Two tall, lanky beasts burst into fierce combat!

  Each stood nearly four meters tall, necks like coiled springs, jaws snapping like giant crossbow bolts!

  Those enormous, jabbing mouths stretched longer than half their bodies—grotesquely terrifying!

  At first, the little boy thought they were just greeting each other, like humans patting one another on the shoulder.

  But he quickly realized the truth—

  They were actually hurting each other!

  How could they possibly be mates!?

  After several brutal clashes, the two creatures momentarily pulled back, jaws still poised in a tense standoff.

  “Wait... those earlier strikes—just testing? Or...?”

  Suddenly, a violent gust swept through the battlefield, kicking up dust and sand!

  Forcing his eyes open, the boy glanced around—

  Only to see yet another colossal pterosaur swooping down into this hellish arena!

  Its size and shape matched the previous two!

  “What the hell is this—some kind of mutagenic deathmatch!?”

  What horrified him most was that he hadn't even noticed this third beast approaching—

  Only the howling wind had given it away!

  “What if it landed right behind me...?”

  He’d be exposed on the spot. Flayed alive?

  Cold sweat broke out all over him as he frantically scanned the skies, terrified a fourth one might descend.

  Thankfully, the third landed further off, well in front of him—he remained hidden behind the cluster of rocks.

  All three pterosaurs let out strange cries, tossing their heads or screeching skyward...

  “Are they communicating? Or showing off? What’s the deal between these three?”

  Moments later, the second and third each moved to opposite flanks beyond the rocky terrain—

  They were encircling the first one!

  “They’re clearly setting up a pincer attack!”

  The first remained in place—probably to protect its egg.

  The battle erupted!

  The first struck first, lunging at the right flank!

  But the other two launched their attacks as well!

  Though the spacing between them was over three meters and seemed wide, it could be breached in an instant!

  A quick step. A neck lunge. A beak thrust.

  In one explosive move, they could cover astonishing distance.

  Each clash pierced the air like siege bolts battering a castle wall.

  Far more terrifying than a giraffe’s headbutt swing!

  “No doubt—this was a fight to the death!”

  Watching at such close range, the boy broke into another cold sweat.

  It wasn’t long before the first one began losing ground...

  Its body had been pierced in several places, and blood slowly began to seep out.

  The deeper and wider the punctures, the worse the damage—the blood gushed faster and grew harder to stop.

  “So pterosaur blood is red after all!”

  He might not be part of the fight—but seated in the front row of this brutal theater, he was hit with every ounce of its raw intensity!

  “Good thing I was just carried here... and not skewered like a meat kabob!”

  Tension. Dread. Shock. Fear...

  Instinctively, he reached down to check if he was still in one piece—

  Only then did he realize his small hands were still clutching the pterosaur eggs.

  One in each hand, both palms soaked with sweat—

  The eggs were slightly soft, like peeled hard-boiled eggs, and so smooth they felt more like tofu.

  The first pterosaur, under assault from both sides, was clearly losing ground.

  The second and third moved in perfect sync, coordinating feints and strikes.

  One would draw attention with a false lunge, while the other jabbed at the exposed flank—

  Their tactics were simple, yet devastatingly effective.

  “They know how to fight! They know to avoid the sharp and hit the weak spots!”

  And they were working together seamlessly.

  The boy, stunned, began to feel a surge of sympathy for the first one.

  Then it hit him—

  If the first one died too quickly, the other two might turn their attention to him.

  No more targets—no more reason to stay distracted.

  Then I’d be next. I couldn’t let it die that fast!

  He quickly set the eggs down.

  Snatched up a rock.

  And launched a surprise attack—

  Hurling the stone with precision at the one making a sneaky move, trying to disrupt its ambush!

  Of course, he stayed hidden behind the rocks the entire time, careful not to reveal himself.

  He couldn’t stop every attack, but at least he threw off their rhythm and timing.

  “Damn it—why can’t I ever hit their eyes?”

  Eventually, the two attackers got used to the strange objects being hurled their way—but it didn’t matter.

  With their relentless assault, the first pterosaur grew more battered with every moment, and they only pressed harder.

  “That’s it... this is the end.”

  After a while, the boy’s arms were too sore—completely exhausted. He had to stop throwing.

  His will was strong, but his body just couldn’t keep up.

  A flood of conflicted emotions surged up—was he actually feeling regret for the creature that kidnapped him?

  The first pterosaur’s defeat was all but certain.

  Its body was torn up, soaked in blood.

  Finally, all three stopped.

  Only the sound of their labored breathing remained. They were worn out.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  “They’ve paused... now comes the turning point...”

  After a brief rest—

  The two invaders let out strange cries, then suddenly took off and flew away!

  “Huh? They’re leaving? They really left!”

  The first one, barely clinging to life, watched its enemies retreat—then collapsed to the ground.

  Its long, flat, six-meter-plus frame suddenly hit the ground—

  Like a giant inflatable figure deflating all at once, crumpling into a heap.

  Its breathing rose and fell for a long while, then gradually quieted—until it moved no more.

  The boy studied the many wounds and punctures across its body. Blood still seemed to be seeping out.

  He figured it couldn’t possibly survive. All he could do was hope it would pass quickly—to spare it further pain.

  Laid out, its body seemed even longer than when it was standing at four meters tall...

  “That’s because of the extra two meters from that enormous beak.”

  Another odd thought popped into his head—

  Weren’t giraffes unable to lie down when they slept?

  Some even claimed giraffes never slept at all.

  The first giraffe ever seen in ancient Rome, apparently brought back by Caesar, had caused a sensation!

  Just like when Alexander returned with parrots—shocking the entire Greek world.

  Good thing this wasn’t one of those legendary four-legged dragons—

  Or he’d probably be roasted... or crushed by a dragon’s claw.

  “Dragonclaw grass... a plant that looks like a dragon’s claw... Ugh, random trivia again.”

  The pterosaur’s breathing had dwindled to nothing—its life truly at an end.

  Watching the death of such a massive creature with his own eyes... left him filled with conflicting emotions.

  “No time to be sentimental. I’ve got work to do.”

  He picked up a pebble and tossed it near the creature... no reaction.

  Next, he threw one directly at its body... still nothing.

  Once. Twice...

  It was definitely dead.

  “This outcome isn’t bad. Probably the best I could’ve hoped for.”

  Back when the beasts were locked in brutal combat, the boy had already calculated—

  The first one couldn’t die too easily.

  If it did, the others would have no distractions left—and might soon notice him.

  That’s why, when the fight started turning one-sided, he made a snap decision—

  To pelt them with stones, disrupt the momentum, and delay the inevitable.

  Slow their victory just enough to frustrate them into giving up and leaving.

  “Of course, one of them had to die. That goal’s been achieved too.”

  Now it was time for the next step—the real performance for survival!

  He hurried over to the pterosaur’s corpse and reached into the side compartment of his leather boot...

  ?????

  Some time later, a massive pterosaur descended onto the rocky platform!

  The boy, already hidden again, judged it was one of the previous two.

  First, because it had visible wounds.

  Second, because it had arrived from the same direction as the invaders.

  “And it came alone... No doubt—this is the perfect opportunity!”

  The pterosaur lowered its head toward the dead one—perhaps in contemplation, or mourning?

  The boy had already donned a cloak made from the pterosaur’s skin, using it as camouflage.

  He crept up silently from a blind spot behind the creature...

  “Get ready...”

  He lunged—grabbing hold of one of its hind legs with all his strength!

  At the same time, he whipped out a rope from one wrist, caught it with the other hand, and looped it tight—

  Securing himself firmly to the pterosaur’s leg.

  “The beauty of it is—I can still let go at any time.”

  The sudden weight on its leg startled the beast—it had no idea what had just latched onto it!

  It flinched like it’d been electrocuted—

  Then let out a braying scream like a startled donkey, and with a massive flap of its wings, shot into the sky!

  “Scared, huh? Thought the dead one came back to life?”

  Lifted into the air by the flying beast, the boy didn’t feel fear—instead, he chuckled.

  Because the final phase of his plan had worked.

  The direction the intruder had come from—

  Was exactly the same as where he had come from.

  He had calculated that startling the pterosaur would trigger its instinct to flee back to its nest—and it worked perfectly!

  The creature flew like mad, more frantic than ever. The boy could feel it—it was even faster and more forceful than before!

  “Damn! The wind roaring past my ears is even louder now... Good thing I tied myself down.”

  At last, they soared over the same grassy plains where he’d been snatched—

  Which meant... he was home.

  They’d left behind the towering rock spire that served as the giant pterosaur’s nest.

  And escaped the monster-filled forest teeming with terrifying beasts!

  “It’s time... let go!”

  He boldly released the rope, unclasping it with a flick.

  His body instantly detached from the pterosaur’s leg, plummeting in a high arc from the sky.

  But even in this final moment, he strained to confirm—

  The pterosaur was still flying off like a lunatic, showing no signs of slowing or turning around.

  “Perfect!”

  Why was that last check so important?

  Because if the pterosaur had slowed down—braked midair—

  It might’ve meant it was coming back to attack!

  Now, there was only one task left—

  Survive the fall from the sky!