Zerua Unchained

Chapter Three

  After a long rest and daylight began to appear, the four of them woke up and climbed down the tree. They followed the rails towards the building they saw last night. As they got closer, the stench of blood grew stronger and harsher. Once they turned the corner, they found themselves in a large field that looked like an old railroad town. There were wooden buildings all around the outpost. They scanned their surroundings. Further down the rails, there was a cart that had a large tooth speared through it.

On the field, there were dead bodies and dead beasts everywhere. The ground was covered in a lot of blood. In the center, there were cages of all sizes. There was a huge cage in the field with one side of it completely broken off. The lock that held the cage closed was still intact though.

"Bet you can't guess who was in that cage," Selro chuckled as he stared at the huge cage with a broken side.

"Old Silvertooth?" Mikaela wondered.

"That might be his other tooth," Orielle pointed out as she looked over at the cart further down the rails. "What happened here...?"

"I'd guess the poachers captured all these beasts, including Old Silvertooth. He was angry, got loose, and killed everyone here," says Selro.

"Look!" FRIEND called out as he pointed towards a large cage.

Inside this large cage are four raptors. Two alive and two dead. The raptors started biting and snarling. One of them bit the dead one in the cage with it. All the other cages on the field contained a dead creature inside.

"Guess they ate each other to stay alive," says Mikaela as the team approached the cages. "What should we do?"

"Well, we either kill them or let them loose," suggested Selro.

"If we let them loose, they'll try to go after us.." Orielle says. "Look how hungry they are."

"Well if you guys get a head start and run off, I can unlock the cage and let them out," says Selro.

"But we can get their talons," FRIEND pointed out thoughtfully.

"That's also a good point. Maybe these are the Raptors from the den we were supposed to go to," mumbled Selro.

"But this is a two day trip," Orielle tells them. "Will we make it back in time?"

"We'd have to run," Selro responded.

"And run quickly," added Mikaela. "We can't rest for very long."

"Well, what will it be?" Selro questioned. "Two birds in one stone here."

"Might as well," Mikaela shrugged.

Mikaela and Selro stepped back as they started shooting at the caged Raptors. Orielle watched uncomfortably and FRIEND stood by, his moral compass telling him it was wrong to kill the caged animals. Once the raptors were dead, Selro picked the lock that held the gate closed.

"There you go," Selro says to FRIEND. "All yours."

FRIEND approached the dead raptors and began harvesting the talons and the glands. As he did this, the other three examined the rest of the outpost. Selro disappeared behind a building. Mikaela rummaged through another nearby building and Orielle made her way to the tooth-speared cart. Once Mikaela finished investigating the building she was in, she ran after Orielle towards the cart.

As the two got closer, the more it was recognizable that the large tooth really was Old Silvertooth's. Orielle pressed her ear against the door of the cart and knocked. It didn't sound like anything was in there. They suddenly hear metal scraping against metal. The two looked at one another.