Chapter 20: Arrival

"You know this voice who's threatening us?" Coda asked.

Littlefoot nodded. "Yes. Hey Archie! Everything's fine! It's Littlefoot!"

"Littlefoot? The same Littlefoot from so many cold times ago?" the voice asked.

"Yes. Come out Archie!"

As Littlefoot spoke, Archie, an enormous turtle-like creature with a grey-green shell appeared from behind one of the columns.

"Littlefoot, it's nice to see you!" Archie said.

"Who is this weirdo?" Cera asked with a sour tone in her voice.

"Cera! Be nice!" Ali scolded. He then turned to Archie. "Archie, we are just passing through, we mean no harm. I am Ali."

"Well, Ali, where are you headed?" Archie asked.

"The Land of the Mists."

Archie smiled. "Follow the passage with the big river. You'll hear the roar of water when you enter it. When you exit you should see an immense waterfall."

"Thank you." Ali said.

Archie then winked at Littlefoot. "It's amazing what a few cold times will do. I barely recognize you now. You're growing up to be a fine leader."

"Thanks." Littlefoot replied.

Coatal flew in through the sinkhole in the roof of the cave. "Guys, we are near the Land of the Mists." He then turned to Archie. "Pardon me, but who are you?"

"He's someone Littlefoot and I encountered in that cave past the breathing lake." Ali said.

"So what's he doing here?"

"I guess he migrated here."

"Correct." Archie said, "The two caves are connected by rivers. I've been since that rockslide closed off part of the old cave."

"You mean the one where I had to help save Littlefoot?" Cera asked,

Archie nodded.

"Sorry for not introducing myself, but the name is Coatal." Coatal said.

Strut was sitting on a pile of rocks. "So, Archie do you have any advice for us?"

"You will pass through the territory of a herd of Spikethumbs on your way to the Land of the Mists. Their leader is a light green Spikethumb named Iquan. If you encounter him or are captured by one of the Spikethumbs, Iquan will ask you a riddle. You must answer it correctly to pass. If you fail, one of you will have to fight him in close-quarters combat. If you win, you may pass; if you lose you will be forced off their territory and you must wait one cold time before you can try again."

"Well, we are armed." Raptix said, showing the stone knife and its scabbard on his chest.

"You have to fight him with your bare hands. And the goal is not to kill him; doing that is just asking for trouble. These Spikethumbs have a reputation as fierce warriors. In fact, I have seen them use weapons like you do." Archie said.

"What is the goal?"

Archie sighed. "Your goal is to pin him to the ground for a count."

Strut shrugged. "Well, that was taught to us in Deimos's close quarters combat lessons except with an additional step: either strangling or breaking your opponent's neck. And how do you know this?"

Archie chuckled. "Well, I've been around the Mysterious Beyond for many, many cold times."

"Guys, we'd better start moving, the Bright Circle is getting low." Coatal said, looking through the sinkhole.

"All rested?" Coda asked.

The group nodded. Strut had already lit a fire and had the torches lit.

"Hey, put that fire out!" Archie demanded, spotting the small campfire Strut had lit. Archie then approached Strut.

"Damn it! No need to be so rude!" Strut spat.

"Archie, it's all right. He knows what he's doing with the fire." Littlefoot said.

Archie grumbled and left Strut alone. His expression softened somewhat at Littlefoot's words. "So why are you in a rush to get to the Land of the Mists?"

"We are to obtain the Night Flowers and return to our herd with them." Raptix said.

"Wait, 'our herd'? You're a fast-biter with a group of leaf-eaters, something isn't right." Archie said. He then turned to Raptix. "I'm watching you."

"There is no need to be so suspicious. I am Raptix, an ally to these leaf-eaters." Raptix responded.

"Hmm. I can't say if I trust you."

"Archie, Raptix is our ally and our personal friend." Littlefoot said.

"Guys, we need to hurry!" Coatal said.

"Sorry. Well Archie, we have to leave. Coatal's getting impatient." Littlefoot said.

"See you around Littlefoot!" Archie said.

Littlefoot and his group exited the cave through the aforementioned passage. When they exited the cave, an amazing sight greeted their eyes: they were at the top of a waterfall, looking down upon the Land of the Mists. The setting sun's fiery gold rays gave the water an otherworldly golden glow. Even the mists that covered the treetops and plains of the Land of the Mists took on an ethereal gold glow.

"It's gorgeous." Ali said.

"Yeah, too bad we don't have time to enjoy it." Strut said.

The group then headed down a narrow trail down into the misty forest. After journeying into a clearing surrounded by tall grass they decided to rest, it was now night and the moon was high up.

"Are we there yet?" Strut asked.

Raptix surveyed the area and noticed a patch of meadow with an unusual gold glow. He then pointed to the patch. "That must be it!"

Littlefoot and Ali turned their heads towards where Raptix was pointing. "Yes! Great job Raptix!"

The group then headed towards the glowing patch of meadow.

Unbeknownst to the group, a dark green Spikethumb had been watching the group near the glowing patch of meadow. He then ran off into a nearby forest as soon as he spotted the group approaching the meadow. After several minutes, he had arrived inside a large forest clearing where other members of his herd were camped out.

One of the Spikethumbs was using a fire plow to try and start a fire while two others had just returned to the encampment with some food. Yet another Spikethumb was placing the finishing touches on her stone tipped spear.

"So Guan, what have you to report?" a large light green Spikethumb asked.

"Iquan, there are some unknown dinosaurs in the nearby clearing and they heading to the Glow Flower Meadows." Guan replied.

Iquan frowned and turned to his herd. "Okay guys, we've got ourselves a situation; some unknown dinosaurs are heading to the Gold Flowers Meadows. We need to stop them. Let's move out!"

Some of the Spikethumbs armed themselves with spears and sticks. Others armed themselves with their signature weapon: a vine sling and stones. Still others stayed behind to guard the encampment.

Iquan and Guan lead the small group of Spikethumbs out of the encampment to confront the intruders.

Littlefoot and his group were almost at the meadow when Iquan's voice boomed out. "Halt! You are trespassing on our territory!"

Raptix gulped nervously. Coatal looked around but saw nothing. Coda looked around and saw some Spikethumbs hiding behind some rocks.

"We know you are there! Come out and speak to us face to face!" Coda demanded.

Iquan, along with two of his herd members, then stepped out and confronted Littlefoot. "You trespass on our territory. Leave or prepare to face us."

"There's only three of you!" Cera spat.

"Oh yeah?" Iquan said tauntingly. He then made a series of clicks.

One of the Spikethumbs, who was hiding behind some rocks a short distance away and upon hearing the clicks, picked a round rock from his leaf pouch, placed it in his sling and sent the stone hurtling towards Cera.

"That's it?" Cera asked. Suddenly, Cera was pelted with some rock shards seemingly out of nowhere. "What was that?" she asked. Her voice had lost the arrogant quality it had before.

Iquan chuckled. "That was a rock."

Raptix looked around and found a round rock near a larger rock. Both rocks were cracked and there were cracks in the larger rock radiating from a medium sized indentation on the rock's face. He picked up the smaller rock and examined it. "It looks like this rock was thrown. But I've never seen any dinosaurs who can throw rocks with enough force to crack another rock."

"We're trying to get an antidote for a poison that was placed in our water source." Littlefoot said.

Iquan frowned. "And what do the glow flowers have to do with this?"

Littlefoot turned to Coda. "What are glow flowers?"

"I believe he's referring to those plants glowing over there." Coda replied, gesturing to the glowing patch of meadow.

Littlefoot then turned to Iquan. "Those glow flowers are the only antidote to the poison in our water source. If we don't get it, all of the herds will die."

Iquan nodded. "I see. Though you are outsiders, we will help those in need; we will allow you to take some of the glow flowers, if you can answer one of my riddles or defeat me in hand to hand combat."

Littlefoot gulped. Iquan was very muscular and looked to be capable of causing serious injury with his spiked thumbs. "Okay, I choose to take the riddle."

Iquan nodded and his two guards stepped back. "Okay. Now, only you may answer this riddle."

Littlefoot nodded and his companions stepped back.

Iquan cleared his throat. "I am everywhere, all dinosaurs need me. I am found where the highest flyers are, to the edges of the Mysterious Beyond and beyond. I am found over the deep of the Big Water. The one place I am not found is the one place I am not needed. What am I?"

Littlefoot wrinkled his brow in thought. After a few minutes he spoke: "Air."

Iquan grinned. "Correct. You may pass."

"Good going Littlefoot!" Strut said.

"Not bad, for a Longneck." Cera said with a smile.

Raptix and Coda glared at her.

"Well done Littlefoot. You truly have earned the right to lead this expedition." Coda said.

Littlefoot and his companions proceeded to the glowing spot where the golden flowers greeted them.

"Okay, we need to get going to take as much as we can hold." Littlefoot said.

Strut and Raptix unsheathed their stone knives and began cutting as many of the golden flowers as they could reach.

Several miles away, Hasta and Theta were having a heated argument with a dark brown Egg-Stealer. They were inside the encampment of a herd of Egg-Stealers. A group of spear wielding Egg-Stealers surrounded a group of small trees. One Egg-Stealer was stoking one of the campfires in the encampment. Another Egg-Stealer threw the remains of her meal, a few eggshells into another campfire.

"We did not trespass on your territory intentionally!" Hasta shouted.

"That is irrelevant. Your friends have trespassed and for that they must pay the penalty: death." The Egg-Stealer said.

"Listen Egg-Stealer, if you kill our allies, we can make your life absolutely horrible. We will return to this encampment and slaughter every one of you if you harm one of them." Theta spat.

"The name is Altus and I'd prefer you use it." The Egg-Stealer spat. "And you have no right to be making demands. Since we are going to be carrying out the punishment, I'd suggest you leave before we add you and your other friends to the three we already have."

Theta and Hasta then stalked off from Altus and headed to their own encampment set several meters away. When they arrived, they noticed that there were signs of battle near the edges of their encampment. Theta picked up a spear that one of the combatants had dropped.

As Theta and Hasta entered their encampment, they were greeted by Rinkus.

"So negotiations go well?" Rinkus asked.

Hasta sighed. "No. Ozzie, Sierra and Manhattan are going to be killed soon."

"So what happened here?" Theta asked. He showed Rinkus the spear.

Rinkus shrugged. "One of those Egg-Stealers tried to kidnap me. Luckily, Utah was there to help me." Rinkus then chuckled, revealing that some of his teeth were stained with blood. "Let's just say our attacker isn't even recognizable as an Egg-Stealer anymore."

"Good enough."

Theta and Hasta proceeded further into the encampment where Nocte was in the process of lighting a campfire and Saber was in the process of making a stone war hammer.

"All right, everyone! We need to save the three." Theta said.

Nocte stopped trying to light the campfire and stepped forward. "I will join."

Saber, who had finished making his war hammer, also stepped forward.

"I'll come." Rinkus said.

"If there's possibility of combat, we'll come." Dil said. Icthy also stepped up.

Umbra and Utah decided to guard the camp.

Saber, Nocte, Theta and Rinkus armed themselves – Saber with his stone war hammer, Nocte with a stone tipped lance, Rinkus with a stone knife and Theta with a stolen stone tipped spear - and headed towards Altus's encampment.

Meanwhile as Saber, Nocte, Theta and Rinkus headed to Altus's encampment, Ozzie, Sierra and Manhattan, all of them were in a clearing deep inside the encampment, were enjoying what they thought were their last moments alive. They were all tied to separate saplings with several sturdy vines. Opposite the condemned, only a few feet away, several of Altus's herd were gathering and stacking up large stones.

"Well. I guess this is the end." Ozzie said

"I thought I'd die by stones while fighting the Great Valley dinosaurs. Not while tied to a damned tree!" Sierra said.

"Theta and Hasta will never leave us alone!" Manhattan said.

Suddenly a female tan Egg-Stealer, who served as the executioner, turned to them and spoke. "Any last words?"

"Yes. Screw you!" Sierra spat.

"You'll never defeat us!" Manhattan shouted.

"This isn't the last of us!" Ozzie shouted.

The Egg-Stealer grinned. "Okay then…" Suddenly, an Egg-Stealer ran into the group.

"Forget about the prisoners! Their friends have invaded the encampment!" The new Egg-Stealer said.

The executioner swore. "New orders! Grab a weapon and head to the front of the encampment!"

The Egg-Stealers, most of them arming themselves with the rocks they had intended to use on the condemned, then left the clearing.

As the last Egg-Stealer left, Rinkus dropped from a tree with his knife out.

"Rinkus?" Ozzie asked.

"Quiet." Rinkus hissed.

Rinkus then cut Ozzie, Sierra and Manhattan loose in that order.

"Okay! We're free. Let's go and kill these bastards!" Sierra said.

Ozzie and Sierra immediately grabbed the rocks that their executioners were going to use on them.

"Hey Manhattan, aren't you going to take a weapon?" Sierra asked.

Manhattan shook his head. "I hate using rocks except for throwing. Even my bare hands are better than using a rock in close quarters combat."

"Whatever. Let's go!"

The front of the camp was in utter disarray as Theta's squad swept upon the resting Egg-Stealers. Theta, Hasta, Saber, Nocte and Rinkus were all fighting the Egg-Stealers

The bodies of a few Egg-Stealers lay on the ground.

Sierra joined into the battle, jumping onto an Egg-Stealer and battering him with the rock in his right hand until the Egg-Stealer lay on the ground. Sierra finished off the Egg-Stealer by swinging his rock downwards into the Egg-Stealer's head, crushing his skull and sending droplets of blood flying. He then spotted Rinkus who leapt on an Egg-Stealer and slashed his throat before he knew what hit him.

"Rinkus! Let's try the drop!" Sierra shouted, ducking under a rock thrown by one of the Egg-Stealers.

Rinkus sheathed his knife and nodded.

"Hey! It's the prisoner!" one Egg-Stealer shouted upon seeing Sierra. She had a spear and was preparing to throw it at Hasta who had just crushed another Egg-Stealer's head into a red smear underfoot. She had cocked her arm back but she dropped her spear in shock as Sierra and Rinkus grabbed her and started lifting her into the sky.

"You bastards! Put me down!" The Egg-Stealer shouted.

Sierra laughed. "We'll put you down…in a few moments."

Sierra and Rinkus continued flying upwards until they were at least a hundred feet off the ground.

"Okay, we'll put you down…now!" Rinkus said, letting go of the Egg-Stealer. Sierra followed suit.

The Egg-Stealer continued cursing at Sierra and Rinkus until she struck the ground. "Why…" was all she could say before she died.

"That was…fun." Rinkus said.

Sierra grinned. "Let's do it again!"

They then swooped down into the battlefield. The Night Circle was still high up, showing the carnage of the battle in the encampment.

Manhattan grappled with a knife wielding Egg-Stealer. He had received a few deep slashes to his stomach but he eventually grabbed hold of the Egg-Stealer's weapon arm. Before the Egg-Stealer knew what was happening, Manhattan broke the Egg-Stealer's weapon arm.

The Egg-Stealer screamed in pain and dropped his knife as his right arm was broken but he could not be heard over the sound of the battle.

Manhattan kicked the knife away and grappled with the Egg-Stealer. After a few moments, Manhattan was able to clamp his jaws around the Egg-Stealer's neck.

The Egg-Stealer's face bore an expression of shock before Manhattan clamped his jaws shut, beheading the hapless Egg-Stealer.

Manhattan was then struck by a rock thrown by another Egg-Stealer. He picked up the nearest thing he could reach: the Egg-Stealer's bloody head and tossed it at his attacker. "Eat that!" he shouted. He got another rock thrown at him in response. This rock he ducked under.

"Get 'em, Dil!" Icthy shouted, pointing at a rock wielding Egg-Stealer who was prepared to throw it at Theta.

Icthy flew up to the Egg-Stealer and pecked him about the face.

"Damn it! Leave me alone!" the Egg-Stealer shouted, swiping at Icthy.

Icthy then pecked at the Egg-Stealer again, distracting him from Dil. When he spotted Dil, it was too late; she swung her tail at his legs, breaking both his legs with one blow. The Egg-Stealer collapsed and found himself facing Dil.

"Enjoyed that?" Dil asked.

The crippled Egg-Stealer tried to scoot away from Dil but it was no use. Dil quickly caught him and literally ripped him apart.

Another Egg-Stealer tried to stab Theta from behind but Saber ran up to him and broke his spine with a powerful swing from his stone war hammer. As the Egg-Stealer fell, Saber split his head open with his war hammer.

Ozzie chased down a fleeing Egg-Stealer and beat her to death with his rock. He then returned to the battleground looking for more targets.

"I think we've killed most of them!" Theta shouted.

"They'll fight to the end." Hasta said, charging down a fleeing Egg-Stealer and trampling him underfoot. "They won't stop until they die." As Hasta said the word "die" he brought his right foreleg down on the severely injured Egg-Stealer's head, crushing it into an unrecognizable red paste.

Theta was fighting a rock wielding female Egg-Stealer. He quickly knocked the Egg-Stealer down and stabbed her through the heart with his spear. He pulled his spear out, letting his victim bleed to death. Theta heard Nocte call for help. He turned around and saw Nocte double teamed by two spear wielding Egg-Stealers. He ran to assist him but before he could get there, Nocte was run through by one of the Egg-Stealers.

"Consider this our revenge!" the Egg-Stealer said, pulling his bloody spear out of Nocte's stomach.

Nocte dropped his spear and covered the deep wound in his stomach with his hands; his blood seeped through his fingers, dripping on the ground in black droplets.

"You…will…not…live…to…" Nocte gasped. He then vomited up some blood and collapsed to the ground, fatally injured.

Theta glared at the two Egg-Stealers. "You have made the last mistake of your life." He hissed.

"You're next!" the other Egg-Stealer said.

Hasta, Ozzie, Saber and Manhattan attacked the Egg-Stealers along with Theta. Sierra and Rinkus had crept behind some nearby bushes.

One of the Egg-Stealers swiftly parried a spear thrust from Theta and then a blow from Saber's war hammer. The other Egg-Stealer was trying to fend off Hasta's deadly spiked tail and Ozzie's rock. He tried to use his spear to parry Hasta's tail whip but the tail whip snapped the spear in half. The Egg-Stealer gulped and ran but Ozzie chased him down, pinned him to the ground and beat him to death with his rock.

Theta parried a spear thrust from the Egg-Stealer and retaliated with a swift forehand tail whip that broke several of the Egg-Stealer's ribs. The Egg-Stealer grunted from the blow but did not let up. He jabbed at Theta, who did not dodge in time and received a shallow stab wound. Theta swore and jabbed at the Egg-Stealer. The Egg-Stealer parried the spear thrust. At the same time, Sierra and Rinkus burst out of the nearby bushes and grabbed him. They then flew up into the air with their victim.

"What the!? Put me down!" the Egg-Stealer shouted. He jabbed at Sierra with the spear in his right hand. The spear tore a hole in Sierra's right wing.

"Damn it! I'm hit!" Sierra shouted. Another spear thrust tore another hole in his wing.

"Drop him then!" Rinku shouted.

Sierra and Rinkus did just that, dropping the Egg-Stealer from hundreds of feet in the air. The unfortunate Egg-Stealer also landed in a tree, effectively impaling himself on a branch. The shrieking of the severely injured Egg-Stealer resonated around the encampment.

Sierra and Rinkus landed in front of the group.

"Okay now that we've done that now what?" Sierra asked.

"Ransack the encampment and see what they've got." Theta replied.

"Theta, you've been stabbed." Ozzie said, looking at Theta's chest wound.

"It's fine, we'll ransack the camp then we'll deal with injuries."

"You heard Theta! Move!" Hasta ordered

The group split up and began to search the encampment.

Theta and Manhattan went into a passage that led into another clearing. There they encountered Altus who was bearing a long lance armed with a stone tip.

"Hello, asshole. We meet again." Theta said mockingly.

Altus's eyes filled with hatred as he looked past Theta and saw the main section of the encampment strewn with the bodies of his herd members, adults and children, male and female. He then turned his grey eyes, hard as pieces of flint, to Manhattan and Theta. "You slaughtered my herd! You are nothing but monsters. You do not deserve to live."

With that said, Altus immediately attacked Theta and Manhattan. Theta barely had time to parry a ferocious spear thrust. He retaliated with a swipe that left a long slash on Altus's chest. Altus jabbed his spear at Theta again, this thrust was not fully deflected and left another shallow stab wound in Theta's stomach.

Theta swore and used his tail to trip Altus. As Altus fell to the ground and lay on his back, he tried to stab Theta in the groin with his spear. Theta leapt out of the way, allowing Altus to try and get back on his feet. Theta jabbed at Altus who leapt out of the way and moved back a few steps. He kicked dirt into Theta's face to try and slow him down but to no avail. Unfortunately, he stumbled right into Manhattan, who bit Altus's weapon arm.

Altus screamed in pain as part of his arm was torn off by Manhattan's teeth, He dropped his weapon, which Theta kicked aside.

"Well you put up a good fight Altus, I congratulate you. But," Theta then tripped Altus and put his foot on Altus's chest and placed the tip of his spear on Altus's throat. "I can't let you live." With that said, Theta plunged the spear into Altus's neck. Altus gave one last groan of pain as he died.

"Theta! We've searched the whole camp! We're ready to head out." Hasta called.

Theta and Manhattan searched the clearing where they fought Altus but found nothing save Altus's spear, which they took. They then met in the main clearing and regrouped briefly before they headed back to their own encampment.

Several miles away in the meadow of the Night Flowers, Littlefoot's group had harvested the Night Flowers that they needed.

"Thank you." Littlefoot said.

Iquan nodded solemnly. "May your journey home be safe."

With those words having been spoken, Littlefoot and his group headed on the route that would lead them back to the cave..

Far from Littlefoot, Iquan or Theta, on Cloud Island, Rytho, Ed and Vio were asleep in their cave. The Night Circle's watery light bathed everything in a cool white light.

Rytho awoke and woke up his two companions.

"Damn it, Rytho do you always do this?" Ed hissed.

Vio glared at Rytho but did not say anything.

"Quiet." Rytho said, gesturing to the two spear wielding sickleclaw guards outside the cave.

Ed became quiet and listened. "What's the plan?" he whispered.

"We take them out and we look for Ducky."

"Sounds good."

Rytho looked at the two guards and noticed that one faced the interior of the cave and the other faced opposite him. He sighed softly. "One's watching." He whispered.

Ed and Vio looked at each other. "Let's see if we can distract them."

Rytho listened and thought. "I like that idea. Ed, you and I will hide behind these rocks." He gestured to some boulders that were just large enough to conceal them. "Vio, you distract them."

Vio nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Ed, Vio, ready?" Rytho asked.

Ed and Vio nodded.

Ed and Rytho hid themselves behind the aforementioned rocks while Vio walked up to the sickleclaw.

"Get back into the cave!" the first sickleclaw ordered, brandishing his spear.

"I was wondering, did you take position of Cloud Island guard because you can't fight? Or did you take it because you enjoy torturing prisoners?"

The sickleclaw spat at Vio. "You have until the count of five before I rip you apart. One… two…three…four…five!"

Vio stood his ground until "five". At "five" he ran further into the cave.

The sickleclaw chased Vio but as he passed by the rock that concealed Ed; he was grabbed and placed in a chokehold.

"You…" the sickleclaw tried to say.

"Shut it!" Ed hissed as he strangled the sickleclaw.

When the sickleclaw stopped moving Ed placed his body aside and waited for the other sickleclaw to investigate.

Sure enough, after a few seconds the other sickleclaw went into the cave and passed by Rytho who grabbed him and repeatedly slammed him headfirst into the boulder until he lay dead.

Ed looked at the dead sickleclaw in a slowly growing pool of blood and the bloody streaks on the boulder. "Well, it works."

Rytho nodded. "We need to get rid of the bodies. I'll take one. Ed you take the other. Vio you stand guard."

Rytho and Ed then grabbed the bodies of the sickleclaws and dragged them out of the cave. They were on a mountain trail and the moon illuminated the rest of Cloud Island, including the forest several hundred feet below them. However, the fog gave everything a hazy look.

"Well, here goes!" Ed said as he pushed the dead sickleclaw off the cliff.

Rytho did the same. They both watched the bodies of the sickleclaws fall to the leafy ground below. "Okay, let's grab the spears."

Ed and Vio went back into the cave and retrieved the spears from the dead guards. They then joined Rytho and headed down the mountain trail.

After journeying for several minutes, they encountered a cave that was lit by a fire from the interior. Two unarmed sickleclaw guards, one facing inwards and one facing outwards guarded the entrance.

Rytho looked at Vio and Ed. "You know what to do."

Ed and Vio nodded.

Vio ran by the guards, only one of whom gave chase.

Ed and Rytho then attacked the other guard. The guard tried to run but was felled by Rytho's well thrown spear. Ed then ran up to the sickleclaw and stepped on his enemy's throat, killing him. He saw a shape moving towards him and he readied his spear.

"Ed. It's Vio." The shape said. The shape then became visible as it moved closer to Ed and it revealed itself to be Vio.

"Nice work! Where's the other guard?" Ed asked.

"I pushed him off a cliff. I sometimes wonder how dumb these guards are." Vio replied.

Rytho in the meantime had removed his spear from the dead sickleclaw and pushed the sickleclaw's body off the mountain trail. "Well, we're ready to head in."

Rytho and his two companions then headed into the cave. What they saw shocked and horrified them.

"Guys! It's Ducky and Chomper!" Rytho whispered.

"Let's get them out of here." Ed said.

Vio went into the cave and found a sharp rock, which he used to cut Ducky and Chomper free. Ed ran over and helped Ducky to the ground. Vio gently tapped Chomper. "Hey Chomper, You okay?"

Chomper groaned. "Ugh. Damn sleep stories!" He did a double take as he noticed that he was looking at someone he knew. "Vio? What…how?"

"I'll explain later. But, yes, I am Vio." Vio replied.

Chomper grinned. "You're…rescuing us?"

Vio nodded.

At the same time Ducky awoke with a pained groan. "This is a sleep story. It is, it is."

Ed gently rubbed Ducky's neck, about the only area that was not covered in dried blood. "No. It is real. You no longer have to endure this."

Ducky sobbed softly. "Thank you."

Rytho was looking around. "We've got to move."

Ed looked at Ducky. "Can you walk?"

Ducky nodded as she stood up but her steps were shaky. "I'll try."

"I'll help." He then placed Ducky's arm over his shoulder and with his assistance, Ducky was able to walk out of the cave to where Rytho, Chomper, Ed and Vio were waiting.

"Let's move out!" Rytho said.

The group nodded and headed down the rocky trail with Rytho in the lead and Vio at the end.

After a few hours, thanks to having to stop often so Ed and Ducky could rest, they made it to the trailhead at the base of the mountain.

"Where to now? I don't think we can actually get off this island." Vio said.

"The forest." Rytho said. "Any objections?"

The group shook their heads.

"The forest it is." Rytho said. The group then entered the misty forest. As they walked into the forest, they vanished into the mists.

Above them, the first fiery golden rays of dawn could be seen on the horizon.