Awakening in the Jungle 1

The searing pain seemed to draw her to the surface. Not wanting to awaken into pain, Pazu fought against consciousness. But there was a presence..."Kami...?" she whispered, her right hand groping toward something which brushed against her leg. Moaning, she reached again, extending both arms in the direction of her skybax partner. Then cold overwhelmed the right side of her body, at first contributing to her pain by taking away her breath.

"No," she cried, and tried to lift her body off the ground, only to be knocked back into unconsciousness by a stab of pain. pain.

Slowly, Pazu rose again, as though lifted above a fog and into sunlight. The pain was with her still, but not so sharp that it interfered with breathing. The earth beneath her felt warm and slightly damp. The air about her was damp as well, and a heavy odor of wet vegetation hung in the air. I'm in the basin, she thought, as details of her arrival in the Rainy Basin flashed into her mind. "Kamikazi", Pazu whispered, her thoughts lingering on her dear friend, as if bringing him into her mind would bring him to her side as well.

Instead of Kami's reassuring Skybax mutterings, her ears were filled with the constant drone of insects, broken by an occasional grunt, whoop, or roar of something more substantial. With a start, Pazu opened her eyes. For a second, the sunlight blinded her. Turning her head to the left, her eyes gradually became accustomed to the brightness and lingered for a while on a small spiky plant, which sprouted from the earth beside her.

Pazu tried to raise her head, to survey her surroundings, but the pain in her side held her fast to the jungle floor. Again, she had the sensation that she was not alone. "Who's there?" she asked. "Is anyone there?" There was no response, but the girl felt something begin to press against the wound on her right side. "Ahhhh," she cried out, raising her head enough to catch a glimpse of the creature lingering at her side, before slumping again to the ground.

But in that fleeting moment while her head was raised, she saw the creature. His image remained in her mind, as she lay on the warm earth with its wetness binding her skybax-rider uniform to her skin. "Who are you?" Pazu whispered, for the lingering image was that of a human. Her question remained unanswered, as no human response broke the continued drone of the jungle.

"Please..." she gasped, attempting to lift her head while she addressed her companion. She felt him there, at her side, gently working on her wound. A cold wetness, pressure, a stinging sensation, a tug with the adjustment of her garment in the area of the wound . . .

Her eyes focusing on a cloud which drifted overhead, Pazu relaxed into the steady breathing of acceptance. She was in the jungle. She was injured, and in pain. But someone was here, with her: someone with gentle healing ways, who would keep her from harm. The skin of his hands, though coarse, brought relief from the pain. And as Pazu shut her eyes and began to drift like the cloud that had held her gaze, she sensed him seated there, at her side, and knew somehow she would be safe in his care.

Perched in the tree, he had watched the allosaurs arrival. It was his old enemy, the one called Big-head-little-body, in the allosaur language. Sliding on his belly to the farthest point on the limb, which would bear his weight, the creature attempted to get a better look at Bighead's captured prey. A human form was slung across his shoulder, and the allo gripped it by the legs. The creature in the tree noted that the captured human wore the uniform of those who rode in the sky upon the great fliers, which escorted the human caravans through the Basin. A wry smile formed at the corners of his mouth, as the creature envisioned this human, awaking to the discovery that she'd been invited to dinner by a pack of allosaurs. And that she was the main course. Inching back upon the tree limb until his feet touched the trunk, the creature's smile turned to a grin. An idea crept into his head. A new game. A trick to play on his old enemy. The thought made the creature chuckle with anticipation. Quietly, he slipped from the tree to the jungle floor. He knew Bighead's plan. Long ago, Bighead had lost the respect of the others in his pack; he was now an outsider, and the human was the means by which he hoped to reinstate himself within the pack. Or so he thought . . .

Among Bighead's life-mistakes was the error involving the tyrannosaur hatchling. The creature smiled, as he made his way through the jungle, knowing it was the hatchling's rescue from Bighead, which had earned him the respect of the tyrannosaur pack. Permanent forgiveness for the pranks he'd played on them. A debt of gratitude, as yet unpaid by them. Now he would set the tyrannosaurs on Bighead, and either let them have Bighead's prey or turn it over to the allos. The creature liked games that placed him in the position of deciding the fate of others. The tyrannosaurs called him "Rhaax", meaning "prankster" or "friend who cannot be trusted" in their language.

Upon informing his contact within the tyrannosaur pack of his plan to hijack Bighead's catch, it would be Rhaax's responsibility to lead the unknowing Bighead to them, where he would no doubt become the object of some seriously rough play. Long ago, the tyrannosaurs had decided to permit the hapless Bighead to live, since life for him seemed so much more painful than simply putting him out of his misery.

But this current game was perhaps a little too simplistic: a few taunting words uttered unseen, and Bighead abandoned his unconscious prey to follow Rhaax into the path of the waiting tyrannosaurs. Returning to the place where the human lay, Rhaax decided that disposing of the human might provide the only true excitement of this adventure.

How he hated them: these soft humans with their weakling ways! How it sickened him, when they offered themselves to save their offspring or their mate! Stupid, foolish creatures, which lacked the ability to save themselves. It sickened him even more to think that once he had been one of them. But no more. Had not his survival alone in the jungles of the Rainy Basin proven this? A human could not have survived . . . alone . . . especially a child. It could not have been a human child who watched, incapable of feeling, as his mother offered herself to the tyrannosaurs. A human child could not have hidden, cold and wet and hungry, and remained unseen by the pack. A human child could not have learned the art of staying alive in a world where the weak cannot survive. Learned to see as the great predators saw, to scent as they scented, to speak in their languages, to beat them at their games. This was Rhaax, who once had been human, but now was a creature apart from all others: a predator of the Rainy Basin.

Returning to where Bighead's human prey lay unconscious on the earth, Rhaax bent over her and removed the raptor claw from the leather pouch he carried at his waist. The human female moaned when he straightened her body and found the pulsating artery in her neck. He would end it now. She was too badly injured to entertain the pack with a game of run-and-chase before they tore her to pieces. Rhaax thought this was unfortunate, as he immensely enjoyed the look of realization, which turned to horror that flashed across a human's face immediately preceding the tyrannosaur's first bite. But this female could not run, and might die before regaining consciousness. The only pleasure in her death would come from severing the artery and watching the life drain from her body. The female moaned again as he raised her neck to expose the artery. But, with the raptor claw poised in readiness, Rhaax hesitated. There was something about this female . . . something that caused a catch in his breath, and a change in the rhythm of his heart.

Sliding the raptor claw back into his pouch, Rhaax, ferial human of the Rainy Basin, gently eased the human female's head back onto the earth and assumed a cross-legged position beside her. It was strange, this feeling which had overtaken him. A feeling he now fought, as he closed his eyes and tried to bring forth the anger that would permit him to continue his original plan. But the anger was awash in another feeling, a feeling long forgotten but now dredged forth by the presence of this human female.

But why? he thought. Why this one, when he had led to many like her to their deaths: befriending the leaders of the caravans and taking them to the place where the tyrannosaurs waited. Watching with pleasure as others, like this female, were torn apart and eaten. Opening their veins himself and feeling the life drain, as they lay in the increasingly larger pool of red. Rhaax sighed deeply, and opened his eyes to look upon her again.

And it came to him: in the shape of her nose and her mouth, the height of her cheekbones and the color of her hair. The intervening years had not dimmed the memory. She had offered her life to the tyrannosaurs, to save his, and he had hated her for it. Hated her, and never forgiven her. But how could this be? Had he not seen her die then, so long ago? And this one, who lay before him, was younger still than she who had been his mother.

Casting his eyes upon the sky, now growing dark, Rhaax took in a deep breath. There had been another, he reflected. The little one, who had stayed behind . . . his eyes returned to the form before him. Then this was she. And Rhaax knew what he had to do: with what he carried in his pouch he would treat her wounds, and care for her, and protect her from harm. And though it might seem strange that after so many years of fighting his own humanity, the sight of this frail girl would touch his heart, Rhaax knew he must accept this feeling. He could bury it no longer. For she was here, before him; she was injured and in pain, and she needed him. And Rhaax knew he had no choice. He had to help his little sister.

It was just past dawn as Mathaira, Thistlebud and Maia awoke from their campsite under the low hanging branches of a broad-leafed tree. The newly risen sun filtered through the mist-covered trees, making a living pattern of light and dark shadows dance all around them. The dew lay heavy on the mossy ground, upon which they had slept that night.

The jungle at the edge of the Rainy Basin was filled with the stirrings and sounds of creatures preparing for the new day.

After the group broke their fast with a meal of bread and dried fruit, washed down with warm tea, they packed up their provisions and exited their previous night's dwelling, thankful for the tree that had sheltered them. They moved into a clearing near the entrance to the Rainy Basin, checked the position of the sun, checked the roughly sketched map on the worn scroll, and then rechecked both the sun and the map again.

It had been many years since the leader of the tyrannosaur pack had summoned the team of traveling hatchery workers to the Rainy Basin when his mate had faced difficulty in the laying of her first egg. Since the tyrannosaurs and other Rainy Basin inhabitants did not travel to the hatcheries as other saurian Dinotopians would do, the clan chief did what he felt was necessary to aid his mate. At the time, the pair still had no hatchling and thus no heir to continue the clan chief's line. He did the unthinkable in the Rainy Basin and requested the presence of hatchery workers, and not just any hatchery workers, but a specific team of hatchery workers, rumored to be one of the best on the island, even though the team included a human!

True to their calling as hatchery workers and with no thought of refusing the tyrannosaur clan chief, Mathaira, Thistlebud and Maia had traveled to the Rainy Basin and with their skills had aided the clan chief's mate in the laying of her first egg. With tender care, the trio monitored the egg and worked in shifts to keep it warm and dry. And when the tyrannosaur hatchling had broken through his eggshell, the team rejoiced along with the tyrannosaur pack on the hatchday of the clan chief's first son!

As a hatchday gift to the young tyrannosaur and to honor his position in the clan, Mathaira removed a small link chain from around her own neck and placed it gently on the neck of the future chieftain: a small cream colored pebble in the shape of an egg with delicate inscriptions, the symbol of the hatchery worker. Touched by her act of giving to their son, the tyrannosaur clan chief and his mate likewise presented to Mathaira a token, one that she would cherish in the years to come.

[In the years that passed the clan a clan of allosaurs had captured chief's hatchling son. Fortunately he was rescued and returned to the clan without being harmed. Details are sketchy as to how this was accomplished.]

A few days ago, Mathaira, Thistlebud and Maia had received a message scroll from the tyrannosaur chief, stating that his mate was again ready to lay an egg and that their presence was desired in order to aid her. A tenuous friendship had formed between the tyrannosaur clan and the hatchery workers, despite their different species. So the team was again following the map that would lead them to the tyrannosaur clan in the Rainy Basin.

C'xoila the Deinonychus was sorting scrolls in the Waterfall City Library. His job was pleasant enough, except for...

C'xoila the Deinonychus, at this very moment, was sorting scrolls in the Waterfall City Library. His job was pleasant enough, except for...

"Are you working, C'xoila?" growled the Chief librarian Enit.

"Yes, sir, me is working," C'xoila growled back.

Enit then muttered something about lazy hatchlings, and C'xoila muttered something back about grumpy old men.

"Woo-hoo!" laughed Ness Tamrill, C'xoila's friend, and fellow librarian. Though he was only C'xoila's age, he had naturally white hair, which he brushed from his strange, silver/rainbow eyes. "You two really get along well!" Ness laughed.

"Shut up Ness." the Deinonychus half laughed, half growled.

The boy let it drop, but continued to chuckle to himself. The pair had just reached the 'F' scrolls when a green, yellow, and purple Dimorphodon flew through the window. It landed on Enit's head and gave him a message. Enit cleared his throat, and made an announcement: "Attention! The skybax rider, Pazu Eriksdotter was lost in the Rainy Basin yesterday morning. Appropriate actions are being taken."

C'xoila and Ness went pale. Both knew Pazu. Ness started pulling him out the door. "Common!" he yelled. "Pazu's in trouble, and," he added with a devilish grin, "it'll be fun to see the Basin."

C'xoila shot him a look that said, Are you insane?

Ness smiled and said, "Yes, yes I am." Momentarily confused, C'xoila allowed himself to be dragged away to prepare.

Awakening was easier now. There was less pain. However, raising herself on her left arm to look for the boy sent a searing shot through Pazu's right side, and she lay back down on the ground. He had fashioned a pillow of dried leaves for her head, and it felt nice . . . his kindness toward her felt nice, as well. Pazu knew the heart which beat beneath his hard exterior was indeed a human heart, and that he had a gentle side, despite the gruffness. Reflecting for a moment, Pazu's thoughts turned to others she knew, whose kind and caring hearts beat within bodies adorned with scales. She smiled, tears pricking at her eyes, when she whispered aloud, "And feathers."

But her old friends were far from her now, and she had a new friend. Well, more protector than friend, she corrected herself, settling her head into the leaves. He made her feel safe, while in this helpless state. Although he understood her language, he didn't speak more than was necessary. Told her about the crushed ribs on her right side. Gave her bitter things to drink, which lessened the pain. Before she had risen completely to consciousness, he'd chewed her food for her, and spat it into her mouth. Food she would never otherwise have eaten, for it contained the meat of animals he had killed. And he had cleaned her up and dressed her wounds in a matter-of-fact way that neutralized embarrassment. helpless state. Although he understood her language, he didn't speak more than was necessary. Told her about the crushed ribs on her right side. Gave her bitter things to drink, which lessened the pain. Before she had risen completely to consciousness, he'd chewed her food for her, and spat it into her mouth. Food she would never otherwise have eaten, for it contained the meat of animals he had killed. And he had cleaned her up and dressed her wounds in a matter-of-fact way that neutralized embarrassment.

The only embarrassing thing he does is that, Pazu thought, quickly averting her eyes from the sight of the boy urinating on a tree. She knew he did it now, because she had told him not to do it in front of her. About to call him "disgusting", she stopped herself, because it wasn't true.

He was coarse and dirty, and he smelled of the beasts of the basin. The smell came in part from the skins he wore as clothing, but seemed to permeate his own skin as well. He stood taller than she, and older, but perhaps not fully grown. Eighteen or twenty years old, she guessed. Matted brown hair hung in uneven disarray to his shoulders. She guessed he used that raptor claw of his to trim it. His skin was darkened mostly with dirt and filth from the jungle floor: so little sun passed through the jungle canopy that she doubted he was tanned by sunlight, as was she. His hands were heavily calloused, nearly as much as his feet. He appeared to use his toes in a nearly prehensile manner gripping a limb, as he sat, looking down at her from the tree beyond her head.

His mouth was hard. Pazu sensed he could smile, but she hadn't seen it. She smiled herself, with the thought that the things he might smile about would probably not be things which would make her smile. His dark brown eyes were hard as well, but not cold. They seemed lit from within, heated with a passion triggered, perhaps, by his jungle home. A passion driven by the need to rise above the dangers lurking there, and survive. A need to define himself, in a place where his kind did not exist, except in passing.

But despite his coarseness, Pazu had felt the gentleness of his touch. And despite the fact that he spoke little, and she didn't know his name, she admitted to herself that her life was not the only thing this creature of the jungle held in his hands. He also held her heart.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Screamed C'xoila as he fell from the cliff. He and Ness had been gone from home several days, and everything had gone off without a hitch, until now, that is. Right now, they were falling; very fast, C'xoila would have added, if he weren't screaming. There was the snapping of twigs and thrashing of branches as C'xoila and Ness landed in a large tree.

Ness wore a big grin, as well as several fresh scratches on his face. "That was fun. The gravity here is much stronger then other places I've been."

C'xoila shot him another look that meant he thought his friend was insane, and he replied, "Yeah, I've already told you that." C'xoila snorted and picked several twigs from his feather crest.

They both climbed down the tree, Ness saying as they went, "No! Really! It wasn't so bad, was it?"

Slightly frustrated with his friend, C'xoila replied, "No Ness, it not bad. As compared to being eaten by Allosaur!"

Ness cracked another big smile, which just frustrated C'xoila all the more.

Once back on the ground, C'xoila tried to get his bearings. He took out his spiral timepiece, noted the time and looked for the sun. Locating it, he soon found that they were still facing the right direction. According to the disaster report, which C'xoila also had in his pack, Pazu had been flying west across the basin's heart. They headed off in that direction. Ness' cheerful-ness, one of his eccentricities that C'xoila normally liked, was beginning to bug him.

Kamikazi swooped so low over the jungle that his feet skimmed the treetops. Cocking his head to the side, he circled wide, hoping he would catch another glimpse of the figures he'd seen below. He knew it was not Pazu that he'd spied. Although his senses told him she was deeper in the jungle, they also told him that she was, at that moment, in no danger.

But for most others, traveling alone in the Rainy Basin was a dangerous business. And he felt that as long as his partner was in no current peril, his job as a Skybax escort and protector must take precedence.

Then he spied them again: the little band of three, picking their way through the thick jungle underbrush. Drawing back on his huge wings, Kamikazi released the thermal that held him aloft and circled slowly to the jungle floor.

Thistlebud was the first to notice him, shouting his name and running to greet him. Maia was close on her heels, with Mathaira behind her. The shy and gentle Skybax did not speak the language of humans, and so directed his questions to Thistlebud and Maia. After determining that they traveled under the protection of a tyrannosaur clan, Kamikazi decided to resume his quest, although he felt uneasy. The jungles of the Rainy Basin held many perils. The tyrannosaurs were but one.

Thistlebud was the first to notice him, shouting his name and running to greet him. Maia was close on her heels, with Mathaira behind her. The shy and gentle Skybax did not speak the language of humans, and so he addressed his questions to Mian and Thistlebud.

Chuckling to himself, Kami considered saying, "If I see the tyrannosaur pack, I'll tell them you're on the way!" but stopped himself, as the grim nature of his own situation settled in. After all, he had no token, bestowed by a tyrannosaur chief, and no promise of safe passage.

But Kamikazi had his partner and his friend, Pazu, who lay ahead of him in the jungle. And that was a lure that superseded all others. It was an obligation of his relationship to Pazu: the Skybax and the rider; and it was an obligation of the heart, friend to friend.

As Mathaira, Thistlebud and Maia entered the Rainy Basin, the sunlight was dimmed to grayness under the canopy of thick jungle trees. The stirring sounds of creatures to which they had awakened were now replaced with deafening roars and low growlings.

No longer able to gauge the position of the sun, the group was forced to rely on the scroll map now held by Mathaira. The tyrannosaur clan chief, Greyback the Fierce, brother of Copperjaw, had sent the map to the hatchery team upon their initial summons to the Basin. The pack's territory was far reaching but they tended to make the western area of the Basin's heart their dominant home. It was toward this direction that the trio headed.

As the group traveled into the deeper regions of the Basin, Mathaira deliberately pushed the sleeves of her tunic farther up her arms, revealing a wristband worn on her left wrist. This was the token presented to Mathaira by Greyback and his mate Swiftclaw on the hatchday of their first son and heir, Whiptail.

The wristband had been fashioned by Swiftclaw whose deft claws and teeth produced many adornments for the clan. This particular creation was made from the magnolia tree, highly prized by the clan. It was rubbed smooth by rough tyrannosaur hands and polished until the wood shone like bronze. The carvings on the band indicated an affinity to the Greyback clan, and so offered to the wearer the protection of the clan. It would NOT guarantee safe passage through the Rainy Basin, but would perhaps deter some less determined carnosaurs who would not be inclined to face the wrath of Greyback the Fierce.

Thistlebud detected movement up ahead of them on the jungle floor. Her sharp eyes detected their Skybax friend from Waterfall City, Kamikazi! Thankful that it was a friend and not a foe, Thistlebud shouted his name and ran to greet him. Maia was close on her heels with Mathaira behind her. The Skybax communicated with Thistlebud and Maia, indicating that Pazu was missing in the Rainy Basin and that as her partner, he was obligated to find her, but more importantly, as her friend, he desired to find her. The three hatchery workers indicated that they would be on the lookout for Pazu as they traveled across the Basin. The group parted with Kamikazi resuming his search for Pazu, while the hatchery workers continued following their map to the location of the tyrannosaur clan.

As the heat of the day became oppressive in the dense jungle foliage, the trio stopped by a stream to refresh themselves and partake of their mid-day meal of nuts, dried fruit and crystal clear water. Their rest would be brief for they knew that it was crucial that they make it to their destination before nightfall, not daring to camp in the Rainy Basin.

Thistlebud suddenly motioned her friends to silence as her keen hearing had picked up the sounds of a new presence. In the middle of their meal, the three friends sat motionless on the ground, hoping that they themselves would not become a carnosaurs meal.

The sounds of the approaching creature became louder and nearer. The low growling emitting from it suddenly erupted into an earth shattering roar as a young male tyrannosaur appeared immediately across the stream!

With relief, Mathaira saw recognition in the tyrannosaur's eyes as he spied her wristband. A moment later, Mathaira observed around his neck her own neck-chain, which she had removed and given to him on his hatchday. This was Whiptail, son of the tyrannosaur clan chief.

C'xoila and Ness made their way through the dense foliage of the Basin. Though Ness was cheerful, annoyingly so, he was still watchful for predators. Every half-hour or so, either he or C'xoila would take their bearings with the timepiece and sun, and adjust their course appropriately. They were a few days into the Basin when they reached the cave.

Rhaxx was woken up. He had been monitoring his sister's health all night, and was tired from lack of sleep. Snap. Somewhere outside, one of the branches he had scattered, to warn them of impending attack, had been broken. He cautiously crept outside.

There was a Deinonychus, and a strange looking human. He quietly pulled the raptor talon from his pouch, preparing to go after the Deinonychus first, because he posed the only real threat. After all, his companion was only a human. Easily taken care of. Rhaax ran from the cave, preparing to do battle with the raptor. He thrust the claw out, to spear the raptor through the chest, but something stopped him. The human had dared to grab his wrist. He tried to pull the hand with the weapon away, put the boy, even though younger and human had a grip like a vise. Rhaax snarled and tried to yank his hand away, intent on killing the raptor. The boy's response was a smile, and his grip grew tighter. There was a sharp CRACK and Rhaax dropped the talon as pain shot through his arm. A human had done this, a boy at that! As if reading Rhaax's mind, the boy said, "That's right, I'm not human..."

The pain shot through his wrist and radiated into his shoulder, momentarily numbing his understanding of what had happened. But Rhaax had learned to deal with pain; to stuff it down, into a place deep inside where it could not be felt and would not impede his survival.

Even so, the wrist was broken. The strange boy stood before him, a peevish look upon his face as though to mock one who enjoyed nothing better than a game of matched wits. And the deinonychus stood unscathed.

He felt their eyes upon him, as he went for the trees which would shelter him until he had a plan. They would turn their attentions to her, to his sister. Rhaax snorted, a cynical scowl crossing his face as he settled in a treetop, far from their view.

They will think they've "rescued" her, he thought. Check her wounds and console her. At some point, they will let down their guard.

But a thought had crept into the mind of Rhaax, most dangerous human in the Rainy Basin. Like an annoying insect, that buzzes 'round your head and avoids swatting: just what was that boy, who could snap a wrist with so little effort?

The agitated voices awakened her. Slowly, Pazu sat up. The pain in her side no longer held her down, but she had not as yet tried to walk. She heard her male protector growl and threaten, and then cry out. Slowly, the girl traced her hands up the side of the cave, using its rocky surface to draw her to her feet.

The pain dug sharply with each breath. Using a hand to splint her injury, Pazu walked unsteadily toward the entrance of the cave, lured by the voices and commotion beyond. With the transition from darkness inside the cave and daylight beyond its threshold, Pazu found it even more difficult to cope with the increasing pain in her right side. Her eyes refused to focus, but as she staggered beyond the mouth of the cave, a familiar voice cried out, as the world about her began to fade.

"Pazu, it me, C'xoila," the Deinonychus cried, moving quickly to her side and scooping her up before she fell to the ground.

With Ness at his heels, C'xoila returned the injured Skybax apprentice to the quiet darkness of the cave, and carefully settled her back into her leafy bed.

"You . . .here?" the girl grabbed his arm and tried to regain her legs, but her world appeared to be spinning, holding her down. Kneeling beside her, C'xoila felt helpless to calm and reassure her.

"He'll be back . . ." Pazu gasped, her left hand firmly gripping the raptor's arm. A chuckle shifted her focus to C'xoila's companion, and she directed some comments at him. "Not funny . . ." she gasped, "he is . . ."

"What?" Ness chuckled, ignoring C'xoila's look of consternation. "Gone? He is gone, or afraid? Is he afraid . . . or perhaps in pain? Yes! He is most definitely in pain! Ha ha!"

Pazu, now fully awake, stared open-eyed and slack-jawed at the creature before her, and began to speak, slowly and deliberately, hoping her words would neutralize his playful disrespect.

"No. You don't understand," she attempted to catch his eyes in hers as she spoke, and noticed that their color shifted and danced. And while her mind asked, "who is this creature that accompanies my friend C'xoila?" her words attempted to explain the creature that had saved her from the allosaur and given her his tender care.

Returning her focus to her friend, Pazu spoke: "His name is Rhaax, C'xoila," she whispered. "And he's my long-lost brother."

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