33 The Dark Side of The Moon: The Wyvern's Promise

After a few moments the blinding pain was over for all of the reluctant companions.

"What did you do to us" Kirsteen asked whilst trying to get her breath back.

"I cast a spell that linked you all with me. Once you reach the top of the mountain you will be able to channel the energy from my life force into the core which will rejuvinate it for many more hundreds of thousands of years."

"Why did you start with me?" Kirsteen said.

"I needed to see that my spell wouldn't kill any of you. You were the most expendable." The Wyvern replied.

"Wanker." Kirsteen shouted.

"Don't take it personally. Your two companions, one is a vampire, the other has spent years battling monsters, whilst the two from this valley have years against its perils. You are simply not experienced enough."

"Yeah well I'm the only one of them here with 8 Brit Awards." Kirsteen replied.

"Yes well I am sure that is a big accomplishment where you're from, whatever it is, but if we can get back on track. The spell I have granted you will require all of my life force to power it and perhaps even some of your own, but our lives are not important. The creatures out there, the Dinosaurs, the humans and my kind the Pterosaurs must live on." The Wyvern said.

"Forgive me for not thinking you have their best interests at heart. You kidnapped all of these creatures, stranded them on a barren rock in space, all for part of your pointless war against the Gods. You forced these people to live in an already confined space with the most dangerous predators ever to walk the earth. Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus, Allosaurus. Even at the best of times their existence is nightmarish." The Professor said angrily.

"You're right at first I didn't care about them." The Wyvern replied.

"I was nothing more than a soldier myself who was tasked with recruiting others. The first Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, and beasts that I brought here, even the humans were all meant to be converted via our magic into soldiers. For the last thousand years I've had to watch the people and creatures I recruited and their descendants slaughter one another and struggle to survive as more and more of this valley drifted off into space. I thought any sacrifice was necessary to free the earth from the Gods, but watching the hell I created out there. I can see that the Dragons and the Wyverns were no better Even if you don't believe I want to help the valley however, you have no other choice."

"Well sadly on that last bit we agree." The Professor replied reluctantly.

"Just zap us to the top of the mountain then and we'll get it done." Lindsey interrupted.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Most of power has gone into the spell. You'll need to go the long way. I can guide you however. I can feel where the corrupted Dinosaurs and people are. Not all of the previous members of the tribe who tried to break in here died. Several of them have degenerated into monsters by the magic. You'll need to tread carefully. Once you have used my spell however, the negative effects of the magic will be reversed. The mutations will return to normal."

Tiseia and Miscorak's faces lit up at the last part.

"You mean" Tiseia asked.

"Yes if you follow my instructions you can both make it out of this alive."

"I don't care about myself." Tiseia insisted.

Her husband had been among the first to go to the mountain a year or so ago when the valley really started to break apart. She had been desperate to go on every mission since, but they had always prevented her before now as her services were deemed too valuable for the tribe. (She was the finest rider and trainer of the Pterosaurs after all.)

"Please tell me, if you know who we are, you'll know what I'm about to ask you."

"Yes" The Wyvern replied. "Your husband was among those who was mutated by the magics. He still lives in these caves, if you can call the nightmare he has endured for the past year living. I am sorry. I promise you can save him, but you cannot think about just him now. You must get to the top of the valley or all is lost. You have less than an hour."

"Well then let's not waste anymore time here shall we." The Professor said.

Outside the mountain the last scrap of the once beautiful and thriving lost world the Wyvern and his kin had created was on its last legs. All over the valley random pieces of land either started to drift off into space on a magical hurricane or explode. All of the Dinosaurs, predator and prey alike fled in panic, though there was nowhere for the animals to flee too.

The larger Sauropods crushed many of the smaller herbivores and meat eaters and even some of their own young in the stampede.

The last surviving humans meanwhile, Hisera among them simply watched from the top of their mountain, though it seemed like a safe point for the humans from the carnage below, it too could either explode or drift off at any second .

"Was it all worth it." Hisera said to another member of her tribe, a young woman who had also been wounded by a Raptor, as they both stared down at even the mightiest Dinosaurs being swept away into space by the magic. Creatures they had both ran and cowered from for their entire lives were now being swatted like flies.

"My friend Orlagia. He gave his life for me" Hisera said with regret.

"He was like a father to me. My actual father I never knew. He was killed by one of those sail back horrors on something as mundane as a fishing trip when I was two. It speared him with its claws just like he would a fish. My mother who was there naturally didn't see the irony. She was never the same after that from what I was told. She did her best, still taught me how to hunt. I could tell each day was a struggle for her though. All of the pain she went through, all of the sacrifices she and others made for our tribe, what was it for? For us just to be swept away? No one will even know this valley existed."

"I wish I could say there was some reason behind it all." Her friend said.

"I suppose the same is probably true for all worlds in the sky. All the life forms in them struggle and struggle and they all from what the Gods back on earth said come to dust." She continued.

"That was just a lie told by the Gods to ensure we'd always follow them." Hisera insisted. "They wanted us to beg them to make our worlds indestructible. I also don't think they let our ancestors live here out of the goodness of their hearts. I think it was a punishment. For them and their descendants, to be forced to live and struggle in a world full of monsters, foolishly thinking they could survive when all this time their world was breaking apart." Hisera continued.

"Maybe or maybe it is just the way of all things, people, planets, even stars to fade away. What matters it that we did persevere. There was great suffering, but also great happiness too. We built a society amidst this chaos." Her friend insisted.

"Happiness?" Hisera said in surprise and anger.

"Was your relationship with Orlagia a bad thing? Was our friendship? Was the fact that so many of us were willing to sacrifice each other for the people we love, for the good of the community?"

Hisera didn't know what to say. She wasn't in any mood naturally to argue that there was anything good about her life, but her friends words had given some small sliver of hope, even subconsciously that some good could emerge even in the darkest circumstances.

"Well at the very least when the whirl wind comes for us we'll probably be crushed by the rubble and reptiles before we get pulled up into space and suffocate. See, I am trying to find the good in the bad after all." Hisera said as the several of the terrified Dinosaurs soon made their way near the cavemen's mountain.

"Come on, come on" The Professor shouted as he hurried up the nearest passage way.

The team had made their way up the mountain through a secret passage that the Wyvern had informed them of. Fortunately most of the animals had fled, but as the travellers reached higher up the mountain they were suddenly forced to hide from a gigantic stampeding magical creature who along with other members of its kind were all gravitating towards the top.

"The core is at the top. It's drawing them like a beacon now that it's in its final death throes. It was probably always drawing them here to some extent, explaining why they didn't leave the mountain, but now its pull is greater than ever before." The Professor thought as he was forced to conceal himself in a small hole in the nearest wall with the others.

The creature was a mutated Triceratops. Its frill was made of nothing but fire, whilst its body appeared to be made of metal, though a row of spikes made of fire ran down its back to the end of its tail. The animal also had six horns on its head two above its eyes, one in the centre and a cluster of three small horns on its snout. All of its horns looked as though they were buzzing like chainsaws. The monsters mouth meanwhile was filled with razor sharp teeth. As soon as the Triceratops had left however, the team would barely get that much further up the mountain before being forced to hide again from a horde of mutated Raptors.

Like the other mutants in the valley, the creatures were truly hideous, though they barely even looked like Raptors unlike the Triceratops. These creatures lacked eyes, had three sets of teeth, no tail, two long horns sticking out of the top of their heads which glowed bright yellow, and strangely furry, yet slimy bodies. They were only recognizable as Raptors by the large sickle like claws on their feet, though even then the claws looked like they were made of stone, whilst the tip of each claw appeared to drip in an acidic green substance.

Still in the few minutes the Professor and the others were forced to remain hidden, Miscorak's mutation had already begun to accelerate. "It can't be I thought I had more time. Please help me." He pleaded to both the Professor and even the Wyvern, but there was nothing either could do. Miscorak's eyes soon began to turn blue and a foul smelling blue slime began to drip from them. His teeth started to fall out, whilst his gums then turned rotten and green.

"Please, please kill me." He mumbled through his toothless mouth.

"No you heard the Wyvern" Lindsey said. "We can reverse it."

"It's too dangerous I, I'll have killed you before then." Miscorak fell to the floor screaming in pain, whilst Tiseia and Lindsey tried to help him. The Professor however soon pulled them both away.

"He's right our best chance of helping him is to reverse the effects on the valley. Come on" Lindsey, Tiseia and Kirsteen didn't bother arguing with him any longer as regrettably they knew he was right.

Unfortunately however Miscorak's screams echoed throughout the entire cavern alerting a few of the Raptor horde.

The mutated Raptors and the mutated humans were bitter rivals. They were the most numerous as well as the most dominant of all the mutated creatures that lived in the mountain. The larger mutants were few and far between.

Whilst most of the Raptors were still focused on fleeing to the beacon without even really knowing why, some of the monsters gave in to their more violent instincts and followed the sound of one of their rivals.

Five of the Raptors in total soon surrounded Miscorak who was still in the process of mutating, though by this stage almost everything that he was mentally at least had been replaced by a twisted, savage monster.

Miscorak lunged at the leader of the Raptors and though he was able to pin the abomination to the ground, his strength was still not great enough to hold it down for long. Furthermore another of the monsters soon jumped him from behind and dug its claw straight through his backbone.

The Raptor in front stabbed one of its claws into Miscorak's knee cap meanwhile and tore it out before two more Raptors then pinned Miscorak to the floor with their claws and started to disembowel him with their three sets of teeth.

Even as the mutant Dinosaurs tore him to shreds, Miscoraks body continued to mutate. Some of the wounds they made instantly healed over and for a few minutes the Raptors kept hacking and hacking until eventually they ripped him apart completely.

The others meanwhile in the middle of the bloodbath had made their way to the top of the cavern, but unfortunately Miscorak's screaming had alerted several mutated humans too. Five mutant humans soon came down the passage way the Professor and the others were fleeing up.

"It's the other way, the core you'd much rather be fleeing too." The Professor said only for one of the mutants to jump him.

"Go" the vampire said as he threw his attacked against a wall.

"I'll catch up."

"We need you to make the spell work." Lindsey protested.

"No you don't the Wyvern gave you all the spell. Just go. I can handle a few of these mutants." The Professor said as he threw another over his shoulder.

With no choice his companions were forced to flee.

The mutated humans had no eyes. Instead it was just two blue sockets constantly dripping, though despite this they could still apparently see the vampire, whilst their skin was a disgusting sickly, yellowish colour and slimy and squishy much like a snails.

The Professor didn't even want to touch them, never mind fight, but he had no choice as one of the monsters spat a green, burning slime from its mouth straight into the Professors face. Whilst he was distracted from the pain, another of the creatures jumped the Professor and started to slash him with its tentacle like hands before impaling him through the heart. The Professor tried to remove the monsters tentacled arm, but the other two creatures restrained him. With no choice, the Professor was forced to bite into one of the creatures that was holding him down's tentacle. In all of his thousands of years of existence the Professor had never tasted anything so foul. If it were possible, it would have been enough to make him vomit, though he still spat the beasts rancid blood out (in its face.)

"That's enough to put me off blood forever. Thank you." The Professor said as he struck the other creature with his free hand, sending it tumbling backwards, before striking the other monster trying to restrain him. The Professor then removed the tentacle in his chest, removed it and stabbed it through the monster it belonged too's chest, before he pulled the tentacle upwards through its deformed body. Ripping the creature in half. The Professor then pulled the dead beasts tentacled arm out of its socket and used to slash the throat of another attacking mutant, as well as block the acidic spit from another creature.

Finally the Professor then used the severed tentacle to wrap itself around the neck of the spitting mutant that he then broke, before catching two tentacles from another creature that tried to attack from behind. He then used them to pull it towards him before punching a hole in its chest. The final mutant meanwhile ran away in terror.

The Professor looked down at the remains of the creatures he had slain. In his desperation he had let his bloodlust get the better of him and now he taken the life of four people. If what the Wyvern said was true, there was a chance that the magics infecting them could have been reversed, but the Professor in the moments he was fighting them hadn't even thought of the mutants as people. Only now when he saw the last of the creatures flee and cower did he realise.

Still whilst the guilt would stay with him for the rest of his life among many, many other mistakes. The Professor couldn't wallow in it now. His friends needed him.

Lindsey, Kirsteen and Tiseia had already almost made their way to the top of the mountain. It had been a surprisingly easy trip through the caverns, which the three women knew meant only one thing. That all the nasties and monsters in the mountain had already reached the top and were waiting for them.

To their surprise however once they reached the top of the mountain they found it was also deserted, though there were the corpses of various creatures scattered around. It was hard to see them all however through the smoke from the explosions the unstable magic had caused

Lindsey, Kirsteen and Tiseia walked slowly through the corpses in case any of them might still be alive, though as they got a closer look, the three women could see that most were shredded beyond recognition.

"What could have done this" Tiseia said nervously.

"Maybe a blast from the unstable magic, which is why we need to get to the centre of the mountain and cast that spell right away." Lindsey said.

"I don't think so." Kirsteen interrupted.

"I mean I'm no expert on the occult, but why would a magical blast leave scratch and teeth marks." Kirsteen said as she looked down at one of the corpses.

Almost as soon as she had finished the three unlikely companions attention was diverted to a massive roar in the distance.

They looked up and saw through the smoke and fog a massive winged creature flying towards them. It wasn't a Pterosaur however.

It's body was shaped more like a Spinosaurus, though its skin looked purple, sagging and wet. It's eyes were bright yellow and had no pupils, whilst its claws were not only bigger than even a real life Spinosaurus' talons but they appeared to be made out of bronze. The Dinosaurs trademark sail meanwhile had split in two down the middle and grown into two massive wings made of fire. The beast flew somewhat gracefully despite its tremendous size through the air towards the mountain.

Lindsey recognised it as a mutated form of white Dragon. Different Dinosaur breeds became different kinds of Dragons. Spinosaurus' became white dragons when exposed to magic, but sadly in this case the unstable magics had twisted the Spinosaurus' body into a grotesque caricature of a White Dragon.

The monster fired a form of lethal magic from its mouth (which took the form of a green energy beam) at the three women who were forced to scatter.

Tiseia could feel her body beginning to change just like Miscorak.

"No, not now when I'm so close." She said as she took refuge behind a nearby rock.

The Spinosaurus seemed to focus all of its attention on Kirsteen who in her panic had simply ran out into the open.

She managed to keep a good head start on the flying Dinosaur, but soon she reached the end of the cliff she was stopped in her tracks by several mutated Pterosaurs who emerged slowly in front of her. Fortunately for Kirsteen the Pterosaurs soon swarmed the Spinosaurus, but in a matter of seconds the Spinosaurus decimated them all with its firey breath.

"Good for nothing, useless, there's hundreds of you and one of him." Kirsteen said as she slowly climbed over the edge of the cliff to escape the Spinosaurus whilst it was preoccupied destroying the last of the mutant Pterosaurs.

The cliff was steep and she could barely make out what was ahead of her as the smoke was too thick, though that was probably just as well as if she could see how far the drop was below she'd probably faint. She climbed ten or so feet below, but unfortunately Kirsteen could still hear the Spinosaurus circling above. It wasn't giving up.

"Persistent bastard" Kirsteen said to herself as she almost lost her grip. The Spinosaurus was focused on Kirsteen simply because of the strange magic in her body. As she and Lindsey had constantly been travelling through the vortex using magic unlike anything in the valley. The mutated Dragon could sense it to some extent in both Lindsey and Kirsteen, but it was more focused on her now, simply because she had drawn its attention, unwillingly away from her companions.

As Kirsteen crawled slowly down the mountain she suddenly saw what looked like a small ledge through the smoke below. She had no idea where it led to, but as the sound of the Spinosaurus' immense flapping wings grew nearer she jumped onto the ledge, though in doing so she nearly fell.

As she walked through the smoke and fog, she saw that there was a cave at the other end, unfortunately however when she made her way into the cave she soon encountered a gigantic bear like creature.

It too was mutated by the magics. Its skin was armored, thick, green and scaly, whilst its eyes were red and a thick black tar dripped from its mouth and claws. The animal also stood on its back legs and towered over Kirsteen. It must have been close to eight feet tall.

The monster however soon turned and ran when it saw the Spinosaurus peering in through the cave. Kirsteen ran too, but as she saw the mutant Dinosaur preparing to breathe its firey ray she wisely swerved to the side and took refuge behind a nearby stone pillar.

The Spinosaurs fire breath spread out through the cave and engulfed the mutated bear like creature.All that was left afterwards was a charred skeleton. Unfortunately however the Spinosaurus could sense Kirsteen was still in there and continued to keep breathing fire down the cave, though fortunately Kirsteen was sheltered by the pillar.

"Kirsteen! Tiseia! Please." Lindsey shouted in desperation as she ran frantically across the mountain only to receive no answer from either. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't afford to wait any longer. The Dragon could return at any minute and Lindsey had very little time to save the valley. Whilst she couldn't see it below due to the smoke she could hear the cries of thousands of prehistoric beasts as well the explosions as the valley tore itself apart.

Lindsey ran to the massive blue light bursting out of the centre of the mountain and started to chant the Wyvern's ritual. She almost couldn't help herself as soon as she got near to the light. It came out automatically. Suddenly however she was interrupted by the Professor.

"Professor you made it." Lindsey said.

"Where's Kirsteen?" The Professor asked.

"I don't know this thing chased us and I took cover over there, but when I looked up she was gone."

"Thing? What was it."

"A White Dragon, sort of. It was all twisted and, horrible, but it was a Spinosaurus and."

"A Spinosaurus? What's a Spinosaurus doing up here in the mountains? The magic must have started to spread through the valley, we really don't have much time."

Suddenly Tiseia emerged from the nearby rock she had been hiding behind. She had now degenerated into a similar type of monster to Miscorak.

Tiseia instantly went for Lindsey, but the Professor intercepted the mutant and pinned her to the ground. Tiseia however soon threw the Professor off and charged at him just as he was pulling himself up. The vampire after his last fight in the cave was holding back against Tiseia in the hopes she could be cured, allowing her a slight edge.

As the vampire and the mutant got closer to the edge of the cliff, they soon attracted the attention of more mutated Pterosaurs who started to attack them.

Lindsey meanwhile continued to finish the spell. She had instinctively thought about jumping in to help the Professor, but realised that she would be of more help finishing the ritual. As soon as she got half way through however the entire mountain started to shake and Lindsey felt a crushing pain in her stomach that brought her to her knees.

She even passed out for a few moments , but she was soon woken up by the roar of several mutant Raptors who had gathered around her. Now that the Spinosaurus was distracted, many of the other mutants had returned.

At least six of them had completely surrounded Lindsey from all angles and were drooling with hunger. One of the creatures slashed her across the stomach whilst another started to bite into her arm. Lindsey tried to fight, and pushed herself forward into the creature that was biting her arm knocking it back somewhat into another Raptor. She then pulled herself free, losing a large chunk of flesh in the process, but still she staggered near the blue light, only for one of the Raptors to jump right in front of her.

The Spinosaurus meanwhile had become distracted by the mountain shaking and had abandoned its pursuit of Kirsteen. As it flew back up to the top of the mountain the Pterosaurs attacking the Professor and Tisea fled, with the vampire and the mutant now coming face to face with the Dragon.

The Professor seeing no alternative jumped straight into the Dragons face, disorienting and confusing the beast who soon flew around the mountain frantically.

Kirsteen meanwhile seeing that the monster had left slowly walked towards the exit of the cave, but just as she reached it she heard another roar.

To her shock and horror it was the bear creature, still somehow alive despite being nothing more than a charred skeleton. Either its corpse had been reanimated by the Dragon or the magics that had twisted the creature were so strong that it could not die, but whatever the case the monster charged at Kirsteen who fled out onto the ledge. She climbed as fast as the could up the steep cliff ahead to try and help her friends, whatever situation they were in, but the skeleton soon grabbed her by the foot. Its touch was burning, and she kicked frantically at the beasts head to no avail. yet still she gripped onto the rock as hard as she could.

For a few moments Lindsey didn't move a muscle, careful not to provoke the Raptors and hoping that the Professor might distract them at some point, but as the monsters started to walk closer, Lindsey with no choice tried to finish the enchantment.

Before she could even get two words out the Raptor slashed its claws at her face, but she managed to duck just in time. Unfortunately another of the monsters grabbed her from behind and as she struggled to pull free the Raptor in front grabbed her by the throat. With all her strength Lindsey managed to pull her wounded arm free and punched the mutant Raptor facing her in the face with it. She didn't hurt the monster but still managed to catch it off guard enough to send it staggering back, after which she then flipped the Raptor holding her over her shoulder into the Raptor in front, sending both crashing into the blue light ahead. In there both monsters bodies began to twist into new shapes and sizes as they screamed in agony.

The four remaining Raptors soon cornered Lindsey and just as all seemed lost Tiseia suddenly jumped one of the Raptors, causing the other three to swarm her.

Lindsey took her chance and started to recite the ritual, but just as she was on the cusp of finishing, the two Raptors emerged from the blue light, their bodies now even more horribly mutated to the point where they didn't even resemble Dinosaurs in any way shape or form.

Both now had three grotesque human looking heads, six legs each (three on either side) and six tentacled arms, two on either side and one coming out of their chest and the other their back. The beasts also had four tails each of which dripped green slime.

One of the monsters tentacles moved like a whip and wrapped itself around Lindsey's neck, but as it choked her she still managed to spit out the last few words of the ritual before passing out.

The light suddenly turned green and within a few seconds it cleared away the smoke and lit up the valley. The mutants all began to convulse and fell to the floor, their bodies twisting and writhing before they slowly began to more into their original forms.

The Spinosaurus however did so whilst it was flying in mid air. The Professor instantly jumped off of the monsters face and was able to grab onto the side of the mountain, but the Spinosaurus had no such luck and went plummeting about ten or so feet to the ground. It was knocked out and broke both of its ribs, but it would live. In just under a few moments all of the mutants had returned to their normal selves, though the spell had knocked them all out.

"You did it." The Wyvern's voice said weakly to the Professor.

"The valley will live on now."

"You sure about that?" The Professor said as he looked down at the chaos below. Most of the forests had been uprooted and laid to waste, the bodies of thousands of Dinosaurs littered the valley, earthquakes had split the land into various different parts. It looked as though it had all been for nothing.

Still as bleak as things seemed now, the Wyvern was right. Just enough plant life had survived the chaos to allow the herbivores and through them the carnivores to carry on, though it would be a very tough existence for all involved. Certain species would most likely not survive, but at the very least some would prosper again.

"You must help your friend." The Wyvern's voice said.

"Lindsey? What have you done."

"I told you that there was danger. She took it all on herself, her life force is fading." The Wyvern's voice said.

The spell had drained most of Lindsey's and the Wyvern's life force. The Professor knew that none of his magics could undo its effects, but he obviously wasn't going to give up on Lindsey and quickly cast a magical shield around her. This shield could stop the last of her life force from draining away, but it could not heal her. When it wore off in just a few days then she would die.

"I am sorry child of Khastran, but her life force is gone. There is no power that can restore it." The Wyvern said.

"What do you know? Look at this sorry excuse for a valley you created. I know someone that can help." The Professor said as he lifted Lindsey up.

"I can read your mind vampire and I know what you intend but you must not. For her sake as well as your own." The Wyvern warned, but the Professor did not listen.

Kirsteen meanwhile had managed to hold onto the cliff with her attacker having now crumbled into nothing but a pile of bones on the ledge below her. Unfortunately however now that the smoke had cleared she could see just how far the drop below was and she was so petrified she could barely move, let alone climb.

Fortunately the Professor soon pulled her up.

"How are you? Can you walk." The Professor asked rather coldly.

"Yes I think so. I'll never look at a stuffed teddy the same way again." Kirsteen said whilst still shaking, though her attention was soon drawn to Lindsey.

"What happened?"

"Her life was drained fixing this godforsaken valley. You carry Tiseia." The Professor said to Kirsteen. Tiseia had survived the Raptor attack with only a few scratches, though she was knocked out just like the remaining Raptors around her. Kirsteen did her best to try and wake her, but it was no good. The backlash of the magic ensured she and the others would be out for hours.

Fortunately however that would just make it easier for the Professor and Kirsteen to make their way down the mountain and through the valley to the humans settlement. Sadly they didn't have time to explain much or even say goodbye to Hisera who had managed to survive the slaughter, with her village being ironically being one of the few places left. They did have to deal with several large plant eating Dinosaurs smashing their way into the mountain. Indeed the entire area was no long the sanctuary it once was. Still at the very least she and her people survived, which was enough for the Professor was more desperate to get Lindsey back to the Bat.

When Tiseia came too, she was celebrated as a hero, though she made sure that Miscorak's courage and sacrifice weren't forgotten either. Tiseia and the rest of her tribe would soon search the mountain for any surviving humans who had been restored. Sadly however Tiseia would learn that the Wyvern had lied to her. Her husband was not among the survivors. The creature clearly had just wanted to give her extra motivation when fighting her way to the top. She couldn't even confront the Wyvern about it as the beast had died before the Professor had even made it to the bottom of the mountain. The Professor offered to cast a shield around it too, but it refused. The Professor wasn't sure if the creature simply didn't believe that he could help it, or if didn't want to face the humans on the valley who now knew it existed.

Tiseia didn't let the Wyvern's lies slow her down however. She was determined that her husband, Miscorak and Lindsey's sacrifices wouldn't be for nothing, that her people would survive and with the likes of Hisera's help the tribe would persevere through the dark times ahead, though things would never be the same again.

No longer could the humans simply hide from the giant meat eaters who roamed the valley. Now they would be forced into direct competition with them for the limited resources, leading to new challenges for both.

Back on board the Bat, the Professor carried Lindsey into the medibay of his ship, where he performed more spells and enchantments that he hoped might prolong her life just a little while longer.

"I still don't understand" Kirsteen said.

"You say there's this place that can help her? As long as we don't muck about with the time we visit what's the problem, why don't we go there now."

"There will be a price Kirsteen. One that might come back to haunt all of us."

"Well isn't that worth it to save Lindsey?"

"Not if he forces her to go along with whatever he wants me to do. And he can. If he cures her, then he will own her life force. It won't just be one favour we'll owe him, any time that sick." The Professor had to stop.

"Who, who are you talking about."

"Why don't I show you" the Professor said as he left the medibay and headed for the control room.

"What do you mean."

"I mean you're right Lindsey's life is at stake and unfortunately the only place that can help her is one place you really don't want to go too. It's the place that made me who I am. Scholomance.

To Be Continued.