25 The Dark Side of The Moon: Valley of The Beasts

"Get behind me." Orlagia shouted. Even though he was much older, weaker and slower than Hisera, he still couldn't help but see her as his little girl who needed to be protected.

Granted it didn't matter much either way as neither would have much chance against an Allosaurus.

The Allosaurus stood 13 feet at the shoulder and was almost 40 feet long. It stood in a horizontal bird like stance, whilst its skin was thick and scaly like a crocodiles. It balanced itself on two bird like legs, whilst its tail which was positioned upright swung from side to side. The monsters forearms were relatively short compared to the rest of its body, though they still came equipped with three, very sharp claws. The Allosaurus' head meanwhile was long and ended in a sharp, pointed snout, whilst its large green eyes were placed at the front of its head. Just above its eyes were two large, red crests.

The animals long, razor sharp teeth were dripping in blood and smeared in pieces of flesh from its latest victims. It had been hunting the same small Hadrosaur that the two humans had been chasing. (It was a testament to how skilled the Allosaurus were as ambush hunters that the humans hadn't even noticed the giant creeping in the bushes behind. )

Now however the Dinosaur's attention had become focused on its two tiny primate rivals.

The Allosaurus were the most numerous carnivore species in the valley. Though not the largest or most powerful, they were still among the fastest, and this coupled with their large size meant that no human could possibly hope to either outfight or outrun them.

The humans normally did all they could to avoid these carnosaurs. In fact they usually didn't even bother the Hadrosaurs or the Stegosaurs that the Allosaurus hunted. However recent conditions in the valley had forced all of the creatures within to alter their behaviours drastically. Even the Allosaurus themselves had found it difficult to adapt to these new circumstances.

Orlagia held his spear up at the Allosaurus' face and waved if for a few minutes. The animal seemed more confused by this display than intimidated. Normally its prey, regardless of its size would run. The Allosaurus let out a roar in frustration, but the caveman stood his ground. Hisera tried to pull the old man away, but as she did, he hurled his spear straight at the neck of the Allosaur. Unfortunately however the spear more or less bounced off of the Dinosaurs thick scales, producing only a minor cut.

This was still enough to enrage the theropod however and the monster charged at the two, terrified humans. Hisera pushed Orlagia out of the way in time, but the Allosaur still knocked her off her feet with one swing of its head.

The Allosaurus had among the thickest and strongest skulls of any meat eating Dinosaur. One whack from its head was enough to break 4 of HIsera's ribs and one of her arms.

As she crawled along the floor with her remaining arm the Allosaurus started to toy with its prey. Every time she managed to haul herself up, the Allosaur would push her down again. Orlagia tried to intervene, but the Allosaurus pushed him down with its snout and started toying with him as well. After a few more minutes of playing with both its victims, the predator then started to open its jaws around Hisera's head. Its hot, stinking breath made her almost want to choke.

Not giving up, Hisera pulled a stone knife from her back pack and stabbed it into the Allosaurus' tongue just as its jaws were about to clamp shut around her. The reptile screamed in pain and jumped backwards, quickly spitting the knife out before it choked. The great theropod then tore down several trees in its distress, whilst Orlagia tried to help Hisera up.

As the two weakened humans tried to crawl away before the Allosaur recovered, a much bigger danger soon emerged.

In the distance, Orlagia could see several trees being ripped off of the ground and flying through the air by an unknown force. All of the mighty Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in the area soon followed, as did rocks, and even the earth itself. They all vanished upwards into a black abyss above.

"We have to move now." Orlagia said to Hisera. Unfortunately however she couldn't walk, as the Allosaurus had also twisted her ankle when it pushed her. The old man was forced to carry her.

The Allosaurus also began to flee, and ran ahead of the two humans, but as it did the ground ahead started to shake and within a few seconds the trees and the earth from that direction started to float off into the dark sky too.

The giant reptile tried to run back the way, but even with its great speed it was no match and the former king of the valley was soon lifted up into the sky and looked an almost pitiful sight as he hopelessly clawed and kicked at the air, before floating away to his doom, alongside the other giants of the valley.

Orlagia and Hisera meanwhile side swerved the mysterious force and retreated back down the way they came, through an old cave system which led underground. It was the perfect way to escape any giant predatory Dinosaurs as they were too big to make their way down the hole.

Unfortunately as they neared the entrance, Orlagia began to feel himself drifting off of the ground and with his last ounce of strength, he threw Hisera to the cave entrance. Hisera tried to crawl back the way to help him, but she could see it was too late. Orlagia had already begun to float away into the sea of giant beasts up ahead. Unlike the Dinosaurs however he appeared to accept his fate, with his final words being to tell Hisera to flee.

Hisera dropped herself down into the cave below. The underground was safe for now from the strange force that was ripping their valley to pieces (which was another reason it was the perfect route for her tribe.)

How much longer could they last however? Within the last few months the valley been torn almost completely apart by this strange monstrous force. So little of their once beautiful land remained. There was just a tiny scrap in the middle, that was gradually breaking apart and once it was gone, there would be nowhere else for her people to escape too.

"Ah we've finally reached our destination." The Professor said enthusiastically.

"It's only been a couple of days. Hardly enough time to unwind after all that crap with those hopping vampires." Kirsteen moaned.

"Well the journey's seem a lot longer with you constantly moaning young lady."

"It's not my fault there's nothing to do here." Kirsteen snapped back.

"I've tried to restore our collection after that demon destroyed it haven't I?" The Professor said impatiently.

Lindsey and the Professors priceless collection of books and art gathered from all across the universe had been destroyed by a demon during their first adventure with Kirsteen, and The Professor at first believed them to be gone forever. Recently however he had stumbled upon an obscure enchantment in his even greater collection of spells, that he hoped could bring at least some of the collection back.

The enchantment was one of the most powerful and unpredictable spells in all the galaxies. It could bring something back, up to and including a person, or even several people from a simple memory in someone's mind.

The strain involved however was so great that it would often destroy the person whose memory was being used. Added to that, like any resurrection spell, it rarely brought the dead back as they once were.

The Professor however felt that the magics could be used to bring back his collection from his memories. If it went wrong no one would get hurt. Even the strain of bringing back books and art would not be as great on a vampire either.

Unfortunately however whilst some of the books did return as they were, many of them were caricatures of their former selves. The magics were so unstable that they fused many of the Professor's memories together, resulting in several classic books being merged together as well.

1984 and Gone with The Wind for instance were now merged into a strange, masochistic love story, with Scarlet torturing Winston Smith instead and falling in love with him during their torture session. A Christmas Carol was merged with War of the Worlds and saw Scrooge receive a vision of the Martians invading from the ghost of the last of the previous race the Martians wiped out (the previous race on Mars), and the ghost of someone in the future after the Martians tear down all earth cities. Scrooge then tries to warn everybody, but they refuse to listen to him, due to his miserly past. Scrooge however does get a chance at redemption when he helps to save people during the war, and helps to rebuild humanity afterwards.

Lindsey found the new versions distasteful, as did the Professor, though Kirsteen actually thought they were quite funny. Sadly for her however the Professor refused to try and use the magics to recreate the books again, leaving Kirsteen with very little to do.

"I liked A Christmas War." Kirsteen protested to the Professor. "I always hated Dickens personally. His work needed an editor. This was an improvement."

"Yes well thankfully most people throughout human history have better taste than you Miss Williamson." The Professor replied.

"Still there's no point in having a time machine if you are just going to sit in reading books." He continued.

"Yes well you know you could probably make some money out of those books." Kirsteen remarked.

"That would change the timeline Kirsteen" Lindsey protested.

"Plus I wouldn't want anyone to know that we were responsible for those monstrosities. I shudder to think what has happened when people have used those magics to bring people back." Lindsey continued.

"Well whatever the case" The Professor said getting the conversation back on track. "It looks like we've landed near the moon."

"The moon? Are you telling me there's aliens on the moon right enough." Kirsteen said excitedly.

"Of course not. It's a dried up rock, no life could live there. It has however become a perfect hiding place for demons and other monsters as a result, which I'd imagine is why we have been sent here. Now stand still, I'll need to perform a spell that will allow us, or rather you two to survive the atmosphere down there. Think of it as like a magical space suit, except you can wear whatever you want with it." The Professor said.

"Good I always like to dress my best when I'm on a giant, dusty rock filled with demons." Kirsteen replied.

After finishing the spell, the Professor teleported himself and his two companions down to the surface of the moon. They landed on the side of the moon facing away from the earth.

"Damn I wanted to get a picture of the view of the earth. This side really is a wasteland." Lindsey said.

"Yes I must admit I wouldn't have chosen the dark side of the moon, or the far side to be more accurate as one of the first places to take our new friend, but remember we go where we are needed." The Professor said.

"What year is this? Are we in danger of running into any moonbases or." Kirsteen asked.

"No I'm afraid not. It's 1965 to be exact. No humans have set foot here yet. Whatever is lurking in these craters is completely unknown to man. Until now." The Professor replied.

"I can't wait." Kirsteen said sarcastically.

"It's funny" Kirsteen continued. "To think down there I'll be just 15 years old, annoying my brother by singing over his favourite Beatles songs when they'd come on the radio. I always thought they were simpler times, but now apparently there were demons on the Moon even back then."

"You can sing now if you want. We have nothing else to do in this godforsaken place. I was a bit embarrassed to say this before, but I've always loved your music, and there isn't even anything that would make a good picture round here. Just rocks and craters." Lindsey said.

"Exactly" The Professor interjected. "So why should we be punished further."

In response Kirsteen started singing just to annoy the Professor.

In truth the Professor actually rather liked her music, but he was such a snob he would never admit to liking any popular music from the 20th or 21st or 22nd centuries. He looked down on those eras as being periods of great stagnation.

As the trio reached the top of the mountain, the Professor suddenly stopped.

"Oh come on my singing isn't that bad." Kirsteen joked.

The Professor simply pointed up in amazement. In the distance of the black sky the vampire could see what looked like a gigantic Triceratops floating through space. Behind it were the bodies of several smaller meat eating Dinosaurs, Raptors, that had clearly been fighting with the herbivore before they were all sucked out into the abyss of space.

"Unbelievable, Dinosaurs on the Moon." Kirsteen said.

"You sure we're in 1965?"

The Professor however simply climbed over the top of a large hill which seemed to spread for miles on, with Kirsteen and Lindsey following.

On the other side of the hill they could see what looked like a valley filled with forests, lakes and prehistoric creatures.

There were what looked like several sauropods, long necked Dinosaurs running around scared, as well as several people, cornering a small ceratopsian Dinosaur near the ruins of an old mountain.

"Of course" the Professor said as he clutched his lapels proudly.

"It's a Dragons land."

"A what?" Kirsteen asked.

"Dragons land" Lindsey repeated. She was better at explaining these things than the Professor, who would often get too impatient.

"You see Kirsteen Dragons are not only real, but they're Dinosaurs. Just as humans become witches, and warlocks when exposed to magic, then Dinosaurs become Dragons when exposed to magic." Lindsey explained.

"What does this have to do with the moon?" Kirsteen asked.

"Well during their war with the Gods, the Dragons built several isolated areas where they bred Dinosaurs resurrected from their bones in the ground through magic. Dragon Lands or Lost Worlds, whatever you want to call them. That way there would always be more Dinosaurs for them to turn into Dragons to use as soldiers. These lands were hidden all over the earth, on remote islands, plateau's, the tops of mountains. They were artificial environments, created entirely through magic, but they had enough plants, water and artificial, magical sunlight to ensure the Dinosaur populations would thrive. After the Gods won the war, they allowed these Dragon Lands to continue to exist. The Dinosaurs without magic after all were just simple beasts. There were hundreds of Dragon lands or Lost Worlds, hidden all over the earth, we've visited a few, but I had no idea there was one on the Moon. Makes sense after all. It would not only be the perfect place to hide, but also for the Dragons to launch an attack on the earth."

"What about the people down there?" Kirsteen asked.

"Sometimes the Dragons would keep small populations of humans in their lands too. Either humans they hated and wanted to punish, or sometimes the reverse was true, and they'd place humans they wanted to survive in the lands so they wouldn't be killed in the war. From the looks of things however these humans were on the Dragons shit list." Lindsey said.

"Possibly not" The Professor interrupted.

"This Dragon land is clearly breaking apart. That explains our friends floating about up there. I've seen it before. The magic used to create these artificial environments was often quite unstable. The Dragons were able to manage them no problem, but now that they're gone. These lands often break apart into magical tornado's which either rip the life forms in them apart, or hurl them into the air, which obviously happened here."

"I guess that's why the Gods didn't destroy the Lands. It was easier just to let them crumble to bits and not get their hands dirty." Lindsey said with regret.

"Exactly, and that's clearly why we're here. To stabilise this land of prehistoric, wonderful creatures before it breaks away into space. For all we know this could be the last Dragon land in existence." The Professor responded.

"How can we possibly do that?" Kirsteen asked.

"If we make our way to the core of the valley, underground then a quick shot of magic should help to stabilise it. It won't be easy though as we'll have to make our way through the Dinosaurs."

"That's the best part." Lindsey said excitedly.

"Yes well lets just try to keep our heads down." The Professor said.

The three time travellers walked down the hill into the valley which looked as though it was in the middle of the day. It was tiny flickr of light and life on this otherwise barren rock.

When the Professor, Lindsey and Kirsteen entered the valley, they saw several small meat eating Dinosaurs, similar to Raptors standing near the edge in both curiosity and fear. The creatures looked starved and weak, and some were even snapping at each other.

"Poor devils. Even if we fix the valley, its ecosystem has probably been damaged beyond repair." Lindsey said.

"We have a Dragon land of our own you know Kirsteen." Lindsey said.

"What do you mean." She asked.

"I tend to think of it as more of a garden." The Professor interrupted.

"I've been travelling through time and space for hundreds of years Miss Williamson. You can't expect me to spend all my spare time on that ship. There are a few remote areas I've carved out for my self in time and space here and there, but not surprisingly. Lindsey's favourite is a tiny, remote planetoid where I've gathered Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs and other prehistoric creatures and allowed them to live in peace. I return to it whenever I can. Fortunately it's in a pocket outside of time and space, so I can go whenever I want, but even at that it's quite difficult to steer it there."

"WOW your own Dinosaur garden basically? That's amazing, I'd love to see it." Kirsteen said.

"Well maybe not after this adventure. You'll probably be fed up with Dinosaurs after all this, though a rest is actually a good idea. I can take you to Old Mill Cottage in the 60s, that's one of my favourite little pockets of refuge."

"Pockets of refuge?" Kirsteen laughed, though the Professor wasn't amused. He could take a joke, but he preferred it when he wasn't the butt of it all the same.

"Yes well, if Old Mill Cottage doesn't interest you, there are other options. Zeti Reticuli is beautiful in the 31st century. Charming people, absolutely lovely."

The trio suddenly stopped at the sight of a heard of sauropod Dinosaurs drinking from a small lake.

Lindsey instantly got out her camera and started to take photos.

"God I love Dinosaurs. I prefer them to most people I've met." Lindsey said as she snapped at the giants ahead.

"Well I agree for the most part, but admittedly some I prefer to keep at a distance myself." Kirsteen replied as she looked back, somewhat nervously at the Raptors.

"Maybe Old Mill Cottage is a better option right enough Professor." Kirsteen said.

"Yes well, I've found the same is true of people as well." Lindsey joked.

"Well I might have guessed you like Dinosaurs considering the only merged book you didn't make us throw out was The Lost Expectations? About Miss Havishim being heart broken when her fiance was killed on an expedition to the Lost World led by Challenger and then getting revenge on him years later by funding another expedition with Challengers foolish son, Pip who she strands there?" Kirsteen who absolutely loved this version said.

"To be fair that was much better than the original. You can improve any book with Dinosaurs." Lindsey laughed.

"Then there was also that piece of Triceratops jewellery you always wore. It can't have been because it looked nice." Kirsteen joked, though Lindsey looked a little offended.

"Yeah well you thought it was a Rhino at first." Lindsey replied.

"A Rhino?" The Professor said in shock.

"Oh dear Miss Williamson. Next you'll be telling me you think Penguins are fish."

"Actually Penguins if you want to get technical are Dinosaurs too. They're among my favourite breeds after." Lindsey said only to be interrupted when the tree up ahead came tumbling down, nearly crushing the Professor who managed to catch it with his vampiric strength and hold it up for a few minutes before he was forced to let go.

The Professor, Lindsey and Kirsteen came face to face with a gigantic Brontosaurus. This was a male and was not only larger and more aggressive, but from the looks of things starving.

The few plants and vegetation left in the valley had begun to wither and die. This had naturally caused many of the giant herbivores to die off, as well as the carnivores who preyed on them. The few survivors were now pushed to their very limits, with even the gentle giants like the Brontosaurus having become hostile and aggressive. The herbivores not only had to constantly fight off the desperate carnivores who had become a lot more bold and reckless in their desperation, but even each other for the few scraps of vegetation left.

This Brontosaurus had been driven from the tribe up ahead by its alpha male. He started to roar and stamp his feet at the sight of the three time travellers, as the sauropod was frightened of the humans, some whom in desperation had recently attacked the giants. The humans were been able to take down the giant Sauropods by chasing them over the edge of cliffs using flaming torches, similar to how humans hunted Woolly Mammoth's thousands of years ago back on earth.

"Calm down big fella, we're not going to hurt you." Lindsey said gently to the great reptile as she and the others slowly backed away."

"Can you speak Dinosaur?" Kirsteen asked the Professor, genuinely.

"Of course not, don't be silly." Lindsey responded

"Hey there are Dinosaurs on the moon and he's a vampire."

The Brontosaurus let out a massive roar and started to chase the trio deeper into the valley.

Though it was slow moving, its gigantic size allowed it to keep up with Lindsey, Kirsteen and even the Professor. On step for the Brontosaurus was comparable to seven for the humans and the vampire.

"I thought the long necked ones were supposed to be friendly." Kirsteen shouted.

To Be Continued