9. The fireflight

The light came first, then the sound. A bright white circle grew above the horizon, accompanied by deafening booms in the distance only moments later.

“Don’t look! Run!”

Eeris was the only goddess not rooted to the spot. The other godchildren stared with the same fear and amazement as the animals around them. Defeated by the nature they claimed to rule.

Cosmo took off and tried to get closer.

“To where?!”

The other dinosaurs were a splatter of dots on the horizon. The white circle grew quickly and enhanced their silhouettes. Mami put a hand before her eyes against the bright rays.

“Where you always go in danger,” Mami shouted. “A cave.”

“What is cave?”

The Small Ones pulled Donte’s neck and pointed in all directions. The group of dinosaurs let themselves be led by their gestures and tried to haul as many as possible onto their backs.

Mami looked behind. Around the impact, two tall mountains had appeared, surrounded by high waves, as if a gigantic hammer had struck the seafloor. The impenetrable Thunderwood on the horizon was completely on fire and in some places already scorched earth.

“All nearby is already dead,” Cosmo cried with tears in his eyes, flying faster than Mami thought possible. “Won’t be long before it gets here.”

The ground shook. The mountains around the impact shrunk, the displaced water flowing back to the middle, where one even taller mountain now arose.

That left the water no more room in the ocean. It saw only one way out: sending high waves towards the land.

Donte and Nisah ran, and ran, and ran. The feathered dinosaurs flapped their front legs in panic, causing them to lift off the ground for one or two heartbeats.

The new water mountain spat out the asteroid, but now in millions of pieces. Stone, gravel, gas, trees, everything around the impact was aggressively blown towards the clouds.

Between all the flying rocks, something moved in the opposite direction. Something alive, displaying gigantic wings. Not one creature, but a whole row. Her eyes followed them back to a familiar place: the Ghost Den. The winged ones chose the skies, the fire of the explosion on their tail, and Mami hoped they found clean air in time.

“Aaah!”

The ground ripped open and sank away. Several dinosaurs suddenly stood a tree length lower than their friends, who were right beside them moments ago.

The white circle grew relentlessly. At the speed of light, all life it encountered was ripped apart or flung into space.

“Herd-merge!” Donte shouted.

Nisah took the leap. Her landing sprung new cracks in the earth. The other dinosaurs flapped their front legs and could soften their landing.

They ran on. It grew hot, hotter, and still hotter. Mami heard the rumble of everything the circle swallowed. She heard the crashing of the waves, even higher than the Throne of Tomorrow, that washed over the land. Forest fires were immediately extinguished, but the reward was violently washing away in a hurricane of water.

The Horizon Giant, a volcano on the other side of the Dolphin Pass, spontaneously erupted and joined in, spewing lava and rocks.

The air grew grayer and grayer, until it was pure black, filled with so much stone and debris that no sunray could get through. What did get through, were the burning meteoroids the planet had just spit out.

“Watch out!”

Donte dodged a sky rocket.

“Keep looking up!” he shouted at the animals on his back. “Guide me.”

The Small Ones scanned the sky for meteoroids. Whenever one came, they steered the dinosaurs around it. The ground was rough now, torn, and still growing hotter. Donte didn’t dare put his feet on it for long. The feathered dinosaurs flapped their wings in a panic, permanently trying to fly for small stretches.

Ardex leapt over their heads with a mighty jump. Even from a distance, he could calm the Horizon Giant, push its lava back into the earth. Behind him ran Darus, who closed the holes in the ground and stomped extra mountains from the earth in the hope of stopping … something.

The hungry waves easily broke through his creations, which left only Gulvi, who sternly spoke to wave after wave and sent them home.

The temperature rose further. It was hot enough to spontaneously ignite trees. The dinosaurs couldn’t take it anymore. The Small Ones fainted on their backs. Some slid off and needed to be rescued by outstretched legs.

And then they found the caves.

They flung the Small Ones off their backs. The difference in temperature shocked Mami’s body and gave her goosebumps. Shivering all over, she became dizzy. When they were all safely inside, the smaller feathered dinosaurs followed.

Donte and Nisah still stood outside. Their faces were illuminated only by the many fires. The air itself was pitch black. Everyone saw there was only room for one of them. No one dared say it.

But there was no time to wait.

Donte swallowed. “You go in, Nisah. I’ll close off the cave from outside.” He gently pushed his nose against hers. “I’m … hero.”

Meteoroids fluttered down like a hail of falling stars, tapping like a drummer on the rocky top of the cave, as they looked at each other.

Nisah smiled and gently pushed his head back. “No, you fulfill dream.”

In a flash her neck curled around his legs and yanked Donte towards the cave. He fell through the opening and rolled down. The Small Ones jumped aside to let him roll to the back wall.

Nisah grabbed all the trees she could find and threw them against the opening. She picked up hot stones from the ground and filled the gaps.

Just before she plugged the final hole, Mami saw Eeris come stand next to Nisah. Nisah looks more like a giraffe than a dino. Thank you, Nisah.

With a flick of Eeris’ tail the trees grew ten times thicker, the leaves hard as stone, and the cave was definitively sealed off.

They waited. In the dark, every impact sounded louder. They heard exactly when the waterstream tried to overcome the entrance of the cave. They heard the stomping feet of animals still looking for their own cave.

Until it became quiet. No splashing water or drops on their roof. No tapping of falling rocks. No sign of life anymore.

They lasted two days. Then Donte kicked against the opening, again and again, with help from the others, until they broke it down.

“Nisah!”

His shout died in the dark winter landscape that had taken over the whole world.