Red Rex

1

Looking back, I should have been more concerned about the Tyrannosaurus rex. But in my defense, it was an inconvenient time for rex sightings.

I was practicing my sword defenses in the pasture. Left, right, left, right, flick, and thrust. Left, right, left, right, flick, and thrust. Groaning, I tossed the stick aside. The movements felt wrong. My only scroll on swordplay was vague on the position of the elbow. No matter how much I tinkered, it stuck out awkwardly. I’d never pass the Exam at this rate.

Down below, the herd bleated. They lumbered from a clump of trees along the pasture’s edge. The guard-raptor, Ram, shot into action, bounding down the hill with a roar and a snarl.

I shook my head. Probably nothing—some stray raptor.⁠* Then I thought of those rex⁠* rumors. Sighing, I grabbed my spear and trudged down the hill.

The rex sightings shouldn’t have been happening. My home village, Leip, hadn’t seen one in generations; giant dinosaurs like that usually stayed in Kosmosa’s dark interior. The only exceptions were occasional rogues, which we Kosmosans call red rexes. But even they shouldn’t venture all the way to Leip. Only some calamity could have driven them there.

Ram paced along the edge of the pasture. By any standard, Ram was terrifying: a bulky neck framed by a mane of feathers, talon-tipped arms, and scythe claws on each foot.

The herd, meanwhile, came lumbering toward me as I plodded toward Ram. Stegos⁠* can be unpredictable when they’re frightened. But I was used to it. I’d guarded this herd all day, every day, for the past seven years. The herd belonged to a man named Elias, a distant relative who took me in as an orphan.

The stegos rolled by with nervous energy. The plates along their arched backs sparkled in the dying light. Their tails swished in circles. Stego tails are supposed to have four long spikes at the end, but those spikes would make herding them deadly, so we herders shave them down.

I ducked and dodged my way through the herd, counting them as I went. There were nineteen instead of the usual twenty. I ran through the list of stegos in my mind.

Of course, it was Breeze. The young male was too bold for his own good. And with his spikes newly shorn, he was helpless against predators. I now realized what Ram was pointing at: a newly trampled path into the wilderness.

Because of the rex sightings, Leip’s village elder⁠* had forbidden anybody from entering the wilderness alone. I’d be within my rights to wait until my cousin, Jeppa, returned from his errands.

But I knew I wasn’t going to do that. Breeze was my favorite stego in the herd. I couldn’t leave him in the wilderness by himself. Plus, the other day I’d promised Elias I would keep special watch on the young stegos who’d recently had their spikes shaved.

I whistled a command to Ram. With a tilt of his head and a flare of his nostrils, he ran back to his favorite granite outcropping to survey the herd. With the other stegos as safe as I could make them, I tightened my spear grip. I took a final deep breath before plunging into the wild domain of the dinosaurs.

It wasn’t hard to follow Breeze’s path. The snapped branches and bent vines led over a shallow hill. At the bottom of that hill, Breeze bent his neck toward the creek. He lapped up water greedily, oblivious to the world around him.

I shimmied down the hill. The stego greeted me by nuzzling his snout into my palm. I patted the green leather of his head until his tail started to wag. Grinning, I snuck him the last apple out of my tunic. He may have escaped the herd, but he was still a good boy after all. It only took one gentle smack on his flanks to send Breeze waddling back up the hill.

I was just about to follow him when my eye stopped on something—a deeper shadow in the dark of the forest. I leveled my spear and crouched. I almost heard the scratch of talons against stone. A half-shadow dropped behind a boulder. A branch rustled.

Silence.

I realized I’d been holding my breath. With a shake of my head, I followed Breeze toward the pasture. The stego meandered back into the herd like nothing had happened. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

But my good mood evaporated when I scanned the pasture for Jeppa. He should have been here by now. I needed his help to gather the herd in time for the next day’s trip. He may have been Elias’ son, but that didn’t give him the right to abandon me. The setting sun cast long shadows on the surrounding hills.

This pasture was a tiny island in a dense ocean of trees. The only sounds were the wind through the branches and the bellows from the herd. I suppose I should have been afraid to be so alone. Any instant, one of those red rexes⁠* could have burst from the trees and torn the flesh off my bones. But I’d learned to be comfortable by myself. To Elias, my job was to guard his herd and stay out of sight. If some rex did eat me, Elias would only grumble about having to find a new herder.

The stegos were still jittery. Strange.

As I reached the hilltop, I shielded my eyes toward the distant sea. Because it was clear, I could just catch the last rays gleaming off the imperial towers of Javreal. The great city. Where the powerful feasted in their seaside villas. Where young dinosaur riders trained for greatness. My future home, assuming I could pass the Imperial Exam.

I sighed as I searched for Jeppa across the meadow. Nothing except Ram, who was running and snorting along the tree line. What was with him today?

Sitting down, I tried to keep my hands folded on my lap as I watched the sun set. But with each passing moment, my blood boiled hotter. I needed Jeppa if I was going to finish my chores in time to get a good sleep. And I needed sleep because at dawn I was traveling to Javreal to sign up for the Imperial Exam.

I thought about running back to see if Jeppa was at the house. But even in normal times, leaving the herd unguarded for that long was reckless. With all the rex sightings, it was unthinkable. Losing even a few stegos would be catastrophic for Elias’ estate. Besides, the herd was still bellowing and gathering closer, and Ram was snarling at swaying tree branches. I stood up, hands running through my hair. I couldn’t wait to pass the Exam and move to Javreal. Then, I’d never have to deal with Jeppa again.

I jumped at warm breath on the back of my neck. I was already grabbing for my spear when I realized it was Dash. The herding raptor was half the size of Ram, with a lean build and auburn plumage. Her tail flicked playfully as she nipped at my hand. I patted her head on that spot behind her ears that she liked best. Dash ran back and forth between me and the herd. She was right. It was time to gather the herd for the night, even if I had to do it myself.

I sent Dash, who shot off in her low-slung sprint around the stegos. I loved watching her work. She was so elegant in the field: changing directions, applying pressure at the perfect spot, moving stragglers with a glare.

The stegos gathered more quickly than usual and seemed almost grateful for Dash to lead them to the night pen. I did another count. All the stegos were there, but Ram was nowhere to be seen.

Strange.

I gave Dash the command to keep the herd in place, then went down to search.

Ram was at the pasture’s far edge. His mane feathers flared, and his body was rigid as a statue. The silence stretched while I waited for Ram to turn with a final harrumph. But he didn’t. He ran further up the tree line, neck stiff and teeth exposed.

I’d never seen him do that.

It was now nearly dark. I was about to whistle for Ram to follow the herd when the bushes rustled. I paused long enough to convince myself it was the wind. A branch snapped. Then another. Trees shuddered along the field.

Stillness. I stood on the pasture’s granite outcropping, stomach sick and uncertain. Ram came streaking down the pasture, staring into the shadows with icy intensity before launching himself toward the tree line. Once there, his back arched, and his throat rumbled in a way I’d never heard before. Behind me, the stego herd bleated and clustered, their spikeless tails twitching.

I inched toward the guard-raptor, spear point shaking. It was probably a raptor. Some puny, harmless raptor.

Another crash from further up the tree line. Ram charged ahead. I stumbled after him before remembering to light the lantern at the end of my spear. My fumbling hands took several flint strikes to ignite the oil. The scant light of the orange flame exposed me against the surrounding dark.

The forest was deathly quiet. I reached the spot where Ram pointed his snarling snout. Breath held, I plunged the lantern into the web of branches. Nothing. I wiped my brow and started whispering that everything was fine.

The trees burst apart.

Charging from an impossible height was a monstrous set of jaws lined with dagger teeth and topped with gleaming eyes. A rex. An actual red rex.

Ram darted in front of the rex, roaring from his bristling mane. For a moment, the rex hesitated at the guard-raptor blocking its path.

This was my chance, but by the time I could force my feet forward, the rex had knocked Ram aside with a sweep of its giant snout. My voice failed as I pushed the burning spear toward the rex’s face.

The rex stood, teeth glowing in the flamelight. Its yellow eyes focused to a pinpoint on me. The ground shook beneath its approaching steps. I found myself backpedaling from the monster, away from the stego herd. My foot slipped on the granite outcropping, sending me backward over the edge.

* MM: Sir Alfred calls these creatures by their Kosmosan name: gawa . Some lived wild in packs, while others were domesticated. The domestic ones came in a variety of sizes and shapes, and functioned like our dogs. They did everything from hunting, to retrieving, to herding livestock, to guarding estates, to sitting on rich peoples’ laps. They all walked on two legs, had sleek snouts and long tails, and were covered in feathers. They were clearly something like velociraptors, so I’ve called them all raptors .

* MM: Their Kosmosan name is sarko , but these monsters were obviously tyrannosaurs. They were about 15 feet tall at the hip, and about 40 feet long from snout to tail (though there were legends of larger ones deep in Kosmosa’s interior). They had huge heads, walked on two feet, and had small arms. So yeah, tyrannosaurs. In the story, I’ve shortened their name to rex .

* MM: A common livestock animal in Kosmosa, their Kosmosan name is tettu . With their small heads, broad backs covered in plates, and tails armed with four spikes, their description matches the stegosaurus, which I’ve shortened to stego . Kosmosan stegos seem smaller than stegosaurs from the fossil record. Kosmosan stegos were barely larger than an ox, while stegosaurs from the fossil record were around 30 feet long. It’s unclear whether this was a gradual change through the millennia, or something Kosmosan herders specifically bred for.

* AL: The position of village elder was common in small communities like Leip. They functioned somewhat like a judge combined with a mayor. Duties included settling minor disputes between villagers, approving new building projects, and ensuring the community’s safety. The elder was chosen by a council of the village’s oldest and most respected citizens.

* AL: Kosmosan sources disagree on the origin of the term red rex.

A bestiary from around 300 B.C. claims that red rexes have a feathered mane of a more brilliant red than typical rexes. A chronicle from around 275 B.C. claims the term came from the beasts’ reputation for wild fits of temper, and the Kosmosan connection of rage with the color red. This chronicle went on to give what is, to me, the most plausible explanation. When a red rex invaded herds and started gorging on livestock, the last thing the terrified herders saw before fleeing would be the rex’s snout covered in blood.

2

I’m still not sure whether I blacked out, but I gradually found myself face down in the grass, lodged between two rocks. It took a moment for my thoughts to find each other. Shadows. Stegos. Ram. Rex.

Rex.

A rex was attacking the stego herd. Above, Ram cawed and hissed amid a thunder of footsteps. Stooped and stumbling, I clambered up the embankment with bleeding knees. My eyes whipped along the grass for my spear, and I wondered how I could ever stop my hands from shaking.

I saw my spear when I looked toward the rex. Lantern blazing, the spear was poised in Jeppa’s strong hands. He thrust it up again and again at the widening eyes of the red rex. Ram

and our other guard-raptor, Rock, took turns nipping at the rex’s feet. The rex, meanwhile, still hulked and towered in the air. Its mane of feathers splayed like a crown of flames, and its dagger teeth dripped menace. It was enough to make me dizzy again.

But Jeppa and the raptors kept going. With each spear thrust, each lunge from Rock and Ram, the rex gave ground. Soon, it was back against the tree line until, with one final snort, it retreated into the woods. A final log splintered, and the branches stopped swaying. Deep silence spread over the pasture. Eyes still on the trees, Jeppa blew out the spear’s lantern.

I ran to Jeppa. Great job! I tripped over the⁠—

What do you think you’re doing? His expression was stone. Because Jeppa was Elias’ son, we were only barely related— fifth cousins twice removed or something. We didn’t look related at all. Jeppa was four years older than me. He was also taller, broader, and more muscled. Even though I was tall enough for fourteen, I looked flimsy by comparison. Worst of all, Jeppa had a full blonde beard. My face was smooth. I tripped over that outcropping. I came right back.

If Rock and I hadn’t come when we did, that rex would have scattered the herd. Did you see what happened to Buck?

I followed a trail of blood to Elias’ prized bull. A deep gash ran down his flank, and he snorted with each step.

Will he be all right? I asked.

Don’t know. Jeppa stared death at me. You going to apologize? he asked.

For what?

For running away from the herd.

I tripped.

Jeppa threw the spear to the ground. I’m taking Buck to the stables to dress his wound. You gather up the herd. And pray my father doesn’t dismiss you when he finds out you ran away.

I didn’t run!

Jeppa rolled his eyes. He fixed a bridle on Buck and was soon over the hill. I whistled for Dash and started gathering the herd.

The anger pulsed through my veins with every step. The nerve of Jeppa accusing me. He was probably jealous that I was about to pass the Exam and move out of this backwater. How could I run from a dinosaur—I was about to become a dinosaur rider.

But even as I muttered this, my hands kept shaking.

The next morning, I sat in Elias’ cart, huddled against the cold dawn. Elias’ gallo,⁠* which I’d already hitched to the cart, stared blankly ahead. The mist above the eastern hills brightened, and I couldn’t hold back a sigh.

We should already be on the road. I wondered if Elias was getting a slow start to spite me. The night before, I crept into the sleeping area of the stables without seeing him. But Jeppa had certainly told Elias about the rex, and Elias would certainly be furious.

The sun was already shining fully on my face when Elias shuffled to the cart. Though not much over fifty, Elias carried himself like he was a hundred. Worry lines etched his sharp nose and pointed face. His arms and legs were thin and wiry. His beard fell across his chest in snowy waves.

But as he sat in the cart, I focused on his cold eyes. I gulped. We wouldn’t get to Javreal until early evening. It was about to be a long and uncomfortable ride.

The sun slinked through the sky as our cart bounced along the dusty road. Elias spent that time in a cycle of shouted tirades about my cowardice. He would puff, threaten, lecture until he ran out of insults, pause for an intermission of silent brooding, and then pick up where he left off. By late afternoon, he was finishing his fifth cycle.

The disgrace! Putting your own safety above the entire estate! And make no mistake, that’s what you did. Those stegos are our family fortune. And now there’s no telling if Buck will be good for anything ever again. You’re on thin ice, you little coward. Very thin ice. One more mistake, and you’re on your own. As your next of kin, I’ve done my duty and more over the years. But I won’t have you leeching off my charity any longer. I nodded along and pretended to listen. Elias had been threatening to kick me out since my first week herding stegos. I grew numb to his threats years ago. I was more concerned with how painfully slow our cart was going. Elias explained this with some line about sparing the gallo. But I’d been watching the gallo. Its body was the size of a horse, with a muscled neck and beaked head. It walked on two powerful legs like an ostrich,⁠* clawed forelimbs bouncing and rigid tail swaying as it pulled our cart. Though it had a stooped back and greying muzzle, it showed no signs of fatigue. We could go faster. We should go faster.

After