The Tyrant's Roar: Chapter 11

Chapter 11:  Premeditation

The western portion of the valley became Hades’ home.  The plains were his hunting ground, where he picked off the weak, young, and inexperienced Triceratops.  There were plenty of Triceratops during Hades’ first month in the valley, because the Triceratops’ rutting season lasted that long.

Hades morphed into an accomplished Triceratops killer, and grew strong on the meat.  But he knew how to pick his battles.  Hades never preyed on the healthy adult males of each herd that occupied the plains, and he almost never preyed on the adult females.  The males were too strong alone, and the females were quick to make a formidable group defence to protect each other and their young.  It was only the juveniles that wandered from their herds and the exhausted bulls that engaged in intra-specific combat that Hades picked off.

But once the rutting season ended, the Triceratops herds departed.  They went north-east to seek out newer pastures, and to lay their eggs.  Hades thought that he might starve when he saw the herds leave, because even though he was recovering nicely, he did not want to go anywhere near the T.rex pair.  Not yet, even if his primary food was headed towards them.

Soon after the Triceratops herds started their migration, several herds of Edmontosaurus immigrated from the east.  Hades felt that he might have been saved from going hungry, but he would have to learn how to bring one down.  He remembered how they tasted from when he first encountered Tytus and Poppaea.

The Edmontosaurus turned out to be less confrontational than the Triceratops.  They were more willing to run away than to stand and fight, including the large, dominant males.

Hades preferred to ambush his victims, and there were more opportunities to surprise them than not.  But on the few occasions when Hades did have to give chase, he found that it was easier than he thought.  He found that he could keep up with the 40-foot herbivores, and that his arthritis had subsided in his legs.  His left ankle was still sore from when Achilles overthrew him, but the pain became very manageable, even non-existent at times.

Hades felt invigorated with his new environment.  He had a cool place to rest for the night in his cave.  He was getting rest.  The meat of the new herbivores had given him a chance to heal and regain any weight that he had lost.  And all the animals in his new hunting grounds feared him, which tremendously boosted the old Giganotosaur's ego.

Hades enjoyed his new life, and he wanted it all to himself.  His only obstacles were Tytus and Poppaea.  The young couple acted as if the valley was theirs, that they were entitled to it.  In Hades’ mind, his advanced age alone gave him the right to this kingdom.  But Tytus and Poppaea were powerful creatures, a two-headed monster when together, and it would have been hard to take them down.  They downright scared Hades.

But Hades noticed something over the past three months.  He had kept track of the pair’s movements from his roost, and always noticed that there only one Tyrannosaurus rex who was out and about.  Hades quickly realized that it was one particular individual who roamed the east for two months straight.

Hades recognized from afar that it was Tytus, and his intestines squirmed every time he saw the green Tyrannosaurus.  Even though the wound that Tytus inflicted between Hades’ nostrils had scarred over, it was still slightly painful.  More so, it was personal.

Every time he saw Tytus hunting and patrolling, Hades filled with hatred, but he couldn’t help but wonder why he was alone.  Was it that Poppaea was dead?  Or could they have made a nest and were expecting?

Hades’ first suspicion was proven wrong when not two weeks ago, he saw Poppaea following Tytus’ trail alone.  Hades presumed that the egg-laying had tired her out, but now she was ready to hunt while Tytus guarded the roost.

Now that Hades felt better than he had in a long while, the time to overthrow the T.rex pair was now.  But he knew he had to take out each adult individually, and he wasn’t sure which one he should kill first.

Poppaea was the weakest of the pair, and she was not in the best shape, even though she was the one who was now hunting.  She could get hurt during her hunt, which would provide a perfect opportunity to slice through her neck and end her life.  But a hunting carnivore was one of the most dangerous creatures to fight.

However, Tytus must have been tired too.  After all, Hades did see him make many two-way trips across the eastern plains with food in his mouth, which Hades presumed was for his mate.  Tytus must not have eaten as much as he could have, to save food for Poppaea.  Also, if there were any baby T.rexes in the nest, he could wipe out more than one Tyrannosaurus in one trip.  But, Tytus would become very aggressive if Hades came anywhere near the nest, and a parent defending its young was THE most dangerous animal on the planet.  Hades guessed that Tytus would lay his life on the line to make sure that his offspring lived.

So one gloomy afternoon, as Hades watched Poppaea go over a hill far off in the distance, he made his decision as to whom he would murder first.  It will be risky, and dangerous, but Hades wanted to fulfill his sadistic wish.

He got up from the cave floor as soon as Poppaea’s form went over the hill rise.  Hades walked down the shallow incline between his cave and the grassland, right past the Edmontosaurus carcass.  The faint scent filled Hades’ nostrils as the memory of meeting Tytus and Poppaea for the first time flooded his mind.  His heart turned into stone, and his eyes burned with a great intensity.

The wind shifted, carrying Poppaea’s scent to Hades’ nostrils.  He was downwind of her, which put him in the best spot.  Poppaea would not be able to smell him coming.

The clouds darkened as Hades lumbered into the forest.  He could smell the stench of rotten prey and bacteria from deep within the woods.  But interspersed within the stench, Hades picked up the tell-tale scent of the large Tyrannosaurus, and he began to salivate.

His heart beat faster.  His muscles tensed.  With his teeth bared, Hades picked up the pace.  He knew exactly where to go, just by using his nose.  Hades could almost taste the blood of his enemy as he licked the scars between his nostrils.

“Tytus may be king,” though Hades, “but when I’m done with him, I’ll be EMPEROR!”