5. Donte's Dream

Donte walked back to the Mouth of Din, dreaming.

I’m going to make as many friends as I can among the Small Ones. And then I’ll go to my father and show that we CAN live together. And then we’ll help each other and flee from that asteroid. Everyone will live long and happy. They’ll talk about us for a long time. “Life was so nice under the dinosaurs,” they’ll say. “And they were so kind.”

He narrowly avoided stepping on a rabbit. “Sorry! Lost in thought!”

The rabbits looked up fearfully and hurried away. “I’m a plant eater, like you!”

That was stupid. Now everyone’s running away, because they hear a dinosaur growling. You’re always so stupid, Donte. If only you would do something smart for once, then they would listen to you.

But he couldn’t think of much that was smarter than fleeing from a life-threatening asteroid. So he—carefully—walked on. Going up took much longer than going down. He took a detour and hoped not to encounter any dinosaurs before reaching the nest.

He could handle a lot, but lately it had been exceptionally hot and dry. When did it last rain? He couldn’t remember. After walking alone for a day, all life having fled from his feet, he had no choice but to visit the river and quench his thirst.

It wasn’t deserted.

It was littered with the bodies of Small Ones, more dead than alive. Bellies half-eaten made red rivers. Torn-off legs formed a desperate path to the bushes.

When the survivors saw him, they screamed and dove into the water. “I won’t hurt you, I … I …”

The horrifying sight made him lose his voice. He didn’t want to come any closer, but he was dying of thirst. What happened here? Maybe he could warn his dino herd about this danger. That was smart, right?

There was no raincloud to be seen. In fact, the Cloudbeings seemed to be piling up in the distance. Only the burning sun heated him to the boiling point.

Stepping between the bodies, he reached the water and took a sip. It was quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

A red horned dinosaur stormed out of the bushes, blood around his jaws, bigger than him.

Donte spun on his right foot and whipped his tail against the attacker’s belly. His red scales were so tough that Donte mostly hurt himself. He had to turn away to keep his balance.

The horn chased after his neck, but Donte curled downwards. He jumped and slammed his neck against the underside of his attacker, who fell sideways.

Give up. Go away. I win, right? But the horned dino was already up again and bracing for a leap.

“I’m trying to help!” Donte yelled. “I’m warning you about an asteroid. If we flee, we can survive. I’m one of you.”

“You’re only helping yourself, traitor.”

The horn thrust towards his front leg. Just in time, he lifted his leg and grabbed the horn, but his attacker was too strong and pulled him along, dragged him through the soaked earth towards the raging river.

He was forced to let go and stumble backwards.

“We can do this for another hour. But I’m bigger and stronger. I’ll win.”

“Unless he’s not alone.”

A second dinosaur broke through the trees.

She was just as green as him, but her neck was much longer and her round mouth filled with ferns. She didn’t have small front legs, but walked on four thick legs with an even wider bottom. Like an elephant, even though those didn’t exist yet.

“Nisah, pleased to meet you.”

The attacker looked between Donte and Nisah. If he went for Donte, Nisah could hit him in the side. If he struck at Nisah, Donte could push him into the river. He growled and ran away from the fight.

The remaining Small Ones walked back towards the water, but always kept their distance.

“Donte, pleased to meet you,” he said. “It was stupid of me to come here. I’m a bit stupid, you don’t have to say it.”

Nisah continued chewing leaves. “You’re not stupid. The clouds have been evaporating all the water for months, but refuse to let it rain, refuse to block the sun. It’s hot and everyone is terribly thirsty.”

“But why? I thought the dinosaurs and the clouds were collaborating.” As they walked along the water’s edge, Donte noticed some animals were listening to their conversation.

A lizard came up to them, chest puffed up and curled tail.

“To murder us.” His eyes spat fire. “All these animals here …”

Nisah finished it. “All these Small Ones could no longer restrain themselves. They had to drink. The dinosaurs were already lying in wait in the bushes to strike.”

“All along the river.” The lizard slapped his tail twice into the ground. “You are disgraces. The gods should destroy you. With every breath of yours, I lose faith.”

Are we really that bad? Does everyone hate us? Are the dinosaurs even worth saving? Donte looked at Nisah. Looked at the baby dinosaurs who were in just as much danger as the other Small Ones. No, they are not bad. Some dinosaurs are worth it, I still have to warn them.

The river was almost deserted again, many of the bodies taken by the water. “Hey! An asteroid is coming. Find a hiding place.”

The lizard looked into his eyes. His flexible body curled around a rock until he clung to it as if they were twins. “We’ll survive just fine if nature changes. We are flexible. You demand hiding places, because stone cannot change, only break.”

Donte only partly understood what the lizard said, but still it saddened him. He sauntered the other way, along the river.

“Where are you going?” Nisah asked.

“The Dino Nest. To repeat the same thing, but hopefully they’ll listen now. They have to. I dreamed we had a future.”

“That’s pointless. There’s no one left in the nest.”

“Huh? Were they attacked too?”

Nisah’s mouth fell open. The many half-chewed leaves fluttered down. “Donte! We are NOT being attacked. We ARE the attackers.”

“But …”

“The only reason Rexes held back all these years is because he was afraid of the gods. But he’s not afraid anymore. They’re on the way to the Throne of Tomorrow to steal power from the godchildren. And when that happens … then this battlefield by the river will repeat itself all over Somnia.”

“Feria said the gods were immortal.”

“Then Feria lied. Just like you’re lying to yourself.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I’m not allowed to say.” She took another big bite out of a shrub.

The sky was dark blue by now. Donte looked up and could see it with his own eyes. A little dot of light in the distance: the asteroid.

The longer he looked, the more certain he grew that the dot was growing. But he also saw another dot, a gigantic bird that seemed to be flying towards it.

He started dreaming again, but this time he caught himself doing it. Everyone is right. I have to stop dreaming. The asteroid is coming, and I need to find a safe place for myself and my … kind. But if I’m not a real dinosaur, what am I then?