Between a Stone and Time

On the edge of the Valley…

Grandpa Longneck, Doc, and Topps trudged and fought through the furious gale. Derek and Elaine rode on Topps's back, using his frill as a shield. Cera and Spike walked between the adults. Ducky and Petrie rode on Cera, hiding behind her frill.

They walked along the edge of the large canyon. Doc lowered his head and squinted.

"We have to get out of this wind!" he shouted. "There's a path that leads down into the chasm!"

"Then what do we do?!" Topps shouted above the howling wind.

"There's a way up to the other side!" Doc replied. "It's the safest way to get to the other side!"

"How much further?!" Cera asked.

"We're almost there!"

At last, the group found the trail that lead down into the canyon. Treading lightly, they headed down in single file. The further down they went, the less the wind became. Eventually, they reached the bottom, and had successfully taken cover from the storm.

As they traveled on, Derek looked up. The sky was now completely covered in dark gray clouds, blocking out the sun. He could see bits of branches, leaves, and bushes swirling around in the wind.

He narrowed his eyes. Something about that wind felt unnatural, as if it had a mind of its own. Now observing this phenomenon from a worm's eye view, he was certain that something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Derek?" Elaine asked, seeing his confusion.

"This storm," Derek said. "Can't you feel it? It's not normal."

Elaine narrowed her eyes in suspicion and concern.

"Worry about that later," Topps interjected. "Storm or no storm, we must find Littlefoot and Aylene before those biters do."

"Yeah, you're right," Derek agreed. "It's just—"

Suddenly, another earthquake rumbled!

Everyone braced themselves against the quaking ground. The wind above responded by increasing speed, creating a demonic, shrieking noise.

Then, there was the sound of rocks breaking above. The group looked up just in time to witness large boulders become dislodged from the canyon wall.

And they were falling down towards them.

"Run!" Grandpa Longneck ordered.

The group hurried away from the falling rocks. If they could get beyond them, they would be safe.

Then, above the shrieking of the wind, above the tumbling and crashing of rocks, Cera's ears picked up the sound of two screaming children.

She skidded to a halt and looked back.

Dinah and Dana were just a few yards behind them! They were caught within a ring of rocks!

"The twins!" Petrie squawked in shock.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Cera made a bolt for the twins. Spike made a fearful groan before rushing after her.

"Cera, come back!" Topps shouted, hurrying after them.

Dinah and Dana huddled together, gripped by fear.

"Don't worry!" Cera called to them. "Auntie Cera's here!"

Cera reached them and saw that Dinah's leg was caught under a large rock. She immediately tried to remove it, and Dinah struggled to pull her leg out. Petrie and Ducky hopped off of Cera and tried to assist her. As soon as Spike arrived, a loud noise caught their attention.

An avalanche of rocks, trees, and bushes was sliding down towards them!

"Cera, move!" Derek shouted.

Instead of running away, Cera moved in front of the twins and braced herself for the impact. Spike moved in front of her just as the debris reached them.

The rubble crashed down onto the kids!

"NO!" Topps roared in despair.

At that moment, the earthquake stopped, and the wind above calmed.

Shocked and horrified, Grandpa Longneck and Doc hurried over to help Topps. The Triceratops franticly tried to push the rocks and trees away, but there was so much of it. Derek and Elaine dismounted and began to help clear away what they could. Grandpa Longneck and Doc worked to move the boulders.

"Cera!" Topps shouted. "Cera! Answer me!"

There was silence.

A horrible feeling dread came over the group. Topps froze entirely and dropped to his knees, his face vivid with fear and devastation.

Was his daughter, niece and nephew really gone?

Then, there was a cough.

"Daddy!"

Topps immediately rose up at that word. Elaine caught her breath, and Derek tensed with hope.

"Cera!" Topps called. "Are you alright?!"

"We're fine!" Cera's voice replied.

"For most part!" Petrie's voice said.

"And the twins are alright, too!" Ducky's voice answered. "They are, they are!"

Spike grunted in assurance.

"Hold on, we'll get you out!" Topps said.

"No, go help Littlefoot and Aylene!" Cera pleaded.

"But Cera—"

"We'll be okay!" the little Triceratops interrupted. "I'll take care of the twins! The others need you!"

Topps grimaced, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes.

Sensing his turmoil, Derek walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. Topps abruptly turned towards him.

"I know you don't want to leave her," Derek said understandingly, "but I'm also worried about my sister. You stay here and try to clear away as much as you can. The rest of us will go on ahead. Catch up to us when you can."

Topps nodded in agreement.

"You sure you can do this on your own?" Grandpa Longneck asked, showing clear concern for his friend.

"I'm sure," Topps said strongly. "All of you get moving. Littlefoot and Aylene need you."

"Very well," Doc said. "We'll come back for you, friend."

Topps grunted, masking his gratefulness.

"You hear that, guys?" Derek called to the trapped young ones.

"Yes," Cera replied. "Go help your sister, Derek. We'll be okay."

"Derry go go!" Dana encouraged.

"Save save friends!" Dinah added.

With that, Derek, Elaine, Grandpa Longneck and Doc continued through the gorge while the three-horn remained behind.

Derek glanced back over his shoulder to Topps, who was now working vigorously to clear the wreckage away. Turning away, he silently prayed that his friends would be alright.


At Saurus Rock…

The moment Littlefoot and Aylene saw her Time Stone flash, they fell to the ground and curled up, bracing themselves against the inevitable earthquake.

As soon as it stopped, Aylene opened her eyes and looked up. The top of Saurus Rock swayed for a few seconds, making her queasy. For a split second, she thought it would snap off and crush them.

Fortunately, it remained standing.

"You alright?" she asked Littlefoot.

"Yeah," Littlefoot replied. "You?"

"I'm okay."

"What about the biters?"

Staying low to the ground, Aylene crawled to the edge of the plateau and peeked over. The Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus had both collapsed due to the tremors. They were both covered in scratches and bite marks, and their muzzles were caked in crimson.

The two predators turned in her direction. Aylene quickly ducked back behind the rock and laid still. She held her breath, hoping to remain undetected.

"I hate that stone!" the Allosaurus grumbled.

"Just what is that thing anyway?" the T-Rex snarled angrily.

"How should I know?!" the Allosaurus snapped. "Go up there and see for yourself then we'll both know!"

Aylene stiffened in terror.

"Are you crazy?!" the T-Rex replied indignantly. "I'm not risking my neck for that! Why don't YOU go up there!"

"You think I'd be stupid enough to do that?! I'm not walking along those ledges!"

Aylene let out a small sigh of relief, but her body remained tense.

Then both predators growled in pain.

"Are you surrendering already?" the T-Rex taunted the Allosaurus.

"Just taking a break!" the Allosaurus hissed. "We'll settle this at when the Bright Circle sets!"

"Have it your way!"

The biters exchanged one last resentful growl before limping off in opposite directions. Keeping low, Aylene watched as the two disappeared into the forests. She lowered her head and exhaled.

"Whew, for a second I was afraid they saw me," she whispered.

"Are they gone?" Littlefoot asked.

"For now," Aylene replied. "From what I can tell, they're going to be back at sundown."

Littlefoot looked to the sky. From what he could see, the sky was starting to become tinted with pale peach and light lemon, and there was no sign of the sun.

They meant they had about one or two hours.

"That doesn't give us much time," he said.

"Then we'll just have to make use of what time we do have," Aylene said. "First, we need a plan. What do we know so far?"

Littlefoot thought for a moment.

"Well, we know that your Time Stone and this stone are connected somehow," he said. "And that this stone is responsible for all the bad luck that has been happening."

"But it's not exactly magic, is it?" Aylene pointed out. "It just seems to create natural disasters. It's not like its randomly opening up portals or something."

"True," Littlefoot agreed. "But even these don't feel natural. And they're becoming more frequent. It might be because we're closer to it."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem that these earthquakes are—"

Aylene's Time Stone and the stone in Saurus rock flashed again.

"Hit the deck!" Aylene shrieked.

The second she and Littlefoot dropped flat on their bellies, the earth shook violently. Aylene curled up and covered her head, shaking from the coursing adrenaline. Trees broke off at the base and collapsed on bushes, boulders loosened from Saurus Rock and tumbled down, forming craters the moment they hit the ground. The wind's speed increased, screeching as if it was in pain, making Aylene and Littlefoot over their ears.

Then, the earth grew still, and the wind fell silent.

Littlefoot and Aylene got up, breathing heavily.

"That's it," Aylene stated. "We're stopping this right now."

"How?" Littlefoot asked.

"I got an idea," the human girl replied. "It's a long shot, but it just might work. If I can get my Stone to touch that one, maybe it'll calm the storm."

"Are you sure about this?" Littlefoot said, skeptical.

"To be honest, not really," Aylene frowned, "but it beats doing nothing."

"But what if it causes even more disasters?" Littlefoot suggested. "What if the storm gets even bigger instead?"

"I know the risks, but we don't have many options. Either way, I think we can both agree that the Time Stone is drawn to this one. That's something we can work with."

Littlefoot lowered his gaze pensively. Aylene made a solid argument, but this whole situation had made him nervous about their next step. Right now, anything could happen. They were facing nature itself, a foe that not even Sharptooth, "The Walking Terror" himself could defeat. The fact the Time Stone was involved could only mean this would escalate rapidly, either in a good way or a bad one.

Then there was the issue with the two carnivores. They were gone for now, but they were trapped in the eye of the storm just like him and Aylene. They could come back at any time.

With so much on the line, they couldn't afford to be too reckless. He knew Aylene was aware of this fact, but he also knew her stubbornness.

But what else could they do? They didn't have many options. As crazy as Aylene's idea was, it did seem to be their only one.

Littlefoot closed his eyes for a moment. Finally, with a deep breath, he looked at his friend.

"You do realize that means you'll have to get close to it, right?"

"Yeah," Aylene said.

"Which means we'll have to walk along the narrow pathway," Littlefoot warned. "That's high off the ground."

Aylene gulped and her nerves tingled with numbness. Just the very thought of looking down a hundred feet made her stomach weak.

Still, she felt something stronger than her fear.

Her willpower to save the Valley.

"Looks like that's a risk we'll have to take," she said. "Any second thoughts."

"Of course," Littlefoot admitted. "But you're right, we don't have many choices and we're running out of time. I just hope your theory's correct."

"Me, too," Aylene mumbled.

"Let's get this over with before another earthquake happens. You ready?"

Aylene nodded.

Shoving aside their reluctance, Littlefoot and Aylene headed for the narrow ledge of teeth-shaped rocks. Aylene took her stone off her neck and clutched it in her left hand. With the human in front, the two sidled along the rocks, treading gingerly. Littlefoot looked out across the landscape below, keeping his eyes open for the two biters. Aylene didn't dare look over her shoulder. She clutched to any stable rock her hand could grip, flinching at any sound of loose stones. Her heart raced uncontrollably, and her limbs began to tremble.

"Almost there," she told herself. "Just don't look down. Just don't look down."

Aylene glanced over the trail and saw the path ended about two feet from the stone. That meant she would have to reach for it.

"You doing okay, Aylene?" Littlfoot asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Aylene said, her voice frail.

"You can do this," the long-neck encouraged.

"Right."

As Aylene got closer to the pulsating rock, she felt the Time Stone in her hand grow warm. She glanced at it, and saw a faint light resonating between her fingers. Then, something at her hip vibrated. Fierce Loyalty was starting to glow from inside the scabbard.

At the same time, the light from the stone in Saurus Rock began to shine brighter.

She couldn't tell if it was a good or bad sign, but it was a sign nonetheless.

"You ready?" she asked Littlefoot.

"I'm ready," he nodded.

"Then here we go. Get ready to hurry back."

Gathering all the courage she could muster, Aylene stretched out her necklace towards the large stone.

"C'mon!" she strained. "C'mon!"

She leaned forward. Just a few more inches. That was all she needed.

She took a careful step, her foot halfway off the ledge, and twisted to make herself as long as she could. The closer the stones grew, the brighter they became, as did the strange magnetic force between them.

Almost there.

The stones were about to touch.

Suddenly, they flashed, and the earth shook!

The two friends shrieked as the quakes rattled their foothold. They pressed themselves up against Saurus Rock, struggling to keep their balance. Showers of dirt and pebbles rained down on them, and the wind screeched again, making their eardrums sting and their teeth ache.

Then, the ridge broke!

Littlefoot and Aylene screamed as they suddenly plummeted down the slope. They tumbled and slid, yelping with each hit and cut.

Finally, they hit the ground. From above, two enormous boulders came rolling towards them. Just as they were about to crush them, Aylene sword lit up and she and Littlefoot were surrounded in a force field of emerald green energy. The boulders crashed into the shield, breaking apart and raining down small chunks.

The tremors lasted for a few more seconds before stopping altogether, and the wind ceased its cry.