Night was falling across the roadless countryside of an African wonderland, and all across its ancient earth, a humid recognizable darkness coated the flesh and bones of every creature and plant that buzzed through the ambient silence. A strange rolling grey wave rapidly became as invisible as the stars it soon concealed, swallowing the heavens that once shimmered above and caressing the trees with low howling winds that fluttered its entrapped wings. The low sky imparted a claustrophobic tension, floating like a silent murderer awaiting to stain its first victim, and when the fierce sinister clouds finally froze in its destructive wake, it released its hidden rage to the silent world beneath its very claws.

It only took one violent flash of white to make the first torrid rains fall.

From Makota's own neptune eyes and curious brain, that's all the female crocodile imagined brought the crisp wet rain into the dark and quiet skies that burned the clouds above. She believed the cottons above were indeed punished during the wet season, whipped by the lashes of lightning, burned by the sun for blocking its path, and forced to shed tears to benefit the corrupted life that splayed out like an endless sea below the heavens.

It was a wild thought to Makota, and while it didn't seem fair to enslave the skies, the rain was essential. The heavens had decreed such vicious folly to save her float, so if this was the way of the world, or the ways of the skies above, so be it.

Upon her green aging scales the freshwater droplets lightly drummed against her pelt, soaking her dry muddy skin with the protruding scent of dirt and mixed odors. She was conscious that her scent would die out due to her odd choices to wander in the downpour, but no matter, she enjoyed it. The cow didn't quite understand the concept of the rains quite clearly, and because so she felt rather embarrassed-- being an adult and a leader of a tribe. She was often ridiculed for being unable to know the truth of the world, or what it hid from her sake, and perhaps the only way to gain other's trust was to make it up into stories that her mother had spoken of in her past. But even so, it didn't seem right, and being a female, or what the ancestors called 'cows', she had no space to make mistakes.

Another blast of thunder shook the skies as Makota's jaws flinched and clenched, fidgeting while the soft tears stumbled into her reptilian eyes, almost as if it retraced it steps into her body. But, despite the 'glory' of the stormy skies above, still did the crocodile retract from the vast vacuum of the violent visage and visit the void of her ticking mind.

Perhaps, Makota wondered, the storm is why the scaleless wear those strange colorful plants on their bodies; they hate rain. They hate to feel the tears or relinquish the sorrows of the world, and only worry for themselves. She couldn't say the same for the heavy balloon-like muckers however. Besides being the exact opposite of those hairy two-legged monsters, they supposingly 'danced' like insects on a puddle when the rain would worsened. Often snorts, growls, bellows, and roars would protrude from their sacred place not far from the banks her tribe rested in, and oh how they would bring such misery at night!

She was glad though, to escape the confinements of their annoying sounds, and the crazed complaints of her tribe members, and simply wanted to stroll alongside a soft pathway of muck and earth through the Nile couriers and banks-- just to take her mind off the tribe for once in her life.

There was a moment of longing and peace within each step Makota took as she strolled through the flaming forest of brown on all fours, recoiling her rocky tail in the drizzling night, and indeed; Makota felt overwhelmed with a sense of glee. Her float hasn't had a good rain in awhile, so the ground was finally gifted with its intended wishes after a season of dry and lifeless days. In due time perhaps, more tasty fish would swim over to their hunting grounds in the twisted river of the Nile, carried by the currents of the current rainstorm.

Makota felt that she needed to return back to the clan after another crash of thunder erupted, starting to feel bored for she was soaked much more uncomfortably in comparison to swimming in the Nile. but before her stood the uncharted territories outside the tribe. She didn't think any crocodile in her opinion would venture out here just to brush by grass and more grass, but Makota thought otherwise of her natural intentions to admire beauty. The path ahead of her was slightly blurred by the dribbling rain, and the ferns whipped around in the wind and it whistled through the branches, whispering, breathing, and sounding like it was telling her hidden secrets.

If only wind could tell of it's hidden invitations to the unknown.

Between the small opening and walls of a grassy entanglement, a small group of shadows watched the old croc from a rather far distance in their terms, ignoring the band of mischief above them and locked like glue upon the hide of Makota. Their eyes flashed coldy, a terrorizing stare to one's perspective could attract the devil to it's sight, though they focused mainly upon hearing her subtle breaths flatter as the wind struck her eyes and listening to the soft heartbeat of their prey. Lightning flashed in the sky and illuminated their four gleaming faces and rippling scales for a moment before they were hidden in a bleak blanket of shadows once more. They did have intentions, and a reason to hide, but their thoughts of torn flesh had never risen so high before, even if they weren't hungry in the first place.

Makota's sightings made one of them growl; the one next to him growled back at it's partner to silence him, crouching lower in a stance. Across from him two other shadows blinked down the path to the walking leader, amused that she was blind to see her fate, just moments away from her glorious view on nature. The scent of grass camouflaged the shadows as well, suffocating Makota's nostrils to fail like her other senses. To Makota it was like walking through a rainforest. To the others, it was watching a blind, deaf, and defenseless calf walk into their claws.

Meters prior to their crouchings, Makota was now mere inches apart from where they hid, still clueless to the attackers. One of the shadows turned around slowly and raised his rear high, pointing his tail upwards to reflect a long piece of grass waving in the wind.

As marvelously pictured as the plan was to the hidden figures stalking the leader, even the best amongst the crowd can fall into disaster. And when the sound of a stick cracked underneath one of the shadow creatures, Makota's head jerked up and every living thing in the area froze solid.

It was a mistake.

A costly one.

With the leader now prone to something around her, the pace of her steps quickened, forcing the other assault-driven crocodiles to follow, making even more noise, even as thunder rolled in the distance. Makota trotted on all fours, keeping her body low, then halted short in a clearing, swinging her head around. The instant scent of fear and anxiety wafted into the leading crocodile's nostrils and he hissed in satisfaction watching his prey slowly begin to tremble as she spun around to face the direction she had previously came from. He swung his large head toward the others and grunted to them softly, and they nodded, their eyes training back on the old croc as she continued to look around.

Makota began to grow nervous. A dry stick would never opening crack unless something had stepped on it. In defense measures she prepared herself, raising her body and twitching her tail a bit higher than normal as her glistening scales glowed bright. She had to wait for the right moment to save herself, that is if anything was out there. And when the moment came, a streak of pure energy flashed in the sky and she called out with the wind, releasing a screeching roar to echo through the wetlands forest and across the Nile bay.

Instantaneously, four crocodiles jerked out of hiding and attacked, maws snapping and claws curled in the primal desire to kill. Makota prayed that her desperate call would be answered; a fight against four would undoubtedly lead to her doom.

The first to strike was on her right flank. The crocodile was heavy like a living log, pressing down upon her back and pinning her down. She grimaced in pain as his rows of white ivory sank into her back, digging and tearing into her tough hide while another went towards the front, swinging his tail to snap her head to the side. The pain was agonizing, and defense wasn't going to save her for sure, even as she rolled the back crocodile off of her body. The third crocodile sank its teeth into Makota's tail as she went for the first, and even as she chomped onto the attacker's neck her claws clenched and she growled as more blood was slashed onto the muddy earth around her. The grip of Makota's maw loosened, allowing the crocodile to strike her yet again with a claw swipe into her neck flesh, forcing it to glisten of red jewels.

The crocodile that had been flipped over had once again joined the party, ramming into Makota's side. The leader fell like a tree, allowing him to open his jaws and crush her body as if she was fish. Makota could do nothing but scream and whimper as her chest bent concave, resulting in a shallow crack that made her cough up blood. The crocodile snarled in glee and slammed his foot into her snout, closing her mouth to silence her screams.

"Kill her!" The missing fourth crocodile, mainly the leader of the assault roared between the flashes of light, and at once they all did their part in tearing the helpless female leader apart. All Makota could do is embrace the anguish of feeling her body getting crunched, sliced, struck and pounded into the earth. Her vision blurred and shook as she was knocked down, but before unconsciousness could get the better of her, she heard the noise of claws.

Many noises of claws.

The assaulters froze in fear, and with one blind swing, she felt her claw slice clean through something soft and felt her face get splattered with blood. The crocodile who she sliced let out a gurgled scream and more gurgles, horrifying ones that made the others twist to stare in terror. There was a moment of silence between them all as the crocodile rose his claw to his throat, feeling a cold pulsing feeling thrash in agony as his exposed throat bled violently. In seconds a pool of his crimson liquid had surrounded him, and his eyes began to grow grey.

There were no words spoken from the wounded warrior, and upon the next sparks of life in the night, the creature fell down with a dull thud.

Amongst the bewildered crocs who were unmoving and staring down in fear of what had become of their comrade, the fourth was the one who was still glaring at the leader for what she had done, claws and teeth ready and bared, and he leaped at her, before something knocked him backwards and pinned him.

Rather it was someone.

"Stay down outsider!" The male crocodile who pinned him snarled, "Or I tear out your throat."

The other parts of the tribe were rushing in like water, gasping and growling at the four figures, but only three were pinned. The other was being watched over by another croc who was terrified of the sight of a torn throat.

"Makota?"

"Yes I'm fine," She croaked, coughing out a bit more blood, "I'll live Blitzen."

"You're coughing blood," The young warrior protested, and yet she ignored his warning.

"I'm well aware of the fact," she whispered, "I'm just glad you received my call old friend."

"We all did," A warrior named Flout cooed.

Makota dipped her snout and turned back around, now harnessing a cold blue fire that blazed in her eyes. The rainstorm above had begun to slow down, now just a slight drizzle of the grey clouds above, but she didn't care. Her poisoned eyes now narrowed at the three pinned crocodiles and was cautious to glance at the corpse of the fourth, for she knew her ruptured stomach wouldn't be able to handle a gruesome sight as such.

"You killed him!" One of the crocs underneath a member of the tribe surprisingly lashed out at Makota, "You'll die for what you did-"

"Stay down!" The warrior above him hissed, though the croc continued to thrash.

"You have no heart for your kind! Murderer!"

"Silence!" Makota snarled, looking at the dead corpse again in disgust and a bit of regret and turned back, "You have no right to speak. Not because I'm the float leader, but because of your unworthy actions."

Her attention swirled towards the other two silent crocodiles who seemed strangely unashamed of the fact that they were captured. It made her stomach writhe yet again, for despite their brutal intentions, they seemed pleased, if not still wanting to end her. The one beneath Akenti, her prized commander of the float stopped struggling and glanced at Makota, snout still gleaming with her blood as he snickered a hideous laugh, staring at the leader.

"If you wish to speak," Makota rumbled to the bull, curling her claws into the mud, "Then spill."

"Makota..." The crocodile simply sneered.

"Why would you try to kill our leader?" Akenti sharply asked from above the croc, "What gives you the right?"

"What gives you the right to follow her?" The crocodile responded, never moving his eyes from the target as his smile widened, "She's a coward and a threat to us all."

"Amukka," She snarled, "Turning upon your clan leader? How ungrateful of you." The crocodile lifted his head, flaring his nostrils right back at her.

"And so she knows my name."

"I used to know your voice by heart," Makota growled, clenching her claws into the muddy earth as her tail brushed it's top, "Now all I hear is that of a fool."

"I don't see a leader in your heart," growled Amukka, "All I see is a killer and a liar. Admit it Makota."

"A tribe leader never lies or keeps secrets," Makota retorted, as if reading off a passage written in front of her, "What you say is inaccurate. I'd never keep a secret from my kind."

"Everyone has a secret Makota," Amukka hissed, narrowing his eyes, "Everyone has a shadow that follows them around. You can't escape the truth, so don't deny it."

"I am telling the truth!" Makota barked, her nostrils flaring, "You just can't accept it...because you're afraid."

"Am I now?" Amukka bared his teeth and widened his jaws, "You don't want to play this game, Makota."

"Makota's one of us," Akenti snarled above him, crushing his neck deeper into the ground, "She has protected us for years from the likes of another like yourself."

"She is a friend," Flout called, "A warrior and a leader to us all. And she'll always be that way."

Amukka snarled at Akenti, then flashed at Makota, "Look at this...You've condemned everyone."

"I've protected everyone," Makota snarled, "And if you don't see that, then you're as blind as any other predator in this world."

"Protected everyone?" The bull chuckled for a moment, then roared, "You're such a fabulistic slut! A gravedigger to your people. And I'm ashamed to have ever been a part of your life!"

"Quiet you," Akenti spat, pressing deeper into his skull, "Your opinion doesn't matter anymore."

Another trickle of blood ran down Makota's neck and chin, and she inhaled hard, watching the crocodile struggle to spark a fire in her eyes as he did to her. He seemed a bit upset, but hungry to taste the liquid that spilled from her gut and hide, and that was something she didn't want to happen.

"You're death will come rather slowly, and I hope you rot alongside your stillborns. But when I encounter the next leader," He huffed a small and devilishly smile, "Death will come quickly."

Makota saw Akenti's face flush with pure white and she bared her teeth, only slightly narrowing her eyes. Akenti opened his mouth to say something, but Makota stepped forward, dipping his head to silence the commander.

"Who else planned against me?"

There was a moment of silence as the other crocodiles looked up at her with yellow burning eyes. She squeezed her jaws tightly and spoke with a sharp voice.

"Speak."

"I am Tempus, this is Strucker," He explained, pointing to each of the others with his tail. Amukka turned toward Tempus with a snarl. Clearly the leader of the four wasn't wanting them to speak their names but alas they had to.

"Tempus?" Flout gasped in fright, "How could you?"

But the warrior said nothing in return, he just growled straight at Makota, who had already planned their inevitable consequences.

"Evil within our ranks is unacceptable," Makota growled, "And I don't tolerate it."

"Cowardice should be tolerated," Amukka hissed back, "As I have tried to end the weakness of this tribe."

Blitzen growled louder amongst the tribe, though most strived to stay quiet to listen.

Makota stared down at Amukka's angered face, fire raging through her. As bad as she desired to kill her own hunter she couldn't imagine seeing more blood spilled by her hand. She sighed in incognito and lifted her snout high so the tribe could hear her.

"I see no life in your eyes. No honor in your hearts. And no pride in your loyalty. Therefore I shall banish you three from this float forever, not as outsiders, but as deserters. You are never to return. If you're found here, if I see a speck of your footprint or catch the slightest whiff of your wretched scent we will kill you without question, and with no mercy." Makota said, "And that's a promise I intend to keep."

Akenti released his sharp pin on the crocodile, stepping back in shock as Amukka raised to his full height, walking forward to Makota where their snouts were a few centimeters apart. Both could catch the strongest scents of each other, one that was sure to never let go, before Amukka smiled and chuckled.

"You always had the prettiest face," He whispered, "It would be a shame to return and see it boned in the soil."

"Burn in hell for all I care," Makota hissed back, "I don't want to see your face again."

In strange acceptance, Amukka gestured with his tail to the others that it was time to leave and he backed away from the female, staring at Grifter with sorrow and anger and hissed before leaving.

"The rest of you will pay for this."

"Don't let the cattails hit you rear on the way out!" Blitzen called before he was silenced by Makota's hiss.

Makota flicked her head slightly, and two crocs followed after them at a distance. Blitzen hurried up to her, his eyes shining with worry as Makota's walk slowed from her blood loss and injuries.

"We should get you to Yarrow. She'll help you." He said, nudging her softly with his head. Makota obediently followed, her head bowed as they trudged through the light rain, her mind blooming to life with some worrisome news:

He's right you know, her mind spoke to Makota softly, we are hiding something. You cannot doubt that.

And because of my actions, we're no longer safe, she sighed, I should've done something. His future and his personality has changed because of me.

That's true.

Death will come without question. But I'm certain that if my clan does nothing, in time, the Nile will soon run red with blood. 

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This Except of an old crocodilian novel Reign: Chronicles participated in a Northern New England Writing Contest and won 1st place in Prose and $500 Gift Card! It was a collaboration with ThatAGurlBlue (check her out) and another friend Bluejay who is no longer on. It was the first time I've ever won something regarding to literature. So I shall always treasure this excerpt in my heart.