Chapter 4

The Cornerstone

Littlefoot rolled his eyes at Cera's spunk before scampering off to find the seed. It had gone pretty far, and he found himself sliding down the bank of a riverbed to find it. During The Days of Rising Waters, that river often overflowed onto the plains, but at the moment it was parched to the point where cracks broke the crusty soil between the water-smoothed stones. The boulders nearing the valley's wall stood on stalks whittled away by the water ... with the exception of one.

A 'Cornerstone'.

Everyone dubbed these stones as such because they could be found at the corners of the valley. Roughly the same size each, they didn't look notably remarkable, except they never changed.

Ever.

Yes, rocks weren't particularly subject to change, but Littlefoot would have expected the rushing water to at least eat away at the Cornerstone a little. Albeit a fascinating little mystery, it paled in comparison to the more exciting aspects of his life. Besides, the world was full of unexplainables. The world was an unexplainable. Why waste time pondering the eccentricities of an otherwise unremarkable rock?

Now, where was that seed? Aha! Next to the Cornerstone ... under that boulder that Grandma and Grandpa described as a 'disaster waiting to happen'. After countless years of corrosion, its base was nothing but a tiny stalk supporting the weight of at least one and a half full-grown longnecks. It stood there, waiting, daring someone or something to disturb its balancing act and send it crashing to the ground. However, it had withstood earthquakes and Rising Waters after Rising Waters. Why would that day be any different?

Littlefoot darted to the rock before inching beneath it to reach the seed. He may not have thought that one little longneck would be the last straw for the tiptoeing rock, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

"What's the hold up?" Cera called from the river's bank.

Littlefoot raised his head to glance at her, wincing when he bumped it against the rock. He honestly thought he'd be less clumsy after all that training.

He opened his mouth to respond when a cracking sound made his blood run cold. He'd barely even touched it!

Crawling from beneath the rock, he hoped it would fall in the opposite direction. No such fortune. He could see the shadow leaning towards him! Once he had the room, his crawl turned to a sprint.

*THOOM!*

He dropped and covered his head with his paws as he heard chunks of rock raining around him, felt them sending tremors through the ground, but ... he was still alive.

Littlefoot looked around to see that the boulder had shattered. It must have hit something, but what? Just ahead he got his answer among the rubble.

The longneck gaped. Even when he heard the debris being shoved aside as someone made their way towards him, he continued to stare.

"Littlefoot!" Cera yelled, having removed the last rock in her path. When he ignored her, she headbutted him in a burst of rage. "What were you thinking, tipping over that 'disaster waiting to happen'! You're the luckiest longneck alive! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

The longneck regarded her with distracted eyes before pointing a paw at the Cornerstone. "Do you see that?"

She followed his gaze. "The Cornerstone?"

"It's three times smaller than the boulder that smashed into it, yet it didn't break. Not even a scratch. They look like they're made of the same type of rock, but- Ow!"

She'd headbutted him again, nostrils flaring. "You're worried about that? We've been through countless life-threatening situations, and I will NOT have my best friend crushed for being STUPID!"

That caught Littlefoot's full attention. "Wait a minute, what was that last part?"

The threehorn raised an eyebrow. "'I will not have one of my best friends crushed for being stupid'."

Littlefoot shook his head. "That's not what you said."

"Don't tell me what I said!" Cera snapped before whirling to leave. "C'mon. Now we gotta find another seed, and I have training to do!"

Littlefoot followed her, deciding that it would be easier to pry a tree sweet from Spike's mouth than to bring out Cera's mushy side when she'd decided to disavow its existence. He glanced back at the Cornerstone. Maybe he'd have a better chance of getting some answers from that thing.

Day 81

Night

"This is the place," Littlefoot stated.

Doc's tremour-inducing footsteps stopped behind the youngster. "A Cornerstone?"

"Yup."

The older longneck examined the scene, noticing the rubble around the Cornerstone. Knowing of Littlefoot's curious streak, and aware of the infamous boulder that was bound to fall sooner or later, he put two and two together.

"It didn't break," Doc commented.

Littlefoot nodded. "Exactly, even though they appeared to be the same kind of rock."

"So you want me to break it? Find out what's inside?" guessed Doc.

Again, the young longneck nodded.

Doc paused. "They say it's bad luck to trouble the Cornerstones."

Littlefoot's face fell. He'd heard about that, and he supposed he should have been more wary after the Saurus Rock adventure, but ...

"But what if that's what we're supposed to think," Littlefoot queried.

Doc stared at him. Maybe, just maybe, the youngster was onto something, even if he hadn't a clue what that 'something' was.

"What are you getting at?" asked Doc.

Littlefoot exhaled in thought. "Honestly? I'm not really sure. You know what those Rainbow Faces said before they left the valley? 'Keep asking questions, it sharpens the mind'. Then they ..." he hesitated, pawing at a rock in mild uneasiness. "I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy, but then again no one who's crazy thinks they're crazy."

"You never gave me reason to think you were crazy," Doc assured. "A bit impulsive maybe, but not crazy. Why would you wonder 'bout that?"

"Well ... because the Rainbow Faces disappeared into the sky!" Littlefoot blurted. "This light just- just came down! It lifted them into some kind of star and then the star flew off into the night!"

Doc squinted at him. "You sure it wasn't a dream?"

"Dreams can be confusing, but the confusion wears off shortly after you wake up. That wasn't a dream! They spoke like they ... knew things: things none of us have ever known! They spoke like they ... weren't ... us."

"Then what do you think they were?"

Littlefoot shook his head in frustration. "I have no idea, and that bothers me! For all we know, they're the ones who brought The Stone of Cold Fire in the first place."

Brow wrinkled, Doc looked to the rock and back to the kid. "And that has to do with the Cornerstone how?"

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't," Littlefoot admitted. "All I know is ... there are things about the world that we don't understand. Big things that we might be better off knowing. The Rainbow Faces are gone and I can't figure out who or what they were, but maybe I can figure out what's up with the Cornerstone ... Will you help me?"

Doc grunted before rearing to his hind legs. "Never believed in luck anyway."

He slammed his heel into the Cornerstone. Perfected over the years, he called it the 'Breaker'. No sharptooth had ever survived it, and for good reason. It shattered boulders much bigger than the Cornerstone in one strike. However, the Cornerstone withstood it without so much as a crack. It didn't even budge. Doc repeated the attack again and again. The Earth shook under his blows, but the boulder remained unscathed.

Littlefoot watched closely for any signs of damage, but in doing so he scarcely noticed a creeping change in the atmosphere. Then he felt it: a tingle that washed over his scales and clustered in his toes, his tail, the tip of his nose. He felt lightheaded. A strange taste was on his tongue. Grandma and Grandpa had warned him of the signs that sky fire was about to strike, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky ... yet it was growing stronger.

"Doc, stop!" Littlefoot cautioned.

The older longneck immediately desisted. "What?"

"The air is getting spiky," noted the youngster.

Doc furrowed his brow before glancing at the sky.

*Klick!* *snap-ap!* *klickedy-klack!* *klackle!*

Littlefoot nearly jumped out of his scales as those foreign sounds met his ears. His gaze flashed to the Cornerstone. The breath froze in his lungs. It had ... opened up! Like a flower ... except it wasn't pretty. With incredibly complex innards that glinted in the moonlight, it didn't even look like a rock anymore! The spiky air crescendoed. It felt almost felt like sharptooth claws attempting to tear him apart!

Jagged bolts much like sky fire leapt across the Cornerstone's gleaming anatomy.

Doc had defensively wrapped his tail around the youngster.

Then it happened.

Even Littlefoot could feel it through Doc's tail. It made no sound, yet he felt it rippling across his nerves like a legion of creepy crawlers. Only for a second. Then he heard another string of clicks and snaps and it was over.

Doc gently unfurled his tail.

Littlefoot scarcely took a breath before he gushed: "What HAPPENED? Are you OKAY?"

The grownup didn't even look at him, his blank stare fixed on no particular thing.

"Doc ...?"

The old longneck began to walk away.

"Doc!" Littlefoot cried out. "Say something!"

Littlefoot rammed the adult's ankle with all his might.

Doc blinked before looking down at him. "Littlefoot? What're you doing up at this hour?"

Littlefoot was shaking. "I- I- I," he gulped, attempting to calm himself. "I- you- the Cornerstone!"

Doc looked concerned. "What about it?"

Littlefoot's eyes darted to the stone. It looked perfectly normal ... but it wasn't. Whatever this was, it had conquered The Lone Dinosaur in one stroke. Who knew what would happen if they pushed their luck?

"C'mon, kid. Talk to me," Doc pressed.

"Ne- nevermind."

Doc turned his attention to the Cornerstone. He stepped towards it with a thoughtful hum. Littlefoot immediately rushed into his path.

"No! Stay away from it! Please!"

Doc reluctantly allowed himself to be herded from the stone. "Fine, but you gotta tell me what's goin' on."

"Nothing!"

"'Nothing's got you shiverin' like The Cold Time," Doc observed.

"I- I'm just cold," Littlefoot lied.

The old longneck gave him one of those stares that were not to be denied.

Littlefoot gave another gulp. "Um ... what's the last thing you remember?"

"The night was pleasant. I decided to take a walk."

Littlefoot couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That- that's not what happened!"

"Okay ... Enlighten me."

"I ... brought you here," Littlefoot struggled to explain. "I asked you to break the Cornerstone to see what's inside. I wanted to know why it's so tough. Then it ... opened up and did something to you! Now you don't remember ..."

Doc stared at the stone with an intensity usually reserved for a sharptooth. Then he raised his foot and looked at the heel long and hard. He could still feel the soreness from his attempts to break the boulder. So, the youngster was telling the truth.

Littlefoot thought Doc would outright attack the Cornerstone, but instead the old longneck started to depart.

"Some things y' just can't fight," Doc explained. "You pick your battles and live to fight another day. Far as we know, the Cornerstones have never caused trouble until someone bothered 'em."

"'Far as we know'," Littlefoot couldn't help but repeat.

Doc gave a dry huff. "Kind of the point. Can't fight what you don't understand. This?" He gestured the stone with his tail. "This is beyond us."

Littlefoot gave a slow nod as he followed the adult.

"Probably best you stay away from those Cornerstones," Doc suggested.

To that, Littlefoot gave a much more fervent nod. He didn't intend to go anywhere near one of those things if his life depended on it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The below stories take place between this chapter and the next one, in order of number.

BONUS STORY 1: 'Surviving a Sharpneck' - Cera tries to prove that she's still the toughest girl in the gang. When she forces her new rival into a showdown, things escalate quickly.

BONUS STORY 2: 'Circle of Death' - What happens when Red Claw finally catches the kids? Will they defy death with the help of a new friend? Or will death have its way in a twist no one could imagine? Things are not what they seem. Rated low T for violence.

Any theories as to what the Cornerstone is? If so, do share in the reviews.

Thanks for reading!