The Nibiru Effect

Memory 46

The moon shines brightly. It's not enough to fully illuminate my surroundings, but it sheds enough light to reveal my companions as they emerge from their slumber. I barely catch sight of Korri before he bolts, vanishing into the darkness. Kara, still groggy with sleep, leaps to her feet. She adopts a defensive stance, but no amount of fighting skills will suffice to defeat the killing machine that is the Tyrannosaurus rex.

"What's happening?" she asks.

The T. rex roars, relieving me of the answering burden. A beam of moonlight hits its maw just as the beast bellows and its teeth are revealed in all their lethal glory.

A tooth is missing.

While it's quite common for a carnivorous creature such as this to lose a tooth during battle, there's no doubt in my mind this is the same T. rex that saved us from the Triceratops. I have no idea why it eyes aren't glowing or even how it found us, but it matters little.

The beast charges.

I scan my surroundings and gasp at what I find. Kara is frozen in place, a horror-stricken expression plastered across her face. I yell for her to move, but she remains oblivious to my warning. She merely stares at the Tyrannosaurus rex as it charges toward her. I consider my options for a moment before making my move. I pump my legs like a sprinter leaving the starting block and tackle her out of the way just as the dinosaur's jaws snap shut. We hit the ground hard and roll, avoiding death by mere centimetres.

I grab a thick stick from the ground and wave it threateningly at the T. rex. He doesn't seem impressed and charges forward once more. I prepare myself for an evasive maneuver when—

"Will!" yells Kara, dragging me back to reality.

Like in my fantasy, the T. rex is charging, only this time I'm defenceless. And my legs are frozen. I watch, powerless, as the beast surges forward, its razor-sharp teeth drawing closer with each one of its massive steps. Why can't I be a hero like in my fantasies? Unfortunately, I don't have time to come up with an answer.

The dinosaur is almost upon me. I try to move but fail yet again. All hope seems lost until Kara tackles me out of the way. We roll across the grass, only barely avoiding death.

I'm grateful to Kara for saving my life, but all she did was delay the inevitable. Our attacker skids to a stop and spins around, an earsplitting roar erupting from the depths of its throat. It charges yet again, and Kara and I dive out of the way just as it reaches us.

We cheated death twice, but it's only a matter of time before we run out of luck. We need weapons. And a plan. Unfortunately, we have neither. For the first time in my life, I wish Jonn were here. But he isn't.

Kara and I avoid the T. rex's third attack, but this time I feel his fetid breath blast onto my face as he lunges forward. And things only get worse when I scramble to my feet.

"We're trapped," announces Kara. I don't understand what she means until a column of steam emerges from the ground less than a metre behind me. I stumble forward, wincing in pain as my knee slams into a rock. Kara helps me to my feet, but that does little to improve our odds of survival.

Behind us stands the Plain of Pain. Before us towers a bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus rex. On either side lies a path far too narrow for escape. Kara and I have officially run out of luck.

"We're dead, aren't we?"

Kara says nothing, which for her is the same as admitting defeat. It seems as though I won't get to see my parents after all. I expect this to be my final thought, but, against all odds, it isn't.