After feeling his wound pound for what felt like 12 hours, they arrived at a huge stone wall. Blocking off the current wilderness and dividing the land. Multiple scavengers had turned up at the place, waiting for a safe-passage to be opened for access. William glanced around at the well-packed people. They carried filled bags, and some of them, other humans on their backs. “Houla, houla, houla… Let me see offerings… Offerings for our supreme leader and goddess!”.

“HOULA!”, the group shouted back and kneeled. Displaying whatever they carried. The inspection lasted a minute before a curtain of vines were set aside, revealing a hidden tunnel into the mountain range.

William felt unease crawl up his spin. In the beginning, when the women regrouped with the others, he was afraid that he would stick out like a ripe pimple as he was given a piggy-back ride by Roa, but he soon realized that this didn’t really grab their attention. At least, if you just counted him as another corpse that they hauled from the battlefield, then he really didn’t stand out. And it was this observation that made William feel on edge...

The tunnel was carved out in a huge triangular shape, fit for much bigger beasts to pass through than humans. They went inside and slowly every speck of light got eaten by the darkness. It was strange, for William was pretty sure that these people followed a certain path as they traversed the tunnel’s ground. Almost as if they were avoiding something. If anything it was probably traps they knew how to tread amongst.

Lucifer was not allowed to walk freely inside the tunnel either. He was getting carried on top of William’s back who was riding Roa. They were both lightweights but to carry their combined weight… This woman was something. And she didn’t even seem tired from all of the strenuous exercise... William was impressed!

Once they entered the light again, William was amazed to gawk at a canyon valley filled with skillful architecture. The canyon was like a miniature jungle, with overgrown trees and shrubbery that thrived on its edges. All of these wild plants also mischievously hid the opening to the village... On both sides of the canyon, intricate houses were engraved a few meters above the ground. Along and around these dwellings, risky stairs and holes were planted for safe passage between the floating platforms. The place was fairly overrun with vines and plants. But even with all this plant life, there were no animals in sight, like livestock…

As the canyon’s centerpiece, a ginormous statue stood of what resembled a broad and tall creature with batlike wings. Its details were obscure compared to the rest of their buildings. “Don’t stare so… Kaibalac doesn’t like the sight of Skois”, the stern woman lectured William while she followed them up into one of the bigger houses. William remained silent, not knowing what she was implying.

Once there, Roa told her companion, "Gri, tell Urka that we have a Skoi joining us today". Hearing her command, the stern woman nodded and went ahead.

Then after an arduous rewrapping of his wound, William was invited to dine with some of the canyon villagers. They sat around a low table, around 30 people. Even Lucifer was given a seat and the treatment of a human guest.

Bowls were handed out filled with veggies, except for Lucifer’s, his was brimming with red juicy meat. Not one dared shovel a handful of salad inside of their mouth before a stunning black haired woman got to hold her speech. With a grim expression, she said, "I spoke with Kaibalac yesterday… She's disappointed… Dissatisfied with our tributes as of late… Where are the younglings? She asked… Just when did we last welcome another among us?".

Her fierce eyes scorned the villagers before she completely changed her tune,  "Well, today is different… Mercy is what she has given us in return for our offerings. And to even have encountered a Skoi… Truly a joyous day awaits us! Now dine and know that you deserve to grace yet another day!... Ah! And to those of you who didn’t attend the last meeting, she wanted to relay that a large group of new ferals have entered the territory. So she will be gone for a few days until they are taken care of...".

Roa and Gri smiled before they hurriedly stuffed their faces with crunchy goodness. As for William, he was confused, not knowing if he should trust these people. If anything they came across as mild fanatics.

William withheld his urge to eat and instead he asked them, “How come you don’t eat meat?... If it’s because of a shortage then you don’t have to feed Lucifer. I’m sure he’d be happy to hunt down his own dinner”.

Gri was about to swallow another mouthful but stopped her hand from propping the salad inside, “If that’s what… Lucifer?... Desires, then we’ll let him hunt in Kaibalac’s territory. As for us? We don’t eat meat. Such sustenance is solely preserved for Kaibalac’s spawn”.

Roa nodded in agreement and added, “Unlike you, young girl, we’re no longer lost... We understand who is the superior one and who deserves to dominate nature’s hierarchy. And you would be smart to do the same thing too... In the future, those who have not adapted will be degraded to nothing but dirt...”.

William took his first bite and replied, “You keep referring to me as Skoi? What is that? And who’s Kaibalac?”. Both women laughed, then Roa said, “Kaibalac? She’s the most amazing being to have graced this land and sky with her presence. We are her children and servants. Now eat, wounded girl. Eat and become healthy so that you can walk again. That way, we'll all be happy”. William twitched a finger, annoyed that they omitted the 'Skoi' part. 

Surely some things were not meant to be pursued unless he wanted to trigger some horrible event, so for his final question he asked the two women in a lowered voice, “… I was wondering… What are you going to use those deceased people for?”.

Gri’s eyes glinted but she didn’t speak. She wanted Roa to be their spokesperson so with a jab in the side she made the woman talk, “Those…”, her eyes gazed into William’s, who exuded an unexpected openness. “... Like any other animal, we offered up their spirits and peace to Kaibalac”. William scrunched both of his brows and watched as the two women collected their bowls in a hidden rush before they left the dining hall without him.

“Wait? What do you mean by ‘like any other animal’?”, William asked in haste but his hosts escaped the question and fled.

Left behind, immobilized, he sat in thought. There was definitely something crooked about these people. He didn’t mind that they were vegetarians, but of what he could understand from their well-chosen words, they implied that humans didn’t deserve to eat meat compared to Kaibalac’s spawn. Which, if it was referring to that gigantic statue outside, it could be they meant dinosaurs in general or a specific species of them… And they even ‘offered’ up the dead to this Kaibalac… Clearly their view on human life was screwed, but sadly not compared to the rest of the land’s culture. For in this developing world, humans were also considered a source of food… Albeit, not the usual kind.

William pushed his bowl away so that his arms could rest on the table. His appetite got wrecked the moment his thoughts began to circle around Julian’s stormy future… He forced them back to lessen his dark mood. Afterward, he thought: They took the dead as offerings to Kaibalac… Then what about me and Lucifer? Why did they decide to take in someone like us?...

Their guest wasn't left unattended for long. Soon another duo came to help William settle in. Then he was left to his own devices. Not that they cared, for he couldn't walk too far without aggravating his arrow-wound open.

The moment they left, Lucifer went over to sniff at his bandaged thigh. Then it intently gazed up at its parent. Naturally, Lucifer didn’t trust these people either, but it trusted William’s decision to stay with them. The human could guess what the dinosaur was thinking and so it mumbled, “Yeah… It’s because of this darn wound here… I promise you… As soon as I can walk properly again, we’re out of here… And if things do go down?... I’ll just have to reopen the wound screaming and run away like a bolt of lightning, hehe… So, don’t worry”.

The white dinosaur narrowed its eyes and spun a pleasing purr. William’s face lit up and naively he blurted out his sudden hunch, “Can it be? You’re beginning to understand me?”.

To this Lucifer neither cawed nor blinked; showing him that his words had yet to have any effect… William huffed a bit disappointed at his false discovery. Then he let his hand run through Lucifer’s feathered back. Doing this, he let himself get lost in its calming white sea of silk.

William felt that it was okay to feel at peace here, for with their shared ability of speed, he was confident that they had the freedom to leave whenever they should choose to do so.