Warning: This chapter includes vague descriptions of violence and child endangerment. Reader discretion advised.
We Will Hold On Forever
by
DaveTheAnalyzer
Chapter 42: Kindness, Fall Part 1
The residents of the Great Valley and their allies gathered at the meeting circle. The atmosphere was a stir with both tension and hope. Flyers had flew about the valley passing word to those in shelters or standing about that most of the Anchors had been defeated. Mama Longneck had asked the flyers to spread the message to anyone willing to make a final stand. Those going in toward the meeting circle attracted the attention of those nearby and soon many dinosaurs were crowded around the area. It wasn't as many as Littlefoot remembered from many days ago when ghosts were a yet-unsolved concern or during Wing Father's rule when Mr. Threehorn and the others claimed Wing Father tortured them but it was still impressive.
Many large and tall dinosaurs shuffled about to find room, with the smaller ones squeezing in between their legs to get to the front, or having to make due with climbing atop their larger counterparts if they were light enough. Many ghosts stood partially in living members, which caused shivering. Flyers perched on tall rock formations or the taller land walkers. Littlefoot, his friends, and their families stood near the center along with the likes of Mr. Thicknose, Mrs. Maia, and Pat. Amid the footsteps and hushed chatter, Littlefoot and the others were nervous but excited. Grandpa and Grandma Longneck exchanged looks with Mama Longneck. Mr. and Mrs. Threehorn glanced at one another. Some in the crowd still sent stares in the direction of Chomper's parents but many held looks of resolve.
"With Patty gone, there are no more Anchors in the world," Mama Longneck, turning her head left and right to those present. "Now's the time to take down Wing Father once and for all."
The crowd stirred and amazed whispers filled the area. Clearly, that detail was lost in transmission. The female whiptail longneck's head slumped with relief.
"Thank goodness," she said. "I feared we would have had to fight her in addition to dealing with Wing Father."
"I was there for Tega's defeat but it's still a surprise to hear they're all gone so soon," agreed a rainbow face.
"And not long after they had control of the entire world," Papa Sprinter said. "Guess that goes to show how powerful they really were."
He stood next to Mama Sprinter at the crowd's center and murmurs of agreement followed his statement. Hyp and his friends remained in a safe shelter but the pair came back into the valley searching for other Anchors to help. A ghost domehead pumped an arm excitedly. A flyer flapped off from his perch on Pat's neck with similar energy.
"Maybe taking care of this Wing Father will be a cinch after all!" he called.
"I'm afraid that'll be easier said than done," Mama Longneck said. "In the afterlife, he was a powerful force. No one could kill each other but he was able to drive off beings with abilities you can't even imagine."
"Without the ghosts, he would have killed a lot of us with his shadow powers." Grandma Longneck said. "We need to be smart about how we deal with him."
"But his Anchors are gone," Mr. Clubtail said. He remained on top of the gang. Littlefoot could see his friends rubbing themselves and getting tired of the cold but Littlefoot supposed it was necessary in case Wing Father or some other threat went after them. "Littlefoot and the others are no longer connected to him. Shouldn't he be fading back to where he came from?"
"How do you explain our continued presence then?" Mrs. Threehorn said. "I suspect if Wing Father was really gone, we wouldn't still be here."
"Well, who knows how long it takes for losing the Anchors to take effect?" Pat said. "This is unprecedented. Maybe even Wing Father and his Anchors had to figure out as they went along how to remain in the living world."
"That maybe the case," Mr. Thicknose said beside him. "But I still believe the ghosts are central to dealing with him. Like Grandma Longneck said, they were able to protect us from his stabbing shadows when he attacked the living. If they touched him directly like the Anchors, he may be similarly weakened. By the way, it's nice to meet you, Littlefoot's mother. Your parents and Littlefoot are extraordinary individuals."
Mama Longneck smiled. "It's nice to finally meet the dinosaur teaching my boy about the world."
Mr. Threehorn coughed awkwardly. "Sorry, back on topic. The only way to find out will be to bring the fight to Wing Father, in his cave."
"That's if he's still in that cave," Tria said. "The ghosts are able to wander now. Maybe he can too."
"But he wasn't able to go out before he changed the world." Mama Flyer said. "He needed the Anchors and the kids to wander free. Maybe he's trapped there again."
"When the Anchors tried to talk to him, he very angry." Petrie said.
Mama Flyer nodded to him. "Still, we should do something about those shadows. Wing Father could protect himself with them before the ghosts can touch his body. Maybe we living dinosaurs can do something about it?"
"I agree with her suggestion." Papa Sharptooth said. "I want a piece of him. It's about time he knew who's boss around here."
"Be careful, Daddy." Chomper said, fidgeting. "If he's really angry, then he might stab you or take your head off!"
"Don't worry, we won't be fighting recklessly," Mama Sharptooth assured.
Spike shuffled and gave a coo of concern, which well represented the worries bubbling inside Littlefoot. Ruby looked like she had her own misgivings.
"Still, it is going to be very dangerous." she said. "The cave won't have much room to dodge Wing Father's dangerous shadows. And the path to his cave doesn't have much room either, so he wouldn't have to do much to make you fall to your doom."
"Those are genuine concerns." Mama Fast Runner said. "But we have to take some risks."
"We have to think quickly but carefully about how we go about this." Grandpa Longneck said. "Like Petrie said, Wing Father's very angry. I can imagine he's going to very much resist our attempts to push him back to the afterlife."
"You're going to have to think more quickly about how to deal with him." Cera said, tensing as she stared at something in the sky. "He's coming."
"Who's coming?" Littlefoot asked, then also stilled. "You can't mean…"
Cera jerked her horn upward. "Wing Father, Wing Father! He's coming this way!"
Everyone froze, stunned by the news. With dread, they all looked up. In the distance a figure floated in their direction. The figure was far away, so hard to make out but six silver wings sprouted from either side of it. There was only one being who had such wings. There was a stir and hushed chatter filled the air, some rising to shouts of panic. Many started looking about for an escape route, and fear could be seen in many eyes, whether solid or transparent.
"Wing Father's coming straight toward us!" the whiptail longneck cried, frightened.
"But why didn't he leave his cave to help his Anchors before?" the rainbow face wondered, hands fidgeting with increasingly nervous speed. "Oh, what do we do? What do we do?"
"Calm yourselves." Mama Longneck said, looking around at everyone. "Panicking will only endanger us. The ghosts among us have to act as the primary defense for the living. We need ideas for a plan, quickly. Come, now, speak up!"
"We – we try to rush him as a group of ghosts." Mr. Clubtail stammered. "Surely some of us can get past his shadows to touch his body."
"We'll need as many ghosts as possible for that to work." Mrs. Threehorn said, lowering her head thoughtfully. "Maybe we should keep going after we touch a shadow. It hasn't hurt when we stopped the shadows before."
Mama Sprinter sighed but stepped forward. "I am small, so maybe I can sneak under or around the shadows."
"Dear, are you sure?" Papa Sprinter asked, attempting to put a hand on her shoulder, only for it to go through. With regret, he had to pull his hand out. "That sounds risky. You've already done more than enough."
"This is to ensure Hyp, Littlefoot, and everyone have a future." Mama Sprinter traced a phantom thumb on Papa Sprinter's cheek. "I also want you to see you grow old and wise."
"Okay." Papa Sprinter closed his eyes. "I'll do what I can on the margins."
Mama Sprinter nodded, a smile of appreciation flickering across her lips. The other ghosts looked amongst themselves and became determined.
"We need to keep him distracted with as many of us as possible," the ghost domehead said.
"This is the final battle," the ghost spikethumb said, "so we have to try everything we can think of to get rid of him."
"We're small too!" Horen said. "We can help the sprinter sneak under the shadows to get him!"
"We can hop on shadows that are about to attack living dinosaurs!" Rica said.
"At the very least, we can find any weaknesses he might have up close and tell you about them." Duane said.
"I'm not sure." Mr. Threehorn said. "Verter found a way to harm you despite you being ghosts. I don't want a repeat of that with someone much worse."
"What do you kids think?" Mr. Clubtail asked, bending his head almost upside down to peer at Littlefoot and the others. "You got any ideas?"
"Um, nothing is coming to mind." Ducky said, tapping her head.
"Maybe ghosts can go through ground to get at Wing Father?" Petrie said. "Or they can fly!"
"The living wrestle with the shadows while the ghosts go for him?" Cera said. "No, that's too dangerous!"
"Have the flyer ghosts come and dive at him?" Ruby said.
The gang faltered, unsure of what ideas to give. Spike's gaze swiveled left and right uncertainly, attempting to mentally find any idea. Littlefoot stood with his head down, wracking his brain. Mama Longneck noticed and lowered her head through Grandpa Longneck.
"You've already done more than enough," she said. "You should hide and sit this one out."
"But we all worked hard to reject Wing Father." Littlefoot said. "We changed the world back, at least some of the way. Isn't there a way we can use that experience to make him go away for good?"
"Maybe." Mama Longneck said, gaze uncertain. "With the stones in Wing Father's cave broken and the cave itself so far away, I'm not sure how it can be done. We would have to find a different place to have a ceremony but how-?"
Before she could complete that thought, a shadow fell over the gathered dinosaurs. Everyone barely had time to react before a silver tentacle slashed through the crowd. The living hopped back and pressed into each other, retreating. A silver shadow lashed overhead and Mama Swimmer shrieked before throwing herself to the ground with arms over her head. Mr. Thicknose bellowed and barely pulled his neck out of the way as another shadow slashed down, unleashing a small explosion of dirt that obscured their immediate surroundings. Mr. Clubtail had to back away carefully in the gloom, navigating around the living dinosaurs fleeing in all directions so the gang didn't get stepped on. Littlefoot and the others kept up with Mr. Clubtail as one unit, moving this way and that to avoid the living who accidentally stepped into Mr. Clubtail. A shadow snapped toward the gang and they shrieked. Unware Mr. Clubtail was a ghost, though, it made contact with him and dissolved.
To their right, the ghost domehead leapt up to block another silver shadow, which also broke apart like silver sand. The other ghosts rallied and blocked silver shadows to protect their living counterparts. Many dinosaurs retreated out of the meeting circle, leaving enough room in the center for others to back away without worrying about bumping into or being stepped on by anyone. Heart hammering, Littlefoot looked up. Looming over them, Wing Father descended, green eyes burning with hatred. Everyone stepped back, wary and scared. It was like when the gang last saw Wing Father, a furious force that attacked everyone he could see and get his shadows on. Chomper shook. Spike audibly gulped. Wing Father stopped short of the tallest longnecks' heights, lip still twitching as he took in all that were present.
"You plot against me out in the open?" he asked, calm voice holding an ominous tremor. "I'm surprised. I thought you all would be intelligent enough to go into hiding once you noticed my approach."
"You won't be going anywhere in this world soon." Mama Longneck said, taking a firm stance. "It's over, Wing Father."
"Don't overestimate your abilities." Wing Father replied. "Playthings shouldn't rebel against their owners." He looked briefly at the gang. "Especially you, children. You made me lose everything…"
The gang tensed, examining their surroundings for a quick escape. Mr. Threehorn stepped in front of them to divert Wing Father's attention.
"How did you get out of that cave?" he demanded. "You don't control the world anymore. You didn't go out when your Anchors were in trouble."
"By reverting the world, you threw me from my connection to it and the Anchors became my binds." Wing Father answered. "I was too busy venting my frustrations. The Anchors should have been able to handle you on their own. But even if I could, there was only so much I could do. Only after they were gone could I move freely. Now I can unleash my rage upon you all."
"No." Grandpa Longneck said. "Without your Anchors, you won't remain here for long."
"I can always find more Anchors." Wing Father said. "I admit, Tega and Verter were my favorites but they're replaceable. There are so many who have great regret and hatred for the world. Now that everyone got a taste of eternal life, there'll be some who'll do anything to bring it back. No matter what those children say, if I drive them to despair by taking away those they love, they'll be sure to cooperate!"
"No!" Cera cried. "We won't let that happen!"
"You won't take away any more like Mr. Clubtail!" Chomper said, barring his teeth.
"We will never cooperate with someone as selfish as you!" Ducky snapped.
Spike jerked his head and almost growled as he grunted aggressively at Wing Father. Grandma Longneck stepped in front of the children.
"You're a monster," she said. "How could you admit to wanting to hurt children? We'll stop you."
Wing Father sneered. "You think beings like you could do anything to me? I've had enough of this prattle. Die!"
A silver shadow lashed out at her. Littlefoot's veins surged with fear as the tentacle-like shadow rapidly approached his grandmother. Grandma Longneck flinched, only for Mama Longneck to slide in the way with a steady glare. On contact with Mama Longneck's neck, the silver shadow dissolved on contact.
"You won't be killing anymore people today!" she declared.
"Your luck won't hold forever." Wing Father said, and sent out many more silver shadows.
The area became chaos. The living dinosaurs ducked, fled out of range, or hopped behind rocks and trees for cover. Mr. Thicknose staggered behind one of the large rock formations just before a silver shadow sliced diagonally into it. Mama and Papa Sharptooth retreated from the meeting circle and ducked behind trees, which had their tops cut off. Mama Flyer ducked and flew around the shadows that stabbed into the sky, Pat keeping his head low as he rumbled away. Mama and Papa Fast Runner fled with Papa Sprinter, whose mate threw herself at any shadows that lashed out at them. Mama Longneck and Mrs. Threehorn remained in front of their living family members, dueling shadows away. Mama Swimmer and Mrs. Maia kept hopping back until they got behind the ghosts.
Despite being caught off guard, the ghosts started grouping together to defend and fight back. The ghost domehead leapt into the air and thrust his head into another tentacle, which dissolved on contact. The ghost spikethumb bit at any shadow tentacles that got too close. Horen, Rica, and Duane leapt about, destroying the shadows with thrusts of their horns. As silver shadows went toward several Tinysaurus parents, they reared on their hind legs to slash at any shadows they could reach to protect the living behind them.
Mr. Clubtail swiveled his head back and forth as he retreated, sometimes looking down into himself to make sure Littlefoot and the others were keeping up. Littlefoot and the others tried not to look closely into the chaos for any wounded or still figures. They didn't stop running until they were far out of range of the shadow tentacles, amid some of the trees and bushes. They saw other living dinosaurs hide among the foliage, peering over at the action. Once they got behind several tall trees, still panting from the adrenaline, Littlefoot and the others also peered out. They saw many dinosaurs running from and jumping over shadows trying to reach them. Littlefoot saw a few nursing injuries, a flyer with a bleeding wing ducking around a fallen rock formation, a squareshield wincing behind a group of ghosts with a gash on her side. The ghosts were rushing and leaping all over the place to parry any shadows they could. Cera and the others' eyes searched the scene desperately.
"Where're my parents?" Ruby cried.
"Me not see Mama either." Petrie said.
"I saw Daddy and Tria with Mom and my sisters." Cera said, craning her neck anxiously. "Oh, they need to get to safety."
"Where're my Mommy and Daddy, I can't see them!" Chomper said.
"I saw Chomper's parents and several others going into the trees on the other side earlier but I don't know where they are now." Mr. Clubtail said.
Littlefoot looked out at the fight at the meeting circle. Near a group of ghosts protecting other living dinosaurs, Grandpa and Grandma Longneck watched Mama Longneck parry more than a few shadows away with her tail. Concern rose in him but he shook his head.
"I'm worried too but the grownups should be able to take care of themselves," he said. "Right now, we can only help by thinking of how to push Wing Father out of this world."
"We didn't get very far in how that was going to work." Cera said.
"Can we actually do that?" Ducky wondered, clasping her hands together. "Oh, I do not know where to begin looking for a plan, I do not, I do not!"
"Me neither." Littlefoot said. "We're very far from his cave. Even if we could use our broken stones, we can't…"
A tentacle snapped over them, slicing into the top of one of the trees two-thirds up. The top half groaned and fell toward them. Crying out, the gang and Mr. Clubtail ran to the right just as the tree crashed into the ground, sending up clouds of dust, leaves and branches behind them. As they reeled from the close call, Papa Sprinter hopped back and joined them in hiding, rubbing a bruised shoulder.
"Mr. Sprinter, are you alright?" Littlefoot said.
"I'll recover." Papa Sprinter grunted. "If I hadn't ducked when my mate warned me, I'd have had my head taken off. I didn't want to leave her but it's clear I can't do much."
"What about the rest of our living families, are they okay?" Cera asked.
"I saw no one lying still but I can't be sure." Papa Sprinter said. "I was so busy trying to keep myself alive it was hard to keep track of what the others was doing. If it wasn't those shadows to watch for, it was the rocks and trees they knocked down."
"We had a close call with one just now." Petrie said. "First it was Verter knocking them down to get at us, now Wing Father attacking everything. Oh, it not very lucky day for trees."
"This happens whenever there's a crises in the valley." Chomper said. "I'm surprised you leaf eaters don't have food problems because of this!"
"You're right, I think…" Littlefoot said, then stopped. The mention of destroyed trees reminded Littlefoot of a conversation he once had with Patty, after she got mad at some swimmer teens breaking plants. "Wait, I just got an idea about how to help."
"You got an idea from trees being destroyed?" Cera said, confused.
"Patty told me something about the Great Valley some days ago." Littlefoot said quickly before they got interrupted, feeling it was important to get the point across. "Because dinosaurs here are so appreciative of the green food and water the valley provides, it absorbs that appreciation, letting the green food grow a bit faster and repairing any damage that isn't too extreme. The valley must have the gratitude and positive feelings from long before our parents or grandparents were born. What if we use that to help banish Wing Father?"
"Wait, whoa, slow down." Ruby said, waving her hands in a calming gesture. "I'm still stuck on the whoa part you just mentioned. Our emotions effect the environment?"
"Patty was saying that while she was tricking you." Chomper said. "She probably wasn't telling the truth."
"I'm not so sure." Littlefoot said, lowering his head in thought. "She lied about a lot of things but when she was talking about emotions influencing the valley, I felt she was being honest. I believe she got that idea from Wing Father, as a reason for why they made the Great Valley their base. That emotional power was why he chose the valley to take over the world. But now we can use that against him!"
"Oh, now I think I am getting what you are saying." Ducky said.
"Valley home, so we use home energy to make him leave." Petrie said.
"But how do we do that?" Chomper wondered. "Dig holes in a circle like in the cave and think very hard?"
Littlefoot titled his head. "You know, that's not a bad idea."
Chomper threw his hands up. "I was joking!"
"It's a lot of maybes again." Cera said. "How can we be sure you'll get this right like you got changing the world back right?"
Littlefoot faltered. "I don't know," he admitted. His face became resolved. "But my instincts are telling me this is right. We don't have a lot of time to think of something else. Since we can't use Wing Father's cave…the meeting circle! Where the valley gathers to solve problems!"
"More argue about problems but I get what you mean." Mr. Clubtail peered at the meeting circle and grimaced. "There's still too much fighting there for anyone to do any digging."
"Doing it just outside the meeting circle would be good enough." Littlefoot said. "Mr. Sprinter, have you been listening to all this?"
"Yes but I don't understand even half of what you're talking about." Papa Sprinter looked lost, scratching his head. "But you want me to help?"
"Yup." Littlefoot nodded. "Can you spread the word to the living dinosaurs to dig seven evenly-spread out small holes outside of the meeting circle? These need to be things Wing Father won't notice."
"I'm still a bit lost but I think I'm getting the gist." Papa Sprinter said, becoming encouraged. "This could be something some of us small dinosaurs can do. I don't know if it'll work but I'll pass the message along."
He turned and sprinted off, keeping his body low to the ground. Another shadow tentacle lashed at a nearby bush and the gang started and looked uneasily at the smashed broken leaves and twigs. Littlefoot waved his head.
"Come on, we need to keep moving," he said. "It would be trouble if Wing Father finds us and holds us hostage."
"Yeah, let's not give him any more advantages than he already has." Cera muttered.
Ducking low, Mr. Clubtail and the gang rushed around the meeting circle, pausing behind foliage and large rocks and hills whenever they could. The silver shadows continued their attacks. As they passed through an open space mixed with grass and bare dirt, they saw a stray boulder not too far away get smacked and cleaved in half. Other living dinosaurs could be seen slinking about or lingering behind hiding places, peeking their heads out and reporting what they were seeing to their fellows. Many appeared at a loss for what to do. As the gang and Mr. Clubtail continued sneaking, Mama Swimmer and Mrs. Maia retreated in front of them, panting as they kicked and punched a silver tentacle wiggling after them.
"Mama, you are alright!" Ducky cried.
Mama Swimmer jerked her head to Ducky and Spike in alarm but went back to grabbing and wrestling with the shadow with extra urgency.
"Ducky, Spike, why are you still around?" she asked. "Go and find a place to hide!"
"We have an idea for how to deal with Wing Father." Ducky replied. "Why are you fighting the shadows?"
"The ghosts have to deal with Wing Father personally." Mrs. Maia panted. "But he's sending so many of these shadows out, it's hard to get through to him. So the shadows need to be distracted by those like us."
"But that is very dangerous!" Ducky protested.
Spike grunted and urgently nodded to back her up. Mama Swimmer and Mrs. Maia continued to punch and slam themselves on the shadow, wracking it with their fingers and toes.
"We have to take risks in order to stop him!" Mama Swimmer retorted. "The living have to do our part too."
"She's right." Mrs. Maia said. "You children need your futures!"
"Don't worry, some flyers have gone to call the other ghosts for help and they'll come soon." Mama Swimmer said. "I'll be back for you and your brothers and sisters, don't worry!"
The tentacle appeared to sense the gang's presence. It stirred and struggled forcefully against Mama Swimmer and Mrs. Maia in their direction. The two hastily shoved and grappled with it to keep it back, and the gang hastily scurried around the action. Ducky and Spike sent glances back at their mother and Mrs. Maia's struggle but didn't have time to worry. No sooner did the two disappear behind them that more shadow tentacles appeared over the treetops.
One whipped in the gang's direction but they were still under Mr. Clubtail. On contact with his foreleg, it dissolved from the tip down. Other shadows made for them as they ran but several disappeared abruptly, likely having made contact with the ghosts Wing Father was fighting. The gang turned a corner and almost bowled Skip over in his hole. Skip's posterior started and he looked up before he sighed and resumed digging.
"Oh, it's you guys," he said, dark soil flying up as his feet sliced into the dirt. "Mr. Sprinter told me about your plan, so I decided to dig up holes for Ducky and Spike. I'm a small guy, so Wing Father will hopefully overlook me, though I can't help being nervous."
A silver shadow whipped overhead and Skip yipped and pressed further into the hole. The gang did the same but Mr. Clubtail remained upright, glaring up as though daring the shadow to fall his way. Once it moved elsewhere, Ducky and Spike relaxed cautiously and couldn't help smiling.
"Thank you, Skip," she said. "We appreciate what you are doing, we do, we do."
Spike nodded and gave a coo of gratitude. Skip didn't look up but his lips curled into a smile.
"You be safe out here," he said. "I can't help with the fights but maybe here, I can be useful. I'll do Spike's hole after finishing this one. I'll look for you when I'm done."
The gang bobbed their heads before they resumed their journey around the meeting circle. With tentacles on the loose, they couldn't stay in one place for long even if they wanted to. They broke out into the open, the fighting with the ghosts visible once more. Littlefoot and the others yelped when a shadow tentacle slithered toward them, attempting to sneak under Mr. Clubtail's belly.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Mr. Clubtail slammed down on it, momentarily surrounding the gang with a chill cool. The shadow tentacle jerked and came apart like so many others. Littlefoot and the other reeled at that close call before raising their heads to check on the fight in the meeting circle.
Even more rock formations had been destroyed. By some miracle, the half-circle of rock that denoted the entrance was still intact. The ghosts continued to charge around or throw themselves at the shadow tentacles but had to stop and start whenever one made contact. The living dinosaurs hung farther back, guarded by some ghosts as they grabbed and bit at the shadows. Grandpa and Grandma Longneck stepped onto a shadow that attempted to grab them, struggling to keep their weight on it. Mama and Papa Sharptooth had bitten two shadows, and scraped back into the dirt to limit their movement by pulling and stretching them. Mr. Threehorn and Tria dueled horns with one shadow, slashing and stabbing at it with quick movements.
While this was going on, the ghosts attempted to run beneath and between the shadows to get at Wing Father. Horen, Rica, and Duane took turns dissolving shadows to keep up the momentum. Mama Sprinter could be barely glimpsed running pressed under the shadows for as long as she could but sometimes she made contact and dissolved one or more and needed a second to reorient herself. Hovering at the center, Wing Father glared down, waving his arms to make his silver shadows strike in this or that direction and aiming for any living dinosaurs he could hurt to distract the ghosts. Mama Longneck lashed her tail on either side of her as she charged toward him, destroying the shadows shooting out around her. Wing Father sent more shadows toward her, only for the ghost domehead and spikethumb to hop onto them and urge Mama Longneck on. Mama Longneck was more than halfway to Wing Father but it was a struggle.
Littlefoot and the others could only watch in amazement. Mr. Clubtail's expression had a bit of wistfulness.
"They're keeping him at bay!" Petrie said.
"They don't have the advantage but he doesn't have the advantage either." Ruby said. "But the advantage might swing one way before long. I hope more of the other ghosts swing by here soon."
A voice called out to them. "Don't just stand there, kids. Wing Father might see you!"
Starting, the gang and Mr. Clubtail hastily hid behind a long line of bushes. They came across Mama Flyer digging a small hole with her hands, almost pressed close to the ground as she worked, wincing whenever a shadow whooshed nearby. Mama Flyer relaxed as she traced the hole with her fingers to get the size just right.
"Mama, you helping too?" Petrie asked.
"Of course." Mama Flyer said. "Admittedly, there's not much I can do with Wing Father and his shadows. Since the details about the valley's energy came from Patty when she was in some way honest, I trust your judgement. After all that's happened, I'm willing to believe anything's possible, no matter how wild it sounds."
Petrie was touched. "Thanks for doing this for us."
The corners of her lips curved up. "No problem. Just keep out of the way until you can put your plan into action."
They continued to sneak around the area. They didn't get far, though, when they saw something that made them stop and stare. Ghosts of all shapes, sizes, and colors were coming in from all directions, making their way to the fighting in the meeting circle. Some wore hesitant expressions, others' were full of drive. A tall crested swimmer ghost marched onward, eyes focused on Wing Father. A squareshield moved skittishly forward, starting and stopping, but determination overcoming any fear in her eyes. A ghost rainbow face rushed toward the action, wearing the expression of someone desperate to join his dear friend. There were so many of them that they glowed in the cloudy afternoon light like beacons of hope. Littlefoot and the others' mouths were open as they passed.
"You decided to come out of hiding?" Cera asked.
"You thought we wouldn't?" replied a longneck as she went by. "The message was sent that the Anchors were defeated and that we should help with Wing Father. We thought it was safer to be with our living loved ones but we realize we could make it really safe by taking the fight to him."
"There's a strategy to finally take care of this," said a ghost flyer that flew passed. "You aren't going to join, Mr. Clubtail?"
"Not yet." Mr. Clubtail replied. "I have to continue protecting these kids, since Wing Father's still has it out for them. Sorry I can't get involved."
"Hey not everyone can," said the ghost longneck. "Some of the Tinysauruses ghost parents decided to remain behind to continue protecting the children and others in hiding. We don't want Wing Father to win."
"Thanks for freeing us, kids," said the ghost flyer. "It was terrible being under Wing Father's control."
Chomper shuffled a foot. "That was kind of our fault."
"Oh, we understand the situation you were in," said a ghost flyer.
"I'm happy we were able to say goodbye to our loved ones," said the ghost longneck. "My passing was quite sudden. I didn't get a chance to resolve things with my family."
"Anyway, we have more to do," said the ghost flyer. "You kids keep moving."
The two ghosts continued their beeline toward all the action. More than a couple longneck lengths away, they already started dueling with the silver shadows, the ghost longneck bending and slamming her ghost neck onto them, the flyer flying about slashing them with his claws and beak. The other ghosts also struck at the shadows whirling about to keep the living nearby safe, pushing further into the meeting circle where the most intense struggle raged. The gang and Mr. Clubtail continued their journey, going behind a small hill and found Mr. Thicknose tracing his horn around a hole just about Chomper's size he was almost finished digging up, a few scraps of dark soil on his face. He looked up at the gang and nodded gravely.
"I know you can do this," he said. "I want to see you children grow up."
"Me too." Chomper said. "Even if that means I'll eventually have to…"
His mouth became dry. Mr. Thicknose went over and gave him a gentle nudge with his horn.
"I'm glad I got to know you and the other children, whatever happens," he said. "Be safe."
Smiling wanly, Chomper joined the others in continuing to circle around the battle. The new ghost arrivals had crowded into the meeting circle to slash and destroy the silver shadows. Littlefoot glimpsed the ghost squareshield waving her horns in a wide arc to two shadow tentacles disappear. The ghost crested swimmer dived and slammed into any he could come across. This allowed the living dinosaurs to back away somewhat from distracting the shadows and the other ghosts to focus on offense. Mama Longneck at last had enough room to get through the shadows and rammed into Wing Father's legs. Wing Father threw his head back and screamed. Littlefoot and the others came across Papa Fast Runner, who patted down the edge of the Ruby-sized hole to give the final touches. Wiping his hands, he looked up and smiled gently at Ruby.
"I know you'll get through this," he said. "My eldest daughter, brave to the end."
Ruby swallowed. "Thanks, Daddy."
Continuing, they glimpsed that more ghosts had run into Wing Father. They were just in time to see Mrs. Threehorn and Mama Sprinter slam into his feet on either side of Mama Longneck, pushing with arms and horns. The ghost domehead and spikethumb were on Wing Father's sides, flailing their forepaws into him. Wing Father snarled and struggled as the ghosts' combined strength dragged him closer to the ground. Barely any shadows were visible under him.
Just as the gang and Mr. Clubtail felt they could relax, the hiss of something slithering behind them made them turn around. They saw silver shadows crawling toward them with fierce speed. The gang gasped as the shadows whipped at them, barely able to leap from their attempted grasp of their feet. Mr. Clubtail slammed himself down once more and they all dissolved on impact. Littlefoot and the others stared at where they last saw them in alarm.
"Where did those come from?" Ruby said. "I thought the ghosts took up all the room where those shadows could come out of Wing Father?"
Littlefoot and Petrie visually traced where those shadows came from with the disturbances in the grass. These markings circled around the wide area of the meeting circle. Just in time, the pair saw a few shadows dissolve from Wing Father's back but more continued to slither out from him. On Cera's head, Petrie pointed.
"Over there!" he said. "Wing Father sends shadows from behind him and make them go long way round through grass."
"That's right." Ruby said. "He was able to stretch them a long way while attacking everyone fleeing his cave. He can have them move quietly until he can attack who he likes…um, dislikes."
Littlefoot looked around uneasily. "We should be more careful going forward."
As they sneaked around much more carefully, they ran into Papa Sprinter again. He spun in his hole while keeping his head low and nodded in satisfaction.
"I think this will be adequate enough," he said. "I hope this pays you back for looking after Hyp despite all he did to you, Littlefoot. I'm sure he feels positively about you now."
"I hope he does, Mr. Sprinter." Littlefoot said, blinking wet eyes. "I appreciate your hard work. Be sure to stick around for Hyp, you two still need each other."
The gang ran around a final time. They heard Wing Father's screams before they got to a visible enough vantage point to see him again. He flailed several yards in the air struggling against the ghosts holding him. Wing Father had far fewer shadow tentacles around him. The ghosts pressed into the front and on both sides of his legs with their heads and upper bodies. The domehead ghost pulled at him with gritted teeth. Horen, Rica, and Duane leapt up and bit into Wing Father's feet. Mama Longneck shoved so hard into Wing Father that only her lower jaw was visible, body shaking with effort. Littlefoot tried not to linger to watch.
At last, they ran into Pat. He stood with a hole already well prepared, one of his toes covered in soil. He kept himself near the earth, eying the hole before nodding in satisfaction. He turned to the gang with a genial smile.
"The hole's all set, Cera," he said. "You and the others saved me when I was trying to keep an eye on you. You gave me a home. I hope this small gesture shows my gratitude."
"What just you did isn't a small gesture, Pat," Cera said. "And neither was you helping protect Ducky and Spike or all of us lately. I'm glad you helped us even if I wasn't nice to you at first."
"Oh, don't mention it." Pat said. "We all have things we regret."
Skip ran in on all fours. "I'm done with Ducky's hole. I finished Spike's hole too while you were away. It was kind of fun. You make it appealing to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life, Spike."
Spike gave an "eeh" of thanks. With Skip's announcement, Littlefoot and the others turned to each other. Though uncertainty lingered in some of their expressions, determination solidified in them all.
"Well, it's time we take our places." Littlefoot said. "Everyone ready?"
Petrie nodded. "Ready."
"I'm ready to end this for good." Ruby said.
"All of you be safe out there." Ducky said.
Spike grunted and surveyed his friends seriously. Cera went over to stand next to Pat.
"This is my stop," she said. "See you all later."
"Me and Spike will be going with Skip." Ducky said.
"I'll be accompanying you to keep a lookout until you all get into position." Mr. Clubtail said.
"Thanks, Mr. Clubtail." Littlefoot said. "Alright, let's do this!"
Ruby and Chomper thrust their heads in a nod.
Next Time…
Part 2
Note: Part 2 will be posted next week.