Regicide

Chapter 8

A tall rock protruded from the sand. It was slanted, leaning outwards, slate grey in colour.

Suddenly, a black Velociraptor with white markings pounced onto it, landing on all fours. Nostrils open, he took in the very special scent of a very special raptor- this raptor was known as Blood. He lifted his lips and bared his teeth slightly, as her sneering face flashed in his mind. Raising his head, he silently scanned the horizon. Something was moving all the way out there- his target. She ran, her dark red silhouette throwing up clouds of sand behind her as she sprinted.

Narrowing his eyes, he almost felt a hurricane of fury brew inside of him the moment he laid eyes on her. Almost. He did not consciously feel it- after all, he had forgotten what it was to truly feel emotion. No, he processed it more as an objective- an objective to kill.

His eyes followed her for a few moments, until finally, he jumped off the rock, and ran after her. He was light on his feet, as silent as a gentle moth. He did not plan to kill her, but rather, follow her until the perfect moment presented itself. Then, he would strike.

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Blood had once been a very different raptor.

Before Dune was born- about three years before- his father, Blaze, was leading five individuals on a scout around the territory. It was a pleasant day, but they had caught scent of a different pack near the territory. As if that wasn't bad enough, mixed with the musky smell of unfamiliar raptors was the repulsive stench of a Tarbosaurus- a huge Tyrannosaurid that could kill a Velociraptor with one bite of its massive jaws.

'They're not much further,' Blaze snarled at the others, flaring the dark brown feathers on his scarred body. On those dark brown feathers of his were strange white spots, from an uncommon gene which would be passed on to two of his children- Fern and Dune. When Blaze was much younger, he was bullied and teased by the other raptor chicks because of his strange spots- but they were silenced the moment he violently usurped the position of alpha from Talon, mother of Bone. While he did not directly kill Talon, no one who witnessed the battle would ever forget the brutality and ferocity of Blaze. The duel ended the moment the bark-coloured warrior dislocated both of his opponent's wings in less than three seconds.

'We're here,' a black-feathered beta growled, looking around. The place around them was not at all what was expected- blood splatters decorated the ground, and the choking smell of death filled the air.

Blaze took in a deep sniff. 'Tarbosaurus attack,' he growled. 'Must have killed the entire pack.'

Suddenly, they heard something scuttling away from them. Quickly, their heads perked up, and they all looked in the same direction- at a nearby rock, only four meters away.

Blaze took in another sniff. 'I was wrong,' he said, and pointed his snout at the rock. Carefully, the six raptors approached the rock cautiously, placing each foot as lightly as possible into the sand.

Slowly, a tiny baby raptor-who could not have been any more than two weeks old- stepped out of the rock, trembling in fear. Her huge blue eyes shimmered with tears, and the dampness on her burgundy feathers betrayed the presence of blood, but she did not seem to be wounded.

'What do we do with her?' the dark beta asked, while the baby raptor took a step back, shivering.

Blaze stared at her intently, thinking.

'Blaze? Please listen to my request,' One of the raptors spoke up. The alpha turned, and his eyes rested upon a silver coloured raptor named Cloud. She had recently been unsuccessful in keeping her eggs safe, so none of them hatched. It had left a hole in her heart, and Blaze was not surprised to see her defending a small youngster, even though said youngster was not one of the pack.

'We cannot leave her out here on her own, and you are aware of what happened to my eggs and how it affects me. So please, allow me to take her in and raise her as my own,' Cloud said.

Blaze nodded, and looked back at the youngster. 'But then she will be another mouth to feed.'

'I'll raise her to be strong- she will not hinder the pack or slow it down- I will make her a great hunter. If you let me look after her, I promise that you will not regret your decision.'

There was a silence, until finally, Blaze said 'All right. But if she is too weak, we will have to kill her.'

Cloud nodded. 'Thank you.' Slowly, she approached the baby raptor, and reached out, wrapping her warm clawed wings around the youngster. The baby raptor stumbled forwards and pressed against Cloud's feathers.

'Are you going to name it?' Blaze asked, watching with an unreadable expression.

'Yes,' Cloud replied, nodding and gently bringing the small one over to the others. 'I will call her Blood.'

Blood was taken to the pack. The ironic thing was that she was actually the runt of the litter she was born in- lucky for her, her original pack did not kill their runts. And, lucky for her, no one ever knew about it- she herself was not aware of this fact.

For the first week or so, most were sceptical of her- she had been born in another pack, after all. She was looked after by Cloud, who acted as an adoptive mother. When Blood was old enough to learn how to communicate, she was introduced to other youngsters, and was shy at first, but became very well liked due to her light-hearted personality once she decided to open up. She vaguely remembered what happened to her old pack, as well as her biological mother who hid her away from the rampaging Tarbosaurus and saved her life at the price of her own- but she almost never brought it up to the others. She didn't want them to see her as sad or unhappy- she wanted to be the one to bring them up when they were down- to be the strong one, the one they would look up to. That was, in fact, the case. She was admired for her speed and tracking ability on hunts, and after a year or so, barely anyone ever talked of how she was not born as one of them.

She was happy. She was happy with her friends, she was happy with her life.

And she was happy when she saw the broken body of Dune laying at her feet.

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(No mercy.)