Primal Saga Volume 1: The Queen of Silence

Chapter 10: A Dino Crisis

I stood there, frozen in place, unable to move for what seemed like an eternity.

Obscured by darkness, the creature peered at me and Aila with its feline-like eyes. It was about the size of a large dog and stood in a very similar posture to a jungle cat. However, its body was crocodile-like. Its head looked like some kind of cross between a lion and a dinosaur. 

The thing flashed its bloody fangs with a low hissing growl.

The animal stood up on Bernie's corpse, it reared back onto its hind legs awkwardly and began sniffing the air. Its nostrils flared open and closed again. Then it pointed its snout directly at me. Its eyes intensified at the sight of its next victim.

The animal shifted its weight into an low stance. I was so paralyzed with fear all I could do was watch while I stood there stupidly, in a deep trance. The creature charged at me on all four legs, racking the hallway floors as it galloped, but then something else came into view. It was Aila. 

My mind was not ready for what was about to happen next. Aila still stood her ground despite the charging beast.

Then with a quick movement of her hands, Aila opened her umbrella causing the animal to grind to a stop at the sight of this new strange object.

Aila grabbed the override key off the floor, shut the umbrella, and grabbed my arm. "COME ON!" she shouted. I subconsciously obeyed her and began to run down the hall where we cut right - back the way we came - back towards the entrance. I glanced back to see the dinocroc round the corner galloping after us. It was fast. To fast. It rapidly closed the distance behind us.

We passed through an archway and Aila turned to a control panel and placed the card against it and hit a button on the virtual touch screen. Metal bars came out of both ends of the archway locking together forming a barrier. The creature slammed against the barrier sticking its lizard-like talons through the bars in an attempt to snare us. Aila hit another button on the panel and the bars began to glow red before an explosion of sparks launched the creature off the bars and tumbling back a few feet. It yelped in pain as it bounced across the floor. When it got back to its feet again, it began to pace the hallway on the other side of the bars and made low hissing snarls.

"W-What the h-hell is t-that thing?" I whispered.

"An arborasuchus," Aila said in fascination.

"When did the school start keeping these on campus?"

"The school has never had these on campus," Aila said equally as confused as me. "We need to get somewhere safe before it finds another way around. There's another barricade at the other end of this hall we just ha-" Aila swallowed her words when she looked down the hall behind us.

There, standing on its hind legs and sniffing the air was another arborasuchus. It opened its jaws with a hiss. Saliva oozed from its teeth, dripping onto the floor.

This time it was my turn to act. 

I grabbed Aila's arm and pulled her into the classroom to our left. I scrambled to get the classroom's sliding door shut behind us but the creature's snout got stuck in the door just before I closed it.

"Dammit," I shouted.

The animal's nostrils flared as snorted and growled. Its claws raked against the door as it tried to force its way into the room. Aila took her umbrella and began to beat the animal's face, but it continued to persist. She then took the umbrella in both hands pointing it downward and stabbed it into the animal's nostril causing it to recoil just enough for me to close the and lock the door.

The dinocroc began to bang on the door. Aila and I began to barricade the door with desks. Books and glassware fell off shelves as the whole wall shook against the beast's assault.