Primordial and Beyond #1: The Divided Ones

Chapter 4

Trex, Celia, and Agnes were laughing over a joke Trex had shared with the winning Flesheater-Leafeater team.

Then Trex's laughter slowed. He sniffed the air. He smelled fear. And blood. His mouth began to water. He turned to the direction where the smell was coming from, and noticed Bronto was talking to a Sauropod in his herd. Both of them had a look of fear on their faces....both of them were reeking of rancid—yet enticing— fear-scent.

There was also blood somewhere in their direction.

Without thinking, Trex slowly got up and began walking over.

Trex noticed a nest between the Sauropods. A nest with a bloody stain at its center.

His mouth watered some more. A drop of saliva fell from the corner of his right jaw.

"Um....." the female Sauropod had stopped talking to Bronto and was now staring at Trex with a wide-eyed look of concern.

Bronto turned to the Flesheater. "Trex?"

Trex suddenly blinked and looked away from the nest to meet Bronto's gaze. "Huh...? What...why..." he looked around. When did I get over here?

"You okay, buddy?" Bronto raised an eyebrow at the T. Rex.

Trex blinked a few more times and then shook his head. "Y-yeah. Um...what's this nest doing here? Why...why's there blood...." He stared at the nest again, feeling that impassioned sensation return.

Bronto's voice was muffled in the background as he responded to his question.

Then Trex lifted his head and looked at the Sauropod with confusion. He realized he hadn't paid attention to a single thing in Bronto's reply.

Trex watched as Bronto turned to the female Apatosaurus. "Zara's out on a rescue mission in the Unknown Lands and will be gone for the night. I'll find one of her Assassins to smell this and see if they can detect if a Flesheater is responsible for this! But I'll show this to Zara as well, when she returns tomorrow morning."

The female Sauropod shifted her eyes to Bronto. "Okay...." She then shifted her gaze back to Trex, narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to walk away.

Trex watched her go, feeling a bit detached from himself. What the heck was going on with him? Did he just drool at the sight of that blood-stain? No...he couldn't have. Nothing weird had happened.

"Hey Trex?" Bronto spoke in a careful tone. "Are your flesh-cravings giving you trouble?"

"No!" Trex responded reactively. But as he met his friend's eyes, he gave a small sigh. "I....I don't know. I think they might be." He clenched his fists. "The Spinosaurus hatchlings from earlier...they attacked a Hypsilophodon, thanks to Velina. I...I started to feel something when I smelled the dino's blood and fear...."

Bronto raised his eyebrows.

Trex gave the Sauropod a desperate look. "Don't tell Zara yet. Please. I can totally stop this." He sunk his foot-claws in the ground. "This will never happen again. Never."

"Hey!" Bronto gave him a quick nudge. "You should take a walk by the Sweet Trees. It was Tyranna's favorite spot!"

Trex felt his heart wrench. Tyranna. The love of his life. He cracked a small smile. "Yeah....good idea."

Thankfully, sunset was over by now, so Celia, Agnes, and Quinn were dispersing, as were the Flesheater-Leafeater raceteams. Trex ventured to the Sweet Trees, which grew blossoms that were fragrant for Leafeaters and attracted bugs that were fragrant for Flesheaters.

As Trex inhaled the sweet aroma of those bugs, a flash of memories went through his head. He saw himself walking through this place with Tyranna. Their children, Rex and Rexanne, were playing around, chasing after bees.

Trex smiled fondly at the memory. He recalled the day he met Tyranna when he was still living in the Unknown Lands. Like him, she was also trying to refrain from eating Leafeaters, since she had developed a wonderful friendship with a small group of Leafeaters who had rescued her from a forest fire.

From that point, Trex and Tyranna connected over their shared values for Leafeater harmony, among many other things. Soon, Trex was in love. And soon, he was the father of two beautiful hatchlings who were also eager to befriend Leafeaters and adhere to a dino-free diet.

Trex broke out of the memory, sighing wistfully. Tyranna was such an amazing mate. And their children were wonderful. He wished they were still with him.