"If you'll continue like that, you will consume it with your eyes"
Neytiri turned her head and saw her teacher Mo'at enter the door. She jumped to her feet: as an apprentice she should have welcomed her teacher with honor. "Forgive me, master, I was..."
"... lost in your thoughts, I know. You are lost in your thoughts every day now". Mo'at smiled. "Far from me to criticize your devotion, but you shouldn't let you get distracted by material things. Honoring the entities that rule this world is important, but so are your obligations. You are my apprentice and as such you have homework. You can't stay all the day staring at that tapestry"
Neytiri could not help but bow her head blushing like a child scolded by her mother. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at what Mo'at was pointing to: it was a canvas featuring the image of a giant reptile with a sail.
After returning from her journey out of the city with the khel'valarts, Neytiri devoted her body and
Obviously, all of it was just a brilliant staging devised by Sobek.The hatzegopteryx that claimed to have come by order of the Lightning Lord was actually called Cobra, in honor of the military helicopter with the same name. He was one of the newest arrivals in his pack. He had been recruited by Apaches during his assignment and had arrived with a small flock of pterosaurs. His size was such that the other pterosaurs had looked like cleaner fishes around a great white shark. Given his greatness, Sobek had chosen him as the most suitable for that little play.Sobek had no qualms about using every weapon in his power. Things like morality and respect for the adversary were trifles when talking about a war. Wars, real wars, were won only by the one who was willing to do anything to get the most resources and the most efficient weapons. Morality in warfare was nothing but an illusion, a pathetic invention. There was no honor or respect among soldiers: just like in nature,
"S... Sorry?" Neytiri asked without thinking, not understanding her words.Sobek felt like laughing. The Neanderthal's reaction was too funny. "It's been a while since our last meeting, at least by the standards of you humans. Yet I see no sign of that time passing over you. Someone of my High Brothers has surely blessed you with lasting beauty"Ancient societies put gods and superstition into everything; even the tiniest event was considered a deity's work. So if Sobek wanted to play the part well he had to stick to that line.Neytiri felt a tinge of pride deep in her heart, but it was quickly (indeed, instantly) clouded by the fear she felt for the giant creature in front of her. And also the confusion: the Great King of the Forest was very different than when he first saw him, yet there was no doubt that it was the same as he had mentioned their first meeting perfectly. With a courage that not even she thought she had, she found the strength to ask: "Forgive
Neytiri hadn't been away from the Neanderthal city for more than half an hour. However, as might be expected, that short period of time had been enough for the population to formulate the most disparate and imaginative hypotheses.If there was one thing every human species possessed it was imagination, and Neanderthals were no exception. Obviously, as soon as a new event arose, the gossip flourished at a speed that made the sound pale.There were those who thought that Neytiri was some sort of chosen one, and that the Great King of the Forest had summoned her to give her a mission. Others thought that Neytiri would be blessed by the Great King of the Forest and bring a new era to the Neanderthal people. The most mentally ill, finally, even thought that Neytiri would even be taken in marriage by the Great King of the Forest and that she would generate her offspring (biology is practically unknown).The Manas and the soldiers stationed in the palace, however, were
In the Montain sky a flock of birds was flying placidly. But it was no ordinary flock: within it, several species of birds were flying together.Unbeknownst to Sobek, the change he had set in motion was already taking place. While he was busy building his own army in Maakanar, the birds he had recruited were rapidly building an intelligence network across human-dominated continents.The birds could cover several kilometers in a few hours. Thanks to this, recruitment had been rapid. Over the course of a few months, hundreds of thousands of birds had joined the flock. And not just the birds: even the few dinosaurs present in the nature reserves with which the birds had come into contact quickly agreed to join them. The perks provided by [Ambush] were too greedy to pass up.This, however, was creating alterations that were increasingly apparent even to the nearsighted eyes of humans. Since they could now communicate, many species of birds and dinosaurs had begun hu
The sun was going down when dozens and dozens of birds and dinosaurs from the Montain gathered at the 'cutting stones'. It was an area in the arid steppe where the stones were particularly sharp, which is why they called it that. If anyone had seen that scene they probably would have been confused a lot: hundreds of dinosaurs (generally dromaeosaurids), birds and even some pterosaurs gathered all together without threatening or hurting each other was a really strange sight.Suddenly the sky darkened for an instant and a large winged creature landed on the largest rock. It was a large pterosaur with a wingspan of at least eight meters. An azhdarcho. "I see that many have answered the call" he said looking around. "It's the first time I've seen so many animals gathered together""Welcome, noble Rostro" a hawk greeted him, bowing his head respectfully, and all the birds immediately did the same. The dinosaurs don't emulate them, but they nodded respectfully to him nonethe
Billy had just time to see the head of a coelophisis appear on the wall before the glass shards rained down on him. He raised his hands to protect himself, but still some splinters penetrated his skin hurting him. All the windows of the caravan were sealed and protected by iron bars: this was necessary since the vehicle was designed to be in close contact with wild animals. Only one wasn't: the window above the crow's cage. It was a small circular porthole no wider than twenty centimeters, too small for a large animal to pass through. And indeed, to Billy's delight, the coelophisis was unable to enter. All that could fit through the opening was its head: the rest of the body was too big. Even the animal seemed aware of it, and in fact he withdrew his head after a few seconds. Billy sighed with relief, but soon after the crow began to stir again. "CAW! CAW! CAW!" The crow cawed continuously, almost without catching its breath, and as it did its
"Mr. Grant, please answer my questions!""I already told you no, now disappear""Mr. Grant, I'm asking you please""And I already told you I don't know anything! Now leave me alone!"For almost half an hour the chief of the forest rangers had been pestering Alan for an explanation of what had happened last night. However, Alan could not give any. Also because even he was shocked by what he had seen. He had already told him that he didn't know anything, but the man wasn't willing to give up. "Bullshit! Clearly you're hiding something. Birds that attack a caravan? Velociraptors that stops cars? What were you doing around here, huh?""We were just studying the birds""I've had enough of you scientists. You come up with a worse thing every time. Tell me right now what's going on, otherwise...""Or what? Will you arrest me? We both know you can't. You have no evidence against me""We'll inspect your caravan then!""Go ahead.
A few more days passed, and finally Monica and her pack returned. When Sobek saw the brachiosaurs reappear he could not help but be happy: he would finally have a more concrete idea of the territory than the one that the flying reptiles and satellite photos could give him.When Monica joined him he greeted her cordially: “Welcome back. I hope the journey wasn't complicated""No journey is complicated for us" replied the brachiosaurus waving her huge neck. "We explored all the territory you requested""I was sure of it. Have you encountered any problems?"“No more than any trip we have made. Indeed, thanks to the power you have given us, we have found even less"Monica obviously was referring to [Reinforced skin], which combined with the enormous size of the sauropods made them practically immune to the attack of any existing predator.“I am delighted. Now I have to ask you, did you find what you were looking for?"