So there they were, a small mismatched group of five dinosaurs and two humans. Once again creeping carefully through the jungle of Gwondala, towards the last place any of them wanted to go.
Tommy really didn’t now where a large supply of forbidden crystals were to be found. He hadn’t been in the pit long enough to find out and the Velociraptors hadn’t been very good at giving out important information. He knew his plan was putting them all at risk. If they didn’t find the black crystals or worse got caught, he was sure Lerix wouldn’t let them get away again. Besides, Tommy couldn’t think of any other way to destroy the Great Stone. Grade 5 Science hadn’t covered astronomical meteor demolition.
“I have to rest for a minute,” said Tommy. He still felt a bit weak.
“You shouldn’t have come Tommy. Your still sick,” said Jason.
“I had to,” replied Tommy. “I’m the only one who’s actually been in the mine or near the Great Stone.”
Leaving Tommy to rest on a log, Jason joined the others up ahead.
Tommy breathed in deeply. There was a noise behind him. He slowly turned around and found Egbert’s face peering out from a bush. The dinosaur put a finger to its mouth.
“Shhh. Egbert’s friend Tommy must be quiet,” The Oviraptor whispered.
Tommy took a look to see if the others had noticed Egbert’s presence but they were unaware.
“I’m glad to see you’re alright,” whispered Tommy. “I’m really sorry they wouldn’t let you come with us. What are you doing here?”
“Ah, Egbert wishes to see if friend Tommy is fine. Egbert is happy to see he is.”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” said Tommy.
The dinosaur looked slyly passed Tommy at the others. His cold eyes narrowed slightly.
“Egbert says, where is his friends going?”
Tommy leaned closer to the dinosaur.
“I think I’ve figured out a way to defeat the Myrites,” he said.
Egbert’s eyes narrowed again. This information interested him very much.
“Egbert says, how is this possible?”
“I don’t have time to explain now, but let’s just say it has something to do with the forbidden crystals and the Great Stone. We’re on our way back to the mine now. Soon you’ll all be free.” Tommy smiled.
“Tommy, are you ready?” It was Jason.
Tommy quickly turned around.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll be right there.” Tommy turned back to the bush but Egbert was gone. He couldn’t help feeling sorry for the dinosaur. Tommy felt he was being mistreated by Kypou. They weren’t even giving Egbert a chance. He got up and followed the others.
Arriving near the mine, the group crouched down in the underbrush. The jungle was quiet, almost too quiet. The Myrites had regained control of the enslaved workers. All signs of the revolt were gone. Strangely enough the area was not heavily guarded. Lerix must have been pretty confident that Tommy and the others would not be back to free anymore of the slaves.
“What do we do now?” whispered Kypou.
The role of leader had switched from Kypou to Tommy. Now everyone was looking to him to finally put an end to Lerix’s domination. Tommy only hoped he was not horribly wrong and had bit off more then he could chew. Jason whispered in his little brother’s ear.
“Where are the black crystals?” he asked.
Tommy closed his eyes and quietly sighed. It was time he told them the truth.
“I don’t really know,” he said.
Jason’s mouth dropped open. All this time he was sure Tommy knew what he was doing, otherwise why would he have suggested such a plan. Before he could say anything, Tommy spoke again.
“I know, I know,” he whispered. “I know what your thinking. But I’m almost positive that the crystals are around here somewhere.”
Jason was about to let Tommy have an ear full when Bonta joined the strained conversation.
“This is no time for arguing,” she whispered. “We’re here now and I’m sure we all feel Tommy is doing his best.” Jason shrugged with irritation.
“Now that’s settled,” said Bonta. “I think Tommy should tell us what to do next.”
Everyone looked at Tommy. He swallowed hard.
The group split up. Tommy and Jason teamed up as they had no intention of losing sight of one another again. Jason was still not happy about Tommy’s sudden confession because that meant there was a good chance they were on a wild crystal hunting goose chase.
The boys made their way to the upper south side of the pit, being careful to remain in the bushes and out of sight. The moon was very bright and did a good job of lighting their way.
They had been walking for a little while without much luck, no big piles of black crystals lying around, when the jungle opened up into a large clearing. The boys crouched down and surveyed the situation. Tommy remembered this clearing all to well. It was where the whole nightmare pit experience had started.
The clearing was deserted. The moon’s glow gave it an eerie graveyard feeling. Behind them, they could hear the faint sounds of the jungle, but in front of them nothing stirred.
Tommy wondered why this area wasn’t being guarded. The last time he was here, he distinctly remembered it being quite crowded with Velociraptors. He had an uneasy feeling in the bottom of his stomach. Something wasn’t right.
Jason nudged him. “You wanna start with those dirt piles?” he said, pointing.
What dirt piles, wondered Tommy. He hadn’t noticed any dirt piles before. He followed his brother’s finger and sure enough there were two large piles of dirt on the other side of the clearing.
The uneasy feeling in Tommy’s stomach grew worse.
The boys cautiously crawled over to the piles. Tommy gave the area another suspicious look. He still couldn’t understand why such an easy way in and out wasn’t being guarded. While he was thinking, he hadn’t noticed what Jason was up to until he heard his brother cry out.
“Jason?” said Tommy quietly.
“I’m down here!” called Jason.
“SHHH!” hissed Tommy. 𠇍own where?”
“Behind you,” Jason growled.
Tommy turned around and found that he was sitting inches away from a hole. Jason was lying at the bottom, struggling to get up. Tommy put a hand over his mouth and tried to stifle his laughter. Jason scowled up at him.
“You know you could be a bit more helpful instead of sitting there laughing!”
“Here,” giggled Tommy. “Let me give you a hand.” He began to clap.
“Har, har,” said Jason sarcastically. “Very funny.”
Still laughing, Tommy bent down and extended his hand.
“Grab hold,” he said to Jason.
Jason grabbed Tommy’s hand and gave it a good yank. Causing Tommy to lose his balance and over he went. Jason, now standing in the hole, looked down at his little brother sprawled on the ground before him.
“Now that was funny!” he said laughing.
Tommy spat out some dirt. Life would be so much easier, he thought, if big brothers were little brothers instead. As he placed his hands on the ground to push himself up, something sharp pricked him.
“Ouch!” he winced.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jason.
“I hit something sharp,” said Tommy.
Jason crouched down beside him and they both began to dig.
“Hey,” said Tommy. “There’s something buried here.”
The boys pried the object out of the ground and held it up. The bright moonlight reflected of it’s surface. Tommy gasped. It was a forbidden black crystal! Placing it on the ground beside them, they continued to dig revealing even more crystals. It looked as though they had gotten lucky and fallen in to a hole filled with black crystals. Jason stopped digging and stood up.
“We’ve got to get back and tell the others,” he said.
They helped each other out and hurried off towards the rendezvous spot.
When they arrived Bonta, Harpi, and Peko were already there. As the group gathered close to talk, Kypou and Typhoo walked out from the jungle and joined them. Jason eagerly told them all about how they found the forbidden crystals. But the group didn’t provide the reaction he was hoping for.
“So did we,” said Kypou.
“We did too,” added Harpi.
“We all found crystals?” said Tommy in a puzzling voice. This sounded too easy. He was sure it wasn’t suppose to be this easy. Tommy had seen the reaction the crystal had caused, so why weren’t the Velociraptors being more careful? He voiced his concerns to the rest of the gang, but it was met with a lot of opposition. The feeling for recent events was elation and they weren’t about to let Tommy rain on their parade. Things would go ahead as planned. Tommy wished Egbert was here, at least he listened.
“Besides,” Kypou reminded him. “If the Myrites thought for a second that the black crystals were going to be used against them, they’d stop at nothing to keep us from them.” The Myrites truly felt they were invincible. No one would challenge them.
“We have the crystals and the element of surprise,” said Kypou. “Tonight is the time to strike.” His earlier apprehensions had disappeared.
Tommy had to agree. Paranoia had clearly gotten the better of him.
It was decided to use the supply of crystals Kypou and Typhoo had found because Tommy figured out these would be closest to the Great Stone.
Once there, they gathered as many as they could. The surrounding area was still peaceful and quiet. The group’s late night mission had so far gone undetected. Now it was time for the real test... get to the Great Stone and destroy it.
The only way to the meteor he knew of was up the path he’d taken earlier in the day with Egbert and the others. Unfortunately, this would take them out from the cover of the jungle and into full view of the pit. Tommy had failed to take this into consideration. Getting there was not going to be as easy as he thought.
They managed to safely get to the path and upon arriving they once again crouched down in the underbrush. The first part of the path was completely visible from within the pit, while the second half was shielded by the jungle. It they could just get past the first part without being seen then the rest of the journey would be a piece of cake. The Velociraptors had so far arrogantly left all areas unguarded, but they would soon regret that.
Bonta then pointed out that they could easily get passed the first bit unseen by going through the trees which lined the edge of the path. True it would slow them down but it was well worth it.
Tommy led the way. The dinosaurs took up position behind him with Jason behind them. Just before they approached the second half of the path, Tommy suddenly stopped, abruptly catching the rest of the group by surprise. The five dinosaurs ran into the back of Tommy and Jason into the back of them. They all ended up on the ground in a heap.
“Get off! Get off!” hissed Jason, who found himself underneath everyone.
Tommy got up and helped the others, except Harpi. He was taking a little too long getting up. Jason gave the dinosaur a sharp push. Harpi rounded on him in anger. He had promised Bonta that he would leave Jason alone, but he stopped short at that by being pushed by a human.
“Watch who your pushing!” growled Harpi.
Jason quickly got to his feet.
“If you don’t like being pushed then maybe you should move faster!” snapped Jason.
“Oh yeah!” said Harpi.
They were now nose to nose and were about to start swinging when Kypou pushed between them.
“That’s enough,” he said in an angry whisper. “We have enough to worry about without you two acting like idiots!”
Jason gave Harpi one last glare then left to join Tommy up ahead.
“What did you stop for!” he grumbled at his brother.
Tommy waved his arms in front of him.
“Can’t go any further,” he said.
The sparse jungle had now turned into a thick mass of trees and vines. They didn’t have the time to find another way around. With every second that passed they were in danger of being caught. Tommy cringed. This development left them only one alternative; to go out on to the path. He was pretty sure the Velociraptors were smart enough to notice two humans and five dinosaurs holding enough forbidden crystals to end their rule forever.
At the same time Tommy was reaching this conclusion, Jason was also coming to a few of his own.
“This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?” he said when he noticed Tommy’s troubled expression.
Reluctantly, Tommy nodded.
“What’s going on?” snapped Harpi with irritation.
Jason turned around and glared at the dinosaur. Harpi really knew how to get on his nerves.
“We can’t go any further this way,” whispered Tommy. “We’ll have to go out on to the path.”
Harpi’s eyes widened.
“Are you crazy!” he whispered hoarsely. “I’m not going out there! The Myrites will see us! I knew we shouldn’t have listened to you!”
Well, Jason wasn’t about to let Harpi talk to Tommy like that, after all he was doing his best.
“If you’ve got any better ideas instead of complaining, we’re all ears,” he said through gritted teeth.
“That’s enough!” said Kypou harshly. “I’m not telling you two again.”
Kypou looked at Tommy.
“Is this our only alternative?” he asked.
“Yeah, it is,” replied Tommy. He didn’t like the idea anymore then anyone else.
Kypou looked at Harpi and Jason again.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said sternly.
Kypou was the first to go. He slipped quietly out from the bush and onto the path, moving nimbly up and out of sight. One by one they moved quietly up the path until only Tommy remained. He took a deep breath and stepped out. His footsteps were slow and deliberant but seemed to echo throughout the jungle. From here he could see down into the pit. Tommy was so distracted with trying to keep from being seen, he failed to notice that one lone crystal was slipping from his grip. It hit the ground with a loud clunk. The noise drifted out over the pit. Tommy froze in choking panic. He looked past the crystal lying on the path to see if anyone had heard, and noticed that one of the slave workers was watching him. They held each others gaze for a few tense moments. To make matters even worse one of the guards was now turning around! The worker shifted it’s gaze to the guard standing near it, then back up to Tommy. It gave Tommy a big smile.
With a sudden burst of courage, Tommy dove back into the bushes. The guard had seen him! Tommy just knew it! He waited quietly, his heart pounding in his ears, for the sound of death’s footsteps. The others, he hoped, would be able go on without him.
Several gut wrenching moments passed but the sound of footsteps never came.
Tommy knew he had to chance a look. Slowly, raising up, he peered through the bush. There wasn’t a Velociraptor in sight. Quickly, he slipped on to the path again. Where was it? Was it hiding somewhere waiting for him, ready to pounce and rip him apart? Trying to push such thoughts aside, Tommy picked up the crystal and hurried out of sight.
Jason and the others were still waiting.
“That was so close!” whispered Jason. “I thought you were a goner for sure squirt.”
“So did I,” said Tommy. “So did I.”
The meteor destruction team continued on towards their target one by one sneaking up the path. Despite the few hiccups, the plan was going beautifully. As they neared the top of the path the full force of the Great Stone could be felt. Huge waves of invisible power flowed over everyone. A pain shot through Tommy’s head. The faint burn mark on his face throbbed. He could feel the Great Stone tugging at his mind. It still had some kind of hold over him.
“Tommy. Are you alright?” asked Jason.
Tommy rubbed his head.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”
They hurried into the clearing. It too was not guarded.
A deep red glow could be seen rising up from the ground into the damp night air. Mutterings of surprise drifted through the dinosaurs. None of them had ever laid eyes on the Great Stone before.
‘Tommy... are you sure this will work?” whispered Kypou in a shaky voice. He finally realized what kind of power they were truly up against.
Tommy didn’t answer right away. He wasn’t totally sure himself if his plan to destroy the Great Stone would work, but he wasn’t about to tell Kypou that. The dinosaur had put his complete trust in Tommy.
“Of course it will work,” he finally said.
It was now up to him to show them what the black crystals were capable of doing. All Tommy wanted was for the pain in his head to go away. It was taking all his concentration just to stay focused on the task at hand. Tommy walked to the edge of the crater. The nagging feeling that something wasn’t right was still eating away at him. The more he thought about how close they were made him feel like they were actually going to pull it off. Tommy and Jason were on their way home.
He looked down at the Great Stone. Back in his world, meteors fell to the earth all the time but they usually burned up in the atmosphere. Any that actually reached the earth’s surface ended up about the size of a pea. This meteor must have been gigantic and made an impressive sight as it sped through the earth’s atmosphere, leaving a trail of fire and smoke. Tommy gave his head a shake and brought himself back to the present. He stretched out his arms, ready to drop the black crystals when Peko screamed out.
“Look out!” the little dinosaur cried.
But it was too late. The surrounding trees were torn apart as an unseen force thundered its way into the clearing. Tommy tore his gaze away from the meteor only to find the area suddenly full of Velociraptors. Jason and the dinosaurs moved closer together in fear, hugging their crystals tightly.
