Chapter 25: Into the Black Pits of Despair
"Go, go, go!" Cera cried as the young group of six sprinted down the mountainside of the erupting volcano that they had, only a few minutes ago, escaped via its craterous summit. Within that brief time period of exiting the fiery innards of the violently trembling mountain, it had since exploded at full force, throwing a barrage of molten rock up into the air and a thick billowing cloud of smoke and ash that blotted out the sun as it filled the atmosphere like a floating, rising ink spillage.
"Whoa! Look out Spike!" Ducky warned as a flaming rock shot down and crashed just to the side of the fleeing stegosaurus. Spike yelped and swerved to dodge the incoming hailstorm as he followed Cera, Littlefoot and Kairyn's lead down the mountain; desperate to keep ahead of the constant flow of lava that was giving chase not too far behind them. Petrie was having a hard time keeping up with the group as he ducked and dived in between the raining mortar blasts of flames and rock.
"W-w…wait for Petrie!" the little flyer squawked breathlessly over the deafening rumbles of volcano.
"Petrie! C'mon!" Littlefoot yelled glancing backwards as he ran at full stride. He could see Petrie was having difficulty navigating through the flaming missiles whilst trying to match the speed of the fleeing group.
"Me…trying!" Petrie complained taking a hard bank to the left only to have to switch direction as another rock came crashing down just in front of him. Suddenly, a raining rock shot down from the summit and made a beeline for Petrie's aerial position whilst his back was turned; marked with deadly accuracy. The rock hit its target with bludgeoning force completely knocking the exhausted flyer out of the air.
"Petrie!" Littlefoot cried despairingly as he witnessed his friend tumbled out of the sky and hit the rocky ground. He skidded to a stop which forced Kairyn to do the same.
"Littlefoot! What's wrong?" Kairyn asked trying to find Littlefoot's wide eyes but he was too concerned about his friend to even glance sideways at him.
"Petrie's hurt! I have to go get him!" Littlefoot said before doubling back.
"Wha-what? Hey! Littlefoot!" Kairyn shouted after the longneck. His vision then focused on the continuous storm of rocks that were still slamming down around them and the running flow of lava that was consuming every bit of solid ground between the summit and the distance their evasive dash had made.
Littlefoot was quickly at Petrie's side as he lay unmoving on the quivering ground.
"Petrie! Petrie! Are you alright?" Littlefoot said hurryingly as he checked the little flyer over for any injuries, "Petrie! Please! Say something!"
"Urgh…ouch…" Petrie then winced in reply. Littlefoot sighed in relief but was then shocked to see Kairyn pull up beside him.
"How is he? Is he okay?" Kairyn asked Littlefoot before gazing down on the eagle-spread pteranodon.
"Me hurt all over…" Petrie groaned weakly as he tried to stand but he quickly flopped down as the pain and fatigue overwhelmed him.
"Take it easy Petrie," Littlefoot soothed.
"Err…Littlefoot?" Kairyn slurred nervously, pointing uphill. The lava flow was dangerously close and was still rolling towards them consuming every inch of ground in sight.
"We've gotta help him," Littlefoot said to Kairyn but the boy was already one step ahead of him.
"I'll carry him," he offered scooping the injured flyer off the ground and held him close to his chest, "c'mon! We'd better get outta here! I don't fancy taking a bath in that stuff!"
Littlefoot nodded and the pair of them turned heel and headed back down to the bottom.
A little further down the mountainside, Littlefoot and Kairyn caught up with Cera, Ducky and Spike who had stopped for a moment to recover their spent stamina.
"What happened to Petrie?" Cera asked eyeing him as he lay cradled in Kairyn's arms.
"A flying rock hit him," Littlefoot reported gravely.
"Is he okay?" Ducky gasped leaning closer to get a better look at Petrie as he groaned and wriggled in Kairyn's grip.
"He's a bit banged up but nothing serious I think. Think the shock of it caught him moreso than any physical damage," Kairyn said, "I'll check him over with the bioscanner on my Minicom once we reach a safe spot." At that moment, a huge flaming boulder came crashing down just to the group's left side making them all scream in fear.
"Whoa! Time to go!" Kairyn yelled as he shot off with the others close behind him.
Nearing the bottom of the volcano, the gang were surprised to find themselves running along a network of high walled trenches. The weaving pathways bred a fearful confusion amongst the group as they tried their best to keep their bearings and navigate a way down through the labyrinth of trenches that didn't offer any helpful hints as the right way to go.
"Which way now?" Cera barked as they hit another horizontal T-junction.
"How should I know? I don't spend my free time playing near active volcanoes!" Kairyn bantered back still cradling the wounded Petrie.
"This way! Littlefoot shouted above the two of them as he spied another path a little further along that looked as if it was heading down the mountain. Following his lead, the others took off after him.
"What's with this place? Why all the tunnels all of a sudden?" Cera grumbled as they slid around the corner.
"They're lava channels. Paths carved into the rock at the foot of the mountain by the molten lava from the surrounding volcanoes," Kairyn explained as he ran on, "think of them as riverbeds but for lava flow rather than water." Just as he had finished his explanation, the group rounded another corner but came to an abrupt stop when they found a rolling mass of lava tumbling towards them.
"Oh no! Fire water!" Ducky yelped as Spike backed up giving the leading few enough room to stagger backwards.
"Ahh crap! The lava's caught us up and is already in the channels! We'd better shift it unless we wanna end up cooked!" Kairyn said wincing at the heat and sight of the lava oozing towards them.
"Back this way!" Littlefoot instructed, taking the lead again. Close behind him, Littlefoot steered the gang back the way they came and past a channel they had previous run down which was now flooded with fiery magma and was beginning to spill into theirs. Desperate for a way out, the gang followed the decreasing slope of the mountain until Ducky spied an opening and a change of scenery.
"Lookie! There are the tar pits!" she squeaked excitedly pointing at a break in the solid wall in the trenches.
"Finally! A way out!" Cera sighed. However, their joy was short-lived as they quickly realised a long stream of lava was already flowing out of Ducky's spied exit.
"It's already flooded out," Kairyn grumbled.
"Let's keep going. Maybe there is another one further along," Littlefoot suggested. Unfortunately for the group, every other gully leading out of the maze of lava channels was already occupied by a streaming flow of glowing magma. To make matters worse, they had run themselves into a dead end and the chasing lava flow wasn't too far behind them.
"Great directions Littlefoot," Cera muttered sarcastically. Littlefoot didn't listen as he scanned the high walls for an idea. Sadly, his panicked mind failed to produce anything viable.
"What will we do now? We are trapped and the fire water is getting closer!" Ducky warned. Then, Petrie let out a painful groan.
"You okay Petrie?" Kairyn asked looking down on him as he held him in his arms.
"Big…rock…" the little flyer said weakly but Kairyn only looked at him peculiarly. Reading his expression, Petrie then stretched out his right hand and pointed.
"Use…big…rock…" Petrie said again. Following his skinny finger, Kairyn looked up at the high walls boxing them in. Then he saw what Petrie was signalling to. There was a large boulder sitting on the edge of the channel, threatening to drop in given a strong enough push.
"The rock! Petrie you're a genius!" Kairyn cried jovially as he laid him on Spike's back next to Ducky who instantly wrapped her arms around the flyer.
"Littlefoot! Gimme a boost up!" Kairyn said as he approached the wall and looked up at it. Doing as instructed, Littlefoot stood parallel to the wall and Kairyn quickly hopped up onto his back. Jumping as high as he could, Kairyn managed to grasp the ledge and pulled himself up.
"Oh great! So the whiny human gets to escape while we sit here to get burned alive!" Cera snapped sounding desecrated.
"He's not leaving us here Cera. Look," Littlefoot said smiling as a wave of déjà vu flooded his mind to when he and Kairyn were alone in the canyon. Although they couldn't see him, they could hear Kairyn grunting and straining behind a boulder that was teetering worryingly close to the edge of the gully.
"Just like old times…eh Littlefoot?" Kairyn said making Littlefoot's grin grow wider.
"The fire water is really close now! It is, it really really is!" Ducky warned in a high-pitched tone of fear.
"Come on human! Hurry it up!" Cera ordered.
"Okay…stand back guys. Incoming…" Kairyn said through his struggling efforts. Backing away from where the boulder was scheduled to land, the gang were relieved when Kairyn gave one last shove and the giant rock tumbled into the channel granting them a stepping stone out of danger. Once the dust settled, the gang, one by one, clambered up and out of the lava channel that swiftly became saturated by the fresh flow of magma that had been pursuing them all the way down. The boulder sizzled in the intense heat of the lava and slowly receded into the superheated river as the last of the gang clambered out.
Glad to finally be in a safe spot and out of harm's way, the gang all collapsed on the ground utterly exhausted. Having puffed and breathed their energy levels back up to a state where they could stand again, everyone turned their worried miens towards their incapacitated flying friend.
"Hey Petrie. How are you feeling?" Littlefoot asked softly.
"Me okay. Still kinda hurty though," Petrie said back as he lay with his head in Ducky's lap. Littlefoot smiled then looked over to Kairyn. The second he caught Littlefoot's beseeching eyes, Kairyn dipped his hand into his pocket and produced his Minicom. Flipping the machine open and tapping the screen a few times, Kairyn then ducked next to Petrie.
"Hey Petrie. I'm gonna run a green light over you. It's just a medical bioscanner. Don't worry, it won't hurt but it's gonna give us an idea of what's wrong, okay?" Kairyn told him as gently as he could. Petrie nodded as Ducky released her mothering hold on him and allowed Kairyn to pick him up and place the little flyer gingerly on the ground. He didn't want a scan of Spike as well as Petrie as their fused anatomies would probably have baffled the machine.
"This might tingle a bit, you ready?" Kairyn assured. Activating the scanner, a green gridded beam of light shot out of the hinge end of the device which Kairyn passed slowly up and down Petrie's body. After a couple of sweeps, the Minicom blipped and Kairyn examined the screen.
"What's it say? Is he hurt bad?" Littlefoot asked leaning over towards Kairyn who was busy prodding the screen.
"Suffered heavy blunt trauma around the trapezius area…contusions to back and upper arm muscles…no spinal damage detected…" Kairyn read aloud but remained focused on the Minicom's screen.
"So…is he gonna be okay?" Cera asked pressingly but without anger.
"Bioscanner says he's got some nasty bruising to his back and arm where the rock hit him; that's where his pain's coming from," Kairyn diagnosed snapping the device closed again, "no extensive tissue damage or broken bones so that's good news. I think the strike has dazed and disorientated him a bit but that'll pass. As long as he stays rested, he'll be back to normal in no time."
"Good," Littlefoot said smiling.
"That little green, flashy light told you all that about Petrie?" Ducky asked sounding impressed.
"This is only a minor injuries bioscanner; helpful for small case bumps, scrapes and breaks. It's nothing like the ones used in hospitals but it comes in handy. Dad got me this one from Keltech," Kairyn explained as he slid the Minicom back into his pocket, "as long as one of us is carrying Petrie for a while, he'll be back in the air sooner rather than later."
"So…me no can fly?" Petrie asked in a groggy whisper.
"Not right now Petrie. Kairyn says you need to rest," Littlefoot said as Kairyn picked him up placed him on the longneck's back.
"I will look after him. Yep, yep, yep," Ducky volunteered as she scrambled up Littlefoot's tail to support Petrie. Kairyn nodded, admiring Ducky's unselfish, caring nature. With Petrie's injuries analysed and worries about his well-being quelled, the gang made their way along a narrow path alongside the flowing river of lava and down into the tar pits. With all they had endured so far, the idea of curling up in their beds back home sounded all the more welcoming as they journeyed ever close to the Great Valley.
"This way!" one dinosaur shouted over to the pursuing group of others.
"No! I think it went this way! Over here!" another yelled pointing in another direction.
"Don't lose it! We must make sure we drive it out!" Mr Threehorn bellowed leading the large herd of Great Valley denizens as they searched the area.
"Please! Everyone! Just calm down for a moment," Grandpa Longneck entreated as he approached the riled group of dinosaurs as they meticulously scanned every open patch of ground for their target.
"Not this time Longneck! After what happened last time, there is no way I'm going to allow another intruder get into our Valley and cause more trouble!" Mr Threehorn growled glaring up at the elderly brontosaurus.
"Please Mr Threehorn. I understand that you are upset about the disappearance of your daughter, but we must not act so viciously towards those who enter our Great Valley," Grandpa Longneck pressed, "remember what happened with the Tinysauruses the last time we all when on a hateful rampage?"
"Another dinosaur I could tolerate Longneck. But not another one of those two-footed peace wreckers!" Mr Threehorn scowled, "they have done nothing but bring disaster to our Valley ever since that day they first arrived. And now they've come back, our peace has been disturbed once again and our children have been missing for days; all because of them! I will stand for their interfering with our lives no longer!" Grandpa Longneck sighed in defeat as a number of other Great Valley dinosaurs yelled angry cheers in favour of Mr Threehorn's aggressive means of deterrence. In most circumstances, he had been the peacekeeper of the Great Valley and managed to ensure that rash actions were never promoted as positive means of tackling a situation. But this time, even Grandpa Longneck felt a heavy burdening weight upon his mighty heart about this one. His treasured grandson had been snatched from before his and his partner's eyes and whilst clinging to the optimistic hope that Littlefoot was safe somewhere, somehow; the recent invasion of humans into the Great Valley spurred outbreaks of pain, upset and anger within the Great Valley's peaceful community. Even within a soul as deep and as caring as Grandpa Longneck. Even he felt tainted by the flurry of heated emotions brought on by the reappearance of humans to the Great Valley.
Suddenly, there was a fearful scream which snatched everyone's attention. Mr Threehorn looked up a high rising path heading up and towards the surrounding mountains as a small clutter of pebbles and gravel rolled down the path and stopped at his feet.
"There it is!" Mr Threehorn boomed signalling up the path.
"It's heading towards the High Cliffs!" a male parasaurolophus exclaimed as he watched the human scramble up the path in a panic.
"Let's make sure it gets out and stays out!" Mr Threehorn trumpeted as he started marching up the dusty path. A large chorus of roar and angry cheers filled the air as the search party all filed in behind Cera's father.
"Everyone! Please wait! Let's not be so aggressive! I'm sure we can work something out!" Grandpa Longneck hollered desperately but his tired voice was drowned out by the continuous roars of the group. Knowing his protests would not be heard this time, Grandpa Longneck bowed his head and sighed heavily. On hearing the thundering footfalls of another dinosaur behind him, Grandpa Longneck craned his neck around to find his partner walking up to stand beside him.
"What happened? Did you speak to them?" Grandma Longneck asked.
"I tried dear," Grandpa Longneck sighed, "but they are all much to bitter about the last human invasion to listen to sense."
"Where are they all now?"
"The human was spotted heading towards the High Cliffs near the mountains. Mr Threehorn and the others are ensuring that it is seen out of the Great Valley."
"But the human looked so young. Maybe it was looking for a safe place to stay?"
"I don't know dear. But the Great Valley dinosaurs have made it quite clear that they do not want any more humans in our homeland."
Grandma Longneck sighed just as her partner had. It was evident that, with the kidnapping of Littlefoot, and the disappearance of his friends, humans were never going to be trusted again. With no other options, the elderly pair watched as the pursuing dinosaurs chased the human up the steep path into the mountains. They silently pressed their heads together side by side, in an effort to comfort each other. The loss of Littlefoot had hurt them deeply but they still clung to the hope that they would see him again. Him and his friends.
"Look out! He is right behind us!" Ducky yelped in fear as Littlefoot galloped as fast as he could to keep ahead.
"Holy crap! Where the hell did he spring up from?" Kairyn shouted as he strafed a large boulder in the middle of his fleeing path. Glancing back, he saw the giant maw of the same stalking Tyrannosaurus Rex that had been chasing them their entire journey since Littlefoot and Kairyn first met it in the canyon.
"I can't believe that guy is STILL after us!" Kairyn exclaimed. Failing to acknowledge the road ahead of him, Kairyn's foot kicked a rock which broke his running gait and forced him to tumble down into the dirt. Controlling his roll, Kairyn paused on his hands and knees for a brief second just as the T-Rex let out a deafening roar to accentuate its already looming presence right behind him. Locked to the spot by fear and the piercing roar, Kairyn then saw another figure slide into view between him and the rampaging carnivore.
"C'mon! Get up human! Let's go!" Cera barked as she rammed Kairyn to standing with her nose horn. Snapping out of his trance, Kairyn scrambled to his feet. The T-Rex took a lunge at the pair of them forcing them to leap in opposite directions sideways to avoid being snapped up.
"Whew! Too close! Thanks Cera," Kairyn puffed as he and the triceratops ran alongside each other.
"Yeah well, don't let me have to pick you up off the floor again. I might not do it next time," Cera scorned as she ran at full stride. Kairyn nodded just before the pair of them made another evasive dart laterally to avoid the fallen boulders in their way and the yawning jaws of the predator behind them.
"C'mon guys! Maybe we can lose him in the tar pits ahead!" Littlefoot suggested once Kairyn and Cera were within earshot again. Without an alternative plan, the four sprinters charged down the sloping road and towards their next challenge.
The tar pits were not a welcoming location to enter having just fled from the fiery wrath of the active volcano. Instead of flowing rivers of superheated molten lava, the dank area had now become a crater punched land filled with countless pools of thick, jet black tar that simmered with viscous bubbles that expanded and peeled away as they popped on the surface; leaving a disgusting stench that lingered in the air. Even without the volcanic ash cloud plumed overhead, the sky over these dismal pits seemed to be forever enveloped in a dreary grey overcast of dense, dark clouds that made the land look all the more dangerous and sinister. Having clashed with the lava flows from the surrounding volcanoes, the pyroclastic rocks and debris bent and twisted around the tar pools creating some bizarrely sculpted pathways, bridges and overhangs which the gang used to the best of their abilities to put some distance between them and the chasing sharptooth.
The beast was still tailing them as they weaved their way through the tar pits. Although they were traversing the sullen land at speed, they were doing their utmost to evade the black bubbling pools. A wrongly placed footstep would undoubtedly see them ensnared by the tar and swallowed down whole into its bottomless crater of suffocating muck. Littlefoot hurdled over one pit that he could not steer around forcing a bump that threw Ducky and Petrie up and down as he landed. Ducky let out a frightful yelp as she saw the bounding sharptooth perform the same jump and its crashing footsteps thundered as it cleared the sticky trap. Suddenly, the gang was forced to a stop when they found a wide river of tar stretched straight across their path.
"Ahh crap! Now what?" Kairyn said breathlessly as he scanned the dimensions of the long pit that spanned seemingly infinitely in both directions. Its construct was bizarre by nature since it stretched out a channel like any normal river, but because of the viscosity of the tar, it didn't appear to flow at all. It simply sat still, blowing putrid smelling methane bubbles so thick in texture, it could have possibly even held any one of them without bursting. Not that any one of them wished to test this theory.
"That's too far to jump and we can't walk through it without being dragged down," Littlefoot said puffing sharply. His mind suddenly flashed back as he recalled this tarry river. It was the very same pit he, Spike and Ducky were forced to leap into on their maiden voyage to the Great Valley to save Petrie when he fell in. They almost didn't make it that time so the idea of doing again didn't seem very appealing.
"C'mon guys! What are we doing? That T-Rex is coming up fast!" Kairyn warned feeling the rumbling of the ground as the sharptooth trudged towards them. Then, the weakened Petrie let out a soft moan.
"L…land path…" he whispered.
"What? What's he saying?" Cera asked hurryingly.
"Land…path…" Petrie wheezed again pointing over to their right side, "it where…me fall off Cera…when me no could fly…" Ducky followed Petrie's finger and instantly understood. The wave of remembrance of her role in rescuing Petrie from the tar pit all that time ago replayed in her mind and the scene suddenly became recognisable again.
"Lookie there! The land path over the pit! Over there!" she squeaked. The gang all followed her signal to a bridge of fused pyroclastic rock that arched over the river of tar. There was a gaping hole in the middle of the irregularly formed bridge which Cera guiltily recalled how she had jeopardised her friend's life. She had made the jump but was completely oblivious to Petrie's tumble into the murky pit and subsequently left him as he battled to keep his head above the tar which began to pull him down the second he touched it. Shaking the silent guilty thought from her mind, Cera made a start for the bridge.
"Let's go already!" she ordered just as a bellowing roar shot out at them. All looking round behind them, they all gasped when they saw the pursuing sharptooth suddenly within pouncing range. They all dove to the right as a low lunging bite came down on them. Just missing Spike as he rolled out of the way, the T-Rex then tried its hardest to counterbalance its over emphasised attack before it landed face first in the bubbling tar pit. Unable to completely pull back in time, the giant beast felt its leading foot drop into the black muck but managed to yank it back out again before the tar got a chance to apply its dragging force. Growling lowly, the sharptooth glanced over to the right as it shook the sticky substance from its dipped foot and saw the children making a dash for the broken bridge. Roaring aloud again, it quickly gave chase as they began to climb its slope.
"Uh oh! Here he comes!" Kairyn warned. The crashing footfalls grabbed his attention while he awaited his turn to jump the break in the path.
"Hold on tight Ducky," Littlefoot said as he steadied himself to make his jump. Ducky wrapped one hand around Littlefoot's neck and the other around Petrie.
"We are ready Littlefoot. Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky announced. With a short sprint, Littlefoot made a clean sail as he cleared the hole and landed on the other half of the path.
"Come on Spike!" Littlefoot signalled across to the other side. The hefty spiketail took his turn and landed safely albeit a little clumsily. Kairyn hastily followed up with a dash and leap that almost overshot him into Littlefoot and Spike spectating on the second half of the bridge.
"All yours Cera!" Kairyn then shouted over but he took a second glance when he saw Cera frozen to her spot. She looked terrified.
"Cera! C'mon! What's the hold up?" Kairyn hollered over to her but she didn't seem to hear.
"What is wrong with her?" Ducky asked anxiously.
"Cera? What's the matter…? Cera!" Littlefoot called out but still she didn't move. Cera was firmly rooted to the ground. She gazed down over the edge into the bubbling tar below, frozen solid. Her mind flashed back to when she was last here. She saw herself in exactly the same position. She was younger but was cocky, confident and proud; feeling the bridge shake and shudder as she prepared to jump. Petrie was clung to her neck whimpering feebly. He rolled onto her leg as she ducked to launch herself over the gap. As she did, Petrie lost his grip on her and fell like a limp leaf into the tar below. She carried on without a care in the world almost glad that she was on her own again. She didn't need anybody. She could take care of herself.
"Back then…Petrie almost didn't make it…because of me…I-…I left him behind…" Cera's mind echoed, "I was so stubborn back then; I didn't care that I almost lost one of my best friends. I led them here…into danger…and they almost………all because of me…I went the wrong way…and endangered them all…" Cera's conscience was torturing her with replay after replay of her selfish actions that nearly got them all killed the previous time they walked this path. Her arrogance nearly saw Ducky and Spike burned alive by molten lava, Petrie almost drowned in tar and she, herself, was almost beaten to within an inch of her life by skull bashing dinosaurs that tracked her down into the caverns further down the road. All that needless threat of life, all because she was too proud to admit she had made a mistake. The realisation crippled Cera into a quivering statue staring down into what could have potentially been Petrie's grave.
"Cera! …Cera! For God's sake! Jump!" Kairyn yelled.
"Cera! CERA!" Littlefoot cried out despairingly. She was in a world of her own and the sharptooth was right behind her.
"It's my fault…I'm so sorry guys…" she whispered hoping that they were hear her but they were too busy yelling at her to jump over to notice. Suddenly, a voice spoke out to her that made her snap out of her self-punishing trance.
"Cera! Please…" it called to her. She recognised it instantly.
"Petrie?"
"Cera! Quick! You gotta jump! Me no wanna see you get hurt," Petrie said, his voice strained and weary. Cera looked up and across to her friends standing on the opposite half of the bridge. Petrie was beckoning to her from atop Littlefoot. He sounded drained but his eyes were wide and fearful. Petrie's voice seemed to quell the tormenting thoughts fogging Cera's mind. She snapped a glance behind as the sharptooth made its first step onto the bridge. It shook unhealthily; the underside crumbling under the massive weight of the beast as it approached Cera. In that moment, her rigid muscles slackened just enough for her to prime her jump.
"Jump Cera!" Petrie cried out one last time. Honouring his request, Cera took a few steps before leaping as far as she could. The flight was flawless and physically unchallenging for the threehorn but she landed before her friends panting hard as if she'd run a marathon just to get to the gap.
"Took your sweet time," Kairyn said smugly. Cera glared at him but didn't say anything. He wouldn't have understood the emotional turmoil that that single jump had bred inside her. Somehow, just hearing Petrie's voice and seeing him in Ducky's arms gave her enough respite to console her guilty conscience. Suddenly, another roar snatched their attention as they quickly realised that the T-Rex had made the jump but without hesitation.
"Look out!" Littlefoot shouted as the airborne sharptooth's leap threatened to come down direct on top of them. Turning tail, they all fled as the beast came crashing down on their side of the bridge which did not support the impact of its landing. The pyroclastic rocky structure crumbled with the force of the landing allowing the sharptooth and the gang to fall down towards the pit. Fortunately, Spike, Littlefoot and Kairyn managed to get to the bank just as the bridge collapsed. Cera however, who was bringing up the rear, did not get the chance to reach for solid ground as she and the sharptooth plummeted into the tar pool.
"Oh no! Cera fell-ed in!" Ducky squealed in horror, watching Cera paddling madly in the thick black muck.
"Help! Get me out!" Cera screamed, coughing as the foul tasting tar flooded her mouth whilst she struggled to move. She could already feel the glutinous liquid constricting her limbs and dragging her down. Not too far behind her was the sharptooth who was also writhing in the tar's grimy clutches. For the first time since it gave chase, it seemed to be more concerned about its own well being rather than seizing its targets.
"Cera! Grab my tail! Quick!" Littlefoot ordered as he reversed back into the tar pool to get as close as he could without being sucked in. Cera tried her best to reach for Littlefoot's offered lifeline but her front legs were pinned under the increasing weight of the pulling tar. The pressure pushing against her body was making it extremely difficult to even breathe.
"She's gonna go under! C'mon Cera! Grab on!" Kairyn cried as he watched her slowly slipping deeper. Cera made one last lurching snatch at Littlefoot's tail which was bobbing on the surface like a baited fishing line. With her feet bound under the tar, she threw her head forwards as far as she could and clamped her mouth down on Littlefoot's tail. Littlefoot yelped in pain but he was relieved to have made contact with his friend. Taking Littlefoot's hurting scream as an adequate signal, everyone leapt forwards to help pull Cera free from the tar pit. Spike and Kairyn held onto Littlefoot as the longneck tugged with all his strength. Ignoring the throbbing pain pulsing in his tail, he could feel Cera edging towards him. Slowly but surely Cera could feel her body becoming more mobile as her friends strained hard to pull her out. Once her front feet were free again, she threw them onto the bank as Littlefoot inched her closer and with one last effort, everyone grabbed any part of the floundering threehorn they could and tore her out from the tar and onto dry land.
Puffing and wheezing, the gang all looked at each other, finally relieved to have cheated death and defied danger yet again.
"Whew! Jeez! I really thought we weren't gonna win that one…" Kairyn sighed perched on his backside on the ground, flicking specks of tar from off his hands.
"Yeah…thanks guys. I owe you for that," Cera said once she'd gathered enough breath to speak again.
"What happened up there Cera? You completely froze," Littlefoot asked looking worried. He could tell that something had really hit her hard for her to be cemented to the spot like that. It was very unlike her not to act on a situation once it presented itself. Cera bowed her head and sighed. A threehorn normally always hit a problem head on with no hesitation but her friends could see past that proud prowess and knew that she was trouble. Before Cera could utter a word to reply, a familiar roar erupted from behind them. Glancing back at the tar pit, they could see that the monstrous sharptooth was still trapped in the tar and was still battling to free itself. It had already sunk down to its waist and appeared to be sinking further still.
"Man…I almost feel sorry for poor guy," Kairyn said watching the T-Rex as it growled in frustration.
"Well you can pull him out if you want but I think we should get out of here," Cera then said making for the path ahead, "I'm not waiting around for him to feed on me."
"Hey! I said almost okay? I ALMOST feel sorry for him," Kairyn retorted as he followed the gang towards the caverns. As if to beseech to the group, the sharptooth let out one last roar as it watched its prey hurrying away again but they didn't listen. They headed onwards leaving the doomed predator to its grim fate.
As the group moved on, greatly relieved to have shaken off their stalker and happy now to be travelling at a much more relaxed pace, all eyes dropped on Cera as she walked in between the others with her head hung low.
"Wh-what? What are you all staring at?" Cera then barked when she realised the others were gazing at her.
"What happened back there Cera? You just didn't move," Littlefoot asked cautiously.
"Yeah. I haven't known you for very long but you completely locked up on that bridge. That doesn't seem like something that comes naturally from a girl like you," Kairyn piped in.
"It's- uhh…it was nothing…I'm fine now. Let's not worry about it," Cera said hurryingly trying to dodge the conversation.
"But we are worried Cera. You looked really scared," Ducky said soothingly.
"I…I- err…I wasn't scared… I was just- erm…" Cera babbled but not even her pride could mask this deep a feeling. With a defeated sigh, Cera stopped and the others huddled around her.
"I…I don't know what happened. Just this, whole place, made me think of our first journey to the Great Valley. When I led Petrie, Ducky and Spike through here and into danger," Cera began. She angled her eyes away from any faces but she could feel their worried stares burning into the back of her neck.
"Because of me, Ducky, Spike and Petrie nearly…" she trailed off. The gang shuffled uncomfortably as the silent dropped in. Neither of them could think of anything to say in that moment.
"I was so stupid…so selfish to lead my best friends into such horrible danger. But I just didn't care…and even when I was in trouble myself…you all came to rescue me. Even though I left you."
"We came to rescue you because you are our friend Cera," Ducky then said smiling at her. This made Cera finally look up as Littlefoot pitched in.
"Yeah. Believe it or not, you've changed since then Cera. You're not that kind of threehorn anymore. And you're our best friend; of course we were gonna come and rescue you," he said smiling also. Spike hummed and nodded, giving Cera a friendly lick just to emphasise his point. Cera giggled and offered a smile of her own.
"Thanks guys," she sighed gratefully as with a final nod each, they continued on their way.
"Do you really think I've changed since then?" Cera then asked.
"Oh yes, yes, yes!" Ducky said enthusiastically which made the threehorn smile, feeling appreciated.
"Well, you still get mad kinda quick," Littlefoot then said.
"What? I do not!" Cera snapped back; that swell feeling of appreciation instantly destroyed.
"Yeah you do. What about that time when we were hunting for the Tinysauruses and you got mad when I was asking you about your dad and Tria when she first came?" Littlefoot bantered smirking, "you got so mad you actually chased me!"
"You had that coming! You were asking too many questions!" Cera barked.
"And you still kinda bossy. Telling us what we do all the time," Petrie piped in from Ducky's securing hug.
"I am NOT bossy! You guys just don't know what to do so I tell you!" Cera retorted.
"And you argue all the time. Even when you don't have to," Littlefoot said grinning even wider.
"I DO NOT ARGUE!" Cera growled.
"You're arguing now," Kairyn said.
"You stay out of this human!" Cera shot at him.
"You always call me that. Do you actually know my name?"
"You? Uhh? It's…Ohh! Who cares! You're not important enough to remember anyway!" Cera barked.
"Ohh…that's cold Cera. Uncool," Kairyn said laughing.
"Okay that's enough! Will you guys quit picking on me?" Cera shouted. The gang all laughed aloud as they continued onwards towards the underground caverns. Their bond of friendship tested and reinforced.
"Hey guys! Remember when Cera wanted to go first on that vine over the canyon when we went to get Ducky from those flyers?" Littlefoot then said.
"Littlefoot! Don't you dare!" Cera shot interjectionally forcing the gang to erupt into another fit of laughter.