The Dangers of the Lushful Jungle

Solace bowed his head, his nose almost touching the blades of grass growing in front of him. They were flattened. Not randomly – it was definitely not the result of some blades simply being weaker than others. The dents formed a series of blurred shapes, evenly spaced, in an almost straight line. Footsteps.

The male drew in a breath, carefully analysing all its elements. He smiled to himself when he realised that there was something here he was looking for – her scent. It was fresh and almost tangibly warm. Leyte had passed by very recently, and he was steadily closing the distance between them.

He had been tracking her persistently since the previous evening, losing the trail at times. This was the first time he had managed to get so close. Seeing how everything was going well, he sometimes even thought it was an ambush. After all, Leyte was considered rather prudent - it was completely unlike her to suddenly break away from her pack and venture into the middle of the jungle, an area she did not know very well.

Solace frowned, thinking again that Leyte would indeed be capable of such an ambush. Especially when it came to him. However, he decided to push that thought to the farthest corners of his mind — this time, the hunt had to be successful.

~*~

Silvercloud stubbornly traversed the forest, constantly losing her way among the dense vegetation. She had been living here for almost two weeks, but she still hadn't gotten used to the complex structures that tropical trees were capable of creating. If she were even a little smaller, being in this place would stress her out considerably — she could get lost forever in these dark, dense parts of the jungle.

Once again, the grey female had no specific goal in mind. She had managed to catch a few rodents that morning, so she was full and didn't have to worry about hunting for the rest of the day. She was mainly driven by the need to explore. Besides, she hoped that with a little luck she would run into Dart again. The females had met relatively recently, so it was difficult to speak of any stable relationship between them, but it seemed that Silver had taken a liking to the blue albertosaurus. Much bolder, more confident and curious about the world, Dart made Silvercloud blossom in her company and forget her fears a little.

The raptor pushed through the vegetation, determined to avoid the thorns that grew from the stems of some plants. The sun was already high in the sky, and the temperature in the forest reflected this. Even the birds, which until recently had been sitting in large groups on the surrounding branches, boasting their beautiful, refined songs, had now disappeared from view. They must have hidden somewhere for fear of the heat.

~*~

Leyte paused for a moment, unsure of what to do next. She had lost track of the trail some time ago, but tried to convince herself otherwise. She carefully examined every dent in the grass, every scratch on the trees, and every other trace, trying to convince herself that they had been made by the one she was looking for. However, it was no use — the last reliable trace ended at least a mile away. The wind blowing from her muzzle to her tail did not help either. Despite the favourable direction, it did not carry the stranger's scent.

She had been sent to this area by her pack. She had a specific goal - to verify alleged reports of a certain, almost mythical dinosaur that had supposedly appeared in the jungle some time ago. If the members of the pack were to be believed, this dinosaur was a fairly young predator whose feathers were almost entirely covered in an incredibly intense blue colour. In fact, no one knew where this creature came from or what it was doing in the jungle, but one thing was certain – it was no ordinary dinosaur. Leyte had to verify these reports for the sake of her herd. The mysterious predator could, after all, turn out to be a cryolophosaurus. In that case, it might be necessary to recruit it into the herd. Even if the newcomer turned out to be of a different species, The Leader would still want to know more about this stranger who was causing such a stir.

Leyte, completely immersed in her own thoughts, lost her vigilance – she was focusing much more on what was ahead than on the vast expanses of jungle she had left behind.

Solace was well aware of this. In the meantime, he had almost completely closed the distance between them. He was so close that he felt that just one step would be enough for the female to feel his hot breath on her neck. He did not lose his vigilance - he looked around carefully, searching for signs of any ambush. It was unlikely. Although it was hard to believe, Leyte really was alone.

He watched her. Closely. Every movement, every tense muscle, every tremor. He had been chasing her for a long time, but she had always been out of his reach. Once, when Solace was younger, Leyte had outmatched him not only in speed but also in strength. Fighting alone, the male had to let go and wait for an opportunity to take revenge later. Then Leyte settled into the cryos' pack for good, rarely moving anywhere in a group of less than three individuals. An opportunity like today might not come again.

The acrocanthosaurus drew warm air into his nostrils, taking one last deep breath before the fight - today is the day.

~*~

In this part of the jungle, the trees became slightly less dense, creating small clearings bathed in sunlight. The air was strangely dry, contrasting unpleasantly with the image of the vast rainforest in which Silvercloud found herself. Indeed, it hadn't rained for several days, but such a drastic drop in humidity seemed unbelievable. An unpleasant shiver of anxiety ran down the raptor's spine, ruffling her dark feathers.

She was already close to the place where, according to her information, Dart resided. The blue female had recently moved from the edge of the jungle into its depths, which made finding her much more difficult than before. That was exactly her goal - after two tropeognathus spotted her so easily from the air, Dart began to worry a little about her safety. Silvercloud, as she usually does, only fuelled this anxiety. So the decision to move was made.

As it soon turned out, the extravagant appearance of the albertosaurus did indeed make camouflage difficult. The bright blue stood out clearly against the deep green of the jungle, looking so unnatural that even a blind person would notice this deviation from the norm. Silvercloud sighed, thinking about the difficulties the other female must face. She wanted to help her, but she was afraid that this colour would not fit in anywhere.

To find Dart, she hardly had to use her sense of smell – only occasionally did she have to rely on scents when she temporarily lost track of her friend. Most of the time, even though they were still quite far apart, the sight of blue flashes hidden among the tropical leaves was enough for her to choose the right path.

Silvercloud sped up happily, knowing that she was only a few dozen metres away from her new friend. In just a moment, they would meet again! They had a lot to talk about after this short separation.

Silver made no attempt to be quiet, so Dart immediately noticed her approach. She turned around quickly, delighted by the raptor's arrival. ‘Hi, Silver!’

~*~

Taking advantage of the fact that Leyte still had her back turned to him, Solace emerged from behind the cover of the plants. He was already grinning, seeing how defenceless and unaware his prey was. Finishing what he had started was now just a formality. He revelled in his triumph – he had no intention of rushing. He wanted to savour this wonderful feeling.

He walked slowly, but he was no longer cautious. Only seconds separated him from the moment when he would no longer be able to hide. Now he had nothing to lose.

Leyte turned around when she heard the unexpected crack of a twig behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Solace's bulky, dark silhouette. So he had found her. She had no time to think – if he had followed her all the way here, he had a clear goal. That goal was her death. The female, painfully aware of her attacker's advantage, rushed to escape almost blindly.

~*~

Dart and Silvercloud had been lying in the middle of the clearing where the former had led them for several minutes. Warm rays of sunlight filtered through the treetops and tickled their backs pleasantly.

At first, they were completely absorbed in conversation, so they didn't pay much attention to the world around them - Dart had already had a chance to look around and was sure that nothing threatened them here. It was only after some time that external stimuli began to reach them. At first, these were mainly the sounds of the jungle, pleasantly resonating in their ears - birds singing, insects buzzing, the gentle rustling of plants. Then they fully noticed the blaze of colours that surrounded them, making this place seem almost fairy-tale-like. Finally, a sense returned that neither of them should ever underestimate - the sense of smell.

As Silver had already noticed, the air was strangely dry, which did not make it easy to recognise smells. Anyway, at first it seemed that there was nothing unusual in the complex mixture of scents. That is, until the weirdly dry air tickled her nose so much that she sneezed. It wasn't just a matter of low humidity — there was something in this mixture of scents that made it harder to breathe, and the scratching in her airways grew stronger with every passing minute.

At first, they ignored it, subconsciously pushing the discovery to the back of their minds. However, the unpleasant smell and the strange feeling of anxiety that accompanied it continued to intensify. The first to notice was the slightly older and more experienced Silvercloud - she had smelled this scent before.

Smoke.

Both females jumped up from the ground, almost immediately panicking. The smell of smoke was intensifying rapidly and was already close, getting closer and closer. It must have been a huge fire consuming the jungle. They didn't have much time.

Dart stretched her body, trying to climb as high as she could on her hind legs. She tried to see the fiery red of the flames - she succeeded. The fire was even closer than they had expected. The females rushed to escape in the opposite direction, hoping that the fire would not curve around and cut off their path there.

Silver took off first, tucking her wings close to her body so that her feathers would not snag on the dense vegetation. It was difficult for her to push through the bushes, but she still ran faster than the much larger Dart. Their escape was accompanied by terrified squeaks – the ground beneath their feet was teeming with rodents fighting for their lives.

~*~

Leyte jumped over a shallow ditch with impressive agility, making full use of her speed - the only thing that could save her now.

Solace didn't even have to jump - his strides were so long that it was completely unnecessary. Suddenly, however, he was torn from his concentration. A completely unexpected, sudden crack sounded right above his head. The male raised his head at the perfect moment to see a huge, impossibly tall tree flying straight towards him. He jumped out of the way at the last moment.

For a moment, he completely lost track of the chase, bewildered. What could have knocked down such a towering tree? He looked in the direction where its roots should have been. Leyte, though she did not fully stop, did the same.

Solace's pupils dilated rapidly, and the acrocanthosaurus himself let out a breath, completely shocked by the sight. The forest was burning. The deadly fire was consuming it completely. How could they have missed it!?

Solace glanced briefly in the direction Leyte had fled. The female took advantage of this brief moment – she had already disappeared somewhere, leaving no trace behind. The male had lost his chance.

However, he had no time to curse his failure. Any delay could mean death for him.

Solace rushed in the opposite direction of the approaching fire. The previous chase had already tired him out a bit, but the sudden rush of adrenaline was able to force him to exert himself much more. He could only pray that the edge of the jungle was close.

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