GET THE TISSUES READY....That's all I could say....
Oh gosh...
"SIDE!" Whiteclaw screeched suddenly, jerking out of the way, "To the side Shadow, Go!"
I reacted way to slowly against the attacking skeleton of a Triceratops, and the second I did hop to the right, a flash of pain carved its way through my hip. A sound of ripping skin told me instantly that the creature did get a strike at my body. I growled angrily, feeling little droplets of blood seep to the surface of a perfect lined cut through my scales, then slammed my foot angrily on the ground with a hiss. The Triceratops motioned to me twice, bobbing its jointed head around, then released an impossible roar, darkening its blackened eye sockets. It circled around me, shaking its head as a taunt, while I curled around, letting my tail fall behind me in each step, then bent my knees with another growl.
Hopefully circling could give me enough time to know when to attack-
Too late.
The Triceratops caught me in deep thought, and immediately charged out of nowhere, bending its neck with pointed horns right at me.
And fearfully, I froze, realizing that I never made up my mind.
Yet Whiteclaw did.
His body slammed into the Triceratops's rib cage, and his dug his claws into the bone. But he couldn't inflict a wound into its touch white shell. The Triceratops tried to detach him, then hissed as it watched Whiteclaw struggling to take down the devilish beast.
"You fool!" The clock laughed, then jerked about five times in a back and forth motion. The Deinonychus tumbled backwards like a rag-doll, clumsily falling on his spine into the shallow water below with a splash. As he laid there in bewilderment, the Triceratops attacked again like a demon from hell itself, throwing its paw down at Whiteclaw's belly to crush him. Whiteclaw rolled to the side, avoiding the first strike, but as he got up to escape from its trap, a skeletal paw slammed him down by his back, slamming him onto the earth by his belly.
"Whiteclaw!" I shrieked, not even realizing that I was bystanding in terms of the scene, not even helping the poor young raptor. Whiteclaw winced as he fought to pull away, but none of his efforts could truly get him far. I felt my muscles twitch into action suddenly, and without warning, I found myself roaring as I raced towards the skeletal figure without fear. The shadow only had time to glance at my upcoming attack for a mere second. I slowed my run, twisted my skull to the right side a bit, then jerked it other direction in fury.
I, for some reason, deeply regretted that decision despite its eventual outcome.
A splash of pain shook the impacted side of my face, as my boned part of my head struck the rigid bone of the Triceratops's frill. My vision went dazed as I fell sideways, yet regained my balance after my left foot slid upon the floor to a hold, curling my claws into the earth.
The Triceratops itself got struck right off the ground from the force of my jerk, releasing its paw from Whiteclaw's back, then landed on its rib perfectly.
Not even the water could cushion his fall.
A bone-tearing snap echoed the world around us as it landed, and one by one, pieces of the skeleton fell apart, scattering all over the place. The skull flipped to its original right-side-up view, and skidded across the water to a stop, jawless, and only showing its frilled top.
And only the quick pit-pat of water and deep silence filled the black void.
I never knew it could take this little head whip to demolish such a hideous creature.
And yet, it happened right before my starry eyes.
Whiteclaw pushed up from the ground, to his feet, while a few feet away, I groaned at the throbbing burn on my scales. My jaws felt like they chewed through rock, or even got crushed by them all together. Flexing them only made things worse.
"I cut myself," I hissed, feeling blood trickle on my tongue, "I'm never doing that again." Whiteclaw sighed, then dipping his head solemnly.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" he asked. I turned to him, still flexing my jaws back and forth, then shrugged.
"I.......I don't know actually. Instincts I guess."
"Well, " Whiteclaw nodded with another soft purr, "You got some pretty good instincts, eh?"
BOOM.
The sound of splashing water and rumbling earth sounded beneath our feet, yet outburst in a puddle-like forms. We both knew immediately, without a doubt, that it was the shadow, waking up from death.
Even worse, it could be possibly immune to death.
"Alright," It hissed, half snake-like, half roared, then curled its shadowy tentacles into the ground, "No more games carnivores..." I stared at the skull him confusingly with shadowy parts floating in the air, when out of nowhere, the claw snapped into the ground with power. It turned orange, an settled in with scales and a claw on its thumb. I didn't know what the clock was up too, but when I looked down at Whiteclaw, his facial expression seemed as though he'd seen a ghost.
A dark vision.
I killed this creature before....I've seen it before.
I saw it when Drexel died. When Blackclaw died.
When Whiteclaw was almost murdered.
Twice.
"Like I said Whiteclaw," The Tenontosaurus growled, "I know you more than you think."
Fury burned bright in Whiteclaw's eyes, and without saying anything to me, he hissed in a miniature roar, growling with outstretched claws and a furious toe-claw spasm.
"Yes.....let out your anger!" It continued, moving towards him, "You can't defeat your fears by yourself!" Whiteclaw's eyes widened and his body just froze, trembling for some reason.
Was he scared?
What was he seeing?
Whiteclaw's eyes narrowed, his knees bounded low, and his long tail and pubis snapped up.
"MURDERER!" He screeched defiantly, then lunged. Then I froze next.
He was using Whiteclaw's anger...
"Whiteclaw wait!" I cried out, but it was too late. The Tenontosaurus' claw went up, then flew downwards with so much speed, you could miss it in a blink. Whiteclaw's body went from flight in the desolate atmosphere, to dropping, and his body flimsily slapped the earth, rolled around, then stopped. I could see Whiteclaw impotently strain himself to stand, yet I knew that it was impossible at this point, with a towering herbivore right at your feet.
"You can't defeat your fears!" The clock howled yet again, kicking Whiteclaw with its back foot. The raptor got thrown backwards into the water again, but this time, he didn't even bother getting up. A swing from the thumb-clawed finger made Whiteclaw's skull get thrown to the left violently, and strangely his body followed his head's example. He collapsed on his back, a perfect cut drawn from behind his eye to the bottom of his tiny jaws. The Tenontosaurus lifted a paw suddenly, and fear suddenly flowered in my soul.
He was going to get killed!
Quickly, I raced forwards, knowing that my strides were wide enough to catch him easily, then pried open my Tyrannosaurus jaws. That was the same second the paw came rushing down at Whiteclaw.
NO!
My jaw swiftly caught the herbivore by the neck just in time, and the foot stamp designed to kill Whiteclaw missed him by slim inches. My jaws snapped shut, and a horrible scream rose from the Tenontosaurus. As I squeezed tighter and tighter, the screams began to cease.
And then they stopped.
With a dead herbivore in my mouth, I glanced downwards at the still cowering Deinonychus. He lifted his eyes up, then let out a breath of relief, seeing a limp herbivore in my mouth.
"Your welcome," I teased. Whiteclaw frowned, now knowing that I had saved him twice, then muttered jokingly.
"I wanted to do that."
But suddenly, the neck I had crushed began to rise. No....it began to change. My eyes widened as my jaws uncontrollably got pried open by the rising creature, and my clawed feet got dragged forwards. I
"Whiteclaw...." I shrieked in horror, "What's happening? What's happening?!"
I was no longer bending at my knees as it rose in size and strength, and a fearful face from Whiteclaw told me something horrible had come up. The orange scales turned to grey with black-ish lumps, and its four paws turned to two large three-toed feet and a pair of enormously long claws. Its tail stretched out and whipped awake to my right, and then, the changing stopped.
And the face of a Spinosaurus stared right at me, red-eyed, long snout, and a puff of steam.
"Oh no," I gasped in a muffled breath, still connected to his scales with my jaws. A huge roar from the carnivore made my heart skip a beat and flipped almost every organ in my body. As a reaction, I snapped my jaws upon his loose skin again, feeling black liquid drip out from weak little wounds from the bite. Out of nowhere, a huge claw from beneath me scrapped my belly, ripping away some skin off my body. In pain, I accidentally released my grip on him, and as a present of my actions, watched his other freed claw slam into the side of my bruised skull. The force was enormous, the claws dug into my scales nonetheless, but the strike literally threw me to my side. I crashed violently, then slid to a halt on the ground, watching my worst nightmare let out another powerful roar at me.
Fight! My mind screamed in a Thunder-like voice, Don't let him push you around! You are stronger than him!
I pushed up to my wobbly feet with a growl, then returned back with another huge roar. Steam flowered from my nostrils, and my beady eyes just shrunk upon my target. It moved to the side a bit, literally mocking the same circling movement as the skeletal Triceratops before, and strangely, I followed alongside. Both of our jaws hissed and spat, thundered and growled, about a few feet apart, where even I could taste every texture of its hideous breath. Both of us growled again, as if we were giving each other a chance to back down.
Neither of us did.
"You mess with my friends," I cocked my head from side to side, bounding my shoulders like Whiteclaw, before letting out a defiant roar, "You mess with ME!"
And then, us predators charged. My body and nostrils first collided into his, and it looked like a stalemate, a weird one in fact. I pushed with my snout, straight into his shoulders and neck, while he thrashed and swiped to back me down. After almost a minute of pushing, I noticed that I started gaining ground, especially in a way that I could continue pushing, that nothing was holding me back. That no injuries were sustained.
Unless I just jinxed myself.
The pushing itself tired me, and it hurt as my noggin just thrusted into its bone. I took a step back and shook it off, then charged again.
But the Spinosaurus was ready.
When I attacked, the Spinosaurus turned to the side and leaned in, shoulder front. My Tyrannosaurus head drove head first into my opponent's shoulder, which knocked me dazing out of focus. The impact made my brain wobble as well, but by the time I turned around to growl at my enemy, it was already planning its promised charge. I growled angrily, then jerked forwards with open jaws...
And caught nothing.
Later, I knew that he Spinosaurus sidestepped, and was going towards my blind side; my hindquarters and tail. A sharp pain in my calf descended to my achilles, and I screeched in agony as three red lines bubbled up more liquid. Another blow went to my vertebrae, though I couldn't tell whether he ripped at them with his claws, or sank his long snout within my fleshed bones. I swung around angrily to retaliate, but only got met with another horrible attack; his claw. My head once again got snapped to the side by the strike, and I swore I could see stars line up in my eyes.
"Shadow lookout!" Whiteclaw shrieked way too late.
Matter fact, I think all his warnings are way-too-late.
I felt pressure grab me by the calf, then yank me upwards. It felt as though some snake tied itself and pulled me with him to some higher notch in the world. And the next thing I knew, my whole body flipped to my underbelly, then landed with an thunderous crash onto the floor. While my tail and legs followed flimsily behind, my body drifted to the side, where I laid out of breath and in extreme pain.
"Give up?" The clock snarled with its long snout.
"Never!"
"You'd die for an old raptor?" The clock motioned at the limping Deinonychus. I glanced at him once with wide eyes, then narrowed them as I faced back.
"I rather die for the ones I love!" I howled, watching the Spinosaurus walked over to step on my chest. But with fury in my heart, I twisted my body over and kicked him in the mouth. A horrible crack sounded as a piece of tooth rained down, and quickly, I swirled up to my belly. The Spinosaurus stumbled and stepped back, tasting black blood on where his tooth supposed to be.
And then he glared;
"You're a fool to believe that you could save everyone. Death will win soon little one...Death always wins wins!" The Spinosaurus walked over and was about to step on my head while I was still down, but I saw it and lifted his head away from the shadow. The clock didn't expect my Tyrannosaurus head to be so quick, and he almost fell over as his foot slammed down, right in front of my snout. I jerked away again, yet another swipe collided with my neck, while felt even worse than ever. I cowered back and shrieked as more agony found its way to my soul. While we both regained our original positions, the clock seemingly grinned at me.
I was huffing and heaving with each breath, dripping with my own blood.
Not his.
I was losing.
"Running out of tricks?" He hissed, then cackled, "You're tired and weak! And that's what makes you prey."
Then the spark of fear snapped on.
He charged again with so much speed, I don't think anybody could be so ready. His claw raked my lip, and another caught my flank. He lifted off the ground suddenly, and with a strong push, his foot collided with my chest.
And there came the worst of the agony.
Fire boiled in my chest as I fell, and the defining sound of snapping bones made me shriek. I coughed up some blood, not a lot, but it was enough to get me worried. Like liquid metal, my chest felt as if somebody was ripping it apart, slowly and easily, letting the pain be swallowed up in my stomach.
I broke my ribs.
Before The spinosaurus could attack again, the albino Deinonychus attacked on his right side, like a bug, and nibbled at his shoulder, tearing away more flesh than I could. The Spinosaurus screeched, swinging its arms like propellers, missing the Deinonychus by inches, and I had to scramble back in order to not become part of the destructive attempts to kill.
Whiteclaw unluckily lost his grip on his back for some reason, and with ease, the clock yanked him using his hands to snatch his tail, and threw him into the water.
Oh no, I thought as I stood up, he got caught on a weakened attempt!
The Spinosaurus struck Whiteclaw down again, but luckily for me, my jaws were there to save his hind. It growled as it broke away, twisted from me, then sent a powerful swung upon my face.
My head bobbled from the first, and my eyes only watched as the second came, drawing a few more lines on my snout and face. Another pulled at my neck, and I felt my warm blood tickle my scales as it changed colors from purple to bright red.
"Shadow get out of there!" Whiteclaw cried. The clock uppercutted me in the ribs, then sliced my side as I tried to flee, while at the same time striking him in the face with my tail. The shadow shook its head, then snarled.
"That's it!" He roared powerfully, then charged straight at me, bodying me to the ground.
And then he went after the downed Deinonychus.
No!
I stumbled to my wobbly feet, roaring loudly to announce my attack, then charged, rushing painfully to catch up. Whiteclaw jerked back, but nothing could get him to his feet. He could only watch as the Spinosaur grew closer and closer.
But I got there first.
I grabbed his neck, then hauled him forwards, whereas he missed Whiteclaw by mere inches, slipping on the ground to his side in silence. I snorted angrily, then turned back to Whiteclaw, who still laid there terrified, but thankful.
"Told you I'd save your tail," I chuckled, showing him a slight toothy grin. Whiteclaw shook his head, using his long hands to slowly get up.
"I wasn't expecting it..." The his face went white as he pointed, "Shadow!"
I spun around but already I knew that it was too late. A spinosaurus claw swung directly at me, and seconds later, my head jerked to the side violently. I almost lost my balance on the strike, and had to move back with my feet, dazed and stunned.
But I never knew what awaited me when I'd turn around for the last time.
All my eyes saw were long pointed claws drive right at my chest, and penetrate it with ease, and just continue onwards. My body went light and lifted of the ground only a centimeter, and everything else bent forwards.
And then came the excruciating pain.
"SHADOW!!" Whiteclaw's voice screamed as he stood near the gleaming clock.
Before an irritating ringing bursted my ears.
I stared deep into the eye sockets of the clock, watching its Spinosaurus snout growl at me with a flash of pride and success in his eyes. I didn't know what happened for several seconds as the evil just glared at me, then lifted his red eyes up, nodding before speaking.
"Deja Vu, right Shadow?" He spoke, blinking once to remind me of my past.
The old fight with the Spinosaurus.
I was just speechless as the newfound splice of pain increased more and more, until it became unbearable. I felt thick liquid swim towards the tip of my mouth, then drip off my dirty-scaled chin.
And all I heard was my own blood droplets splatter in slow motion to the shallow-watered floor.
The Shadow ripped his carnivorous claw from my chest, and even more blood splattered out, which in turn stained his dark smokey arm. I said nothing still, just stumbled back, out of focus and out of mind, just silent, motionless and terrified.
The feeling in my body began to drain away all of a sudden, growing numb and useless, and drowsiness slowly seeped over my face as my eyes glazed. I stumbled back once, struggling to stand. But eventually, my weight consumed me.
My knees buckled.
My tail went up.
And I fell.
A huge splash and quake rippled through the ground when I collapsed onto my side, and everything thereafter shattered from my weakening vision. I twitched, letting out a painful whimper and roar as I strained to move, to fight the pain
But I was impotent to my own bloody body.
Whiteclaw screamed in the distance, which echoed silently all around, yet I couldn't turn to face him.
I couldn't move at all, other than my face.
I was wheezing horribly, struggling to breath, but all I sucked in and spat out was more and more blood.
It was only when the agony spiked, and then the tears began to fall. I sniveled as I wept there, dying on the ground, while Whiteclaw attacked the killer, striking powerful blows to his shoulders and neck. It took only a few seconds later for the shadowy Spinosaurus to detach the albino carnivore, and toss him away, somewhere off view into the darkness.
I felt the ground shake as it stomped towards me, gleaming with teeth wet by my own blood, as well as his arm, then turned me over to my other side using its elongated claws and snout. I let out a choking cry as he stepped over me, grinning evilly while flexing his fingers. He put one on my bleeding chest, reimbursing the agony even more, then placed one on the side of my face, keeping it locked in the water below me. I felt more tears rush down towards my snout, and flared my nostrils endlessly as I fought a choking death.
"Shh..." The Shadow whispered, pressing his large claws on my wound, "It's going to be okay Tyrannosaur.....shh...." I kept choking, feeling my vision suddenly and slowly fade, and silently wept even harder.
"You're afraid aren't you little one?.....Don't worry, death is only temporary," He hissed, and I felt his voice softly fade, "It'll be over soon...."
And then I saw something completely bizarre that made my eyes widen. Within the belly of the shadow rested this yellow orb, something yellowish, that glowed like a million suns trapped beneath darkness.
And a flashback returned to my ears.
"Listen to me! Get out while you still have the chance!!" Amberclaw cried, "It's going to kill everybody! Everybody we cared about!"
"Let go!"
"The clock!" He shrieked as the vision began to fade, "The clock is the only way out! It's pretending to be the hunter but it's a key..." I froze.
It's a key.
The shadow noticed me staring at its yellow glowing belly, and with a growl in his soul, thrusted his small claw into my wound, making me scream.
"You're not getting out of here alive...." He snarled, "Nobody is..."
"S-s-stop-" I choked, wheezing again, "P-Please.....d-don't-t..."
"Let me make this quick, just for your sake..." He pressed his claw harder on my face, crushing it like a weighted piece of iron, opening his jaws for the kill.
"HEY!" Whiteclaw's voice abruptly screeched. The Shadow lifted his eyes up first as Whiteclaw continued, "Leave him alone and pick on somebody your own size!"
The Shadow turned his head from me, yet kept his claws solid on the side of my bony face.
"But you're not my size..." The clock teased, then chuckled, "Yet I can still kill you anyways, no matter my size-"
"Prove it," He snarled, wiping the blood off his mouth. The clock suddenly began to change form, turning from a towering beast to a smaller, Utahraptor-like figure. That's when his body vanished from my view too, and the pit-pat of water told me that he was gone, attacking my friend.
So I turned my diminishing attention towards something else.
The countdown clock, I noticed, was a few meters away.
If I could drag myself over...
With spasms of electricity, I lifted my snout up, feeling drowsiness sink into my stomach, then pushed myself forwards on the flat and smooth earth, using only my nose and feet. They clumsily slipped on the earth, pushing forwards, then falling upon their knees. I was only a meter away, perhaps a few feet away to reach the clock, when my body suddenly gave up.
And I officially couldn't move.
No! I thought, struggling to push forwards again. But my body couldn't handle the amount of blood I lost.
I watched in horror as Whiteclaw's advantages swiftly gave up again, as he got struck one after the other by constant strikes to his head, shoulder, and neck, until a powerful push threw him backwards into the water, landing back first, then flipping over to his chest. Scratches were drawn all over him through my blurred vision, and my heart sank as he moved in for his kill. But surprisingly, Whiteclaw jerked away from his first attempt, then yelled-
"Hey!"
He curled his fingers into a ball, then rocketed them sideways into the shadow's jaw. My eyes widened as the clock stumbled backwards, falling into the water, stunned and confused at the same time. Whiteclaw looked surprised and joyous, learning from Blackclaw's old moves, then narrowed his eyes at the downed creature.
"That's for killing my brothers," the Deinonychus hissed, then stamped his clawed foot on his skull, along with impaling his head with his foot claw with loads of force, "That's for killing me and Drexel." He spun around as the Shadow wheezed, then spun back around.
"One more thing," He hissed, then swung his clawed hands so hard, it shook the shadow's face as he plummeted to the earth. Whiteclaw snatched his neck mid-way, then twisted it savagely, and a huge cracking sound, like wood splitting on trees, echoed the ravine. His body just hung limp in Whiteclaw's mouth, and it was only when he dropped him that his body just flimsily splashed onto the floor, "That's for everything else."
As the shadow slipped to the floor dead, I saw a blurry Whiteclaw rushing over to me, clearing a picture of his face through my weak eyes. When he saw me lying partially dead like this, his face turned white, and sorrow filled his chest. He put one claw on me, and immediately, it turned red with my blood. I was wheezing harder and harder, and everything around me was out of focus, difficult to even see, hear, smell, touch...
"Shadow...." Whiteclaw muttered, before I saw him gulp, "Oh gosh..."
"W-Whiteclaw..." I choked.
"Sh...Hey....you're gonna be okay....you're gonna be okay..." He rubbed his claws over my harsly breathing cheekbone of my face, which rose and fell, yet came back with his hands gleaming with the red liquid oozing down his arms.
"I-It hurts," I wept, feeling the blood slip across my face, "W-why d-does it hurt s-so much...?"
His eyes widened as he saw my injury, and fear seemed to rise in the darkness above all of us, "What have I done...."
"I-Its not y-your fault-"
"None of this would've happened if I hadn't have touched that clock..." He allowed a tear to fall, "You're too young to pay for my mistake."
I winced painfully, choking again from the amount of blood in my throat, and the sight in my eyes slowly began to fade.
"I'm s-scared W-Whiteclaw," I sobbed, "I d-don't w-want t-to die..."
"You're not dying," He weakly proclaimed, rubbing his claw on my snout too soothe both of us, "You're just hurt,.....you're just hurt, that's all..."
Then I felt my body give away, and terror officially consumed me whole.
"S-something's pulling me away-y-" I trembled harder as my vision slowly disintegrated, and my heartbeat began to slow, "I c-can't fight i-it..."
Then my eye-lids began to lower by themselves...
"Shadow........no! Don't you dare close those eyes," Whiteclaw growled, forcing me awake, "I'm gonna get you home...You're not dying twice in this place...."
"I-Its a key..."
"Huh?" He narrowed his eyes.
"T-The clock...." I choked as I spat out more blood, "You're brother said its a key....before he died. Its inside the shadow-"
Whiteclaw's eyes flashed as he turned around, and the once proclaimed dead Shadow was waking up again in the distance, snarling as he rebuilt himself. Whiteclaw snatched my snout and yanked me, struggling to get me to the clock behind him.
"Oh no......You're not dying here, C'mon!" He shuddered as more tears fell, using his nogging to push me next, "Move!
"Whiteclaw," I wheezed, knowing now that there was nothing he could do to save me.
"C'mon!" He screeched again, tugging at my skin like a youngling. But nothing could get me to my destination.
To safety at all.
"I can't-" He broke down on his knees as he saw the shadow awaken officially, "I can't leave you here...."
The ground began to shudder as the malevolent ghost changed back into a towering Spinosaurus, growling and hissing with anger in its eyes.
Whiteclaw was going to die if he didn't get out.
"Shadow..." Whiteclaw sobbed as my vision faded evermore, "Please..."
"It's going to be okay," I whispered as the earth shook harder, "Whiteclaw, it's going to be okay.....I'm be right behind you-"
But I never finished.
A huge jaw suddenly appeared out of nowhere, snatching me by the neck, and squeezed so hard, I thought my vertebrae would pop out. I screamed being yanked backwards, and felt my limbs literally get ripped away from its hold. Whiteclaw jumped in pure fear, falling backwards as the monster wrestled with my body, as if I was some sort of chew toy, then ripped me apart with his claws.
His foot came down upon my hip as I roared in pain, and his jaws tightened harder.
And a face of pure horror lashed out in my eyes.
One second later, a crack sounded in my back.
Then a fiery explosion of agony unlike anything I've ever felt.
And everything went white.