Oya dug her talons into the wet sand, feeling the muscles in her hind legs and back tense with violent anticipation. She planted her two feet like pillars, tail swaying slowly. Dozens of sharp, serrated teeth lined her jaws. She bared them as she opened her maw, lunging forward with a deep hiss. Placing her clawed hind foot over the long, flattened snout of her dispatched aegisuchus prize, Oya lowered her mighty head to feast. Bloody lacerations between the crocodilian’s murky green scutes were proof enough of her claim to the kill. Oya knew large carcasses like this were a rarity in the dry season. The heat of the sun on her gold-and-black marbled skin, served as a burning reminder meals would soon become a luxury.
Heavy drumming vibrations shook the riverbank, rattling grains of sand, before reverberating through the waters with a sparkling dance. Oya searched for the sound’s origin, black pupils constricting in her maroon irises. Dead leaves fell from parched trees across from the shrinking river, a robust mass moving through them. Oya sensed a much larger predator approaching her. The reticulated black streaks on its golden skin might have made it impossible to spot in the dry vegetation for most creatures. But Oya knew the scent of her own kind—another carcharodontosaurus; a male.
There he stood, Shango, tall, golden spikes atop his head and neck, and rugged horn-like crests above his blazing amber eyes. His gaze fixated on Oya’s crocodilian prize. Lifting his mighty head, Shango bombarded the riverbank with more heavy vibrations, shaking the ground like an approaching storm. He strutted forward, spikes bristling on his throat dewlap, standing taller with each step, his vocalizations becoming more powerful the closer he got. Oya crouched, jaws opened wide, hissing louder before rattling the riverbank with her own powerful rumbles. She could see the fire in his eyes, her challenge to his authority sparking an increase in his pace. Like the wind she rushed to meet him, moving as fast as her muscled frame could carry her.
Tiny arms nearly useless, the two carcharodontosaurs faced off, massive jaws agape, teeth flashing in the scorching sun. Shango towered over Oya. She could feel the power of his roar in her bones. Everything about him exuded strength, from his powerful hind legs, robust torso, and thick neck. Scars from countless battles covered his face, a sign of an experienced warrior. Oya was smaller. She had no spikes, her skin was comparatively smooth, and she had no horned crests; only minimal keratin on her head. Yet still it was she who struck first. With a thrash of her mighty skull, she tore into Shango’s snout, her serrated teeth cutting deep. Reflexively, Shango snapped his lower jaw shut, driving his teeth into Oya’s lower mandible. She could feel the larger beast pulling back, his bulk nearly dragging her forward, the force compromising her balance. Blood splattering the sand, Shango broke free in one violent whip of his upper body.
Quickly planting her feet, Oya regained her stance. She refused to back down, her jaws opened wide with a deep hiss, unshaken by Shango’s greater strength. His dominance on the line, Shango barreled forward without warning, ramming his rugged head into Oya’s. The force took Oya by surprise. She stumbled, then shook herself with a snort, regaining her composure before looking up to find Shango quickly closing in on her food.
Oya lifted her head up high, then slammed her teeth back into Shango’s face. However, striking his hard keratin crest cost her two teeth. The minor pain caused her to pull away, and switch tactics.
She rammed her own smaller keratin head crest into the larger carcharodontosaur’s side. This had no effect on Shango, as he quickly latched onto the dead crocodilian’s snout. Seeing her prize being claimed by another, Oya quickly grabbed the corpse’s tail. She planted her hind legs and stiffened her own tail.
Contracting the muscles in her back and core, Oya pulled with all her might. Her efforts, however, were in vain. His grip secured around the dead aegisuchus’ snout, Shango pulled Oya forward with ease. Oya rumbled with aggression and thrashed rapidly, halting Shango, but only for seconds at a time. Shango dragged on, edging closer to the forest with each backward step. Oya could feel her jaw muscles beginning to quiver, her grip around the tail weakening.
Digging her talons into the sand once again, Oya slowly crouched to the ground, slamming her rear into the sand with a heavy thud. The bearing of her full weight brought Shango to another halt.
A loud pop and a crack sounded from the crocodilian carcass. Oya’s eyes widened with excitement, and she dug her heels into the sand. Using all the strength in her hind legs, she pushed backwards towards the water, causing another loud pop to erupt from the carcass. Oya pushed harder, creating a loud series of cracks, the dead aegisuchus now visibly longer than before. Shango shook the riverbank, vocalizing his frustrations. Abruptly, he thrashed his upper body, ending this tug of war in an instant. Crocodilian entrails splattered the ground with blood and biological waste. Oya rushed past Shango immediately, the tail in her mouth, the pelvis and back legs dangling from her jaws. Eagerly she marched towards the trees before vanishing into the bush, leaving Shango the lion’s share, entrails and all.
Lightning cut through the night sky like serrations through flesh. Thunder rumbled through the river delta, promising an end to the dry season. However, Oya knew this promise to be a lie. The lack of moisture in the wind proved this to her. Nothing remained of the aegisuchus’ tail and hind quarters. Forced to eat the smaller portion of her own kill, Oya’s hunger had returned. She lay on her stomach, the salinity from the forest mud irritating the bite wounds on her lower jaw.
With a yawn, Oya raised her head and tilted her snout to the dark sky. The scent of her kill still lingered, taunting her. It begged Oya to take back what rightfully belonged to her. However, Shango’s scent still permeated the air, bringing forth doubts. But as Oya rose back to her feet, the carcass’s tantalizing smell overrode her hesitation. She turned around with a stretch, she stalked through the dark forest, back towards the riverside.
At the forest’s edge, she saw what remained of her kill. Bones, pieces of scutes, and a long, flat aegisuchus skull, all resting within a massive blood stain. Lying next to it was Shango, crouched on his stomach. The fiery flash of his eyes made it clear to Oya that she had been detected. She stalked out onto the riverbank from the foliage, one cautious step at a time. Her eyes darted to the remains, then back to Shango, before darting to the remains again.
Opening her mouth with a hiss, Oya stalked towards the blood spot with a deep drumming warning. As she got closer, her stalk became a strut, staring Shango down when the male lifted his head from the sand. She grabbed a rib bone with a snap of her jaws. Shifting it through her mouth, she found no soft tissue. Useless to her.
More lightning brightened the night as Shango rose to his feet. Oya hissed at the sight. Tensing her body, she rushed forward, prepared to battle once again. Curiously, Shango lowered his head, pointing his snout towards the ground. An odd move before a fight, but Oya was not above a blindsided attack.
Abruptly, Shango raised his head, throat now fully exposed. Had he just handed her the kill? But before Oya could take a bite, Shango released what felt like a shockwave. The force of the sound was so devastating, it left Oya disoriented, bringing her to a sudden stop. She stepped back with a shake of her head.
Looking up in a daze, she found Shango standing to his full height, snout to the sky, the dewlap on his throat fully expanded, spikes bristling outward, all while deep pulsating frequencies engulfed the river bank. Oya stared. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Oya had not expected a mating display. She watched as Shango lowered himself, pointing his snout to the ground again, before once more releasing a shockwave and stretching back to his full height with more pulsating frequencies.
Rattled, Oya had had enough. Unimpressed, she turned back to the forest, eager to distance herself from the relentless barrage of sound.
The night’s hunger increased as the light and heat of dawn neared. Under a symphony of chirping insects, Oya waded through brackish waters, following eye shine floating atop the surface a great distance ahead of her. The scent among the ferns suggested another crocodilian—a chance at redemption.
A careless splash of her foot sent the pair of eyes underwater in seconds. At the conclusion of her frustrated hiss, Oya turned her attention to a collection of tree ferns to her right. Solid ground could be seen underneath them. Wading slowly, she moved towards the tree ferns in silence. With minor splashes, Oya stepped out of the brackish water. She crept through the mud, footsteps muffled by padded feet. In the darkness she melted into the foliage, only the flash of her eyes visible between the leaves.
Crouching low, Oya stalked the mangrove, studying the water, looking for signs of life. A meandering shape sparked her interest, the slight appearance of jagged scutes proving that Oya had not lost her prey. From below the eyes appeared again, cruising slowly across the water’s surface. However, another splash would cause her prey to disappear once more. Oya had not caused this splash. Instead, the culprit came from within the brine.
Oya froze, eyes frantically darting from the trees, hoping to find luck again. The water parted once more, this time the thin, turquoise webbed tail of a fish visible. The mangrove exploded, revealing a narrow pair of jaws around a thrashing fish, and finally the olive-colored head of a male elosuchus.
Violent jaw snaps disturbed the water further, the fish’s movements finally ceasing. Tilting its head upward, the crocodilian swallowed the fish in one snapping gulp. Satiated, the elosuchus settled back down into the water, disappearing once again. Oya scanned the surface, looking for any sign of life. But the water remained still, its surface untroubled. The plants growing upwards from it were stationary. It was as if the crocodilian had vanished from the plane of existence. So, Oya crouched down in the bush. A competition of patience ensued. Until another eruption from the water caught Oya’s attention, and the elosuchus appeared, chomping down on another fish. He had only just concluded gulping down his meal when he caught the splash of another fish tail. Immediately, the crocodilian swam in that direction, eyes atop the water. Rising slowly, Oya pursued with a slow stalk.
The warmth of the morning sun beaming on her neck, Oya knew dawn had met its conclusion. The mangrove awoke, and green, wide-leafed plants floating across the water warped around the elosuchus’ body as it cruised the surface. Bladed cycad leaves grazing his nostrils, the crocodilian seemingly had no awareness of Oya watching from the bush, his mind solely focused on capturing the escaping fish.
In an instant, the large calamopleurus fish jumped, its blue scales glistening in the morning sun, dorsal fin extended, pectoral fins stretched wide. Behind the fish, narrow jaws stretched wide, conical teeth yearning to puncture. A loud snap saw the jaws shut with devastating force. Yet they remained empty. In his excitement, the crocodilian had beached himself upon a mud-covered mound of earth, water rolling from his olive-green body. Such a pursuit demanded much energy from the cold-blooded creature, and receiving no calories in return prompted the reptile to rest. The elosuchus’ jaws opened, feeling the nurturing embrace of the morning sun.
Basking in the morning warmth, the hunter became the hunted. Oya burst from the bush, aiming for the crocodilian’s neck. Her teeth merely grazed the scutes there, the elosuchus propelling himself forward with a whip of his tail. His short hind legs kicked backwards while his forelimbs spread wide before grasping the mud in front. Oya lunged again, but not quick enough. An uprooted tree fern crashed beside him, the crocodilian exploding down the opposite side of the mound and splashed into the water.
Stumbling forward with a splash of her own, Oya rumbled with hungry frustration. Her prey had vanished, lost to a wide expanse of water before her, the strict boundary to her territory. She scanned the horizon. To Oya’s left, the Tethys Ocean, a place where her status of apex predator ceased to exist. However, across from her location, the mangroves continued, though she would have to traverse an open estuary to reach them. Much to her excitement, the elosuchus was already making the journey. Hunger commanded her onward.
Hacking salt from her mouth, Oya paddled through the delta expanse. She was surrounded by water and not a single drop was suitable to drink. The elosuchus was not only a meal to eat, he was also a chance to quench her thirst.
Once again, the crocodilian slipped under the waves. Stubbornly, Oya did the same. Eyes burning from the salinity, she was met by the swaying dance of orange seaweed, harboring between it schools of small fish, the flash of their scales like beams of red light. Beyond the sea life, Oya zeroed in on the elosuchus. The crocodilian’s legs spread wide as he sank to the bottom, a short burst of bubbles rising from his snout. Her prey had unknowingly given her a second chance. However, the burn in Oya’s lungs demanded a replenishment of oxygen. It was a request that could not be ignored. Oya breached the surface, siphoning air into her nostrils before diving back under to complete this hunt.
Greeted by a dispersal of red fish, Oya swept her head through them to regain sight of her prey, only to find the elosuchus was gone. Seaweed swaying in every direction, her prey could have escaped anywhere. Oya breached the surface again and scanned the waters around her. No sign of the crocodilian, not even a single splash. Shaking the salty water from her ears, Oya steered her body away from the foreign lands and back towards her territory. The hunt was over.
Yet familiar frequencies halted Oya’s departure. Body tensed, she tilted her head back and forth, assessing the sound. Across the estuary, a large entity moved through the trees. Shango was approaching. Hissing, Oya steered back towards the foreign side of the delta with a splash. No longer concerned with stealth, she paddled across the estuary as fast as her frame would allow.
Looking up, Oya studied the foreign land. Ginkgos, cypress, palms, and ferns, just like her side of the river delta. All of them with dying leaves, much like her territory as well. The unfruitful journey across the estuary had left her depleted, making the muddy riverbank look like a vast mountain.
Snorting salt from her nostrils, Oya climbed slowly from the water, one clawing step at a time. Reaching the summit of her own personal mountain, the carcharodontosaurus could feel the full wrath of the morning’s heat. A quick scan of the mangrove forest showed that shade was not too far away. Small pterosaurs fled into the bright skies above, escaping the megatheropod crashing through their trees.
Kneeling with a pant, Oya settled within the muddy forest floor. No signs of Shango, Oya closed her eyes for some much needed rest.
Thunder crept through the delta like a predator gearing for an ambush. Its low frequencies rattled the tree branches above Oya’s head, waking her to a chorus of insects and amphibians. The night had lifted the weight of the day’s heat off her body, and she stood with a mighty yawn. Eyes glowing red, she glanced around the mangrove, before a flash of lightning revealed the meandering streaks and clawed imprints of a crocodilian in the mud across from her.
Splashing through shallow waters, the scent along these crocodilian tracks brought forth a renewed hope. Her elosuchus had returned. Guided by her prey’s scent, Oya glided through the forest, maneuvering her stocky frame with the finesse of a gentle breeze. Reaching the openness of the beach showed the crocodilian tracks fully visible in the night.
Black clouds dominated the skies above, drowning out the shine of the cosmos with a thunderous rage. Instead, it was the ethereal, blue glow of the ocean that illuminated Oya’s path.
Billions of microorganisms guided her as she stalked the beach, her own footprints glowing blue with each step. The carcharodontosaur could smell iron in the air; perhaps blood from a new injury. Her prey might have weakened, its reactions slower. The growl of Oya’s stomach brought dreams of an easy kill, causing her to salivate, drool dangling from her lips. The shine of the ocean would bring to her the truth.
Glowing water splashing at her feet, Oya planted firmly into the sand. Thunder crashed through the shoreline, not from the heavens, but from Oya herself. She released her anger in one powerful soundwave after the other. Stealth was absolutely useless at this point. She had found her elosuchus dangling in the jaws of another carcharodontosaurus.
His glowing green eyes met hers, staring her down with an unwavering confidence. The ocean revealed his obvious advantage in size, and the scars riddling the jet-black scales of his face. His pseudomelanistic tone rendered him a creature of the night, the only hints of gold on him the tall spikes on his head and neck, the horned crests over his eyes, and faint gold-and-black reticulations on his sides.
Ogun strutted forward, undeterred by Oya’s drumming threats. Stretching taller with each stride, he approached slowly. Overwhelmed with anger, Oya charged forward, jaws opened wide, white teeth flashing blue against the ocean’s bioluminescent light. She could feel mini shockwaves pound her eardrums the closer she got, however, Ogun’s warnings meant nothing to Oya. All she could see was her prey dangling only meters away. Saliva falling from her mouth, Oya lunged for the crocodilian’s leg.
The taste of iron on her tongue, Oya maneuvered the leg into her mouth, before getting a firm grip on the side. She snatched the elosuchus away, surprisingly with little resistance. The carcass secured in her jaws, Oya plodded away from the male, throwing the crocodilian from her mouth and tearing the hind leg clean off.
In one gulp she swallowed, Ogun in her peripheral vision. She turned, muscles tensed for impact, only to find him standing where she had left him. Eyes on the large male, Oya maneuvered to the other side of the elosuchus, placing her hind foot over its body before taking a massive bite into the torso. She glared at Ogun while she ate, threatening violence towards him with a heavy rumble.
Ogun, however, did not return Oya’s aggression. Instead he looked at her, then back at the carcass, and then to Oya again. The snap of muscle tearing from bone did not phase the large carcharodontosaurus. He simply stood on the beach, as if he were waiting for something.
Blood splattering the sand, Oya continued tearing into the carcass, pressing down hard with her foot, before pulling away intestine and muscle from the stomach. In one bloody snap, she swallowed it whole before diving in for more, rapidly filling her belly, her most satisfying meal in weeks. Movement from Ogun prompted more drumming from Oya. The large male pointed his snout downwards, strutting towards the glowing ocean, water splashing louder with each long stride.
Darkness had no choice but to release its claim on the sky as light returned, dotting the heavens not with a celestial glow, but with a bioluminescent shine. A shockwave from Ogun’s serenade had sent clusters of glowing plankton hurtling through the air before splashing next to Oya and her elosuchus meal. Flesh and blood covering her face, Oya paused, looking up with a bewildered head tilt. The ocean shook with each pulsating boom as Ogun stretched to his full height, expanding his dewlap while tilting his head towards the sky.
Another splashing shockwave saw Oya drag the carcass further from the ocean, snorting away saltwater and plankton from her snout. She pinpointed the trees from which she came and marched towards them, the elosuchus’ head wrapped securely in her jaws. Despite getting further away from Ogun, the intensity of the mating calls stayed the same. It was as if Ogun was still standing only meters away from her. As she got closer to the forest, the frequency actually seemed to increase, the leaves on the trees vibrating until golden spikes breached from between them. Oya quickly shuffled her feet backwards as Shango appeared from the foliage.
Only glancing at Oya for a second, Shango immediately shifted his attention towards the ocean, where Ogun’s glowing green glare met his own fiery scowl. All mating frequencies ceased, the delta falling silent, all but for a single thundering bolt of lightning cracking through the dark clouds above.
Sand flying in the air, Shango immediately maneuvered himself in front of Oya, blocking Ogun’s view of her before ripping through the silence with a deafening roar that rapidly pounded through the delta, shaking the foliage with a tectonic intensity. The ocean trembling, Ogun’s infrasonic frequencies hit first, followed by his own roar that hammered against the shoreline like a raging tsunami.
Jaws opened wide, Shango thundered forward with heavy thudding steps, without any regard to territorial boundaries. Raging out of the ocean, Ogun bared his teeth, mandibles opened just as wide as his rival’s. The melanistic carcharodontosaur stretched as tall as he could, before bludgeoning the delta with more hammering frequencies, declaring his ownership of these lands, and threatening war to any male who refused to leave peacefully. Shango embraced the threat of war, quickening his pace, rattling Ogun’s side of the delta with a promise of hostile invasion. In his mind, Ogun had made the ultimate trespass, luring in what rightfully belonged to him.
The delta rocked like driftwood in the sea, the two males standing in front of each other, tooth to tooth, jaws adjacent, roaring with no restraint. Their posturing drowned out every other sound within the vicinity, before finally a brutal crack split through the chaos. Only low infrasound remained as Shango barreled forward, jaws interlocked with Ogun’s. Sand flying in every direction, Shango broke free in one thrash, aiming his serrated teeth for Ogun’s neck. The black-scaled carcharodontosaur matched his speed, blocking his opponent’s attack with a vicious bite to his snout. Ogun gripped Shango’s upper jaw with as much force as he could muster before exploding forward with a thrash of his mighty head, bucking wildly while Shango scrambled to keep his footing. Blood misting the air, Shango broke free once more, his snout and nasal region completely red with blood. The pain only made the fire burn stronger, as Shango swung his head, slamming his horned crests into Ogun’s lower jaw.
The melanistic carcharodontosaur could not hold back a slight wince, the pain bone deep. Like an axe, Shango cut down on the side of Ogun’s face, completely covering his left field of vision.
Planting his hind legs, while flexing the muscles in his back, Shango pulled Ogun forward, towards the ground. But in the chaos of Shango’s aggression, Ogun broke free, a slight cut over his left eye. Seeing his opponent wobbled from his abrupt escape, Ogun charged forward, spreading his maw for another bite. Thinking quickly, Shango pivoted to his right, aiming his own jaws towards Ogun’s injured left eye.
Another crashing boom saw the collision of teeth, jaws, and keratin as the shuffle of sand and infrasonic frequencies continued. However, all of this chaos may as well have been the soothing chirps of crickets. The blood and fluids of the elosuchus might as well have been ice cold water from a mountain spring. Its flesh yielded the most potent and satisfying of flavors.
Every hunk of muscle and bone was a victory within itself. Chomping calmly among the trees, Oya filled her belly without any concern of interruption. Many calories would be burned between the dueling males, leaving them both in need of replenishment once the violence had ceased. However, when that time came, Oya would see to it that only bones remained.
