Regicide

Chapter 1

SO. I started this story back in September 2017. Good ol' revenge story. Enjoy!

75 Million Years ago, Mongolia

The scalding sun beat down its merciless rays onto the scorching desert, not caring for the primordial creatures fighting to survive. The winds were weak, small particles of sand tumbling along the many dunes.

Among the many beings trying to make a living in this cruel world was a pack of Velociraptors. They were fierce, and despite their small size, this particular pack was a force to be reckoned with, considering that there were around forty members.

Recently, their alpha had passed away. He had been strong and deadly, and had died of his wounds around two weeks ago after a hunt against a Protoceratops went very wrong. The role of alpha was automatically passed down to his relatively young son, who had been the runt of his siblings. Of course, some saw this as an opportunity to take over, and yet it seemed that the son had a great amount of luck on his side. All three to have opposed him had lost, not because the new alpha was strong, but rather, because he was lucky.

His name was Dune. He was physically very weak, but he made up for it in speed and a very strong sense of smell. His sister (born the strongest in the litter) made sure to look out for him whenever she could. She would always help him, always be there. Thus, there was a sense of mutual trust between the two.

But, there were some who did not like Dune at all. In fact, this was the view of the majority. They wanted to take him out, but the rumours relating to his luck in fights were what stopped them.

It would only be so long before his next challenger arrived.

---

'Fern,' Dune greeted his sister as she walked up to him. The sun had set, and most of the pack was asleep. She sat down beside him.

'Hello brother,' She replied with a smile.

The two were an interesting bunch. They were heavily contrasting in both personality and physical look. While Dune was covered in black feathers, his sister was covered in white. Dune had snowy patches around his eyes and spots on his face, and a white underbelly and stripes on his body. His sister was very similar, though instead of white patches, spots, underbelly and stripes, hers were black. Even their eyes were contrastingly different- Dune had warm amber eyes with red flecks, while Fern had piercing blue ones with green flecks.

'Any news?' Dune asked, quickly glancing up at the twinkling stars above his head.

'No. I did overhear the others complaining about you, so you should know that that's still going on,' She said glumly, and then, with a smile: 'Don't worry, though. They'll accept you soon enough.'

'Let's hope,' Dune nodded quickly. 'I want to prove to them that runts can be useful too. That they don't have to kill them the moment they're born. If they don't accept it, I will make them accept it.'

'I am glad I stopped father from killing you. If he could see you now, he would be so proud. But he has gone to join the stars now.'

Dune shook his head. 'They need to stop being so traditional,' He mumbled, more to himself than to Fern. 'Some have already accepted it- those I trust- but then there are those who completely oppose it all. They probably want me dead.'

'If you don't feel safe in the pack, we can leave and live as rogues,' Said Fern.

'Thank you, but no. I must lead this pack in a new direction- things are far too traditional. But would you really leave all of this behind?' Dune gestured to the entire pack. He knew that his sister loved being in a clan, and loved all her friends in it- life as a rogue was completely unsuitable for her.

'Yes,' She nodded. 'You're my brother. Claws would have done the same.'

Dune sighed as he felt a pang hit his heart. Claws had been their sister, though she had died from wounds caused by the Protoceratops that ended up killing their father.

'We should sleep now,' He said quickly, and buried his head into his clawed wing.

'Goodnight, brother,' Fern said, then left him to go find a comfy spot for herself to rest among the many raptors sprawled out in the desert sand.

(Tomorrow is another day. )