Go The Spoils of War

It was the screaming that woke Talos- and the scent of blood was what jolted him wide awake the second he took it in. The euoplocephalus stumbled to his feet, hearing the confused calls of his fellow guardsmen as they scrambled to their own feet. There was no time to grab armor- no time to travel to the vault where it was kept, no time to call for the monkeys to help fasten it. “We’re under attack!” A voice screeched from somewhere- distorted enough the herbivore could not make out what it was from- but it was enough for him. Shoving a hesitant Nigel to the side, he was the first to barrel out of the room with a warcry echoing in his throat. His brethren echoed his calls- stomping out alongside him to meet the challenge. Who had dared attack then? What islanders had dared venture down into their sacred home to raid them? Whatever they were, Talos was sure they could easily take care of it. While many of the islanders they had run into so far were large, none were huge enough to stand against the iguanodons or strong enough to take the warriors blows. Whatever was here was likely only terrorizing the timid oviraptors- a loss, but one they had already expected when they waged war. It was always the weak who fell first.

Outside was chaos. The euoplocephalus had to squint in the dark of night to make out anything- but even they noticed the destruction. Bags of seed and plant thrown across the area, ruined and savaged by cruel claws and precious cargo destroyed. Shrieks and screams echoed from across the compound- all corners at once, as if the owners had scattered in any direction they could to escape something.

There- movement. Nigel bristled by Talos’s side, stepping forward with a low growl building in his throat. Halbert mimicked the action- looking strange without his prized visor on. The two dropped out of their defensive position as an oviraptor limped into the clearing in front of the guards building, yellow and green feathers barely visible in the faint glow of the moonlight above. Talos cocked his head as he recognized Paraside- one of their scouts. “Scout! Report!” He barked.

Paradise stalled for a moment, before suddenly bolted to run towards them. The warriors huffed- skittish as ever it seemed. However, as the oviraptor grew closer, Talos could make out something liquid red, dropping down- feathers were more red than yellow in spots. Talos tried again. “Repor-”

A shadow not noticed before lunged down from the night sky, easily as big as the oviraptor it was pouncing. Feathers flew and colors blurred as Paradise let out a cut off shriek, cry of pain turning to a watery gurgle as he was thrown into a darker corner of the clearing by a shadow. Talos rushed forward with a war cry, only to pause as he reached where Paradise had fallen. Something he had never seen before gripped the oviraptor's still body with a long, curved beak- cruel orange eyes met Talos’s. Covered in silky blue feathers aside from on the head and underwings, dark markings and a cream underbelly were now splattered with noble Atlantean blood. Talos snorted, stepping forward and brandishing his tail to take a swipe. The enemy flyer dropped the dead oviraptor, taking to the air before anyone could stop him. A cruel, cackling laugh came from its evil beak, the carnivore quickly taking off for the opposite side of the compound. 

Nigel stepped forward, casting nothing more than a quick glance at the oviraptor body. “After it!” He barked at Talos. “I’ll take Raya and Donna to check the other side of the compound!” Talos nodded back, drawing Halberd and Korppi to his side with a bellow. The trio let out a war cry as they ran after the flyer, the other group heading the opposite way.

As the trio ran, the scent of blood grew all the stronger. They passed destroyed and savaged buildings, shedded feathers and drops of blood. Some oviraptors darted past, fear clouding their scent. Talos attempted to bark orders at them, but they did not stop in their panic- fleeing without sparing a glance at the warriors. Cowards, Talos cursed them. 

It was to the side of the compound where they found something- not the enemy flyer, but the source of the blood. There, in the middle of the clearing, lay a dead noble. The iguanodon had clearly not suffered a quick demise- a large bite mark around a savaged throat told how it had been stopped from calling for help. The amount of blood combined with the low moonlight stopped them from identifying the corpse. “No flyer could have made wounds such as these…” Korppi stepped forward, feathered tufts drawn close to her body in distress. 

Indeed, she was correct. There was no way the flyer alone could have drawn such wounds from a noble court member. Talos had never even seen an islander big enough to leave such savage wounds, much less strong enough to take down an iguanodon with little effort.

The sound of the same mocking laugh came again. The eyes of the patrol shot up, craning their neck to look up. There, outlined against the moonlight, flapped the flyer. Much larger than the tapejaras they had ran into so far, with a wicked beak filled with far too many teeth. Instead of lunging down, or fleeing, the flyer continued to call. “It’s mocking us.” Halberd growled, Korppi’s feathers flaring out in fury as she roared at the flyer.

“No…” Talos whispered, dread slowly dawning on him. “It’s calling.” Then, louder. “Defensive position!” The three spread out as they had practiced their whole lives- tails facing outwards, heads positioned inwards in a circular position. The flyer had stopped cackling- and a terrified silence fell over the group. Even the screams had faded out- it was as if the whole world was holding its breath.

And all that silence was broken by a roar. Deep and trumpeting, and nothing like any of the Atlanteans had heard before. Footsteps thudded, shaking the ground, and a huge carnivore emerged from the shadows like a living piece of night. Cloaked in scales like the night sky, splattered with patches of white. Pale teardrops scales dripped from it’s eyes, full of malice and a deep, primal hunger. The creatures very mouth was large enough to fit an euoplocephalus’s whole head inside it’s mouth- and strong enough to end it there with one bite. 

The three warriors pressed closer together as the beast stalked around the edges of their defensive formation, a low growl rumbling from its chest. Talos swung out with his tail as it ventured too close, nearly clipping the edge of its nose with his tail. The carnivore growled, backing up. Despite the terror, confidence started to return to the three. They were in an almost impenetrable situation, all they had to do was stall for time. Surely someone would notice the roar- they just had to last until backup arrived-

A loud shriek sounded out as the forgotten flyer dive bombed into the middle of the group, landing ontop Korppi’s feathers back and starting to tear out her crest feathers. The guard wailed in pain, attempting to thrash and throw the flyer off to no avail. Her frantic thrashing distracted the group, Talos and Halbert forced to move away to prevent her thrashing tail from hitting against them.

And it was a distraction the predators took. Sharp teeth latched around Korppi’s tail, right behind her club, and pulled backwards. The warriors' screeches reached a new level of frantic as the carnivore started to pull, the flyer leaping off now that it was job was done with another bout of laughter. Korppi wailed as she was slowly dragged backward, her legs giving out from the shock and forcing her to fall on her belly. The very weather seemed against them- the light of the moon above flicked and dulled, casting the darkness ever further as Korppi was dragged out of their sight, leaving behind the scent of blood. Talos and Halbert fell silent out of shock- Halbert attempted to whirl around and go after their fellow guard, but it was too late- the only thing left was a trail of blood that led off into the darkness, and the faint sound of rippling flesh. It took all of Talos’s strength to not gag a horrible scent filled the air- fresh and vile, forcing him to turn his head away- just in time to see a blue mouth emerge from the shadows and clamp around Halbert’s head. The same creature, appearing from the opposite side of the clearing like a wraith, already clean of the blood of their companion. Halbert had just enough time to bellow in fear before teeth clamped in and shook, attempting to drag the herbivore away by his very head. 

Talos shook himself into action, charging forward with a loud bellow and smashing into the leg of the carnivore with his spiky body. The scent of carnivorous blood filled the air and the carnivore pulled away with a howl, retreating back into the shadows. Halbert groaned as his head was released, and Talos had to stop himself from crying out at his companions' state. “Back into formation! Quick!” He urged- surely, help was not far away now?

A shriek above them made the two look again- the flyer was back, hovering above them- beak now coated in red. Blood. Fresh blood. Likely Korppi’s. Talos howled angrily, slamming his tail down on the ground. The flyer simply cackled back, before a low growl caught the twos attention- it had returned.

Slinking out from the direction where Korppi had been dragged out, mouth coated red- when Talos looked down, he gasped in shock as he noticed no wounds in its leg- wounds he had placed mere minutes ago. What was this creature?

The carnivore made no move, however. It simply stood, shifting occasionally on its feet while growing slowly at them. The flyer above circled, cackling lowly before landing onto the large carnivore's shoulder. The growling increased, but it made no move to shake it off. 

Talos’s and Halbert's attention was stuck on their pair, carefully keeping track of every little motion they made with tails brandished in front. If both of them were in front, surely there was no way they could spring a surprise attack- right?

That hope was dashed as thudding footsteps rang out across the clearing- footsteps that belonged not to the two in front of Talos, but a third. Before he could react, over 5000 pounds of force hit his back legs, forcing him over to fall onto his side. Talos’s vision swam as he hit the ground hard- when he opened his eyes, he was seeing double.

Two Halberts stood in front of him, tail raised. Two large carnivores circled around, snapping and toying with the larger carnivore. Two flyers flew above  The warrior tried to find his feet- but hot breath on his face and a snarl stopped him- along with a foot on the unspiked part of his shoulder, pushing him down into the mud. 

Talos closed his eyes for a moment- opening them again to a scream. Halbert was held up in the air by the grip around his throat- body still, last gasps leaving. The carnivore grumbled, dragging the herbivore away back into the shadows. Talos let out a roar of pain- wait. If the carnivore was there…

Slowly turning his head, Talos was met with an exact copy of the other carnivore, blue eyes glaring banefully into him as blood dripped down from its injured leg onto his scales. Talos growled, only to fall silent as the carnivore roared into his face. This was this, then. The end. Disgraced, injured, captured. At this point, death would be a mercy. Talos turned his neck upwards, proudly presenting it. He knew such a monster would never resist such an easy kill.

But instead, there was a pause. After a moment, he was dropped- the creature stepping over him as if he was a simple rock to go join it’s twin. Talos stared in bewilderment- why spare him?

The ruffling sound of a feathered beast landing bid him to look to the left, where the blue flyer sat. Amber eyes piercing into his soul, and another low laugh came from its beak- but this time, so did words. “You called for war.” The flyer croaked lowly, beak snapping together. “You called for death. And you got what you wished for.” The flyer slunk even closer, until its beak was nearly pressed to Talos’s face. The warrior growled, trying to get to his feet to swing his tail- but bones ached, and his head spun. “I hope you are happy.” And with one laugh cackle the wretched flyer took off, soaring above his head as the first light of dawn rose. Talos let himself sag back into the dirt- and, for the first time, let himself wonder; had they bitten off more than they could chew?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strike met up with Blackout and Whiteout outside the compound walls, near the entrance they had discovered- plants and time had worn away at one section of the wall, and it only took a few strong blows before caving in to reveal a way out for the carnivores. The two acrocanthosaurus were focused on dragging their latest kills deeper into the forest to eat. They still had some time before the court would dare send a patrol out- and they wanted the remains to be all they found. Blackout limped ever so slightly on one of his legs- the grey herbivore had landed a good hit on him, he’d give them that.

Whiteout dropped the tail of the heavy carcass he was dragging, before looking at Blackout’s leg. “You got hit.” He stated plainly. Strike had been around the two long enough to tell the worry in the tone- although he knew most others would not. “Did you kill it?”

Blackout huffed. “The grey one fought desperately.” He admitted, dropping the carcass of the grey and white herbivore they had killed. Between the two of them, Blackout preferred his meals to not be feathered- he was only too glad to give up the brown herbivore to his brother to eat. “I left it there in the dirt. Maybe it will survive. Maybe it will not. I did not hurt it badly.”

Strike landed between the two of them as they began to settle down- seemingly deciding this was a good enough place to eat. “I think he will live.” He brought up as he began to pick away at the carcass Blackout was holding. The more cautious brother was more willing to share than Whiteout, he had learned. Indeed, Blackout tolerated his scavenging with nary a protest, even as Whiteout huffed. “You will always have a chance to take revenge for your leg. I doubt this will stop their attempts at conquest.”

Whiteout grinned. “All the better for us.” The journey down to Atlantis had been hard for the both of them- the broken down tunnels had been barely big enough for them to squeeze through, and the journey had been painful- to say the least. But now they were here- an underwater paradise, full of all the food they could eat.

“How long until you plan to go back again?” Strike asked the two of them, eyeing Blackout’s leg. It would likely take a few days to heal properly- until then, they would need to find somewhere to hide from patrols.

Blackout huffed, turning to lick at his wound. “We should lay low for a few days.” He rumbled, ignoring his brother's annoyed look. “Hide our scents. Move only at night. Make them think we left. At then, once they finally relax…” He grinned. It was not a nice grin.

“...we hit them again.” Whiteout mimicked it, and for one minute you could not tell the twins apart. Strike shivered a bit. The two were unnerving as ever. Still, he couldn't help but feel victorious. They wanted to join the islanders so bad? Then they better get used to the pecking order. No longer could they hide away in their dome away from their crimes. They had presented themselves to the world, and the world would answer- whether they like it or not.