Lightning Claw:

behemoths Bloodlust

Lightningclaw:
The night was clear, slightly cool, and almost silent. The only sounds heard
were that of the distant buzzing and chirping of various insect and the hiss of heavy
steam spouting up from the hot geyser wells that pot marked the rocky land. A
small lizard about a foot long with a motley hide of brown and green and a spinney
sail on its back skittered across the volcanic plains. It darted under sparse, stunted
shrubs and shot up on top of or in between large boulders, yet it couldnt find a
suitable place to rest for the night. The slender head of the lizard swiveled left and
right as it moved, ever vigilant for the first hint of danger. Then it saw it.
Turning on a dime the lizard shot to a gigantic lopsided boulder set close to
large steaming thermal vent. In less than a second the little creature was nestled
between the rock and the steam vent; safe from hunting eyes, heavy winds, and
warmed by the heat of the steam. The lizard brushed against the boulder and
pressed its left flank against the stone as it settled down to sleep. It wasnt until it
had dropped its slender head and half closed its eyes when it became aware that
something was wrong.
It snapped its head up and started to sniff. The sulfur in the air had almost
completely masked the sent, but there was no mistaking this scent now; the scent
of rotting flesh. The lizard immediately got to its feet and scurried up the boulder to
the top of one of its lowest points. Its head snapped this way and that, trying hard
to find the source of the smell. Rotting flesh meant only two things: one, there was a
dead animal somewhere and if it wasnt too decayed it could mean a free meal, or
two, there was a predator very close by. As the lizard tried hard to sniff out the

whereabouts of either its food or foe, it failed to notice the shadowy form creeping
stealthily behind it.
Before it had time to think something strong had closed around the lizards
throat and hoisted it into the air. The lizard gave out a strangled cry and tried
desperately to claw at the thing that was suffocating it. Suddenly it heard a gruff
female voice speak from below it.
Well now, what do we have here? A tasty snack for me?
The thing that held it lowered the lizard until from the corner of its eyes it saw
a sight that made its tiny heart almost stop. Staring right at the lizard was the
horrifying face of a large predator, a v shaped dual crested head, the left crest
had a deep notch near the crown with a long scar the dragged down the side of its
head and neck, deep green eyes with vertical black slit pupils, and heavy vicious
jaws. How nice, the predator said with putrid breath as it quickly placed its other
hand on the hindquarters of the lizard. The poor creature began to squirm and
scream for its life as it saw its assailant open her maw. Just as the predator was
about to tear at the lizards body a huge booming voice made her head freeze in
action.
Bloodcrest! Will you silence that annoying thing!
The deep male voice had come from the huge boulder the lizard had just
been standing on. In the light of the rising moon a massive eye half opened on the
side of it. The eye was red with a black round pupil that had a streak of white that
slanted sharply downward left to right, extending half an inch outside of the pupils
borders on either side. Just finish that thing off and let me go back to sleep! the
voice commanded menacingly.

Sorry, Chief. I did not mean to disturb you the predator apologized as the
giant eye closed.
As soon as the eye was fully closed the predator known as Bloodcrest
released the lizard from her clutches. The lizard landed smartly on its right side by
Bloodcrests clawed feet. It laid stunned on its side for a moment, trying to
comprehend what just happened, then it immediately stood up and sprinted off into
the dark. With all the speed it could muster it sprinted as far away from the predator
and living boulder as possible.
The lizard had managed to reach about two yards with no sound of pursuit, it
thought it had successfully eluded death. Suddenly a loud repetitive whooshing
sound cut through the air behind it. Without warning a sharp pain engulfed every
sense in the lizards small body for a brief moment then everything went dark. The
lizard stood dead where it was, a long knife made out of a sharpen tooth staked it
behind its shoulders in place.
Bloodcrest had allowed her prey run a good distance before she threw her
deadly projectile; a nice bit of sport, yet she found no satisfaction in the ordeal. As
she slowly walked over to her impaled meal she mused bitterly about how she had
been cheated out of some good fun; the joy of slowly ripping each limb off the
lizards body, savoring every one of its shrieks of pain.
Bloodcrest loved to torture her prey, making every moment of life agony and
suffering before death finally claimed them. This was the joy of every one of her
kind, but none so more than Bloodcrest. The tribe she had grown up in was a brutal
one, a fight for life from the day of hatching. On the day she hatched her own
mother had tried to eat her along with her four other siblings. This was a horrific

ritual that all mothers carried out in order to weed out the weak from the strong.
Only Bloodcrest survived to join her tribe, a reward in which she only reaped intense
hardship, most die one year after hatching.
She had survived to become an adult only because she learned very young
how to utilize the two most powerful forces that all living creatures recognize; their
names were pain and fear. From the day of her birth those were the first two forces
she expierenced, the fear of her mothers teeth and the pain of them. As evident
from the scar on her head. But rather than be ruled by these forces she learned to
them instead. Now she did not just use those forces, she thrived on them. They
were her only pleasure in the expanse of her loathsome and blood soaked life. To
her dismay she did not have that full luxury this night, her chiefs words were final.
As Bloodcrest began walking slowly to her piteous prize she saw out of the
corners of her eyes a large group of shadowy forms quickly assembling to see the
source of the commotion. They stayed a good distance away, a mass of silhouettes
in various shapes and sizes, yet many of them were close enough to see the pinned
lizard carcass. Many eyed the juiced morsel, pacing back and forth, hissing and
growling, but none dare try to take it. All knew how deadly Bloodcrest was, up close
or afar, and it was obvious she was very annoyed, so that was another cause to
keep a good distance.
Secretly Bloodcrest wish someone would be foolish enough to rush at her
meal as she slowly walked to it. She was ready to fling another deadly projectile,
ready to stake another victim in place and inflict every possible course for
maximum pain. Hearing an idiotic subordinates cries of agony would have not only

greatly brighten her mood, but it reasserted the fear of her existence. Again, much
to her internal distress, no such luck.
Too soon Bloodcrest reached her meal. She yanked the knife out of the
ground with the lizard carcass still staked on it and began to rip chunks of meat off
its body, blood dripping off her jaw and hand. As she ate Bloodcrest looked out at
the starlit horizon; just a mile away the borders of the volcanic land gave away to
enormous expanse of shadowy green forest land that stretched far into the
distance. The land they had long ago been exiled from now laid within their grasp,
just ready for the taking.
Soon, Bloodcrest mused to herself, oh, very soon we will rule this land.
None will bar our inheritance from us, none will dare oppose us, and none will live to
regret it. She looked back behind her; as the growing light of the moon illuminated
the volcanic landscape the gigantic shadowy mass the lizard had mistaken for a
boulder now transformed into the clear form of a monstrous creature.
For Behemoth has returned!

.
Lightingclaw took in a deep breath, filling his long snout with the scents of
the world around him. The scent of fauna was the most dominating smell, the thick
bush he hid in engulfed him almost entirely, except for a small space where he
could clearly see the small clearing ahead of him. He could smell and hear a flock of
chattering birds in a tree not too far from him. The thunderous lowing of unseen
creatures could be plainly heard less than half a mile away. His gaze was fixed in the
direction of the loud beasts, as if his head had been carved out of stone in that
position.

Suddenly a deep bellow caught his attention. His bright yellow crest quills
went ridged in alert. The sickle shaped claws on his inner toes went up, making it
easy for his feet to move the instant he had to. His twitching tail had stiffen as hard
as a tree branch. His clawed right hand immediately raised the peculiar sword
shaped weapon he had been holding at ease. He whole being was prepared and
ready for even the slightest whisper of movement.
They cant be moving yet, they havent given the signal yet, he heard a
disembodied voice hiss to his left.
Broken fangs! Did they give themselves away already? a female voice to
his right cursed in a horse whisper.
Weve spent half the morning tracking these beasts, we cant afford to lose
them, lamented a male voice farther to the left.
Come on brother, dont let us down. Youve never have yet, Lightningclaw
whisper to himself, almost as if these words could have been carried right to the
ears of his brother.
Lightingclaw held his breath, ready to react if anything came in the open.
After ten heart beats of waiting he relaxed, the slight sound of others sifting around
him told they had as well.
They havent been spotted yet, the female voice sighed.
Thundertooths strategy still had a chance the voiced the right stated.
More than just a chance Lightningclaw said more out loud this time, ever
since Thundertooth was chosen to be Hunting Chief have we ever returned to the
Nest with empty claws? He heard muttered replies of agreement to this. There was

silence after that, again the only sounds were of the wind, small birds, and the
distant beasts.
Its funny the female voice suddenly whispered at a volume that could only
be heard by Lightningclaw. Despite the voice being so soft and quiet it still made
Lightningclaw jolt a bit.
Whats funny? Lightiningclaw replied, hoping his minor fright hadnt been
seen.
How far Thundertooth has come.
Yeah, it is funny. He used to be the most peculiar Rapta youve ever seen.
Strange theories and ideas that seemed to border on insanity.
And you use to fight anyone who would have even whisper anything like that
about him.
Ligthningclaw sighed at this, he couldnt help musing over his ironic words.
Yes, he did have a bit of a temper and, yes, his overprotectiveness of his younger
brother did always get him into fights over the most trial of things. That was before
they were twelve seasons old. That was before Thundertooth did the most
impossible. That was before
His thoughts were suddenly cut off as a bird-like note reached his ears.
Lightningclaw immediately brought a small carved bone whistle that had been
hanging by a string around his neck to his lips. He gave three shrill bird-like notes
back and waited. After five seconds, two higher bird-like notes were sounded in the
distance. That was the signal. It was time.

The subtle sounds of bodies getting into attack positions were immediately
drowned out as a concourse of deafening bellows and thunderous feet filled the air.
The tumultuous sounds became louder and louder until from the farthest right of
Lightningclaws visions he saw a herd of gigantic creatures burst out into the open.
There were about twenty stampeding beasts, each seven or eight feet tall or
less, seventeen feet long or less, almost twice Lightningclaws size. They each had
tough bumpy hides, thick round legs, beaky faces, large boney frills with long spikes
just behind the face, and a massive single horn protruding straight up on top of
their nose, Spearface. Pursuing close enough to bite the tips of beasts tails were
nine reptilian creatures.
Each was six to seven feet tall with lean, muscular bodies, slightly elongated
necks, thin skulls with long muzzles filled with razor sharp teeth, long arms, three
long fingers with an opposable digit tipped with sharp slightly curved claws, strong
s-shaped legs, and large feet with a raised crescent shaped claw each inner toe.
Each creature had similar motley colored skin with colors of red, blue and brown.
There were two features that distinguished them from each other. One was
the different colored feathery crests that tapered tall from the crowns of their heads
to just under where the skulls met the spine. The other distinguishing feature they
all possessed was their own clothing styles. Each had their own style of apparel
which included various types of arms bands, legs bands, tail bands, sashes, loin
clothes, chest bands, headdresses, and other articles of clothing that were
functional but not very restricting to movement. The clothing was made from
various hides; some feathery, some scaly, and some leathery. All carried a similar

weapon sheathed across their backs, strange curved sword-like weapons. These
creatures were the Rapta, and Lightningclaw was one of them.
Lightningclaw waited stock stills as the beasts came stampeding close to
their hiding position. The Spearface that was farthest outside of the herd was a
young bull, about seven feet tall. A perfect target.
This beast must have been an obvious target, because three Rapta broke off
from the pack and singled the young bull off from the herd and began running in
between it and the herd. The Spearface immediately veered off away from the
predatory creatures, and the herd. The beast had been forced to flee towards
Lightningclaws position. This was what they had been waiting for.
As soon as the heavily panting beast was within a yard of the thick foliage a
yellow streaked blur burst out of a large bush to its right. Before the Spearface could
react the blur flashed past its sideways stationed eyes and a searing pain came
across its neck. Its throat had just been slit. Despite this fact the beast kept running
and charged right into the thick foliage.
Right at that moment the three others that had been waiting in hiding had
leapt out of the growth right onto the beasts back. Almost immediately all three
were swept off by a large low hanging branch that none of them had seen coming.
As the three laid stunned on the ground, trying to recuperate, the same yellow
streaked blur that attacked before went speeding past them.
Lightningclaw had turned on a dime and followed right after the Spearface as
soon as it began crashing through the undergrowth. He now ran at full speed, the
gap between him the Spearface closed within seconds. Right as he reached the left
side of the adrenaline fueled beast he slashed twice with his sword-like weapon at

the Spearfaces hind leg. The beasts leg gave out instantly and its whole body
came crashing to its side and went skidding seven yards to a stop.
No sooner had the beast fell, when Lightningclaw leapt high into the air with
in a yard of it and plunged his ivory weapon right into the exposed chest of the
Spearface. With incredible precision he had had managed to pierced the beast right
in the heart. With a quick twist the young bull died, it had been quick and easy.
Lightningclaw was just in the process of pulling his weapon out of the
Spearfaces body when the rest of the pack came onto the scene. In all there were
thirteen Raptas, including Lightningclaw. All of them stood talking fanatically, most
commenting on how well Lightningclaw had taken down their quarry. Lightningclaw
pulled free his blade then turned around and addressed a Rapta with a muscular
body and a necklace with many small skulls and bones strung on it.
It wasnt a bad strategy, brother, Lightningclaw said in a nonchalant tone,
but, as usual, I had to be the one to chase it down and finish it off.