A few more days passed, and finally Monica and her pack returned. When Sobek saw the brachiosaurs reappear he could not help but be happy: he would finally have a more concrete idea of the territory than the one that the flying reptiles and satellite photos could give him.

When Monica joined him he greeted her cordially: "Welcome back. I hope the journey wasn't complicated"

"No journey is complicated for us" replied the brachiosaurus waving her huge neck. "We explored all the territory you requested"

"I was sure of it. Have you encountered any problems?"

"No more than any trip we have made. Indeed, thanks to the power you have given us, we have found even less"

Monica obviously was referring to [Reinforced skin], which combined with the enormous size of the sauropods made them practically immune to the attack of any existing predator.

"I am delighted. Now I have to ask you, did you find what you were looking for?"

The brachiosaurus nodded. "There is a place" she replied. "It is a valley, slightly more inside the forest than the lake, near the mouth of the river that feeds it. It is at the foot of a mountain. There are many caves and caverns and the trees are very tall providing coverage. The terrain to get there is very rough, especially for small animals, and due to the river the path is full of mud and water which make the crossing more difficult. In addition, the path is full of brambles, sharp rocks, slippery holds and other obstacles"

Sobek was pleased with the explanation. He wasn't an expert in military tactics, but he could see the benefits when they were there. The place Monica found was near the mouth of the river and had trees in abundance, which meant that the resources were guaranteed; then the fact that the path was very difficult would have made it very difficult for humans to reach them. "But in this way there is no risk, in a possible attack, of being trapped?"

"Not at all". Monica looked quite satisfied, as if she was waiting for that question. "There are many caves and secondary paths that allow for escape, and which are well concealed from outside eyes. In addition, the place is slightly elevated, so our possible charge would be favored by the slippery mud that would guarantee us to break through the enemy lines"

This changed everything. Sobek had feared that their fortress would turn into a prison, as had happened in the Lord of the Rings with Helm's Deep; but if instead there were escape routes, then it was a perfect place to establish a possible last line of defense. Monica also had not taken into account all the possible traps that she could have placed, or the attacks from above guaranteed by the weapons produced by the [Weapons system]. It was the perfect place.

"Great job, Monica" he complimented her. "I have to thank you. It's your credit that the pack will be safer now. Do you want a reward?"

The brachiosaurus shook her head vigorously. "Why? I just completed the task you gave me. Besides, what could I want? With your gifts we already have all the food and protection we need"

If it wasn't inappropriate, Sobek would have smiled. That was another wonderful thing about animals: they were satisfied with very little and did not even consider having to receive a reward for their work, since they were in fact following the orders of the pack leader who, by the laws of nature, had absolute authority. This made it much easier to manage the large number of dinosaurs. "So get ready; tomorrow we will leave and you will have to guide us"

"As you wish"

Monica took her leave and went back to her fellows to graze the leaves of a [Feeder for large herbivores]. It was a tree that every time a branch was plucked from it made a new one grow back.

"So you intend to move the pack there?" Old Li asked, who, standing next to Sobek, had overheard the whole conversation.

"Not all, just most. The puppies, the eggs, the old people have to be put in a safe place, so building a citadel is a good option at the moment" Sobek replied.

"A citadel?"

"It is the name that humans give to a safe and fortified place to use as a last defense"

Old Li considered his words. "Not a bad idea. This would prevent humans from using the weak of the pack against us. However, I propose to always put a group of warriors in defense of these weak ones, and to use some pterosaurs to always communicate and thus ensure that everything is fine, as well as establish patrol teams for the surroundings"

Sobek found himself agreeing with him. "Yes, we will do this. After all, the safer I am, the better. Babies and eggs represent our future, after all, and the elderly represent the experience and wisdom that will be passed on to the new generation; we can't afford to lose them"

Sobek knew that in any war there were subjects who needed to be protected more than others. Children and babies especially, because if they died then even the winning side would have suffered a meltdown due to the loss of an entire generation, since the parents would have had to churn out other children with consequent financial and psychological complications. The elderly, on the other hand, were wise individuals or in any case with a lot of experience behind them, and therefore it was essential that they could take part in the education of the new generation; a grandfather had to be present for his grandson as much as his parents.

There were also other categories at risk, such as the sick and females, but this was true among humans. In the Sobek pack there was gender equality, since in nature both males and females were forced to cope with difficulties and therefore both knew how to fight very well, and there were no sick people since [Regeneration] could solve all problems.

Basically, Sobek didn't have to worry about them.

The small migration began the following day. Monica led Sobek and the rest of the pack to the chosen location. When she saw it, Sobek couldn't help but admit that the gorge that Monica had chosen was welcoming: wide, spacious, sheltered and safe. It was the perfect retreat.

Obviously, however, some key improvements were needed before the dinosaurs started living there.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS

Hi everyone! Time for some little explanations, as always. Let's do it!

1) If someone of you have doubts, yes, Sobek was sincere when he revealed that he suffer for not be able to have an offspring. Reproduction is an innate instinct of all living animals, and Sobek is one of them. Despite he has human-like intelligence, his body is still controlled by instincts (you can notice it many times during the story: the way he command the dinosaurs is mostly regulated by his instinct as pack leader). And so, knowing that he can't have a child (since there is no other specimen of his species) cause him a deep depression. Basically, he knows that he is in that world only for the task that God given to him; without that task, his life has no meaning. That's why, despite he could simply decide to live peacefully in the forest, he continues to follow the path that God has indicated to him: because he knows that otherwise his life would be empty. It would be a sad life without the possibility to leave a mark of him on the world, which for an animal is no different from suicide. Therefore Sobek has chosen to leave a mark of himself at least in the memories of others, so that his legacy can continue to live on even after his death.

2) While Sobek's notion of 'extinction' is very personal (not being able to leave an imprint of himself on the world), it is no much different from reality. A species goes extinct when it can no longer reproduce enough, and extinction means disappearing from existence. The majority of living species that have walked on Earth have left no sign of themselves, either in fossils or in currently existing animals. This is why it is so important that we humans commit ourselves to avoid the mass extinction we are causing: many of today's animals, when they become extinct, will in fact leave no sign of their passage on this world. Furthermore, a large part of the fauna and flora of our planet is still unknown, and we therefore risk making species disappear before we can discover them, which probably has already happened. It is therefore everyone's duty to do our utmost to put a stop to this stormy era, in order to avoid losing wonderful creatures that we may never even be able to fully know.

3) The rhamphorhynchus (like Rambo) was a pterosaur that lived from the Late Triassic to the Late Jurassic (about 150 million years ago) in Europe and Africa. Like all pterosaurs that appeared in the Triassic period and lived throughout the Jurassic period, it had a long bony tail, short legs and toothed jaws; it had wings long and narrow like a pelican's and it seems to have lived in a rather similar way, gliding in the air over the open sea in search of prey, targeting fish and squid and then snatching them with its sharp teeth in low flight on the fur of the water. It was one of the last long-tailed pterosaurs in existence, since they were later supplanted by the order Pterodactyloidea. Rhamphorhynchus has been less successful on screen than the short-tailed pterosaurs, but makes an appearance in the documentary 'Walking with dinosaurs'.

4) The quetzalcoatlus like Apache (chapter 139) is instead a large short-tailed pterosaur that lived about 68-66 million years ago in North America. Its name comes from the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and its genus contains two species: the type species Quetzalcoatlus northropi, and a smaller species, Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni. This animal is a member of the Azhdarchidae family, a family of generally large pterosaurs with a long, toothless beak and long, stiff neck. The most recent estimates establish a minimum wingspan of 11 meters, thus making it one of the largest pterosaurs ever (perhaps the largest of all!); on the ground it had an estimated height of 3 meters at the shoulder and at least 6 meters counting the neck (so it was taller than a giraffe). Due to its reputation as the largest winged and flying creature that ever lived, Quetzalcoatlus has appeared in various documentaries, both in cinemas and on television, since the 1980s: appearing in the documentaries 'Jurassic War', 'March of the Dinosaurs', 'Animal Armageddon', 'Flying Monsters 3D', 'The last day of dinosaurs', 'When Dinosaurs Roamed America' and 'Prehistoric Planet'. It also appears in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise, in the film 'Jurassic World Dominion' (furthermore the pteranodons that appeared in 'Jurassic Park 3', although belonging to a different species, have similar dimensions although in reality they were much smaller).

5) Apache in chapter 139 claims that he can travel across the entire continent of Maakanar (which we recall is larger than all of Earth's continents combined) in just a month. Although this estimate may be incredible, she is actually not far from reality. Migratory birds such as swifts can travel more than 800 kilometers in a single day. Pterosaurs such as quetzalcoatlus were infinitely larger and tougher than these birds and could therefore travel hundreds of kilometers every single day; although in the past it was thought that their weight would have forced them to slow down, today we know that their body structure had a complex system of air sacs (similar to those of dinosaurs) which made it possible to lighten the body and therefore fly faster, without having to relying on certain currents to keep itself aloft. Therefore potentially a quetzalcoatlus could have circled the entire planet in an extremely short time. In reality it is unlikely that this ever happened: in fact, by studying the fossils, paleontologists believe that the large pterosaurs were very territorial creatures, and therefore rarely made migratory flights (this behavior was probably due to the abundance of resources and the favorable conditions of that specific territory that had allowed the evolution of these giants); however, they had the possibility to do it.

6) The hatzegopteryx (seriously, can't paleontologists invent simpler names!?) is another giant pterosaur that lived about 65 million years ago on Haţeg Island (from which its name derives, precisely 'wing of the Haţeg basin), today Hunedoara, in Transylvania. Like quetzalcoatlus, it is one of the largest and heaviest pterosaurs ever to have lived, in fact it is the heaviest bird to have taken flight in history, with an estimated wingspan of between 10 and 12 meters. In contrast to many other giant pterosaurs, Hatzegopteryx had a broad, pneumatised skull connected to large muscles, internally spongy rather than hollow bones, and a short but robust and muscular neck, measuring up to 1.5 meters in length (i.e. say it was about half that of other azhdarchids with a comparable wingspan such as quetzalcoatlus) which nevertheless was able to withstand the forces of strong bending. In the absence of large predatory theropods, Hatzegopteryx was the apex apex predator of the food chain on Haţeg Island at the end of the Cretaceous, feeding on proportionally larger preys, which included titanosaurs and dwarf iguanodons. In fact, almost all the species of the island had undergone insular dwarfism due to the scarce food resources, while instead the hatzegopteryx, being a flying animal which therefore could draw on various food sources such as fish, had instead island gigantism. Despite being discovered and studied quite recently, the hatzegopterx still found a place in the television documentary 'Prehistoric Planet'.

7) And now the big question: could a giant pterosaur lift a human, like Cobra does with Neytiri (chapter 142)? In the past, paleontologists believed not, since such a large body needs to maintain a certain weight in order to be able to lift itself. However, the discovery that pterosaurs possessed a powerful air sac system that allowed them to become so light that they didn't need powerful currents to fly may have changed that perspective. Currently the hypotheses are variable, but if the ratio between weight and lightening due to the air bags had been sufficient, then a giant-sized pterosaur could potentially have carried rather large weights (a human being weighs an average of 62 kg). However, it could not have carried it with its hind legs, since they were connected to the wings and therefore did not have the mobility of bird legs. Consequently, a giant pterosaur could not have swoop down on a human being (if they existed) and carry him off like a giant falcon. The only way a human could have been carried by a pterosaur therefore would have been to sit on its back, at the base of the neck (as if riding a dragon), thus balancing the weight and not interfering with the movement of the wings. Just like Neytiri does to get carried away by Cobra.

8) The name 'Apache', as specified in the story, comes from the name of an American helicopter, the Boeing AH-64 Apache. Specifically, it is an attack helicopter that was developed in the USA from the 1970s. Today it is the main attack helicopter of the USA Army and the successor to the Bell AH-1 Cobra, from which instead comes the name of the hatzegopteryx Cobra.

9) The Montain, described in chapter 145, is a very dry region of Eden. I created it based on the world of the Triassic period shown in the documentary 'Walking with dinosaurs': a parched land full of desert vegetation where there are only small dinosaurs along with other types of not much larger reptiles. Many of the species that appeared in the Montain, such as coelophysis, postosuchus and placerias, all appeared in the documentary. Other species of animals belonging to the early Triassic period also appear, such as the kannemeyeria or the estemmenosuchus. The name Montain is instead a little pun: it is in fact a reference to Montana, a state of the USA, which appears in the film 'Jurassic Park': it is where Alan Grant appears for the first time together with Ellie Sattler, intent on digging up velociraptor fossils.

10) The chromatophores that Alan and Billy find in the skin of the body are cells in the dermis that contain numerous pigment granules. These granules may remain concentrated around the nucleus resulting in lighter or less uniform staining, or expand into the cell through cytoskeletal ramifications resulting in darker or more uniform staining. This change in their arrangement is triggered in response to stimuli which ultimately lead to a change in the position of the pigments. Chromatophores are found in many animals, including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans, and cephalopods. In contrast, mammals and birds have melanocytes, another type of pigmented cell. One of the animals that makes the most use of chromatophores is the octopus, followed by squid and cuttlefish, which are capable of changing their color and appearance to the point of making themselves almost unrecognizable.

12) The state of quiescence (also called torpor or hibernation) is also existing in nature. It is the ability to temporarily, voluntarily and reversibly stop one's vital functions. This state is characterized by a drastic reduction in cell activity and in their energy production, which can lead to the total arrest of cell motility visible under the microscope, making it effectively impossible to perceive the animal or plant as a living being while it is in this particular state. It appears to be a defensive and adaptation mechanism to the environment, which allows those organisms to overcome particular environmental stresses, such as extreme temperature conditions, extreme lack of oxygen, physical injuries, etc. It activates in response to the stressful environmental condition, and deactivates when the normal condition returns.

13) Divert light by changing spacetime (chapter 145) is something that can actually be done. Such conditions only occur in the presence of an extreme source of gravity, such as black holes (which force light to orbit them) and partly with neutron stars. In the case of neutron stars the light is bent around them, thus allowing both the front and the back to be partially seen. In my story, [Ambush] uses the same method to ensure perfect invisibility.

14) In chapters 145-149 various species of dromeosaurids, pterosaurs and birds appear; I will focus on the most important ones. The utahraptor lived in Utah (hence its name) about 139-134.6 million years ago. It is estimated that this dinosaur could have reached 4.65 meters in length, 1.5 meters in height at the hips and weighed 280 kg, making them the largest known dromeosaurid. It is thought to have been an apex predator of its time and like many dromeosaurids it hunted in packs, thus being able to bring down much larger preys (it is estimated that a group of utahraptors could have killed animals longer than 8 meters). Utahraptor is one of the best known and best known dromaeosaurids to the public due to its characteristic appearance and size; although its remains were only described in 1993, by chance, shortly before Steven Spielberg produced 'Jurassic Park', in which one of the main dinosaurs, although called a velociraptor, was extraordinarily similar to the newly discovered species, although inspired by the already known deinonychus. Although Utahraptor has never actually appeared on screen, a book was dedicated to him in 1995, 'Raptor Red', which tells the fictional story of a female Utahraptor, written by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker.

15) The achillobator (meaning 'hero of Achilles'), on the other hand, lived in Asia about 96-89 million years ago in what is now the Bayan Shireh Formation. Estimated at 5 m long with a weight of about 250-348 kg, achillobator is considered one of the largest dromaeosaurids, along with austroraptor, dakotaraptor and utahraptor. It was a deep-bodied, relatively short-armed dromaeosaurid with stout, stocky hindlimbs; some of the most notable features were the robust skeleton, an unusual trait in dromaeosaurid dinosaurs, which were generally lightly built animals, such as deep jaw and femur, and primitive pelvis, with a vertically oriented pubis that differs from the rest of dromaeosaurids. It is thought to have been an active feathered predator that hunted with the enlarged sickle-like claw on every second toe. Although it has never appeared on screen since it is a relatively little known dinosaur, some theories state that the velociraptors appearing in the film 'Jurassic Park 3' are actually achillobators (since they have a sexual dimorphism absent in the other velociraptors appearing in the series).

16) The azhdarcho was another giant-sized pterosaur, sadly little known since we only have scattered fragments of its bones. It lived about 90 million years ago in central Asia and it is estimated that it could reach a wingspan of 8 meters (but these estimates could change in the event of more complete finds). One of the greatest mysteries related to this animal is its enormous, exceptionally developed cervical vertebrae, which unfortunately, due to the lack of a complete skeleton, make it difficult to establish what they were for. L.A. paleontologist Nessov believed that these vertebrae must have given the neck very limited mobility, and the animal could not rotate it but only raise and lower it, and therefore hypothesized that the azhdarcho fed in a very similar way to today's scissor-billed birds: their necks long ones allowed the head to find preys underwater without having to submerge completely. In any case, recent research has shown that such an activity required a considerable expenditure of energy and some anatomical specializations of which the azhdarcho lacked. Today is thought that this pterosaur hunted small flying animals, but the debate is still fiercely heated.

17) Finally, a small note: the reason why Alan and Billy capture a crow in the story and the latter is the one who devises an escape plan is a reference to recent studies on the extraordinary intelligence of these birds. Crows are in fact one of the ten most intelligent animals in the world and possess a braid-to-body ratio almost equal to that of humans; they socialize with their own kind, they remember faces, they communicate effectively, they reason and if they are trained they are even able to solve some puzzles. They are even capable of tricking each other into hiding their food supplies. Crows are therefore considered one of the most interesting animals on our planet and their intelligence quotient is now the subject of many scientific studies.