Hunter suddenly broke into laughter while Saber embarrassingly watched. Even the happiest hyenas were far off in comparison.
“What? You need my help? Is this a joke? Because if it is, you got me.” He chuckled.
“It’s not a joke Hunter. I really do need your help.”
“Help with what?”
“The preys.”
Hunter abruptly froze at the single utter of that word. To him, the word ‘prey’ held more meaning than anything in his entire life. Considering how much they have been through together, when it finally came to that, they both had a mutual agreement.
“They took my son. I have to get him back.”
“How?”
“Invasion.”
“You want to wage a war with the preys?”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself. You in?”
“Heck yeah.”
“It’ll be just like old times. You, me, and a pile of broken bones.”
They smiled and let their over-imaginative minds create the best of the worst yet to come.
Chapter 19: Final Stand.
“I know by now you’ve all heard the rumours,” Zafeen began his well-rehearsed speech to all the council members, elders, and generals.
The bright orange setting sun pierced its rays through the trees and lit up the pedestal on which he stood. However, the stonehenge’s pillars casted their shadows on the rest of the crowd. They all looked on to his majesty, and as always, the queen was by his side.
“And am here to tell you that,” he hesitated, “They are all true. The predators are planning to attack us at any time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are already on their way right now. But as always, I’ve got a plan.”
Suddenly, the two vicious and unfriendly gorillas came out from behind the pillar and escorted the frightened cub through the rattled audience. They all stood up at the mere sight of him, murmuring as the foul creature passed by. He felt so out of place that he couldn’t even lift up his face.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you…our ticket to victory.” He proclaimed and they all cheered him on.
“I don’t believe this.” Varn whispered to himself even as the proof stood right in front of him.
From the look in his eyes, he was most definitely surprised.
“Are you nuts?” He consulted Zafeen, who basked in the limelight of his own appraisal.
“Relax, I’ve got it covered.” He assured him, still hooked to his overzealous state.
“You all know the plan?” Saber growled.
He stood in front of the most ferocious, unsympathetic and brutal predators. All hungry for some prey meat. Lake Guilderm was so dark and silent at that time. Maybe it was the cold night, or the savage beasts on its shore plotting their ruthless demise.
“We go in, hack some heads off, and save Rycka. We got it. Piece of cake.” Sand cockily replied.
“Yeah, easy as pie.” Stew added.
“Byron, you’ll lead the first attack, and Hunter, you’ve got the next. I’ll deal with his majesty supreme myself.”
“Do you have to do this Saber?” She cried.
“There is no other way Kyra.”
“And when Eury wakes up, what am I supposed to tell her?”
“Just tell her that I went to get Rycka back.”
“Just promise me you’ll come back.” She worried and gazed into his eyes.
“I promise.”
He leaned in closer and softly caressed her restless heart at ease. He then took one last glance at Eury and sprinted off at the break of dawn.
“You all know the drill!” Zafeen commanded.
He stood in front of a three lined-up strike team, all awaiting his orders. They stood firm and held their ground. They precisely asserted themselves in position and cautiously looked on ahead. Zafeen was beside Varn and Kart. Not a sound came out of them, while they uttered their last words deep into their hearts. For Kart and Zafeen, it was a sincere dedication to their beloved son. For Varn, it was a simple ‘help me’. He was scared as hell and wanted nothing more than to get the heck out of there. The wind abruptly blew right through them and they embraced it. They felt the world around them as it brushed through their fur. It carried up the light dry sand off the ground and fogged their sights. The sky became cloudless no more, and the sun hid its light from them. Soon, darkness engulfed the thunderous sky.
Suddenly, they heard loud trampling footsteps heading their way. It got louder as it drew near. They tried focusing their eyes and hoped to glance a peek through the curtain of sand. When the fog cleared, they found themselves staring at their most frightful nightmares come to life. Saber, along with Byron and Hunter, stood on the other side of the field. They too had their own three lined-up strike team backing them up. They were ready for whatever the preys would throw at them. Saber ragingly stared into Zafeen’s eyes as he huffed and puffed the sand off his face.
“Where’s my son!” He roared.
“He’s safe, for now.” He smiled. “If you want to see him again, surrender yourself to me.”
“No.” He growled.
In Zafeen’s mind, only one thought ran through after that, plan-B. He had left him no choice but to command the first wave into action.
“Guys, come on! We need to hurry up if we wanna save Rycka!” Eury cried out to Ranus and the gang.
They all blindly followed her fast rhythmic pace off the shore.
“Do you even know where he is?” Ranus asked.
“No. We’ll just have to keep looking until we find him.” She said, holding on to that single ray of hope.
They stormed the field just as they did last time, grinding the dirt underneath their hooves. Only this time, the predators anticipated it. Saber, Hunter and Byron stepped back and gave way to their hidden defence force. With their knees knelt to the ground, they revealed their true form and pushed to the front of the line. They nailed their claws to the ground and leaned forward. They strategically conjoined themselves together and formed one heck of a shield. Their shaggy coats of fur, and buff muscular bodies lived up to everyone’s terrifying expectation of them.
Zafeen’s wave came crashing, and rammed into each other. The bears then broke out of their formation and ruthlessly slaughtered every single one of them to their early graves. Zafeen cold-heartedly listened to their cry for help. The screams, spilled blood, and guts nauseated Varn. The bears stood their ground once again, while Saber, Hunter, and Byron reappeared. They looked at the seriously pissed off Zafeen and smiled.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Saber chuckled.
“Not by a long shot.” He whispered to himself, before calling out the big guns.
He summoned the ‘suicide-squad’ to unleash their wrath upon them. Mammoths, triceratopses, and rhinos all charged in at once. Their tusks led the way as they raced through the field head on. They all screamed in unison, steaming up the air along the way. Zafeen smiled as he watched them horn in closer to the predators. They were just a few feet from them, when suddenly, the unexpected happened. From the depths of the woods, sprang nature’s unforeseen creatures. They leaped over Saber and his team, and landed right in front of the ‘suicide-squad’. Braking their speed, they slid straight into their grasp. They tore their every limb and flung them in the air. They vigorously shook them apart like the puny preys they were and ripped them to shreds.
“Sorry we’re late,” One of the tyrannosaurus rex spared some time off from his ‘fun’ and addressed Saber. The stench of prey flesh lingered in his breath. “We would have been here sooner but…”
“No need to apologise Garrett, you’re just in time.”
Zafeen now grew worried as his battalion were wiped off the face of the earth. He ragingly commanded the entire army into the battlefield. However, Saber also did the same. They all sprinted to the fight. Meanwhile, Saber, Zafeen, Varn, and Kart watched from the sidelines as it all spiralled out of control.
“Call for back up!” Zafeen commanded Varn, w
ho swiftly dashed out and vanished into the woods.
Chapter 20: Unexpected.
Eury, Ranus, and the gang searched all over Praemar, evading every single threat along the way. More importantly, they made sure to stray away from the war. Their limbs almost gave out since Rycka’s scent had left no trail behind for them to follow. They only had to rely on their instincts and Eury’s stubbornness. Suddenly, they came across the graveyard while they hid from the preys marching to the battlefield. Eury sniffed out Rycka’s stench and traced it to the open cave where the two malicious primates stood guard. They huddled together behind the sets of bushes that marked the tombstones of every fallen prey comrade.
“Am telling you guys, Rycka is in there. I can feel it.” Eury whispered.
“I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right about this place.” Lystra commented.
“Of course it doesn’t. It’s a graveyard you moron.” Said Kris.
“Guys, aren’t we forgetting something?” Qelshy intervened.
“What?” Lystra unhesitantly inquired.
“Umm, the two giant problems over there. How are we supposed to get passed them?”
They all looked to Ranus, hoping that maybe he had a trick up his sleeve.
“Alright, here’s the plan. Lystra, you distract them, while we get Rycka.” Ranus informed.
“Are you crazy?” Lystra immediately disagreed. “There is no way am doing that.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Why can’t any of them do it instead?”
“You are the fastest. Only you can outrun them.”
“Dang it! Curse my God-given talent.”
They silently laughed as he crept his way closer to the cave. His heart beat fast, unleashing all the momentum and adrenaline inside. He crouched and momentarily paused. He was still unsure of himself.
“You can do it Lystra.” Eury encouraged him.
He glanced back to his pals and saw the faith in their eyes. This gave him the much needed confidence boost to sprint off out of the graveyard. He dashed straight through them like the wind between their feet and ducked into the woods. They quickly took notice of his foolery and went after him, angrily roaring out their frustrations. The gang wasted no time running towards the cave and screaming out for Rycka. They stared into the cave’s dark soulless abyss, but couldn’t see anything. Not even their nocturnal glow-in-the-dark eyesight could help them.
“Rycka?” Eury hopelessly cried her heart out.
She silently sobbed and bowed her head in defeat, giving up all hope of ever finding him. Suddenly, they heard a faint but recognizable voice from the cave. They stared inside it and unbelievably spotted the weak Rycka draggingly walking towards them. With his fur all rough and uncombed, he struggled to stay up on his feet.
“Rycka!” Eury screamed.
She was so happy to see him again that she ran to him. She pounced on him and continuously licked his face. Rycka strongly pushed her off him and wiped off the saliva from his face. He grunted at her for embarrassing him, but she just gently shoved him to the side and smiled. The gang huddled around him for a group hug, squeezing him so tight that he wished he was back in the cave.
Suddenly, they heard a loud thump and the earth vibrantly shook. The small pebbles beside them rolled away as it got louder. A distinct voice screamed at them in the distance. Bursting through the trees, Lystra appeared and ran past them. He didn’t even look back. He just kept screaming out one word repeatedly, “Run!” Heeding his word, they followed him out of the graveyard. They hurriedly slithered through the trees while the two enraged creatures of hell chased them through the forest. They swung through the trees and leaped over the branches. Rycka, who hadn’t eaten anything for the past three days, couldn’t believe how fast he ran. The primates loudly roared in their backs, tearing down anything that stood in their way.
“Attack!” Zafeen commanded.
Every single prey bird took flight and swooped down from above, overwhelming the predators with their aerial attacks.
“Two can play that game.” Saber growled.
He ran to the edge of the forest and roared aloud into its depths, unleashing his ‘flying squad’. A flock of green scaly screeching bird-like creatures took to the sky and dismembered every prey bird. They strategically aimed for their wings while their razor sharp teeth cut through their feather covered flesh. One by one, they succumbed to the pterodactyls. This made Zafeen even angrier, and he immediately called out his secret weapon. A very large herbivorous dinosaur took to the battlefield. He had a small head attached to a really long neck. He also had a long tail, and four thick pillar like legs. He came crashing in, for he was too big and too heavy to run. He stomped and squashed every predator in his wake. He grabbed hold of the pterodactyls and flung them back into the forest.
However, the tyrannosauruses focused on the sauropod and carefully attacked him in a well-coordinated strategy. They went after his elephant-like legs, biting and clawing through his reptilian skin. They wounded him and he came tumbling down across that large hectare of field. Once he was down, they aimed for his neck and savagely drew the living breath from him. Saber looked on and smiled. Suddenly, he heard Kyra’s sweet angelic voice beckoning him. He took his focus from the war and spotted her running to him.
“Saber!” She screamed as she made her way over.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“It’s Eury. She’s gone.”
“What?”
“She left the cave, and could be anywhere. You’ve gotta find her.”
All of a sudden, bursting through the other side of forest, a group of screaming cubs came running. The two enraged primates were still hot on their tail. They slithered their way through the battling maniacs, evading every grasp, and hid behind Kyra. The two primates got lost in the fuss and came face to face with Garrett. He instantly ripped their heads off and their lifeless bodies fell at his feet.
“Where have you been?” Kyra asked her.
“Saving Rycka,” she replied as she pointed to him.
She quickly took notice and immediately embraced him into her arms. She continuously licked him clean while Ranus and the gang humorously chuckled. Rycka once again found himself pushing her off.
“Aren’t you a long way from home?” Saber said to Eury before joining the family reunion.
Zafeen watched from the distance, his anger reaching its peak.
“Fetch.” He anonymously whispered out in the open, summoning the shadow hunters.
In the wind, the stallions heard their master’s call and rode in. Their black fur masked them as they clumped their way through the mayhem. They sprinted towards Rycka in a cloud of dark mist. However, Eury saw them coming and hurriedly jumped in front of Rycka. She pushed him away, and the stallions whisked her to Zafeen instead. She screamed out in the distance as the stallions offered her to him.
“You want her back? Then let’s finish this, just the two of us.” Zafeen shouted to Saber.
They commanded their armies back until only the two of them were left standing in the middle of the field. Their eyes affixed on each other while they growled and grunted. The sky suddenly darkened and lightning stroke. The loud thunder shook the earth while they sprinted across the field. Unexpectedly, the sky bursted open, and a massive celestial body composed of rock and metal flared down. It burned bright through the air and grew larger as it headed straight for them. Saber and Zafeen were too caught up in their vengeful brawl to notice it. They wondered what everyone was staring at and looked up in the sky. That’s when they saw the falling ‘star’. It was such a beautiful sight that for a moment they stopped fighting and marvelled at it. The earth abruptly shook and heated up. Finally, Saber and Zafeen realized what was going on and screamed out in unison, “Run!”
They hurriedly ran after their families while everyone misguidedly dispersed from the field. In all this confusion, Eury managed to escape from the stallions’ grasp. However, sh
e found it hard to get through the stampede that hovered in her way. She screamed out for help in the distance and Saber heard her. He instructed Kyra to lead everyone out before going back for her. He struggled to dodge his way through the rattled and panicking animals. Zafeen, Kart, and Varn were almost through the field. They vanished through the forest and kept on running.
The asteroid had now made its way through the atmosphere and was spiralling out of control. Eury trembled, for she was too afraid to run. She just stood there while everyone ran past her. She could feel their feet brushing her skin as they hovered above her. Suddenly, she found herself hanging in mid-air. She looked up and saw her father grabbing her by the neck, whisking her to safety. Unfortunately, they hadn’t gone that far when they were abruptly knocked down right in the middle of the field. All around them, the nervous animals rampaged across the field. They blocked their every chance of escape. The asteroid was right above them when Saber took Eury into his arms and held her tight.
The Pack : Prey Vs Predator Page 12