Chapter 16: Another Catastrophy
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
"EARTHSHAKE!" the kids cried in a panic. Despite the fact that it wasn't as strong as the earthshake that hit when the Great Valley shuddered, stones fell down from the ceiling nonetheless. Cera, Littlefoot, who grabbed Ducky, and Petrie darted deeper into thecave while the Swimmers stepped back to the edge of the ledge. The Flyers took to the air where it was safest for them.
Those grown-ups, who weren't awake already, woke up trying to keep a safe distance from the trees that could fall on them. Yet there was another threat especially dangerous for the Threehorn...
The kids ran as fast as they could. Light became rarer in the cave but the rain of little stones wouldn't diminish.
"What's that growling?!" Cera shouted.
"Sounds like the one in the Great Valley. Oh no, no, nooooo!" Ducky croaked but only Littlefoot, who carried her, could understand her. The Swimmer had sobered up to the real world due to the heavy rumbling.
"Me no understand what Ducky saying," Petrie called.
"Yeah. What did she say Littlefoot?" Cera asked.
"She said that it sounds the same as the Great Valley!" Littlefoot responded sounding worried.
"Ducky right!" Petrie croaked.
"Hey, that means that... OOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUCH!" Cera howled in pain as a sharp Stonetooth (stalaktite) broke off the ceiling and pierced her back...
Just a few steps away from the old Threehorn, a rift opened, spitting out reddish glowing fire into the air. He roared in fear and ran off bearly escaping being licked by the flames.
Grandpa and Grandma had chosen their resting spots wisely and did not lie close to any big trees. Still, Grandpa realised that the ground started getting warm despite it being night.
"Ohh no... Not again!" he said desperately. "Can you walk dear?" he asked Grandma. "We need to escape from this place quickly!"
"I'm not sure," she replied weakly.
"Please try! The ground is getting warm. I think a fire pit or a whole smoking mountain is going to erupt!" Grandpa said anxiously as he supported Grandma. She got to her feet with some difficulty. Slowly and carefully they retreated from the firepit that was growing throughout the whole region. All the while, huge tongues of fire leapt into the air from miles away.
Ducky's Mother and the other Great Valley residents, plus a few others who weren't close to the battlefield at the time of the attack, flew back to the Big Water since the gap cut them from the land side. They escorted the two Longnecks but they moved pretty slow in comparison. A few moments later, the old Threehorn caught up with them . Aside from a few burns, he was relatively unhurt.
"Wonderful! 'Nother lush and green place that falls victim to the fire from the ground!" he called.
"These things are indeed curious!" Mr. Clubtail piped up.
"At least we aren't being threated by a cloud of ash this time!" Ducky's Mother said somewhat relieved.
"Instead we're being threated by a huge fire. Possibly by a river of fire too!" Cera's father retorted grimly. There was indeed a huge fire behind them. The rift seemed to widen up as the wall of fire was being thrown out of it becoming wider and higher.
"Where are the Flyers?!" he bellowed.
"Maybe they're just picking up our children," Grandpa considered.
"Oh no! Our kids..." Ducky's Mother cried.
"I'm confident that they're safe for the time being," Grandma said trying to calm their worries.
"Yes, the cave is far enough from the fire pit!" Grandpa added.
"All fine and dandy Longneck, but the cave could have caved in due to the earthshake!" theThreehorn retorted.
"Let's hope for the best!" Grandma pleated since she saw another dispute between the hagglish Threehorn and her mate coming.
The Threehorn didn't return anything on that...
Since the Flyers felt responsible for the herds' children and specially since their own children were at risk, they flew - as the others had hoped and expected them to do - to the cave to rescue the little ones. Pterano and Petrie's Mother saw their little ones flapping around from a distance outside of the cave entrance. Glancing into the cave, they could see a green muddle of bodies milling around. The Swimmer kids were safe, too. However, there was no sign of the young Threehorn and Longneck. They quickly realised that Petrie and one of the Swimmers were missing as well.
"They ran that way!" one Swimmer told them as it saw the panicked glances of the two Flyers pointing to the path where Littlefoot, Petrie, Cera and Ducky had fled. It was partually caved in and almost impassible. With every tremor, more of the ceiling collapsed.
"We can't go after them," Petrie's Mother said hectically as Pterano attempted to go deeper into the cave.
"Arrgh, you're right, I suppose!" he sighed contritely.
"We need to get the children out of here. Each of us will carry one half of the little Swimmers, agreed?"
Pterano nodded. The little ones climbed on their backs, the Flyer kids accompanied their relatives.
Then, a few moments after they had risen into the air, a huge earthshake struck the region...