Chapter 24:

A Miracle?

The female threehorn sniffed.

Cera wished she had never left The Great Valley now. Sure, she'd met Thorn and loved him (in more than one way), but if it weren't for her, at least he'd probably still be alive. She felt at least partially responsible for what had happened to Thorn. She didn't care if it was his selfless decision and him wanting to care for him. Cera still felt that she was at least partially responsible.

If it hadn't been for her damn busted ankle, she could have been able to run away without needing a distraction!

I'm useless, Cera thought. She snorted, and swore steam blew out her nostrils. All I'm good for is getting those I love killed…

She felt tears forming on her eyes. At this point, Cera had all but given up. She just let the tears flow down her face. Cera saw no point to do anything anymore. If she didn't have a goal and friends that cared for her, Cera would probably go out into the wide open, and scream for a sharptooth to come put her out of her misery. She was so confused about everything that had happened. What had she done to deserve being hunted by countless sharpteeth, a busted ankle, almost dying in an earthshake, and then, if all that wasn't bad enough, losing the only dinosaur she'd ever fallen in love with? Cera felt like she was being punished.

Cera looked up at the sky, an angry glare on her face and tears flowing down it. She began yelling, somewhat irrationally. "What I have done to deserve all this? Huh?" She began running around in circles and stirring up the dry dirt, not even caring if it made her ankle hurt more. "What have I done that makes me deserve being hunted by sharpteeth, almost dying too many times to count, and losing the one I love?" She stomped on a ground crawler that was unfortunate enough to have been within range of Cera's tirade. Cera didn't even give it time to prepare to sting her.

"Oh, I'm just talking to stinking air," Cera growled. "There's no one out here to answer me. I may as well get moving. There's nothing here for me."

The threehorn grumbled to herself until she figured out what direction was east again. She had to keep going that way if she ever wanted to accomplish what she had gotten into so much danger for. Just because she had lost all hope didn't mean Cera wouldn't keep going until she had closure. Still, at the same time, she couldn't stop blaming herself for what happened to Thorn either.

Cera sighed. I think I've lost more than just hope, she thought. I don't even know what to believe anymore. Should I keep acting on instinct and what I've learned? Or should I be like the yellow bellies, and not think too hard on things? At this point, Cera felt she had lost her faith too. She had been raised to think things out, but sometimes that could be worse than just doing what your heart told you. But now, Cera didn't know whether to use her brain or her heart to make decisions.

"Faith?" Cera scoffed. "How could any sane dinosaur have faith, hope, or anything positive in a place like this? Death is the only thing that is everywhere in The Mysterious Beyond."

She looked out across the bleak landscape. There were too many things that reminded Cera of death. The dried blood, the bleached white skeletons of dinosaurs, the bone-dry landscape. There wasn't any green food or water that Cera for miles, that Cera could see. Her mouth was so parched, and her stomach growling constantly. She'd found food and water, enough to keep her alive for all these days, but she was still on the verge of going insane over how thirsty and hungry she was.

Will I ever see my friends again? Cera wondered. Are there even looking for me or worried that I have gone missing? Is anyone even missing me?

Cera knew she hadn't exactly been the nicest of dinosaurs growing up. She wouldn't be surprised if there were dinosaurs who didn't care if she wandered into The Mysterious Beyond and got eaten by a sharptooth. At this point, Cera wished that would happen. She had lost all her faith in everything and everyone, and had barely any hope left to keep her going. Even thoughts of Littlefoot didn't determine Cera to stay alive. It was the thoughts of her single goal that kept this threehorn going. Barely, though.

"That cliff looks nice…" Cera said. She approached it and looked over. "Maybe I should just…"

Cera imagined herself "falling" off the cliff. If anyone found her, they would assume it had been an accident. By then, sharpteeth would have picked her bones clean of flesh, though, so maybe no one would know it was ever her. A part of Cera just wandered to disappear from this world and never be heard from again. Cera didn't even find happiness in thinking about all the good times she'd had with her friends anymore. She blamed The Mysterious Beyond's bleak appearance, and all its dangers, for that.

The threehorn stepped closer to the edge. Jumping off was seeming more and more appealing, the more Cera looked below. Maybe should hit her head just right on that boulder and be gone before she felt a thing. She went forward with one foot, then the other…

"Cera!"

"Huh?" Cera backed up and spun around. There was no one behind her, but she could have sworn someone just called her name. It had been a female voice, not unlike that of Tria. Or…

"…mom?" Cera asked. She faintly remembered her mom's voice from her earliest days of life. The voice she'd just heard was reminiscent of it. A cool wind, which was odd for this time of year, blew past her. It seemed to embrace Cera as if it were living. "W-What is going on?"

As quickly as it came, the breeze went east. It was as if it wanted to Cera to follow it. Of course, the threehorn was confused. She'd ever seen something like this before. This was almost unbelievable, she thought. Cera had always been a bit of a skeptic because of her dad, but she believed this, and she ran after the breeze.

"Cera…"

That time, it confirmed what Cera had thought the first time. That was her mom's voice! She'd only heard it twice, maybe thrice, before the great earthshake separated them, but no dinosaur ever forgot their mom's voice. In this moment, Cera forgot all about her hurt ankle, and anything that had made her question her beliefs. Only two things were on Cera's mind: following the voice and her memories of Thorn. The breeze continued to whisper Cera's name. Although she couldn't see it, of course, but something told Cera what way to run, other than hearing that same female voice.

"Wait!" Cera called. It was as though she thought the voice would answer her. It didn't, except by only calling Cera's name out again. Suddenly, the air became warmer again, and the light from the bright circle shown through the sky puffies down on Cera. Just as quickly as the air became warm, the bright circle warmed Cera. It was almost unnatural how quickly Cera felt her body warming.

Cera hadn't been one for believing miracles could happen, but of all those she'd witnessed (whether she knew it or not), this was the one that made her believe. She also believed, with all her heart, the voice that had stopped her from ending it all was her mother. Littlefoot's tale of his mom's spirit guiding them came to her. His mom had watched over him, even after her death, and now Cera's mom had watched over her. Not only had this incident make Cera believe miracles were real, but it also made her believe that loved ones never truly left their family behind after death.

Cera started to cry. But for the first time out here, they were tears of joy. If it hadn't been for (she believed) her mom's intervention, she would have ended her own life. Although her ankle hurt again and she still missed Thorn, Cera had a new outlook on not just life, but her beliefs. There was so much more that she believed, which she had been skeptical of up to now.

She prayed she would see her friends again after her journey was over, and another miracle would happen. Cera hadn't seen what happened to Thorn and his screams hadn't been ones of pain, so there was always a chance they would see each other again during her lifetime. (Which would be a long one, now, thanks to her mom's intervention.) Nonetheless, Cera had never been this thankful before. Not since Littlefoot had made the difficult decision to live with them in The Great Valley instead of leaving with his father, Bron. Cera would have been heartbroken if Littlefoot had left them, but understanding at the same time, of course. She hoped she'd never have to make that kind of decision in her life.

I don't think I'd be able to do it, she thought. I'll admit it, I'm not as strong willed as everyone thinks I am.

Cera blinked her tears away. She wondered how far away from her destination she was. She'd already gone pretty far into The Mysterious Beyond. It couldn't be much further, could it?

"Only time will tell," Cera whispered. She climbed up a sloped rock formation that flattened out on top to get a better view of her surroundings. She'd had enough of just guessing where she was going, and would take advantage of this rock formation.

"Hmmm…"

Cera looked out at the horizon to watch the great circle disappear, but eventually decided to focus on only on looking for the canyon where Pterano led part of the herd to their deaths. It had to be here somewhere, she thought. She couldn't have missed it, could she? There hadn't been any box canyons yet, that Cera knew of. She didn't see any box canyons now, either. Who knew finding it would be so difficult?

She squinted her eyes, but it didn't make much of a difference. Cera sighed. "Maybe I'm not meant to find it after all," she said. "Should I just return to The Great Valley?" It was as though she was actually asking someone, even though she no longer sensed the presence of her mother watching over her. She hoped talking even though there was no one to talk to would bring her mom back to guide her again.

"Please!" she pleaded at the sky again. "I don't know what to do anymore." Then she sounded as desperate as Littlefoot had when they couldn't find The Great Valley years earlier, and he'd been looking for his mom's guidance. "It's just too hard…" Cera started sobbing with her face buried in her paws.

"Cera…" the voice came again, at all.

"Mother!" Cera gasped. She stood up immediately. "Please, give me a sign…I can't do this for much longer."

The bright circle was still half way up in the sky. It was enough for it to shine across the stretch of land below, as if it was forming a path for Cera to follow. When the light stopped, Cera gasped. She couldn't believe what it'd revealed: a box canyon! Needless to say, Cera was ecstatic. More so than she had been any time she could remember from recent events.

This was the best thing she could have hoped for, except for still having to get over there. That would be the hard part, Cera feared, but she was ready to get closure after all this time. If it could even be called that at this point in her journey, with all she'd been through, including losing the dinosaur who would probably never get to know how she really felt about him.

Nonetheless, Cera was ready for to do this. She was too resolute after all what happened just now to just give up. That encounter at the cliff had given Cera a new look on life she'd never thought she would have.

Cera looked for a way down, then cautiously went down the dusty slope. As she did, Cera swore she saw a sky puffy in the shape of a threehorn watching over her. Seeing it gave her a feeling of comfort, as if there was finally someone who would never leave her, no matter what happened next.