Chapter 4-
A cave stood high above the Mysterious Beyond ground, hidden amongst the walls of the valley once full of life. Tunnel after tunnel after tunnel connected in a huge network of paths, each one as dark as the night, for no light could shine in, save for a few holes caused the meteorite slamming into the walls so many years ago. Perfect hideout, perfect place to plan, it was home to the nefarious Darkarians. More specifically, it used to be the home of the Rock Rangers until the Darkarians overpowered them and ran them out. And deep inside one of the tunnels, voices were being lifted into the air.
"You ran into who?!" The voice was masculine, but it was so muffled it was hard to tell who was speaking. The voice was followed by a bellow of pain, the voice feminine this time. The familiar sound of rock cracking and whimpering could be heard.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The female voice pleaded as the sound of another strike sounded out. A body slammed into the wall of the cave, and a stalagmite fell down. Then there was a clanking sound, and a loud thud. Dust picked up in the air, and hovered thick enough to cause creatures close by to have a coughing fit, their eyes shut to protect them from the smokey debris. A light breeze from a nearby hole slowly pushed the dust away, the air becoming clean once more.
"Hmmph!" The masculine voice scolded. "Pathetic creature..." A bit of light revealed the creature was an alimon, standing roughly 8 ft tall, skin covered in a dark blue skin, gray covering the top of his body. A large X scar decorated his shoulder. The alimon walked forward, his red eyes glaring cold-heartedly at the second figure, a female alimon. The stalagmite knocked against her head, knocking her out cold. Her body was covered in bruises and scratches.
The female had yellow skin, and at first glance, the untrained eye might mistake her for Axel. But this alimon was smaller in size, and did not have the brown skin on her back. Red skin colored her paws, muzzle, and underside. Her eyes were blue, like Axel's, but they had more green in them. Her claws were bright white, not blood red.
The large male placed a clawed paw on the nape of her neck, and kept it there. He was pondering on what he should do with this weak alimon. Should he just kill her off now and, hopefully, save their plan? Or should he let her live and escape the possible wrath Axel would bring to him. This particular alimon happened to be Axel's sister, Tana. And while the two aren't exactly best pals, the dark blue alimon had always feared that Axel would go loco on anyone who severely injured or killed her sister. After all, Tana and Axel came from the same group of eggs.
"Rorra!" A distant voice called. The dark blue alimon, Rorra, lifted up his head in the direction of the voice. Although faint, he recognized the voice as Axel. He felt relief, glad that it wasn't some Rock Ranger trying to return home and possibly listening into their plans and revealing them to Stone. But then a wave of panic struck him. He quickly looked at the fallen Tana, and then at a shadow that was starting to form, that shadow being Axel.
Rorra would have no idea how Axel would react to Tana being in this state until she would show up and see it for herself. The shadow crept closer. Rorra stiffened himself, to make himself appear more like an authority figure. He was the leader of the Darkarians after all. He must not show fear towards anyone, not even the terrible Axel, who could strike fear even into his cold and hardened heart.
"Rorra, I bring you news." Another yellow alimon entered the cave, a big evil grin on her face. At first, she didn't notice Tana on the ground against the stalagmite. Instead she kept her icy eyes on Rorra. "I had a little..bit of a meeting with Rex. As we've suspected, the Rock Rangers are still oblivious to the rest of our plan. They've left themselves exposed..."
Rorra smirked. "Good good. Stone never was very bright. If it weren't for Turquoise's interference, my own father could have..."
Axel cut him off, her expression changed to a look of anger. "Rorra...why is my sister on the floor like that?"
"Well...I..."
"And why is she all bruised and bloodied up? Did you two get into an argument or something?" Axel inquired.
Rorra quickly shook off his fear and nervousness and pressed his muzzle against Axel's. "I punished her for leaving the safety of these walls and confronting a group of Rock Rangers all by herself! She could have gotten herself killed, or worse, led them right to us! She deserved it!" He glared at the unconscious yellow form. "The fool..what was she thinking?!"
Axel hissed loudly. "For your information, I had told Tana to scout around, AND to fight off any Rock Rangers who had strayed too close! Tana fought the Rock Rangers to PROTECT this new home! She was only following orders!"
The sudden outburst made Rorra cringe visibly, his teeth gritted with uncertainty. While it was not in his nature to feel guilt, he still felt fear. He had triggered a small portion of Axel's rage. Goodness knows what would have happened if that stalagmite had hit its target...
"A thousand apologies then." He said sternly, his face masking his true emotions. "But the next time you give out an order, Axel, you should tell me about it. You might be second-in-command, but that doesn't mean you can run the place like you were the leader." He turned his head away, intent on leaving. "You must wait until I am dead before you can take over."
Axel's anger melted away quickly, replaced by sadistic humor. She chuckled as she approached Tana to awaken her. "Which might be sooner than you think..."
Rorra's body stopped, muscles tightened up. He quickly turned around and shouted, "What was that?!"
The large yellow alimon greeted him with a simple smile. "Oh nothing, sir. Nothing at all. Don't concern yourself about it. No need to get worried over nothing." She said coolly, chuckling to herself.
Rorra eyed her suspiciously. "Uh huh..." He turned and walked away, leaving the two siblings alone.
Axel watched him leave, an evil gleam in her eyes. If she ruled the pack, things would be different... But enough dreaming about the future. Right now she had to awaken her sister and take her to the pack's nurses. Her muzzle knocked Tana's head a little, and the eyes fluttered open. She groaned and looked up, seeing her sister's face upclose. She let out a scream and jolted back onto all fours.
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I promise!" She cried out, shaking violently. Axel chuckled, but said nothing. She simply gestured Tana to go down the tunnel behind her. Tana knew this tunnel led down to where the nurses were. The weaker alimon did not really want to go down to the nurses, but she could not disobey her second-in-command. Sighing, not saying a word, she turned around and began to walk down the path.
Axel stared after her, and an evil grin spread across her muzzle. "Soon everything will fall into place... You will see Rex. You will see..."
Crescent Valley had been quiet most of the day after Rex and Stone returned. The young dinosaurs were deeper in the valley playing, and they weren't loud enough to be heard where the Rock Rangers were sunbathing. It felt nice for a change. Normally at this time of the day, all they could hear was screaming children. A few Rock Rangers wanted to give the kids a piece of their mind, but Stone had forbidden it. He claims that would arouse suspicion from the adult dinosaurs, and they could be thrown out.
"Those brats had better keep their yap shut.." Grumbled a green Rock Ranger as he tossed himself onto his back. his white belly exposed.
"I don't really mind." A red female chirped in. "They remind me of the peaceful days of my cubbiehood. It would feel great to be a kid again."
"Ha!" The green alimon snapped. "Speak for yourself! Children are nothing but a pain if you ask me. All they do is whine whine whine to you all day long, never giving you a moment's peace!"
"Oh come now." The red alimon chuckled softly as she got up slowly. "Children aren't all that bad. I mean, they keep a species alive..and well, you were a kid once you know."
"I know..but..."
As the pair continued their little argument about children, Rex stood on a rock face, peering into the valley. His mind had been on his encounter with Axel. What had she meant with her claims? If the valley was not the only thing on the Darkarian's minds..what was? It didn't make sense to the scarred dracovol. There had to have been something missing, something he and the others were overlooking. He stared at the children playing, recognizing Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. They were playing in a small lake near the back quarters of the crescent-shaped valley.
His dark blue eyes narrowed as he watched such innocent youth playing as if there wasn't a care in the world. Rex would not forgive himself if these children, and others like them, fell to the same fate as the residents of the Great Valley had. But in order to protect them, he must learn more information from Axel. The Darkarians were sneaky all right. They had many ways in trying to make their plans work. If he figured out one way, the Darkarians would only come up with a new plan.
So the solution was to find out without being detected. His broad wings opened up, and he took off, and dove into Crescent Valley. He had to speak with Stone. Perhaps they don't need Axel to figure out the rest of the puzzle. "Hey Stone!" He called out as he landed next to the silver-covered alimon. "Could I have a word with you?"
"Oh sure." Stone replied, smiling softly. "Go ahead and talk. I'm all ears!"
Rex nodded dutifully. "Yes, well, I was thinking..maybe we don't need to hunt down Axel to force information from her." Stone cocked an eyebrow. "If we thought about what she said..maybe we could figure out the rest! Now if I recall correctly, she had brought up the 'bigger picture', how you and your pack were oblivious to it because you were focusing mainly on the Great Valley..."
"Yes. The Darkarians have always believed us to be fools for taking care of the valley." Stone shook his head. "How dare they trample all over our beliefs?!"
"It's just like them." A voice chimed in. Rex and Stone turned to see Donovan slowly approaching them. His blue eyes narrowed in anger. "Those monsters. They laughed behind our backs as we struggled to maintain a paradise, only to have lost it because of some stupid falling rock! That Darkarian Win was a fluke, I tell you! A fluke!"
"Relax, Donovan. Don't let your blood pressure get to high." Stone said softly, his voice sounding slightly amused. He turned back to Rex. "Now you were saying?"
"Well, if the Great Valley was only part one of their plan..what could the second part of their plan be?" Rex inquired.
"To laugh at us and our pathetic attempt at protecting the valley?" Donovan barked darkly.
Rex shook his head. The dracovol put his paws together, looking at the grassy floor at his feet. "That is what I was thinking too, but that seems..to simple. Axel said the information was too valuable for her to give up to me. Why would she want to protect the information if all it was was just villainy laughter? Something's amiss here."
"Hmm..you're right." Stone said after a few seconds of thinking. "But what could be so important that Axel cannot relinquish the informtion?"
"Nothing..." Donovan said. "Nothing..except..."
"MORE TARGETS!" Donovan, Rex, and Stone, exclaimed at one time.
"But not just any target..." Rex spoke softly. "In order for her to go to lengths to keep it a secret..."
"The new target must be..." Donovan said.
"CRESCENT VALLEY!" The trio shouted in unison.