Travel of Kings

Chapter Five: By the Creekside

Frostbite, Cloud and Spearhead pranced over to Cormorant. "Hey, can we go play by the creek" Frostbite asked. "You can, but someone's gonna have to accompany you" Cormorant said. "I'll do it. I'd rather get to relax by the creek than have to deal with Pheasant's shenanigans" Mudstone said. "Okay. I'll see what Pheasant can give us. Want anything" Cormorant asked. "Maybe some Sinosaurus venom. I've been building a collection of deadly venoms" Mudstone said. "Oh really? I didn't know that. Any particular ones you have so far" Cormorant asked. "Well, I bought Monolophosaurus, Sinornithosaurus, Eurypterus, Cynognathus, megalania And Paleosaniwa venom last few times we were there. And Petoskey, the Dilophosaurus a few places away from mine, lost a bet with me. I want Sinosaurus venom, but anything else I don't have would be fine" Mudstone said. "Alright then. You go take the kids to the creek and we'll just get you what we can find" Cormorant said. Cormorant, Katana And a few of the others had walked away. 

"Alright kids, I found something interesting in one area by the creek. Don't worry about anything, the most there are is the occasional Thoracosaurus" Mudstone said. They walked down a hill area and into a forest. Not more than forty feet, there was the creek. "I believe that it should be be by the rapids" Mudstone said. He sniffed the air, and looked in one direction. "It's that way" he said. He walked in the direction it was, the trio following him. They came to a halt at the sight of something. "I think it was washed out from sea" Mudstone said. 

It was roughly 14 feet long, had a small body and tail, flippers, and a long neck with a head full of sharp teeth. "I think it's a plesiosaurus" Mudstone said. "Are they aggressive" Frostbite asked. "I don't think they are, at least not to us. I remember my father telling me they ate fish, small ones that would live in giant schools. That these plesiosaurs would form groups to hopefully get some" Mudstone said. 

"You seem to know a lot about the environment" Cloud remarked. "I know. I've been interested in the natural order since I was your age" Mudstone said. "But I guess that doesn't matter, just go play. I'm gonna sit down" Mudstone said. The three of them immediately started chasing each other and splashing in the two inch deep water. Mudstone looked on. Until he couldn't see them. He got up, and headed in the direction he saw them go. 

There, he saw them just by where the stream fed into the lake, watching something. At first, Mudstone didn't see what they were looking at, but a loud, trumpeting bellow not too different from the Edmontosauruses Frostbite used to live with. Then, they came closer to the water's edge. They were All Muttaburrasaurus. Large, dark green with black stripes and white undersides. Some had red coloration on their distinctive nose bumps. Mudstone And Frostbite both saw something in the water. 

It looked like a log, but the way it floated didn't make it look like one. Instead, it looked like it was deliberately floating over to the Muttaburrasaurus herd. Some of the older Muttaburrasaurus seemed to notice this too and immediately warned the herd, but it was almost as if some of the younger ones didn't believe it. However, some of the others did, and this left seven Muttaburrasaurus to the riverbank. Mudstone And Frostbite both knew something was about to go down. The log revealed itself to be none other than a Deinosuchus, which lunged out of the water at one of the bigger ones. The Muttaburrasaurus struggled, but the Deinosuchus was larger and stronger, swimming off with its new victim. 

"Boys, you have just seen a Deinosuchus. Very common here" Mudstone said. "Cool" Cloud said. "Oh, I think it's about time we go back home for now. Everyone might be coming back" Mudstone said. 

After heading back, they saw that everyone had indeed arrived. "So, did you manage to find anything" Mudstone asked. "More stuff for the medical area, mainly. Also a Mastodon skull we can probably display somewhere. Oh, and some vials of venom you wanted. There's Sinosaurus venom, like you asked for. There was also some from a Rugops and from a Coelophysis" Katana said. "Thank you" Mudstone said. Everyone unloaded their things and got ready to sleep, as the sun had already set by the time they arrived.