Be prepared, things are getting a bit graphic from here on

Part 4:

Littlefoot couldn't believe his own eyes. The sharptooth was running so unnaturally fast after the most important, most dearest dinosaur in his life, his mother seemingly completely oblivious to the approaching danger, probably thinking she had defeated the meateater for good. Littlefoot screamed from the top of his lungs.

"MOTHER WATCH OUT!"

But his warning arrived too late. With strength that appeared to defy the laws of physics, Sharptooth leapt, higher, further, higher and even further, seeming as though earth was refusing to pull him back down as it usually did with all things. A wave of terror overcame the little child, the terrifying claws of the monster digging into his mother's back as he smoothly landed on top, clinging onto her flesh with all his strength as the tall longneck desperately attempted to shake him off. Sharptooth held on. He lunged down and…

Littlefoot screamed. He screamed louder than was physically possible, so loud it made his head explode in pain, joined by Cera who screamed as well in utter terror. Pain, fright, panic… it all was overwhelming him the moment the evil monster bit down on his mother's back, sunk his teeth deep, deeper into her body with a sickening sound… Littlefoot wanted to look away, to run away and hide… and yet he ended up staying where he was… where he would see it all happen in front of his very eyes… With a single, powerful movement of the head and neck and a ripping sound Littlefoot would never ever forget, Sharptooth dislodged an enormous piece of meat, much bigger in size than his whole body, from her back, raw and bloody, and greedily devoured it in a single gulp. As he felt his legs tremble, heard his mother howl and groan in unimaginable agony as she tried to push the sharptooth off, as he heard Cera being terribly sick next to him and as he saw the huge amount of blood spilling out from the horrendous wound, red rivers gushing down her flanks, something snapped within the boy.

"Mother…" Fear like he'd never felt it before grasped his heart tighter than the snake from his grandpa's story. Seeing his mother in agony traumatized the little boy but he couldn't lose himself in the moment, couldn't lose to the despair, mustn't. His mother was still struggling, still fighting. Somehow, she had managed to push Sharptooth off her back, retreating, though the predator didn't let go. They came closer to their boulder and passed it; Littlefoot was certain that their cover had been blown.

"Come!" he hissed to the miserable threehorn who was still retching and sprinted out of his hideout. A horrified expression on her face, Cera gave pursuit.

Heavy, rattling breaths, a racing heartbeat, a surge of adrenaline. Pain, extreme pain. The adult longneck was operating in a mad, adrenaline-induced frenzy. Blood was gushing out of several severed arteries and veins, staining huge parts of her dark-blue skin crimson-red and splattering a red trail on the ground which would be easy to retrace even if she did manage to escape. She had managed to stun the attacker for a moment when she had shaken him off, however the sharptooth was terrifyingly keen on finishing the job he had started..

The longneck ran, knowing that the extreme blood loss would soon begin to show its severe effects on her strength and stamina - the terrifying wound was already affecting her agility greatly. (While possibly not fatal, the bite wouldn't begin clotting over before long after she'd lost her conscience; and who knew if she'd ever awaken from that…) Either running or fighting was less effective now and the predator was relatively unscathed from their latest clash (as far as she could tell, that was.)

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Littlefoot and the threehorn kid emerge from their hideout. Why Littlefoot was sticking around one of their kind once again was beyond her grasp but little did it matter at that moment. It was truly too unfortunate that the kids had to witness such cruel gore unfold in front of their young eyes, spoiling their innocence, possibly forever. Too terrible also that they had been seen. The sharptooth may have been fixated on her but he must have seen or heart Littlefoot. That put the child in gruesome danger!

"Littlefoot, run ahead!" she yelled through gritted teeth and heavy panting. "As soon as you can, we must split up, I'll distract him so you can...escape!"

Littlefoot's already horrified expression rose to an even higher level as he heard his mother's words. Obviously, he'd have to run from now on too but why away from her? Away from his beloved mother? What good would that do?

"Why do we need to separate?!" he blurted out while running alongside the bleeding adult, barely avoiding the blood splatter from hitting him.

"Just do as I say!" his mother cried in response, the panic evident in every word, intimidating Littlefoot so much that he didn't dare disobey. Besides, as he cast his gaze ahead, all he could see was the steep ravine covered in rubble to his right and the steep mountains to his left. There was currently no way he could go that would separate him from his mother so he kept racing alongside her, Cera in tow, the sharptooth slowly catching up (apparently, the impact with the mountain did end up injuring him slightly after all)

More and more, Littlefoot's mother began to feel the symptoms of blood loss, liter upon liter of the crimson liquid escaping from the gaping hole in her weakening body. She was able to keep the much slower pursuer at bay (maybe he had over exerted himself?), half-hearted swings of her tail keeping the distance between them just about even but it seemed like their escape was coming to a rapid end.

"No! The path is blocked!"

In front of them lay a large boulder directly in their path, impossible to go around. It reached halfway up to her neck in height and seemed roughly as thick as her son reached in length.

"I must break through, no matter what, I must!" If she was unable to achieve that, they would be trapped in a dead end with nowhere to run, their backs against the unforgiving wall and their fronts open to attack. No, that would seal their fate! Gritting her teeth, the longneck charged with everything she still had, hoping that the combination of her sheer mass and the built-up velocity would result in a momentum great enough to destroy the boulder. The longneck braced herself for the painful impact and…

*crack*

...with a loud racket, the hard stone dislodged and crumbled away into several smaller pieces; the path was clear! Unfortunately, it had slowed her greatly and the predator caught up. The wounded longneck was forced to engage in combat again. Littlefoot screamed in horror and worry, darting across the rubble the collapse had just created while his mother prevented the sharptooth from following him, edging backwards while dodging bites and claws. She needed more room for an attack of her own and she needed to catch the vicious beast on the attack. They were still near a deep valley, similar to the one she'd previously pushed the monster into - although this time she would not be careless enough to leave him unsupervised!

Soon, she too had left the rubble on the floor which greatly steadied her footing. Balancing her weight slowly became a challenge as a funny feeling spread through her body, every part, muscle or not, screaming for more oxygen to power her on.

"I'm losing too much blood, it's getting rough…" It was now or never. A few minutes from now, keeping her footing might be all she'd be able to manage, the bleeding showing no sign of decelerating. Like a waterfall, it fell from her body, making the exact same sound too as it impacted the ground. If she didn't succeed now, she wouldn't have the strength to do anything anymore. Abruptly, Littlefoot's mother stopped her retreat; her mind was ready.

The predator hurried to land another blow to the weakening prey but he hadn't anticipated the counterattack, hadn't expected that the longneck had baited him into her most terrifying weapon's range. As the intense smell of blood numbed his rational thinking, fury and frenzy leading his hunt, he made the terribly mistake of stepping right into the range of the longneck's tail. With a swift movement, the female made a rapid turn, her tail now directly facing the behemoth. A swift, skilled flick of it and hunter suddenly became prey of the longneck's incredible rage, feeling himself catapulted backwards; though this time he didn't hit a mountain or really anything at all. He just fell. As the longneck had hoped, she had carried the meateater beyond the edge of the path they were walking, the sharptooth's feet kicking into thin air before he landed roughly on his stomach, sliding all the way down to the bottom of the slope.

The moment of relief and joy only lasted for a split second, however. She had over exercised her muscles and her vision faded for a moment. Abruptly, her legs gave way, the now muddy ground, a dried up puddle perhaps, failing to support her anymore, her balance failing. The massive body fell with a thundering crash, accompanied by a child's panicked scream.

"Mother!" Littlefoot cried in concern as his dear mother fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Fear flooded the young boy's veins; why did she not get up again?

"Littlefoot… run away…" The boy looked at his mother in pure shock.

"I won't leave you!" As the angry, faraway roars of the angry sharptooth reverberated through the landscape, Littlefoot snuggled up to his blood-smeared mother but she remained hard as stone.

"Save yourself, don't be stupid!"

"No!"

"This is an order!" the female panted, her spirits sinking as wet tears glimmered in the boy's eyes. "Find your grandparents, I will make sure that the sharptooth doesn't go after you!" Littlefoot was still showing signs of indecisiveness so she added with a pledging look. "If you find them quick, they might be able to save me. Now go… please my dear Littlefoot…" A little ungentle, she pushed her son away. She simply hoped that it wasn't the last time she'd see him although her situation was more than grim.

Littlefoot uttered a single, indignant sob before he obeyed with all reluctance he could muster and ran towards the right where, supposedly, his grandparents must be residing. Cera was following him.

"Thank the heavens, he listened…" The longneck seemed as if she'd aged 20 years. Her muscles ached, her bones hurt. And, ever so vividly, blood was seeping out of her. If she decided to close her eyes now and committed to her exhaustion and weakness, maybe it'd be a sleep she'd never rise from again. Although it was a slumber which she could only postpone so long before her body failed her.

The longneck rested for a few moments, slowly recovering her breath, the pain of the gaping injury on her back becoming all the more present in her relative state of relaxation, adrenaline levels sinking a little, few groans escaping her mouth. A series of angry roars alarmed her of the still lingering threat, the sharptooth had apparently regained his senses and, judging by the sounds of it, was attempting to climb back up, although the rubble on the cliff was easy to dislodge which should make the ascent a big challenge. Ironically, what the longneck needed the most right now was some more time to rest her muscles, even if her general condition continued to worsen by the minute so she was grateful for the break. Hopefully, it'd be enough to get back to her feet by the time the predator managed to climb all the way. Certainly, it was enough time to survey the situation.

"Keeps slipping… but slowly getting up… almost here…" So much blood had drained from her body that no coherent sentence was forming in her mind anymore; slowly but surely a little lake of blood was forming underneath her. Only the thought of protecting Littlefoot gave her strength in this dire situation.

"Mother, please be safe!"

Littlefoot was jogging along the path which more and more turned into open terrain with many rock formations littering the area. The young child's heart was beating much faster than his level of exertion required of it; it was beating not from exhaustion but from the abyss of his worry and fear. His young mind was too fragile and innocent to fully comprehend the situation that his mother was in, but even a little stupid child like him was quite able to tell that his mother was in enormous trouble and danger. The fact that they were separated didn't sit well with him at all.

"I have a funny feeling…" Cera suddenly spoke up, her first words since the disaster unfolded, and she wasn't talking about the urge to vomit the very soul out of her which had haunted her ever since seeing… that. Both children came to an uncertain standstill.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Littlefoot wondered in a tired voice but he needn't wait for an answer...

The epic battle was nearing the next and, quite possibly, final round. The longneck had seen it all happen and yet she had been unable to do something about it.

"Sharpteeth aren't...aren't supposed to be… so clever… so strong…" she lamented in painful, ragged breaths. Simply standing, just keeping her footing, her balance, it was all she could handle just as she had anticipated, fearing that her legs could give in the moment she tried to move them. The beaten predator had climbed up some distance away so she had been unable to keep him from climbing all the way. Her scheme had failed; she was unable to move or fight.

It was all over now.

The longneck's vision was greatly reduced and she hardly felt the tormenting pain anymore. Her mind didn't comprehend the situation correctly anymore. Maybe she could have tried to fight, maybe she could have attempted to run… and yet she simply remained rooted on the spot as the sharptooth, covered from top to bottom in scratches and bruises, slowly crept closer, still vigilant, still full of strength, still determined to kill…

"No, please no…" Powerless, she had to watch as the beast charged at her, the longneck trying to turn away and run but her legs didn't work. She stumbled, she struggled and then… pain, a sharp sting in the back of her neck, hot blood seeping down her leathery skin where it had been severed. With a groan, in the knowledge that she wouldn't live, Littlefoot's mother collapsed to the ground, her vision blacking out, only the fresh pain keeping her from fainting. Tearing up, she recollected the most important moments of her life as she anticipated the bite that would put an end to her existence… but, to her utter surprise, it did not come. She could not see but she could still hear to some degree. The behemoth stomped the ground in triumph, knowing that the wound he had inflicted in addition to the gruesome bite were fatal to the longneck - her lack of resistance was proof of that. He hadn't cut the vital neck artery but the uniform and steady river of blood streaming out of the fresh cut indicated that he had severed the corresponding vein. If either of those were harmed beyond repair, it meant certain death for a longneck, only that this way the brain would still receive blood and thus the moment of death would be delayed somewhat. Since the longneck was as good as dead, that gave him a splendid chance to settle a score before he would have his hard-earned feast. Roaring, determined to repay a favor, he stomped away swiftly.

"He's going after the kids!" The fear that came with this realization was enough to stir her fading senses and consciousness returned to her lethargic mind somewhat. Her eyes, still hardly able to see, could make out the predator going in the direction Littlefoot had run off to.

"How dare you…" The longneck knew that she didn't have long to live but the fact that Sharptooth left her here to die slowly and painfully while attempting to finish the job he had started earlier - to hunt down Littlefoot and that threehorn… It made something inside of her snap. Much rather would she have her neck broken and her body feasted upon than for her son to die with her. Wrath emerged, wrath which was so desperate that it enabled her body once more to rise onto her weak legs. Staggering… but standing.

"This time… this time I'll send him to hell!" With uncertain steps but a determined mind, she stomped after the behemoth. Though, she didn't get very far before something went terribly wrong...

I don't really have much to say about this chapter. Just let it sink and let me know what you think

Next up is the earthshake and then... T_T

Guest chapter 11 . Feb 17

I appreciate that you're taking your time to properly build up to what happens next. In a way it's strange to see Cera be this speciesist again, granted she never seems to fully get over that from what I've seen, but it serves to emphasize her personal growth over the course of the series. As I said earlier,even though she's still a relatively minor character, seeing more of Littlefoot's mother is a welcome addition. This chapter seemed more action oriented than the last, good use of escalation, but you also managed to maintain her inner monologue. I'm honestly not sure whether I can say I'm looking forward to the next chapter considering what comes next, but I know you will do it justice.

Thank you very much :)

I will admit, I'm dreading to write those scenes myself but it has to be done, cruel as it is. I sincerely hope I can do the movie justice myself :)