A decade in the life of a daggerjaw is a brutal one. There are many threats in the forests, including gigapterus and other members of his own kind. This story examines a decade in the life of a daggerjaw named Devil.
Year 1[]
The daggerjaw waits in the forest, looking for the perfect moment to strike. He is stalking a snapfly, which is an armoured and dangerous meal. The snapfly basks in the sun, and is very lazy. Devil the daggerjaw strikes and delivers a huge blow with his horns, knocking over the snapfly. He then bites hard on the neck, killing it almost instantly. Devil is a 70 year old daggerjaw, and one of the most territorial in his region. Half of Devil's horn is missing, and one of his eyes is gone. Devil really has been through the wars, fighting many males, many larger than him. Gigapterus often attack him, but he has survived that as well. He takes a lump of flesh from the bleeding snapfly and swallows it whole. He repeats this many times, until he's full.
Thanatos is a brutal planet. All animals on the planet are either carnivores or omnivores, creating a horribly viscious ecosystem. The rest of the snapfly is eaten by invertebrates, as well as leaping menaces that scavenge the corpse. Devil walks on, knocking down trees as he progresses through the forest towards the clearing that is his home. He finds it, only to see that another daggerjaw has claimed it. An epic fight begins. The 2 daggerjaws butt each other with their horns, until Devil bites down the other's neck. A tug of war ends with Devil killing the other daggerjaw. Devil roars in victory. Devil lies down to rest and digest his meal.
That night, as Devil sleeps, he hears something and wakes up. It is a gigapterus, eating the corpse of Devil's rival. Devil roars at the gigapterus, but the gigapterus bites him in the shoulder. But Devil bites down on the gigapterus, ripping through flesh and severing blood vessels. The gigapterus died. He lies down again, and sleeps.
The nest day, Devil wakes up. The snapfly was a huge meal, so he won't have to eat again for another day or 2. He spends the day watching over his territory, and finds no threats. He drinks water from a nearby river, only to find an immature snapfly attack his leg. Needless to say, this snapfly is killed. He spots a couple of algaeworms, which were always a good snack. But his attention was focused on killing intruders.
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5 months later, Devil has fought off many intruders since the last, most of which didn't survive. He has also fought off many gigapterus, as well as snapflies. But another threat is on the horizon, and it is not a living threat. It is a geological threat.
BOOM!
A local volcano was erupting. The volcano spews out many tons of ash and lava, heading straight for Devil.