The Isle

The Attack

"I'm tired," Shard complained as he walked next to Pine. They had been walking for almost a day-and-a-half without stopping. Shard's legs started to hurt and his stamina wasn't holding up, "Can we please stop?"

"No," Pine growled, "We must keep going."

Shard groaned, "Why?"

"If the Hypos find out you are on the run and possibly vulnerable," Pine explained in a commanding tone, "They will find you and hunt you down. And I bet they already know you are out here. So we must move quickly."

Shard lowered his head and did a quiet growl. He liked Pine. It was just he was very bossy. Shard didn't like that too much. But then again, he was going to get eaten if he didn't listen. So, Shard kept his behavior and tried his best not to complain for the rest of the trip.

As the duo went through a forest, the trees started rattling around them. Pine stopped and he signaled for Shard to stop as well. Pine sniffed the air and he suddenly bowed. He motioned for Shard to do the same.

"Finally, I can rest my legs!" Shard growled.

"Sh!" Pine snapped.

"Wh-" Shard was about to ask before the trees to their left parted and revealed the giant herbivore that Shard had seen at Spawn Lake. He looked behind that one and was astounded to find that there was an entire herd coming this way.

"Shantungosaurus," Pine whispered as they passed by, "One of the largest Hadrosaurs in the land. They have the ability to take down a large carnivore like me with a couple of kicks. They are quite aggressive, which is why we have to show them we mean no harm by showing them that they are superior."

"So, they're essentially sacred?" Shard asked in a similar whisper.

Pine nodded, "Even if you are friends with them, they don't trust carnivores very much."

Pine and Shard continued to bow until the last of the Shants passed by. After its tail disappeared into the trees nearby, Pine got up and crossed through the path that the big herbivores had made.

"Wait," Shard asked, catching up to Pine, "Why aren't we following them? Don't they live close by?"

"Following them will do us no good," Pine explained, "Besides, they're probably moving to the other side of Spawn Lake. They like to hang out over there in the dry season."

"Why?" Shard asked again.

"The river in which they live in dries up during this time," Pine continued, "So it's not the most plentiful water source."

Shard nodded in understanding. They reached the end of the forest and entered a giant plain. And it was surrounded by big, bulky herbivores with three horns on their head. These large beasts also had an elaborate frill.

"Triceratops," Pine explained, "Don't bother them in any way. Extremely territorial. But we don't have time to wait for them to pass. We must pass through them."

"Wait, but-" Shard protested as Pine shoved Shard towards the herd with his snout. The Triceratops looked at the duo with wary eyes, "Why can't we just go around? Didn't you say these things were dangerous?"

"Yes," Pine growled, "But we can't go around. They'll let us through. And if we go around, it will take us longer to get there, making us more vulnerable to the Hypos. And I cannot allow that."

"You're always acting like these 'Hypo' people will just jump on us any minute!" Shard snarled, "It's getting annoying."

But before Pine could protest, a roar pierced the clearing. The Triceratops threw up their heads and ran in the other direction. As Shard stared at the stampeding Triceratopcians in confusion, a giant figure grabbed Pine by the neck. As Pine roared in terror, clawing at the figure's face, it picked him off of the ground and swung him around. Then, the slammed him against the hard soil that laid below the soft grass.

"SHARD!" Pine screamed as he was tossed around by the giant dinosaur, "RUN! TO THE FOREST!"

Shard didn't even think twice. Using his long, teeny legs, he ran for a nearby clump of trees across the plains. The problem was, the Triceratops stampede was blocking his only exit. Shard skidded to a stop.

Bad decision. Another roar echoed throughout the clearing as another giant dinosaur, this time a brown, speckled dinosaur, ran at Shard, his giant maw wide open, revealing his jagged teeth.

Shard ran alongside the stampeding herd, his legs kicking up the soil as he went. The giant dinosaur was right behind him, his legs shaking the ground as he ran. 

Then, Shard saw an opening in the herd. Closing his eyes and realizing that he would possibly not make it through alive, he ran through the opening. The sound of bleating herbivores filled his eyes as Shard ran through the opening, not wanting to close his eyes. He knew this wasn't going to work.

Suddenly, the sound of thousands of feet faded. Shard no longer felt the grass under his feet: he felt twigs and falling leaves. Opening his eyes, Shard found himself on the other side of the plains, in a dense forest. Shard ran to a bush and crouched under it, watching as the last of the Triceratops ran through the open plain. Watching them was the giant, speckled dinosaur that had chased Shard.

As he watched the last of the Triceratops leave, the dinosaur let out a roar of frustration and ran away. Shard breathed a sigh of relief as the dinosaur left.

After he was sure the dinosaur was gone, Shard ran deeper into the forest, hoping he could run into the rex kingdom by chance.