50 Million Years from Now

Act 17

"What?!?" Vall shouted. "Why would they go out there in the middle of the night?!?"

Moramma quickly grabbed Vall to calm him down. "Vall, listen, you must stop panicking." Though the tone in her voice said otherwise. "Listen Vall, I'll explain to you what happened, but you must calm down."

Vall slowly calmed himself then looked at Moramma. "Okay, I'm calm. Now, what happened?"

Moramma began to explain the situation at hand, "A Night snatcher somehow snuck into the cave and nearly ate one of the hatchlings. Roc saw this and he attacked. He drove off the Night snatcher, but instead of going back to the cave, he just kept chasing it. Zenith was with Roc when it happened, and he went after him to try to calm him down. It all happened so fast. No one could do anything."

"So, what's the plan?" Vall asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we have to go after them. We can't just let them stay out there in the middle of the night."

"Vall, we can't go out there! You know no one should go outside the cave when it's nighttime."

"I know, I know, but we can't just do nothing!"

"Vall, Moramma is right." The two looked to their right to see Kay standing there. "We shouldn't risk more lives to go out there after them."

"What are you talking about, Kay? You always say to never leave anyone behind."

"That's during the day. At night, it is completely different. Anyway, you're injured. You can't go. I'm sorry. It's just a fact."

"What if we went?" Thunder Wing said as he flew down to join the trio. "Your rules only apply to Black beaks. There's nothing that says Boltoccor ravens can't go out at night."

"Thunder Wing, it is complete suicide going out there," Kay said.

"Why do you think our chief sent us? Out of the whole flock my group is the most capable. He trusted that we could do our job and we did. Now Kay, I think it's time for you to trust us."

Kay mumbled something under his breath before looking back at the Boltoccor raven. "Fine. Go. But if any one of you gets into trouble, come back here immediately. No exceptions."

"All right. You have yourself an agreement," Thunder Wing replied as the Boltoccor ravens quickly flew out of the cave and into the eery night.

Meanwhile, miles away, Roc was dead set on killing the Night snatcher. His spear was gripped tightly in his talons and his eyes were so filled with rage it was practically palpable. A few feet behind him, Zenith was yelling at the top of his lungs, "Roc! Forget it! We must go! It isn't worth it!" But his cries fell on deaf ears. Roc had only one objective: to kill the Night snatcher. As the chase continued, the red-eyed bird leapt over boulders, weaved its way through the grass, and crept around trees. Sometimes hunter and hunted would pass sleeping animals that were completely oblivious to the chase.

Finally, Roc was practically on top of the Night snatcher. He got ready to sink his spear into its flesh, but right then, as he thrust it down, the Night snatcher seemed to just disappear. Quickly, the confused Black beak looked around and that's when he saw it: a huge crater in the middle of the savannah, and in its center, a large meteorite. It was the size of a dump truck and twice as wide, moss growing on it. Hundreds of holes were scattered throughout the celestial body giving it the slight look of a honeycomb. Burrows also appeared to have been dug near its base. All around it were bones and sickly white excrements that almost seemed to gleam in the moonlight. The meteorite had hit Earth a few thousand years ago, disrupting part of this ecosystem and creating havoc as its scorching body burnt the grass and caused a wildfire. But as time passed, this alien visitor had transformed into a home for many creatures, including a large colony of Night snatchers. And it is this whole scene that Roc had discovered. Dozens of red eyes looked back at him, including those of the Night snatcher he had been chasing.

At that instant, Zenith arrived at his side. "Oh no!" he thought. Zenith was about to grab Roc when his companion just exploded. Flying into a fit of rage, Roc flew down into the crater, spear in hand and began to jab and swat it around, trying to kill the Night snatchers. Chaos ensued. Feathers flew everywhere. Squawks, screeches, and crows filled the night air. As Roc kept up his relentless attack, Zenith tried his best to stop his friend.

"Roc! Stop it! Calm down!"

But no matter what he said, Roc kept going. Eventually, his spear collided with the meteorite and shattered. The spear was now nothing but wooden splinters. With his weapon gone, Roc began to attack with his talons. The serrated claws slashed at whatever they could hit. As he got closer to the meteorite, something unexpected happened. The Night snatchers turned towards him and suddenly charged, wings outstretched and loud hissing emerging from their beaks.

"Roc!" Zenith shouted in fear.