CHAPTER 19: A PAUPERSAURS TALE
"Long, long ago, when the Earth was still young and peaceful and evil was not known to the Earth, we the Dinosaurs were the rulers of the Earth. We were young and happy. The Earth was beautiful and we dinosaurs were ruled by our powerful and benevolent king Tyrannosaurus Rexus" Trix narrated.
"Excuse me?" Sam interrupted. "Tyrannosaurus Rexus as in T-Rexus?" Sam asked, not sure he heard right.
"Yes, exactly" Trix said.
"Then don't you mean malevolent? I thought I heard you say benevolent king Tyrannosaurus Rexus" Sam said quite puzzled.
"You heard right boy" Trix said impatiently.
Sam looked around. Trix, Saurian, Ophiacodon, John, George, Lucy and Nancy were glaring at him. Jane tried to smile sympathetically but she couldn't.
"Sorry" Sam said.
"If you can't believe my story, then I will show you" Trix said and touched his heart.
His chest began to glow a bright white and the light was channeled through his body upwards and into the Sky and there it formed a Whirlpool which spun wildly and then it exploded dispersing the light all around them and they all had to shield their eyes. The light cleared and they opened their eyes.
"Wow, it's so beautiful" Lucy said.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like this" Nancy agreed.
"This is so beautiful. I wonder if there's a place like this in our dimension" Jane said very amazed at the beauty of the place.
"Tell me we are dead and in paradise, right Sam?" George asked.
A sly thought crossed Sam's mind. He wanted to get back at George for the mean jokes George had said to him.
"Yeah, I think we're dead" Sam said in a serious tone while pretending to be analyzing the place.
Lucy and Jane gulped.
"You really think..." Lucy began.
"...that we're dead?" Jane gulped fearful of leaving the world of the living without her father knowing.
Nancy shook her head gently and smiled. She knew what Sam was up to, she could feel it.
"No joke?" Lucy asked hopeful for the first time that Sam was joking.
"No joke" Sam said while trying to suppress a laugh after seeing the frightened expressions on their faces. "Wanna bet?" Sam stretched out a hand to George.
"Yeah Sam" George said putting his hand into Sam's.
Immediately his hand entered Sam's, the expression on Sam's face changed from seriousness into a sly smile. Sam gripped George's hand tight. George realized his mistake but it was too late.
"Uh oh!" he turned to look at the girls wide eyed then Sam zapped him with a light current of electricity.
"If we were dead, would you..." Sam was saying.
"Cut it out!" George screamed in pain.
"...feel this?" Sam said accompanying each word with a zap while George pleaded with him to stop.
"Okay enough!" Saurian roared and got between the two boys separating them.
The girls could not stop laughing at Sam's prank.
"For a moment back there I thought he was serious" Jane said.
"I knew he was joking" Nancy said.
"Well he got me for a moment back there acting all serious. Thinking about how serious he sounded still gives me the chills" Lucy said.
"Mm-hmm!" Trix cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Sorry, please continue" Sam said.
Trix raised one scaly eyebrow.
"I won't interrupt again, okay?" Sam saw Saurian, Ophiacodon and George glaring at him seriously. "I promise" Sam added.
Then Trix looked away.
"I was just a paupersaur" Trix said quickly and impatiently.
"A power-what?" George asked.
"A paupersaur, a peasant dinosaur" Trix explained.
"Oh" George said.
Sam saw the image of a young dinosaur, a little to his right and by the triple horns on its face, its huge ears, body and massive tail, he guessed it was Trix. Sam studied the dinosaur intently and saw it walk towards the palace. Suddenly, another huge dinosaur wearing a crown and spiked chains around its neck, arms and feet rushed by with a procession behind it, blowing dust all over poor young Trix.
The scene disintegrated and next, Sam and the others noticed that they were in the Castle. The castle was actually carved from a huge mountain. Inside it, the floor seemed to be covered with grass. There were many rooms in it and in the centre of the castle was a rocky fountain. The water streamed out of a huge pillar of rock connecting the floor to the ceiling. The water streamed through small rills, eight in number moving in different directions. Three to the North, three to the South, one to the East and one to the West. Sam saw Trix and that other dinosaur they had seen in the road announce themselves to another dinosaur who went inside the main Castle and a moment later came out with astounding speed. The third dinosaur escorted Trix and the other dinosaur whom Sam had overheard announce himself as Prince Fiarius. Sam followed them, the others close behind. The Dinosaurs seemed to walk through an endless corridor with many Caves at either side. Sam saw Dinosaurs in these Caves. Some were feeding, some were resting, some were playing and others were wrestling. Sam was beginning to wonder how that Dinosaur made it in and out of the Castle in less than five seconds when all of a sudden he noticed something strange. He noticed a corridor ahead but as he walked forward, a huge gate suddenly appeared. He whispered this to the others.
"That is the Disappearing Gate, the entrance to the main palace" Trix explained.
Soon, the Gate was clearly visible and Sam noticed that it was made of pure glass but that wasn't the only thing. He noticed that the corridor scene behind the glass was slowly changing to a much more magnificent scene.
"Wow" Sam said in wonder.
He heard the others sigh in wonder.
"This is so cool!" John exclaimed.
"I still wonder how it happened" George said in amazement.
The three Dinosaurs in front did not seem to notice them nor hear what they were saying. John squinted at the Gate and smiled.
"It's simple, the glass appears to be made from some sort of material with the capacity to generate an optical illusion that generated the corridor scene when seen from an angle. Like turning a picture and watching the scene change to another" John explained.
Sam and George gaped at him with their mouths wide open. Then they looked at each other.
"Well haven't we been paying attention in Science Class" Sam said sarcastically.
The room was made from precious stones. The Pillars were decorated with Sapphires and Diamonds, Opals and Topaz. At the far North of the glittering palace were two thrones made of pure gold. On the bigger throne sat T-Rexus and on the smaller throne sat a young female dinosaur.
Both Dinosaurs bowed before T-Rexus and then Prince Fiarius spoke first.
"Oh mighty Tyrannosaurus Rexus, stories of your strength and courage have spread all over my kingdom" Sam noticed that Prince Fiarius bowed rather reluctantly as if bowing before someone else was the ultimate dishonor in the time of the dinosaurs.
Sam wasn't interested in anything Prince Fiarius was saying. He was busy admiring the pillars when finally, Prince Fiarius completed his little speech by asking for the Princess' hand in marriage. Trix also made known his affections and intentions of marrying the Princess.
"Hmm" T-Rexus looked thoughtful for a moment and then he said.
"Trixiophyliosaur, Prince Fiarius, I have considered your proposals and it seems rather absurd for the Princess to have two husbands. This is a very confusing matter and I will have to consult my elders before giving you my answer" T-Rexus said thoughtfully. "I will be back within a few minutes, messenger! Summon my elders!" T-Rexus commanded.
"Yesss my lord!" the messenger bowed and left.
In less than a minute, the elders appeared out of thin air.
"Mm! Masters of the Sea Dinosaurs! Masters of the Crustaceans! Masters of the Pterodactyls! Masters of the Woolen Mammoths, Walruses and Sabre-toothed Tigers, all present and accounted for, very good" T-Rexus smiled in satisfaction. "Now my faithful advisors, I have summoned you here to hear what you have to say about a confusing situation I am facing. As you all very well know, when the Princess comes of age, she will have to choose a suitor but today, I have two suitors who want my daughter's hand in marriage and I need your advice urgently on what to do" T-Rexus said in a commanding tone.
There were whispers for quite some time and a thick muscular Tyrannosaurus Rex stood up and spoke.
"Your imperial highness, after considering this situation critically, we have decided that it is only fair that the strongest dinosaur should have the hand of the princess in marriage" the T-Rex said.
"So how exactly do we test their strength?" T-Rexus asked.
"A wrestling contest!" the dinosaur declared.
"Hmm?! Need I remind you of the countless damage Philiosaurs and Ianiamesaurs have caused with their ice and fire attacks?! Need I?!" T-Rexus was quite angry at the conclusion his elders had come to and wondered how they could even dare suggest such a thing.
The dinosaur who spoke just smiled.
"I haven't finished speaking your majesty. The two dinosaurs, Prince Fiarius and Trixiophiliosaur will wrestle without their fire, ice or aqua capabilities" he completed.
T-Rexus thought for a while and then spoke.
"It sounds like a reasonable idea. Let Trix and Prince Fiarius wrestle for the hand of the Princess. I will give the hand of my daughter to the stronger one, I HAVE SPOKEN!" T-Rexus commanded and the other dinosaurs left his presence.