“How could they possibly escape?” asked Littlefoot with a hopeless mien. “Nobody can survive in this”, said Littlefoot and pointed at the burning treetops again.
Ali just wanted to reply something when they heard a loud cracking from the ramp.
They looked in the direction surprised. Where the rocky ramp disappeared into the primeval forest the treetops quivered as if something big made its way up the ramp. Ali’s face lightened up, her inspiration seemed to prove right, and Littlefoot too stood up and looked down at the ramp expectantly. A big silhouette that was not exactly recognizable in front of the dazzling fire and the flickering air broke out between the treetops and stormed up the ramp. Littlefoot and Ali strained their eyes, but when they could recognize the stooped figure it had almost reached the top of Chomper’s rock already. Littlefoot and Ali cried out in the same moment, for it was a sharptooth, a huge grownup sharptooth. Only because of their horrified yells the sharptooth noted Ali and Littlefoot. It looked up, spotted them and began to run faster.
Its eyes flashed.
Ali had the presence of mind to jerk around, while Littlefoot stood there paralyzed with fear and starred at the sharptooth. Ali pushed him fiercely and cried: “Come on Littlefoot!”
Then she ran off. It was as if Littlefoot would awake from a dream. Nearly another second passed before he followed Ali, but he caught up with her soon. “Where shall we go Ali?” called Littlefoot drowning out the roaring of the sharptooth behind them.
“I don’t know!” Ali cried back after she had made sure with a hasty look around that here was no shelter, nor any safe place. Suddenly Ali skidded to a halt with an outcry. Littlefoot jumped aside not to run into Ali’s back. In the very last moment he too came to a standstill. In front of them was the abyss and far down the river meandered along. They both cast a look back over their shoulders. For a short moment Littlefoot’s look met the sharptooth’s. The sharptooth seemed to be surprised, but the next moment it continued to ran towards them with far reaching steps. Littlefoot and Ali exchanged a short look. And it was as if they would speak. They could see what the other one thought. They couldn’t run away anymore and they both had the same idea. They jumped down the cliff in the very same instant yelling as loud as they could. The sharptooth was only few steps behind them.
