The Behemoth Master leapt out of the way from an oncoming toe claw when he saw another elephant with a rider on its back charging toward him from behind the Emperor. The young warrior grabbed the Harpy and pulled her away from the blood-covered feet of the dinosaur. The two had just moved out from under the tyrannosaur when the second elephant rammed into it. Between the combined force of the Emperor and the second elephant, the tyrannosaur was forced to the ground.
With the tyrannosaur pinned on its side by the weight of two elephants, the monster’s back was exposed. The Behemoth Master and the Harpy quickly attacked the beast’s back, and they were soon joined by a dozen more warriors. The Behemoth Master and the Harpy both found themselves covered in blood as they hacked through the tyrannosaur’s flesh and muscle all the way to its backbone.
The tyrannosaur continued to thrash in a vain attempt to push the elephants off it until the Behemoth Master drove his axe into the creature’s spinal cord. When its spinal cord was severed, the monster’s legs and tail went rigid and then fell to the ground limp. The tyrannosaur roared one more time as the Emperor continued to gore it before the theropod finally died.
With blood dripping from every inch of his body, the Behemoth Master turned around and looked toward the mountainside. He fixed his eyes on Casrubol and screamed, “Why? Why have you forsaken us? Why have you betrayed Hannibal? Why have you turned your back on Carthage?”
The old man looked down at the Behemoth Master with disdain. “Why have I turned my back on Carthage and Hannibal? Because Hannibal is a fool. Because Carthage values bastards and whores over war heroes. Because the status you were given should be mine!” Casrubol pointed at the Behemoth Master and the Harpy. “You and your whore and those before you do not deserve your status. You are made commanders simply for being born and reaching adulthood, while I had to work my way to my position through battle after battle, and to what end? Rome still stands and is as powerful as ever!” He shook his head. “Hannibal’s a fool. He will die trying to cross the Alps. His mission will fail and you will die in this valley! With you two and Hannibal dead, I shall approach Rome. I shall negotiate the terms of surrender for Carthage. A key piece to that negotiation will be the turning over of the male and female heirs to Caesar for execution. The line of peasants bred to be warriors and handed their roles as leaders shall end with you two! In a few months’ time, Rome shall claim Carthage as their own and I shall be made the governor of the city. I will pay Rome the tribute they desire, I will rule over the people of Carthage, and we shall know peace.”
The Harpy screamed, “You think you will know peace? Rome will not be content with Carthage. They will want the rest of Africa. Caesar will command that you conquer the rest of the land around you in his name. Then they shall starve the people to death with taxes they cannot afford!”
Casrubol screamed, “Quiet, whore! My one regret in my actions is that I shall not be able to see you swing from the edge of my blade as you die!” He shook his head. “How can Hannibal see you, a woman, on equal terms with a warrior such as myself? The very thought is revolting to me.” He smiled. “I will admit I am impressed you killed the she-bear. I had no doubt given her standing as a mother and your lack of ability in that aspect of life that you would insist on ending the creature’s life. I had hoped the beast would kill you but if not, I knew the sight of her dead children would wound your spirit.” The old man chuckled. “Yes, your previous mate confided in me as do many of the Behemoth Masters. He told me of the wound you suffered in your first battle.” He shifted his eyes to the Behemoth Master. “Tell me, does your new lover know that you are as barren as the desert itself?”
The Behemoth Master looked toward the Harpy and while he expected to see the ferocious woman seething with anger, instead he saw her hanging her head in a mix of shame and sadness. He could see that while the Harpy could stand against bears, dragons, and warriors and endure all manner of injury, Casrubol’s revelation had hurt her more than any weapon ever could.
While he wanted to comfort the Harpy, he currently had to concern himself with the lives of the remainder of his regiment. He gestured to the warriors behind him. “What is your plan? What fate do you have in mind for these men and women who have served Carthage with loyalty and honor?”
Casrubol nodded. “Indeed, they have served with honor. They are the only reason why I have not ordered my men to unleash their arrows on you and kill all of you where you stand. I know these warriors are loyal to you, the whore, and Hannibal. As such, I cannot allow them to leave this valley. I already have a contingent of my guard approaching the second passage out of the valley. They shall block passage with an avalanche just as we did the one you entered. At this point, they have a two-day head start on you to the passage. Even if you didn’t have to fight your way through countless dragons to reach the passage, they would still arrive there before you. You have no hope of escape on this side of the valley. This is the offer I give these warriors of Carthage: Turn around. Try to make your way across the valley. If you reach the other side alive, you can climb over the mountains there and make new lives for yourselves. I will only warn you once not to return to Carthage. By the time you reach the city, I will be its governor, and if I or any of my guard find you there, you shall be put to death.”
Birilus called out, “We don’t even know how far the other side of the valley is! We have only been inside this jungle for a day and we have lost nearly half of our forces. We will never be able to reach the other side of the valley alive!”
Casrubol shrugged. “Then find a spot in the valley where you can live for as long as possible. This is not a situation that is up for discussion. Turn around now or face hundreds of arrows raining down on you.” The traitor pointed to his guards. “Also know that I will position men at regular intervals along the mountains. Should you try to scale them at a different point on this side of the valley, they will fire upon you and signal for reinforcements. I assure you, with my forces having the high ground, you shall die before you reach them either from arrows or rocks hurled down at you.”
The Behemoth Master clenched his fists in anger and nodded. “Very well. We accept your terms.” He then turned and signaled for his regiment to enter the jungle. As they entered the jungle, the Behemoth Master grabbed the Harpy by the arm. At first, she would not look and him, but he spoke gently into her ear. “We can speak of what Casrubol said of you later. Now we have to focus on surviving. We know how dangerous the jungle can be. We need to find some way to survive until we can exit the valley. I suggest that for now that we return to the field we burned. We will at least have some open space to see attackers coming at us and we know there are the bodies of the dead bird dragons there. I know they might not be the most appetizing of meals but we are going to need to start looking for food sources.”
The Harpy looked into the Behemoth Master’s eyes and nodded in reply.
The Behemoth Master then silently gestured for his regiment to increase their speed as they headed back toward the burned field.
Chapter 13
When they reached the field, the exhausted warriors set up camp. The Behemoth Master first worked with his lieutenants to set up a guard duty rotation. He then set several of his soldiers to preparing what they could from the remains of the raptors for the regiment to eat. The elephants and horses were allowed to graze on sections of the field that still remained intact under the watchful eyes of the guards as the rest of the warriors slowly returned to their tents to sleep.
Once the campsite was fully set up, the Behemoth Master met with both the Harpy and Birilus to discuss the regiment’s chances of survival.
The Behemoth Master sighed and directed his first question to Birilus. “We truly have no idea how wide this valley is and how far it is to the mountains on the other side of it?”
Birilus shrugged. “When we first exited the valley, we climbed about a third of the way up the mountains on this side of the jungle. Even at that height, we couldn’t see
the mountains on the other side of the valley. That alone is enough to indicate the valley is very wide, if not long. The other factor indicating the valley is wide is the size of the animals we have seen. In order to support beasts as large as the ones we have seen and sustain them, the valley must be considerable in size.”
The Behemoth Master shook his head. “Then we are faced with the possibility of weeks traveling through this valley to reach the other side?”
Birilus sighed. “Weeks, if not months. We are also faced with the prospect of not knowing how much distance there is between here and the next water source. Attaining food for us and the animals would appear to be at least be possible but with how hot this place is, water is something we will need in abundant supply.”
The Behemoth Master looked toward the Harpy. He could see that she was still hurt deeply by Casrubol’s revelation in regards to her inability to have children. He felt for the woman and he wanted to comfort her, but he also knew that any comfort he could provide for her would be inconsequential if they were all dead in the next two days. He decided that for now the best thing he could do for her would be to refocus her keen mind on the task at hand.
He gestured toward her. “Harpy, what are your thoughts? What is the best plan of action for us to escape this valley?”
The Harpy took a moment to compose herself before finally replying, “We have seen that trying to make our way through the jungle is a death sentence. We are open to ambush attack at any moment while we are in the trees. We need to find an area that we can defend, have safe access to the river, and can use as a base from which to send out scouts to find the next spot that will meet our needs as we make our way to the far side of the mountains. The main issue we currently face is how to access the river without fear of being attacked by those giant crocodiles.”
The Behemoth Master spoke with a slight bit of hope in his voice for the first time since entering the valley. “I may have a solution for that. Crocodiles are not unknown to us in water sources we regularly access. We avoid attacks from them by employing two methods. The first is to study where attacks occur more frequently and then avoid those areas. We already know that the mouth of the river seems to be an area where attacks occur so we will move farther downstream before trying to access the river again.” He looked toward the Harpy as he tried to craft his next words as specifically as he could given her feelings about his next suggestion. “One of the other ways is to bring elephants with us when we access rivers known to have crocodiles. The elephants are too big for the crocodiles to attack and as such, they move away from them.”
Birilus interjected, “We have already seen that the crocodiles in this river are more than large enough to attack an elephant.”
The Behemoth Master nodded. “Indeed we have. As such, we must find the creatures that fill the same role in this valley that elephants fill back in Africa. We need to find animals so large that the giant crocodiles would be disinclined to attack them.”
The Harpy’s eyes went wide in a mix of concern and anger. “You are referring to the long-neck creatures we saw earlier. Do you seek to bend them to our will and have them suit our needs?”
The Behemoth Master shook his head. “No. Rather we shall change our ways to fit their movements. We must track the long necks and determine when they go to drink from the river. We must follow them to the river as best we can. If we approach the water with the long necks, we can also look to find areas of the river where the crocodile populations are low. Once we have knowledge of these areas, we will no longer need to follow the long-neck herds.” He looked over to see the Harpy smiling at him. She was pleased that he had found a way to utilize the long necks to increase their chances of survival without subjecting the creatures to their will.
Birilus threw his hands into the air. “Our plan for escaping the valley is to find the herd of long necks and stay with them as long as we need to until we can establish safe areas to access the river and find an area where we can set up a long term camp? From there, we are to send out scouts to try and find other water sources we can access as we can make our way across the valley? You realize that each water source we find could also have crocodiles in it? This process will repeat itself over and over again until we reach the far side of the valley. Even if we survive the attacks that will come from the monsters we have already encountered, it could take months, if not years, to reach the other side of this hellish place. We are then faced with leaving behind whatever animals are still alive as we scale the mountains and enter the Alps with no idea of where we are or what season it is? We could very well be faced with wandering around the Alps in the dead of winter.” He shook his head. “Casrubol has handed us a death sentence.”
The Harpy shook her head. “No, he has handed us a life sentence. The people who created Carthage were faced with the same challenges we now face. They moved through an unknown land with dangerous animals. They were able to make a life for themselves without the help of elephants and horses.” She stood up. “Birilus is right. Even if we are to escape the valley, we will most likely die in the mountains. If we can find a way to exist in the valley, not only can we survive, but we can thrive. We can live in a world where there are no Romans or any other group with which to engage in war with. There is no question the creatures here are dangerous, but they are just animals. We can find ways to avoid them or dissuade them from attacking us.” She looked toward the Behemoth Master. “Casrubol is a traitorous pig and he deserves to die, but he may have handed us something we never thought we would have. We now have a way to avoid endless war, to avoid living under the rule of generals and Caesars. Casrubol had thought to kill us, but perhaps he has freed us from a life where we were destined to die on the battlefield. This valley does not have to be the end of our lives; rather, it can be the beginning.”
The Behemoth Master was stunned and intrigued by the Harpy’s suggestion. All his life, he had been a warrior of Carthage. He had trained since birth to fight, and if need be, die, in defense of the city. This was to be his path in life. Until only a few hours ago, he had considered this to be an honorable and fulfilling life but the Harpy had opened his eyes as to how restrictive that life was. How his life as a warrior meant nothing but endless battles and eventual death. For the first time in his life, the Behemoth Master was faced with a choice about his future. He could try to make his through the valley and return to his life of war and bloodshed or he could stay in a valley filled with dragons and monsters where he could choose his own destiny with a woman whom he loved and suspected had started to develop feelings for him.
It only took one look at the Harpy as she stood silhouetted by the moon for him to decide. The Harpy clearly wanted to stay in the valley, and he wanted to stay with her. In the short time he had been with the Harpy, he knew that he needed to find a way to win her over. Aside from her beauty, her strength and courage attracted him like no other woman he had encountered before. Even if she did not love him, he was determined to win the warrior woman’s heart.
The Behemoth Master shifted his eyes to Birilus. “What say you, Birilus?”
The scout shook his head. “I don’t think we can survive long in this valley, but I do not think that we can cross it either. I agree with the idea that setting up a semi-permanent campsite is our best option. Still, I fear that we shall die if we stay in the valley too long. Despite Casrubol’s proclamation, he and his warriors cannot stay on the mountainside indefinitely. They will leave before winter comes lest they freeze to death in the Alps. I suggest that we wait one year in the valley for Casrubol to leave and the next summer to come. When next summer arrives, we can climb out of the mountains closest to us just as I did when we first entered the valley. If Hannibal was successful in his mission, we can report Casrubol’s betrayal to him. If Casrubol is governor of Carthage, we can survey our prospects and determine how best to proceed from there.”
The Behemoth Master nodded. “When you were last in the valley, did you not see anywhere th
at could meet our needs? A place where the long necks might gather near the river and where we would have some open space outside of the jungle?”
Birilus thought for a moment and then nodded. “Roughly halfway between the entrance and the exit to the valley, there is such a place. There is a grassland at the midpoint of the river. We saw the long necks move there and then move away from it as we made our way across the mountainside and surveyed the valley.” The young warrior shook his head. “There is perhaps one large obstacle to claiming this area as our own. A group of dragons who walk on four legs, have a shield for a face, and three horns sticking out of the shield like lances seem to claim the area as their territory. They tolerate the long necks but as we watched them from the mountains, we saw these creatures attack and drive off several other animals who tried to drink from that area of the river.”
The Behemoth Master looked toward the river. “How long do you suspect it will take us to reach this point if we leave tomorrow?”
Birilus thought about the question a moment before responding. “I believe that if we leave our current location at dawn tomorrow and are not met with much resistance on our journey, we could reach the area by sunset.”
The Behemoth Master stood up. “This area would appear to be the best spot for us to set up a campsite that can sustain us for at least a year. At dawn, we shall inform the regiment that we shall be heading out for this area. When we reach the area in question, we shall either find a way to coexist with the horned dragons that live there, or we shall drive from the area.”
Valley of the Dinosaurs Page 11