Crack in the Shadows

Hekla snorted and tossed her head when her horns got tangled in the undergrowth that Cedar simply seemed to bulldoze through. Tossing her head around, of course, only seemed to make it worse, and she grunted as she jerked her head back. How Cedar had lived here in the forest for as long as he had was a mystery to her. It was hot, and there were bugs that tried to land in her eyes and bit at the bit of hide that wasn’t hidden by her feathers, and the undergrowth. The foliage was the worst part. The trees made it hard to navigate in the first place because they were so hard to see around, and she kept bumping into things because they were too small and blurry to make out until the last minute, and there was this - this - 

She made a frustrated low as she jerked again, trying to rip the entangling branches and leaves away from her frill, with mixed success. She was no longer stuck in place, held fast by the shrubbery, but it was now stuck to her. Hekla stamped a foot and snapped her beak upwards, trying to catch one of the twigs and pull it off, but all it served to do was shake a couple leaves loose. This was just ridiculous.

All her movement and protests caught Cedar’s attention, though, and the old bull didn’t take long to come back to help her. Which Hekla appreciated, even if he was laughing at her.

“A fine mess you got yourself into this time,” he chuckled as he gently pulled the leafy twigs free with his beak. They almost looked purposefully woven between the horns that were slowly lengthening and developing along her frill. Her colours were developing interestingly as well - he was used to seeing bright flashes of colours on himself and other bulls, but she had a rich, vibrant red crawling along her feathers as she grew older. Even as much as he had seen already, it just went to show that he really had not seen everything just yet.

“Almost got you,” Cedar murmured around another twig. He chuckled again. “Did the bush jump out at you?”

Hekla snorted, but held still so she didn’t accidentally whack him with her horns. It didn’t take much to parse out what she meant by that: he knew she couldn’t see very well.

Cedar wasn’t too worried by her wordlessness. She never had developed a liking for words when actions, a grunt, or a toss of her head got the point across just fine.

“There you go.” Cedar tossed the last of the small twigs to the side. There was a smile in his voice, and amusement in his eyes. “Free as a bird.”

Hekla looked up at the old bull with a tenacious little expression, her eyes squinted, and bumped the top of her muzzle against his foreleg in thanks. Carefully, so she didn’t scratch him with her nose horn. That was how their days went - peaceful, for the most part, with Cedar leading Hekla around the forest to the best places to eat, drink, and bed down for the night, and helping her out on occasion when she got lost or stuck. Their evenings were full of stories and sometimes long conversations - not that she said much, but Cedar was good enough at carrying the conversation himself with only short responses from her.

He always said they were still looking for her herd, but she had gotten old enough now to know that he was just being kind and trying to give her hope. They didn’t even visit the savannah much anymore, despite his promises that they would find her herd one day. She knew that it was just him that was her family now. That was okay. She was happy enough with him, even though the undergrowth that he insisted on living amongst was a bit bothersome.

Cedar gave a quiet rumble and bumped his beak against her frill. They could keep going while the sun still hung in the sky - though it had gotten quite low by now - and find somewhere to sleep before it got too hard for Hekla to see and navigate through the forest. The smaller styracosaurus followed after Cedar, trying to keep a lookout for anything else that might be in her way on the path ahead.

It wasn’t what was ahead of them that was the problem, though, it was what watched from behind.

Black eyes followed Hekla’s every step, their irises so dark that their pupils were lost to the void.

Zenith watched from the shadows, the warm, amber light of evening barely filtering through the leaves overhead, cloaking them in darkness. They were almost completely invisible, save for the crackled flash of a light-coloured marking that stretched down their body from neck to tail. As long as they stood still, and angled themselves properly, they knew that they would be hidden. They had been watching the young styracosaurus long enough to know that she couldn’t see them, even if they stood a few feet from her. It wasn’t much of a challenge, hunting something so blind, but they were hungry, and she was easy prey.

Besides, her guardian posed enough of a threat to make the hunt interesting. A test, both for them, and for her guardian: would Cedar come to Hekla’s aid before, or after Zenith slaughtered her? Cedar appeared to be quite elderly and likely wasn't as agile or nimble as he used to be - Zenith liked their chances of killing Hekla and getting away safely.

They would even make it interesting. They stepped purposefully on crumbling detritus, the rustling sound just enough to get at least Hekla’s attention. She turned her head and grunted quietly. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary - just more tall, shadowy, fuzzy shapes interspersed by clumps which she assumed to be smaller trees and forest undergrowth. Except one of the tall, thin trees moved. It was getting clearer and clearer, which only meant that it had to be approaching her, which didn't make sense since she was standing still.

When it was close enough, Hekla understood. It wasn't a tree that had suddenly decided to sprout limbs and start walking the earth, but something much more insidious. A cryolophosaurus.

Hekla made a call of alarm and started to turn, but it was too late. Teeth sank into the feathers behind her frill into her neck, and her low call turned into a howl of pain. Zenith snagged her with their claws and pulled, which only made Hekla cry out louder. She jumped and kicked and bucked to get away, and shook her head even though their teeth and claws pinched and ripped at her feathers and the hide beneath.

Zenith stubbornly held on and tried to twist her head the way they wanted, so they could pull her away somewhere that Cedar couldn’t get to and they could finish her off. Hekla tossed her head frantically, trying to catch them with one of her still-developing horns. They unclamped their jaws and made the quietest huff of something almost like concern when the horns on her frill poked into their neck. That was too close, she had almost injured them.

They could hear Cedar rapidly approaching, crashing through the undergrowth as Hekla called out for her guardian. They didn’t have much time left to finish the fight before Cedar reached them. They had been foolish. Arrogant, headstrong. They were overconfident in their approach and should have just taken advantage of the situation when they had it.

The flash of blue inside parting jaws was the only brief warning that Hekla got before Zenith darted forwards to clamp their teeth into her feathers again - along her spine this time, and pulling her towards their body so that she would lose her footing and fall. Hekla pulled back instinctively, and turned and twisted her body so she could jerk her head upwards toward the cryo’s chest and stomach. Her nose horn just wasn’t tall enough to reach its mark - but Cedar’s was.

The bull slammed into Zenith with enough force that the cryo had no choice but to release Hekla as they tried to suck in a breath to refill their suddenly empty lungs. Cedar kept charging, momentum keeping the smaller cryo’s body trapped against Cedar’s horn and beak as he raced forwards. He only stopped when he flicked his head forwards and tossed Zenith’s body, which landed hard enough on the ground to bounce.

Hekla had followed after them, determined to see the cryo off even if the sudden attack had left her terrified. Blood clumped and spiked her feathers together where Zenith’s teeth and claws had punctured her hide, but it was hard to tell the severity of the damage from visuals alone. Zenith could tell from the scent, as the cryo tried to catch their breath and get to their feet, that they had done less damage than they hoped.

Zenith, as well, seemed remarkably intact for having just sustained such a heavy hit from an adult styra. Cedar wasn’t even breathing heavily as he leveled a glare at the cryo, a look which was matched by Hekla. “You run off now,” Cedar growled, “and don’t try that again. I won’t be so kind to you next time.” He didn’t want Hekla to witness something so grisly as a bloodied dead body, but if push came to shove and Zenith didn’t back down - or indeed, if they tried to attack Hekla again when his back was turned - then Zenith would be met with the point of his nose horn rather than the blunt edge.

Rather than be scared off, like Cedar hoped, Zenith simply stared at them, their black eyes impossible to read. Hekla’s false confidence faltered. Seeing them like this was unsettling. There was something wrong with this cryo. It wasn’t just that she had just been attacked, it was the way they just stared, deadly silent.

Zenith stood completely still until Cedar tossed his head threateningly at them. They backed up slowly, watching the pair of styras. They had made a mistake and misjudged their quarry. Next time, they would not be so generous. And next time… they would be more careful.

Cedar didn’t relax until Zenith disappeared from view and even then, he stayed on edge. He turned his head towards Hekla, nuzzling her gently and checking her over for injuries. “Are you alright?” he rumbled.

Hekla honked quietly, like the sound she’d made when she was just a little hatchling. She still felt Zenith’s eyes on her, even if she could not see them anymore.

She was trembling, Cedar realised as he checked her over. The blood didn’t seem too bad, at least. Just a few small scratches and punctures; her thickening feathers had saved her from the worst of it, and that cryo didn’t seem to know yet that a styra’s real weakness was under their neck, not over it.

Cedar let some of the stress of the encounter go with a deep sigh. “Why don’t you lead a bit?” he rumbled. He brought a bit more warmth to his voice, trying to comfort her. “I think you’ll be just as good at finding somewhere comfy to lay down as I am. Maybe even better.”

Hekla turned her head up towards Cedar, looking doubtful and uncertain. He bumped his beak to her forehead, right between her brow horns. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”