Chp.44: Welcome home
The three dragons returned to the forest and went even further into it. They were sure there were a lot of extremely interesting creatures in there. And indeed after a few minutes they noticed something moving in the trees. Something leapt off a branch and glided into the strange flowering vines.
It took the three dragons a moment to realize that it was a frog. Or at least, the body and head were those of a frog, but it also had a long, prehensile snake-like tail, and the front legs were modified into wings, while the hind legs were practically absent from how small they were. While flying he inflated his throat, and then when he wanted to go towards the other he released the air downwards giving himself the push. In this strange way he managed to orient himself quite well while flying and managed to approach a handful of red fruits similar to large berries that grew from one of the lianas, very different from the nut-like fruits that released the sand. As soon as it was close enough, the flying frog opened its mouth and flicked its tongue, grabbing one of the berries and devouring it, then flying back to a tree branch and clinging to it like a bat.
"Do you think those frogs carry the sand-filled fruit out of the oasis?" Darbi asked.
Haku shook his head. "I doubt it. That frog doesn't have hind legs, so it can't fly off the ground since nothing would propel it. It is likely that it spends its entire life in trees, or at least the adult part. Consequently, it cannot be the one to carry the sand-filled fruits out of the oasis" he replied. "Rather, I think its role in this ecosystem is to transport the seeds of these lianas. It's likely that those red fruits are the true fruit for reproduction. And just like many types of plants do, thanks to the animals they eat the fruits and seeds are then transported throughout the forest and dispersed in feces. And since that frog flies and lives in trees, it transports the seeds to exactly the right place to germinate"
Haku had noticed that those strange lianas didn't have roots on the ground, but they penetrated inside the trunks of the trees. It was probable that they got their nourishment directly from the plant. Consequently, their seeds had to be found on the branches in order to germinate. And since that flying frog ate the fruits of the liana, it could carry them on the branches of the whole forest, moreover guaranteeing them with its feces also a good initial nourishment which would have allowed the plant to grow until it was able to sink its roots in the tree.
As a result, now Haku had an even clearer idea of how the life cycle of those plants worked. It only remained to understand what was the mysterious animal that carried the fruits filled with sand out of the oasis. "Let's use a bait" he finally proposed, climbing a tree and plucking one of those fruits. "We leave it on the ground and then we hide, and see what comes to take it"
Darbi and Rhaegal liked the idea; after all, using a decoy was a good strategy on a hunt. So they left the fruit on the ground and then hid. The dragons were able to stand totally still, without making a single sound, and thanks to the invisibility rune nothing could see them. They just had to wait, and patience was one of their characteristics as efficient predators.
They didn't have to wait long, at least from their perspective: after about forty minutes, very short compared to the normal times of a hunt, a rooting animal the size of a small cow appeared among the trees, greedily eyeing the fruit. It was a stocky quadruped covered with such thick fur that the hooves were almost invisible; probably it served him to better bear the sunlight, since, if it really was the animal that fed on those fruits full of sand, it would have had to leave the oasis periodically. It had a neck slightly longer than that of a bovine, but the head was completely different: the eyes were small and black and the mouth was very elongated, and ended with four teeth, two of the upper arch and two of the lower one, which they were so long they almost looked like claws. When it reached the fruit, the strange quadruped lowered its head and grabbed it using those four teeth, as if its mouth were a hand, and then it headed towards the outside of the oasis. The dragons followed it and saw it come out of the forest and expose the fruit to the sunlight; the fruit split open and freed the sand it contained, and the animal used a long tongue to grasp the pulp and carry it inside its mouth.
"Well, we also found the last piece of this bizarre security system" Haku commented satisfied.
"It's truly amazing. Everything in this place seems to fit perfectly to keep this little corner of life stable in the middle of the desert" Rhaegal said. "I wonder if there are also predators..."
"Probably. If they weren't there, those strange quadrupeds would proliferate out of control and soon there would be no more food for everyone, and the ecosystem would immediately collapse" Haku replied. "In a small and confined place like this, there can't be too many animals of any species. So there will definitely be predators. Maybe some sand sharks come here to eat during the lean times"
"Maybe. Or maybe there are predators native to this oasis. We have herbivores, why not carnivores?" Rhaegal asked excitedly. "I suggest we head to the lake. We'll have a better chance of finding life there"
"Yes, you're right. Let's go there" Haku nodded at his brother's words. Being the main, if not the only, source of water in the whole oasis, the lake was where all the animals went to drink, so approaching it they should have found many other creatures and got a better idea clear of that bizarre ecosystem.
That choice turned out to be correct, because as soon as they reached the shore of the lake they already found new extraordinary animals. Immersed in water up to half of the body there were in fact bizarre creatures slightly larger than a bovine. They resembled greenish-furred anteaters, but had a paddle-like tail and a very small reddish crest above the neck. They spent a lot of time in the water, which must have been their preferred environment, using their paddle-like tails to swim efficiently; but when they needed to feed they would go out and start eating the grass that grew under the trees. They ate a lot of it and the more they ate the farther they ventured from the lake; however, their fur, for some reason, retained the water which was then carried throughout the forest by those strange animals. The dragons had been amazed by this new piece of the ecosystem of the Thul Oasis: those giant anteaters in fact also supplied water to the plants that grew further away from the lake, and at the same time fertilized the land with their excrement and transported the seeds of trees everywhere, therefore allowing them to sprout into new areas.
However, while they were probably the largest animals in the Thul Oasis, these anteaters weren't without danger. As Haku had foreseen, there were predators that kept the natural balance stable; and as Rhaegal had guessed, they weren't sand sharks, though they were fish nonetheless. In fact, fish up to eight meters long lived in the lake with a head similar to that of a piranha; they had a tapered body and strong fins, and on their backs they had a very long fin that formed a kind of decoration, and they had a strange lump under their throats that possibly served as a sexual display. Unlike the sand sharks, they weren't social and did not walk on land, but they didn't need to: in fact, from time to time one of them approached the anteaters and attacked the weakest individuals, meaning the old, young or sick, grabbed him with jaws and dragged him under water to choke to death. The other fish then joined the banquet, since each anteater supplied a lot of meat, and they stripped it together. And so, the natural balance was maintained, and the anteater population was never in danger of growing too large.
As for the quadrupeds carrying the sand-filled fruit out of the oasis, they too had their predator. The three dragons saw him almost by chance as he went to water at the lake: it was an animal with a very long body and six pairs of legs which allowed it to move very quickly. The body was covered in scales that were opaque for the most part, but became colored on the neck. The muzzle was elongated and similar to that of an alligator, but it had two very large ears that resembled the fins of a fish in shape, and on the cheeks it had large tufts of greenish hair. On its head it had a small horn covered with skin and its mouth was bristling with teeth and with a forked tongue like that of snakes; the snout ended in a small proboscis which it used to grasp its prey and hold it still while it bit. In size it was a little smaller than the herbivorous quadrupeds, but still its height was similar to that of an adult human being. It clearly could not prey on giant anteaters, but herbivorous quadrupeds would have been sufficient prey and a single one could have fed it for weeks. And so, another important factor that kept the animal populations in the oasis from growing too large had been added to the dragons' understanding of this bizarre ecosystem.
Haku was pleased with all the discoveries they were making. He wondered if he shouldn't try to capture some of those animals to raise them. However, he promised himself to be very careful in experimenting with these creatures: each of them contributed so much to the stability of the oasis that if one population decreased too much the entire ecosystem would collapse, and that wonderful place would be gone. And the number of animals in that place was already so small that even the smallest change could have catastrophic effects. For example, if only Haku and his entire family (therefore not their very numerous allies) had started hunting giant anteaters for the sole purpose of eating them, without ever taking more than they should to feed themselves, within a single week the number of anteaters would have already dropped to historic lows; without the anteaters, the plants would no longer have received water, and therefore would have started to die, with a consequent decrease in the number of other animals, and even the fish in the lake that fed on the anteaters would have... in short, ultimately, all that oasis would be ruined. If they were to live there, it was important to keep the forest and all its creatures exactly as they were before their arrival.
So it was that the three dragons spent the whole day, having fun discovering all the various species that populated that little corner of the desert and having a lot of fun doing it. It felt like they were back to when they were just born and worry free and just wanted to explore the world around them. They enjoyed themselves so much that they didn't notice the time that had passed, and only when the light began to go down did they realize what time it actually was. The beastmen caravan couldn't have been far away by now, so they hurried to the edge of the oasis to welcome them.
They arrived just in time: the caravan was almost there now. The beastmen were advancing, tired but happy to have finally completed their difficult journey. Haku caught a glimpse of Zamor looking up at the tall trees with gleaming eyes, and for a moment they exchanged a knowing look. Then, shortly after, their sisters detached themselves from the caravan and came to them, letting out a roar of victory. Haku couldn't help but smile, and for the first time in a long time he found himself not knowing what to say. In the end, he simply said what was on his mind, which while they were rather trivial words, very well reflected what the dragons and all their allies were feeling at the moment.
"Welcome home"