Sauragia: Journey to the Red Mountain

Chapter 24

Oric stood tapping his claw on the muddy southern bank of the Andarus. As Astron had predicted, the bandit leader had been slowed down by the presence of the massive waterway. He had not planned ahead for crossing it. A bridge would have been easiest, but that would have taken him too near settlements and other dinosaurs. But as usual he had relied on his own quick wit to solve that problem. And once again, luck and quick thinking did not fail him.

In his scouting the night before, Bandor had found the river, as well as a nearby cabin with boats moored to a little pier. There were only three, and they were fishing boats, but they would do. He now stood awaiting anxiously the return of Reddi, Bandor, Godwine, and three others whom he had sent to requisition them under threat of force. Every now and then he would cast a wary glance back south over his shoulder, then shake his head and return to searching the river bank, occasionally muttering something to himself under his breath. This behaviour did not escape the notice of Lorraine, who nudged her mate Renwig.

“Say, Ren,” she whispered. “You notice somethin’ odd about Oric?”

Renwig, who had never been as good at spotting subtle cues, shook his head. “No. Why?”

“He seems a little edgy,” explained Lorraine. “A little troubled, y’know?”

Renwig glanced at Oric again. “How d’you mean?”

“Like somethin’s botherin’ his mind. The way he keeps lookin’ behind us.”

“Maybe he’s afraid o’ the Saurahallers catchin’ up,” suggested Ren.

“Maybe.” Lorraine seemed doubtful. “But if’n y’ask me, there’s somethin’ more to it. For instance”—she lowered her voice to the softest whisper—”I could swear I ‘eard ‘im scream somethin’ awful in ‘is sleep night before last.”

“Really?”

Lorraine nodded. “Really. An’ ‘e didn’t sleep at all last night neither.”

As they had this conversation, they only kept a light watch on the young captives, whom they were charged with guarding. It was not as though they were going anywhere with so many of Oric’s band around, but they did manage to whisper to one another as they would not normally be allowed to do. Their conversation was surprisingly similar to Lorraine and Renwig’s, though none of them had heard Oric scream. They kept looking back southward, hoping against all odds that their crossing might be delayed long enough to enable their father and the entire Saurahall Guard to catch up and rescue them.

And indeed, as time went on and the sun rose higher, it seemed as though that was quite possible. Oric grew increasingly anxious, and occasionally muttered, “Where are those idiots?” Finally, when the sun had been up for an hour, the six bandits came trudging up the shore with the three boats in tow. They heaved the small vessels down in the mud and took a breather as Oric stormed over to berate them.

“What took you fools so long?” he asked. “Do you realize how much time we’ve lost?”

“Sorry boss,” spoke Bandor. “But these boats were heavy, and we had to rough up the silly clod who owned ‘em to give ‘em up.”

“Fine, fine,” spoke Oric impatiently. “Now let’s get them into the water, quickly!”

He signalled the rest to come down and assist. They did so, bringing the captives along too. When the boats were on the water Oric sighed.

“Now, load the brats up first!” he ordered.

A nearby Gorvosaurus shrugged and reached for Frederik. His eyes widened with surprise as he stopped suddenly, then fell to the ground transfixed by a long-shafted arrow. The bandits looked up in the direction from whence the missile had come. Standing on the ridge was the shadow of a dinosaur wielding a bow and nocking another arrow. In stunned silence, Oric stared hard at the lone archer beside the tree, trying to make out details in the shade. He could not make out much, but felt an eerie familiarity in this dino’s presence. The dino from his nightmare! Fear took hold of him and spurred him into action.

“Move, you fools!” he shouted.

There was a sudden scramble to get the boats moving and get in. They made another attempt to load the confused young ones into the boat, but as three more figures approached alongside the first one, Frederik cried, “Father!” At the sight of Astron, even from afar, the children felt immense joy and struggled to break free.

“No! You’re not getting away that easily!” said Oric as he grabbed Arnor and tied a gag about his snout. Rose and Frederik were likewise subdued, then hauled into a boat together as another Gorvosaur fell to an arrow.

“Let’s go!” ordered Oric as he and Bandor shoved off, then hopped in the boat alongside the children. As they picked up the oars and began rowing, he could not stop looking back at the archer on the ridge. His concentration was broken by a sudden rocking motion as the boat hit the river current. Oric looked down to see Rollo, who had just been hit in the arm, grabbing on to the side of the vessel in an attempt to haul himself in with his good arm.

“Oric, help me up!” he spoke desperately, panic in his eyes. “I’ll drown if you don’t!”

Oric was about to respond when another arrow struck him in the right foreclaw. He gasped and dropped the oar.

“Please, I can’t swim!” cried the weighty Gorvosaur. “Help me, Oric!”

Angry at Rollo for distracting him, Oric shouted down at him to “Get your own boat you clumsy fool!” then kicked him hard in the head. Rollo’s grasp on the boat side weakened and his eyes filled with terror.

“Don’t leave me, Oric! Please!”

But it was too late, for his grasp had slipped entirely. With a final horrified glimpse of the boats rowing away to the opposite shore, he sank beneath the water’s surface and was swept away by the unceasing current.