"We need to get some help out to the folks who still need to come in. Did I hear you say that Mathaira has an egg near hatching?" Paki sighed. "Unfortunately we can't spare any sauropods yet; the city suffered some damage in that last storm and we'll need to have all hands to fix up the breakages. I should, however, be able to send out a skybax patrol to help out. I think you'll need to go and guide them. I suppose Ava is up to another jog, don't you think?"

"I suppose so. Who are the riders you can spare?"

"Well, I think we have Second Flight, Third Wing in at the moment. They’re just re-supplying after a trip out to the outer island last week. You should know Raymond Wilks? Yes? And there's also Niya, she's a hatchery worker turned skybax rider. She should be a great help."

"I hope we can get moving soon. In the meantime, I could use a drink and something to eat; I haven't had a morsel for two days." Gareth felt his stomach juices turn cartwheels at the thought of having something to melt down into a syrupy mess again. Paki smiled toothily, the polished, curved teeth glinting in the dying light of evening.

"As a matter of fact, I'm a bit hungry myself. We could head down to the waterfront and grab something to eat. Then, I should be able to find the Third Wing at the barn and you can head out again by midnight. I'll go and fetch Dylan and see if he wants to come."

Dylan naturally accepted the offer of some food that didn't taste like bricks and the three were soon strolling along the quay, watching several large brachiosaurus aid a group of workers to replace tiles on the roofs of the houses that overlooked the sea. Dylan and Gareth then headed back to the barn while Paki loped off in the other direction, heading for the guest quarters where the wing of skybax riders were lodging. Soon, both Gareth and Dylan were regretting their decision as Ava thudded out of the barn, seemingly jarring every step on purpose.

"Oh come on Ava, it's only a few kilometers. And if you're lucky you'll get to see a hatching."

Ava snorted in response, almost deafening Gareth, but slightly softened her stride. A chorus of calls overhead heralded the arrival of the Third Wing, the great Quetzalcoatlus soaring overhead as the group ran and flew swiftly to the south.

In the event that assistance failed to arrive before the egg hatched, Mathaira began the necessary preparations. Knowing that the egg would need to be kept warm, Mathaira sought assistance from the dolphinbacks in preparing a shallow egg basin at the base of the rise where it would be protected from the elements. "Lt. Tates, would you mind digging a small hole for the egg?" Mathaira accompanied her query with hand gestures to be sure the dolphinback understood, making the motion for digging and forming her hands in a position to indicate a small circle.

The muscular officer apparently understood, readily agreed, and willingly set to the task of digging a shallow hole using a trowel which was in the supplies carried on one of the larger saurians.

Mathaira approached his companion, " Rico, could you please collect some grasses?" She knelt down to collect a handful of loose grasses in the field to show him an example of what she wanted.

"Si," he understood immediately and roamed the field in search of the dried grasses.

Mathaira began her own preparations, reaching deep into her pack for her traveling cloak, fashioned by the Tentpole weavers out of the shed fur of mammals, lightweight but warm. She spread this on the field near where the egg basin would be when completed. She then rummaged through her pack again, pulling forth a kerchief, a square of dark blue cloth which she carried and often used to wipe her brow in the more humid regions of the Island. This was laid atop the cloak and alongside her water pouch.

Knowing that the hatchling would demand food shortly after its emerging, Mathaira drew forth her own food rations, picking out the smallest bits of dried berries and fruits and softest pieces of hard bread. Tamith noticed her doing so and drew out her own rations, likewise picking out tiny pieces of fruits and berries, extending her hand and offering them to Mathaira, "Here, you might need these for the hatchling."

Mathaira smiled gratefully as she took them from Tamith, "Thank you." All these morsels were placed in a smaller pouch and laid on the cloak.

The dolphinbacks soon completed their tasks and approached Mathaira, seemingly pleased that they were playing a small part in caring for the egg.

Lt. Tates grinned boyishly and proudly pointed to the shallow hole which he had dug, "Is that ok?"

"Yes, perfect," Mathaira nodded her head and grinned back.

Rico held forth the results of his completed task, an armful of dried grasses, "Enough?" he queried.

Mathaira smiled with pleasure. "Enough!" Mathaira confirmed, gratefully taking the grasses from his arms. She then used some of them to carefully line the egg basin which Lt. Tates had dug. Gently she laid the egg into the basin and covered it with more of the grasses.

All the while, the hairline cracks on the egg were gradually widening and the faint piping of the hatchling inside became a more audible squeaking, heard even as the egg lay cradled within the grassy nest.

As the group settled down for the night into their makeshift camp, Mathaira lay down herself on the cloak next to the egg basin, knowing that she would get little if any sleep that night.

***

Mathaira momentarily broke from her task to reach across the spread out cloak and grab a tunic out of her pack. She held this out to Lt. Tates, who stood nearby and asked, "Could you please set this near the fire for awhile?" She held the tunic briefly in the direction of the camp fire before handing it to him.

Instinctively understanding what she wanted, perhaps from encountering similar situations during his service in the war where it was imperative to keep an individual warm, he grasped the tunic. He no longer wore the boyish expression of the previous day but rather one of a military professional, "Right away!" He immediately headed toward the fire where he laid the tunic nearby to warm it.

Before returning to her task, Mathaira took both the kerchief and the water pouch from atop her cloak, holding both out to Rico who had been standing next to Lt. Tates. "Rico, would you mind wetting this cloth for me?"

Eager to be of assistance, Rico practically grabbed the kerchief and water pouch from Mathaira, "Si!" He poured a small amount of water from the pouch onto the cloth, enough to moisten it but not soak it. Somehow knowing that he should, he held it in his hands, waiting until the moment Mathaira needed it.

As the tunic warmed, Mathaira continued to break away fragments of egg shell, the hatchling inside doing the same with its small beak. Just as Lt. Tates returned with the warmed tunic, the hatchling broke completely free of its egg shell, emerging into the soft grassy nest. His coloring was a pale gray, unnatural for one of his species, and he was still squeaking feebly. Mathaira quickly took the moistened cloth from Rico and cleaned the shell fragments from the hatchling's small body, which was also pale gray. Mathaira saw faint streaks of blue and a darker gray and knew that this was the color which the hatchling was supposed to display rather than the pale gray which covered the majority of his spindly body. Taking the warmed tunic from Lt. Tates, Mathaira held the tiny Rhamphorynhcus close while rubbing him with the warm cloth.

The hatchling's color soon improved with the gentle but vigorous rubbing Mathaira gave him with the warm tunic. Knowing that he must be kept warm, Mathaira fashioned a type of sling out of her cloak which she wore around her shoulder, placing the hatchling next to herself, her own body heat keeping him warm.

Settled comfortably into the sling the hatchling felt warm and secure, his small beak began opening and closing in demand for food. "So you're hungry now? That's good." Mathaira sat upon the ground next to the egg basin and opened the pouch of food which she and Tamith had contributed from their rations. The hatchery worker removed a few morsels of food consisting of tiny dried berries and fruits along with pieces of bread. She placed them into her own mouth, chewing them up and removing them, using her fingers to place the bits of food into the mouth of the Rhamphorynchus hatchling. As his belly became full, he cooed contentedly as he gazed at Mathaira from the confines of the sling. Knowing that she lacked a puppet so that the newly emerged hatchling would imprint the correct parent model, Mathaira resigned herself to the fact that more than likely the Rhamphorynchus would consider her to be his mother. She realized that she didn't mind and murmured softly to him, "Storm Rider," giving him his name from the storm which he had ridden out prior to being found by the traveling hatchery worker.

Using her forearms and claws like an organic fishing pole, Sharell didn't have to wait long before she had her first catch. Pleasantly surprised to have found a River Catfish so close to the ocean, Sharell quickly skewered it with her claws after making sure she had a firm foothold on the rocky bank. Hoping to find another catfish, Sharell reached back down into the water, but this time a small squid, a relative to the Belemnite, wrapped itself around her lower arm and claws.

Never having seen a squid before as there were no squid of any sort in the headwaters of the Polongo River and being naive on the behavior of squid and not knowing what they were capable of, Sharell was thoroughly frightened. Jumping and lashing about like an animal gone mad, Sharell only succeeded in making things worse.

Disturbed by the wild motions of the stricken Ornitholestes the eight pound squid wrapped its tentacles even more tightly around her arm and shoulder. Finding that the heavy invertebrate would not come off in her vain attempts, Sharell in trying to pry it off with her free hand, but this resulted in getting that caught up by the very stubborn and very armored prey.

Finding both arms immobilized Sharell forced herself to calm down. Walking up the embankment she strove to come up with a way to get rid of this pest. Coming up with no rational ideas she resolved in trying to bite it off.

If she had any knowledge about squid, Sharell would have known just to submerge it in the river again and she would have known that she was extremely lucky up till now. Working a few of the rubbery tentacles into her narrow mouth Sharell started to chew the tough gray flesh. The squid now pushed to its limits sank it's beak into her shoulder again and again injecting it venom. Screaming in agony as lancing hot pain shot up into her body, Sharell felt as if she was on fire.

Unable keep herself upright she fell down in pain, the damaged shoulder buckling under her weight when she tried to stop her thirty-pound body from falling. On her side and her body succumbing to the poison, Sharell knew that her life was going to end. Losing consciousness fast, Sharell thought of her home back in the Rainy Basin and how she was going to miss it. Just before darkness fully took her and her vision cloudy Sharell saw a dark murky shadow loom over her. Then nothing.

The squid, no longer sensing a threat, let go of the still, minute form of the Ornitholestes and pulled itself back into the cold current of the river.

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