Gone Fishing

by, Quen

One scorching day in June, Quen decided to go fishing out on a hospitable little lake that he had heard from a friend was of late teaming with fish, and was shaded from the heat by evergreens and other foliage, making for a picturesque and pleasant little setting. A change of pace, something different; seemed like just what he needed. In early morning he rented a rowboat and pushed it off the lake’s public landing into the water.

When in the middle of the lake Quen pulled in the oars and baited his line with the largest lure he had in his tackle box. In high spirits he flung it over the port side into the shallows and waited…….and waited…….and waited. Not what one would call an expert angler, Quen did not realize that he had cast it into a patch of drifting seaweed. After a little while went by without a bite, he lost interest, and fell asleep.

Thump!

Quen woke up after what seemed like a few hours to find himself on a soft, sandy beach. The smell of salt water hung in the air. “What happened?” he said aloud to himself, a little surprised to find his throat was so raspy he could hardly speak.
“Rather obvious, isn’t it?” replied a voice from behind him. “You were shipwrecked.”

Quen slowly turned around on his back to address the mysterious voice, and while doing so said “No, no I wasn’t shipwrecked. At least I don’t think so-that rowboat looked sturdy enough. Where am I? Look, I–” He stopped speechless as he saw looming over him K’Ren, Stefan, Minstelae, and Stormtracer all looking with inquisitive raptor eyes down at him.

“Well then how did you get here if you weren’t shipwrecked? You certainly don’t look like you’re from around here,” said Min, with a little amusement in her voice as Quen staggered to his feet and took a step back from them.

“I’m not sure.” He looked around and again asked, “Where…where am I anyway?”

“Dinotopia, of course,” said Amber, who at that moment had come up next to them dragging a large basket full of seashells that had been washed on shore by the tide.

“Oh, yes, yes, I should have guessed that much. But Dinotopia doesn’t really exist. It can’t! I know what this is, I must be dreaming! Of course I’m dreaming!” With almost a sigh of relief Quen fell unconscious back on the sand.

“Well, it’s not the first time I’ve seen a dolphinback flip out,” said Stormy. “In fact, I’d say he took it pretty well.”

“Anyway,” Amber said, “I’ve got the shells we came for. Now we’d better get back to the camp before sun fall.”

“Yes, but what about this dolphinback? We can’t leave him here, but we raptors might hurt him if we carry him when he’s unconscious,” said Stefan to the others.

K’Ren nodded and walked inland over to where the beach met the woodland and called out something in saurian. A minute later Mighty Roar came bounding through the undergrowth with agility and stopped right in front of them. “We’re gonna need your help, Mighty Roar,” she yelled up to the hybrid as she pointed to Quen. “Do you think you could carry him back to base camp for us?”

“I wouldn’t even feel it if I were towing twenty of his weight,” responded Mighty Roar, only to glad to help. He crouched down so Stefan and Stormy could put the human on the tip of his gargantuan tail. Mighty Roar relieved Amber of her burden by picking the basket up with his teeth, taking care not to spill any shells as he did so. Minstelae and K’Ren walked on either side of the saurian, steadying Quen as the small band made their way back into the woodland, following a crude pat further inland.

“I wonder what Azzy could possibly want those shells for.” Stefan two hours later had said what was on all their minds as they finally exited out of the other end of the coastal trees into what seemed like more of a desert climate (because there was sand instead of soil, and very scarce vegetation). “I know that I for one haven’t the least idea.”

“Me neither,” said Min, still steadying Quen on Mighty Roar’s tail so he wouldn’t fall off. Quen mumbled a little as he slowly regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes at first all he could see was a long blurry stretch of sand that met at the horizon with a long stretch of cloudless blue sky. He blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. A half a mile of so across open sand he could make out the rising smoke of a campfire, under which was a little base camp with the unmistakable shapes of tents, supply carts, temporary lookout towers, and, yes, beyond the nearest lookout tower several brachiopods. As he regained his near eyesight, he saw below him the troop of raptors from before at the beach.

Not knowing that he was not on firm ground, Quen tried to jump up and run away. Luckily for him, he was saved from a potential fall by K’Ren who caught him by his shirt on a claw and then lowered him to the ground. Quen walked backwards quickly, not taking an eye off the dinosaurs, kicking up sand and trying to scare them off as he made his retreat. When he saw that the convoy had neither moved back nor chased him, he stopped. What did they want? Surely if they hadn’t by now they weren’t going to eat him.

“You–you aren’t going to hurt me?” he asked after a reasonably long pause.

“Of course not,” replied Stormtracer, beckoning him on to follow the others as they made their way over a sand dune to the camp he had seen from Mighty Roar’s tail. “Hurry now, it’s already getting dark.” Quen obediently followed; he was just glad to be able to walk again.

Shortly after they reached the camp. Quen was relieved to see as they got closer that there were other humans there as well as dinosaurs. He was even more comforted when he saw Minstelae reach into a knapsack on her side and pull out a cabbage that she took a large bite out of and then passed to Stefan. Surely he was in no danger here. He sighed audibly.

“Breathe deep,” huffed Mighty Roar to the three guards when they reached the main entrance to the camp.

Sapphire twirled around. “Ah, Seek peace! Azonthus is expecting you–it sure took you long enough.” Amber pointed to the basket Mighty Roar had dropped.

“Do you have any idea what Az could want with these?” she asked.

“Seashells? That was your important errand? Well, no, I haven’t got the least idea what they’re for. But she knows what she’s doing; we’ll all find out tonight at the meeting.”

Quen may have felt comfortable in the presence of his peaceful looking rescuers, but this guard Ambulocetus dressed in a gleaming war helmet and mail chain cape armed with a sandstone tipped spear made him a little uneasy. Stormy pulled him from his hiding place behind Mighty Roar’s left front leg. “When we searched the beach were found a dolphinback who must have come in with the tide.”

“On this part of the Island? That’s sure rare.” She then changed the subject to potential uses for the shells.

As they talked Quen took the opportunity to survey his surroundings. It looked as if they were on the top of a plateau of some sort, because the flat desert ground took a steep plummet close to the seashore. It looked the same way far in the distance on his left. He looked again and was surprised to see how level the ground was; the only hill in sight was a small one some distance northeast of him, on which was situated what he would soon find to be the city of Chandara.

Amber excused herself and said she was needed in the preparation of that night’s dinner, and she entered through the doorway into one of the canvas covered tents just as Enit and Ellie came out of it to talk with K’Ren, Stefan, Min, Stormy and Mighty Roar.

“…Oh, and Azonthus would like to check over those shells you went for,” said Ellie after they had conversed for ten minutes or so. She grabbed the basket and walked back down the dirt path into a different tent. The rest of them conversed for another hour or so--about nothing particularly important, the weather, the well being of mutual friends, old times in some place called Waterfall City, the fruitfulness of the previous autumn’s harvest, and that sort of thing--and Quen became so forgotten and bored that he forgot his manners and sat down on the sand cross-legged with Mighty Roar’s tail to prop him upright.

Just as the sun went down Amber returned with a torch and beckoned them all to come inside; the assembly was about to begin. Finally, Quen thought, he could get some questions answered. As they walked forward down the torch lit dirt path to a mass grouping of humans and dinosaurs, he knew that something big was happening.

The band was led by a coelophysis usher down an aisle to the big sandy commons within the campground. The dolphinback was seated on one of the many barrels of victuals used as seats for humans, while his companions sat with their friends on a long curved bench on the other side of that aisle. Shortly after Quen saw Mighty Roar enter in through a different aisle (the widest one, which was widened even more just for him!).

Amber sighed as she sat down next to Vira and examined a seashell she had taken out of the basket before Ellie had taken it over to the High Chairman’s tent. She looked up at the ancient stone platform that served as a stage, and saw a small wooden table on which those shells were strewn about. Without doubt they must serve some purpose!

Meanwhile Quen sat equally as baffled on the surprisingly comfortable barrel. He took the moment to examine his surroundings a bit more. The tents set up on all sides of the central commons were definitely makeshift, ready to be packed up and moved at a moment’s notice; the stone platform, though, looked as if it had been there for some time.

He watched as a stately looking raptor seated herself on the stone seat in the middle of the platform. Shortly after from the ranks of the saurian benches a troodon arose and approached her. He whispered something in her ear, and then she nodded and pointed over to one of three smaller granite chairs at her right. He sat down in the middle one between Allyshar and Kaak, who were already seated.

Quen watched with keen interest as Azonthus then winked at Mighty Roar. Knowing exactly what he was to do, Mighty Roar came bounding through the biggest aisle up to the center. He stood on his hind legs and gave a long roar to silence the crowd. His front legs came crashing back to the ground, splashing a wave of sand on the first three rows--luckily for them they saw it coming. He grinned when he saw the silencing effect this had. Before returning to his seat he whapped his tail softly against the stone just as a judge would use a gavel in a courthouse; Azonthus was ready to speak.

She stood up and walked over to the table with the shells and looked out at the assembly. “As you know, of late a troodon that goes by the name of Saladin the Merciless has been terrorizing the area just south of Chandara. This is nothing new, and nothing the residents haven’t been able to handle in past years. But lately his gang has been gathering new recruits from hostile troodon and raptor communities in the southern Rainy Basin, and his army is rumored to have tripled this summer alone. That is why this camp has been set up, to defend the populace of the northeast Blackwood Flats. My captains and I have been here over a month now trying to coax Saladin to withdraw his militia back into troodon held territory, but he has refused. It seems that the only way to get rid of him is by force. The skybax squadron that has been stationed here would be able to do so alone, but to prevent bloodshed on both sides it would be better to overwhelm his forces with numbers.”

She stopped suddenly. Allyshar got up from her chair and pulled two slings from behind it. She unhurriedly walked over to Azzy and handed her the one in her left claw. Together in one swooping motion they situated a seashell in the leather pouches at the ends of the slings and twirled them over their heads three times. When they stopped the shells came whizzing out and hit a large wooden target at the other end of the commons. With the impact of the shells two chunks of wood were wedged out, but the target remained otherwise intact and upright.

“Not enough to kill, of course,” said Azonthus, “but a few smalls wounds will make Saladin and his gang retreat back into the swamps quickly enough. Now, here’s my plan. If we want to get this over with promptly, do exactly as I say. A late night dinner will be served right here, so don’t move. Afterwards I want all of you to go to the area I assign you.”

A multitude of coelophysis attendants appeared carrying trays of food. Quen gazed with hungry eyes as the humans were served a delicious dish of steamed vegetables, strangely seasoned eggs, clams, and blackberries for them that chose them, along with a mug of arctium longevus, and another mug of what Quen at first thought to be orange juice, but when he tasted it found it was not made from oranges, but an even juicer fruit that he did not remember ever tasting before. During the middle of the meal Az stood up again from her chair and took a map on a scroll from Kaak. After the chatter had stopped (which took a while in Dinotopia, just as in our world ;) ) she read aloud.

“After you’ve finished—no hurry—this is where you all are to go: Skybax riders, you all will be under the command of Kaak, and are to walk over to the big shale rock that sticks out of the sand half a mile northeast of here. There you will find your skybaxes waiting for you.

Braciosaurs, Stegosauruses, Tyrannosaurs, and any other dinosaur that is big enough to crush, or in this case just threaten to crush, will be under the command of Mighty Roar, and are to meet by the giant palm tree a little ways north of here. Mighty Roar will show you the spot, be careful on your way out.

All raptors, smaller dinosaurs, and humans will stay here. You will be under the command of Allyshar and myself.” Allyshar pulled away the chairs that she, Az, Toki and Kaak had been sitting on, revealing a whole pile of slings. “Remember captains,” Azonthus shouted over the noise, “don’t make your move till I give the signal!”

Ten minutes later, after the servers had taken the dishes back into the kitchen tent, the High Chairman’s directions were being carried out. Quen, not knowing what else he was to do, listened attentively to what was being said around him.

“Don’t squish anyone!” shouted Mighty Roar to the sauropods following him out of the commons.

“Give me a hand, Stormy,” said Allyshar, who was passing out the slings. “Grab a pile and pass ‘em out.” While they were doing so, Amber and Minstelae passed out the shells, forty apiece.

“Everyone grab a torch from Croco as we go through the main entranceway!” yelled Kaak as he ushered the skybax riders out the northern path.

Ellie, who was sitting in the back, grinned; she was a master marksman.

Azonthus stepped off the stone platform and talked again to Toki. She pointed a claw out the eastern exit and the troodon ran off in the direction she was indicating. The High Chairman swiveled around and held a forearm out as Mathaira passed by. “Oh, Mathaira, there you are, I was hoping I’d catch you. I want you to stay here. Things are going better than I expected and I think we’ll be out of here and on our way home by this time tomorrow at the earliest, so at your leisure would you please start packing the tents back up?”

“No problem. I’m on it.”

At around midnight, the entire camp was empty apart from the company of Azonthus and Allyshar, and the five or so attendants that were helping Mathaira dismantle the dwelling tents.

Quen, even after an exhausting day, did not feel the least bit tired.

Allyshar and Azonthus studied their map very carefully as Enit and K’Ren held the corners back for them. Stormtracer stood behind them holding a torch for them to see by; it was near two o’clock in the morning already, and very dark because the moon was hidden by clouds. The five talked among themselves in whispers as the waiting eyes of the humans, raptors, and other small dinosaurs watched from below the stone platform in the sandy commons. Azonthus moved a claw from one corner of the map to the other, pointing out the spot on it where they were, the spot where Kaak and the skybax riders were, the spot where Mighty Roar was with the other larger dinosaurs, and finally the area close to Chandara occupied by Saladin and his band. Quen was anxious to see what they were planning, and became even more curious when Allyshar summoned Ellie to come into the conference.

They talked a little more, and when it seemed that they had finally gotten everything organized, Az said out loud, “Let’s give the others the signal. We’re ready.” She paused. “Quen—“

“What, what, me???” Quen asked in disbelief half to himself and half to the allosaurus standing next to him. He looked up at Azonthus. He must have misunderstood; she couldn’t know who he was, he had been on the Island less than twenty-four hours!

She read his thoughts. “Yes, you. Will you go find Mathaira and tell her I said that we’re ready? She’ll know exactly what I mean.” Quen submissively dashed out the western corridor to the area of the camp where the tents were being packed up.

“Taggnalus! Can you see him yet!?” shouted Saladin the Merciless at the top of his lungs to the utahraptor lookout who he had stationed on a sand dune south of his encampment.

“No sign of him yet, captain!” Taggnalus yelled back.

The troodon leader shook his head, but did not loose his temper. Where could his scout be? “Tell me the instant you see him,” he instructed the lookout. He turned to his second in command, the velociraptor Almmeg, who was standing at his right. “Where could Stav be? I sent him out two days ago to spy on that little defense camp to the south.”

Almmeg shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry,” was his unwise reply. “Even if he was captured, what does he know?”

“Much more than the lot of them back there do,” Saladin sneered. He looked briefly over at his unruly mob of savage velociraptors, utahraptors, and troodons, along with a small number of malicious dolphinbacks. “If he’s found out he’ll tell them that we all don’t have proper weapons. Then they wouldn’t be the least bit afraid to drive us away.” Before Almmeg had a chance to respond Taggnalus called something from his post.

“What was that? Do you see him?” bellowed Saladin, who was running up the sand dune to meet him.

“No, but look at this!” He held out his primitive telescope to Saladin. “The inhabitants of the encampment are splitting up. Looks to me like they’re getting ready for something.”

After giving Azonthus the exact position of Saladin’s militia, Toki received his further instructions and ran with all his might back to the horde to give them the fake battle plan of the defenders that he had drawn. When he saw Taggnalus, Almmeg, and Saladin on the top of the sand dune, he hid himself at its base and put on a tattered old battle vest to distinguish himself as the troodon Stav. He clawed his way up the sand to the top with the fake map hanging out of one side of his mouth like a cigar. His head and front claws reached the top, and he tapped Saladin on the tail to get his attention.

Saladin lowered the telescope from his eye and looked down at the struggling troodon who was trying to heave himself up. “Ah, there you are Stav. What’s that?” he asked without offering any assistance.

“A map,” retorted Stav through his teeth. “Now help me up!”

Taggnalus ripped the piece of parchment from Stav’s mouth, handed it to Saladin, and pushed Stav over the edge with a lash of the tail. The poor scout went tumbling down to the edge of the dune. He popped is head out of the heap of sand that had buried him with a grin on his face. They had taken the bait; now all he had to do was sit tight till Azonthus gave the signal.

“Put that one over here on this pile,” Mathaira instructed the four coelophysises who were taking down one of the dwelling tents. The sun was coming up now, and Quen watched by its first light (rather than by the torches that had nearly gone out) as the three struggled, but finally managed to bind together the staves and canvas and throw them together on the pile Mathaira had pointed to. “Um, excuse me,” he said. Mathaira and the largest of the coelophysises, named Barak, looked at him, while the others continued working. “The High Chairman says that it’s time to give Kaak and Mighty Roar their signal, whatever that means.”

“Right,” Mathaira said, immediately running over to a heap of miscellaneous things that were being stacked in a separate pile. “Give me a hand with this.” She, along with Barak, pulled from the pile an ancient Chinese gong, which had washed up on the shores many summers earlier from a merchant ship that had sunken on its way to India. It was so large that its diameter was longer than the arm span of any human. It was made of solid gold, embellished with a dragon type figure in the middle. The two of them picked it up, and with the help of Quen and the other three were able to haul it all the way back to the commons.

After what seemed like an eternity had passed, the five entered back into the commons via the corridor Quen had left, and set the gong on a pedestal Amber and Stormy had set up on the stone platform. Enit and K’Ren, seeing an opportunity at hand, asked Azonthus if they could have they honors. She smiled and gave them the OK. Along with Barak they went over to the gong and with their tails hit it with all their might. The sound rung out louder and longer than any had expected.

One of the younger native humans, who was at that moment standing behind the pedestal, fell backwards off the stone platform and fell face first into the sand. She stood up and looked around him; good, no one had noticed.

Bong! Bong! Bong!

In the distance Barry the Baryonyx and a Deinonychus named Masihu heard the gong. “It’s coming from our camp! It’s time!” they shouted in unison up to Mighty Roar.

The theropod looked down at them. “I know, I know. Look over there; Saladin is moving all of his raptors out, right over to the big shale rock that the skybax riders are hidden behind. It worked, they’re following the fake map!”

“Do we make our move now?” asked Barry.

“No, not yet. If all goes according to Azzy’s plan the skybax are going to catch them off guard and herd them straight over here. Then we scare them back into camp, where Allyshar and Azzy are waiting. Together we all drive them back where they came from. Hehe, it’ll work, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if I just squished them all?”

It was a little before noon when Kaak finally spotted Razorwing coming back over the dunes. He motioned for the other skybax riders on either side of him to clear the way. Razorwing landed skillfully on the tip of the big shale rock that was jutting out of the sand at a thirty degree angle, gave a loud shriek, and allowed Draco to descend from his back. “They’re coming this way,” Draco shouted when the dust and sand had settled. “Directly toward us. They must be following the fake map Toki was suppose to give to Saladin.”

Kaak nodded. “How close are they?”

“Just over the next big dune, only a five minutes march or so from here if they keep up the pace they’re at.”

“So do we make our move then?” asked Croco to Kaak on his left, who was looking in the direction Draco had come from.

Kaak explained the same as Mighty Roar had. “No, we wait for them to come to us, and then we scare them to where Mighty Roar and the big guys are hiding­—at least trying to hide.” He smiled. “We’ll have them running back to the Rainy Basin in no time…I hope.”

At a gesture from Kaak the squadron of fifteen skybax jumped up on top of the shale rock, and the quetzalcoatlus stretched their wings out wide so as to camouflage themselves with the pale, sandy backdrop.

On the other side of the same sand dune the enemy group of utahraptors and velociraptors trudged forward in the direction the map indicated. Saladin had sent them out under the command of Almmeg to find and capture the defense camp shown on the map, while he had left his remaining troodons and human archers with him at his encampment near Chandara.

“Almmeg, are you sure you’re reading that correctly? We should be there by now,” Taggnalus the utahraptor asked Almmeg, who had stopped at the base of the dune.

The velociraptor swung around fiercely. He spoke tactfully but with authority, knowing Taggnalus was younger and stronger than him. “Listen you, Saladin put me in charge, and if I hear another peep out of you before we’re done I’ll be reporting your imprudent remarks!” Taggnalus recoiled and put his claw to his side to take hold of his dagger, but when he saw Almmeg do the same to get at the long, sharp, sickle shaped weapon he carried, he quickly changed his mind and went to the back of the column. Almmeg grinned to himself. “Follow me up this mound!” he shouted as he slowly began to make his way up.

Stumbling and panting, it took the band an embarrassing twenty minutes to reach the pinnacle of the dune; Almmeg was just happy Saladin had not been there to see it. He pulled out his sickle and fixed it firmly in the ground to help him balance. He saw in the distance, as was shown on the map, a little camp. The ground was mostly flat on all sides of them--except for a large palm tree which stood perfectly upright between where he was standing and the defense camp, and a rock sticking out of the ground a little closer to him. Nothing struck him as at all odd; if he had looked closer he would have seen that under the palm tree were lying several theropods and other diverse dinosaurs trying to hide themselves, and that on the rock were perched the skybax, ready and waiting for them.

The sun had gone behind a cloud. The air suddenly cooled, and Almmeg the Velociraptor was suddenly feeling tougher than ever. He walked rather calmly to the back of the column and then suddenly waved his sickle madly in the air. “Now run to that camp as quick as you can! We’ll need to get there and capture it before nightfall. Any slackers will have to answer to me, now get going!”

With weapons and wooden shields already drawn, the utahraptors and velociraptors ran down the other side of the dune. Soon after they had reached the bottom of the dune the poised skybax took off and flew toward them.

The element of surprise proved effective as the malicious group were scattered in every direction, many of them dropping their weapons as they went. Upon seeing Speedwing coming directly toward him, Taggnalus panicked and buried his head in the sand. The utahraptor was lucky, and the back claws of the huge quetzalcoatlus only nipped the tip of his tail. His luck did not last, though, for after Speedwing had gone past he could not get his head free again. His front claws felt blindly for the hilt of his dagger so he could dig himself out, and when he found it he began digging madly to free his head. Wise as he may have been, he misjudged the amount of sand covering him, and hit himself a terrible blow in the neck.

Almmeg was in the middle of the uproar from the beginning to the end, jeering and swinging at anything that got within his range. Seeing that his troops still greatly outnumbered the skybax, he fought his way up toward the top of the shale rock where he could shout orders and be heard clearly. “Strike back!” he shouted. “We outnumber them!” Kaak saw what Almmeg was trying to do and landed his skybax squarely at the tip of the rock, blocking him off. The quetzalcoatlus cried madly in its high-pitched tone, but Almmeg roared back, shifting his weapon from claw to claw while dodging the wings and gaining ground. The skybax was forced to retreat and Almmeg ran to the tip of the rock. “Regroup!” he howled down to his army. “We outnumber them at least ten to one!”

If they had taken a hold of these statistics and realized they could potentially win, they would have fought braver, but being not what one would call the smartest band of creatures, they instead scattered and ran south. This was as Azonthus had predicted, and they were running straight into the second phase of her trap.

Upon seeing the utahraptors and velociraptors under his command flee like little hatchlings trying to escape a rainfall, Almmeg became even more enraged and in so doing dropped his guard. From above Croco saw this and seized the opportunity. In one swoop he came down and snatched the sickle from the unsuspecting raptor, and in another knocked him off the rock with the blunt side of it. After hitting the ground Almmeg quickly regained his senses and was running away alongside his companions.

The skybax still perused them, but from a distance.

Barry Baryonyx and Masihu the Deinonychus had seen them coming from their position half way between the rock and the palm tree. With all swiftness they were off to alert Mighty Roar.

Through eyes half closed in sleep, Mighty Roar saw them coming and awoke fully. He stood up and stretched his enormous neck, which alone was enough to wake most of the other dinosaurs resting around him. Barry and Masihu delivered pretty much the same message Draco and Razorwing had delivered to Kaak and the skybax earlier that day; Saladin’s horde was coming their way.

Mighty Roar began forming his combatants unarmed except for claws and teeth into a large semicircle around the tree. The two other gigantosauruses stood outside this formation crouching down until their heads were only as tall as the tree. Mighty Roar, tallest of the three by far, stood behind the configuration a short distance away to give orders. If he were to enter into the skirmish, he would slay fighters from both sides with a simple flick of the tail, so he decided it best to keep his distance. And if by chance a stray raptor were to break free of the main clash, well, he’d take care of them.

Surprisingly, when the panic stricken carnivores appeared on the horizon, they were not all totally scattered like they were when Barry and Masihu had seen them, because Almmeg had regrouped the majority into a tight box formation. Those who still carried weapons were on the outside, the unarmed were inside of them, and the injured were standing in the very middle.

Since the skybax had stopped pursuing them, Almmeg had not let the raptors rest. They were now so exhausted that they did not even realize the huge semicircle trap made up of assorted dinosaurs that they were walking straight into. They were in for a surprise.

Out of nowhere sprung several stegosauruses that landed in the middle of the raptor formation. Immediately the others appeared and were on them in a second. As was the case with the skybax, the utahraptors and velociraptors panicked and fled in different directions. This time Almmeg was able to escape the skirmish unnoticed; he knew he was destined to lose this one and escaped with a group of the remaining raptors south and slightly westward. The velociraptor shook his head in fury. Image, falling for the same trap twice!

Taggnalus, though, wasn’t as fortunate. The utahraptor tried to escape back in the direction of Chandara, but because of his injury to the neck he was oblivious to the fact that he was running straight into Mighty Roar. Oblivious, that is, until he ran into the theropod’s foot. The hybrid looked down at Taggnalus who was trying to get back up to his feet and grinned. Coolly he picked the scout fighter up in his teeth by the sword belt and dangled him in midair. He swung him around a few times and threw him to the ground. By chance he landed softly among the leaves in the palm tree, but the impact of his descent caused most of the cocoanuts to fall off the tree and clonk his comrades on the ground. They were to busy avoiding being stomped flat by large feet to notice them coming. Taggnalus gave a sigh of relief, but too soon. The second largest gigantosaurus was waiting to have some fun. He tapped the base of the tree with his tail to shake the utahraptor lose, but he didn’t budge. He did this again and again a little harder each time, but still Taggnalus wouldn’t let go.

Barry rolled his eyes. He, Vorchia and Masihu put pressure on the trunk of the tree with they forearms, bending it back almost to the ground, but not snapping it. Simultaneously they let go, and the ill-fated raptor went flying high into the air.

After the successful assault on their utahraptor and velociraptor foes, Kaak allowed most of the skybax to return to Pteros. Their presence down here seemed no longer needed. He himself, though, remembered Azonthus’ instructions and returned to the defense camp to tell her of the first two victories (he had viewed the second battle from the sky). Draco, Rutter and Croco, who did not wish to return to Canyon City just yet, accompanied him.

Meanwhile at Azonthus’ defense camp, Az and Allyshar were eagerly waiting to get these reports and, if all had gone to plan, find out when they themselves were to make the final move. The humans and smaller dinosaurs had a disadvantage, though; since they could not fly to get a view from the sky, nor did they have the advantage of having a gigantosaurus hybrid to see from above, they had to rely on messengers sent out from the other two parties to tell them when to get ready.

While they waited, the defenders took the opportunity to segregate themselves according to the art of war they were most efficient at by nature, seeing as there were not enough slings for every able bodied fighter.

It seemed that in general dinosaurs were not able to handle slings as well as humans; the exceptions were Allyshar, Enit and Paddlefoot. They decided that Ellie and Enit would lead a portion of the humans (Paddlefoot would go along with them), and they would carry long-range slings, which had longer whips and more slender grips than the short-range slings that Allyshar and the remaining humans would bear. Azonthus had instructed Stormtracer and Amber to make these two different types of slings when they were putting them together the week before, and now they knew why. Ellie, Enit Co. could provide cover rounds for the others, while Allyshar and her lot could at the same time use their slings in the main fray. Allyshar and Co. would use large dirt clods for ammo instead of seashells. These could easily be gathered from the ground of the commons, and would prevent massive bloodshed.

Vira and Barak were experienced foot fighters, and they decided to give every coelophysis and deinonychus a crash course. Their group would come in handy if they could be taught quickly enough.

Azonthus led everydino that remained, the largest group made up mostly of raptors. They bore the simplest of all weapons, a long birch stave with a slightly sharpened end. They were by no means as dangerous, but if they handled their weapons properly they could keep three or more of their enemies busy at once.

After a short time Barry Baryonyx, who Mighty Roar had sent as the herald, came in through the easternmost entrance. He had arrived before Kaak, who was going against the wind. “Breathe deep,” he panted when he reached Azonthus, who was sitting down in the High Chairman’s granite seat on the stone platform.

She saw the smile on his face and gave a sigh of relief. “Seek peace. You come bearing good news I take it?”

“Good news and some bad. Which would you like first?”

“You always give the good news first,” laughed Amber, who he had not noticed was sitting with Stormy behind the granite chair restringing a few slings that had broken. They withdrew to practice more and left the two alone.

“The good then,” Az said when they were out of earshot.

“Right, the good news. So far everything’s gone to plan. Toki must have given Saladin the false map, and then they tried to follow it to get to us here. The skybax were ready and waiting and caught him and his band off guard on their way here, and then the theropods scared them senseless—and deaf I might add. The few utahraptors and velociraptors who haven’t already ran back into the Rainy Basin are headed this way and don’t know you’re here.

“And the bad news?”

“Well, those were not Saladin and his troops they scared, only a scout party of his that he sent to capture our garrison. He left the other half of them, his troodons and humans, with him at Chandara. Now Saladin thinks that his advance party has captured us all and that the camp here is his. He’s headed this way as we speak…fully armed!”

Almmeg was in a fowl mood after his recent defeats, but still he pressed his remaining troops onward toward the camp. He was determined to reach it, capture it, and slay any remaining defenders before nightfall to gain favor with Saladin. The raptors looked all about them as they went so as to be prepared for another sneak attack, but the good willed Dinotopians, they thought to themselves, could not possibly be more of a danger to them now than the enraged second in command.

Almmeg, who was at the head, urged those who were walking at the front of the column on. Those in back, however, slacked off a bit without the threats from the almost as fierce Taggnalus, who they assumed had died of his self-afflicted wound during the battle with the theropods and other large dinos. They were parched, tired, many wounded and hungry, and if that were not enough to worry about the hot sun in the semi-desert climate of the northern Blackwood Flats shone down on them relentlessly. The advance party could only trudge forward in hopes that their leader was as thirsty as they were and would soon take a rest.

Unfortunately, the flat desert made the camp look much closer than it actually was. It was early morning the next day before Almmeg finally stopped the ranks for a rest. He was not a fool by any stretch of the word, and knew there were still surprises that Azonthus and the defenders had in store for him. He would now let his band rest for a while so they would be fresh for an attack on the encampment that now lay only a half-mile or so from him. If he could play his cards right, Almmeg would still have time to capture it before Saladin arrived.

Coincidently at the same moment Almmeg was thinking this to himself, Saladin the Merciless had already moved out of his own camp on his way toward the defenders’ camp, which he had no doubt in his mind was now his. He brought with him all his remaining soldiers, both saurian and human, and headed south and slightly east at a leisurely pace.

Since Almmeg was head of his advance party, Taggnalus, his second favorite Captain, was with him, and his last Captain, the troodon Stav, was nowhere to be found, Saladin had no choice but to appoint a rough looking dolphinback named Draken as his temporary second in command. He hated Draken, but not including himself, he was the only one left that could boss others around and was at the same time a bumbling idiot susceptible to one stronger. And at least he was a decent archer.

Saladin strolled in the middle of his army with his standard, a dark red flag showing a large black scimitar and a thistle bush behind it, with a crow in the top corner. Today was to be a day of celebration, but fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose side you were on, they still brought their weapons as a precaution.

As they went Saladin had a brilliant idea. He knew that if Almmeg had captured the fort like he was told to, he would post sentries on the northern and eastern wall tops to impress his Chief as they came in. Saladin decided it would be, if nothing else, funny to go around and come in through the westernmost entrance and see if any sentries had been placed there.

Allyshar and Azonthus had their hands full arranging the defenders in formations where they would have a good vantage point to fire on the combined forces of Almmeg and Saladin, who they assumed would meet up with each other before they attacked. They had gotten things pretty much settled when Kaak, Croco, Rutter, and Draco flew in and landed in the commons. Kaak descended Altanden, looked around him, and approached the two captains. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“What does it look like we’re doing?” Allyshar retorted, thinking it was obvious enough.

“Look at them, they’re all facing the wrong direction. Saladin’s coming from the other way, I saw him from the sky.” Allyshar and Azonthus exchanged a puzzled glance.

“But then who are those raptors resting over there?” Az asked. She pointed out the wide theropod entrance/exit leading from the commons, through which Kaak could barely make out the sleeping forms of Almmeg and his battered warriors.

“That would be Almmeg and his company,” Toki (who had returned from his double agent mission at the sound of the gong) said.

“Oh, yes, I know about them from Barry,” replied Azonthus. “So why on earth are the troodons and humans coming from the exact opposite entrance? Aren’t they going to regroup?” Understandably, no one knew the answer.

It took the commanders a minute to grab hold of the very confusing situation, but a new battle plan was soon sketched out. The two enemy groups, it seemed, were unaware of each other, and if they were to both charge they would enter the encampment at the same time and meet in the middle of the commons.

“If only the theropods could get back here in time to help us,” wished Kaak. “Is there time for us to fly out and get them to hurry back?”

“I don’t think so,” Az reasoned, “plus, if you skybax leave and don’t come before Saladin and this Almmeg guy make their assaults we may be in trouble.”

Vira appeared behind them. “There’s also those twenty or so deinonychus and coelophysis foot fighters that Barak and I have been training. We could help defend.”

“You would be a great help, Vira,” Azonthus said after a moment of thought. “Go and get them ready, they won’t need their shells any more so make sure they give them back to Stormy.

“But if the theropods help we’re really in no danger at all. I think it’s worth a shot to go and get them,” said Kaak.

“How about this,” said Allyshar, “Draco can go alone and try to get Mighty Roar and the others back here while the other skybax stay here and help us.” They did just this, and Razorwing shot out again like a dart to reach Mighty Roar in time.

Amber—well aware that even with Mighty Roar’s contingent back in time they were still going to be outnumbered—had a brilliant idea. She said that Mathaira and the coelophysises whose job it had been to pack up the tents of the camp, should stop so that the defenders could protect themselves from behind the remaining ones. Rutter and her skybax, Typhon, were to fly off in one direction and get the attention of Almmeg and his part of the horde and lure them into the commons. At the same time Croco and Speedwing would fly off in the opposite direction and get the attention of Saladin and the rest of them. If it were timed just right the two factions would both enter into the camp and meet each other in the middle of the commons. If they did this at nighttime then they could theoretically get their enemies to attack themselves, leaving the defenders with only any survivors to drive away.

There were a few other proposed plans, but in the end when a vote was taken it was unanimously decided to go with Amber’s plan. Half of the long-range sling shooters stood with their backs to the east wall next to an entrance and the other half stood with their backs to the wall on the west side near an entrance so they could fire their shells to the other end of the commons and convince the horde that the other cluster of troops were Azonthus and the defenders firing at them. Hopefully they would attack each other without giving the thought of a clever maneuver like this a second thought.

Since Ellie was the best aim, she stood near one wall and was to strike the first troodon that came through the entry, anticipating Saladin would probably lead his soldiers. Likewise Enit, who could do some interesting maneuvers using his sling with or without ammo, stood at the other wall next to the other entry so he could try to get a clear shot at Almmeg, hoping he too would head his band of warriors.

The coelophysis and deinonychus foot fighters headed by Vira and Barak the Coelophysis, and also the short-range sling shooters and stave-bearers, hid behind the tents still set up on all sides of the commons to shield themselves from the volleys of sharp seashells. The remaining skybax were to be in the air when Almmeg and Saladin first met in the commons, and were to fly down and attack when they were needed.

All was ready. Rutter and Croco flew off in opposite directions to lure the two groups into the camp while the rest of the defenders waited.

As the sun went down and Almmeg was preparing his raptor legion for battle, the second in command heard a whiz go past his head and spun around. He saw nothing, so he went about his business and began to put on his armor. The sound came again a second time. This time all the warriors had heard it and looked skyward to see looming over them the quetzalcoatlus Typhon and her rider, Rutter. After circling around the raptors a few times Typhon zoomed back toward the defense camp, making sure to not let the dim-witted group loose sight of them.

Almmeg followed the skybax with the pack, but he knew full well that it was another clever trap. This time, however, he believed his troop stood a good chance at whatever came their way after their good rest and with them all suited up with body armor. He went with the flow and ran a little slower until he was in the very back of the column.

About two miles away from them Saladin was approaching the defense camp from a different angle at a nonchalant pace. KaaaKahKaah! From out of the low drifting clouds appeared Speedwing and Croco coming at them at a ninety-degree angle. They swooped down toward Saladin who was in the front, but the troodon was too quick for them and ducked as Speedwing passed. The Chieftain was even able to use the blunt end of his standard to get a poke at the skybax’s underbelly, but Speedwing was unharmed and flew upward to strike again. Croco decided this time to find a target that looked a bit slower, a human at the rear of the rank would do.

Draken, who was at the end of the line, was indeed slow, but only in terms of brains; his reflexes were right on. He saw the skybax coming and immediately whistled to the three score of humans near him to take out their fierce looking bows and notch in them thin lead or iron pointed arrows. At Draken’s command they fired the first volley up into the sky, but Speedwing spun in almost a complete circle, dodging them expertly.

The defenders did not know that Saladin had archers with him, and Croco flew back to give this news to Azonthus, hoping the horde would not follow him just yet as was originally planned so that there would be time to rearrange the defenders yet again. It was getting dark now and Croco thought if he flew high enough they would not be able to see him, but he was wrong. Saladin yelled something back to Draken, and in a moment the second volley went up, only this one had fire arrows with tips made of a special Island material that was hard and deadly, yet flammable. The sky was instantly illuminated and the troop saw Speedwing heading in the direction of the garrison.

“Follow him and keep those arrows up!” shouted Saladin. “Don’t try to hit him, just keep him in the direction he’s going so Almmeg and his throng can fire up at him when he goes over their position.” The troodons ran toward the camp at full speed with weapons drawn, and the human archers were not far behind, stopping every few steps to fire a few arrows. Saladin was surprised that when the skybax flew over the fort he was not fired upon by anyone inside. He was even more surprised when the quetzalcoatlus flew gently downward and landed in the middle of the camp unharmed.

The Chieftain was enraged. Almmeg and his lot, he thought, must be sleeping on the job and let the skybax land safely. He kept his composure and slackened his pace as they reached the outer wooden wall of the camp. He led his warriors through it into the main part of the camp where the infirmary, kitchens, larder and military storehouse were located. Saladin paused as he reached the second entryway leading into the central commons and went to the back of the column to Draken. “Don’t move,” he said in an expressionless tone as he made his way back through the ranks.

“I think we’ll find them sleeping like little hatchlings on the other side of this door. Fire a couple arrows in the sand near where they’re sleeping. Maybe that’ll teach ‘em. Then—”

He was stopped as a terrifying shriek rang through the air. It came from a troodon in front who had wandered too close to the entry to the commons and had been hit by the shell meant for Saladin.

Saladin was not sure what was happening. He went again to the head of his army and marched boldly through the doorway into the wide-open commons. Staring at him from the opposite entrance to the square was another smaller group of creatures, but since it was so dark he could not tell if the raptor in front was Almmeg or Azonthus. Paddlefoot, who was stationed somewhere at the other end by the wall, fired a shell that landed at Saladin’s feet. At the same time Ellie, who was crouched in the sand by the wall near Saladin, fired a shell from her sling and it hit its target, a utahraptor in the middle of Almmeg’s troops.

Saladin looked at the shell half buried at his feet and then back up at the velociraptor, who was looking at him. It couldn’t be Almmeg, could it? It was so hard to tell, he thought.

“Charge!” he ordered after only a moment’s hesitation, and he and his troodons ran in a jumbled pincer formation at the group of utahraptors and velociraptors, who, though outnumbered, were charging full throttle at them.

Draken and his archers stayed behind providing cover volleys for Saladin that they shot up in the air.

Stormy, a stave-bearer who was hiding in the dark provided by the stone platform, stifled a giggle. She winked at Vira, who was hiding behind the High Chairman’s tent just to the left of the commons.

Allyshar fired a shell at the stone platform. It made a loud clinking sound that could be heard above the noise, signaling to the foot fighters, skybax riders, short and long range sling shooters and stave bearers to get ready.

Almmeg grunted as he advanced because as he had passed through the doorway a shell launched by Enit had hit him in the leg. He ignored the searing pain, however, and pulled out his sickle. Before long he was unknowingly locked in mortal combat with Saladin, who held his standard as a javelin in one hand and a small dagger in the other.

It was already dark by the time Draco reached the returning procession of Mighty Roar’s troop, who were headed back toward the defense camp, but at an unhurried pace. The three giagtosauruses in front were engaged in a conversation out of the others earshot, and it was Vorchia and those in back who first saw the quetzalcoatlus flying toward them. Draco flew just over Mighty Roar’s head, and yelled at the top of his lungs to stop. MR heard him, if only barely, and stopped, dropping his gigantic tail behind him as an indication for the others to do the same.

Draco landed and related the story about the two groups getting ready to attack Azonthus’ camp from both sides to Mighty Roar, who had lowered his head down until it was almost touching the sand. After hearing what the skybax rider had to say, he issued orders and the theropods in harmony gave a loud roar that could be heard for miles around. In a flash the dinosaurs had reassembled and were off with the baryonyxes, allosauruses and troodons (the good ones) in front, and the larger ones behind them.

At the camp Draken and his archers heard the loud roar clear above the melee. It had frightened the Captain, and he lost his aim on an arrow pointed at Quen. That sound, thought Draken to himself as he notched another arrow to his bowstring, could not be a good thing.

Unknown to Draken, in the shadow of the wall opposite of him the long-range sling shooters were gathering into two groups, one led by Ellie, the other by Enit. Enit and his group went off to the left in the dark provided by the wall, while Ellie and her group formed two improvised ranks and walked boldly toward the archers, making sure to avoid the main battle in the middle where Almmeg and Saladin’s troops were still unknowingly fighting each other. They launched a salvo every few feet as they went, and inflicted casualties in doing so.

Quickly Draken ordered his ranks to walk forward—he knew arrows were more deadly than shells at close range. They walked at an eighty-degree angle, trying to push Ellie’s right flank back till they were pinned between them and the main battle. His plan backfired, however. Ellie’s group loaded their slings with the largest shells they had in their pouches and held a ready pose. Draken held his bow taunt, waiting for a call to come out from among them to fire. He was surprised, then, when the order to fire came from behind him, where Enit’s group stood with slings loaded.

Fired upon in two directions, the archers broke rank and ran. Draken, hit in the back and in the forehead, fell slain. A cheer rang up from the long-range sling shooters on both sides.

Seeing this from the cover behind her stone Captain’s chair on the high stone platform, Allyshar fired a shell at the Chinese gong, and the coelophysis and deinonychus foot fighters led by Vira and Barak came out of hiding and flooded into the commons, followed by Azzy’s stave bearers. Within seconds Allyshar’s short-range sling shooters were along side them approaching their adversaries slowly in their different regiments.

By the time realization had struck Saladin it was to late. “Almmeg, you blunderhead!” he shouted at the velociraptor he had been fighting a second before. “Can’t you do anything right!?” Bewildered, Almmeg dropped his weapon, and it landed on Saladin’s tail, infuriating him even more. He clubbed his former second-in-command with the end of his standard and prepared to finish him off with his rusty dagger.

“Why doncha pick on someone your own size?” Azonthus yelled over to him. She turned around to Allyshar and said in a whispering tone that Saladin couldn’t hear, “Ooh! I’ve always wanted to say that!” She looked back up at him.

Saladin stopped the jagged dagger point an inch from Almmeg’s throat and looked up at the raptor and the well-organized militia behind her. He addressed her. “Oh ya, and who’s gonna stop me; you and what army!?” He chuckled to himself and turned around to a utahraptor behind him and said in a whispering tone so that Azonthus couldn’t hear him, “Ooh! I’ve always wanted to say that!” He became serious again and surveyed the situation. Things weren’t too bad, twenty or so of Almmeg’s raptors had gone down, along with a dozen of his troodons. Farther over, twenty archers had been killed or injured, and the remainder of them was preoccupied with the long-range sling shooters, but successfully holding them off due to superior training. Saladin noticed that the odds were pretty even, but his warriors were all armed, giving them a slight edge.

He pulled the dagger from Almmeg’s neck and threw it at Azonthus. She moved a step to the left and it landed harmlessly in the sand. “Attack!!!” Saladin bellowed, and in a moment his entire horde was running at the defenders; all of them that is, except Almmeg.

Despite being pinned down by the long-range slings, the remaining archers desperately tried to get off a few cover volleys for their Chief and the advancing pack. They were to few to late, and the combined forces of Vira and Barak, Allyshar and Azonthus were ready for them.

Stormtracer and Amber ran to the end of the commons where Ellie and Enit’s groups had merged again and had the archers trapped. On their backs they carried large satchels filled with seashells in case they were running low. They got there just a minute to late though, and by the time the long-range slingers all had more ammo the archers had gained ground, and in so doing spread the sling ranks into only one thin line.

The archers also noticed they were running low on ammo. Even without a leader, they managed to fire off a final salvo before running through the sling shooters and to the bodies of their fallen comrades. They picked up pikes, javelins, broadswords, sickles, daggers, or whatever else was close at hand and ran toward the main battle that was now at its climax. They immediately regretted this, as they were in turn knocked out by the remaining skybax who flew in over the parapet and got to them before they could reach the main fray.

Kaak nodded in satisfaction and ordered Croco and Rutter to fly with him above the commons to pick at any troodon or raptor that broke loose and tried to get at the defenders from the other side. This worked, and the Dinotopian combatants had only one front to worry about.

Quen whirled his long-range sling high above his head, while at the same time looking for a good target. He stopped suddenly. From the vantage point the long-range slingers now had on the western end of the commons, all that could be seen below through the great clouds of sand was a mass of moving creatures and the glint of metals. Ellie ordered arms down as she conversed quickly with Enit and Paddlefoot. It was too dangerous to launch any more shells, they decided; they were just as likely to hit their friends as they were to hit Saladin’s throng. Besides, Stormy reported that the large basket of seashells was near depleted.

The only thing they could do now was help those who were already wounded and hope for the best. The group dashed out of the commons via the western entrance to the infirmary to gather supplies.

In the battle Azonthus saw the long-range sling shooters drop their weapons and fall back. As Ellie looked back over her shoulder, the High Chairman waved the flag of the Sharpclaw clan (which she was holding and also using for a weapon instead of her stave) in the air, gesturing for her to go on ahead. The odds were turning in her favor due to the fact that unlike their adversaries, they were arranged into battalions. And without Draken and the archers providing cover volleys, Saladin’s army seemed doom. The Chieftain, however, had other ideas. He snatched a broadsword up off the ground and gripped the hilt tightly. At the same moment Barak jumped in the air and prepared to land on a velociraptor less than a yard away from the troodon. Saladin whirled the blade high in the air and cut the coelophysis down with one blow. Barak died instantly and fell limp back to the ground. K’Ren, s short-range sling shooter, saw him fall. In one swift motion she flung a dirt clod at Saladin. It hit him in the eye, blinding him temporarily.

Saladin wiped sand and grit from his eye and slowly moved toward the center of the battle, all the while battling off foot fighters and stave-bearers. Finally he spotted Azonthus. He held his own standard high and ran toward the raptor, swinging at anydino that got to close. Az saw him coming and was ready. She stuck her standard firmly in the ground and beckoned Allyshar and Sapphire to come to her. The two of them held Allyshar’s sling taunt in front of Azonthus, and as Saladin approached her he tripped and fell in the sand. The trio laughed heartily.

The malicious horde continued fighting, unaware that their leader had fallen. A while later an allosaurus stave-bearer had broken off from his group and found himself surrounded by utahraptors. Fighting them off as best he could, the allosaurus absentmindedly stepped on the fallen Saladin’s tail. The troodon instantly regained consciousness and jumped up from the ground. He grabbed the dagger from his belt and called his warriors off, telling them to go and fight somewhere else while he prepared do this one off himself. As he brought the dagger down he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around and saw only a swift glint of metal before he died.

Almmeg stood over him, wiped his bloody sickle on Saladin’s war vest, and smiled.

Upon seeing this the velociraptors and utahraptors loyal more to Almmeg than to Saladin, stopped fighting and dropped their arms. The troodons, however, fought all the more feverishly.

From somewhere in the middle of the clash a troodon called for a retreat. The joint effort of the short and long range sling shooters, foot fighters, stave-bearers, skybax and Almmeg’s newly converted raptors could not stop the withdrawing ten score of troodons from exiting the commons by means of the western entry. They couldn’t, but Mighty Roar’s party sure could!

“Chocolate!!!” The battle cry was followed by immediate silence.

Barry Baryonyx and Masihu the Deinonychus came through the doorway, blocking the troodons’ escape. Vorchia and the others barged in, teeth and claws at the ready. Mighty Roar and the other gigantosauruses blocked the northern, southern and eastern entrances. Outnumbered and entirely trapped, the remnants of Saladin’s horde dropped their weapons in the sand and surrendered.

EPILOGUE

Before the defense camp was disassembled for good, Azonthus held a great feast. Many were invited; the Sharpclaw clan, all the skybax of Pteros, Enit’s co-workers from the Great Library, many dolphinbakcs from all over the island, hatchery and rookery workers, and even the utahraptors and velociraptors under their new leader, Almmeg.

Earlier that day the bodies of Barak and the slain on both sides were given a decent burial, and the weapons were all buried together in a big hole next to them in hopes that war of any sort would never come to Dinotopia again.

During the feast Azonthus sat with Vira, Enit, Ellie, Allyshar and Kaak at the head of the table (Mighty Roar listened in) and they discussed a peace treaty with Almmeg and a troodon who spoke on behalf of his comrades. It was agreed that both factions would have their own piece of land in the Rainy Basin, one a little north of the Sharpclaw clan, one just south of it. If members of either group decided to take up arms again they would be swiftly dealt with.

The banquet lasted very late into the night. Quen felt very tired after two nights with no sleep, and it wasn’t long after the last course was served that he fell fast asleep.

When he woke up he was back in the rowboat on the freshwater lake, in his own world, he presumed. He pulled in his fishing line and was stunned to find that tied to the end of it where the hook use to be was a salt water seashell. Quen couldn’t help but smile.

[Top]