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Shadow (5 days after)

The first thing I heard when I woke up the next morning, or as I would say, 'dark morning', was panic. Not that I was panicking from a dream, they were panicking. The herbivores! When I lifted my head up, dazed and insecure of myself, I didn't really see anything, but them rushing around frantically. Finally, I looked down. And I panicked. The ground was shaking! Again! I stood still, feeling the earth wobble and move like waves on a deep sea ocean trip. The trees behind me rocked hard, some in which snapped, and other that moved as if made of jelly. I gripped the earth hard, then glanced up in sorrow. The blossom tree! The earthquake rattled its roots and trembled its limbs, but as it reached its dead flowers, all of them fell off simultaneously. The tree died, just like that. The ground split through the dry bark, cracking its insides out, and like a claw, pulled it downwards. I flung myself to my two feet as the tree crashed to my original spot. That's when the earthquake stopped. Though it did, the animals out there still rumbled around, roaring mad and almost stumbling upon each other. That's probably why I never intervened with them in the first place. But what caught my eye was the tree on the ground. Its fall made me still tremble inside. All of the flowers flew in the dead breeze of the Earth, floating along to who knows where. I had a thought for the tree fall, that somehow, life gave up on the tree. As if it was destined to die this way. As if it were the target of the earthquake. What if my dream related to this? How life would eventually give up on us? I peered back upwards from the position of the dead tree at my feet to the dinosaurs that now settled themselves once again near the watering hole. Then I glanced at the baby Brontosaur. Life would give in. Nothing truly lasts forever, not even me. I knew then that the fireball that hit 5 days ago was actually here for a purpose. It's not to give life or to renew it, it was designed to take.

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I basked as best as I could in the open areas of the clearing, which is what we reptiles do to stay warm. But the sun was dead. And I'll end up that way too if I started basking in the cold instead of the heat. I gave up later on to go back to the cherry blossom, and removed it, using my jaws, from where I sat earlier. I picked up every branch and bark, until there was an opening large enough for me to lay down and rest. Hunger did overwhelm me at some point, but I had to fight off the thought of eating for a while. I didn't know how to hunt still. As I laid my large bony and toothy head on the earth, I felt the ground begin to rumble. And immediately, the worst thought flooded into my mind, another earthquake. I groaned, not even allowing my bones to move, but as I felt the vibrations ring the earth, I figured out that earthquakes don't sound like that. And they don't shake every few seconds. Those are footprints. Carnivorous footprints. I lifted my eyes and head up again to glance back at the watering hole. All I saw were the dinosaurs from before except....yes, there was another dinosaur, hidden behind...the brontosaurus! My eyes widened. It was two Spinosaurs! And none of the herbivores are paying attention! I felt my heart pound in my chest in worry, seeing the dinosaur approach slowly. Then I thought of the blossom that fell. Life can give up on itself! If we lose life, we may never get it back again! I had to do something. I rushed out forwards a bit, then roared as loud as I could. I caught the triceratops' eyes, but not the brontosaur. How could it not hear me?! I swallowed in my fears, rushed a bit forwards, then let my throat quake. And a huge roar emitted out of my jaws, one that shook the air itself! The brontosaur picked its small head up from the watering hole, and stared at me roaring. Then I screamed.

"LOOK OUT!" Apparently my scream was softer than my roar, but it was enough to grab the Brontosaur's attention. He spun around quickly just in time, slapping the face of one Spinosaurs, which jerked in pain to the ground. The other roared out in anger, preparing itself for a fight. The Triceratops regrouped, backing up a bit like cowards. As help, the Ankylosaur went to fight off against the enemy, while the Brontosaur defended its young. But from my sight, they didn't stand a chance! This was too much for them! I saw the Spinosaurus go for the ankylosaur, while its hunting partner went for the brontosaur. I had to do something still. Roaring for alertness wasn't all that helping. They were going to get overpowered! I still didn't know how to fight. Suddenly, as the battles commenced, and all four dinosaurs were roaring at each other, the Spinosaurus attacking the Brontosaurs lunged out, snapping its jaws, and even though it was a huge chance for the Brontosaurus to end him, it missed smacking the life out of the carnivore by inches. That's when the Spinosaurus did its own move. Its long claws first slashed deep into the flesh of the Brontosaurus, making it squeal painfully, then rush around to attack the child. The youngling ran away quickly as a sign of pursuit for the Spinosaurus. Yet I didn't think that the Brontosaur would let go easily, and kicked the carnivore to the ground. But that was part of its plan anyway, and when it stood up, all I saw was its large head and huge teeth crash into the long-neck, knocking it down in mere seconds to its side. And then it turned its head to the still running Bronotsaurus. And chased after it. At that point, terror raced into my skull. The adult cried out in roars and sorrow, struggling to get back up. The Triceratops weren't helping, and the ankylosaur was in deep trouble. All that laid out was me, the Spinosaurus, and the baby. And I still couldn't move. As if trapped in quicksand, I stood, breathing harder and harder as the carnivore caught up to its prey and overpowered it. He swung downwards with his claw, knocking down the long-neck like a rag-doll and stood over it, putting its clawed feet onto the herbivore's underbelly, completely unprotected and vulnerable. I heard a cry of pain and terror come from the adult and baby. And finally, something strange happened. I didn't know how or what I did, but I felt something strange hit me. Hit my muscles. Hit my bones. Completely unaware to what I was doing, I found myself right in front of the Spinosaurus at full speed.

"Leave, him ALONE!" I roared angrily. Instincts told me to open my jaws up quick, and seconds later, my toothed jaw sank into the hide of the Spinosaurus. I felt it let out a shriek of pain as blood welled up from my piercing onto my tongue. The I felt a tug, like power unlike anything I've ever felt, pull me sideways. I tried to hold my ground, until I saw my feet getting dragged on the earth. It jerked its head again, and I almost lost my grip on its throat. But eventually it succeeded, bumping me hard to the side. I saw the Brontosaurus on the ground, pulling itself to its feet, and I roared out,

"Get out of here, Run!" I spun around quickly as the Spinosaurus attacked, claws outstretched and teeth sharpened right at me. My mind told me to run, but my body disobeyed and attacked again. I felt as though I wasn't even in control of myself! I saw the Spinosaur's teeth snap down hard, but then it swiped its claws at me, which perfectly sank into my snout. I didn't feel the pain, just a sharp digging sensation into my flesh and I shook his claw off of me. That when I spun around, not facing him at all, and swung my tail hard. Immediately, it crashed right upon the Spinosaur's face, dropping him down like a rock. Its body crashed hard on the ground, shaking the earth, until it stopped moving. I stared at its body for a few seconds, spotting its eyes closed, and mouth parted a bit as if he was unconscious. Was he dead? I leaned forwards a bit to see. Wrong move. I didn't even notice its teeth lunging out, which wrapped right around my throat. Then, he stood up, and swung upwards with his claws into my gut. That's where the pain finally came in. I felt it hard, like iron razors cutting into my veins, and cried out painfully as the world went blurry for only a few seconds. It released, then swung its tail right at me, but more ferociously than my attempt. The strike of his tail knocked the sense right out of me, like an ongoing headache designed to kill. I fell silent, stumbling backwards, struggling to keep my balance as everything spun around me. The world went silent thereafter, just a ringing noise that irritated my soul. Blood found its way to my mouth too, spilling out right onto the ground. My own blood. It stained my teeth and chin, and changed the colors of the soil. I groaned, stumbling a bit more, until I stopped, taking in the agonizing pain in my head. That's when the Spinosaurus attacked again, gripping onto my neck with its jaws for the second time. Blood spilled from my neck on impact. But then I felt its power grow stronger, and with a heave of its lungs, it threw me forwards. My eyes widened as the ground abruptly came at me, and my side struck first, vibrating the earth. I flipped once, and landed head first the second time, when all I did then was slide to a halt. And everything went dark. For a few seconds at least. I awoken after I felt the ground shake from the Spinosaur's footsteps. I tried to stand back up, but the pain was too intense, and my foot slipped, dropping me back on the ground. I saw its feet come closer, next, its face as it dropped down to four legs. My heart began to pound faster and faster as it approached, and wild thoughts rumbled in my mind. I was going to die, wasn't I? I stared at the Spinosaurus approaching, preparing to sink its teeth into my flesh when suddenly the ground started to shake. But this time, it wasn't a carnivore. Something much bigger. The Spinosaurus roared out in terror for some reason, spinning around to face some strange shadow, and in a flash, two large feet slammed down upon the carnivore with fury, quaking the earth and blowing dust into the air. I turned my head as a rush of wind and dirt flew at me slowly, then turned back around. The Brontosaurus adult was back. I stared down at the Spinosaurus, now coughing blood, and flattened dead. The long-neck released its crushing hold on the carnivore, and called out to its youngling, who was in the trees the entire time. That's when I felt its presence turn towards me. I felt the shadow fall on me this time, and my eyes widened. Was it going to kill me?! Flatten me like the carnivore before? The answer finally went to no, and I saw its face lower towards my bloody own on the ground. I held my breath, swallowing the blood from my mouth as I stared at its blurry face. Its mouth moved, and a noise came out, a sorrowful and relieving noise. A Thank you. I wanted to whisper back, but I couldn't move. The darkness already consumed me to sleep.