FINTAIL

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

THE VERY world they called home was turning into rubble.

Speckled blue skies turned black. Rivers ran dry. Conifers plunged to their deaths and ferns went ablaze from the lava exploding at their roots. The earth never settled, never stopped; it buckled like concrete and burst like glass. And where dinosaurs walked and creatures hid had become nothing more than a graveyard of rubble, ash, and corpses.

The lucky ones, as I now see it.

I have experienced volcanoes before. I've felt their raw power, their destruction, their desire to end it all... and start again. It's impossible to stop once they have started their show. And with intermission growing idle by each second lost, I was growing afraid that something terrible would happen. Not only because Fate placed a decision on my shoulders for this family I now follow...

Because the worst had yet to come.

'ROAR!'

Auliza's head whipped behind her. That roar... it was definitely one of her own! The blue-scaled longsnout took no time to question it; she spun back toward her wavering tail and lumbered toward the desperate cries of her eldest daughter. And it didn't take long to find her. Once she cleared the dense forest of its foliage and claws, her eyes fell upon not one, but two, of her hatchlings, both strikingly unscathed by the wrath of the nightmare.

"Mother!"

"CORA!"

The two females embraced each other with caresses and licks, soothing their spirits no matter the ominous terrors surrounding them. Auliza breathed her thanks, butting heads with Cora's dirtied face before turning to Jagger and embracing him just the same. She licked at his red underchin and nuzzled him until he purred, relaxing her all the while. Two more hatchlings safe.

"W-Where are your brothers?"

"Speck is with Riptide," Cora answered her. "They're looking for Fossil."

"We're trying to get back to the nest," Jagger said after. "But the smoke—"

"I know." Auliza pulled away from Jagger's forehead. "And the forest blocked the route, but I can bring you both back. Ripple and Thorn are there."

"By themselves?"

"They're safe," Auliza growled; the elder longsnout was already making her way down a cut path in the woods. "But they need their older siblings. When you two get there, take them down the trail toward Fintail's grave. It will lead you to a side cave on the beach. You'll be safe there."

Jagger tilted his head suspiciously. "You sound like you are not going with us..."

"Because she is going after them," Cora huffed, gripping her claws together as she followed her mother. "Then I am coming with you!"

"It was not a suggestion, Cora."

"That isn't your choice to make, Mother, they're my brothers!"

"And so was Able!" Auliza snarled at her, forcing Cora to cease mid-step. The teal longsnout growled at her sudden snap, whimpered, then turned to her daughter with saddened eyes.

"I'm sorry... I-"

Cora's maw parted, falling silent as the words rippled into her system. Auliza shook her head, looking back to the ground as her heartache spilled out in a muffled whine. "You carry your father's courage, Cora... and that's what terrifies me the most. Because all I want... is to see you all grow up. But I get scared that if I let that happen too soon..."

Auliza blinked her tears away, inhaled, and growled. "I am your Mother. I am here because I am your guardian, and I will not lose another piece of my family to something I could have stopped — neither one of you is coming!"