novelraw Chapter 364 364: Death of a legend
Chapter 364 364: Death of a legend
On the continent of Maakanar, near a river that was once a typical spinosaurus nesting place, something immense could be seen. A huge creature was lying on its belly, but nevertheless it was so tall that its dorsal sail towered over the surrounding masts.
Sobek was now thirty-three years old. To say he had grown into a behemoth was an understatement: he now measured 150 meters from head to tail and reached 45.6 meters in height. Even without activating a mutation he was now larger than many versions of Godzilla: the gigantic atomic reptile was a tiny lizard compared to him. All kaiju would be small compared to him. Even King Ghidorah would have been forced to acknowledge its superiority.
In the last five years he had hardly moved. After the death of his last loyalist he returned to his birthplace and settled there. He ate what was provided to him from the [Personal Manger] and drank the water from the river. Otherwise, he remained calm, warming himself in the sun or admiring the stars at night.
The world no longer needed him. His daughter was doing an amazing job and humans and dinosaurs were becoming more and more united. Sometimes someone had come to ask his advice; he even he knew that for many his current residence had become a place of pilgrimage, even if no one ever approached beyond a certain limit and limited themselves to admiring it from afar. But the more time passed, the fewer visits had become. Sobek knew his time was up now.
The era of warfare was long over and his daughter was a more than competent leader. Sobek was now nothing more than a relic of a past era. And besides, he knew that his life was almost over. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt old, tired like he'd never been in his life. It was as if something was sucking the life energy out of his body. With each passing day he felt weaker and the weight of his body seemed to threaten to crush him.
Sobek knew that what he was feeling was none other than the one enemy he could never defeat: time. Spinosaurs, like many predatory dinosaurs, could already be considered over one hundred years old at just thirty years old. Sobek had extended his life thanks to better nutrition and a lack of danger and stress, but there was no way to hold back old age forever.
However, despite his seniority, he was still able to play chess.
"Bishop on C6"
Jocelyne smiled and moved the pawn for him. Even though it had been years, she still returned from time to time to challenge her greatest ally to a match again.
Jocelyne was also showing signs of aging. The energetic young girl had transformed into a middle-aged woman of forty-five years old. Her skin had lost its youthful whiteness and some white hair was starting to sprout on her head, though it was still just tufts. However, she was still a beautiful woman.
Jocelyne had done many things in those years. She was now a highly respected judge of the Court; her parents, Markus and Bethany Jersey, had died seven years before, bequeathing her their fortune which, added to that of John Hammond, made her one of the richest people in the world; Jocelyne, however, had kept only one-sixth of that money, with the rest of it donated to various charities and sciences around the world. She had never married but she had had many boyfriends; she also she had adopted three children to whom she had guaranteed the best life that was within her possibilities.
Over the years, Jocelyne had gotten better and Sobek's mind had begun to fail, yet the spinosaurus still hadn't lost a game of chess. Until that day.
"Check mate!" Jocelyne exclaimed moving her last pawn and preventing the opponent's king from moving.
Sobek gave a slight smile. "It sure looks like it. Congratulations, you've won"
Jocelyne couldn't seem to believe her eyes. For the first time she had won a game! For a moment, on her face Sobek saw the beautiful smile she wore when she was young.
But the next moment, a shadow passed over her face. "What's up? Are not you happy?" Sobek asked.
Jocelyne seemed to bite her tongue. "The time has come, hasn't it?"
Sobek fell silent for a second, then he let out a snort. "You know me too well. I told you… you would only beat me at chess on the day I died" he said. "And I have to admit, I was right to hold out so long. The smile of joy on your face when you won was truly a sight worth seeing"
Jocelyne's heart started pounding and her breathing became more labored. Though she kept her stoic facade, Sobek could feel the stress on her body. "How do you know it's time?"
"Because I will go away with my hands"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. My body won't hold up for more than another couple of months, Jocelyne. I feel it. Old age consumes me more with each passing day. I'm tired… and I have no reason to stay in this world any longer. You, all of you, don't need me anymore" Sobek replied in a nostalgic voice. "I do not wanna wait. I don't want time to completely reduce me to a wreck. I want to die giving the world one last reminder of my power"
Jocelyne let out a deep sigh, and then she ran her fingers over Sobek's muzzle. The dinosaur's mouth alone was taller than her by now. When she touched his skin, Jocelyne felt the clear signs of old age: efficient as [Regeneration] was, it could do nothing against the natural degradation of the scales. "Are not you scared?"
"To die? Of course I'm scared. Everyone is afraid to die. Only madmen accept the end without any hesitation" Sobek replied. "But I'm not sad. Death is a path we all have to take sooner or later. So at least I want to take it the way I want"
Jocelyne let out a sob and tears began to flow down her eyes. She was doing everything she could to hold back, but she couldn't. "Sorry. I made you cry" Sobek murmured.
"No… don't apologize" Jocelyne said, leaning her forehead against the dinosaur's face. "I'm the one apologizing to you. I shouldn't react like that. I knew this moment would come, I had prepared for it, I had thought what to say and what to do… but I can't remember anything. I can't even stop the water flowing from my eyes"
"The death of a loved one is never an easy event to manage. You can program it however you want, but the reality will always be more difficult. Forget it, Jocelyne. I don't mind if you cry. This way you're just confirming that I'm someone you loved"
Someone she loved? Jocelyne had no doubts about it. She didn't know how to define Sobek: an ally? A friend? A family member? The dinosaur had taken on all three of these characters in her mind. There was no doubt that he was a person, or creature, very dear to her.
So many things had changed in all those years. From mere strangers who had met by chance in a forest, they had grown to enemies in an intricate political game, then to conspirators and finally to allies. The bond that had existed between them had strengthened day after day, until Jocelyne was no longer able to imagine what her life would have been like if Sobek had never existed. The feeling that bound them was extremely strong.
"I don't want you to leave" she admitted.
"I know, and you won't be the only one I'm afraid. But no one can change this fate" Sobek replied. "In forty or fifty years you too will be in my same position, in your bed, surrounded by people who love you and that will beg you to stay in this world. Then how can you say yes to them? It's not something we choose, Jocelyne. It's just the course of things. Nothing in the universe lasts forever"
"But why does it have to be like this? Why do you have to die so soon? The life you had was so short. Thirty-three years are… they are nothing"
"Then what should the flies say, who don't even live for a few days? Or the rats, who can't go beyond three years? From their point of view, my thirty-three years is a very long time, just as from my point of view your one hundred years of life expectancy is an eternity. And in the same way when your time comes you will envy the tortoises, which live more than one hundred and thirty years, and they will envy the redwoods, which live two hundred and fifty years, which in turn will envy the sun that warms them, which will live another six billion of years. And the Sun, if it had a consciousness, would envy little red dwarf stars, which live at least ten times its lifetime, and red dwarfs would envy black holes, which will live longer than anything else in the universe. And even black holes will envy the tiny particles that will outlive them in trillion trillion trillion years. There is no right or wrong lifespan; there is no 'too early' or 'too late'. The only thing a life form can decide is how to live the number of years it has been given since it was born"
Sobek raised his nose slightly, watching the sun begin to set on the horizon. "In these thirty-three years I have lived more than a normal person would live in a hundred. I've done everything I had to do, I've made my mistakes, I've obtained my successes, I've had my joys and despairs… and now that my time has come, I can go to the afterlife with no regrets. This world doesn't need me anymore... and I don't need this world anymore"
Jocelyne could no longer hold back her sobs. Her hands were shaking and tears were continuously streaming down her face. "Do you really want to do this?"
Sobek nodded. "I'm tired, Jocelyne, much more than you think. I have been awake too long and now I no longer feel a single drop of energy in my body. I need to sleep, and forever this time". The dinosaur stood up on his hind legs, towering over the entire forest like a giant. "Forgive me if I afflict you with this pain"
With that said, he activated the [Personal Mutation].
A roar was heard across the continent as a gigantic spinosaurus appeared in the middle of the forest. With a length of 1,500 meters and a height of 456 meters, he could have been mistaken for a hill. Sobek stood up and his [Personal Armor of his] covered him, glittering in the sunlight like a diamond; on his right arm appeared his [Personal Weapon] in the form of a katana and on his sides appeared his [Personal Anti-Aircraft] in the form of two huge cannons which fired two missiles into the sky, where they exploded in a barrage of fire. The gigantic titan roared a second time, and the whole world seemed to tremble with the force of his anger.
Despite the tears and sadness, Jocelyne felt her heart race as she watched him. His old age, weakness, weariness had disappeared: in front of her there was only a cyclopean, implacable, invincible and indestructible being. She could feel his power as if it were part of the air. Only one word could describe him: magnificence.
The spinosaurus roared a third time, and this time flames erupted from his body, the river water rippled and spiraled around him, the air moved in a circle like a hurricane displacing the clouds in the sky, and from his jaws he erupted atomic breath. The elements seemed to bow to his power and the sun itself seemed to have stopped setting to pay homage to this divine being. "It can't really be called Spinosaurus perfectus anymore..." Jocelyne thought almost without realizing it. "This… is truly Spinosaurus divinus!"
While she was intent on watching that spectacle, she heard a movement behind her, and immediately after her a large spinosaurus passed looking at the giant in front of them. "Father! What are you doing?"
It was Nefertiti. Of course: she must have heard her father's roar. Or perhaps, Jocelyne reflected, it was Sobek himself who had warned her through their collective mind. She had rushed there with [Teleportation] and she wasn't the only one: shortly after her, Takaj also appeared, followed by hundreds of dinosaurs, prehistoric animals, synapsids, mammals and other creatures.
Sobek lowered his head. "My daughter. You came"
"Of course I came! Stop it now!" Nefertiti cried. "Why are you using so many mutations at the same time? And it's already been ten minutes! You need to get back to normal right away or…"
"My daughter, don't worry. I won't go crazy" Sobek assured her.
"You know that's not what scares me! If you keep that…"
"Nefertiti" Sobek's tone became firm. "My adventure ends here"
The female spinosaurus froze. An expression of despair came over her face. "Father… no. You can't…"
"I will die soon anyway. I want to leave as I decide. Let the world see for the last time the meaning of the word power"
Nefertiti grit her teeth and let out a sob. "Old fool, it's not funny... stop it and go back to normal... a joke is good when it doesn't last long...!"
"My daughter" Sobek stopped her. "I beg you, don't be angry. I would rather part with you in family warmth, not in despair"
"No! You can not do this! You can't leave!" Nefertiti was screaming now as her tears streamed down her face. "You can't leave us like this! We still need you… I need you… get back to normal, please!"
But it was too late. Twenty minutes had already passed. There was now nothing more to do. Sobek was starting to feel his mind go haywire from the mutation, but he managed to stay sane. "No, my daughter. You don't need me anymore. You, my grandson, this whole world… you can go on without me. I am now nothing but an old man who has been waiting for eternal rest for too long. Do not be afraid; you'll do just fine"
Nefertiti was shaking all over. "You are selfish"
Sobek nodded. "I've never denied it"
Soon after the spinosaurus began to feel sick in his legs. The mutation was eating into his muscles and making him unstable. With the last of his strength, he ducked and lay down in his full enormous bulk. Several trees were blown away and the earth shook as he hit the ground. His katana dug into the ground, but he held it tightly with his right paw.
Sobek looked down, meeting the eyes of the creatures that now looked no bigger than ants. He locked eyes with Takaj, who glared at him. "Are you angry with me, my grandson?"
The young spinosaurus was only five years old and looked small compared to Nefertiti. "You're bad, grandpa" she told him. "You're making Mom cry"
"I know, and I'm sorry about that" Sobek replied. "I'm making a lot of people cry. You included. I'm really bad"
The other creatures gathered had ducked in respect, and many of them were weeping from their eyes. Most of them were of the new generation and had been born under Nefertiti's rule, but to all of them Sobek was still a hero. And he now he was leaving the world.
Sobek felt his organs starting to fail. His heart wouldn't last much longer. "I'm about to go…"
"No… no" Nefertiti tried again to deny. "Please… I need you to stay with me"
"I will always be with you, as long as you remember me" Sobek replied, and for the first time a light tear also fell from his enormous eye. "Forgive me… all of you. But it's time for me to reunite with my old comrades. I've waited too long and it's better… better this way. Now, this world, its future… will belong only to you". The spinosaurus with the last of his strength let out a smile: "I… take my leave. But don't… don't worry. You'll be fine… I know it. And while I'm on the other side, I'll be waiting for you. All, one by one. You have my word… I won't leave… until we're… again…". His eyes closed: "… together"
Silence fell over the entire forest. No creature dared move. Even the plants had stopped moving. It was at that moment that the sun finally set, as if it had been waiting until then to salute the greatest hero the world had ever known.
Then, Takaj's voice was heard: "Grandpa... Grandpa?"
But Sobek didn't answer. Not a single muscle in his body moved, no breath came out of his mouth, his limbs were still and cold. Every inch of his body was lying on the ground, abandoned to the force of gravity, except for the paw that held the katana that even in his death was refusing to let it go.
Nefertiti's scream was heard for miles. The spinosaurus collapsed on her father's face, weeping every tear she had in her eyes. She kept watching Sobek's lids, hoping they would open, but in her heart she knew her father would never wake up again.
The cry spread to all the surrounding creatures and in a few moments all over the world. Thanks to their collective mind, all the animals knew in an instant that Sobek was dead. Both the animal and human worlds were shaken to their foundations by this terrible news.
Jocelyne managed to hold on for a few more seconds, then she too collapsed. Her legs gave way and she fell onto her knees, clutching her face in her hands as a choked scream emerged from her throat. She cried and cried and cried, more than she ever had in her life. As darkness fell upon the world again and the stars and moon illuminated the body of the gigantic spinosaurus, she wept together with all the world, because Lord Sobek, the extraordinary dinosaur, the Great King of the Forest, the tamer of fire, the titan, the immense, the greatest hero the world had ever known and its own savior, was now dead.