Tyrant Lizard

Chapter 6

The two chicks made sure they were away from the watering hole. Wherever they were, Spear-Beak was sure not to follow them now. So Rey and Saline took a break, trying to catch their breath. 

"Alright, we lost him!" Saline panted. She had never done anything this exciting in her life. 

"I know what you're going to say," Rey gloated, his chest puffed out. "I am a genius!" 

Saline glared indignantly at him. "Hey, genius, it was my idea." 

"Yeah, but I pulled it off." 

"With me!" 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah! We wouldn't get this far if it wasn't for your future queen," Saline retorted. She had been as shocked as Rey when Spear-Beak said they were betrothed, but the thought of being a queen really did sound interesting to her. 

Rey snorted and waved a claw dismissively. "Aren't you forgetting something? There's not gonna be a future queen." 

Saline's earlier thoughts of marriage vanished. If she was going to marry him, then she wouldn't want to be queen. "Fine by me," she retorted, "I'd rather marry a frog anyway." 

"Good luck finding one that'll say yes," Rey said smugly. 

Saline knew where this was getting to. They usually had friendly arguments that would lead up to taunting and then to wrestling. She decided to teach Rey a little lesson: he was the future king, but he wasn't a king yet. She would remind him of that. 

Eyes narrowing, Saline dropped into a crouch. "Good luck getting out of here without a scratch." 

"Bring it on," Rey responded, crouching as well. 

The two ran at each other, wrestling and trying to pin each other to the ground. Play was an important part of a young chick's life. It would teach them social skills or even how to hunt. In the end, Saline managed to pin Rey, who had been going for strength rather than wits. 

"Pinned ya." Saline smiled at the indignant look on Rey's face. "You owe me an apology." 

"Hey, lemme up!" Rey whined. 

Saline got off of him, satisfied. Rey glared at her before a smirk came over his face, finding a way to pay her back. 

So once Saline turned her back, Rey pounced again. The two tumbled and wrestled in their second round, this time rolling down a hill. But once they reached the bottom, Rey was expecting to pin her down this time. 

However, Saline rolled up first and pinned him a second time, "Pinned ya again," she gloated, while the prince just glared at her with indignance. 

Just as Rey had to admit defeat, a loud hissing made them look around. A hole in the ground belched out hot smelly smoke that billowed in the air. Saline got off of Rey, and they began to walk around. They went up a ridge and looked around at the landscape. It was nothing like their home, mainly gray and brown with bones scattered across the ground. At one point they jumped onto what was either a fallen tree or a giant bone, looking at the expanse before them. 

All around them were bones, lots and lots of bones. If their home had lots of grass, then this place had lots of bones. It wasn't just any bones either; they were the bones of Dreadnoughtus. 

"This is it. We made it!" Rey whispered to Saline. "The graveyard! It's amazing, isn't it?" 

"We could get in big trouble," Saline replied with a snicker.