predator

preface: a very old short story of mine. lol bear with the simplicity it was a writing experiment in which i had to create a story with a wide range of unconnected plot elements

Jake woke to the sound of the Great Clock ringing loud throughout the underground city. He was late! He sprang out of bed and quickly shoved on his boots. He quickly put on a shirt and threw on his dino-hide jacket. He should have met Lightfoot on the surface fifteen minutes ago. He strapped his rifle to his back and grabbed a Viva apple on his way out the door. As he stepped into street he placed his cowboy hat onto his head and his senses were soon jerked from their former sleepy state.
The dimly lit streets were teeming with people, shopkeepers, bartenders, and countless work crews constructing numerous buildings all making an abundant amount of noise. He made his way towards the stables at a steady trot while chomping on his apple. As he made his way through the streets he saw Bill’s bar table overflowing with business on the side of the street. Bill looked up and gave a slight wave to Jake as he passed even though he was serving three or four thirsty customers at the same time.
He was just finishing his apple as he came up to the stables. He entered the building through a weary looking door and held up his hunter’s badge to a ancient looking stable keeper who gave a slight nod as Jake made his way to the stalls. No sooner had he stepped into the large barnyard area, loud screeches assailed him from all sides. All of the velociraptors were eager to be chosen for a hunt. He walked up to an orange and purple raptor and held his hand under the beast’s nose. After a curious but approving sniff the raptor kneeled down and Jake threw a saddle on it’s back. The screeching grudgingly died down as Jake mounted the creature, today’s steed had been chosen, the others would have to wait until next time. Jake quickly prodded the beast out of the stalls and towards the exit into the street.
After rejoining the mass of life in the streets Jake directed the raptor to the northern part of the city. They crossed the distance quickly and soon came to a large clearing in front of an even larger wall on the side of the giant cave which the entire city resided in. The wall was covered with enormous paintings, at least four or five times taller than the average man. Each painting depicted startlingly realistic vistas of cloudy forests, plains, mountains, and even some of strange and foreign worlds. Even more shocking than the strange paintings was the fact that people were entering and exiting through them! A man in full space gear exited one of the more exotic looking paintings just as a woman exited a painting of a pond carrying a basket load of fish. Jake led his raptor along the paintings until he found one of a cloudy plain lying before an enormous forest. Without hesitation he prodded the raptor towards and into the painting.
After moment’s disorientation Jake emerged onto the depicted plain atop his steed.
“About time!” yelled a playful voice from above.
Jake looked up ruefully and saw his friend and hunting partner, Lightfoot atop a graceful Teradactyl. Lightfoot was much darker skinned than Jake and was only wearing the long leather pants that were traditional among his Indian brethren. Jake gave Lightfoot a sheepish shrug and turned his multi-colored raptor towards the large forest. Lightfoot swooped down to Jake’s level and they began to cross the plain quickly.
“I heard that it attacked another harvesting party last night,” Lightfoot remarked.
“Well hopefully it won’t be able to do that much longer”
“Only one of the harvesters made it back and none of the Viva fruit was collected. Our supplies in the tree cities are nearly as diminished as those in the underground cities. If these raids don’t stop…”
“Where exactly was the Harvesting party attacked?”
“About a quarter mile into the great forest, near the fourth Viva patch.”
“Let’s head there and follow his trail.”
Jake and Lightfoot entered the forest on their separate beasts surrounded by massive trees that reached high into the sky and were as wide as houses. Following Lightfoot’s directions they soon found themselves at a large Viva patch that had been totally ravaged. The plants were ripped out of the ground, smashed and spoiled fruit lay everywhere, and what was left of the harvesting party was strew everywhere. It was a revolting sight. After taking in the destruction, Jake slid to the ground and pulled out a pair of spectacles from one of his coats many pockets. After putting the eyeglasses on the scene around him changed: Everything was portrayed in vivid shades of red, blue, orange, and green. He quickly located a trail of red leading off into the underbrush.
“That way.” Jake pointed as he quickly remounted his raptor.
Lightfoot followed Jake as the rapidly entered the dark underbrush under the eternally cloudy sky, and the shadowy canopy of leaves that towered above them. Traces of the party’s obviously enormous attacker could be seen everywhere: crushed undergrowth, snapped logs, deep ruts in the damp earth, and the continual presence of random puddles of blood.
Jake took off his glasses and slowly adjusted his eyes back to reality. He withdrew his rifle and motioned to Lightfoot. Lightfoot stealthily withdrew a jet-black bow and cocked a deadly looking arrow on its string. He then silently rose atop his winged mount and began to circle overhead. Jake crept along slowly with his rifle tightly pressed to his shoulder. The raptor’s muscles were tense under his thighs, the air around them was still and the inherent noises of the forest began to die away. The mounts and their riders all looked around eagerly, anticipating their prey.
A guttural snarl slowly rose in volume from the cover of one of the colossal trees. Both pairs of hunters shifted their aim from tree to tree with adrenaline charged reflexes. With a hellish roar an enormous four-legged beast sprang from behind a tree! The cat-like creature was the size of a triceratops, and had talons as big as a small man. With its blood stained fangs bared menacingly, the creature made its way towards Jake in one effortless leap. With hardened nerves Jake fired an arc of lightning into the monster’s shoulder as he leapt off his raptor’s back and hurtled into the nearby brush. The raptor dashed the other direction and the monster landed where Jake had been with a painful and enraged howl. Jake quickly took aim again but was knocked aside by an unseen blow and his shot crackled off harmlessly into the woods. Turning to face his new assailant, he saw a pair of gleaming eyes identical to those of the previous beast. There were two of them! The beast looked down into Jake’s eyes with an evil satisfaction, ready to strike. Thud! The beast’s eyes rolled back and it toppled to the side with a gleaming arrow embedded into its skull.
Lightfoot swooped over Jake and turned to locate the original predator. It was stalking Jake’s former mount getting more and more frustrated as it failed to catch the smaller but more agile raptor. The raptor veered close to snap at the fiend’s side, but it found itself caught in the creature’s unrelenting claws. With one chomp, the raptor was shred into two. Lightfoot restrung his bow and swooped in for a shot at the creature. Jake also had regained his bearings and was sprinting towards the monstrosity. Feigning ignorance the beast pretended to ignore the hunters’ approach.
In one swift movement the predator whipped around and flung part of the raptor at Lightfoot with a chilling roar. The carcass hit Lightfoot dead-on and flung him from his Teradactyl with a loud thud. He landed senseless several meters away with the raptor carcass on top of him and his bow and arrows fell scattered on the forest floor. Seeing all of this, Jake leapt into the clearing fired two bolts at the monster in a fit of rage. The bolts struck the beast in the side but did more to anger it than to actually hurt it. It turned its crazed eyes on Jake and advanced at an inhuman speed. Jake kneeled and began to unload his rifle’s electric payload without hesitation. The deadly arcs slowed the beast but it continued to charge towards Jake. Jake’s rifle charge was almost out and he knew he only had a few shots left. He took aim at the monster’s eyes and focused all of his skill into his last few shots. Two shots missed, but the third found its mark. The beast howled in unbearable pain as the bolt seared out one of its eyes but closed the distance between its attacker with one last mad leap. As the beast landed over Jake it knocked his rifle loose and it clattered away uselessly. As Jake stared into the beast’s dripping jaws he clutched the ground helplessly.
His hands fumbled upon a long slender shaft with an extremely sharp tip. It was one of Lightfoot’s arrows! He grasped the arrow with an iron grip and thrust upward into the monster’s heart with all of his strength. The beast stiffened and a trickle of blood began to pour from the creature’s large jaws. The beast crumpled on top of Jake and was no more.
Jake wriggled out of the beast’s deathly embrace and tears of relief rolled down his face as he rapidly made his way to Lightfoot. He dragged what was left of his mount off of Lightfoot and checked his friend’s pulse. He was still alive! Suddenly he heard a loud screech; it was Lightfoot’s Teradactyl! They had defeated the predators. The fruit shortage would end. And they were going to make it home in one piece.