Part 44 (2/2)

He glanced at Aquilon to make sure she was safe, knowing that she would be terribly afraid for him, and with reason. Intellectually, she comprehended his decision, but emotionally it was intolerable. She thought he would be killed. ”Cal -- no!”

Too late. The slender fern trees swayed aside. A bird flew up from a nearby ginkgo tree. Through the palm fronds poked a gaping set of jaws -- fifteen feet above the ground. There was a roar. Tyrann had arrived.

The dinosaur charged upon Cal, dwarfing the man. Aquilon stared from her perch, unable to turn her head away, horrified.

When Tyrann was no more than its own length -- fifty feet -- distant, Cal dodged to the side. He surprised himself by the alacrity with which he moved, picturing what Aquilon was seeing. She still tended to think of him as the wasted, physically weak sufferer she had known on Nacre. But he had recovered greatly and now approached normal vitality. His love for her, he knew, was partly responsible.

Tyrann was unable to compensate in time and drove his nose into the dirt where Cal stood. He lifted his mottled head, small eyes peering about while leaves and twigs tumbled wetly from his jaws.

Now the real chase began. Cal had no chance to watch out for Aquilon, but he knew she was following with the mantas, observing. If Tyrann should spot her, the mantas would help her escape. They could hardly stop Tyrann's charge, but their cutting tails could strike out the monster's eyes and nose, depriving him of his princ.i.p.al senses.

Cal played a desperate game of peekaboo around a large palm tree with the carnosaur. Then he fled through a small forest of firs, Tyrann pursued indefatigably, relentlessly. Cal found a herd of triceratops, grazing dinosaurs with huge bony plates on their heads and a deadly trio of horns. One of the bulls came out to challenge Tyrann and so provided Cal with some breathing s.p.a.ce.

He ran up the side of the mountain toward the snow-line. Then the earth rocked violently: another quake. He was thrown to the ground almost under Tyrann's nose.

But the quake also upended the dinosaur, who went rolling down the slope. Relieved, Cal got up -- and was struck by a stone rolling down the mountain. A freak of luck -- but fatal.

He was only unconscious a few seconds, he thought -- but as he struggled to his feet, Tyrann was upon him. The gaping mouth with its six-inch teeth closed on his legs.

There was an instant of unbearable pain. Then his system, recognizing that, cut off the pain. Cal knew he had lost. One leg had been sheared off. There would be no report from this world. The dinosaur had proved superior.

Perhaps that was best.

Aquilon, thrown off her feet by the quake, waited for the upheavals to stop. Then she ran up the slope after the dinosaur, flanked by four mantas. What she saw was sheer nightmare.

... rag-doll form flung high into the air... jaws closed, ripping off an arm... head lolled back from broken neck... dead eyes staring...

Aquilon screamed.

Tyrann gulped down the remnants of his meal, then cast about, orienting on the scream. He saw Aquilon.

Had it really been a nightmare, a bad dream, she would have awakened then. But it was real, and the carnosaur was still hungry.

The four mantas settled about her, facing Tyrann, In a moment they would attack. ”No!” Aquilon cried. ”I will finish the fight he started -- or die with him!” For now, too late, she realized how completely she loved Cal. Why had she never taken the initiative? Only in this way -- by sharing his challenge -- could she exonerate her missed opportunity.

”Hex and Circe -- go find Veg, take care of him. Diam and Star, go guard the Orn-birds and their nest. Don't come back to me until I have settled with Tyrann -- one way or the other.”

They moved out, sailing down the mountain like the manta rays for which they had been named. She was on her own.

She fled up the mountain, knowing that Cal must have had good reason to go that way. The cold -- maybe the snow of the heights would stop the creature!

Tyrann followed -- but not with the alacrity he had pursued Cal. Was it because he had suffered internal injuries when he tumbled during the earthquake -- or was he simply less hungry now?

Dusk was coming. That and the increasing elevation chilled the air rapidly. Soon it was near freezing, and she knew the snows were not far beyond. She was not cold, for her continued exertion generated warmth -- but the moment she stopped, she would be in danger.

Her foot caught in something, and she fell, splas.h.i.+ng. It was a small stream. Now she was soaked -- and that would only accelerate her exposure. But she could not stop, for Tyrann was not far behind.

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