Chapter 14:

I quickly gathered my books, putting them back into my bag. It was now four days since the encounter with Thunder and the Alpha Gang at the museum. It was Friday again, so we had finished class early. It was only one o'clock. I walked out into the corridor with the rest of the class to get my things from my locker. As I searched for my other glove in the locker, I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw John standing in front of me with a rather serious look on his face.

"Can I have a word with you, Jim?" He said. His spoke very quietly, so I had to move closer to him to actually hear what he said.

"Sure, about what?" I asked. John looked around himself.

"Not now." He murmured "Let's wait for your friends to leave…" I could hear that his voice sounded very serious, so whatever he wanted, it had to be really important…

I nodded, and pretended to still be searching for my missing glove while the others left the corridor one after another. As soon as the last one had left, I turned to John again.

"So…" He said, looking around the corridor to make sure we were really completely alone "I'll go right to the point, Jim: Have you had any further encounters with any of the…Hrm…People you mentioned back at the museum ever since then?" I shook my head, taken aback by the fact that he actually wanted to ask me about that of all things. But then again, he was the only ordinary person who actually knew about my secret…

"Now that's a relief…" He said, now sounding a little calmer "Also…" He said, sounding serious again "What about your…Well…New pet?" He asked.

"I got her right here." I said, pointing at my bag. John gave me a confused look.

"I mean her card." I quickly explained.

"Oh! I see…" John said understandingly "But are you sure that's a good idea? What if someone finds out what you're really hiding…?"

"It's a risk I have to take!" I said resolutely "I really can't risk leaving her at home anymore after all that's happened. If either of those creeps show up while I'm not around, she'll be in big trouble! And should they show up, I need Aurora in order to protect myself and other people from them! You saw what happened at the museum…" John looked at me for a short while, and then he nodded slowly.

"I guess you're right…" He said "And with all that you've been through together, I can understand that you want to keep her safe…" I smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks…" I said "Thanks a lot for understanding…"

"There is one more thing I need to ask you before you leave…" John said, now sounding more serious than before "Have you told your mother about all this yet?" I felt a wave of uneasiness well up inside me. Of all things he could have asked…

"Well…" I said uncertainly "Not really…" John gave me a surprised look.

"Not?" He said "Jim, I really don't think you should keep it a secret for her of all people…" He interrupted himself as the door at the end of the corridor opened up; meaning the class next to us had just finished for the day…

"Looks like we'll have to talk more about this some other time…" John murmured. And he quickly turned around and began walking towards the door at the opposite end of the corridor.

"Well, see you next week, Jim!" He called over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

As I walked back home I thought about what John had said. Should I really tell mum about what had actually happened the past two weeks…?

No. Definitely not. It was bad enough should she happen to find out Aurora was actually a real, live dinosaur. But telling her I also had two groups of dangerous people after me: One who wanted to take me away to make me a part of them, and one who wouldn't doubt for a second making dinosaur food out of me in order to snatch Aurora…

No, it's definitely better if she doesn't know… I thought, shaking my head Should I tell her she'd never be able to take it…It would just be too much for her to bear…

I thought that I would only tell her should it prove absolutely necessary…

When I finally arrived home I opened the door as quietly as I could. I knew mum would leave work early today, so I quietly snuck into the hall and pulled out the DinoHolder and Aurora's card from my bag. I carefully let the card slide through the Holder, and in the next second Aurora appeared in her little form in front of me in the hall. No sooner had she appeared than she started rubbing her head against my leg, and as I bent down to pet her, she immediately began nudging me on the cheek with her head.

"Take it easy, Aurora!" I said "You're acting like you haven't seen me in years!" Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and in the next second mum came out into the hall.

"Welcome home, Jim!" She said with a smile "Have you had a good day at school?"

"Well…I guess you could say that…" I said as I picked Aurora up in my arms. Mum looked at us and smiled again.

"I just can't get over how cute you two are together…" She said softly.

"Yeah" I said "I never thought I'd be this attached to her…" Aurora looked up at me and rubbed her head on my cheek again. I smiled and stroke her over her head.

"Speaking of…" Mum said, suddenly sounding thoughtful "I just can't seem to understand where she hides all day…She's always around in the morning and while you're home, but I can't remember seeing her before the time you've gotten home this last week…"

"Oh, she's probably hiding in my room or something…" I said with a pretended laugh "I guess she just likes peace and quiet…" Mum looked at me and smiled again.

"Well, I guess that's better than her running around the house making a mess…" She said with another smile "Now, you weren't possibly thinking of taking a walk with her, honey?" She asked, but I could tell pretty well she already knew she was right…

"Yeah, if that's okay…" I said. She just smiled at me again.

"Of course it is, dear…" She said "Just make sure to be home for dinner…"

"Don't worry, I will!" I said as I walked out through the door, closely followed by Aurora.

As we walked down the street I couldn't help but noticing she seemed to walk a little closer to me than usual…

I smiled. I supposed having her with me as a card all the time had made her even more affectionate, since it technically meant she was always with me, but since I couldn't let her out among other people, she probably felt even more excited over seeing me every time I released her from the card…

"Jim…" Aurora suddenly said, snapping me out of my thoughts "Where are we going to go today?"

"Well…" I said with a little smile "What do you think?"

"Do you think we could go to the forest again?" She said, tilting her head in a begging kind of way.

"Of course, whatever you say!" I replied, and so we turned across the street and walked towards the edge of the forest.

Just like when we had ventured into the forest last week, it was once again a pleasant day for it being so late at fall. Although there was a bit of a chill in the air, the sun filtering through the trees warmed us up as we walked along the path into the forest. I decided to take a different path than the one we had walked last time, since the memories of our encounter with Blaze still ran pretty deep...

Aurora seemed pretty happy with being back in the forest, and she looked around as she walked by my side, occasionally sniffing the air as she walked. After walking for a while we decided to take a break, so we both sat down by the roots of a large tree. As soon as I had sat down, Aurora placed her head on my lap, looking at me in a soothing kind of way.

"Is it just me, or have you grown cuddlier than usual this last week?" I said with a little smile.

"Oh…" She said and quickly removed her head from my lap "I'm sorry…I didn't want to bother you…" I just shook my head. Then I put my hand onto her head, gently pushing it back onto my lap.

"Don't say that." I said "You're never bothering me. I already told you: The reason I love you as much as I do is that you are the way you are, remember?" She looked at me in amazement, and then she gave me another soothing look.

"Thanks, Jim…" She said softly, crawling up on my lap and laid down, just like she would do when I sat by my desk studying. I smiled.

"You're welcome…" I said, stroking her back. She closed her eyes and sighted, and so I just sat there with her on my lap…

"What was that?" Aurora suddenly said and perked up from my lap. I gave her a confused look.

"What was what?" I asked her.

"Just now…I think I heard something…" She said as she looked up on me. I looked at her again.

"What was it?" I said "Is it another dinosaur?"

"No…" She replied slowly "I think it's something else..." I didn't say anything, but started to listen myself for whatever she might have heard. It felt like I had been sitting there listening for several minutes when, suddenly, I heard something as well! It wasn't very clear but as I listened more closely I was almost certain it was some kind of tones or music…

I just sat there listening, but suddenly the sound stopped. What was going on? Had there really been someone playing out here in the forest? Or was it just our imagination…? Suddenly the sound was back, and this time I heard it quite clearly. It sounded like someone playing on a guitar or a harp, or something like that…

Aurora suddenly crawled down from my lap and looked up at me.

"Jim…What is that?" She asked, and I noticed a clear hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm not sure…" I said slowly as I kept listening to the sound "It sounds like some sort of instrument, but who's playing out here in the forest…?" The sound just kept on going, and after what seemed like an eternity I finally rose to my feet.

"This seems strange." I said thoughtfully "Perhaps we should check it out…" And so I walked towards the sound, closely followed by Aurora.

Following the sound we moved deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees almost completely blocked out the sun now, so it was slowly getting darker the further we walked. But the sound was definitely getting clearer, meaning we were without a doubt getting closer to whatever it could be we had heard. As we pressed through an especially dense groove of trees, I noticed a stream of light through the trees right in front of me, and I could hear the sound clearly now, meaning that whatever causing those tones had to be close…

"Maybe I should put you back in your card…" I murmured to Aurora "Just in case…" She gave me a worried look in the darkness, but nodded slightly.

"All right, if you say so..." She said. I pulled out my DinoHolder, and pushed a button to turn her back into a card, then I quickly stuffed them both back into my pocket. Okay…I thought Here goes… And I pushed through the trees in front of me.

I almost immediately realized I was standing in a large, open clearing. The sun was still shining above the trees, lighting up the ground. As I looked around my eyes suddenly fell on something in the other end of the clearing: In the corner of the clearing sat what appeared to be a person wearing a black hooded jacket. From the looks of things he or she was sitting on a rock while looking steadily on down the ground, strumming what looked like an oddly shaped, blue guitar. I quickly realized that whoever this was had been responsible for the sounds I and Aurora had heard.

"Excuse me…" I said as I walked closer to the person sitting on the rock "But who are you? And what are you doing out here?" The person didn't answer, but kept strumming the guitar, as if he or she hadn't heard me.

"Pardon me…" I said, louder this time as I walked even closer, now standing maybe three metres away from the person. Whoever it had been suddenly stopped playing and put the guitar down on the ground.

"What was that? " Judging from the voice it was a boy around the midst of his teens "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you…" And he looked up. I was about to say something, when I felt a chill running through me: It was his face. He was wearing a mask, made of what seemed to be some kind of shimmering blue metal; exactly like the ones I had seen Blaze and Thunder wear!

"You guys…!" I said furiously "I should have known…"

"Hey, hey, what's with the attitude?" The masked boy said, sounding very confused "All I said was that I didn't hear you, that's nothing to get angry for, is it?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" I said angrily "You're one of the Masked Knights, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. So what?" He said, once again sounding confused "I mean…Of course I am! What's that to you?"

"Um, what?" I said, now feeling slightly taken aback "Are you really one of the Masked Knights?"

"Yes…Yes I am…My name's Aqua…" He said "I mean…Do you think I'm bluffing? You better watch it, you!" I just stared at him.

"You're bizarre…" Was all I could say.

"Well…Guess I can't argue with that…" He sighted "I mean…Just who are you calling bizarre?"

"All right…" I said, not sure what to think "Just what's your deal? What are you doing here?"

"Well…I…Could you just wait a second?" He said, quickly putting his hand into his coat. I was about to pull out my DinoHolder, thinking he was about to call out his dinosaur, but to my surprise he instead pulled out what looked like a sheet of paper.

"Let's see…" He said, holding up the paper in front of his face "If you lose control of the situation, try by all means to regain control of it, even if it means resorting to violent methods…" Right…" He said putting the paper back into his coat "Boy, am I the wrong one for this…Can't even find that one missing Gust-guy Thunder talked about…" He sighted and slumped down on the ground.

"What are you babbling about…?" I started "Wait a minute! Thunder? Gust? So you did come to get me after all?" I said angrily.

"What?" He said "You know Thunder? And…Hold on…Are you telling me you're Gust?" He said, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"No! I already told you all!" I said, feeling very irritated "My name is Jim!"

"Wait, so you're not Gust?" The masked boy said, now sounding confused again "Hold on…" He suddenly said "Now I remember! Blaze said you called yourself that, but you're still Gust, right? I mean…Don't think you can fool me! I know it's you, so you better get back with me, or else!"

"Forget it!" I snapped angrily.

"You don't want to?" The masked boy said, suddenly sounding disappointed "Oh, come on, Gust, come back to us…I mean…Don't think you can just say "No" and walk away! Now that I've found you, you're not going anywhere!"

"You know…Actually I'm the one who found you…" I said.

"I know…" He sighted "I'm hopeless…I'm just not up for this…I mean…Who cares about that? Now I have you right where I want you, so prepare to fight!" And suddenly he put his hand into his coat again, pulling something out and holding it up in front of me. Just like I had expected it was a Stone just like the ones I had seen previously, and this one had a blue mark that looked like blue water drops…

"Let's see how you like this, Gust!" He said as he pulled out a card from his coat, quickly swiping it on the Stone in his hand "Here we go!" There was a blaze of blue light, and in the next second the dinosaur appeared in front of me and let out a shrilly roar: It actually looked very much like the Spinosaurus, Spiny, I had seen the Alpha Gang use, but it had no sail on it's back and it was much smaller. Its body was covered by greenish scales with dark green markings along its back. There was no doubt about it: It was a Suchomimus!

"All right, Aurora…" I murmured "Look like we'll have to…Huh?" I had just been about to slash the card to call Aurora out in her full form when my eyes had fallen on the masked boy Aqua in front of me. He had suddenly fallen down on his knees. His whole body was shaking and he was holding his arms above his head as if trying to shield himself from something…

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked in surprise.

"Please…Don't eat me…I don't taste well at all…" He said, sounding completely terrified.

"Huh? What are you babbling about?" I asked incredulously. He looked up from the ground at me.

"What I'm babbling about?" He cried hysterically "Can't you see there's a big, scary dinosaur right in front of me? I don't want to end up dinosaur food!" I just stared at him.

"But aren't you the one who summoned it?" I said incredulously "I won't do anything unless you tell it to, right?" Suddenly he stopped shaking and quickly sat up, looking at the Suchomimus.

"Oh, that's right!" He said "Thanks for reminding me, for a moment I thought I'd get eaten…I mean…You're a fool for not running while you had the chance! Now prepare for the battle of your life!"

"Bring it on!" I said as I pulled out Aurora's card and slashed it through the DinoHolder, and in the next second Aurora appeared in her full form in front of me. She immediately spotted the Suchomimus in front of her and quickly glanced at me.

"A Suchomimus…" She said "Does that mean...?"

"Yeah." I said "Looks like this guy's one of the Masked Knights, so it seems like we'll…" My words suddenly drowned in a loud cry, and I realized the masked boy had once again fallen down on his knees while shaking wildly.

"There's another one...Please…I don't want to be eaten…I'll do anything…" He said in horror. I just stared at him.

"What is this?" I said "Just what's wrong with this guy…"

"I admit I messed up during my last mission, but this…" Thunder said irritably as she walked restlessly back and forth in the dark cave "Just what is Chief thinking? Sending that comedy-relief loser Aqua of all people to capture Gust?"

"I'm pretty sure he has his reasons." Blaze replied calmly where he stood leaned against the wall of the cave with his arms crossed.

"Tell me something else I already know…" Thunder snapped at him "Seriously…That loser hardly knows how to fight…He could have sent his dinosaur there alone, and it would have done just fine…"

"Just give him a chance." Blaze said "He just might surprise us."

"I'd say it's a surprise if he even finds Gust…" Thunder muttered "His best chance would be hoping to run into him by accident…" Blaze suddenly walked away from the wall of the cave and up to her.

"Maybe that's exactly what Chief's planning…" He said calmly.

"What? That Aqua's going to pull through on pure luck?" Thunder snorted.

"I think he's hoping for Gust to put Aqua in trouble." Blaze said "You of anyone should know what happens once Aqua finds himself pushed into a corner…" Thunder suddenly took a step away from him.

"Did you really have to remind me about that?" She said in a disliking kind of way "I'm still trying to forget…"