Chapter
9 ‘Ouch!’ Page 37
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.