Page 12 of Absolved In Death

“The what?!” Lucifer shouted.

“Guys! There’s a cave over here!” Quelier yelled.

We ran along the cliffside, but even with super speed on our side the T-Rex’s strides covered too much ground. The ground shook so hard Bash almost dropped me. I raised my hands, trying my hardest to aim for the scaly mother fucker’s underbelly.

Diana, you need to conserve your power for the next timehop,Lucifer shouted at me through our mindlink. He shot an extended flame at its clawed foot, and it barely made the dinosaur flinch.

We all huddled inside the damp cave. Bash plopped me down next to Lucifer while everyone else rushed to form a circle. ‘Death By Dino’ was right at the mouth of the cave pushing its snout inside, coming close enough that I felt warm, putrid air hit us as it screeched.

“Now would be a great time to snap out of it and bring us back to our time,” O shouted.

“Shut up! She needs to calm down!” Michael snapped. He erected a wall of clouds, which created a partition from it, at least.

I took a few moments to center myself.Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Keep breathing. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

I was almost centered when I heard a much lighter, hissing screech from inside the cave. It was followed by a series of clicks and what almost sounded like…bird calls?

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Judas shouted.

Six velociraptors popped out of an opening on the other side of the cave, eyeing us up like we were a suitable late night snack. They were smaller than they seemed in the movies, maybe the size of a large turkey, but their sharp teeth and sickle-shaped claws broadcasted their deadly nature loud and clear.

“Velociraptors are way more dangerous than T-Rexes,” Mal said as he stiffened, his back going ramrod straight. “They work as a team to bring down prey. I saw it in a documentary once.”

“Well we aren’t prey. These little shits can go fuck themselves,” Oisín hissed. He broke the circle, morphing into a bigger, orange velociraptor.

The small murder-dinos eyed him up, fanning themselves around him. They struck in pairs of two, and at first my brother had no issue fighting them, until one bit his thigh. His cry of pain made me want to snap their necks one by one.

“Fuck this!” I shouted. We were halfway there, and I refused to let these scaly motherfuckers keep me from my family. My men. The war we had to win for the sake of every human and paranormal being in all four realms.

I broke my father’s hold on my arm, springing into action. My clothes shredded off as I morphed into a pink, sparkly version of Oisín –just like the dinosaur toy I had as a child, but with deadly sharp talons and pointy fangs. I bit one of them on their ankle, ripping it’s foot off and spitting it on the ground. Dinosaurs tasted like a fishy, fatty chicken.Gross.

“Diana!” Black webbed lines spidered around Bash’s mouth and eyes. His wings flared as indigo horns emerged from his head.

He grabbed one by the tail, yanking it to the floor and breaking its neck. Three against four were better odds, but we were still getting our asses kicked. Which was somewhat embarrassing because they were extinct. Azazel’s wings flapped,creating a wind pressure that threw them off their game. One was still able to sink its teeth into my back. Those razor sharp dagger teeth hurt like a bitch, burning every second they stayed embedded in my scales. My arms were too small to remove it, so I ran around trying to fling it off in a panic.

“Watch out!” Bain bellowed as I ran right through Michael’s cloud wall, bumping into the T-Rex that blocked the door.

Oh fuck.

The monster peered down at me, drool dripping from its open mouth. His screech hit me like nails on a chalkboard, enough to get the velociraptor to let go of me. I stood at the giant dinosaur’s feet, gulping the spit that gathered in my mouth as bile raised in the back of the throat. My back was bleeding, and I doubted my immortality would hold up against being mauled by a T-Rex too. All the courage flooding by dumb ass moments ago was snuffed out.

I pushed myself to morph again, this time into a pink T-Rex. Oisín came to my side, but this time he was an orange dragon with wide, leathery wings.

We may be fucked, but let’s go out with a bang,he linked me.

Yeah, I'd rather die fighting than hiding,I agreed.

“Don’t start the fight without us!” a chorus of Quelier’s yelled. He and his clones ran out of the cave mouth in knight’s armor, wielding flaming swords. I wasn’t sure how effective they’d be, but I appreciated him all the same.

The rest of the guys followed him, ready to fight. Mal levitated a giant boulder from the base of the cliff, throwing it right into the T-Rex’s head. It roared so loud I swore I heard the sound barrier break.

“Get in the air, Oisín!” Lucifer shouted.

My brother flew into the sky, shooting blue-tipped flames at its neck. It swished its head low enough that one of Quelier’s clones threw his sword, hitting it in the side of the face.

“Score!” he screamed, doing a Superbowl worthy touchdown dance before running around to the beast’s other side.

Zaz flew figure eights around it, confusing it so much that it wobbled on its feet. I took my shot as I barreled into it, driving my teeth into its chest. I bit and scratched at it until it fell over, screeching as it bled out. When it seemed dead, I morphed back into myself and ran over to everyone.

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