Primeval Origins: Paths of Anguish: Book One of the Primeval Origins Epic Saga

This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

Primeval Origins® 1

Paths of Anguish

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2014, © 2024 B.A.Vonsik

First Publish 2014 v3.0

Second Edition 2018 v3.0 r3.1

Third Edition 2022 v3.0 r3.5

Fourth Edition 2024 v3.0 r4.1

Cover Illustration by Marcel Mercado

Design and art direction by Asha Hossain Design, LLC

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Celestial Fury Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-4787-4592-1

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Table of Content

Reflections of the Harbinger of Judgments

Prologue: Fossils and Finds

Blood and Bone

Fallen Kingdom

Mobius of Time

Chapter 1: Wants and Wishes

Chapter 2: Strange Ways

Chapter 3: Street Talkin’

Chapter 4: Hearts and Angst

Chapter 5: Hunt Talk

Chapter 6: Shunir’ra

Chapter 7: Hunter’s Gate

Chapter 8: The March

Chapter 9: Valley of the Claw

Chapter 10: Horn and Dangers

Chapter 11: Fern Runners

Chapter 12: The Hunted

Chapter 13: Abyss and Betrayal

Chapter 14: Coming Home

Chapter 15: The Chase

Chapter 16: Stone Tower

Chapter 17: Paradise Lost

Chapter 18: Home

Chapter 19: Brigum Broken

Chapter 20: Blood on the Floor

Chapter 21: Dangerous Streets

Chapter 22: Justice Delayed

Chapter 23: Escaping Brigum

Chapter 24: Plans Changed

Chapter 25: Circles of Darkness

Chapter 26: First Ride

Chapter 27: Plots and Plans

Chapter 28: Of Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 29: Trails and Trials

Chapter 30: Field of Strife

Epilogue: A New Waking

About the Author

About the Publisher

Primeval Origins® Epic Saga

By B.A. Vonsik

Books in the Series

Primeval Origins® Epic Saga - Blue Steel Epic Chronicles

Series Winning 42 Literary Awards

Paths of Anguish (11 Awards)

Light of Honor (11 Awards)

Rise of Serpents (19 Awards)

Novella Books in the Series

Primeval Origins® Epic Saga - Postquel-Prequel

The Harbinger of Judgments (1 Award)

A Special Note to Readers

I sincerely hope you enjoy this adventurous, thought-provoking, epic of my multiple award-winning story and become a dedicated fan of the Primeval Origins® Epic Saga. As a bonus to you, I have a Lexicon of Language, Encyclopedia, Images and details of Characters and Creatures, and the Research References in which this epic story is built upon on the Primeval Origins® website… links below for you.

The Lexicon alone is worth your click.

https://www.primevalorigins.com/

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Reflections of the Harbinger of Judgments

Destruction echoes once again as this cycle approaches its end; another civilization achieves greatness only to descend into the abyss -- corrupted by the depraved, the self-proclaimed elite, the immoral…all of whom, in their undeserved arrogance and folly, offer only a fouling of the Light.

Light…the most precious of all Creation; the everlasting essence, bright in its majesty, strong in its endurance, indestructible to all that is known; the Light…in-corruptible except for the choosings of the mortal shell encompassing it.

Purity of Light is consequence of decisions made in the moments of each existence; choosing between Creation’s absence and Creation’s embrace, between selfishness and selflessness, evil and good; each mortal shell filled with Light is graced with the freedom to choose their path without Creation’s compulsion…’tis this essence of the struggle that stands in Judgment.

Only in the mortal struggle may the purity of Light be confirmed: in the pain of existence, the darkest of moments, in the clash between evil’s expedience and good’s sacrifice can the nature of Light be revealed; only in the raging inferno of turmoil stripping away all but the core can the true nature of Light be confirmed through Final Judgment.

When the Light is weighed, measured, and tried for breaking, only then can it be confirmed in Judgment to receive Creation’s Offering; or if found wanting, the Light must be returned to the mortal dust to be remade and tested once more.

Only the most pure may share presence with Creation’s Glory; only the most honorable, the incorruptible, and meek may wield a shadow of Creation’s authority; for the strength of the Light is not in the mortal but in the immortal, the everlasting: that unconquerable spirit of moral purity and honor, that bright inextinguishable Light containing all that is good in the cosmos must be found and confirmed.

It is my burden, my everlasting duty, and my honor to serve the usherings of Creation’s Judgments; to seek the most pure Lights of each civilization and confirm them for Herald service. In the smoldering dust and ash of all remaining, I shall sentinel the remaking of the next, to try in Judgment Humanity’s Light once again.

The Harbinger of Judgments

Prologue

Fossils and Finds

Swirls of lazy white mist floated on a chilly breeze, like frost serpents of lore intently slithering their way toward prey, passing over the tops and around the flaccid sides of the three olive twenty-man canvas tents where the dig team kept their equipment and fossil finds. Old and having seen better days, the tents were all the American Embassy in Bolivia could find in the area around Sucre. They were functional, though barely able to keep out much of the rain the team recently suffered. The rains left the tents damp overall and wet in spots–unfortunately they were where the fossils had been, forcing the dig team to repackage many of the already plaster-encased fossils. The repackaging was the job of several of the less-popular graduate students on the dig, overseen by a rather excitable professor.

Nikki Ricks slid her way across the slick packed dirt road running through the camp after having been woken out of fitful sleep by a call on her wrist-worn PDA. She had been up late reworking the plaster casts on the last of the large fossils and was hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before returning to the tent to prepare the smaller fossils and fragments for travel. The dig’s leader, Dr. Anders, had made the call, demanding her immediate presence at the excavation site then went silent and would not respond to her numerous attempts to return his call over her PDA. How she disliked technology and how it connected everyone to everyone else all the time, except out here it seemed. Despite her frustration of not knowing what Anders wanted of her, she welcomed the opportunity to get away from the constant monitoring of hers and everyone’s activities as the Man did back home.

Nikki thought Anders sounded anxious, but she wasn’t about to be his lap dog and go running when he barked. He was only a few years older than she, and a fellow graduate student before she took her needed time off. It just wasn’t right for her to now be his go do this and go do that girl. So, she rolled out of her dry one-person tent, her home of the last five weeks, intending to make her way to the fossil preparation tent for a cup of the horrid-tasting black coffee she would pour herself before seeing what the Great Leader wanted. The coffee was her morning ritual to kick-start the day…it was her Nikki time.

While carefully traversing the slick ground, the deep blue sky and dusky mountain ridges were suddenly swallowed in a brilliant yellow glow that broke over the mountain ridges high to the east. Dawn. Nikki stopped when her eyes involuntarily closed to allow her sight time to adjust to the sun’s powerful rays. She welcomed the warmth bathing her face, hands, and body while she stood waiting for her sight to return. Nikki found herself thinking and wishing she had completed her dual-doctoral degree in geoarchaeology and paleontology from Carnegie Mellon and Pitt Universities instead of taking time off to get her head right on the Florida beaches. Her self-proclaimed sabbatical had left her now a graduate assistant performing menial tasks on this dig, instead of being one of the principals making and taking credit for the discoveries.

A strong burst of ire swept through Nikki, still harboring anger at her parents for withdrawing their financial and more important political support after she took time off from school, telling her she wasn’t taking her education seriously. When she decided to return to her studies, she had to beg her way back into the PhD program…a political favor granted by the head of the department, and only after a painful search for a private scholarship to cover much of her costs. Since then, she had worked any and all jobs she could find to pay for the rest, as she didn’t qualify for the government’s student loan any longer. She cursed at everyone for her pain, starting with her parents for making her beg others for permissions and money, and at the chaos called the US government that had complete control of student loans and determined which degrees warranted eligibility for government financing, and which degrees did not. And it seemed to change with the wind as to which degrees qualified. Her degrees were not high on the government’s list, as she discovered when she returned to school. Then there was that favoritism thing and being told she wasn’t the right race or a foreign student to make her eligible for reconsideration for a student loan. The almost bored-looking government representative working her student loan application told her she just wasn’t loan-worthy. What the hell was that?

Nikki recalled leaving the applications office feeling as if she was the lowest form of life on the planet. Then, luck found her when she applied to one of the few surviving education scholarship programs and received money to continue her education. Why were things so difficult, now? With eyes still closed, Nikki saw her Bubba Jules and heard her wisdom, usually given to her at times when Nikki felt the world was against her. Always look for the bright spot in everything. Nikki’s smile came and went with thoughts of her grandmother. Accepting her death was still difficult, even after more than a year. Feeling the sadness of her loss darkened her mood. She sought a distraction and tried to focus on why she was amidst the camp’s tents instead of snuggled in her sleeping bag…another thing darkening her mood. He probably wants me to wipe somebody’s butt. Though, Anders does have a nice one to look at, Nikki thought with a snicker.

Nikki pulled her yellow jacket close to fend off the chill air as she slid her way toward the center tent’s wood steps. The smell of diesel from the camp generator made her scrunch her nose in protest. Diesel made her stomach turn. Why they didn’t have a micro-fusion power supply for the camp baffled her. Looking to the fossil preparation tent, she recalled the tedious and boring job she made of cataloging and packing the re-plastered fossils into crates. Most of the remaining fossils were small or fragments, the larger pieces having been repacked into crates. All were destined for the Carnegie Museum back in the United States. She dreaded returning to yesterday’s tasks, as she had more fossil fragments to catalog and pack away, but that would have to wait until later. She was summoned, after all, but her summoning would wait for coffee.

Beyond camp, the pinging sounds of chisels, hammers, and unintelligible voices at the dig site were washed out by the low rumble of the generators powering the equipment in the tents. She heard their voices, a number of them excited, but they would need to wait. Coffee first. As Nikki approached the wood steps, the flap entry to the center olive colored tent pulled back revealing two men standing in the entryway. Nikki heard them speaking in the regional highlands dialect of Spanish, but they spoke much too fast for her to follow the conversation. Their conversation went abruptly silent when they realized she was near. One of the men dressed in bright clothing and a round-brimmed hat quickly departed, without uttering a word. He walked briskly toward the sounds of muffled metal chisels and hammers before Nikki could see who he was. The other man, unmoving as if made of stone, waited as she climbed the wooden steps to the platform that served the purpose of a porch to the prep tent and doubled as the evening gathering place for the team to discuss the day’s activities and speculate about their discoveries. Nikki strained a little to see the man’s face as she climbed. It was the camp’s handyman, but she held her tongue at greeting him, fearful of embarrassing herself if she were to be wrong about his name. After all these weeks, she still was unsure of his name.

Buenos dias, Señorita Ricks, Luis Sebastian Fernandez said in his thick ascent and rough English. Is that you sneaking?

Yes…Luis, Nikki answered carefully, hoping she had his name right. Ashamed she didn’t care to learn his name after all these weeks, she pressed on, hoping to slip by him and avoid further conversation. Her coffee and the dig site were already on the schedule.

Luis eyed Nikki as if he were measuring her. It made Nikki uncomfortable and caused her to break stride before the tent opening. The unremarkable handyman and camp scrounge spoke Señorita, what do you think of the new find?

What new find? Nikki asked.

Up there with the big head bones. Luis pointed in the direction to the dig site beyond the tents. They found blue bones.

What…? Nikki gave Luis an Are you stupid? stare before stepping into the tent, seeking to put distance between her and the confused scrounger. He unsettled her. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but the almost-nightly occasions she found him lingering around the showers did nothing to endear him to her. A shiver rippled down her back and a soiled feeling swept over her.

The inner tent was nothing like she had left it last night. Standing in stunned silence with mouth slung open, Nikki stared at chaos. Boxes and crates everywhere had been hastily opened and the meticulously packed contents were in disarray around the tent. Plaster, burlap, and foil wraps once encasing the large chest sections were everywhere except where they should have been. Small fossil fragments were scattered about, with Doctor Hugo Ramirez Costa sitting on the floor cross-legged in the center of the chaos, wearing the same khaki pants and shirt Nikki left him in last night when she went to her tent. Spine, rib, gastrile, and upper arm bones of the big theropod, along with the rock encasing the fossilized bones, lay arranged on the floor in front of Ramirez. He preferred being called Ramirez instead of Costa for some reason he wouldn’t share with her. He was so intent on studying a set of rib bones that he didn’t notice Nikki enter.

What the hell is this? Recovered from her initial shock and with anger boiling at her work being undone then tossed all about the tent, Nikki wanted answers. Ramirez sat up stiff-backed, eyes wild with excitement. She and Ramirez had become friends over the past few weeks, but this…this tested her sensibilities.

Nikki! Ramirez acknowledged her presence. His short, dark hair was disheveled, eyes bloodshot, and his usually clean-shaven appearance lost to a day’s heavy growth. It looked as if he had not slept at all.

You must see this. Ramirez announced with a sparkle in his eye and a broad smile, pointing to the fossils in front of him. Nikki would have sworn she was watching a child opening gifts on Holiday Season morning, with his excitement. You not believe what I have found. Look!

The large rock he pointed to show the exposed rib bones of their extinct carnivore. Some of the rock had been chipped away by Ramirez, exposing sections of the largest two bones. Nikki approached, unsure of what she was to look for. Ramirez -- his excitement high since the team realized they had found a massive meat eater, potentially larger than anything previously known, possibly a tyrannosaur or a hybrid, the first of its kind in South America -- was nearly overcome with his new find. Ramirez leapt to his feet and crossed half the tent in a couple of bounds to take hold of Nikki’s arm to hasten her along. He pointed to one of the large ribs -- the bones showed obvious signs of stress fractures. Nothing unusual. Ramirez spoke, almost out of breath. Rub your fingers over this separation.

Giving Ramirez a skeptical smile, Nikki crouched to examine the ribs. The fossilized bones, as thick as her arm, looked as if they had been placed under tremendous pressure, from their flattened shape. Nikki discerned the fine details of the dark bone from the dark, but lighter-colored surrounding sandstone; all she saw were the stress fractures before noticing what she believed he was so excited about. Running her fingers across a smooth, straight break in the bone, Nikki looked at Ramirez quizzically. He could barely contain his excitement, It’s a clean edge: straight…completely linear and with no irregular structures associated with a break.

The bones are well-preserved, Nikki stated. The team had not been able to stop talking about the excellent condition of the find since the day they uncovered the first bones, the tail. The speculation was that the animal must have been buried completely in hardening sediments at its death or soon afterward, to have been so well-preserved. The fossilized remains didn’t have the typical backwards articulation of the spine, neck and tail caused by the dehydration of the spinal ligaments retracting them prior to burial of such a complete specimen.

That’s not a natural break, Ramirez stated with conviction. Pointing at another rib bone with a break, but one with ragged edges and numerous stress fractures surrounding the break, Ramirez continued, See, this break is unclean, not a clean shear as first one. And neither has signs of healing. Both injuries had to occur just before or at death, but unlike the break with uneven edges and stress fractures…a wound from a blunt trauma, the separation in the ribs I showed you must be from a cut of some kind.

Cut! Nikki challenged. By what?

Unknown, Ramirez replied with a calm voice.

It’s an aberration. Nikki stated, half challenging, half dismissing.

See the next two ribs, Ramirez continued. Identical and follow same line as if all three ribs were cut at once. What type of animal could have made these wounds?

Wait a minute, Hugo, Nikki protested. She was a bit surprised that Ramirez was jumping to conclusions without a detailed study. We can’t conclude this injury came from another animal. For all we know, this carnivore fell or ran into something with a sharp edge…if it is a cut.

I thought so too, at first, Ramirez stated. But the cut is clean. Each rib cut is identical. Something inflicted these wounds…maybe it was its death, but with no signs of predation or being eaten. Its killer might also be buried out here. That would be a find. Think of it…a creature that could kill the largest carnivore that ever lived.

Nikki wanted to argue with Ramirez over the facts and stop his speculation, but he made a case…something made the cuts, and it didn’t look as if they had been caused by geologic stresses after the bones fossilized. She had to be careful with such positions as a student, as her professors might find her lacking in her pursuit of her PhD, being undisciplined and all. As a student, she was constantly challenged by her fellow students and professors. They forced her to gather facts, form conclusions from evidence instead of speculation, and then articulate those conclusions in a logical structure to effectively communicate her ideas. Looking at the rock-encased bones, enticing as they were for wild speculation, and recalling discussions held by the team over the past week, Nikki thought of another possibility.

Dr. Ramirez…Hugo, Nikki spoke carefully, not wanting to offend or upstage Dr. Ramirez. He had over ten years of experience in the fields of South America, from Argentina to Brazil, and now Bolivia. He was every bit the paleontologist, and Nikki was only a post-graduate doctorial want-to-be. She questioned presenting her postulations to him. He might think her ideas dumb, but she considered her logic solid. After a few moments of waffling, she decided to continue. The dark coloration of the rock surrounding the fossil points to heavy vegetation at the burial site; the iridium-rich clay, shocked quartz, and tektites surrounding the fossils leads me to think this animal died at the very end of the Cretaceous, at the mass extinction event, possibly. If so, objects of all kinds hurdling at high velocities could have struck this animal, making these cuts.

Ramirez was silent for a long moment as he appeared to be thinking on Nikki’s words. Wearing a repressed smile, he spoke in a kind tone. Who’s speculating now? What about investigation and analysis before conclusions?

Nikki felt the temperature of her cheeks rise, and suddenly her jacket seemed too warm. Looking around the tent at the mess Ramirez spent half the night making, Nikki made a pout with her face and placed her hands on her hips before sighing at having to redo her work of the past few days. Well, I think we need to get this tent cleaned up before Dr. Anders discovers this mess. He wanted everything ready for shipment this morning so we can concentrate on preparing the skull tonight.

Forgive me my excitement, Ramirez apologized after a thoughtful pause, still wearing a smile. I wish the skeleton was to remain in country for me to study instead of going to the United States.

You’ll be able to study it in Pittsburgh, Nikki replied.

Yes, I assume I will, for the time I will be there. Ramirez spoke with clear disappointment. But Bolivia is such a poor country and deserves to have its treasures. I know we will get casts for study and displays as soon as they are made, and that the skeleton will be returned, as all agreed, but I am not pleased with the arrangements now that we know this to be a very significant discovery.

Well… Nikki wished to avoid this subject. I understand how you must feel, Dr. Ramirez, about the… ‘arrangements,’ but I can’t do anything about them. Our embassy made them all. And besides, Bolivia is getting paid well for the fossil by the International Paleontological Fund…on behalf of the United States.

Don’t remind me, Ramirez spat as he waved his hands. The arrangements are almost as bad as those fossil pirates stealing bones from us to sell to collectors. Mother Earth is not to be sold. Treasures gone and without the opportunity to study them. Ramirez paused, appearing to mull over thoughts, then spoke in a softer tone. At least these fossils will be studied properly. But first…we must repack them.

Relieved that the discussion was over, Nikki picked up several fossils closest to her and began the labor of making order out of chaos… starting with rewrapping the fossils in tinfoil and plaster.

Remembering she hadn’t had coffee yet, Nikki looked to the coffee pot. Damn. Empty.

Suddenly, Luis burst through the flaps, out of breath.

Señorita Ricks! Luis gasped with a wheeze. Señorita Ricks… come quick. Luis gasped again, then sucked in a breath before wheezing out words Nikki could understand. Dr. Anders is hurt. He needs help and calls for you to bring the medical kits.

What happened? Nikki asked as she stared at Luis. How did he get hurt?

I do not know, señorita, Luis gasped, his thick accent filled with urgency. But there is much blood.

Blood and Bone

Now alarmed, Nikki looked around the tent for and quickly found the emergency medical kit near the front entrance, grabbed it then dashed out of the tent without saying a word anyone could understand. Cursing and angry that the day was just all wrong, with one surprise after another, and she hadn’t been awake yet an hour. Nikki recklessly ran to the quarry, slipping, sliding, trying to keep her balance as she went. She envisioned Dr. Anders lying in a pool of blood, dying or dead. Fifty yards away and uphill from the tents, Nikki had to slow to a trot from the pain in her chest and side. The air pressure at near 10,000 feet made it hard to breathe, even after weeks in the mountains. Ahead, the morning had not yet burned off the low-hanging mountain clouds, obscuring most things more than ten yards away. Walking into the mist, she heard muffled voices, barely audible over the pounding of blood in her ears. The voices grew louder and clearer as she approached the cloud-obscured quarry. She could see a ghostly outline of her own feet and vague shapes she took for rocks and bushes as she went. The mist was heavy today. She formed a mental image of the quarry as she had last remembered it, hoping to navigate the obstacles and hazards without tripping or hurting herself, but the image of a seriously injured Anders kept popping into her thoughts causing her to lose focus. Voices…yes, voices…ahead. Nikki shifted her focus to them then followed.

She walked another thirty yards or more – she wasn’t sure, with the voices getting louder with each step before seeing moving silhouettes, ghosts that soon took the form of her colleagues and the dig team’s workers. Most hovered and danced around a large rock, while several others were tending to Dr. Anders, sitting not far away on a smaller rock of his own. One of those looking after Anders, Jimmy Zahand, a wiry-built, dark-haired new graduate student, spotted Nikki and ran to her, snatching the medical kit from her hands without the slightest acknowledgment of her before returning to his patient.

Anders yelped and growled at the peroxide Jimmy poured on his hand. Nikki was curious about his wounds and maneuvered so she could see. The entire front of Anders’ button-down light-blue shirt was soaked in blood from being used as a bandage. A lot of blood loss for a cut, Nikki thought. The front of his pants was soaked in crimson as well. Nikki started to feel guilty for not hurrying more than she had to get the medical kit here. Her stomach felt unsettled at the sight of so much blood, and she turned away, hoping to regain control of herself. She felt warm all over and feared fainting. She tried to focus on other things, anything and everything not red, so she would not topple. The morning mist was thinning rapidly, almost too fast, as it was penetrated by the rays of the morning sun. The mist usually took until mid-morning to burn off at this altitude, and she was surprised at the time when she looked at her watch…almost 9:00 a.m. Nikki found herself really wanting her morning coffee.

The scent of acetone was faint in the air. Nikki disliked the odor; it made her a bit nauseous when she got a good whiff of it, and it was making her condition worse now, but it helped preserve the fossil bones by hardening them before removal from the earth. She sought anything else to get her focus on…something that would make her feel better, instead of sending her to the dirt. She shifted her thoughts to the surrounding area and what it was so long ago.

In the waning days of the dinosaurs, this area had been part of a vast inland lake system that connected to the sea and was dotted with rising terrain not much taller than several hundred feet, but now the skeleton of their monster of a creature lay on a rising slope tilted from the Andes Mountain uplift over the last sixty million years. The rocky slope rose to the west at nearly a thirty-degree incline, extending almost 800 feet high, making the dig team’s work difficult and dangerous, not only from the many opportunities afforded each person to trip and fall, but also from falling rocks above the work area shaken loose by their activities or the occasional earthquake. Most of the team had injuries of some sort from the natural hazards, but they continued, excited about their discovery and the potential of being part of a historic find.

The massive carnivore was buried facing the northeast. Its tail had been oriented higher on the slope than the skull, though they excavated the tail first…it was the first part of the skeleton found by a local group of workers, from the cement facility not far from here, while they hiked the area. They contacted Dr. Ramirez, one of only a handful of paleontologists working in Bolivia at the time. Dr. Anders had been visiting Ramirez also at that time, while on his way to the Valley of the Moon in Argentina. Doctors Ramirez and Anders both examined the find and determined it significant, though at that time they didn’t know just how significant. Dr. Anders convinced Carnegie University to make arrangements with the Bolivian government to be allowed to remove the skeleton and take it back to the United States for preparation, study, and display for a number of years.

Nikki was uncertain of Dr. Anders’ long friendship with Ramirez, starting back before Anders’ graduate studies at Pitt University. As Nikki understood, it played a significant role in the negotiations, but in the end dollars sealed the deal. Just how many, given the devaluation of the US dollar, she didn’t know. Nikki was uncertain how she felt about paying