The Black Woods: Part 2: The Black Tyrannosaurus

"I have no idea where that blasted egg is." Mukinsa replied.

"We were supposed to take the egg to Tyresian, the witch king. He was going to reward us with magics and diamonds, but those Wereraptor freaks they." She had to pause for a minute when thinking about what happened. Even to these two strangers she didn't want to let her mask slip.

"Some of our prisoners were able to escape into the woods with the egg. We don't know where they went."

"Prisoners? How many? What for." Diassa asked.

"Some civilians at the Dynamos Dinosaur farm where they were breeding the Als and on the outskirts. We thought that Tyresian might like them as a gift."

Diassa and his strange lady companions faces winced with disgust at that last part.

"This is worse than I thought." Diassa said.

"The egg being out there is bad enough. Do you have any idea what Tyresian would do to those people? What could happen to them out there in these woods? We should leave you here." Jade said in anger.

"Now, now Jade. I understand, but we both know that no one deserves to be left here. The people of Dynamos can deal with her after we rescue their people. Think how grateful they'll be. We'll probably get a banquet." Diassa interjected.

"Oh I do love Dynamos festivals." Jade said.

"They really know how to live there. Well they did the last time we were there over one hundred years ago. I hear they still do the festivals." Diassa replied.

He prattled on. "I hope we can stay this time. It'll be our luck that we're needed somewhere else again, before we can stay, well I suppose we're not as unlucky as the people who need us but."

Whilst Diassa was rambling however one of the bandits slowly crept up on the unconscious six armed Wolf and stabbed the beast in the back of the head.

Diassa noticed only too late and screamed out at the bandit to stop. As soon as the bandit pulled his bloody sword out of the Wolf's head he felt a force take control of him.

"I can't move" the bandit said.

"I'm sorry. There is nothing we can do." Diassa replied.

"What are you talking about" the female bandit asked.

"This castle, it's alive. All of the buildings are in these woods. If you kill one of its guardians then you will replace them." Diassa explained.

The bandit started to run against his will to the pedestal where the Wolf had stood. After climbing on top of it, the bandit's skin turned to metal just like the Wolf's.

"Why didn't you warn us? You spent all that time prattling on about Dynamos?" Silverica who had barely managed to survive the fight with the Wolf asked angrily.

"I thought you would have known? Only an idiot would wander into these woods without doing their research. This place is full of vicious curses, cruel little enchantments that are designed to trick you, corrupt you and play on your weaknesses. I assumed you read the book Urisak wrote about these woods? He was the only person to survive this place other than us." Jade said.

"Most of them can't read." Mukinsa replied.

"We have to go, before any more of these horrors wake up. Be grateful, the castle is giving you a chance to leave." Diassa interrupted.

The remaining bandits all followed Diassa's lead, whilst Mukinsa waited around just a few seconds longer staring into the now frozen, metal face of her former comrade.

She normally didn't care about her fellow bandits at all, but she couldn't help but be horrified at what had happened to him. Trapped here, aware but unable to move, forced to stare at those other disgusting creatures all day, all night. She just hoped that some other monster would wander into this godforsaken courtyard and kill him and take his place.

The bandits former prisoners meanwhile had unknowingly trekked deeper into the forest. None of them had any idea where they were going and they all knew it. Eventually one of the prisoners, an anxious, but quiet young lady at the back got so frustrated that she ran away and tried to make her own path back.

The rest of the prisoners tried to stop her, but she was too fast. They never saw her again, but just a few minutes later they heard her screaming followed by a cracking sound.

"We might not have the best sense of direction, but I think we can agree it's better if we stay together and near the egg." Kelina said. A few minutes later however the egg began to hatch.

"What, that's impossible, they said it wasn't due for another few days." Kelina gasped.

"Well trust me these things can sometimes be way off. My son came about six days too early." A tall man at the back said.

"We need to get round the egg. The Tyrannosaurus Al instantly imprints on who it first sees as its new mummy or daddy. We need to make sure that's us." Shelly shouted.

Unfortunately several Wereraptors had been following the prisoners for some time, waiting for the right moment to strike. Quick as a bolt of lightening one of the creatures jumped down on top of the tall man whilst in human form.

After knocking its victims to the floor, the Wereraptor morphed into its Dinosaur form and rammed its clawed hand into the man's back, punching through his chest. It then held him up to the horror of the rest of the prisoners. Whilst the Raptor was revelling in their fear however, Shelly tried to pull the egg away, but two more Wereraptors, both in their human form jumped down in front of her.

"Give it up, our Dinosaurian brother belongs with us and you know it." One of the monsters said.

Shelly stood her ground, but Kelina noticing the two Dinosaur/human abominations advancing on her sister put her sword around the egg.

Before she could tell the Raptors to back off one of the Wereraptors jumped on her back, which knocked Kelina into the egg, sending it rolling down a nearby hill.

The Wereraptors ran after it, but while they were distracted, Kelina jumped one of the monsters from and then stabbed it with her sword. It was a non fatal wound as silver was the only metal that could harm the monsters but it still hurt it, and the Dinosaurs scream distracted its comrades long enough for Shelly to run ahead to the bottom of the hill.

The egg hatched as it rolled down the hill and a small, blue baby Tyrannosaurus Al came rolling out of it.

Fortunately Shelly was the first to reach the prize of Dynamos. Even as an infant, the Tyrannosaurus Al was over ten feet long and looked every inch the fearsome killer it was reputed to be.

The Dinosaur stood up and faced Shelly who stood her ground. Towering over her, the Dinosaur it seemed could already walk and probably already kill. Its mouth was filled with massive razor sharp teeth. The Dinosaur opened its jaws around Shelly's head for a few seconds before harmlessly licking her face and nuzzling her cheek.

"Awww." Shelly said to herself as she stroked the back of the Dinosaurs head. The Dinosaur got to its knees, hoping that Shelly would jump on its back which she obliged as soon as the two Wereraptors arrived.

"This woman is not your friend. Her people use magic to condition you to be their slaves. You should live with us. You should be free." One of the Raptors insisted.

The Tyrannosaurus Al however responded by charging at the two Wereraptors which sent them scurrying back up the hill.

Even at this size the Tyrannosaurus Al was incredibly dangerous. Not only was its bite tremendously powerful, but it contained a special kind of magical poison that could infect and kill many other magical creatures. The beast also had a greater immunity to magics, due to the nature of the spell that created the original Als. This coupled with their tremendous size, ferocity and loyalty to their parents is what made them so sought after.

The Tyrannosaurus Al jumped up the hill in a matter of seconds to confront the Wereraptors who were attacking the prisoners. (The monster got its agility from its Allosaurus heritage.)

The Wereraptors in response fled into the woods before they could finish either Kelina or Sisia, though their leader said just before fleeing.

"We will be back. We will not let our brother fall into your care." The last of the Wereraptors said before fleeing.

Only three prisoners remained including both Kelina and Sisia, though Kelina was hurt. It was only a shallow cut made by the Raptors claw. Still given her extremely privileged life, Kelina wasn't used to any kind of pain.

Shelly helped her sister and Sisia onto the back of the Tyrannosaurus Al which was somewhat reluctant at first until Shelly was able to calm the Dinosaur. It was more than strong enough to carry all three.

"Well this tips the scales" Shelly said proudly as she patted the Al on the back of the head.

"What are you talking about. We have one mutant baby Dinosaur in a wood full of horrors" Sisia replied.

"No Shelly's right. Not only does the Al have a poison bite, but it has a good homing instinct. We can perhaps use it to trace Dynamos from here." Kelina replied.

Sisia laughed.

"Are you insane? You're going to have a baby Dinosaur trace a city that it's never been to from miles away?"

"I admit it's not an ideal plan." Kelina said begrudgingly.

"Not ideal!"

"Well what other choice do we have? Tyrannosaurus Rex's have a fantastic sense of smell, never mind a mutated magical Tyrannosaurus. Maybe it can pick up a scent of a nearby human settlement, anything, as long as Shelly steers it in the right direction. Our own sense of direction in case you haven't noticed hasn't been all that great." Kelina snapped.

"Well." Sisia said. "I don't like putting my trust in a dumb animal, but I suppose that's still probably better than putting it in you."

"That's the spirit." Kelina said sarcastically.

Shelly tried to give the Tyrannosaurus Al commands, but it didn't seem to follow them at first. The little Dinosaur was clearly loyal to her, but it was still somewhat dazed and confused.

She jumped off of the Dinosaur and tried to be more firm in her commands, but the Al just responded by licking her face.

"Aww he's just so adorable" Shelly said as she hugged the Al tightly, much to the others frustration.

Suddenly the Al appeared to pick up a scent of some kind. It then bent down allowing Shelly to get on top of its back again before running off.

The Al stood out in the black forest. Its skin was a bright blue, almost purplish colour whilst its eyes were bright gold with a red pupil. The Als were considered the most beautiful Dinosaurs not only due to their striking coloration, but the fact that their magical constitution would heal almost any non fatal wound. Unlike all other meat eating Dinosaurs they were not covered in scars or disfigurements from fights with prey and rivals, which was yet another reason they were valued so highly.

The Al only had to roar to scare away any of the small Goblin, troll like creatures that came near the bandit prisoners.

"Everybody knows the pride of Dynamo, the Tyrannosaurus Al is not to be messed with." Shelly said proudly.

Diassa, Jade and the surviving bandits had also picked up the Als trail meanwhile and had arrived near the remains of the egg. Diassa was able to sense the magic of the beasts presence near here now that it had hatched. The hatching itself left a lot of magical residue around.

"Well looks like the Witch King will have to get a refund." Diassa joked.

"What do you mean?" Mukinsa asked.

"I mean eh, can you tell me your name?"

"Mukinsa" the female bandit replied.

"Well Mukinsa, whoever the Al sees first it will become attached to. That's why the king or queen always attends the hatching. We just have to hope that the Wereraptors didn't find it and it didn't imprint on them."

Mukinsa's heart sunk at what the Wizard had said.

"It really was all for nothing." Mukinsa said to herself. She almost felt like apologizing to her brother, but she soon thought better of it. She couldn't show any weakness now or the others might abandon her.

"Come on we need to get out of the woods now." She commanded the surviving bandits.

"You can't be serious." Jade said.

"What's in it for us? Like you said the Al is gone and we don't have any reason to be in this heinous place for a second longer. If anything we need to get out of here before the Witch King realises that we failed."

"We have to rescue the Al itself, not to mention all of those poor souls you got lost in here." Diassa protested.

"I should care about that because?" Mukinsa said with an obnoxious smirk.

"You should care because you're useless." Jade said back.

"You've already got most of your team killed. If we hadn't intervened that Wolf would have cut you all up. Even if one of you had got the better of it, you'd have become a statue. It's thanks to us any of you got out. You can join us, or you can try and make your way through these woods and last about five minutes if you're lucky." Jade continued.

The other bandits instantly sided with Diassa and Jade such was their lack of faith in Mukinsa. Silverica almost laughed he could barely contain his glee.

"Go on Sis I think it's that way to Dynamos. Can you see if its safe?" He taunted.

Mukinsa reluctantly joined the others realising that the Wizard and his strange companion were her best hope of escape.

"Even with our help you'll be lucky to last ten minutes." Jade said to Mukinsa.

"You're very precise about the number of minutes we've got left to live aren't you?" Mukinsa replied.

"I told you I've been in these woods before. I have a good idea of the average life expectancy." Jade said back.

"Well personally I don't think this woods are all their cracked up to be. There was nothing in here for the first hour or so when we arrived. It looks mostly deserted to me." Another one of the bandits having seemingly forgotten how easily the Wereraptors slaughtered his comrades said in his stupidity.

"That's because you were working for the Witch King you idiot. This is his domain. Most monsters know not to cross his servants apart from the Wereraptors who don't care. Now that you lost that egg. They'll probably all be coming for you." Jade replied, much to all of the bandits horror.

Whilst the bandits had been arguing, Diassa had managed to trace the Al's magics exactly. It was hard as there were so many magical creatures in these woods, but he was able to with a piece of the golden egg.

The Wizard, the Snake woman and the bandits ran after the Dinosaur and within just a few minutes they caught up to it.. The Al itself however could hear them. (Even ordinary Tyrannosaurs could detect the faintest sounds in the ground.) It turned to face Diassa and the others before they could get the drop on it.

"The bandits, they're back." Sisia said.

"Let them come, we'll show them what the pride of Dynamos is really made of." Shelly said, whilst Sisia was still terrified.

The Al descended on the bandits many of who backed away, though one of them did try to fire an arrow at the Al, but it simply bounced off of the Dinosaurs scales. The Al however was still enraged and whipped the bandit with its long sprawling tail, knocking him down.

The Al then pulled the bandit by his feet with its tail towards it, and placed one of its three toed feet on his chest.

As the prize of Dynamos leaned in for a killer bite, Shelly told the creature to stop. "Please you don't have to go that far, we've made our point." She pleaded. The Al however didn't listen and prepared to finish its prey, but Diassa pulled the bandit out of the way using magics. The Wizard and Jade then got in the way when the Dinosaur tried to reclaim its victim. Fortunately this time Shelly was able to stop the Dinosaur in its tracks.

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt any of you. I am well aware of the Al's loyalty to its mother I assume in this case?" Diassa asked.

"I've always wanted one as a pet." Shelly said enthusiastically, barely able to contain her glee.

"Yes well just wait until he grows up." Jade responded.

"My name is Diassa." There was a silence, though the Wizard could see that only Sisia recognised the name.

"You've never heard of me? Of us?" He said to Shelly and Kelina.

"Sorry I spend most of my time with Dinosaurs." Shelly said politely.

"Yes well I love Dinosaurs too, but how could you not have heard of me. I saved Dynamos your kingdom four hundred of years ago in the battle of Sklorimia. I beat the villainous Hooded Ones."

"It was king Isiclear that beat the Hooded Ones, at least that's what I was taught at school." Kelina said.

"There was never a finer man than he." She continued.

"That rapscallion" Diassa said in frustration. "He wrote my contribution out of the history books and took credit for it all!"

"Well you are always saying that we are drawing too much attention to ourselves." Jade replied.

"Well yes but a little appreciation when facing the Hooded Ones isn't unwelcome. Still at least one of you has heard of me."

"I thought you were just a character in a tv show." Sisia said. "A really crappy tv show."

"Yes well whatever the case" He said trying to take them off topic.

"Don't worry, we're here to help you and"

The Al started to growl impatiently and its tail swung wildly nearly hitting Diassa in the face.

"I think you need to get your Dinosaur under control." Diassa said to Shelly.

In the distance however Jade was the first to spot several trees collapsing as something big, far larger than the Al came towards them. The Al ran towards the giant, taking the three women with him, whilst the others were quick to follow.

The Al came face to face with a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was unlike any Tyrannosaurus any of the bandits or their prisoners had ever seen before however.

Its skin was jet black, and it stood more upright than most Tyrannosaurs, but its stomach however (which was snow white) was a mass of blank white human faces, all crying out in pain and despair.

When the Dinosaur opened its mouth, rather than a roar it was the sound of several humans screaming for mercy.

"What is that, that.... thing." Kelina asked.

"It's one of the most feared creatures of the forest, the black Tyrannosaurus, a Dinosaur changed by dark magic. Its stomach is bigger on the inside and contains a hell dimension. When it devours you, your spirit will suffer the worst agonies in the dimension forever. There is no magic that can free any spirit from the stomach of the black Tyrannosaurus. Those are the faces of some of its previous victims suffering in its belly, whilst its roar is their screams." Diassa said as he tried to conjuor up a spell that could distract the Dinosaur long enough. It was all he could hope for as absolutely no magic could harm the abomination.

The Al had dragged them here because it had picked up the black Tyrannosaurs scent. It was intrigued by the scent of an animal so similar to it.

"When I say run, run" Mr Diassa said as he fired a green energy beam at the Tyrannosaurus which normally would send its victim to sleep for as long as Diassa wanted. He hoped at full power the Tyrannosaur would feel a little tired and dizzy, but instead the beast seemed to react with even more rage and tore through the green energy.

The others didn't even need to be told to run, but the Dinosaur despite its size was fast. It managed to scoop up one of the bandits, a young man with one bite and swallowed him in an instant. The Dinosaur much like the Al had done to the bandit, also used its tail to wrap around Shelly and pull her off the Al.

"No Shelly" Kelina shouted as the Al turned around, but it was too late.

From the distance, Kelina could see the Tyrannosaurus dangling Shelly above its mouth.

"NO, PLEASE, FOR PITY SAKE SOMEONE HELP ME!" Shelly screamed as the Tyrannosaur dropped her into its jaws.

To Be Continued