CHAPTER THREE: AGATHA'S BETRAYAL

Ptero began spending more time with Sydo than Agatha. Agatha was quick to notice this. She didn't say anything, but Sydo noticed a change in her.

She also seemed to take criticism very poorly and was very cross when anyone dared challenge her. She thought very highly of herself. Sydo soon realized with shock that she was an extreme narcissist. She started trying to get Ptero to hunt more too and he realized that she was trying to force the boy to be like her.

"Agatha, stop it! We agreed to let the boy choose!" said Sydo. "I need a pack leader after me! Ptero will have to take that role!" said Agatha. "If he doesn't want it, then somebody else will have to take that role!" said Sydo. "No, I want somebody in my family!" snapped Agatha.

Sydo wondered where the woman he'd married had gone to. Agatha was showing a whole new side to her, a side he didn't like. And Sydo no longer had his friends to go to anymore, for they no longer would speak to him, believing him to have committed treachery against his kind for having married a Sharptooth.

He felt most foolish now. He'd judged her by her appearance and her flying abilities. He should have known better about her. There were so many warning signs he should have heeded, including her lack of pity for her prey and her obvious desire for control. Indeed, he now knew why he hadn't been eaten by her pack before their marriage. It wasn't because they had respected her that they hadn't tried to eat him after she'd told off the two who had tried to eat him, it was that they feared her.

Agatha's pack liked him, but, since she was the leader, Agatha's pack backed her up, so he wasn't likely to get them to make her see reason either. Ptero seemed to be all that he had left that he could feel happy around. Ptero loved his father and soon it was obvious that he favored Sydo over Agatha. Agatha said nothing about this, but sulked, eyeing them both threateningly.

As time went by, tensions got worse and worse. The boy didn't know how bad they were getting, for Agatha still had the decency not to bring the boy around when they were arguing. Sydo considered leaving. Agatha said that she wanted her son as she had laid his egg.

"Ptero dear, there is something I am going to tell you. I will tell you something in the morning." said Sydo to his son.

"Why Dad?" asked Ptero, who didn't understand what was going on.

"I will tell you tomorrow, not now. Come with me at dawn." said Sydo. Ptero had never seen his father this nervous. Sydo had seen Ptero's flying skills and knew he was close enough to go, certainly with assistance, on his own the next day. The two would take off at dawn.

"What is wrong with Daddy? He seems worried about something. He wants to meet with me at dawn. Why didn't he mention you?" Ptero asked his mother sometime later that day.

"I am not sure." Agatha lied. She now guessed that Sydo was going to betray her, though she didn't let it on to Ptero. "Good boy for telling me. I will try and make sure that daddy is better."

"Thank you Mommy." said Ptero, who went off trying to fly. He almost was ready. He went off hopping from branch to branch really fast.

Agatha grinned. "No, thank you Ptero. Thank you very much." she said.

Things had gotten so out of control that Sydo had finally decided that he was going to leave as soon as Ptero learned to fly. Agatha didn't say anything about her feelings about Sydo's plot to leave her, which, though she hadn't acted as if she knew, she did know. She settled on a plan. She got Sydo to come with her that night after Ptero was settled down to rest. She took him away from the nest, for it wouldn't do at all for the boy to be around.

"Agatha, you wanted to see me." said Sydo. "Yes, Ptero is spending a lot of time with you. More than with me." said Agatha. "Well, you certainly devote a lot of attention to yourself! I doubt you need worry about him!" said Sydo coldly. Agatha, meanwhile sharpened her talons on a rock.

"Ah, but I do dear. I do." said Agatha, and she grinned nastily. For the first time in a long time, Sydo felt afraid around her. The red in her eyes seemed to glint. "You were planning on leaving me, weren't you Sydo? Leaving tomorrow?" said Agatha.

"Yes, you seem to love yourself the most. It's clear that you're not who I thought you were. I can see why you had a hard time finding a mate. I'm going to take the boy and go away for good as soon as he's ready to fly, which should be likely by tomorrow, he's gotten on so well." said Sydo.

"Sydo, I don't believe in divorce, I believe in murder!" she said.

"Pardon?" said Sydo, not sure if he'd heard her right.

Agatha moved her talons away from the rock. She glared at him, a look of evil in her eyes. "Yes, you will be going away for good. However, the boy is mine! I have my heir now!" said Agatha. He tried to move, but she was too quick for him. She struck him to the ground. She grabbed him with her left leg and raised her right talon over him.

He knew what Agatha was going to do. "Traitor!" he shouted. As Agatha swung her claw downward , his last thoughts were of his son and he yelled "Ptero! Ptero! My boy! I love you! Ptero!". Agatha hit him in the chest and he died. She quickly ate the body, for it wouldn't do to have him around anymore. Ptero was now hers.

Ptero had heard his father cry. Though very uneasy, he took off from the nest, flapping his wings and overcoming his fear, so desperate was he to get to his father, whom he loved so dearly. Ptero got there soon after Agatha had finished off his father.

Agatha had heard him coming. She needed a story or this would be really bad for her. She formed a nasty plan. She recalled how Sydo's friends had left him when he had married her. She knew that Leaf Eaters mistrusted Sharpteeth. She quickly came up with a lie that would sound very believable, both to her pack and to her gullible young son. This would bend the boy to her will. He would never be like Sydo. Indeed, he would hate Sydo's kind forever.

"Ptero, you can fly!" she said. "Where is Daddy?" he asked. She started to cry. Ptero came into the cave. "Mother, what is wrong?" said Ptero, noticing her crying. "It's your father, Ptero. They killed him. I couldn't save him." said Agatha, crying.

Ptero felt as though he'd received a talon right to the heart. His father was dead. It couldn't be true! "What happened? Who killed him?" Ptero asked, tears in his eyes.

"He was with Flatteeth. They didn't like that he was a Sharptooth, so they killed him. They took the body. Daddy guessed they were after him. He knew they were going to hurt you next, so he wanted to protect you and warned you this morning. He died so bravely. I came along before they could sneak after you. I thought they might try this. I was able to save you, for they would have killed you too." lied Agatha, still crying.

Ptero cried for many hours. Finally, he calmed down. "I guess it's just you and me now." he said. His mind immediately turned to thoughts of avenging Sydo.

"Did you get the Flatteeth? I want them punished!" said Ptero, anger mounting inside of him. "No, they got away. I tried son, but I couldn't save him." said Agatha.

"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since this morning. And I know just what I want to eat." said Ptero, feeling an urge to get vengeance. "I want to eat a Flattooth. I hate them for what they did to my Father!" said Ptero.

"I'll be sure to get one." said Agatha, grinning.

"Get me two Mother, I have a big appetite." said Ptero.

"Certainly boy." said Agatha smugly.

Ptero was young enough that he didn't know that Sydo had been a Leaf Eater, and Agatha had never bothered to inform him of this and Sydo had always thought that their kinds didn't matter and so hadn't bothered to highlight their differences either. Thus, Ptero fell for his mother's lie that Sydo had been a Sharptooth and that he'd been murdered by Leaf Eaters.

Agatha brought Ptero two Leaf Eaters that she'd killed. The boy ate them hungrily. "Two less Flatteeth in the world." said Ptero after he'd finished his dinner.

Agatha went the next day and attacked all of Sydo's kind. They got some for their meals and the rest fled in fright. Agatha couldn't let them hang around. If Ptero came across them and found out the truth, she would be toast. "Glad you chased off the wicked Flatteeth Mommy." said young Ptero, very smug.

Agatha grinned. The boy was going to be a Sharptooth. He'd make a great pack leader someday. She would ensure that he never left the nest though, for a long time. If Ptero got around live Leaf Eaters for too long, he might realize that he was one. That would wreck all! So she always made sure never to let him out of her sight as the cold times went by. Not until she was sure he'd stay a hunter for good and thus would never find out the truth. Then her secret would be safe forever.

Meanwhile, in the Mysterious Beyond, a few hours later, Petrie was with his father. "Dad, me want to try flying today. Me think me could do it soon." said Petrie.

Don got up and stretched, yawning. "Eager boy, aren't you?" Don remarked, patting his son on the head. "You seem to like climbing better than flying."

"Yeah, me no fall as much when me climb." Petrie replied.

"Don't be afraid of failure son. Falling is just a part of life." Don reassured him.

The two went out to go fly. That's when the unthinkable happened. The earth shook hard. Big cracks began appearing in the earth. The branch Petrie was on snapped.

Don moved to get Petrie, but another branch came loose, whacking him. He was able to regain balance, but Petrie had disappeared. Dust had come up everywhere. And the earth kept moving. Don knew his son may well have perished, but, as much as it pained him, he had to save his wife and kids first before going to look for him.

"Phyra, Pterano! Get up! Help with the kids!" he yelled. They were able to get the kids out. The nest collapsed right after they left. Eventually, the earth stopped shaking. Many dinosaurs had perished.

Don saw with horror that the spot where Petrie had fallen now had a deep chasm. He clutched the stick that his son had held, believing it to be all that was left of his son. He later, when leaving with Pterano for a bit, gave it to his wife, to remember him, while he was gone, and their son Petrie by.

But Don was wrong. Petrie had landed in water, weak, but alive. He had come out of the Dark Underground and met Littlefoot, Ducky, and Cera. However, Don was the one who ended up being a casualty of the trip to the Great Valley. Petrie would never see his father alive again. As the years went by, both Petrie and Ptero didn't like to talk about the deaths of their fathers.