The Dead

Sirius surveyed the area around him with a critical eye. Tall walls of stone rose up around him and his pack, trapping them and feeling like the walls of a cage. Piles of rubble and strange materials littered the floor every few steps, the scent worse than one of a rotting carcass. His father had told him that his place was known as a “city”, somewhere that had been created by humans. While they might have vanished, the remains of their rule was left behind for curious dinosaurs to explore and salvage. 

Comet and Silver lead the way, confidence in their steps. They had clearly been here before, leading the way through streets that all looked the same. Sirius hissed lowly as he almost stumbled on something, before looking down in morbid curiosity. The thing he had almost stepped on was clear, and long in shape with a narrow nose. It was very clearly broken, sharp edges glittering in the hazy sunlight. 

“Glass.” Comets voice made Sirius startle, almost causing him to poke his nose onto the “glass” he had been investigating. “Be careful. Its sharp, and worse than any thorn. It will get deep into your skin and you will be unable to find it.” Comet stepped closer, carefully knocking the bottle away from Sirius, before carefully touching his head to his adolescent son’s crest. Sirius huffed, dodging away from his fathers careful touch. He wasn’t a hatchling anymore; he didn't need to be babied! 

Silver snorted softly from where he was watching on the sidelines. “Keep close.” He urged, more gently than Sirius’s father would. Silver was much more gentle and warm compared to Comet, just like the feathers covering his scales. “We’ve been here plenty of times, and now it's time for you to learn. This place may seem abandoned, but danger is everywhere.” 

The three continued their walk through the deep city, carefully picking their way throughout the maze of buildings. Sirius felt his caution become softened more and more by his own curiosity- there were so many things to investigate. There were many large beasts scattered across the city, hides made of metal and as big as an adult parasaurolophus. Silver gave a short explanation of them being mounts for humans, long dead but inedible and stinking of sickness. They made sure to give them a wide berth.

As he began to observe the city with a more open mind, Sirius began to notice more and more signs of life. In the shadows little creatures scurried, small mammals that he longed to chase just to run. Many buildings held small bundles of twigs and leaves, and occasionally he would see the small heads of baby birds peek up, mindlessly peeping for constant food. Even as he watched, a blackbird flew up into its nest, carefully delivering a meal into the beak of one of its waiting young. Sirius couldn't help but be reminded of him and his father, before Silver had come into the picture. It had just been Sirius and Comet, his father doing his best to keep him safe and comfortable as a single parent. Sirius shook himself out of his memories, quicking jogging to where Silver and Comet had been waiting for him. A knowing look was in Comets eye as he looked between Sirius and the bird nest, causing the adolescent to dip his head in embarrassment. 

It was not long before they arrived at their destination, although to Sirius it felt like they were right back where they started. In front of them was a vast building, broken down and exposed with multiple holes in its stone hide. Comet quickly found an entrance just big enough for them to slip into, carefully going in first to scope out the surroundings. Silver nudged Sirius forward once the all clear rang out, and the two shoved their way into the belly of the beast.

Inside, it was like a whole nother world. The roof was partly collapsed, allowing for light and for rain to gather en mass inside the building. Puddles of water littered the ground, and large bundles of foliage were slowly working at reclaiming the building for nature. There was nothing much interesting in this room- simply collapsed human things, flat and square shapes. Many of them had fallen on the floor, and many more were ripped and torn by claws and teeth. “Here.” Silver urged, pointed him towards a nearby one. “Leave your own mark on these.” Cautiously Sirius approached, nudging the thick human thing with his nose. It smelled vaguely like trees and dust, with a harsher scent covering it. Digging his claws in, he tore, a loud ripping sound filling the air. Proudly he turned to look at Comet and Silver, who were each tearing their own message onto other objects in the room. A simple message of ‘I am here’, another move from nature to slowly reclaim the city. 

“Come along.” Comet was the first to break the silence. “This was not the room we brought you here to see.” Sirius tilted his head. If the first room was like this, what else would there be? Comet lead the trio down the hall, in a similar state of despair as the room they had just came from. Occasionally the hallways would open into other rooms, but Comet would pass them by without a second glance. Eventually, however, they came across a room he did not turn away from. Silver nudged Sirius forward, and hesitantly the adolescent stepped into the room, only to halt in his tracks.

The room was full of bones. It seemed to stretch on forever, uncountable bones, numerous skeletons. Distantly, Sirius realized that these were dinosaur bones, spotting familiar shapes in the mass. A large frill and deadly horns, sharp spikes and jagged teeth. “Welcome…” Comet breathed softly, voice awed even thought this was surely not his first time here.

“To the Realm of the Dead.” Silver finished, stepping forward past them. “No one knows why there are so many bones here, or where they came from. Surely the humans brought them here, but why? And there are many skeletons that do not match any dinosaurs we know. Are they still out there, just waiting for us to find them?” Silver hummed softly, after speaking his question that no one could know the answer to.

Slowly, Sirius stepped forward, investigating the room. His attention was first drawn to a skull of a huge carnivore, resembling that of an albertosaurus but much thicker and larger. The teeth alone were the size of his forearm, causing Sirius to shiver. He couldn't help but be glad this dinosaur was one that they had not found yet.

And there were many more horrifying bones to discover. A huge wing bone, larger than Sirius’s whole body but lost from the rest of it. The fossilized egg of something larger than Sirius could every imagine, the egg being too big for even a suchomimus to wrap its jaws around. 

But to Sirius, the most distressing things to find was, well, him. He froze at the sight of a cryolophosaurus skeleton, letting out a soft whine. Could this have been a member of his family? Would it become a member of his family? Would this be what he would look like one day, nothing but cracked and abandoned bones? Distantly he felt the warmth as Silver and Comet pressed against his side, reassuring him with his warmth. The trio sat in silence, the only living dinosaurs left in those halls, for now.