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The characters of my story Late Cretaceous Period. |
Lipit (leptoceratops): A tiny, little, itty-bitty, scrawny, pint-sized, midget of a dinosaur. He’s small and helpless and still unhatched. He watches with blind eyes the scene unfolding on the other side of his fragile shield. His tiny form writhes to be free of its even tinier enclosure. The yellow sun forces its way through the thick walls, turning into a thin dust of light. Tiny muscles tense on a tiny form; they long to stretch and run with the great shadow of a guardian on the other side. The shadow has changed somehow - it’s not the same watchtower hovering above his ivory home. This new shadow seems to have teeth coming out of its eyes and nose. It looks as if it has a mouth on the back of its very large and very loud head. He sees tiny shadows surrounding it, but only the front shadows make their presence known. The ones in the back are stealing the ivory tombs around his. He can feel their presence and warmth leaving him, and his struggle to escape death draws ever closer. He pecks away at the walls holding him when a sudden tremor jostles his limited world. And then a wave of fresh air – his first taste of life. A looming character is standing over him quietly watching, huffing and proud – his mother of another species. Collie (triceratops): A giant among beasts; a vision of terror. Black as pitch and just as relentless. With glowing pupils dilated and a horrendous roar, she charges her aggressors, intending to run them clean through. Sharp teeth come at her, but she waves them away with even sharper horns. No not horns, extensions of her fury, long and baneful. Her hide sports every kind of scar imaginable and some unimaginable ones. Her frill is laced with scars and stories of battles long, long ago. Her back has notches missing from countless brawls with the Nanotyrannus. Those stinking creatures who destroyed her nest killed her young, and ate her eggs for the last three breeding seasons. This season was her last chance to start a family and build a herd of her own. She failed to protect the dream and the ones who would complete that dream. She is ready to try again with the tiny egg that sits, waiting for her to notice. She stands her ground and is ready to fight when needed. But when she lays her eyes on the helpless form far below her, she seems to crumble; kindness has taken hold. Her looming face stretches down in greeting of a new arrival; it’s her new baby. Sylum (nanotyrannus): A voracious predator; a killing machine. He is blood lust from tooth to nail to the spikes on his head. His scaly brown hide is streaked with his bloody past. He is the leader of a thriving pack of bloody bandits. Their one-track minds compel them to kill, eat, and kill again. His hunger is never staved off for too long; it always comes back with even more intensity than the time before. This hunger has driven him to the edge of insanity, yet he’s cool and calculating. He never goes in for the kill without a foolproof strategy and an escape plan. This time will be no different from the rest. The triceratops eggs are just snacks; the mother will be the main course. During the night another mother had suffered the same fate. They hadn’t found her nest yet. The triceratops mother has just lead the pack to that very nest; it’s at the edge of the clearing. As they rush towards their next meal, their blood boils with fury and excitement. As leader, he is first to pounce upon the triceratops and rip at her weathered pelt. His pack moves in on the nest and steals as many eggs as they can carry. She notices the thievery and bellows her discontent at the bloody little creatures with spikes and stripes coming out of every crevice on their bodies. She slashes at them with her extensions and roars as loud as an earthquake rumbles. They have their prize of the moment, so the leader signals a hasty retreat. They will follow this eventual meal until she makes a fatal mistake. |