Chapter 45: Batten Down The Hatches
The only time anyone could see in the darkness was when the sky flashed with blinding and furious flashes of lightning which erupted so constantly that to any animals down below it looked like the heavens were bursting in fury. The danger of being struck was ever present and kept any Flyer with an ounce of common sense from braving the heart of the murderous storm. Huge floods were becoming widespread in every corner of the storm as the heavy deluge came down soaking everything in sight. With the storm was also a chilling cold that brought huge hail the size of melons raining down on the unfortunate creatures below. The winds were strong enough to uproot pine trees and sent small younglings flying helplessly into the air. The storm was like this pretty much everywhere including in the usually safe confines of The Great Valley.
The Valley was in total disarray and devastation. Nearly every tree had been uprooted and those that were not were completely sunk as the water level rose dramatically. The ground became a muddy bog that trapped the big dinosaurs and the tall cliffs hardly blocked off the fierce wind which struck with an insane amount of force that even pushed Mr Threehorn back a few steps. The hail was also devastating. Any dinosaur that was not under cover was pummelled relentlessly by the hail which ranged in size from fist sized to melon sized hail. There certainly were injuries caused and…….deaths.
All over The Valley children clung to their parents in fear and cried while their parents tried to protect them from the rage of the storm, even though the adults were also scared by this storm. The living conditions also became absolutely appalling as the deluge progressed with the cold rain battering the residents, sickness was spread and the children were in danger of hypothermia. To say that everyone was miserable was a complete understatement, they were experiencing total hell. Getting food at this time now became a fight for survival which no one dared brave.
It was very much like this way for the Swimmer family and everyone else in The Great Valley which was now more like The Stormy Valley. Ruphus reflected that the only reason that they had not been caught unawares by the storm was because of Petrie who was the first to spot the storm and warn everyone. Petrie’s sighting was quickly confirmed by his mother. This gave The Valley a few life-saving hours to prepare for the coming storm and Ruphus was quick to recognise the storm and immediately moved his family to the highest ground he could find that had suitable shelter for him and his family under several large trees with broad branches and a thick foliage. While most residents went on to fortify their nests some chose to head straight for The Sheltering Rock. The Sheltering Rock was a large pinnacle that harboured a massive cabin in its base and it was also on high ground which made it the safest place except that it only had a limited capacity. It was here that the residents had sheltered when a tornado had struck.
Ruphus had carefully transported his mate’s eggs to the canopy of trees in a makeshift nest built of twigs and sticks. There he built a hollow for the eggs and rested himself upon it, in order to protect the fragile eggs. Merri also created a hollow that could hold a large piece of hollow tree trunk that the children could sleep and shelter in and in addition they also built makeshift flood barriers around each of their sleeping spots using dried mud and sticks.
Ruphus had also positioned the family in between two rocks which he knew would help protect them from the wind.
His children were very frightened when he told them to follow him away from the nest in a very strict voice. “What’s going on Daddy?” exclaimed Diver looking frightened, though not nearly as frightened as Spinner and Sandy who were already shivering in fright.
However Merri pushed her along firmly with her hands “No time for questions dear we must go now” she said anxiously.
“Spike” said Ruphus turning to the young Spiketail “I want you to go to The Secret Caverns immediately, you’ll be safe there with Chomper and Ruby. Get there as fast as you can and don’t stop for anything.”
Spike shook his head in protest but Ruphus gave him a hard push with his beak, there was going to be no argument here “Go!” he said firmly. Spike shied away from his adoptive father and headed at a jog to The Secret Caverns.
“I’m scared” said Opal in fright as she followed her father at a jog. Echo held her hand as they jogged.
“I’m sure Dad knows what he’s going” he said in a comforting tone. Opal smiled and ran without any more fuss.
“What is going on dad!?” cried Rapid loudly, he was determined to get answers.
Ruphus did not relent his pace but he did answer ”We must get to high ground kids, a storm is coming” he sounded very fearful it was not something that was lost on Rapid or any of the other children.
“But we’ve made it through many storms before” said Ray, feeling that there was no need to be so panicked when he and his family had lived through dozens of storms in the past.
“Children we are facing The Killer Storm here, it is the worst type of storm there is and it is known because no herd gets through it without losing some of its members” said Merri, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible so as not to panic the children. Though they certainly looked more frightened as the seriousness of what their Aunt’s words suggested sunk in and in that instant they knew that this storm would be extremely dangerous and they all increased their pace.
There were a few objections by Diver and Rapid about lodging in the log but Ruphus told them firmly that they would stay in the log if they did not want meet their ends in the storm so the children reluctantly got into the log. Ruphus and Merri hoped that the second clutch younglings would be safe with the Longnecks as they had no time to meet with them. They also hoped that Ducky and Sura were both safe wherever they were. Finally after Ruphus gathered a corpus amount of food there was nothing left to do but wait until the storm hit.
Now the storm had been going for over several hours and as well as not showing any signs of relenting, the hail was also starting to fall in some places. Ruphus was glad that he had taken the precautions he had. Their nest would have been quickly swamped if they had stayed there.
Now after a few hours of non-stop downpour Ruphus and Merri were both feeling very cold and sick, it was midday at the moment but it felt more like midnight as the dark clouds blocked most light from reaching the ground. Visibility would’ve been impossible if not for the never ending barrage of lightning which lit up the sky with an eerie cold blue light.
The wind unfortunately was not fazed by the two large rocks that the Swimmer family were nesting between because it went straight through the gap. Opal, Sandy, Ray, Spinner and Diver were all huddled together in fear while Rapid lay an arm’s length away. Echo however was poised at the entrance of the shelter where he could see the devastation of the storm first hand as well as fearfully watch his father and aunt tackle the fierce storm.
Opal and Sandy were holding onto each other so tightly that it hurt, they were both shivering uncontrollable due to fear, there was also unshed tears in their eyes, this storm terrified them. “I’m……so….s…sc-scared” whipered Opal in a voice so small that it was hardly audible over the unending claps of deafening thunder. Sandy nodded in response and suddenly grabbed her tail.
“I think I’m going to-“
“Don’t you dare!” said Rapid firmly “Don’t you dare wet the nest” he held up his fist in a threatening gesture, causing his sister to let go of her tail and curled into a frightened quivering ball.
“Come on lay off her Rapid,” said Echo turning to his brother with a scowl “we are all scared even you, don’t deny it”
“I’m not s-s-sc-scared” said Rapid trying to sound brave even though he really was scared stiff.
“What’s going to happen to us” said Diver in fear as a lightning flash lit up the inside of the log.
“We’ll……we’ll get through this” said Echo in an attempt to comfort his sister, he came over and lay beside her and held onto her tightly.
Suddenly there was a loud fit of coughing and groaning from outside. Everyone peered outside and saw Merri having a coughing fit while Ruphus groaned with fatigue they both looked spent and both their noses were red. Ruphus sneezed and shivered in his scrape but remained there, determined to protect his unborn children. “Daddy won’t let this nasty storm hurt you little ones” he cooed softly to the eggs.
Echo looked out over the Valley and after another set of lightning flashes lit up the land he saw total carnage. The Great Valley was almost completely unrecognisable. Nearly everything was underwater, whole forests had ceased to exist as the wind up lifted the trees from the ground and sent them hurling through the air at random. The ground was now a total mud bath and there were huge rock slides along the cliffs and nearby the caves.
“I hope we will be alright” said Echo in fright but even as he said this the hail started falling causing Merri and Ruphus to give cries of pain as they were pummelled with hail, causing huge bruises to form. The storm had just got a whole lot worse.
Several hours later the hail was becoming even more dangerous now. The log that the Swimmer children were inside was splintering under the sheer bombardment of hail. Spinner was trembling with fright as he tried to sleep while Opal, Sandy and Ray all huddled together for warmth and comfort. None of them could sleep and Sandy was sobbing fearful and Echo and Rapid were both watching the adults with worry.
“I want my mommy” sobbed Sandy into Ray’s chest. There was nothing that Ray could do except hold her gently in his arms.
“I wish mom was here to!” whispered Opal placing her arms around her sister. It was very hard for the children to deal with this storm and especially without their mother, she was the one they could go to when afraid and they would always end up feeling comforted in their mother’s arms. She was the voice of reason, the shoulder they could cry on but without her comforting presence during this terrible storm was a terrifying experience for them all. They didn’t even know if Sura and Ducky were caught in the storm.
Echo and Rapid were more concerned about Ruphus and Merri than anything else at present. They were both bleeding from several nasty cuts on their backs and flanks. Ruphus had frozen shrapnel embedded in his tail and the side of his belly. Thankfully they weren’t deep, he also had a nasty gash on the right side of his head which bled into his eye. Merri was now laying right next to Ruphus in an attempt to keep warm. The water levels were rising rapidly so that all the low lying areas of The Valley were underwater thankfully they were still above the water. Many of the trees that they had taken shelter under were no longer existing now as they had been uprooted leaving Merri and Ruphus devoid of shelter.
“I don’t know if Dad will make it, he’s hurt” said Echo fearfully gripping the wood of the log tightly as he watched his father and aunt suffer.
“Well what can we do!?” hissed Rapid in suppressed rage. He hated being helpless, to be unable to help his father and aunt who were suffering only a few yards away. He admired the strength and fortitude of his father as regardless of the risk to himself still kept vigil over his mate’s fragile eggs which lay safely beneath his belly but would inevitable be put in great danger if he were to leave them. Yet Ruphus selflessly protected the eggs even though his body was becoming increasingly spent.
CRACK!
Something large hit the side of the log that the children were in with tremendous force, knocking it out of the scrape the log rested in and out past Merri who got hit in the head by the passing log and started to tumble rapidly down the slope towards the flood grounds with the children stuck in inside holding on for dear life as the log tumbled towards the fast flowing water.
“Merri! Merri!” yelled Ruphus shaking her in order to get her attention. Merri snapped out of her trance and shook her head, still feeling awfully giddy after the log had hit her. She let out a long groan.
“Merri!” shouted Ruphus, finally catching her attention. “The children!” cried Ruphus in alarm, he pointed to the log tumbling towards the fast water.
Merri gasped and jumped out of her scrape and sprinted down the hill after the children but she slipped on the muddy slope and fell on her side with a cry of alarm as she too began rolling rapidly down the hill.
“Whoa!!!” she yelled as she fell, she could vaguely hear the children's screams intermingled with the sound of thunder.
Echo was holding onto the log as tightly as he could while Rapid was holding onto the outside of the log for dear life, he had fallen out when the log had been struck by an uprooted tree. Opal, Sandy, Spinner and Ray were all huddled at the back of the log which was closed to the world while Echo struggled to hold on near the opening. The water was only meters away.
SMASH!
SPLASH!
The log hit a rock and flew into the air before falling vertically into the water open end first. The down pulling current was very strong and in moments the log was on the bottom of the river with the open end sunk deep into the sediment preventing any escape for the trapped Swimmers. Thankfully there was a small air bubble that allowed them to breathe but that didn’t stop the shock of the freezing cold water hitting them.
Everyone surfaced gasping for breath in the little air bubble. “Is everyone alright?” asked Echo. He got an affirmative reply from all five siblings. Five? That couldn’t be there were six of them. Suddenly he noticed.
“Where is Rapid!” he cried but he could not speak any more as the water rose to engulf the little air bubble.
SPLASH!
Merri belly flopped into the water and swam to the bank. Her entire world was spinning uncontrollably. She took a few breaths while struggling to regain herself. Her mind went back to the children. She gasped and but it took her a while to regain her senses and when she finally did she looked around the river trying desperately to see the log but she could find no sign of it. Merri quickly swam downstream looking for any sign of the log and her nieces and nephews. “Kids!” she yelled desperately trying to see and hear but the storm made even that difficult. Merri feeling she missed something swam back to the point of entry and looked around again only closer.
The current was flowing down stream so that was the way the log would go but Merri remembered right before she went into the water, she remembered the log sinking.
Merri took a breath and dived beneath the water. Even if it was sunny the visibility was almost nil with everything having been stirred up by the storm but Merri knew the general direction the log fell and let the current take her to it. As a matter of fact she couldn’t see the log at all until she bumped into it and pushing it on its side. There was another flash of lightning that illuminated the scene for her.
In that instant she saw all the children swimming out of the log and straight up toward the surface as fast as they could. Large pieces of hail splashed into the water but the momentum quickly slowed then down making them more of a nuisance then a danger. Merri quickly followed them and helped them all onto the bank as the current was pretty ferocious. Each of the children was gasping for breath, coughing and shivering like mad after their episode in the freezing water, many of them had turned blue.
“Quickly everyone get under that overhang!” shouted Merri, pointing to a small rocky overhang close by that was just big enough to hold all six of the children who quickly scrambled under it’s protective cover. “Wait six?” thought Merri in alarm, she quickly made a headcount and discovered to her horror that they were one head short.
“Where’s Rapid!?” she cried.
“We do not know” replied Spinner in fear “He was clinging to the entrance of the log last we saw but he disappeared after we fell into the water”. Spinner finished with a loud sneeze.
Merri’s heart skipped a beat could that mean that Rapid was…….
Merri let out a gasp of horror had she just lost Rapid? Rapid the friendly but troublesome Swimmer was he really gone? Merri took a few deep breaths to calm herself, acting like Rapid was dead in front of the children would certainly not help their current situation. “Kids, we must keep going” she said with sad but firm resolution.
“But-“ said Echo.
“It’s too dangerous to search for him in this storm we have to go n-“
WHACK!
“Ohhhhhhh” groaned Merri, falling onto her belly looking totally dazed, everything spun and she tasted blood. She heard the kids yelling at her but their voices sounded small and distant, even the storm sounded like it had been muted. Merri next felt the pain on her beak and head she placed a hand on the top of her beak and felt her hand come into contact with a warm surface. Merri withdrew her hand and saw by a lightning flash that it was coloured completely with crimson liquid, her blood.
Merri was still awfully dizzy, her whole world spun yet somewhere in all the chaos she heard a frightened voice pierce through the haze. “Aunty……
Aunty.........AUNTY!!”
Merri snapped out of her trance to see Opal shaking her beak in fear. Merri regained her bearings in an instant and shoved Opal back under the overhang and out of harm’s way. “Children under my body now!” Merri ordered, raising herself back onto her wobbly feet. The children quickly ran underneath her bulk were they were guaranteed to have at least some protection from the storm.
“Come on little ones hurry” she said and ushered them all away to The Sheltering Rock but without Rapid or Ruphus and the eggs.
*
“Come on Tria you can make it!” called Topps encouragingly to his mate who was struggling to cross the enlarged water hole which had now become a huge mud pool.
Tria struggled to move her feet, her own weight was pulling her down deeper into the mud. “I can’t move Topsy!” she cried out in a panic her vision was almost totally blinded by the sky water.
“Don’t give up Tria you can do it!!” yelled Cera.
“MOM!” screamed Tricia in fear.
Cera was underneath her father’s belly with her step sister clinging to her back in utter terror as the thunder clapped loudly as if someone was stomping their feet in rhythm except one hundred times louder. Tricia wailed loudly as she saw her mother get bogged down in the mud. They had moved away from their nest and headed for The Sheltering Rock as the danger that Tricia was in was too great not to mention there nest would soon be underwater. While Tricia was safe from hail and rain beneath her parent’s bodies, she became vulnerable to mud and flash floods.
“Go!” yelled Tria “get to The Sheltering Rock, I’ll be okay!” bellowed Tria, straining to make her voice heard over the great cacophony the storm created. Topps gasped in horror at what Tria was proposing.
“NO!!!” yelled Cera. “Daddy you’ve got to help her” she cried in a panic.
“I can’t just abandon you Cera the frozen sky stones could kill you” said Topps.
“I DO NOT CARE!!!!” yelled Cera “SAVE TRIA!!!” Cera was crying now although her father could not see it, she could not bear to lose Tria who had taken up the mantle of step mother to her, Cera had already lost her birth mother, she could not just leave Tria to die. She could not lose her mother the second time and Tricia could not lose her mother, Cera would never allow that.
Topsy looked down at his daughter and could barely make out the tears falling from her eyes. “Keep Tricia safe Cera and look after yourself, get to The Sheltering Rock”. Cera’s mouth opened “I’ll save Tria.
Cera nodded. “Tricia get down” she said in a very gently voice to her sister Tricia looked even more scared but she got down and sat beside Cera looking distraught. “Come under me Tricia I’ll keep you safe, no matter what” she said and gave Tricia a warm nuzzle. Tricia still had tears in her eyes but she looked a bit less frightened, so she walked beneath Cera’s belly.
“Topsy!” Tria yelled, she was starting to sink beneath the mud which was now up to her neck.
“Go Cera!” yelled Topsy.
Cera advanced out of the shelter her father had created and into the storm. She was immediately pummelled by the freezing rain which chilled her to the bone, the wind made it even worse. Cera shivered and advance as fast as Tricia could run.
A backwards glance showed her father running into the mud to help Tria but just as she was about to turn away a huge uprooted tree flew directly into the path of the two adult Threehorns. Cera tried to yell a warning when some sky fire hit only a few metres away and completely blinding her and Tricia but they could still hear the smack of the tree before the deafening boom of thunder swallowed up all sound.
Cera tried not to think about what might have just happened to her father and Tria but continued to run. That was when she felt a large weight strike her back, then another bouncing off her frill drawing a large scrape across it. Hail.
“Come On Tricia!” yelled Cera over the wind which was trying everything in its power to push her back “It will be okay” she said to herself though she did not believe it.
SHLUCK!!
Cera gave a scream of pain which caused Tricia to squel in fright. A large piece of hail the size of Cera’s foot crashed to the ground behind her sending frozen shrapnel in all directions. Cera lifted her back right leg which had half a dozen ice shards lodged deep into her flesh drawing blood.
“Cewa hurt” cried Tricia in horror.
“I’ll be okay Tricia let’s go” cried Cera, trying to keep the sheer panic and pain out of her voice but their progress grew slower with Cera limping and shivering like crazy. Her limits were at breaking point and she could hardly see ahead in the twilight. Cera pushed on determined to protect her little sister, but her fear that she would not make it and that Tria and her father were in danger was growing. Cera cried her tears as the pain intensified as she and Tricia waded through a shallow depression that was filled with rapidly rising water. As soon as they got out and started to climb a hill Cera was sure that they were close to The Sheltering Rock.
However Cera was starting to feel very light headed from blood loss, she struggled to keep standing but eventually fell on her belly, Tricia jumped out from under her sister and of harm’s way then sheltered beneath Cera’s tail.
Tricia begged Cera to get up but for poor Cera hardly anything made sense now, her mind was awfully clouded with fatigue and pain, the last thing she remembered before everything blacked out was feeling dryer as if she was being sheltered from the rain, a little feeling of warmness going up her back and Tricia speaking her name in a long drawn out cry “Ceeerrraaaa!”
*
Cera awoke in a daze, her vision was blurred and she could not make out any of the sights or sounds around her. She let out a loud groan and tried to get to her feet but felt something suddenly push her firmly to the ground. “Try not to move Cera” said a gentle feminine voice.
Cera complied, trying to see through the haze at, blinking a few times and saw several figures standing over. Mr Thicknose, Granma Longneck, Merri along with Opal and Ali. Mr Thicknose was uninjured having been one of the residents that went straight for The Sheltering Rock. Grandma Longneck was completely covered from head to toe with bruises and cuts that were too small to be life threatening but still hurt the elderly Longneck. Opal and Ali were also okay although they looked very worried and Opal was completely blue. Merri however looked the worst of the lot. Her body like Grandma Longnecks was bruised and bleeding however Merri’s wounds were more severe and there were many long and deep cuts but the ugliest wound of all was a gaping red wound on her head just were it meets her beak, the wound was positioned right between the eyes and looked both ghastly and pain full.
“What happened?” asked Cera still feeling disorientated, that was she felt the pain overwhelm her senses causing her to cry out in agony. Tears flooded her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Looking back she saw her leg was covered with a large blood soaked leaf and all the ice that had been lodged in her leg had been removed. She could tell that it would take a very long time for to recover and be able to walk properly again.
“Easy Cera” said Merri gently. Mr Thicknose decided to explain.
“We saw you approaching with Tricia and I went and-“
“Tricia!” shouted Cera, trying to get up but fell in heap as her leg gave way under her. She looked around with alarm. The Sheltering Rock had a lot of residents taking refuge here but a fair number of then were wounded.
“Tricia is fine” said Ali in an attempt to calm her friend.
“Where is she?!” cried Cera.
“Over here Tricia, Cera’s awake” cooed Merri to the young Threehorn who she guided towards them.
“Tricia!”
“Cera!” cried Tricia in joy and ran into the embrace of her beloved sister. Cera nuzzled her lovingly then broke off to inspect Tricia who was thankfully uninjured.
“Cera hurt, Tricia scared” sobbed Tricia in fear. Cera nuzzled her sister again.
“You don’t need to be scared anymore Tricia, I’m okay and we will be alright” she said compassionately. Cera looked up at the adults and asked the fearful question. “Have you seen Tria or my Dad?”
“I’m afraid not Cera” said Mr Thicknose solemnly.
Cera chocked back a sob. “Tria got stuck in a mud hole and started sinking, my dad went to help her while I took Tricia here” she explained bitterly. Cera looked down and tried not to think about the possible fates that could have awaited her father and step mother.
Opal hugged Cerea foot and appeared to be in tears. “Rapid is missing too. We think he got swept down the fast water” she sobbed. “And Dad is still out there, he won’t leave the eggs even though he is hurt”.
Cera now realised the gravity of the situation was it possible that this storm would take away all that is dear to them? She sat with Tricia, Opal and Ali and attempted to find at least some small comfort between herself and her friends.
Ali looked out into the storm absent minded. Her mind kept on repeating the same plead. “Please be okay Littlefoot”.
*
In The Mysterious Beyond
As a matter of fact Littlefoot was feeling soggy and miserable, who wouldn’t be if they were stuck outside in such a tempest. Thankfully when Bron spotted the storm he immediately postponed the journey into the desert and sent out scouts to find shelter and high ground, they came back reporting that no caves were around that were large enough to accommodate the herd but they had found a large sheltering canopy atop a large hill that was big enough to shelter the herd. Bron didn’t waste time and led the herd to the hill.
“What is that Dad?” asked Littlefoot nervously.
“Yeah,” agreed Shorty “Why all the fuss it looks like just another storm”.
“The Killer Storm” said Bron. He looked down at the confused looks directed at him. “The killer Storm is known for not leaving a herd intact, there is always a loss when that thing hits and it’s extremely dangerous. I’ve been caught in one before and it was not pretty, everyone was wounded and we lost a quarter of the herd then and I want to keep any losses as minimal as possible so you both must stay close understand?”
Both boys nodded. “Now we can expect strong winds, frozen sky rocks, lots of sky fire and lots and lots of cold drenching sky water. Flash floods will also be occurring wherever this thing hits so we must all be careful” he explained.
Now the Longnecks were completely devoid of shelter, the trees having been uplifted by the powerful winds. This was also an occasion were the kids were allowed to shelter under the adults, though Littlefoot was weary about the episode with Russ but his father was watching over himself and Shorty personally and with rapt attention. Unfortunately the rain hit from all directions soaking even the young ones hiding beneath the bulks of the adults, the wind did nothing to help it blew plenty of projectiles at them and not all of them were small.
The wind also chilled the soaked Longnecks to the bone and the constant flashes of Sky Fire meant that the adults had to keep their heads low. Children were screaming and crying for their parents to protect them from the savagery of the storm. Littlefoot also observed the slope of the hill turn to mud and the lowlands to flood plains that could drown even the best Swimmers.
Littlefoot and Shorty stood right next to each other, conserving what little warmth they had left and tried to keep from going into a panic. “I’ve never s-seen anything like t-this” said Littlefoot, his body was shivering uncontrollable due to both fear and cold.
“We will g-get through it L-Littfoot” replied Shorty who was also trembling.
Suddenly there was a flash of forked sky fire, coming down close to them but one of the forks hit a male within the group who had been foolish enough to raise his neck. The bolt hit him right on the head. The blast of thunder that inevitably followed was deafeningly loud. Littlefoot closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth until the torturing sound subsided then saw the male Longneck that had been hit suddenly fall to the ground with loud crash that could almost confuse an outsider to thinking that an earthshake was occurring. The ground shuddered as over seventy tons of dead Longneck hit the ground with violent force.
Bron ran over to the fallen Longneck accompanied by Littlefoot and Shorty. There was nothing they could do however the poor Longneck’s brain had been sizzled by the lightning, his eyes stared open as if in surprise at to how sudden and random the strike was. Littlefoot sniffed sadly, he had not been present at the death of another Longneck snice that night. He closed his eyes and looked away when he suddenly heard a kid call for help.
His eyes snapped wide open though he could hardly see anything in the pouring rain. He heard the cry of the same Longneck that he had helped before. “Meral!” shouted one of the mother's looking around desperately for her hatchling.
Littlefoot could not see either but he could hear, without any regard to his own safety he ran as fast his legs could carry him out into the storm. He heard his father shout his name but he ignored him and continued running in the direction of the youngster’s voice. “Keep calling so I can find you!” yelled Littlefoot.
The youngster obviously heard him as he started calling in fear. The voice was a little to Littlefoot’s right and down the hill towards the torrent of water. Littlefoot sprinted down the slope but slipped on the mud and was suddenly sliding down the hill at an uncontrollable pace. He gave a wild cry as an object came into his field of view and with no time to dodge all Littlefoot could do was brace himself for impact.
CRASH!
Littlefoot crashed into the young Longneck with sickening crunch sending both of them into the torrent of violent water. Littlefoot struggled to the surface and gasped for breath only to have a whole load of rain fall into his mouth. He shook himself and looked around but could not see the young Longneck but he could see lots of splashing and hear a gurgling sound.
Littlefoot swam as best he could out further away from the hill until he was right on top of the gurgling. He looked down and saw a whole load of bubbles rising from beneath the surface. A flash of lightning showed the young Longneck drowning beneath the water and on his last legs. He could see the desperation in the youngsters eyes, the fear.
Littlefoot took a deep breath and dived beneath the water he swam down as quickly as he could, he feared for the Longneck he was beginning to cease his struggles and was starting to become more motionless. Littlefoot dived under the body of the Longneck and pushed him towards the surface. He broke the surface with a gasp, there was a fit of coughing from the top of his back.
Littlefoot struggled to hold the youngsters weight on his back. The Longneck gasped in fear and wrapped his front legs around Littlefoot’s neck so tightly that he could hardly breathe but there was not much point in telling him to loosen up, he was after all totally scared out of his mind.
Littlefoot struggled to swim back to the hill as the current was dragging him back out, his shivering was also picking up, the water was so cold. “Hold on I’ll get you out” said Littlefoot.
“I-I scared” sobbed the Longneck on his back and held on with renewed vigour while trembling with fear “I want my mommy” he sobbed.
Littlefoot did his best to reassure the youngster. “We’ll get back, you’ll be back with your mother” he said reassuringly. He continued pushing his limits but the current was not going to give up without a fight and Littlefoot was being rapidly depleted of energy.
“Look out!” yelled Bron who was already wading through the water towards Littlefoot. A large tree was heading straight for the boys.
Littlefoot gasped and told the youngster “Hold on tight were going under” The youngster nodded and took a deep breath and renewed his grip on Littlefoot’s back as he dived beneath the water and under the tree but as he surfaced…
SHLUCK!
Littlefoot’s neck swayed as a large hail stone landed on his head and cut along his neck opening a long gash that ran the length of his neck.
Littlefoot gasped, his blood turned the water red and he felt very disorientated he heard his father calling but it didn’t mean anything to him he could not even hear the kid on his back as he started to sink into the water and unconsciousness.
*
Back In The Great Valley
Ruphus was shivering uncontrollable, he had been stuck in this very spot for long into the freezing night which brought even more hell for the poor Swimmer. There was hardly any part of his body that was not dyed red with his now cold blood. His body had sunk deep into the mud and the water level had risen even further. Ruphus knew that he would not survive if he stayed here. He had to get himself and the eggs out safely. Unfortunately for him the flood barriers had been flooded by the heavy deluge of sky water. Only his was not flooded due to his constant efforts to bail out.
This long strenuous activity coupled with his wounds made him very tired. “I have to get out of here” he thought to himself. But how could he get out without losing any eggs? If he were to get up and expose the eggs to rain and hail then they would be destroyed. He would not allow that, he would die before he let a single egg break as Sura would, she would die for anyone of her children, she expected him to keep the eggs safe and he would not fail her.
Ruphus looked at what he had at his disposal. He still had the food he had gathered in his scrape, he could not hold the eggs beneath his belly without considerable impairment to his movement not to mention they wound not be safe for if he fell he would crush them. He still however had the stick nest that he had brought along with him. Perhaps he could make a more fortified version.
Suddenly the Idea popped into his head. He grabbed a long fern and wrapped it all the way around body and back at chest height. Then he pulled the nest out from inside the hollow and using all the twigs and sticks that the storm had scattered around he changed the structure of the nest making it deep and long. The edges were not sharp and steep but shallow and graceful. He placed all the eggs inside the nest which involved raising himself ever so slightly. Once all the eggs were in position he wrapped another fern around the nest and tied it tightly. Ruphus then made a lid for the nest that would sit comfortably on his back then with skilful manipulation weaved the sticks of the lid onto the nest encasing all the eggs.
As a finishing touch Ruphus placed a large piece of bark from a toppled tree and tied that around the top of the nest like an umbrella. Then, after gathering another long fern he placed the nest on his back with the bark roof facing upwards then wrapped the second fern around it before tying it into place. Ruphus also used some tree sap that he got from a toppled tree next to him then used it to stick the top leaf to the nest and the bottom leaf to himself.
He was now ready, this was the best and probably the only chance that Ruphus had to get out alive along with all the eggs he just hoped beyond all hope that his family had made it okay he couldn’t bear to lose any of them. Ruphus stood up and set off on his perilous journey though the once safe Valley.
Ha Ha bout time there was another cliff hanger don't you think.
