First Roar(1)

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"Here you go, Tyrant. You're a growing boy, so you need to eat as much as you can to grow big and strong."

Carefully setting down a dead deer, Erina watched as Tyrant eagerly tore into his meal. In mere minutes, he had devoured the entire carcass, using his sharp claws to rip through flesh and his powerful teeth to crush the meat.

However, he was an incredibly messy eater, bits of flesh and blood were splattered all over his face and the ground around him. Other than giving himself a vigorous shake to remove some of the grime, there wasn't much Tyrant could do to clean himself. Unless, of course, Erina stepped in to help.

Making sure that Tyrant was safe while he finished eating, Erina lifted her head high, scanning the horizon. In the distance, she spotted Nulez slowly riding a horse, with multiple carriages and people walking behind him. With her size and speed, catching up to them wouldn't take much time at all.

It had been five days since they left the forest. The elves had been steadily pressuring Nulez and his people to leave their lands, as they didn't want more humans attempting to enter, especially while they were already engaged in battles against multiple Inquisition groups.

After two days of gathering supplies and ensuring everyone was fit to travel, Nulez finally led his people west toward Holton, a small village with a port. However, due to the sheer number of people in their group and the distance to Holton, the journey would take at least six days.

The risk of heading to a human town was great, but they had little choice. They desperately needed more medical supplies, particularly an herb called ashvine, which was crucial for making an effective salve for severe burns. They had several people affected by burns that started to become infected, and the salve, can help heal the burns and fight infections. They had medicine to help against pain and some minor infections, but with the severity of the burns, they severely needed ashvine if they were to fully recover. 

Fortunately, they had three humans among them who could purchase some herbs in Holton. The problem? Two of them had bounties on their heads, leaving Olena as the only one who could safely enter the town. However, since full trust in her was still lacking, she would be accompanied by Otis, a human, to ensure everything went smoothly.

But they still had three more days of travel ahead before they even reached the town.

During those days, Erina hadn't done much killing, aside from occasionally hunting a type of moss-covered deer known as the green plain deer. These deer traveled in massive, fast-moving herds, but she could manage to catch up to some of the slower ones… and, well, it was obvious what happened to them after that.

The route Nulez took involved crossing the grasslands, which made the trip mostly uneventful. However, Nulez's biggest concern was how exposed they were. Especially with Erina's massive size, there was little cover to conceal them. The open plains provided almost no cover, leaving them vulnerable to anyone who might be watching. All they could do was hope they wouldn't be spotted as they pressed forward.

Aside from Nulez trying to move quickly and only stopping to rest at night, Erina spent most of her time patrolling around the group, making sure nothing got too close. She also used these patrols as an opportunity to train Tyrant.

She had been trying to teach him how to hunt on his own and stay focused instead of getting distracted by every little thing. However, progress was slow, probably because he had just hatched. Still, Tyrant had been growing at an alarming rate. In just a few days, he had gone from the size of a large dog to that of a hippo.

With such rapid growth came an enormous appetite. Feeding him during their two days in the forest had been difficult, as Erina's size made it hard for her to catch anything. But once they reached the grasslands, she began using the green plain deer as target practice. Unfortunately, this method had a big drawback, her plasma blasts tended to char and destroy large portions of the meat, making much of it inedible to Tyrant's taste buds.

Since hunting with plasma blasts ruined too much meat, Erina had to resort to chasing down green plain deer herself to feed Tyrant. She even made him try hunting on his own, but he wasn't fast enough to catch anything yet. He attempted to sneak up on them, but his growing size made it impossible to stay hidden, and the deer would always spot him before he could pounce.

Despite the challenges, the days passed quickly, and they finally neared the town of Holton. Not wanting to be seen, Nulez led the group to a secluded area a few hours away from town. They settled near a river, where tall grass and scattered trees provided decent cover. It was the perfect place for everyone to rest and wash up while Otis and Olena set off for Holton to gather supplies.

Nulez handed them a small list of supplies to buy if they could find them, along with a coin pouch containing five silver coins and twelve copper coins. Otis, familiar with prices and skilled in haggling, would handle the actual purchasing, while Olena would be the one doing most of the talking.

After saying their goodbyes and promising to bring back something sweet for the little ones, they mounted their horses and set off toward Holton.

As they rode, Otis began explaining their plan. To avoid suspicion and to try and hide their identities, they would pose as a father and daughter traveling together, Otis would go by the name Emerson, and Olena would be Bella.

— Tyrant POV —

[Why did Mom make me stay? I wanted to hunt too!] I grumbled to myself, watching her big form disappear into the distance. My tail twitched in frustration, but I let out a huff and turned back toward the little things that always followed me around.

They were loud, tiny, and kept trying to climb on me, pulling at my feathers, poking my claws, even trying to grab my tail. My first instinct was to shake them off, maybe even give them a little nip to warn them. But I remembered the last time I tried to eat one. Mom got really mad. She told me I wasn't allowed to eat or hurt these things called children, instead, I should be protecting them from danger. I still didn't understand why. They were small. Weak. Easy prey.

And yet, for some reason, they weren't food.

I didn't get it, but I'll never disappoint Mom.

Instead of eating them, I just watched as one of them, Veylin, the small one with big eyes and soft feathers, crawled up my back and roosted on my neck again. My first instinct was to shake him off. [I'm not a tree!] I yelled in my mind, But Mom said to let him stay because his parents were gone.

I didn't know what "gone" fully meant, but Mom also said my feathers made him calm. That was weird. Feathers were for looking strong and scaring prey, not for calming things… I think?

I turned my head, trying to get a look at Veylin without making him fall. He just blinked at me, then buried his little face deeper into my feathers. His tiny claws held on tight, like I was some kind of nest.

[Hunting would be better than this.] I sighed, but there was nothing to hunt. The little ones weren't food. The four-legged things called horses looked like food, but I remembered what happened the last time I tried to bite one. Mom's smack hurt.

So instead, I just wandered around, even walked to the water, and took a drink. I also let the small one, Veylin, stay curled up on my back since he was so light, barely there. I even forgot about him when I entered the water to wash myself, luckily one of those 'people' shouted at Veylin which spooked him, and although he fell off my back, I managed to catch him before he fell into the water.

Other than that little accident, the sun went bye-bye and the moons came up. It was a cold night tonight, so I was glad I had my feathers to keep me warm. Mom still wasn't back, but the feeling in my head, the connection to her was calm, so Mom was fine, I thought.

Usually, the 'human' girl named Olena, the one Mom liked, would come to take Veylin and put him in a nest, which was called a 'bed.' But Olena went to a 'town.' She wasn't here, so that meant Veylin was mine tonight.

So walking away from everyone, I found a good spot that had soft grass to lay on, hidden by tall blades that swayed in the wind. I laid down carefully, stretching out my limbs, and curled my tail. The night sounds filled my ears, the bugs chirping, the water… being water, and the slow heartbeat of Veylin, who was sleeping comfortably on my back.

I closed my eyes as I felt my body get heavy. 

But something snapped me out of my sleep, something sharp. Something familiar was flowing through the wind. My nostrils flared, pulling it in, tasting it… it was fresh blood.

Excitement and hunger flowed through me as a rush of heat that made my feathers stand on end. I stood up, as my nostrils flared, locking onto the scent of fresh blood.

I moved, silent and low, following it through the 'camp' where the others slept. But there was something else, fourteen other unfamiliar scents. My body tensed as my tail lashed out, something felt wrong. I crept closer as the smell of blood grew stronger.

Then… I saw it. A man. Holding one of the little ones by the throat.

The girl thrashed, tiny hands clawing at his grip. Her legs kicked weakly. Tears streaked her face. She couldn't breathe.

Something inside me snapped. Mom told me to keep the children safe.

I wasn't going to disappoint her.

My chest burned as I felt my muscles tense up. I didn't think, I just moved. A deep breath filled my lungs as my legs pushed off the ground.

In an instant, I was on him. The man barely had time to turn his head before my jaws clamped down. Flesh and bone crunched between my teeth.

I grabbed his leg with my claws and yanked him down as I jerked my head up, ripping him apart. Half of his body disappeared down my throat in a single, messy gulp.

I threw his legs into the dirt. Then, I stood tall, stretching my body to its full height. My chest swelled and my feathers bristled. And I roared.

Letting out a deep, ear-splitting, bone-shaking roar filled with rage. The roar awakened everything as I saw horses, birds, and anything that heard me scream in fear.

– ??? POV

Miles away, a monstrous figure feasted.

Its jagged black-metal body stood over the carcass of a bison-like beast, its flesh laced with veins of stone. Crushed rock and torn muscle scattered across the ground as massive jaws snapped shut, swallowing another chunk whole.

Then… It froze. Feeling blistering, raw, unmistakable rage through the bond of a certain dinosaur.

A distant, muffled roar, thick with fury, rumbled across the landscape. Small critters skittered around in a hurry, fleeing from whatever caused the roar.

The black metal beast lifted its head, violet eyes narrowing as it locked onto the direction of the sound. For a moment, it stared.

Then, the air around it hummed as a low, pulsing glow of deep purple spread across its body.

Faster than something its size should be able to move, the ground trembled beneath its charge as it sprinted toward the source of the rage-filled cry, metal limbs burning with energy.

Something was wrong and Mama was coming.

— 

Thanks for reading 

Comment on any mistakes or changes I should make 

I have a map for our world, and will be posting it soon. It'll be in an auxiliary chapter that'll have some other information too.