Chapter 5: CH 5

Loya Forest and the Dora Plains were more like two completely different ecosystems.

The Dora Plains more closely resembled Chen Qi’s former world. Although there were still creatures here that were different from what Chen Qi was familiar with, at least he’d have seen most of them in zoos or on TV.

The creatures in Loya Forest were collectively called “dragons” by the beastmen, but they were different from the dragons in Chen Qi’s memory. They were more like prehistoric behemoths. They were huge in size and strong in strength. Even the more petite hyena-drakes were the size of adult lions.

The dragons could only live on the food in Loya Forest. The creatures in the Dora Plains lacked some elements that they needed to survive, so if they only ate what was available on the Dora Plains for too long, they would die of malnourishment. Thus, the dragons would not venture into the Dora Plains. Similarly, Loya Forest was too dangerous for creatures of the Dora Plains. The two areas had a clear distinction.

The main reason why hyena-drakes were considered the natural enemies of the beastmen was because the beastmen were at the top of their food list, resulting in yearly attacks on the beastmen tribes. If they could hunt the beastmen, then they would not need to worry about eating for a few months, even in the winter when food was scarce.

Near noon, Aze was worried that Chen Qi would be hungry, so he chose an acacia tree to land by and stopped. This acacia tree was slightly smaller than the one they rested on last night. Aze wanted to start a fire to heat the leftover pork from last night, but Chen Qi stopped him. Since they were in a hurry, Chen Qi felt that there was no need to waste time on a fire. Compared to the fact that hyena-drakes might be nearby, eating a cold meal was nothing.

Aze unwrapped the hide that had been tied in front of him and took the pork out. Chen Qi looked at their surroundings and found a herd of elephants nearby. There were only about 40 or 50 of them, not as many as that spectacular herd of hundreds he’d seen yesterday.

Aze handed Chen Qi the water-filled laiche fruit. “You haven’t drank water in a long time, drink a little.”

Chen Qi took it. Since he had been drinking from it yesterday, the laiche fruit only had a small amount remaining. Chen Qi took a sip of the water to moisten his lips and handed it back to Aze. “You can drink a little too.” The other man had to run while carrying him on his back for half a day, so it must’ve been tougher on him.

Aze shook his head. “I don’t need it.” He filled the lid of the laiche fruit with slices of pork. Yesterday, he’d noticed that Chen Qi had used straw sticks to clamp the meat, so he folded two young acacia branches, peeled the leaves off of them and wiped them with a clean piece of hide before handing them to Chen Qi.

Watching Aze’s careful actions, Chen Qi was a little touched. He stubbornly stuffed the laiche fruit into the other’s hand and watched Aze helplessly take a sip before he was satisfied and ate his own food.

Aze returned the laiche fruit to Chen Qi. It was still a little far from the river. They would have to hurry this afternoon and wouldn’t have time to look for water. Aze didn’t want Chen Qi to get thirsty.

The cold warthog pork was not really delicious. Of course, Chen Qi was in no condition to be picky now. If he didn’t eat it, he would only go hungry. Fortunately, the weather was cooler at this time of the year. Although pork was left out overnight, there were still no “questionable” smells coming from it.

Aze, who was using his fingernails as a knife to select the tenderest meat on the warthog, suddenly stopped. Chen Qi followed his gaze and saw that Aze was looking at the nearby elephant herd. Elephants were the first migration team on the Dora Plains. They had very good memories and could accurately find the final destination of their migration. One after another, other animals would start migrating following the elephants’ trail.

Seeing Aze frowning and his face getting more and more solemn, Chen Qi wanted to ask if there was something strange about the elephants. Aze suddenly grabbed Chen Qi, without forgetting to take the uneaten meat, and climbed the branches to a higher layer of the canopy. The leaves of the acacia tree brushed across Chen Qi’s face, leaving a few stinging traces.

“What’s the matter?” Chen Qi gritted his teeth at the burning sensation and asked in a low voice.

Aze didn’t notice Chen Qi’s abnormality. His eyes were still fixed on the movement of the elephants and his muscles were tight with tension. “Hyena-drakes.”

Chen Qi was taken aback. He mimicked Aze’s posture and squatted down closer to the bough. The lush branches and leaves of the acacia tree hid their figures perfectly, but they also blocked out most of their sight. Chen Qi reached out a hand and pulled open a gap in the foliage to see the situation out there.

The elephants did not walk at a fast pace. A naughty baby elephant pulled at the withered grass stems with its nose as it walked. Its mother arched its body from time to time to urge it to keep pace with the large herd. However, the baby elephant didn’t care about its mother’s urging.

Chen Qi’s legs were a little numb from squatting. He still couldn’t find any traces of hyena-drakes even though he saw that the elephants were a little further away than before. Just as he was about to ask Aze if he’d been mistaken, there was a rustling in the tall grass in the distance. A silver-brown shadow emerged from the grass and rushed straight at the baby elephant that was a little distance away from the rest of the herd.

Hyena-drake.

Although it was Chen Qi’s first time seeing a hyena-drake, he could still recognize it at a glance. Its back was covered with a layer of silvery brown scales and it had strong and powerful limbs. Its jaws had amazing bite force, and it attacked very quickly. Before it could react, the baby elephant had a large piece of its hind leg torn off by the hyena-drake, exposing the white, dense bones inside.

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The baby elephant fell to the ground and cried out loudly in pain. Its mother ran over to try to drive the hyena-drake away. However, her speed was not as fast as the hyena-drake’s. The hyena-drake turned around and swung at the baby elephant’s mother with its strong tail. Then it bypassed the mother by jumping directly to the baby elephant at the back and opened its mouth to tear at the baby elephant’s neck.

The leader of the elephant herd discovered the situation, and leaving more than a dozen adult elephants to surround the rest of the younger elephants in a circle, it led the remaining elephants to help. The hyena-drake released the savaged, dying baby elephant and jumped aside, staggered by the herd’s frontal attack.

“That hyena-drake is injured,” Aze whispered in Chen Qi’s ear.

Only then did Chen Qi discover that the hyena-drake also bore a ferocious wound from its right eye to its nose, and its left hind leg was obviously not moving naturally, needing its tail to support its movement.

Aze sat down, sliced off some wartpork and put it into the laiche fruit husk that Chen Qi was still holding tightly in his hand. “The hyena-drake’s eyes and nose are injured. It can’t find us. You should eat a little something first,” he said soothingly.

Chen Qi looked at Aze’s expression, which was obviously much more relaxed than before, and silently complained. A life-and-death battle is going on next to us. Is this really the time for us to sit in a tree and eat meat? 

Chen Qi did not eat anything in the morning, so he really was hungry right now. But he did not sit down like Aze. Instead, he maintained his position, peeking at the situation outside and watching the battle as he ate.

Hyena-drakes generally did not hunt the creatures of the Dora Plains, because eating them could not solve their hunger. If they were so hungry that they had to hunt in the Dora Plains, they would give preference to the larger animals. Although Chen Qi did not know why this hyena-drake appeared here, one thing was certain: this hyena-drake was hungry.

The mother of the baby elephant stood by her injured child and comforted the baby elephant, her thick nose stroking its body. The baby elephant held its eyes half-open wearily, blood oozing from the wound on its neck. The wound left by the hyena-drake was very skillful. It did not take the baby elephant’s life instantly. Because the hyena-drakes were famous for their picky eating, like cheetahs*, they only ate freshly killed prey.

*I didn’t know this. But a google search yielded that Cheetahs never return to a kill and only eat fresh meat, they also never scavenge, so if they can’t capture and kill their own prey because they are sick or injured, they will starve to death.

The leader of the elephant herd let out a roar, and the other adult elephants were ordered to rush towards the hyena-drake, trying to trample the challenger underfoot. The hyena-drake arched its body and, with strength applied to its limbs, jumped unexpectedly nimbly onto the elephant pack leader’s back. With a few more leaps, it landed next to the injured baby elephant and sunk its teeth into one of the baby’s legs, dragging it a distance before the mother’s long tusks came piercing over.

The hyena-drake was strong, so it was not difficult to drag the baby elephant that weighed more than it. The baby elephant’s mother became even angrier and rushed at the hyena-drake recklessly. However, the mother elephant was bulkier and did not move as flexibly as the hyena-drake. It continued to drag the baby elephant as it deftly avoided the attacks.

This was still an injured hyena-drake. Chen Qi was in awe of it. If it had not been injured, it wouldn’t have been surprising if this hyena-drake directly attacked the adult elephants, as they’d be comparatively insignificant before its true might. 

Aside from the two in the acacia tree, a passing pride of lions was also watching not far from the battle. The leader of the elephants obviously noticed the lions too. It could not help but order the other elephants to retreat after several attacks. The baby elephant that was bitten by the hyena-drake would obviously not be able to make it and they had other elephants to protect.

Although the baby elephant’s mother wanted to save her child, she couldn’t do it on her own. She trumpeted angrily at the hyena-drake twice, gave a final glance at the baby elephant, and turned back to the herd.

The lions watched the hyena-drake drag the baby elephant to one side, not far away but not near. The hyena-drakes only ate fresh meat, but the lions were not picky about food. Whatever the hyena-drake didn’t finish from the baby elephant, they would not mind claiming it as a free meal.

From start to end, the battle only took a very short time. Before Chen Qi finished eating the meat in his hand, Aze had already rewrapped and tied the hide back onto his body. “The hyena-drake is eating and its attention will be on its meal. Let’s leave now.”

Hyena-drakes were very sensitive to the scent of beastmen. Aze was very glad that this hyena-drake’s injury was on its nose. Otherwise, at their distance, it would’ve been impossible for the hyena-drake not to have found them. Once discovered, being the top preferred food choice in the hyena-drakes’ diet, they could only be chased and hunted down until the hyena-drake had swallowed them into their bellies. On his own, Aze could escape even if he couldn’t defeat the hyena-drake, but since Chen Qi was with him, he had to be more careful. Additionally, he didn’t  know if there were any other hyena-drakes nearby.

Chen Qi nodded, swept a bit more food into his mouth, and handed the laiche fruit husks back to Aze, who wrapped them with hides and tied them back to his waist. He carried Chen Qi on his back and silently climbed down the acacia tree to leave quickly.

The hyena-drake that was enjoying its food suddenly raised its head and looked thoughtfully in the direction that the pair had left in. Then it glanced at the lions around it who were eager for their turn and bowed its head to continue munching on its lunch.

The messenger eagle hovered in the sky, letting out a long shrill cry and conveying to other predators the news that there was a delicious meal here.

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