Ancient Lives:Episode 5: Armored Enemies

Hello All! It's time for the next installment of my prehistoric series Ancient Lives. Today's episode takes place in the Devonian era following a Hyneria in a freshwater lake filled with danger and adventure. The Devonian was an important era for life on Earth. Forests had started evolving and Sharks had just begun to appear. Life was making the great transition onto land as animals tightened thier grip on soil. If you want to know more about the animals featured in today's episode check out my unfinished website: alldinosallthetime.weebly.com Now, on with the show! Armored Enemies Henry was a male Hyneria. He hadn't been born yet but he was being tossed around inside his soft warm egg. Henry didn't know it, but his egg was in peril. It was being washed down a river that led from the ocean. His egg was in grave peril. If it is cracked, Henry could be born with a major defect that could have him killed early in his life. This egg's well being is crucial for Henry's survival. Henry is being tossed around violently inside his egg, but suddenly everything stops. Henry suddenly feels a thump, and is soon at ease. His egg is now on the bottom of a freshwater lake, but unfortunately his egg is now in a greater peril than if it were going down a raging river, because here there are a minagery of ney predators to be weary about. Suddenly, Henry pushes on the soft shell of his egg. It is time for him to hatch, and his first view of the world is a Stethocanthus swimming about thirteen feet above him. Henry lies completely still and waits for the danger to pass. Then, about four feet to his left, Henry spots movement on the lakebed. He swims over to investigate it, and realizes it is another egg that has been misplaced by a raging storm. Suddenly, out pops a baby Dunkleosteous. The baby Dunkleosteous is not used to the freshwater environment. He feels short of breath and constantly tired out. The Dunkleosteous knows instinctively that it has to go somewhere else before he gets too big to leave the lake. Darla, the female Dunkleosteous, darts off to the mouth of the river. Henry inquisitively follows. Darla is aware of Henry swimming behind her, following her to her destination, but she doesn't care much. Suddenly, Henry spots danger and swims off quickly. Darla keeps moving to the mouth of the river. Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain in her lower jaw and she is spun upside down. Darla was just attacked from below by a Stethocanthus, but her armored head saver her life. Darla swims away, but at two feet long she will make a great snack for the four foot juvenile Stethacanthus. Henry is swimming away when suddenly he realizes that something is amiss. Darla is being pursued by a juvenile Stethacanthus, and since for the time being Henry is about a foot longer than Darla, Henry decides to help. Henry swims off to hide behind a submerged log. The Stethacanthus comes into view, with Darla just in front of it. Henry accelerates. He is getting closer to the Stethacanthus and now at top speed. Henry opens his jaw and braces for impact. When it comes, Henry tastes blood and a mouthful of shark flesh. Henry has taken a bite of the now lifeless Stethacanthus. Darla and Henry begin to feast, but now other Stethacanthus sharks are coming, and it wont be pretty for any animals in the now free territory. Darla and Henry decide to swim off in search of more suitable hunting grounds. Henry is searching for hunting grounds when suddenly he realizes that Darla is gone. Henry doesn't think much of it until he realizes that she is trying to catch and eat a Hynerpeton. She will surely get eaten, but Darla doesn't know that and for the time being Henry doesn't either. Suddenly Henry hears a lot of splashing and panicked screeches coming from where Darla once was. Henry needs to help his partner, and he quickly accelerates to the scene. When Henry hits his taget, it Paralyzes the Hynerpeton instantly. Darla is injured. She has lost part of her front flipper, but she will survive. The two feast on the still living Hynerpeton as the sun sets on land. One Year Later Henry and Darla are about four feet long now. Henry is a skilled hunter and is already capable of feeding himself. Darla is frisky and vicious at times. She is a hunter at large in the lake and is known for going after larger prey than her, but Darla still has a problem. She needs to leave the lake before she gets too large, but there are still at least twenty Stethacanthus gaurding the territory by the mout of the lake. It's prime hunting ground because so many fish pass through there. Darla knows that she cannot take all of the Stethacanthus on at once, but she is still driven by desperation to try. As Henry is swimming along he notices that Darla is not by his side. This is new to him, as he is so used to her being there, but at the same time Henry knows she can handle herself. Suddenly though, Henry senses thrashing in the water. He turns around quickly to see Darla darting into the Stethacanthus territory, and she has already attracted the attention of about twelve Stethacanthus, but Henry is about to have his own problems to deal with. Henry suddenly feels major pain on his sides, and suddenly he is pulled out of the water and onto the shore line. Henry was too close to shore and now he is being caught by a Hynerpeton. Luckily he is about the same size, and Henry uses his massive lobed fins to turn his body around and attack the Hynerpeton. The Hynerpeton is injured, but not dead. He uses his foot claws to scratch deep into Henry's back. Henry feels increadible pain all over his body, but suddenly he feels the relief of a wave coming to shore and washing him into the lake. Henry has a few deep gashes, but overall he is okay. The Henry remembers Darla. He swims over to the last place he saw her and realizes that she isn't there. Henry realizes that he is deep in Stethacanthus territory and is weary, but he decides to swim deeper into the Stethacanthus territory. He slowly rounds a corner wearily and prepares for the assault of a Stethacanthus. However, it never comes. Instead he sees Darla. She is upside down and bleeding. She isn't swimming. Henry approaches her quickly and slowly nudges her side. Darla quickly comes to and swims away from Henry. He waits for Darla to come back, but she never does. Henry is on his own in Stethacanthus territory. Then, from all sides they come. Stethacanthus come from everywhere. They are all targeting Henry. Henry decides to attack one and brace for the others to hit his flanks, but as he bites the nose off of a Stethacanthus it becomes apparent that he underestimated his opponents. He is hit so hard from all directions to the point where he is stunned and floating to the bottom, but then Henry realizes that he isn't being eaten alive. Instead the Stethacanthus are fighting over who gets to eat him. Henry seizes the opportunity to swim off to safety. Henry gets to safety before the Stethacanthus notice he has gone. Henry is safe, but Darla has disappeared into the lake. Henry is on his own now. Two Years Later Henry is a juvenile of nearly seven feet now. He is more than a match for any Stethacanthus and he is formidible to anything in the lake. Right now Henry doesn't need to worry about his own supremacy because he is hunting Hynerpeton. Henry is just feet away from shore, and he is waiting for a Hynerpeton to come in too close. Suddenly, Henry springs out of the water and washes himself up on shore, however he has a Hynerpeton tail in his mouth and his lobed fins are very powerful. Henry pushes himself into the water and before the Hynerpeton can swim away Henry sucks in his breath and brings the Hynerpeton into his mouth. Henry swallows it whole. Henry has a full stomach as he swims away from shore, but now Stethacanthus sharks are coming tword him, attracted by all the splashing. Henry has to fend them off, but there are at least twenty Stethacanthus and they are not going to leave without food. Henry needs to fend them off one by one. Henry chooses his first victim and charges. The Stethacanthus is split in half by the impact of Henry's full force. Henry quickly turns around and in a lightning reaction, he opens his mouth to catch the oncoming Stethacanthus. It chokes Henry, and he startss to sink to the bottom of the mossy lake. Henry is dying, and cannot fend off the Stethacanthus. But they never start to eat them. Suddenly the fish leaves Henry's mouth and he start soming to again only to see that he is surrounded by a pool of blood and Darla is swimming away with the Stethacanthus that nearly killed Henry in her mouth. She was attempting to steal the kill from Henry and didn't know that she was saving his life and when she sees Henry swimming away Darla goes on the defensive. She accelerates tword him. Henry is not interested in a fight though, but Darla is going to make him fight. Darla pounds herself into Henry and takes a small bite out of him in the process. Henry is in searing pain but cannot afford to lose this fight. He swims away to avoid further injury. Darla is confused. She cannot process what has just happened. She is pretty sure Henry is dead but cannot find him anywhere. Suddenly she know exactly where Henry is. Plowing into her tail and taking about five feet off of it as well. Henry is still in agonizing pain, but the socre is settled. Darla, unwilling to lose, charges Henry again but Henry knows better. Darla may be about ten feet long even with five feet of her tail missing, but Henry has the bigger brain, and swims directly upward, avoiding Darla's charge. Darla swims straight into a small rocky underwater cliff close to shore and breaks in the armor on her face. Darla is severely injured, and swims away in defeat. Henry goes close to the shore to rest and heal his wounds. Three Years Later Henry is a full adult size of twenty one feet. He has done a lot of growing in the past few years and at this point he is longer then Darla. He still has a massive scar from where Darla bit him three years ago, but it doesn't do much to him right now. Right now he is hunting Hynerpeton. As Henry is stalking the lake, he suddenly gets a glimpse of a Hynerpeton swimming under a log. Henry quickly follows. The Hynerpeton senses that he is in danger and accelerates, but this female will not get out of the water today. Henry accelerates to nearly fourty miles per hour and as he opens his mouth the Hynerpeton gives a final squel and slides down Henry's throat. Then Henry senses it. An old ally is somewhere in these waters. Darla is near. Henry goes to the defensive, his senses on high alert. Then, he gets a glimpse of Darla swimming behind a rock. Henry is now very weary, but he cannot afford to let it show. Then he feels it. With the power of a pickup truck going at about fourty miles per hour Henry is hit in his tail by Darla. The two impede on each other's hunting territory and Darla is looking to end this problem, but she is infected in her split headgear and is not doing very well at all.Henry is amazingly okay, and reaalizes that Darla has a very bad infection. Henry knows she is hurt. Henry darts off into the unknown part of the lake. He begins to circle a now weary Darla.Then, suddenly he reverses direction and throws off his opponent. When Darla turns away from Henry's current location, Henry charges and attacks her in the rear, taking off the tail completely. Darla is immobilized. She cannot swim and starts to quickly sink to the bottom of the lake. When she does, the last thing Darla sees is Henry's open mouth, crushing her face, feeling her die. When the battle is over and Henry has eaten his fill everything is quite. Henry is quite at ease, but his bite wound is now becoming infected at a microbial scale. Henry's health will soon begin to plummet, but for the moment, all is well. One Year Later Henry is at the bottom of the lake. This is his final resting place. His entire tail is very badly infected now. Henry is losing breath, and the sharks start to gather. As soon as Henry has lost all strength they begin to eat him whole. He is the only Hyneria in this lake and he is a massive twenty three foot long meal for anything in the area. Then Henry takes his final breath, and dies. The End Well, I hope you guys liked today's episode. It took a while, I know but I've been busy. Now, before you guys that look at my website say, Futurepaleontologist! your website says Hyneria was only twelve feet long, why is it so big in the story? I need to tell you. I got the numbers wrong. It was actually twenty one feet long. It will be fixed with my websites Jurassic update as well as all the other spelling errors and miscalculations in about a month. Until next time!