Separate Ways

[rhombus]

Ah, now we return to the story of the flyers!  The initial focus during Petrie's first scene on his misgivings about how he left his family and what could be his eventual fate was a good one, I believe.  Petrie has in many ways chosen his path at a critical juncture in his life.  Each path would have led to dramatically different consequences, but now his fate is hurdling down only one of those paths.  It is only reasonable that Petrie would think back to other events in his life (the adventures of him and his friends, the Stone of Cold Fire incident, the words of the rainbowfaces, etc.) and try to see if there is a grand narrative to his life.

And then this passage:

" Petrie rolled his eyes as he thought about it all, not really able to answer his own question. He had grown to appreciate some of the aspects of the life of a flyer but even now, the memory of the Valley lingered within him. Though, as he thought about what he had seen during his last visit there, his mood darkened. If his family had been forced to leave it due to the actions of the other kinds, maybe it was true that his old life had been an aberration and that the vision the Valley had offered might not be sustainable after all. He looked at Ortin and smiled slightly, slowly starting to see things the way his friends did."

Really sums it up.  Though Petrie has made his choice, he still finds himself questioning his way of viewing the world and his place in it.  In many ways Petrie's unique experiences, though they have caused him pain, have also given him a unique perspective on the world.  Hopefully this is a perspective that will serve him well in the struggles to come.

Petrie's elevated thoughts makes the scheming and backstabbing among the other flyers all the more jarring from the perspective of tone, but that is a good thing.  To me this shows that he is actually thinking about the deep, philosophical implications of the supposed powers at the elevated level that they deserve, whereas the flyer packs (though they may have good reasons in their minds) have rather baser thoughts on such subjects.  I have some thoughts on what this dichotomy might mean for Petrie's destiny, but I will keep them to myself for the moment.

And then the final two scenes really seal the deal in terms of clarifying the stakes.  First, we have Petrie (unknowingly) see the footprints of Ruby, her siblings, and Ducky.  Little does he know that the hopes that he dare not voice might still be a reality.  Then we have the voice from the light:

"We know all of that already. Soon we'll know which one of your ancestors' paths you will follow: will you share Olres' path to greatness or Liras' to shame and oblivion. The choice will be yours this night."

And thus, the players are on the field so to speak, and the climax appears to be at hand.  I eagerly await the next installment to see what happens to Petrie, Ruby, and the others in the struggles to come. 

[Sovereign]

A Cherished Friendship’s Passing

A worried look rose on Ducky’s face as she walked forward, shuddering under the weak wind that whistled between the trees. She slowly crossed her arms around her chest in an effort to keep herself even a bit warmer but of course, that was largely a foolish hope. The swimmer briefly glanced behind her, slightly relieved as she saw all of her companions still following her closely. Though… one would be hard-pressed to say Ruby’s presence relieved her in any way.

The sight of her friend made Ducky’s heart ache deeply as she was in complete loss about what to say to her. Ever since their discussion about their friendship, she hadn’t been able to see Ruby as the same dinosaur she had known as the notion of friendship was one of the most sacred beliefs for the smaller female. To think Ruby would be okay with them just parting ways… the swimmer shook her head in confusion and despair.

But even worse than that was her recent behavior. The omnivore had spoken practically zero words in the past hours and a haunted look was constantly present in her eyes. There were times when Ducky seriously started to question just what went on in the fastrunner’s head but whatever it was, her fears about the halftooth’s wellbeing were growing more and more profound as the hours dragged forward. At this pace, it was only a matter of time before the other girl would break down completely and that is what worried Ducky
greatly. Trying to break the endless silence, she turned at her friends and spoke to them carefully.

“This place is not so bad! It looks like any of the others we have been through so there is no reason to worry, there isn’t!” She said as she looked at the omnivores but to her disappointment, Ruby didn’t signal in any way she had even heard that her old friend had said something. Both of her siblings looked at Ruby in fear but after a few seconds, Orchid looked at Ducky and spoke to her in a clearly forced happy voice.

“It isn’t but we’re still hungry! Shouldn’t there be some green food in a place like this!” He asked, earning a slightly disappointed look from the swimmer. Arial nodded at her brother’s words but just as prepared to speak, she sniffed audibly, immediately catching the two other dinosaurs’ attention. Ducky cocked her head brief before asking the obvious question.

“Did you smell something, Arial? Huh?” She said to which Arial nodded briefly. After a few seconds, Orchid started to smile and he spoke in an excited voice.

“I think I smell it, too! Come on, everyone! You too, Ruby!” He said, casting a commanding look towards his sister. Slowly, Ruby turned to look at him and after a moment of looking at the boy, she whispered to him in a fearful and careful voice.

“Very well, Orchid and Arial. Show us the way.” She said, all of her friends looking at her in concern. Ruby regretted that greatly but she wasn’t in a mood to talk about it. Her heart was heavy beyond measure and her head was feeling even worse. It was nothing but a mixture of shame, guilt and a chorus of whispers from her passed loved ones as well as some kind of warnings about this land. At this point, she wasn’t even sure whether those thoughts were her own or some false ones planted within her mind by the same force that had showed her her previous vision. Even worse, she still constantly saw some further flashes about places she hadn’t seen. Ruby knew herself that none of this boded well for her and her head ached as she heard Ducky ask her in a pained voice.

“Ruby… has something happened-ed since we got here? You are looking even more miserable than before, you are.” She asked and of course, the fastrunner knew it as well. She looked at her companions with an apologizing look, knowing just how they felt about her. Yet, she had no idea what to tell them as she didn’t want to make them more worried than they already were. Her voice was barely audible as she spoke, the rest of her courage drained by the whirlpool that was her mind.

“Yes, I know, Ducky. And that’s because I am feeling much worse. I don’t know why but… I have a terrible feeling about this place. I feel like… we should get away as soon as possible even if I know we’d starve in that case. Ducky… I don’t even know which parts of my thoughts are my own anymore and that horrifies me.” She said with a pleading look, every part of her body language crying for help from those around her. The swimmer nearly gasped as she heard Ruby speak those words but she was even more saddened by the fact that she had very little to say that would help the fastrunner. However, her fears eased slightly as she heard Arial speak to her sister happily.

“But maybe we won’t have to starve! I and Orchid smell green food and if something in this place makes you feel that bad, we can eat our fill and head back! After we’ve eaten our fill, we can get out of here for good! You are far more important to us than those sky colors, Ruby!” She said with a cheerful voice, hoping that her older sibling would listen to her. Ducky and Orchid looked at her in surprise but decided to stay silent, knowing her idea was a good one. Ruby looked at the other girl with a slight shock, trying to sort out her thoughts at least to some degree. After a few seconds, she spoke with some relief, trying to sound as confident as possible.

“It feels like… like we came here for a reason but thus far, none of those reasons is anything I want to follow! If you really think so, I’ll be more than happy to do just that, Arial!” She said, knowing that if there truly was green food here, there was a chance they could get away from this forest without starving. Orchid’s expression eased immediately and he waved cheerfully to Ruby as he turned around.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go eat!” He cried as all of his companions started to follow him. None of them wanted anything more than to quell their hunger and even Ruby nearly ran as she headed after the male. It wasn’t long before they arrived on a small clearing and their jaws dropped as they saw the sight around themselves. Suddenly, there was nearly an endless amount of green food around them and it seemed like some scene from the Warm Time. Ruby frowned slightly at the odd sight but even she decided against questioning all of that. She headed after her brother towards the nearest bush, more tan ready to feast for the first time in days. She let out a sigh of relief as she gulped a mouthful down her throat, the endless hunger starting to fade away. Her voice was still a tortured one as she spoke but not as much so as before.

“This is good! We were beyond lucky to find this place! Good job, Orchid and Arial!” She said as she gorged herself on more and more food. However, her good mood was dampened as she heard Orchid speak again.

“Wh… what’s wrong, Ruby! Your hands are shaking!” He cried, causing the older fastrunner to let out a long, disappointed breath.

“I know, brother. I tried to hide that from you and that’s one of the things that has bothered me. But it’s true that they shudder almost all the time and I don’t know why! I just hope it isn’t anything that won’t stop even after we get out of here!” She said, earning confused looks from the others. Of course, all of them hoped the very same thing but to confirm it, they’d have to find a way to leave the forest… and finding a way out could be more tricky than they had thought when they first entered it.


“We found nothing out of the ordinary on our left side, Stealth. It seems like we are the only dinosaurs in this forest.” Jaros said as she spoke to the sailback. Stealth hardly glanced at him, instead continuing his march forward. The sharptooth was growing more suspicious about this quest by the second but if there was something here that could help him overcome any possible challenges in the future, it would be all worth it.

Even then, the predator breathed more easily than he could remember in ages, for the first time since his childhood free of the burning desire for revenge against Dein and Terri. That fact alone made him more willing to embark on new adventures as there was not one trace of fear within him now. He had outlived his mortal enemies and taken out Red Claw: if there were any further glories for him to seek out, he’d gladly do so. He then spoke to the fastrunner with a silent growl.

“Very well. As long as there aren’t any potential enemies around us, we won’t fail on this quest. Continue keeping an eye on our surroundings, all of you.” He said to the omnivores as he walked forward, more than glad that his new followers had shown no signs of disloyalty since joining him. Dein and Terri’s herd members had clearly accepted what had happened and realized they had only one option to move forward: under the guidance of their new leader. Yet, even now Stealth didn’t yearn for absolute dominance in these lands as he had already been through enough to yearn about that. Even then, if there was still something he could achieve by only taking the chance, he’d gladly take it.

Minutes passed slowly and the silence reigned in the forest. The Bright Circle was slowly heading into the horizon, draining the forest of the little light that had previously penetrated the canopy of the trees. However, that mattered very little to Stealth as he heard one of his followers suddenly cry to the sailback in a loud voice.

“We’ve spotted a few flyers not far to our left, Stealth! They aren’t a threat to us but many of the others would certainly appreciate a small snack after all we’ve gone through!” The fastbiter cried, causing Stealth to snort deeply. He wasn’t too excited about those words and his expression was almost a tired one as he gave his answer.

“Very well. Let them have their meal as long as it won’t slow down our progress.”


“I beg your pardon, my leader, but three of our companions have gone missing all of a sudden.” The worried voice caused Lenel’s concentration to fail very quickly. The pale flyer looked in wonder at three of the lights swirling around him, as if evaluating him for some reason. The male’s heart beat in his chest as he thought about what was to come and he was far from happy to hear that petty announcement. He quickly glanced at the other flyer, his voice beyond dry as he gave his answer.

“And? Why should I care if some fool gets lost? I’m sure they’ll find us sooner or later again anyway.” He said dismissively, more than eager to start whatever test he would have to pass through. He was still haunted by the first light’s words about Olres and this Liras. Lenel had never heard that name before but if there was any sense in what he had heard, it had been him who had caused is line to lose the guardianship of this land. Inside, he already cursed Liras’ name but he got further frustrated as Northwind spoke to him carefully.

“But… there aren’t that many of us here, my honored leader. If… if we wish to be ready for whatever is to come and to safeguard ourselves from Haste, we cannot leave anyone behind. Besides, we don’t know what else looms out there.” He said, causing Lenel to look into the darkness. At this point, he would have wanted to ignore everything else but the task at hand but it was true, he still hadn’t found out Olres’ secret and thus, his dream could still be undone. With an unsure voice, he spoke to Sireia.

“What do you think, dear? Is it worth the effort to save them?” He asked, earning a grim look from the female. She was hardly more excited by this prospect than Lenel was but even then, there was one thought deep within her that demanded attention. She eyed the lights around herself carefully, wondering more and more just what they were doing. Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke to her mate, clearly hesitating whether to even speak her mind in a situation like this.

“I don’t know, my beloved. However… for some reason, I believe the lights are watching us and whether we are to be trusted. And… as you well know, Olres was known as the very best leader there was… for all his followers.” She said while looking her mate in the eyes. Lenel looked at her with an annoyed look and after a moment, he rolled his eyes. The male had to admit his mate was right and that even now, he had to remember that he still had more tests to face. After a few seconds, he quickly turned at Northwind and pushed his chest slightly as he spoke to him angrily.

“In that case, you get the honor of making sure those fools survive their little adventure! You three, go with him! The rest of you, follow me!” The flyer said as he marched forward, leaving Northwind looking at him in astonishment, not having expected this turn of events.


“Umm… Ruby? Are you sure this is the way back?” Orchid asked warily as he walked forward, looking around himself in fear. None of the trees around him looked familiar in the least even if he thought he and the others were heading to the direction they had come from. Even the ground seemed far more even than before which only deepened the boy’s worries. His and Ruby’s eyes met briefly as the older fastrunner tried to gather her thoughts.

The prospect of being able to leave this mess behind was an enticing one for the omnivore but that hope was slowly being swallowed by her own concerns. It seemed like the forest had changed completely in a matter of a few minutes as this certainly was nothing like the way they had come before, despite Ruby being able to swear this is where she and her companions had come from. The evening’s shades frustrated her efforts to find the right way even further and again, deep fear was starting to get a grip on Ruby’s heart.

“If this isn’t the right way, then I don’t know what is! But… I hate to say it but I am scared, Orchid.” She said, the earlier pictures of dread starting to flash in her mind as she moved forward. She was starting to curse ever coming here when Ducky stopped completely still and turned to look at Ruby with a serious look. It was clear what was going on in her mind.

“Ruby… we all know this this isn’t the way we came here, no, no, no. I think we should turn around and hope we just somehow got confused about where we are while we were eating. Please?” She asked her friend softly, causing Ruby to gulp deeply. She had promised to let Ducky lead the group for now but even then, she had her misgivings about her idea. Her voice wavered deeply as she looked at the swimmer, hoping she’d hear her warning even in this sorry situation.

“Ducky… daddy always said that we shouldn’t change our direction when we’d get lost. He… he said it would only makes more lost and make it impossible for us to ever find the right way again.” She said while crossing her hands, the earlier feeling of horror returning to her mind. The earlier hopes that she could simply move on with her life were again getting squashed under the reality and deep inside, the fastrunner knew she could never escape the sick joke that was her life.

The swimmer looked at the omnivore with half-closed eyes before quickly looking behind herself. Usually, she’d gladly take Ruby’s advise in things like these but at this point, she wasn’t sure whether it was even the Ruby she had known that was speaking. Then again, she could understand the other dinosaur’s point but even then, she had a hard time believing it was the best way to go. She whispered softly to Ruby as she prepared to lead herself and her companions to safety.

“Cera’s dad used to say the same thing, Ruby, but we just want to get out of here and we cannot do that if we only head deeper into this forest, we cannot. I am sure we turned the wrong way and we will be okay if we only move back a little!” She said, waving the others to follow her. Ruby frowned at her decision but again, she knew she had no choice but to follow her friend’s lead and hope that she could make better decisions than she could at this point. Ruby was just about to start following the smaller female before she noticed something that made her stop immediately.

“Arial? Are you alright?” She asked a she noticed her sister staring into apparent nothingness with wide eyes, not seeming to notice the others around her. Even after Ruby’s words, the younger omnivore didn’t answer in any way. Orchid turned to look at his sibling with a surprised look, hitting her playfully as he asked her with a concerned look.

“Arial? What are you looking at? Please, answer to us!” He said with a loud voice, the memory of Ruby’s earlier similar situation returning to his mind. On one hand, he was more than fearful that things like these were happening around him but on the other hand, if this was the same thing as with Ruby, this situation would pass soon enough. Ruby bowed before her sister and put her hands on her shoulders and spoke to her frantically.

“Look at me, Arial! Show to me that you hear what I’m saying!” She cried but to no avail. Arial’s stare remained aimless and emotionless which caused Ruby’s heart to ache ever more by the second. She was just about to speak again when Arial suddenly took a step forward, casting Ruby’s hands away from her shoulders. At first, the older sister was heartened by this development and soon enough, she spoke to the younger girl happily.

“Can you now hear me Arial? Please, say anything!” She said but again, no response. Arial walked forward for a few seconds before Ruby realized that Arial herself still wasn’t there. She frowned deeply as she approached her sister, growing more interested by the second about where she was going. She then spoke to Orchid and Ducky in a silent voice,
more than sickened by being forced to let her sister be used like this.

“Let’s keep an eye on her and once she wakes up, let’s get out of here as quickly as we can!” She said, earning worried looks from the two other dinosaurs. Neither of them liked this any more than Ruby did but neither did they have any other ideas. Ducky shrugged in disgust as she headed after Ruby but it was at this point that something happened that Ruby hadn’t expected. Suddenly, Arial started to run with all her might, dashing into the distance before Ruby could react in any way. The older fastrunner looked after her sibling in shock, not having seen Arial to ever run that fast. Immediately, she started to run after her while yelling at her pleadingly.

“Arial, come back! We don’t know what’s out there! Please, sister…” She yelled, not even looking whether her friends were following her. She’d have to catch Arial and keep her still before whatever was going on would end. At first, she started to gain on her sister which gave her hope she might still catch her poor sibling. However, soon enough started to happen things no one could have foreseen.

The darkness started to suddenly thicken around Arial, almost looking like it was swallowing the young fastrunner whole. Ruby looked at her sister in shock, not able to believe her eyes. She was more than stunned by what was happening before her but right now, she didn’t care about her thoughts in the least. The only thing in her mind cried for her to simply catch Arial and get over it but things simply became more strange around the omnivore. For a few moments, it seemed like she was running in absolute silence… before she suddenly felt a sharp pain enveloping her entire body.

Before the girl could even wonder what had happened, she found herself lying in the ground, especially her snout hurting without an end. Instinctually, she brought her hand around it and noticed it was bleeding… and the reason was apparent as she raised her gaze a bit upwards. She inhaled deeply as a mountainside met her gaze, standing there as an impenetrable wall that prevented anything from passing it. Ruby gasped in shock, looking as the blood from her snout started dropping into the ground with an ever-increasing pace. It wasn’t long before she heard Orchid’s voice cry to her in clear alarm.

“What happened, Ruby? Where’s Arial? Wh… why are you lying in the ground?`” He asked as he stopped next to his sister, soon followed by Ducky. However, that sudden turn of events suddenly caused all of the fastrunner’s conscious thoughts black out and with wavering movements, she rose her hand to point at the hillside. Her voice was a broken one as she tried to speak.

“Sh… she ran straight… straight… that… She… she’s gone…” She jabbered, not able to believe even her own words. It was just too preposterous! Mountains simply didn’t appear out of the blue! Ducky looked at her friend with fearful eyes but she tried to keep her voice down. Her friend had already suffered enough without her trying to somehow accuse her for whatever had happened.

“You know that is not possible, no, no, no. Ruby, just try to think clearly and…” She said but before long, Ruby cut her short in clear annoyance. She rose to a sitting position and this time her voice was slightly clearer but the flame that burned with Ruby’s eyes chilled Ducky without an end. The fastrunner’s expression was a mix of disbelief and some kind of crazed determination but at this point, Ducky wasn’t certain what to make of it. For now, she hoped Ruby would see reason but as the latter started to speak, the swimmer’s
heart nearly skipped a beat.

“I know very well what I saw, Ducky! I followed her very closely and even if I didn’t quite see the moment she ran through that wall, there’s no way she could have changed direction that quickly while running that fast! I knew this place was cursed from the beginning, Ducky! We never should have come here!” She said while staring into the distance, not realizing that this trip had initially been her idea. Right now, all that remained in her mind was the shock about what had happened as well as the constant, dark thoughts that weren’t necessarily her own.

At this point, Ducky didn’t even have an idea about what to think. She knew what Ruby was saying was insane but what could she do? The swimmer knew very well just how fragile Ruby’s mind was these days and this only seemed to deepen her concerns. However… she also knew there was a chance she was right. So many odd things had happened that maybe, just maybe, her old friend had been right that this forest was somehow cursed.

But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was finding and saving Arial and making sure she was alright. Even now, the larger dinosaur would help her in this endeavor and everything else could wait until Arial was once again with her family. Ducky tried to give her friend a smile as she spoke to her, not knowing able to foresee what would come next.

“I believe you, Ruby, but right now, we have to find your sister, yep, yep, yep! Let us not waste any more time and we will…” She started but she was suddenly interrupted by Ruby who frigid, murderous tone stunned the swimmer completely.

“You mean I have to find my sister. You will not follow me any longer.” She said, her face a mask of emotionless pain. Ruby didn’t even look at the swimmer who could only stare at the omnivore in shock. Had… had she actually heard what she thought? Certainly she had been mistaken as there was simply no way Ruby would ever suggest something like that! Still holding on to that hope, she tried to answer with a somewhat cheerful voice.

“Of course we will look for her together! We all care about Arial very much, we do!” She said, hoping she wouldn’t hear any more outrageous words from the halftooth. Orchid stood on Ducky’s side, even more stunned by those words than the swimmer was.

Ruby, however, was far from moved by those words. She had made a terrible mistake for ever letting them follow her in the first place! Had she just cast them off after her departure from the Desolate Rise, she would most likely have just died alone while her brother and sister would very likely still be with their parents who could still be alive if it wasn’t for her! Tears started to suddenly form in Ruby’s eyes as she thought about just how sickening her life actually was.

Her siblings and Ducky had given her some reason to go on all this time as she had always been able to at least somehow help them survive whatever was coming their way. All their lives, Orchid and Arial had looked up to her and even Ducky had seen her as some kind all-knowing dinosaur who could always tell what to do. Even after she had lost her parents, Ruby had still moved on simply because she had tried to at least give her companions the future she had given up long ago. However, ever since her trust in her own sanity had started to slip, even that little sense of importance had disappeared.

The fastrunner started to weep more by the second as she realized just what she’d have to do. She was absolutely worthless to everyone and she had no reason to endanger any more lives. Everyone around her had either died or had their lives destroyed and she was sick of it! She had made a terrible mistake for ever thinking she had any chance of moving forward with her life and the least she could do was to avoid dragging her last companions to the abyss with her! Even if it hurt her without measure, Ruby looked Ducky and Orchid in the eyes and spoke to them with a decisive voice.

“Get away from me, both of you. A disaster after another follows me and I will not let you fall with me. I will find Arial alone and send her away with you and after that, our paths will part forever. I’ll only hurt you more if we do otherwise.” She said, closing her eyes after she had finished talking. She had never, ever wanted to say those words but sometimes you simply had to do the best thing you could for those around you. And right now, the girl could find no other way to move forward.

Orchid looked at his sister in shock, not able to believe his ears. What in earth was happening? For the Bright Circle’s sake, Arial was lost and now Ruby was only making the situation much worse! Of course his sister knew that they’d be together forever! She and Arial were the only family he had left and he wasn’t going to allow Ruby to do this to herself and to her companions. With slow, forced movements, the boy started to approach the older fastrunner, speaking to her softly.

“We can’t do that, Ruby! You and Arial are the only thing we have left and I’ll never, ever let this…” He started but just as he was trying to take Ruby’s hand to comfort her, she pulled it back as if he was carrying some deadly disease. Orchid stopped in his track’s, looking at the female with wide, hurt eyes. Ruby’s next words made everything stop around him as he tried to understand just what he was hearing.

“Don’t touch me or you’ll certainly get whatever horrible luck I carry with me! Go away, both of you, and you might just escape my fate! Please, I beg you! Leave me alone.” She said with a more resigned voice, one that made Ducky feel ever worse for her. There had to be something she could do to help Ruby, something that could make her snap away from her gloom and return to her! She moved closer to her, trying to sound as sincere and compassionate as she could.

“We don’t have to do that, Ruby! We just need to find Arial and get out of here and everything will be well again! There is no reason to throw away everything you have because of this, no, no, no.” She said, praying Ruby would listen to her. She hated to see her like this and this whole scene felt surreal. The swimmer couldn’t believe just what kind of horrific situation she was in, even now hoping it were just some bad sleep story. However, she soon realized that her hopes weren’t going to be realized as Ruby spoke again, this time more frantically than before.

“Everything I have? I’ve thrown away everything I ever had, Ducky! And if you’re speaking about some friendships I still have left, they’re no good to anyone anymore! I cannot stay near anyone anymore so I might just end our friendship here and now as within a few seasons, it will be over anyway! Just think of everything that has happened! I’m just a bringer of disaster to everyone around me and both of you deserve better than that! GET AWAY FROM ME, NOW!” She cried, her own words making her heart ache terribly.

Her last, desperate cry caused Ducky to share that agony as that comment made the conversation during that morning a few days ago return to her mind. Ever since that talk, she had never heard anyone ever questioning her and her friends’ bonds but here Ruby was doubling down on those deranged words. However, she wasn’t at all worried by even their shadow of a friendship but rather for the fastrunner herself. With one, last effort, she started to walk towards the omnivore, not knowing it would turn out to be a mistake.

“Ruby, please listen to me! I know how you feel but everything that has happened has just been bad luck! If you only decide to follow us for this one time, I promise you will change your mind if you simply give us one more chance!” She yelled but at this point, Ruby had had more than enough. She took one step away from the swimmer and cried with all her might.

“I WON’T! GET AWAY FROM HERE, NOW! I WON’T HEAR ANY MORE ARGUING!” She yelled, all coherent thoughts long gone at this point. Panic was growing within her mind and she hardly heard her brother’s voice as he called to her.

“WE WON’T LEAVE YOU HERE, RUBY! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!” He yelled and his cry was soon followed by another plead from Ducky who started to run towards the fastrunner. She simply wasn’t going to lose Ruby, not after everything that had happened.

“LISTEN TO ORCHID, RUBY! WE’LL STAND BY YOUR SIDE UNTIL THE VER…” She started but at that point, Ruby had had enough. Her tortured mind dreaded to see just how deeply the duo cared for her and the only thing she wanted was just to escape from this hellish situation. Just as Ducky was about to reach her, something changed within the omnivore’s mind. If her friend wouldn’t listen to her, then she’d force her to obey!

With one, quick move, Ruby kicked right at Ducky’s chest, sending the smaller dinosaur rolling backwards, her eyes wide with shock. The moment Ducky’s horrified eyes met Ruby’s, the omnivore realized just what she had done. After a few seconds, the smaller dinosaur’s head hit a nearby tree, stopping her immediately. Ruby brought her hands to the sides of her head as she looked at her unmoving friend and at the gaping wound her claws had opened to Ducky’s chest. Soon, the swimmer started to move again, confirming she wasn’t seriously hurt but at this point, the fastrunner’s courage failed completely.

Once again, she had hurt someone around her and even worse, this time she had done it herself. This was the moment she had been waiting for. The moment to finally become free of any future guilt that she’d certainly have to bear if she didn’t do what had to be done. With a silent voice, she spoke to both of her former companions.

“Farewell, both of you. Try to reach the Valley again, Ducky, and Orchid, live a good life. For all our sake. Just… goodbye.” Ruby said as she wiped fresh tears from her eyes and turned around. She could hear Orchid crying something after her but the older fastrunner no longer heard him. All she wanted now was to escape her guilt as far as possible and hope that at least Orchid and Ducky would survive this horrifying journey. Weeping heavily, Ruby disappeared into the dark forest, praying she’d never see the only dinosaurs she still cared about ever again.


“Curse this forest! I can hardly see my own beak!” One of the flyers said to his leader, causing Northwind to snort briefly. He was far from happy with this search himself and he was even less excited to listen to the whining of his followers. The deputy turned to look at the other male, speaking to him with a hissing voice.

“I noticed that as well, you damn moron! However, unlike you, I try to concentrate my attention on finding our lost packmates instead of complaining about things I cannot change!” He said as he tried to see anything in the ground. He’d see this side mission to its end as soon as he could as he wanted to be there by Lenel’s side when he’d start to return the flyers to their rightful place in the world. However, even then he couldn’t deny the next comment from another one of his companions.

“Get real, Northwind! If we can’t even see each other properly, how can we ever hope to find anyone else here! This quest is hopeless!” She said, hoping to get her message through to her temporary leader. Northwind rolled his eyes as he answered, hating to argue about this with the others. Even now, he didn’t stop moving forward even if he would have wanted to silence those complaints for good.

“If you have better ideas, then please go ahead! Do you want to return to Lenel and said we are just too lazy to even try to obey his commands? Or do you perhaps have some way to lighten this pl… What was that?” Northwind suddenly said and all four flyers covered immediately. After a few seconds, one of the others asked the deputy with an unsure voice, clearly not having the feintest of ideas what the higher-ranked flyer was talking about. Northwind cast a murderous look at him before starting to move slowly to his right.

“Silence, all of you! We can’t allow them to hear us!” He said, his heart beating wickedly. The flyer knew he had the footsteps of a rather large dinosaur but he couldn’t say just yet what kind’s. Something about this place simply caused chills to creep up his spine but for now, he only hoped that there wouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises waiting for him and his companions.

A second after second passed as the flyers moved forward was silently as they could. Northwind narrowed his eyes as he saw himself drawing closer to a small clearing, something that didn’t exactly raise any special thoughts within him. The male was about to continue moving forward when one of his companions suddenly gasped in shock. The deputy cringed deeply as he heard his follower’s next comment.

“Yuck! What in earth did I step into?” He asked, suddenly raising his left foot into the air. Northwind was just about to silence him completely when he heard one of the others’ disbelieving voice.

“It’s something moist and thick… it almost looks like… blood.” He said, causing Northwind to move closer to the duo immediately. He grabbed the other male’s foot and looked at it briefly before crouching further towards the ground. His eyes widened as he sank his finger into a small pool in the ground, soon mumbling in a silent voice.

“Blood it is, by the Bright Circle. And it’s still almost warm.” He said, the situation turning into a more threatening one by the second. He was already ready to turn away and head towards safety when he suddenly heard another’s flyer’s shocked question.

“My deputy… Northwind… look at all the stuff around us.” The voice was beyond haunted and at that point, the highest-ranked flyer realized that something was horribly wrong here. With forced movements, he walked towards his follower, dreading deeply what he’d soon see. In this moment, his heart cried for him to simply run and simply forfeit his loyalty to Lenel but even now, he couldn’t bring himself to do that.

“What is it? Show me.” He said, his earlier annoyance having turned into fear and compassion towards those who shared this horrific moment with him. The female only knelt towards the ground, waving for Northwind to see for himself. The male looked at the ground only after a long internal battle and he nearly vomited after realizing what he was looking at.

Before him lied many totally crushed pieces of meat and bone, the destroyed body parts and blood spreading everywhere before him. There were bits of meat lying here and there and there were also some larger viscera here and there that Northwind knew was located in every dinosaur’s belly. Even worse, he couldn’t help but noticing the remains of a flyer’s wing lying around the carcass, causing him to experience ever increasing levels of nausea.

As the dinosaur looked forward, he could see that the late flyer’s upper body was totally crushed and the head was nowhere near the spot it should be in. Still, Northwind knew it would hardly be too far away from the rest of the corpse and he knew he’d have to find it to be sure he had completed his duty. With slow movements, he walked forward while doing his best to avoid stepping on the moist, bloody remains all around him. After a few seconds, some new object came to his view and he felt beyond sick as he approached it. It was terribly disfigured and whatever it was, also heavily broken.

Northwind sighed as he knelt in front of that remain, his former nausea turning into disgust and shock. He was staring at a flyer’s destroyed skull and the last few bits of meat that still hanged off from it. And those few remnants of the deceased flyer’s face were enough to tell him everything he had to know. This was one of his packmates and the moment he realized that, every part of him cried for a quick escape as far away from the dead flyer’s crushed brain and the remnants of bones lying everyone around him. He quickly rose back to his feet and spoke to his followers in a haunted voice.

“It is Swiftbreeze. And if he faced this fate, the others must be near as well. This is the work of sharpteeth and in Olres’ name, I want to do my best not to meet them myself. Our mission’s done. Let’s rejoin the others.” He said as he started to nearly run to the direction he had come from. His followers looked at him in deep fear as they had never before seen Lenel’s deputy to be that afraid. None of them questioned his order for a second and all of them followed their leader without a question.

The highest-ranked flyer’s mind was a mess as he headed towards the edge of the clearing. He could only hope the predators were no longer anywhere near as they were the last thing he wanted to meet right now. He knew very well that they were even more dangerous in darkness due to their better eyes and that fact alone made him even more fearful about the possibility they were still here. He only hoped he could be with the rest of the herd right now as he would simply refuse to die this near to Lenel’s final victory. He would find his leader and take his place on…

Suddenly, the flyer stopped immediately. At first, he wasn’t exactly sure why but he felt that something was terribly wrong around him. He slowly looked at his surroundings with a fearful look, praying that he was simply growing more paranoid by the second. However, soon his eyes locked on a single, tree-like object near him. The male looked at it for a few seconds, panic starting to grow inside him as he saw it starting to move and what finally broke Northwind’s courage was the moment when he saw the sharptooth reveal his, long, bloody teeth. At the same time, the predator yelled a loud command.

“Get them, now, before they can get away!” He yelled as he charged forward, causing Northwind to instinctually run to his right side. The sailback didn’t seem to pay any attention to him and Northwind could only look in shock as the carnivore’s jaws closed around one of his follower’s body, snapping it in two before she could anything. At this point, he had
only one option left as he looked at the smaller sharpteeth heading towards him.

“Everyone, follow me! We’ll fly to safety before anything worse happens!” He yelled even if he knew that the escape would be far from easy. Flying amidst the trees was extremely difficult and dangerous and with a sickened frown, he realized that he couldn’t even rise over the canopy of the trees because if he completely lost the sense of where he was, he’d never find Lenel again. Northwind looked in horror as the fastbitters managed to tear down another one of his followers before starting to tear the poor flyers to bits.

However, to his slight relief, he could see his one surviving companion getting after him, the two determined to get away from here as soon as possible. The duo weren’t there to see Stealth’s disgusted snort at their escape, instead determined to save their own lives from the horrible fate of their companions.


Air whistled within Ruby’s lungs as she leaned towards a nearby tree, her heart feeling as if it would explode at any second. She had ran for a time that felt like eternity within the omnivore’s mind though only a small part of her fatigue was due to her sprint. Ruby could see her own tears falling into the ground but she felt too powerless to even try to stop that. Only one single thought filled her mind: she had ruined absolutely everything.

Without even thinking about it, the fastrunner turned to face a nearby tree and started to hit her forehead against it with all her power. She ignored the pain completely for a good while and she hardly noticed the blood that was starting to flow down on her face. Again and again, the girl hit the tree until finally, she fell to her knees and put her hands on the ground, seeing as a mixture of her tears and blood fell into the ground below her.

What the hell was wrong with her? Not only had she hurt Ducky but she had also made finding Arial infinitely more difficult! She had only hurt everyone around her even more and now, the full reality of it started to dawn upon the poor omnivore. Even when she had thought she had done the right thing by going her own way, she had still made Ducky and Arial’s lives even worse. Suddenly, the fastrunner rose back to her feet and kicked the tree with all her mind, yelping at the intense pain that followed. At this point, even the pain felt like a blessing when compared to the horrifying guilt that filled her mind.

How could she have done that? Ruby still remembered the look of shock and hurt on Ducky’s face as her claws had sank into her stomach. Slowly, Ruby looked at her hands, wondering just how long it would have been until she had used them against someone she thought she loved. She was absolutely lost, not able to even start thinking about the implications of everything that had happened.

The only good thing about it all was that she was finally, completely alone. No more would she hurt anyone against her own wishes, no more would anyone else have to see her downward spiral to madness and despair. That thought alone made the girl’s heart swell somewhat but even then, there was another thing that haunted her thoughts: just in which ways she had left her last companions and that guilt gnawed at the fastrunner’s heart more and more by the second.

Arial was somewhere around here, controlled by some mysterious entity and just what had her older sister done to help her? Killed any hopes of ever saving her from whatever fate was waiting for her! And how about her brother and Ducky? She had brought the only friend she had left to this hell, then injured her badly and left her with her own brother whom she, not Ducky, should have looked after! With another burst of pure self-hate, Ruby suddenly sank her claws into her own chin and opened several new wounds on her own face.

What kind of monster had she become? What kind of heartless bastard would do the things she had done? What the hell was wrong with her? For a while, Ruby wanted nothing but to hurt herself more and more but then again, another memory came to her mind. A look of bitterness and hate rose to her mind as she thought about her last meeting with Chomper.

Oh, it was right she used to still have those who believed in her but apparently Chomper had known nothing about just would happen to them! Chomper had always been a young, unexperienced child and even after his death, it should have been up to her to be the voice of reason, not the ghost of her best friend! It had been her mistake to believe him and she’d continue to pay for her gullibility for the rest of her life! That thought saddened and infuriated the omnivore tremendously and for a flying moment, she even brought her own claws to her own throat, ready to end it all. She had no place in this world, not anymore.

However, her own muscles refused to obey to her as one final sense of duty lingered within her thoughts. She had promised to Ducky that she’d find Arial herself and make sure she’d get out of here unharmed. Slowly, the girl lowered her hand back on her knee before turning to look towards the skies. She couldn’t leave just yet. She had one job to do even if she’d part ways with Arial immediately after their reunion. That sense of loss was simultaneously crushing and liberating beyond words but that final goodbye to her family could still only be before herself.

Slowly, Ruby rose to her feet and looked around herself with a deep frown. She had no idea where she was nor where she had come from and as such, she couldn’t even remember where the place she had left Ducky and Orchid even was. That thought in itself made the female curse even deeper and made her hopes of ever finding her sister even more desperate. With a shuddering, silent voice the fastrunner hissed to herself.

“Who cares about directions? I’ll find her even if I have to turn this forest upside down!” She said as she locked her eyes on one certain direction, something within her mind telling her it would be the right way to go. Slowly, she started to run forward, hoping that she wasn’t too late to do the last task available to her anymore. Even then, Ruby couldn’t help but feel sickened when she thought about her future parting with her sister, knowing that would be the last time she ever saw her. Even then, that simply had to be done for both of their s…

“OUCH!”

Ruby suddenly yelped as she felt a massive hit on her left side. She gasped for breath as she suddenly found herself lying in the ground again but this time, she wasn’t alone. Her eyes widened as she saw two dizzy flyers lying by her side, clearly as taken aback by the collision as she was. Ruby frowned deeply and nearly yelled at that duo as she broke the silence.

“What do you think you are doing? I’ve been through enough without being rammed by some dumb beakbrains who don’t even know where they’re flying!” She yelled, looking with an annoyed look as one of the two, a rather tall flyer, rose to look at her with a clearly disapproving look but even that impression was buried by the deep fear within his eyes. The fastrunner was taken aback as he spoke to her with a silent but quick voice.

“Have you seen them here? Please tell me they’re nowhere near us anymore!” He said, causing Ruby to look at him oddly. She hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from the much-older flyer and her earlier displeasure with him vanished completely as she answered to the flyer.

“Who should I have seen? I’ve seen a lot lately but even then, I cannot know what you have seen!” She said, putting her hands to her hips as she waited for an answer. The other dinosaur frowned as he clearly would have wanted to simply continue his flight but he was clearly interested to hear what the first friendly outsider knew about this place. His voice was a deep and frustrated one as he next spoke.

“Unless you haven’t noticed, there is a bloodthirsty sailback with his pack in this forest and that bastard killed five of our flyers and it was he who we were escaping from! You’d do more than well to know about his presence if you wish to live!” He said, causing Ruby’s eyes to flash briefly in the darkness. The omnivore crossed her arms, realizing that she had an opportunity to gain some knowledge here as well. She quickly glanced upwards before starting to speak.

“Oh, I know him well enough, alright. And if you’re working against him, I’ll gladly tell you everything I know. But first, you have to tell me who you are because I want to know if you are worth helping!” She said, knowing her old self would have been appalled by those words but at this point, she cared little for decency or any morals. The flyer looked at the fastrunner in outrage, his voice trembling as he spoke.

“You dare think you can blackmail us? What makes you think an underage child-killer can demand absolutely anything from me?” He asked, taking an even threatening stance on Ruby. The omnivore, however, seemed to care little for that, instead just answering without any hesitation.

“The way I see it, it is you who needs my knowledge more than I need yours. Also, you can just decline my offer but in that case, you make fighting against the sailback much harder for yourself. So what will it be?” She asked, every bit of fear devoid from her. She was ready to die at any moment and if these flyers decided to do something, she would certainly be more than willing to take them on! However, the male flyer snorted after a few seconds before finally speaking to Ruby with a forced voice.

“I am Northwind, the honored leader Lenel’s closest deputy. It is my honor to assist him tame this place’s secrets and to take his place as the savior of our kind.” He said pompously, causing Ruby to frown deeply. She knew nothing about this Lenel or whatever he had planned for the flyers and frankly, she cared very little for such things. In fact, she wouldn’t have cared if Northwind was serving the Bright Circle itself, her sister’s well-being being the only thing she was thinking right now. However, there was one part that made her interest rise. The omnivore cocked her head and asked the flyer with a high voice.

“Tame this place’s secrets? What do you mean?” She demanded but at this point, Northwind stepped forward and spoke to the female in a trembling voice.

“I already answered the question you wanted so now’s your turn or I’ll show you just what we think of your pathetic and treacherous kind!” He said and indeed, Ruby couldn’t deny that he was right. It was indeed her time to keep her part of the bargain but maybe, just maybe, she could still find out something after she had told what she knew about Stealth. The omnivore looked at Northwind with a slight frown as she finally answered his question.

“That sailback’s name is Stealth and I’ve known him for many cycles of the Night Circle. He is a complete monster who forced my parents to serve him! Daddy died while fighting other sharpteeth for him and… and he killed mommy after that. I’m sorry you met him as I just hoped he would head to the Great Beyond along with my parents!” She said, causing Northwind to raise his voice further.

“I don’t care about what you think about him or what happened to your family, fastrunner scum! Tell me how we can best him or if there’s any way we can lure him out of this forest for now!” He said, causing Ruby to bring her fingers to her chin. She hardy even notified the flyer’s insults as she had heard far worse taunts from other dinosaurs in her life. After a moment, she gave her answer.

“Most of his old followers fell in the same battle as my daddy so most of those under him are followers of his old enemies which could mean that they are not as loyal to him which means that if you managed to be scary enough, most of them may just run away! As for his weaknesses, Stealth himself is a very good fighter but he is just a lone sailback so if you and your leader strike at him fast, he will not be able to parry all of you. As for why he’s here, I’m not sure but I think it’s because of those sky colors.” She said, those words causing Northwind to widen his eyes slightly. He nearly spat out his next words.

“Sky colors? What sky colors?” He asked, causing Ruby to look at him oddly. Of all the possible answers, that wasn’t one she had expected. However, she didn’t waste much time before speaking again.

“You must have seen them! They filled the entire sky and of all dinosaurs, your kind should have seen them!” She said but her words had little impact on Northwind. The flyer spat into the ground in disgust before turning around. He then spoke to his companion quietly, more than ready to move on.

“Come on, Plunge. Let’s go to Lenel and tell him about everything we’ve seen.” He said but just as he started to spread his wings, Ruby realized that she had to act now if she wanted any further answers.

“Wait! You mentioned something about this place’s secrets! Please, I beg you, tell me what you meant by that!” She said but at first, her words seemed to have been nothing but air to Northwind. But just as he was about to jump into the air, he relaxed briefly, something within the girl’s tone preventing him from taking off. He sighed as he turned at Ruby, his voice tired as he gave his answer.

“Such things are above any fastrunner but know that Lenel will soon enough gain this place’s powers and use them to make this world a better place! Certainly you have noticed many strange things around here too, haven’t you?” He asked, causing Ruby’s heart to jump nearly to her throat. So, the flyers seemed to know something about this land’s secrets after all. Hope started to fill her mind as she realized that now was the moment to throw away the last vestiges of her pride for the sake of her sister. She knelt in front of Northwind while looking at his eyes pleadingly. Her voice was the softest and sweetest one she could create at this point, hoping this was the right path to take in this situation.

“Northwind, I know what you think about my kind but please, listen to me this one time. I lost my sister to whatever power rules this place and the only thing I want anymore is to get her back. I respect your noble goal greatly but I beg you, relay this message to your leader. If Lenel succeeds in somehow taking this place’s powers to himself, please ask him to give my sister back to me! I’ll do anything to help you, including fighting Stealth, if you simply grant me this one wish!” She said, tears starting to again flow down her cheeks. She couldn’t care less about the flyers’ aims but if they could somehow help one another, she’d take that chance without any hesitation.

The flyer, on the other hand, could hardly hide his surprise at the fastrunner’s sudden antics as she suddenly bowed before him. All his life, he had seen dinosaurs to try to look as strong as they could instead of crawling against someone with tearful eyes. At first, the flyer would have wanted to kick Ruby in the head and tell her to show some backbone but as he looked deep into the omnivore’s eyes, he gasped deeply.

That expression wasn’t similar to anything he had ever seen. As he saw the hurt and pain as well as the genuine wish that he would help her, he simply couldn’t bring himself to hurt her any more. For the first time, he felt sympathy towards a dinosaur that wasn’t one of his own kind and for a flying moment, he even wanted to go propose helping the poor girl to Lenel but then again, reality sank in.

This omnivore could betray him at any moment, as her kind often did, and at the very least, she would slow her down from reaching Lenel and neither he nor Lenel would accept helping someone from a lower kind as an excuse to possibly risk their plan. After a few seconds, Northwind knelt next to Ruby and spoke silently, even gently.

“I’m sorry, fastrunner. I would help you on any other night but right now, I simply cannot spare any more time to you. I hope you find your sister, though. Let’s go, Plunge.” He said as he finally spread his wings and took off, immediately followed by this companion who had seen it best to simply allow his leader to handle this conversation. Northwind himself headed straight to his right, continuing the same course he had maintained before hitting Ruby in order to minimize the chance of Stealth and his minions catching him if they were still chasing him and his companion.

That moment, however, felt far different from Ruby’s point of view. What little remained her courage seemed to die off the moment he saw the two flyers taking off and leaving her alone to dwell in her own misery. Now, she was again alone and forced to face her dark future alone. Though, why would any stranger care about a loser and a failure like her? Slowly, Ruby fell into the ground completely tears flowing into the ground as she lied still for a moment, the never-ending disappointments quickly starting to get the better of her. What were her chances of finding Arial alone? Maybe it could just be for the best if she resigned to her fate and never rose to her feet ag…

“What are you… Get away from me, bastard! Get of…. aaahhh!” Ruby suddenly turned to look at the direction of the cry, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at what was happening. Northwind, who had got maybe two longneck-lengths away from her, was being plunged into the ground by another flyer who had nearly a crazed look on his face. Ruby couldn’t help but cringe as he hit the ground, only being able to fathom just how violent the crash must have been. The other flyer looked at his leader’s struggle with shock, not knowing just what he should do in a situation like this. He decided to move on just a bit further away from Northwind, prying he’d receive some chance to help him escape from some kind of grisly fate.

The hapless flyer himself gritted his teeth as he hit the other dinosaur in his head with all his might. By Olres’ honored name, he wouldn’t allow this bastard to take him down like some pathetic weakling! He would take him down and prove once again that he deserved to act as Lenel’s right hand! He quickly dodged the sharptooth’s counterattack and kicked him in his stomach, already feeling the bastard’s hold on him weakening. Now, all he had to do was to deliver another blow and he’d be free of his foe’s hold! Only a few seconds and he’d be able to finish this fight for g…

Suddenly, the flyer exhaled deeply as he felt both of his hands being forced into the ground with a great force and at the same time, the predator stopped his attacks on the deputy. With a sickened feeling in his stomach, Northwind glanced around himself and saw that he was being surrounded by a group of fastbiters who ensured that he was going nowhere.

It was on this moment that the deputy realized it was all over: he would never be able to escape and that these would be his final moments. The male cursed deeply as he thought about his conversation with Ruby. He should have just continued his escape instead of hoping that he had already made enough distance between himself and his chasers! He was a complete moron who deserved whatever was coming his way! However, after a few seconds, after nothing seemed to be happening, he cried at the sharpteeth with a frustrated voice.

“If you want to slaughter me, then go ahead, but don’t just keep me here waiting for the end! Show even some backbone, bastards!” He yelled but the fact that none of them seemed to understand what he said in the least didn’t exactly surprise him. Very few sharpteeth knew the leafeater language so it really wasn’t worth it to even attempt to communicate with these savages. Northwind was about to drop his head into the ground to wait for whatever was to come but it was in this moment that his heart skipped a beat.

A large shadow loomed in the forest in front of him and it was slowly getting closer. It wasn’t long until he recognized the shadow as the same sailback he had faced earlier. He started to shudder more by the second as the massive sharptooth stopped just before him, expecting the sensation of the beast’s teeth snapping his body to pieces. However, what happened next surprised him greatly. Instead of delivering the killing blow, the sharptooth bowed towards him and spoke in a rough but understandable leafeater.

“It must have been quite a surprise for you to be ambushed like this. I guess you never expected my flyer friend to track you down this effectively.” He said with a serious voice and one that carried no particular joy. Northwind rolled his eyes as he thought about it. So, it had been the sharptooth flyer who had spied on him and led his eventual killers towards him. He had been right that no fastbiter alone could have followed him this quickly but as for another flyer… yes, that indeed was possible. Northwind raised his head to look at Stealth, willing to get right into business with him.

“I don’t know why you didn’t let your slaves to kill me immediately but please, order them to do that now! There is nothing you gain by torturing me.” He said, not interested in the least how Stealth could speak the same language as he did: the only thing he cared about was to escape from this hellish situation. Stealth snorted at those words, slightly disappointed that the smaller dinosaur hadn’t even noted his proficiency in leafeater which he had gained during his seasons of escaping Dein and Terri’s onslaught and banding together with any dinosaur that could be of help to him, even those insufferable barkbreaths. The sailback looked at Northwind for a few seconds before giving his answer.

“So you think, flyer, but one of your companions told me a different story. I sought this place out for many days and now that I’m here, I want to know just why I made this journey. And your friend told before his end that you no it better than anyone else.” Stealth said, causing Northwind’s eyes to widen immediately. Those words had been his worst fear as that was one thing he’d never want to do. He wouldn’t compromise Lenel’s quest by advising this brute to compete with his honored leader for the power of this place. Not
only did that go against everything he had worked for but it would also probably endanger so much more in the long run. His voice was heavy but resolute as he spoke.

“That is of no interest for you in here, sharptooth. Go home now and we will all be happier in the long run. Trust me.” He said, not really expecting Stealth to believe him. The sailback inhaled briefly before he nodded at one of the fastbiters in a menacing way. At this point, Northwind knew in just what kind of a mess he was in. He cried loudly as the smaller sharptooth sank her claws into his shoulder, slowly tearing an ever wider wound into it.

Northwind frowned as he realized this was the end but even then, he would welcome if it was what the Bright Circle saw best. He only cursed that he had been unable to bring his wayward, treacherous daughter to justice. Glide had been the one source of shame in his life and one he would carry on to the next world. However, those thoughts weren’t known to anyone around him. The only thing they saw was a pained flyer hoping anything would release him of this pain.


That sight was a sickening one for Ruby. Even if the flyer had declined her heartfelt request, she still hated to see another dinosaur being tortured like that, especially by someone like Stealth. The sharptooth’s appearance made her frown deeply as even now, she would have lobed to see him suffer the same fate he was now bringing on Northwind. He’d deserve every second of it but even then, Ruby knew it wasn’t possible, at least for now. She glanced at Northwind’s companion whom she could see hiding among the nearby trees, a new idea forming within her mind.

If she could sneak up on him before he’d finally leave the scene, she could follow him and help this Lenel beat Stealth without him knowing and after that triumph, ask him to return Arial to her. She knew it was a long shot and that there was no way to know whether the flyer leader would agree to her request even if she was instrumental in beating the cursed sailback. Yet, that was her best option at this point and with careful movements, she started to head towards the other flyer, praying Stealth wouldn’t be able to notice her just yet.


Seconds passed slowly and Stealth was growing more and more impatient. The flyer was still silent even if his body was quickly being filled with deep and painful wounds. He then let out a loud growl as he ordered his followers to take the next step in their interrogation.

“Snap this fool’s bones one by one until the he finally speaks. Now, flyer, you’ll win nothing by making this more difficult. Just tell me what you know and this will be all over.” He said while crossing his arms. Northwind looked at him briefly before deciding there was absolutely nothing to be gained from answering. Stealth then sighed and spoke the only
words that he could at this point.

“Go on.”

Before Northwind realized it, two fastbiters on both his sides took a grip on his arms and applied more and more pressure to them by the second. The flyer cried horribly as he heard loud snaps coming from both of those limbs and as he felt both of them breaking completely. He then felt the same happening to his legs and he could do nothing but scream without an end. His torturers then moved to another spot on his legs but at this point, the flyer’s courage was broken. With tearful eyes, he looked at Stealth and spoke to him silently.

“Please stop this! Out here lies one of the most sacred places for our kind, the place where the most respected flyer ever to live gained the power to save our kind! We don’t know just what it is yet but my leader believes that with this power, he’ll be able to save our kind from its sorry state! But as I said, it is just a story among our kind.” He said, causing Stealth to approach him slowly. The sharptooth had an extremely suspicious expression on his face as he next spoke even if he was more than content that the smaller dinosaur had finally decided to do the only sensible thing in his situation.

“I doubt it is just a story, considering all the things I’ve seen around this place thus far. What are these “powers” you’re speaking of?” He asked, looking Northwind directly into the eyes as he asked that question. After the odd sky colors, he was willing to believe pretty much anything the flyer said. Northwind gulped deeply as he realized his failure but the lingering pain from his many injuries reminded him of the fact that he had no real options but to answer the question to his best ability.

“I swear that I do not know, Stealth! We only know that Olres became the best leader possible when something happened here! You have to believe me!” He yelled as he prayed in his mind that the sharptooth would believe him. Stealth looked at him with a pondering look for a while before finally asking his next question.

“Very well. Then, tell me which direction your leader is heading to uncover this secret? Where is the place you leader is headed to, exactly?” He asked, causing the flyer to cry in pain as he could no longer bear the horrifying pain that coursed through his body.

“I’m not certain where we are but if I had to guess, it should be to our right, in that direction!” He yelled as he nodded towards the northwest as moving his limbs was far too painful. Stealth frowned at that direction for a moment before he finally decided he was done here. He had learned everything he had to know from the smaller dinosaur and now was his time to show mercy. He spat the next words quickly as he thought about the best course of action.

“Very well. End his suffering. He deserves as much.”


Ruby couldn’t help but cringe as he heard Northwind’s final cry and the following sound of his throat being sliced wide open. Even after all that had happened, she hated to witness another dinosaur’s death. Even if he hadn’t been willing to help her, Ruby had seen that Northwind wasn’t a bad flyer, not at least as bad as most of the other dinosaurs whom she had met lately and for that, she couldn’t help but regret his passing.

Even then, her gaze turned to the other flyer who was staring at his leader’s end, knowing he wouldn’t stay here for long. Though, she had heard Northwind’s words as well so she knew more than well just where Stealth and the flyers were going. And indeed, it wasn’t long before the girl saw the sole surviving flyer leave the scene in shock, hardly able to understand just what he had seen. Ruby wasted no time heading after him, hoping he’d be able to lead him to Lenel… until she heard a call that made her blood run cold. The voice belonged to Stealth and it caused Ruby to stop in her tracks which made her lose the flyer immediately. Slowly, she turned to look at the sailback whose gaze was already upon the hapless omnivore.

“I thought a fastrunner would do a better job hiding her scent, Ruby. I don’t know why you’re here and frankly, I couldn’t care less. I only wished to remind you of the fact that I truly am willing to keep my promise to your wretched mother but if you keep on going on working against me, you will leave me with little choice. Consider this the last warning you’ll ever receive from me, brat. Stay out of my way.” He said with a heavy voice that made Ruby’s heart beat faster than in a long time. She was relieved that she was safe for
now but she had wanted to keep her presence hidden from Stealth. Now, that advantage was gone but with any luck, that wouldn’t matter.

She would look Lenel and wait for her time in the shadows and when her time to have her time to shine would come, the fastrunner knew she’d take it without hesitation. Without saying a word to the wretched sailback, Ruby disappeared into the forest, only one aim shining within her dark, hopeless mind: she’d save Arial, no matter what.

With these developments, the different groups’ stories are really starting to converge but there is still a long way to go before we’ll learn just how this night will end. Will Ruby succeed in finding Arial again and how will Lenel react to learning of his followers’ grisly ends? With this chapter, Separate Ways has passed 500k words, the second LBT fic to do that after the Seven Hunters. This is indeed a great milestone and I can’t believe this fic made it this far. I hope you’ve liked this journey as much as I have and see you again with the next chapter!

DiddyKF1: You’re right about the coming end of course and you’ve summed up many of the questions rather well. It is indeed true that Petrie and Lenel’s showdown isn’t that far away at this point and how will his reunion with his friends happen is also a big question at this point. It isn’t unfair to say that chapter wasn’t the most intense chapter I’ve done but I thought that tying different themes together before the end would be a good idea. Anyway, I believe this chapter was a bit more eventful and with it, the time for buildup is truly over.

Anagnos: It might be stretch to say that things are starting to look good for the flyers but it’s true that for a moment, they’ve had a moment of peace to prefer for whatever is coming. However, as you said, they will have a hard time opposing both Lenel and Stealth in the chapters to come but we’ll see have to see whether they’ll even have to directly clash with them. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t find Northwind and Grace’s conversation that captivating and in a way, I can see why. Anyway, I hope you won’t have similar feelings about this chapter.

rhombus: I really like your summary about the thoughts going on within Petrie’s mind as I indeed wanted to shed some light on just how Petrie’s current self has formed over the past years. The paragraph you highlighted was one I liked myself and that scene as a whole is something I’m quite fond of myself. It is true that Petrie is thinking about world in different terms than most others but as we saw here, those perspectives may also make it harder for understand his real thoughts and vice versa.

I must say that I’m rather interested in what you believe is going to happen to Petrie but it is true that any kind of conversation about that topic would very easily result in some accidental spoilers. As for the rest of your post, the stakes are indeed high but they were only raised further in this chapter. I don’t believe the next chapters will be quite what all of you except but that, of course, will have to wait for a little longer.

[Anagnos]

Well, I’ll start by saying that you managed to bring us yet another interesting and captivating chapter that brought a lot of new up. I actually feel like this might be one of the best chapters in a while as the new developments are introducing new portions that were unseen until now. In a way, this chapter was built on a very good way in its entirety and I personally felt like the way the plot is starting to progress with the current events most certainly will bring a lot of goodwill.

Each path that the characters have taken as of now will no doubt create much more turmoil as now multiple parties are interested in the notion of acquiring this paranormal power for their own needs, whether good or bad, but probably the lamentable veritability regarding these paths is that in the end, only one can succeed in their objective while the rest are let down in their ambition to pull of their schemes. It would be only probable to imagine that Ruby and the group would eventually triumph over the others by some unforeseen trick or like that, but that would be way too easy to accomplish this early on, so a lot of serious competition is to be expected to arise sooner or later.

It was notably hard to see these issues being resolved amidst Ruby and her companions, as with the disappearance of Arial only adding into their growing problems with not only the other rivaling factions, but this uncommon and yet engrossing entity that is apparently starting to control their actions, most definitely speaks volumes about their might which only makes one understand more why all of these factions are so adamant to gain that power for themselves. To further their own goals and possibly even make them powerful beyond imagination. And then the scene with Ruby severing her friendship with Ducky and leaving a potential good life in the process perchance forever to be unprocurable.

And just like that, the plot is getting more and more interesting as we go on, and like many have already expressed that the climax is nearing ever so close, it will be a while until we get to that point and on the way there will no doubt be very intriguing developments to witness as Ruby struggles with her life now more than ever and with a new ambition to accomplish before time runs out. I have no doubts that the upcoming misfortunes will be met with sheer determination to push further on. I will eagerly wait for the next chapter to see what will happen then.

[DiddyKF1]

The majority of this chapter was a rather saddening read. Yes, the competition is heating up, but the dying friendship between Ducky and Ruby just dominated this chapter. Supernatural things are beginning to happen, such as Arial's mysterious disappearance, and Ruby continues to slip further into insanity.

The most heartbreaking moment of all was Ruby finally shoving Ducky aside so heartlessly. For a moment, I briefly thought that Ruby had killed Ducky when she kicked her in the stomach so hard and her head smashed against a tree, but to know that the Swimmer survived forced a sigh of relief from me. However, with Ducky's role in Ruby's story apparently ending, the Swimmer's own story is left with an uncertain future, and it seems that the finale is brewing ever so nearer.

To top it all off, with the brutal slaughter of Northwind, Lenel has just lost one of his most trusted companions and strongest allies. This will surely weaken his chances of accomplishing his mission that now so many are trying to race for. We're only just beginning to see how this race is affecting everyone, and you are doing a masterful job at showing the growing tension between the different parties who all want this strange power for different reasons. This is beginning to look like everyone's on their own quest that could determine the fate of the entire dinosaur world (or not; it's probably just me being sarcastic).

[rhombus]

   The initial scene to this chapter truly sets the tone as Ducky grows more and more concerned about Ruby and her mental state of mind, while at the same time questioning what has happened to their friendship.  Ruby has taken losses that would have shattered many people and yet she is still hanging on... barely.  Though I fear that her questioning which thoughts is hers and which are not does not bode well for anyone.  Neither, for that matter, does the presence of Stealth and his companions.

   As for Lenel's journey to the lights it does shed some light on his state of mind. He is initially dismissive of his three lost companions but then only relents and orders them some assistance upon being reminded that the lights might be watching them and casting judgment.  I suspect if the lights are judging him that they will not take kindly to the nature of his act of benevolence.  A good deed done merely for personal aggrandizement or benefit is not really a good deed at all and says little good of a person's true character.

   And yikes!  Ruby's despair upon losing Arial is understandable, as is, in my opinion, her reaction to this final straw.  She has blamed herself for the loss of her parents and for her family's own predicament so now, lost in despair and depression, she obviously wants to right one wrong (get Arial) and then to prevent further harm to the others. 

   The conversation with Northwind says much about not only Ruby's desperation, but also the arrogance of the flyers.  It is interesting that while they wish to honor their leader's wish "to make the world a better place" that they do not see the hypocrisy of themselves doing little to actually benefit anyone other than themselves.  I must admit that this makes the almost instantaneous karma all the more satisfying as he was promptly ambushed.  Ruby's plot as she sees this going on is quite understandable, now she can perhaps leverage helping out the other flyer in order to find Arial.  Though, as Ruby disappeared into the shadows, I felt a distinct chill.  Now it seems like even as everyone is arriving at the same destination they are, quite fittingly considering the title, going their own separate ways.

   This is quite the interesting installment that makes me wonder where things will go from here.  Though it was a sad chapter with much misery and despair, I also see the potential seeds for resolution.  Though whether the final resolution will be in the benefit of Ruby and her companions has yet to be seen.

[Sovereign]

Tale of the Fourth Survivor

The flyer breathed heavily as her eyes scoured the landscape around her. The complete silence of the Cold Time seemed eerie even for the female as all of the sounds she had been used to hear in the warmer seasons were completely absent. The only thing that prevented the world from falling into noiseless darkness was the light of the Night Circle that was illuminating the wide plains surrounding the Land of the Dancing Waters. It was a beautiful sight in many ways but Haste was far from interested in admiring the lonely yet captivating sight around her.

Soon, she moved to look at the other flyers around her. Being left behind from Lenel’s search had been an unpleasant surprise but in the end, it wasn’t any kind of setback for her. Haste even smiled a little as she thought about her situation as now, she could surprise Lenel even more thoroughly once she’d find him again. She would catch the pale flyer and she would take his place in the herd, no matter what. Lenel had already had his moment, now it would be her turn to bask in the glory of leadership!

Slowly, the female turned her hand into a fist as she prepared to give the sign she had shown to her followers. Haste investigated at those around her who were still more than likely loyal to Lenel but even then, the vast majority of the dinosaurs around her answered to her only. She’d make sure that the others wouldn’t hinder her plans in the least and for that, she needed the coming assault to be a surprise to them. Haste turned to look at Grace and nodded to her, implying that the time had come. Suddenly, Haste raised her hand towards the sky and let out a low but loud screech.

Immediately, the silence broke down completely. The flyers who still answered to Lenel were flabbergasted as their companions suddenly started to turn on them in a threatening fashion, not having the slightest idea about what was happening. They were beyond shocked as they saw their companions being beaten or forced into the ground and the last ones who still resisted this development tried to band together while one of them cried in shock.

“What the hell are you doing?! Lenel told us all to work together!” The male yelled but those words hardly mattered to Haste. She walked towards her last opponents, spitting the next words towards them in disgust.

“Lenel’s commands are no longer followed here! That fool will fall this night and from this point on, all of you will answer only to me!” She cried, causing the four dissident flyers to look at her in surprise as none of them had known of their leader’s doubts about Nira’s sister. They were more than horrified by this turn of events but even then, they wouldn’t give up just yet. They had pledged their allegiance to Lenel and they’d hold that oath for as long as they could. Haste looked at them in disgust but even then, she couldn’t foresee what happened next.

One of the flyers by her side suddenly turned to look at the renegade female and cringed deeply. He started to walk closer to Haste and revealed his claws which flashed in the dark of the night. The flyer had left her back completely exposed as she had been more than confident that none of her own would stand against her. He was just about to slash at the other flyer’s exposed neck when Grace suddenly noticed what was happening. She wasted no time charging towards the traitor and crying to her leader in alarm.

“Haste, look out!” She yelled as she tackled the male into the ground. Haste’s eyes flashed open in shock as she turned to look behind her, more than surprised to see the sight that greeted her eyes. While Grace had managed to halt the attack towards Haste, the male had managed to turn that blow towards the deputy and his claws had sank deep into her face and he only made those wounds deeper and more horrifying by the second.

Haste and two of the closest flyers closest to the fighting duo immediately charged towards, trying to take out the traitor as quick as they could. Haste refrained from seriously hurting her former follower just yet as she wanted to hear everything she could from him before sending him into the Great Beyond. However, just before the male’s grip on Grace started to weaken, he managed to kick one last time at her throat, tearing gaping wounds in it. It was at this point that Haste realized that her wounds were most likely deadly but before she would worry for her deputy, she locked the male into the ground and spoke to him in an enraged voice.

“What is the meaning of this, Clearsky? What the hell do you think you are doing? You’ve served me faithfully for fifteen Cold Times yet you throw it all away like this? Why?” The female wasn’t in any way interested about his motives but she wanted to know if there were more probable traitors among her ranks. This situation was a new one for her as thus far, she had thought that she could trust in her followers. However, those thoughts seemed to have died with this betrayal and the male spat on Haste’s face just as he started to speak.

“I served you like you served your sister and everyone else around you! I thought you were more capable than Nira but then I realized that you’d only bring pain and suffering to our entire kind! Besides, I knew Lenel would reward me well if I could tell him that I had taken out his possible competitor. Well… at least I got your deputy.” He said as he glanced at Grace who was grasping for another breath with ever-increasing difficulties.

Haste looked at the other flyer in disgust, not finding anything more to say to him. She looked at the male flyer in revulsion one more time before stomping on his throat with all her might. Clearsky’s eyes flashed wide open as life left his body, causing Haste to turn towards her loyal deputy. However, she lied completely still in the ground and as Haste bowed on her side, she could see the obvious. Grace was already gone, killed by a treacherous bastard in cold blood. Inside, she shuddered as she thought about the fact that she could lie in the ground instead of her deputy. It had only been Grace’s courage that had saved her from that fate.

Even then, Haste wasn’t a flyer who would be terribly shaken by something like this. Her heart had been hardened at the very latest as she had killed her sister and losing her ally meant very little to her. She rose to her full height after a few seconds, noticing that the last vestiges of the battle had been snuffed out. Of the last four flyers to stand against her, two lied dead and the two others were battered into submission. All of Lenel’s followers had been gathered together, clearly waiting for Haste’s decision. The female walked towards them, trying to hide her shock as best as she could. If she wanted to overthrow Lenel, she’d have to make a good enough impression. She cleared her throat silently as she started to speak.

“I’m happy to see that most of you surrendered without a fight. Know that from now on, Lenel will no longer be your leader and that I, Haste, will be the only one who can command any of you. In return for your loyalty, I will promise to rule over our herd justly and righteously. But before any of that can come to being, Lenel will have to fall. How many of you are willing to give up your oaths to that bastard and cast your lot with me?” She asked, willing to get into the main part of her plot as soon as possible. At first, the female was shocked to see the flyers before her simply staring at her in fear but at first, no one seemed to be ready to serve her. After a few seconds, one of them asked carefully.

“But… only Lenel can claim Olres’ powers as he is his heir after all! You cannot return the flyers to our former glory!” He asked with a fearful voice, hoping that objection wouldn’t turn out to be his undoing. Haste narrowed her eyes as she approached the lower-ranked flyer, not amused with his words at all. She looked at him in fear, speaking to him with a trembling voice as she hoped to win Lenel’s loyalists to her side.

“All of that is a lie. Lenel is a moron if he believes there is something here that would make him as powerful as some made-up hero of the past. All of us deserve better than to chase hatchlings’ tales for days on end into a cold hell such as this one. No, I only want to lead our own herd and I’ll do so by protecting us from real dangers instead of pursuing something that doesn’t even exist!” She said, causing Lenel’s followers to glance at each other in fear. None of them liked this in the least as all of them had done their all to help Lenel in his quest. Yet, none of them wanted to meet their ends here either and after a few, heavy seconds, one of them finally bowed before Haste and spoke in a forced voice.

“Very well, Haste. I hope you are a worthy leader for our herd and all its members.” He said, his tone revealing it beyond a doubt that he was saying those words even if he disagreed with them deeply. The others followed their companion’s example and even if Haste knew that they didn’t serve her because of actually supporting her, this would have to be enough for now. She nodded at her new followers slowly, slightly relieved that this part of her plan had been a success.

“So be it. Follow me today and I’ll deem you as an integral part of my herd and your service under Lenel will be forgiven. Let’s go.” She said as she turned towards the forest, knowing that this night would end in either her victory or her joining her deputy in the next world.


Lenel wasn’t sure about whether or not he should be frustrated or amazed as he looked at more and more of the lights gathering around him. On one hand, he was beyond annoyed by the fact that he hadn’t managed to make any progress in his plan just yet but inside, he could feel that something spectacular was happening around him. The forest was starting to look as bright as it was during the day as the orbs of brightness started to surround him and Sireia ever more profoundly. He took a deep sigh as he looked around himself, speaking to his mate in expectation.

“Beautiful, isn’t it, Sireia? I can’t help but feel that we’ll be successful in whatever challenges we’ll be facing.” He said as he looked at the brightened canopy of the trees, just wondering what kind of miracles would be waiting for him in the next hours. Sireia looked at the male in appreciation, not able to hide her own gladness about what was happening.

“Indeed, my love. I just wish they’d speak to us and tell what we have to do or at least where we’re going! This is getting a bit too weird for my tastes.” She said, looking at Lenel with a conflicted expression. She would have wanted to break the silence herself but on the other hand, she knew that this was Lenel’s journey most of all. She’d be happy to share it with him but it was up to her mate to decide the best way to move forward. The pale flyer narrowed his eyes slightly as he heard those words, agreeing with each of the female’s words.

The pale flyer had hoped that the night’s course of action would have been revealed to him as soon as he reached this land but on the other hand, he had to admit that it would have been foolish for him to assume he would become the new Olres without any real effort. Even then, his patience was starting to wear out. He wouldn’t be taken for a fool by anyone and for both his and his mate’s sake, this was the time for him to demand answers. He was just about to speak when he heard a horrified cry from his right side.

“My leader! Lenel! Please listen to me!” The pale flyer frowned as he turned to look at the direction of the cry, immediately recognizing the voice. However, to his shock, before could act, the other flyer knelt beside him, grabbing his wing while sobbing uncontrollably.

“It… it was horrible, my leader! Th… there was… nothing I could h… I’m sorry, Lene…” He started but the other male had already had enough of the other flyer’s apparent panic. Before he could finish, Lenel hit Plunge in his cheek, causing  him to stare at his leader with wide eyes. The light-colored flyer stared right at his follower, spitting out his next words with a voice that dipped with outrage.

“Never approach me like that again, fool! And now, tell me where Northwind is or I’ll make sure you’ll regret ever coming back to me!” He said, realizing inside that he acting much harsher than he should have but his nerves were already stretched too far for him to really care. He looked keenly as Plunge started to recite his tale with a tearful voice.

“They… they are dead! Both the first group we were looking for and my companions…they are gone. Including Northwind.” He said, causing the other male’s expression to fall immediately. Of all his followers, he had respected Northwind the most and deep inside, he had even liked his deputy. Northwind had always been a loyal dinosaur who had shown true devotion to him and from Lenel had seen, he had also been a good flyer to those around him. With a heavy heart, he realized that his grip on his herd had just grown much weaker. He was still thinking about those implications when Sireia demanded the lower-ranked male in a sickened voice.

“What happened out there? What could kill so many of our companions! Speak!” She said, equally disturbed by this news. She had seldom spoke to Northwind herself but she knew very well just how important he had been to his herd. Plunge turned to look at the female and he gulped deeply as he saw Sireia’s harsh but compassionate expression. His voice calmed down slightly as he prepared to give his answer.

“We… tried to find the others as you commanded and we did find them… but only after they had been torn to pieces. We were ambushed at that same place by a large sailback and… and his large herd of fastbiters and halfteeth… only I and Northwind survived that horrifying moment.” He said, causing Lenel and Sireia to exchange worried looks. Northwind’s death and the sailback’s appearance were close to the last things they had wanted to hear as that made their position far more risky.

Sireia gulped as she looked into the dark forest, just wondering what she’s do if a bloodthirsty sailback suddenly ran towards her from between the woods. Inside, she had to wonder whether she’d be able to even raise her hand before she’d share her companions’ fates. Shivers suddenly ran through her as she listened to the wind howling within her ears. Even Lenel’s tone was far friendlier than before as he addressed his shocked follower.

“I hope you led that beast as far away from us as possible, Plunge. I hope you made sure we’d never have to see that sailback again.” He said, his voice careful as he spoke. An encounter with a sharptooth at this point would be a disaster and Lenel hoped nothing more but for his wish to be confirmed. However, the other male’s dark expression dampened the pale flyer’s spirits greatly and as he started to speak, the light-colored flyer started to feel his heart grow cold. Plunge himself was visibly haunted by his own words as he stared right at Lenel’s eyes.

“We soon stopped our escape to try to find out how we’d best get back to you. However, that was a terrible mistake as Northwind was ambushed and… and he was tortured horribly before the sharpteeth finally slaughtered him in cold blood. Before his death he… he revealed just what we’re looking for and… and where it is located.” He said, those words finally causing Lenel’s eyes to grow wide with horror. He started to shudder slightly as he put his hands on his follower’s shoulders and asked in a trembling voice.

“Do you mean… do you mean that the sailback is heading here? That… we’ll have to fear for his assault with every passing second?” He asked, the flyer’s expression disturbing Plunge greatly. He had never seen Lenel reveal his fear this profoundly before and that sight was an unnerving one for him. However, his voice was far calmer than before as he gave his answer to the higher-ranked flyer’s question.

“Indeed we do. That is exactly why I wanted to warn you as soon as I simply could.” He said, shivering terribly as he looked at the direction he had come from. Sooner or later, another bloodbath would begin, one that could very well mean the end of his entire herd. Plunge shook his head tiredly as Lenel suddenly turned to look back at him, his voice suddenly taking an outraged, even scary tone.

“How could he? I’ve trusted Northwind my entire life but even then he goes and betrays me like this? I made my worst mistake ever by trusting that bastard in t…” He spoke but to his surprise, the other flyer interrupted him with a low voice. His eyes seemed to bore into Lenel’s as he answered the higher-ranked dinosaur’s smears, the duo’s shared horrors forcing him to defend the late deputy.

“Stay silent about things you know nothing about, Lenel! Northwind stayed loyal to you until the end and he resisted that torture for far longer than anyone, including you, could have demanded! No dinosaur can last for longer if their bones are being crushed to pieces one by one! Show some respect to those who’ve giv…” He spoke but at this point, Sireia stepped forward and kicked the other flyer to his knee, causing him to fall into the ground while wincing in pain. Before he realized anything else, Sireia had grabbed his throat and hit him again in his cheek with a heavy force. The female then hissed in anger, not willing to stand such arrogance from anyone, especially from such low-ranking flyer.

“Never speak to my mate like that again! He deserves much better than to be attacked by weaklings such as you! Make sure this is the last time you’ll ever insult your betters.” She said, releasing Plunge after she had finished. The male dropped into the ground, panting as he looked at the female. His expression was a bitter one as even now, he couldn’t stand Lenel insulting Northwind’s memory but there was nothing more he could do. He merely nodded before speaking in a silent voice.

“Very well, Sireia. I’ll remember those words.” He said, clearly voicing his displeasure. Lenel snorted at the other male’s antics and spat out his next words in annoyance.

“You’re dismissed. Get out of my sight!” He said and Plunge wasted no time doing as told. The pale flyer looked into the darkness for a few seconds before speaking to his mate silently.

“What should we do? We cannot face a sailback out here.” He said, the depth of his concerns surprising even Sireia. It was a shock to her to see her mate’s mood change this quickly but even then, she was here to help him to her best degree. In fact, she loved Lenel’s more compassionate and emotional side as far too many flyer leaders acted as if they always knew everything and that nothing in this world would ever cause them any concerns. Lenel had the same pride and ambition as they did but he lacked the arrogance and pompousness that seemed to characterize so many other male flyers and that was one of the main reasons she wanted nothing more than to be his mate now and forever.

“We can’t, dear. We’ll have to find some open place… or try to get to the main part of our quest quicker.” She said as she nodded towards the floating lights. At first, Lenel was unsure about what she meant but after a few seconds, he understood. He had never wanted to risk this journey by trying to be pushy towards this unknown force but on the other hand, he couldn’t just follow them for hours without even knowing where he was going. If he wanted to ever rival Olres’ glory, he’d have to demand this power for himself and prove he truly was worth it. Lenel took a brief breath as he raised his gaze towards the flying lights and yelled in a loud voice.

“You honored allies of the great Olres, forgive me for my arrogance! But as you heard, we are terribly threatened by a hostile sharptooth and in order to protect ourselves and the sanctity of this place, we need you to give me the same power you gave my ancestor so very long ago! I promise you that I will walk in his footsteps and use these powers to protect you from anyone who would cause you harm as well as to the glory of all flyers.” He said in a loud, steady voice, his eyes keenly locked on the odd beings around him. The male couldn’t help but wonder what they really were but with any luck, he’d learn of that later.

A long moment of silence followed those words as the gathered group of flyers glanced around themselves, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Many of the lower-ranked dinosaurs shuddered visibly as they thought of the incoming assault, praying Lenel could save them from this sickening situation. Sireia cringed slightly as she took a small step towards Lenel, willing to give him all the courage she could. Lenel could hear his heart beating quicker and quicker by the second as he saw one of the lights moving closer to him.
His gaze fell slightly as he heard the ghastly but beautiful voice starting to speak.

“Are you certain you are ready for this, descendant of Olres? We have no need for any kind of protection so it is up to you to prove you are capable of wielding our gift of wisdom and strength for the good of both your kind and the others. But should you fail, you will lose everything you have gained thus far.” The voice said as Lenel crossed his hands. He was far from happy with those words but on the other hand, what should he have hope for? For this mythical power to simply be handed over to him without any further questions? Even if he was beyond fearful at this point, the flyer knew he had only one answer he could give. He’d be certainly overthrown in his herd if he stepped back at this point. Lenel
took a deep sigh as he gathered his courage, looking towards the lights with a proud expression.

“I wouldn’t have devoted my entire life to this quest if I were going to lose courage on the verge of my destiny. I’m ready to go through any test you put me through so bring it on, now!” He yelled, his heart feeling as if it wanted to escape from the flyer’s chest. He frowned as the lights started to gather around him, an eerie feeling starting to rise within him. But even then, he was the dinosaur who would pass on to legends after his death and he certainly wouldn’t fail at this point!

Suddenly, the pale flyer’s head felt as if he were being span around endlessly and deep vertigo started to manifest itself within Lenel’s mind. But even as his conscious started to fail, his resolution never faltered as Lenel sank deeper and deeper into darkness…


“Where they now? Me said we should have followed them far closer!” Petrie said as he turned at his friends. He knew that it was very unlike him to blame others for their common decisions but right now, he knew he had been right. It had been Ortin’s idea to keep a longer distance between their group and that of Lenel’s and it had been that idea that had allowed them to lose track of the other flyers. Ortin crossed his arms and looked at the other boy with a clearly upset expression.

“We had to make sure we wouldn’t be seen before we attack Lenel! Also, you did agree to our plan yourself so keep your complaints to yourself!” He said with a resolute expression even if he agreed with Petrie inside. But when they had headed after Lenel, none of them had known just how dark it would get in this forest after the setting of the Bright Circle. After a few seconds, Petrie took a brief sigh, telling the other boy he wasn’t on the mood to argue.

“Me know, me know. It’s just that… me afraid we lost out here. We only know Lenel head straight north but… we don’t know if he decides to change the direction out here. Petrie not like this at all.” He said, looking askingly at Glide. So very often, she had been able to give some thoughts on how to best move forward and even now, Petrie hoped she could help him somehow. Glide, however, merely snorted as she gave her answer.

“I know nothing more than you do, Petrie. The only thing I know is that we cannot afford to waste time around here. If Lenel gets what he wants, it’ll be all over for us! So let’s go!” She said, immediately heading towards the direction the small group had gone to earlier. However, Ortin was far from confident about that idea.

“How about the sailback we saw earlier? We have no idea just where that monster is.” He said, realizing just how dangerous the trio’s situation really was. Glide, however, rolled her eyes as she turned to look at him, clearly annoyed by that question.

“What about him? In case you didn’t notice, the sharptooth wasn’t even near this place and it’d be extremely unlikely if we somehow met him here!” The girl said with a frustrated voice. Ortin, however, frowned slightly as he gave his answer, his many priorities slowly starting to get on his nerves. He had no reason to be upset with Glide but the stress of this moment was starting to affect his mood greatly.

“Yet, if we do meet him, we’re as good as dead! Just think about it Glide: yes, we have to reach Lenel in time but if we get complacent, we might not be alive to prevent his plans! We didn’t come this far simply to be killed because we’re so damn careless!” He spat out, causing Glide to take a heavy breath as she turned to look upwards. She shook her head a few times in annoyance before she shot back at her companion.

“Then what do you want to do, Ortin? Stay here and wait for some miracle? Or perhaps crouch through the night in the ground and pray we won’t somehow get slaughtered?” She asked mockingly and Ortin’s expression confirmed his growing anger. Petrie looked at the duo sadly, hating how this journey was going thus far. He would have loved to see all three of them throwing their own egos aside at least for now but apparently, that wasn’t to be. The boy sighed deeply before he joined the conversation just before Ortin could rebuke Glide’s poisonous words.

“You both know what we have to do! We must move fast but we also need to stay safe from any possible attacks. Petrie know this difficult to all of us but every moment we spend fighting here, the more time Lenel has to find what he’s looking for! So let’s go and hope we’ll be in time to stop him instead of fighting each other here!” He cried, causing Glide to roll her eyes. She then looked Ortin with a triumphant expression before she headed into the darkness.

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along! I’m sorry, Ortin, but perhaps you should listen to us more next t… Ouch!” Petrie’s eyes flashed open as he heard the girl’s sudden yell from nearby, his blood immediately running cold as he thought about the potential implications. He immediately started to head towards Glide but the next second made him stop immediately. It was as if he heard a ghost from a previous life suddenly speak to him, as if his imagination had suddenly took control over his mind. Yet… the voice he heard next was so very familiar that he’d recognize it anywhere.

“Look where you’re going you stupid beakbrain! Haven’t I already been through enough without you walking over me! Get out! GET OUT!” It simply couldn’t be! Petrie could only stand in place as he stared at the direction of the voice. The words were very unlike him but… but the voice was something Petrie knew he’d never be mistaken over. Suddenly, the flyer’s heart started to pound ever harder and soon enough, he realized he simply couldn’t hold his legs in place. He simply had to go make sure his ears hadn’t deceived him. The boy cried in a loid voice that was far more cheerful than any tone he had spoke on in ages.

“Littlefoot? Is that you? Please, answer Petrie and say it you!” He cried, the longneck’s form slowly coming to his sight from the darkness. Yes, it indeed was him! After all this time, he’d simply find his old friend in this distant land by accident. He grew slightly more worried as he noticed that Littlefoot was covered in countless scars and wounds and he resembled more a skeleton than his old self. Even then, there was no mistaking his distinct color and his face. This was the longneck he had known back in the Great Valley.

However, just Petrie was moving to embrace the other boy’s leg, the longneck suddenly turned towards him and with a quick whip of his tail, sent the flyer into the air before the latter hit the ground in shock. The smaller dinosaur fought for breath as he looked at the skies in deep shock. What… what had just happened? Had Littlefoot just done what he thought? Certainly, there was a mistake somewhere out here. He turned into a sitting position and cried at the longneck with a fearful voice.

“Littlefoot, it me, Petrie! Do… do you not recognize me?” He asked but as his old friend turned to look at him, the flyer’s distress only worsened. There were many deep, fresh wounds just below his left eye and his whole expression dipped with pain and hate. The longneck started to slowly walk towards the flyer, his voice wavering bitterly as he spoke to the smaller dinosaur.

“Oh, I know just what you are. Haven’t I already suffered enough without this place haunting me with visions about my old friends? HAVEN’T I GONE THROUGH ENOUGH? JUST LEAVE ME IN PEACE ALREADY!” He yelled, causing Petrie’s eyes to widen in fear. As he saw the murderous look on the longneck’s face, the flyer suddenly rose to his wings and flew to a nearby branch, hoping he’d be safe in there from the enraged longneck. He frowned as he saw Glide also flying away from the scene, landing on another branch near to him. The girl spoke to her friend in a shocked voice.

“Is this really the friend you were looking for? He’s utterly insane!” She whispered, only a modicum of compassion apparent in her voice. Petrie breathed deeply before he briefly glanced at the female, clearly at a complete loss of what to say. When he managed to form his next words, his voice stuttered deeply as he tried to voice his thoughts.

“Yes, he Littlefoot but… he not himself at all. Glide… please be silent and let Petrie handle this. You too, Ortin.” He said as he nodded to his two friends. Both of them nodded back at the boy, knowing they had very little to contribute to this reunion of the two old friends. Petrie gulped deeply as he thought about what to say next. He felt as if his heart was getting crushed at the mere thought about what had happened to the longneck in the past season. He was completely out of his mind and Petrie didn’t even want to know what had happened to him. After a brief moment, he managed to finally answer the longneck in a meek, worried voice.

“But me truly is Petrie, Littlefoot. Just look at me and you know me speak the truth!” He said, causing the longneck to look at him with a disgusted sneer. It was clear that the longneck didn’t even want to answer that question but he was just too broken to even deny company when he was offered some. His next words were accompanied by tears as he glanced at the flyer again. The latter was getting increasingly sick for Littlefoot’s sake as he listened to his bitter wails.

“I’ve seen you already enough times to know you are nothing but a crappy mirage! I’ve seen both you, Cera, the others, Shorty and even my grandparents during the cursed trials of this place! I thought that at least my failure would release me from seeing my dead friends but apparently I wasn’t even granted that mercy! If you are anything like the real Petrie, go to hell and leave me in peace!” He yelled, kicking the tree Petrie was sitting on. Petrie’s heart ached as he heard those words, exchanging a worried expression with Glide as he thought about those words. Did Littlefoot mean that everyone he had mentioned were dead? Hoping that he’d get through to the longneck, he asked in a soft voice.

“Littlefoot… do you mean your grandparents and Shorty are… gone?” He merely asked, praying he had understood wrong. However, as he saw Littlefoot’s tears intensifying, he realized his hopes had been proven wrong. As the flyer heard the longneck’s next words, his shock only continued tro deepen.

“Do you have to make me tell all about that as well?” YES, THEY ARE ALL DEAD ALONG WITH DAD! I SAW IT ALL WITH MY OWN EYES! I KNEW YOU CAME ONLY TO TORTURE ME FURTHER!” He yelled, making the flyer’s mind go to overdrive. Not even in his worst sleep stories could he have imagined just a grisly fate for someone as kind as the longneck. He leaned towards the tree’s trunk behind him as he thought about it all.

He had never really known Bron nor Littlefoot’s grandparents personally all that well but from what he remembered, they had shown nothing but kindness and grace to those around them. His grandparents had always been a voice of reason in the Valley and to the flyer, they had always been friendly and encouraging whenever they had spoken to each other. They had even sacrificed their position among the herds in order to protect Ruby and Chomper when they had first come to the Valley and again when they were about to be exiled from their temporary home.

Even worse, Petrie knew full well just what those two had meant to Littlefoot. He had always been there to see just how deeply they missed Littlefoot when he was gone, just what kind of joyous reunions they’d have… The flyer could hardly keep his own thoughts together as his reflections moved to Littlefoot’s loved ones.

Inside, Petrie had had a very negative view of Shorty ever since his disastrous visit to the Valley during Littlefoot’s Big Longneck Test but… he also knew the green longneck had never been evil in any way nor had he meant ill. And certainly, he didn’t deserve whatever had happened to him. And Bron… the boy could very well remember the comfort and courage the longneck had given him during their brief times together. Petrie’s voice wavered deeply as he tried to answer to the other male in a shuddering voice.

“Me… me so sorry for all this, Littlefoot! Me so sorry all this happen to you!” He said, causing the other dinosaur to sniff slightly. He glanced at Petrie in annoyance, not really caring about anything Petrie had to say. His voice was filled with loathing as he spoke next.

“Well, no pathetic vision can help me, that’s for sure! I’ll likely wander here forever before I’ll die and it’ll only be a good thing as at least then I’ll be able to join Cera and the others! I have no place to return to! And then you only decided to make everything even worse! Screw you and everything that lives in this cursed place!” It took a moment for Petrie to realize that Littlefoot still thought of him as some vision and even if he was hurt by Littlefoot’s tone, it was still a slight relief to know that the longneck wasn’t actually talking to him. Yet, the mention of Cera caused the flyer to frown deeply as something within his mind told that Littlefoot knew just what had happened to the threehorn. Petrie gulped deeply as he prepared to ask the obvious question.

“Me know this not a funny question but Petrie has to know… what happened to Cera? Did you see her after the Sand Cloud?” He asked, causing the longneck to look at him with a more broken expression, one that was no longer even angry, just horrified. His voice was a heavy one as he answered to the flyer.

“Yes, I did, but only for a short while. She… she never made it out from that desert.” He said, the words hardly intelligible as his tears fell down his cheeks. The longneck shuddered deeply, the situation clearly a terrible one for him. Petrie felt his heart growing heavy as this revelation was the first, total confirmation that one of his friends was dead. Yes, he had suspected that all along but the news of Littlefoot’s survival had sparked a new hope in the flyer but at least when it came to the threehorn, those hopes were now snuffed out for good. Even if he knew it’d hurt him terribly, Petrie spoke to the longneck in a careful voice.

“Me sorry but… please tell Petrie what happened. Me just have to know.” He said but at first, it seemed like the longneck wasn’t even listening to him. He just stared forward without any signs of consciousness but soon enough, the boy started to speak in a faraway, haunted voice.

“It wasn’t long after we lost the others in the sharptooth attack. I was lost and alone in the sand cloud and I was desperate to rejoin the rest of my friends. Those were horrible moment and ones during which I felt more desperate than ever since losing mother. No matter what I did, I couldn’t find my way out of that cursed Sand Cloud… or so I thought.”


Littlefoot coughed countless times as the sand filled his lungs. The sight around him was a chaos of raging winds and flying sand and it seemed to cover everything around him in an impenetrable shroud. Even if the longneck tried to move forward as well as he could, he felt as if he wasn’t moving an inch in any direction. The situation seemed more and more dystopian as the fear for his friends’ survival filled his mind.

Where were they? Had any of them even survived the encounter with the sharpteeth? The boy tried to cast those thoughts away from his mind, declining to accept that even as a possibility! All of them had to be here somewhere! They simply had to! He would leave no stone unturned out here until he’d find every last on of them and take them home to the Great Valley as he had done so many times before! He breathed more deeply by the second as he tried to force his way through the raging winds, knowing that he simply couldn’t afford to waste any more time, not before he and his friends were together again.

As fear continued to grow within his mind, Littlefoot decided that he simply had to move as quickly as he could to maximize his chances of finding the others. Even if it was increasingly difficult, the longneck started to run with all his might. Certainly one of his friends had to be near him and he’d never forgive himself if he wouldn’t be there in time to help them. Luckily, the sand cloud was starting to die down somewhat which increased his visibility at least a b…

Suddenly, the longneck stopped in his tracks as he noticed something that caught his interest. There was a large rock in front of him and there seemed to be some kind of lone form lying beneath it. At first, he wasn’t sure what to think but soon enough, he asked in an unsure tone as he continued to approach the other dinosaur.

“Cera? Is that you?” He asked simply, looking as the female’s eyes flashed open in shock. She looked around herself urgently before her eyes caught a glimpse of the male approaching her slowly. She immediately rose to her feet and cried back to him cheerfully.

“Littlefoot! You did make it after all!” She yelled as she dashed towards the longneck who couldn’t hide his joy at this reunion. The two embraced deeply as they savored the glory of this moment. Littlefoot looked the threehorn at the eyes as he gave his heartfelt answer.

“Yes, it is me, Cera. Have you seen any of the others?” He asked, hoping he’d get some kind of hints from the female but Cera shook her head in clear fear. She looked at the slowly clearing skies of the desert before answering her dear friend.

“Nope. I tried to hide under that rock until those sharpteeth would be far enough. I… I had already thought I’d be the only one of us alive.” She said with teary eyes, her feelings a mix of loss and relief at her friend’s survival. The boy frowned at those words, not capable of judging Cera for trying to wait out the storm before making her next move. Even then, he had to ask the obvious question from the other young dinosaur.

“You haven’t seen any of the others since… that moment?” He merely said, causing Cera to look at him sadly. Her answer was a simple and mournful one but even then, she wouldn’t abandon her kind’s outlook on the world even now.

“I’m sorry, Littlefoot. I’m afraid that… none of the others have survived.” She said, tears starting to flow down her cheeks as she looked at her oldest and closest friend. Littlefoot looked at her in clear regret but even then, he was nowhere ready to give up. After a few seconds, he spoke again to the threehorn, trying to sound at least a bit more encouraging than before.

“We have to believe they did, Cera. I am sure the others got away from the sharpteeth as well. I’ll never forgive myself if any of us got into trouble because I was unable to find them in time.” He said, looking Cera right in the eyes. The threehorn returned that look after a few seconds and even if she was clearly beyond skeptical, she didn’t want to believe in the worst just yet.

“If you say so, Littlefoot, Let’s go then and hope you were right this time as well.” She said, earning an approving nod from the longneck. At the very least they had now found each other so maybe it wouldn’t be impossible that they and their friends could soon be together once again.


Petrie’s breaths grew quicker by the second as he listened to the longneck’s story, not able to believe his ears. His friends had been out there looking for him while he was lying on top of that high mountain, trying to get his wing healed as quickly as possible. If he had only been there with Littlefoot and Cera… how many tragedies could have been avoided? Would there soon happen something that he could have prevented had he just been with his two friends? He could simply stare at the terribly distressed longneck silently when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. He didn’t even flinch as he heard Glide speak to her.

“I’m sorry about all of this, Petrie. I had hoped we’d get at least a bit better news.” She said, even now having little compassion towards the longneck or the threehorn but she had come to accept that Petrie saw things at least a bit differently. Petrie turned to look at the girl before speaking to her, his voice beyond miserable.

“So had Petrie. Littlefoot completely crazy and Cera dead… why this have to happen?” He said silently, his expression a pleading one as he looked at the girl. Glide wanted to help Petrie in any way she could and soon, her expression lightened as she realized something that made her even smile.

“Hey, I got an idea, Petrie! The longneck did say that something bad happen to him here as well, didn’t he?” She asked, causing the boy to frown slightly. Ortin looked at the girl oddly, clearly more than unsure what the other flyer was speaking about

“What do you mean, Glide? What does that have to do with anything?” He asked, even more suspicious about the longneck than Glide was. The latter looked at her friend with a slight frown before she gave her answer.

“Isn’t it obvious, Ortin? If we manage to prevent Lenel from succeeding, we can try to somehow use this place’s powers to help Petrie’s friend! If they caused at least some part of this to him, they can certainly reverse it as well!” She said, causing Petrie to look at her hopefully. His voice dipped with happiness as he asked the female.

“You… you really do it to Petrie? Are… are you sure?” He said, blinking as he waited for an answer. Before Glide could answer, Ortin decided to join the conversation.

“Are you insane, Glide? This place is worth far more than helping some stupid longneck! We have to make of this land that we simply can!” He said but those words didn’t sit well with Petrie. He stepped forward and spoke to the other flyer, his voice dipping with anger.

“Never say that again about Littlefoot! He the best dinosaur Petrie ever met and even if he act weird now, me sure me can still make him see sense!” He said, causing the other boy to look at him in annoyance but before he could answer, the longneck ended his brief pause in this story, immediately prompting Petrie to look at his friends in a murderous look which told both of them to stay silent again.

Petrie turned back to look at Littlefoot, regretting that he couldn’t ask him any further questions in the fear that he’d decline to recite the rest of his tale. Petrie’s heart ached as he listened to the longneck’s tale but he owed it to Cera to hear just what had happened to her. Littlefoot acted as if he hadn’t heard the three flyers’ conversation at all, his broken voice just as monotonous as before.

“We moved on together for nearly an hour, our thirst increasing by the second. Yet, we managed to ignore that for the time being but to our disappointment, we didn’t find any of the others. However, we were a bit relieved to see that we were approaching the edge of that desert but…” At this point, the longneck sniffed bitterly, causing Petrie to realize the story was going from bad to worse.


The duo’s endless march was starting wear them both off and Littlefoot was growing more and more dispirited as the long minutes dragged on. The longneck continued to stare towards the horizon, not able to cast away the sickening feeling of knowing that finding his friends was getting more and more unlikely by the second. At this pace, he would have to come to accept the unacceptable if there wouldn’t happen any unexpected m…

ROAAAR!

The longneck’s eyes flashed suddenly open as he continued to look behind himself. His heart started to beat horribly as the looked at the desert, knowing full well what that sound meant. He turned at Cera quickly and cried to her in alarm.

“Follow me, Cera! We have to get somewhere safe, now!” He yelled, knowing that the threehorn wouldn’t disagree with him. Indeed, the girl looked at him in horror as she spoke.

“Of course we do but there’s nothing out here! Where can we go?” She asked as the duo ran forward as fast as they simply could. Littlefoot frowned deeply as he ran forward, trying to feverishly find any place that could save him and Cera. The sharpteeth were nowhere to be seen but he knew very well just how much faster the fastbiters were than he and his friend were. Once they were close enough for him to see them, it would already be too late.

“I don’t know, Cera, but we have to t… Wh… what is that?” He yelled as he saw low hills rising in the distance. That in itself wasn’t a surprise out here but there seemed to be some kind of hole in their base. As he moved closer to that spot, Cera cried to him in relief.

“It’s some kind of gorge, Littlefoot! That’s the best place we can hide in out here! Maybe it even blocks our scent from those damned sharpteeth!” She yelled, earning a relieved nod from the boy. He knew that the ravine wasn’t the ideal place to hide in but at this point, it was the only real choice. The longneck glanced at his friend encouragingly, hoping that this discovery would save them from certain death.

“Let’s hope so! It’s better than nothing, at least!” He said as he ran to the opening of the gorge, looking at with slight disappointment. It was wide for enough for any sharptooth but maybe, just maybe, it could hide them from the sharpteeth. It was true that escaping from the predators would be difficult down there but on the open desert, they would be caught certainly. The duo ran into the increasingly deep ravine before Littlefoot finally called to his friend.

“Let’s get behind that boulder, Cera! That’s our best chance!” He yelled and the duo wasted no time doing as the boy had said. Littlefoot panted as he covered into the ground, his lungs feeling as if they were going to explode. He then whispered to the threehorn, hoping the worst was now behind them.

“Stay silent now, Cera. Let’s hope they miss us completely.” He knew it was a fool’s hope but that’s all he and Cera had at this point. The scene around them was utterly silent, even the wind having died down completely. As time went on, the longneck could even allow himself to calm down slightly. There was no sign of any sharpteeth anywhere nearby and there were no more roars to be heard anywhere. Maybe… maybe they had survived? He even smiled slightly as he heard Cera ask him carefully.

“How much longer do we have to wait, Littlefoot? I… I think we’re safe.” She said, looking at the serene sight around her. Even if the longneck hated to act rashly, he had to agree with Cera this time. The two looked at each other’s eyes for many seconds before the boy finally let out a sigh and spoke to the threehorn calmly.

“Very well. We can go on but let’s be careful. We don’t know where they ar…”

Suddenly, the scene changed completely. At first, the longneck saw slight movement from the corner of his eye and before he even realized what was happening, he saw a fastbiter dropping right towards Cera. He couldn’t even move his leg before his ultimate horror was right before her. The sharptooth dropped on Cera’s back, making her scream in deep pain. The beast wasted no time tearing into the girl’s back but at this point, Littlefoot had had enough. Fear completely absent from his mind, he charged at the predator and cried with all his might.

“Get away from her, you monster! Hang in there, Cera!” He cried as he hit the sharptooth in his side, sending the best flying into the ground. Cera looked at the predator with a hateful look and wasted no time charging right at him. Littlefoot looked in shock as he saw the girl’s horn sink into the fastbiter’s throat, causing his blood to stream heavily everywhere around him. The sharptooth gasped in fear as he rose to his feet, bringing his hand to his throat, feeling the terrible wound and realizing the danger he was in. Suddenly, the sharptooth turned around and ran away from the ravine while crying in agony.

“That… that’ll teach those bastards to… never mess with a… a threehorn.” Cera said with an extremely forced voice, looking as if she’d fall to the ground at any moment. Littlefoot ran to her side, just in time to prevent her from collapsing into the ground. Instead, the that process was now a more gentle one but as she finally dropped to her knees and finally the ground, Littlefoot’s heart dropped immediately.

The threehorn’s back was completely torn open along with parts of her neck. The ground was a mixture of Cera’s and the fastbiter’s blood but even then, the longneck wasn’t completely desperate just yet. With some luck, Cera’s wounds could still be healed as the injuries in her neck weren’t quite as severe as they could have been. The boy looked at her with a worried expression as he spoke to her.

“It’s alright now, Cera. Just try to calm down and I’ll take care of you. We’ll get through this.” He said as he looked at the other dinosaur’s pained expression. At first, she tried to look at him with a somewhat encouraging expression but it wasn’t long before even that turned to fear. Her voice was an alarmed one as she spoke again to her oldest and closest friend.

“Look out, Littlefoot! You have to get away from here, now!” She said, looking at three other fastbiters gathering at the edge of the ravine, along with one other that was approaching from the gorge’s mouth. Littlefoot’s heart felt as if it was about to stop completely as he looked at the scene surrounding him, the implications refusing to register in his mind. He turned at the threehorn and cried to her in panic.

“Follow me, Cera! We have to get only a little further away and…” He cried but at this point, Cera rose her head from the ground to look at Littlefoot. Her voice was an annoyed one even if it was still filled with deep pain.

“Like this? Even a flathead… like you should realize that I’m… that I’m done. Leave without me, now!” She said as loudly as she could, eying at the quickly approaching predators around her. Littlefoot stared at her with wide, teary eyes as he pleaded to her in a deep, pained voice. This simply couldn’t be the end! He hadn’t met Cera on the most terrifying day of his life, only to build the warmest and best relationship he had ever achieved… only for that friendship to die out here!

“I cannot leave you out here, Cera! Think of all the things we’ve been through… Think of your dad and Tricia! They want you back in the Valley with them… as do I! Cera, please…” He said with a broken voice, causing Cera to snort at him heavily. Her gaze made Littlefoot’s heart turn cold as she looked at him, the mixture of decisiveness and sadness a sickening one for the longneck. Even then, her voice was also a soft and kind as she knew this would be the goodbye.

“Littlefoot… I would so gladly join them too but you can see as well as I do that I cannot take another step now and any hopes of escape are… are just crap. However, you can still survive this and as my oldest and first friend, I ask you to save yourself. Just think of your own family and about our friends… they still need you! Don’t sacrifice yourself for nothing… not for my sake.” She said while a few tears flowed down her cheeks. She thought about all the days in the Valley she had thrown away as well as the chance to see Tricia grow up and… and to one day have a family of her own.

But perhaps… most of all, she regretted that this was the last time she and Littlefoot would meet each other in this life. Of all the dinosaurs, it had been he who had changed her life for the better and even if she hadn’t always acted like it, she loved him in a way like she did nobody else. Without him… without him she would have died a long time ago and her life would have been much poorer in that case. Littlefoot shuddered terribly he leaned closer to her, not able to believe this was actually happening.

“But… I just cannot leave you here! I just can’t… I can’t leave you to die…” He said in a haunted voice. Hearing himself to say those words made something snap inside the longneck as he had never, ever before had come to accept something that monstrous. Cera had practically always been in his side… she was there when he lost his mother, she was there when he found the Valley… as well on all those beautiful days that followed. It had all been a beautiful dream… but that dream was coming to an end now. With forced movements, the threehorn forced herself almost to her full height but it wasn’t in order for her to try to escape… it was an effort to encourage her dear friend.

“Get out of here now, Littlefoot! Get out of here or I’ll show you that a real threehorn can beat a flathead like you no matter how badly injured she is! Go and tell daddy what happened here! Leave, now!” She said, hitting at the ground as hard as her weakening legs let her. Littlefoot looked at her in shock, her eyes widening as he saw the expression on the threehorn’s face. She had never seemed this resolute before and no matter what, she’d do Littlefoot her last favor even if he didn’t want it. The longneck gasped for air as he looked at the fastbiters who were closing in on him from each direction, knowing this was the moment of goodbye. Not able to hold his tears, he looked at Cera as he turned around.

“I will, Cera. I will. Please… be alright.” He said before starting to run, immediately realizing just how stupid those words were. Even if they had seemed like they’d encourage him, he realized they’d only hurt Cera more. He looked behind himself in growing despair, seeing as the sharpteeth surrounded the poor threehorn who could only sob and cry as her inevitable end approached. The moment he heard his old friend’s last cry was the moment Littlefoot’s world froze still… even if that would be only the first one of the tragedies that would follow him during the weeks to come. His only solace was that the sharpteeth seemed to be content with their meal, deciding against pursuing him any further. With a still, broken gaze on his face, Littlefoot left the scene, leaving the happy days of his life behind forever.


Petrie didn’t even realize that he had been staring into the horizon for minutes on end, only the slight rising and falling of his chest implying he was even alive himself. Littlefoot’s words were too monstrous for him to even believe and that story was even more horrifying than anything he had gone through himself. Poor Littlefoot… first this and if he had truly lost his family as well…

Poor, poor Littlefoot.

Ortin slowly moved closer to the other boy and asked him careful, not even he being able to dismiss the longneck’s heartfelt words completely. Yes, he might still loathe him for being a longneck but even then, the things he had told were just too horrible for him to fathom. The bluish flyer stopped on Petrie’s side and spoke to him softly.

“I’m sorry, Petrie. No one should have gone through this.” He said, not really finding anything else to say. Even then, he wanted to be at least once there for his friend, Petrie didn’t seem to even notice the other flyer’s presence, instead looking at Littlefoot and speaking to him carefully.

“That more terrible than Petrie thought, Littlefoot. Me… me understand just why you act like you do now.” He said, not exaggerating in the least. If he had gone through that and after that, lost his family in addition to his uncle… the flyer couldn’t help but shudder in shock and fear. The longneck, however, was far from happy about his friend’s words. He suddenly returned to his earlier mood, crying bitterly at the other boy.

“No you don’t! You weren’t there during all of those weeks and besides, a shadow of this place can understand absolutely nothing! You already managed to make me feel even worse than before so just get out of here! Things are already bad enough without me being forced to believe that I might one day reunite with any of my friends! Just leave, now!” He yelled again, this time more resolutely than before. The flyer looked at him with a bothered look as the longneck approached him slowly. he couldn’t do that but how could he ever hope to make Littlefoot believe he really was Petrie and not some vision that had just come here to torture him further? However, it was at this point that the flyer’s thoughts were interrupted again by a new shock.

As his dear friend walked closer to the flyer, Petrie noticed something that made him feel even worse. There was a gaping wound in Littlefoot’s neck, one that was still bleeding. With forced movements, Petrie pointed at the injury and spoke weakly.

“Littlefoot… allow us Petrie least to tend to your wound! It look really bad!” He said, hoping that his old friend would be at least that reasonable. However, those words hardly made the longneck stop his approach, the male’s voice getting only darker and darker by the second.

“Simply to make it even more painful? If you won’t leave me this very second, I will make you regret you ever came to haunt me! Let me at least suffer here in peace!” He cried as he hit the tree with his tail, making it shudder heavily. Glide looked at Petrie with a pleading look knowing that what he was about to say next would hardly sit well with Petrie.

“We cannot change his mind, Petrie. We… have to leave him alone for now.” She said, causing the other flyer to look at her as if she had just betrayed him somehow. His voice was a stuttering one as he spoke to the girl, the boy not able to believe what he had just heard.

“Absolutely not! Littlefoot need our help and he might even die because of that wound before we get back! We cannot leave him alone!” He cried but he was even more surprised when Glide answered him immediately with an even harsher tone.

“If he doesn’t allow us to help him and if he doesn’t believe that we’re us no matter what we tell him, there isn’t anything more to us out here! We can’t do anything more to him, at least not before we can help him with Olres’ powers! I know you don’t like it but it’s our only way forward!” She said, causing Petrie head drop towards the ground as he tried to come to terms with it all. Of course, Glide was right but… he couldn’t abandon Littlefoot now that he had found him after all these weeks of searching! Besides, he had to know what had happened to the longneck’s family! Even then, the flyer twitched heavily as Ortin took his hand before he spoke to the other flyer kindly.

“She is right. That is the only way we can help him. I know you don’t want to believe that but that is our only way forward. Let’s go, Petrie.” He said, looking as Petrie stared into the ground with teary eyes. His heart and his brain told him very different answers to this dilemma but even then, the answer was obvious. One option led to only further sorrow and pain while the other could lead to some kind of salvation for both and his friend. With weak movements, the flyer nodded at his friends while he yelled to the enraged and horribly broken longneck with a tearful voice.

“Littlefoot… stay here until we get back. Petrie promise that we will make you feel better than we get back. Please listen to Petrie this one time.” He yelled as the longneck looked at him bitterly. As the trio prepared to take off, the longneck looked at them mockingly, hating himself for even speaking to the flyers who had been only sent to torture him further.

“You’ll never succeed in making those spirits of that long-ago battle believe you are worthy of their help! You’ll see soon enough!” He cried before suddenly cringing and falling into the ground, cringing in pain over the gaping wound in his neck. His mind was a complete mess right now and he had no longer any idea on what to think or believe in. But the one thing he did know was that his friends were gone and he wouldn’t let this place insult their memory any further.

Petrie, on the other hand, cringed deeply as he looked at his friend’s pained struggle, praying that he would be back in time to help him survive this sickening day. Cera might be gone but Littlefoot was still here and by the Bright Circle, he’d make sure he’d survive this ordeal and that he’d return to his old self at least to some degree. The flyer shuddered as he followed his two friends, truly wondering if this journey would have a happy ending.


Lenel struggled for breath as he tried to see something, anything around himself. He felt as if his lungs were being crushed in his chest as he tried to move in the absolute darkness around himself. The sensation was one of the most disturbing ones the pale flyer had ever went through, even more so because he had absolutely no idea about what was happening. Was he dead? Had he lost his mind? Or was this some stupid trick of the lights that acted as some test for him?

As seconds passed, Lenel started to calm down, something inside him telling him that he wasn’t in an immediate danger. Suddenly, he felt that his feet were again touching something solid below himself, causing Lenel’s composure to return quickly. This had to be just some challenge and in the name of all flyers, he’d make it through whatever was to come! He suddenly turned to look upwards and yelled with all his might.

“Stop the games and let me prove my worth! We’ve wasted enough time!” He cried, all of this slowly starting to get on his nerves. He had proven his worth many times over and he’d take what was rightfully his! Suddenly, a small beam of light started to penetrate the darkness and the pale flyer shielded his eyes as a completely new scene started to form around him. At first, he was confused at what he was looking at. It was him, Sireia as well as his herd, including Pterano who was still alive. He was visibly distressed as well as clearly severely depressed. The flyer frowned deeply at that sight, more and more unsure as he heard himself speak to his mate.

“It’s all over, dear. I’ve failed us all. I tried to keep all of us together but… but Nira and Peak wouldn’t listen to reason. Our… our herds will part ways tomorrow for good. You know what that means?” He asked, causing the female look at him in clear worry, clearly as unhappy as her mate was. Her voice was heavy but it was clear she still wanted some direct
answers.

“I do but… but why didn’t you stop them? Surely we could have done more to keep us all in one herd… surely there must still be a way!” She suggested, desperate for some solace. The pale flyer shook his head as he looked at her, already resigned to whatever reality filled his mind. His voice was a demanding but also pleading one as he spoke to the female.

“Like what, Sireia? We cannot force them to stay with us and especially Peak has turned his back to us for good. The only way to keep us together would be to… end both of them and hope their followers would submit to our rule.” He said as he shook his head. He simply wouldn’t do it, not even for his dream. Sireia, however, bowed towards her mate and whispered in a silent voice.

“Aren’t you willing to do that, my love? After all we’ve gone through, are you willing to let this be the end of our lifelong ambition?” She asked, clearly willing to her the male’s decision. The pale flyer raised his head to look Sireia in the eyes and it wasn’t long before he gave his prompt answer. There was no sign of hesitation within it, only clear determination and bitterness.

“And what would I ever prove by doing so? Sireia, Olres managed to unite our kind by always leading kindly and by winning the other leaders’ loyalty and if I now attacked them, I’d never be able to rise to his level. No, I… I just failed.” He said, causing the real Lenel’s expression to fall immediately. He crossed his arms, immediately able to tell what this vision was supposed to say to him. Eve then, he wasn’t in any way moved by this display and he suddenly cried with all his might.

“If you believe you can change my mind like this, you’re all mistaken! I did what I had to do for every dinosaur’s sake and I’m willing to take every responsibility for what followed! Sometimes a leader must do a lesser evil for the greater good and by the Bright Circle, I won’t be intimidated by any of this! My conscience is clear!” He yelled, knowing that the mysterious beings would hear his call. Within his mind, he knew that he would have just been turned around if it had already been decided that he would never pass the tests before him. Lenel snorted as the vision suddenly changed before him into something completely different.

Gone were the gloom and resignation of the previous conversation, it having been replaced by a scene that made his heart suddenly ache in his chest. It was a bright Warm Time’s day, similar to the one to the day he had first met Sireia… and one that lacked none of the happiness of that blessed moment. It was he and his mate… looking at five eggs that were growing more and more shaky by the second. It wasn’t long before one, small beak broke through the egg’s shell, soon revealing the rest of the hatchling’s head. Even if this was just a vision, Lenel couldn’t help but yearn to take his imaginary self’s place. His heart swelled as he saw the expression on Sireia’s face, never having seen her quite this happy before. He could see the rest of his original herd in the distance, all of them willing to give the new parents all the peace they needed.

Unknowingly, Lenel stretched his hand closer to that sight, knowing just what he was supposed to learn from all this. This was a scene of what could have followed had he simply accepted the defeat of the last vision and inside, the pale flyer knew this wasn’t far from the truth. Had he simply embraced his old role as the head of his small herd, he very well could have finally founded a family with Sireia… and likely strived to make his followers stay as safe as possible. In fact, he could be living those blessed days this very moment had he chosen differently in this most pivotal moment of his life.

However, it wasn’t long before the male’s expression grew more hostile again. Again, he raised his head to cry into the darkness, knowing that his path had been the righteous one in the end.

“Yes, I could have had this by now but for what? I know very well that all my children would have known would be constant struggles and fighting against the other flyers! You know very well that I want them to grow in safety and knowing that they’ll live through their childhoods! Don’t even dare attack me through this issue!” He yelled, increasingly annoyed by what he was hearing. Of all the arguments against his actions, this was one of the most outrageous and stupid ones. However, just as the flyer was fuming about that issue, the scene suddenly changed again and the male frowned deeply as he looked at the sight that was opening before him.

“Oh, you sure know a lot, uncle! Or at least you know a lot about these flyer stories! Where you first learn of the Stone of Cold Fire?” Petrie asked, causing Lenel to bring his hand to his chin. This was the first scene where he wasn’t in himself and that made his heart suddenly heavier. His last encounter with Petrie had made him despise the boy deeply but deep down, he couldn’t help but feel a slight sign of remorse lingering.

Petrie had turned his head on him only after the loss of his uncle and Pterano’s loss was still something that bothered Lenel slightly. He looked with a torn expression as his late deputy chuckled deeply and smiled to his nephew.

“It’s a long story, my dear nephew. But believe me, you’ve already taught me more than I can ever teach you during my life. I know pretty very little of real worth. But if you really want to know, I first learned of it during my journey over the Big Water ten Cold Times ago…” He said, the duo’s approving and warm expressions causing the flyer’s face to grow more torn by the second. Yes, Pterano had accepted the plan to assault at Peak and Nira but even then, the leader knew very well he hadn’t had a real choice.

Without that fateful decision, the scene in front of him could be a very plausible one. As the pale flyer looked at Petrie’s cheerful face, he couldn’t help but feel bad for him and all the pain he had been forced to endure. Lenel’s heart seemed to jump to his throat as he suddenly noticed the young flyer’s expression turn slowly ever darker while the sky around him turned black and the frozen sky stars started to fall all around him. Lenel looked at the boy sadly, looking as he lied on all of his four limbs, tears falling to his ground while he shuddered hysterically. It wasn’t long before Lenel turned to look to his right, noticing just what he was observing. Before him lied the lifeless corpse of his deputy, forever tearing
the warm bond he had just witnessed apart forever.

At first, the pale flyer tried to force that out of his mind, knowing very well that dozens of flyers died violently each and every day. This scene was in no way important and this noble sacrifice was more than needed for a greater goal. However… unlike most of the other deaths, this never needed to happen. As Lenel thought of Petrie and what happened to him, he realized he could never look the boy in the eyes and say that losing his uncle and ending the joyous days they had been through together. Especially after he had done the same to one of the poor flyer’s only friends’ family…

As those thoughts filled Lenel’s mind, the scene changed once again. To his shock, he was looking at Peak and his children laughing together in clear and deep joy. The pale flyer could tell they had just finished some flight lesson and he could see that even Peak himself was more than happy by whatever had transpired. It was a very noticeable difference from his usual self as Lenel had only known the orange dinosaur as a forever-angry and annoying moron who only caused pain and fury to those around him. As he looked at the children, he started to feel even worse about it all.

Here they were in front of him, preparing for whatever futures they had before themselves without any worries about what would happen tomorrow. He could very well see depth of optimism and appreciation within their eyes and that scene would have been a happy one… hadn’t he slaughtered this family with his own hands. Lenel tried to tear his gaze
away from that sight, slowly starting to question his own deeds. As he thought about it all, he heard a voice inside his head that made him more distressed than before.

“After all of this, how can you claim your deeds were noble and worthy of our blessing? Have you done anything else besides ruining dozens of lives and ending countless others?” The voice asked, causing the flyer’s brain to ache terribly. In this moment, he could find no real answer but even then… the pale dinosaur never lost his fixation on his final objective. Slowly, words started to pour out of his mouth even if he hadn’t quite thought them out.

“I… I regret nothing! All of the things I’ve done had to be done if our kind ever wishes to live in peace without fearing about the other herds’ attacks all the time! I… I’ve saved countless lives by sacrificing these few! You know that has been my goal all along!” He yelled but even then, the aching in his head didn’t seem to ease at all. Slowly, something happened that made Lenel feel more miserable than at any time thus far in this vision. All of the previous scenes seemed to become one but this time, there was no sign of life in any of them. Or rather, they were some parts of the previous scenes and it was a truly terrifying one.

Before him opened a wide plain full of dead and terribly slaughtered flyers and even worse, he knew every one of them. Among the dead were Peak, his family, Nira and every one of those who had died because of his plan to attack Peak and Nira on that fateful night. Even if the pale flyer would have wanted to deny that fact, he still knew he could have avoided making that decision. Back then, he had believed he needed all of the four leaders’ herds to find this place and to make the claim to being Olres’ successor but right now, it felt so different.

Deep inside, a new feeling started to form. One that regretted that battle without an end and one that hoped that he could stand here today with a pure heart even if that meant that his herd would be a little bit smaller. Suddenly, something seemed to change inside the usually-proud leader as he realized that every one of these flyers had died for nothing. Or rather, they had died because of his pride and arrogance. The male started to shudder as he thought about the monstrous situation but even now, there was some part inside him that told him not to completely give up just yet. But he would have to make amends to pass this most personal of tests.

“I understand now. I did a horrible mistake by launching that attack but even then, I believed I did the right thing back then. My heart was pure even if I did wrong and for that, I apologize!” He said as he looked around himself, hoping that his words would be heard and that he would receive another chance. At first, nothing seemed to happen and for a moment, a new fear started to rise within the pale flyer’s mind. What would happen next? Could he rejoin his herd finally or would there be more sorrows and scenes to come? As the male waited and stood in the darkness, there was one other doubt and accusation deep within him that he couldn’t quite identify. Even then, that made those long seconds even more oppressing but the flyer knew he had no option bit to wait and see whatever would happen next.

However, soon he hoped he would have never even thought those things. The scene started to suddenly become filled with light, causing the flyer to hide his eyes from it. He could hear some hissing sound growing louder and louder and when he managed to finally open his eyes again, Lenel’s mind froze completely. Balls of light started to slowly rise from the corpses of each of the fallen flyers, a development that caused the light-colored dinosaur to take a step backwards in shock.

What in earth was happening? What was the meaning of this? None of this made any sense but even then… he couldn’t ignore the implications of what he was seeing. Were the lights that had guided him here… were they some kind of souls? And had the ones that had died because of him… joined them? Had they already decided that he was doomed to failure in his quest? The lights started to circle around him threateningly, starting to engulf the flyer himself in their mysterious dance. Lenel started to panic as his entire world started to become filled with this odd phenomenon, not able to help but feel that everything he was doing would be for naught.

He tried to fight that fear with all might, trying to tie all of his thoughts around his mission. To the moment where he’d unite all the herds and to the moment when he’d hear his entire kind sing their praises to him… but to Lenel’s growing shock, he couldn’t bring his heart to those thoughts. No matter what, he couldn’t quite rally around the glory of his destiny, his heart reminding him that he was nowhere a good enough flyer to dream about such things. The flyer cursed deeply as he realized he had failed, clinging to the only thing that really mattered to him: his mate.

Lenel’s distress grew only worse as he felt some hands grabbing his feet, dragging him into the darkness below him. As the male looked below himself, he could see bloody flyer hands around his feet and ankles, turning his earlier fear to full-blown panic. Tears started to fall down the proud flyer’s face as he started to stutter with a pitiful voice.

“Forgive me, Sireia! I tried to my best for both of us but… but I failed. But know that all I did was for your glory. Live a good life, my love.” He said as his chest sank into the endless darkness but… but that was the last moment of Lenel’s horrific vision.


Terrible gasping escaped the flyer’s mouth as he woke up, trying to catch his breath as he rose to a sitting position. At first, he saw only dark silhouettes of trees around him which was a great improvement from the endless darkness he had just witnessed. As he lowered his head slightly, he also saw a wide river in front of himself that was partially covered by a thin layer of hard water. Before the male could even starting to worry about his whereabouts, he heard a worried and fearful voice speak to him.

“How are you feeling, dear? What happened to you?” Sireia asked as she stared at her mate’s eyes. Lenel looked at the female with wide eyes, bringing his hand to his forehead, trying to calm down. He could see the rest of his heard looking at him with conflicted expressions, each of them confused by what was happening to their leader. Lenel took a deep breath before asking his mate.

“I… I’m alive. But what happened here? Where are the lights?” He asked, willing to know just how he had moved to this place even if he had been unconscious. Sireia was far from content with that answer but even then, she could understood the male’s eagerness to know what had happened.

“They told us to bring you here for some reason that I do not know. You were unconscious for nearly half an hour and during that time, I couldn’t wake you up no matter what I did.” She said, causing Lenel to look in front of himself and taking another deep breath. At the very least nothing had happened to Sireia during his mental absence but… had he failed or had he passed the test. He whispered to the other flyer in a silent voice, not willing to risk them hearing what he was about to say.

“I… I thought I was going to die. I was alone… alone in the darkness with absolutely no one by my side while being forced to confront everything we’ve done… since we took out Nira and Peak.” He said, really wondering how that ordeal had really ended. Had he succeeded or failed? Even then, at this point the male knew what he had learned during that vision: he hadn’t done all he had for his own but rather his mate’s sake. Sireia looked at the other flyer with a worried expression, not sure what to make of his comments. After a few seconds, she asked him softly, far from worried about what she heard.

“What about all that? We did what we had to and it was all because of those fools. Don’t worry…” She said before Lenel cut her short with a haunted expression. He was slowly starting to calm down but even then, there were some parts that he simply couldn’t get over. As he spoke next, Lenel moved even closer to the female, willing to make sure there was zero chance any of his words would reach the ears of his followers.

“We never had to do that, dear. I thought we needed to but it was all my folly. It really was a mistake and one that many others were forced to pay dearly.” He said, causing Sireia to look at him in clear conflict. This change of heart was a worrying one for her and she wasn’t in any sure why her mate would suddenly act like this. Even then, she wasn’t deeply worried about what to make of the other flyer’s clearly confused words and she simply decided to address him in a kind voice.

“Well, we did what we thought was right. But in any case, what about our quest? Did you find out anything new?” She said, willing to make the male think about more comfortable issues. Lenel cringed slightly as he rose to his feet, clearly thinking about what to say. In a few seconds, he sighed as he started to speak.

“I’m not sure, my love. I really don’t know whether I did the r…” He said but before he could finish, the flyer stopped speaking as he looked in shock at a new sight before himself. The forest on the other side of the water path started to glow with a ghastly light, one that resembled the color of the gleaming spheres that had guided them forward. In this moment, Lenel could simply look at that sight, wondering just what waited for him out here.

Despite his earlier mental anguish and the uncomfortable truths he had learned about himself, this had to be a sign that he was still given a chance to redeem his family. Despite his flaws, the lights hadn’t turned their backs on him and his prize waited out there, finally within his grasp. However, this moment was soon broken when one of the other flyers guarding the scene screamed in a loud voice.

“Gather your ranks, everyone! The sailback and his pawns are here!


It appears as if another major conflict is approaching quickly but its real stakes are still unknown. Stealth’s attack might very well spell the end of Lenel’s ambitions but how does that battle relate to Ruby, Petrie and the shell of a longneck that once was Littlefoot? This chapter got a bit longer than intended as I realized that we needed to hear the longneck’s story only after I had started to write this installment. However, I’m pretty happy with the result and I hope you enjoy this long and sad chapter as well.

Anagnos: I’m extremely happy to hear that as I wanted to up the ante after the two rather low-key chapters. It’s also true that only one group can be victorious in this quest but I would advise against jumping at any conclusions just yet. I don’t know the ending myself just yet but I’ll do my best to avoid making it predictable in any way. The power haunting them all is more powerful than any of the dinosaurs might suspect but it will also make sure not to surrender to the wrong person after Liras’ debacle. It’s good you liked this installment and I hope this new one continues that streak.

DiddyKF1: Yep, that duo’s relationship was the center of the tension of this chapter and Ruby’s mental state is continuing to deteriorate by the second. I wanted their parting to be a shocking one but killing Ducky like this wouldn’t have made her justice and it would have been very cheap to end her tale like that. She will be seen again, that much I promise. As for Northwind, yes, his loss is a setback for Lenel but… well, you’ll see how he continues his quest.

rhombus: Lenel’s character is really quite a mystery as there are moments when he acts like a true leader and there are times when he is a complete monster. Despite his fixation on his supposed destiny, this new chapter tries to also show he hasn’t sacrificed everything on the altar of power.

And yep, Northwind might act hypocritically but he, as well as Lenel, actually believed their plan will help other kinds as well by restoring some long-lost balance in the world. And indeed, the characters are one by one reaching their positions for the final chapters and this new chapter finishes that sequence. All in all, thank you for the long and detailed review!

[Anagnos]

To say that this chapter provided some serious knowledge concerning what is roughly around the corner would be a massive understatement. The chapter contributed in terms of emotional conflict within the characters struggling to overcome the rising crisis that just won’t let up even for a brief moment. Still, I did manage to find some controversies that I wasn’t fully satisfied with.

I believe I am not the only one when I say that definitely something big was about to take place sooner or later, but not in quite this magnitude. The chapter did a very good job overall to speed things up a bit, but even so, hastening the pace may be a valid way to make the conclusive confrontation so much more intriguing, I am very content with the pace we are currently on. Haste’s imminent betrayal was to be expected, but even I couldn’t start to fathom what her ambitions could have included.

It is one thing to pretend to be an ally to someone and later stab them in the back when they least expect it, but the lengths Haste went with her agenda was a crucial revelation about her inner characteristics. Although in her flush of victory, she ostensibly disregarded the fact that someone else might try to hamstring her schemes before they had a chance to be put into action. The oncoming developments with these particular circumstances are going to create some profoundly engaging plot points in the future for sure.

And what is more than likely the highlight of this chapter has finally come to light; Littlefoot, despite his growing dilemmas indeed managed to survive his encounters with many dangers, albeit with some physical and emotional scars, much to the dismay of not only Petrie, but later his companions as well. And even if they have no real attachment to Littlefoot, it was rather nice to see them try to be as sympathetic and helpful as possible. Albeit, my main point of critique here would be that Littlefoot’s appearance perchance came off as too convenient to adequately accept. The overall execution could have been handled better, but it was a comparably inconsequential in comparison of what that respective scene brought. That and the line ’’FUCK OF, EVERYTHING’’ just managed to unnerve me for the most part, as it doesn’t explicitly fit into the narrative.

Lenel’s visions about all of the unpleasant deeds he did, while sort of understandable considering the circumstances that took place, was brilliantly written overall and it made me feel a bit sorry for the flyer in question that despite his resolve to be the best he could be, ultimately all was proven to be in vain. Furthermore, all of the people he has killed to get to this point, like he himself said, were completely for nothing but his own greed and ambition that clouded his reason. I like to imagine this as a scenario where a character is forced to make difficult decisions to protect the ones they love the most – a necessary evil, you might say.

Regardless of what I might have said about the newest installment, I throughoutly loved reading it from start to finish and with the recent development with Lenel not being able to gain this magical power of Olres and failing the supposed test of the ghosts, it will be phenomenally intriguing to see how these events will ultimately conclude. And with the arrival of Stealth, conditions are about to become quite extreme. Once more, a fantastic chapter you put together, Sovereign! It definitely was worth my time!

[DiddyKF1]

You sure do a great job with bringing forth a lot of excitement for what's to come while mixing it in with emotional turmoil that the surviving children have had to go through. Haste has really started to play the game of betrayal exceptionally well, and Lenel has found everything much more fruitless each and every moment that goes by. He is losing allies quicker than he can realize, and this will only further dampen his quest to obtain his supposed "rightful place in the world."

Littlefoot's sudden appearance came as a complete surprise, as was the broken mental state he is in, initially believing Petrie to be some sort of hallucination and no longer considering him a friend. This whole scene was such a heartbreaking read. He has completely lost his family, and he has lost faith in everything he has ever held dear, even those who he no longer considers as "friends." Petrie's heartbreak felt very understandable as he sees just what has become of his Longneck friend. He seems just as broken as Ruby is (considering the way she threw Ducky out of her life). I suppose Petrie can feel Ducky's pain now.

The way things escalated to an F-bomb felt rather strange, since I haven't known you to place F-bombs in your stories. It felt a bit awkward and somewhat un-LBT-like, but that's just my opinion.

Lenel's visions of his past misdeeds certainly gave him some sort of understanding between right and wrong, and he has to come to terms with the harsh realization that he has slaughtered many to achieve his selfish goals (including little children) for absolutely nothing. It's quite clear that he can sense that his mission will fail and all will be in vain, even if he tries to make one last desperate move to succeed in the least.

And finally, a cliffhanger that may just change everything ...

The fact that Littlefoot is still alive at this point provides very little relief as far as I'm concerned. To me, this is only the beginning of the end of the quest, now that we know the whereabouts of all four surviving Gang members. You've done a great job at slowly bringing the survivors together (even if Littlefoot's appearance felt just a little rushed), and you've gotten me even more excited for what's still to come as Petrie and Ruby get closer to achieving their goals to save those they hold dear in their hearts.

[rhombus]

This chapter begins with suspense and tension as Haste and Lenel both seek the ultimate goal that each thinks rightfully belongs to them alone.  The coldness of Haste really shines through here as she dispassionately deals with a traitor of her own even while she earns the surrender of several of Lenel’s supporters.  Despite Lenel’s arrogance and assuredness it appears that his position continues to grow more precarious as time goes on.

But, as you probably would expect, it is the appearance of Littlefoot that most caught my attention during this chapter.  Though I had expected to see him at some point in this story, his sudden appearance in this chapter, and his deteriorated mental state, was quite a shock.  This is true not only to this reader, but to Petrie and his companions as well.  The idea of Littlefoot being haunted with the visions of those he has lost is an especially cruel twist, though it does seem similar to the specters that Arial and Ruby have been seeing.  And, of course, Littlefoot’s act of pushing Petrie away is quite similar to Ruby’s pushing away of Ducky.  I can only imagine how seeing Littlefoot’s usual unlimited hopefulness and confidence be replaced with despair has shaken Petrie’s already burdened mind.

Then comes Lenel’s dream sequence and with it one final stunning revelation in this chapter.  Despite his confidence that he was doing the right thing in making the sacrifices that he made and the battles that he waged, the truth about his situation is finally revealed by the horrific vision.  Everything that he had done has been for naught in the end.  Though, with Stealth and his minions now approaching, perhaps he might have a chance for some measure of redemption.

Overall, this was a chapter of shocking revelations.  Though I must admit that I feel that Haste’s maneuvers in the beginning and Lenel’s vision at the end are the revelations that worked best in the narrative.  The sudden appearance of Littlefoot seemed a bit too abrupt to me though it did not take me out of the immersion of the chapter while I was reading it.  Though as we go into the final confrontations I do fear for what remains of the gang.  Whether they survive what is to come or not, it does look like that the deep scars of what they have lost will remain for the rest of their days.

[Sovereign]

A Reversal of Fortunes

Is it someone who looks like us?

Is it someone who acts like us?

Is it someone who sleeps beside us In a nest?


Is it someone who speaks like us?

Has a tail or a beak like us?

Or is it someone that we like the best?

Those words from that distant day lingered within Ducky’s mind as she looked at less and less blood leaving her stomach by the second and as the hurting in her head started to slowly die down. The last minutes had been extremely difficult for the swimmer, not so much because of her injuries but because… because of the implications. How could Ruby have done what she did? Ducky sat completely still, her eyes fixed on a large rock in front of herself. All of this felt beyond unreal.

For now, Ducky wanted to be left alone and so she took absolutely no contact with Orchid even if she knew the boy was just as distressed as she was. For now, she only wanted to think about all of this herself. Of course, Arial’s departure bothered the swimmer greatly but for now, her head hurt because she felt something she hadn’t truly heard before: one of her closest friends had cast her aside like some rotten treesweet.

And that brought her back to one of her most heartfelt songs ever. What was her and Ruby’s friendship anyway? Had it ever really meant anything to the omnivore? Deep inside, she knew that she and her friends had started to see each other as family rather than just friends and that included Ruby… and Chomper. But… but all of that was being challenged right now.

Yes, she had practically ordered Spike to get out of her eyes for a long time but… but even then, she had still loved him all of that time. She had never hurt her adopted brother and she headed after him almost immediately after she had left. As for all the times Littlefoot and Cera had fought with each other… she had often felt something irreversible had happened but even despite that, the two headstrong friends had always had it in themselves to forgive each other. As the swimmer looked into the forest, another thought rose to her mind.

Was there still a chance that Ruby would suddenly appear from among the woods and apologize for what she had done? Did she regret her actions enough for her to take this one step? As the girl looked into the darkness, she hoped for that to happen but… it never did. No matter what she wanted, she realized that the fastrunner wouldn’t be coming back. Suddenly, Ducky took a sigh and spoke without she even realized what she was doing.

“Friends shouldn’t hurt others and leave them alone in the middle of nowhere, no no no.” She said as Orchid turned to look at her in surprise. He had been extremely worried as Ducky hadn’t spoken in a long time and he was more than happy to see the oppressing silence finally broken. His voice was a heavy one as he spoke to his last companion.

“Nope. I… I just never thought this would happen. I’m so very sorry, Ducky.” He said, completely resigned to the sickening reality. Ducky looked at him oddly, not immediately understanding what he meant. After a few seconds she gave her answer to the omnivore.

“It isn’t your fault, Orchid. It wasn’t you who made Ruby to leave us like that.” She said while crossing her hands. She shuddered as a cold wind blew towards her from the darkness but even then, that was close to the least of her worries as she looked at Orchid. The boy looked before himself with wide eyes but even then, there was not a faintest hint of anger and bitterness towards his sister.

“It’s just that… I never thought she’d leave us alone. She and Arial are all I have. Surely she knows that we need each other now that… now that mommy and daddy aren’t here anymore. What kind of dinosaur abandons her family like this?” He said with a haunted look, the weight of the situation preventing him from even crying. Ducky looked at him in compassion, surprised by that question. It seemed almost like the boy had just read her thoughts and she answered promptly to the other dinosaur’s question.

“I was just thinking… I almost did the same to Spike once but back then, I was just so mad with him, I was. All through that time, I continued to love him but… it is far different with Ruby. Do you know what we spoke of with her a few days ago, Orchid?” She asked, slowly realizing that the fastrunner’s words had actually been very consistent which was something the omnivore regretted deeply. Orchid looked at her oddly and asked with a meek voice.

“What was that?” He asked, clearly interested by what the swimmer had to say. Ducky took another sigh, clearly uncomfortable with the subject as this entire saga with Ruby had taken away her most sacred beliefs: those of friendship and even family. Never before had any other dinosaur around her explicitly wanted to end their ties to another dinosaur. Before, there had always acted simply because they were enraged or just mad at each other but Ruby… Ruby hadn’t made her aims a secret to anyone.

“She said to me that our friendship will reach an end shortly and that it was never meant to exist for long. I was heartbroken by all of that, I was, but your sister clearly meant what she said. I, on the other hand, always believed that we would be friends forever but I was wrong, yep, yep, yep.” She said, earning a forced sigh from Orchid. The boy moved closer to the swimmer, his voice a silent and saddened one as he spoke.

“That’s what we were taught but… I never wanted that to happen to us. I… I just want the old Ruby back! Not that paranoid, unsure Ruby but the one we both knew!” He wailed, his composure finally starting to break. Even Ducky, who only wanted to believe the best about her friends, was growing worried about her own apathy.

Deep down, she started to feel the same feeling form that had caught her feud with her brother on that distant Cold Time. Yes, Ruby had gone through terrible things but so had damn right she! Ducky grew worried as those sentiments started to grow but after her own journey, she didn’t want to only be Ruby’s caretaker nor the one to whom she’d lay all of her troubles. She deserved what better than that.

“I just wonder what’s left of that Ruby. Never before has any of my friends hurt me nor have they made it clear that they don’t want to see me anymore! No one has to go through that, nope, nope, nope.” She said, all of Ruby’s oddities returning to her mind. Yes, she needed her help now more than ever but the swimmer didn’t have energy for that anymore. All she wanted was to return to her family and try to restart her battered life. However, Orchid turned to look at the female with wide eyes, not able to believe his own ears.

“You cannot be serious, Ducky! We cannot leave her out here all alone! She needs our help! It was only this place that made her act like that! If we just get her out of here, she’ll return to us, you’ll see!” The boy said, clearly not believing his own words. Ducky looked at him with half-closed eyes, clearly far from convinced by what she was hearing. Her voice was a weary one as she spoke.

“How do we know this isn’t what Ruby really wants? She started to act oddly before we even reacheded this forest!” She said, causing Orchid to jump in front of the swimmer, this time speaking in a far more urgent voice. His eyes nearly burned with annoyance and urgency as he spoke.

“Come on, Ducky! You know very well all of it was connected to this place! Just think of the time she blacked out without any reason and when she claimed to have seen all of those odd things! That wasn’t something my sister would do by herself and you know it as well as I do! Ducky, you said that you were bothered by Ruby abandoning your friendship. But if you leave her to suffer because of whatever is affecting her thoughts, you do the same! It isn’t Ruby’s fault any of this happened! She needs our help and we cannot turn our back to her now! Deep down, she is still the same Ruby we both know and I’ll do my all to bring her back!” He yelled, causing Ducky’s interest to finally rise. The swimmer cocked her head and spoke carefully.

“How do you know this, Orchid? I would really want to help her as well but… I do not know how.” She said, a new thought rising within her mind. Even if she didn’t believe she could help Ruby, she simply couldn’t leave Orchid and Arial out here alone. At the very least, she owed it to the old Ruby to make sure her brother and sister were safe before she’d start the long journey back into the Valley. Orchid’s earlier vigor died down suddenly but his determination was still apparent as he spoke silently.

“I just know it, Ducky. I can understand Ruby feeling that she’s only hurt us but I could also see she was acting because of fear that something bad would happen to us. If we somehow get Arial back or help her in doing that, she might just see that she won’t hurt us. Please, Ducky, let’s do this. My sister needs help now more than ever.” He said in a clear but also pleading voice, hoping that the swimmer wouldn’t turn down his heartfelt request.

Ducky, on the other hand, looked at the boy with a torn expression, willing to help him with all her heart but… but she just felt conflicted about it all. Ruby’s words had hurt her beyond measure but even then, the swimmer couldn’t quite deny the younger dinosaur’s point. It was true that Ruby was confused in a moment like this but that didn't prevent a growing burden growing inside the swimmer.

Though, perhaps it was that newfound burden that made Ducky feel her old self waking inside her. As she looked towards the sky, she remembered again just what was at stake here. Spike, Chomper and so many others had gone to the Great Beyond and they were completely out of reach for any of her efforts to help. But Ruby… she was still in this world and despite her recent actions, the fastrunner hadn’t done any permanent harm to her or anyone else around her. Even if Ruby had truly decided to end their friendship for good, she could still try to make sure she’d survive her moment of madness as a final gift to all those who had once loved the fastrunner with all their hearts. Ducky’s voice was a forced one as she started to speak to the male but even then, it carried more certainty to it than it had in a long time.

“You may be right, Orchid. I just hope you are right, I do. But if there is a chance we might still save Ruby from herself, I will gladly take that chance. For the sake of our other friends.” She said, briefly locking eyes with Orchid whose face turned into a wide smile as he nodded at the fastrunner. Deep inside him, he knew he couldn’t ask for more, not after what his sister had done to the swimmer. Orchid then asked the girl with a careful voice, looking at the nasty injury in the other young dinosaur’s abdomen.

“Are you sure you can walk? That was a really nasty hit.” He said, knowing that in a normal situation he would have told Ducky to stay still for far longer. The swimmer glanced at the wound herself but gave no answer at first. She rose to her feet carefully and took a brief step forward, clearly willing to see just what would happen. At first, she felt nothing out of the ordinary… but soon, she nearly fell to her knees as she cringed in pain. Orchid moved to help her and the boy asked his companion with a bothered voice.

“Are you alright, Ducky? Shall we wait for a bit longer?” He asked, already dreading at the possible implications of any delays. The swimmer, on the other hand, forced herself back to her feet, forcing herself to take another breath as she spoke to the fastrunner.

“No… if we are going to do this, we must find Ruby as quickly as possible. I think I can walk just fine, I do.” She said, causing orchid to glance at her with a worried expression but he decided against arguing further with the older dinosaur. He only narrowed his eyes and prayed in his mind as he headed after the wounded swimmer.


The already ghastly situation was growing ever more oppressing for Lenel as the entire scene around him turned into a chaos. Him passing out had hardly made his followers any more confident about their quest but the imminent attack had turned their wariness into total panic. Some of them seemed to be literally running for their lives into the surrounding forest, hoping to reach safety before the sharpteeth tore them to pieces. His hand-picked group was disintegrating before Lenel’s very eyes and he couldn’t help but stare at the sight with a beaten expression. He was beaten, his quest had failed and he’d lose everything he had gained during his life.

Yet… even now, the flyer’s courage didn’t fail completely. He was born to lead his herd with pride and by the Bright Circle, he’d keep that charge until the end! Even if he had failed the spirits’ test, he would never give up on his pride and the sacred task of protecting those who depended upon him. If the lights thought that he’d simply face his fate at the hands of that sharptooth, they’d be terribly mistaken! Lenel suddenly cried at his herd in a loud voice, knowing that he’d have to act quickly if he wanted to save whatever still could be saved.

“Everyone, return here now! We can still prevail if we simply stand strong against this threat! I know that I have committed terrible atrocities against all of you in the past but listen to me one more time! If we don’t work together on this day, this forest will swallow us one by one and all of us will die here and now! After all, we have all fought too many battles for it all to end here.” He said in a much calmer but also gentler voice than before. He was beyond beaten by the newfound guilt lingering within his heart and inside, he was heartened as he saw some of the hesitating flyers suddenly stop and nod at him with unsure expressions. Their thoughts of deserting had vanished for now but some others still continued the flight from the face of the incoming battle. Sireia started to cry at them with an enraged voice even if she never managed to finish that order-

“I will make sure that no traitor will live to see the next Cold Time if th…” She said but her voice died down as three forms suddenly appeared from the forest. It didn’t take even one second until the female yelped in an urgent voice, knowing that there was no time to waste.

“To your wings, all of you! Make sure that none of those bastards will be able to even touch you!” She yelled, looking with a sickened expression as a large sailback appeared slowly from among the woods, a triumphant expression on his face. That moment seemed to drag on forever until the sharptooth let out a loid growl whose purpose everyone present could easily tell. Sireia glanced at her mate, earning an affirming nod from Lenel. The pale flyer knew that any negotiations would more than likely be futile but even then, he’d have to take every chance possible to avoid a bloodbath. He didn’t want to go through any more failures on this night. The flyer’s voice rang through the riverside as he yelled at the predator.

“Stay your attack, sharptooth! I know what you are after but I promise you that you can win nothing by starting a battle here! I am the only one capable of commanding this place’s secrets while you are only wasting your time. Turn back now and I will even grant you a favor of your choice.” He said, knowing that his request would be rejected.

Stealth looked at the smaller dinosaur for a few seconds, knowing that this was the leader the previous flyer had told about. Inside, he was even amused by the fact that the other male still thought that he could bargain with someone like him but even then, he wasn’t going to show his true feelings just yet. Maybe the other dinosaur would accidentally reveal something of interest to him if he only played his game for a moment.

“Do you think you can strike a deal with me, barkbrain? I’d be damned if I believed what a weakling like you told me so for your own sake, get out of my way!” He said, genuinely interested to hear how his counterpart would react to his threat. There was no way a bunch of flyers could stand against him but knowing their stubbornness, the sailback wasn't ready to believe they would just leave this place without any further conflict.

Lenel looked at the carnivore with an annoyed expression, knowing very well the reality of the situation. He could simply give up but… even then, he wasn’t sure about what to do. Inside, he knew he had already failed in his quest but… but no one had affirmed that to him yet. The lights still illuminated the other shore of the water path so they hadn’t completely abandoned him, at least not yet. And in that case… was this another test for him? To try to stand against a sharptooth… and prevail? Inside, Lenel wanted to believe that but there was also another fact lingering in his mind. If he gave up now, he would never regain the respect of his herd and in the long run, he would be as good as dead. He had to try to save this somehow even if he had no idea how. Lenel took a deep sigh as he prepared to answer the other male.

“What I said is the truth. I am the heir to this power so only I can wield them in a way that will benefit all of us. Should you insist on a fight, you would be injured heavily only for you to get severely disappointed or worse. If you strike a deal with me, I will give you the best hunting grounds you can imagine! I give you my word about this and it’s something that you can trust in!” He said, causing Stealth’s eyes to narrow slightly. Whoever this flyer was, he was clearly unaware of just how pathetic his situation really was and that was really starting to annoy the sailback. He still didn’t believe those words for a second and his voice was beyond dry as he spoke next.

“Look at it this way, flyer. You can leave this place now and live to see the morning or you can simply die here and now. The way I see it, you have far more to lose than I have.” He said, causing Sireia to roll her eyes. She gazed at her mate with an enraged expression, knowing very well just how much there was to be gained from this negotiation.

“Just drop it, Lenel! This is a waste of time!” She said, preferring to get to action instead of just delaying the inevitable without a good reason. Lenel looked at the predator for a bit longer, seeing that there was not even the smallest sign of hesitation within them. It was clear that sailback was going to attack him and his followers if they didn’t back down which left only one option left.

The flyer investigated the gathered sharpteeth below him, knowing that he could never beat all of them. The moment any flyer got close enough to the ground, they’d be torn to pieces. Losses were unavoidable but… but none of the smaller sharpteeth looked eager to continue the fight without their leader. If only… if only he’d be able to wound the sailback badly enough, then maybe the others would simply give up the struggle. He suddenly cried at his followers, knowing that this order would end in the deaths of many of his followers. Even then, that was the only chance he had.

“Try to hit at the sharptooth’s eyes and legs so that he can no longer fight! That is our only chance! We must work together but we can still win this!” He called as he dove right towards the larger dinosaur, his entire mind fixed on what he was doing. Yes, he could hate himself later for his failures but he would carry on his charge until his last breath. It wasn’t long until the flyer saw one of the fastbiters jumping towards him as he glided towards the ground but he wasted no time in dodging that hit. The larger sharptooth cringed at that attack, at first looking as if he was going to strike the pale flyer flying towards him.

However, just as he was about to hit Lenel, he stepped to his left, aiming instead at one of the other flyers. Lenel cringed in shock as he saw the sailback impaling one of his herd members with his claws, forcing the poor flyer to the ground with his body broken to pieces. Even worse, that sudden maneuver had enabled Stealth to dodge Lenel’s attack meaning that the other flyer’s sacrifice had been for nothing. Lenel gulped as he realized that this battle would be the most difficult and desperate one he had ever faced.


To the fastrunner’s slight relief, the pain in her head had slightly subsided. It no longer engulfed her entire world and even the confusion in her thoughts wasn’t quite as severe as before. However, that didn’t make Ruby that much more positive as the improvement in those issues made Ruby’s self-loathing only more prominent. There hadn’t been one second during which she hadn’t blamed herself for Arial’s disappearance or about injuring Ducky. She was a total failure and a scourge upon those who for some reason still cared about her but even then, the omnivore managed to keep her focus on the task at hand to some degree.

The darkness was nearly complete around the fastrunner as she forced herself forward, doing her best to find the scent of a sharptooth. The girl still remembered Stealth’s warning and she knew very well that he meant what he had said. The next time he’d surprise her would be the last moment of her life and Ruby wasn’t about to let that happen. She wouldn’t throw her mother’s sacrifice away by doing some stupid mistake.

Despite that, the girl was more than eager to meet Stealth again in the very near future. With any chance, she could help send him to the Great Beyond and that would be the first good thing she ever did since her departure from the Valley on that terrible day. Even then, Arial’s fate was still the most important thing for her and along with her self-hate, one other thought also lingered within Ruby’s mind again and again.

Hang in there for a bit longer, sister! I will save you if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do even if I don’t want it to be the last thing I’ll ever do!

Minutes passed slowly as the omnivore slipped through the forest like a lone shadow, the ever increasing chill making her shuddering worse by the second. In the back of her mind she realized just how ghastly this entire place was. Dead branches were waving weakly in the wind and distant cries made her afraid even in her current condition. Despite that, she didn’t stop for a second. She would find this Lenel and he would help her whether or not he wanted to. Her newfound loneliness was even liberating for the distressed omnivore as for the first time in a long time, she was only responsible for herself. Even then, there was one thing that still bothered her.

She had lost the scent of Stealth’s herd but very curiously, she knew full well just where she had to go. That sensation was a haunting one for Ruby as this time, it was clear that this “knowledge” wasn’t hers. Whatever had caused her earlier mental struggles was still present within her but if it would now help her in finding Lenel, she wouldn’t mind it. Slowly and silently as a shadow, Ruby crept forward, doing her all to hide her presence from any possible hostile dinosaurs around her. At this pace, it wouldn’t take long for her to…

Suddenly, the fastrunner stopped still. She heard a distant cry which immediately caused frowns to appear on the omnivore’s face. Slowly, she continued forward towards the voice and it didn’t take long until the girl realized she had been right. That cry had emanated from a wounded dinosaur and more and more sounds of battle were starting to reach her ears. Ruby crouched even closer to the ground as she carefully peeked under a large branch of a still-green tree whose leaves were all hard and sticky. The fastrunner’s earlier doubts were realized as she saw a group of fastbiters forming a ring around their leader who was being attacked by a group of flyers.

Ruby frowned deeply as she saw Stealth’s large form in the distance, there sight of him making the female tremble in hate. Immediately, she started to pray for the flyers’ victory despite the disgusting words Northwind had told her. Those insults were beyond trivial after everything Stealth had done to her. Slowly, Ruby crept closer to the sight and stopped to investigate it a bit more closely. It was extremely difficult for her to see the colors of the fighting dinosaurs but as she looked at the sight for a few seconds, she was able to notice one dinosaur who stuck out.

In the heart of the battles was one, light-colored flyer whose hue was a highly unusual one for a flyer. It didn’t take long for her to realize that this was the Lenel she had been told about, the dinosaur to whose hands she’d have to lay Arial’s life. Ruby was far from convinced about that but if that was the only way for her to save her sister, then so be it! The only question remaining was… how would she help Lenel win this battle? Without some major help, the flyers wouldn’t stand a chance against Stealth’s onslaught.

Knowing there was very little time to wonder about that, Ruby ran towards a small hill near the scene of the battle, quickly grabbing a large rock from the ground. Knowing that any confusion could very easily cause some real confusion among the sharpteeth, the fastrunner threw the rock towards the back of one of the fastbiters, earning a loid scream from the predator. Ruby immediately crouched again, knowing that it wouldn’t take long for her to be spotted otherwise. However, she didn’t waste much time and threw another rock at another fastbiter but even then, neither of her hits seemed to have any real impact on the course of the battle.

The female cringed as she saw another of the flyers getting torn to pieces, realizing that the fight could end in only one way. She’d have to come up with a new plan or everything would be lost. What could she do, what in earth could someone like her… There it was! A hopeful smile suddenly rose to Ruby’s mind as she noticed a fallen tree near her, its revealed base giving her a new idea. It would be beyond difficult but maybe, maybe it would finally give Lenel a small opening to end this once and for all. Ruby got into work with a more determined expression than in a long time.


Stealth cringed as he felt another wound opening in his back as another flyer tore at his flesh to their best ability. The smaller dinosaurs had made a better stand than the sailback had expected but even then, it would only be a matter of time before they’d run out of flyers to sacrifice. There were only about a dozen of them left and he would be able to stand his ground for a little longer. The pale flyer had no chance of winning and the smaller male seemed to know that very well. The sailback started to see more hints of despair on his opponent’s face as he stopped to catch his breath for a few fleeting seconds. The predator then spoke to his foe in a loud growl, able to hide his pain masterfully.

“It is as good as over. If I were you, I’d already curse the moment I ever started this stupid struggle!” He said as he cried with all his might at the light-colored flyer whose eyes widened at that voice.


However, Lenel was far from ready to give up just yet. The predator’s display of dominance rattled his courage to the core but even then, he would never have lived this long if he had allowed himself to be bested by mere threats. But the truth remained: at this rate, his followers would be slaughtered to the last flyer before they’d be able to deal any meaningful damage to the sailback. There was but one option left at this point. The male suddenly turned at his mate and called to her in a loud voice.

“Sireia, we have to strike at the sailback’s eyes! It is the only way we can force him out of this battle!” He yelled as he saw Sireia nodding in agreement. She knew this to be true of course but she couldn’t hide her rising concern at the course of this battle. She would stand with her mate until the end but she had no idea how the duo could blind Stealth without him being able to cut their efforts short. Even then, there were no other options for now and her voice was a calm one as she called to her mate.

“Very well, dear! Just try to make it through this alive!” She yelled as the duo started their approach towards the sharptooth. The other flyers realized very well that their help was needed as well and if the predator tried to protect his eyes too much, they’d be able to strike at his throat and at his abdomen, causing more and more serious injuries at their opponent.


One dinosaur who was beyond confused about the situation was the fastrunner Jaros. He had been more than unwilling to follow Stealth after his betrayal of his promise to Detras and Pearl, especially as the former one had saved his life during the battle against Dein and Terri. He still remembered his conversation with Detras about his doubts about Stealth and how he couldn’t just trust the sailback to be any better than other sharpteeth.

And where was he now? Trying to fight an endless battle against a foe he couldn’t even touch, hoping that one of them got close enough to him to actually make a difference at all! Yet, as he looked at Stealth’s increasingly severe wounds, the male couldn’t help but feel deep satisfaction at the sight. Jaros would never forgive him for what he had done to Detras and his family, the pain within the eyes of the other omnivore’s children as their mother was about to be executed before their eyes.

No, the sailback had lost the last vestiges of trust he had once held over the halftooth. Jaros knew his life would be forfeit should he ever rise against the rest of the herd alone but maybe, just maybe, there would be a way for him to help turn the tide in a more subtle way…


Even if Stealth knew that the latest assault on him was an act of desperation, that didn’t make him any less concerned. He knew very well that the flyers could blind him if he wasn’t careful and a blind sharptooth would be just a dead dinosaur walking. At the same time, he couldn’t allow many more wounds to be inflicted upon him which made the next few seconds critical in this battle. The flyers were about to utilize their last chance in the battle and they knew it just as well. Stealth felt his heart beating in his ears as he looked at the two flyers dashing towards him as quickly as they simply could. The sharptooth’s claws were itching for a fresh kill as he prepared for the inevitable clash with the two leaders of the last herd of the last herd standing between him and his new goal.

For a fleeting second, Lenel and Stealth’s eyes met each other as the predator suddenly hit towards one of the other flyers, causing her to disengage from the fight for a fleeting moment. After that, Lenel stopped forward decisively, looking as the duo drew ever closer to him. Suddenly, he turned towards Sireia and to the female’s shock, the sailback suddenly sprinted forward and jumped towards her, his head sending her flying towards the ground with a violent force. Lenel’s heart skipped a beat as he saw her mate hitting the ground, the impact causing her to shriek loudly. Lenel’s voice was a desperate one as he yelled at his mate.

“Hold on, my love! Try to get away from his reach!”

Sireia could hardly realize what had just happened as she tried to force herself back to her feet. Instinctually, she brought her hand to her back, looking in disgust as she saw it being painted red with her own blood. Her back was covered with severe bruises and her head ached terribly. Even then, she could hear her mate’s call and quickly, she raised her gaze at Stealth who loomed above her with a murderous expression. Despite her injuries, she quickly spread her wings and painfully tried to take flight… until she realized that her left wing had taken too much damage. She yelped in pain as she looked at the predator moving to deliver the killing blow…

However, none of this was left a mystery to Lenel who looked in growing panic as his mate was getting closer to her death. Even then, he would prevent that by any means necessary and he quickly dashed towards the predator and his speed caught Stealth completely by surprise. The flyer hit the predator’s right eye again and again, the sailback only now realizing his mistake. He had left his guard down for a few seconds in order to finish the female and Lenel had got the opening he needed to accomplish his goal.

The carnivore let out an ear-screeching cry as he tried to force Lenel away from his face but the situation made the flyer far more determined to finish the task. The flyer smiled with a triumphant expression as he saw the white substance of the sailback’s eyes starting to flow down her cheek which meant only one thing: from now on, Stealth would forever be in a major disadvantage and that fact also meant that he and his herd would have a better shot at taking him out for good. Despite his voice being drowned under Stealth’s wails, Lenel cried at his mate in an encouraging voice.

“Now’s your chance! Sireia, get away from his reach now!” He yelled, causing Sireia to look at him in astonishment. She had already thought she was done for and she took many shocked breaths as she looked at the mighty sharptooth’s enraged and pained struggles. Her mate’s deeds was something she would never have expected but here she was, still breathing and able to fight another day. The female wasted no time turning around and running for her life, her own injuries but a distant memory as she basked in the glory of her salvation.


Stealth’s cry of pain wasn’t lost on Ruby either. The fastrunner smiled deeply in the knowledge that someone had really hurt the villain seriously as that was the few things that still improved her mood. The thought of his smug and hate-filled face for once turning into a pain of his own was a glorious one for the omnivore and raised her own motivation to complete her own work. If only she could witness his final fall on this day…

“That’s it! Now that should show that bastard…” She suddenly yelped as she looked at the thick, fallen tree before her. She had spent minutes upon minutes using her claws and the surrounding rocks to make its head as sharp as possible. The omnivore shuddered as he thought about falling against it herself but should the flyers be able to trip Stealth in the right way, this tree could be just enough to penetrate that monster’s innards and send him on his well-deserved journey into the darkest reaches of the Great Beyond.

However, there were still various problems that would have to be solved before that. First and foremost, she’d have to find some way to raise it to a position where it could really hurt Stealth and second, she needed the flyers’ cooperation or it would be close to impossible for the fastrunner’s plan to actually and truly work. Ruby glanced at the direction of the battle, knowing that she’d have to act now if she wanted to have a small chance of realizing her plan. With a worried but hopeful expression, the girl ran towards the sounds of pain and death, praying her momentary hopes wouldn’t be utterly crushed.


Sireia looked at the forest with a fearful expression, sitting down on a nearby rock while praying that the sharpteeth wouldn’t find her anymore. She hated herself for being unable to help her mate in his hour of need but even then, she knew very well that she’d only be a hindrance to him with her bruised wing. It wasn’t broken but it was painful enough to keep her down for now.

The female hit another rock near her, closing her eyes in shame. How could she even call herself worthy of his love if he was this useless on the field of battle? However, she couldn’t help but feel some relief in the knowledge that her mistake had gave an opening for Lenel even if she hadn’t meant to do that. Yet, those feelings of self-pity were soon sank by her genuine fear for her beloved mate ands by the hopes that he’d survive this battle. The female knew very well that she wouldn’t be able to live without Lenel and if he fell on this night, she’d follow him immediately. Yet, she could only hope that wouldn’t come to pass. The flyer crossed her arms as she spoke in a silent voice.

“Please survive this fight, my darling Lenel. Don’t fall before this cursed brute! Do this and I’ll never ask anything of you again…”

“You know Lenel? Then why aren’t you there to help him?” The female eyes flashed open as she heard a young girl’s voice ask her from the shadows. She immediately rose to her feet and turned at the direction of the sound, asking aggressively.

“Who are you? Stop hiding and show yourself! If you wish to finish me off, prepare for a real fight!” She said, more than prepared to fight until her last breath. She had no intention to waste time arguing with Stealth’s minions but as she heard the other dinosaur, her expression softened somewhat. A young fastrunner approached from the shadows and to the flyer’s surprise, there was no trace of hostility in her eyes. In fact, the omnivore was looking more than miserable in every possible way. Sireia’s heart jumped as she saw the mournful expression on her face as well as the ruined tail from which still drooped some pieces of flesh. This omnivore had went through a lot but at the very least, she didn’t look threatening in any way.

“I don’t want to fight you or any others of your herd. In fact I’d like to offer my help to you. Who are you?” The fastrunner asked, willing to hear just how high-ranking a herd member she was actually talking to. She was slightly surprised as she heard Sireia snorting with a slightly offended fashion. She crossed her arms and took a pompous stance as she answered to the omnivore.

“I am Sireia, the mate of the great Lenel himself, and as such, the second most important flyer of our herd. Though, I don’t expect someone like you understanding these kinds of matters.” She said, clearly willing to make clear the duo’s order of importance to the fastrunner. That answer, however, only prompted Ruby to present another question, her hopes starting to rise higher by the second. If she managed to win this dinosaur’s favor, she had a great shot at having Lenel’s ear for this battle as well as whatever came afterwards.

“Why aren’t you fighting alongside him, then? If you really are his mate, then it would only make sense for you to act like it!” She said, knowing that her words could offend the flyer but on the other hand, that could also cause the other female to slip some details to her that she hadn’t originally meant to reveal. However, Sireia was far too clever to fall to the omnivore’s tricks and she kept her calm even if she voiced her chagrin rather clearly.

“You are in no position to judge me, you pipsqueak! But if you really want to know, I got injured in an attack against that sailback and it was only Lenel’s quick actions that saved my life. I regret it greatly but I simply cannot fly with this wing.” She said as she looked at it again, not seeing anything weird about her wing save for a few wounds here and there. Even then, this battle would be a cause of shame for a long time and she’d gave her all if she only could stand with Lenel on this day.

Ruby, on the other hand, could hardly believe her luck. She could easily see that the flyer’s limb wasn’t broken and that meant that she might just be able to help her. Suddenly, the girl changed her voice to a far friendlier one as she realized that her opportunity might just have come. She stepped forward as she spoke softly to the older female.

“Umm… could I take a look at it? I might just be able to help.” She said hopefully but almost immediately, Sireia again crossed her hands and she sounded almost hostile as she next spoke to the fastrunner. She certainly wasn’t allowing this fastrunner anywhere near her!

“I’ll be damned the day I allow an egg-stealer to only hurt me further! Your kind is a cursed bunch of backstabbers and traitors that are no good to any honorable dinosaur! Get out of my sight before I make you rue the moment you ev…” She said but again, Ruby cared little for those insults. She frowned deeply as she looked at Sireia in annoyance, her voice suddenly a much deeper and serious one. She wouldn’t allow the other female to turn her away like this and she decided to interrupt her rant.

“Are you finished yet? I swear that I have no will to hurt you in any way but I very well might be able to make you able to fly again much faster! Which one is it: will you allow me to help you take your place on your mate’s side or will you turn me away, only to be stuck here with no way to help your mate? Besides, if you choose the latter, Lenel will never know of my plan to get rid of Stealth once and for all…” She said, causing Sireia’s expression to fall slightly. She wanted nothing more than to turn the halftooth away immediately… but inside, she knew that that idea would not be the best one.

Only a few minutes ago, she had prayed for a chance to be of further help to Lenel and here she was given that chance, even if it bringing any results was beyond unlikely. But even then, Sireia knew she’d be able to keep the fastrunner at bay if she ever showed one sign of hostility towards her. If there was even a slight possibility that she’d be able to be of help in any way, she owed it to Lenel to seize it. And even if she hated to admit it, she knew halfteeth knew many things other dinosaurs had no idea about. The flyer sighed in resignation was she offered her injured hand to Ruby as she spoke heavily.

“Very well. But be swift about it.” She said, causing a wide smile to appear on Ruby’s face. The girl sprinted towards the flyer, taking a look at the larger dinosaur’s arm. She poked at many parts of it, at the same time glancing ay Sireia’s reactions. The fastrunner knew that she’d have to be as gentle as possible right now and she breathed deeply as she tried to find the damaged part of the other female’s limb. Ruby snorted slightly as she suddenly saw Sireia’s cringe growing more profound and at that point, she knew she’d have to make her move. She tried to sound kind but firm as she spoke to the other dinosaur, hoping she’d be reasonable enough to actually listen to what she had to say.

“Sireia… I know what’s wrong with your wind. I think I can really help you but if I’m going to help you, you’ll have to actually let me help you.” She said, locking eyes with the flyer. Sireia looked at her in annoyance, not liking or trusting the omnivore in the least. Even then, she hadn’t attached her yet and her tone wasn’t reminiscent of any other halfteeth she had spoken thus far. Her voice was a dry one as she asked the obvious question.

“What are you going to do?” She said, causing Ruby to glance at the direction of the battle before giving her honest answer. She knew that lying would only get her in trouble and besides, Sireia deserved to know the truth.

“I’m going to put everything within your arm back to their place. It is not broken but what I am going to do will make your wing heal faster. It is something made daddy and mommy taught me a long time ago but I haven’t had the chance to hone my skills in it since. I am not going to lie: this will hurt a lot.” She said, her face radiating nothing but honesty. She looked with a serious expression at the flyer, seeing the growing concern within her face. The flyer clearly knew nothing about what she was going to do but Ruby was glad to see that she wasn’t being rejected right away. Sireia looked at the fastrunner for a long time before speaking in a trembling voice.

“Do what you have to but I warn you: if this won’t help, I’ll make sure you won’t get away with this!” She said, causing Ruby to roll her eyes. She bowed towards the ground and dug a thick branch from under the cover of the ground sparkles and gave it to Sireia. The flyer looked at the girl with a questioning expression when Ruby spoke again.

“Bite at this. And please, try to not yell too much. We don’t want Stealth and the others to learn where we are, now do we?” She said, causing Sireia’s face to darken even further. Ruby bowed and took a firm grip on Sireia’s arm and turned to look at the flyer one more time.

“Are you ready?” She asked, earning an affirming nod from the tan-colored flyer. Ruby took a deep breath as she tightened her grip further, hoping she still remembered how this was done. She had managed to do this operation only once but that had been five Cold Times since that day. Even then, Ruby’s thoughts moved quickly to Arial and inside, she decided that she would succeed here for her sake.

With a quick move, Ruby pushed the bone against the ground, putting more pressure on the area near the flyer’s elbow. Ruby cringed as Sireia started to whimper miserably but even then, the older female managed to avoid crying in pain. This encouraged the fastrunner somewhat but at the same time, something happened that made her gulp in fear. The bone moved back to its previous position, causing the omnivore to grit her teeth. Her effort had failed and she wasn’t in any way certain how many more Sireia would give her. Ruby’s forehead tightened as she thought about what her father had told her.

It was true that these kinds of things didn’t always succeed at the first try but… but she had to try to imagine the right position the bone and the muscles were supposed to be. Most often, the bone would stick in its right position but it would sometimes be difficult to find it. Ruby narrowed her eyes as she prepared for her second try. Sireia breathed deeply as she prepared for another jolt of pain and this time, she didn’t even manage to keep her voice down. Ruby looked at her with an apologetic expression, speaking to her in a praying voice.

“Please, stay quiet. This won’t take long…” I hope, Ruby added inside her head. Only now did she realize how little idea she had about how any of this was supposed to work but she couldn’t turn around now. She had to succeed or her hopes of ever winning Lenel’s trust would collapse altogether. The fastrunner prayed within her mind as she felt the bone moving again, hoping that this time her efforts would be rewarded at least to some degree.

Tears started to fall down Sireia’s cheeks and she cursed the fastrunner with every part of her soul and body. She had never agreed to this kind of voluntary torture before and she had absolutely zero trust in the fastrunner. Even if what she said was possible, it was clear that she had no idea about what she should actually do. If she failed, the omnivore would certainly regret the two ever meeting each other… However, it wasn’t long until Sireia’s dark thoughts were interrupted by another wave of agony.

Ruby shuddered as she felt her operation halting. It seemed as if the flyer’s arm was declining to move further but Ruby knew that she was moving it in the right direction. The bone would simply have to move further! Knowing that she had no option but to do her best, the omnivore increased her pressure greatly, praying that she wouldn’t be boing the mistake of her life. She could see that Sireia was in extreme pain but she couldn’t help but admire her ability to hide her cries of agony. But all of that would be in vain unless…

Suddenly, the omnivore’s eyes flashed open as she felt Sireia’s arm move suddenly towards the ground. At this point, the flyer couldn’t help but let out a horrifying shriek but even then, Ruby only stared before herself in awe. Sireia’s arm was in its normal place and it seemed to stay that way at least to an acceptable degree. The fastrunner hardly heard Sireia’s next words as she yelled to the younger female.

“That was it! Get out of me you useless bastard! Soon, you…” She started but to her extreme surprise, Ruby didn’t seem moved in any way. The latter even found the nerve to smile to the flyer and speak to her in a happy tone.

“Before you do anything rash, try how your arm feels because before you’ve done that, you don’t know whether I failed or not!” She said, causing the tan flyer to frown deeply. Her hand still ached and she could see no way how the fastrunner had been of help. However, for some reason she stretched her arm and to her extreme shock, she felt only slight aching instead of the earlier torture. She gasped as she brought her other hand to touch at the injured spot and she couldn’t help but feel stunned as she realized it felt almost normal. Sure, it would truly heal only after a longer time but she could move the limb almost normally. She slowly turned at Ruby and whispered to her in awe.

“Whatever you did seems to have worked after all. I don’t have any idea how you did that but it seems like your kind is good for something despite what I said earlier. You have my gratitude, fastrunner.” She said, even trying to give the other dinosaur a weak, fleeting smile as she realized just what this could mean. She might be able to rush to her mate’s help after all and that was something she couldn’t help but be grateful about. Ruby looked at the flyer for a few seconds before she gave her answer softly. She wasn’t in any way interested in the other female’s health in any way but she noticed she was on the verge of making a powerful ally.

“It was my honor, Sireia. Now, are you willing to listen to my proposition and to ask your mate to save my sister once he is victorious?” She said, already knowing that she’d receive an affirming answer. She could see that despite her vainness, Sireia was a flyer worthy of her words and that fact alone made some small hope swell within Ruby’s heart. Sireia crossed her arms and looked down at the omnivore very clearly but there was no malice within her voice as she spoke.

“Well, speak quickly! You are worthy of my help but know that I won’t agree to absolutely anything even now.” She said, causing Ruby to roll her eyes briefly. She was far from excited about the way these flyers acted but that wouldn’t prevent her from reasoning with the higher-ranked female.

“Well, this is my plan. Listen carefully as we have only one chance to succeed…”


Deep gasps escaped Lenel’s mouth as he again regained some altitude in an effort to get away from the range of the sharpteeth. Again, he had failed to deliver a decisive blow against Stealth and both he and his followers were growing increasingly exhausted from this seemingly never-ending battle. Despite his earlier success in ruining the sailback’s eye, he had since lost all the momentum he had gained and he couldn’t help but start to feel chill forming in his heart. Unless he could decide this struggle soon, he would be on the slow but certain path to defeat.

But what else could he do? He still was no match for a sharptooth and his followers’ morale and courage was starting to fail. With a sickened realization, Lenel came to the conclusion that he had to rally his herd for one more charge and that would either end in Stealth’s or his own demise. The pale flyer closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, knowing that his hopes of ever fulfilling his lifelong dream were thinning from slim to none. Even then, he’d be damned if he allowed any opportunity escape from his grasp and with an agitated voice, he turned at his followers and cried loudly.

“Everyone, gather around me! We have to take him out now, no matter the cost! I know it’s dangerous but it’s our only…” He yelled but before he could finish, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice he hadn’t expected to hear. The male’s heart jumped to his throat as he slowly turned to look at the direction of the speaker, his face turning into an astonished smile as he saw his mate’s familiar form in the distance.

“Don’t do it, dear! Don’t throw it all away like this!” She yelled as she flapped her wings again, her face revealing the depth of the pain that flying was causing to her. However, the mere fact she was flying caused Lenel to gasp in astonishment, knowing that the female’s wing had been seriously strained. He stuttered as he tried to form some kind of an answer that mirrored his feelings.

“Sireia… how? I saw what happened!” He cried, frowning as he saw the ever-growing agony on Sireia’s face. He could very well see that she couldn’t stay airborne for many more seconds but her herculean efforts to return to him filled the male with astonishment and appreciation. The tan-colored dinosaur tried to reach her mate but as she tried to get ever higher, her right wing suddenly seemed to give in, almost plunging her to the ground. However, she managed to only barely stabilize her position and Lenel wasted no time rushing to her side. He looked the female in the eyes and tried to speak to her but Sireia had decided not to show any more weakness in front of his mate or the herd.

“One… one fastrunner fixed my wing just enough for me to be able to take off but… but I can’t fly for much longer. Anyway, that fastrunner has a plan that might just help us beat Stealth once and for all.” She said, even now astonished by Ruby’s idea. It could be just what she and her mate needed at this point and at the very least, it gave them some chance to pull this off. She panted heavily as she tried to stay airborne long enough to tell everything she knew to the light-colored dinosaur. Lenel frowned slightly as he wondered how to answer, having no idea about what had made Sireia believe some halftooth could be of any help to them.

“My love… you know we can’t trust their kind. A fastrunner is most likely just toying with us until he or she has the options to sink their claws to our backs! Certainly you know…” He was about to start but at this point, Sireia took a more confrontational expression and spoke in a more serious voice, not willing to argue about this issue.

“No matter her aims, do you perhaps have better ideas on how to proceed? We’ve already suffered enough setbacks as it is and I sure am ready to take any help I can receive right now!” She said, hoping that the male wouldn’t be too upset by her tough words. Lenel, however, gulped as he looked his mate in the eyes, understanding her point more than well. Even if he hated to admit it, he had no good idea of his own and if the omnivore had won his beloved mate’s trust, then she had also won his. Lenel’s voice was a meek one as he gave his answer.

“Go on then, dear. What do we have to do?”


Stealth spat into the ground as he looked at the flyers, hating these kinds of situations. Yes, he was on the verge of being victorious but at the same time, he had no way to finish Lenel off now. As long as the smaller dinosaurs circled above him, all he could do was to wait for him to descend toward him in some suicidal effort to take the battle to him. The sailback was no stranger to battles but this kind of crap made his blood boil.

Even then, he would never be foolish enough to let that kind of rage lose his concentration and caution. No matter what, he wasn’t going to make some stupid mistake and throw his efforts away for nothing. The sharptooth already cursed his eye without an end but that didn’t worry him as much as he would have expected. After all, he could well live and survive with only one eye and he’d make the flyers pay for what they had done very soon. In an effort to taunt his opponents a bit, the predator called to them menacingly.

“Come back here and let me finish this! No amount of planning and plotting will save you now so just face your fate or get out of my sight!” He yelled, looking as Lenel slowly turned to look at him. There was something within the flyer’s expression that worried him slightly but even then, Stealth never forgot the fact that he had no reason to worry. The carnivore revealed his teeth as the smaller dinosaur started to speak.

“What if I ordered you to do the same, Stealth? Do you think you would obey to my command? Though, I’d advise you to do so as in other case, it is you who might soon journey to the Great Beyond.” He said in a rather confident voice which caused Stealth to stomp the ground in annoyance. This charade had gone on for long enough and he was more than ready to end it all.

“What if you would for once stand behind your words and show me just how you plan to do that? I’d much rather just move forward here than argue with a fool like you!” He cried, hoping the other male to react to his words in some way. As the duo’s eyes locked on each other, both of them knew that something would happen in the near future, something that would settle this battle once and for all.


This impression wasn’t lost on Sireia either. She felt her heart beating in her ears as she looked at the grim expression on her mate’s eyes, surprised just how easily he had accepted Ruby’s plan. Though, it seemed pretty clear that he had been desperate for some, any new idea on how to beat Stealth. Now, however, Sireia realized that the moment that would decide everything was quickly approaching. With a sickening realization, the female flyer realized that her wings wouldn’t be able to carry her for more than a few seconds and that meant. She’d have to land somewhere safe and leave the rest to her beloved mate. She cringed deeply as she looked at the other flyer, trying to retain her composure for a bit longer.

“I… I have to land now but please, promise me you will not fall victim to this brute! Promise me that you will prevail even after everything that has happened!” The female pleaded, causing Lenel to frown briefly. Of course he couldn’t be quite sure about whether or not he could keep that kind of promise but as he looked at his mate’s eyes, he suddenly realized he would not fail her. He would beat Stealth and he would return to Sireia, no matter what. The pale flyer nodded at his mate before speaking silently.

“I do, my love. I promise that to you.” He said before turning at his followers and crying to them loudly.

“Follow me and together, we’ll send this beast into the next world! We can do this but whatever you do, don’t hold anything back and follow my orders at every moment! Come now and don’t hesitate to give this battle your all! For Olres and for all our kind!” He yelled as he suddenly plunged downwards towards Stealth, feeling determination starting to swell within him. Suddenly, he felt more than confident about being able to pull it off but even then, he knew he’d have to avoid any mistakes. The fastrunner’s idea could work and if she would actually do what she had promised, Stealth would certainly head to the next world soon enough… and he’d be able to live on with his beloved mate.


“Prepare to strike down each and every barkbrain you can! Do not give them a chance to pull of some lucky trick like last time!” Stealth cried as he prepared for the inevitable. The seconds dragged slowly as he looked at Lenel approaching and inside, the sailback couldn’t help but wonder what madness made the flyer believe he still had some hope in this battle. Stealth could see Lenel wasn’t stupid nor did he see the expression of a dinosaur who was ready to die on Lenel’s face. He had to have some idea the sailback didn’t know of which was something that made Stealth grit his teeth in frustration.

The sharptooth felt the wind hitting his back with a slowly increasing force which wasn’t something he was particularly happy about. That would only enable Lenel to improve his mobility which of course made him a more difficult target. But right now, the most pressing question was where the flyer would hit first. The wind was more favorable to the smaller dinosaur on the carnivore’s right side but on the other hand, Lenel could go the other way in an effort to surprise the other male. Stealth had already lost too much today because of the flyers’ tricks and he decided to land his first blow on his left side, believing Lenel to attempt some kind of surprise maneuver with which the flyer could try to gain an advantage. Stealth knew he was taking a risk but this simply was a situation in which he had to do as his instincts told him. He cursed the flyer who had turned out to be such a pain but even then, he was ready to face the other male one last time.

However, it was almost immediately after the predator made his move that he realized he had made a mistake. Lenel had decided to head for his right side after all and it wasn’t long until the carnivore felt a stinging pain in his stomach. Once again, the flyer had outsmarted him and again, he was no closer to getting rid of that cursed pest.


Lenel gave a slightly triumphant smile as he looked at the new wound he had caused but even then, he knew that was only the first step in order to getting rid of the cursed sailback. He could see the surprise on Stealth’s face as he didn’t immediately escape his reach after dealing the hit. Instead, the pale flyer started to circle around the sharptooth, hitting him again and again but both of the combatants knew that none of them would do any truly serious damage to the sailback.

However, to Stealth’s extreme shock, the other flyers replicated their leader’s moves, suddenly assaulting him with all their might. Almost instinctually, the sharptooth took a step back before suddenly striking at one of his foes down with a quick and savage hit. The smaller dinosaur let out a horrified cry as his back was impaled by Stealth’s claws but even then, the predator continued to take more and more steps backwards…

“Don’t ease the attack for a moment! Go on until you can’t go on anymore!” The flyer leader cried as he tore into Stealth’s soft neck flesh. The predator immediately hit towards the flyer but before that blow landed, Lenel was already gone. Stealth gritted his teeth, looking with an annoyed expression as he realized that his followers were too short to still get the flyers. They were just close enough to deal occasional attacks but also high enough to be safe from the smaller predators. Of course, Stealth could have just crouched and let the others join the fight but he knew that would hardly be helpful in maintaining his respect in the eyes of his herd.

But of course, Stealth knew he could finish these pipsqueaks one by one even if he’d get more seriously injured than he would have wanted. Even in this moment of frustration and shock, Stealth couldn’t help but wonder just what the flyers were attempting to do…

Suddenly, the sharptooth gasped as he felt his leg suddenly drop off from some small ledge, only to again touch the solid ground a bit lower. He frowned slightly as he thought about that development, wondering what was going on. He couldn’t afford to turn to look backwards but even then, he remembered this entire opening was completely flat… except the river!

The predator’s muscles tensed as he leapt forward, hitting a few of the flyers on the way. Panting heavily, he quickly turned around and looked at the sight in front of himself. He couldn’t believe he had been that close to being plunged into the river’s frigid waters and most likely into the next world. The sharptooth panted in shame as he faced the flyers again and he was glad to see the alarmed and despairing expressions on their faces. Slowly, Stealth’s face turned into a slight smile and he taunted the smaller dinosaurs with a hate-filled voice.

“Your little trick has failed, you sorry excuses of barkbrains! Now, your last chance for victory is gone so you may just give up now!”


Despite the expression on his face, Lenel’s chest swelled with newfound hope. Stealth was doing just as he had expected and the sharptooth didn’t even seem to suspect something was still amiss. That fact alone made Lenel feel more confident than ever during this fight but he knew very well that this struggle’s outcome was still undecided. With a loud but purposefully alarmed voice, he cried to his followers.

“Don’t give up now! We might be going down today but if that’s our fate, we might at least face it with pride!” He yelled as he dashed towards Stealth, knowing that the other flyers wouldn’t be discouraged by his words. They had heard Sireia’s plan and they knew that they were on a track for triumph. Stealth frowned again as he saw the flyers attacking with newfound vigor, not having expected them to be this damned resilient. They really were fighting until the end and that was something he couldn’t help but admire. Even then, it was time to end this once and for all and it was apparent that the flyers had finally realized just how hopeless it was for them to go on with the fight.

Even then, he couldn’t help but cringe at the violent charge and again, new hits and wounds were inflicted all upon his body. Lenel himself flew right towards his throat and Stealth suddenly stopped still to focus on finally dealing with the flyer leader. Lenel had turned out to be a fiercer fighter than he had expected but now it was time to end him once and for all. The sailback hit right towards Lenel but the flyer managed to dodge it. He stopped right in front of Stealth, tearing into his throat with all his power. Stealth twitched at that pain and just as he was preparing to deliver the decisive blow at the other male, the sharptooth did what the flyers had hoped all along.

Behind him opened a large thicket that was completely shadowed by the dark night of the Cold Time and Stealth couldn’t even begin to imagine that there was something in there that he should know of. The flyers had been the only hostile creatures he had seen and he couldn’t smell any possible threats anywhere around him. In an effort to gain a better balance to dealing with his last foes, Stealth took another step backwards… and his eyes flashed open in shock.


Ruby held her breath as she looked at Stealth’s foot landing on the pair of large trunks that she had placed on the ground only a while earlier. Even better, he had stepped over the rock holding the tree trunks in balance which made her practically shudder with excitement. She had never dared to dream her plan would actually work but she was, only one step away from victory. She looked closely from the bushes as Stealth struggled to retain his balance… and after a few moments, he seemed to be on the verge of succeeding. If Stealth didn’t fall now, her last chance of sending the monster that had destroyed his family into the Mysterious Beyond would be forfeit. Ruby’s hopes was falling by the second… at least before something truly unexpected happened.


This night had been a total disgrace and Jaros knew it. The sharptooth he had followed for seasons by now was unable to decisively beat a few flyers and he could see a similar sentiment rising among his herd members. They regretted not being able to help their leader but on the other hand, Stealth’s performance had been beyond disappointing. However, none of that mattered to the distressed omnivore as he looked at his leader struggling to stay on his feet. He could see the worried and expectant looks on the flyers’ faces and he could easily tell that there was something going on behind the scenes he knew nothing about.

However, whatever that was, it had something to do with Stealth’s downfall and that was something that made the male frown deeply. Ever since his savage slaughtering of Pearl, Jaros had known that this wasn’t a dinosaur he’d be willing to follow anymore. Once upon a time Stealth had offered an alternative to the other brutal sharpteeth of the Mysterious Beyond but now that most of them were gone, he could see Stealth for what he really was: another brute who’d kill anyone in the most disgusting way possible to advance his own needs.

His hands turned into fists as he made his decision. He still remembered just how Detras had saved his life in the previous battle and this was his chance to repay the courage and kindness shown by the late fastrunner on that terrible day. Even if none of his family was here to see that repayment, he could take some relief about knowing he had done the right thing. Suddenly, he started to run towards the sailback, determined to pay back his debt to the fastrunner who had been so much better than he was in every single way.


The sharptooth’s heart beat in his chest as Stealth tried to avoid falling into the ground. He was surprised by the amount of wit his enemies had shown and he had never expected them to actually go this far to bring him to the ground. That of course would make him far too vulnerable but something here made him even more confused than before. At what point had the flyers had the chance to pile these trucks here over the rocks?

They had been engaged in the conflict from the start and they simply couldn’t have done this. And even then, this didn’t look like something a flyer would. It was far more like… like a plot of a fastrunner, a thought that made Stealth suddenly cringe deeply. There was only one hostile fastrunner he had seen in a long time so… could this be Ruby’s doing? The sharptooth cursed at leaving the damned brat alive as of course he should have known she’d be nothing but trouble!

He was just about to let out a loud growl as he prepared to jump off from the wobbly trunks but before he managed to do that, something happened he hadn’t been able to foresee. The trunks started to decisively rise in front of him, again threatening him to send him plunging backwards. His mood grew even worse as he turned to look downwards, seeing who was responsible for this development. Even now, he hadn’t expected to be betrayed by one of his own even if he had never had any respect for someone like Jaros. Stealth’s voice was an alarmed one as he cried to his followers.

“Kill the traitor, everyone! DON’T WASTE ANY MORE TIME!” He cried and his followers wasted no time doing as told. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing as none of them had ever thought they’d see their companion turning on them like this. Jaros knew he was done for but before the others reached him, he prepared for one last herculean effort. His voice wavered as he pushed the trunks ever higher, knowing they’d send Stealth falling into the darkness. He had no idea whether that meant anything but he wanted to hope his sacrifice would mean something.

“You were a good leader once, Stealth, but I simply won’t follow a cruel murderer who holds no respect for the lives of any other than himself! The Mysterious Beyond deserves better than the likes of you!” He yelled as he pushed the branches up, feeling as Stealth finally started to fall forward…


Ruby couldn’t believe her luck. For a moment it had seemed like her idea would fail after all but then Jaros had come seemingly out of nowhere to send Stealth plunging into the ground… right towards her. Ruby looked as Stealth’s form started to fall towards her and immediately, she moved to support her secret weapon with all her might. She had placed the large branch she had found earlier on a pile of large rocks, making it point towards the night sky. It seemed relatively innocent at first glance… but Ruby looked in expectation as Stealth’s back fell ever further towards it. The fastrunner had spent a long time making the massive branch’s head ever sharper in order to make it as deadly as possible.

Seconds passed slowly as Ruby waited for the inevitable impact… and when it came, it was only barely that the girl managed to hold the branch in place. She had hidden its other head under a smaller pile of rocks to make supporting it easier and in this moment, Ruby was more than glad she hadn’t that detail of her plan unexecuted. She looked in astonishment as blood started to drop all around her as the massive branch sank ever deeper into Stealth’s chest. The fastrunner looked at the sight in awe, not able to believe her own eyes. Her plan had been a resounding success and it wouldn’t be long now before Stealth would journey into the Great Beyond.


It cannot end like this! It simply cannot! Not after everything I’ve been through!

Stealth’s mind was working in overdrive as he tried to force himself back to his feet but the terrible pain in his chest told him what he already knew: many of his organs were crushed and the haze of death was already settling in his eyes. Deep down, he still hoped that some miracle happened and that he’d be able to continue to lead his pack for seasons to come… but even now, he noticed that his limbs were denying his orders. This truly was the end.

Despite that realization, there was no growing fear inside the sailback’s mind. He had achieved his lifelong dream and at the very least he’d head to the next world as the victor over several of his old nemeses. Yes, this was a death he could accept even if he had hoped to achieve so much more. Deep inside, the sharptooth was able to find some poetic justice in being finished by someone who was so much like him: a lifelong survivor intent on avenging their fallen family.

But even now, he wouldn’t regret any of his actions… only his inability to prevail in this battle. But his earlier disgust at Ruby had started to turn into some kind of respect as he realized just how badly she and Lenel had outplayed him. The predator’s mouth even turned into a slight smile just before the last muscles in his body relaxed and his body drooped lifelessly over the sharpened branch and the lone fastrunner still holding it upwards.


With Stealth’s end, another major threat to our main characters has been removed and Ruby has achieved one of the few things still able to bring her solace. However, the struggle for the Land of the Dancing Waters is far from over and more twists are still to come until we find out just what will happen at the end of this night… Sorry for the long wait, everyone, but a lot has happened since the last chapter, namely a trip and a sickness. In any case, I hope to get the next installment out quicker.

Anagnos: I’m very happy you liked this chapter overall despite the obvious problems you pointed out. The pace indeed quickened a lot as we need to finally get the show going to prevent the plot starting to feel to slow. As for Littlefoot, yes, his appearance came quickly but I had to reasons for it. First of all,  I just had to introduce him at tis point for the sake of the plot so it might be some bad planning on my part as well.

But secondly, I’ve always tried to keep the next scene of this story as a surprise in order to keep the reader enthralled and I wanted to show that not all absolute surprises are tragedies. I had hoped that scene would fit the narrative but I can see why it may not be the most satisfying sequence ever. And yeah, that line is now removed. As for Lenel, your guess about his test may not be exactly correct but that’s a question left for later. Overall, thanks a lot for the review!

DiddyKF1: Yep, Lenel hasn’t been doing exactly well. Haste’s true potential remains a mystery but in the last chapters, the male has really had a rough time keeping his dream alive. As for Littlefoot, yes, that scene was very dark and I had expected a somewhat critical response to it. I know killing his family like this would be harsh but on the other hand, Littlefoot’s current state needed a good reason. I’d like to point out that he’s arguably doing worse than Ruby as she at least still recognizes her friends and has some goal in life.

As for Lenel’s situation, yeah, things aren’t looking good. He manages to regain some momentum in this chapter but how far will that lead him? That is still an open question and one I hope will be an interesting one in the next chapters as well. I’m also happy you look forward to our main duo’s reunion even if that has to wait for a moment longer.

rhombus: Yep, it was clear from the very start that Littlefoot would be the main focus of this chapter and the feedback about the scene seems to be rather clear. I explained my reasonings for making him appear that abruptly but even then, I’m happy that it wasn’t too bothering to you. As for Littlefoot himself, he seems to be suffering from some kind of extreme version of the mental breakdown haunting Ruby. Whether or not there is still some kind of salvation possible for him remains to be seen.

While your observations about Lenel are mostly true, we still don’t know how his story will end. Yes, his past has been a disaster but as long as he’s alive, he may still claim the ultimate prize. As always, thanks for the kind comments!

OwlsCantRead: Chapter 18  indeed was a dark one and probably one of the most important ones of this fic. Dein and Terri’s attack and Greentail’s injury indeed will have long-lasting implications in Ruby’s story and I’m glad to hear you found that chase an intense one. Yarel and Greentail never wanted any of this but the duo’s future is something you’ll find out in time. As for your comments about Ortin and Glide, their relationship with Petrie is a complex one and it’s better to leave out any possible spoilers for now. Overall, I’m glad to see you continuing to read this fic and I look forward to hearing your further thoughts about this fic.

[DiddyKF1]

Let me start off by saying that this has become a real game-changer in everyone's quest for what lies beneath the Land of the Dancing Waters, and everything was just brilliantly executed at a nice, steady pace.

Ducky seems to be on the verge of giving up all hope after what Ruby did to her.  It's very interesting that you brought up LBT VIII as a comparison, since it really was the only other time when Ducky had to face the prospect of a "friend" abandoning her, ... although what Ruby did was much more heartless than what Spike did ... I'm suddenly thinking about OwlsCantRead's "Five Stages of Grief."

And then, we get to see Stealth for how selfish he truly is. To me, he seems almost like Lenel with his selfish desires, only worse.  This is a heinous monster who doesn't even care about his followers.  All he wants is to take over all the Mysterious Beyond, and to me, that sounds more drastic than Lenel's plans to rule all Flyers.

The ensuing battle to me didn't seem rushed nor was it extremely slow-paced.  Admittedly, to me it seemed certain that Stealth would triumph and rid the world of Lenel, but I definitely didn't expect Ruby to jump in and intervene.  She found her golden opportunity to do away with the heinous jerk who murdered her parents and Chomper, and she didn't waste any time going through with it.

I suppose that Jaros saw in Stealth just as I had described, and it was gratifying to see his defection and betrayal of his former master that ultimately led to Stealth's undoing.  Maybe, that sailback should have taken some consideration to his followers if he wanted to live a little longer than he did.  It was even interesting to see into Stealth's final thoughts as he tried in vain to keep breathing and ascended into the afterlife knowing full well that his reign of terror has come to an end at last.

All-in-all, this was yet another brilliant job on a chapter that focused mainly on a bloody battle.  Like I said, this was done excellently, and it was nice to see how the chapter ended on a high note for Ruby and Lenel ...

... which means not good for Petrie ...

[Anagnos]

This chapter began in a rather melancholic atmosphere as we witness Ducky’s agitation over Ruby’s fairly unwarranted comments directed at her and the cause she is willing to serve. Her compassion toward the fastrunner and the reflection of the erstwhile bond the gang shared together was a lovely addition. In unison, her thoughts return to Spike and everyone else they thought to have been lost created a clear emotion for the characters that spoke volumes of how much they really miss them. However, she quickly cast those emotions aside all for the sake of saving someone she notably cares about and Orchid’s reactions to the developments were likewise justified.

While Lenel is forced to confront the axiomatic implication that he has to prove himself to the ghosts in order to achieve the power he desperately wishes to obtain for selfish reasons, is feverishly swept aside as more exigent matter must be taken seriously – the threat posed by Stealth and his more ambitious desires threaten to spiral the entire situation out of hand. But, it was indeed a surprising development that the ghosts appear to not have abandoned him completely yet, so therefore, he still has a change to salvage his goal. Both of their perception on not leaving a stone unturned was not likely to end in victory for both parties, as the chapter later showed this to be a fact. Nonetheless, the flyer’s fears concerning the unavoidable clash expressed deep fear for not just himself, but for all of his remaining followers, which in turn managed to humanize him marginally.

Over the course of the brawl, the reactions on both sides of the conflict verily enhanced the feeling of utter fright and regret they face. With one side determined to beat an opponent that while vastly superior in strength, lacked any real means to effectively cripple the opposing force. On the other side, we see an individual undergo a solemn feeling of regret over the actions he has taken to ensure he be permitted to live another day, and as a result of Stealth’s arrogant move against the flyers, he has lost something that will severely weaken him forever, which in turn lead to his eventual downfall as this very development had a part in bringing the sailback to his eventual demise.

Ruby’s encounter with Sireia only helped to enforce this occurrence to take place in the first place, as with the fastrunner’s plan, they were able to lure the sharptooth into a trap in a manner calculated to achieve this outcome in the end. I admit, there was one problem I had with this sequence, and that would be my inability to properly understand how exactly a dinosaur would know how to mend a sprained wing, let alone know to the extension on how their physique function in the long run. Let it be told that this mishap didn’t dampen my enjoyment in any way. I likewise happened to stumble into a small typographical error in the narrative: ’’Even then, he would never be foolish enough to let that kind of rage lose his concentration and his concentration.’’

The initial part of the plan to lure the sailback sharptooth into his fatality was a rather ingenious one when presented to the reader at first glance, but sadly didn’t live up to the characters' expectations like they had originally hoped for. But all of their hardship would eventually be worth it as they manage to lure Stealth into his death by tricking him. At that time, one of his former underlings at last made their move against their former leader. I really liked Jaros’ change of heart in this, as it is evidence enough that not everyone are malevolent by will, but rather forced to make difficult choices in order to stay alive.

And with the final sequence, we have seen the fall of the ill-famed sailback sharptooth named Stealth. He had been a relatively minor character in the past, but I am glad how his character arc was handled as it speaks for itself by how well written a character can be if they actually make you feel hatred and disapproval over their actions, and for that, the author should be commended. All of this is demonstrated to be poetic justice, because if we jump a few chapters back, this was the exact same outcome Ruby’s parents faced at the hands of the monstrous sharptooth. This was a wonderful chapter filled to the brim with suspenseful drama. I will heartily wait for what the next chapter will eventually bring with it.

[rhombus]

The initial scene here is incredibly powerful even in its simplicity.  It was expected that some kind of heart-to-heart talk would need to happen between Orchid and Ducky on account of what had happened and, importantly, the fact that they are now alone in this spooky place.  Ducky being torn between her worldview and Ruby's now-paranoid worldview is a crisis that could never be resolved by having Ducky adopt Ruby's current point of view, but Orchid seems to have helped her to find a compromise that Ducky can live with. They will try to find Arial and Ruby, and, hopefully in time, some part of the old Ruby can be salvaged.

But the true highlight of this chapter is the battle, of course.  Lenel is faced with an impossible situation in many ways.  He has failed the test of the spirits, meaning that his mission and all of his sacrifices (and atrocities) were for naught.  But the one thing he can hold on to is that perhaps, just perhaps, the struggle with this pack might be some kind of further test.  A chance for redemption.  When faced with that tantalizing glimmer of hope he makes a fateful decision...

...and then Ruby gets involved.  This is quite believable as she feels like she has little to lose and her hatred for Stealth matches the intensity of the Bright Circle.  She too is driven by a kind of desperate hope.  A hope to end the life of the predator that had taken so much from her and her family.  Though, unlike Lenel, it seems that something is helping her with her mission.  A mission that she does not fully understand.

I have to say that I love how everyone is described here.  Stealth's desire for power and glory, even if it means the sacrifice of his minions.  Lenel's desperation to have some chance of redemption.  Jaros's anger at his leader betraying those who had once helped him, and knowing that he would take any opportunity to send him into the Great Beyond.  And finally, Ruby showing true ingenuity and also using some skills that she learned from her parents, all in an effort to make some quick allies and to avenge their loss once and for all.  This chapter truly is a game changer for the story.  One foe is dead but the struggle for the Land of the Dancing Waters continues on.  I eagerly look forward to seeing what happens next. Though thankfully I don't have to wait long as you mentioned you were considering posting the next chapter later today.

[Sovereign]

Prelude to a Tense Reunion

”Into the ground, both of you!” Ortin yelped as he heard the ear-shattering cry ringing through the forest. Neither of his companions hesitated to do as they were told and the three looked into the darkness while the seconds flew slowly by. The coldness crept into their hearts as the Cold Time’s night grew ever older but the horrible cry had taken hold of their minds. They had very seldom heard a yell like that from any sharptooth and Glide was the first to voice the trio’s thoughts.

“What the hell was that? It was clearly a sharptooth but… that didn’t sound like some threat to its prey.” She said while gulping, knowing full well what meeting a large carnivore would likely mean. Ortin looked at his friend with a slight frown, knowing that he simply couldn’t do anything brash in a situation like this. They had to move forward carefully or else all their lives could be extinguished within a few horrifying seconds. The boy’s hands shook as he looked at Glide but his voice stayed somewhat calm.

“It didn’t. I… I think it almost sounded like a cry of pain.” He said, seeing as Glide nodded at him carefully. The forest around them had grown almost completely silent and it was slowly becoming clear that the trio weren’t in an immediate danger. Their breaths grew slowly easier and Petrie slowly rose back to his feet and looked around himself in concern. The male’s voice was a weak one as he spoke to his friends, his mind deep in thought.

“It… it come right from where we going! Petrie wonder… did Lenel meet the sharptooth? And if he do… how is he?” Petrie pondered out loud, hardly even seeing his two companions. The boy’s mind still lingered in the meeting with his beloved friend and whether there was anything he could do to Littlefoot. The flyer knew he’d do anything in his power to make Littlefoot truly return to him but… that meant very little. The longneck was a total mental wreck and even Petrie knew changing that would be difficult.

That meeting had been a sickening one for Petrie and he could only wonder just how his old friend really felt. He had lost all of his family and wandering here alone only to face another failure… Petrie could hardly handle the depth of the pain the longneck had to have gone through. Even his own journey hadn’t been nearly as terrible as Littlefoot’s. But even then, he wouldn’t leave the longneck here. He’d save him somehow and show that there was still some place for him to return t…

“If Lenel met that sharptooth, our job is already completed! There’s no way he could have prevailed against a beast like that!” Glide said, soon seeing the shock and pain on Petrie’s face. She couldn’t help but pity the other flyer as she had of course seen everything that he had. The girl had never seen a dinosaur as beaten as the larger male but the longneck wasn’t her primary concern and she would have preferred if Petrie understood the same thing. The latter turned to look at Glide and his expression was a somewhat torn one as he gave his answer.

“You may be right but… what caused that cry if Lenel dead? Come on, let’s take a look..” He said as he slowly started to move towards the yell’s direction. Ortin was about to tell him to stop at first but he decided against it as he listened to the tranquility of his surroundings. Whatever had happened in the forest before them was now over and there was no reason for them to waste any more time here. He spoke to Petrie carefully, hoping not to reveal his own fear.

“Very well, Petrie. But if something odd happens, let’s immediately take off. We cannot take any risks now.” He said, causing the other boy to look at him rather oddly but of course Petrie understood his point. The brown-colored flyer then headed further into the darkness, wondering just what he’d soon see. Had it simply been some kind of accident or would he find Lenel to be dead just like that?

Petrie narrowed his eyes as he saw the trees growing less frequent around him. He was entering some kind of a clearing and he of course realized that that fact alone made his situation even more precarious. After a short while, the boy thought he saw some movement in the dark sky which prompted him to stop in his tracks for a moment but before he could really determine whether he had seen anything, he heard an urgent order from Glide.

“Let’s get on that tree, now!” She said and Petrie trusted her enough to ask further questions. Before he could even land, his breaths quickened as he saw a rather large group of sharpteeth escape through the same spot where the trio had just been standing on. Glide looked at that scene with some fear but she was glad she had been observant enough to sense the danger. Her voice was a silent one as she spoke.

“I could hear their approach as I had tried to listen to approaching danger in case anything like this happened. However, you were right, Petrie. Lenel’s herd is here.” She said as she glanced at the flyers circling over herself. She frowned as she saw just how few they were as there couldn’t be more than ten flyers still alive. Even now, the girl couldn’t help but find that fact a sad one but as she turned to look at Petrie, her expression turned only darker. It was as if the boy had herd nothing about what she had said and she asked him in a stern voice.

“What is it, Petrie? Why don’t you answer me?” She said but instead of giving a real answer to the female, he merely pointed into the distance and whispered in a trembling voice.

“Look there. Lenel and the others really did.” He said, finally making Glide to look at the direction he was pointing at. It didn’t take long for the female to see what Petrie wanted her to see and she couldn’t help but feel her jaw dropping as she saw the brutal and haunting sight in the distance. The mighty sailback the trio had seen before lied dead before them, still held up by some kind of branch. However, Petrie couldn’t even dare to dream that there might be more surprises in store for him.


The scene was beyond unreal to Ruby. Here he was, staring into Stealth’s dead eyes while his blood flowed upon her as a violent stream. She was painted completely red but that didn’t seem to register in her mind in any way. Slowly, her face turned into a smile as she looked at the sharptooth’s face, that smile soon turning into a chuckle and then to full-blown laughter.

She had really done it! The killer of Chomper and her own parents, the sharptooth who had done more than anyone else to ruin her life was finally gone, sent to the next world by her own hands! That laughter turned into a hysteric one as all the hurt, hate and pain departed from her mind, the feeling of utter catharsis filling each part of the fastrunner’s mind and body. She could only imagine the kind of hell that monster was now heading but she hoped that he’d suffer the same pain he had caused her for all eternity!

Carefully, she pushed the branch away from her, causing Stealth’s remains to finally fall into the ground and allowing her to finally breathe more easily. Triumphantly, she walked next to Stealth’s lifeless head, the fastrunner’s claws itching to get her their revenge on the one who the omnivore hated more than anyone else. Ruby knew how unlike her this kind of joy at another dinosaur’s passing really was but on the other hand, even Red Claw had been the nicest of dinosaurs when compared to this bastard. She took one more breath before she finally at Stealth’s remaining eye, tearing its contents away from the socket while crying in a frenzied voice.

“This one’s for Chomper you cursed bastard! And this one is for daddy and this one for mommy! May the ancestors curse you wherever you go as I really hope you go somewhere where you can face the consequences of everything that you’ve done!”


At first, Petrie was sure he had been mistaken. Certainly this fastrunner couldn’t be who he thought she was but once he heard her speak Chomper’s name, his chest started to ache and his breaths grew quicker. It… it simply couldn’t be! Ruby had died ages ago and she couldn’t possibly be here! He had already met one of his old friends and here was another one… It was at this point that some words spoken by Littlefoot returned to his mind.

Was this place somehow messing with his mind? Surely Ruby had died during that chase in the Sand Cloud so the only logical explanation here was that she was a product of his imagination but even then… he couldn’t be sure. Ortin noticed Petrie’s sudden distress and he asked the other boy tensely.

“What is it now, Petrie? What astonishes you about some unknown baby killer?” He asked, seeing how the brown-colored male’s breaths grew ever quicker. Petrie glanced at Ortin and his words were beyond forced.

“She… she Ruby, another one of me friends! But… but Petrie thought she died many cycles of the Night Circle ago.” He said, bringing his right hand to his cheek while he shook his head. Ortin looked at him extremely oddly, the unlikeliness of these two reunions absolutely not lost on him. What in earth was going on? The flyer felt a chill in his back as he tried to make sense of it all. It felt almost as if… as if he and his friends were guided here by some known force… The boy’s thoughts were only interrupted as Ortin spoke to him in a bothered voice.

“But you said they were all dead and now we have already found two of them! What is going on?” He asked, not exactly happy about this development. Longnecks were most often harmless but fastrunners were one kind no other dinosaur really liked. Petrie looked at him oddly before his beak finally started to move into some kind of a smile.
“Petrie not know but… but if Ruby’s here, me have to go see her! Me haven’t seen her in ages!” He yelped but just as he was about to fly towards his old friend, Glide put her hand on his shoulder and spoke sternly.

“Don’t, Petrie. Look. Lenel is coming.” She said, causing Petrie’s nascent excitement to die down completely. Even now, he knew that revealing his and his friends’ presence to Lenel would potentially ruin everything but he had to go see her! Besides, there was another thing that was flowing into his mind.

“But we have to help her! Lenel most likely will only hurt her and Petrie just cannot sit here and watch!” He said, thinking about what had happened to Peak’s children. He wouldn’t allow the brutish flyer to hurt Ruby in any way, that much he could promise! He was again about to head towards Ruby when Glide crossed her arms and deadpanned at the male in a low voice.

“It sure doesn’t look like Lenel’s gonna hurt her. Just see for yourself.” She said, causing Petrie to frown deeply. He looked at Ruby’s posture and indeed, he could see no trace of fear or anxiety within her. That fact made the flyer all the more worried. If Ruby and Lenel were somehow befriended with each other, what would that mean to their friendship… and to his and his new friends’ quest?

Even if the pale flyer had seen it all, he still couldn’t quite believe what had happened. In the face of an utter disaster, a miracle had happened and here he was, still alive along with his mate. Sure, he had lost the vast majority of his followers but even then… he had survived! He could still spend many long seasons with his beloved mate and… and maybe he had proven something to the guardians of this place. Lenel looked longingly at the shining other shore of the water path, hoping he could simply head there and face his fate, no matter what it would be. However, he had one meeting to see through before that: with the fastrunner who had made this all possible.

Yes, he and his flyers had done the fighting but without the omnivore’s idea, they could never have finished the sailback off. They could have hit him again and again but by now, Lenel knew that he and his surviving herd members would lie dead in the ground, their bodies slowly starting to grow ever colder. It was an odd feeling for Lenel: to be indebted to such a lowly creature who almost certainly had only her own interests in mind. In any case, his victory was to a large degree this fastrunner’s doing and as such, he’d have to hear whatever she had to say. The pale flyer slowly turned to look at his remaining followers and spoke to them in a silent and appreciating voice.

“You’ve all done well today. I promise that your reward will be worth all the pain we’ve gone through a thousand times over. Wait here for a moment longer, I’ll be back shortly.” He said, seeing that all of his surviving followers were beyond relieved by a brief moment of rest and Lenel wasted no time heading towards the halftooth who had saved both his life and his heartfelt dream.


Ruby panted deeply as she looked at the terribly mutilated sharptooth head in front of herself. She was beyond happy to be finally to have some form of revenge against the beast whom she had hated more than any other dinosaur in her entire life even if Stealth was no longer here to feel the pain. After a few minutes, Ruby brought her hands to her knees and tried to catch her breath as the fluids and torn pieces from Stealth’s body spread ever further under her. This was a true moment of triumph and one that made Ruby feel more alive than in a long, long time. Slowly, the fastrunner turned to look upwards and whispered into the winds.

“I hope you’re happy now, Chomper, mommy and daddy. This monster will never hurt another dinosaur again. I’ve done all I can for you. Good… goodbye, all of you.” She said with a tear in her eye, emptiness slowly starting to fill her heart. Yes, she had won but… her parents and Chomper were still gone. Yes, she had heard of the emptiness of revenge before but despite that, she couldn’t help but feel the relief and the righteousness as she looked at the dead sharptooth. But even now, she didn’t forget her true mission for a second: she still had to save Arial and killing Stealth had made that task that much easier.

However, there was one thing that slightly bothered her. For a while, it had seemed like Stealth would be able to regain his balance and save himself from his ghastly fate. It… it even seemed like some other dinosaur had pushed him to his death which was something the fastrunner hadn’t expected. Slowly, she walked towards the other end of the tree trunk… and her eyes widened slightly as she saw the sight before her.

Before her lied a terribly mutilated carcass of another fastrunner. Yes, he seemed familiar but she couldn’t quite… oh, that’s right! There wasn’t much left of the poor dinosaur’s  face but his pale blue color reminded Ruby of a dinosaur she saw in one of the darkest days of her life. This was the same fastrunner who had kept Orchid still during the brutal killing of their mother which wasn’t a feat that the girl greatly appreciated. And now that she thought about it, she might have seen him in the battle prior to that monstrous meeting.

However, none of that explained the sight in front of her. The deceased omnivore seemed like he had been pushing the trunk upwards which had then sent Stealth falling to his death as well as why he had been slaughtered like this. But why had he done it? She had known nothing about the halftooth but if it had been because of him that Stealth had met his end, she’d be willing to give him her entire respect. Maybe something had happened between him and his parents while they were all serving Stealth. Ruby brought her mouth close to the dead dinosaur’s ear and whispered softly.

“I’m sorry I never even heard your name but thank you a lot for your help. Your deed will not be forgotten as Stealth’s death was a great victory to all of us and as long as we remember it, we will remember you as well. I thank you from the bottom of my hearts… and Orchid and Arial’s too.” She said as she slowly rose back to her full height, feeling glum for not being able to bid the other fastrunner a better goodbye. After all, he had given his all to bring Stealth down but close to one would ever even learn his name. That fact alone saddened Ruby greatly, causing her to gaze at the lesser lights in deep thought.

As the girl gazed at the dark sky, she noticed the sight of a lone flyer heading towards her. There was no doubt within her mind that this was Lenel and inside, she knew that the coming conversation would hardly be a failure. After all, his mate had apparently spoke favorably of her and if Lenel was planning to dishonor that pact, he would be very unlikely to even bother to come meet her. Ruby took her most ordinary pose these days as she prepared for the flyer’s arrival: a tense, even a hostile one. Even after this victory, bitterness and fear dominated her mind and she wasn’t about to pretend otherwise.


The sight before him hardly made Lenel any more impressed. The fastrunner was even younger than he had expected and he could see no real courage or wit about her. Had he met her under any other circumstance, he would have told her to leave immediately but right now, he had to treat her with some respect. The flyer bowed slightly and asked the obvious question to break the rather awkward barrier between the two.

“Are you the fastrunner responsible for the rather ingenious plot of impaling the sailback on that branch?” He asked, not really expecting a negative answer. Ruby blinked once, slightly taken aback by Lenel’s battle-hardened and scarred form but on the other hand, that shouldn’t have to her as a shock. The omnivore then crossed her arms and looked at the flyer with slight suspicion, not willing to appear as too cordial just yet.

“Yes, that was me. And you are Lenel, the leader of this herd unless I’m terribly mistaken.” She said, locking eyes with the male for a second. The flyer was far from happy about the omnivore speaking to him as his equal but his thoughts were soon moved away from the insolent brat as he noticed another dinosaur approaching, one whose sight filled Lenel with far more joy. Sireia landed on his right side, clearly cringing in pain but the happiness on her face was unmistakable. The female immediately embraced her mate and spoke to her with a sobbing voice.

“You really did it, Lenel! I had already prepared for the worst when I saw how the battle was going!” She said, her sudden outburst of emotion surprising even her mate. He knew very well that Sireia showed her feelings very rarely this clearly but on the other hand, he understood it to some degree. Yes, he was the herd’s leader of course but even without that position, he could only shudder at the thought of being forced to watch as his beloved mate was getting torn apart by some sharptooth. Lenel took a deep sigh as he whispered into the female’s ear.

“But that didn’t happen, my love. I did give you my word about surviving, now didn’t I?” He said reassuringly, smiling as he looked at the lesser lights, for a moment feeling as if they were smiling upon him. Sireia looked at the other flyer in endless happiness before she gave his response.

“You did but it wouldn’t have been possible hadn’t it been for our friend. Thanks a lot, Ruby.” She said as she turned at the fastrunner whose earlier confrontational pose had eased somewhat. She was glad to see Sireia defending her to her mate instead of her being forced to present her own case to Lenel. The girl even gave Sireia a brief smile as she gave her answer.

“It was my pleasure. I had wanted to kill that monster for a long time and once you gave me the opportunity to do that, I was more than happy to be of help. I even gave that bastard bit of extra payback… as you can see.” The fastrunner said, only now realizing how disgusting a sight she had to be right now. She was even shocked herself as she looked at her crimson feathers, never having been this covered in another dinosaur’s blood before. Inside, she realized just what the two flyers’ disinterest in that fact told of the duo but
judging by Lenel’s scars, they hadn’t led the easiest of lives. Sireia didn’t even raise a brow at that comment as she answered.

“I’m glad our interests aligned this time. But why don’t you present your request to my mate? I’m sure he’s ready to return one favor to you.” She said, glancing briefly at Lenel. The male hadn’t heard Ruby’s request just yet but if his mate had been ready to accept it, then it was likely he’d be ready to do the same. The male took a step forward and tried to look as friendly as possible.

“Indeed I am, if it is in my power. I am a flyer worthy of my word so please, name your price for your service.”


Petrie could hardly look at the scene far before him. He simply didn’t want to believe that Ruby was working with his and his friends’ nemesis. As the flyer thought about everything Lenel had done… he almost wanted to vomit as he thought about the fastrunner aiding such a bastard. He hardly even heard his own voice as he whimpered miserably into the air.

“Me no get it… why would Ruby help Lenel? This bad, this really bad.” He said, soon earning an annoyed look from Ortin. The bluish boy was clearly unhappy with the situation and his next words did little to improve Petrie’s mood.

“Because she’s a fastrunner, that’s damn why! They are loyal to no one and they’re ready to band together with any dinosaur as long as they promise them something in return! I hope this teaches you to choose your friends better.” He said frigidly, waving his head while speaking. He liked Petrie a lot but there were still moments where he couldn’t help but wonder just how stupid the other boy had to be. Petrie, however, turned at Ortin and his voice was even colder than the latter’s had been and his eyes flamed with determination.

“Petrie will make you take back those words before the morning, Ortin. Ruby is a great friend and me cannot wait to meet her again but… we don’t know what has happened since me last see her. Petrie will make her see just how bad Lenel really be!” He said, causing Ortin to roll his eyes in annoyance. He then returned to look at the three dinosaurs’ meeting and mumbled tensely at his friend.

“Whatever, Petrie, whatever. Do however you wish as long as it doesn’t make our quest even more difficult.” He said, causing Petrie to again fall into his own thoughts. Yes, he’d do his all to make Ruby see the truth but he still wondered what twists of fate had brought her and Lenel together?


The meeting was starting to feel more relaxed by the moment and Ruby couldn’t have been happier with her two new allies. Yes, they didn’t really care about her concerns in any way but they were still  far cry from unreasonable brutes like Stealth. She could see that despite whatever beliefs they might hold, they were still reasonable and even honorable flyers who wouldn’t seek to slay or enslave her at every possible turn and that fact alone made her chest swell with relief. The girl exhaled slowly before she spoke to Lenel in a soft but decisive voice.

“You have my thanks, Lenel. My request might sound somewhat weird but I trust you’re familiar with the oddities of this place because you must have seen some of them by now.” She said, causing the pale flyer to frown slightly. He then crossed his arms, not at all certain where the fastrunner was aiming at. His voice was a toneless one as he gave his answer.

“Yes, I’m familiar with the forces ruling this place but what is it up to you? If you hold any hopes of claiming them for yourself, you’re up to a disappointment.” He said, his expression growing darker as he spoke. He had no idea how Ruby would plan to challenge him but he wasn’t on the mood to even be wondering about possible new threats. Seeing the flyer’s chagrin, Ruby raised her hands and moved to calm the situation as soon as possible.

“No, you understood it all wrong, Lenel! I have absolutely no interest in claiming any of these powers to myself but you are right that my request has to do with those powers. You see… I lot my sister in this forest and I want her back.” She said, somewhat causing Lenel’s antagonism to subside but it was clear that the light-colored dinosaur was still far from content with the omnivore’s words.

“Lost your sister? I have absolutely no idea what any of that has to do with me.” He said, causing Ruby’s expression to grow more bothered. She looked at Sireia for a brief moment but it seemed like the female flyer had little to add to the conversation right now. Ruby took a brief sigh as she tried to gather her thoughts. This wasn’t a time to ruin her case in the male’s eyes and she knew it very well.

“Well, you see… I didn’t just lose her like that though I. It seemed like some force took control of her body and she run away into the darkness… and when I tried to chase her, I hit a wall of stone that stopped my chase just like that! It was terrifying… it really was… poor Arial…” She said, causing her head to start drooping towards the ground while the girl tried to block the new wave of sadness that was starting to flow through her mind. Sireia took an almost sympathetic expression as he turned to speak to his mate.

“That’s not hard to believe at all, Lenel. Not after what happened to you.” She said, causing the other flyer to bring his hand against his chin. Before this night, he would have considered the girl a liar or insane for even suggesting such a thing but now, he wasn’t even surprised by what he had heard. The flyer looked thoughtfully at the fastrunner and after a while of pondering, asked her carefully.

“Very well, Ruby. But what do you want me to do about it?” He asked, having a very clear idea about the answer he’d receive but he wanted to hear it directly from the omnivore. Ruby rolled her eyes while trying to keep her raging emotions at bay. Lenel still hadn’t agreed to her proposal and she’d have to treat him with respect if she wanted to have any chance of winning his approval.

“Honored Lenel, I want you to tell whatever force took her from me to release her immediately once you win their powers to yourself. I don’t want any further reward for my help and I’ll even aid you in any way I can for the rest of your quest. Please… just save my sister.” She said, allowing a single tear to fall into the ground. She didn’t even try to fake her emotions as she had already far too much on her heart. She looked with some hopefulness as Lenel started to speak again.

“Yes, such a reward would be very reasonable… if it is mine to give. Are you sure your sister is even still alive?” He asked, really wondering on how to answer. He didn’t want to give any promises he couldn’t keep and this conversation wasn’t an exception. Ruby looked at him sadly as she gave her answer.

“All I ask of you is to give it an honest try. That is all I can ask because of course, I cannot ask something you cannot do. If you cannot help in the end, it will be my loss.” She said grimly, not even wanting to think of the possibility that Arial was already gone. Lenel looked at his mate for a short while before he sighed slightly. It was clear that he wasn’t comfortable with the situation and that sentiment was apparent as the flyer whispered to the female.

“Do you think it to be wise to agree? I don’t like to give any promises about my upcoming abilities.” He said, thinking about all the rash decisions and promises he had made in his life. Right now he wanted to believe that his days as an utterly ruthless and emotionless leader had come to an end and he wanted this negotiation to mirror that development as
well. Sireia looked at the male with a thoughtful but surprisingly relaxed expression and her voice was far from a glum as she spoke.

“She said it herself. She understands well that there’s a chance we can’t help but… but she did help even in that case. We have nothing to lose here, my love.” She said, not able to deny that Ruby’s situation was starting to really bother her. That sensation was a new one for her as she had never expected to care about a fastrunner but here she was, genuinely hoping she could save her sister. Lenel nodded silently and again crossed his arms while he prepared to give his answer to the omnivore.

“Very well, Ruby. I give you my word that I will release your sister if I only can. That is all I can promise to you.” He said, causing a weak smile to creep on Ruby’s face. The omnivore bowed again, speaking in a revering voice to the one dinosaur who had given her some hope in a long time.

“You have my utmost thanks, Lenel. May fate be kind on your actions.” She said, not even caring about Lenel’s past deeds. Only the present mattered to her now and right now, the flyer was more than useful to her own ambitions. Lenel nodded at the halftooth slightly before turning at his remaining followers and crying to them loudly.

“It’s time to claim our final reward, everyone! Gather around me and let’s claim what we have sacrificed so much to receive!” He yelled, looking with appreciation as the exhausted and wounded dinosaurs headed towards him. Now, absolutely nothing stood between him and final victory. Either the spirits would acknowledge him with some honor or he’d force them to submit before his might. Even then, he was prepared to make sure that he’d never again fall to some stupid mistakes that would cost even more to his faithful herd. From now on, he’d truly follow in Olres’ footsteps or die trying.

Ruby, on the other hand, looked at the sight with astonishment. She had never before expected to band together with a flyer herd before and he knew just how unlikely such a scenario was. Very few outsiders would ever end up on good terms with their kind and it was especially difficult for a fastrunner. However, she hardly even cared about any of that right now as the only thing she cared about right now was Arial. With any luck, her salvation was drawing close… if she was still able to be rescued.


Petrie was leaning against the tree’s trunk with absolutely no efforts to keep his posture up. He felt as if he had just been beaten up physically and his muscles felt almost hollow as he looked at the gathering of the remaining flyers. Why had the fate thrown an abomination like this before him after everything that he had already had to go through? Not only was he annoyed by Ruby’s inability to see who Lenel truly was but also by the fact that he’d have to listen to his friends bashing the fastrunner for the rest of the night. Yes, he was beyond happy Ruby was still alive but couldn’t their reunion have happened in any better circumstances?! The boy’s head was slowly starting to ache as Ortin muttered silently.

“The group is gathering together again. They seem to be moving on… and the eggstealer seems to be going with them.” He said, not earning even the smallest gesture from Petrie. Glide glanced at the bluish boy, voicing one issue that had bothered her for a while now.

“Even worse, it seems Lenel was right after all. Look in that direction, Ortin.” She said, pointing to her right. The male frowned at her comments but he did as he was told. The male narrowed his eyes and at first he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. He was even preparing to ask what Glide had meant until he finally noticed something. The perfect darkness of the night seemed to be penetrated by a weak barrage of ghastly light. At first Ortin thought it was some odd reflection from the lesser lights but he soon noticed he could hardly even see them. That sight was far away but as he looked ever closer, he noticed that there was some very slight hue of dark white emanating from the other side of the river. He stuttered clearly as he asked his friend.

“Wh… what is that even? It looks… weird.” He asked, not able to answer that question himself. Glide crossed her hands and looked at the direction with a faraway look in her eyes. Her voice was a cryptic one as she gave her answer.

“Who knows? At least it isn’t anything natural. As I said, I’m starting to believe Lenel was right to believe in Olres’ story all along.” She said, even haunted by the sight. All along, she had seen that story as a stupid folly that Lenel believed for some reason. However, this entire forest seemed to be proving her wrong in real time. Ortin was just as astonished by the sight as the girl and neither had he expected to see any supernatural phenomena here. It felt like a sleep story to him and he simply couldn’t believe that he was really seeing the things he had seen. His voice was a weak one as he shook his head.

“I… I think you’re right, Glide. Petrie… I’m sorry for doubting you. You were right in inviting us on this journey.” He said, referring to his earlier objections about casing a children’s sleeping time story. His words finally tore Petrie awake from his thoughts even if his attention was clearly divided as he tried to realize what his friends had been talking about.

“Oh, it okay… Tell again, what you talk about?” The boy said, blinking his eyes as he tried to escape from this awkward situation. Ortin rolled his eyes in slight annoyance as he spoke to the other male in a sharper voice.

“I’m talking about that hue, Petrie! All along, I’ve been wondering about whether you’re a complete idiot for taking us all the way here but right now, I’m starting to believe that we’re living in some kind of story ourselves. But who knows how it’ll end?” He ended with a sigh, causing Petrie to finally rise to his feet and approach his friends slowly. He inhaled briefly before giving his answer.

“Do not thank Petrie about that, thank the flyer who told me about what Lenel was planning! Me just did as me see best and… here we are. But we have to make our move soon or Lenel finally win Olres’ power!” He said, looking as Lenel and his group gathered at the water path’s shore, preparing to head off. Ortin was just about to answer before he was alerted by a sharp, even threatening voice below them.

“Identify yourselves, immediately! Are you friends with Lenel? Answer, now!” That voice caused Ortin’s worries to grow immediately. He knew that voice even if he couldn’t quite identify which flyer it belonged again. The boy slowly turned to look at the speaker, seeing that he was accompanied by a larger host of flyers, all members of his herd. His voice was a fearful but somewhat steady one as he answered.

“N… no, we aren’t! We all hate that monster from the bottoms of our hearts!” He said, his fears only deepening as he saw another dinosaur step forward. The sight of the female almost prompted him to escape immediately considering the circumstances they had last met but when the older dinosaur started to speak, he decided to listen for a moment longer.

“Well, if it isn’t the last heir of Warekli’s line. I did hope you had survived our little chase if only to annoy our “dear” leader.” She said, remembering the time she and Northwind had been given the task to finish Peak’s last relative and his friends down. Ortin frowned deeply at those words, hating to see someone speak that mockingly about his family’s destruction. He nearly spat into the ground as he answered but he didn’t want to poison this discussion before hearing just what the female wanted. His voice was tense but relatively restrained as he spoke.

“I indeed did, Haste. Did Lenel send you here to finish the job?” He asked, already starting to ponder just how Lenel could have learned about his presence if that was true. At the very least it would mean that the trio’s ability to change this night’s outcome would be severely crippled. However, to his relief, Haste’s expression immediately revealed that that wasn’t the case. The older flyer’s expression turned into a calmer one as he gave his answer.

“While I wouldn’t have minded to be able to end your pathetic life, I have no real motive to hurt you, Ortin. As for Lenel, I’m not answering to that fool ever again. I will take him down and I will show that I am the best flyer to lead our herd. What is your business out here?” She asked, not caring about the trio in the least but should they in some way be a threat to her ambitions, she’d have to know about it. Glide stepped forward and answered to Haste even if she was far from fond of the other female.

“How can we know that you aren’t trying to trick us to revealing our plans to you? We have no reason at all to believe you’re still not answering to Lenel.” She said, causing the darker-colored dinosaur’s expression to grow even more annoyed. She wouldn’t waste much more on these children so they’d have to stop playing games with her for their own sake.

“I slaughtered many of his followers with my own hands, Glide! Now, I do not care in the least about your business here but I advise you to stay out of my way because if I even suspect any of you are going to stand against me, I will not hesitate to cut you down like I will do to all who will side with Lenel against me! Is that clear?” She demanded, causing Glide to gulp deeply before she nodded to the higher-ranked flyer. Her voice was rather timid from this news but even then, she knew better than to prolong this conversation further.

“Yes it is, Haste. I promise that we will not cause you or your followers any harm.” She said, cringing deeply inside. Haste narrowed her eyes before mumbling silently as she started walking forward.

“Just make sure that you speak the truth. Farewell to all of you.” She said, leaving the three children to look after her in puzzlement. After a few seconds, a smile appeared on Ortin’s face. He turned to look at Glide and spoke to her in a cheerful voice, clearly excited by this development.

“This is wonderful news! It seems we will have more allies against Lenel than we had expected! And she would be a huge improvement from Lenel!” He said, already thinking about the moment when he’d see Lenel being vanquished from this world. However, he was somewhat bothered when Glide didn’t mirror his enthusiasm in any way. The girl looked back to look at Haste and shook her head slightly.

“I’m not so sure about that, Lenel. Lenel is terrible but… I have a really bad feeling about her as well.” She said, catching Petrie’s interest. The boy turned to look at her and asked her with an unsure voice.

“Umm… why is that, Glide? Do you know something about her Petrie and Ortin don’t?” He said, wondering what could potentially make the female say something like that. Glide returned a concerned flyer to the other flyer, clearly hesitating to say what she had to say but after a moment, she exhaled as a sign of resignation. Her voice was a somewhat confused one but it no longer held any hints of hesitation.

“Ortin should have heard about some of those rumors too. Anyway, it is said that Haste was only waiting to attack her sister her own life in an attempt to win her position as that herd’s leader. I cannot prove it but… the way she sided with Lenel and considering Nira’s death… I don’t trust her at all.” She said, making sure that not even the last members of the older flyer’s host heard what she was saying. Ortin, on the other hand, was growing increasingly agitated at Glide’s words, not at all happy with the direction she was going in.

“So what, Glide? Are you implying that we should cast her aside simply because of those fears? Even if that meant Lenel becomes invincible?” He asked sharply, causing Glide to gulp slightly. It was clear she was beyond uncomfortable with this discussion but she wasn’t about to simply resign it to Ortin. She waited for a few seconds to gather her thoughts before giving her answer.

“Please, Ortin… I know full well what Lenel did but there’s a good chance Haste has murdered her own sister to get her position and now she’s attacking her own fellow herd members! Besides, she is an extremely selfish and cold flyer and at least I don’t want her as my leader. If only both she and Lenel would fall on this night…” She said, her last words being more like a wish than a real proposition. Ortin, however, was still far from happy with the answer and he stepped forward in an almost threatening manner.

“No matter what she’s done, at least she can’t be worse than Lenel! Ruining his plans was our task all along or have you forgotten that, Glide?” He said, his face only a few inches away from that of Glide’s. Petrie was far from happy with the sight and he demanded to calm the other male down before anything unfortunate happened.

“Step back, Ortin! We know Lenel our main enemy but if what Glide tell be true, Petrie don’t want Haste to win either! What you say if we try to continue attacking Lenel but also act against Haste if we can? Is that okay, Ortin?” He said, causing the bluish dinosaur to lock eyes with his friend. It was clear he still wasn’t happy with the situation but as he saw the pleading expressions on the duo’s faces, he knew he had only one real choice. He sighed while turning around, hoping that his friends weren’t making a terrible mistake.

“Very well, Petrie. Let’s have it your way. But come on now, we don’t have any more time to waste!” He said as he took off into the night sky, more than eager to begin the most important part of this quest. Petrie and Glide exchanged glances before heading after their friend with a bothered expression.


The boy cringed deeply as another bolt of pain shot through him. He took a forced breath as he looked before himself, seeing nothing but darkness everywhere he looked. That sight was mirrored in his mind as well as the world that he was in was nothing but a hell to him. The spark of slightest hope caused by the latest vision was quickly starting to fade, causing him to wonder how he could ever have even dared to hope Petrie was really here? It was nothing but a fool’s prayer and he had had enough of them!

But surely, that vision had been a very convincing one. The three flyers had seemed truly sorry for him which was something he hadn’t come to see from the shadows before. Some part of him wanted to believe that one of them had really been his old friend, that there was someone he cared about still alive…

… but there wasn’t. Another tear flowed down Littlefoot’s cheeks as he thought about everything he had lost. Hadn’t his mother been enough? What cursed fate had caused him to lose the rest of his family and his friends as well? Every time the longneck tried to think of the past, another wave of unbearable pain shot through him. This was all wrong! He truly wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and wake up besides, he didn’t have much strength to do anything else either. However… for some reason, he simply couldn’t do that.

Deep in his heart, the longneck knew very well why even if he didn’t think about it in any meaningful way. He had seen enough sacrifice in his short life to simply give up himself now. His entire mind was a mess but his heart was the same it had always been… and even if Littlefoot didn’t want to acknowledge it, it whispered to him ever so silently. It whispered to him to try to save the only thing that still could give him a way out of this most nightmarish of situations. Yet… his mind told him otherwise.

He had already tried to find some meaning in life by seeking this place out in order to win some kind of relief from his endless streak of losses but even that had ended in just another failure and tragedy. Here he was, seriously hurt and alone with no one to turn to. The longneck felt a hot tear flow down his cheek as he thought about the misery of it all. This forest might very well be his resting place for all he cared.

The weakening wind howled within his ears as the longneck noticed something that caught his attention. The white ground sparkles around him were melting into a tiny pond right under his head, the weak light of the lesser lights revealing his reflection in the waters. Littlefoot hardly even noticed I but his breathing stopped momentarily as he saw his face, more miserable than it had ever looked since… since…

…since the day he had met Cera for the third time. The longneck’s heart started beating in his chest as he looked at that sight, almost expecting to hear his mother’s voice again inside his heart like he had on that day. The similarities between these moments were striking but this time, he heard nothing. The boy looked at himself for seconds on end, his hopes of hearing his mother’s voice fading by the second. Yet, that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel anything at all. His heart started to feel warmer than it had in days and it told him that the Petrie he had met only a while earlier was truly who he had claimed to be. As newfound hope started to fill him, he looked towards the skies and saw something that made his expression turn into one of awe while causing new tears to form in his eyes.

Beyond the canopy of the trees, he couldn’t see one but two bright stars twinkling upon him. At first he was astonished by that but almost immediately, he started to weep. The other was the star he had seen ever since his first journey but the other one… it was something he had never seen before and he knew very well what it was. Littlefoot turned to look at the skies, sniffing deeply as he spoke into the darkness.

“I… I don’t think I can do it, mother and dad. I… I just cannot! Not without you… or my… my friends…” He said while letting his head droop back towards the small pond. The brief moment of resignation was soon ended as something happened that the longneck hadn’t expected. The reflection grew suddenly stronger and more surprisingly, he suddenly noticed he wasn’t alone. Petrie suddenly seemed to stand on his left side… and Ruby on his right one while Ducky seemed to be smiling cheerfully on his back! What was this? Was he going totally insane or… or was this something that was meaningful?

Carefully, the boy turned to look back at the sky and the two stars seemed to be slowly fading away. Almost without realizing it, Littlefoot jumped up from the ground and yelled with all his might.

“Mother? Dad? Don’t go! What does this mean?! Please, tell me!” He cried and almost immediately, he felt another wave of warmth emanating from his chest. Suddenly, he felt as happy and calm as he had during the days when his father had come to meet him during the early Spring or when he had still basked in his mother’s love. And at that moment, the longneck realized that even if his parents didn’t talk to him, he knew very well what he had to do. He had never expected to feel this way again but here he was, ready for another adventure or at least trying to find out if there was still some weak life left for him in this sickening world. With slow and forced movements, Littlefoot started to walk back towards the place he had just come from: the dark heart of the Land of the Dancing Waters.


The fastrunner could see her hands trembling slightly as she did her best to avoid tripping on the hard water. She looked at the flyers above herself, doing her best to keep up with them even if this was one of the moments when she wished that she, too, had wings. Despite her pact with Lenel, she had no doubts that he’d leave her should she fall too far behind him and his herd. Besides, she was beyond distressed by the hard water in general. After all, she had tried to lure Red Claw on it in order for him to fall through it into his death. Even if Ruby knew she was much lighter than the sailback, the possibility of her plunging into the frigid waters was one that made her beyond fearful.

However, none of that ever came to be. The omnivore sighed deeply as she felt her foot hitting solid ground again, more than thankful that that part of tonight’s journey was now
behind her. She panted for a few seconds before noticing that the flyers were landing again not far before her. But soon after that, she noticed something that made her frown very deeply. The earlier hue emanating from this shore seemed to be gone and in its stead was something that looked far more concerning.

No forest looked really pristine during this season but the trees here looked as if they had been dead for a long, long time. They seemed to be on the verge of rotting in their place and the air itself seemed to reek with some kind of dread. Suddenly, Ruby felt a powerful urge to simply turn around and run but her sense of duty and her love for her sister made all of that impossible. She took an asking glance at Lenel who wasn’t far in front of her.

The sudden glumness of this place wasn’t lost on Lenel either, of course. The flyer was almost shocked by the sudden change of atmosphere but if this was where he had to go, then he’d walk this path to the end. Besides, he was already growing annoyed by the game these spirits were playing and now, he had had enough of it. The pale flyer cleared his throat and cried into the oppressive air.

“Spirits of this land, I ask you to honor your charge! I survived your vision and I bested the beast threatening my herd! I deserve a clear answer from you on whether or not I am finally worthy of your help!” He yelled, cringing deeply as he looked into the putrid woodland. To his slight relief, it didn’t take long this time for the first lights to appear from the darkness, heading towards the waiting flyer. The earlier reverence was absent within Lenel’s expression but along with it had gone the former arrogance.

Ruby looked at the sight in a mixture of awe and bitterness. She had never expected to see a sight like this but the fact that the spirits were most likely the reason behind her recent struggles as well as Arial’s disappearance made her grit her teeth together in contained anger. The magnificent stream of light again surrounded Lenel and the pale flyer listened closely as the odd voices again filled his mind.

“Your ability to defend your herd was truly remarkable, descendant of Olres, that much we have to give you. But you still think you deserve this blessing after everything you’ve done? After causing the deaths of dozens of your herd members and slaughtering Peak’s family for nothing? Do you think that is something worthy of the most precious gift in this world?” They asked, causing Lenel’s expression to darken slightly. Of course, he knew the answer but on the other hand, there was nothing he could do about that now. The memory of those deeds made him almost weep inside and as he looked at the brilliant sight around himself, he almost wanted to turn around and accept that he had failed once and for all.

However, he had already thought about this question and the flyer managed to save his composure in the last possible moment. Despite his mistakes, this power was still his destiny and he would use them to pay back all of the crimes he had committed during his quest. The flyer’s hands turned into fists and his face grew more tense as he turned to look slightly upwards, crying at the odd beings around him.

“I acknowledge all the mistakes of my past gladly. But that does not mean that I cannot atone for them and face the future as a new flyer! I’ve already tried to treat my herd in a whole new way and I’ve tried to cast away my earlier pride and arrogance. You have seen all of this yourselves, have you not? I would like to ask you, was that vision a real test or was it an attempt to make me run away and abandon my quest?” He asked, willing to finally receive some light to the lights’ “tests”. He wanted hints about whether he had passed them or not as he hated to be treated like a cursed hatchling. It wasn’t long before he received the answer.

“That was indeed a real test and you passed it, albeit barely. Had you been unable to escape your guilt, you would never have woken up again. You were nearly overwhelmed by fear and despair and it was a matter of seconds until you would have fallen right there. Luckily to you, you had something that you cared for more than power, Lenel. That was the only thing that saved you and the one thing that make you different from the likes of Stealth and countless other herd leaders.” They said, causing the flyer’s eyes to flash open as he thought about the last moments of that vision.

Now that he thought more about it, he could remember just what had woken him up from his artificial sleep and that made him speechless for a second. He had been thinking about Sireia who had seemed to pierce the darkness like a distant light of a lone lesser light in the night sky. The male’s breaths grew quicker and he took one step back and he gasped in astonishment. It was true that he had always found his bond with Sireia a close one but to think it truly was she who he cared for most, rather than Olres’ power… it was a surprising but thoroughly happy feeling. He soon relaxed and spoke calmly to the spirits all around him.

“I am happy you think so. I thought I was going to fail that test but it seems that I learned something precious as well. But answer truthfully, did you send the sailback to challenge me? Was that another test?” He asked seriously, really wanting to know whether these spirits had decimated his group here for some arrogant purpose. He did his best to avoid jumping to quick conclusions just yet but it was clear that he wanted to know nothing else but the entire truth. The answer he received wasn’t one that he had expected.

“The sailback arrived here himself in order to try to claim our gift and he truly was a challenge we let you deal with yourself to prove you aren’t some useless weakling who allows himself to be defeated when a powerful enemy comes your way or someone who gives up after something happens that could be regarded as a total defeat. But even if the sharptooth hadn’t come here, we would have tested your strength in some way, that much is true.” They said, causing Lenel’s annoyance to grow ever deeper. Even if he knew that challenging the beings’ motives would hardly help him, he simply couldn’t stay silent.

“You let me deal with him myself? You know as well as I do just how many of my followers died because of that “test”! Are you insane?” He yelled, earning an appreciating look from Ruby. It seemed like the flyer was very different from the stereotypes she had had about his kind and that made her even more thankful about their alliance. She was slightly worried about this conversation as a whole but thus far, Lenel had stood his ground very well. She couldn’t hear what the lights were saying but she could see the conversation was getting more intense by the second. After a few seconds, she could see from Lenel’s face that he was receiving another answer.

“If we were to grant our blessing to the wrong flyer, many more dinosaurs would die under his or her might and that is something we simply are not going to accept. Are you willing to cling to your newfound sense of morality or are you ready to enter the most sacred part of this land?” They asked, causing the male’s beak open in shock. Were they actually offering to bestow this blessing upon him? Despite his many shortcomings, was he actually on the verge of the final victory? Lenel stuttered heavily as he struggled to give his answer.

“D… do… do you mean that I… I am worthy?” He asked, looking around himself in awe. He hadn’t expected to hear those words and he was beyond honored by this development. The spirits suddenly started to gather in front of himself, seeming to merge into one massive sphere of radiance. The pale flyer then heard a more powerful but more encouraging voice inside his head.

“You have great potential, Lenel. Follow us now to he ancient battlefield and there, your quest will come to end. You’ve done very well thus far, descendant of the great Olres. We hope you are able to truly take your place by his side.” The spirits said before they suddenly headed deeper into the forest, leaving the flyers and Ruby standing in the darkness. Lenel breathed deeply, not able to believe what was happening. He panted heavily before quickly whispering to his mate.

“We’ve done it, my love. We only have to claim our prize anymore. And it was all thanks to you.” He said, earning the most appreciating of expressions from the female. However, before she could answer, he turned towards the other flyers and cried to them in a resounding voice.

“We are victorious, my followers! Now, all that’s left is to find the site of Olres’ ascension and a new age will begin! Let’s go, everyone. Let’s join the legends of our kind.” He said as he headed towards the direction the spirits had departed, not willing to waste one extra second anymore. He couldn’t wait to see what a glorious sight would await him. Not one flyer had seen the site of the destructive battle in millennia and it would be he who would become its secrets’ new guardian. The other flyers wasted no time heading after him, each of them knowing that the time when all their suffering would be repaid was drawing near.

None of Lenel’s followers felt that more sincerely than Ruby. She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she entered the heart of the forest, just as excited to be part of this journey as her new companions. Soon enough, Arial would be back by her side and in that moment, she would be able to forgive at least some of her terrible mistakes. Praying that all of that would indeed come true, she headed into the unknown, feeling more optimistic than she had in ages.


Now, Lenel is on the brink of his final victory but he still doesn’t stand unopposed. Haste is more than ready to challenge him and how do Petrie, Littlefoot and Ducky fit into the picture? What is hiding in the very heart of this cursed forest? This chapter was indeed completed in a better schedule than the last one and I’m planning to do one more installment before the first prompt of the new season. I hope you liked the developments of this chapter and see you again soon!

DiddyKF1: Yep, I wanted to draw the comparison to the eighth film with the Ducky scene for that very reason. That used to be one of Ducky’s more difficult moments and these kinds of sequences that build on the developments of the films are often rather enjoyable to read. And at this point, I’d like to draw a clear line between Stealth and Lenel as the latter indeed is ready to go to any lengths to achieve his goals while Lenel, despite his worse moments, at least tries to treat his friends with some respect. The flyer has more humane moments but Stealth is just scum always.

I’m beyond happy to hear you liked the fight as it was one of the more important ones of this story. Ruby indeed achieve a clear triumph after a long period of tragedies but it remains to be seen how far that’ll take her. But Stealth’s era is indeed over and he’s one dinosaur no one is going to miss. And yep, Petrie will be very unhappy to find about Ruby and Lenel as you’ll see in this chapter…

Anagnos: You’re right in saying that the stakes were extraordinarily high for Lenel. He is a real mess overall at this point and there are moments in which he wonders whether he should even try to work towards his goal or simply accept his defeat after understanding the depth of his monstrous deeds. Thus far, he has tried to prove to himself that he can do better and this newfound sense of morality is something Stealth would never have found.

As for any other readers who may have had the same issue, Sireia’s wring wasn’t broken but bruised as otherwise that scene would have been simply impossible. Finally, you’re right that while Jaros did the right thing but it hardly was a clever choice… as you just saw. Thank you a lot for your kind words regarding Stealth as we didn’t really see him for that long in this story but I’m glad he made a clear impact for many readers. Keep those great and detailed reviews coming, Anagnos!

rhombus: You summed the battle up very well as well as the characters’ different motives. Lenel’s uncertainty and fear certainly is a powerful driving force here as well as Ruby’s pure hate towards Stealth. I’m not even sure myself whether that or her love towards Arial is stronger right now but luckily, those goals never closed each other out. As for Jaros, it’s good to hear you found him believable here as well as I was worried he may have come too much out of nowhere.

And yes, Ruby had to her entire imagination here in order to possibly strike out a deal with Lenel but right now, her plan was rewarded. As you said, Stealth’s campaign is over once and for all but even then, there are still various players involved in this fight. The greatest threat seems to be Haste but there are many other things that might still go wrong for Lenel. I’m happy you liked this chapter and indeed, you didn’t have to wait for long for the next one.

[DiddyKF1]

Well, well, what a way to start this chapter. My worst fear was confirmed almost immediately as Petrie has to face the reality that Ruby has now allied with Lenel, which means turning against his "friend." Now, I only say friend for a better word, because after the way we saw Littlefoot shoot him down much like Ruby did with Ducky, it's hard to imagine if any of Petrie's old friends could still be considered "friends" at this point, unless perhaps Ducky hasn't fallen victim to the curse just yet. I can't imagine how this betrayal will come back to haunt Petrie and Ruby later on.

Ruby may be on the path to finding peace with everything she's been through, although we can see that she wants nothing more than to be with her sister again, even if that means joining forces with someone who just may turn out to be a power-hungry monster. It's quite clear that she's desperate and she doesn't care who she allies with as long as said ally is powerful enough to help.

Even if Haste is an enemy of Lenel, Petrie can sense that there's something "not right" about her. There is certainly a sense that he and Glide feel that she may have ulterior motives that are just as sinister as Lenel's, but only time will tell before the trio get to the bottom of her true intentions.

I could hardly come up with words to describe what Littlefoot went through as he suddenly found this strange motivation to go on. In fact, seeing visions of his surviving friends kinda reminds me of a certain story I wrote a year ago! If so, that was a nice touch!

The ending of this chapter had my heart racing. Lenel may surely be on the verge of achieving his lifelong ambition, and any opposition may soon have no hope of stopping him.

This was a pretty decent installment that sees one kid's despair lead her to unknowingly betray one of her friends, and the sense of disbelief and betrayal Petrie feels is quite genuine. It'll be interesting to see how the kids' journeys get closer to their conclusions.

[Anagnos]

At the outset of the contemporary chapter, the readers are presented with a compendium on what transpired in the preceding chapter from another perspective, this being none other than Petrie and his friends. Their surprise on the event likely wasn’t going to be very unpredictable from the get-go, but when the conversation converts into a debate on the fact that Lenel is still breathing despite everything that befall him and his herd, presents a clear obstacle to their desire to rid the world of the once extremely arrogant flyer.

Ruby’s reaction to Stealth’s death was a rather extreme one, and let me explain how so. The feeling that she was practically celebrating someone's demise like it was the best thing she’d ever accomplished in her entire life, expressed some noticeably gruesome emotion in the sequence. Naturally, when you start to contemplate on how the situation deteriorated so badly, one can acknowledge that the fastrunner has been through more than enough and the fact that Stealth was ultimately responsible for her parent’s deaths, moderately justifies her reaction.

The fact that in the end, Ruby’s desperate plan to take out the treacherous sailback managed to win over Lenel to her cause by offering his help in anything that he possibly could, but still remains skeptical of her. Now the same situation with Ortin himself was a bit more interesting, whom so unsubtly began to dismiss Ruby as a mere opportunist and a turncoat. While this description perchance carries some modicum of veritability, it seemed rather xenophobic from the young flyer. It may also be a personal experience with her kind that is the cause of this extremist view, but admittedly it is moderately alluring why he feels like this.

That being said, unquestionably the central point of this chapter was the outcome of Lenel’s lifelong fantasy and the eventual conclusion to that. He has conclusively been deemed worthy of this prize by the enigmatic force of Land of the Dancing Waters. Likewise with this recent development, Ruby has taken one step further in retrieving Arial from the relatively sketchy beings that inhabit the land. Without a doubt, this will not likely be the end of their hardship as it would be a foolish notion to believe this is the end of everything. On the contrary, we may only be getting started on something bigger and perilous than anything they have faced until now.

I did mention I had some issues with the chapter, and my main point is that the transition of the scenes between Ruby/Lenel’s and Petrie and his friends’ perspective wasn’t always clear to me, and because of that, I had to pause reading for a few moments to collect my thoughts on whose POV we were currently observing. Personally, I would’ve finished Petrie’s part first before jumping into Ruby’s section, as that would have made the flow preferable, in my opinion. I already explained my other issues on the Discord server, so I don’t feel the need to repeat myself.

Despite that, this was essentially a very well done chapter and I can hardly wait for the next installment to arrive so that these new mysteries will be brought forth to the light. A solid chapter with few relatively minor issues in it that won’t impact the long-term quality on a large-scale.

[Sovereign]

The Heart of the Ancient Mystery

The sight before him made the young fastrunner’s heart to beat ever faster in his chest. The scene around him seemed to stop completely as he looked at the dead sharptooth before himself, gasping as he thought about what had happened here. There was no doubt about it, this truly was the same sailback that had killed his parents. Deep down, despite his young age, Orchid simply couldn’t feel nothing but happiness about the fact that the predator was now dead. The pain he had felt when he had seen his mother fall dead into the ground had never left him.

The omnivore walked slowly closer to the corpse, being able to breath easier by the second. He hadn’t yet found Ruby but the male knew immediately what had been the most probable course of events here. The massive tree trunk seemed to confirm those feelings but what Orchid couldn’t quite decide was just how Ruby could have done this by herself. He cringed somewhat as he looked at the drying pool of blood beside Stealth when he heard Ducky speak to him carefully.

“That is one nasty sight, it is. But Stealth certainly deserved all of this, yep, yep, yep.” Ducky said as she stood next to her companion. Orchid glanced at her briefly, barely able to contain his emotions as he looked at Stealth’s face. His voice wavered deeply as he answered to the swimmer.

“If anyone deserved this, it’s him. How could he do everything he did, Ducky? I mean… sharpteeth may be more than bad sometimes but Stealth…” He stopped, his meaning more than clear to Ducky. She crossed her arms while looking at Orchid with apologizing look. She sighed as she thought about what to say.

“I do not know, Orchid! I have seen enough bad dinosaurs in my life but I never understood why they do it! Or I do understand that sharptooth need to eat but many I have met do not do bad things because of that! I just wonder who did this. Those flyers?” She asked while nodding at the small corpses dotting the entire area. Orchid’s eyes widened as he noticed them, not having seen them before. However, he didn’t need to think for long before answering the girl’s question.

“I’m sure it was Ruby. Just look at that branch: it must have pointed towards the sky and the wound in Stealth’s chest proves he fell right against it!” He said rather happily, causing Ducky to frown slightly. She wasn’t exactly convinced by the boy’s words and she didn’t hesitate voicing her misgivings.

“You may be right but we cannot prove this was Ruby’s doing! Nothing here proves Ruby ever came-ed even here!” She said, slightly frustrated by this entire search. Yes, she was more than willing to help her friend and she wasn’t even bitter about their last parting but that didn’t change the fact that if Ruby had managed to subdue her fears, she would be with her and Orchid right now. The young fastrunner looked at Ducky oddly for a moment before giving his answer.

“Only someone from our kind can come up with these kinds of ideas and I know very well how my sister does things! And if you don’t believe me, just look at this! You do recognize Ruby’s footprints, don’t you?” He said as he pointed at a spot in the ground. Ducky looked at it with an unsure expression, immediately able to tell if was a young fastrunner’s. She couldn’t prove it was Ruby’s but if her brother said so, then she’d believe him. The swimmer looked at the boy for a few seconds before giving her answer.

“If you are right, then Ruby was even clever-er than I thought, Orchid. Though… I am not sure if I am happy when my friend proves to be a good killer.” She said glumly, her mind suddenly returning to happier days. The days when Spike was still here and when her life didn’t involve killing other dinosaurs in cold blood. Orchid looked at her rather sadly, soon trying to comfort her to the best of his ability.

“Ducky… I know this isn’t a life your kind usually leads. But sometimes bad dinosaurs have to be dealt with! Just think what he thought to mommy and d…” He started but Ducky stopped him with an urgent wave of her hand. Orchid’s face fell further after that gesture but he had no idea what kind of storm was swirling inside Ducky. No, this wasn’t any kind of a new situation for her and she had absolutely no plans to condemn anything Ruby had done. She turned at Orchid with an extremely bothered look, her voice completely powerless and beaten as she spoke to him.

“I know, Orchid, I know. In fact, I have known that for five or six Cold Times by now.” She said cryptically, causing Orchid to cock his head and ask her in a hesitating voice.

“Wh… what do you mean by that?” He asked, not knowing what to expect. The swimmer put her hands on her hips, returning to the day that had plagued her for a long, long time. Her voice was getting even heavier as her story went on.

“I have not told of it to many others, Orchid. I do not believe I even told everything to Ruby. In any case, it happened-ed long ago when we were just about to reach the Great Valley. There was another sharptooth chasing us that entire journey and one day Littlefoot suddenly decided we had to get rid of him for our own sake. In that moment, I did not understand it completely but… it was not something any of us wanted to do.” She said in a heavy voice, just the thought of that day chilling her to the core. Yes, the danger she had subjected herself to was haunting but the fact she and her friends had agreed to do it still bothered her. Orchid didn’t seem to understand the swimmer’s point just yet and he asked sharply.

“What about it? If that sharptooth was a clear threat to all of you, then…” He started but Ducky cut him short and looked at him pleadingly. She was more than uncomfortable with this discussion but Orchid deserved to hear the truth.

“He was not that day, no, no, no! We attacked him ourselves with a clear intent to kill! I know why Littlefoot wanted to do it as that monster had killed his mother but… but what about the rest of us? We killed another dinosaur without a clear reason! I’ve wondered-ed for a long time after that… that despite everything we’ve done, we’re still… killers.” She said, causing Orchid’s face soften ever so slightly. He was beyond impressed by what Ducky had just said and there wasn’t even a trace of shock in his eyes. The boy took a deep breath as he gave his answer.

“Well, that is how it all goes in the Mysterious Beyond, Ducky! Daddy and mommy always told us that there is no reason to wonder or feel bad if you do something in order to defend yourself or those you love from harm! You did say the sharptooth was chasing you so of course you had all the right to take it down! I’m just shocked you were able to pull something like that off!” He said, the pain more than apparent in his eyes at the mention of his parents. He tried to hide it for now but it was clear to Ducky just how battered he had to be on the inside.

The swimmer was overall surprised by what she was hearing. Here a child younger than herself was telling her how it was right to kill other dinosaurs in self-defense. If he heard something similar from the mouths of her own siblings, she’d be beyond horrified. But as she looked at Orchid, she saw that despite his lack of experience, he had still been taught very well to face the full dangers of the world. Ducky moved closer to the boy and spoke to him warmly.

“You know what, Orchid? It feels like I’m beyond shocked every time I speak to a member of your family. Now I have learned that friendship matters little and that someone your age thinks killing is fine. That is something I never thought about you when I met your family at the Hanging Rock, nope, nope, nope.” She said, causing Orchid’s mood to grow even more worried. Despite everything he had gone through, he still didn’t like the sound of those words. The lack of any clear emotion on Ducky’s face made him even more alarmed and that was reflected in his answer.

“We aren’t monsters Ducky! We just have to understand the realities of this world! That’s what…” He started but Ducky cut him short. There was no trace of malice in her voice, just confusion and slight melancholy.

“..that is what your mommy and daddy would have said. I know, Orchid, and I am not blaming you. It… it just hurts me that… many of the things you have said are true. I am not sure if Ruby had to kill Stealth but… but no matter what, she did not do wrong. Just promise me one thing, Orchid.” The swimmer said with gleaming eyes, her mind clearly a complete flux at the moment.

The boy gulped deeply as he looked at the swimmer, all traces of his slightly improved mood gone. No, Ducky didn’t seem to be judging him for anything but he was more than sorry for the grim turn of this conversation. After a few seconds, he gave his answer to the swimmer.

“I… I guess I can. What is it, Ducky?” He asked, slightly worried about what was to come. He didn’t like about the look on his companion’s face in the least but he was slightly relieved by the fact that she hadn’t pushed her previous point harder. The swimmer didn’t break the duos eye contact for a moment as she spoke to the omnivore.

“Orchid, please do not do the thing Ruby did to me to anyone as long as you live. I know it is against the wisdoms of your kind but… try to also understand one of mine. There is a lot to be gained from friendships, something that might be worth the extra risk. Swimmers and fastrunners do live differently but I do not believe casting friends away like that does anyone any good, no, no, no. It hurt me so very much, it did… and I know Ruby felt the same way. But if you have to part ways with someone you like, do it as a friend… in case you might meet each other one day.” She spoke right from her heart, not willing to push the poor boy too much. Orchid had suffered already enough without her forcing him to give wows he wouldn’t be able to keep.

The omnivore breathed deeply as he looked at the girl. He was not terribly fond of listening to this swimmer instead of his parents but as he looked at Ducky’s distressed face, he felt something… odd. He hadn’t really had friends outside of his family before but as he looked at Ducky’s sweet if sad face, he couldn’t help but feel some affection towards her. He certainly didn’t want to part ways with her nor end up in bad terms with her. As he looked at her, he found no real reason to decline her request. The two would have to bid goodbye to each other eventually but he’d certainly rather do so as her friend instead of another stranger. The male then gave her a weak smile before speaking to her in a low voice.

“Very well, Ducky. I promise you that much.” He said, causing a slight look of appreciation rise on Ducky’s face. That sight alone filled the boy’s heart with happiness and even hope. He couldn’t be more grateful for having the swimmer by her side in these hellish hours. The earlier tension seemed to slowly drift away as Ducky broke the silence.

“Thank you so much, Orchid! That means a lot to me, it does! But now, let’s find Ruby and make her see reason. But first we have to cross that water path.” She said as she nodded at the direction the other female’s footsteps were headed. She didn’t like this chase in the least but she’d do anything to help her old friend from the dark fate waiting her. Orchid gulped slightly before the duo headed deeper into the cursed forest.


The sight around her made the halftooth’s heart race ever quicker. She could almost feel the ground rotting under her and the trees looming in the darkness seemed like they were on the verge of falling apart. They were clearly rotting from the inside and she had no doubts that they’d collapse into the ground should she even touch them with her finger. Even worse, the air smelled absolutely putrid, making the girl want to vomit.

She could see that the flyers didn’t seem to be any happier with the situation than she did was but deep down, there was one thing that made her feel even more miserable. Even if she had tried to bury that thought into the depths of her mind, she now knew she had seen this place before. This was the place she had seen in her vision prior to arriving in this evil land. That fact alone made her shudder deeply as the feeling of dread started to creep ever deeper into the fastrunner’s heart.

If that wasn’t enough, there was also another thought haunting the omnivore’s mind. Why exactly had she seen that mission in the first place? What had the spirits tried to achieve by showing her all of this? Ruby couldn’t help but feel like she was being guided towards some goal, as if some unknown force was forcing her to confront something important here.

Especially with Arial’s disappearance, they had left her with no choice but to come here which made the ominous fear within the young halftooth’s heart grow even deeper. She was doing just as the spirits wanted her to and for better or worse, her and Arial’s lives most likely depended on their benevolence. Yet, turning around and abandoning Arial was simply not an option and Ruby knew she was ready to face whatever fate was waiting for her. The girl’s thoughts were interrupted only be a fearful question from one of the flyers.

“I don’t like this in the least, Lenel! Whatever power we might get from a place like this must cause more bad than good! Let’s turn around while we still can!” The flyer said miserably, causing Lenel to glance at him in clear disappointment. The higher-ranked male had a harsh and hostile look on his face but his voice was surprisingly contained as he gave his answer.

“And cause the sacrifice of our comrades go to vain? Now, Lightdash, certainly you wouldn’t wish to do that?” He asked sharply, looking the other flyer into the eyes. The latter seemed more than miserable but even then, he managed to gather enough courage to answer Lenel’s question.

“Just look around yourself, Lenel! This place is absolutely disgusting and if Olres ever was here, something has changed since then! We must het out of here!” He said in growing panic and to Lenel’s dismay, another of his followers soon cried at the pale flyer.

“He is correct! Lenel, you’ve done well but certainly you know yourself this isn’t a good idea! We won’t honor the dead by joining them… or worse.” The female cried, causing her leader to cringe his teeth together in growing outrage. Sireia suddenly stepped forward towards the duo and slapped the other female to her beak. She was far from happy to hear these kinds of things this close to their final victory and she would make sure each and attempts at mutiny would be dealt with decisively.

“The next one to speak about turning around will regret it dearly! First of all, the look of this place most likely reflects the tragedy which tore it apart from my mate’s family and second, we’ve already seen the proof about the spirits’ ability to do great things! These are the same beings who helped Olres so long ago but I’m starting to wonder if our herd is worth receiving their gift! Now, everyone who still wishes to be part of this momentous quest, form a line in front of me!” She yelled, watcing encouragingly as three of the remaining flyers as well as Ruby did as told immediately. After a moment of hesitating, four others followed them… leaving the fearful duo and one other dinosaur standing still. Lenel sighed deeply as he moved closer to them.

“Is this really what you want? I have no desire to hurt any of you nor would I but I have no confidence that you’d be able to find your way out of this forest alive. And even if you did, I’ll make sure no other herd will ever accept you to their ranks again once I take my place among our kind. I’ll give you ten more seconds to reconsider your decision.” He said, looking at the trio threateningly. No flyer would survive alone or even in a herd of three for long so Lenel’s threat would mean death sentence to the trio.

That sight bothered Ruby slightly but she stood in line with the flyers without speaking one word. She hated seeing any dinosaur threaten his followers like this but then again, she knew that flyers were used to working together and living in a herd but to her, the thought of some other dinosaur telling her what to do was not a familiar one. The girl decided to stay silent, however, and allow the flyers sort out their differences by themselves.

The tension hung in the air as second after another passed. Lenel was already preparing to banish the two mutinous flyers but two seconds after the set deadline, one of the three exhaled and spoke to his leader in resignation.

“Have it your way then, Lenel. But I hope you remember our warning if things start to go badly.” He said, the two others slowly following him to join the rest of the group.  The pale flyer nodded in approval before speaking to his followers.

“Now that that drama has been dealt with, let’s get moving again. I truly hope that I won’t have to listen to just pathetic, miserable wh…” He started but before he could finish, Sireia whispered to her mate urgently.

“Look there, Lenel! I… I think we might already be there.” The female said, causing Lenel to frown. He turned to look at the direction Sireia was pointing towards and he wasn’t able to hide his surprise. It almost looked like a new Bright Circle had appeared into the middle of the darkness and it was only after a few moments that the male realized he was holding his breath. It indeed looked like he was approaching his destination and he didn’t wait for a moment before calling at his herd.

“Well, let’s go see it, then! This seems most promising…” He said as he practically ran towards that mysterious sight, not really even bothering to look whether the others were following. All he cared about was to finally reveal all the secrets surrounding his family. The gleaming light grew ever closer and with it, the moment he had been waiting for so long…

And that sight didn’t let him down in the least. The massive sphere of radiance slowly faded away, revealing a wide plain in front of the pale flyer. He had been heading uphill all this time but even then, two tall mountains rose to his right and left, making this place look more like a massive pass rather than a normal plain. A large waterfall fell from the hill to the right, the waters seemingly headed to some underground cave after hitting the ground. And in the middle of this place was a smaller rock, roughly the height of a longneck’s neck. The ground seemed completely dead around him, the gloom of the Cold Time almost feeling unbearable as the melancholy of this sight became mixed with it.

Lenel could hardly hide his excitement as he realized that he knew just what this place was. The spirits had said it themselves: this was the place where the flyers and the other kinds had faced each other at the twilight of the former’s rule. This was the place where thousands if not more dinosaurs had lost their lives during that day of massive slaughter, a thought that made even Lenel shiver deeply. The more he thought of it, the more inconsolable this entire place seemed to him. The flyer’s eyes narrowed slightly as he heard the now-familiar humming in his head.

“Welcome to the heart of the Land of the Dancing Waters, Lenel. This is the most sacred part of this forest and I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that no flyer since Olres has seen this sight.” The voice told, causing Lenel to stare forward with un unreadable expression. He stood still for a few seconds, hearing his companions catching up to him. When the male spoke, his voice was a strikingly melancholic one.

“This… this is the place where it all happened, right? The battle… as well as Olres’ ascension.” He said, willing to confirm what he already knew. He quickly glanced at Sireia who was just as overwhelmed by all of this as he was but he said nothing to her as he listened to the answer.

“That is correct. This is the site of the biggest single tragedy this world has ever seen.” The voices said, making Lenel nod carefully. As the male looked around himself, he could imagine thousands of corpses and bloody remains of once-living dinosaurs littered all around this wide plain. That sight made his face fall further as he decided that he finally deserved some answers he knew he more than deserved.

“I’m done playing dumb and simply following every last of your whims. Now, tell me, who are you and why did my family lose the control of this place? Speak!” He said, knowing that he had the right to know all of that and even to his own surprise, he felt no trace of hesitation in his voice. However, he was even more surprised as he heard the answer. He was astonished by how openly the spirits revealed their secrets but even more stunned he was by the answer itself.

“You are worthy of learning the truth, Lenel, and if you are to receive our blessing, it is something you truly have to know. We are the spirits of all those who fell here on that day, sworn to be here to make sure a tragedy like that will never happen. As for why nobody has visited this place since, it was because of an ancestor of yours, called Liras. He was clearly not worthy of even his own herd but after his failure, he tried to burn this entire land because of his own weaknesses. He mostly succeeded and that is why this forest looks the way it does. It was he who ruined it for good.” The voices said, causing Lenel’s eyes to grow completely round.

Yes, he had already realized he was practically speaking with ghosts but to hear it out loud… The male took a few steps back, not really able to decide how to react to those words. Lenel’s courage nearly failed before he stopped again, slowly recovering his composure. He was going to learn the truth and he wouldn’t be turned back by his own fear. Lenel suddenly took one step forward and asked in a grim voice.

“Then tell me, how did all of this happen? A dinosaur doesn’t simply turn into a ball of light when he or she dies! Explain that or I have no reason to believe any of your words! What did this to you?” He yelled, trying to brace himself to any possible answer. He didn’t want to die but… he truly disliked the idea of being forced to stay in such an unnatural form for all eternity. Whatever had happened had to be something terrifying… and something that would disturb any sane dinosaur. However, the pale flyer was far from satisfied with the next answer.

“You’ve come this far and still you find it in yourself to question our words? Remember that you still haven’t received our gift, Lenel, and hopefully you’re not forcing us to reconsider our decision.” The voices said but they made little to dampen Lenel’s yearning for knowledge. He decided to change his tone but continue his push for more answers.

“My apologies for that. But I truly have to know what happened! If I’m going to become this place’s guardian, I need to know the whole truth!” He said, noticing the unsure looks on his followers’ faces. He knew well that they heard nothing about what the ghosts were saying but the flyer decided to cast those thoughts aside for now. His heart started to beat quicker in his chest as the voices appeared again in his head.

“Indeed you do. Then, listen carefully, Lenel. The whole truth is unknown to us as well but it all started at the beginning of the battle. The leaders of both the flyers and their opponents gathered for one final attempt to prevent what was coming and they were even on the verge of succeeding. Many had already embraced the idea that the conflict could be solved after all but… but that wasn’t to be.

Just prior to the leaders agreeing on the final terms, most of them were suddenly surrounded by their own deputies and slaughtered in cold blood! They were more than hostile to the idea of peace and that meant that bloodshed was already unavoidable. However, it was also the first time anyone saw the familiar glow of this place appear from nothing.”

The flyer raised his fingers to touch his beak as he listened to the tale. Inside, he couldn’t help but curse the deputies’ betrayal as without them, things might have turned out far better for everyone. However, it was the last words that caused him to frown deeply. Really, the first lights had appeared from nothing? That fact alone caused Lenel’s concerns to grow and he his voice was a hesitant one as he spoke next.

“It makes sense if the leaders were the first one to die. If you truly are the spirits of the fallen, then those leaders can tell me themselves how all of this came to be! What started all of this?” Lenel asked, slightly surprised as a smaller group of the spirits slowly started to approach him. They stopped close to the flyer and the voices that started to appear in his head next were much grimmer and prouder than the previous ones.

“We already told you the truth, flyer! One moment the we felt the shock of death and the next, we were what we were. That sensation was an indescribable one but know this Lenel: there are forces in this world that cannot be explained. Not many dinosaurs sense it directly but there seems to be some connection between this world and the Great Beyond… usually too weak to be noticed. But we’ve heard of instances where someone from the next world can send some signal to ours, for example.” That answer only deepened Lenel’s confusion.

Yes, some old flyers had told of such things in the past but… but certainly that had to be a bunch of nonsense! The Great Beyond had nothing to do with the real world. Though… the flyer could sense no lies or hesitation in the spirits’ world and inside, he already knew the answer he’d most likely receive next. Lenel decided to answer it himself and he panted deeply as he tried to keep his thoughts together.

“So, I guess you’re trying to tell me that something in that moment tore that connection wider and sent you back here? Is that really what you want to tell me?” The flyer asked with a gasp, not even knowing what to believe anymore. He could hardly grasp everything that was going on within his mind and the answer hardly eased his situation any.

“That’s the best explanation any of us can give. We know nothing more.” The voices said, leaving Lenel to gasp for some air. He had expected the truth to be convoluted and hard to believe but this… this was something that made his brain go in overdrive. However, the lengthy conversation wasn’t left unnoticed by the other dinosaurs gathered behind the pale flyer.


Seconds passed agonizingly slowly as Ruby stared at Lenel and the lights circling around him. Even if she had already seen that before, she still figured that the sight would have disturbed her greatly hadn’t it been for the only thing still driving her on. The fastrunner could feel her heart aching as she thought about her poor sister, wanting nothing more than to have her back on her side. Ruby didn’t even notice that she was kicking a massive rock next to her in order to relieve her anxiety.

Certainly, Lenel was doing his best to help her, certainly he’d soon receive the power over this entire woodland. The girl knew that Lenel was her only hope right now but that didn’t make her breathe any easier. Minute by minute, the fastrunner’s mood grew from bad to worse and she hated watching the flyer’s reactions to something that she couldn’t hear herself.

And Ruby couldn’t deny her hatred against the ghosts. The longer Lenel dragged the conversation on, the harder it was for Ruby to keep herself from breaking into the discussion herself. She did her very best trying to keep herself still but as she saw Lenel gasping in apparent shock, she could see that the talking was far from over. She wouldn’t allow any being, dead or alive, to play her for a fool after stealing her little sister from her! Finally, Ruby stepped forward and cried to the lights in deep hate.

“I’m done playing your sick games if this kind of crap can even be considered a game! Now, tell me where my sister is and return her to me immediately!”


That cry broke Lenel’s thoughts completely and she looked at the fastrunner in anger. He could hardly believe that she had decided to interrupt this most of scenes only to advance her own selfish goals. The male cried with a trembling voice to his last followers.

“Make sure she doesn’t do that again! Too much is at stake for a brat like her to risk it all!” He yelled and immediately, Sireia stepped forward and with one move, she covered Ruby’s mouth and hissed at her in endless frustration.

“We already promised you everything you asked, Ruby! Do not turn us into your foes now!” She said as Ruby tried to force herself free from the flyer’s grip. Sireia cursed deeply as she tightened her grip, causing Ruby’s blood to start falling down her sides. She didn’t want to hurt the girl but apparently she was determined to make this as difficult as possible. However, to the larger dinosaur’s surprise, she heard a new voice speak to her.

“Leave her be, Sireia. She will receive what she deserves before long.” The female’s eyes widened as she realized that it wasn’t a voice that belonged to any dinosaur. This was the first time the spirits spoke to her and almost unconsciously she released the fastrunner from her grasp. Ruby, however, was far from content with the situation and she hardly even noted Sireia’s actions before she cried back at the ghosts.

“I know you have her and that means you have to give her back to me, now! I will get her back one way or another and if that means acting against you, then I will do that!” She shuddered in rage as she looked at the lights approaching her slowly. At this point, she felt no trace of fear, only determination to finish this once and for all. The girl’s face remained utterly unmoved as she heard the voice in her own head.

“Yes, she is here and she is doing more than well. However, we simply cannot return her to you just yet but rest assured, she will still fulfill a purpose. Whether you two will see each other again, I cannot say but you’d do well to know your place, Ruby.” The ghosts said, causing the fastrunner’s fists to tremble in ever deepening outrage. She stepped forward, not even notifying Lenel’s cry.

“Ruby, stop right there! That’s an order!” The omnivore, however, simply moved forward and her next call was filled with more sadness and hurt than ever before.

“Do not think you can tell me where my rightful place is. I’ve lost my old home, my parents, my friends… and she and Orchid are all I have left! SO DO NOT TELL ME WHERE I BELONG AS I KNOW THAT VERY WELL MYSELF! I BELONG ON MY SISTER’S SIDE AND IF YOU TRY TO KEEP ME FROM HER, I’LL… I’LL…” Ruby’s voice suddenly died down but before she could regain her thoughts, something happened that killed her resistance immediately. The previous pain returned to her head and the omnivore quickly fell into the ground, holding the sides of her head while whimpering miserably. The girl sobbed as she struggled to avoid utterly collapsing into the ground but that sudden development calmed the scene down immediately.

Lenel frowned deeply as she looked at Ruby, cursing the fastrunner’s sudden intrusion into this discussion. He wasn’t exactly pleased at what the ghosts did to her but even that was better than to have her poisoning this scene any further. The flyer bowed slightly at the spirits before speaking again in a more humble voice.

“Please forgive me for her words. I promise that what she said doesn’t in any way mirror my or my herd’s views about you or this place. I hope you can excuse me.” He said, praying that Ruby hadn’t ruined everything. To his relief, the spirits’ voices weren’t in any way angered as they spoke to him next.

“We know the circumstances that brought her to your herd and you did very well by allowing her to join you. Anything she does now doesn’t in any way make your situation worse. Now, are you ready to follow in Olres’ footsteps?” They asked, causing Lenel’s heart to beat ever faster. Had he really heard right? Had the spirits really forgiven Ruby that easily? The male exhaled while trying to force himself to stay calm before speaking in a low voice.

“Why, of course I am. What do I have to do?” He said while turning to look upwards, at the brilliant glow of the army of spirits, not really able to even understand what was happening. This was it. This really was it! His entry to the flyer legends was only a few minutes away and then he’d show to everyone what he was capable of! And he’d finally be able to keep his word to Sireia as well! The next words only made his mood improve further.

“Have you noticed the small pond behind us? It lies at the exact same spot where our leaders tried to resolve the conflict, the place that came to symbolize the entire monstrosity of what happened. There the water path flowing under this plain reaches the surface and there it became mixed with our blood. Drink from it and you will gain Olres’ might.” They said, causing Lenel to tremble slightly. He hadn’t expected it all to go that simply but he had no real reason to distrust what he had just heard. He quickly turned at his herd and spoke to them expectantly.

“We’ve done it, everyone, but wait here until I return. Sireia, come with me.” He said, hardly able to wait for his mate to come to his side. He whispered to her silently, hardly ale to contain himself.

“This is it, my love. I’ll be glad to have you by my side right now.” He said, earning a wide smile from the female. She was every bit as excited as her mate and the two flyers started to quickly approach the pong that could very likely change their fates forever.


“This does not good at all. Glide. Far from it.” Ortin said as he looked at the scene unfolding below himself. The bluish boy and his two friends were sitting on a tree not far from Lenel’s group and it was becoming increasingly clear for them that the meeting was going heavily in Lenel’s favor. The girl shook her head and muttered in clear regret.

“No it isn’t, Ortin. It seems that we have to act soon enough.” She said, causing Ortin to frown deeply. He hated being forced to make the decision on what to do in this most important of situations. This place had already rattled his confidence and courage enough and he could hardly stand the sickening feeling of the rotten wood against his feet. Likewise, he could feel the fear radiating from all of the three flyers as they looked at the lights, the entire scene starting to feel far too unnatural to their liking. He wanted to attack Lenel now but… he knew the risks all too well. He glanced at Glide in a torn expression.

“You know what attacking him headlong would mean, Glide. I think we should wait for Haste’s arrival.” He said, praying that the older flyer and her group would arrive soon enough. With her turning the scene into a total chaos, it would be easier for him and his friends to make a real impact in the upcoming struggle. However, Glide was far from happy with that idea.

“And what if she won’t be here in time? We don’t know when Lenel will get his powers and once he does that, it’ll be too late for us to do anything!” She said, finally catching Petrie’s attention as well. The boy looked at the scene silently, most of his attention targeted at Ruby’s clear suffering. It was already bad enough to not be able to join her but he could hardly contain himself while the fastrunner practically cried in pain before him. The brown flyer suddenly joined the conversation and spoke in a cryptical voice.

“We need to buy more time for Haste to get here. Hey, Ortin, didn’t Olres use his powers for good only?” He suddenly asked, causing the other male to look at him extremely oddly. He had no idea just what Petrie wanted and his tone mirrored his uncertainty.

“That was the story but what in earth does that have to do with anything, Petrie?” He asked, clearly ordering the other boy to explain himself. The latter gulped slightly before giving his answer, hoping that the others wouldn’t challenge his plan.

“Well, Petrie just thought that that mean that those lights need to be good as well!” He said, making Ortin roll his eyes. He suddenly turned to look directly at Petrie and demanded him sternly.

“Even if that makes sense, we know nothing about those freaks! We only know that they’re helping Lenel now and that certainly doesn’t make them good in my eyes! Get to the point already, Petrie, what are you after?” He asked, causing the darker-colored dinosaur to glance towards Lenel one more time. His voice was an unsure one as he tried to reason with his strong-willed friend.

“Petrie just thought that maybe, just maybe, they no know about anything Lenel did! Me think that maybe if we tell them, they might turn against him or at least start asking some question, giving Haste more time to get here!” He said, hoping that Ortin would see reason. The bluish boy, however, was far from impressed and he didn’t hide that when he gave his answer.

“And what if they don’t, Petrie? If they really just work with him, they might just kill us in a blink of an eye! I know very well that this is all about the fastrunner, isn’t it?” He asked while putting his hands on his hips, looking at his friend sharply. Petrie, however, wasn’t taken aback by the other flyer’s tone and he didn’t resign his point in any way but he did his best not to agitate Ortin any further.

“Yes, Petrie care about her a lot but this also our best chance to stop Lenel’s plan! If the lights hostile to us, they could just kill Haste as well! Petrie getting a bit tired explaining everything, Ortin, if you have no better ideas!” He snapped, looking Ortin in the eyes as he spoke. The latter narrowed his eyes while trying to come up with an answer. However, before he could say anything, he suddenly remembered everything Lenel had done. He was afraid about what would happen if he and his companions failed but he knew that he was even more angry at the pale flyer. If risking his life like this was the price for getting rid of him, he’d gladly follow Petrie one more time. His voice was surprisingly soft as he gave his answer.

“Petrie, I… I think you may be right. You’ve been r…” He started but before he got further, Glide spoke in a sharp voice. It was clear that she was alarmed by something and her tone got the boys’ attention immediately.

“Whatever you decide, Ortin, do it quickly! It’s about to start!” She cried and the two other flyers looked into the darkness with wide eyes, seeing just what Glide had meant. Lenel was on the move with Sireia, meaning that the time had come. The bluish boy knew that the time to act had come and he quickly put his hands on his friends’ shoulders, giving them encouraging looks before the inevitable.

“It’s time for us to go. But Glide, Petrie, whatever happens… thank you for helping me chase Lenel all the way here. It means a lot to me.” He said, earning quick nods from his companions. And immediately afterwards, the trio took off and headed into the dark sky, hoping that they wouldn’t be noticed before they decided to reveal themselves.


Each step felt like an eternity for Lenel as he saw the small pond over before himself, hardly being able to contain himself. The spirits seemed to be surrounding the tine body of water as if to safeguard it from any other intruders. Lenel grabbed his mate’s hand and looked at her with the purest smile the female could remember. The light-colored male
nodded at Sireia briefly before speaking to her in a sweet, soft voice.

“Wait a moment here, dear. You’ll see a new flyer before you the next time we speak.” He said, causing Sireia to bring her hand to her mate’s shoulder and cooing in a low voice. There wasn’t even the slightest of yearning in her heart to claim this power for herself, she simply knew that her mate was the only one able to wield it and that was something she was absolutely ready to accept. The duo’s hearts had beat in unison ever since they first met and that would never change, no matter how long they’d live.

“Just make sure that the flyer who next speaks to me isn’t one I won’t recognize. Good luck, my love.” She said, earning one warm nod from the male. Lenel turned to slowly look before himself, his last doubts slowly washing away. The flyer inhaled deeply as he took the last steps towards the pond. He looked at its reddish waters for a few seconds, feeling his heart beating wickedly in his chest. Lenel’s mind was utterly calm as he bowed down… only to find himself soon lying in the ground, every part of his body aching.


Ortin thanked his luck as he rolled into the ground along with the larger dinosaur, more than happy by the fact that Lenel’s allies hadn’t seen his and his friends’ approach, at least before it was all too late. He narrowed his eyes as he and Lenel finally stopped and the boy wasted no time starting to claim his revenge for the destruction of his family. The bluish screamed in cold rage as he turned his hand into a fist and hit Lenel right in his cheek.

“Taste this, murderer! I’ll send you into the dark pit you damn right deserve!” He yelled, his call soon followed by Sireia’s call for help. Lenel cursed this interruption, only his frustration exceeding his astonishment at the sight of the three friends. He hadn’t expected to see them here, out of all places, but he’d certainly make sure they wouldn’t deny his prize! The male concentrated all his strength into one endeavor, managing to cast the three friends away from him. Even if there were three of them, his strength was far superior to the three children. Sireia moved to Lenel’s side, the other flyers soon moving towards their leader. The female looked at the attackers murderously, hissing from between her teeth.

“Now you’ve really done it, you cursed brats. Nobody attacks Len…” She started but her mate waved her silent. Sireia was completely stunned as she looked at the male, having expected to see anything, absolutely anything, but sadness on his face. However, his voice carried nothing else but clear regret in it. It was only now that the tan-colored dinosaur realized that something really had changed in Lenel after vision and she wasn’t sure she disliked that change.

“Ortin, Petrie… I know why you’re here. Not that it makes things any better but… but I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.”


The terrible pain in Ruby’s head had started to slowly subside and some coherent thoughts were slowly starting to form within her mind. She was breathing heavily, trying to calm down after the terrible sights she had again witnessed. The girl was practically shaking as she tried to rise to her knees again, looking at the flyers in resignation. It was true: she was nothing herself and she was in Lenel’s complete mercy if she wanted Arial back. That thought made Ruby shook her head mournfully… unless she heard the word that caused her eyes snap wide.

Petrie? What was Lenel talking about? Slowly, the girl raised her head to look at the pale flyer, trembling slightly as she thought about what she had heard. However, soon her shock wore off, remembering again that the Petrie she had known was dead so there was only one explanation to her new leader’s remark. There had to be many flyers named Petrie and Lenel saying that name proved absolutely nothing.

Even then… Ruby couldn’t prevent herself from slowly walking towards Lenel, her heart preventing her from passing this opportunity to have even the slightest of chances to reunite with her dear friend. The atmosphere seemed to grow heavier with every step she took and her heart seemed to freeze still as she heard the next cry in the distance.

“And what then, Lenel? We all know that you being sorry doesn’t bring uncle Pterano or Ortin’s family back! If you ask Petrie, that apology be as good as nothing!” The familiar voice yelled, momentarily causing the girl to freeze still. There was no chance that she’d ever mistake that voice for someone else’s. It really belonged to Petrie, meaning… meaning that he was still alive. Ruby felt a rush of warmness flow into her heart as she dashed towards the flyer, not even thinking of the implications. She yelled in clear excitement into the distance, forgetting about everything else but the boy whose silhouette was slowly starting to form in the distance.

“Petrie! Is… is it really you? It really is you!” She called but before she could get even close to him, two flyers suddenly blocked her path and growled to her threateningly.

“You’ve already caused enough trouble, egg stealer! Now, stand back and don’t even think of doing anything stupid!”


That call made Petrie to cringe and smile at the same time. Of course he was happy that Ruby was eager for a reunion but he hated to meet her under these circumstances. However, that didn’t change the task at hand. Ruby was still allied with Lenel and that was something that he’d absolutely not tolerate. He only prayed that everything went well from now on, at least until Haste’s group arrived. The boy answered to Ruby after a few moments, hoping to calm her down.

“It okay, Ruby! We talk later but now, we have your friend to deal with!” He hated to answer that coldly but right now, Lenel was a concrete threat to him and his friends. The pale flyer crossed his arms and looked visibly concerned about what was happening. He had already been on the verge of gaining Olres’ powers but here he was again, only dreaming about them. But after everything that had happened, he simply couldn’t shake away the feeling that this was just another test given to him. His voice was soft and pleading as he spoke next.

“You are right, Petrie. I cannot undo what I’ve done but I promise you that something like that will never happen again. You see… I was shown the consequences of my deeds in one of this place’s tests and… and they opened my eyes. I’m so sorry.” He said genuinely but those words hardly made a difference to Ortin. The bluish boy was only more agitated by those words and he didn’t hide that fact any.

“And you’re asking me to give you another chance? The very same you gave to my family and dad, you monster?” He said, causing Lenel to look at him in surprise. That was something he hadn’t expected to hear and he wasted no time voicing his disapproval at those words.

“Your dad? Ortin, you have no reason to trust me but I had nothing to do with the death of your father. In fact, I would give a lot had that tragedy never come to pass.” He said, causing Ortin to cock his head in clear uncertainty. He wanted nothing more than to simply dismiss anything the murderous bastard said but… he did look genuine enough. And it was true that he had no proof at all that Lenel was the one responsibility for the day that had caused his life to turn into this hell. However, Petrie looked at the other boy briefly and whispered to him silently.

“Do not argue with him about that. Let Petrie handle the rest.” He said, earning a look of grudging approval from the bluish flyer. Petrie stepped forward, gulping as he saw Ruby’s distant form looking at him. The brown male felt extremely bothered by being forced to do this but it was the best chance to take down Lenel for good. The boy sighed as he answered to Lenel’s remark.

“Me no care about any of that, Lenel! We here to tell everyone just what you done!” He yelled, causing the older flyer to grow more anxious by the second. The spirits did know everything about his deeds but his herd did not and he was less than certain just how his followers would react to all of this. However, one thing was certain: if he tried to plead Petrie to stay silent, his followers would see with their own eyes that the pale flyer had something he hadn’t told those who had fought and died for his sake.

Lenel hated this situation. He had to portray the children as lying fools but the flyer knew that doing so would only continue his endless crimes against them. However, right now, he had absolutely no choice here. He had to play his part to the end and if Petrie, Ortin and Glide deliberately wanted to stand on his way, they left him with little choice. Lenel’s heart was heavy as he gave his answer.

“What I’ve done? You mean when I fought back Peak’s attempted attack on my herd and exiled all of you because you had allied yourselves to his murderous cause? I think you need more than that if you nee to discredit me in any meaningful way!” He yelled, praying that his followers would listen to him instead of the three children. He was too busy hiding his own deeds to realize the anxious movements of the lights all around him, slowly moving away from the lying flyer.

That answer came as no surprise to Petrie. He had learned about Lenel’s lies a long time ago and he had expected the pale flyer to lie again in an effort to save himself. However, the boy was seething with hate himself and he thirsted to tell the truth.

“You talking the same way than the day when you sent me to the Valley! You lie to Petrie all the time so everyone, listen to what really happen! Lenel attacked the other herds only to make his own position stronger! Ortin tell Petrie that Peak and Nira simply want to go their own ways and for that, Lenel kill them in cold blood! All of you lose a friend because of him! Without Lenel’s attack, uncle Pterano would be alive today!” He yelled, his bitterness more than apparent in the flyer’s face. It was clear that he was talking the truth and Lenel couldn’t help but feel the chill creep into his heart.


Those words caused Ruby to frown. So, Petrie hadn’t survived without losing a loved one either. The fastrunner shook her head as she thought about it: not only had she and Ducky but also Petrie been forced to survive one tragedy after another. She hit a nearby rock in desperate anger, cursing the fate that had done this to her and her beloved friends. For now, however, she tried to push the revelations about Lenel out of her mind. He was still her ally and questioning him now would hardly do her efforts to save Arial any good.


“If I were you, I’d certainly refrain from citing your friend in order to attack me! Peak was a damned murderer and he was bound to tear all of us to pieces to advance his own interests! I don’t want to offend you, Ortin, but that’s the truth.” He said, not even looking at his followers to see how they were reacting. Sireia looked at his mate and spoke to her with a whisper.

“Stop this charade already, my love! Don’t waste any more time on these fools!” She said, causing the male to simply gesture her to stay silent. Ortin, however, was far from impressed with those words and he slowly moved closer to Lenel, trembling with rage.

“That’s what you say, murderer! You were likely thinking my cousins were going to attack you even when you were cutting their throats one by one! That is right, Lenel murdered my family in cold blood after Peak had already been slain! You have been following a cursed killer all this time and I know the rest of you are good, honorable flyers! Lenel doesn’t want to do the right thing: all he wants to do is to slaughter anyone in cold blood who questions him!” He yelled, causing uncomfortable expressions to arise on the lower-ranked flyers’ faces. They were clearly unsure on how to respond but even deeper in thought was a certain fastrunner next to them.


Ruby’s eyes were half-closed as she thought about what she had heard. The speaker was clearly Petrie’s friend and she had no reason in the least to question him. The mere thought of everything the boy had said… the omnivore shivered as she saw Orchid and Arial being slaughtered before her. That truly was something that she didn’t want to happen to even her worst enemy… except for Stealth perhaps.

The girl glanced at Lenel in deep disapproval, clearly pondering about whether or not she believed that Lenel had actually done everything the bluish flyer had claimed. If all of that was true… Ruby gritted her teeth together as she thought about it. Obviously a lot happened between the flyers and she knew it was a given that there were two perspectives into this story but even in that case the girl was more than disturbed by the young male’s words.

But what could she do about any of this? Lenel would never tell her the whole truth and she simply couldn’t desert him now. She wanted so very much to simply join Petrie and hear what had happened to him in the past weeks but… but Arial needed her help. The omnivore gulped as she thought about what was happening. She had no idea what Petrie thought he’d gain by challenging Lenel and his herd like this but in any conceivable situation, she and Petrie were on opposite sides of this conflict. And considering what she knew about flyer leaders… To her guards’ clear annoyance, Ruby called at Petrie in a pleading voice.

“Petrie, listen to me! I do not know what has happened to you and if I knew that, it’d be far easier for me to understand what’s going on! However, I will stand by Lenel’s side no matter what you say and I do not want you to hurt yourself for nothing! Please, don’t do anything stupid!” She cried, hoping that the boy would listen to her and not get himself to any kind of trouble. She had already gone through enough without having to see the flyer get killed in front of her.

Those words hardly improved Petrie’s mood any. He could hear the pleading tone in the fastrunner’s voice and he still trusted Ruby with his life but… but he was appalled by Ruby’s unwillingness to abandon Lenel even now. He could already tell that there was much more behind that alliance than he knew but the bottom line still remained: Ruby was helping Lenel, a flyer who he and his friends simply couldn’t allow to win.

The boy slowly glanced to look at the lights around himself, frowning as he thought about them. They seemed to be completely oblivious to what was happening around them right now which was something the flyer couldn’t understand. He had to make them see just what kind of mistake they were doing by helping Lenel but just as he was about to speak, a loud call shattered the scene completely.

“You shouldn’t have left me alone, Lenel! Now, your time will come to an end and our herd will finally receive a leader worth following!” Petrie felt his hopes grow slightly as he saw a group of flyers approaching Lenel and his followers. Now, the chance to take out Lenel for good had come and with any luck, the coming struggle would allow him to reunite with another one of his old friends. But forcing himself to remember the danger, the boy took a deep breath, praying that this fight wouldn’t end in a total debacle.


All the remaining major players are gathering in the ancient battlefield, ready to fight to their last breaths for what they believe to be right. Four members of the Gang are around to assemble for the first time since their fateful separation but will any of them live to see the morning? And how will Lenel and Haste’s feud end? Next, I’ll do the first prompt of the new season but I hope it won’t take too long for me to release the next chapter and shed some light to these questions. Until then, take care.

DiddyKF1: Indeed, Petrie and Ruby’s relationship will be a difficult one from now on as we already saw in this chapter. The two certainly are on opposite sides of this new conflict but for the time being, they still consider each other friends. We’ll see whether that continues in the future but for now, they seem to understand that they have their own goals the other one cannot even guess.

When it comes to Lenel and Haste, their rivalry is soon coming to its apex. Lenel has changed since his vision but it may turn out be too late for him. But it’s true that Haste isn’t an optimal leader either as we’ll see. Littlefoot’s scene with his parents wasn’t a direct reference but I think I might have noted that similarity to your story while writing, that much is true. Overall, thanks for the review as always!

Anagnos: Your comments about Ruby’s reaction are rather interesting as it is true that celebrating someone’s death like this isn’t something we’d see from her in the canon stuff but just think about everything Stealth has done. That combined with the despair of her current situation have warped her way of thinking beyond recognition as you noted yourself. It was just that Ruby received catharsis for so many things in her life with his death that explains her joy.

When it comes to Ortin’s comments, I’ve been rather consistent with the fact that Ortin and his herd have been far from friendly towards other species so that part isn’t a huge surprise. We already spoke about the scene transitions before and thanks for pointing it out. I’m always happy to hear ideas on how I can improve my writing. Anyway, thanks for the review!

[Anagnos]

The initial scene serves as a rather nice outlook on the recent developments from another perspective, and it was likewise interesting to see Orchid and Ducky’s reaction to the recent conflict. One could argue that all of these actions from Ruby have been a necessary evil to defeat a similarly nefarious opponent, but this mentality of the fastrunners is certainly something to take notice of when Orchid continuously defends Ruby and her actions as a necessary evil.

In the same manner, this is something that the gang must have felt like when they killed the sharptooth in the original film, but Ducky’s feelings on the matter was a rather nice addition; the acknowledgment that the gang didn’t necessarily like what they did, but did it because it was necessary shows exactly how bleak the entire situation really is.

I really enjoyed the nice little tie-in from one of your short stories into the main story, when the ghosts mention Liras and his rather ill-judged actions to achieve the very same thing that Lenel is now after. This also gives the reader a clearer idea of the principal compared to the short story that didn’t really dive into the more unknown territory of the narrative, but understandably so. This lore behind the curtain is one of the things that immediately draw my attention, and for that you have my sincerest compliments.

What followed did manage to take me by surprise to some extent, as we witness some form of apology from the ambitious leader and his transparent reluctance to speak about what he has caused throughout his journey. This was a moment that managed to humanize the flyer in my eyes to an extent and created a nice outlook into Lenel’s inner thoughts. From my experience, I can say that if an author manages to make you feel sympathy or any other type of emotion and focus that on a specific character, they have succeeded in their task and then some.

And finally, the long awaited reunion between Ruby and Petrie is underway, although the implications what this could bring about present a rather unclear view of the imminent future. This will definitely be an interesting development to follow, as it may very well be the beginning of the end. In this case, it is likely to be exciting to watch. The circumstances for the aforementioned characters will not be the best as they will be on the opposing sides of the incoming conflict.

Still, it would be highly unlikely that they would be willing to harm one another, and will most likely try to avoid it as best as they can. Nevertheless, I don’t see this conflict ending well for either side, and that seems to be what you drive for. Another rather solid chapter, although I will be most eager to find out what these new developments entail.

[rhombus]

Review of Prelude to a Tense Reunion:

This chapter begins with a reunion of sorts, although only one side knows of the presence of the other at the moment.  Petrie is now confronted with the conflicting emotions of relief upon seeing Ruby, and the deep concern of seeing her with the nemesis of his friends.  Though, despite her bloodlust in going after Stealth, there is still some of the old Ruby here.  She feels the emptiness that has come with revenge and now seeks out what remains of her family: her sister.  I can only hope she can find her without losing much more of herself or her remaining friendships.

On Lenel's side, he is finally on the cusp of reaching his destiny, as he sees it.  Though with the appearance of Haste I sense that his claims of victory in this chapter might be short-lived.  At the same time, Petrie's caution in trusting the enemy of his enemy is well placed, and his counsel to his friend is a wise one.  A confrontation is clearly coming here and I suspect much of everyone's inner motivations will be on display when it comes.


Review of The Heart of the Ancient Mystery:

The conversation in the beginning between Orchid and Ducky is quite spot on in terms of the conflicting dynamics in many of the previous chapters.  Orchid initially thinks that the swimmer does not understand the mindset of his kind, or his well-placed joy in seeing the killer of his parents finally put in his place.  This is when Ducky reveals a secret of her own and one that not even Ruby was ever told: that she is a killer as well.  In some ways the actions of the recent chapters have been a mirror into herself as well, as has been the pervasive sense of loss.  Her desire to simply have friendship placed above pragmatism for once is an understandable one, and one that the gang of old was consistent in upholding.  I suppose only time will tell if what remains of the gang can find that balance again.

 And then comes the reunion itself, which, as the previous chapter title indicated, is a tense one.  We get to clearly see Lenel's mindset as he prepares to take the powers that he thinks belong to him.  At the same time both Ruby and Petrie show bravery in their own ways, as each confronts Lenel.  Ruby in the form of a verbal altercation, and Petrie and his friends in the form of daring to face battle with the leader.  Here we can clearly see everyone's justifiable motivations from their own points of view, which, unfortunately, leads to a clear partitioning between the goals of Ruby and Petrie.  With Haste approaching it is unclear how the coming skirmish will turn out - with lives and perhaps Petrie and Ruby's friendship as casualties.  But with everyone fighting for their ultimate goals it is obvious this will be an all or nothing conflict.  Thus, in a story with no shortage of tragedy, I fear that another is right around the corner.

So, as I have said before, I both look forward to the next chapter and dread what could take place within it.  Now that the separate ways have again joined a resolution is surely nearly at hand.  Though who will be victorious, if anyone, is yet to be seen.

[Sovereign]

The Ambitions of Two Flyers

Tension hung heavily upon the air as Lenel narrowed his eyes. Cold sweat was starting to form on his forehead as he looked at Haste and her host. She had about twenty flyers with her which caused Lenel to frown even deeper. He had only nine in his own disposal and many of them were badly wounded or at least fatigued after the showdown with Stealth. No matter how much the pale flyer wanted to tell himself otherwise, he knew that his entire plan was now in peril… because of Petrie, Ortin and this bastard!

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down in the face of this newfound threat. He still had a chance to emerge victorious as he had done against the cursed sailback. He’d only have to strike some half-hearted deal with the female if possible and if it weren’t, he’d simply have to come up with some new plan. The most important thing right now was to simply stay calm and not reveal his anxiety and uncertainty. The male’s voice was a calm one as he spoke.

“I must say, I’m impressed you were able to follow us all the way to this place. I just didn’t expect that you’d reveal your treachery in front of our herd. I must say, that isn’t the best way to start this kind of an endeavor.” He said with a slight smirk, nodding in approval as his followers gathered around him. Even Ruby didn’t hesitate to follow her new allies even if she wanted nothing more than to reunite with Petrie who seemed even excited about the other flyer’s arrival.

Haste crossed her arms as she looked at Lenel, clearly unmoved by her former leader’s words. She could already see that the pale flyer’s followers were hardly in a position to fight and that way, Lenel’s only option would be to simply surrender. However, she had no illusions about Lenel’s willingness to give up but her next words weren’t directed towards the pale flyer himself but his followers.

“Treachery? You are the last dinosaur to have the right to speak about that, Lenel! After all, didn’t you slaughter our fellow herd members in cold blood? This herd deserves someone worthy of leading it and you clearly are not the one! Those of you still loyal to Lenel, give up now and I’ll pardon you for everything you’ve done. Many of your companions took that choice already, as you can see.” She said as she gestured at her followers, many of whom belonged to the group of guards who had been tasked with keeping an eye on the renegade flyer. Many of them nodded at Haste’s words even if it was impossible to say whether they did it because they really were loyal to Haste or because they thought it’d be the only way to guarantee their safety.

That sight caused Lenel’s heart to sink slightly as Haste’s ranks contained many flyers he had truly trusted. He had expected at least one of them to be able to report Haste’s moves to him but apparently the female’s betrayal had been better planned than he had expected. He cursed deep inside that he had trusted on such a detail as that mistake could cost him far too much.

However, that wasn’t what annoyed him most. Yes, Haste and turned on her sister and killed her because of simple promise of power which was one of the most heinous crimes a flyer could commit. However, if he revealed that to his followers, he’d have to confirm his own little conspiracy and it would put his own the female old position as his deputy into very bad light. Lenel cursed at that fact, knowing that his most potent attack against Haste could very well be his own downfall. His voice was more than enraged as he spoke to his counterpart.

“So you’ve decided to spread these lies even now? Tell me, Haste, was it you that tried to undermine my position back at Streli’s Hills? I suspected as much back then.” He said, causing anxious stares to be exchanged among the flyers preparing for battle. It was clear that hearing about these kinds of plots was making them nervous but that couldn’t be helped right now. Haste took one step forward and spoke to the male threateningly.

“I have had plans to release this herd from your trash for a long time, Lenel, and I haven’t doubted myself for a second. Now, I give you one offer, Lenel. Give up your position in this herd now and I’ll spare your life. Or you may prove to me that chasing these lights’ blessing was all worth it but as things stand, that wouldn’t end well for you.” She said, slightly surprised that Lenel had actually found the place the legends had told about. It seemed that he hadn’t been as foolish as she had thought but even then, there was no reason to believe he had actually gained anything from this entire search.

That demand made Lenel’s blood boil, causing him to glance briefly backwards, noticing that Petrie and his friends were still there. He had tried to talk some sense to them but now it seemed like he wouldn’t be given any real choice in this matter. He’d have to claim his reward one way or another and he would allow nobody to stand in his way, not even those he had tried to reconcile with. The male took a deep breath as he prepared to give his answer.

“To those who find his words alluring, listen to me. I have already received the spirits’ blessing to become the new guardian of this place’s powers. I will be the only one to deliver to you just what our herd deserves whereas this fool would only seek to enslave all of you! Do not listen to her lies any further!” He cried but it was at this point that Haste realized that her time to deliver a severe blow to Lenel’s case had come. She took a mocking smile and spread her wings as she taunted her former leader.

“Well, if that is the case, please show us some proof about you being Olres’ equal! I’m here, Lenel, and all it takes is some mysterious attack or show of endless wisdom to take me down! Do not keep us waiting any further, oh great leader!” She said, enjoying her situation fully. Lenel was in a hopeless situation and that was clear to both of the flyers. The male cringed at Haste’s antics and spoke to her again, this time in a softer voice.

“I still have to take them to myself. But Haste, we do not have to resort to bloodshed. I know you aren’t worthy of even breathing the same air as us righteous flyers but in order to prevent anyone else from dying, I’m prepared to offer you a deal. You’d never be able to claim this place’s powers to yourself but if you turn around now, I promise you that I’ll grant you the lands south from Streli’s Hills and that I’d never try to limit your power in any way in those areas. What do you say?” He said, knowing very well what the answer would be. Haste was far too arrogant to listen to sense and deep down, Lenel knew that he’d do the exact same thing if he were in Haste’s situation. And indeed, it didn’t take long before the female gave her answer.

“This conversation is useless, Lenel. I take that you’ve declined my earlier offer, the only one that carries any weight?” She said, gesturing her followers to prepare to charge. Sireia could see all of this of course and she couldn’t help but feel despair starting to form within her chest. She could see very well that this battle would be a losing one but she didn’t want to escape any more than her mate. There was only one option and she voiced it to her mate in a sharp, commanding voice.

“Go drink from the pond and do not hesitate to crush the brats if they try to deny you. I’ll keep Haste at bay until then! Go now!” She said, earning a tense nod from Lenel. However, if the duo wanted to prevail, they knew they’d need whatever powers the pale flyer would receive from the mysterious waters. The male turned around and to his followers’ surprise and dismay, started to run towards the pond. However, before any one of them could open their beaks, Sireia cried in a voice that didn’t hide her agitation at the situation.

“If any of you leave the formation, I’ll make sure that he or she will regret it dearly! Now, keep the enemy away while my mate will do what it takes to save us from these bastards!”


The sudden turn of events caused Petrie’s eyes to grow wide. He hadn’t expected Lenel to leave his followers like this but if he wanted to escape, why hadn’t he taken flight? There was only one possibility: the pond behind him and his friends was the thing Lenel was after for some reason. And indeed, the pale flyer had been heading towards it even before he, Ortin and Glide had denied him. The boy had absolutely no idea what Lenel wanted from the pond but his next course of action was very clear.

“Ortin, Glide, keep Lenel away from the water at any cost! Petrie no know why but that what he after! Glide, what you say if…?” He started to ask while spreading his wings and gesturing at the older male. The girl looked at him oddly, clearly not understanding what he was after. However, when he prepared to take off, Glide quickly nodded at him eagerly. Ortin glanced at the duo, knowing just what he had to do.

The trio’s actions caused Lenel to frown deeply as he wanted nothing more than to simply get past them. However, it seemed more than apparent that that wasn’t possible and he could see immediately what Petrie and Glide were trying to do. The pale flyer suddenly jumped into the air, trying to dodge the duo’s efforts but that proved to be a mistake on his part. Jut as he thought he was safe, Lenel felt the younger flyers grab his feet and pull him towards the ground. Lenel’s eyes widened in shock as he felt his balance fail completely, sending him back towards the ground.

Petrie, however, didn’t stop to cringe even for a moment as he saw Lenel hit the ground with a violent force. The older dinosaur was clearly stunned by what had happened but he recovered surprisingly quickly, not leaving the two children with any further openings to attack him. Glide was just about to try to hit him in the chest when Lenel suddenly rose to a sitting position, grabbing the girl’s hand in rage and kicking her in the stomach, opening gaping wounds in her abdomen. Not a muscle twitched in the male’s face as he heard Ortin’s cry not far behind him.

“Glide, are you alright? You’ll pay for that hit dearly, Lenel!” The bluish flyer yelled as he charged at Lenel but any doubts or misgivings that had lingered within his mind earlier had disappeared completely. He quickly turned at Ortin and stopped his attack in its tracks, throwing him into the ground in clear rage. The flyer’s voice trembled as he approached the boy, clear bitterness and hate more than clear in his voice.

“I did my all to placate you and your friends but time and time again you simply decided to press forward with your puny revenge, leaving me with no choice but to finally act! Whatever happens will be yours and your fault only!” He yelled, his expression more than decisive as he spoke to the boy. Ortin cringed deeply as he looked at Lenel, knowing that his situation was more than dangerous. He tried to rise back to his feet but Lenel prevented that completely. The older flyer bowed towards the boy and spoke again in a hateful voice.

“I never wanted to do this but you will not stop me now! I hope you’ve missed Peak and his family dearly, Ortin!”


“We’ve got to help him, Petrie! This… this is nothing.” Glide said while trying to keep herself from whimpering with pain. Petrie cringed deeply as he looked at her wounds, knowing that they were far more serious than she wanted to admit. In a normal situation, he would have told her to simply stay still but he didn’t have time to argue in a situation like this. Ortin’s life was hanging in the balance and Petrie knew he couldn’t change Glide’s mind. He knew that the girl’s situation would likely get even worse as a result of what she was going to do next but he had no way of convincing her otherwise. He merely sighed and nodded at the female.

“If you say so, Glide. But come on, we don’t have much time!” He said as he rose to his wings, cringing as Glide did the same, blood dipping into the ground as she flew. As Petrie looked at her, he had a terrible feeling that at least one of his two friends would not see the coming morning.


The flyer panted heavily as he pinned Ortin against the ground, only the smallest voice deep inside him still telling him that what he was doing was wrong. He truly despised the bluish flyer’s perseverance even if that was a trait he usually admired in other dinosaurs. He knew that his window of opportunity to claim this land’s powers was quickly closing but Ortin simply wouldn’t leave him in peace if he left him alone. Ortin cried in pain as Lenel’s fist hit at his cheeks and forehead again and again, causing his face to bleed more and more by the second. Lenel’s pulse only intensified the more he felt the boy’s consciousness starting to fail… but even then, he wasn’t one to leave his surroundings unguarded even in a situation like this.

In the last possible moment, the flyer leader turned around and hit Petrie right at his beak as he was trying to deal another blow at Lenel. The boy yelped in fear as he lost his balance and plunged into the heavy cover of the ground sparkles. Glide tried to land her own at Lenel but the latter simply stood aside, knowing that Glide was too weak to quickly turn at him. Seeing that the threat against him was dealt with, he prepared to finish Ortin off… until he saw something that made his blood run cold.

He suddenly saw four flyers approaching him from only one longneck’s length away from him, clearly intent on stopping whatever he was doing. The flyer cursed deeply at that sight, knowing that he didn’t have the time to finish off the three brats in time. The pale flyer gritted his teeth together as he sprinted towards the pond but before he got even halfway towards it, the male felt his feet slipping on the hard ice under the cover of the ground sparkles, causing him to fall into the ground with a slight thud. However, before he managed to get up, the four flyers landed, cutting him off from the pond.

Lenel’s eyes widened in fear as he realized what had happened. The three children had managed in their mission to buy Haste’s group just enough time to deny him his victory, a thought that made him shiver with endless frustration. He was so damn close but it seemed like his prize was again slipping from his grasp. In near panic, Lenel cried towards the skies in a loud voice.

“Help me, the spirits of the fallen! I need your aid, now! Give me the power to take these fools out!” He cried, praying that he’d receive some, any sign of some kind of blessing but as seconds passed, nothing happened. Lenel started to shiver as he looked at the four flyers, one of them speaking to him with a wide smile.

“It seems your luck has finally ran out, Lenel. Your time is as good as over.” He said, causing Lenel to back down one step at a time, trying to use every bit of his intellect to find any way out of this situation.


Ruby wasn’t feeling any more confident as she looked at the group of flyers surrounding her and her companions. The fastrunner gulped audibly as the ring around her seemed to tighten further and further, knowing that the bloodshed was only mere moments away. She closed her eyes for a moment, of course knowing that the situation seemed more than hopeless. The enemy had a massive numerical advantage and Lenel wasn’t even standing with his followers in this most threatening of moments. The omnivore tried to stay calm but she cursed the male inside, slowly starting to fear that she had sealed her fate by getting mixed up with these flyer’ petty feuds.

Yet, she had no options at this point. Yes, she could probably beg for mercy by disavowing Lenel but he was the only one who had promised to help her find Arial and she had absolutely no way of knowing how this other group’s leader would react to her request. For all intents and purposes, Lenel was still her best bet as abandoning Arial simply wasn’t an option. If she died trying to save her, that was a better fate than most. The girl just prayed it wouldn’t come to that.


The forest around her made Ducky visibly shiver in fear. She was more than ashamed by that fact as Orchid seemed far less afraid of it all. Of course the boy was also horrified by the rotting, putrid forest but for Ducky it took all her will power to stop herself from turning around and running to safety. She wanted to be an encouraging example for Ruby’s brother but she was only making him feel more scared if anything.

“Ahh! What was that?” She suddenly cried and jumped into the air as one branch snapped and fell into the air not far behind her. Orchid narrowed his eyes and spoke to the swimmer in clear worry.

“It’s just a branch, nothing to be afraid of. Stop panicking about everything, Ducky. It’s bad enough as it is.” He said, looking at the horrifying silhouettes of dead trees in the darkness. This place was a stuff of terrible sleep stories and he could imagine each and every monster from them appearing from behind every tree around him. Ducky took a deep sigh as she spoke to the boy.

“I know, Orchid, I know. This place… this place just is far worse than any other I have ever seen, it is.” She said, looking around herself while listening to her heart beating in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and run to safety but she knew that wasn’t an option. She couldn’t leave Orchid alone and besides, she’d never forgive herself if something happened to Ruby because of her. Orchid looked at her with a clearly apologizing expression, deciding that there was no reason to really pretend he was anything close to brave either. The boy sighed deeply before speaking to the older dinosaur meekly.

“I know, Ducky. I never would have believed this kind of place could ever exist but… here we are and so is Ruby.” He said to the swimmer who of course knew that as well. However, Ducky decided to voice the thought that had haunted her mind for a while now.

“I just wonder… what is this place? It is not normal in any way, it is not, and neither were Ruby’s visions. This place must hide something none of us can explain and that scares me.” She said, shivering from other reasons than the frigid cold around her. Orchid crossed his arms around his chest, not able to deny his own fears. He couldn’t help but agree with the swimmer and inside, he wasn’t even that hostile to the idea of an unseen force. Ever since that mysterious fastbiter had saved him from freezing to death on the last Cold Time, he had been far more open minded than his sister. His voice was getting more miserably by the moment.

“You’re right and we can only hope that this force doesn’t seek to destroy us. Well, let’s not wast… Do you hear that?” The boy suddenly asked, bringing his hand under his ear, clearly listening to something. Ducky cocked her head and asked the boy carefully.

“Umm… no I do not, Orchid. What is it that you hear?” She asked in a high voice, causing Orchid to start sneaking forward while waiving the girl to follow him. Ducky hated the oppressing silence but she could very well understand just why Orchid acted the way he did. She couldn’t help but admire such a young child’s ability to put aside his own fears in order to help someone he loved. She disagreed with him on many things but she had to admit that his parents’ teachings at least hadn’t made him a worse dinosaur. After a few seconds, the male finally spoke but his voice was a cryptic and silent one.

“It is some distant rumble… and whatever is making it must be large. Could… could it be some kind of waterfall?” He asked while narrowing his eyes. Ducky looked at him oddly, spreading her arms as she asked the obvious question.

“What about it? Ruby is hardly looking for a waterfall, nope, nope, nope.” She said to which Orchid answered rather sharply. It was clear that his concern for his sisters was growing by the second and he quickly gave his answer to the swimmer.

“But that sound hides the sounds of a large area and that makes our job much harder. But considering that it’s coming from somewhere uphill, it won’t hurt to take a look at it. At least it won’t make our task any harder.” He said, not even looking whether or not Ducky was following her. The girl looked at her companion sadly, praying him to be right. With a heavy heart, she headed after the fastrunner.


The situation was an appalling one for Sireia. Not only was she beyond shocked by being forced to this battle but the pathetic display of her mate truly sickened her. Any flyer should have been able to overcome the three children but somehow her mate had managed to screw that up! She suddenly took a step forward and headbutted her opponent in utter rage, hardly able to believe what was happening. It was possible that everything was lost now, all because of Lenel’s failure in this most critical of moments. Even then, she would never betray him by surrendering now. He’d make sure that every one of her companions would meet a heroic death on the battlefield. Her voice was rough with disappointment as she cried to her remaining companions.

“Do not plan to surrender even for a moment! A true flyer will never give up in the face of traitors and murderers! Olres’ eyes are upon us so make sure you are worthy of following in his tracks in the Great Beyond!” She yelled, dodging one hit from her opponent, panting in slowly deepening exhaustion. She was relieved that her injury wouldn’t prevent her from fighting to the end but she was more than crushed by the fact that her dreams would never be realized.

She suddenly screamed in hate as she prepared to take down another of her foes… before she saw him suddenly stop still, only the look of shock forming on his face. However, it wasn’t long before he fell to the ground… revealing another flyer behind him. Sireia felt a rush of relief and bitterness flow through her as she saw him, her voice carrying all the circling emotions in her mind.

“What the hell was that, Lenel? We are all going to die here because you were unable to get to the pond in time! Just… why?” She pleaded, her eyes growing moist as she thought about everything she and her mate could have had if things had went even a little differently. The male’s face was a mask of shame as he knew just how badly he had screwed up. He hated to see the look of disappointment on the female’s face, never having witnessed such an expression on Sireia’s face before. It was clear that he knew just what was happening himself but in an effort to calm either himself or Sireia down, he tried to form some kind of an answer.

“Things… didn’t go the way I wanted, my love. But we can’t give up now! We still have a chance if we give it our all!” He cried, causing the other flyer to frown deeply. It was now clear even to her that Lenel would never be another Olres as the failed, pitiful flyer before her could never be the stuff of legends. After this debacle, she could hardly believe he could stay even as the leader of his herd even if he lived through this battle. That thought made her more than sickened but even then… she couldn’t deny what her heart told her.

Even now, she couldn’t help but remember all the good and bad times together with the male and her love for him would never be compromised. Even after what had happened, she could hardly blame him and if their common future would be to fight for survival alone, at least they still had the most important thing… each other. To Lenel’s shock, Sireia’s outraged expression slowly softened and she even gave him a brief smile before speaking again.

“We’ll find out soon enough, dear. But enough talking! We have more traitors to kill!” She cried as she sank her claws into another opponent’s shoulder, hoping that the situation wouldn’t get any more dire.


“It… it worked! That bastard is done for! He really is done for!” Ortin said with a forced voice, his words hardly even intelligible. He had received a severe beating from Lenel and he only barely saw what was happening in the battlefield not far from him. Slowly, he brought her hand to her face, gasping as he saw it getting stained by his own blood. Petrie moved closer to him and spoke in a worried and fearful voice.

“Stay still, Ortin. You badly hurt.” He said, causing the other boy to look around himself. He hardly even remembered his encounter with the older flyer but he could feel the terrible pain in his head clouding his thoughts. He noticed Glide sitting not far from him, leaning against a large rock while groaning in agony herself. He then called to her, his worries more than clear.

“How are you doing, Glide? Please tell me that not too badly!” He yelled, struggling to raise his voice even a bit. The girl turned at him, the wounds in her stomach still bleeding even if not as severely as before. Her voice was also a forced one even if not as much as Ortin’s.

“Pretty well now that you’re awake. But we did it! Lenel never got to the pond which means he’s as good as dead!” She said in clear relief, earning a glum look from Petrie. The brown flyer’s heart beat in his chest as he stared at the raging battle, knowing very well how it would end. With a sickening realization, he knew that Ruby wouldn’t survive for long out there and he certainly wasn’t going to let her die like this! Not after being this close to reuniting with her after all the horrors he’d been through! The flyer turned at his friends and halted their celebrations abruptly.

“Me have to get Ruby out of there somehow! Petrie can’t leave her there! Me simply can’t!” He said in horror, not even willing to think of the possibility where he’d be too late. Ortin frowned at those words and his next words hardly made Petrie any happier.

“We are in no condition to go fight for that egg stealer, Petrie! You know that!” He said in clear annoyance, earning a murderous look from Petrie. The latter’s voice was even colder than the air around them and Ortin nearly gasped as Petrie opened his beak.

“In that case, Petrie go alone. Me never thought you’d care about that at all.” He said as he took off, causing the two other flyers to look at each other with disturbed expressions. They knew they wouldn’t be able to change Petrie’s mind but it was true: their battle had been fought. They could only pray that they hadn’t seen Petrie for the very last time.


The frown on Orchid’s face only deepened by the second as he walked forward. The rumble grew louder with every minute and even the boy’s fear seemed to ease as his entire concentration was focused on listening for absolutely any signs of Ruby. He shivered terribly from the cold but that didn’t register within his mind at all. Only saving his sister mattered right now and nobody would be able to stop him from doing that! He nearly twitched as he heard Ducky braking the long silence.

“Do you hear anything else, Orchid? We’ve walked this way for a long time, we have.” She said, finally causing Orchid to stop still for a moment. His early empathy was slowly turning into frustration as he looked at the swimmer. His voice was a far starker than before, something which of course wasn’t lost on the girl.

“Perhaps I would if you didn’t interrupt me this often! You seem like you don’t want to find her at all!” He said, causing Ducky’s mouth to open in shock. After a moment, her face grew tenser and she approached the fastrunner with clearly offended.

“How can you say that, Orchid? I care for Ruby like my own sister and I’ll do anything to save her from herself! I just fear that we’ll never find her at this pace!” She said, willing to finally confront the younger dinosaur, not wanting his willingness to help turn into an obsession. However, he wasn’t about back down just yet.

“I know, Ducky, I know. It is very difficult to find her around here but we have to try! Or do you perhaps have another idea on how to find her? I’m all ears.” He said while narrowing his eyes. He was more than disappointed in Ducky as Ruby had spoken so highly about her. But right now, she seemed almost completely useless which wasn’t something the boy was at al happy about. The swimmer sighed deeply before she gave her answer.

“I do not but this isn’t how Ruby would want you to act, Orchid! If we cannot save Arial, you are all she has left and she would want you to become a grumpy little brat for her so calm down! We will find her!” Ducky hated to speak like that but she would be lying if she said the weight of the moment didn’t weigh on her at all. Deep down, she understood the boy completely but her own fear was starting to cloud her judgement. To her surprise, Orchid’s expression eased up somewhat and his next answer didn’t sound nearly as confrontational as before.

“You are right that I might be all she has left… but that goes both ways! If we don’t find her or Arial, I’ll be completely alone, Ducky! I am just doing everything in my power to make sure that my family won’t be compl… What was that?” He asked to Ducky’s great surprise. The swimmer blinked as she looked at the other dinosaur, clearly willing to know what was going on. She was just about to ask the obvious question when Orchid answered it.

“It… it sounded like some kind of cry of pain! Follow me!” He yelped as he sprinted uphill, the swimmer not hesitating for a second to do as told. It was clear that Orchid had heard something important and Ducky wanted nothing more than to get this night over with. She panted as she forced herself forward, the previous day’s march and this night starting to slowly catch up with her. After a sprint that seemed to last for an eternity, she heard Orchid again speak to her sternly.

“Stop, Ducky! Look there!” He said while crouching slightly. Ducky’s eyes widened as she saw the sight before her: a dark, dead plain filled with endless sorrow and darkness… with a group of flyers fighting in its center. Even if the entire sight sickened her, she immediately managed to put the pieces together regarding the scene. She turned at the boy and asked her in a mixture of excitement and fear.

“Was the other battlefield filled with dead flyers? I guess these must be the same ones that killed those poor fools.” She said glumly, hating to see other dinosaurs moving from one place to another only to kill. She had seen enough death already and she was disgusted beyond measure as she shook her head. She could understand someone killing to protect others or even get rid of a monster like Stealth but it seemed like these flyers were now only killing for fun. Orchid’s expression was equally glum but it was clear his mind was fixed on other things. His voice was a heavy one as he gave his answer.

“You are right, Ducky, but where is Ruby? Can you see her? If she was there to help them kill Stealth, couldn’t she be here as well?” He asked, trying to look around the field with an asking look. He felt his heart beating in his chest as he knew very well that if Ruby was really here, her survival would become more and more unlikely by the second. However, it wasn’t long before Ducky whispered to the male in shock.

“She’s there. I just do not know what makes Ruby join this madness, I do not.” she said as she shook her head, pointing towards the left wing of the raging battle. Orchid twitched at those news and stared at the point the swimmer had pointed at… and it wasn’t long until the extremely familiar hue of pink could be seen in that flurry of red, sweat and pain. Orchid’s blood ran cold as he gave the only answer he could.

“Neither do I but I do know that we have to help her! Come on, we know she might not survive for much longer out there!” He cried, heading towards the fight. Ducky knew full well the implications of what they were doing but she had to agree: Ruby needed help immediately. Countless thoughts swirled within Ducky’s mind as she sprinted towards the
scene of sickening bloodbath.


The heat of the battle was slowly starting to seriously stretch Ruby’s nerves. Her back ached terribly from the wounds the enemy flyers had delivered and slowly but surely, she started to feel her strength starting to fail. Yes, she and her allies had taken out two of the enemies but even then, they were in severe disadvantage. The fastrunner’s mind had
already accepted the fact that this might be the end, a thought that caused her heart to grow heavier as the seconds dragged on.

A cry of pain escaped the omnivore’s mouth as she received another deep cut to her right side, her own pain quickly painting her feathers red. Stealth’s blood could still be seen within them even if she had done her best to remove at least some of it with the ground sparkles. Quickly, she turned around and tried to deliver a counterattack at the flyer but he rebuked it easily, sending the girl into the ground with a violent force. Ruby gasped as she tried to stop the other dinosaur’s attack but it was getting increasingly difficult as he pushed her against the ground. With a desperate maneuver, she tried to roll away from him but that only made matters worse.

The larger dinosaur managed to get a tight grip on the fastrunner, stopping her attempted escape in its tracks. Ruby could feel panic rising inside her as she realized that she had no way of freeing herself anymore. She was done for. The girl was already preparing for the inevitable when something happened that she hadn’t expected.

Suddenly, she heard a loud thud, followed by the flyer falling into the ground next to her. The fastrunner looked at the sight in deep astonishment but it didn’t take long before she realized what had happened. A large rock lied near the fallen dinosaur’s head, implying it had been it that had taken him out. Before she could even begin to wonder who had caused that, she heard an alarmed cry far above her.

“Come now, Ruby, please! We have very little time!” A familiar voice yelled, causing familiar warmth to invade the fastrunner’s heart. She quickly raised her gaze upward, seeing Petrie looking at her in deep worry. The omnivore gave him a brief smile, more than happy he still didn’t see her as an enemy. However, she knew very well she still couldn’t agree
to her old friend’s request.

“Thanks for that, Petrie! But I can’t go with you as I have to fall or win with Lenel!” She cried as she engaged another flyer, helping one of her allies that had slowly been losing ground for a while now. Petrie, however, was far from happy with that answer.

“Ruby, please tell Petrie why! Lenel a terrible murderer and a monster! Why you follow him?” He asked, the uncommonness of fastrunner serving a flyer not really even registering in his mind at this point. The omnivore cringed and rolled her eyes as she hit the enemy flyer to her chest before turning to look at the boy in a soft but decisive expression.

“Because I lost Arial here and Lenel might be the only one who could return her to me! I do believe you, Petrie, and I’d take any other option to bring her back but as I have none, I will follow Lenel! I’m sorry but my sister is worth more to me than anything he may have done before!” She cried, causing Petrie’s face to darken immediately. Yes, he could understand why Ruby wanted to help her sister but he would have been lying if he had said that the fastrunner’s disregard for whatever he had seen didn’t hurt him deeply. He tried to reason with his old friend one more time before deciding how to move forward.

“Ruby, Petrie hear what you say but it Lenel’s fault uncle Pterano dead and he slaughter me friend’s family in front of us! You cannot say that all of that mean nothing to you!” He yelled, causing Ruby to look at him in annoyance one more time. It was clear her appetite for this argument was getting critically low.

“Arial and Orchid are all I have left and I’ll be damned if I let Arial die like this! You may help or stand against me but it’ll make no difference to me! I’m happy to see you again, Petrie, but you cannot talk me out from saving my poor sister!” She cried before continuing her battle. The boy stared at her in dismay, hating her words greatly. He had never seen Ruby to be this insensitive to anyone before but even then, Petrie knew what he had to do.

It should have been above Ruby to put all her faith on a flyer she know was as horrible as Lenel but that couldn’t be helped anymore. If Ruby was doing this because of the pale flyer, his course of action was clear: he’d continue his previous task and do everything in his power to take him down. The flyer was just about to join the fight battle when he heard a call that made his day even worse.

“Ruby, come here! I have a task for you!”


Lenel panted deeply as another splash of blood painted more of his beak red, trying to catch his breath after the seemingly endless fighting. He had already been fatigued by his encounter with Stealth but as seconds went one, he was increasingly astonished by his followers’ resilience. He had expected them to fall quickly but here they were, standing their ground proudly while even dealing serious damage at their foes.

That fact alone made the flyer even more embarrassed as after his failure, he didn’t even feel worthy of leading his small group forward. His failure had been a momentous one but inside, Lenel remembered that his sentiment had been a similar one just before the start of the previous battle. He could only pray that this struggle had a similar outcome as the previous one but to maximize that chance, something had to change. His group simply wouldn’t be able to prevail against the numerically superior enemy, at least not like this. He took a deep breath as he turned at his mate and spoke to her grimly.

“We can’t go on like this, my love. We can’t win this battle on ground.” He said, earning an odd look from Sireia. She immediately understood her mate’s point but that prospect made her more than sick. Of course, giving Lenel’s hand-picked followers a chance to show their fortitude on air would even the odds greatly but… the female knew very well what that meant. Her wing would fail her after the very first maneuver she’d make, rendering her completely useless in such a fight. And she didn’t want to be again forced to witness the fight from the sidelines, able to only hope that her mate would return to her. On the other hand, she hated the thought of lying dead in the ground along with the love of her life even more and with a heavy heart, she gave her answer.

“Very well. I’ll try to get to safety while you try to…” She started but before she got any further, the male cut her short. He turned to look to his right and cried the call that Petrie had heard as well. The tan-colored dinosaur looked at Lenel oddly, not really knowing what to expect from him. She didn’t even know just what the male thought about the fastrunner after everything she had done. She crossed her arms while waiting for any sign about the omnivore.

It took a while before the younger dinosaur finally appeared to her sight, clearly unsure what to expect from her leader. She stopped right in front of Lenel and spoke to him carefully.

“Wha… what is it, Lenel?” She couldn’t force herself to say more even if she knew that the male would hardly have summoned her to be punished in a moment like this. Lenel approached her quickly, his expression more than urgent. His voice was a cold but not a hostile one as he addressed the omnivore.

“I had hoped you to honor our agreement better than this, Ruby. I do not want to see you listening to our enemies or interrupting me anymore. However, I’ll overlook all of that if you do exactly as I say from now on.” He said, causing Ruby to look at her without any kind of expression on her face. She was happy Lenel wasn’t angry at her but this task made her slightly nervous. She could only hope it wasn’t the punishment in some other form. She stayed silent as Lenel continued to speak.

“We are going to take this fight to the air and I want you to help keep my mate safe. However, if you fail in your job, know that our deal will be over… along with your life.” He said threateningly, causing Ruby to nod in clear fear. Sireia looked at her mate disapprovingly, clearly not happy with his tone. However, she was completely fine with Ruby helping her defend herself as she knew that Haste’s followers would love to use her as a bait against Lenel. Ruby nodded at Lenel after a moment and spoke in a forced voice.

“O… okay, Lenel. I’ll do as you say.” She said, earning a slightly relieved look from the male. Lenel then looked at his mate and spoke to her silently.

“Stay safe, Sireia. Please don’t allow anyone to surprise or hurt you before this battle is over.” He said, earning a weak smile from the other flyer. Sireia answered to lighter-colored dinosaur warmly, knowing that this could be the last time she ever met him.

“I will, Lenel. I promise it.” She said before Lenel nodded to her briefly. He then spread his wings and cried at his remaining followers with a loud, encouraging voice.

“My loyal followers, disengage from your fights and take them to the skies! Show the traitors how a real flyer fights!” He yelled before taking off into the air. The battle had entered its next phase.


Many curses escaped Haste’s mouth as she looked at her enemies heading towards the skies, not able to believe the seemingly endless resilience of her former leader. She had known that Lenel had built quite a reputation as a fierce fighter but this was something she hadn’t expected to see. Well, even this changed nothing. She’d show the pompous male that she wasn’t a puny flyer herself and besides, this would allow her to show her followers that she was every bit as skilled in air fighting as her nemesis. She quickly cried at her followers sharply, willing to make sure that none of them would hesitate for a second before doing as she told.

“Well, take off as well, everyone! Make sure none of those bastards gets away! I’ll take care of Lenel myself!” She yelled, immediately dashing towards the other leader. She stopped in front of him for a moment, hissing at him with a murderous voice.

“Let’s end this here and now, Lenel! I’m tired of seeing others fight for you. I want to see if you truly are the flyer others claim you are.” She said, hoping to annoy the male before starting the fight. She was more than disappointed as he answered with an almost mocking voice.

“At least I know you are the flyer others said you are! I made the worst mistake of my life when I traded Nira for an honorless savage like you! I’ve screwed up countless of times but killing you won’t be one of them!” He yelled, before attacking the female with all his power. He knew that dragging the conversation forward would only help Haste due to her superior numbers and he had all the faith in his ability to overpower the renegade flyer without much problem.


The sight of the two flyers facing each other in the darkness was one that filled Petrie with newfound optimism. If Lenel was locked in a fight, that could give him an opening to strike a decisive strike on the cursed brute who had come to symbolize everything evil to Petrie. He approached the duo slowly, hoping that he wouldn’t draw either of their attention. Petrie knew he had only one chance to strike as he obviously had no way of withstanding Lenel’s assault in one-on-one fight.

The battle raging all around the boy made him shiver, that sight looking as if it were taken from one of his bad sleep: distant silhouettes of flyers painted against the dark sky, fighting to the death for nothing over the dead land. He was growing more sickened by it by the second but he simply couldn’t allow himself to be bothered by such things right now. He sighed deeply as he headed towards his old leader, hoping that some kind of an opening would present itself soon enough.


“Where is she now? I can not see Ruby anywhere!” Ducky said as she tried to see something in the black horizon. She only saw the flyers fighting and dying in the sky but Ruby obviously hadn’t joined them so the question remained: where in earth was she? Orchid shook his head slowly, clearly more than worried about everything that had happened. The boy inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down before his panic grew any worse.

“She must have headed somewhere to hide from the flyers but she can’t be too far in case the others still need her help! Come on, we have to look closer! We can’t allow her to escape anymore!” He said meekly, not even thinking about the scenario where the flyers would see him or the swimmer. He was so very close to finding Ruby and none of those fools would stand in his way!


The cold chill only intensified inside Lenel as he plunged downwards, trying to catch his opponent in surprise. He had immediately tried to gain the upper hand against the female with superior positioning and he could see clear anxiety starting to form on Haste’s face. It was clear the female realized that Lenel was every bit as skilled as others had claimed but he certainly wouldn’t take her out this quickly or with this ease! She dashed forward with all her might but even then, her blood run cold as she felt pressure around her right leg. She immediately kicked her opponent with her left leg, not surprised in the least that he had been able to dodge it.

With one movement, Haste turned around and hit Lenel into his right cheek, opening many wounds into it. The male cringed in pain but it was clear that that injury hadn’t come as a surprise to him. He immediately kicked the female in her chest, sending her plunging towards the ground in apparent shock. Lenel knew very well that she would be able to halt her plunge well before she reached the ground but the injuries he had caused were rather formidable. However, before the pale flyer could regain his balance after his blow, he felt a stinging blow to his shoulder, followed by a sudden grasp of his neck. At first, he couldn’t turn around to see the attacked but it wasn’t long until his new foe revealed his identity.

“This one is for uncle Pterano and Ruby. Petrie never understand why they follow you but at least me make it right now!” He said, able to ruin his foe’s balance completely. Lenel tried to flutter his wings to his best ability but it was to no effect as Petrie tore his head into a vertical position. At first, the older dinosaur was disturbed by this development but he regained his calm almost immediately. The boy was but a mere child and his lack of experience made it impossible for him to make a real impact in this fight. He took a brief breath before he suddenly forced his body into a somersault, the blow from his feet releasing him from Petrie’s grasp. The higher-ranked flyer panted for a few seconds before speaking to the boy threateningly.

“I did my best to apologize to you but you are clearly impossible to be persuaded into seeing sense! I admit again that I did wrong against you, your uncle and your friends but I will not want to see you attacking me again like this! Say hello to Pterano for me!” He said as he hit the boy in his head with a heavy blow, causing his consciousness to fail immediately. Lenel looked in clear relief as the boy disappeared into the darkness, knowing that the chances of him surviving the fall were minimal. Yet, he couldn’t rest for a moment as he knew very well that Haste was ready to resume their duel and this time, she wouldn’t hold back in the least.


The situation was getting ever more on Ducky’s nerves. The blackness seemed to be thickening every second and she knew Ruby would be able to run from her and her companion forever if she didn’t want to meet them. However, she had also come to terms with the fact that this was her only possible course of action but she couldn’t help but curse the fastrunner for forcing her and Orchid to go through all of this. Of course, the swimmer was too gentle to truly blame her for what had happened but the bitterness was still more than clear within her heart. She slowly turned at Orchid and whispered to him silently.

“The night hides her well enough as it is but if I had to guess, she has tried to find some place where she is as hard to find as possible, I do. Probably some cave or pit around here somewhere.” She said glumly, clearly losing her faith in this quest. The boy brought his hand to his forehead before shaking his head sadly.

“And we have no way of finding where it is as Ruby is a much better tracker than we are. Why did she have to do this to us?” He said, finally allowing tears to start flowing down his cheeks. The stress and hurt were finally starting to overcome the male’s even astonishing mental stamina. However, it was now clear to Ducky that he needed help and she was more than ready to do just that. The girl grabbed the fastrunner’s hand and spoke to him encouragingly, hating to see him like this.

“But we do know she is here, don’t we? We will find her, Orchid, we will!” She said, causing the other dinosaur to wipe the tears from his eyes, struggling to calm down. His voice was nearly broken as he tried to form his next words.

“B… but what if she doesn’t want to see us? What if… we’ve gone through all of this… for nothing?” He said, knowing well that his words were against everything he had told Ducky earlier. However, the swimmer was ready to help her friend forward when he needed it.

“Orchid, I know deep down she still loves you. I am sure she will change her mind when we find her and she’ll realize her…” Suddenly, the swimmer’s sentence was cut short by something no one could have foreseen. The fastrunner’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the swimmer suddenly falling into the ground and rolling many times around before finally stopping. And even more surprisingly, he saw that a flyer was lying next to her. The boy approached the swimmer immediately and raised her from the ground while asking her the obvious question.

“Ducky, are you alright? Speak to me and say that you’re not hurt!” He asked pleadingly, looking as the swimmer’s chest rose and fell in clear shock. The girl’s eyes were completely still as she tried to calm down from the unforeseen hit. She slowly calmed down as she gave her answer to the omnivore.

“Yes… yes, I think I’m alright. But what in earth…” She said as she looked at the other dinosaur lying next to her, continuing to speak to him sternly.

“It is not nice to fall on others like that, it is…” She started but suddenly, her voice died down as if someone had stolen her ability to speak. Her breathing also stopped immediately and that reaction caused Orchid to worry greatly. What had happened? He moved closer to the swimmer and spoke to her in fear.

“What’s wrong, Ducky? Please, speak to me!” He said but to no avail.

Ducky’s mind had seemed to freeze in place as she looked at the flyer in front of her. It was working in complete overdrive and slowly, her hands started to shudder as she looked
at the other dinosaur. She was more than sure she was seeing something that really wasn’t there. After all, it had to be completely impossibly! Her friend was gone, having left for the Great Beyond an eternity ago. But even then… that long, smiling beak, the lively and playful face, the grayish-brown color and the deep brown wings… There was no mistaking it. Even if his face had an expression she had seldom seen, she’d recognize this dinosaur anywhere. She nearly yelled as she grabbed the boy’s shoulders and shook him heavily.

“Petrie! Petrie, is it really you? PETRIE!” She cried, the second when the male started to open his eyes seeming to stretch on forever. It was clear that he had received a heavy blow to the head but that didn’t seem to have caused any lasting damage. The flyer’s first reaction, however, wasn’t the one she had expected to hear.

“Me hope me only dreaming… Petrie not want to go to the Great Beyond yet!” He stuttered, clearly trying to recover his consciousness after the brutal hit and long fall into the ground. The swimmer could hardly contain her affection as she looked at the flyer’s opening eyes, not able to believe it was really happening. She shed a single tear of happiness as she grabbed Petrie into her embrace, her voice trembling deeply as she spoke to her long-lost friend.

“It really is you, Petrie, it is! I am so very, very glad! I do not know how you survived all this time but I’m just happy you are here, yep, yep, yep!” She said, causing Petrie’s beak to turn into a forced smile when he finally formed his next words, clearly as astonished with what was happening as the girl.

“Ducky… it really you! You… you should leave, now! It not safe here! Lenel might come here at any moment!” He cried as he remembered just what had happened. Ducky, still holding the boy in her embrace, hardly even gave a sign she had heard what Petrie had just said. She patted him in the back, more tears falling down her cheeks.

“I am not going to leave my very bestest friend just after I found him, Petrie. You know better than that. And nobody else seems to be coming here so calm down. It is all right now!” She said, causing Petrie to look at her eyes for a long time. His taxed mind still could hardly comprehend it but… he simply couldn’t deny it anymore. This really was Ducky, the swimmer with whom he had spent all those beautiful days in the Great Valley… Only now did he realize just how badly he had missed her all these times.

“You no know that, Ducky but… Petrie so happy you here, Ducky! Me miss you so very much!” He spoke silently, the warmth of the moment feeling like a tiny fire in the middle of the cold darkness. The swimmer gave the male the widest smile she could as she gave her answer, the circumstances under which the two parted but a distant, forgotten memory.

“So did I, Petrie. But it’s good that you always seem to return me when it seems like you’ve left me forever. But… but what is going on here? Hopefully you were not fighting with those other flyers up there.” She said sadly, knowing what the answer would be. Petrie cringed slightly before clearing his throat, seeing immediately that the swimmer wasn’t exactly happy with his deed.

“Well… uhh, maybe? But Petrie don’t want to fight, me just try to stop the bad flyers from ruling our world and make us all their slaves! Ortin, Glide and you deserve far better!” He said, not even realizing how outlandish his words must have sounded to Ducky. The swimmer’s face formed a new smile, a loud giggle accompanying her answer.

“Rule our world? Oh, Petrie, you hurted-ed your head even w…” She started but Petrie’s tense, haunted voice confirmed that he wasn’t joking. The boy grabbed the swimmer’s hand and spoke to her in a voice that lacked any of his former warmth.

“Ducky, Petrie speak the truth. Me would love to speak with you for longer and hear what you have to say but Lenel truly after a similar power as uncle Pterano did back then! We’ve got to stop him! Me tried to do just that when he hit Petrie down here!” He cried, looking at the raging battle with wide eyes. Ducky looked at her friend with wide eyes, not really finding any words that would really make justice to her thoughts. After a moment, she stepped forward and whispered to Petrie.

“So this place really holds some great powers. And I thought that it was only some curse after it took away Ruby’s sister… Oh, and she is indeed alive, Petrie, yep, yep…” She exclaimed in clear excitement but the flyer cut him short quickly. His mind started to immediately work in overdrive as he looked the swimmer in the eyes.

“Ruby’s sister, Arial… she told me that she’s been taken and Lenel promise to bring her back. Why Lenel want to help Ruby?” He asked, causing Ducky’s jaw to drop as she listened to the boy. The fastrunner was following the evil flyer Petrie had spoken about. She was surprised that Petrie already knew about her but the situation was far too tense for her to ask about it.

“I do not know, Petrie. The last time we met, she attacked me and… and gave me these. I never heard of this Lenel before.” She said while gesturing at the deep wounds in her stomach that were slowly stopping the last bits of the bleeding. Petrie cringed as he saw those injuries, already cringing as he thought about the pain Ducky must have gone through. He sighed deeply as he asked the next question.

“W… why? Is Ruby… has she gone mad?” He asked, not even knowing what kind of an answer to expect. Ducky immediately shook her head but it was immediately clear to Petrie everything wasn’t the way swimmer would have wanted.

“She is not mad but… but she did act weird even before she left me and Orchid. It seemed that the power of this place told her to act. But I am here to save her, yep, yep, yep.” The swimmer said, causing Petrie to cringe deeply. He wanted to simply tell Ducky that they were on the same side but he knew he had to be honest with her. The boy sighed as he cocked his death and gave his answer.

“Ducky… me hope me can help and me already try to help Ruby but she not listen to me. She simply cast me…” He started but a loud screech from the skies interrupted his sentence. Petrie narrowed his eyes while searching for Lenel’s silhouette. Deep inside, he forced himself to admit that he simply had to rejoin the battle for the sake of his friends and Ruby. The flyer put his hand on Ducky’s shoulder and whispered to her glumly.

“Me so sorry but Petrie have to try to do something to make Lenel’s failure more likely. Me so happy to see you again but me cannot stay here longer. But before me go, you have to know: Littlefoot alive but he badly confused about everything. Me cannot tell more but me tell everything once me see you again! Stay safe, Ducky!” He cried as he headed into the skies.

He heard the swimmer shouting something below him and he could very well tell what it most likely was. The boy was beyond sad to be forced to leave Ducky again after all this time like this but he simply had to rejoin the battle. He glanced one more time towards the ground, sighing as he thought about the prospect he wouldn’t be able to rejoin his dear friend again.

Ducky looked at the skies with wide eyes, not able to believe Petrie had left her like this. Even then, she couldn’t help  but smile widely as she thought about what the flyer had said. Littlefoot was alive! That fact alone made the swimmer cross her arms and look into the distance with newfound hope. In a matter of minutes, she had just learned that two of her old friends were still alive! But first, each of them would have to see the light of the next morning if they wanted to finally meet each other after their long separation.
The swimmer inhaled deeply as she looked at the desperate sigh before herself, knowing that despite these news, her mission hadn’t changed: she couldn’t help Petrie and she didn’t know where Littlefoot was so she’d just have to go on and try to find Ruby and make her see some sense finally.


The fastrunner’s head ached as she ran towards the massive waterfall at the edge of this ancient place. Its surroundings seemed to contain the most promising places to hide from the hostile flyers. Ruby was beyond glad that the darkness hid her and Sireia rather completely but that didn’t really bring ease to her mind. So many questions swirled within her head and with every second, her desire to receive some answers from her companion grew more profound.

Petrie’s words bothered her greatly as she could tell that the boy had been completely genuine about his words concerning Lenel. Even then, he could have misunderstood something or his account might have been biased in some way. Ruby knew that her questions might not be well received at all but she simply couldn’t ignore them and Lenel’s own mate would certainly know the truth about the pale flyer. Suddenly, she whispered silently to the flyer.

“Is it true? Did Lenel kill Petrie’s uncle and did he start all those terrible battles?” She asked with a tense voice. It wasn’t long before Sireia rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to look at her companion with fierce eyes.

“Be silent! You’ve already caused enough fuss and trouble for me considering it is because of me that Lenel even tolerates your presence! For your ow…” She started but this time, the girl was ready with an answer of her own. She interrupted the other female with a sharp voice, clearly implying that she’d be only happy with an honest answer.

“And it is I who was ordered to keep you safe! Sireia, I like you and I do not want to get on your bad side but that does not mean I like to be kept in the dark! You know I am a friend but I deserve to know what kind of flyer I am following!” Ruby said with a cringe, causing the flyer’s expression to darken further. She approached Ruby slightly and frowned as she gave her answer.

“And then what? You’re going to betray us because you disagree with our methods despite the fact that you and your family have done at least as terrible things? Is that it?” She asked but to her ever-growing surprise, Ruby didn’t back down in the least. The omnivore locked eyes with the flyer and kept a stoic expression as she gave her answer.

“You know well that I have too much to lose to do that, Sireia! But I might be forced to fight to death because of my alliance with you and I hate to be played for a fool! Now, speak!” She nearly cried, causing Sireia’s eyes to grow wide. It had been a long, long time since someone had given her an order like this and deep inside, she was impressed by the fastrunner’s courage. Her face suddenly softened and her voice was a respectful one as she gave he answer.

“You certainly are a brave fastrunner, I give you that, Ruby. Very well. The claim that Pterano died because of my mate is a lie as he died while serving Lenel because of his own choice. As for those fights, yes, we started them but only because we thought it was right! My mate seems to now regret all of that heartily for some reason but if it were up to me, I’d do all we’ve done again!” She exclaimed, causing Ruby to look at her oddly. She didn’t like in the least about what she was hearing but she didn’t want to do anything that would turn Sireia and Lenel into her enemies.

“But why? I get it that you want to win the powers of those… ghosts but how did those battles relate to any of this?” She asked, hoping to receive some, any answers for that question. Sireia snorted deeply, clearly growing tired of the girl.

“Ruby, you must understand one thing. We didn’t know back then whether we’d need a large herd to earn the right to Olres’ legacy so we did what we thought would guarantee our final victory. If you want to blame us for that, be my guest, but at least my conscience is clear! We might have done wrong but our motives were pure all along!” She yelled, none of those comments making the girl any more content with her new leaders. She sighed as she brought her hand to her forehead, shaking her head as she spoke next time.

“So Petrie did speak the truth… not that it matters. As I said, I have no choice but to follow you until the end and that is what I will do.” She said, making the flyer smile slightly. Her voice was almost a mocking one as she concluded that conversation.

“I am glad to hear that. Ruby. I wouldn’t want to tell my mate that you…” She started but before she got further, Ruby yelped at her in clear shock.

“Get to the ground, now! Don’t ask!” She said and Sireia didn’t waste any time doing as told. The fastrunner nodded at a group of flyers in the skies and whispered to her companion silently.

“Try to cover yourself with the ground sparkles to your best ability, Sireia! That is our best chance right now!” She said as she threw more and more ground sparkles on her own back. She heard the older dinosaur cursing but she did as told. Ruby could hear her heart beating in terror as she looked at the group of flyers looking for her and her companion, praying with her whole soul that they wouldn’t spot them. Seconds passed on slowly but just as the girl thought she and Sireia were in the clear, she heard a loud call from above her… and three flyers plunged right at the two hapless companions.


The seemingly never-ending battle was making Lenel’s exhaustion turn from bad to worse. His wings were growing heavier by the minute but to his slight relief, his opponent wasn’t doing any better than he was. In fact, her injuries were far more severe than Lenel’s were and even now, the male had no doubts that he’d be able to prevail in this duel. His earlier despair was slowly starting to get replaced by something that resembled hope.

Haste, on the other hand, was panting heavily as blood was flowing down her cheeks from a large cut next to her left eye. She knew she was in a disadvantage but even then, she knew her situation wasn’t hopeless. She took a deep breath as she taunted her opponent again.

“If you think you’re even close to winning, Lenel, you’re terribly mistaken! You may have won the first rounds of our fight but I’m winning the war! Soon enough, me and my followers can simply overpower you with mere numbers!” She yelled, causing Lenel to spit into the ground in disgust. His voice wasn’t any friendlier as he gave his answer.

“Only the lowliest of cowards uses help to finish a duel she started alone! I warn you, Haste, if you do that, your rule will be short and inglorious indeed!” He answered, knowing that he was right. The female cringed at that answer, not really able to deny it. Even then, her chances of winning this battle were getting lower the longer this went on and inside, she knew that Lenel was both stronger and smarter than she was. Her chances of trying to beat him by conventional means was beyond unlikely.

However, she knew there was one thing that might just work. She knew that Lenel was practically an animal forced into a dead end and that he would be willing to take any chance, no matter how small, to salvage his quest. Haste knew that was her chance to gain the upper hand and it was also the path she’d take to claim her enemy out for good. The female cringed deeply as she plunged downwards, looking as Lenel immediately headed after her. She cringed deeply as she felt a powerful wind taking control of her flight for a moment but soon enough, she again recovered her balance. She looked at the male approaching her, counting seconds until she’d make her move…

Suddenly, Haste turned at Lenel and headed right towards him, clearly aiming for the kill. Lenel immediately turned slightly to the right but the other flyer simply wouldn’t give up. The pale flyer seemed astonished by his opponent’s courage but it didn’t take long for him to dodge her attack. But even after that maneuver, Haste continued her assault, forcing Lenel into a melee.

He couldn’t help but wonder what Haste thought she was doing but even then, it was true that she must be more than worried about dragging this fight any longer. Maybe this was some kind of a desperate attempt to end this battle one way or another but her sudden desperation made the male more than worried…

The duo exchanged one blow after another with Lenel being able to deal more hits than his counterpart. He had fought countless battles and proved his mettle and Haste, while clever and resourceful, struggled to stand up to Lenel. Haste tried to stay as calm as possible and soon enough, she realized her moment had come. After another hit from Lenel, she spread her wings wider and started to drop on her back, as if she was starting to fall into the ground and her death. This was the moment Lenel had waited for.

None of that was lost on Lenel and his heart started to beat faster as he looked at the impact of his hit even if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Haste was falling far too easily and he couldn’t deny the depth of his worries. There was something wrong here and if the situation would have been any easier, he would have observed Haste for a while longer but Lenel knew that simply wasn’t an option now. He had to close out this duel now or last his followers would be slaughtered. With a deep sigh, Lenel headed for the kill.

It took all her willpower for Haste to keep her face on believable levels as she saw the other flyer heading after her. He was holding nothing back and it wouldn’t be long now until she could close out this fight for good… Just as Lenel was about to open the female’s throat, Haste suddenly stabilized her position and started moving right towards Lenel and she knew that she had succeeded. Before Lenel could react to this development in any way, the female grabbed Lenel’s wings and then closed her right hand against around his throat. Haste smiled as she spoke to her old leader and current nemesis.

“You’re done for, Lenel. You had a good run but now it is my time to take my place as our herd’s leader… and it seems you weren’t wrong about Olres’ legacy after all. Thank you for leading me all the way here. I really mean it.”


The skies seemed to become colder and colder for Petrie by the minute. He shuddered in the frigid winds as he tried to find Lenel and Haste again. The boy felt his heart beating wickedly in his chest as he looked at the darkness around himself, feeling as if he was floating in a sea of endless black alone. But even now, he kept his focus on what he was doing and to his relief, it wasn’t long before he saw the two far in front of himself. It seemed like he wasn’t too late after all! Maybe he could even try again to harm Lenel in some way, enabling Haste to finally close the fight for good.

However, as he got closer, he realized that something was amiss. There were no longer any sounds of battle and the two flyers were too close to each other for them to be dueling anymore. Petrie narrowed his eyes as he slowly flew closer, willing to find out just what was happening. His small size would make it very difficult for the duo to spot him and that would give Petrie the chance he needed to find out what was going on.


Lenel’s mind worked in overdrive as he thought about what to do in this situation. He was completely helpless and his movements were completely blocked by the female’s grip on his wings. He knew she couldn’t continue this for long before it’d become impossible for her to stay airborne but that fact didn’t really make him any more relieved. Inside, he was beyond disturbed by the fact that the spirits hadn’t helped him in any way. It was as if they had completely abandoned him right after they had named him as their new guardian!
And his mistake wasn’t making the flyer’s mood any better. He knew that Haste had won this fight and it’d take a miracle for him to get away from this mess. He tried to find any glimmer of hope but he knew that he had to buy some more time and to do that, he’d have to try to drag on Haste’s victory bragging for a little longer.

“You will see that you can not claim that blessing even if you win today, Haste! The ghosts of that battle a long time ago will never give their powers to you! You don’t have a trace of the things that made Olres great in the first place!” He cried, making the female to roll her eyes in clear annoyance. It wasn’t long before she gave her answer and her voice was even sharper than before.

“Oh, you don’t know about that in the least. You think I simply took out my sister that promptly, without expecting any of that to happen? You were wrong about me this whole time and you never suspected a thing! It’s an incredible thing you ever became our leader but I guess you have to thank me for that as well.” She said, making the pale flyer’s eyes to widen even further. He gasped and his voice shook as he tried to give his answer.

“Wh… what do you mean? What is the meaning of this!” He demanded, the smile on Haste’s face only growing wider. Her voice was almost sweet but even more threatening as she finally revealed the truth.

“Still oblivious to all of that? Very well, I’ll indulge your curiosity. First of all, I do not think you ever found out who ordered the killing of that brat’s father and Peak’s most trusted friend? That was the starting point of all our woes yet you and the others simply forgot what happened after Longcrest admitted he acted alone. I was always astonished by that.”


Those words made Petrie’s already aching head feel even worse. Truth be told, he had almost forgot about that incident and it felt like it had happened many lifetimes ago. It had been a somber day in many ways but most of all because it had ended his friend’s childhood right there. Could… could it really be? Had Haste been behind that? B… but why? Why would she do such a thing? Petrie knew that whatever came next would only make him feel more disturbed but he would have to know everything about what had happened if he wanted to learn just why his life had descended into this kind of hell.


Lenel frowned slightly as Haste finished speaking, more than surprised by what he had heard. He had never cared about Peak or his family but he already knew there was more coming. His voice was dry as any desert as he answered.

“Well, go on. We both know there’s more coming than that.” He said while looking Straight at Haste’s eyes. The female wasted no time before giving her answer.

“I guess you already know what I’m talking about, Lenel. Yes, Deron attacked us before he wanted to have his revenge on Peak but it was I who invited him. And it was because of me that he knew the best moment to attack all of us.” She said, those words making Lenel’s agitated expression turn into a more confused one. His voice was hoarse as he gave his answer, the female’s story not really making sense to him.

“But Deron didn’t take out Peak but Nimble on that day! That doesn’t make any sense!” He yelped, causing the female to roll her eyes theatrically before speaking in a low, hissing voice.

“That wasn’t because of lack of trying! His ambush wasn’t perfect but I assured him that he’d get his revenge once the inevitable happened… and he did, didn’t he now?” She asked while cocking her head, making Lenel exhale deeply. He couldn’t believe he had been played that badly. Haste couldn’t have been that cunning! His voice was a forced one as he spoke next.

“So let me get this straight: you killed Ortin’s father and Nimble only because you knew that it would cause Peak and Nira distrust me and each other, certain that I’d make my move and make you my deputy? And after that, weaken my hold on my herd so that you could overthrow me? Is that it?” He demanded, truly impressed at the female’s cunning. He could have seen it coming but… Haste had been subtle enough to never make her seem that suspicious. The female stared at the pale flyer for a few seconds before finally confirming his words.

“Exactly, Lenel. Maybe I am not what Olres was but greatness can be achieved in many different ways and I’m sure that the spirits of this place will agree with me.”


That piece of news threw Petrie’s thoughts into a complete flux. Had he truly heard what he thought? The boy could only stare into the blackness, his mind completely numb. Glide had been right all along: Haste was a complete monster, every bit as evil as Lenel! Rage rose within him as he thought about it all. Without her, Ortin’s family would still be whole and so would uncle Pterano! Everything bad Lenel had done had been because of her! Of course that didn’t make the male any better but at least a part of the blame for Pterano’s death lied on her!

He would have wanted nothing more than to simply dash at Haste and hurt her in any ways possible but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Attacking Haste would help Lenel and he simply couldn’t help that bastard. The flyer cursed both of the leaders from the bottom of his heart, not knowing what to believe anymore. He hoped the two would take each other out but that was beyond improbable. He could do nothing but follow the scene and see if he could do anything of worth.


The pale flyer knew very well that the moment of truth was quickly approaching. Haste was readying to finish him for good but he had to believe there still was a chance for him to save himself. Lenel felt sick beyond words as he saw his last followers falling to their deaths, knowing in that moment that it was all over. Even if he somehow survived, Haste had already bested him in the duel and from now on, she could simply order her followers to slaughter him. A single tear fell from Lenel’s eye as he looked at his foe, trying to look as resigned as possible.

“Only the ancestors will be able to answer to that, Haste. But now, finish it. You’ve won. There’s no reason to drag this on any longer.” He said, hoping he wasn’t completely wrong. He could still escape with his life and with Sireia if fortune would favor him one last time. That was all he wanted anymore. He feared the future should the spirits accept Haste as their guardian but that was no longer in his hands.

Haste frowned as she heard those words, not really expecting such a request from the usually-proud leader. She had expected him to delay this for at least a while longer but it was true: she had prevailed and she couldn’t find real reasons why she should deny Lenel his request. After all, the duo didn’t have any true, personal disdain for each other that would justify such actions from Haste. The female nodded at her opponent as she prepared to end it all for her foe.

“Very well, Lenel. I will grant you this one favor. Goodbye!” She cried as she prepared to open the veins in Lenel’s throat but just before she was able to land that blow, the male realized that the time had come for him to execute his last, desperate move.

Within blink of an eye, the flyer threw his entire weight forward and headbutted her with his entire might. Lenel could feel the other dinosaur’s claws hit the side of his neck but with any luck, they’d miss the largest and vital spots. Haste looked at the male in astonishment, clearly surprised by his sudden move. The impact released him from the darker-colored flyer’s grasp and he wasted no time before dashing towards the skies with all his might. Trying to get some distance between him and his chasers was his only hope of getting out of this mess alive. Already, he could hear Haste cry far above him in an enraged voice.

“Get him! If you allow him to escape, I’ll make sure you pray every day of your lives that you hadn’t failed me!”


Petrie was left looking into the darkness with a faraway gaze, not really able to decide what to do anymore. Of course he could try to catch Lenel and ensure he’d get caught but such a move would be unlikely to succeed. After all, he was far larger and more powerful than Petrie was so his hopes of being able to stop the pale flyer were slim to none. And what would that even accomplish? He’d simply be helping the bastard whose fault all that had happened actually was. He had wanted to trust Haste but… but it was too late for that.

But neither could he assault Haste as that would be nothing but a suicide. For the first time in a long time, the boy felt something strange… his mind was completely numb and he didn’t have the slightest of ideas about what to do. He couldn’t help nor hurt either of the leaders which left him at a complete loss of direction. He was just about to head towards the ground to think of something but that was when he heard a familiar call.

“Petrie, what are you doing? Why didn’t you go after Lenel?” He heard before turning to look to his right side. He was astonished that Ortin had managed to recover to some degree from his injury. However, Petrie wasn’t particularly eager to tell him everything about what he had just heard…


The final showdown is approaching its end and Lenel’s final defeat is all but assured. Moreover, his own survival is still uncertain and how will Ruby hope to escape from the situation she is in? And how will Petrie and his friends react to Haste’s approaching triumph? I had hoped to include this entire battle in one chapter but in that case, it would have most likely exceeded 25k words so I decided to cut it in two parts.

Yes, I said I’d do a prompt next but I just want to finish this tale now so there won’t be another short story until this fic has been completed. Also, Separate Ways has finally overtaken the Seven Hunters in terms of length and that certainly is a massive achievement! I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as I have and hopefully you will enjoy these last few steps as well. Thank you for reading and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Anagnos: It’s good to hear that you liked the first scene. I wanted to finally underline some kind of breaking point between Ducky and the fastrunners’ world views while also pointing out that Ducky was bit of a hypocrite about that. About Liras, he is a part of the backstory even if he wasn’t included in SW itself. His deed indeed transformed this entire land to what it is so I had to mention him here.

I’ve wanted to make Lenel a more grey than evil character lately and it appears my efforts have been at least a bit successful. He is a cruel and extremely flawed flyer but he seldom throws away the last bits of his honor. As for your comments about the coming struggle, it indeed may have a bleak ending…

rhombus: Ruby indeed is in a bleak situation and she still has a few decisions to make to try to save herself from her current situation and it remains to be seen how Petrie and Ruby can sort out their differences. And yep, Haste and Lenel have had this struggle coming for a long time and that’s something we’ve finally come to see…

I quite imagined you’d enjoy the scene between Orchid and Ducky. Your observations about it are spot on and that is her deepest wish after everything that has happened. Orchid doesn’t quite disagree but he has never expected anything else but pragmatism from life. And yep, the coming struggle will leave no one untouched but it will be unclear who, if anyone, will be able to claim victory in the battle that’s about to begin.