FINAL CHUNK.
Upon the grand plains of the Valley just a short distance from the Thundering Falls, shattered fragility continued to reign supreme.
More and more bodies fell to the ground, many not getting up again, with screams of pain and anguish tearing the air apart, even as hurried instructions were given by both sides, and the ground was getting noticeably redder as time went on.
Breaking through phalanxes and other Bludgeoner formations with her allies, Old One distinctly felt that they were making progress, and beginning to dwindle the forces of oppression. But even if that were the case, there were still many issues that wouldn’t go away.
The most obvious one was right in front of them. Kai had undoubtedly caused the majority of casualties on their side, and he was showing no sign of relenting. It seemed obvious to those who had the misfortune to look him straight in the eye that he had been ordered to slaughter without exception or mercy. And he was loving every minute of it. Even now, as four sharpteeth surrounded him, preparing to take him down from all sides, he reared up, slamming his limbs down and swinging his spiked neck and tail from side to side, sending the luckier attackers fleeing for their very lives. Bringing down an enemy with this array of armoury would be no easy feat.
The other problem was Ulciscor, who had not been seen since the beginning of the battle. What’s more, he held Aster and Arianna captive, two respectable longnecks Old One knew personally. She was aware that Bron had gone in pursuit of him, but she had no idea if he’d be able to bring down the tyrant by himself, and furthermore, what if Ulciscor’s retreat had led him to the children’s sanctuary...?
Many of the other Alliance fighters, however, found themselves hardly perturbed by this. Every fibre of their consciousness was focused on the task ahead of them – destroying the guardians of terror, preventing them from seizing control once more...
Topps in particular, was forcing himself not to think of anything else. Any time his mind tried to make room for his relationship with his ex-wife battling alongside him, or attempted to wander freely over to his daughters, he stopped it in his tracks, and forcing it back to the Bludgeoners.
One such Bludgeoner was twisting his body as he encircled the threehorn, attempting to get a good shot with his powerful tail at the unprotected parts of Topps’ body. Topps however, kept staring his quarry in the face, not giving him the chance. Horns and frill forward, Topps took advantage of an opening and charged, ploughing his brow horn straight into the Bludgeoner’s upper thigh. Nonetheless howling, the Bludgeoner twisted and struck his tail into the threehorn’s side, with enough force to send Topps careering backwards, rolling over in the dust with an audible rumble.
Completely dazed and disorientated by this unexpected capsize, Topps struggled to return to his feet, the Bludgeoner advancing on him all the while...
The Bludgeoner hadn’t apparently not anticipated quite who had been watching the threehorn’s back all this time, and so therefore was almost knocked to the ground himself when Tria ground into his shoulder blade, wrestling with all her strength, determined to keep the Bludgeoner’s focus on her for as long as possible. Unfortunately for her, in this contest of sheer brawn, the Bludgeoner’s mass was beginning to prove more than a match for her. This would have proved potentially fatal if not for another dose of reinforcement at that time.
The Bludgeoner, whilst pushing against Tria, felt a sharp, heavy blow to his flank. It was not as severe or sharp as it could have been, but it was enough to cause him to stagger, and this briefest of pauses was enough. Seeing the grey threehorn get back to his feet, Tria readjusted her position, and with her on one side of the Bludgeoner and Topps on the other, the two of them rammed straight into their foe.
The longneck howled as the unmistakable gush of blood fell upon the threehorn’s frills, and after said threehorn’s stepped back, the Bludgeoner fell with a final thud onto the earth.
“Well...” Topps gazed down at the bleeding body, looking slightly nauseous but otherwise pleased. “I think that might be proof enough Tria, that we still make a pretty good...”
But Tria wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were upon their anonymous ally, the one who had momentarily distracted the Bludgeoner, and her mouth had fallen open in horror.
“Cera...?” she whispered hoarsely. “What are you doing here?”
For Cera, after giving the Bludgeoner one look of grim determination, was now gazing up at her father and stepmother with a considerably warmer expression.
“Cera??” Topps echoed, now watching her too. And in that framed moment, it seemed as though the battle had vanished around them. Only the three of them existed, all watching each other with more tension than had ever been mustered before. The battle that raged around them may not have concerned them at all.
Of course, this battle had had several more surprise arrivals. Petrie had taken to the air to join his mother and uncle in directing the Alliance, much to their surprise, and Azura, noticing Ducky and Spike moving through the cascade of sharpteeth and leaf-eaters, cried out in shock.
“I’m sorry!” Opal assured her as she stepped through the fighters, swinging her tail at a Bludgeoner. “They insisted on coming!”
“And you listened to them??” Azura demanded, now moving as quickly as she could towards her children.
Opal frowned.
“Well, I told them to stay out of the main fight...” she said. “But I’m sure they feel they can prove useful at the sidelines...”
At the sidelines, in fact, Ruby, Ali, Lini and Al were already mobilizing every practical weapon they could get their hands on – from every stone and boulder to every twig and tree, everything went, as they all hurried to get it in preparation.
Noticing Ruby signalling from a short distance away, Petrie’s mother smiled, nudged Pterano, pointed, and then turned to Petrie.
“Petrie,” she said. “I don’t approve of you coming back here, but you’re going to have to do something very important. Are you listening?”
“Uh...yes!” Petrie squeaked.
“Your friends have very kindly prepared some rocks for us,” his mother explained. “Pterano and I and probably some of the other flyers are going to take the most suitable ones and drop them on the Bludgeoners from here. They’re too heavy for you, but you need to make sure you continue calling out advice and warnings from your panoramic view. You understand?”
Petrie gulped.
“Yes...yes, me do!!” he declared, turning his eye to the battlefield, scrutinizing it intently.
Pterano chuckled.
“He’ll be fine,” he assured his sister as the two of them flew off.
The battle was highly prominent on everyone’s agenda at the moment. But Cera had one more thing on her mind.
“Maybe you’ll find that there are chances to repair these things. The Cera I know is not going to take any of it lying down!”
Considering the life-threatening situation that had been at hand, Cera wasn’t about to forget Ruby’s words in a hurry. Perhaps it only went to show how impulsive she could really be, but everything in her gut told her that the time was now to make sure these two buried the hatchet – if there was even a hatchet to bury in the first place, but she hadn’t liked how little those two had interacted in the brief time she’s seen them since the return to the Valley.
“Cera, you can’t be here!” Tria told her in a mortified whisper. “And where’s Tricia?” she quickly glanced around as if expecting her tiny daughter to spring up amongst the fighters.
“She’s with the others,” Cera said quickly. “She’s fine, and protected...but we couldn’t wait!”
“We?” Topps repeated, glancing around and catching sight of several of the other kids. “How was this even authorized...?”
“It was our choice!” Cera replied defiantly. “This is our Valley as much as it is yours. Besides, I needed to do something else.” She took a deep, but a brief breath, before saying,
“You two can’t split up! It’s not an option!”
For the briefest of moments, the two adults just stared at her in dumbfounded disbelief. Then a sharp cry of pain nearby jolted them back to where they were.
“Cera,” Tria said hurriedly. “This is hardly the time...besides, we’ve discussed this...”
“Then I’ll make it quick!” Cera insisted. “Tria, I know you’re angry at dad, probably from being...well, reckless...but...” she gazed at her father with an admiration so deep that Topps was slightly taken aback.
“It’s only because he cares! So...so much!”
“I know that...” Tria murmured, glancing over at Topps, and at the fighting continuing behind him. “But in this kind of situation, he needs to learn to be more careful...”
“If we continue to fight though,” Topps countered firmly, looking directly at her with an unwavering stare. “Then that kind of situation is no longer an issue. You were thinking about the only future we could see before us. One dominated by Ulciscor. Now there is a new future ahead, as long as we pull through!”
He could his speech was having a desired effect. Tria was watching him with a pained expression, clearly torn, and biting her lip.
“He is deeply in love with the Valley,” Cera coaxed, staring so hard at Tria it was almost painful. She didn’t even want to blink, she was so eager for a reaction from her stepmother.
“Because he’s dedicated to his family,” she continued. “He really is! He may be...” she chuckled weakly. “Grumpy and sarcastic and whatever, but he really loves us, he does, so much!!”
“I do...” Topps agreed, also watching Tria, who was staring at the ground.
“From the moment you arrived at the Valley...” Cera continued, rushing her words slightly now. “He saw the opportunity to recreate a family. And I admit, I didn’t see it before, but I can now. I may have been hostile and just plain bratty, but that’s because I couldn’t see anyone...replacing my mom.”
“Cera...” There was a prominent quaver in Tria’s voice, her expression now transformed into one of considerable sorrow as she gazed despondently at her stepdaughter. “I never meant to try and replace her...”
“I know!” Cera insisted. “You’re just...stepping into her role. And I know that now, I do...Tria...I...I love you. It’s taken me a long time to realise but...” Cera drew breath, and as she did so, she noticed it was a shuddering one, to accompany the tears that were now flowing from her eyes. Once upon a time, Cera would have made every effort to conceal these, but right now, she didn’t care. The fact that both Topps and Tria had their astonished eyes on her was enough to coax her to continue going, no matter how hard she cried.
“You’ve stepped into the role, quite seamlessly...” Cera murmured, smiling broadly in spite of her tears. “It was never about replacing my mother...you both sit side by side in my consciousness, and now I have no qualm about also calling you mom...”
She couldn’t continue, but she didn’t need too. Tria had stepped forward, and had allowed Cera’s head to rest upon her knee, still crying, but Tria was sure they were good tears. In response, she shed a few of those good tears herself.
“Now I’ve heard it...” she muttered. “I’ve realised that’s been something I’ve wanted to hear for a long time...” she turned to Topps.
“I think Cera’s made a considerable case,” she remarked. “And she’s right...I do still care you Topsy.” She sighed. “How about this? If we make it out of this alive, will you consider giving it all another go? And I mean all of us. As one family.”
Cera didn’t think she had seen a smile so broad on her father’s face in years.
“Oh yes,” he said. “I think I can accept that.”
But the smile very quickly vanished.
At that moment, a Bludgeoner, clearly not happy with the lack of fighting enthusiasm they were showing, had charged straight at them, swinging his murderous tail...
“WATCH OUT!!” Topps had made to move his wife and daughter out of harm’s way, but not in quite enough time. The Bludgeoner’s tail made contact with his neck frill, issuing a rather small cut, but as the tail continued to plummet, it knocked Cera flying, and both Topps and Tria saw the distinctive flash of blood.
“CEEEERRRRAAAA!!!”
Rushing to their daughter’s side, their bodies sagged with relief when they noticed her getting to her feet.
“I’m fine...!” Cera grunted, spitting a mouthful of blood to the ground. “I’m just a little...”
But the Bludgeoner was determined to finish the job.
“Topsy, he’s coming back!” Tria yelled, rounding on the adversary.
But a saving grace came in the form of a large rock. It had fallen quite literally from the sky, and had landed neatly atop the Bludgeoner’s head. With so much weight on one end of the body, the longneck overbalanced, and he pitched forward, the rock flattening his skull.
“And there’s a lot more where that came from!” Pterano declared, circling above them. “You lot alright?”
“I could be better!” Topps snapped back. “Does this mean I’m now indebted to you?”
Pterano smirked.
“Don’t forget it threehorn!” he called, as he flew away.
Topps shook his head in a disgruntled manner, and Cera was sure he would have yelled some more well-chosen words after Pterano, but then her mind shifted to the panicked cries and hurried footsteps heading her way.
“Is she OK??” Ruby cried, skidding spectacularly in front of the threehorns before bending down to inspect Cera’s injuries. Cera rolled her eyes.
“You’re really worried about just a scratch when you staged your own execution and charged straight into the middle of this battlefield? Priorities, I see, Ruby...”
Ruby smirked and shook her head.
“You charged in here before I charged in here,” she told her. “But I guess you had your priorities too...”
Still smiling, she gazed up at Topps and Tria.
“Can you get her somewhere out of harm’s way?” Topps asked her sincerely. “I think she’s done enough for us right now...” he glanced at his wife. Tria nodded.
“Yes. I’m sure we can rely on you, right, Ruby?”
Ruby nodded, her hand resting upon Cera. Satisfied, the two adult threehorns turned tail back into battle.
“Huh!” Cera pouted. “I still think I could have done a lot more...”
“Well, we still have things we need to do,” Ruby replied as the two of them ducked and ran beneath the limbs of the adults, the Alliance dinosaurs providing cover and a barricade for them against the Bludgeoners. “We may be too small to take care of things here, but we’ve managed to get our hands on weapons that might be just as effective...”
By now they had left the thickest parts of the battle behind, and had made their way over to a mound of rocks, not dissimilar from the massive formation left by the previous rockslide. Many wounded sharpteeth and leaf-eaters lay around, being tended to by the best of their abilities by some smaller dinosaurs that lacked the brawn to take on Bludgeoners. On the subject of Bludgeoners, Cera was momentarily alarmed to see one amongst their wounded, but on closer inspection it had turned out to be Uriah.
“Still alive...” Ruby muttered as she looked over at him. “But I don’t know for how long...”
As for dinosaurs standing amongst the rocks, Cera was relieved to see Ali, Spike, Ducky, Lini and Al firmly out of harm’s way, with Pterano and Petrie’s mother still swooping down to pick up medium-sized rocks to drop upon the enemy.
“They may be effective from the air,” Ruby told Cera. “But pushing them with the right speed and from the right distance might be enough to make them good land weapons too.”
“How do you work that out?” Cera asked sceptically, looking at where Ali, Spike and Lini were poised behind a spherical boulder. “We can’t exactly get a rock all the way over there from here...”
“You’d be surprised,” Ruby replied earnestly, gesturing to an elaborate, winding slope that the rock rested upon. “This one’s too large for the flyers to drop, but using the same principle we use when we play Pointy Seed Bowling...”
“These would be larger than your average pointy seeds.”
“You’re hilarious, Cera.”
Ruby stepped slightly forward, surveying the battlefield with nearly a squint, as though watching out for something in particular.
“We’re awaiting your signal,” Ali told her.
Ruby nodded and continued to watch the battlefield intently, and Cera turned to gaze too, watching the thuds and tail whips and bites and slashes and stomps...from where they were standing, they saw Ferox squaring off against a Bludgeoner somewhat bulkier than the average...
“Hold it...” Ruby murmured.
The Bludgeoner stepped forward, causing Ferox to back down slightly.
“Now!”
At Ruby’s command, Ali and Spike and Lini pushed with all their strength against the boulder, sagging as it eventually gave way, dropping and rolling with surprising speed down the slope, continuing this trend along the ground, directly to the path of the Bludgeoner. Although it had lost some of its velocity, Cera could only stare as it ploughed with considerably dynamic force straight at the legs of the Bludgeoner, causing it to collapse as its legs virtually snapped beneath it. Ferox quickly subdued it in this state.
Cera turned back to Ruby, wide-eyed.
“My turn now?” she asked tentatively.
It had, of course, transpired that Ruby had designed this slope largely by herself, but Cera was happy to leave that role to her. It was the massive rocks she wanted to take care of. As she had told Ali, with a grin far wider than was surely normal upon her face, if they had planned to send rocks rolling and sliding towards their foes without her, they could only hope to get lucky.
And so they continued, gathering rocks and sending them forward, timing it as best they could so as not to hit their allies. Whilst there were some successes, which sent them all whooping and hugging in a frenzied state of celebration, other times such rocks fell short, one even ploughing into and knocking down a tree.
“Hang on, I’m sure those Bludgeoners weren’t there before...”
Ali was craning her neck, watching the battlefield with a renewed worry.
Ruby also looked over, and her eyes widened.
“Yes...those one’s making a formation right there...those are definitely new...”
She winced after a sickening crack and thud was heard, implying such a formation had proved effective.
“How are new ones coming along?” Cera demanded. “I thought they were all here...”
“All of them except the ones Ulciscor took with him,” Ruby agreed. “But he may have been more cunning than we thought. They were stationed at every side of the Valley as well as within. We only took out those on the west wall, and even some of them might have got away. It would have been difficult to tell in the dark. I think he may have stationed a few elsewhere so as to hem us in and attack from other places. It doesn’t help that it’s been extremely difficult to work out how many there are in the first place...of course, as we have the superior numbers, he’s got to make use of tactics...”
Ruby trailed away, before turning back to her closely watching friends.
“In any case, the more of them we take out, the better. We might need to get Petrie or some other flier to see how many are stationed elsewhere in the Valley.”
The rocks that Ruby had organised needed continual adjusting should their attacks be affective, and Al, being of a small stature, had taken it upon himself to do that. But it was here that he was approached by someone he was yearning to take his mind off.
“Al...?”
Al looked up and stared at Lini for a few seconds before ducking his head down again.
At first, Lini found herself desiring nothing more but to dissolve in a wave of tears again. But upon realising this, her mood changed. Quite suddenly, this particular act of cold shoulder gave birth to a renewed burst of fury.
“Dammit, Al! What is wrong with you? This is just ridiculous!”
Al’s eyes snapped up at her again.
“Is it...?” he muttered. “I don’t know...”
He turned away.
“Why can’t you even look at me?” Lini demanded, grabbing his arm.
Al emitted a strangled yell and leapt away from her grip as though he had been burnt. Lini, slightly shocked, withdrew her hand.
Al continued to stare at her, his purple orbs wide and slightly frightened. Drawing a deep breath, he continued,
“It’s just...you can’t pretend that...” he shook his head. “Lini, this really isn’t the time, there’s a war going on...”
“Exactly,” Lini insisted. “So we could never get this chance again. We seem to be safe now, but if those Bludgeoners continue to take down our fighters...and then there’s him...” she nodded at Kai, who was currently crushing a hapless sharptooth beneath him.
“How can we be sure that either of us is even going to make it out of this alive...? I know I don’t want to die thinking that you hate me...in fact...” she gazed down at the ground, ringing her hands together. “That’s probably the last thing I want...and the Al I know...well, he wouldn’t want me to die knowing that the last thing he said to me was that I was as bad as the likes of Gigas...”
To her relief, she could see Al was taking this in. He too was watching the ground, but looking immensely contemplative and concerned. He sighed.
“Look...” he said. “It’s more about-”
He broke off. Suddenly his expression was alert, and quite panicked.
“Do you smell that...?” he muttered.
Lini sniffed the air...and gasped, a knot of dread forming in her stomach.
“They followed us...?” she whispered.
“The wall collapsing...” Al murmured. “It makes sense...he’s done it before...”
And without another word to her, he strode past Lini and back up the slope to inform Ruby of this new development.
The first visual signs of this development came at Petrie’s end. Upon his vantage point in the sky, he too had noticed that more Bludgeoners were joining the battle, attacking at random angles. But he didn’t have time to dwell on this when he heard another flying sentinel giving out instructions.
In sharptooth.
Gasping, Petrie swooped higher, and gazed down at the unmistakable sight of Ichy, hovering above the battlefield, issuing orders to...
With the battle of full swing, full of animals colliding and throwing up dust, it was only the observers at the side and in the sky that noticed the sight. A squad of Piercers, that couldn’t have numbered much more than twenty, was nevertheless in a ready formation just behind the fighters. And very soon, they were amongst it too, weaving in and out of the larger animals, barely noticed by anyone...
“Get the commanders!” Ichy yelled. “Take them out first! Go for the spiked longneck, and the matriarch of the alliance! And whilst you’re at it, take on those large sharpteeth. The spiketail needs to go too!”
Zoe, who held the command of this group, received the order and turned to her followers.
“I’m going for the spiketail. Get Dil to assist you with the old one. Then we can take on the stinger together...”
“LOOK OUT!!” Petrie called to the forces below. “Look out for sharpteeth with the-”
But he broke off when he noticed Ichy flying towards him.
“I’d watch your mouth, gnat!” he snarled.
Petrie zipped off, thankful for the timely arrival of his mother and uncle. Upon landing at the sidelines where his friends were, he saw that they had noticed too.
“What we do??” he asked them desperately.
“Maybe...” Ducky looked thoughtfully at the battlefield. “Maybe if they’re fighting the Bludgeoners too, they’ll help us?”
Al shook his head.
“There aren’t enough of them to take the Bludgeoners head on,” he said. “This is a sneak tactic. Most of the fighters probably haven’t even noticed a third party’s joined. They’re trying to weaken us both, by taking out some of the leaders. And that includes Opal and Old One.
Indeed, even as the Bludgeoners continued their assault upon the alliance, worryingly starting to push back, Opal found herself mobbed.
Zoe had aimed straight for the flank, her teeth scraping off the spiketail’s skin, and allowing a small trickle of blood to begin, slowly getting larger. Opal howled and kicked out, managing to subdue the Piercer for now but suddenly discovering that many more were upon her, preparing to bite, claw and otherwise bring her down.
She of course recognised them, and her immediate reaction was to cry out a warning to everyone else that this battle had gotten more complicated, and unbelievably so.
A Bludgeoner approached the wrestling throng, and brought his tail down amongst the Piercer’s sending some flying and crashing to the ground with bone-snapping crashes. For a brief, wild moment, Opal thought that this one buried the hatchet, until it brought its tail down upon her instead. Raising her own tail, Opal swung it like a baton, allowing the spikes to pierce the Bludgeoner’s skin as best she could. Only the smallest fleck of blood was visible, but when the Bludgeoner leaned in again, Opal twisted her whole body around and delivered a powerful blow, which sent it tottering backwards, its long neck getting close enough for the ground for Zoe to take advantage. A quick swipe of the claws and the Bludgeoner’s throat was cut, leaving Zoe and her minions to get back at Opal.
Opal, still bleeding slightly at the hip, backed away with her tail raised, but it suddenly occurred to her that her eyes should also be on Bludgeoners. With this haze and now three opposing factions, this battle could easily become a bloodbath quicker than first realised...
“If Hoshia went to find him, why hasn’t he come?” she found herself thinking.
“On my signal...” Zoe told her followers, eyeing Opal hungrily. She licked her chops. “Make sure you cover the back and I’ll go for the head. Once this task is finished, I’ll see what sort of world Xal has in- AAGGGH!!!”
She cried out as she felt something barge hard into her. Struggling to stay balanced, she turned to her gaze upon a bright red adolescent slashclaw...
“Lini???” Opal cried in horror. “Go! Get out now!”
One of Zoe’s followers made for Lini, but Lini kicked it hard in the face, an adamant determination on her face that gave Opal a slight chill...
“Get out of here!” Lini turned Opal’s words back on her. “After what you did for me...what you told us...you’re not going to die here...”
She cried out in pain as Zoe bit into her back. The two of them began wrestling, twisting and snarling and biting, and Opal, stunned by Lini’s words, found herself simply standing there and watching...
Lini kicked Zoe with her toe claws, leaving definite red impressions, but as she found herself in the perfect position to deliver a killer bite, something in the back of her mind, maybe the image of whatever yellow sharptooth it was that day, or maybe an individual purple-eyed crunchbiter gave her pause. And she hesitated for too long.
Zoe knocked her head away and twisted around to deliver an almighty slash with her claws, straight up Lini’s chest and up her face. Blood went flying immediately, droplets of scarlet shimmering in the air, and more of it dribbled down Lini’s neck as she coughed and choked...
Another of Zoe’s associates rammed into her, knocking her to the ground a short distance away, a trail of blood running the length of it as it continued to run down her chest, face and mouth...
Zoe’s chance to do any more damage was stolen from her as Opal finally came back to her senses and rushed into action, with Azura evening up the odds, delivering mighty tail whacks to the other Piercers around her. But Lini seemed fairly motionless.
“LINIIIII!!!!!!!!!”
That uncharacteristic hysterical cry was enough to rouse her. Suddenly Lini found herself aware of where she was once more, despite her now somewhat blurry vision and light-headedness. From where her head was hanging, she saw Al running towards her upside down, his breath coming in short pants. He dropped to his knees beside her.
“Lini, I’m sorry, you’ve got to stay with me, please, PLEASE!”
That seemed a fair enough request, Lini reasoned. It was strange then, that this slipping away feeling was so enticing...
“Al...” she tried to speak, and found herself choking on more blood. “I’m sorry...instincts kicked in again...”
“We’ve all done that!” Al garbled. “And I’m sorry. I really am. I’m just not used to this. I’m not used to people I know turning out to be...my life’s just been so haphazard and unpredictable with no family, I’ve tried to regiment things, and I’m sorry I didn’t...I know I can’t regiment you, because it’s not...it’s just...Lini, I love you, you CAN’T DIE...!”
Al’s face and voice seemed to be fading somewhat, but Lini still managed to smile.
“Who knew it would take something like this to get it out of him?” she thought. She also thought about mustering a reply, but suddenly, that seemed to no longer be a normal feat. Lini just sighed, smiled and closed her eyes.
Al held her still head between his arms and gazed down at her, almost willing himself not to react. After all, he was meant to be the calm, collected one, especially when he spied on Seizon. He needed to remain strong. But that was impossible. Like it or not, the tears came thick and fast, falling from his face freely and onto hers...after everything that had happened...and it had all been for nothing...
Ruby, who was standing behind him along with most of the others, bent down and felt Lini’s arm and chest.
“She’s not dead...”
Al sat bolt upright.
“Are you sure...?”
“Yes, she’s breathing. But...there’s something not quite right about it. We’d better get her some help.
Al gazed down at Lini’s motionless form.
“Keep those instincts going, Lini...” he pleaded silently with her.
As Lini was drawn in to join the injured, Ali found herself fixating on a particular part of the battle. She had been working her way around the perimeter of the mass of fighting dinosaurs, watching the clashes and hearing the roars, and she noticed Kai ploughing his way quite effectively through members of the Alliance, smaller bodies falling at his feet...it appeared that the Piercers were not going after him yet, still focused on perhaps the less violent ones. She could also see Old One fighting her own personal battle. Knocking aside the Piercers was easy enough for her, but she was struggling to wrestle her limbs free from Dil’s jaws, who seemed determined to bring her down at whatever personal cost.
But as Kai ploughed through, he was getting closer to the edge where Ali stood.
And where a tree stood.
It was tall, but thin, and like the other trees in the Valley, stripped of its leaves so that Ulciscor had a monopoly on the food. Ali was plotting, and she found it a deliciously ironic idea to have these violated trees get their own back. It would have been more effective had her fellows been here to help her, but she needed to make a decision quickly. Kai, pursuing a smallish sharptooth, was getting ever closer...
Ali threw her weigh against the tree, feeling it beginning to bend slowly towards the desired location. Kai was approaching, completely oblivious, his eyes focused on the potential murder ahead of him.
Come on...
The tree gave way. Ali stumbled against the outcrop it stood upon, nearly falling, but watching it in triumph.
Except it had dropped too early. The trunk thudded resolutely into the ground, separating Kai from his victim, giving the sharptooth time to run. Kai, however, was not beneath the tree, and he now looked up at Ali with a loathsome murderous intent.
Oh...
Ali leapt off the outcrop just in time to avoid Kai’s tail ploughing into it. She fled as Kai gave pursuit, but she soon realised with a thrill of terror that Kai was considerably faster. In no time, she felt the spiked tail of Ulciscor’s enforcer lift her off her feet and cut into her hide. With a yelp she fell back to the ground with a heavy blow. Winded, she attempted to stagger up, and felt her leg scream in protest. Wincing, she looked down at it and noticed a shining cut beginning to ooze with blood.
She was soon looking up instead however, as Kai’s enormous shadow loomed over her, his yellow eyes glinting with a very real and sickening joy.
“You’ve got something of a youthful rebellion in you,” he observed, rearing up onto his hind legs, his front legs perfectly poised to crush her. “You’re about to wish you never did...”
Even if her leg hadn’t been completely useless, Ali felt she couldn’t have moved, glued to the spot as she was with a sheer, cold, numbing fear...
WHAM.
A powerful, muscular tail had struck Kai in the stomach, sending him tottering backwards. Snarling, he leapt back up to engage Ali’s saviour in combat.
Although the bite marks on her leg were visible, it appeared that the Old One had shaken off her carnivorous attackers with considerable ease. Back at the battlefield, Dil lay noticeably bruised, a panicked Ichy attempting to coax her up.
“Old One...!” Ali managed to gasp.
Upon hearing her, Kai made to go back to her, apparently determined to finish the job he started, but Old One rammed into him, pushing with all the strength her body still carried.
“Get her out of her!” Old One roared.
Almost at once, Ali heard the pounding footsteps of a longneck in a hurry. She looked up to see Fumei bend down before she found herself lifted off the ground by her tail.
“You youngsters should never have come back...” Fumei muttered to her as she carried her off back to the sides. “But you truly do have courage...”
Old One smiled at that, even as her limbs began to quiver with the force she was wrestling against.
Screaming with rage, Kai slammed his head into her side. She gasped and staggered.
“Why don’t you just shrivel up??” he snarled at her, stamping and creating a considerable cloud of dust. “Why do you keep coming back and interfering, you useless old fossil??”
At that, Old One felt she had to chuckle.
“Oh, you really are clueless. You really thought that after everything you did, nobody would speak out or act in retaliation?”
Kai swung his neck at her, but she was ready for him this time. Turning remarkably quickly, she brought her tail up to block the blow, and Kai withdrew his head, looking considerably shaken. Ignoring the fresh cuts on her tail, Old One continued.
“These dinosaurs are not taking instructions from you,” she said firmly. “You’ve managed to get to them and their lifestyle and their children, and you really think they would take it lying down?”
Kai reared up. Against possibly her better judgement, Old One also did, feeling a strain in her muscles as she had not done in years. The two longnecks collided together, a great slab of many tonnes of muscle coming together, and the two wrestled face-to-face.
“This is why we beat it out of them!!” Kai hissed at her. Old One had to admit that her age was proving a handicap when it came to this kind of contest. Kai knew this too, and his malevolent grin grew as Old One fell to the ground.
By now, this scene had several onlookers. Even the Bludgeoners, knowing it better to conserve their energy, had paused and were watching their field commander slamming his legs down onto the ribcage of the old matriarch.
Old One yelled out in considerable pain, but gritted her teeth and kicked out with her front limbs at the oppressor, who slipped and gave the old longneck time to get back to her feet.
“And that is why they continue to fight back!” Old One roared back, swinging her head and slamming into Kai’s side. Shrieking in a way that suggested borderline insanity, Kai retaliated, his neck crashing forward like a medieval mace. Old One stood her ground.
“And is the younger generation who suffers the mistakes of the older...” she reflected, as she and Kai resumed their shoulder-to-shoulder wrestling.
“We, who constantly enforced the idea of every herd and every species to their own...”
Her mind brought her back to her much younger days, days when she sheltered beneath her parents massive limbs, watching the other dinosaur species with mingled awe and fear...
“We, who could never bear the idea of change...”
Their regimenting had felt normal to her, she realised. How had she even been able to spare that small sharptooth Chomper the day she chased him?
“And the children of her herds couldn’t bear to be seen with the others...”
She remembered the stories Ali had told her, about how her first meeting with Littlefoot had been scuppered by his choice of friends...
“But how they’ve adapted!”
No wonder Ulciscor had chosen this Valley for his sick experiments. He must have been mortified at the idea of new ideas and species mingling. Co-operation...harmony...diversity...tolerance. The beacon had been handed to the younger generation and how they had sought to change the old ways! Well, Old One thought, I salute them. And I abhor any of those who try to force it back!
She slammed her head on top of Kai’s, who bit into her leg, but his teeth quickly slid off. She charged forward, and he slammed his neck onto hers. She almost found herself rearing again when the crushing blow came.
Kai had swung his monstrous tail straight at her legs. Gasping, she felt her knees buckle and herself crash to the ground. Her front legs were bleeding, and she wasn’t sure if she could move them again.
All around her, the onlookers were transfixed. Well, if she was going to go down...she swallowed. When she went down, she wanted to make sure her allies knew what was on her mind. They couldn’t give up...
Kai struck her again, this time scraping his spiked tail across her body and neck, inflicting cuts and allowing a gentle spray of scarlet on the ground. Perhaps the fact that he enjoyed torturing his victims was something of a double-edged sword.
“Everyone stay back!” Old One ordered, and there was an outbreak of muttering, even as Old One smiled at them all, the blood running down her face.
“But Old One!” Ali called from her location at the sidelines. Old One swallowed. She hoped that this would not renew Kai’s desire to murder her. But Kai thankfully seemed too focused on the older dinosaur. He slammed his tail down on the back of her neck, forcing her to bend her head forward.
“You can’t go, we need you!!” Ali protested, her face stricken with horror. Her heart was pounding with guilt. If Kai hadn’t gone for her, she wouldn’t have had to come in and blatantly sacrifice herself...
“Many more noble dinosaurs have died here today,” Old One continued. “And none of them have had an audience. And I’ve lived a long life. It’s time for you all to do the same.”
Kai struck her neck hard again, and her legs gave way, her neck sinking to the ground. Kai was deliberately prolonging the final blow to make sure everyone was watching. Old One turned her eye to a very specific face in the crowd: that of Zoe, the Piercer who had ordered her death. She saw the Piercer look straight back at her and give the smallest of nods. At this, Old One knew everything was in place. With her gone, she could focus fully on Kai, and may even prove to be a useful ally in said battle after all...potentially.
Old One continued.
“In my long life I may have led a herd, but I think the true accomplishments come from the Valleians and all their children. They have taken great steps towards acceptance and community. That is what will kill the poison seeping through this Valley. I know it. I just hope you can forgive me for being stuck in my ways for so long!”
She twisted her head to look at her allies, and she beamed broadly, tears beginning to slide down her face and washing away the blood.
“Give a dying old fossil a break, and promise me you’ll fulfil my wish in continuing this progression for the rest of time! This is your generation now, be the best you can be!”
This seemed to content her allies as much as they could be given the situation. They nodded almost simultaneously.
“If we do,” Ali said earnestly. “It’ll be down to your guidance.”
Old One chuckled slightly.
“That idea makes me quite content,” she said warmly.
Kai reared up.
“I only hope this is the last kill you’ll ever make...” Old One thought as she closed her eyes.
“Justice will catch up with you in the end...”
Kai brought his front feet smashing down upon the Old One’s skull, the audible and sorrowful crack marking the matriarch’s grand life with a resolute and final note.
*
This tranquillity was completely wrong.
Bron could hear the battle in the distance, the cries of pain and anguish...and here, the breeze blew calmly as if nothing was awry. But of course, the breeze had never been affected by this in the past. What really bothered Bron was the fact that he felt that tranquillity would soon be shattered by Ulciscor’s appearance. He was surely near...
Bron continued to walk, some of the grass around coming up almost to his knees. Nearby too were trees that gently bowed and creaked in the breeze, some even still with their vegetation. Ulciscor would have wanted to remove most easily accessible vegetation, so therefore...
“Bron, I’m right here.”
Ulciscor had spoken the words with no real emotion, just as a simple instruction, and as Bron turned to see him standing in a vividly green clearing with a few trees surrounding him, he couldn’t help but still see the highly confident young longneck he had met so long ago. Only this time, Ulciscor held his parents captive behind him, guarded by two Bludgeoners. Bron watched their expressions with increasing despair. He didn’t think he had ever seen them look so defeated.
“You may be wondering why the two of them aren’t bothering to fight back?” Ulciscor asked mildly, chancing a glance at his parents. “It’s because they know it’ll be much worse for everyone else in the Valley should they do so.”
Bron took a step towards them.
“But you gave Kai and the Bludgeoners to kill without discrimination, surely?” he queried.
“Everyone except their grandson,” Ulciscor corrected him, also walking towards his quarry. “Whilst they’ve still got that last bit of hope left, they want to hang onto it.
“Hmm...” Bron murmured, beginning to walk round, knowing it was inevitable that the two longnecks began to circle each other, each eyeing the other with mingled apprehension and interest.
“Ahh...” Ulciscor breathed. “How long has it been, Bron, since I’ve seen your features?”
“I don’t know if this is really the perfect time for a memory lane,” Bron replied.
“We’re far from that battle, Bron, we might as well. I still remember when it was the three of us...”
Bron found himself clenching his teeth a little harder. He knew who that third person was.
“You, Saura and I. Inseparable, at least until I went off to fulfil my destiny as the Lone Dinosaur. And then she fell.”
Bron swallowed.
“You don’t need to tell me, Ulciscor. I daresay I found out before you did. And made sure I completed my role as father.”
“You?” Ulciscor grinned, the two longnecks still continuing that slow, perfect circle. “And you don’t even live in the Valley? Because from what I heard, all that time from Saura’s death to Littlefoot venturing off to find the Valley, you were never there.”
Bron shifted his gaze away, Ulciscor’s taunts ringing in his ears. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Aster and Arianna.
“Does Littlefoot even know why?” Ulciscor asked, eyeing Bron unwaveringly. “I’m sure he asked why his own father never showed up. What did you tell him? See, I can’t be certain, but I’m fairly sure I know what happened...”
“He forgave me,” Bron snapped. “He forgave me Ulciscor, and he will not forgive you.”
“I’m sure he did forgive you,” Ulciscor replied levelly. “If you fabricated some lie to cover your tracks. But what will he think when he discovers his father’s a coward-?”
“YOU SHUT UP!!”
He made towards Ulciscor, but skidded to a halt when he saw the Bludgeoners make threatening moves towards Aster and Arianna. The look in their eyes told him that they had been listening and contemplating very carefully.
Ulciscor looked completely nonchalant.
“OK then, Bron. I understand this is important to you, so how about this? I want to teach my sister’s child the way I think the world should be run-”
“He’ll never listen to you...”
“Let me finish!” There was a sharper quality to that command. Bron fell silent.
“Obviously you want your son to stay with you. And your parents-in-law...if you can fight me and come out victorious, I shall leave them behind when I take my temporary departure.”
“So, you’re fleeing?”
Ulciscor chuckled.
“No...I would have done this regardless of whatever attack was thrown my way. And it doesn’t concern you. However, if you can win against me, I shall release them back to you. If not...”
“We are all going to win, Ulciscor. Get that in your head.”
“You’re sure?” Ulciscor’s malicious grin had been replaced by a scowl. “You still haven’t quite got the measure of me yet, have you? Still, will you accept my challenge?”
Bron paused, staring back at Aster and Arianna. If he refused, there could be no telling what happened to those two. With the rest of the party far away, he doubted they could be otherwise rescued in time...and yet...he simply didn’t trust Ulciscor not to pull something on him at the last minute...
“What about Littlefoot?” Bron asked. “If I win, will you leave him alone also?”
Ulciscor blinked.
“Sure.”
Of course Bron didn’t trust him for a second. Nevertheless, this would buy everyone valuable time. Hopefully, Littlefoot was safe, and would remain so until the victorious alliance would inform him of said victory...before coming for Ulciscor? It was a desperate gamble, but eventually Bron nodded.
“OK...I accept your challenge...”
“Before you do...”
Bron snapped his head in Arianna’s direction, unable to hide his astonishment. Ulciscor also turned, apparently having not expected it any more than Bron.
“I just want to say, Bron...” Arianna murmured, her head down. “That...we don’t blame you in the slightest...”
Aster nodded.
Under different circumstances, Bron’s mind would have been set greatly at rest upon hearing this. As it was, he simply licked his teeth nervously and nodded.
“Alright,” Ulciscor continued briskly, watching him closely. “So you will accept the challenge to complete our unfinished business?”
“Yes...” Bron replied firmly, poising himself, lowering his neck and raising his tail.
“Excellent...” Ulciscor returned, also raising his tail. “Let’s see...”
Not wishing to give Ulciscor the chance to attack first, Bron kicked dirt behind him and ran forward, turning a bringing his tail swinging down...
Ulciscor brought his up however, countering the blow and sending minute vibrations and a slight dull ache up the tails. Bron could see a gloating smile sparkling behind Ulciscor’s dark eyes, and he stood back to prepare for another attack.
The two longnecks began to circle each other once more, their heads low. Eventually, they collided, pushing shoulder to shoulder and emitting loud bellows. Bron slammed his neck into Ulciscor’s side, causing Ulciscor to snarl and rear up for the briefest of seconds, forcing Bron to withdraw his neck. The two collided again, wrestling briefly, but this time Ulciscor had already raised his leg, and brought it painfully down upon Bron’s shoulder. Even as Bron yelled, Ulciscor raised both his legs and brought them down upon Bron, who managed to drop and roll over to put up his own front legs in a counter. The sound of creaking bones was audible even as Ulciscor dismounted and turned tail, swatting the unstable Bron who was attempting to get back to his feet. The whipcrack left a distinctive mark and the brown longneck skidded along the ground, cracking into a nearby tree and toppling it easily.
Ulciscor, still on his feet, was unable to hide his glee as Bron staggered up. Bron, determined not to show his resistance fading, nevertheless felt his mind ticking over into a panic.
“Ulciscor has trained himself to be a killer...” he thought desperately. “He offered me this challenge because he knew I wouldn’t win...”
But why not prove him wrong?
Bron charged once more, swinging his tail around again and striking Ulciscor. However, Ulciscor had ducked and allowed his sturdy back to take the brunt of the force, and twisting round, he kicked out at Bron with his back legs. Even as Bron teetered again, Ulciscor shot his neck forward and struck Bron’s head with his own.
Bron hit the ground with a loud thud and distinctive rumble, and, perhaps as an extra measure, Ulciscor struck his face hard with the whip end of his tail. Bron emitted a hiss of pain as a fleck of blood sprayed the ground before him.
“No...”
Bron tried to heave his heavy frame back up, but Ulciscor’s foot held him in place.
“Looks like you were only second rate after all!” Ulciscor crowed, glancing back at his parents briefly to make sure they knew the score. “Bold of you, but ultimately that doesn’t really count for anything!”
What else could be done? Bron could only stare at Ulciscor’s leering face and wonder what he had in store...
“We’ve had an interesting run, Bron,” Ulciscor informed him, a dangerous smirk playing about his lips. “But I’m afraid I don’t have time to cling to any old nostalgia. As I move on, I will leave you behind. You’re certainly not the first to perish beneath by limbs, but granted you will probably be the most notable. Goodbye, ëlittlefoot’!”
Up he reared, legs poised over Bron’s head. Bron closed his eyes, sending his wishes to Aster, Arianna, Littlefoot, Shorty and all the rest. He would have resisted more, but honestly...he had wanted to reunite with Saura for a long time, if only to let her know...how sorry he was...
But today was not that day.
Because even as Ulciscor prepared to murder his brother-in-law, the impossible happened. He was knocked off his feet and sent crashing onto his back by a tree. A heavy trunk and literally been flung at him full-on. Someone had uprooted it. Someone very desperate to stop Ulciscor.
Bron, managing to gather his strength, propped himself up and gazed, wide-eyed at his saviour.
Aster and Arianna’s mouths had fallen open as the gazed, not noticing the Bludgeoners, who, also staring, were shifting nervously.
Ulciscor, wrestling himself free from beneath the branches, raised himself back up to his feet to look his attacker in the eye. His eyes widened too, and his mouth twisted into a scowl of fury.
“It’s you...” he muttered. “Why the hell are you here?”
For there, standing a short distance away, the grass swaying in the breeze around his ankles, was Doc, the fabled Lone Dinosaur. Doc, his expression fairly collected and yet with a furrowed brow, turned to his head slowly to fix his gaze upon Ulciscor.
“Why?” he repeated in a deep, slow voice that commanded presence. “My reaction is akin to a parent responding to the tears of their children. And I believe that you, sir, are the cause of those tears.”
“Me??” Ulciscor emitted a short, harsh laugh. “I have made this Valley truly great, stretching my resources and expanding my ideas, whilst you have disappeared off the face of the earth!”
“It’s certainly true that I have been absent recently,” Doc agreed. “And for that I give the children of the Valley my humblest apologies. But once I heard of the goings-on, I knew my return had to be imminent.”
“Who told you?” Ulciscor demanded.
“It’s perhaps an old, out-of-touch system,” Doc replied. “But as...” he looked briefly troubled, before continuing, “as a known guardian of this Valley, members of the dynasty that once ruled it have the authority to give me orders. Opal sent me a rainbowface as a messenger, telling me to come to the aid of a liberation army and to overthrow a tyrant.”
“A tyrant?” Ulciscor repeated, looking increasingly nettled. “Opal is most definitely out-of-touch. If I had known she had survived Kai’s attack, I would have made sure she was the first on the list to go...”
“But as it happens,” Doc interrupted, his voice quavering with a renewed, tranquil fury. “You didn’t know. And now it is my duty to remove you from this Valley by whatever means...”
Ulciscor scowled, apparently biting back a scream. But he stood his ground.
“You’re also out-of-touch,” he told him. “For everything I’ve done for this Valley, I should be called the Lone Dinosaur.”
At that, Doc actually smiled. But it was a smile that was considerably humourless.
“You really want that title? It’s a lot less of a glamorous one than you know.”
“Not when I carry it. And you cannot remove me from this Valley; you no longer have the ability.”
Doc simply moved his legs, so they were more splayed and sturdier, and slowly raised his tail.
“We’ll see,” he said quietly.
~0~
Finally! So...thoughts? I have to admit I'm not sure about this chapter, everything feels a bit of a mess, but I've hopefully managed to include the character development I meant to. A few twists and a bit of death, I know, and well...there's more to come. Hope you'll join me next time, and thanks for reading!