Chapter 7: Styracus

As Styracus and his group walked towards the Berry Patch, the dinosaurs began to talk.

"Something about this Styracus character makes me uncomfortable." A male Spike-Tail said

"Yeah, there's something about him that doesn't seem right. I mean he didn't even react to those two sharpteeth." A female Swimmer said.

The adults dispersed leaving Blue-Scale, Deimos and the children alone. Suddenly Pterano, carrying Strut on his back, landed in front of the group.

"Uncle Pterano!" Shouted Petrie excitedly, "You see Far-Walkers?"

"Yes, Petrie I saw the Far-Walkers." Pterano replied.

"Who are these two?" asked Blue-Scale.

"Woah!! Sharpteeth! Strut, get on! We need to alert the valley and ready the squadron!" Pterano shouted upon seeing Deimos, Blue-Scale and Raptix.

"Take it easy, Pterano. I was attacked by a sickle-claw, I almost died but they managed to save my life." Littlefoot said.

"Ok. So they weren't planning to eat you?" Pterano asked, relieved.

"Eat him? What are you trying insinuate?" Blue-Scale shouted, angered by Pterano's remark. "Raptix, Deimos and I have sworn with Mr. Longneck to never eat any plant-eaters in this valley. We will not break that promise." He added.

"Fine." Pterano said, not looking at the three sharpteeth.

"Um, who is that flyer and that Egg-Stealer who's with him?" Deimos asked

"The flyer is squadron leader Pterano and the Egg-Stealer is Strut." Chomper replied, "Pterano, the sickle-claw is Deimos, the fast-biter is Raptix and the sharptooth is Blue-Scale."

"I see the Great Valley has already prepared an air force." Deimos said.

"Yeah." Strut said, his mouth full of leaves.

"Strut! We have flight and target practice with the squadron soon!" Pterano shouted.

"Coming!" Strut replied, grabbing his hollow reed, which he placed on a rock before going off to eat.

Raptix walked in carrying a large frog.

"What is that for?" Cera asked, looking at the frog.

"It's my breakfast." Raptix said.

"Pterano, Strut, if you don't mind, may we come to the practice?" Blue-Scale asked.

"Yeah, just watch your head. There's going to be lots of things flying around." Pterano replied.

"Pterano, are you sure it's good idea for these three sharpteeth to come to the practice? The other fliers could attack them." Strut added.

"We'll alert the other flyers." Pterano said.

"Me want to come too!" Petrie said.

"Sure, all of you can come!" Pterano said.

With that said, the children and the sharpteeth headed to Sheltering Grass.

The group passed through the Sheltering Grass and they arrived at an enormous grassy plain, marked off by tree branches stuck in the ground. A large boulder about the same size as a sharptooth's head was sitting in the middle of the large field surrounded by concentric rings where grass had been removed. There were also several rocks the size of sickle-claws and fast-biters scattered throughout the field. Several low rock piles were stacked in an adjacent field, also marked off by tree branches and smaller than the one with the boulder. Several land-walkers and flyers were in an apparently empty field to the left of the rock field; but this field was even larger than the one with the boulder and there were no rocks or vegetation other than grass present. Again, like the other fields this was marked off, but with piles of reddish dirt instead of sticks. Another field, also delineated with sticks and speckled with many small shrubs was adjacent to the rock field.

"Why practice here?" Petrie asked.

"We needed a wide open space and Mr. Longneck banned us from practicing near Thundering Falls Lake after a little 'incident' involving a Clubtail and a rock." Pterano replied.

"Hmm, very nice," Deimos said, looking over the practice area, "I suppose you got word of Styracus's plot?"

"I don't even know who Styracus is!" Pterano replied.

"We'll let you practice first, then we'll tell you." Blue-Scale said.

"Oh, we also have a few suggestions on how to improve the air force." Raptix said, munching on the large frog he had caught before.

"Raptix! Shut up! They know more about their air force than we do!" Deimos hissed.

"It's ok, Deimos. I'll be happy to hear suggestions after practice." Pterano said.

The group skirted the edge of the large field until they reached one of the far corners of it.

When they arrived at the far corner, the flyers greeted Pterano and the group heartily. Interestingly, they paid no attention to Blue-Scale, Raptix or Deimos.

"Well, Chomper, ready for practice?" Grey-Wing, Chomper's flyer, asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Chomper replied.

"Alright then, go stand by the other land-walkers." Pterano said.

Chomper obeyed Pterano's command and stood by Ruby.

"Whoa! Pterano are you forgetting to tell the visitors about the rules here?" a black flyer said.

"Oh, I forgot! Silly me!" Pterano exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

"Ok, there are some rules that you must follow for your safety. First and the most important is, stay out of the fields that are marked off, especially the air target range and the ground target range. Also, don't throw anything into the fields, especially the landing zone. Also, do not touch ANY rock piles, especially the ones in the storage area. Finally, do not distract the flyers or the other dinosaurs. Oh, watch your heads too, we try our best to make sure the rocks and sticks go where we want them to, but they may bounce off the targets or be blown off course. Got that all?" he said.

"One question." Raptix said.

"Go on." Pterano said.

"Um, yeah, I was wondering what are those areas you mentioned?" Raptix asked

"The large field surrounded by the dirt piles is what we call the 'LZ' or 'landing zone', the field with the boulder is known as the 'air target range', the small field with all those rock piles is the 'storage area'. And the field with all those shrubs is the 'ground target range'. And this whole area is known as the 'airfield'. " Pterano replied.

"Got it!" the group replied.

"Alright then… START WARM UP FLIGHTS!" Pterano shouted before joining the group.

The flyers began to fly around the perimeter of the air target range at a high rate of speed. At the same time, some of the land-walkers were spotted in an adjacent field throwing stones at targets, which were small shrubs. Strut was also present, shooting at a large, hard seed pod with his hollow reed. Other land-walkers could be seen gathering stones and sticks and stacking them in the storage area.

After many loops were made around the air target range, the flyers including Pterano landed at the edge of the target range.

"LAND-WALKERS, FIND YOUR FLYERS!" Pterano shouted. At his command all the land-walkers headed to the landing zone where the flyers were already waiting.

When all the land-walkers and flyers were gathered, Pterano began to brief them.

"Alright, today is just basic ground bombardment practice." Pterano said, "We will first start with hovering bombardment and then move onto to strafing and finally dive-bombing. We will end with an intro on close quarters combat, which we will continue next practice."

While Pterano and the flyers' backs were turned, a brown Runner threw a bunch of triangular seed pods into the landing zone.

"You! Come back here and pick up whatever you threw into the landing zone!" Deimos shouted at the Runner he just spotted. The Runner did not respond but instead began to run off.

"I'm talking to you!" Deimos shouted, giving chase.

"Maybe we should help." Hyp offered.

"I think Deimos can handle himself just fine." Blue-Scale said.

"He's not going to be able to catch a Runner. Besides, who knows what might happen." Cera shot back.

"Alright, I'll stay here and analyze the air force." Blue-Scale said.

With that, Raptix and the children set out to help Deimos.

Deimos chased the Runner through the Sheltering Grass and into a plain. He finally cornered the Runner in a canyon at the edge of the Great Valley, near the Gravel Fields.

"You owe me and especially Pterano and the rest of the flyers an explanation!" Deimos shouted.

"You won't get an explanation out of me!" the Runner defiantly said, grinning.

"Oh, I will!" Deimos said, snapping his foot claws forward and scraping them against the rocky ground in an attempt to intimidate his target.

"That all you can do, bluff?" The Runner said, grinning.

"Those claws aren't just decoration and you happen to be the unlucky bastard who's gonna see what they can do." Deimos retorted.

"Yeah? Go ahead and try!" The Runner shouted

"With pleasure!" Deimos responded, leaping at the Runner with his foot claws fully extended

The Runner adroitly dodged the attack and punched Deimos in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"That was too easy! Alright now to report back to Styracus." he mused. He looked around. "Ok, so maybe I'm kinda lost."

The children along with Raptix had been following Deimos's scent trail.

"His scent seems to continue to the Gravel Fields." Raptix said.

"Let's go then!" Cera shouted.

"Hey! I got the scent of a Runner too!" Raptix said, sniffing the ground.

Everyone looked at Hyp. "I wasn't here." He said.

"It's not Hyp." Raptix said, "It's some unknown Runner."

The group continued, following the scent trail that Raptix was picking up.

The group eventually came to a canyon near the Gravel Fields, where the form of a sickle-claw was spotted.

"Hey who's that sickle-claw?" Cera asked.

Littlefoot approached the sickle-claw and examined it. "Oh no! It's Deimos!" he said, a shocked expression growing over his face.

"This is not good. It is not. It is not. It is not." Ducky said.

"Alright, it is vital we keep our heads." Raptix said.

Just then, Deimos groaned and began to stir.

"Damn. Ow, my head!" Deimos said, as he struggled to rise.

"Deimos! You're ok!" Raptix said.

"I'll be ok in a while, which is more than I can say for that Runner!" Deimos said.

"Ok, take it easy, what happened?" Littlefoot asked.

"I remember seeing a brown Runner throw some kind of seed pod onto the landing zone before the flight practice. Then I remember getting hit in the back of the head and waking up with you all around me." Deimos replied.

The news that some strange seed pods were thrown into the landing zone made Littlefoot recoil in horror.

"Alright, I have a plan." Littlefoot said, "Petrie, Mutt, Shorty and Deimos will go back to the airfield and warn Pterano and the flyers about the seed pods. Cera, Nod, Hyp and the rest of us will try and find that Runner"

"Sounds good!" Deimos said.

The two groups split up, Deimos and his group heading back towards the airfield and Littlefoot and his group searching the vicinity for that Runner.

"I don't see that Runner anywhere." Nod said.

"Don't worry; I can pick up his scent." Raptix said.

Hyp walked over to a tree and snapped off a stout stick.

"What is that for?" Ducky asked

"In case things get nasty." Hyp replied.

"How dangerous can a Runner be?" Ducky asked.

"Never can be too careful." Hyp replied.

Just then a brown blur passed by.

"Hey, that's him!" Cera shouted.

The group gave chase and eventually cornered the Runner in a dead-end canyon.

"Yeah, he's the one." Raptix said, "The scent I picked up just now matches the one I found in the foot prints where Deimos was apparently attacked."

The group blocked off the entrance. Littlefoot, Cera and Spike stacked up some rocks to use in case the Runner tried to flee or attack them.

"Alright, you have some major explaining to do!" Raptix said, advancing towards the Runner.

"What explaining?" the Runner asked

"Hm let's see. The strange seed pods Deimos said you threw onto the landing zone in the airfield, the fact that I picked up your scent where Deimos was attacked and left unconscious and your footprints in that same area." Raptix replied.

"I didn't do a damn thing!" the Runner shouted.

"The fact that I picked up your scent in YOUR footprints where Deimos was attacked says a lot. Now, if you'll please come with us to the airfield." Raptix said.

The Runner began to run towards the entrance, but Raptix saw him.

"I wouldn't do that, it's currently blocked off." Raptix said, gesturing towards Hyp, who was brandishing a heavy stick and the rest of the group, who formed a wall blocking the only way out.

The Runner charged the blockade but was tackled by Cera. Unfortunately for Cera, the Runner got up and kicked her in the side, stunning her and allowing him to try and break through the blockade. Ducky tripped him in an attempt to stop him but all that did was enrage him and cause him to grab Ducky around the neck and attempt to strangle her.

"H..help me! " Ducky choked out. She kicked at her assailant but he simply held on, even though one particularly vicious kick hit him in the legs with enough force to topple a sickle-claw.

Hyp ran up to the Runner and hit him several times in the head with his club. After several powerful blows, the Runner's grip weakened and he dropped Ducky and turned to Hyp.

"So you think…" the Runner began, but before he could finish, he slumped forward, unconscious. Behind him was Spike, who had knocked him out with a well aimed rock.

The group ran towards Ducky, who was just getting on her feet.

"Ducky! Are you ok?" Cera asked, looking at the bruise on Ducky's throat.

"I am fine. I am, I am." Ducky responded.

"What shall we do next?" Nod asked.

"Tie the Runner up. Once we've done that, Nod, Hyp and Ducky will carry him to the adults and the rest of us will go and help check the airfield for strange objects." Littlefoot said, "Hyp, bring that stick you used to subdue the Runner, you may need it again if he breaks free." He added.

Raptix, Nod and Cera headed into a forest near the Gravel Fields to fetch some vines and sticks.

When they returned, the group set about binding the Runner.

Ducky, Raptix and Hyp stood back and admired their handiwork; the enemy Runner wrapped in a cocoon of vines and bound between two large tree branches.

Littlefoot looked at the bound Runner. "Alright, let's move out!" he said.

Ducky and Hyp lifted the Runner onto Nod's back. When they had done so, they departed.

Littlefoot and the rest of the assembled group departed after them and headed to the airfield.

When the group got to the airfield they spotted Pterano and the land-walkers grouped around something in the airfield.

"Sorry. We couldn't get there in time." Deimos said.

"Uh, yeah!" Mutt added.

"What's going on?" Cera asked, pushing her way through the crowd.

"Something happened to Grey-Wing." Chomper replied.

"I can't feel my feet!" Grey-Wing shouted.

Suddenly, a loud scream pierced the air and caused all the heads to turn. Long-Wing fell to the ground clutching his right leg, evidently in severe pain.

"What's going on?!" shouted Pterano

"I don't have a damn clue!" shouted a dinosaur who served as the ground crew.

Raptix made his way through the crowd and stopped by Long-Wing.

"There's some kind of brown seed pod in his foot." Raptix said, "I'll have to pull it out or the pain will last a lot longer."

"Go ahead." Long-Wing said between clenched teeth.

Raptix grabbed hold of the seed pod and pulled it out.

"Alright, someone get my sister, everyone else sweep the airfield for foreign objects. Get Long-Wing and Grey-Wing off the airfield." Pterano ordered.

At his command, Petrie and two other flyers took off and headed towards Petrie's nest and two ground crew dinosaurs carried the two injured flyers to the borders of the airfield. The land-walkers began to sweep the airfield for foreign objects.

Raptix and Littlefoot were paired up to sweep the edges of the landing zone.

"What's this?" Littlefoot asked as he saw a brown triangular seed pod on the ground. It was covered in green sludge. "Raptix! I got one!" he shouted

Raptix ran over to where Littlefoot was standing and crushed the seed pod into powder with a rock.

"Maybe we should save one of these seed pods and give it to Mr. Thicknose and see if he can identify it." Chomper said, crushing a seed pod with a rock.

"Great idea. If you want to end up like Long-Wing" Cera said, glancing at Long-Wing, who was evidently still in a lot of pain.

"I'm serious, Cera." Chomper said, a slight frown crossing his face.

"No, that's actually a good idea!" Pterano said, "Now how do we package one of these pods so the carrier doesn't get hurt?"

"How about a leaf bag?" offered Chomper.

"That'll work." Pterano replied. "ALL SWEEPERS, A SEED POD IS NEEDED!" he shouted.

Ruby, upon hearing Pterano's command, walked over to a tree and picked up a sturdy leaf and formed it into a bag. She used a stick to push the seed pod into the bag. She then handed the bag to Pterano who placed it by his side.

Just then a flapping of wings could be heard and Petrie's mom, along with Petrie and the two flyers who accompanied him landed.

"What's the problem?" Petrie's mom asked.

"Something happened to Grey-Wing and Long-Wing." Pterano replied.

"Let me go have a look." Petrie's mom replied.

As Petrie's mom examined Grey-Wing and Long-Wing, a shocked expression ran across her face. "It looks like they have been poisoned. I can't do anything until I know what they've been poisoned with." she said.

A collective gasp ran through the group.

"Ptyrax get this bag to Mr. Thicknose immediately! And be very careful, the seed pod in there seems to be quite dangerous." Pterano ordered, handing the bag containing the seed pod to a large tan flyer.

"Deimos, perhaps you should go with Ptyrax." Pterano said

Ptyrax grabbed the bag with his feet and flew towards the Thundering Falls Lake. Deimos followed him.

Hyp, Nod and Ducky arrived at the Thundering Falls Lake with their captive.

"We have important information." Hyp announced.

The attention of the adults was immediately grasped by this statement.

"What is it?" Ducky's mom asked

Hyp took a deep breath. "Deimos and Ducky were attacked by an unknown brown Runner." He said.

Ducky walked forward, the bruise on her throat quite visible.

The adults gasped as they saw Ducky's injury.

"Did you catch the assailant?" a male Spike-Tail asked

"As a matter of fact we did." Hyp replied, "Nod! Come here!".

Nod walked forward carrying the captive Runner. Ducky and Hyp unloaded their captive and placed him on the ground in front of the adults.

Just then Deimos came running in and Ptyrax descended to a height slightly above Deimos's head.

"Is Mr. Thicknose here?" Ptyrax asked.

"Present." Mr. Thicknose replied, "What do you need me for?"

"We found these strange seed pods with a green coating on them scattered throughout the airfield. Apparently they seem to be poisoned because Long-Wing and Grey-Wing have stepped on them and they got quite ill from it. We need you to identify them and see if you can help the two flyers." Ptyrax replied.

"Do you have one of these seed pods?" Mr. Thicknose asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Ptyrax replied, dropping the leaf bag in front of Mr. Thicknose.

"I'll try my best, but I'll need Mr. Bigmouth's help. He's the one who knows all about plants. He's currently examining the plants at the Big Water." Mr. Thicknose said.

"Deimos, do you have anything to say?" Grandpa Longneck said.

"Yes. The same brown Runner who attacked Ducky and me also threw these seed pods into the landing zone at the airfield. I caught him in the act and attempted to chase him and the last thing I remember before blacking out was a blow to the back of my head." Deimos said.

"Excellent. We shall deal with this Runner." Mr. Threehorn said, "You may leave."

A few days later during a lesson on close quarters combat, a grey Runner ran into the airfield.

"Mr. Bigmouth and Mr. Thicknose found out about those pods! Come quickly to the Thundering Falls Lake!" the Runner said.

When Pterano and his flyers arrived at the Thundering Falls Lake, Littlefoot and his friends were already present, along with practically the whole valley. Mr. Bigmouth and Mr. Thicknose garnered the attention of those gathered.

"As we all know, Grey-Wing and Long-Wing were poisoned by some strange seed pods." Mr. Thicknose began, "Mr. Bigmouth, you have their attention."

"The seed pods themselves are not poisonous. But the green slime is not a natural part of the pods. In fact it looks like someone ground up the leaves of the fireshrub and smeared them on the pod. The fireshrub is a strong irritant even when the leaves are undamaged. When it is ground into a paste and the paste enters a wound, the irritant effects are even stronger. Grey-Wing and Long-Wing are experiencing the symptoms of fireshrub poisoning, intense pain then numbness. " Mr. Bigmouth said.

"Is there anything that can be done?" asked Pterano.

"They'll have to wait it out, they should be better in about five risings of the Bright Circle" Mr. Bigmouth replied.

"Could the pods have gotten onto the airfield by accident?" Ptyrax asked.

"Both the fireshrub and these seed pods do not grow near the airfield. In fact, these two plants don't grow near each other." Mr. Bigmouth answered.

"You mean…" Cera began.

"Yes, Cera, someone is trying to cripple the flyers. I don't know if it's malicious or someone pulling a prank." Mr. Bigmouth finished.

"Alright. We must be more careful around the airfield." Pterano said.

"Did we get any info from the Runner?" Blue-Scale asked

"All we got was that he admitted to throwing the pods on the airfield and that he is with Styracus's herd. Also, we decided to hand him over to Styracus and let him do the judging." Mr. Threehorn replied.

"I knew that Styracus character was up to no good!" A male Spike-Tail shouted.

"How do you know he's responsible?" a male Fast-Runner countered.

The children along with Deimos and Raptix left the meeting and headed to the Hot Springs.

"I'll kill that Runner!" shouted Cera.

"Calm down!" Shorty said, "How can you be so certain it was him?"

"Did you even see what that bastard did to Ducky? He nearly killed her!" Cera shouted, "Besides, Raptix confirmed that his scent was found on the seed pods and on the footprints where Ducky was attacked." she added.

Littlefoot lay in his nest after a game of ball at the Hot Springs with his friends. He was surprised at how good Deimos was at the game. He was pondering Deimos's cryptic statement, "The war has begun".

"What does Deimos mean by 'The war has begun.'?" he said out loud to himself.

He looked into the night sky and saw two shadows passing overhead as he drifted off to sleep.

As night fell, Ozzie, Sierra and Rinkus landed near the outskirts of the Great Valley.

"Styracus should be getting here soon." Ozzie said, dismounting from Rinkus.

Not soon after had Ozzie made his statement, Styracus and two other dinosaurs, a black Spike-Tail and a large dark green Swimmer arrived.

"Who are you?" asked Styracus, glaring at Rinkus. The cold white light of the Night Circle made Styracus's facial features even harder and more menacing. His hard yellow eyes bored into Rinkus.

"Well… I'm Rinkus and that is Ozzie and Sierra." Rinkus said, gesturing to his two companions.

"Well, it looks like Excidium sent you to help me and I hope you will be some help. By the way, I'm Styracus and my two friends here are Theta, the Swimmer and Hasta, the Spike-Tail." Styracus said.

The group headed to a rocky trail leading to the top of the Great Rock Wall.

Unbeknownst to Styracus and his companions, Strut, a Swimmer and a Runner had just overheard their conversation.

"Should we tell the others?" Strut asked.

"We need more proof. Let's follow them." the Swimmer said.

"It could be dangerous." Strut replied.

"The safety of the valley takes priority over our safety." the Runner said

The three dinosaurs waited until Styracus and his companions were out of sight. They followed Styracus and his group up the rocky path. When they arrived, they saw Styracus, Theta and Hasta attempting to push a boulder over the edge of the cliff.

"Are they trying to open a hole in the Great Rock Wall?" the Swimmer asked, crouched behind a large rock.

"We should tell the others." The Runner said, tiptoeing towards the path from which they had just come.

"Leaving so soon?" an unknown voice said.

The Swimmer and the Runner looked at the direction of the voice and just at that time the clouds moved, allowing the Night Circle's icy light to illuminate the speaker, an Egg-Stealer.

The two dinosaurs bolted for the exit but were struck by two diving shadows.

"Nice work, Sierra and Rinkus." Theta said, walking out from the shadows, clutching a large rock.

The two dinosaurs got up and attempted to flee but Hasta blocked their only way out.

"You have only two ways out, either fight us or jump off the cliffs. And I don't think you'll be able to fight us all and win. So why don't you make things easy and jump off the cliffs? " Sierra said, grinning.

"So what will it be?" Hasta said, lashing his tail threateningly.

"Make your choice quickly." Theta added, tossing his rock from one hand to the other.

"We never like to do things the easy way." the Swimmer said, grabbing two sticks and tossing one to his friend.

"Very well." Theta said, advancing.

The Swimmer rammed Ozzie sending him sprawling. In retaliation, Theta threw his rock at the Swimmer who ducked. Hasta had already thrown the Runner on his back and was ready to crush his head but the Swimmer delivered a vicious tail-whip to Hasta's side.

Hasta heard and felt his own ribs crack from the powerful blow and he staggered enough for his victim to roll out of the way, but moments later he cleared his head enough to deliver a tail-whip that the Runner dodged but not well enough. The blow knocked the Runner into a boulder, leaving him unconscious.

The Swimmer had just knocked Ozzie out with a stick. He then looked at the exit, it was seemingly clear. He was tiring and he needed to alert the valley but he knew that no one could possibly hear him from this area. He bolted for the exit.

The Swimmer was almost at the start of the trail, but he suddenly fell forward. Behind him was Sierra, clutching a rock stained with the Swimmer's blood.

"Nice hit, Sierra." Theta said.

"Thanks." Sierra said.

The injured Swimmer groaned and tried to get up on his feet.

"Damn it! He's still alive." Rinkus shouted.

Theta grabbed hold of the Swimmer's head and twisted until he heard a snap. "Not anymore." he said.

The unconscious Runner groaned and staggered to his feet.

"Don't even try!" shouted Hasta, executing an overhead tail-whip that floored the Runner, "Your turn, Theta." he added.

Theta advanced towards the fallen Runner, clutching a large rock. The Runner attempted to rise but was hit by the large rock that Theta threw. Theta then grabbed the stick that the Runner had dropped and proceeded to beat the Runner with it.

"Care to do the honors?" Theta asked, turning to Sierra and Rinkus.

"Oh yes!" Sierra said, grinning.

Sierra and Rinkus grabbed the Runner and proceeded to fly up until they were high in the air.

"I'll bet you wished you had jumped off the cliffs instead! No matter, you'll get the same treatment!" Sierra taunted.

"Screw you!" the Runner shouted in response.

Rinkus and Sierra just laughed.

"Let's not do the countdown this time." Sierra said, letting go of the Runner. Rinkus followed suit.

The Runner screamed as he plummeted to the ground, a distance that would prove fatal for any dinosaur. He landed with a sickening thud near Strut, who had hid in a small crevice near the path that led to where the Runner and the Swimmer attempted to fight their way to freedom.

"Strut… alert" the Runner coughed up some blood, "the valley." he choked out before he died.

Strut gulped and bolted down the rocky path. Styracus saw him.

"Stop him!" Styracus shouted.

Ozzie, Sierra, Rinkus, Hasta and Theta leapt to their feet and chased Strut. But Strut outran all his pursuers except the two flyers and his brother. He then ran under a low passage that turned right into a clearing, the two flyers didn't see the passage and passed him over. However, Ozzie picked up his brother's scent and turned into the clearing.

"Nowhere to run, Strut!" Ozzie said, grinning. He was armed with the stick he took from the Swimmer whom Theta killed.

"What are you going to do?" Strut asked.

Ozzie chuckled, "I'm going to do what Theta did to that Runner." he said, approaching Strut with his stick raised over his head.

Strut gulped; he saw the brutal beating that the Runner received.

Strut charged Ozzie, who kicked him in the stomach and pushed him down and then pinned him by stepping on his tail. Strut then slashed Ozzie's leg, causing him to step off of his tail and allowing Strut to get back onto his feet.

"You think you can take me, plant-popper?" Ozzie taunted, slashing at Strut's chest with his free claw.

Strut instinctively leapt back; he knew that he was no match for Ozzie in close quarters combat. He looked around for something to use as a weapon, a rock or a stick. He settled on a large rock.

Strut took careful aim and hurled the rock at Ozzie's moonlit form, a cry of pain let him know that he had hit his target. "Looks like that target practice with Pterano helped." he thought. He bolted for the exit while Ozzie was incapacitated. But he ran into a stick that seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"I admit you're tougher than I thought." Ozzie said, getting up, "But you are still no match for me!"

Ozzie swung his stick at Strut, who grabbed it and wrested it away from him.

Ozzie then snapped off a branch from a tree that happened to be near the entrance to the clearing.

"You see, Strut," Ozzie said, brandishing his tree branch, "I always have a few surprises."

Ozzie swung his branch at Strut who blocked with his stick and retaliated with a kick to Ozzie's leg. Ozzie then almost simultaneously slashed at Strut with his free hand and swung his branch at Strut's legs. Strut hit Ozzie's free hand with his branch and jumped over the branch. Strut then jabbed his stick at Ozzie's throat, but Ozzie hit Strut full across the ribs with his branch. Strut staggered from the impact, but he managed to parry an overhead blow from Ozzie's tree branch and counter with a slash that drew blood. Strut took advantage of the momentary shock that his slash caused Ozzie and rendered him unconscious with a blow to the head.

Strut then ran down the trail to where the other dinosaurs were sleeping.

Sierra and Rinkus saw Strut running off.

"Let's catch him and throw him off the nearest cliff." Sierra suggested.

"Why bother, they'll never believe that Egg-Stealer." Rinkus replied, "Besides I sent for a squad of sharpteeth to keep the Great Valley busy while we put more holes in the Great Rock Wall. They should be here soon after the Bright Circle rises."

"We won't have too long to wait then." Sierra said, looking at the sky, just now beginning to show the first hints of dawn.