Chapter 4: Tyrannos -edited by Don

Chapter 4: Tyrannos
Posted: July 10, 2012 - 02:19:24 pm

Annar came screaming at the top of his lungs down the stairs, "My brother! Sigvard has thrown my brother into the ocean and he used Tyranno Scent!"

From the green depths another gigantic shadow appeared, a second Tyranno, bigger than the first!

Like everyone else I rushed to the top across the school yard, climbed the shoulder high Duro-crete wall and then crawled up the piled-up tumble of boulders that closed the open end of the "C" against the sea.

There on a big rock stood Sigvard holding a Slayer harpoon in his right hand, laughing and yelling into the stiff breeze, "This is ancient tradition! This is how we deal with traitors and cowards!"

Mr. Walters was the first teacher to reach the top. Sigvard lowered the Slayer harpoon, "I am dealing with you Off Worlder! The way we should deal with all space scum that pollute our ways."

All this was going on while Gunnar was in the water with at least two Tyrannos!

I never liked Gunnar but that was no way to die, without having a chance. I simply had to do something! Sigvard was about to shoot. He would not miss and the explosive tipped two meter long harpoon would certainly kill the teacher.

I grabbed a rock and rushed as fast as I could across the rugged terrain to cover the 20 meters that covered us and threw the rock as hard as I could.

Sigvard fired the spear gun before the rock hit him against the upper arm. I was close now, I didn't want to look back, and I could hear the explosive crack as the harpoon hit the same time I reached Sigvard. He was taller and much stronger than me, but he held the huge 2 meter long slayer weapon and instead of dropping it to fight me, he worked the reload mechanism to rotate the second barrel into the firing position. Not to give him any chance, I kicked him as hard as I could between the legs. His eyes bulged like a Silver Flicker fish on land and his hand dropped from the rotating lever. I had to remain on the offensive and not give him any chance to retaliate and as he bent forward I rammed my knee under his chin. His head snapped back and he fell hard on the ground.

The Slayer harpoon rattled as it dropped to the ground. Gunnar was probably long dead. Like all Neo Vikings Gunnar and I had gills and could breathe underwater. It was part of the genetic tailoring the settlers of this world received as it was deemed a valuable trait on a water planet. I did not know what possessed me other than I hated unfair situations and Gunnar's situation was as unfair as could be, being unarmed in the water with at least two Tyrannos. I grabbed the slayer and jumped.

I hit the water about twelve meters below. Even though it was now the first year of Shortsummer the water was very cold, but I was used to it. My gills opened and cold water rushed inside me. After breathing air for so long it was always an exhilarating and intense moment to switch to water breathing. It was an act of will to stop breathing with nose and mouth and use the gills but we all learned to do this from very early on. I loved to dive as much as I could since being underwater I could forget the upside world. Along with the gills, we Neo Vikings had a second Eyelid that allowed us to see well under water. However I neither saw the Tyranno fins nor Gunnar. I struggled with my vest, it was not easy to unstrap under water while keeping the big slayer harpoon, but I managed. I swam as fast as I could, wishing I had my fins. We had seen Gunnar from the Cafeteria Viewports.

I cannot explain what it was that warned me, but the sudden feeling of something huge made me turn as fast to the right and towards the rocks as possible. My heart did a double take and fear cramped around my throat like an invisible hand as the pointed nose and the huge maw of a Tyranno shot past me, not further than an arm's length away!

The rush of his propelling tail-fin sent me into a tumble away from the rocks. When I saw Gunnar, his hands were tied, but he was almost by the rocks. If he could make it, he'd be safe, but the Tyranno was already turning. I completed the reload on the slayer and swam holding the weapon ready and aimed before me. The Slayer harpoon had been made for exact that purpose: to hunt and kill a Tyranno, and was still used for the purpose it had been designed. My only chance to kill the fish was to hit it on the mark, a yellowish spot behind his eyes on each side of its head, where the spear could penetrate deep enough to do lethal damage with its explosive charge. Hitting the Tyranno anywhere else would only annoy the beast.

Gunnar and I were only alive because we were so close to the rocks; he would have had no chance further out. Tyrannos didn't see too well and relied on an electro sonar sense that told them the position of a prey. The surge above us hitting the rocks and the rocks themselves masked our presence somewhat, but not completely. The other reason was the sheer size of the fish. Here, close to the rocks, the fish had to swim a rather wide circle to realign his teeth-filled jaws with as small a prey as us. Again, in open water where the Fin could use its full speed we would stand no chance.

While I still struggled with my fear and cursed my own stupid impulsiveness that got me into this mess, trying to save the life of a guy who hated me, a strange calmness came over me. I saw the mark clearly and at the same time the eye of the Tyranno caught my attention and for a split moment, and of course only in my imagination, I believed to see some sort of understanding, a recognition in that dark eye now fixed on me. The Tyranno changed directions with a flick of his enormous tail, the distance was not perfect, and the angle was off and in another heartbeat would be out of reach. I fired!

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">The almost two meter long shaft of Ultronit steel with its razor-sharp tip darted almost too fast to see through the water, leaving a thin streak of bubbles and hit the yellowish mark. The Tyranno was still turning and now opened its maw, it came closer. Then when the fish was less than five meters from me, it suddenly arched and a thick cloud of blood and air bubbled out of its maw!

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">The savage elation of the kill was filling me with pride and at the same time I could not shake a feeling of guilt. I saw the fish, now dead, slowly floating to the surface. Gunnar had reached the rocks and moved towards the surface. Being distracted by all this, I almost became prey to the second Tyranno that suddenly came up from beneath.

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">It was sheer luck, and perhaps my small size, that saved me. When you are under water, and not built like a fish for this environment, moving fast without any artificial aides was impossible. The maw of the fish rushed past me so close I could see down its throat and the horrifying sight of the many rows of dagger-sharp huge teeth and something scratched me painfully down the side. This Tyranno was bigger than the other, much bigger. Its huge eye passed by me.

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">The Slayer had one shot left; I rotated the last barrel as fast as I possibly could into firing position, almost losing the weapon as I had found no time to strap it to myself as I should have done. The Tyranno snapped its head to the side as it noticed it had not caught me. It twisted its entire enormous body but almost ploughed into the rocks and moved again to avoid a collision. It presented the mark right before me, I could not miss, the barrel barely in position I fired, the side fin caught me as it rushed by and the impact made me bite my tongue, I saw nothing but darkness and felt crunching pain. I almost inhaled with my mouth and that would have drowned me as surely as any Off Worlder without gills.

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">The Slayer was now useless and empty. The fear of being torn apart or being swallowed whole somehow kept me from passing out. I swam as fast as I could towards where I remembered the rocks being. My vision was still blurred and I felt the numbness coming over me from the loss of body heat. Even though I could stay underwater without the need of air, the exposure to cold water without an insulating suit was just as limiting.

<p style="margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm">Fists grabbed me and heaved me aboard a floater hovering close over the water. I gasped at first and someone hit me with the flat hand across the face and yelled. "Open your mouth and breathe!"