“Tommy? Are you alright?”
“Yeah I think so,” said Tommy. “What happened?”
Jason saw leaves scattered around them. They were the same leaves that covered the ground up in the clearing. “We fell in a hole.” he said picking up one of the leaves. “These leaves were hiding it.”
Tommy made no attempt to get up. His body felt like it would fall apart. Jason stood up and pain seared through his right ankle. He hobbled over to a wall and steadied himself. Tommy could see something was wrong.
“Jason what’s wrong,” he asked.
Jason tried to downplay his sudden injury. “Nothing. I’m okay.” He knew Tommy was feeling pretty bad already and he didn’t want to make him feel any worse.
“Are you sure?” said Tommy. “You don’t look okay.”
Jason smiled the best he could. “I’m okay, honest. My leg’s a little stiff from the fall, that’s all.” He turned away from Tommy so he couldn’t see how much pain he was really in.
Jason dug his fingers into the dirt wall. 𠇊nyway,” he said trying to change the subject. “I think we can dig some hand and foot holes and climb out.” He looked up at the distant opening. 𠇋ut it’s going to take a really long time.”
Neither boy had asked the all important question... why was the hole there? And who had dug it? Maybe neither of them really wanted to find out. They just wanted to leave.
Jason sat down and leaned against the wall. He was totally exhausted and his ankle throbbed like mad. This was so unreal. Here they were stuck in a big hole in the middle of a prehistoric jungle inside a bedroom closet! How believable was that!
High above them faint jungle sounds swirled in the air like ghosts from a distant past. Sounds of animals no human had ever seen or would ever see. Millions of years from now ending up as colorful pictures in a child’s book or a pile of bones in some museum basement. For Tommy and Jason Barker the pictures had become all too real.
Well, they weren’t going to get out of the hole by just sitting around. The boys were going to have to dig for their freedom. Jason struggled to his feet. His ankle screamed at him to sit down again. He leaned against the wall and tried to wish the pain away. That’s when he noticed the wall was vibrating. Clumps of dirt shook loose and fell to the ground. The vibrations increased and spread to the floor. Ignoring his aching body, Tommy got to his feet. The air was thick with confusion and fear. With a violent explosion the dirt wall in front of Tommy gave way, spraying dirt in all directions. The force sent him tumbling backwards. Following the blast there came a piercing screech as a huge worm like creature rocketed out from the crumbling wall! Its dark gray body was as thick as a rhinoceros and had a gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Jason screamed and jumped out of its way. Tommy, however, was still sprawled on the ground dazed. The worm continued to screech, whipping its massive head around then headed straight for Tommy. Jason screamed at his little brother.
Jason grabbed handfuls of dirt and threw them at the advancing worm but it took no notice. Tommy brought himself back to reality in time to roll out of the way just as the worms mouth ripped through the ground beside him. Jason quickly helped Tommy to his feet and they moved back as far as the walls would allow. Realizing there was no way out, Jason pulled Tommy close. The giant worm’s eyes scanned the dirt hole and when it found the boys, it made its move. It would have reached them too if it hadn’t been for a sudden and unexpected shower of rocks. The creature screeched in anger as it tried to avoid the pelting rocks. In horrified bewilderment Tommy and Jason looked up to see where the rocks were coming from but couldn’t see anything. A few stray rocks slammed into the walls around them. They crouched down and covered their heads. Then just as quickly as the worm appeared it disappeared. In a matter of moments it was gone.
Tommy and Jason still cowering in the corner, slowly uncovered their heads. The worm was gone and the ground was littered with rocks. They waited in terrifying silence to see what would happen next. Several tense moments went by before they noticed movement from above. A piece of rope dropped into the hole and a dark figure, shrouded by the sun, ascended down it. The shadowy figure’s feet landed on the ground and turned towards the boys. Tommy and Jason were shocked to see a dinosaur looking at them!
The dinosaur was slender and muscular with dark green skin, and a long strong tail. It stood on two sturdy hind legs with four clawed toes on each foot and had two forearms with four clawed fingers on each hand. Its head was sleek with a long snout and yellow-black eyes. The dinosaur was as tall as Jason and had in its possession something very unusual. It had weapons. A bow was slung across one of its shoulders and a quiver full of arrows strapped to its back. Around its waist was a belt with a pouch.
The dinosaur eyed the boys with slight apprehension. “Hello,” it said. “We should get out of here before that thing comes back.” The dinosaur could see the sheer terror on Tommy and Jason’s faces. 𠇍on’t worry. I won’t hurt you,” said the dinosaur. “I’m Kypou. Who are you?”
Jason blinked several times but strangely felt as if he should say something, after all Kypou had just saved them from a private tour of a gigantic worm’s digestive system. Terror slowly let go of his throat.
“I’m Jason,” he said quietly. 𠇊nd uh... this is my brother Tommy.” Tommy was staring in disbelief. Kypou gave him a smile.
“Lets get out of here,” said Kypou and motioned the boys towards the rope.
Still holding Tommy close, Jason did his best to walk over to the rope, keeping Kypou firmly in his sight. Jason didn’t trust anything about this world. Tommy grabbed the rope and with Jason’s help, pulled himself up. The numb sensation Tommy was feeling started to wear off and the realization of what just happened dawned on him. They had been rescued by a dinosaur! A talking dinosaur! As Tommy neared the hole’s opening, a scaly arm reached down and pulled him to safety. At first the sudden daylight overwhelmed his eyes so he couldn’t see who the arm belonged to. As his eyes grew accustomed to the light Tommy saw that the arm belonged to another dinosaur!
Jason was now alone in the hole with the dinosaur named Kypou. Although he appeared to be friendly Jason still couldn’t be sure. He did know, however, that he wanted to get out of this hole as soon as possible. Jason grabbed the rope and tried to pull himself up, then felt Kypou’s clawed hands give him a much needed push. Jason made his way out of his dismal prison and found Tommy sitting in the clearing surrounded by three other dinosaurs. All eyes were on him as he crawled over to Tommy and collapsed. He was in agony and his ankle was beginning to swell.
It was a sight any paleontologist would have found bizarre, two humans and three dinosaurs sitting around in awkward silence. It had never occurred to the boys that it might be just as strange for dinosaurs to see humans for the first time as it was for humans to see live dinosaurs. Curiosity and uncertainty floated on the air. Kypou had made his way out of the hole now and sat down with the others. He seemed to be the only one at ease with a species never encountered before. He broke the awkward silence.
“This is Tommy and Jason,” he said to the other dinosaurs The boys smiled nervously.
Kypou pointed to the dinosaur on his left. “This is Bonta,” he said to the boys.
Bonta smiled. “Hello,” she said. It had been Bonta who had helped Tommy out of the hole.
Bonta was the same height as Kypou but heavier. Her skin was aqua blue and her eyes yellow with black pupils. She had a long tail, two hind legs with three clawed toes on each foot, and two short forearms with five clawed fingers on each hand. But it was Bonta’s head that was so unusual. Her neck was short and thick and her head was large and round with heavy bumps surrounding the sides and back of her head. Her snout was short and blunt. Next to Bonta was Typhoo. He wasn’t as tall as the other two but he was much heavier. His hind legs were thick and each foot had four clawed toes. His forearms were long and plump with four clawed fingers on each hand. Typhoo’s neck was short and stocky with a head that ended in a stubby snout, the top part of his mouth, however, was shaped like a birds beak. His eyes were small and black. Typhoo didn’t say hello, he smiled shyly instead.
Before Kypou could introduce the last dinosaur, a fifth, much smaller dinosaur neither of the boys noticed before, raced into the clearing. It jumped around excitedly. Bonta immediately scolded this new dinosaur.
“There you are Peko!” she said crossly.
Peko was about the size of a large turkey but much more slender. He had a little thin tail, little thin hind legs with three little clawed toes on each foot and two little forearms with four little clawed fingers on each hand. His neck was long and slender with a little head perched on top with small black eyes. Peko was light green with various yellow patches on his back. Tommy instantly recognized him as a Compsognathus, just like the one he had seen near his closet door. Around Peko’s neck hung a small black stone tied to a piece of rope. The stone glowed a faint red.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” scolded Bonta. “You mustn’t run away like that!”
But Peko took no notice of Bonta and continued to jump around. Tommy and Jason watched in amazement as the little dinosaur began to talk rapidly.
“Who are you? Aren’t you funny looking! Did you come to help us fight those bad Myrites, did you? Huh? Did you? Know what I’d do if I ever saw one of those bad Myrites? Do you wanna see, huh? Do ya?” Without even waiting for a reply, Peko began to swipe at the air with his little fists and vigorously kick with his little legs. He was kicking so vigorously in fact, his feet became caught up in his tail, and he went tumbling backwards. At last there was silence. Bonta picked Peko up, placed him on her knee and patted him on the head. Peko scowled miserably.
“This is little Peko,” said Bonta.
Kypou shook his head and sighed. “Peko gets a little excited sometimes. He’s very young.” Peko made a face at Kypou then went back to his scowling.
Finally, Kypou introduced the last dinosaur. This was Harpi. Harpi was about the same height as Kypou and Bonta. His body was heavy with a long fleshy slightly flattened tail. His hind legs were thick with three clawed toes on each foot. He had two arms with five clawed fingers on each hand. Harpi had a thick neck with a long head. His snout was flat like a ducks bill. The strangest thing about Harpi was the crest on his head. It started at his bill, went up the front of his head, and ended at the back of his neck in a long blunt horn. His belly was gray but the rest of his body was dark green. Harpi didn’t smile or greet the boys. He watched them with intense distrust.
Tommy was trying to remember what species each of the dinosaurs were. He still couldn’t believe he was sitting in the presence of live dinosaurs. He grinned widely.
“Wow! Live dinosaurs! No one is going to believe this!” he said excitedly.
“What’s a dinosaur?” asked Kypou.
Tommy pointed at Bonta. “Well,” he said. “She’s a Pachycephalosaurs.” Bonta stared blankly at him. Tommy tried to simplify it for her. “You know, a bonehead dinosaur.”
Bonta shook her head. “No,” she said. “I’m Bonta.”
Tommy sighed. Why didn’t they know what kind of dinosaurs they were? He knew that he was a human so why didn’t they know they were dinosaurs. The idea that the word dinosaur was purely a human expression never occurred to him.
Jason, who up until now had remained silent, was growing increasingly concerned about his ankle. He could feel it swelling inside his shoe. If he didn’t do something about it soon he wasn’t going to make it home.
Kypou stood up. “We should get back to the cave before the Myrites come by to check this trap.” he said.
This statement seemed to enrage Harpi. He jumped to his feet. “What! We can’t take these...” Harpi glared at Tommy and Jason. “... these things back to the cave!” He spat the words out like a nasty taste. “We don’t know what they are or where they came from?” The severity of Harpi’s tone was quite overwhelming.
“Harpi! Don’t be so rude, leave them alone!” snapped Kypou. But Harpi ignored him and continued his brutal verbal assault on the boys.
“Why are you here? Come on answer me!” he demanded.
Kypou’s eyes narrowed with anger. 𠇍idn’t you hear me?” he growled. “I said leave them alone!”
Harpi pointed an accusing finger at Tommy and Jason. “Their Myrite spies! I just know they are! I say we leave them here! If we take them with us we’ll only be putting ourselves in danger!”
Tommy and Jason couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable. They didn’t know what they had done to set Harpi off but it was clear he didn’t want anything to do with them.
“That’s enough Harpi!” shouted Kypou. “We will help all those threatened by the Myrites and this is no exception! Understand!” Harpi remained silent. “I asked if you understood.” growled Kypou.
Harpi turned his angry glare on Kypou. “Yes, I understand,” he hissed through gritted teeth.
“Good,” said Kypou. “Then we will hear no more about it.”
Harpi stepped back a few paces. “You may be willing to risk our lives but I’m not.” He stormed out of the clearing and into the jungle.
“He’ll be back when he’s cooled down,” Kypou told her. “He always does.”
Peko got off Bonta’s knee and scooted closer to Jason. “Yuck!” exclaimed the little dinosaur. “What’s that on your face?” Peko screwed his face up in disgust.
Jason touched his face. It was still covered with dried bug guts. “We had a bit of an accident with a dragonfly,” he said eyeing Tommy. Tommy tried to act innocent but wasn’t doing a very good job.
“There’s a stream along the way,” said Kypou. “You can clean off there. Let’s go.”
Jason tried to stand but found he couldn’t. Tommy crouched down beside him.
“I knew there was something wrong,” he said sternly.
Wincing in pain, Jason once again tried to assure his brother that all was well. “I strained my ankle a bit that’s all. I’ll be alright.” But Tommy wasn’t buying a word of it.
“A bit!” he exclaimed. “You can’t even get up!”
“Is there something wrong?” Bonta asked them.
“No there---” began Jason but Tommy cut him off.
“There’s something wrong with my brothers leg,” Tommy told the dinosaur.
“Perhaps I can help,” said Bonta. She reached for Jason’s leg but he quickly pulled it away from her. Pain rocketed up his leg.
Kypou put a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “It’s alright,” he said. 𠇋onta’s a healer. There’s no reason to be afraid.”
Jason, however, was still apprehensive about anyone touching his ankle, but without help he wasn’t going anywhere, so he allowed Bonta have a look. Jason carefully pulled up his pant leg and took his shoe and sock off. His ankle was badly bruised and swollen. Bonta took off her shoulder bag and removed a small pouch made from leaves. Inside the pouch was a light green paste and some red leaves. She smeared the paste gently on Jason’s ankle then placed the red leaves on top of the paste. Then Bonta did a strange thing. She placed her hands on Jason’s ankle and closed her eyes. This went on for a few moments until Jason’s ankle suddenly began to glow like a light bulb. Jason panicked and tried to pull his leg away but found that it was paralyzed. He could feel his ankle getting warmer and warmer. Then the light began to fade. Jason could feel the pain and swelling receding. Bonta opened her eyes and removed her hands from Jason’s ankle.
“Your ankle will be fine now but please be gentle with it for a little while.” She removed the leaves and the now hardened paste.
Jason wiggled his foot. The pain was gone. “How did you do that?” he gasped with amazement.
“I really don’t know,” said Bonta. “I’ve just always been able to heal the injured.”
Jason put his sock and shoe back on and Tommy helped him up. Jason leaned gingerly on his foot but realized he could put his weight on it without any pain.
“Thank you so much!” he said to Bonta. Bonta smiled.
“Come on,” said Kypou. “It’s time to go.”
The group arrived at the stream. Jason knelt down and splashed the cool clear water on his face. It was very refreshing and he was starting to feel much better. Everyone else took this opportunity to drink from the stream and rest in the soft grass growing beside it. Peko tried to slip away again but Bonta thwarted his efforts. He slumped onto the grass and resumed his scowling. Typhoo sat next to the stream, playing in the water with his chubby hand. Tommy and Kypou were sitting further away from the stream.
“Why does Peko keep running away?” Tommy asked Kypou.
Kypou chuckled. “Peko is still too young to have any fear. He thinks he doesn’t need looking after.”
“What’s that stone around his neck?” asked Tommy.
Kypou became very serious. “It is a piece of the Great Stone. Only those born with the gift can wear a piece of the Great Stone.”
“Peko,” said Kypou. �n see our enemy, the Myrites, when others cannot. The Myrites can disappear and reappear whenever they wish. It’s how they hunt us.”
Tommy was quite shocked by this. “You mean they can become invisible?” He didn’t like the sound of that.
“Yes,” said Kypou. “They can and are impossible to detect. The Myrites are also the keep---” Kypou stopped talking as the jungle behind them began to shake. He quickly got to his feet and drew his bow. The jungle continued to shake. Kypou looked over at Peko. The little dinosaur shook his head. Kypou relaxed a bit but did not lower his weapon. Perhaps, he thought, Harpi had calmed down and was returning to the group but his thought was interrupted as the jungle opened up and a dinosaur walked out. It wasn’t Harpi.
