It felt like an eternity for Petrie since he had left his friends for the very last time and inside, he didn’t even feel true sadness. Not at all. Those feelings had disappeared when he had seen Cera and Littlefoot’s fight and on that moment, the turmoil he had felt for weeks and cycles of the Night Circle had seemed to simply go away. In their stead came calm and emptiness that seemed to drown everything else under them. No longer would he need to take care of any of his former friends and with the breaking of those bonds, he was free. He was finally free as any flyer should be.
Even then, it was clear that not everyone was as it should be. The flyer’s mother couldn’t help but look at her son with a worried look. He had sat at the edge of their nest for hours on end in complete silence. She could see the boy’s eyes growing moist from time to time and as the night’s shadows grew ever longer, she decided to try to get to him again after an unsuccessful attempt earlier during the day.
“Petrie, this cannot continue. You simply cannot sit here by yourself while speaking or eating nothing. I can see that the fight upset you but…” She said but she was then cut short by Petrie who mumbled with a soft voice.
“Me not upset at all, momma. Me just…”
“Don’t lie to me, Petrie! You are clearly not alright if you are crying here alone after a fight like that! I know how much your friends meant to you and if you still mourn their loss this much, maybe the damage can still be reversed! I can help you if you let me!” She said, not really knowing what kind of an answer she should expect. Petrie had grown tremendously in size and as a flyer recently and during his long, lonely flights she sometimes felt like her son was a different flyer now. Petrie turned at his mother slowly, speaking to her in a serious voice.
“Momma, please no do that. Of course this a big change and me can’t help but think of the past but… it past now. That all that matters. Me not want to meet them again and me feelings calm down before too long. Me probably meself tomorrow already.” He said, not really giving those words much thought. The older flyer frowned at that answer and bowed closer to the male, looking him in the eyes.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Petrie? Tell me honestly.” She said, preparing to follow deeply whether she could see a trace of a lie within him. Petrie, however, spoke as genuinely as he could to his mother, wiping most of her fears away.
“Yes, Petrie will be alright. Me just have to think a bit more alone.” He said, causing the female to sigh and rise to her full height. She gave a deep sigh as she next spoke to the boy, her voice carrying a hint of sadness to it.
“Very well, Petrie. Just don’t take too long. Most of your brothers and sisters are already sleeping.” She said as she walked towards the rest of her children. Petrie looked after her with half-closed eyes, not really being able to deny his own fatigue. Maybe, just maybe, things would look a bit clearer tomorrow. After a few minutes, he finally tried to rise to his feet and join the others in the realm of sleep stories but suddenly, he felt a powerful dizziness and exhaustion invade his mind. Suddenly, the boy simply fell asleep, falling into the hard, rocky ground.
Petrie looked at the wide skies around himself in excitement, looking at the distant mountain peaks far below him. He was flying higher than he ever had before and he felt more alive than anytime he could remember. The wind was trying to take him higher by the second and the boy found no real reason to resist. A wide smile rose to his face as he found himself flying higher and faster after each somersault. His voice trembled with excitement as he cried into the air.
“This what Petrie was born for! Me will fly higher than any flyer before and find the most distant valleys of the world! Petrie’s name will live forever!” He cried as he looked at the rolling meadows and wide water path below him, not even remembering how far he had to be from the Valley. Maybe he might even find a nice female for himself after he had conquered the mountains no dinosaur before had even seen…
“That is exactly the kind of going I could have expected from my nephew! You already are twice the flyer I will ever be!” Petrie’s heart swelled as he turned to look at the source of that voice. He smiled deeply as he saw his uncle flying towards him quickly. The boy was just about to answer to him before he heard another voice speak to him.
“I can only repeat his words, Petrie. But I can only look forward to finding out what lies beyond that Big Water with you, my son.” His mother said as the two flyers moved to both of his sides in order to accompany him in this story of his life. Petrie looked at them in deep happiness and cried to them with a loud voice.
“Thanks a lot, both of you! Petrie will be happy to have you along with me in the seasons to come! Me sure everything will be g…” He was about to say when his eyes suddenly opened in shock. It felt like his breath was completely torn out of him and the earlier lightness in his flight suddenly turned into utter weakness… and suddenly, the flyer realized he was being pulled towards the ground with an ever increasing force. His uncle and mother didn’t seem to notice any of it and then the boy cried with all his power.
“Momma, uncle, I’m falling! Please h….” He cried but this time, his entire world turned black as the flyer started falling into the ground with a great speed. It seemed to Petrie like he was trapped in some black whirlwind from which there was no escape and sooner or later, he would be crushed into the ground and at that point, his promising life would be snuffed out so very long before his time. However, suddenly he heard a low, haunting voice speak to him as he fell ever faster and faster…
“The broken band has been broken by pride, now it shall be united by being broken. Go forth to this broken land… and protect the land you love.” The voice said and at that moment, the sight of his friends flashed before his eyes… before they turned into a group of dinosaurs he didn’t even know. The flyer was just about to ask what was going on… before he realized he’d hit the ground with a crushing speed on this very moment…
A deep gasp escaped from Petrie’s beak as he woke up, staring into the distance with deep breaths. What in earth was that sleep story? The only thing the boy could remember of it was that haunting voice whose words Petrie could still remember as clearly as he saw the nightly mountain range surrounding the Valley before him. However, his breaths grew easier by the second as he realized it was just a sleep story and certainly far from the first he had ever had.
Slowly, his frown turned into a careful smile as he realized everything was still well. He took a deep breath as he prepared to return to sleep… and that was when he got a glimpse of his fingers on his right side. They were now far thicker than before… and equipped with claws! The boy’s eyes flashed open as he realized that detail, suddenly taking a look at the rest of his body, only to regret that immediately. There was not a trace of familiarity within the sight.
His arms no longer had wings attacked to them and his torso had turned into a dark green and his belly had its own color now. Likewise, his legs were much larger now and he realized immediately whose legs they resembled: Ducky’s, or any swimmer’s. In shock, Petrie brought his hands to his face, only to notice there was no beak to be found anywhere. And it was at that point that he let out a loud screech.
