Children of the Archangels

CHAPTER 43: THE INNER SANCTUM

Luke never thought he'd see a T-Rex eat a Wooly Mammoth before. But with the Garden of Eden, anything was possible.

Was this the area where Pepe was sent into a coma? Did he get whacked with the tail of an Ankylosaur and sent into a deep sleep? Did he get pecked in the head by a giant Moa and grew a huge lump on his head like the characters do in the cartoons? Did a pack of Tasmanian Tigers lunge at him and slash him into an unconscious state?

Either way, Luke was starting to fear getting himself through this field without being trampled to death, let alone provide for Nil's safety.

"Didn't see these many animals the last time I came," Victor hummed as if thinking back to when he last did the Garden Run, whenever that was.

"Most of these animals have been extinct for like ever," Sirius noticed.

"Rawr!" Alpha approached a T-Rex and greeted himself.

Luke did one of those whisper yells to get Alpha's attention. "Alpha, that's enough. Did you not see what he did to that mammoth?"

Of course, Alpha ignored him. "Rawr!"

The T-Rex looked unamused at this squat teen-child trying to get his attention.

"Rawr! C'mon, say rawr back."

The T-Rex yawned. It's massive gaping mouth could be mistaken for a garage door opening followed by a blast of jet-turbine air. Alpha took that as a gentle roar.

"Did you see that!" He smiled. "He said hi!"

Victor shook his head. "Why am I always stuck with idiots." He kept walking across the field, maneuvering through the minefield of animals like it was a city street.

"Is he crazy?" Luke asked. "With so many of them out there?"

"Don't you know the creation story?" Sirius pointed at Alpha and Victor who remained untouched. "Here mankind is in command. Come on."

Sirius grabbed Luke's hand and brought Luke and Nil down the sand dune. They traversed across the grassland decorated with shrubs and stunted trees, but nothing more. Luke never felt so small, so insignificant until he stood next to a Sauroposeidon, a dinosaur that looked like the world's longest slide. When he had to stare up at an animal as if he were staring up a skyscraper, then he knew he felt powerless. Yet, Sirius said these animals wouldn't mess with them because they were in command, at least while they remained in good standing he presumed. It was here that God gave domain over the animals to Adam and Eve, the first humans God created.

But what surprised Luke most was seeing the same Yak he had defeated back at SGA.

It was grazing on a field of grass right next to an elephant bird that looked like a mix between an ostrich the size of a baby elephant and a kiwi (the brown furry flightless bird, not the fruit).

Luke reached for his whip when Sirius stopped him. "Don't aggravate it."

"But it's the same one that attacked the school."

"I know, just let it be."

"How is it still alive? I saw it dissolve to dust."

"I don't know. Maybe this is their afterlife." Sirius dragged Luke away from the animal before it could notice him. But Alpha's voice ruined that.

"Smelly Yak! It's back."

The Yak picked up its head as if wanting to know who was talking smack and saw that it was just a human and kept on grazing. Luke wished it would've been this peaceful back at SGA.