Norbert woke up the next day, the fire still roaring before him. Rubbing his hands together, Norbert saw Obsius tapping on the window. Opening it, the bird flew inside, sitting in front of the fire and keeping its wings open, warming them up.
Norbert looked through his bag, ensuring everything he could need was there. What he took with him there, as well as some of his coins, holding several silver inside in their bag and attached to the lining so they wouldn't jumble around.
Confirming that everything was there, Norbert, now fully dressed in his gear, made sure his mask was also there, putting it on and talking, still happy with the purchase. Waiting, the others slowly began to make their way down, one by one following through.
As Dobert, the last to come down, appeared, everyone wearing their gear, any of their extra weapons already strapped onto themselves. Norbert noticed that many of their purses were bigger than normal. In single file, they stood Martitia inspecting their gear, ensuring nothing was missed.
All were saluting each other before leaving and knocking on the door; Norbert followed suit as they talked in a group making their way towards the gates.
***
Looking at the building, Norbert was surprised to see the steady stream of people going in and out, even at this time of day. Not the complete chaos he had previously seen, but still busy enough. Looking at the people coming and going, Norbert realised they were all in uniform.
Staring at the airship above him, Norbert realised that these gates were private, used only for The Frontier to move about and with that secret uncovered, Norbert followed the group inside. He knew where to go as he evaded the people around him.
Once more in the waiting room, Norbert waited, talking with the others in the group. As more and more came in, Norbert waved to Mark and Azalea as they came through, asking what they did. Hearing that, both of them just relaxed around the place when the conversation came to him, and he mentioned the casino both told him to be quiet.
Norbert wondered what happened and why he couldn't say around here. As Dousan arrived, shouting to everyone, "We need to move now; people follow me" Everyone instantly stood up, jogging towards the gates.
Dousan positioned them towards a gate already formed staff, pointing out he barrelled through. Norbert wondered what could be going on as everyone else followed through. Obsius ducked into his jacket as Norbert also stepped through.
Outside, Norbert heard a screech; continuing forward, Obsius flew off into the air. Norbert looked around the town, hearing the screams of people and beasts pierce his ears. Norbert followed the first cry by rushing forward, not wanting to get in anybody's way.
Found two kids curled in the corner of the house, a dinosaur, a real dinosaur of the raptor variety, green speckles over it and covered in feathers, slight patches of scales Norbert could see. Coming to the size of Norbert's shoulders, it ran on two legs, having small arms with three claws.
Remembering the colour green being associated with poison, Norbert didn't want to get touched by any of them and become poisoned. Taking out his sword, the reptile moved its head away from the kids, attracted to the noise.
Norbert took a stance, holding the blade above his head and trying to control his breath and remember his skills from before. The two faced each other off, neither moving.
RAWWWRR
The raptor screamed, leaping forward. Norbert ducked down and charged forward as well; holding the blade pointed forward, Norbert felt it pierce the beast, the weight instantly bringing the sword down to the ground.
Wrestling with it, Norbert pushed the blade in as deep as possible seeing the tip stick out the other side. Finally, it stopped moving. Norbert held it down with his boot and pulled the sword out, covered in blood.
Looking at the two kids, Norbert grabbed both of them in one hand, getting out of the house. Quickly running to the gate, Norbert saw other village residents also there. Placing the two kids down, they ran to an adult, and the woman knelt clutching both of them as tears came down her cheek.
Rushing off again, Norbert listened for the next scream; another raptor appeared before him, looking similar to the previous one. Norbert swiped through with all his might, the reptile providing little resistance as its head was slashed in two.
Spinning around, Norbert could steady himself from his unbalance at swinging the blade. Seeing three down in the street, Norbert charged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. The three looked towards Norbert before charging in his direction. One in the centre leading and the others on each side following slightly behind, creating a wedge shape.
Breathing in, Norbert focused on his legs, leaping forward, feeling the stone crack under his foot. Catching the three reptiles by surprise, Norbert tackled the first, sending them tumbling backwards. Sword knocked out of his hand, and Norbert clamped down on the jaw, stopping it from opening its mouth.
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The claws on its feet and hands tried to scratch him, but Norbert didn't let it for long; raising a fist, he smashed it down towards the head. The first hit made the reptile woozy; on the second, Norbert heard a crack from somewhere; and on the third, Norbert's fist went into the creature's head. The reptile instantly still.
Rolling forward, removing his hand from the corpse, Norbert looked for his sword, not confident in taking on two without the extra reach. Scanning his eyes around, Norbert saw it to the right. Diving towards it, Norbert clattered next to it. Reaching for it, he twisted around, holding the blade along his body as a shield to protect it.
As he did so, one of the raptors jumped on top of him, mouth trying to get at his neck; instead, it bit into the sword, Norbert catching it with his body. Holding back the entire weight, Norbert lifted his legs under him and kicked them forward, sending them into the raptor.
Tumbling away, Norbert rolled onto his feet, not wanting to be caught unprepared again. Feeling something behind him, Norbert swung his sword around, biting into another raptor but not going through. Taking out a dagger, Norbert held his sword in one hand, reciprocating his other with the dagger repeatedly into its body like a machine.
Slowly the beast began to tire, slouching onto Norbert. Stepping back, he let its body fall to the ground. Norbert looked over, wondering where the third one was. Seeing it off to his left, Norbert looked at it, seeing it trying to move its body but unable to, only its head moving.
Norbert thought it must have landed on its back, damaging its spine and now likely disabled. Norbert struck at its wriggling neck quickly, putting it out of its misery as quickly as possible. Looking around at the chaos they had caused, saddened that his first experience with dinosaurs to be one of death and destruction.
Obsius landed on the raptor's head and began pecking at its eye. Norbert just walked away, looking for anyone else in the area to save. Shouting out, "Coast is clear. Can you come out? The three have been killed, so I can take you to the gate!"
His voice echoed around the town, bouncing off the buildings. Seeing movement to the side, Norbert looked, only to see someone else from his group come forward. Wearing some metal in their armour and carrying a sword and shield, they stepped towards Norbert.
The two looked eye to eye, and the stranger looked around. "Surprised you could take these", she said, pointing to the three raptors with her sword. Shrugging his shoulders, Norbert peeled his ears, listening for something moving, hoping it would be a villager that he could move.
"Not the hardest things I've seen", Norbert said, looking at the buildings.
BANG BANG
Norbert panned to the sound, seeing a destroyed house two down. Walking towards it, Norbert saw there was rubble everywhere. Hearing the banging continue, Norbert started moving the debris around. Whipping his fingers, Norbert heard coughing from below his feet. Looking, Norbert saw a large stone covering something wooden. Hoping it to be a trap door, Norbert quickly cleared the area around it, throwing the smaller stones onto the road.
The other warrior also joined in, quickly moving all the loose stones. Together they carefully bent down, picking the large stone up and moving it to the side, steady about the placement, not wanting to cause a landside into the trap door.
When the rock was moved off, the door opened, and a man's head appeared, beard caked in dust. Norbert held his hand down as he looked around before the head disappeared. Norbert looked down into the cellar, seeing so many people. The kids came up first; Norbert reached down, picking them out of there before passing them along, Norbert seeing them being placed on the street.
More and more came out, about ten kids in the end, all of varying sizes, then the grownups climbed up the ladder, the warrior standing with the kids, looking out and making sure nothing came. Norbert assisted with his hand on the last step. After five grownups, two men and three women came up, the man Norbert saw first the last to appear.
Together they met, crying in the street. Norbert gave a worried look to the warrior, not wanting to be left out in the open like this. Seeing her relaxed demeanour calmed Norbert down slightly. Directing them towards the gate, Norbert walked with the bearded man asking, "How did this happen?"
Mostly talking to himself, Norbert was surprised when the man responded, "They've been coming for the past week now; slowly, they went closer and closer, becoming more daring than before. And today, I don't know. A peaceful day at home suddenly turned nasty; the alarm bells sounded off, and I ducked straight into the cellar below. The neighbours also knew, so they came scrambling down as well. And then …."
Norbert just nodded, patting the man's back. "It's fine now; the worst is over" he just nodded and continued walking silently. Norbert constantly scanned around, checking if there was anything following them. As they continued, finally seeing the gate, the villagers rushed forward, passing those of Norbert's party as they made their way to Dousan.
As Norbert walked closer, one of the healers came forward. "Have you been hurt anywhere?"
Norbert just shook his head, then, remembering the scratches looked down at his clothes. Confirming that nothing pierced through, Norbert replied, "Nah, not a scratch on me, at least not from the raptors."
The healer just nodded. "Better being safe than sorry", he said, holding out his hands in front of Norbert as he whispered something and a green circle appeared. Norbert felt the ache in his back just starting to form and be washed away.
The healer dropped his hands. Norbert thanked him and continued walking towards the warrior, repeating the same as before. As Norbert walked towards Martitia, she pointed to Dousan. "He's after you, going to go outside the walls and see what's happening."
Norbert just nodded and stepped in front of Dousan. Turning around, he exclaimed, "Ah, just the man I was looking for. Norbert, you will be going off where the sun rises; we've been told that is the direction they appear."
Dousan looked behind him as a villager nodded. Dousan looked towards Norbert again, saying, "The rest are already making their way out of the gate that way. Said I would send the last one along the way."
Norbert nodded and started jogging towards the gate Dousan indicated.
***
Dousan stared at him as Norbert departed, shaking his head as he remembered times when he was young, just following orders and living life. Oh, how things change for people. Turning around, Dousan started organising people to search for other villagers, bringing those able to help with them, wanting everyone together and people watching in case anything else happened.
Having the massive nest and now this stampede of raptors much earlier than expected, something didn't sit right in Dousan's stomach. Not caring for any postulating, he looked around, nodding that some order had been restored to the town.