Inside the tunnel, it was at first uncommonly dark. Moist air tinged with smoke flooded the inner chambers. William noticed that the smoke came from tallow candles, positioned far apart on his journey down. They were quite big and smelled like cooked pork. Made lovingly by Kaibalac’s worshippers. To them, it didn’t matter whether the fat came from a dead human or animal as long as the fat was good… But this fact was unknown to their surviving visitor.

The stale Lucifer that rested in William’s arms was beginning to feel quite heavy. So he needed another way to carry it, at least, if it remained sleeping for more hours to come. Thus, once he came past a natural cave that diverted from the tunnel’s path, he took a little look-see inside, in case there were any useful resources lying about. And that there was.

Apparently the aesthetically pleasing cave, with speleothems decorating the ceiling and smooth stone floors, was used to keep the clothes and belongings of the deceased. Those who the followers scavenged from wars and whatnot.

William quickly understood where they stored dirty and clean fabrics. He took a big blouse and then he wrapped Lucifer in it for a ride on his back. Then he also managed to find his backpack. Searching through its contents gave William cold sweats. For it wouldn’t be unlike the cultist to burn Joss’ dinosaur carving to ashes. Just because it imitated those they admired so much… But, luckily for William, they had not taken the time to do so.

As for the followers that he was about to go on a manhunt for? They were nowhere to be seen, no matter how far William went…

As he wandered, further along, William also came upon some other smaller caves. Caves where hanging carcasses were smoked for later. Caves for healing and pottery, and then there was the one that seemed to be their spiritual center.

It was especially decorated and painted with multiple variants of ocher. The warm colors on the slick walls told unknown stories. The oddly written words that accompanied the many drawings, had William stop up for a second to read them out loud. “My poor gods see them as parents, but in their eyes, are they children? I think not…”.

Then another mural told, “It is forbidden to use the word: Mother. The goddess scorns those who forget their place… We should all listen to her words for only she can speak for the gods”, William repeated the text as he scratched his cheek. Even in this clan’s religion motherhood was revered…

He let his hand follow the stories told in red and yellow. Then he stopped at another depiction of Kaibalac. In the mural, the creature was at the center and surrounding it was a large group of people.

The mere sight of it made William think: I wonder what it felt like for all of them to be bonded to that thing?... Did they think of it as their mother?... The former writings did imply that, but it’s quite odd that they should feel that way. Since I don’t feel like that towards Lucifer. But is that because I am the parent in our bond?....................... Hmm… And just what is up with Kaibalac anyway? How come it can bond with so many as the parent in their connection?... Maybe, since its birth, Kaibalac has never had the bonding abilities of a cub?... Because if that was the case shouldn’t it have lost the power to do so the moment it turned five? But it was clearly a grown-up dinosaur who excelled at bonding. A dinosaur out of the norm. Something people would call a genetic defect, gone right?... 

William chewed some more on the subject and began theorizing. Using his own understanding of what a bond is: Hmm… As I see it, a cub is born with a loose string, once attached to its parent it must stay locked, because if the connection is severed the string will be lost forever. But it seems in Kaibalac’s case that it wasn’t just born with one but perhaps many? And either those strings could reattach or they could perhaps be reproduced?... At least, I don’t personally think that the secret to its unusual pact is due to a huge possession of spirit energy, like in Julian’s case. For if that was the reason behind it all I doubt I and Thalgar would still be standing…

After a while without much progress, William decided to give up on solving the mystery himself, thinking in a sigh: Alas, I’ll probably never truly get to understand how and why it came to be… I just hope that Kaibalac was one of the last ones of its kind… To think that there might be other dinosaurs like it out there… Intelligent, strong, and possibly assisted with quite the following… Well… It’s quite scary…!

The backpack William wore at the front was secured, but Lucifer was beginning to slip, so he tugged the cub up on his back with a small jump. Then he thought: Lucifer is also very intelligent and capable… But he cannot speak nor convey his thoughts… I wonder if he could, wouldn’t we be more like equals?...

Hours had gone by since he left Thalgar and still, the cub hadn’t woken up… It couldn’t be a good sign.

William walked out of the spiritual cave, speculating whether it would wake up by itself or if it would need some kind of antidote or medicine to do so. If anything he hoped with all of his heart that its sleeping-beauty-spell wouldn’t last forever… It was feasible that he was blowing the problem out of proportions… Nonetheless, he was wrought with worry for the little beast.

Filled with doubt, William exited the entrance that led out into the canyon valley. His muddled mind rebooted once he noticed how lifeless and forsaken the village had become.

Sure he didn’t expect the place to be as lively as before. However, other than the 30 warriors who got mostly annihilated, there were also those he would classify as normal citizens. Shouldn’t some of them still be visible, fleeing the place? Then how come he couldn’t witness one single evidence of life?...

William stopped just before the light could reach him, to take in the sounds of his surroundings. A lazy wind swept through and rustled up the abundances of diverse flora. To most creatures present it was a nice summer breeze that created a choir of rustling while it spread a fresh perfume. But to William, it was just another distraction to be wary of. Once it had passed his senses were freed up and he could finally hear the sounds of people. 

From the echo in their words, he could guess that they were inside one of the many tunnels connected to the valley. William sighed in relief over their refusal to fight, “So, my guess was indeed correct, they decided to flee and not take any chances, huh?... Then that’s-”, he didn’t get to finish his own sentence before he spotted dark shadows climb and sprint into one of the cave-like tunnels. These definitely belonged to a variety of animals. And then the far cry of screams and panic ensued. Very faintly but they were definitely there!

William intensely stared at the scene, wondering what had gone in to finish the fleeing villagers off… The voices that rang out were a mix of adults and children calling for help. Alas, it was too late for them to be spared. For neither he nor they were in any shape to stop the hunt. 

Breathless, William stood with heavy shoulders. Wondering how much he should let their dying screams affect him… Of course, when they fought against each other he had hardened his heart with logic. Thinking, that because Kaibalac’s people chose to sacrifice him according to their vision of the world, it would be fair play for him to copy that approach… However, this… Did they really deserve to be eaten like this? By…?

William flipped through the possibilities and recalled that Thalgar was known for having a following of dinosaurs after him. Most of which were carnivores, so obviously, when they smelled and saw a flock of easy targets they decided to chew on them…

William gulped. Thankful for not being a part of it…

If anything, those poor fanatics were probably surrounded from both sides, since they were currently in a tunnel... This idea had William cough uncomfortable. For now that he thought about it… How was it in any way safe to stay here?

The canyon valley was akin to a fancy box with only one proper exit! Was he now supposed to run past who knows how many scavengers as he avoided traps unknown?... Irritated at the mere thought of it, William stroked his injured leg. Well aware that doing such a crazy stunt would surely set him back furthermore recovery wise.

And what about Thalgar!? He was clearly injured enough to collapse. Without a dinosaur to protect him against this crowd of vultures he had following behind him, would he not also be seen as easy prey?...

The consequences of Thalgar’s early demise was unthinkable to William. He had always believed the main plot to be of great importance the moment he heard of the protagonist’s existence. Surely, it couldn’t be a coincidence! Never!...

So what if Thalgar died? Was it then William’s job to overtake his role!? Clearly he was far too weak for that right now! And who was he to believe the plot would wait for him to gather such strength?

No… If things were to remain whole, it would be best if he stayed and guarded over the unconscious fellow. Then when the man awoke, the ferals would no longer be a threat to Thalgar, and William would hopefully have had enough rest to tackle the danger that was leaving the area alive. 

And who knows, perhaps the reason for why they met here, was so William could spare Thalgar from an unjust fate of becoming dino-food for his own ‘fans’?