Chapter 10

Petrie's Hero

Sharpteeth were a superstitious lot.

Etched in the fledgling legends of their most recent history was The Daybreaker: a wrathful wraith who haunted the hunts of the fiercest. He was far too fast, far too cunning, far too omniscient to be a flyer of flesh and blood. In their minds, he was nothing short of a curse. What they didn't know was that The Daybreaker Curse was multi-faceted.

There once was a flyer known as Pterano, all but forgotten by those so unfortunate as to know him. By his fault, an entire herd met their end at the jaws of sharpteeth. By his fault, five children nearly died in his pursuit of alleged power bestowed by The Stone of Cold Fire. Banished to The Mysterious Beyond, shunned by all, his only companion was guilt, smothering guilt, and there was no height great enough, no land far enough for him to soar to and therefore escape the weight of his actions. One day, the sight of a sharptooth pounding after prey caught his eye from the skies. At once, all the talons tearing at his conscience focused on a new victim. He plunged from the heavens, scarcely slowing as the ground grew near. All the sharptooth saw was a silhouette pounce from The Bright Circle, screeching a cry with no context except the darkest of nightmares. Talons met scales. The sharptooth fell. Without even looking back, the predator scrambled to his feet and raced for the hills. Before the leafeaters could breathe their thanks, the flyer had shot back into the sky. He didn't deserve their praise. He didn't want it. He was no hero. The splitting pain in his leg, now limp after the impact? That he deserved, yet he scarcely took heed of it except to think up the best ways of attacking while his bone healed. Attack he did, again and again and again, using his spare hours to do little aside patrol for sharpteeth and hone and improve agility-based combat usually reserved for courtship. In his mind, there was no family to return to, no one to miss him, nothing to lose.

There was only his penance, and come what may he would fulfil that penance 'till the day he died.

As word spread among the sharpteeth, there were times when the mere sight of him was enough to send them packing. However, there were other times ... times when he was too slow ... times when sharpteeth accelerated their hunts, hoping to deprive him of any reason to fight ... times when he could only watch ... and rewatch ... and rewatch as his failures peppered his nightmares.

Today was different.

Today Petrie, the only one with a slither of esteem for Pterano, had wandered into The Mysterious Beyond. Today, all his friends were with him, and Red Claw was about to initiate the final stages of a hunt. Today, his nephew alone would survive to witness his failure.

Nonetheless, he screeched in the face of fate.

"RED CLAAAAW!" Pterano raged. "NO ONE DIES TODAY!"

The longneck was smiling.

Red Claw's fury dialled to eleven. There was nothing to smile about! No ploy, no hope, no escape. After years of evading his teeth, the longneck and his annoying little friends would get what they deserved!

One would have thought Red Claw understood The Daybreaker's declaration, because his roar was the exact antithesis:

EVERYONE WOULD PERISH THAT DAY!

Perhaps it was the adrenaline. Perhaps he'd cracked under the stress. Either way, Littlefoot's mind was in a peculiar zone of calm and absolute intensity. It was like the eye of the storm that was Roaring Sky: a fleeting reprieve before the elements burst forth once more. He wasn't scared. He wasn't angry, but he had come to an unshakable decision.

Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper, Skip, Pterano:

They would all live that day!

Well, maybe all except two ...

Instead of continuing to rise, Littlefoot dropped into a sideways roll just as the sharptooth's jaws snapped at his head.

Red Claw kept coming. Nothing would stop him from having his prey! NOTHI-!

His head jerked up as the longneck's tail met his chin mid-roll, allowing him to glimpse The Daybreaker's speedily approaching silhouette for the briefest of moments.

Then pain raced across his face.

Half his vision went black.

The Daybreaker had passed, his talons leaving their mark.

Red Claw unleashed a livid roar before the air blasted from his chest as Cera rammed him. His claws raked earth as she pushed him backwards. The tyrant was lunging down for a bite when Chomper's teeth seized him from the side and yanked him away. Jaws and horns worked in tandem as Cera and Chomper hurled Red Claw closer to the cliff's edge.

Perfect.

Littlefoot sped to his feet and charged just as Red Claw knocked aside Cera and flung Chomper with his jaws. The tyrant was bracing to meet the incoming Littlefoot when Pterano struck again. This time, Red Claw managed to jerk away, but the attack had nicked him, leaving his one good eye watering profusely. Through the tears, Red Claw could make out the longneck's tail blazing towards him.

Cracks of thunder pounded the air as Littlefoot unleashed melee, forcing the sharptooth past the ledge's fault line.

Red Claw snapped about wildly until, half by chance, he managed to catch the tail in his teeth. He rolled much like a belly dragger, hoping to break the longneck's weapon.

Littlefoot wilfully rolled with him, nullifying the effort.

Both fighters sprang to their feet and Littlefoot immediately threw a headbutt before crashing into the tyrant with all his might.

Red Claw wouldn't let go. Wouldn't even budge. Thrashing and twisting, he was determined to deprive Littlefoot of his tail.

*FOOM!* *FOOM!*

What was that crazy Longeck up to?!

Red Claw's blurred vision yielded just enough of the answer to see Littlefoot pounding away at the ground. The tyrant was at a loss until he felt loud cracks ripping the rock under his feet.

The longneck was destroying their footing!

Before much could be done, the chunk of earth on which the giants stood began to tear away from the cliff.

Littlefoot tried to twist free. Chomper latched on with his jaws and tugged the longneck as best he could.

Red Claw held fast, yanking with all his might. They would go down TOGETHER!

Cera's bellow defied him.

Red Claw sensed someone racing onto the collapsing ground. Who would be insane enough to join them?! A mass of amber filled his vision before he made out horns and enraged emerald eyes rearing towards him.

The tyrant's jaws jarred loose as Cera dealt his skull the most savage headbutt she had loosed to date.

Cera's face lit up as she watched a liberated Littlefoot lurch to safety. Then her smile fell ... as did she. The ground had completely broken free of the cliff. Her mind raced as gravity's greedy claws dragged her and Red Claw to their doom. Part of her always figured she would meet her end some day in a gloriously epic way. Apparently, that day had come.

But she wasn't ready yet.

Uncharacteristic thoughts crept in. What would happen when she hit the ground? Would things go black for good? Would she simply cease to be, or would something terrifyingly mysterious follow? Perhaps she should have dedicated more of her life to finding out: Asked someone, anyone, until she was absolutely certain that the answer had availed itself.

Cera had no idea Who she was talking to, but she mouthed her desire nonetheless: "Please ... I'm not ... ready yet."

Not a moment later, Pterano's feet clamped around her crest and his mighty wings wrestled with gravity.

She stared up at him incredulously. He had to be one third her size, maybe less! She'd barely fallen a few feet, scarcely begun to accelerate, but there was no way he could-!

Much to Cera's amazement, Red Claw continued to fall.

She didn't.

Still flying up the cliff's side, a gawking Petrie barely paid attention to Red Claw plummeting by as he watched Pterano halt Cera's fall, flapping furiously.

With a broken squawk, Pterano pooled every ounce of his strength into heaving Cera back to the edge. It wasn't enough, but Littlefoot managed to hook his tail under Cera and yank her the rest of the way.

The threehorn was dragged a safe distance from the edge before Littlefoot released her.

A brief lull fell upon them all as Cera lay petrified, mind spinning.

"You okay?" asked a panting Littlefoot.

"Um ... I ... I, uh ..." Cera gulped. "I'm fine."

He threw his tail around her in elation, realising how half-baked an idea it was when the soreness hit hard.

"Okay, ow," the longneck exclaimed.

Petrie was just in time to join Chomper, Ducky and Spike as they hurled themselves onto the two in a group hug ... or was it a dogpile? After all they'd been through, a dogpile was much more cathartic.

Littlefoot repressed what would have surely come out as an unbecomingly high-pitched squeal of pain. Then a steadily growing giggle effervesced from the heap of dinosaurs.

The boys exchanged confused glances before looking at Ducky.

"That's not me," she stated.

"Well, that can't be Cera!" Chomper declared. "Cera doesn't giggle, and if she giggled, it definitely wouldn't sound like that!"

Suddenly, Cera burst from the heap of friends and pranced about in a happy dance.

"That. Was. EPIC!" she laughed. "WOO! You guys were awesome! I'm gonna tell my grandkids about this!"

Pterano perched nearby, the growing warmth in his chest bringing a rare smile to his face. Everyone lived.

A series of dull thuds followed by a boom met their ears.

Cera raced to the edge with the others in tow.

There lay Red Claw at the foot of the precipice, motionless. Moments passed before he surged to life, snarling and snapping as though his mind were still stuck in the action.

Cera blinked in surprise. "He survived?"

Littlefoot exhaled. "I'm not surprised. He's Sharptooth's son."

Her eyes snapped to him. "Sharptooth? As in THE Sharptooth?"

Red Claw's roar interrupted them. Did they think that was it, he demanded? Did they think they could come to his territory, make a fool of him and retreat to their safe, little valley? He told them to look around, remember all as it was, and despair! In precious few years, their world would crumble! It would crumble in ways they could never imagine! When the stars fell and the valley's walls came crashing down on their heads, all The Mysterious Beyond would march forth to partake of The Great Feast! He would personally lead the charge, and there was no plan, no power, no place on the face of the land that could possibly save them from his-!

The tyrant was cut short by an incredibly obnoxious noise that seemed to go on forever.

All eyes fell on Cera. With tongue outstretched, she continued to let loose the loudest raspberry they had ever heard, and the cliff acoustics were perfect! Once done, she smiled down at the sharptooth, whose jaw hung in flabbergasted outrage. She could vaguely make out his chin quivering as he tried to retort, but no sound came out.

With a snort, Cera turned and kicked some dirt over the edge as though Red Claw were an unmentionable better buried than exposed to the world.

Skip's hysterical laugh rang out nearby.

"C'mon!" she called, running ahead of the others. "Let's get outta here before he thinks up a good comeback!"

Sure enough, Red Claw's roars and snarls erupted from the bottom of the cliff, but Littlefoot couldn't make out a thing he said.

Chomper caught the longneck's clueless expression and shook his head. "No, Red Claw's not actually saying anything. He's just so angry that it's all coming out gibberish."

Cera keeled over in laughter.

The threehorn gushed on about the battle as they travelled home, leaving few chances for anyone to get in a word edgewise. Well, except Skip, who could be a second-to-none motor mouth when he felt like it.

Above them, Pterano circled, scanning for sharpteeth. Petrie did the same, although he wasn't scanning the landscape so much as he was scanning Pterano. He almost wouldn't have recognised his uncle. Never had Petrie seen such lean but powerful muscles on a flyer, even if some of the bones beneath them appeared to have been broken, never again to heal quite the same way. Though his body was weathered by countless battles, Pterano's eyes were sharp and alert as though his mind were perpetually perched on the edge of combat. His smooth voice had grown rather ragged from constant battle cries, not that Petrie had heard much of it since their reunion. The Pterano Petrie knew would have been all talk about the many heroic feats he was sure to have lived. This Pterano hadn't said a word since the fight. Petrie sensed that the old Pterano was broken, perhaps even dead. Part of Petrie mourned him. Another part admired his uncle more than ever.

This Pterano was better. Somehow broken, somehow better.

Petrie flinched as Pterano's piercing gaze flicked to him.

"It's best we circle at a distance," Pterano suggested. "That way, our eyes can cover more ground."

Petrie's heart fell. "You ... don't want to be near me?"

"Oh, no, no! It's not that at all!" Pterano insisted. "On the contrary, I don't think I'm the kind of flyer to whom you should be near."

"But ... but Uncle ..." Petrie protested.

Pterano looked him up and down, a proud, crooked smile lifting his beak. "My boy, you have grown marvelously! Brave, noble, every bit the looker I was in my day!"

Petrie blinked as his heart swelled with the affirmation achievable by few but a father.

Pterano's smile fell a smidgen as he averted his gaze. "Please, believe me when I say you don't need me around to botch up the life of a fine young flyer."

A flustered Petrie stuttered a reply. "B ... b-but ... you-!"

"Hey, Daybreaker!" Cera called from below. "I forgot to thank you! You were awesome back there!"

Pterano's eyelids fluttered in perplexity before he projected down to her. "'Daybreaker'? Why do you refer to me as such?"

"'Cause Littlefoot says that's what Red Claw called you!" she replied. "Chomper taught him to speak sharptooth! You're, like, a legend! Even Red Claw seems to think that!"

Pterano raised an eyebrow, more surprised by her praise than his apparent status as a legend.

"I never thought her to be the complementing type," Pterano remarked.

"Um, yeah," Petrie agreed. "She's changed a bit over the years ... same as you, but not as much."

Pterano declined to reply.

"If Cera thinks you're great, trust me: you're great," Petrie assured.

"Hm," Pterano grunted indifferently. "She, Littlefoot and ... um ... the friendly sharptooth whom I don't recall meeting."

"Chomper."

"Ah, Chomper. They all seem to have acquired proficient combat capabilities. Who trained them?"

"Doc, also known as 'The Lone Dinosaur'. Mr. Thicknose too," Petrie added. "As a sharptooth, their training doesn't work perfectly for Chomper, but he just picks up fighting skills by sparring with them anyway. He's talented like that."

Pterano furrowed his brow in fascination. "'The Lone Dinosaur'? I thought him to be a myth."

"You mean like a flyer who fights sharpteeth?" smirked Petrie.

The older flyer nodded. "A valid point."

"Littlefoot, Cera and Chomper did all the work," Petrie stated. "Ducky, Spike and I could only watch."

"That Littlefoot is wise beyond his years," commented Pterano. "You were wise to follow his advice. If he, Cera and Chomper can match might and wits against Red Claw, few sharpteeth will stand a chance against them once they have reached adulthood."

"But we're not fully grown!" Petrie argued. "We almost died today! If not for you-!"

"I would recommend staying in the valley until your Times of Great Growing end," Pterano interrupted.

Petrie frowned. Pterano seemed to be preempting him. Nonetheless, he pressed to the point.

"Speaking of 'times', your banishment ended not too long ago," Petrie noted. "You could come back to The Great Valley!"

"True, although my niche lies in The Mysterious Beyond," countered Pterano.

Petrie didn't know what a 'niche' was, but it didn't matter. "After today, I think the rest of us need training."

"Hm," Pterano grunted again.

"I think I need training."

No reply.

"What I'm trying to say is could you-?"

"Well, I best be off," Pterano interrupted. "The valley isn't far. Keep watch for sharpteeth on behalf of your friends. Safe travels. Ta ta."

With that, Pterano winged away.

"Oh no you don't!" Petrie yelled as he gave chase. "Guys! Keep going! I'll meet you in the valley!"

"Um ... okay!" Littlefoot called. "Just don't land anywhere unless you know it's safe!"

Ordinarily, the longneck might have stared after Petrie a bit longer, but he almost immediately sank into deep thought.

"I'm gonna tell my kids and grandkids about today over and over 'til they're sick of it!" Cera gushed on.

"I'm gonna tell anyone who would care to listen!" added Skip. "Never seen nothin' like it!"

"And I hit the guy so hard, my head's still throbbing!"the threehorn exclaimed.

"So hard, a piece of o' horn broke off too!" commented Skip.

"It did?" Cera looked up at it. "Cool! When someone asks 'What happened to your horn?' I'll just casually tell 'em 'Oh, I lost a piece fighting Red Claw'! I mean, it'll grow back, but you gotta milk the bragging rights while you can, amIright? Hey, you think the mark I left will scar over red like that old wound on the other side of his head?"

"I have good reason to believe it will!" Skip confirmed.

Cera giggled giddily.

Littlefoot responded with a distracted smile. They'd won the battle. That was cause for celebration and a fair share of geeking out, but still ...

"But still what?" barked Cera.

Littlefoot knit his brow at the unexpected intrusion into his thoughts. Cera knew him too well.

The longneck sighed. "I'm ... not sure if I feel like we won this."

Everyone stared. One could practically hear the white noise running through Cera's head as she went silent for the first time in half an hour.

"Red Claw believes things like friendship and love are inferior to hate," Littlefoot went on. "I tried to reach out to him. I tried to prove otherwise, but then I got so mad at him that it's like I proved his point! I mean, I don't hate him. At least, I don't think I hate him. It just bugs me that I had to be a little more like him in order to beat him- Ow!"

Cera had ended his little monologue with a headbutt bordering on none-too-gentle.

"Don't you get it?" she snapped with a touch of softness. "He lost! You did everything to make friends with him! You even put yourself at a disadvantage, and we still took him down! After whatever he told you about hate and stuff, he ended up sore and sorry at the bottom of the cliff while we ..." She glanced up at her broken horn and shrugged. "... made it out mostly in one piece. Read my lips: Red. Claw. Is. The. Only. Loser. You did a wonderful job, nobody died, and there is nothing to regret!"

Littlefoot blinked down at the frowning Cera before a smile spread across his face. Once again, he wrapped his tail around her and leaned against the threehorn in a thanks to which words did no justice. His tail still hurt, but it was totally worth it.

Cera stiffened, allowing it for a few moments before speaking up. "Okay, okay. I think that's enough mush for one day."

Once again, everyone piled on. This time, the group hug was much more gentle, although Cera had her misgivings. She sighed and let it be.

Skip smiled at the sight, but he gave a hard pass on joining in. A, he wasn't sure if he knew them well enough. B, getting squished amid a heap of dinosaurs hundreds of times his size didn't appeal to him.

Suddenly, Spike's head jerked up as he sniffed loudly, noticing tree sweets dangling from a branch not far above. He proceeded to climb the mound of friends in an effort to reach it.

Now Cera had a good reason to break the moment. "Spike! Get off! That's not the purpose of this overly affectionate display!"

"We're all still sore, we are, we are!" Ducky emphasised.

Having already chowed down on a mouthful, Spike swallowed as he remorsefully stepped off of his friends.

"Sss ... Sspike is ... sorree ..." the spiketail apologised with some effort.

Everyone's jaw dropped.

"Uhh ... didn't that guy used to not talk?" asked Skip.

Petrie raced after Pterano, pouring all his effort into keeping up with what his uncle made look like a casual speed. Though Pterano was trying to out-fly him, he clearly wasn't trying his hardest. Why was that?

The answer became evident when Pterano swooped into the wall of trees marking the edge of a smallish jungle. Petrie was forced to pull back, though he caught sight of his uncle skilfully maneuvering through the green until it completely hid him from sight.

Petrie geeked out all the more. As he grew bigger, there was one rule his mother insisted upon when it came to flying in densely packed foliage: namely not to. It was too dangerous, impossible for a flyer their size to navigate, yet there Pterano was, making it look easy! There was no question about it.

Pterano had to train him!

Winging above the jungle, Petrie's sharp eyes combed the trees for signs of his uncle. Nothing. The smokescreen of green was impenetrable.

"C'mon, Petrie! Think!" he urged himself.

Pterano had to emerge sometime, but the jungle, 'smallish' though it was, stretched far enough to make covering all exit points impossible for even a flock of flyers. Would Pterano fly the whole length of it? Possibly ... but probably not. Skilled as he was, dodging through thick vegetation had to be difficult. He likely wouldn't do it any longer than he needed to, which meant he would find the fastest, sneakiest means of exit, but how would Pterano have any idea where he was going with nothing but leaves and wood as far as he could see?

The steady song of rushing water met Petrie's ears. He absentmindedly noted that he couldn't see any water. Could it be hidden by the trees? Maybe ... but, it sounded too big to escape his notice. A waterfall, perhaps?

An idea sparked in Petrie's head. A waterfall meant a drop. He couldn't see the drop, but he could hear it. Pterano no doubt heard it too. His uncle could simply follow the noise, swoop down the waterfall and Petrie would never lay eyes on him. It was brilliant!

But not brilliant enough.

Petrie rushed to the source of the sound. Sure enough, he was just in time to see Pterano diving beside the waterfall at the jungle's edge.

"I SEE YOU!" Petrie called. "PLEASE STOP!"

Pterano glanced up at the young flyer. His nephew was a clever one, but 'clever' wouldn't change his mind.

If Petrie thought Pterano was fast before, he was in for a whole new concept of speed. Pterano doubled his velocity. No more tricks. No more delay. He would vanish into the distance, and his nephew would be rid of him.

Petrie had never seen a flyer blaze through the air like that, but if Pterano could do it, perhaps so could he. Forgetting his mother's guidelines about stamina conservation, Petrie surged into his fastest flight yet. He wasn't gaining! He had to flap harder! Harder! His muscles sounded the alarm. He didn't care, until that alarm went into the red zone. He began to drop behind.

Worse yet, he began to drop.

"UNCLE! HELP!" Petrie screeched.

Pterano glanced at him. As though yanked by an invisible force, Pterano turned and shot towards his nephew.

The plummeting Petrie knew he'd done it. Grappling for air, his wings seemed to slip from the wind as gravity accelerated his fall beyond recovery. He couldn't save himself. Did the new Pterano even stand a chance of rescuing him? Of course he did!

He was The Daybreaker!

Dipping into a dive, Pterano caught up with Petrie, firm but gentle talons clasping around the youngster before cutting his fall and gliding towards a ridge near the top of a cliff where he set down the youngster.

"Thanks ..." panted Petrie.

Pterano nodded. "I assume you know your way back."

"Wait! Hold on a second!" Petrie quickly argued.

Not as quickly as Pterano launched into the sky.

"IF YOU DON'T HELP ME, I'LL DIE!" Petrie blurted.

The older flyer seemed to freeze mid-air before returning to the ledge. "No. You won't."

"Yes, I will!" Petrie insisted. "My friends and me have faced sharpteeth more times than I can remember! Red Claw would have caught Littlefoot and Cera today if I didn't distract him! I'm the weakest of my friends, but I need to be better, otherwise one of these days a sharptooth will get me and probably them because of it!"

Pterano shrugged. "The answer is simple. Refrain from leaving The Great Valley hereafter."

"It's not that simple!" asserted Petrie. "You weren't there! You don't know all the stuff that happens to us! Once we had to leave the valley to get a flower that would save Littlefoot's Grandpa! Once, swarming leaf gobblers ate all the green food and we needed to find a new place to live until it grew back! Once, we had to help a swimmer friend get back to The Big Water! Once, Littlefood had to go save his dad! Once-!"

"-I abducted Ducky and you went after me to save her," Pterano interrupted, breaking eye contact in shame.

Petrie nodded as he briefly looked at the ground. "Yeah, that. I know there have been many times when we left The Great Valley without a good enough reason, but it's clear it's going to keep happening, for good reasons too! One of these days, we're going to leave The Great Valley, and I might not make it back! Maybe all of us won't make it back if we're not strong enough!"

Pterano gave a long exhalation. "Very well. I shall train you."

In his excitement, Petrie sprang high into the air. Pterano had to grab him before he accidentally fell off the ledge.

"Heh heh, sorry," apologised Petrie. "When do we start?"

"That depends on if your mother approves," stated Pterano.

Both flyers gulped at the thought of her impending reaction.

"Right ... almost forgot about her," Petrie shuddered.

Red Claw has been defeated, but the drama is far from over. Why did Chomper venture into The Mysterious Beyond? What on Earth was Red Claw's bizarre, vengeful tirade all about? How will Petrie's mother react? Stay posted, find out, and review.

Thanks for reading!