Thalgar’s every strike was neither refined nor worthy of being compared to a graceful dance. He was a brute. Sometimes fooling his opponents into thinking he’d hand them a knock with his staff, when in fact, a sweep was the thing that awaited them.

While he was knocking and pushing the pests aside, one of them managed to come in and lodge their jaw onto his arm. Blood oozed forth, almost drowning the one biting into Thalgar’s flesh, but they endured the iron taste.

Amidst the throes from his arm, Thalgar managed to keep his mind clear and as undisturbed as a cavern pool. Swiftly he threw his staff way up high, not doubting for a second that anyone would steal it from him, and then, in the timeframe it fell, he punctured his two fingers into the eye-sockets of the human-nipper.

The afflicted follower, let go and tumbled into the background. Thalgar smiled, a smile that only those who stood face to face with him could see. Then he sprang up and grabbed his staff. Just before it was in reach of his enemies, and from there he used his fall to tramble on those who stood in his path.

The many followers who cried in anger on behalf of Kaibalac were slowly dwindling in numbers. Every one of them held high hopes, that any minute they would succeed in felling their intruder, they did, after all, leave marks on his skin and clothes. But the man never stopped his path toward their goddess. If they gave Thalgar an hour or two he would have surely wiped out their whole clan.

Knowing the possible future, Kaibalac sneered. Then Urka fell, no longer equipped with two arms, and from then on, William was no longer its desired prey. Without thought he was flung to the side, almost over the edges of the mountaintop for Kaibalac had no intention of standing by anymore…

A pitched scream came from its lungs, then it spread out its huge wingspan, casting a weak shadow over the chaos. A few basks later and it had reestablished itself as the ruler of the sky.

Thalgar sometimes looked up at the circling beast. He knew that any second it would come down to pluck him off of its mountaintop. William, on the other hand, was frantically searching for his sword. He had hoped they would let him keep it on his body or at least have gifted it to Lucifer once he was eaten. But no, neither he nor Lucifer had it.

William glared hatefully at the crowd who tore at each other. The thought of his sword’s sheen being lost forever at the bottom of some lake, made his eyes sear in anger. He wanted to holler and hop onto the closets follower for revenge, when he noticed a believer had taken the job of lifting fallen comrades out of the way.

One of those who were dragged toward safety held onto something long and shiny. Their hand lost all strength and with a clank, the beautiful blade was lost on the edges of the gathering blood-pool. William recognized the sound and stared at the metal. Everybody was so preoccupied with the battle. Hence, William took the time to sneak over and grab it back. It was slippery because of the red fluid, but still as unbend and graceful as ever.

With this, he had a chance of survival. With this, he would show Kaibalac what it meant to go up against somebody who actually cared for their dinosaur!... Even if that someone still had an aching leg!

Though, completely contrary to those beautiful thoughts, William went over to use Lucifer as ransom.

He knew that Kaibalac cared for its own kind, so he did what would probably piss it off the most. He held up its unconscious body and aimed his blade at Lucifer’s throat. Standing a distance away from the heated clump, to make it easier for Kaibalac to spot him. And then he roared at it, “One of us will be free today! Namely ME!”. The flying behemoth’s gaze, that had been constantly planted on its followers, were now tuned in on William.

Sure, Kaibalac cared for its followers, but only as much as a queen cares for her servants. When it saw its patient being threatened by one of those that make life on earth a bitter dream, it shifted target and *Whoosh*, it without a doubt came diving down for William’s life.

As the small spot on the sky evolved into a beast that could overtake everything in his vision, William felt his heart gallop. Now was his chance to board the enemy. Merely a second away from being caught by Kaibalac’s hook, William used his ability to evade the capture. Then he swung around his body so that he could hang behind its lengthy leg.

Kaibalac had only come down to snatch, therefore its path was set to head over the edge and up again. William could already feel its body seek the winds above, but before they ventured that far, he took a good look at Lucifer’s peaceful face…

A cloud that had overshadowed the sun for a moment, briskly went away, and with its redrawal, the sun could resume to shine its light on even the smallest of details. Including the wet trails that resided under Lucifer’s eyes. Right then, everything was moving slowly for William. His face formed doubtful lines as he thought: Can dinosaurs… cry?...

His left arm was already securely wrapped around Kaibalac’s leg. Now he only needed to free up his right arm, where Lucifer rested. Somehow it was extremely hard to just let it go and watch Lucifer limply fall back to the ground. Alas, he didn’t have much time before Kaibalac would be fully over the edge and roaming the big open blue. His right arm loosened up and he lowered down the cub along with some whispered words, “Don’t worry Lucifer… We’ll leave this place together!”.

*Swoosh*, the winged beast was already up amongst the clouds again, now with an extra passenger aboard. Kaibalac knew of the insect but found it rather pleasant that William wanted to come along. For if there was anything better than ripping and eating up a Skoi, it was to see their bodies fall as they succumbed to the insanity of waiting for their own death!

But then before such a gleeful thing could happen, something odd took place instead. Because somehow Kaibalac could no longer feel the weight of its passenger.

Kaibalac looked down on its feet to inspect if the human was still there. But NO!?, the little rat had sneaked its way further up! But just how had Kaibalac not noticed its clammy hands tugging at its feathers?

William saw the dismay flaming in Kaibalac’s eyes. If it wasn’t thanks to his speedy limbs, he would have been stopped way sooner. Knowing that the creature might try to fling him off with its beak, he decided to stay behind the place its wings were attached. There, he would be safe until it should land again…

And perhaps, while he waited he could do some helpful damage… If only it wasn’t so unexpectedly hard to stay aboard and alive at the same time.