50 Million Years from Now

Epilogue

Vall looked down at the dancing males. It was mating season, but he wasn't looking at the spectacle. He was looking for one Black beak in particular. As he kept looking, he finally found him. On the cave floor stood a large young male with a black body covered with white spots. The young male quickly snapped his beak in the air while revealing his underbelly to a female. Right now, he was doing the mating dance.

"Come on. Remember what I taught you," Vall thought with slight worry.

"How is he doing?" Moramma asked as she landed next to her mate.

"I'm not sure Moramma. I think Monoro is remembering what I taught him, but I'm just not sure."

Finally, the female Monoro was trying to impress began to shake her head downwards and show off her tail feathers. Vall and Moramma sighed at this.

"He actually did it," Vall said as he watched the female show her acceptance to have Monoro as her mate.

They then heard a small chirping noise coming towards them.

"Vall, Moramma! Look what I found!" a young Black beak squawked as she hopped towards them. She bore the same feather pattern as her big brother.

"What did you find Zooni?" Moramma asked as she nuzzled her daughter.

"Look!" she said revealing the skull as some strange creature. Its eye sockets were facing forward, even more than the Black beaks and Boltoccor ravens. It was shaped in a very round domed structure. The right side of the skull had a few holes in it, damages from the time it had been exposed to the elements.

"Say! This actually looks like one of the skulls you found when we were younger," Vall said as he took the creature's skull from his daughter.

"Oh yes, I remember," Moramma chuckled slightly. "We started calling them bone heads, remember?"

"Why did you call them bone heads?" Zooni asked.

"Well, look at the shape of their skull," Vall replied. "You see how it is well-rounded? This is perfectly designed for ramming. And notice these holes in the skull? What probably happened to this individual was that both it and another bone head headbutted each other causing this one's skull to crack."

"Then how come we never see them?" Zooni asked.

"Well, Zgall has a theory about that," Moramma explained. "He thinks that these were creatures that used to exist here but for some reason or other, vanished or at least turned to bone."

"Why?"

"That's something Zgall has yet to figure out," Vall laughed.

"Hey! Get back here!" a loud voice squawked.

They all looked to see Zgall chasing a Night snatcher who was currently running away with a rib bone.

"Hey! Drop it!" Roc ordered as he landed in front of the Night snatcher. Reluctantly, the bird dropped the rib bone so Zgall could finally retrieve it.

"You've got to get that Night snatcher under control. This is the fourth time he steals something from my collection."

"Why are you so interested in bones?"

"Because if I am right with my idea that there were other things before us, I want to figure out why they all became bones. As for you, why did you decide to let these Night snatchers in our cave?" he said pointing to the dozens of Night snatchers that were running around the cave floor.

"I've told you many times Zgall. Night snatchers are just like us."

Zgall was about to yell something back when Zenith intervened.

"Listen Zgall. We'll try our best to keep the Night snatchers from stealing your things. And anyway, you must admit, having Night snatchers helping us in hunts is much more efficient than when we were doing it by ourselves."

Zgall simply grumbled and walked away. "Just keep them away from my bones!" he called out.

Vall chuckled at this sight. Even after all this time, Zgall was still a little bit grumpy. At least now it wasn't at Kay or him. Vall flew towards a high ledge near the cave's ceiling. As he landed, he found Kay sitting quietly.

"Surprised to see you are not with the other elders," Vall called out.

"You know that I never liked to sit in one place all day," Kay laughed. "I only like to be there when I'm needed."

"Even after all this time, you haven't changed. You're still as wise as ever."

"And you, Vall, became something that even I couldn't be. I mean, look at this. Black beaks are thriving. We're still what we were, but we are also different."

"I'm afraid I don't exactly know what you're talking about."

"Well, your son and daughter, they look different from other Black beaks and yet they fit in perfectly. The Night snatchers are now helping us in hunts. And some of us are even asking questions about what might have been before us. And yet, at the same time, we are still using the same tools, living in the same place, and keeping the same traditions we've always had. Black beaks have struck perfect balance and I think that this is a good thing."

"Thank you Kay," Vall said.

"No, I should be the one to thank you. Zgall and I are no longer angry at each other. And that's because of you."

"True. But I probably would not have become who I am now if you had not helped me so long ago."

"Then I guess we should be thanking each other."

"Yes. I believe you are right," Vall said as the two looked contentedly at the scene before them.

Out in the plain, as the sun set over the horizon, the life of a giant approached its end. Scarface laid quietly on the ground. He had lived his full life and now he could see predators and scavengers circling him: Climbing foxes, Night snatchers, Running crocodiles and many, many more. All waiting for him to take his last breath. With the last ray of the sun, the life of Scarface ended. As he finally lay there motionless, the creatures closed in and began to feed.

Just like it always has been, everything must die eventually. Whether it's an individual, a species or an entire family branch, ultimately everything becomes extinct, and in their place, the new arises. For if history has taught us anything, it is this: it's not the strongest, fastest, smartest, oldest or even the most successful that wins the game of evolution, but the one who can adapt to whatever is coming.