The underworld.

Chapter 11 – The last battle of Buck.

…

This was the end.

It was a beautiful but hot day in the Underworld. The birds sang, the sun was shining through the roof, there was no wind and everything seemed peaceful.

But right in front of the group of travelers was that chasm, and on the other side was that wall of rocks.

It was hard to see, but somewhere between the rocks was a small hole, big enough for weasels to go through. It was the only exit the Dinoworld had.

"How are we going to get there?" Dorian asked.

"Simple," Buck said. "I made that there a few months ago." He pointed at a bridge made of four vines and a series of planks. It didn't look very safe.

"Yeah, funny," Elco said. "So how are we really going to get over this chasm?"

"Like I said: with that bridge," Buck said. "it's the only way, mate. I'm sorry."

"See? He wants to get us killed!" Elco said.

Compso rolled his eyes.

"Can that weasel never shut up?" he asked Buck.

"I may be some disease, all that blabber-mouthing." Buck said. "Do you think it's contagious?"

Liza laughed, and Elco crossed his arms. "Not funny," he said.

"So," Buck said. "Like I told others before: the Buck stops here."

"Thank you so much for helping us, Mr. Buck," Anna said. "we wouldn't have survived without you."

"Well, obviously," Buck said. "if I weren't there, you would have been dead within five minutes. But, luckily Mr. Buckminster was there to help. Now, I will help you to get to the tunnel, but there I'll stop. You folks go first. Go on."

Carefully, Dorian stepped on the bridge as the first one.

The bridge rocked slowly from side to side, but other than that nothing happened.

"It's safe," Dorian said. "sort of…"

They all slowly began to walk. Buck waited until they all were on the bridge before he stepped on it himself.

But at the moment he moved, a soft breeze brought a strange smell. Buck stopped and sniffed.

The smell was the nasty scent of rotting corpses.

Buck stood there as if he was petrified. His heart was beating twice as fast. He suddenly felt epinephrine rushing though his veins.

Diana suddenly realized Buck was not coming with them. She stopped and turned around.

"Buck," she said. "are you…."

"Run!" Buck suddenly screamed. And at the same moment, a huge white dinosaur suddenly jumped up out of the nothing.

Diana screamed in fear when she saw him. He was huge, white, with flat, crocodile-like jaws, and on every hand were huge, grey claws. There was a scar on his muzzle, somewhere were one a tooth had been. His eyes were glowing red.

Rudy.

"Do what he says," Compso, who has standing right behind Diana, said. "run!"

Diana had already started running. But then she suddenly saw the image of Buck standing there in front of the huge dinosaur, all alone.

She stopped. She turned around, pushed Compso aside and ran to Buck.

"Buck!"

Buck tuned around and looked at her.

"No, stop!" he said.

But Diana didn't listen. She kept running until she had reached the one eyed weasel.

Rudy was roaring, and probably planning the best way to attack.

Diana wrapped her arms around Buck. "Come with us!" she said. "please, come with us. You don't have to fight Rudy."

"To fight Rudy is exactly what I want," Buck said. "now get our of here!"

"No!" Diana said. "you can't stay. You will be killed!"

"If that's true, it's a beautiful day to die," Buck said, and Diana did not hear any fear in his voice. Why wasn't he afraid?

"Please, Buck," Diana said, and she looked into his blue eye.

Buck shook his head. "You must go." He said. "you don't belong to this world, young lady. Just face it."

Diana looked at him with begging eyes. She felt like crying.

"Now go." Buck said. "go!"

And Diana ran back to the bridge.

When she stopped to look over het shoulder one more time, she saw how Rudy raised his claw.

Sobbing, she ran back to her family.

"Don't look back," Compso said. "go in the tunnel, quick."

Behind her, Diana heard the sound of the battle. She shivered when she heard a scream of pain. It was clearly from Buck. She wanted to do something. She wished she had forced Buck to come with them.

But something in his eye had had made her listen to what he said. She didn't know what it was.

She finally saw that she didn't understand Buck. She tried, but she just couldn't.

They went inside the tunnel. Compso went with them. For a long time Diana crawled on four legs through the narrow tunnel. There were almost no sounds here. It was as if the whole world didn't exist anymore.

This calmed Diana down a little.

Then, suddenly, there was a bright light. Diana blinked a few time before her eyes adapted to the light. Around her, everything seemed white. Soft snowflakes were falling aground her. The cold nestled in her fur, and she shuddered.

She was back in the world of above. The cold Ice Age.

The weasel family and Compso stood close together in the snow.

"This world is very cold," Compso said, shaking because of the cold he wasn't used to. "and white. Do you really live here?"

"Yes," Dorian said. "this is our world."

"Do you think Buck will be okay?" Liza said, worried.

"Are you kidding?" Compso said. "That weasel can survive everything, I'm most certain he's okay."

But Diana heard the tone in his voice, and she knew it: he was lying. He was worried about Buck too.

"So, what are you going to do?" Anna asked the small dinosaur.

"I'm going to wait here until it's safe again down there," Compso said. "then I'll return. I do not belong in the world. Just like Buck."

"Well, then," Dorian said. "we must go home now. Goodbye, Compso."

They all said their goodbyes, except for Elco, and they began walking.

Compso was left alone in the snow.

Diana walked slower than the rest. She couldn't stop thinking of Buck.

She was the only one that day, who cried for him.

...

...

Author's note:

Okay, before you are all going to kill me:

This story has not ended yet. Anything can still happen.

So I will ask you all to not kill me 'because I killed Buck' before you know the end of the story.

So, stay tune to find out what will happen next. I can tell you: the story is only now getting really interesting. :)