Poked by the pack leader, Ajuj slowly opened her eyes. The raptors were already awake and had satisfied their thirst in a small oasis nearby. The pack seemed to have a good orientation, but nobody dared to tell the little female Quatzol, where they were heading at. She was still suspicious. They really have to be hungry? Though they hadn't touched Kyloth's corpse yet, they were seemingly still waiting for the right moment. Ajuj silently sneaked up to her dead friend once more, his skin had already turned into a bluish color. She gently licked Kyloth's paw. She was not able to forget his death. He still felt as soft as a few days ago, but slowly Ajuj did not recognize him anymore. His scent has vanished, instead, an unpleasant odor now left his corpse.
"You were quite close to him, right?" Ajuj flinched and turned to the pack leader, who just appeared out of nowhere. A light grin left his face, satisfyingly she had not noticed him. Ajuj nodded cautiously and replied: "He was a good friend of mine," she hesitated for a moment, and asked the lizard, now lying down next to her: "What are you going to do with him, you, you are going to eat him aren't you?" White Tip felt Ajuj's sadness, bent down to her and began to lick her ear.
On his command the pack started walking again. Another march through the burning hell, first and foremost Ajuj, close to the panting leader. The burden on his shoulders made tired him. Except for the effort of the pack, not a single sound could be heard in the desert. Ajuj hoped, they would finally reach their target location.
They were here. Certainly. The smell of the blood betrayed it. But where are they now? "In which direction did they go?" , Ciara asked her scenting partner, he looked up and said dryly: "They have gone right into the desert." - "Damn, we'll never find them there. I still wonder what happened? "
The pack stopped abruptly. Ajuj looked questioningly to her leader,signaling her to be quiet with a strict look. The other raptors ducked down, now Ajuj also heard the soft squeal in the distance. She had never heard it before. Instinctively, she also ducked away. It had to be dangerous, what else could halt a pack, consisting of the most dangerous creatures known to Ajuj?
"Chickens," the leader whispered softly. He gathered his group with him and put down his cargo. The pack was divided, the brawny female raptor was ordered to take care of Kyloth's cadaver, the rest of the family had to follow the leader. Ajuj was also asked to follow the group. They trotted towards the sound in rapid steps. Ajuj followed the pack with discomfort. Why did they run into their enemy? They soon reached the summit of the sand dune, behind which they expected the cause of the noise. They laid down on the upper edge, apparently they wanted to remain unseen. Ajuj dared a cautious glance over the dune. She surprisingly stared at the huge view that was revealed to her. In the distance, perhaps two kilometers away, a huge wall towered a good dozen meters, absolutely insurmountable. Was this the target of the raptors? She looked downwards. A gigantic herd of hundreds of small biped animals screaching and scurrying around. Ajuj understood it now. The raptors were to make a hunting attempt.
"You're a good hunter?" the leader asked and Ajuj shook her head. She had only watched her parents hunting a few times. Once she had found a small sand lizard, but it escaped quickly. There was no trace of hunting success in her. The raptor did not care about that and answered dryly: "Then you will learn it now." He told her the tactics. They would try to separate a single gallimimus from the herd, encircle it, and ultimately take it down. "So basically, same tactics as with you," the Raptor finished, gloatingly winking at Ajuj. The Raptor gave the order to start the hunt and so the pack began to slowly sneak down the dune. They tried to remain undetected as long as possible. Unfortunately, this went not quite as well and when they finally came in reach of their prey, one of the older Gallis released a warning cry, which reflected over the herd and dipped the desert into a deafening chaos. "Over there," the leader directed his pack to a young galli girl, who was completely unconcerned about the noise and continued to munch some twigs from a rather consumed bush.
The pack parted. White Tip slightly pushed the Quatzol girl showing her to get a good position behind their prey. She decided to hide in one of the intact dense bushes. The galli girl had not yet noticed her. Ajuj now saw the true size of the beast. She was much bigger than her, even a little bigger than the raptors. With a loud shriek, her leader jumped in front of the herbivore, which perplexedly dropped his branch out of his mouth and faced his adversary. He muttered crossly and tried to chase the raptor away, but he wasn't very impressed. Ajuj remained crouched in the bush, ready to attack at any time. The signal to attack came faster than expected, but she was prepared and bravely stormed towards their prey. In the corner of her eye, she saw the rest of the pack, also rushing for their target.
White Tip leaped back, this had not been planned. The raptors were forcibly pushed onto the ground by other Gallis. These animals had learned a lot since his last hunt, White Tip had to admit. Again the lizard was surprised. Ajuj was ignored completely and still on her way. White Tip tried his best to fix the female Galli on him.
'Let's see how good our chicken hunts,' he thought.
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~Soon
YOU ARE READING
Endangered Quatzols Astorlandstories Volume 2
FantasyAfter escaping from their Motherland, Kyloth and Ajuj, both of the Quatzol species are living peacefully with their parents in the Blazing Lands, as their parents suddenly disappear. Left to their own, survival seems pretty hard, especially if you...