Final Confrontation

The moment the group had gathered a dozen or so golden flowers; they gathered them onto Spike's back and immediately set out for the Great Valley. Now that they had the Night Flower, much of the stress they were feeling before was nearly gone. Right now, it seemed like the hardest part of their journey was over.

"We're in the homestretch now, guys." Aylene said with encouragement.

"If we keep going like this," Littlefoot replied, "we can make it home by morning."

"Yeah," Ken nodded, "once we get out of here, we'll rest in the caves we took to get here. Then set out for the Great Valley first thing in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan." Ali said. "Let's go."

However, just as they were about to leave the tall grass, they all got a terrible shock.

"Surprise!" a squawky voice shouted.

The whole group gasped with horror as Ichy leapt out of the grass right in front of them.

"Ichy?!" Ken exclaimed. "But…how did you…?!"

"You honestly think a drop off a waterfall was enough to stop me?!" Ichy glared at the human boy. "You and I still have a score to settle!"

At that statement, Ken scowled hard and gripped his crossbow so tight his knuckles swelled underneath his skin.

"You really think you're a match for me?!" he snapped. "What about your hunter friend, Dil?!"

It was at that moment that Ichy gave a wicked grin.

"Funny you should mention her," he sneered.

A second later, the large gator came lumbering through the grass, giving a vicious roar to announce her arrival.

One look at Dil and the whole group screamed in terror.

"RUN!" Ken shouted. "GO! GO! GO!"

The group of nine turned around and sprinted away. Aylene leapt on to Littlefoot's back while Ken hastily mounted onto Ali's. Petrie took to the air and flew several feet above the group. Ducky and Tickles rode of Spike's back as the Stegosaurus sprinted away with the rest of the group.

Ichy and Dil chased after them, determined not to have their prey escape again. However, because of Ichy's weak flying and Dil's poor vision, they quickly lost sight of them within a matter of seconds.

However, they didn't lose sight of their tracks.

They followed the footprints until they came to clearing that was just on the edge of a forest. Ichy, having the keenest eyes out of the two of them, scanned the area for any sign of the little brats. He gaze eventually locked onto a enormous boulder that was resting just near the outskirts of the woods.

"I bet their hiding behind that boulder," he whispered to Dil.

"What boulder?" the gator asked.

"Never mind," Ichy growled, "Just stay close to me. I'll flush them out, and you nab them."

With that plan, the two vengeful predators moved in.

Meanwhile, near the base of the large stone, Tickles peaked out. He then gave a small, almost unnoticeable squeak to the others hiding behind the boulder. They all gave sharp nods and got ready for a counterstrike. Ken glanced around the rock quickly before turning to Spike and holding up three fingers. Spike gave a nod as he acknowledged the command.

As Ken continued to watch the approaching bird, the boy counted back the number to two fingers.

When Ichy was very close, Ken gave only one finger.

Finally, just as that nasty little bird was about to round the corner, Ken pointed to Spike. On that command, just as Ichy hopped around the corner of the boulder, he was immediately smacked with something big and sent flying backwards.

Dil jolted to a stop as the black and white bird sailed past her. She turned around just in time to see him land flat on his back in the dirt and skid back for a few feet. Confused about what just happened, she wandered over to him.

"Hey," she asked, "Ichy, you okay?"

Ichy, however, just gave out a dizzy groan. His whole world was spinning and he as also seeing some stars. Whatever hit him sure had a lot of strength and power.

From behind the boulder, Cera and Aylene were doing everything they could to prevent themselves from laughing too hard. Just seeing Spike knock that bird senseless with his tail was enough to make them nearly have giggling fits. However, there wasn't much time for them to stop and enjoy their victory. They still had to get as far away from the two hunters as possible.

Being a swift and quiet as they could, the group turned away and began to race into the safety of the woods.

At the same time, Ichy shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness swirling around in his brain.

"What happened, Ichy?" Dil asked.

"Well," Ichy scowled, "something WAS back there. And what ever it is really…"

At that moment, there was loud sneeze at the edge of the forest.

Aylene covered her mouth and nose with both hands and her face went very pale. She and the others fearfully glanced around to see if the predatory bird and gator had noticed it. Much to their horror, they did.

"They're over there!" Ichy shouted. "Let's get 'em!"

"Oh," Cera groaned, giving a quick glare at a the human girl, "nice going, Aylene!"

"Let's just get out of here!" Ken ordered.

Desperately fleeing for their lives, the group of nine raced through the forest as fast as they could. Ichy and Dil were getting closer as Dil charged through the woods and knocked over some smaller trees.

Pretty soon, the group came upon a deep gorge with a river flowing down below. Luckily, just in front of them, was a long, thick moss-covered log that bridged the gap between them and the other side.

"Hurry!" Ken ordered. "Across that log! Ichy and Dil won't be able to follow us once we're across!"

Upon hearing the command, the dinosaurs and humans all raced across the log, being as careful as they could not to slip on the moss.

However, in all their haste, one Night Flower slipped off of Spike's back and gently landed on the log. Ducky immediately noticed this and leapt off of Spike to go and retrieve it.

As she approached it, however, she froze as a deep roar startled her. She looked up with horror to see the gator and bird had just reached the opposite end of the bridge. The little swimmer gave a terrified shriek as she grabbed the flower and raced away.

At the same time, Dil hit the log with her snout, causing it to jostle. This made Ducky slip on the moss. Before she could regain her balance again, she slipped off the log and began plummeting into the river below.

Hearing Ducky's scream, the others, who had reached the other side, all turned around and watched in horror as the little swimmer plunged into the water and disappear underneath below the surface.

"No!" Cera gasped.

However, their moment of shock and horror was soon over when Ducky's body floated to the surface. Although it was very subtle, they could still see her chest was rising and falling.

She was still alive!

"Ducky!" Petrie shouted.

Suddenly, Dil moved toward the edge of the cliff on the opposite side and began sliding into the water toward the unconscious swimmer.

"No!" Ken shouted.

"You stay away from her!" Aylene cried.

Dil, on the other hand, didn't listen.

Realizing that time was running out, Ken looked around frantically for anything he could use to rescue Ducky. Finally, he looked over to his left and saw a tree with a thick branch reaching out over the gap. Dangling from the branch was a long, thick, dark green vine.

"That'll work!" he mumbled.

In a split second, the human boy dashed off towards the edge and made a huge leap of faith.

"Ken!" Aylene screeched when she saw him jump.

However, her attention was soon drawn back to Dil as she slowly approached Ducky. She was now just a less than three feet away from the swimmer.

Desperate and panic-stricken, the others from above, except for Spike and Tickles, began shouting out to Ducky, hoping that she would wake up in time to get away.

"Ducky!"

"Wake up!"

"Look out!"

So far, their voices didn't seem to work. A horrible fear of losing their little friend grew as Dil began swimming towards her.

However, as Spike watched in terror as what appeared to be the end of his sister draw closer, he grunted and strained. This was too important for him to remain quiet. He had to do something.

"Du…" he stuttered, "Du…"

Finally, the Stegosaurus raised his voice and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"DUCKY!"

For a split second, the whole group nearly forgot about the peril at hand and turned toward Spike. There was a simultaneous gasp among them as they realized that Spike just SPOKE! All this time they thought he was mute! But now…they didn't know WHAT to think!

He just SPOKE!

However, that did more than just surprise the group. It also woke Ducky up. She shook her head and looked up at the others on the edge of the cliff, dazed and astonished.

"Ducky!" a voice shouted. "Look out!"

The little swimmer turned around and screamed as Dil's elongated jaws quickly approached her. She shut her eyes and winced as she waited for that toothy mouth to devour her. However, instead of that, she felt something grab her and hastily pull her out of the water. She snapped her eyes open to see what had happened.

As it turned out, Ken had swung around on the vine and grabbed her just in the nick of time.

"Ken!" the little swimmer shrieked.

"Hang on, Ducky!" the boy said. "We're going to have to jump!"

Ducky clutched onto Ken's arm as the two of them approached the log they had previously used to get across the gorge. Ken only had a split second to react. The moment he was close enough, he reached out with his left arm and grabbed a small crevasse in the log. At the same time, he let go of the vine and quickly used his right hand to get a better grip.

"Ducky!" the boy strained. "Climb up! Hurry!"

"R-Right!" the swimmer stuttered.

Leaping onto Ken's shoulder, Ducky climbed up onto his head and lifted herself up onto the log. As soon as she was on, Ken began to hoist himself up.

"You're not getting away this time, kid!" a squawky voice shouted angrily.

"KEN!" Ali cried. "WATCH OUT!"

Ken looked up and saw Ichy clumsily swoop down towards him. However, his sharp talons on his feet reached out and scratched the boy's right arm. Ken let out a cry of pain as the cuts horribly stung his arm.

At the same time, that caused him to lose his grip on the log and he began falling back toward the river below.

However, before he had fallen more than a few inches away from the log, he came to an abrupt stop as something grabbed his left arm. He soon found himself swinging directly between the log and river. He looked up and was surprised to see the person who had saved him.

"Aylene?!"

Sure enough, the human girl, lying flat on her stomach and using her right arm to clutch the other side of the log, had a firm grip on his left wrist.

"Hang on, Ken!" Aylene strained. "Whatever you do, just don't let go!"

The boy nodded and gripped Aylene's wrist. The girl then struggled to pull Ken up, trying to be as careful as she could not to slip and fall in herself.

Meanwhile, down in the river, Dil began to leap out of the water with much ferocity, eager to reach the human boy who had blinded her in one eye. Luckily, the bridge was pretty high up, so Ken was still a pretty good distance away from her snapping teeth.

However, there was still the matter of Ichy.

Furious, he landed just a few feet away from Aylene and looked at her with a vicious scowl.

"You little brat!" the bird angrily screeched at Aylene. "Why must you always interfere?! Just let the boy go, we have nothing against you and your friends!"

"Really?!" Aylene gritted her teeth and glared at the bird. "Because I've got plenty against you, bird-brain! You tried to hurt my friends and you took away Ali's father! On top of that, you are hunting Ali and Ken just to get even; even through they were just defending themselves! They didn't take away anyone you loved; yet you hold a petty grudge against them because they just injured you! THAT'S what I've got against you!"

Ichy just scowled even harder at that statement.

"Well then," he said, "let's see if you think the same way if you lose your own sight!"

Aylene drew in a sharp breath of air as Ichy lunged for her face, his beak directly aimed at her right eye. She flinched as she waited for the pain to come.

"AYLENE!" Ken screamed. "NO!"

However, before the sharp-beak could strike, something small and fast knocked him away. He lost his footing because of the moss and fell off of the log. Because of his injured wing, he couldn't steady himself. He screamed as he approached the open jaws of Dil.

Because she had her mouth wide open, Dil didn't see Ichy shoot down towards her. As a result, she closed her mouth shut with the predatory bird stuck inside it. Not realizing what just happened, she began to swim away, thinking she had got the human boy in her jaws.

Aylene took in several deep breaths when she realized what just happened. She then looked up in the sky and saw Petrie was just hovering a few feet above her and Ken. He looked back at them and gave a small grin. Aylene gave a huge smile and let out relieved laugh as she realized that it was the little flyer who saved her from Ichy's attack.

"Thanks, Petrie!" she said.

The little flyer just gave a bashful shrug.

"Don't swallow, Dil!" Ichy frantically kicked the inside of the gator's mouth. "It's me, Ichy!"

"Ichy?!" Dil stopped and blinked with confusion.

"OPEN UP, YOU IDIOT!" Ichy shouted, giving a harsh kick to the roof of Dil's mouth.

The gator finally opened her mouth and Ichy stumbled out into the water. He then turned back to Dil with a horrified and angry face.

"You!" he gasped. "You almost ATE me!"

"But it was an accident, Ichy." Dil replied, sounding genuinely sorry. "I didn't see you."

"Of course you didn't see me!" Ichy snapped. "You can't see your own nose at the end of your face! You're useless!"

At that insult, Dil gave a vicious scowl.

"Useless?!" she growled. "Without me, you'd starve!"

"I would not!" Ichy rebuked.

"You would too!"

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Would not! Would not! Would not!"

"Would too! Would too! Would too!"

It was at that moment the two predators had both reached the last straw with each other.

"That's IT, Dil!" Ichy shouted.

"I've had it with you, Ichy!" Dil replied in the same tone.

"From now on…" Ichy began the sentence.

The two of them finished the sentence with.

"I'M GOING IT ALONE!"

Ichy and Dil then turned away from each other. However, just as Ichy was about to swim away, Dil used her tail to fling him up in the air. He screamed as he flew straight up into the air. As he came again, Dil used her tail again to send him flying away from the river and into the dense forest, his screams becoming more distant as he disappeared among the vegetation.

"That'll teach him!" Dil huffed.

The gator then turned away to swim down the river when the tip of her snout bumped into something.

"Huh?" she looked up. "Who's there?"

Because of her poor vision, the only thing Dil could make out was that what ever she bumped into was very tall. At first, she thought it was a tree. However, she immediately discarded the idea when it suddenly moved and let out a vicious roar. It then leaned down towards her and began snapping at her with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

It was a large plesiosaur, and it was hungry!

"I-I-I-ICHY!" the gator cried out.

Dil immediately swam away as fast as she could with the plesiosaur close behind, viciously biting at her.

Meanwhile, with the help of Littlefoot, Cera, and Ali, Aylene and Ken were both pulled to the safety of the shore. With all the chaos out of the way, the whole group took this chance to catch their breath.

"Are you guys alright?" Ali asked.

"I'm fine." Aylene nodded before looking over at the human boy. "Ken?"

"I'm okay." Ken replied.

"Ducky?" the human girl looked at the swimmer.

"I think so." Ducky nodded. "But…I thought I heard Spike talk."

"He did, Ducky." Littlefoot smiled. "Spike talked!"

The young Stegosaurus simply looked at the group with his typical smile and nodded. Ducky gave a huge grin and leapt to her feet. She raced over to her adoptive brother and gave him a heartfelt embrace around his neck.

"Oh, Spike!" she said cheerfully. "I'm so happy! You talk-ded! Yep, yep, yep! You did!"

Pleased by the compliment, and glad to see his stepsister was safe, Spike simply gave the little swimmer a small lick in appreciation.

At the same time, Ken grimaced a bit and gripped his right arm. He looked down at the cuts on his arm. While they weren't very deep, they were still bleeding a bit.

"Ken!" Ali exclaimed when she saw the cuts. "You're hurt!"

"It's just some scratches," the boy said, trying to be assuring.

It was then that Aylene got up from her spot and walked over to him. She then knelt back down to his level and began to take the bandage wrapped around her head off.

"Here," she said. "It's my turn to take care of you now."

Ken blinked at that statement. He then gave a small grin.

"Okay," he nodded.

As soon as Aylene was done cleaning and bandaging Ken's wound, the group made their way back to the caverns they had used to get to the Land of Mists. As they reached the mouth of the cave, Tickles looked back at his homeland. He then leapt off of Spike and onto a nearby rock. The others all looked at him with confusion.

"What's wrong, Tickles?" Littlefoot asked. "Don't you want to come with us?"

The little mouse creature gave a series of squeaks that sounded a little sad. Although the others couldn't understand what he was saying verbally, they had a pretty good idea of what he was trying to tell them.

"It's okay, Tickles." Aylene said. "We understand. This is your home, right?"

Tickles replied with a nod and a squeak.

"Do you think we'll ever see him again, Ali?" Cera asked the female longneck.

"I hope so." Ali replied. "The land is changing. Maybe…we'll all live together someday."

"Yeah," Ken let out a deep exhale, "maybe someday."

With the matter settled, the group of dinosaurs and humans bid farewell to their little mouse friend. Tickles gave one last wave of farewell before scampering off back down path the used to reach the cave and disappearing into the night.

Tired from their journey, but relieved to have come out relatively unscathed, the turned around and began to wander back into the darkness of the caves. However, Ken stopped for a moment and looked back over his shoulder at the land spread out before. He let out a deep sigh as he reflected all the events that had happened within the mists of that swampland.

He never wanted to come back to this land, not what happened to Ali's father. Yet he did return, nonetheless. And still, his feelings about the place hadn't changed. It might have been his second-home before, but now it was just a place that held terrible memories.

He never wanted to return here ever again.

As he contemplated this, he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder. He his head turned around to see Aylene looking at him with a sympathetic smile. Even though she didn't say anything, Ken seemed to know what she was trying to say to him. It was enough to make him give a weak smile of his own.

"C'mon, Ken," the girl said, "let's go."

Ken just nodded, unable to bring himself to speak any words.

With that, the two humans rejoined the group of young dinosaurs and they continued through the caverns.