Flashes in the sky, pouring water, and strong winds forced Abe, Littlefoot, Ali, and Vinna to find shelter. Littlefoot spotted a cave opening big enough for them. They entered. Abe shook off the rain from his hair and smiled.

"Finally, we're out of the storm."

"We were lucky to find this cave," said Ali.

Vinna called upon the roots underneath the floor to come up as a small group in the middle of the walls of the cave near the entrance. Littlefoot breathed fire at the roots. They sat around the campfire. Ali sat next to Littlefoot; Vinna sat next to Ali; Abe sat in-between Littlefoot and Vinna.

"Well, that dampens the day," commented Abe.

"Don't worry," said Littlefoot. "Lucastrof couldn't have gone far. Besides, he's clueless as to where the next piece is."

"You're right."

Abe got out his map.

"Two fliers, light as a feather, were blown by the wind on a windy day towards a hermit that made a mountain his home."

Littlefoot thought about it.

"Two fliers? That could be anyone. Plus, I never heard of a hermit who made a mountain his home."

Abe sighed.

"Nothing. Bummer."

"What should we do now?" asked Ali.

"What's a hermit?" asked Vinna.

"A person who lives in one hidden place all by himself and never comes out," explained Littlefoot.

"Like that flier."

They all looked at her.

"You know what it's taking about?" wondered Abe.

Vinna nodded and continued, "The two fliers I haven't heard of, but there is a mountain with a flier for a hermit. Dad told me this story of a blind flier who got lost from his herd. He saw the flier land in a place called Black Rock. My dad was too far to help him, but he saw it. Then, an earthshake happened. He was convinced the flier was dead and continued his search for what is called the Valley of Mists."

"Black Rock?" Abe inquired.

"I know where that is," said Ali. "My herd has passed it so many times. It's dangerous though."

"Can't be more dangerous than Lucastrof," said Abe. "We'll leave after the storm clears up."

Abe got up and walked over to a rock near the campfire. He sat down and leaned against it.

"I'm going to get some shuteye. Good night, everyone."

Abe closed his eyes and went to sleep. Vinna yawned and curled up in a ball like a dog and went to sleep. Ali and Littlefoot remained awake.

"Black Mountain is very dangerous," said Littlefoot. "It's far out in the Mysterious Beyond from the Great Valley."

"Abe's right. We still need to go there."

"Besides, I don't get why the clue mentioned two fliers getting blown towards it."

"Maybe it was a story from long ago."

"I guess. No wonder why I couldn't figure it out. Luckily, Vinna heard about the hermit."

Littlefoot looked into the fire.

"Ali, do you think we'll be fine?"

"What do you mean?"

"Vinna's parents were killed by Lucastrof. He mainly targets others with magic. I'm worried if he…"

He lowered his head.

"I see what you mean. Don't worry. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine."

"I hope you're right."

Ali nudged his head and laid down to rest. Littlefoot sighed and finally went to sleep.

Abe woke up to footsteps outside. The footsteps got closer to them. Abe got up and unsheathed his sword. He cautiously approached outside and peeked out of the cave. A scaly pair of feet halted in front of him. He looked up and saw a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth near him. He noticed the black eyes of this dark green beast looking down at him. Abe jumped out of the way as the opened mouth came down on him. The tyrannosaur roared and faced his meal. Abe smiled devilishly and jumped up. He clawed the tyrannosaur's face and kicked its belly hard. The tyrannosaur bent down in pain and roared. It wanted an easy meal, so it ran away.

"I wish demons in my era were that easy."

The dinosaurs in the cave walked up to Abe. Littlefoot yawned.

"What was that noise?" asked Ali.

"A sharptooth. I took care of it."

"That's good," said Littlefoot. "I'm still kind of sleepy."

"Well, since everyone is up now, I guess we'll head out."

The group left for Black Mountain. They walked only for a little bit before Vinna mentioned she was hungry. Ali also agreed, and Littlefoot quickly agreed after that. Abe mumbled under his breath and remembered they were probably five years old.

"If we continue walking, we'll probably bonk into some food."

"Bonk?" wondered Vinna.

"Run into," Abe explained.

"He's right," said Littlefoot. "Vinna, can you hold your hunger in?"

"I'll try."

Abe sighed. It was like babysitting all over again. He only did it once for a friend and never did it again. Whenever someone needed him to babysit, he always found an excuse.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?"

Abe lifted his head and saw what Ali saw. They were near a forest with some plants that seemed eatable. The dinosaurs smiled and rushed over with glee. Abe chuckled and caught up with them. He sat down on a flat stone as his friends ate. He pulled out some berries he still had stored and ate those.

I need meat soon, or I'll lose my muscles.

He spotted a river and walked over to it. He saw fish through the water and got out his sword. He aimed for one and threw his sword at it. It was a direct hit. He collected his prize and formed a campfire with some thick twigs.

"Littlefoot, can you help me out?"

Littlefoot walked over to him and asked what he wanted. Abe told him to light the twigs with fire. He was curious why Abe wanted fire, but he did it anyway. Abe smiled and held his sword out over the fire. At the end of the sword, Littlefoot saw the fish in the fire. He gave Abe a disgusting look.

"What? I told you I ate meat."

Littlefoot remembered and walked back to Ali and Vinna. Abe smiled as he was going to eat for the first time in a few days. The fish was cooked, and Abe took a bite of it.

"Not bad," he commented to himself.

He finished the fish and walked over to the dinosaurs.

"Is everyone done?"

"What was that you were eating?" asked Ali.

"Well, I'm an omnivore, meaning I need to eat both plants and meat."

Chills traveled down Vinna's spine.

"Are you going to eat us?"

"No. I only eat fish."

"Is that what you call swimmer?" asked Littlefoot.

"Yes. Um, are you guys ready?"

They nodded, and the group continued their walk. The dinosaurs were near Abe. Littlefoot was the first to speak.

"Abe, since I've met you, you haven't really talked about yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"We all know why you are here and about you having magic powers, but we don't know anything about you personally."

"The less you know; the better."

Littlefoot stood in front of him.

"Please. We don't know anything about you or where you come from. You know us now and what our lives are like, but we don't know about your life."

"Littlefoot-"

"Please. Tell us."

Abe sighed.

"I'll tell you as we walk."

The group began to walk again.

"Where do I begin?"

"Tell us the story of how became a half-demon," said Vinna.

Abe smiled.

"I was a regular human, but I was smart for my age. Science, a type of explainable magic, was my passion and my strongest point. I started inventing things that would take a couple of years to build. I did it for fun though and shared failures and successes with my family and friends. Soon, a humanoid demon saw me invent and decided to use me. He threatened to kill my family if I didn't give him good weapons. I had only started making weapons for a week, but the weapons were unique and surpassed some of the civilian weapons. I did what he said, but I was a fool. He killed my family either way and told me he would be back next week with some more weapons. I cried and cried until I heard a voice. It said to sneak into the old state prison museum that night. A prison is like being grounded, but you're trapped in a small cave for many cold times. I did so and found a vortex in one of the rooms. A vortex is a door to another world. I went inside, and I was back outside in another land. Little did I know it was the test you and Ali took. Slightly different, but same idea. I passed it and was granted a weapon. It was this very sword. I grabbed the handle, but I couldn't handle the power. A demon was placed inside me to help me wield the sword. After I grabbed the sword, the evil side of the demon was pushed out of my body. My body changed into this since I still had a little part of the demon in me. That's how I became what I am today."

The dinosaurs looked at him speechless. Vinna now felt a little guilty on asking. She made him told how his family died.

"Sorry, Abe," said Vinna. "I didn't know."

"It's quite alright. That happened a long time ago. After that day, I promised to protect the human race from evil demons."

"Did you ever kill the demon who killed your parents?" asked Ali.

"Eventually, I did. It took me four years, cold times."

"Who was the demon?" asked Littlefoot.

Abe just stared at Liitlefoot and nodded. The longneck understood. The others were still waiting for an answer, but Littlefoot just looked at them. His face told them to drop the subject.

The group made it to a tall dark mountain. Abe smiled.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah," said Ali, "but keep your voice down."

"Why?"

Bodies moved out of the shadows and surrounded them. A pack of ten raptors appeared. Littlefoot smiled and ignited his body. He blew a breath of fire at them. The raptors he aimed for jumped high into the air and landed only a few yards away.

Oh no, thought Abe.

A raptor clamped his claws. A sound wave traveled towards them and pushed them back. Abe unsheathed his sword.

"Watch out! They're bewitched raptors!"

The raptors charged at them. Abe got in front of his friends, and raised his sword to symbolize the fight had begun.