The Isle

Shard

Shard ran through the forest. Panting, his tongue hung out as the sound of rapid footprints filled Shard's eardrums. They were chasing him. They were gaining on him.

Shard looked to his left and saw the snout of a Herrerasaurus, its teeth bared and its pupils slit. It looked at Shard and roared, its teeth shining in the sunlight.

Shard was terrified. He ran faster and faster, the bushes brushing his feet as he ran. He could hear the panting of the bigger raptors running for him. They were catching up. Shard realized that running wouldn't work against the smart creatures. He had to be smart as well.

Shard ran for a couple of more minutes before he suddenly swerved right. He ran that way for a little bit before swerving again, this time to the left. He continued to do this until he formed a zigzag pattern around each tree that he ran into. The raptors were fading. Good. Shard's plan was working.

Then, the footsteps returned again. Then, something jumped on Shard. Shard toppled to the ground. His vision was blurry as he rolled across the forest floor. He felt leaves scratch his face and the thing that jumped and attacked him pressing against Shard's belly, bracing to hold on.

Finally, Shard stopped toppling. He shook leaves off of his face and found the bared teeth of his mother, Sky, her blue eyes slit as she loomed over her son.

But that ended pretty quickly. Sky got off of her son and waited until he got up. As Shard got up from his feet, the other raptors started to walk back through the trees back home. They were all glaring at him. The smaller raptors, like the Herrerasaur that Shard had seen earlier, were gone.

"Your moves became predictable again," Sky said as Shard walked next to her, "I told you to mix up the way you run."

"I did!" Shard growled.

Sky glared at him, "Don't give me that tone of voice."

"Sorry, Momma," Shard said, lowering his head, "I didn't mean too."

"I know," Sky mused. She was now smiling, "But, as I said, you need to mix up the way you run so as I confuse the attacker."

"I did, though," Shard said in a lighter tone of voice, "You saw me. First, I was running straight and then I zigzagged."

"Yes," Sky admitted, "But you also zigzagged for too long. You have to resume to a straight line as quick as you can. Once your zigzag move set has become predictable for the attacker, do something different. No matter how you run, do something different. You must confuse the attacker."

Shard said nothing.

"Also," Sky added, "Don't hang your tongue out. It looks unprofessional for a carnivore."

Shard didn't even realize his tongue was still hanging out from his excessive panting. He slurped it into his mouth and started to keep his pace up with his raptor mom.

They emerged from the forest into the giant, wide plain. To Shard's left was the ruins where the raptor pack lived. As he was looking across the plain, Sky nudged him inside the ruins. Shard disappeared into the ruins. He followed his mother through the maze-like entrance before entering the giant clearing. Raptors were gathered around the stone slab and standing on top of it was Root, the alpha. He seemed to be in the middle of a speech.

"... the journey will be quite short," Root said as Shard and his mother entered the clearing, "So it will be easy for the spring's clutch to get there."

"What is he talking about?" Shard asked. His mother didn't answer his question. After a while, Shard wanted to ask again, but he didn't want to pesture his mother. So, he continued to listen to Root.