The sobbing, William had heard faintly before, was now easy to track down. It came from an even younger boy, sitting way up high in one of the trees that circled the dying bait.

William was about to speak to the boy when a gurgled grunt came from the other human, “... Hrgh! Run Ottis!... run away…”. William glanced down at the bloody mess who could barely talk. The similarities had him blank out for a second. But then he understood. That this youngster must have mistaken him for the other person that was currently at the scene…

With a thumping heart, William went into the clearing. His sword was unsheathed slowly as he didn’t want the sound of it to drown out other more important ones. And then. With all of his mustered up courage and mercy, he stabbed the tip of it into the teenager’s skull…

He had to… For he knew very well what awaited them all in this clearing: A group of intelligent dinosaurs. Quietly,  they lingered in an ambush and any second now they would surge forth! Because of these circumstances, it was very likely that William would be forced to flee, leaving the already doomed burden behind. Thus killing the youth now, in William’s book, was definitely more merciful than to leave him for a brutal and slow consumption... Nonetheless, this calculative decision still left a small scar in his heart. Even though he wasn’t the body’s true killer...

William’s action was not looked kindly upon by the boy up above. He let a small whine escape. A little noise that caused great pain to William. Still, he didn’t give the boy a second glance. Instead, he stared intensely into the wilderness surrounding them.

“They are getting ready to pounce at any moment now… Young boy if you want to live and not be left alone in this place, you should hurry down…”, William said in a low and calm manner. Doing so, hopefully, made the surrounding dinosaurs presume that he was talking to the creature perched on his shoulders and not to their prey.

The 10-year-old boy in the tree replied back through sobs, “I… I won’t… Not with you...”.

William’s body trembled as excitement spread throughout his veins. This was all due to the air getting denser and the battle closer. “Some dinosaurs can climb trees you know… You’re not safe up there…”, he said, the second his voice was under proper control again. Alas, the small boy kept being persistent, “No that-... I definitely won’t be safe with you!”.

Something rustled behind a giant rock but it was mostly ignored by William, who lifted his sword and took notice of how the light got reflected off of its blank surface. While he observed this, he wanted to hasten the boy, so he said, “Fine… If that’s how you want to die... I’m going to leave you in 10 seconds… 10… 9… 8”. His verbal timer was cruel but also very effective.

He didn’t even get to count to four before the boy landed on the soft grass surrounding the tree’s trunk. Quickly, the boy came up on both legs in a clumsy rush. Then he was about to head over into the embrace of his future savior, when said savior rebuked him, “Now you do as your friend told you to… Run”.

With a bewildered look the boy stood still as if William’s words didn’t hold any meaning. This was a huge mistake on his part. As the next second, a raptor-like dinosaur’s head popped out from the thickets to try and snap his thin neck. Its teeth came close and scratched the soft area on the boy’s throat, but went no further. It was immobilized as William had managed to penetrate its center of operations in time. The ambushing dinosaur didn’t even get to react before the beautiful blade had sunk itself deep into its skull. Before it lost completely its contact to earth, the dinosaur allowed itself to be astonished. For it could never have anticipated such speed to come from a mere human! Usually, it only hunted nonbonded ones.

While William’s sword made its way through bones and mass, he noticed how much resistance there was. Not only was the flesh resistant on entry, but pulling out the blade was also a task in itself, even with his combination of enhanced muscles and a sharp sword. It was at this moment that his gratitude towards Harvick grew even stronger. For if he had made the strike with a lesser blade, it would probably have remained stuck for a good while. Creating a precarious position to be in!...

The stabbed dinosaur was now dead but it wasn’t alone. Without mercy, its brethren would continue the hunt. This time, not only for food… But revenge for as well! “I TOLD YOU TO RUN!!!”, William screamed at the boy to get his fat ass moving. No longer was he calm and collected on the outside. For even though his back was turned to the rest of the clearing, he could feel the presence of two hungry carnivores make their debut from within the thick forest.

Upon sight, Lucifer was raring to go. Its willfullness to go berserk was quickly transferred over to William, who could feel its claws tighten their hold on his skin. All it took was a leap and the white dinosaur was already off painting the world red once more. Slaughtering one of the two dinosaurs on the spot.

Its spring made William falter a bit backward. But he soon regained his momentum. Just in time to blind the other dinosaur that came for him. The sharp reflection from his blade that perfectly filled its eyes, made the dinosaur sprint in the wrong direction. With a heavy sound, it crashed parts of itself into a nearby tree. Seeing this, William smirked devilishly, for his little trick had worked just fine.

Before the dinosaur got up, William heard more rustles in the distance. Confirming the existence of additional hunters.

Altogether, this group of dinosaurs was a pack of five hunting together. And because of their group’s size, they needed a bigger catch to call it a meal. Why else would they wait for a puny human to climb down into their trap?...

The sound from their footsteps uncovered for William who their first victim was going to be… They still had their stomachs set on the child!... William really wanted to make up for the death of the boy’s friend. So he decided to ignore the predator that had set its eyes on him, to instead, catch up to the race that gifted a young boy as its price.

While his ears guided him towards the youth, his eyes could confirm that he wouldn’t make it in time. The two dinosaurs were already at the boy’s heels and with the speed William was going at, he simply wouldn’t be able to make it… It wouldn’t be long before he would see yet another human get ripped to shreds… *Thump thump*, *Thump thump*, steadily he could hear his blood pumping muscle clearer and clearer. Take over all other sounds… And once’ his attention was fully grasped by the rhythm of his heart, he got the strange sense that he could control it. Whether it should slow to a halt or race like a merciless jaguar. All of this was for him to decide…

Since William was overtaken by panic at the moment, he wanted his heart to match this feeling of chaos that he was immersed in. Thus he made the muscle pump faster and faster.

William widened his eyes, for the faster his heartbeat went, the slower his surroundings got. And suddenly he caught on to the chase. William stared in disbelief as his body defied gravity and time. At least that’s what it felt like to him...

Soon William gained a wide smile on his lips and tears began to gather in the corner of his eyes. He wanted to scream out his happiness and embrace this feeling of the supernatural but first, he had to save the boy from the two dinosaurs’ pincer attack!

Although he wouldn’t be in time to lift the boy up and run ahead with him, he would be able to stop him in his tracks; making the dinosaurs overshoot and lose their target. So he did. He grabbed the boy’s wrist and flung him backward. Which made the two dinosaurs miss their prey. Instead of tackling a small animal, they clumsily tackled each other as William had moved faster than their eyes could possibly ever perceive.

This stroke of victory and gain of power made William laugh out loud. “Hahaha! Suits you right!”. Then he flung the boy over his shoulders as he stated, “Now my little obstinate friend. Point me towards your home and I’ll take you there!”. The two dinosaurs that had fumbled onto the ground steadily got up to continue the fight but they were too late. Their target had already fled the scene as soon as it got directions.

Alas, this wasn’t enough to stop the two dinosaurs. They lifted their heads and sniffed the air for a way to track them. Sadly for them, the stench of nearby blood was too strong and overpowering to gain any intel from. So they went back to the clearing to regroup with the others. There, they soon came upon the remains of their brethren. Both dinosaurs stood frozen at the sight. Until one of them went over to call and nudge one of their fallen brothers. It couldn’t accept their deaths but it had to… This was how it was… The wild had mercy for no one.

Both creatures mourned their friends for a few minutes, then with uncertain looks, they began to feast on the human that the others had left behind...