Isla Nublar, Pterosaur Peak.
This was the name Carlo had given to this particular mountain. As the name implied, after the collapse of Jurassic World, the pterosaurs had claimed this heights to nest and raise their young; thus, Pterosaur Peak.
Carlo stood atop the summit, yet he did not look out of place. Framed by the surrounding forest, he appeared like a jagged, rising ridge upon the mountain itself.
He sat back on his haunches, his gaze fixed on the horizon. Pterosaurs of all sizes circled around him, but they remained remarkably calm, they didn't even screech much, mostly just casting curious glances at him.
Hmm... how to put it? It was like accidentally walking into a telephone pole. You wouldn't blame the pole for being there, would you?
Exactly. Neither did the pterosaurs. Besides, they were quite terrified that this particular "telephone pole" might decide to start swinging back.
Take a look, Brother Scorpios. There go your last kin.
Carlo lowered his head, nudging the skull of the Scorpios rex carcass to align it with his own line of sight.
"ROAR—"
"Aunng-roar—"
Far below at the base of the mountain, two massive predators squared off, their threatening low-frequency rumbles filling the valley.
It was the Tyrannotitan and the Carcharodontosaurus.
They charged head-on. The Carcharodontosaurus lunged first, opening its cavernous maw to tear at its foe; the Tyrannotitan tucked its head and braced, using its powerful neck to slam into the other's snout, parrying the strike.
The Alpha Carcharodontosaurus fought like a madman who feared no injury, hurling his still-recovering body into the rival's territory.
The Tyrannotitan stood his ground like a mountain king who brooked no trespassers. After a brief, lethal stare-down with the intruder, the two descended into a bloodbath.
Scattered around the battlefield, Carlo could spot three Scorpios rex carcasses. From the scent of the gore, it seemed they had been killed in sequence.
Most likely, the two apex predators were fighting when one hybrid blundered in and got crushed by both, followed by a second, and a third.
Heaven only knows how long these two had been at it; the first Scorpios rex corpse was already showing signs of decay.
The Alpha Carcharodontosaurus seized an opening and clamped down on the Tyrannotitan's flank, but the latter seemed to possess some form of hardened osteoderms on its back, making it difficult to find purchase.
The Tyrannotitan bit back without hesitation, but to his surprise, the rival didn't seem to care about his own tattered body, tearing at the Tyrannotitan's skin with suicidal fervor.
The battle ground into a stalemate, a war of attrition where each sought to bleed the other dry.
"ROAR—"
An Acrocanthosaurus suddenly burst from the woods, sinking its teeth into the Tyrannotitan's neck. The pain forced the Tyrannotitan to release his grip. The Acro began to twist its powerful body, simultaneously lashing out with its tail. The blow caught the Carcharodontosaurus, who had been forced to let go due to the violent thrashing, square in the face, leaving him dazed.
The Tyrannotitan braced his legs, resisting the Acro's shove, then threw his head back violently, forcing the intruder to release his long snout.
The Alpha Carcharodontosaurus quickly recovered, stepping forward to wedge himself between the other two, attempting to rejoin the fray. The other two backed off in time, and the Carcharodontosaur skidded to a halt, turning back to face them both.
For a moment, it was a three-way Mexican standoff.
Another one... Is a territory dispute really worth fighting this hard for?
Carlo watched the scene in silence. He turned his head as if to ask "Brother Scorpios" for his opinion, only to realize the hybrid's eyeballs had already been plucked out by the pterosaurs.
Never mind then.
Though, honestly, this Scorpios had it better than the one that had literally "died of exhaustion" while pinned to the ground.
Not long ago, Carlo had found a Scorpios rex foaming at the mouth, its breathing faint, as if it had simply collapsed from the sheer exertion of struggling.
In an act of mercy, Carlo had helped it find peace.
Rip...
A pterosaur dipped its long beak into the Scorpios's wound, pulling out a strip of flesh. The sound of satisfied swallowing snapped Carlo out of his memories.
It seemed Carlo's tranquil demeanor had earned their trust; more and more pterosaurs were approaching the carcass he had laid aside.
Incidentally, to prevent the pterosaurs from being pricked by the venomous quills, Carlo had specifically ripped off the entire tail. He buried the tails of every Scorpios he'd killed deep in the earth, leaving the rest of the bodies to nourish the next generation of life on Nublar.
He'd go down and clean up those three below once they finished their little tiff.
"Kraa—"
Not far from Carlo, a pterosaur let out a loud cry, spread its wings, and dove off the cliff, catching the thermal and soaring into the sky.
Behind it followed a group of hatchlings. Newly born, they weren't even a tenth the size of their elders, yet they faced the same towering precipice.
Why do pterosaurs fly?
The answer is simple: because they are born to fly.
There were no flowery metaphors here, no human projections of "destiny," no poems or legends to sing of their courage. They needed no reason, no grand ambition.
To fly was to live. That was their only reality.
Clack...
A few stones tumbled over the edge. Three infant pterosaurs leaped out together, followed by a fourth, then a fifth...
New clouds appeared in the sky, clouds formed of black specks. Some specks fell; others scattered...
The remaining black dots glided through the air, paring alongside the crystallized wisdom of ten thousand years of human ingenuity in the vast blue sky.
They were born this way.
…
To avoid pterosaur attacks on the helicopter, Dr. Wu's team had stopped following Carlo. After confirming from a distance that Carlo was no longer on the hunt, they flew toward the docks to depart Isla Nublar.
Small pterosaurs drifted past their windows, but Dr. Wu had no heart for them. From beginning to end, his eyes remained fixed on Carlo atop the peak.
He integrates into every ecosystem...
Wu thought to himself. This was beginning to transcend the boundaries of science. Until this moment, he had never truly doubted what Carlo was.
That scientifically impossible size. That soul, possessed of a kindness and gentleness exceeding that of humanity.
Could such a creature truly exist in this world?
"Doctor, I won't be traveling with you much further. I have a mission on Isla Sorna."
Hawkes, having just finished a transmission on his phone, interrupted Wu's deep contemplation.
"Hmm? Oh... understood."
Wu's reply was curt. He didn't seem to care what Mills had planned for him next.
"Also... just as we were leaving, the hotel in the VIP sector triggered an intrusion alarm."
Hawkes waited for a reaction. Wu paused, thinking back, then clarified: "That's just a residential zone. No research facilities or paddocks. Likely just a stray dinosaur that wandered in."
"I suppose..."
Hawkes frowned in thought. The alarm was for the fully enclosed garage doors. Would a dinosaur really have nothing better to do than tear down a reinforced wall?
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]