"I must say you were quite easy to find," said a man dressed in a fine black suit and matching silk shirt. "News of a scarred raptor travels fast, especially with the correct connections. I would have expected you to take more care. Did you not stop to think we would come after you, especially after what you and your pet did to our organization?"
The black clad men began approaching, cutting off Trevor's escape routes. They had no visible weapons, but Trevor knew that these men were trained to kill in a thousand different ways without using any tools aside from their hands. He also knew that he was meant to suffer. Otherwise, he would have been dead by now.
"Resistance is futile," said the man. "But you are welcome to try anyway. We are in no hurry."
The first man approached and quickly began throwing punches at Trevor. With the speed at which the techniques were being presented, it was clear the weights the Black Dragon generally wore had been removed.
Able to only dodge a few of the strikes, Trevor found himself quickly succumbing to the accuracy of his attacker, targeting his pressure points in a manner in which to cause pain. The attacker came in fast once again, but the first strike missed and gave Trevor the opportunity for a punch of his own.
More by luck than skill, his fist contacted and Trevor felt the man's jaw break under his knuckles. The victory was short lived as the second man took up the fight. This attacker was more fanciful in his strikes, using kicks and spinning techniques intended to intimidate before the actual fight began.
With adrenaline now surging through his system, Trevor was able to more accurately gauge the speed of his attacker and managed to block many of the elaborate blows. So focused was he on the current attacker that Trevor had forgotten about the other man until he felt a sharp jab on his back. Immediately buckling, it took all of his collected will to roll out of the way as a foot came down intending to crush his head.
The attacker's foot landed, but not before Trevor was able to grab hold. Holding as hard as he could, Trevor pulled and twisted as far as he was able. The attacker cried out as his foot was broken and he fell to the ground. Giving a war cry, the second attacker began another fanciful assault. However, the motions were perfectly timed, and Trevor used a well-placed blow to shatter the man's nose.
Turning to face his final opponent, Trevor saw the man applauding slowly. "Well done, bounty hunter. But to tell you the truth, these two were only in their second year of training. I will not go down so easily."
The man removed his suit coat and shirt, revealing a large dragon tattoo on his chest. It was something only the greatest warriors were able to have, and to wield the mark without having passed the qualifying tests was a certain death sentence in the clan.
No sooner than the man stepped back into a fighting stance, a horrific shriek filled the room. A flash of green and red appeared and suddenly the man found himself pinned to the ground. Scarface stood atop the man, staring down at him with demonic yellow eyes with only a slit for the iris. Claws dug deep into the man's chest as the raptor's face contorted.
With a terrible cry, Scarface tore open the man's chest and lunged forward with his jaws, latching on to his victim's heart and pulling it free. Searching for another opponent, the raptor's eyes fell upon Trevor.
Before he could react, the raptor had Trevor on the ground. Trevor knew struggling would be to no avail. Scarface leaned close, hissing only inches from the bounty hunter's nose.
"Scarface, listen to me," Trevor pleaded. "I'm the one who got you here. I'm the one who made you who you are. And I'm the only one that can get you out of here. Please, listen to me."
The raptor's jaws closed slowly as realization crept back into Scarface's eyes. He stared at Trevor and uttered a guttural growl before slowly, almost grudgingly, removing his foot from Trevor's chest.
Cautiously, Trevor rose. It would only be a matter of time before this event was discovered. Motioning to the door, Trevor ran and opened the portal. "You draw too much attention wherever we go," he said. "We can't stay in one place for very long."
Trevor led the way, Scarface following closely. As they moved, no one saw them. They returned to the docking bay where their ship was and Scarface protested but boarded the craft. After checking the systems, Trevor found they had enough fuel for at least a dozen hyperspace jumps, as well as enough credits for them to live comfortably for a month.
Pressing a few more buttons, Trevor downloaded all the current information for people with prices on their heads. "It's time we get to work. I have been having trouble with bounties lately, but with you, it should be a lot easier. With the ones wanted dead, you can have your way and channel whatever rage you are holding inside of you. Soon word will spread of the bounty hunter who uses a scarred raptor. We will go to fights and you will win. You and I will make an excellent team, Scarface."
Epilogue
Six years later
Scarface lay basking under the Damara sun as Trevor lifted weights. Being on a world with higher gravity, the ten-pound weights felt as though they were fifteen pounds each. Moreover, as his muscles became accustomed to the new weight, it became easier to move on worlds with regular gravity. He now understood the training of the Black Dragon. He was just lucky they had not chosen to move to this world.
A small, six-legged lizard exited the shade of a rock and moved warily to a place where it could bask. Scarface pretended not to notice until he could sense the creature's presence within striking distance. The strike was successful, the taste of the high iron content of the creature's blood tasting sweet on the raptor's tongue.
For a full decade, Scarface had been away from his home world. Now fully grown, his size was still smaller than others of his species, but that did not matter. He had fought and become strong and though it was not apparent, the thought of returning was always present on Scarface's mind. He grew weary of hunting the humans as he did with Trevor, taking them alive whenever possible. That, and Trevor did most of the work. It was true Scarface let loose his frustrations when he was allowed, but there was so much more he wanted to do.
Ever since the fight against the serpent and the visions the venom had shown him, Scarface could not forget what happened that first sent him on this journey. He wanted to find the ones responsible for destroying his childhood, but patience was a long lesson he was learning. Trevor had his purpose, but the raptor always had a silent loathing for the man.
An electronic buzzing sounded from a small device next to Trevor, who picked it up and pressed a button. Scarface stretched and yawned before making his way to the human's side. He knew what was coming.
"Someone's contacted us for a bounty," said Trevor. The duo walked together toward a modest housing unit. Built to his own specifications, Trevor had long since decided to have this world be their base of operations. Inside, he made his way to the computer console and pressed a button.
Using advanced scrambling technology to keep his hidden location a secret was expensive work, but with the number of bounties he collected alongside fights where he entered Scarface, he could more than afford the fees. Bounty hunters of his caliber had many fans, and even more enemies. Rivals would want him taken out, if not eliminated completely.
Bringing up a message on the display screen, Trevor found an official looking document. He quickly read where the document had originated, as well as the client.
"Governor Kent Chang," Trevor read. "Eastern Territory of DW435-B. Huh. Calling from Dinoworld." Skimming through the document, Trevor's eyes grew wide at the name of the intended target. Clyde Simmons. The man who he had served with in the Khepri Military. The man who killed his entire unit, save for Trevor himself. "They have got to be kidding! Clyde is probably the last person I want to go after."
He was about to deny the offer until he saw the proposed payment. At the sight of the numbers, Trevor's jaw dropped. One million credits in advance and two million more once Clyde had either been
captured or killed. It was stated that the latter was preferred. He had never seen a bounty so high, at least not for one he had been asked to pursue. What was more, this request was made to him specifically.
Weighing his options, Trevor turned to Scarface. "What do you say, buddy? Want to take this guy out?"
Scarface looked at the image on screen and growled, his fingers flexing.
"It's decided, then. We're heading back to Dinoworld."
Notes from the author
I hope you have enjoyed this story. For some time, I have wanted to have a story explaining what happened to Scarface and why no one on Dinoworld had heard of him before the events in "Dawn of Scars." I hope I have sufficiently explained, as well as entertained you.
There are still six years of unwritten adventures and I may, in the future, write a few of these. If not, I am not against your own ideas. I created this world, which is now a universe thanks to three new named worlds as well as Greenhouse Delta, to be explored and give people a playground in which to write and share.
Please tell me what your thoughts were on this, and what you would like to see in future installments. Be sure to check out my other stories if you enjoyed this one, and check out the Facebook page and forums for the most recent updates.
K. Thomas Olsen
https://www.facebook.com/keitholsendinoworld
https://freeforums.dinoworld.net
Also available –
Dinoworld: Dawn of Scars
Dinoworld: Explorers
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