Chapter Ten
‘The End?’
It was now or never as Tommy made
his move to release the black crystals.
Something grabbed hold of him and violently yanked him away from the
meteor. He was hoisted up into the air
and the crystals fell from Tommy’s flailing arms to the ground.
He could feel hot rank breath
against his neck as the horribly scarred face of Lerix materialized in front of
him. The fiendish dinosaur pulled Tommy
close.
“So we met again creature,” Lerix
hissed. “Did you really think I would
allow you to destroy my Great Stone?
Did you!” He laughed wildly.
Color drained from Tommy’s
face. Lerix was quite , quite mad.
“I will admit,” Lerix went on. “How delightful it was for me to watch you
think you’d succeeded.” He laughed hard
and low. “How crushed you must feel right
now. Now I have you and the last of
those wretched Gwondalians who dare defy me.
It looks like my lucky day now.
Of course I can’t take all the credit.
I really couldn’t have done it without Egbert’s help.”
Tommy blinked. Had he just heard right, did he say
Egbert? Sure enough the crazy Oviraptor
came strutting into the clearing and bowed before the Mighty Lerix.
“Egbert of course did it all for his
Lord and Master Lerix.” The dinosaur
gave Tommy a crazed toothless grin.
It all made sense now. The lack of a branding mark and his
reluctance to fight back when they were being chased. Egbert had been helping the Myrites all along. Anger engulfed Tommy.
“You tricked me?” he shouted at
Egbert. “You were suppose to be my
friend!”
The Oviraptor chuckled.
“Egbert says the creature should be
more careful who it trusts.” The
dinosaur turned around and strutted off like a giant insane peacock.
“Get back he--” Lerix grabbed Tommy by the throat and
squeezed.
“Don’t just stand there!” he shouted
at his guards. “Get the others!”
The Myrites darted forward and
grabbed Jason and the dinosaurs. The
crystals were knocked from their grasp.
Lerix let go of Tommy’s throat and
dropped him to the ground. Tommy gasped
for breath but despite his pain went into action. With one swift kick, he landed a vicious blow to the
Velociraptors knee. Lerix yelped out in
pain, clutching his injured leg. Tommy
scrambled to his feet and made a run for the crystals he had dropped only
inches from the crater.
Lerix lunged at Tommy, grabbing his
legs and hauling him down. Tommy hit
the ground. He tried to inch forward
but the dinosaur was too heavy to pull with him. Lerix stood up and flipped Tommy over. Tommy tried to kick him again, but Lerix blocked the blow. Now it was Lerix’s turn. He lifted his leg above Tommy’s head. Tommy quickly rolled aside as Lerix brought
his foot down and the massive claw ripped through the earth beside him.
Jason tried to struggle free to help
his little brother but couldn’t. The
rest of the Velociraptors did nothing to help their leader restrain Tommy. Lerix made it perfectly clear that Tommy was
his to destroy.
Tommy looked around frantically to
find any kind of help and noticed a black crystal lying only inches away. Lerix attacked again, this time with his
powerful jaws. Once again Tommy rolled
out of the way, grabbing the crystal at the same time. The dinosaur’s head hit the ground with a
loud thud. Tommy lashed out, striking
Lerix just below his good eye. The
crystal made a nasty gash in the dinosaurs scaly skin. Lerix squealed in pain and grabbed his
wounded face.
“Agggh!” screamed Lerix. “You will die for this creature!”
Just as it seemed poor Tommy was
doomed, the ground shook and the jungle opened up as dinosaurs of all shapes
and sizes streamed into the clearing.
The worker who had spotted Tommy on the path earlier must have spread
word of the rescue effort. Inspired by
this heroic act, the enslaved dinosaurs overpowered their captors to join the
fight for their freedom.
Enslaved dinosaurs and the Myrite
guards clashed into one big ball of flesh, teeth, and claws. It was a fight just how Tommy had imagined
it would be. Each dinosaur slashing and
tearing for the right to control its own fate.
Lerix stopped for a brief moment to watch his guards fight the
slaves. Tommy took full advantage of
this momentarily laps in concentration.
He gave the Velociraptor another vicious kick to the knee. This unexpected blow caught Lerix off
balance and sent him stumbling backwards towards the crater. Losing his footing, Lerix tumbled over the
edge and disappeared.