Novels2Search
The Land of the Unknown
Episode 12 (Part 3)

Episode 12 (Part 3)

Antonio and Maggie ran back the way they came to find another way out and avoid getting caught by the Echinosauropteryx. As they came closing in on them, the duo looked to the ground as spiders emerged from the ground. Antonio spotted a ladder placed on the side of a cliff that they could climb. Having no other options, Maggie and Antonio jumped onto the ladder to avoid the spiders and get to the higher ground safely.

“That was close.” Maggie sighed.

“Yeah, but let’s keep going,” Antonio advised.

Now all there was to worry about were those flying dinosaurs. It looked like on the other side of the cliffside, lied a small hole that the two could go through to avoid getting captured. However, they needed to go across a long bridge to get there, making them easy targets for quite a while.

The two slowly walked on the mahogany-colored bridge with small ropes supporting it. As they crossed, Maggie couldn’t help but think about the strange item inside Antonio’s bag she had seen when he tripped earlier.

“Hey, can I ask a question myself?”

“Sure thing?” Antonio replied.

“It’s about your bag. What’s in that?”

“What? My technology?”

“No, not that. I’m talking about that purple glowing thing. It looked like the glow of a crystal, even though my father never told me about it.”

“Um, maybe it’s not what you think?” Antonio remarked, as his grip tightened on the straps of his backpack.

“Hey, why are you acting like that?” Maggie asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

“N-No reason?” Antonio put on a fake smile and made a small chuckle.

“Are you sure? If it’s not too much of a hassle, can I have a look at it?”

“What? No way!” Antonio protested, clutching the backpack in his arms.

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“Fine.” Maggie turned away from him and added, “I guess I’ll wait and tell you-know-who about this.”

“Wait; what?”

“I wonder; do you think they’d suspect your bag? You know something we don’t, isn’t that right?” Maggie teased.

“All right, I’ll give it to you for a little while, so please stop!” Antonio finally gave in and handed over his backpack to Maggie.

She peeked through his belongings until she came across the purple glow from before. She wasted no time inspecting the object gleefully while Antonio continuously tapped his foot, waiting for her to finish.

“Wow, this looks super lovely,” Maggie said to herself. “I wonder what powers these…”

“Ok, I think it’s about time you give that back.” Antonio interrupted, twiddling his fingers.

“Aw, but I wasn’t done with it.”

“Please be careful; you don't understand how—”

“What’s your rush? Why do you want me to—?”

“Will you let me—?”

Before the two could finish speaking, Maggie stepped through the floorboards and fell through the bridge. She quickly grabbed the small ropes from the sides of the bridge and hung in midair. The yellow backpack clutched to her feet as she desperately tried not to let go of either the ropes or the bag.

“Hang in there!” Antonio leaned down and shouted.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Maggie retorted.

“Here, throw the bag over. It’d be easier to climb back up without that tangling your feet!”

“But I don’t know if I can—”

“Just hurry!”

Maggie gulped loudly and nodded. She swung her legs back and forth to get good momentum, then threw the bag up toward the edge of the bridge. Antonio grabbed hold of it before it fell back down again. He placed the backpack to the side and reached down to take her hand. Maggie reached and caught hold of him as Antonio pulled her back onto the bridge.

“Hey, thanks.” Maggie complimented.

“You’re welcome,” Antonio replied.

“So, what do—?”

Antonio didn’t hear the rest of her words. He looked up, and his eyes widened.

Before Maggie could turn to see what had frightened him, he pushed her down, shouting, ‘Look out!'

Seconds later, a pair of large magenta claws grabbed and whisked Antonio away from the bridge. Maggie watched in horror as the Echinosauropteryx had returned and took Antonio!

“Oh no, hang on!” Maggie called out.

“Uh, I don’t think I have much of a choice!” Antonio whined.

As the dinosaur flew along the bridge, Maggie ran after them, jumping and attempting to grab the yellow backpack that hung below his waist. She succeeded and pulled it towards her against the beast’s pull. Maggie took out the purple crystal, and, not understanding how it worked, she shone it in front of the dinosaur, hoping it would reveal its power.

The Echinosauropteryx realized the crystal Maggie had in her hand and panicked. It flew faster, trying frantically to free itself from her pull. It broke free but flew erratically, appearing to be having difficulty carrying the extra weight. It still refused to let Antonio go.

The flying monster crashed headfirst into the cave wall, disappearing through the stone wall with his cargo still tightly clasped in his claws.

“What... just happened?”