Search for the Emerald Sunstone Flowers: Part 1

The convoy started off into the hot, steamy jungle and C'xoila wondered what adventures they would have. A carnosaur roared in the distance.

Everything had gone in schedule. The drawbridge had been crossed early in the morning, and now, here we were, on the hunt for a rare gingko tree indigenous to the Basin. And who knows what else we may find? Tamith was just happy to be joined by good friends to whom she has trusted her life to before. The ceratopsian guard plowed ahead indicating to the sauropods a safe path. So far, all was clear.

Circling above, Kaz looked down to check on the position of the convoy. They were heading in exactly the chosen direction and everything was calm. The head wind meant Mirajai had to fly lower and Kaz caught a glimpse of Tamith smiling up at them and waving back at her Kaz indicated all was clear.

Loping along beside the massive saurapods, C'xoila took the chance to study his surroundings. Trees, trees everywhere. Roaming around the convoy, C'xoila started to look for Cyrrus. It still was not clear weather she came along or not. There were muffled thuds in the jungle and the convoy ground to a halt. C'xoila tensed up, waiting for the big carnosaur to jump out from behind it's cover of foliage. Suddenly, the largest tyrannosaur C'xoila had ever seen jumped out from the forest.

"Split up! head for the forest!" C'xoila screamed. Tamith, C'xoila and Cyrrus bounded off into the foliage. The two saurians had to wait for Tamith to keep up with them. Some how, they managed to escape from the carnosaur. The bad news was they were separated from the convoy and were now hopelessly lost.

It was all suddenly a mess. The Ceratopsian guard had split up, the large sauropods had left and she found her self stuck in the middle of the Rainy Basin with a hand full of friends. Tamith looked at C'xoila who was looking back at her nervously. Letting out a long sigh, she walk over to the two ceratopsians who had not been left behind and tried to calm them down. None of them knew why everyone reacted the way they did. Tamith scratched Triforce under the chin and returned to the group with the horned giants following her.

"Looks like we're in trouble again, and we now have a decision to make. Should we look for the rest of the convoy, try to find our way back to Bonabba or go on forward until we emerge somewhere around Treetown?" Tamith said.

C'xoila said, "First, lets check our supplies to see what food we have." Everyone started ransacking their backpacks and saddle bags in search of food. Rummaging deep into his pack, C'xoila let out a yelp of surprise. He held up several cloth wrapped packages and showed them to the group. "Um, I have sandwiches here, but I don't think you will want them. No, not at all."

"Why not?" came the reply from the group. "Um, because they're catsandwiches, my favorite. No, I don't think any human can stomach these." A resounding "Ugh!" left the stranded party as C'xoila started to eat his cat sandwich. "Wait!" he cried, almost spitting out his half eaten food. Azonthus will be coming from Treetown! Remember, she said she had business there and she would come as soon as she could!" This good news drew the attention of C'xoila and his cat sandwiches, for the moment.

"Sorry C'xoila, but to me, cats are family," Tamith said. "I could never swallow.... nor bite, now that I think about it."

"OK! You don't have to eat any of my cat sandwiches. Here," he hands Tamith a package, "In there is some fruit and some smoked fish.

Taking a big bite out of cat sandwich the carnosaur asks "Should we stay here, or should we start walking? If we start walking, should we head towards Bonabba, where we started, or Treetown, where Azonthus is?"

High in the sky Alkazra and Mirajai circled almost lazily above the convoy, nothing was happening and Kaz's mind wandered... What should they do after this? It wasn't the most practical way to spend her time, but she'd never been able to stop herself thinking about the future, even when she knew she should keep her mind on the present. Far below a movement in the trees caught her attention, it could have been the wind so she thought nothing more of it until, a few minutes later a huge roar ripped the jungle apart.

How could she have been so stupid and careless? The movement in the trees was a classic indicator of rex attacking formation that even a novice should have spotted at a glance!

Tearing through the sky, it was obvious the convoy was in trouble. No one should be hurt, but it was becoming clear that they were separating into groups which were more easily panicked. Dashing madly between the trees and the jaws of the carnivores, they only helped in drawing the rex's attention for minutes at a time. Chaos reigned for what seemed like hours! What had happened to the structure of the convoy?

Once things had calmed slightly, the offering of food was given and accepted and the tired convoy re-grouped, or at least attempted to. Looking wildly around she could see no sign of C'xoila or any of her friends of the previous mission! Jumping into the saddle she left the second rider to continue with the main group whilst she searched for her friends.

Night was drawing near and they were both tired, nothing more could be accomplished now. Suddenly movement caught her attention, the big rex from the attack was heading through the thinner jungle, maybe following him would give them a clue. Flying closer, they could see the blood around his jaws and although it may have been from the offering the sight of it so close shocked enough to distract them both. The balance slightly tipped, Mirajai struggled to right them when the rex noticed their presence for the first time. Swinging his head violently he caught Mirajai's wing a stunning blow, and although they made it away from the rex it was obviously a fairly serious wound.

Wobbling out of control and with no place to land the best either could do was to watch helplessly as the jungle rushed up to meet them. .

C xoila looked up from his cat sandwich, hearing a crash in the forest. The sound was followed closely by a mournful screech. "Skybax," he whispered. "You hear that?" everyone was asking. "It's a Skybax, and with a Skybax is it's rider. We've got to help 'em!" Everyone found themselves in agreement and we set off for the sound. C'xoila even forgot to bring his cat sandwich. The prospect of finding help brightened everyone up. Coming into a clearing, the found their good friend, Alkazra, and her skybax partner.

As they approached, they hailed their friends, but they did not respond. Both were unconscious. C'xoila rummaged in his pack and brought out a small blue bottle.

After opening it, he opened Alkazra's mouth and poured one single drop in.

Coughing and sputtering, Alkazra looked up and saw the others. Not wasting and time, he noted the bax's injuries and mixed the contents from the blue bottle with green powder from a tin and produced a mush that he spread over the injured wing. He then took the blue bottle and poured the entire contents down the Bax's throat. Upon awaking, she made a sound much like a cough mixed with a bark and a whistle. They now added two others to their little group. Alkazra was scratched up quite a bit and her skybax was injured and in need of further medical attention.

"Kaz, you want a sandwich?" C xoila asked.

"No!" Everyone shouted.

"Fine!" C'xoila replied happily. "More for me!"

Coughing Alkazra looked around: those missing from the convoy were all there, but the joy from seeing this only took her attention away from her pain for a little while. Her arms and face were badly scratched but it wasn't serious, unlike Mirajai. His head drooped and he uttered mournful trills and hoots.

"Jai? How are you?" She put her arms around her partner and talked in soothing tones. "It's alright, we're with the others now. We're not alone and these are good friends." Although he did not understand the exact words he understood Alkazra well enough to know what she was telling him.

"What's the plan now? Perhaps if we found the river and used that as a guide? And what is it about those sandwiches?" Alkazra asked, full of curiosity.

"From our location, I think Treetown is closer," Tamith told Alkazra, "Since Mirajai can't fly, we won't be able to locate the other half of the convoy. So, we are on our own."

She looked at C'xoila who was happily munching on another sandwich. "And Alkazra, those are cat sandwiches... I've got fruit and biscuits if you want."

Smiling tiredly, the skybax rider replied, "I'm alright for food now, thanks, but we'll need to rest here for a while, while Mirajai has his food."

Cyrrus emerged from the dense jungle greenery. She had disappeared for some time, but now she was chirping wildly and waving her arms.

"Guys! Guys! I found a huge abandoned temple! It's got all sorts of carvings and gems inlaid on it. Come and see!" she excitedly called out, then darted off into the brush again.

"Hmmmmmm....... Lets go! It offers a dry place to sleep and a place safe from carnosaurs! Lead on Cyrrus!"

"I have to see this place!" C xoila exclaimed happily. "As a historian, and archeologist, I have to see it! When we get out of here, we should report this place to the Waterfall City Archeologist's Guild!"

"Let's get over there then!" Alkazra added.

Tamith was also eager to get somewhere dry.

Once inside the temple everyone was overawed by what they saw: it was fantastic! However Kaz didn't seem as if she really appreciated it; she seemed distant. "Is anything the matter?" Tamith inquired. Kaz didn't hear, she was staring at the sky through the archway. "I'm going for a walk, I won't be long. And guys, I'm sorry..."

C'xoila laid a clawed hand on Alkazra's shoulder. "It's all right! Really it is! No one got hurt and we're gonna find our way out. In the mean time, lets try to enjoy our surroundings." Leading Kaz away from the entryway, they headed down the hall. C'xoila pointed out a wall carving depicting the very building of the temple. Saurapods lifted the heavy jade stones into place, and humans and smaller dinos carved it into fanciful designs and pictures and inlayed the walls with precious stones. This was far from the slot canyon complex in the fact that it was more technologically advanced and it was like the rest of Dinotopia society. Trotting down the hall, C'xoila found something amazing.

On a round dome-wall, in the very center of the temple, was a carved history of the civilization who built this amazing complex. It was accompanied by writing.

"It says that these were people who found that Poseidos was too evil. Too corrupt. Before the city sank, they stole most of the technology, scrolls and other things from the Poseidos vaults. They headed to the Rainy Basin and founded a city in which to hide all the evils of Poseidos forever. To protect it, they created a security system. Booby traps and pitfalls for those from Poseidos who tried to steal their technology back. Little did they know that Poseidos sank into the sea but a week afterward. After they finished their safe hiding place, they left it to be lost and forgotten. We have to be careful not to trip and booby traps." C'xoila said.

"No one got so hurt that they won't get well, I mean." C xoila tried to comfort Alkazra. "Your partner will be fine. Perhaps we'll find something here that can help. After all, it is Poseidos technology!"

Cyrrus walked over to a small picture of a human hand. It was elaborately carved and inlaid with gems.

"Hey cool! Look at this!"

She put her three fingered hand up to the carving, making the "Breath deep, seek peace" gesture to the temple. Suddenly the hand moved, sliding into the wall. A low rumble reverberated throughout the temple complex.

"Hehe. Oops. Uh, C'xoila, remember what you said about booby traps?"

There was a ratcheting sound and a large golden door inlaid with gems snapped shut over the only exit. The huge stone columns that lined the wall started to rotate slowly, then faster and faster. "Uh oh." C xoila said, pointing to the ceiling. With a chunk chunk and a grinding sound, the ceiling started to descend. The room was getting smaller and smaller! Quickly looking around the room, he saw that there was nothing to prop up against the ceiling to stop it's drop. At the far end of the room the sharp raptor spied something. The entire wall was one large carving, a huge human hand in the center surrounded by smaller hands like his and Cyrrus's. Each hand had a letter on it. Some letters were made of silver, some of gold.

"Don't you see the pattern?" he asked.

Glancing up at the ceiling, they shook their heads. "Here, I'll show you," pressing his claw up against one of the handprints, he pushed. Everyone flinched, thinking water would start pouring in or something. "L" he said. He went on pressing handprints. "E, T...U, S...O, U, T" After all the hands had been pushed in, C xoila yelled, as the ceiling touched the tops of the giant hand's fingers, "Quickly, help me!" He leaned and put his full weight against the giant hand, but it was not enough. Cyrrus approached and smiled. They leaned against the hand there was the groan of old mechanics.

Everyone came and pushed as well. There was another ratcheting sound and the giant hand pulled back into the wall, and slid to the side, revealing a hand shaped door. They escaped just in time. They explored and found that the entrance was closed off by a huge carved wall. "Well," the dromaeosaur said sadly, "We're gonna have to find a new way out." They stared back at the temple. "It's a deathtrap." C xoila said sadly.

Cyrrus let her breath out in a whoosh. Then, turning to her friends, she lowered her head. "Perhaps, from now on, this struthie should keep her claws to herself. I'm SO sorry!!!"

"Don't worry Cyrrus," Tamith comforted, "I'm sure we'll find a way out, and remember, Triforce and Thunderblow are still outside. When they start to suspect something went wrong, they'll go get help."

Tip toeing carefully down the hall the group of explorers found themselves at another dead end.

"Well, we can always try that other hall we saw earlier..." C xoila started to say, but they heard another chunk chunk sound and another door shut over the entrance. Floor tiles in each corner of the roof lowered into the floor. Water soon filled these depressions and started to flow over the floor. Soon it was over their feet, than past their ankles. Everyone stared at each other for a moment, than started to try to block the flow with sleeping bags and blankets.

"It's no use!" The dromaeosaur shouted. He stared up at the ceiling and saw that there wasn't one. The room just kept going up. "Here, follow me!" he yelled. He crouched and jumped up on to the narrow ledge high above to others. Extending his hand he said, "Here, let me help you!"

Once everyone was on the ledge, they were safe for the moment. Kaz noticed that there were ledges every 10 feet and they started to climb. When the small group was fifty feet above the now submerged floor, and 40 feet above the water, they found another hallway. Running down it as the water flowed over lip of the door, they tried to find another way out. Coming to another dead end, C xoila noticed the wall was carved in a series of hands, stars, and other designs. Looking over to Cyrrus he said, "You know when you said you would keep your claws off things? Well, don't! There has to be a drain release or something here." Everyone started examining and running their hands over the wall as the water grew deeper and deeper.

Wildly, they began to push every single symbol inscribed. Suddenly, waterbegan to pour from above drenching those below. Now, the water began to rise faster and faster.

"Nothing's working!" Tamith exclaimed, "It only made it worse!"

"Wait!" C'xoila said, "Look here,"

They all looked to where he was pointing and saw a story written in the carvings. It showed three figures touching three smaller symbols together.

"A pattern!" They all exclaimed together.

"The little wave thingies, the triangle inside the circle, and the diamond!" Tamith said and they all spread out to search for the three symbols. It took a few seconds but they where all found very separated from each other making it impossible for a single individual to push all of them at once.

"Now!" Cyrrus said and all pushed with all their strength. There was a small rumble over the sound of the flowing water and passage could be seen opening in front of the very relieved group. The water had already reached their ankles as they hurried inside. Once in, the passage shut saving them from the water but, once again, trapping the heroic adventurers.

"I guess we better go on," Tamith said as they began walking in the darkness.

A few minutes later, the passage began to brighten until it exited in an extremely bright room. Momentarily blinded by the glare, they rubbed their eyes. The moment passed and they found themselves in an immense inner garden of some sort. They could still see temple building, but it was covered with green foliage and exotic plants. In the middle of the clearing, there was a fountain decorated with all sorts of gems. They all stared in awe at the beautiful surroundings. A better look showed that there was six different exits to the garden.

"We need to chose one, we need to stay together, it saved us once and I think it will save us again," Tamith said.

"I for one, would enjoy a rest." C xoila gestured at the surroundings. "And this place looks as good as any." Sitting down they all started to eat their food. C xoila had, of course, a cat sandwich.

After lunch had been finished, they looked around at the hidden garden. It was roughly hexagonal in shape, with a door in each wall. C xoila estimated that we were at the exact center of the building, some 4 or 5 hundred feet off the ground. Heading towards one of the doors, he noticed strange carvings along the base of the door. It depicted a ceratopsian headed human standing beside the fountain, smiling. There was a picture on the underneath of the door frame as well. It showed the same semi-saurian pointing to the door, frowning. All the doors had the save carvings on them. "You guys, we shouldn't go through any of these doors," he said. After showing them the carvings and they agreed.

Cyrrus said, "If we can't use the doors, than how do we get out?"

He stared at the fountain and smiled. The carnosaur stepped beside it, struck the same pose as the semi-saurian, and smiled. "There should be some hidden passage or tunnel here, if we look." C xoila noticed a repeating pattern of colors in the gems that were inlaid in the fountain. Blue, red and green. He bounded off into the foliage, looking for something but not quite knowing what it was. "Ah ha!" He excitedly exclaimed. Against one wall, covered in plant life, almost hidden, was a statue of the semi-saurian. Its eyes were large sapphires. "Blue!" He exclaimed. The others uncovered 5 other figures. The three with blue, red and green gem eyes were smiling. The ones with clear, yellow and orange were frowning. Each statue had it's right arm stretched out, and at the elbow the arm went up, palm forward.

"We should pull the arm of the statues with blue, red and green eyes." C'xoila instructed. They pulled, and each came down with a racketing sound. Once that was done, they approached the fountain.

"Well, what's supposed to happ..." Cyrrus started to say, but was cut off by a low rumbling sound. The large carnosaur was fearful that it was another trap, but he was wrong. Suddenly, all the water drained out of the fountain, and water stopped pouring out of the top. Only now, did they see that the circular fountain bottom was divided into sections. With another ratchet, and a rumble, these pieces descended to form a large spiral staircase.

"Here we are," he happily said.

The group descended into darkness as they walked carefully down the damp stairs. The temperature was much colder then it had been in the garden. A cold wind blew up from the depths of the cavern. Further down, Kaz noticed icicles adorning the rock wall.

"These are the stairs that never end," Cyrrus sang. "Yes, they go on and on, my friends."

"Noooo!!!" everyone yelled.

The hyper struthie smiled and kept walking. "Okay, okaaaaaaaayyyyaaaaa!!"

She stumbled on the now icy steps, doing a continuous somersault down the spiral staircase, causing everyone else to press up against the railing to avoid being rolled over.

Landing at the bottom of the stairs with a thud she muttered, "Ooff! That hurt." She sat up and stared. "Whoa! Guys check this out!!"

The narrow stairwell expanded into an enormous cavern. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in ice and snow. Everywhere there were stalactites and stalagmites of frozen water.

She turned to the others, who'd come down the stairs without using the express rout, "You think Ogthar liked skiing?"

"Hmmmmmmm... Stranger and stranger." C xoila thoughtfully said, then declared, "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

The snowball fight continued for a few minutes until Tamith tripped and landed on something hard. At first she thought it was just another icicle, but closer inspection showed that it was not an ice crystal.

"Look at this," she said picking it up and showing it to the rest of the group. It was a pyramid shaped blue crystal.

"It looks like a diamond, maybe a sunstone," C'xoila suggested examining it.

"Hey, guys," Cyrrus called, "There's more over here."

A closer look around the snowy surface showed hundreds of similar crystals.

"Is this place some kind of frozen mine?" Tamith mused aloud.

"Stranger and stranger..." C'xoila said.

"Hmmmmm..." C xoila picked it up to examine it closer. It was quite beautiful. "I wonder what these things do?" Suddenly his hands started icing over!

"Ah!" He dropped the stone on the snow. Then, he had an idea. Pulling a cloth from his pack, he wrapped it around the stone. Then, he carefully made his way up the icy stairs and back into the garden, closely followed by the others. After he unwrapped the crystal, he set it on the ground the grass instantly froze and the plants started to wilt. Picking it up again, the garden slowly turned back to normal. The raptor turned to the others and said, "I think we should call these winter stones. They produce cold and all the condensation in that cave froze into snow." They went back downstairs and C xoila put the wrapped up stone in his pack.

The group started to walk across the winter wonderland. They passed mining machines that were iced over, and shovels and pickaxes similarly iced. They had crossed half the cavern when they decided to make camp in an ancient mining shelter. There were bunks, and a large heater system sunk into the center of the floor. As the tired explorers bedded down for the night, C xoila wondered what other amazing things they would see before finally escaping this horrible temple.

"Good night!" He said, and went to sleep.

The next morning, the group awoke inside the heated shelter. Everyone stretched and yawned. C'xoila took out one of his famous cat sandwiches and started munching. Everyone else followed his example and broke out rations from their packs.

"So, where do we go now?" Cyrrus asked Tamith. "We can't go back the way we came, and we aren't dressed to be in this cold."

Tamith opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, an earsplitting roar shattered the quiet morning.

"Oh no," Cyrrus whispered. "What now?"

The roar was soon followed by the sound of footsteps, probably of a giant carnivore. Everyone was silent. Suddenly the sound stopped.

After awhile, Cyrrus and Tamith dared to peek outside the shelter.

"No!" C'xoila cried. He pulled them back in. Just as he did so, five pure-white raptors jumped out over the snow bank.

C xoila managed to get them back inside just before the raptors got them.

"That was close." C'xoila was almost whispering.

They could still here the carnivores outside the shelter, trying to find a way in.

What do we do now? they all thought, but none of them spoke.

"We sure have a luck with raptors," Tamith mused aloud. "We can't stay in here forever, don't you guys think someone should try to talk to them?"

"Why are you all looking at me?" C xoila whimpered.

"Oh no!" C xoila had a sudden thought. "Mirajai is left outside without food! What are we going to do! Alkazra, I'm so sorry!"

"You're sorry? What about me? I'm the one who should have seen the convoy attack coming in the first place, if I'd have been paying attention then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!" Mustering as brave a smile as possible she continued, "I'm sure Jai will be fine, he can look after himself, even when injured, plus the guards of the convoy are with him."

"No, I'm sorry too." C xoila argued. "I wanted to explore. But on a brighter note, Azonthus will be coming soon, and she always brings extra fish with her. Also, don't keep apologizing! Once is enough for anyone. Besides, it really wasn't your fault that the Tyrannosaurs attacked. Everyone makes mistakes, and we haven't been hurt all to seriously. Right now, I'm more concerned about booby traps and pitfalls.

"We'll make a pact then: I'll stop apologizing and you'll think before saying 'this looks good to explore'! What do you think?"

"Ha ha! Sure!" he whimpered. "Do I really sound like that? Ha ha. Agreed! But, this IS an archeologist's gold mine. Suddenly he screamed, "AH! THE TYRANNOSAUR!"

Ducking back inside the shelter the group cursed their luck.

"Has anyone brought a bad luck charm that they want to admit to?" Alkazra joked.

Once again, trapped undercover, they were unable to do more than watch the T-rex scare away the raptors. It stopped the smaller carnivores attempting to get them, which on the one hand was good, as they were more likely to get in. At least it seemed good until the T-rex swung its huge jaw around and locked eyes with those in the shelter.

Pushing and shoving, the group locked C xoila outside the shelter, saying "You speak carnosaur!"

Barely able to control his shaking hand, the nervous translator made the breath deep seek peace sign. To his surprise, the Tyrannosaur returned the gesture!

Forming a greeting in his head, C xoila ventured to speak in the tyro's own language.

"Rar ooor raagh grrrragh!" Greetings he said. May fortune smile upon you!

Looking a bit confused, the Tyrannosaur replied, "Graugh rrrrrrr srrrrraugh roar." Yes, and the same to you, friend.

Looking back, through the window, C xoila motioned for the others to join him. "Rach grauh grrrrrr." These are my companions, he started. Tamith, Alkazra, and, of course, Cyrrus.

The large creature stared for a moment, and said, Why you come down to our home? Not enough room up there, you live?

"No," C xoila explained. "We got lost and are trapped here. We didn't mean to bother you."

The Tyrannosaur scratched his head and said, "Me guess that all right. You follow me."

As they walked along beside the great, snow-white tyrannosaur, Cyrrus approached the raptor and whispered, "How do you think such a pacified tyrannosaur came to be?"

"You know Cyrrus, I really have no idea." When the beast finally stopped, the travelers saw why. There was a great underground lake. Even more amazing, there was a carnosaur clan! It was a mix of Tyrannosaurs and Megaraptors! They couldn't discover why such a union existed, until they approached the lake. It was teaming with fish! So much fish, in fact, that these Tyrannosaurs and Megaraptors probably had never hunted in their lives. That would explain such a pacified Tyrannosaur.

"Stranger and stranger and stranger..." C'xoila mumbled.

"This is strange," Tamith said, "how can an animal so large find it's way into this ice cave? Raptors I can understand, their whitish color proved that they are adapted to live here, but the rex? This can only mean that there is an exit somewhere ahead, an exit that it is guarding. You said so before C'xoila, this place has Poseidon technology, wouldn't it also protect the secrets that the great carnivores are protecting? And if they think we are intruding, we're as good as a fast snack soon." "

"We should ask." C xoila suggested.

"You are the interpreter." Tamith reminded him.

"Oh, I forgot."

"It happens."

"Um, how exactly did you come to be here?" C xoila asked the Tyro.

The Rex scratched his head and replied, "Me not sure. There carvings on rocks. They tell story. Me show! Come!"

"This is a golden opportunity for archeology," Tamith exclaimed. "Lets go!"

They followed the Tyrannosaur and soon came to a circle of perfectly square stone slabs, inlaid with jewels.

The stones were almost completely buried in snow. With a few sweeps of his tail, our host cleared all the snow away.

The carvings showed people carrying nests of eggs and small Tyrannosaurs and raptors to the caverns.

It also showed them building the temple complex on top of a large sink hole that lead to this cavern. It showed them walling up every exit.

It also showed a way back up to the temple.

"What about the stones? What does it say of them?" Tamith asked.

"Hmmmmmm......." C xoila thought. "These stones were to be used in Poseidos's conquest of Dinotopia. The radicals who built this place decided to close off this mine from the rest of the world." He explained.

Sitting down upon a stone, C'xoila takes some time to compile his thoughts.

"First Priority! To find some way to escape the cavern. Second! To escape the temple complex. Third! To escape from the Rainy Basin.

"I needed a rest." C'xoila said. Staring up at the roof of the cavern, he noticed that it was supported by huge columns attached to the wall that were the semi-saurian statues.

"What is it with us and underground carnosaur societies?" Cyrrus exclaimed. "Yeesh!"

Cyrrus trotted over to one of the Megaraptors. "So you guys just stay down here all the time? Don't you get bored? And cold?"

The Megaraptor growled and shook it's head. "No, we have lived down here for many generations. The cold does not bother us." He pulled out a small piece of stone. "As for boredom," he gave the stone a spin.

"Hey cool! You guys play spinners! Great! Wanna play?

The raptor nodded and gave Cyrrus some stones to use as pieces.

Trotting up, C'xoila asked, "Can I join?"

Cyrrus just smiled at him and gave him some rocks to play.

Suddenly, as they were talking, the roof of the cave began to move.

"Look out!" someone cried.

Two objects came tumbling down, along with a bunch of ice.

"I told you not to do that!" complained a small dino.

The other person, a girl with short black hair, stood up, and was startled when she realized they weren't the only ones in the cavern.

"Umm, hi, I'm Lian."

"Hmmmmmm.... May I ask you one question?" C'xoila asked. "How exactly did you get here? I mean, I know you came in through the ceiling, but I, I mean."

Both the human and the saurian, a Gallimimus, stood, and inspected their surroundings. "Incredible," said the Gallimimus. Then she noticed the Megaraptors staring somewhat angrily at her. "Oh, dear!"

C'xoila ran, and slid between the two of them. Facing the Gallimimus, C'xoila said, "Don't worry! There's so much to eat here, they never learned how to hunt."

C'xoila said something to the Megaraptors in their own language. They didn't attack, but continued to glare at the newcomers. "Well," the Gallimimus said somewhat nervously, "My name is Quickstride." You are probably wondering how Lian and I got here."

"Welcome to our little party!" C'xoila said happily. "And yes, I was just wondering how you got here! Pull up a snowball and take a seat!"

"Well," Lian started, "We were part of an expedition into the Rainy Basin, in search of an old temple, where Poseidos technology was rumored to have been hidden."

"We found it," continued Quickstride, "but shortly after, the rest of the group disappeared. We started wandering around, trying to find them. We couldn't."

"Any ways," Lian said, "I noticed that the ground sounded like it was hollow. That's basically how we got here," she finished. "How did you get here?"

The struthie trotted up to the newcomers.

"We were on a convoy through the Rainy Basin, but we were attacked by carnosaurs. We here..." she gestures at the rest of the group, "were cut off from the rest of our group. We were walking through the jungle when we found this temple. It's a literal maze! We finally made our way here, and met these extraordinary raptors."

The big white T-rex gave a grunt and nudged her from behind.

"Hehe. And the tyrannosaur." She patted him on the snout.

"Can't forget you, right?"

Quickstride bowed her head politely to the struthie, then shifted her attention to the tyrannosaur, peering first through one green eye, then the other.

"I take it, by the fact we are all in one piece, that these carnivores have proven friendly. By the way, what are your names? I don't think I caught them." Quickstride said.

Cyrrus pointed to the blue and yellow Deinonychus. "This is C'xoila," then to the human girl with curly blond hair, "Tamith," the blond haired girl in a Skybax uniform, "and this is Alkazra. Uh...did I forget anyone? Well, myself. I'm Cyrrus as you've probably guessed. I think that's it."

Quickstride nodded, trying to match each person to their name. She looked around the mine, past the carnivores, as though searching for something.

Bowing so low that his head almost touched the snowy floor, C'xoila said, "Hi there!" C'xoila smiled. "What? What are you looking at? Is everything all right?"

"Hi there," Tamith said and smiled at the new comer, "Welcome to the Winter Wonderland."

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