(Author's Note: Well, I ended up finishing Chapter 6 a little quicker than expected. I hope the few people that read this story enjoy!)
Chapter 6: The Feathered Dragons
One month after the Ceratosaurus attack, the pack has traveled far away from the Ceratosaurus' territory, now living near what is now California during October.
Before the sun had even began to grace the morning sky, Vigil and Cowerer walked outside the pack's cave, hidden away very close to a beach. The two were cautious not to get too close to the ocean, as pliosaurs like Liopleurodon lurked beneath the waves, ready to snatch up unsuspecting dinosaurs.
Cowerer happily walked throughout the forest, completely forgetting that their entire reason for being out was for patrolling. Instead, she bounded around, squeaking joyously and occasionally glancing back at Vigil.
Since the Ceratosaurus attack, Cowerer had turned two years old, and was now almost mature, nearly as tall as Vigil and only one year younger than him. As she matured, her cowardice had begun to disappear, now happily exploring the depths of the forest alongside Vigil.
Vigil hadn't any time for Cowerer's games, despite his fondness of her. He rarely engaged in Cowerer's simple games, though she insisted he joined. He needed to pay attention to his surroundings, the pack's safety depended on his vigilance.
Every morning the two did this, going out before sunrise to patrol the area the pack occupied for predators. The area had no sign of larger predators, like Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus, but there was one dangerous carnivore that didn't need size to pose a threat to the pack.
Vigil stared up at the tree branches, watching carefully for any movement, as the trees are the home to the area's most dangerous carnivore, known as Archaeopteryx.
Archaeopteryx was the ancestor of birds, and is considered the first bird, and is the natural predator of Compsognathus.
Fortunately, the Archaeopteryx that inhabited the area weren't awake yet, still sleeping in their nests high up in the redwood trees.
As the two Compsognathus strolled through the forest, a cool wind suddenly blew, resulting in the two shivering. Compsognathus wasn't a creature used to colder weather, the pack would soon need to move south, toward warmer weather.
This chill, however, barely put a dent in Cowerer's happiness, she merely continued to hop around, snatching up dragonflies.
A few minutes later, the two headed back toward the beach, watching the sun rise over the ocean. Soon, the Archaeopteryxes would awaken, and Vigil and Cowerer would make easy prey for the original birds.
Standing on a small cliff overlooking the sea, Vigil and Cowerer watched the Liopleurodons feed, a spectacular event that occurred every morning.
One adolescent male Liopleurodon swam deep below the water, watching its unsuspecting prey; an Ophthalmosaurus.
The Ohpthalmosaurus swam just below the surface, sticking its snout above the surface, taking in air in preparation for hours of hunting for fish. The Liopleurodon, however, was ready to hunt, he just had to wait for the right moment...
The Liopleurodon swam positioned itself below the Ophthalmosaurus, and pointed its huge, triangular head straight up. The Liopleurodon was about to demonstrate its brilliant hunting strategy.
Just as the Ophthalmosaurus was about to swim back down, it found itself in between the jaws of a Liopleurodon, its jaws ripping through flesh and crushing bone. The Liopleurodon thrashed its huge head around, and the Ophthalmosaurus was ripped in half.
What remained of the Ophthalmosaurus sunk beneath the waves, its blood reddening parts of the water, and was followed by Liopleurodon.
You see, Liopleurodon, unlike most modern aquatic predators, attacked not from the sides, but from below, snatching up its prey.
Seeing this take place was quite the sight for any dinosaur, though it also showed just how dangerous prehistoric waters were, and any Compsognathus would do well to avoid the sea at all costs.
Suddenly, a loud squeaking came from the pack's cave, resulting in Vigil and Cowerer hopping down, investigating the source of the noise.
At the entrance of the cave, one little Compsognathus stood, squeaking in fear of the Liopleurodon out at sea, who had just claimed another victim in his jaws.
Vigil sighed in relief, it was nothing to worry about, fortunately. However, the pack would soon have something to worry about, with the awakening of the Archaeopteryxes in the forest.
Unfortunately, the pack was beginning to run out of food again. For the last month, they'd been scavenging off the kills of larger dinosaurs, but now they had to compete for food with the Archaeopteryx pack, standing at about the size as Compsognathus. Fortunately, they had yet to encounter any member of the pack, though a conflict was imminent.
Vigil lead several other Compsognathus out of the cave, going to find food for the pack. He looked to his side, shocked that Cowerer wasn't joining him. He turned around to see Cowerer back in the cave, sleeping, having been worn out by her early morning 'games'. Vigil turned back to the beach, sighing, and continued out into the forest, wary of the creatures in the tree tops that waited to swoop down and attack unsuspecting prey.
The three hunters went deeper and deeper into the forest, following the scents of lizards. However, on occasion they would notice a small black figure darting among the branches above them, and could hear the sounds of wings fluttering. Whenever this happened, Vigil would snarl, hoping to ward off whatever stalked them.
Several hours later, the hunters were now very deep in the forest, having split up to pursue multiple targets.
Vigil stood on a low-hanging branch, staring down at his prey. But the prey wasn't the usual yellow and black lizard, this was a tiny feathered creature.
The feathered creature was colored black, red, and yellow, and hopped around, fluttering its tiny, useless wings and chirping with its high-pitched voice. Modern day humans would call this creature 'cute', though any Jurassic period predator would call it 'food'.
Suddenly, Vigil pounced, snatching up the tiny bird creature in his mouth and shook his head wildly, killing the thing almost instantly.
Not taking a minute to eat the creature, Vigil began walking back the way he came, carrying the bird creature's lifeless body in his jaws.
Before he could leave the small clearing, several bird-like creatures dropped down from the treetops. The creatures had a similar coloration to the little creature that Vigil had just killed. The creatures were Archaeopteryxes, and Vigil had just killed one of their offspring.
Vigil looked around, the lifeless baby Archaeopteryx still in his jaws. There were four Archaeopteryxes surrounding him, each one holding up their claws, snarling at him.
Vigil set down the dead baby, and started growling himself, turning from one Archaeopteryx to the other, seeing no way to avoid conflict.
Each one was only a few inches taller than Vigil, but they still posed a huge threat. This would be like fighting four Procompsognathids, though far deadlier.
Vigil knew he wouldn't be able to defeat all four of them, and saw only one way he could possibly survive the confrontation, so he raised his head and screeched loudly, hoping that the other pack members would hear it.
Then, the largest Archaeopteryx pounced, screeching ferociously and wildly swinging its claws. The Archaeopteryx landed on top of Vigil, bringing him to the ground. Vigil lay there as the Archaeopteryx stood on his side, flapping its wings.
Vigil however, had yet to lose confidence, and slashed and snapped at the Archaeopteryx's legs, before finally biting into its leg. Vigil then jerked his head to the side, forcing the Archaeopteryx off of him.
Vigil barely managed to bring himself to his feet and aggressively squawked as the Archaeopteryx swiftly stood back up. However, Vigil's efforts were in vain, as one Archaeopteryx charged into his side, biting into his back as he fell back down.
As the Archaeopteryx began slashing and biting, Vigil let out a screech of pain that echoed throughout the entire forest. He attempted to fight back, kicking his feet because his arms were pinned down by the Archaeopteryx, though the Archaeopteryx didn't seem impacted in the slightest.
Eventually, Vigil gave up. He simply let the Archaeopteryx slash at him, not even screeching in pain anymore. As the Archaeopteryx started to lift him up by his back, he didn't care. He just wanted it to end.