CHAPTER 6: THE GREAT ERUPTION PART 2
The Great Valley was continuing to get shaken by the earthquake like it had never before,the only time the dinosaurs had experienced an earthquake of this magnitude was the Great Earthquake that separated them and their hatchlings when they were on the way to the Great Valley. Littlefoot had just now finally managed to find his grandparents as he called out in a mixture of fear and relief "Grandma! Grandpa!" to which the latter happily greeted his grandson "Oh Littlefoot,we're so glad you're safe. We were worried we wouldn't be able to find you."
"What's happening?! Is this ever gonna stop?!" cried out Littlefoot in fear only for Grandma Longneck to reply with uncertainty and concern "I wish I could answer that Littlefoot. There hasn't been an earthshake like this since-"
"Look out!" Grandpa Longneck suddenly interrupted as he pushed Grandma out of the way of a falling tree to which she happily showed her gratitude "Oh thank you dear." before continuing more stern and serious "We must find some kind of shelter,if this continues on we don't know what could happen." to which she and the rest of her family proceeded to look for shelter.
Meanwhile back underground,things were getting more and more violent as waves of lava started breaking through the walls and steam started piling up from the cracks in the ground. It was clear that the entire place could blow up at any moment and the herd had to make sure they found shelter as soon as possible.
Maul had now managed to get the rest of the herd to shelter,well almost the entire herd since Crystal and Marie were nowhere to be seen as he loudly called out "Marie! Crystal! Answer me where are you!" before a familiar voice responded from behind "I'm right here!" to which Maul turned around with relief to see Crystal landing on the ground.
"Oh there you are,we have to get to shelter." greeted Maul in relief as he and his mate rubbed their heads against each other before he suddenly noticed that his daughter was missing as he nervously asked "Wait where is Marie?!" to which Crystal lied in response "Don't worry she's in a safe place! I made sure of it."
"Are you absolutely sure she's safe? Because this place could blow up any second now." questioned Maul with deep concern for his daughter only for Crystal to give a silent stare that insisted she was telling the truth to which Maul grunted while he and his mate flew off to safety "I hope you're right."
Marie flew up the mountain as fast as she could and even though she was never the best flyer of the herd,she still did her best to fly through all the debris,lava and boiling hot steam that was breaking through the walls and caverns,and panted heavily in fear as she dodged all the obstacles in her way to the best of her ability. As the lava from behind her started to rise faster and faster and faster,she started to wonder where the way out even was until she suddenly spotted a faint orange light up ahead,it was very faint but she now knew she was almost out because it was getting increasingly brighter the closer she got.
"Come on!" shouted Marie in determination as she almost seemed to speed up towards the exit and soon with one final push towards the light,she had finally made her way out of the top of the mountain that she and her herd unknowingly lived under,and she was now in the long fabled world of the surface. She almost seemed to be blinded by the bright light before her eyes managed to readjust,and time felt like it had slowed down to a crawl as she got a quick view of the landscapes,keyword a very brief one as it was quickly followed by the mountain suddenly exploding into a towering burst of fire and brimstone from below that knocked her out of orbit and sent her crashing to the world below.
The eruption shook the land in a way that not even the earthquake that preceded it could match as tidal waves of ash and debris slid down the mountain,and the residents of the Great Valley felt it just as hard since it felt like the ground was gonna burst open from under them. Littlefoot was almost knocked off balance by the sudden whiplash and his ears briefly rang as he and his grandparents turned around to see a mushroom cloud looming over the horizon,much to their shock and awe.
"Oh my!" stammered Grandpa Longneck in shock of the sight before him followed by Grandma adding equally as baffled "I can't believe this. It seems like this is happening far The Mysterious Beyond but I've never seen anything like it." to which Littlefoot fearfully whimpered "Is that a smoking mountain?"
"I think it may be so Littlefoot,but this is one unlike anything I've ever seen." answered Grandpa Longneck in a truly awestruck tone much to his grandson's fearful amazement,and it was soon clear that they weren't the only ones who saw it as many more herds started joining them in gawking at the sight including most of the elders. They all murmured amongst themselves in concern for their Valley and if it would survive such an event,even though the actual eruption was in The Mysterious Beyond.
Marie was hopelessly flailing towards the ground as she tried desperately to regain control of her wings,but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't find a way to get back into a flying formation as she hit the ground with a loud thud and rolled down the hills of the mountain. Lava was pouring down the sides and flaming rocks shot up from the top like snakes from a prank can.
After Marie managed to stick out her claws and use them to slow down her descent down the hills,she turned her head around to see what was happening to the mountain behind her only to see a flaming rock heading straight towards her at incredible speed to which she desperately held out her wings in a panicked attempt to shield herself,only for her world to quickly go black.