then, after a moment of panting and gasping, he added, "There, there's a hole under that tree. You go, just leave me here."

    No matter how much Sotara wanted to help, the smoke-filled air didn't give him so many choices. He was forced to go without Aliwal. Just before heading into the tunnel, he heard a sound calling him, it was from his opponent, "I know my way of finding my place was a problem for everyone here, many lives were slain. Please Sotara, after all I've done, I know too well that I don't deserve this, but I beg you for forgiveness."

    With a nod, the Herrerasaurus dove into the tunnel. The path was boiling hot, the only light that shone was that of the flame on the forest floor up above, and some parts was so small that it was so hard to squeeze. The only thing that kept Sotara running is the hope of survival, yet, there seemed to be no way out of here; the further he went, the more hopeless it looked. Along the way, his heart raced like it never did before, but it almost skipped a beat when the soil that served as the ceiling of his pathway collapsed, preventing him from going on, as he tried to turn back the same thing was repeated.

    The downed soil didn't only cage Sotara, but it also acted as barriers for oxygen. With intense heat and no air, strength was draining out of him, and his conscoiusness slowly slipped away, for the really first time in his life that Sotara felt like he was going to die. Just before he was completely out, the infernal heat seemed to drop, the feeling of cool water showered upon Sotara, and soon the forest ground was soaked with water as the rain poured down.

    The darken surroundings and refreshing water were signs that it was safe to go up now, so the dinosaur pushed against the earth on top of him. It was still retaining some of the heat, thus, it was still warm, and took some effort to break through. One last drive led Sotara onto the ground, he lay panting there for a matter of minutes before gaining enough power to rise. Looking back through the curtain of water, he saw the forest, once lively and green, now lifeless and burnt down to soil.

    Now that he was safe from the great fire, he started his way out of the forest. In a portion of his thought, he wished that, back there in the deep forest, Aliwal also made it until the rain, but Sotara risked no chance going back to prove that. At the margin of the forest was a grey Herrerasaurus, waiting desperately for his friend to come out. As he saw Sotara half-limping toward him, all the anxiety was lifted away.

    "Oh! You're one hell of a lucky dinosaur, aren't you?" Platinum asked, and without waiting for the reply, he added, "Don't you ever try something like that again, you hear me?"

    "Okay, all right, I won't give you any more to worry about. I'm fine now, you better get home now, I'll be going too. I'm getting homesick for real," Sotara answered, laughing a little; and with that, he parted. As his friend was about to go too, he turned and spoke, "And don't forget to thank Sorra for me, you two have been granting me a great hospitality. I'm so grateful."

    "Sure! And don't forget, we'll have a duel as soon as you're fully recovered," Platinum answered. Just one more smile from Sotara, and the two went on separate ways....

    Hours later at Sotara's cave, when the rain had just stopped, Aleu was sitting at the front of the cave, looking at the sun that was coming out of hiding in the cloud. At the same moment, Nebbia walked to her and started, "The rain has stopped.... Aleu, I'll go find some food, you should get in the cave until I come back." Aleu said nothing, just let out a sigh, "Nebbia, I saw the forest on fire just before the rain.... I have a bad feeling that...," she spoke up, but just before she finished her question, Nebbia interrupted, "Aleu, I told you nothing is to worry. He is in Sorra's cave, remember?" Despite what she said, Nebbia still saw uneasiness written on Aleu's face.

    "Don't worry, Aleu. He'll surely come back. Now wait here until I come back, this won't take long, I'll be back soon," Nebbia, again, reassured her mammalian friend, and turned to the plain when she saw a small smile from Aleu. But just before she began to move, she gasped softly as a group of three Herrerasauruses approaching the cave from a little distance away.

    One the them spoke in a wicked tone, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

    "A cave, plus a girl and a snack. Things can't get any better," another smirked.

    The female Herrerasaurus told Aleu to run; but her canine friend wouldn't move an inch. She stood her ground ready for a fight, her fur puffed as she growled at the strangers.

    The final of the trio questioned, looking at his friends, "Our lunch looks pretty much of a fighter, you think?"

    "Not after we kill her. We'll have a fluffy meal today," the largest one muttered to himself, and, with a grin, he slowly led his companions to the snarling wolf-dog as if to test her courage.

    Seeing all this happened, Nebbia jumped in and attacked the boss in attempt to protect Aleu, but was pinned down by his minions. Looking down upon the held female, and said, "I thought I won't kill you and make you my mate. Or you want me to change my mind?"

    Nebbia, without hesitation, lunged forward for a bite. The male thug was lucky that the rest of the gang was still able to stop her. With anger, he took her throat within his jaws, and slowly forced it down. Under the pressure of the other two dinosaurs, Nebbia didn't stand a chance to escape. Aleu couldn't just stand and look, she, then, ran in and, with all her might, tried to help her friend. An unexperienced fighter, Aleu could do nothing more than to enrage the gangster more with her painful but not lethal bites. "Aleu..., run," groaned the helpless dinosaur through her gritted teeth. Soon, Nebbia's forceful strain was no more, as she began to choke and gag, her struggle became aimless and feeble.

    A loud roar rocked the heart of every creature hearing it. Everything halted for a second, then, within a blink, Nebbia was set free as her holders were sent bouncing on the ground, leaving their leader in surprise. The attacker, now, appeared to be a male Herrerasaurus. He declared, "Touch any of my friends again, and you'll be torn to shred."

    "Sotara," Aleu immediately called with glee, but instead of running toward him, she stepped aside as her friend mentioned.

    Seeing the considerably smaller male, the gangster taunted, "And who's going to help you? The helpless girl? Here, let me finish her for you." He, then, lowered his for the exhausted female's neck.

    "I warned you," the hero growled, but got no attention at all; the intruder did neither stop nor slow down. And that left Sotara with no choice, in order to protect his friends, he attacked so swiftly and viciously that no one could tell the whole details of the fight. However it was clear that the two followers ran away for their lives within the first few blows. The boss himself fought until the last drop of his might, but he was no match for his opponent. Sotara, seeing that the invader meant no threat anymore, drove him away and reunited, in his cave, with two friends he loved so dear....

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Continued on the next part, "Sotara's past."