Scorn and Poison

Many days had passed, and the jungle was unchanged. No weather reached down here- no winds buffered the trees, no predators larger than pythons lurked in the wilds. The only way to tell the passage of time was the precise but phony day-night cycle, and the vigorous growth of the plants. When the trio had formed their base in the abandoned human shelter, they had been quick to clear away any foliage crowding the space to mark it on its own. Now, only 22 marks on the wall in, and the jungle had already almost fully reclaimed what they had carved out. 

Solstice greeted Hyperion, the orange bull rarely stepping away from his guard post at the collapsed door. His mate nodded back, but made no move to join him. The yellow styracosaurus sighed, before using his horn to scratch another mark onto the wall. 23 days. 23 days they had been down in this jungle- in this toxic, verdant hellscape. Longer if you counted the days before they had found this base, days of them being chased and hunted by Atlantean patrols. Despite being able to easily outrun them, the endless jungle was nearly impossible to navigate- and they had always been found. Ignis had explained it was the monkeys- scouts to the queen, who would follow them unseen from the trees. It wasnt until the tapejara had managed to spook one out of a tree for Hyperion to stomp had they finally found some peace, the mammals clearly hesitant to follow them again. In the time since they had managed to find this base- still concealed from the Altantian troops who were no doubt hunting them. Thankfully they had been able to evade notice so far, Ignis quickly luring away any troops that got to close and eliminating any scouts who dared show their faces. The styracosuaurs could begrudgingly admit the tapejaras presence had been a great boon- even of his personality was anything but.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. On nearly silent wings Ignis spiraled down, swooping in through a narrow entrance in the ceiling. Hyperion grunted as the tapejara landed on a metal perch, looking up towards the entrance. “I do wish you would block that up like I asked days ago. It is a security breach.”

Ignis cackled back. “And take away my aerial entrance? I think not! Besides, what else are we to fear? There are no other flyers down here, and not even the queens little beasts can clamber down that.” Hyperion looked away with a huff- and Solstice seized his opportunity.

“Its time for us to strike once more!” The yellow styracosaurus raised his horn proudly into the air. “For too long we had waited here- we must seize our opportunity and destroy their attempts to poison the surface. It is time we attack- what do say?”

Hyperion was quick to lower his head in acceptance. “Of course. These filth must be taken down!” There was rage in his purple eyes- ever present, always burning.

“I was wondering when you would get bored with lazing around here.” Ignis cooed, a manic glint on his face. Two frilled heads looked up at him expectantly as he continued “I know just the place…”

As the first rays of a fake dawn poked through the trees, they got into position. Ignis quickly vanished into the treetops, only a soft rustling betraying his position. Hyperion and Solstice huddled together in the grass, the yellow styracosaurus huffing in annoyance. Ignis had instructed them to roll in mud before they left- to hide their bright, sun-blessed colors, he claimed. The only thing that had kept Solstice from kicking the sacrilegious bird in the face was Hyperions quick acceptance- and the fact that it was a reasonable ask, he supposed. Still, the glee on the tapejaras face when he had announced as such was absolutely unreasonable.

Hyperion nudged against his mate, getting his attention before lowering his head. Solstice froze as he heard the faint sounds of pittering footsteps and muffled, high-pitched voices, ducking down. Slowly, oviraptors emerged from the treeline, walking on the trail they had positioned themselves by. The trail was not one human made- rather wore down over a long period of time from constant use. Seems they had found one of the main trails to the tunnels. There were about six different scouts, no warriors with them. Each carried a small pouch of seeds, either carried in their beaks or tied to their side with plant fiber. Solstice grinned, slowly getting into position. And as soon as the first oviraptor walked in front of him he charged.

Screams broke out over the group as Solstice lunged from the bushes, horn going right through the scout in front of him. The creature was dead before it hit the ground, Solstice momentarily pausing to shake the weight from his horn. Seeds spilled from the ground, mixing with the pooling blood. 

The oviraptors behind screamed as they viewed what happened, quickly backpedaling- but Hyperion was there to stop that. He lunged from the bushes, tramping one of the oviraptors in the dirt and spearing another through the leg. The orange bull was quick to end its suffering, rearing onto his hind legs and stomping down. The trampled oviraptor was given a similar treatment- kicked into a tree, falling limp to the ground with a cut-off cry.

One of the quicker scouts attempted to flee, for whatever reason still clinging to the bag of seeds in its mouth. A black shadow was upon it- Ignis dived down from the branches above its head, landing on the oviraptor and spearing his beak through it. “Wrong choice.” He whispered, cackling. 

Solstice turned his blood soaked horn to the remaining oviraptors, advancing slowly. Hyperion circled from behind, making it so they couldn't run away without being caught. Ignis shrieked from above, circling like a vulture above their heads. “I’ll give you one chance.” Solstice smiled at the oviraptors- far too kind of a smile for the violence across his face. “Drop the seeds, and you may go. Continue, and you will die.”

The two oviraptors looked at each other, and the bodies scattered around them. Shakily, they obeyed- bags dropping into the floor, spilling their bounty into blood-soaked mud. Solstice grinned at them, before leaning close. “Good. Tell your queen this is what will happen to any who dare attempt to pollute our home. Now. Go.” The oviraptors were gone in a flash- high-tailing it out of the clearing within seconds.

“Good work.” Hyperion nudged against Solstice’s horn with own affectionately, blood mixing and spilling down their faces. Ignis made a gagging sound, causing Hyperion to turn and glare at him.

“You let them live.” The black tapejara scowled. “Why would you do that? Now they’ll know we’re after them.”

“They knew that already.” Hyperion rolled his eyes. “Or do you not remember what we did to their guards?” The tapejara almost growled back, feathers flaring.

“To send a message.” Solstice stepped between the two, gaining both of their attention. “Death sends a message, but I wanted to send one of my own… the queen can send who she wants, but the only fate for her and her kingdom is to flood- be that by the sea, or buried in its own blood.” A fitting punishment for those who hid beneath the waves, in his mind…

“Fire would be better.” Ignis scoffed, but at the looks from the two styracosaurus gave up. “No one ever wants to use fire…”