Horror Lizards - Pyrrus and Kerk 8 E-Book

Stig Granfors

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Pyrrus and Kerk
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 262

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

The big and dangerous horror lizards have survived the asteroid rain and are tormenting the small colony on Southworld again. The hormone mixture, which is supposed to reduce the aggressive behaviour of the Tyrannosaurus beasts, doesn't help this time. The big lizards are about to wipe out both humans and the intelligent raptors on the planet. Pyrrus and Kerk intercept the emergency signal and rush to the rescue. An ancient temple gives them a clue as to how to fight the violent attacks. The temple also shows that man is not alone in the Andromeda Galaxy. Traces of other intelligent life are obvious. The eighth novel about the space adventurers Pyrrus and Kerk, whose motto is 'It will get better'. "The big horror lizards were now concentrating entirely on their meal. Only the leader sometimes stretched his nose up in the air and sniffed. Their species had existed on the planet for millions of years before man. If they were left in peace, they would take over all niches of life again. There would be no new species of any other kind on Southworld. Evolution would halt for millions of years." "The other horror lizard didn't have much power left either. But the irrational hatred gave the big horror lizard new powers. The predator crawled along the tree trunk ever closer. The alpha male realized that he could no longer escape. It was time for the final fight. The one he had always tried to avoid, and the one the big horror lizards were just waiting for. He got up and waited for his opponent. His thoughts rushed. The big lizards are slow in their movements. Clumsy. Heavy-footed. Move fast, he told himself. The problem was that he felt tired and weak. He didn't know was he flexible enough to outsmart this much heavier opponent. However, the big lizard's hanging tongue was a good sign. They were both equally exhausted."

Leseprobe

Horror Lizards - Pyrrus and Kerk 8

Horror Lizards - Pyrrus and Kerk 8The alpha maleEmergency signalA surprising discoveryScreams in the wildA prehistoric findA final solutionFactsCopyright

Horror Lizards - Pyrrus and Kerk 8

Stig Granfors/Marcus Granfors Adventure novel

Original title: Skräcködlorna - Pyrrus och Kerk 8 Translation: Stig Granfors.

Books by Stig Granfors

Non-fiction

Civilisationens gåtor (2005)

Skapelsens gåtor (2006)

Livets gåtor (2008)

En skön ny värld (2010)

Historiska gåtor (2019)

Biologiska gåtor (2019)

Fiction

Liv (2011)

Glimt av hopp (2012)

Skärseld (2013)

Strid (2014)

Botnia (2015)

Varningen (2017)

Hotet (2019)

In English

Stonehenge threat (2021)

Books by Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

In Swedish

Neodym - Pyrrus och Kerk 1 (2020)

Västvärlden - Pyrrus och Kerk 2 (2020)

Östvärlden - Pyrrus och Kerk 3 (2020)

Sydvärlden - Pyrrus och Kerk 4 (2021)

Nordvärlden - Pyrrus och Kerk 5 (2021)

Ökenplaneten - Pyrrus och Kerk 6 (2021)

Vildarnas uppror - Pyrrus och Kerk 7 (2022)

Skräcködlorna - Pyrrus och Kerk 8 (2022)

In English

Neodymium - Pyrrus and Kerk 1 (2020)

Westworld - Pyrrus and Kerk 2 (2021)

Eastworld - Pyrrus and Kerk 3 (2021)

Southworld - Pyrrus and Kerk 4 (2021)

Northworld - Pyrrus and Kerk 5 (2021)

Desert Planet - Pyrrus and Kerk 6 (2021)

Savage Uprising - Pyrrus and Kerk 7 (2022)

Horror Lizards – Pyrrus and Kerk 8 (2022)

© 2022 Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

https://stiggranfors.jimdofree.com     Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Helsinki, Finland

Print: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany

ISBN: 978 952 806 599 9

The alpha male

“Man is neither angel nor beast, and unhappily whoever wants to act the angel, acts the beast.”Blaise Pascal

The alpha male sniffed in the air. Everything was calm and quiet. However, the low-hanging clouds, the pouring rain, and the rumbling thunder far away on the horizon showed that a storm was on its way. But the alpha male wasn’t worried. He could always seek protection somewhere. He wasn’t afraid of the thunder but probably of the lightning, which struck randomly in the terrain during a storm.

He had set off south on a longer reconnaissance trip. Alone. He had no real problem with the new and peaceful coexistence with the humans, but sometimes the crowds felt so unusual and strange that he needed these free excursions to get in balance with nature. After all, it was here in the wilderness the lizards belonged. The smaller and intelligent lizards that the humans called the Screamers. The flock he led.

The big lizards, the Giants, had perished in the devastating asteroid rain the planet had been exposed to. More prey for us smaller lizards, the alpha male thought, as he rushed across the plain constantly looking for suitable protection from the coming storm.

The darkness fell and the thunder and lightning in the background made the evening spooky and scary. But the alpha male was no longer easily intimidated. He found good protection under two large boulders near the hills. A loud hissing, north-westerly wind whipped the plain behind him. Sudden whirlwinds bent the grass and whipped up dust clouds that floated like ghosts in the air. The troubled lake farther away simmered under every flash.

The alpha male crouched behind two rocks at the bottom of the hollow and tried to block out the rumble and lightning. Trees nearby swayed and cracked. A thick branch was cut in half when a lightning struck. The alpha male crouched even further down behind the rocks. He wasn’t afraid. But why did he tremble so violently?

The alpha male didn’t get any sleep until the storm subsided completely. He had, at times, while the storm was at its worst, sunk into a strange half-sleep, a restless state of both sleep and wakefulness. But now he slept until morning. He was awakened by the beautiful drills from the early morning birds. The alpha male tried to imitate them but failed. Out came only loud screams, which scared away the birds.

The alpha male was hungry. He ran on light and strong legs to the lake and drank the clean water until he wasn’t thirsty anymore. The mirror image showed his appearance. He belonged to the group of raptors, who were two-legged toe walkers. A carnivorous dinosaur. He had a large sharp claw on each hind foot and a long and stiff tail. The tail was important, as it guided him right during long leaps. It also made him keep his balance in fights against possible enemies.

Now that he and his flock had become intelligent, their former cousins ​​thought they were deviant. Abnormal. The other raptors didn’t want anything to do with them. They were suddenly bitter enemies. It was hard to understand.

However, the alpha male didn’t have much concern for the other raptors, as they were primitive. They had not received the intelligence that his flock received from the mixture of hormones that the humans had sprayed on them.

He looked at his reflection again and waved his front legs. His paws were significantly shorter than his hind legs, but still well developed. Three fingers on each front leg. The middle finger was the longest. It gave a good grip. But the tail was his pride. He swiped it back and forth. Admired himself. The humans appreciated his tail too. They were jealous. Humans didn’t have such a nice and long tail.

The humans had explained that he had a hollow and light skeleton, which made him the agile and fast animal he was. His brain had grown thanks to the hormone mixture, but he was still far from as intelligent as humans. But maybe the next generation could change that quality?

He was only barely six feet tall when he stood on his toes, but he was more than twelve feet from nose to tail tip. His teeth were sharp and could tear even the hardest prey. However, the claw was his most effective weapon. It usually handed out the death blow.

Even the big horror lizards were afraid of the raptors as they attacked in droves. However, he was now alone in a vulnerable position. He understood that. But the big lizards no longer existed. There were only small species left. An easy match for him.

In a way, he still missed the big lizards a little. He had always liked challenges. The danger made his blood hot, it tensed his nerves to the limit and made him realize that life was worth living.

Thanks to the increased intelligence, he caught prey more easily than before. He had become a fast and scary hunter. Cunning and calculating.

At that moment he heard a roar, which made the blood clot in his veins. It was a sound from ancient times. Before the asteroid rain. The alpha male turned around and looked with squinting eyes at the hill and beyond it.

He didn’t see any movements yet, but he knew where the roar came from. Only a big lizard made a noise like that. But they had been exterminated? There was nothing left of them. Had they survived the stone rain after all? It seemed so. The roar was heard again. It wasn’t his imagination haunting him. Now the sound scared him.

He was alone against the Giants.

An uneven fight.

There was only one probable outcome.

A sure death.

He prepared to flee. Then curiosity took over and the alpha male ran with easy, flying steps to the hill. He crept up the hill and peeked over the edge. Down there stood a herd of Giants sharing their latest prey, a small marmot, which would hardly satisfy their hunger.

The alpha male couldn’t help but make a faintly disappointed sound. Part of him had hoped that he would never have to see the big lizards again. Yet here they stood, a flock of about thirty feet high lizards. They were cruel and big animals. The alpha male estimated that the leader weighed up to nine tons. Still, the Giants were unusually fast. And enduring. If you wanted to escape them, your best option was running into a forest, where the trees and the low-hanging branches slowed down the big beasts. But out here on the plain, they were deadly enemies.

The neck of the leader was short, s-shaped, and strong to support the massive head and jaws. In contrast to the alpha male, the big horror lizard had disproportionately small front legs with only two fingers.

The Giants relied on their wide jaws when they killed their prey. Their eye sockets were placed high on their head and were directed forward. The Giants had binocular vision, which was to great advantage for a predator. The two eyes worked together and had a field of view, where information from both eyes fused together. This gave a stereoscopic sight, which allowed the Giants to easily judge the distance. This deep vision gave better depth of field than the monocular vision the alpha male had. The alpha male was forced to compensate his poorer vision with rapid head movements instead.

The mouth of the big lizards was filled with about sixty large, serrated teeth that were up to six inches long. These were gradually replaced as they were worn out.

Their front teeth were smaller and flatter than the teeth further back. These were coarser and sat denser. The teeth and jaws could cause very strong bites and crush even large bones.

The big horror lizards were now concentrating entirely on their meal. Only the leader sometimes stretched his nose up in the air and sniffed. Their species had existed on the planet for millions of years before man. If they were left in peace, they would take over all niches of life again. There would be no new species of any other kind on Southworld. Evolution would halt for millions of years.

The alpha male closed his eyes and didn’t want to think what the future would look like. Still, the frightening visions appeared. New flocks of big horror lizards would come, invade their home areas in the west and drive them to inferior hunting grounds. The appetites of the Giants were immeasurable, they had no understanding, they killed, and ate everything that came their way.

Complete death machines.

Without a single thought.

There was a new terrible roar. It echoed across the plain, scaring away birds and other small animals nearby. The alpha male hid in the grass up on the hill and held his breath. He shouldn’t stay where he was. The lizards could see him at any moment. Still, he stayed. He wanted to know where the big lizards were going. If they went east, all was well, but if they went west, his flock was in danger. Likewise, their newfound friends, the humans.

The Giants finished the small meal. It had been insufficient. The leader looked around for a new prey. However, the plain was deserted. They had scared away all animals.

However, the leader of the flock saw a shift in the grass up on the hill. He sniffed the air again. Felt a faint scent of their most dangerous enemies. The raptors. But this was a lonely individual. Where was the raptor hiding? The leader began to walk up the hill, while constantly ventilating in the air and looking out over the hill and the plain on the other side.

At that moment, the alpha male made his decision. He could no longer hide. He jumped up and rushed down the hill and further out on the plain. The Giant followed him and soon he had the whole flock of big horror lizards chasing him.

The alpha male ran for his life. He gained a good lead, first followed a valley depression, and then ran out onto the plain, where the large boulders lay. It was a maze of randomly lying stones. The alpha male intended to jump from boulder to boulder and thus gain a larger lead. Due to their large body mass, the Giants would be forced to run between the sharp boulders, perhaps at best seriously injuring themselves against the sharp edges.

But it didn’t work as planned. The boulders were slippery and suddenly his foot slipped away, and he was thrown to the ground. One front leg became pinched under him. Suddenly his front paw lay and swung unusable. The pain appeared a moment later. The shock almost paralyzed him.

But he couldn’t stay. He didn’t see the Giants anymore, but he heard their heavy footsteps. They wouldn’t give up that easy. They would pursue him to the end of the world without any reflection.

The alpha male ran on while holding his injured front paw in an awkward grip.

He ran slower now.

Too slow.

How long had he been running?

Fifteen minutes?

Twenty?

He saw a forest grove further ahead and rushed out onto the plain again. He left the boulders behind him. A quick glance back showed that the big lizards did the same. The distance to them was only two hundred steps and the gap narrowed alarmingly fast.

The alpha male increased his speed, but he was tired now and the injured front paw slowed him more than he thought possible. However, he reached the forest grove and slid into it, zigzagging between the trees and the bushes. He jumped over a stream and grimaced in pain as his front paw hit bushes on the other side. He wanted to turn around to see where his enemy was, but he didn’t do so, as it would slow him down further. He heard them clearly and distinctly. That was enough.

It sounded like they were getting closer now. Should he climb a tree? But the tree trunks were short and thin. The Giants would easily cut down the trees with roots and all. No, he had to keep on running.

Think!

Think!

Run!

His brain didn’t keep up. The sudden fear and exhaustion meant that he didn’t come up with any ideas at all. Then he saw the rocks on the horizon. There would be small burrows and caves where he could hide. Would he be able to run all the way? A wide open plain lay before him. He would be fully visible.

However, he had no choice. He had to cross the plain and trust his speed. But it would be difficult. He was already panting heavily, and his tongue hung wearily out of his mouth. Without thinking, he continued, jumped over the last tree roots, twigs, and stones in the forest. In the next second he was out on the plain and increased his speed again.

The Giants came storming behind him. The alpha male heard smaller trees crashing, where the Giants stormed forward. The sound filled the alpha male with fear, but the fear didn’t paralyze him this time. It gave him extra energy instead and he ran faster than before. His hind legs drummed on like drumsticks. He concentrated on not falling. If he fell, he wouldn’t survive.

Why hadn’t he left the area earlier?

That mistake could cost him his life.

But the big lizards didn’t catch him. They themselves were drowsy from their small meal and ran with heavier steps than before. The alpha male heard the difference. The steps were not as determined and long anymore. The leader of the flock also panted heavily. If the alpha male had turned around, he would have seen the wild look and the drooling jaws of the dangerous lizard.

Only a hundred yards left. Let me be strong, the alpha male thought. Then he was suddenly inside the boulders, zigzagging again and looking for a hiding place. Maybe high up on the biggest boulder? The big lizards were bad climbers. But he found no places to climb. The sharp boulders were flat and easily accessible.

The alpha male rushed on, passing boulder after boulder, and hoping for good luck. But the luck wasn’t with him. He saw a cave under a rock, but it was too open. The Giants would quickly dig him out. They just had to move the stone and lift him out. He could already feel their wide jaws biting him into two parts. He had seen it happen before. The jaws of the big lizards were impressive. No prey was too big for them.

The alpha male jumped over a pool of water. The water splashed in all directions. He slipped on a muddy section and was about to lose his balance. But his tail steered him on right keel again and he continued panting with an aching paw.

His legs were tired. He wouldn’t last long. A hiding place? Where was it? At that moment he saw the boulders in front of him. They were connected to each other. By jumping up on the smallest, he was able to climb on to the larger ones. Between them there had to be a depression, where he could escape the pursuers.

He took the first leap, jumped up on the next boulder and then the following. He heard the big lizards stop and roar in disappointment. The alpha male continued without looking around. He came up on the highest boulder and looked down. There was a narrow space between the stones. He snuck in through the crack and entered a semi-dark cave. He examined the space. Only narrow gaps everywhere.

The Giants would never reach him here. They certainly knew where he was, but they wouldn’t have the patience to wait for him that long. They had to go and hunt at some point to survive. Their large body was an advantage on a hunt like this, but it also required a lot of energy, proteins in abundance.

The alpha male again heard the disappointed roar of the flock leader. The big lizards pushed on the boulders for a while, but when the stones didn’t move, they decided to give up. The Giants left, roaring in disappointment. The heavy steps made the boulders tremble.

How long would he wait in his hiding place? The alpha male decided to stay for half a day. By then, the Giants would have forgotten him.

Then he had to warn the others.

The big horror lizards were heading west.

Others would follow in their footsteps.

The future of Southworld was no longer certain.

Simon and Jaques had built new huts in a valley a few hundred yards from the crater. The colony members had decided to abandon the damp caves for this drier and more comfortable place. Traces of marmots appeared in the damp sand on the other side of the valley depression. There was the lair of the animals. It was a moss-covered, natural refuge at the foot of a granite block. Birds, small rats, and a host of other unknown animals had also run back and forth in front of the marmot nest.

The marmots were easy to hunt. They were the main food supply for the humans on Southworld. However, now that the big horror lizards had disappeared after the asteroid rain, they had also started growing vegetables on a smaller scale out on the plains.

Sometimes they went into the dense forest further away and collected mushrooms, dilute outgrowths on deciduous trees and berries of various varieties. The latter they usually picked in early autumn. Now it was late autumn, and the best berry season was over. But the climate was still pleasant here on the western side of the planet, as the place was relatively close to the equator.

But sometimes sudden cold fronts appeared. They pushed down the masses of cold air from the mountains and brought with them cold rain and sometimes hail with grains as big as fists. When that occurred, the plain turned completely white. The hail destroyed the crops and was a serious threat to the colony’s existence.

The nights had also become colder. Sometimes the hoarfrost hung heavy over the plain, when they awoke in the morning and looked at the valley, which had changed during the night with a white magic paintbrush. Some days the night cold lasted well into the day and during those cold mornings they used to lie extra-long under  their warm blankets and just enjoy.

On this day, however, the sun rose as usual, and the air smelled fresh. The women had decided to pick mushrooms. Early in the morning they prepared for the short trip to the forest. The meadows already had a colourful autumn wardrobe.

The women didn’t dare to enter the forest on their own. When Simon and Jaques didn’t have time to go, they contented themselves with the intelligent lizards as companions. The women had learned the sign language of the lizards. It was not difficult at all after a period of practice. Only the clicking sounds were difficult. Sometimes communication problems arose, but these were often solved with clear hand signals.

The women had taken a special liking to two of the younger lizards. It turned out that they had a good mood and a sharp intellect. In addition, they were attentive guards. The black panthers had the forest as their territory, and they were not easy to spot with the human eye. But the lizards smelled danger in the distance.

In exchange, the women pampered the two lizards with fresh larvae and nuts. The lizards also showed where the edible mushrooms were. They could smell the best edible mushrooms. The passed by the poisonous ones and showed their dissatisfaction by lifting their noses and giving off an excited warning cry.

The two young lizards also sometimes seemed to be searching for monsters that didn’t exist. Whether this was based on ancient memories from previous generations or whether it was just an expression of their bizarre humour was never answered. Maybe they just wanted to scare the women. As adults did with young children.

It seemed like there were monsters everywhere in the forest. Although these didn’t exist. The big horror lizards had disappeared completely. Sometimes they encountered other flocks of raptors, but the intelligent raptors scared these easily away. The alien raptors generally avoided closer contact. They no longer liked the smell of their former cousins. Their herd lived with the humans now and had because of that been fundamentally transformed.

In other words, the forest was safe even this warm autumn day. Still, the women didn’t feel safe without company. That’s why the three women decided to take the two young raptors with them.

During the trek to the forest, the two raptors made sounds that were almost as strange as the friendship between them and the women. They mumbled, whined, and chattered in tones not different from the background noises that the wind sometimes created inside the forest. In addition, they occasionally chopped their teeth in unison. They sounded as if they were arguing but the women understood that it was just a friendly conversation between the raptors.

Despite the great physical difference, the women felt a strange connection with the raptors. They had become close allies from the first moment. The raptors were curious and wanted to get to know the humans better.

They almost immediately found a large mushroom spot in a forest glade. The raptors showed which mushrooms were worth picking. In exchange, they got to taste the biggest mushrooms. They arrived at the place they had found last time. Some overripe berries were still left, and the raptors quickly tasted the juicy red berries.

One of the women playfully pushed away one of the raptors and showed with her hand: ”Leave something for us too.”

The raptor snorted but still walked away so that the woman could pick the remaining berries. The lizard went forward and ate the nuts from the tree instead. Then he opened the bark and sucked the larvae that hid there. His long tongue was everywhere. He also swallowed some black ants at the same time.

The raptors were almost omnivorous, but as they spent more and more time with the humans, their sense of taste had developed in a direction reminiscent of preferences of a gourmet. Only the best was good enough. And the planet offered all kinds of edible products. There was an abundance of almost everything one could wish for.

The women thought they had come to paradise. And the raptors agreed. Since the big horror lizards had disappeared, the raptors were now rulers of the wildlife on the planet. The humans were of course the exception. But the raptors didn’t categorize humans as animals. They were life forms on a higher level than all other living things.

They were mysterious, mythical creatures, who could teach the raptors a lot. And the raptors were willing students. They studied, pondered, and adapted. Imitated human behaviour when possible.

Once the raptors had eaten their fill, they paid more attention to their surroundings than before. They were always sensitive to things that could be a threat. Their watchful eyes looked around all the time and with their ears wide open, the raptors were the best guards the women could get.

This time, the good guarding would pay off. The ground suddenly trembled.

”Earthquake?” one of the women wondered.

One of the raptors shook his head and signalled that they should return to the crater. An unknown large animal was heading in their direction.

Now the women also noticed the differences in the tremors. This was not an earthquake. The tremors in the soil were irregular.

One of the raptors signalled, “A large flock is approaching us. Running!”

”What kind of animals?”

”Big, very big.”

“The big lizards? The Giants?”

The raptor nodded and took the lead out towards the plain. He made the women run at full speed. The freshly picked  berries and mushrooms spilled over the edge of the filled baskets, but the women didn’t notice this.

”But they were exterminated in the asteroid rain,” one of the women muttered as she followed the raptor.

”Maybe some survived after all,” replied the woman who ran second last in the short procession.

The second raptor was last in line. He would protect their quick retreat. He saw a glimpse of a black panther up in the trees. But the panther didn’t attack but fled in the other direction further into the forest. The panther was as frightened as the raptors and the women.

The small group of women and raptors rushed on. The heavy steps behind them were heard more clearly now. The big horror lizards had good instincts, knew exactly where their prey was, but didn’t follow the small group inside the forest. The Giants were cunning. It sounded like they were crashing through the forest, but they just followed the edge of the forest, knocking down a tree every now and then to give the impression that they were inside the forest with the raptors and the women.

The raptor who led the small procession was shocked when he came out on the plain. The big horror lizards were very close now and were approaching fast. Until now, the horror lizards had hunted them with the help of instinct and their progress had been slow. But when the raptors and women appeared in the lizards’ field of view, the situation changed. The big horror lizards now roared louder than before and run forward in giant leaps.

The sun shone on the big glossy eyes of the beasts, the row of huge teeth in the open jaws and the sharp claws on the short but powerful front legs. The drooling jaws were a terrifying sight.

The big horror lizards came storming forward. The fierce panting of the beasts was heard more and more clearly now. Their heavy trampling made the blood freeze.

The first raptor decided. The women would never get away. He turned left and let the women run on towards the crater. Then he ran quickly across the plain in a circle around the big lizards. It caught their attention. The other raptor followed his comrade and shouted. Showed his teeth in a grin. Both raptors now let out screams, which irritated the big horror lizards so much that the big beasts decided to follow.

The women escaped and survived unscathed to the crater. They shouted in the direction of the huts that Simon and Jaques should follow them down into the caves. The two men, however, had heard the commotion on the plain and were already waiting for them on their way down to the caves. A small path embedded in the edge of the crater led down to the caves. There they had many times before sought refuge from the big horror lizards.

The large beasts didn’t have room on the narrow path, nor did they manage to get up from the bottom of the crater to the narrow entrance to the cave. They had tried many times without success.

The other three raptors were already inside the cave. They wondered what was going on.

Simon signalled, “Giants.”

Their terrified facial expression revealed all. Was everyone safe?

One of the women signalled. “The two young raptors are in danger. Our friends.”

One of the older raptors decided to sneak up the path to look.

He saw that the two young raptors had completely caught the attention of the big horror lizards. The raptors made small outbursts now and then and ran away quickly when the Giants got too close. But the fight could only end in one way. The Giants were seven in number and now surrounded the two young raptors.

In the end, the circle was so small that all escape routes were blocked. Then one of the raptors did something surprising. He ran straight at the biggest Giant and took a big leap over him. He avoided the powerful jaws with little difficulty, took support with his front legs and flew over the lizard in a clever somersault. The Giant roared in disappointment and turned around. But by then the raptor had already disappeared into the tall grass.

The other raptor was not as lucky. He tried the same trick as his cousin, but one of the Giants grabbed his tail and snapped him back into the ring. Then the outcome was clear. The young raptor had no chance, as the seven Giants tore him to pieces.

But his comrade had escaped.

A comforting thought.

Then the sudden fight was over.

Unaware of what had happened to his friend, the raptor, who had escaped quickly, ran through the tall grass. He ran in a wide circle around the Giants and approached the crater from the other side. The two caves were also his escape target.

The shrub vegetation was sparse on the other side of the crater and the Giants saw him again. The raptor almost froze in fear as the seven Giants came rushing. He picked up speed and slid down the second path that led down to the caves. The two smallest Giants followed him, but they didn’t fit on the narrow ledge. Their feet slipped away and with a roar they plunged into the abyss to be smashed against the sharp boulders at the bottom of the crater.

The raptor slid into the cave and praised his good luck. He was anxiously received by the others, who were waiting to be informed of the outcome of the fight. The raptor expected to see his comrade. But he was not among the others. Only then did he notice the signal from the one who had witnessed the cruel spectacle out on the plain.

”Our friend is dead.”

A disappointed mournful cry filled the cave and echoed against the walls. The others joined the grieving, also the humans. But it wasn’t only disappointing that one of their loved ones had died. It was also an expression of the fact that they were again forced to live in this cramped cave.

A return to the old life.

A life full of fear.

Constant anxiety.

The sharp edge of reality had cut holes in the fabric of life of desire and play. The sudden appearance of the big horror lizards showed that Southworld was far from a safe planet.

Suddenly an uninvited guest rushed into the cave. It was a black panther, which had taken refuge in the crater and now attacked the women. It was not an angry conscious attack. It was more of a surprising, frightened reaction from the panther. It bit wildly around and one of the women got deep wounds on her arms and legs. Simon and Jaques didn’t have time to come to the rescue. Two raptors made a counterattack and chased the panther into a corner. Thereafter, the fate of the black panther was sealed. One of the raptors got a firm grip on the neck of the panther and bit firmly without caring about the panther’s clawing paws. The claws tore open wounds on the side of the raptor, but then the other raptor got a grip on the throat of the panther. The panther was slowly suffocated to death and the movements of the clawing paws became increasingly weaker. In the end, the panther lay lifeless in the farthest corner of the cave.

Jaques had to act as a doctor. He gave the woman, who had been most seriously bitten, a tetanus injection. She was also given antibiotics to chew on. The antibiotic was bark from the small bushes that grew at the edge of the forest.

Then he cleaned the wounds of the two raptors. But first he thanked them for their help.

They accepted the grateful glances even though they didn’t really understand this emotional expression. The panther had attacked them. They only defended their territory. The territory they again seemed to share with the humans.

The raptors didn’t know why humans had changed their habitat from the pleasant cave to the cold huts out on the plains, but there was much that the raptors didn’t understand when it came to human reactions and decisions. They just accepted this difference.