HEIR OF GRIEF

Chapter 1 – Like The Wind

Written by Ben

You can find the rest of the story in the Fjordur Tamables filter. The story starts in Dimorphodon.

~~~

Hoots and hollers echoed through the grassy valley. It was filled to the brim with bushes and other thick foliage, all naturally grown from the great soil of Fjordur. Today was a big day, because today was the day that the Seasonal Valley Race would take place, here and now.

There were Iguanodons everywhere up above, watching the valley below. They were all split up into small groups, each one standing on their hind legs and screaming at the air.

“Wooooooo!” a brown Iguanodon cheered. He had a lightning bolt painted on his side. Another Iguanodon with green stripes was munching on a pile of purple mejoberries with his hands, watching the four contestants at the start of the valley in anticipation.

“Looks like there’s a new racer this season…”

Just then, another Iguanodon bumped into him. He squinted his eyes.

“Hyuk hyuk! Howdy, Bass!” the Iguanodon snorted.

“What do ya’ want, smelly tramp?” Bass glowered.

“That’s not my name, my name is Huckleberry!” Huckleberry snorted, stamping his feet into the dirt. Bass let out a huff, his chops flapping sporadically.

“Shut up! The race is about to start.”

Down below in the valley, stood four Iguanodons at a poorly drawn line of white paint near the entrance of the valley. A short, chunky Diplodocus with a rather long neck for her species stood at the entrance, her tail swishing back and forth enthusiastically. All the Iguanodons and their ancestors knew her. Her name was Amar, because she had such bright yellow eyes, and she had been the racemaster for the Iguanodons for the past forty seasons that had come and go.

MOOOOO! Amar’s bellow rumbled through the crowd of spectators. All the Iguandons began to quiet down. Amar’s head looked back and forth. She began to speak.

“My fellow Iguanodons, today we come together as one to watch our amazing racers speed through the Valley and give us their best!” Amar’s deep voice squeaked. All the Iguanodons roared in response, stomping their feet into the ground in quick succession. Dirt began to fly up into the air.

WOOOOOOOOOOOO! All the Iguanodons screamed at the top of their lungs. Amar tilted her head down with a wince at the noise. The Iguanodons below at the starting line began to shuffle their feet expectantly.

One contestant with blue scales and yellow stripes seemed thinner than the others. She glanced to her left and right nervously. The Iguanodon to her left, quite large in stature, let out a huff, stomping his feet into the ground, while the Iguanodon to her right began to kick at the dirt, getting into a crouching position. A glint of metal shined at the bottom of his soles.

A smug Iguanodon suddenly butted in between the young mare and the Iguanodon to her left. “Watch your step, newbie. You don’t want to trip during your first race.”

She gave him a weird look. “Um. Thanks?” she said, her voice shaking slightly. The Iguanodon to his left grunted.

“You’re late again, Larry,” the racer said. “I thought they didn’t let racers in once the sun became centered?”

The cocky Iguanodon let out a haughty laugh.

“Oh Blitzer, we’ve been over this! I give those watching us a good show. Security loves me. You think they care I’m a few minutes late?”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure it’s been more than a few minutes,” the young racer shot back.

“HAH! Ha, ha!” Larry neighed, tears spilling from his eyes after a few more seconds of hearty laughter. “You’re funny, girl. What’s your name?”

“Lightning. My name is Lightning.”

“Lightning, okay, listen here, and listen closely,” Larry said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You know the rules of the race, right? I hope you do. All racers need to know.”

“Of course,” Lightning said softly.

“Then you would know the finish line is by the big oak tree just in the center,” Larry said, waving his thumb to a thick trunk of wood that provided shade in the middle of the valley. “And nowhere else.”

“I’m pretty sure the finish line is past that–”

“Great. Good luck out there, newbie. You’re gonna need it.”

“On your marks, racers!” Amar’s voice broke their exchange. Larry let out a smirk, stepping up so close to the finish line it looked like he was over it. Lightning let out a nervous gulp, stretching her legs and back.

Okay, deep breaths, just like Father told me, Lightning thought. She felt the sun melt her scales into warmth, warmth that continued to spread through the rest of her body.

“Get set…” Amar’s long, studded tail whipped the air. SNAP! “GO!”

And the racers were off! The five Iguanodons took off from their positions, leaving dust behind in the air. The clopping of hooves rang throughout the Valley as the rest of the Iguanodons above cheered as loudly as they could for their favored contender.

Lightning huffed as she ran, her heart pumping faster than it ever had before. She looked to her left. Larry and Blitzer were keeping pace, but they barely looked like they were jogging. Off to her right, the other two Iguanodons were slowing down. One particularly fat one had even stopped running altogether.

NEIGGHHHHH! That Iguanodon came to a halt, collapsing to the ground. There were boos from up above. A few Iguanodons were hurling rotten berries at him.

“Get up, you lazy narc!” Bass yelled. “I put a lot of berries on you!”

“Not a good idea, Bass. He never wins!” Huckleberry whined.

“Ughh, just let me rest,” the lazy Iguanodon mumbled. “I only came this season for the festival. Larry always wins anyway…”

Lightning felt her heart quicken when the other racer mentioned that.

Is that really true? Has Larry won all the times before this?

“Looks like the tree is coming right up, newbie!” Larry chuckled. “You look out of breath already. Why don’t you take a little break? Let the adults do the racing.”

WOOSH! Larry began to pick up the speed, leaving Lightning behind in the dust. Blitzer neighed in protest.

“Oh now you wanna race?” Blitzer barked. He galloped forward as quickly as he could. At this point, Lightning’s heart was beating so fast that she didn’t know if she could even keep going. She had burnt herself out in the first few seconds of the race, and her hooves were even beginning to ache.

Dust was thrown up in the air as she came to a stop, panting up as much air as she could. Clop! Clop! Clop! One of the Iguanodon racers stopped right next to her just then, just as tired.

“Hey. Lightning, right?” the tan-scaled Iguanodon said. Lightning nodded, too tired to speak.

“You’re doing fine for a new racer. Don’t tire just yet. The race is not even close to being over,” the Iguanodon encouraged her. “Don’t give up so soon like Plumbum over there.”

“Did someone say my name?!” the Iguanodon racer who gave up earlier yelled.

“NO! Nobody did,” the Iguanodon called back. He turned to give Lightning another friendly smile.

“I’ll see you at the finish line then.”

Clop! Clop! Clop! The kind Iguanodon was already off running. Hoovesteps were pounding from outside the Valley. It appeared the spectators were jogging along the edge, trying their best to keep up with Larry and Blitzer. Lightning’s legs shook as she tried to carry herself past the shade.

This was never cut out for me, she thought. I should have just been up on those cliffs watching–

“Let’s go, Lightning! Let’s go, Lightning!”

A familiar voice rang down into the valley. Lightning’s head jerked up. A brown Iguanodon with a yellow lightning bolt painted down his side was eagerly cheering her on. Her eyes sparkled.

“Father!” Lightning shouted.

“Run like the wind, Lightning! RUN LIKE THE WIND!” he reminded her. Lightning couldn’t help but smile.

I need to keep moving forward.

She turned her attention back to the racing Valley. The racer from earlier seemed to already be slowing down as he approached the corner, but Lightning couldn’t figure out why.

I just need to keep going.

Lightning took another deep breath, and with an exhale, she was off again. This time, however, she was taking it a bit more slow. She was jogging to a point where she wasn’t walking at an Achatina’s pace, but she also wasn’t exerting so much of her energy that she felt like dung.

The Iguanodon racer at the end of the Valley turned the corner. Lightning didn’t let it sway her though. She knew the race was far from over, despite what Larry told her. The Valley stretched on for quite a few steps.

Keep going.

WOOSH! Lightning turned the corner to see a small watering hole right in the middle of the track, crystal-clear, so much so that she could see the clouds within their reflection. Larry and Blitzer were gulping up so much water that it looked like it was about to run dry. The third Iguanodon racer bent down to lap some up for himself too.

So that’s why… Lightning realized. She hadn’t been aware of this when the security hooves debriefed the rules to her, and the last time she went to a Seasonal Valley Race, there hadn’t even been a watering hole.

It did rain recently, Lightning thought. Her eyes darted from Larry, then to Blitzer, and then to the third racer. None of them seemed to realize that she had made it to the ‘checkpoint’. The other Iguanodons above murmured to themselves as they drank.

“They’re taking their sweet time aren’t they?” Bass scoffed.

“Hyuk hyuk, don’t blame ‘em. I’d be gassed on the first step!” Huckleberry said in response.

Lightning carefully stepped around the watering hole. Her hooves were quiet against the grass, barely making a noise. The other racers were too preoccupied with the watering hole to notice that Lightning was already steadily jogging away, making more and more progress to the finish line.

“Someone’s smart enough to keep runnin’,” Bass said. “I should have placed my berries on her!” The spectators began to jog down the cliff to keep up with Lightning’s pace. The shuffling of hooves above stirred Larry’s attention. His head jolted up. He huffed, his chest rising up and down in rage. He spotted Lightning turning a corner and disappearing.

“That damn mare!” Larry screamed, bolting off as fast as he could. Blitzer smirked, taking off in suit.

“Clever one, is she not?” Blitzer teased Larry as he was just a few tails behind him. Larry huffed again, shaking his head, his tongue flopping back and forth.

“No, no no! Clever cannot describe someone so dishonorable as to neglect the watering hole!” Larry bellowed.

The third racer from earlier quickly ran off too to catch up.

“Seems we got caught up in our break… maybe you might lose this season, Larry?” he chuckled.

“Hah! As if, she hasn’t raced a day in her life. She isn’t winning,” Larry shot back.

“Don’t underestimate her. She’s got potential.”

“Shut it, Rye. Like you know anything about racing.” Larry gritted his teeth. “Later, losers!”

Larry’s legs blurred. He was running so fast that even at top speeds, Blitzer and Rye couldn’t catch up with him. Blitzer and Rye slowed down to catch their breaths.

“Looks like he’s going to take the Feast now,” Blitzer murmured. He hacked, spitting a glob of saliva onto the grass. Rye hummed in response.

“I have faith…” Rye muttered under his breath. “Come on, Lightning. Show that foal what you’re capable of.”

~

Lightning looked up ahead. The finish line was getting closer. It was a red painted line on the grass, with a skinny tree ahead of it to signal the nearing end of the Valley. The Iguanodons were all cheering at Lightning for her to pass the line, not caring too much that she was new and all.

“Go! Go! Go! Whatever your name is,” Huckleberry hooted. The other Iguanodons’ voices blended together, and Lightning’s hearing began to drown out the noises. She licked her chops, her vision tunneling to the end of the Valley.

Run like the wind, she reminded herself of her father’s mantra. Run like the wind!

She picked up the pace, her legs carrying her farther than they ever had. She was about to do it. She was about to finish her first race. She was about to finish her first race with first place, and a Feast to come with it.

CLOP! CLOP! CLOP! CLOP! CLOP!

The hoovesteps were getting faster, but they weren’t Lightning’s. Lightning gasped as Larry ran right up to her, his legs blurred. His tongue was out, feeling the rush of the warm, spring air. He didn’t seem to regard Lightning at first.

Lightning neighed, trying her best to keep up with Larry’s relenting speed. And for a second, it seemed to be working! Larry was faster, but not fast enough to overtake Lightning in time. The finish line was getting closer, and it looked like it was coming to a tie…

Get ready to lose, Lightning thought, smiling to herself.

“No, NO!” Larry cried. “I’m not losing to a mare like you!”

BUMP! Larry’s body slammed into Lightning’s. Lightning couldn’t even howl. She stumbled forward, losing her footing when her back hoof tugged on the root of the skinny tree. The audience let out a roar, but Lightning still hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. She already knew why.

Lightning crossed the finish line shortly, but by now the spectators couldn’t care any less. Even the hooting of her father wasn’t enough to shake the sense of shame she had in her heart. Lightning looked up to see the Iguanodons crowding around Larry excitedly, and soon he was somehow carried up into the air. He howled with the rest of his loyal fans.

“First place,” Amar yawned from a distance, her neck perked up into the sky slightly. “Larry. Second place, Lightning.”

Second place, Lightning scoffed. Nobody came up to her to celebrate her standing. With nothing more to do, she trotted away from the crowd to find a place to herself, a place for her and her failure.

~

KAKRACK! Lightning ripped some barely-ripe azulberries off the branch of a bush. She munched loudly, occasionally stomping her foot on the other berries that spilled on the ground around her feet. THWACK! THWACK! With each stomp, the berries were crushed into tiny seeds.

PTEW! Lightning spat out a piece of bark that got in her mouth. She leaned down to gobble up the seeds she had grinded up.

Snap! A branch broke in the distance. Lightning didn’t tilt her head up to acknowledge the noise. The familiar noise of hooves hit the grass. She huffed, focusing on the crunch of the seeds in her jaws.

“I’m sorry, Father,” she said. “I didn’t win the race.”

A neigh came from the Iguanodon behind her.

“If it’s your Father you’re looking for, you’re out of luck,” Rye’s soothing voice rang. “Why are you here alone? The Racers’ Banquet has plenty more berries and seeds for the rest of the participants.”

“Racers’ Banquet?” Lightning looked up in curiosity. “I thought only the winner earns the Feast?”

“The Banquet is just a small get-together we other racers have.” Rye cleared his throat. “Since, you know, Larry has won nearly all the races since he became one. We just pull together some berries, eat, and chat. Why doesn’t the one who earned second-place join us?”

Lightning sighed. She stepped away from her pile of berries. “Okay, fine. Show me the way.”

~

The cheering and yelling of Iguanodon spectators from afar could be heard even at the edge of the trickling river. The river was a quiet place, despite Fjordur’s noise. Only a few small herbivores roamed the coast, along with the occasional Dilophosaurus. When Lightning and Rye trotted down the river, a skinny Dilophosaurus screeched and rattled its frills, running up with its jaws wide open.

“Shoo!” Rye warned it, waving his front hooves at it. Upon seeing the large spike for a thumb on the hoof, the Dilophosaurus wilted its frills and quickly scurried away. Rye rolled his eyes.

“Carnivores, am I right?” Rye laughed. “Can you believe they need to eat flesh to survive? And they don’t eat berries…”

“That sounds miserable,” Lightning noted.

“It is. They’re dumb brutes, the whole lot of them. Dumb brutes who don’t know when to stop taking.” Rye squinted his eyes, narrowing at a pair of Iguanodons sitting by the water. “If I could wipe them out, I would. But they always keep coming back.”

“They’re not so bad. They don’t really mess with us, do they?” Lightning whispered.

“You wouldn’t know.”

The lazy Iguanodon, Plumbum, looked up as the two approached. Blitzer was munching on some mejoberries, not paying much mind to their entrance.

“So… second-place has decided to join us?” Blitzer said. “Welcome to the Losers’ Club, kid.”

“Take any of the berries you want, just don’t touch any of these!” Plumbum said, motioning to the white stimberries. “I called first munch already.”

“He loves stimberries. I don’t know why.” Rye gagged at the thought of it. Lightning’s eyes darted the berry pile and saw the blue azulberries mostly untouched. She took her hoof and scooped them toward her. Blitzer plopped another mejoberry in his mouth, munching on it loudly. Rye gave him a look.

“Hey. Don’t hog those. I want some too.”

“Your loss for recruiting second-place over here,” Blitzer motioned his hoof toward Lightning. Plumbum raised one of his eyebrows.

“You don’t seem to like her much.”

Blitzer didn’t have anything to say in response.

SPLASH! Plumbum dunked his head in the river, swallowing as much water as he could. Lightning noticed a strange metal lining the hooves of the Iguanodon.

“What are those?”

“Oh, these?” Plumbum raised a hoof. “I don’t really know. Larry wears them. He had a bunch when he first started racing. Mentioned how he got them from his old master… he gave some to us. They’re kind of uncomfortable, but… it must be why he wins so many times.”

Old master? Lightning thought. Did a magic-ape… it must explain why he has such an odd name.

“Hey, if you don’t know,” Rye said in realization. “You don’t have those do you? And you got second place.”

“Quit bringing that up,” Blitzer huffed, digging into his mejoberries again. The mood grew silent again. Rye nudged Lightning with a leg.

“Hey, don’t mind him,” Rye muttered. “He used to be the fastest racer, until Larry came along. And now you…”

“I get it,” Lightning said, her voice still shaking.

She thought about the outcome of the race, and how it had all been spoiled because Larry had decided to cheat. But maybe if she had kept running and hadn’t stopped at the oak tree… she wouldn’t have lost either.

She could have won that race. She could have won that feast.

“Don’t neigh too loudly about it,” Plumbum said. “The racing is the boring part, in my opinion. It’s the festival afterward that’s great!”

“You’re bound to have at least some fans,” Rye said. “Why don’t we check it out right now? I bet the merchants have plenty of trinkets to barter for.”

“Trinkets?” Lightning asked.

“Yeah. Every spring, travelers come by with their spoils. It’s some pretty neat stuff,” Plumbum said, standing up. Lightning soon realized why he was called Plumbum– his bottom was lavender in color.

Rye walked off. Plumbum followed. With nothing better to do, so did Lightning. Rye looked back at Blitzer.

“Blitzer? You comin’?”

“Go without me.”

He didn’t seem to be in the mood today. The three Iguanodons traveled to the festival without him.

~

There was plenty of chatter when the three Iguanodons walked through the busy Valley, which was now filled with plenty of Iguanodons looking to pick up new treats or trinkets. Amar lay down near the entrance, dozing off. A few Pteranodons were perched on her, plucking at the bugs that were crawling on her skin.

Lightning looked around in anticipation every few seconds, just in case her Father was somewhere in this crowd.

“Berries! Berries! Try these new berries!” a gruff merchant shouted from the distance. Rye’s head perked up.

“Quinoa? Is that you?” Rye said excitedly. He galloped through the crowd, pushing a few Iguanodons out the way. They all barked at Rye in warning. Lightning and Plumbum quickly followed.

“Quinoa!” Rye neighed, approaching the merchant. The female, tan-scaled Iguanodon neighed back at the sight of Rye, standing up and rushing over to nuzzle his head.

“You look taller than since we last met. How was the race?” the Iguanodon asked.

“It was fine. I got fourth,” Rye said. “A new racer joined us this season.”

“Oh really? Is it her?” Quinoa asked, nodding her head at Lightning. Lightning nodded back shyly.

“Yes. My name is Lightning. Who are you?”

“She’s my sister,” Rye explained. “She always hooks me up with new stuff.”

“Darn right I do! It takes a lot of scrapping to find these,” Quinoa presented her findings. Colorful berries that didn’t look like the traditional ones were all laid on the bright magic-ape-made carpet. There appeared to be three types of berries, all either magenta, green, or cyan in color. Quinoa nudged the bunches toward them.

“Try ‘em,” Quinoa beckoned. Rye gently picked a few of the green berries up in his mouth to taste. Plumbum took a step back.

“If it ain’t white, it ain’t right.” Plumbum shook his head. Quinoa giggled.

“Still in that stimberry phase?” Quinoa asked her brother. Rye nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t know if he’ll ever get over it…” Rye’s eyes popped. “Wow. Okay. That’s got a kick to it. It’s a bit sour.”

Quinoa turned to Lightning next. “Would you like to try?”

“Sure.” Lightning decided to try the cyan berries. They reminded her of the azulberries she was fond of. Scooping them up with her tongue, she tried her best to savor the flavor of it.

That’s a bit weird, Lightning thought. It’s really sweet…

Lightning chewed thoroughly, getting more used to it before swallowing it down. Quinoa huffed.

“So. Yay or neigh?”

“Yay!” Lightning said cheerfully. “Could I… get some more?”

“Sure. Take a whole bundle.” Quinoa turned around and gently picked up a small bag that almost looked like it was made of… animal hide? It had a string attached to it that seemed to keep the bag shut. She dropped the bag on the ground in front of Lightning. She nudged the string with her head.

“You can sling that string around your neck.”

“Oh… t–thanks. What is this?” Lightning asked, slipping the bag onto her neck.

“It’s a bag. She found a whole lot of them a while back, when she first started traveling. We don’t know where they come from… but they’re convenient for her to use,” Rye explained.

“Yeah. I don’t know why other merchants don’t use them. Helps carry cargo around pretty fast. Don’t blow through those too fast, alright? I’m not sure if I’ll find more like those in the future…”

“Of course. Thank you again, Quinoa,” Lightning thanked her.

Just then, a panicked holler came from the end of the Valley. Plumbum’s head perked up.

“Who was that?”

Clop! Clop! Clop! Soft hoovesteps rang throughout the air as Huckleberry galloped through, his tongue flailing about. Confused whispers came from the passerbys.

“Flesh-eaters! FLESH-EATERS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED!” he cried. “They’re big! Big and horned! Go, go!”

The crowd of Iguanodons were stirred into a panic. Before long, they were rushing out through the entrance of the Valley. The Pteranodons flew off as fast as they could when the Iguanodon crowd went running. Amar stirred in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open.

“Huh?” Amar mumbled. “What’s going on?”

Plumbum looked from where Huckleberry had come from, and then at the nearby exit. With a neigh, Plumbum went running on his hind legs.

“There’s a flesh-eater, Amar! We gotta go!”

Amar wasted no time. She shakily stood up from the grass and ran with him, leaving Rye and Lightning behind.

“We should go with them. If they’re horned… then…” Lightning said, shuddering. She had heard stories of the Carnotaurus, fast predators with an insatiable appetite for blood and flesh. They hunted anything beneath them, which included Iguanodons like them.

Rye stomped one of his feet into the grass.

“The Feast is that way, at the finish line. I need to see if Larry’s okay,” Rye said. Rye began to run off.

“Wait–” Lightning said. “Ugh!”

Lightning began to run after Rye. She wanted to tell him how it wasn’t worth risking his life over someone so pretentious and dishonest, but she couldn’t gather the words together either. A part of her wanted to make sure Larry was okay too, Iguanodon-to-Iguanodon.

But by the time they had reached the end of the Valley, it already seemed too late… a pair of large, horned beasts with small arms had backed Larry into a corner. He neighed shakily, his legs trembling. The Carnotaurus were already here.

“HELP! Someone, help!” Larry cried.

The two Carnotaurus began to close in, snapping their jaws at him…