Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Alone Storm has been wandering aimlessly for days. Now, his body demands food and water. He finds the lake where he and his parents went on their first fishing trip. He approaches the lake cautiously. He has it all to himself. He begins to gulp down water as quickly as possible. His thirst quenched, he now moves onto the more difficult task of finding food. The Coelacanth migration is over and the only fish left are small and in less quantity. Storm leaves the lake to find food elsewhere. Eventually he comes across the carcass of a hadrosaur. Throwing caution to the wind, he runs straight for the ripped open stomach. He grabs a small chunk of meat and swallows it. He takes another. As he is about to have another, a head pops up on the other side of the carcass. Then two more pop up. Storm looks up and finds himself staring straight at a trio of raptors. They screech at him and he bolts. The raptors give chase. Storm is running as quickly as possible, but the predators are gaining fast. Then, Storm realizes something is wrong. These raptors should have caught up with him by now. He risks a look back and sees they are not even trying. They think this chase is a game! The raptors are actually enjoying it. Even though they have the intent to kill Storm, they are taking their time and having fun with it. Young Storm does not share their feelings about the chase. He continues to run as quickly as possible. Then he sees safety ahead. A large, dead tree. A hole small enough for him to crawl through, but not the raptors, is at the base of the trunk. The raptors see it too and realize what he’s about to do. They begin to run faster in an effort to overtake Storm. But they are too late. He is already inside the tree. The claw and bite at the tree in frustration. Raptors can have short attention spans however and quickly give up. Storm is badly shaken and curls up in the tree. He slowly cries himself to sleep. When Storm wakes up, he badly needs food. He begins to search the forest for food. He catches a few insects, but they do little to help his hunger. Finally, after about two hours of searching, he finds a lizard. At about a foot long, it’s the perfect size. Storm employs the ambush maneuver he learned from his mother. He leaps forward and plants a foot on the lizard’s back. He bites it and it quickly dies. Storm finally has a meal all to himself. He picks it up and takes it into the bushes. He does not want to get caught out in the open with a fresh kill. Luckily for him, his meal goes uninterrupted. Storm now makes his way to a nearby creek. As he drinks, he sees something in the bushes on the other side. A relatively small, feathered shape. Then, Storm sees the sickle shaped claw on the foot. It’s another raptor. Since the death of his parents, the local raptor population has exploded. Storm stays as still as he can and crouches as low to the ground as possible. The raptor begins to drink from the river. A fly lands on Storm’s nose. He holds back a sneeze as best he can. After a few minutes, Storm can not hold it back. The raptor turns to leave as he sneezes. The predator quickly turns around and spots the young tyrannosaur. Storm knows he has no chance at running away. He must fight. He stands up so the raptor can see how big he is. Although slightly smaller than the raptor, Storm is more powerfully built. The raptor has one thing Storm does not however. He can fight with both teeth and claws. Storm only has his teeth. The raptor leaps across the creek and Storm steps back. The raptor jumps at Storm, but he sidesteps in time. As he does so, he bites the raptor on the thigh. This causes the raptor to screech in pain. Storm is feeling somewhat satisfied. That is, until the raptor attacks him again. He tackles Storm and the two are now in a wrestling match. The raptor succeeds in slashing Storm’s snout. This will leave a long scar across the bridge of his nose that will be there for the rest of his life. The raptor has the upper hand and Storm realizes he can not win this battle. The raptor lunges for Storms throat, but the strike never comes. Storm feels the raptor’s weight lifted from his body. He looks up to see, of all things, Synca, holding the struggling raptor in his jaws. He throws the raptor against a tree. The impact alone kills it. Synca looks down at the young tyrannosaur. He turns to walk away and Storm follows him. Synca turns his head around and sees the young dinosaur following. At first, he is inclined to scare him off. Then he realizes that Storm is not really a threat. He allows him to follow. While not the ideal situation, Storm’s life has just taken a new turn. He is no longer alone.