Valley of the Dinosaurs

by Matthew Dennion

  Birilus stood and went toward his tent. As the Behemoth Master was heading toward his tent, he felt the Harpy place her calloused hand in his. Inwardly, he was thrilled by the sign of affection from the Harpy, but he also feared the apprehension of the conversation he knew was coming. For all of his training and with all that he had learned both from and about the Harpy, he was unsure of how to talk to her about, not only where their relationship now stood, but the revelation that Casrubol had just made regarding the warrior women and his unwitting role in helping Casrubol’s plan come to fruition.

  When they entered their tent, neither of them sat down. They both stood in the tent with their eyes averted from each other. After a long silence, the Behemoth Master spoke first. “Forgive me for my ignorance of our current situation, my interactions with women so far has been limited to mating with the servants who were at my beck and call. When I first met you, I was attracted to your beauty and your ferocity. I quickly came to understand that you saw me as a man who was filling a role for the soldiers and that the physical affection you displayed toward me was directed to that end. I did my best to fill that role while at the same time respecting your wishes regarding our status as a breeding pair.” The young warrior shrugged. “In my time with you, I have learned a degree of humility I had not known as an heir. In the short time we have spent together, you have shown me new hunting and fighting techniques, you have shown me new battle strategies, and most importantly, you have shown me what it means to be a leader.”

  The Behemoth Master could feel his pulse racing and his heart beating in his ears as he summoned all of his courage to speak his next sentence. “I feel as if your latest displays of affection toward me have been genuine. If I am correct in this assumption, please know that I both love and desire you more now than I did when I first met you. At this point, my attraction to you is more than physical. Everything about you intrigues and excites me. Now that I have made my feelings known, please understand that I no longer expect you to adhere to our betrothal to each other. In that respect, Casrubol has won. The line of the Behemoth Master and the Harpy have ended. This is in no small part my fault, as I gave Casrubol the order to enter the valley ahead of us and provided him with the chance to ambush us and attain the high ground. The deaths of the warriors who died in the avalanche are on my head. The warriors who are still alive are aware of these facts as well. There is no longer a point to us keeping a facade of a relationship for their benefit.”

  The young warrior looked into the eyes of the woman he loved as he spoke words which cut him deeper than any sword or dagger. “If you do not feel the same way toward me that I feel toward you, I will bear no ill will toward you. If you ask me to leave this tent and find my own accommodations, I will comply with your request. If you wish me to stay, I will do my best to be a mate worthy of you, no matter what our future holds or where we find ourselves. I would ask though whether you wish me to be your mate or not that you allow me to continue to learn from you. Had I focused more on what you could offer me as leader as opposed to a mate, Casrubol would be in the valley with us and those who died in the avalanche would still be alive well.”

  The Harpy stared back at the Behemoth Master with tears in her eyes as she responded. “It is me who needs to apologize to you. I was overly hostile to you when we first met. It was this approach toward you on my part that kept you from fully trusting me. Had I been more open with you, had I overtly stated my fears regarding Casrubol, then you would never have sent him ahead of us into the valley. We both could have acted differently and not given Casrubol the opportunity to cause the avalanche. We must keep in mind, however, that it was Casrubol who betrayed us and killed those men and women. The deaths of those warriors are his fault and his fault alone. The rest of the regiment knows this, and they still have faith in us, or they have abandoned us at the base of the mountains.”

  She took a deep breath as she addressed the second part of the Behemoth Master’s concerns. “In the past, most of the Harpys and Behemoth Masters were simply breeding partners without feelings for each other. When the previous Harpy died, I had barely attained womanhood. While I was confident in my skills as a warrior and a leader, I doubted my ability to fulfill my role as a mate to your predecessor. He was older than me and more practiced in the ways of coupling. He could have taken advantage of me. He could have used me to carry out his most carnal desires, but instead, he was kind to me. He gave me insight as to how to be a warrior and a leader. He made me a better person, and because of that, I fell in love with him. Unlike most of the previous Harpys, I loved the Behemoth Master who was my mate. I had yet to provide him with a child when I was stabbed in battle. The wound took months to heal. During that time and given the location of the wound, I thought it might inhibit my ability to bear children. Once I had recovered and was able to mate with my lover once more, over time, it became evident that I would never produce any offspring.”

  The proud and seemingly fearless warrior woman looked away from the Behemoth Master. “Since I was no longer able to bear children, he would have been within his rights to cast me aside and request another to fill my role as Harpy. Yet he decided that he would not have me removed from my role. It was at that moment that I knew he loved me as well. It was also at that time that I realized what I had gained and what had been denied to me. By falling in love with him, I began to realize that we would never truly be together. I knew that even were I able to have children that the two of us would never live on a farm in happiness. We were destined to live out the rest of our lives leading warriors into never-ending battle. I knew that one day, each of us would die on the battlefield. In what was to be our short lives, we would know love but we would never know peace or happiness. This realization actually made the loss of any future children more bearable as I would no longer bring children into this world to live in the same war-filled life that I did.”

  She shook her head. “Like many of the heirs, my lover saw Casrubol as a mentor. I do not blame him for consulting Casrubol about my condition, just as I don’t blame you for trusting him to be the first to enter the valley. While I have always known that the man hated women and saw not only me but the very idea of the Harpy as loathsome, I could not deny the sway he held over the heirs. I doubt my lover would ever have considered the notion that one day Casrubol would use that information against me.”

  She looked back into the eyes of the Behemoth Master. “When he died, my heart was crushed and so were my hopes. The man I loved, as well as the leader and warrior I respected, was gone. I had thought the next Behemoth Master would be an arrogant young man who would believe that he already possessed the skills to be the Behemoth Master. I also knew it would not be long before the next Behemoth Master realized I was unable to have children and I was replaced as the Harpy. I had come to terms with this prospect as while I would no longer have the man I loved, there was at least the possibility that I would be able to leave the military and live out the rest of my life in peace. My only regret was to leave the warriors I had led for so many years in the hands not only one but two novices.”

  She stepped forward and placed her hands in those of the Behemoth Master. “What I did not expect was that the heir who took the place of my lover was going to be not only strong and brave but open-minded and caring. I thought I would be trying to teach a bull-headed warrior and that the only way I could get through to him was to withhold my body from him until he was willing to accept what I could teach him. What I was not expecting was a young man who was not only willing to learn what I could teach but eager. I was not expecting a man who was more interested in my skills as a warrior and leader than he was my body. I was not expecting a man who cared more about those under his command than he did himself. I was not expecting a man who could live up to the idealized version of what the Behemoth Master should be as determined by my dead lover.”

  She leaned forward and quickly kissed the Behemoth Master. “What I did not expect was to find another man who I
could fall in love with.” She then quickly pulled away from the young warrior. “Not only have I fallen in love again but in trying to give us a death sentence, Casrubol has given us the chance to escape a life of never-ending war. Life in this valley will be dangerous but as I said, our ancestors faced similar dangerous and yet they found a way to live with the animals around them. Despite my anger at Casrubol’s betrayal when he voiced his plan to us, for a brief moment, the thought of living in this valley with you crept into my mind. Then, in an act of ultimate cruelty, Casrubol took that dream away from me by announcing to you and the entire regiment that I am unable to bear children.”

  Tears began to stream down the scarred yet beautiful face of the warrior woman. “I swear once we had found a spot where the regiment could settle or we found a way out of the valley for those who wished to leave, I would have told you. I knew that you had fallen in love with me and I wanted the prospect of being with me to help drive you to find some way for us to survive what we are now facing. I feared if you knew being with me meant you could never have children, it would stifle your drive to be the leader these warriors need. Please forgive me for taking this approach. I was only thinking in this manner for the benefit of those under my command.”

  The Behemoth Master wrapped his arms around the Harpy. “I love you, and nothing in the world, be it a jungle filled with monsters or a traitorous general, can change that.” He kissed her briefly. “I want to spend whatever time I have left with you. It does matter if we have children or not. You have already given me more than I even knew was possible in life. You have given me the ability to think outside of the parameters of my training. You have given me the hope of one day living a life outside of Hannibal’s army. If we are alive in a year’s time, I shall be happy to try and leave this valley with you or live out the rest of our lives here. It makes no difference where we live as long as I am with you.”

  The Harpy leaned in and passionately kissed the Behemoth Master. When she finally pulled her lips away from his, he looked her in the eyes again. “While we may not be able to provide each other with children, I had thought of one gift we could give to each other.” He shook his head. “The Behemoth Master and the Harpy are titles and roles. They are not names. People before us had these same titles and were it not for Casrubol’s treachery, others would have the titles after us. Given that our lives in those roles are gone, may I suggest that as a sign of our love for each other, we give each other names?”

  The Harpy nodded in reply as the tears streaming down her face, changed from tears of shame and sadness to tears of joy.

  The Behemoth Master smiled. “The title of Harpy captures the ferocity you display in battle, but in myth, the harpies were hideous and unintelligent creatures. I believe you need a name that captures both your skill as a warrior, as well as your cunning and loyalty. I believe that your name should be Amazon in reference to the warriors of myth whose legacy you carry through to today.”

  Amazon smiled at her new name and looked over the Behemoth Master as she considered what his name should be. After considering multiple names, she squeezed her lover’s hands. “You shall be known as Hectseus, a combination of Hector and Odysseus. As you have the bravery, concern for your soldiers, and skill in battle of Hector and the keen mind of Odysseus.”

  Amazon pulled Hectseus close to her and said. “Now let us not mate as the Harpy and the Behemoth Master. Let us make love as Amazon and Hectseus.”

  Chapter 14

  The rest of the night passed without incident. The calls of the bird dragons and the larger dragons could be heard throughout the jungle, but a ring of fires set around the campsite seemed to hold the monsters at bay.

  When Hectseus awoke at dawn, he leaned over and kissed the still sleeping Amazon. The warrior woman awoke, smiled, and kissed him back. The young warrior then stood and looked down at his lover. “We will have to inform the rest of the warriors that our plan calls for us to stay in the valley for the next year before we attempt to drive the horned dragons from the area we have chosen.”

  Amazon stood up next to him and placed her hand in his. “Do not yet offer them the chance to stay in the valley. Many of them have yet to consider a life beyond the Carthaginian military but perhaps in a year’s time, they will have had ample opportunity to consider their options in life.”

  Hectseus smiled. “As usual, your beauty is only exceeded by your wisdom.” Amazon smiled and kissed him again before the two of them walked out of the tent hand in hand to find the majority of the regiment waiting for them. It was obvious that the men and women standing before the two leaders were scared and needed guidance. Their fear came not from the prospect of facing dinosaurs or even death itself. These were warriors had fought bravely in every battle they had ever been in. This current fear was something that their training had never prepared them for: the unknown. For their entire lives, the soldiers of Carthage had a direction in their lives. They were warriors and their only concern about the future was when their next training session or battle would be. Now they were faced with the challenge, not only having no possible idea of what their next mission or battle was, but also with having to forge a sense of self.

  The men and women standing before Hectseus and Amazon had always been warriors of Carthage. They had assumed they would remain as such until they died. Casrubol’s decree had all but taken that away from them, and now they were searching for something to give them purpose, and in their eyes, that search began with the people they knew as the Behemoth Master and the Harpy.

  Hectseus took a deep breath and tried to sound as confident and as reassuring as he could while addressing the soldiers. “Warriors of Carthage, you have all heard the words of the traitor known as Casrubol. I like many of you saw this man as a hero and someone who I should strive to be like. As such, like many of you, his betrayal has wounded me deeply.”

  Hectseus was silent for a moment as many of the warriors nodded their heads or whispered affirmatively at this statement. Once the murmurs died down, Hectseus continued with his speech. “I know that Casrubol has stated that he shall take control of Carthage and form an alliance with the Romans. I know that he said he would kill anyone of us who would return to the city we call home. These are troubling statements and yet they are hollow! Casrubol also said one thing that I cannot foresee happening. He stated that Hannibal would fail in his quest and die in the Alps.”

  Hectseus face flared with anger and emotion as he spoke. “You all know Hannibal, and I ask you, do any of you think that the general’s determination will be defeated by the mountains or even by the Romans themselves?” He then looked over the warriors, hoping that the legendary general’s name would still have some impact on the warriors who idolized him.

  Shouts of, “No” and, “Hannibal will traverse the Alps and kill the Romans” sprung up from the warriors.

  Hectseus let them shout out words of praise for Hannibal before he lifted his hand to silence them. Once the crowd was quiet again, Hectseus resumed speaking. “I agree with you. Hannibal will be victorious! We will return home too and when we do so, we shall expose Casrubol for the traitor that he is!”

  The warriors shouted and raised their shields in response to Hectseus’ declaration. Once more, the young warrior raised his hand to silence the warriors. He grabbed Amazon’s hand as he delivered the next part of his speech. “We can escape this valley, but we can’t do it by fighting our way through Casrubol’s forces. They have the high ground on us but within this valley, we have several things they do not have. We have food, water, and warmth. Casrubol’s men will not be able to hold their positions on the mountainside. They will run out of food long before we do, and they will have to leave the Alps prior winter setting in. Just as Casrubol’s men will not be able to cross the Alps in winter, nor will we be able to do so either! This leads us to the task currently before us, the task we need to overcome if we are to leave this valley and continue to serve Carthage!”

  Hectseus was silent f
or a moment before he held a single finger over his head. “One year! We need to survive one year in this valley for Casrubol’s forces to leave and to allow us the chance to escape over the nearby mountains. Not far from here is an area near the river where we will have opportunities to access it without fear of attack by the giant crocodiles. Our first step in securing this land will be to find a way to live either with the three-horned dragons who currently occupy it or to drive them off.”

  Hectseus rose his voice as he screamed, “Warriors of Carthage, are you with me?” The warriors roared back at Hectseus with a loud cheer as they raced to their horses and elephants.

  Amazon leaned over toward Hectseus and whispered, “Of all of your skills, your ability as orator is second only to Hannibal himself.” She quickly kissed him and then headed for her horse.

  Hectseus ran over to the Emperor and climbed on top of the massive elephant. He was careful to avoid climbing up on the side of the animal’s head where his ear had been torn off. Once he was on top of the Emperor, Hectseus looked over his warriors and shouted, “Onward, for Hannibal and for Carthage!”

  Throughout the day, the regiment made their way to the area Birilus had suggested. As they made their trek through the jungle, the raptors once more started to surround them. This time, however, they were prepared for the vicious creatures. Several warriors had prepared for this attack by having flaming arrows at the ready. When the raptors had started to run through the jungle alongside them, the warriors fired their flaming arrows at the demons. When the dinosaurs saw the fire flying toward them, they turned and fled deeper into the jungle.

  Just prior to sunset, the regiment finally reached the area near the river where the three-horned dragons that would one day be known as Triceratops were congregated. Hectseus and Amazon were the first two warriors to make their way out of the jungle and toward the Triceratops.