Project Arcanus

Chapter One

   Imagine an island in the middle of the ocean where dinosaurs still exist. Some believe such a thing exists, some to not. Most people don’t think of such ideas. However, what if such a thing exists? Who could possibly know what to expect from an island completely unknown to the world? This is where our story begins.

     Project Arcanus, Latin for “Mysterious”, was founded after the discovery of a place an unknown island. Here, species of any kind could seek refuge from the possibilities of extinction, mostly untouched by evolution. The island was relatively large, mapped to be 3,982 square miles, or a bit smaller than the island of Hawaii. It was home to many species, living in the air, land, and water, over the course of time, but is now reduced to a couple dozen, along with modern animals, such as lizards, snakes, and birds. Weeks after the island’s discovery, a research team consisting of a group of fifteen scientists, security, and a small camera crew were sent to chart the island. However, little did they know, the island was populated by creatures thought to be extinct for millions of years…

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     Hook, a Megaraptor, awoke early in the morning. He sniffed the air, searching for any possible sign of prey. Soon, he picked up a familiar scent. He stalked through the rainforest, his green skin and thin black stripes camouflaging him from his target. Soon, it came in to his vision- a Hypsilophodon, presumably lost in the forest from the rest of its group. Soon, Hook charges. Before the Hypsilophodon can realize what was happening, it was in the jaws of the Megaraptor. He shook his prey around before dropping it to the ground. He ate his breakfast in peace, listening to the sounds of the rainforest. Soon, he heard a rustling in the ferns behind it. Hook turned his head and growled. However, something in the ferns hissed back.

     A head poked out of the patch of ferns. It was a Dakotaraptor. It chirped at Hook before slowly walking toward him. Hook snarled and flashed his large claws at the creature. However, it soon fully revealed itself. Hook stared at the dinosaur’s thin limbs and abdomen. Its ribs were starting to show. Clearly the creature hadn’t eaten in days. Hook felt pity for the starving creature and let it finish off the morsels left behind from the Hypsilophodon. Based on its size, the Dakotaraptor appeared to be a sub adult, almost fully grown, just like Hook.

     Soon after the Dakotaraptor began to eat, the two heard a loud humming from overhead. Seconds later, three Dimorphodons flew into the trees for cover. Hook and the Dakotaraptor followed the humming object in the sky to the coast, where they could see two objects floating in the sea. One was small, but the other was quite large, a little larger than the mosasaurs that lived in the waters around the island. However, from that moment, everything the two dinosaurs knew would change.

Chapter Two

     The two dinosaurs stood at the shore, watching the large object floating in the water. A juvenile Mosasaurus curiously approached it. However, the object stayed in place, not moving. Soon, bipedal creatures ran towards the Mosasaurus and hauled it on to a platform. Hook and the Dakotaraptor watched as the creatures attached a small rectangular object with a thin line coming out of it on the mosasaur’s back. Then, they released it back into the ocean.

     As the Mosasaurus dove into the safety of the depths, the smaller object floating in the water darted towards the shore. Hook and the Dakotaraptor ran off to the shelter of the rainforest. Hook was well hidden with his green scales and black stripes. However, the Dakotaraptor was easy to spot with his light gray coat of feathers, with long, red feathers on his neck, arms, and tail. Because of this, he was given the name Stone.

     Hook and Stone watched as a group of four bipedal creatures similar to the ones seen on the object in the water walked slowly through the jungle. One carried a long, sharp, shiny stick, while two others carried long, thin objects. Two more only carried small blocks that they occasionally held up for a few seconds. Hook and Stone carefully walked away from the group, hoping to avoid being spotted. Every couple minutes, Stone checked to see if the creatures were gone. Eventually, they all heard a loud roar. The unfamiliar creatures walked towards it, but Hook and Stone knew the source. Not wanting to get into a fight, they walked to a nearby pond.

     Siats meekerorum, one of the top predators of the island, roared in victory as it stood over its prey- a Parasaurolophus. He watched as the three remaining Parasaurolophus down a hill. The Siats, named Mortem, began to eat his prey when he heard something approaching his territory. He saw a group of five unknown creatures, each carrying an unfamiliar object, walk towards him. Two of them held up small blocks for a few seconds. Mortem roared a threat to them and took a step forward. The five ran back down the hill, and Mortem returned to his meal.

     Flies buzzed around Mortem’s mouth, trying to get the meat in his jaws and stuck between his teeth. Mortem snapped at the flies and growled. What irritated him more than the flies was what was happening inside him. He was becoming the host for different diseases and a few parasites. The worst of all was a rare strain of rabies, but it had adapted to effect dinosaurs instead of mammals. After he finished eating, a pair of Linheraptors came to finish off the meal. The two always followed larger carnivores to scavenge on leftover food, but now they would soon suffer the same fate as Mortem…

Chapter Three

     Hook and Stone walked down to a nearby lake to rest. Out in the water, they saw a pair of river ichthyosaurs jumping out of the water before falling back in. Ichthyosaurus fluminus, a species of Ichthyosaurus, evolved to live in the island’s lakes and rivers after finding themselves carried by currents and following schools of fish. They moved into estuaries and then to rivers after being outcompeted for resources in the island’s coasts by their larger cousin, the Ophthalmosaurus.

     Eventually, a Dilophosaurus approached the two dinosaurs. It looked around before sitting down on the sand. Hook growled at the new creature as it attempts to get a little closer. The Dilophosaurus hissed at Hook and stepped back a bit. It sat back down about fifty feet away from the two and watched the small fish near the shore. It eventually walked into the water, hoping to find a larger fish. However, before it could catch anything, it was pulled underwater by an unseen creature. After a few seconds, the Dilophosaurus came back out of the water and attempted to run back to the shore. Before it could make it back to shore, the unseen assailant revealed itself to be a Laganosuchus. It caught the Dilophosaurus by the leg and dragged it back down.

   The Laganosuchus let go and immediately swam off as a Camarasaurus approached the lakeshore. Three Hypsilophodons ran to the shore with it, staying with the largest species on the island for protection from predators. However, they instantly poked their heads up as something rustled in the nearby ferns. They walked closer to the Camarasaurus as every dinosaur in the area watched the five bipedal creatures slowly make their way through the rainforest. Hook got up and roared at them, swinging his long claws in the air. Two of them aimed their long, thin sticks towards him while they backed off. Once they were a comfortable distance away, Hook sat back down.

     Eventually Hook and Stone got back up and walked through the forest. After a few minutes, Hook heard the roar of a Megaraptor. He ran towards it, leaving Stone behind. As he got closer, he heard it roar again, but this time it was almost instantly drowned out by the deafening roar of a Siats. Eventually, he almost ran into the other Megaraptor. The two watched as Mortem reached them. He roared at them before walking back to his nest. However, as they turned around, they noticed six of the bipedal creatures staring at them, two of them pointing their small boxes. At this point, Hook realized that the creatures wouldn’t leave any time soon.

Chapter Four

     Hook growled at the creatures in front of them. He saw that they weren’t going to back down soon. To try to scare them off, Hook swiped and them and snapped his jaws. He began to chase them, but a loud clap drowned out his growling. He looked at one of the long sticks and saw a small trail of smoke coming out of it. He realized the sticks could hurt him. Realizing these creatures were a danger, Hook let out a deafening roar and chased after them.

     Stone came out from the tree line. He pounced on one of the creatures and dragged it away. The loud claps kept coming out of the weapons. Things were coming out of them; one grazing Hook’s left leg. He hissed in pain and grabbed one of the creatures nearby. It began to hit him and eventually punched him in the eye. He dropped it and ran off into the trees to join Stone.

     Soon after he noticed Stone, Hook noticed the Dakotaraptor had brought back the creature he pounced on. It was a female and didn’t seem to be a threat to the two. Hook nudged the creature forward and watched it run away. It was then Hook noticed the large wound on Stone’s left thigh. Something shot out of one of the creature’s weapons had hid Stone. Their home clearly wasn’t safe anymore with unknown creatures and a rabid Siats. To add on to their list of problems, the other Megaraptor from before began to follow them. It was a female Megaraptor with light green skin and small, dark green spots.

     Hook and Stone decided the new Megaraptor could stay with them after a moment of thinking. They had to make their way to the other side of the island to a safe area, free of any large carnivores. However, little did they know, the Siats, losing his sanity day by day, would follow them…

   The trio’s journey started with a trek through the swamplands. The eastern coast was too hilly to cross at some parts, so they would have to stay in the edge of the swamp. They listened to the buzzing of insects and the calls of the Parasaurolophus and Gryposaurus and watching groups of Peteinosaurus and the occasional Dimorphodon fly overhead. Eventually, they made it through the edge of the swamp and decided to spend the night in a small clearing. The next few days would be the greatest adventure to ever occur in our time…

Chapter Five

     The next morning, Hook and Stone woke up to the faint sound of growling. Hook looked around, not seeing anything but a patch of yellow leaves with some red spots. The leaves slowly moved. After a few seconds, Hook realized that what he was staring at wasn’t a patch of dead leaves, but Mortem. Following the rabid Siats were two infected Linheraptors ready to attack. They ran at the group, but Hook grabbed one in his jaws and shook it around. He tossed it to the side and watched Stone battle the other one.

     It wasn’t a very long battle, and before long Stone snapped his unfortunate relative’s spine. As one Linheraptor lay dying and the other running to Mortem for protection, Hook and Stone woke up Jade. The female Megaraptor growled at Hook before seeing Mortem. She quickly stood up and roared a challenge to the Siats. Even though the large carnivore was one of the island’s top predators slowly losing his sanity, he knew fighting two Megaraptors and a Dakotaraptor was a pretty one-sided battle. With a quiet growl, he slowly turned away.

     To avoid any other possible confrontations, the trio decided to take the longer route through the swamp. After a couple minutes of walking, they noticed a group of Heterodontosaurus. They determined that the small herbivores were too small to attempt to catch, and their teeth could leave a nasty bite. Soon after that, they saw a Carbonemys walking out of a small pool. Then, they walked to a nearby stream to drink. While they drank, they noticed a small herd of Gryposaurus a couple hundred feet away. The three slowly stalked through the trees, attempting to get closer.

     The three picked out an old hadrosaur struggling to keep up with the younger individuals. The three charged, scaring away the rest of the herd. Stone ran in circles around the old hadrosaur while Hook and Jade quickly killed it. They ate in peace, undisturbed by the local wildlife. After filling their stomachs with Gryposaurus meat, they found a small, shallow pond. They considered cutting through it until a juvenile Titanoboa about twenty-five feet long swam towards them. The trio quickly cut through the rest of the swamp, snapping their jaws at the occasional Xianglong that glided past them. Eventually, the group passed through the island’s largest swamp without any trouble.

     As the group left the swamps, they followed the main river and a couple streams, which flowed into the island’s central valley. There, they saw the island’s largest congregation of herbivores. Dinosaurs of many different species representing a few different orders lived in peace with little predator interference, except an occasional nomadic Dakotaraptor pack, a Megaraptor or two, or a Siats. The other carnivores never entered this area. The Microraptors were content in the jungles, the Spinosaurus never ventured farther than the shores, and the Linheraptors were scattered around the island’s borders. It was in this valley that the group decided to stay for a while.

Chapter Six

   Hook, Stone, and Jade decided to spend a couple days in the valley. It was a very large grassland with few trees. The wide, open plains made a good home for most of the island’s herbivores, including the Torosaurus, Amargasaurus, Kentrosaurus, and the largest species on the island- Camarasaurus.

     The three carnivores walked to a lake. The small group of Gallimimus there became noticeably uneasy, but the two Gastonia next to them didn’t mind the presence of carnivores, as they weren’t going to attack. The dinosaurs drank peacefully for about half a minute, but then a dark shape emerged from the water.

     Two long spikes came out first, followed by a back that looked like a crocodile. Soon, the creature fully emerged with some aquatic plants in its mouth. The creature was a Desmatosuchus, a very rare species on the island. The creature looked at the carnivores and then walked off to eat in peace.

     As the dinosaurs continued to drink and cool off in the water, they heard a faint humming noise, which got louder as a mysterious object got closer to the ground. The noise was followed by a few Dimorphodons darting off to hide in the trees. The Gallimimus flock near the lake ran off and the Desmatosuchus retreated back into the depths. The remaining herbivores looked up and saw an object hovering above the valley. It didn’t seem to pose a threat, but the island’s residents still looked on. It seemed to have a single wing which rapidly spun in a circle. Hook had seen these before and knew that they weren’t dangerous. As the rest of the creatures looked on in confusion, Hook, Stone, and Jade walked away.

     Soon, the trio grew hungry. The only problem was getting food in an area where most potential prey lived in groups. These groups were often too fast, too large, or too dangerous. They watched a small group of Pachycephalosaurus, but decided that they could be dangerous. There was a lone Parasaurolophus that had ventured out of the swamp, but it was too far away. Eventually, the group found a dead Amargasaurus. It was noticeably larger than a herd they saw earlier and had presumably died of old age. Hook scared off the four Compsognathus that were already eating it and the three began to eat.

     None of the herbivores in the region bothered them, as carnivores often came to the valley to get an easy meal. The Amargasaurus could last a couple days, so Hook, Stone, and Jade decided to stay in the valley. There, they could rest and plan what to do with Mortem, as it was clear he was stalking them, but for what reason?

     Not too long after they finished eating all they could fit in their stomachs, the carnivores settled down to sleep. Hook and Jade lied down next to each other, while Stone sat not too far away. Jade was soon asleep, but Hook stared at the Dakotaraptor’s leg. It looked slightly worse than it did when he was hit. Hook didn’t think it was fatal, and Stone showed no signs of pain. However, none of them knew exactly what to do about it.

   A few hours later, Hook woke up. It was very dark around him, as a New Moon was over the island. He heard honking and rumbling in the distance. Two Dimorphodons flew past him, their dark shapes illuminated by the stars in the sky. The noises got louder, and soon Jade and Stone woke up too. Stone panicked and ran off. Hook and Jade followed him, wondering what he saw as they ran. They heard other herbivores awaken from their sleep and join the escape. Eventually, the trio’s path was cut off by a pair of Camarasaurus. They decided to cut into the forest near them. Soon, the noises got closer and closer.

     Soon, a large stampede of herbivores ran past them. Some of the trees were trampled down in the panic. A Torosaurus even got stuck in the dense branches and severely wounded by trampling. Eventually, a large shape came and finished the poor ceratopsian off. A smaller shape hopped on top of the Torosaurus and the two began to eat.

   The next morning, Hook was awakened by Stone. They must have fallen asleep in the forest. They saw what remained of the Torosaurus, along with a few other bodies from creatures that were trampled. However, what could’ve caused such destruction?

Chapter Seven

     The trio decided it was too dangerous to stay in one place. Mortem would follow them anywhere for unknown reasons. Soon after eating, they began to leave the valley. The herbivores were beginning to come back, along with some new creatures. Stone spotted a Macrogryphosaurus travelling near a group of three Gallimimus. The iguanodont’s skin was the color of sand with darker limbs and light gray spots across its body like a leopard. They weren’t good at camouflage, but they were very fast and could fight back with their claws and beak if cornered. Somehow, they managed to become the island’s second most common herbivore.

     The three soon climbed out of the valley and rested for a couple minutes. They saw two Postosuchus eating a dead Gallimimus. Soon, their view was blocked by a figure the color if an olive. It passed after a couple seconds and the three recognized it as a Camarasaurus. Eventually, Hook, Stone, and Jade walked off into the small forest next to the hill. There wasn’t anything special there other than a few Microraptors gliding between the trees. Near the edge of the forest a Hypsilophodon ran across the forest. Seconds later, a dinosaur slightly larger than Hook appeared. It had a dust colored back and white underside, and looked like a bipedal Spinosaurus without the sail. It was a Baryonyx. They were very rare on the island, but some dead ones were occasionally seen on the island’s eastern beaches from the neighboring island. The Baryonyx stared at them before backing up.

     The Baryonyx was old, with wrinkles around its eyes and claws and an overall dull appearance. It seemed to be curious. Hook let it join them, taking pity on the creature. It lived isolation, not seeing a member of its species for quite some time, as the only Baryonyx on the island lived in the river deltas near the southeast. The group moved on before suddenly stopping after walking about a hundred feet. They were very close to the island’s mountain range, which was a dangerous path to cross. The other route was around, which would be two and a half times longer, and they could possibly run in to a Spinosaurus in the east, or a Siats or nomadic pack of Dakotaraptors in the west. The group decided to cut through the mountains.

   The first couple minutes went well, as the only creatures in sight were a couple Macrogryphosaurus and a small flock of Gallimimus. However, on the top of a hill, the four realized it would be hard to go further, as they had to cross the largest Linheraptor territory on the island.