LOL, I feel as though this story is more of a countdown to finish the story rather than a countdown to the end of the dinosaurs. I had some personal issues in the past few days, so this chapter may not be the best, but the next chapter after (teased The 33rd Day) will be destructive and sad. Hope you're ready for what's next to come!

This is also a long chapter so you could also see why I took so long into making this :D

I was sure that more than 5 minutes had passed when I finally moved again.

That was 5 minutes after Whiteclaw's death.

My muscles ached when I pulled away from the Deinonychus's lifeless body, following with the sound of dripping water. Cold blood slipped down my arm muscles, like ice melting in the spring, then expanded wide in the water where it hitched a ride with the smaller waves. My eyes were wet and red, burning wide with pounding veins within each white circle, and salt drying the smooth eye bags below.

I sighed as I stared at the lost dinosaur.

Whiteclaw looked so calm, even in death as of now. Scarlet liquid still dribbled from his mouth and injury, but unlike normal raptors, his mouth wasn't curled in a snarl, or showed his fight against death. Rather, his face was calm, eyes closed, and jaws a bit open, where his teeth still flickered in its own light. His tail reminded me of azaleas frozen in the cold snap breath of winter, laying spiralled and pointed towards his pubis and underbelly. Even regardless for the seconds that I stared at him, I could almost imagine seeing him breathe, or blink.

But I knew that he was far from breathing.

I bit back tears once again, and stared down at the bloody water instead, focusing my mind off the horrible fact that he was gone.

That I couldn't do anything about it.

Perhaps it was his destiny. To die.

And the same went for Shadow, who I couldn't find either.

'What do I do?' I thought in pain, rocking myself slightly back and forth on the cool earth, 'What do I do? Shadow's dead. Whiteclaw's dead.'

'I was trapped.'

Even with the orb inside the clock, I doubted that it was open at all. Perhaps it was just there, waiting for something to pry it open. If only that was possible without turning.....shadow.

After a while of staring at the glowing clock with an orb on its outside, I felt a crazy idea flick on.

Could it bring them back?

No, another part of me screeched, 'That's called suicide. It almost killed you last time!'

That was true.

But how could I live knowing that two of my best friends, who were more like family despite their differences, died because of this? To not even be able to see the other side?

"No," I swallowed hard, "I'm not leaving here without them. I promised them I'd get them back....and I can't break my promise."

I stood up from the shallow waters, breathing deep, and found myself walking towards the glowing clock, eyes locked on the golden light upon its surface.

Bring them back....

But could this thing bring them back?

For Clock's take time away, like an ebbing pain in your chest, never to return until death.....but could it restore as well?

I was a few feet away from the clock now, struggling to decide whether this is right or wrong.

'Even if it works, I'd turn shadow by the time it works.....no....I don't want that to happen.'

I took a step back. Then froze.

'That's cowardly,' I hissed silently through my tongue, 'that's arrogance Stella! You're not a coward, you should never be afraid! So do what you know is right.'

'Save them if you must, and even in death, you're heart could be set free. That you'd be the hero despite their rejections. You are better than this. Do what you know is right, for there may not be another chance.'

I swallowed hard, then lifted my paw towards the light. A few heart-pounding seconds later, it slipped right through the glowing light circulating the orb, until it wrapped around its circumference.

With an explosion of pain to follow.

I shrieked as it jerked off the clock, draining its power, then illuminated like a billion stars, blinding me quick. I tumbled to the earth onto my belly while my paw still locked on the orb, turning shadow all over again.

"Bring them back!" I cried, yelling at the orb.

But nothing happened.

The virus-like blackness seeped through my paw, like a black hand of death grasping onto my veins as it roared into my shoulder. My whole arm shook as pieces of my flesh boiled upon each other, cracking and tearing itself apart.

And in agony, I screamed.

The darkness slid through my tail, consuming me entirely, until only my head remained. I could almost imagine an eternal winter or frostbite claw its way to my soul, devouring everything that ever existed in me.

"Bring.....them....back..." I hissed painfully as I sank lower, feeling the darkness swallow my heart. My limbs gave up on itself as my head hit the water, and a thought of regret shattered the tears that fell from my winced eyes.

"Please..." I croaked once more, seeing red as the black smoke took my right eye by surprise.

I pressed my orb-filled paw on Whiteclaw's tail, praying for a miracle.

But the last thing I saw was....

Nothing.

I felt a huge explosion vomit wind from out of nowhere, spraying water and force all over me. I tumbled backwards blindly, then landed in the water in silence.

Total silence.

--------------

Whiteclaw's POV

I gasped like a newborn hatchling, taking its first breath of distasteful oxygen.

In unison, my eyelids unlocked itself from the chains of the abyss, ingurgitating the lifeless colors around me.

I didn't need to guess where I was when they fell upon the blackened bloody water below and the smokey-foul scented atmosphere. But despite the scenery, I felt confused.

I died.

But I'm still alive?

I turned my clawed hands over, front and backwards, as if the stars of the skies were in my grasp. My tail seemed fine too, oblique and sharp at its tip. My head tilted towards towards my left rib cage and underbelly.

Flawless.

But how? I knew I wasn't dreaming.

It felt too real.

I recalled the pain. The agony, the choking. The blood, I remembered the sour taste in my mouth, the hot breath I hacked upon.

I remember the horrible feeling of when my heart froze, a crushing squeeze in my chest. And my head bursted like volcanic eruptions as the darkness swallowed me.

But that's all I recalled.

I never knew what happened in death.

Surely I experienced it. I just don't remember.

I turned my albino body over, using my claws to push me upright, then caught myself on quaking knees. My toe claws flexed and tapped on the earth, cramping in some occasions for the reality that it never moved for so long. My tail curved, then straightened as I stretched, yet rigidly in the muscles of my face, I still remained perplexed as for what happened. I took a few slow steps as first as I looked around, then lifted my snout up in the air to sniff in the scents and chemicals in the air.

I only caught three.

The ugly smells of the clock in the distance.

The Shadow.

And a.....another carnivore. It's a scent I remembered.

My eyes fell upon the water, where a pile of ash or dust of some sorts fluttered around like dead bugs in the shallow waters current. And slowly, as the memories regenerated in my miniature mind, I felt primal fear sink into my gut.

I remembered.

"Stella?!" I yowled, turning around, "STELLA?"

She was the one who held me when she died.

She protected me...

But where was she? It's not that hard to find a huge herbivore...

Right?

"Stella!" I cried again, struggling the smell the air. But for some reason, I never caught a Triceratops scent.

Instead, I felt the ground ripple.

Twice.

The rocks trembled again, and in the immediate thought that the clock-shadow-thing was still alive, I slowly took steps backwards, towards the clock. Another ground-shaking stomp, and a soft growl penetrated the air, followed by a quiet sniffling breath.

I bent my knees low, curling my lips into a snarl as the figure edged closer, creating itself from the thick foggy section the region. A few tiny arms poked out from the darkness, followed by a huge snout, littered with teeth in its gaping hole. It reared back, and in the deep gasp of battle, I extended my claws out, bared my teeth and snarled.

But out came a heart stopping sound.

Rather than a roar, out came a, "STOP!"

And then a "Wait!"

I paused, then relaxed my muscles a bit, watching the creature carefully enter my peripheral vision.

I squinted.

Took another worrisome step forward.

Then gasped.

"Shadow?" I guessed. The brown-skinned carnivore revealed his playful and innocent face towards mine, cocking his head once, then opened his jaws a bit in a smaller drawn up breath.

"W-Whiteclaw?" He stammered.

Joy literally pushed fear away to the side, and emotions unlike anything I've ever felt swarmed all around me.

I rushed towards the long-lost Tyrannosaurus, almost in an attack-type of form, but slowed down to collide to his snout. Shadow seemed to be crying too, since his eyes reflected red darted eyes of burning salt. I rubbed my snout in courtesy of his survival, then laughed a bit.

"I can't believe it," I chuckled, wiping away a sad tear, "I thought you were gone....We all did."

"We?" Shadow cocked his head the other direction, "What do you mean, we?"

"I mean everybody," I clicked, "Your dad wanted to kill me for leaving you. You scared the life out of me!"

"Well, my life did get kicked outta me and you anyways," He slurred his words, "So yeah. But..." Fear rushed into his eyes, "How are we alive?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," I muttered.

"You don't have to," A voice in the darkness spoke. I turned my eyes, staring at the black outline of a Triceratops.

And truthfully, I never felt so happy in my life.

"Stella!" I grinned, "You're alive!"

"In a way," She chuffed, "Glad to see you guys alright." I was about to move to her, but Shadow suddenly stopped me, nudging me backwards to his own casted shadows.

"Shadow? What are you-"

"Something's not right," he muttered. I scrunch my face and twitched my calves.

"What?"

"I can't smell her," Shadow hissed, "There's no scent." I sniffed the air too, expanding my nostrils wide.

No scent.

It is as though a Triceratops scent never existed...

"Stella," I clicked, sinking my joy into the darkest part of my thorax, "Come into the light for a second."

She stood still.

"Stella?"

"I can't," She whimpered suddenly, "I'll scare you both."

"Scare us?" I turned back to Shadow in worry, "What you mean scare-"

"I'm not Stella anymore," She croaked, almost as though the words were being forced out of her, "She's gone."

I paused in my step, and instead of moving forwards, I took a step back.

That's when she took a step forwards.

"Stella?" Shadow's voice shook behind me, "What's going on?"

"Please don't come to me," She sobbed, "I'm not the dinosaur you befriended anymore."

I took another fearful step back.

"What are you talking about?" Shadow croaked alongside her weeps, "Stella please."

"No..." She shook her head, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Stella-"

"NO!" Her shout make the air quake, and out of the darkness where Stella's shadow stood came the sight of two evil red eyes.

That made me backpedal faster, until I was underneath the chin of the young T-Rex.

But Shadow seemed fearless compared to me, and that fearlessness was put to the test when he took a step forwards.

"Shadow-" Stella warned.

"You're my friend," Shadow swallowed, "We'd never hurt each other....you know that." He took another few shuffled forwards, each footstep as trembling as the next.

"Shadow stop!"

"Friends don't keep secrets from each other," He shook his head as he took another long step, "We'd never lie to each other. You promised me that from the start."

"You're going to be scared of me," She wept, "You know that. I'm the last thing you want to see."

Shadow was only a few yards away when it was Stella's turn to take a step back.

"Shadow," My throat rang from a distance, "I don't know about this."

"Whiteclaw, she's my friend...." He growled sympathetically, "She'd never hurt me. We both know that's true." Finally, only a few seconds later, Shadow found himself right next to Stella.

But their bodies vanished into the darkness.

My muscles were tense as I waited there in the light, anxious to find what had come upon Shadow or Stella for that matter.

But it was quiet.

The second I rested my muscles, the horrific scream of a T-Rex and the ground shaking crash of a falling body shifted my feet awake, thrusting me forwards in a sprint. Shadow was on the ground when I found him, trembling violently and staring straight at a monster straight out of hell.

Red eyes flashed towards me as a black skeletal Triceratops, bigger than Shadow's body, growled at me, horns curled and twisted devilishly, and feet with claws sharper than my own. The bones itself were spiked and a glowing orb fixated itself inside the creature.

I didn't even bother attacking. I just stared, petrified by the look of what I could imagine was the fleshy form of death itself.

"STELLA?!" I shrieked, stumbling backwards. The creature edged towards me, ejecting claws from out of nowhere to its claws. I backed up further, until my tail touched the flat surface of a rock face, then finally crouched my way into attack mode. Almost immediately, Stella's voice shrieked,

"Whiteclaw no! Don't-"

But it was too late anyways.

I lunged, claws outstretched to tear into its bones. But that was a terrible idea. My skin tore right across the thorns on its bones, and I cried out as lines drew across my entire body.

"Whiteclaw!" Shadow cried out.

I dragged myself backwards again as the creature edged closer, rumbling a dark growl in its throat. My head hit another rock, sinking my heart further into fear.

Oh no.

"Whiteclaw!" Shadow shrieked again. I stayed silent, despite my temptations to scream, and lowered myself closer to the floor, eyes closed and claws trembling.

Don't attack.

The foul breath of the attacker sank into my nostrils, and even through my eyelids, I could still see the red glow of its eyes. All my body parts trembled and chattered as I laid there, unable to do anything. But I could still speak.

Though difficult words, I managed to sneak a sentence into the air towards the creature, hissing through my teeth.

"I-I'm not afraid of you..." I growled.

Suddenly, the disoriented Triceratops fumbled backwards, gripping its head in mere groans. My eyes opened again, seeing it strain to fight itself, shaking all over, until it went quiet and still, breathing heavily in its marathonial fixation upon its lungs. As the heat fell back to normal, the spike vanished, yet the shadowy skeleton remained. The eyes turned golden, and a weakened voice seeped out as a product.

"I'm so sorry younglings," Stella's beak moved ghastly, "It almost had me." I stood up at the same time as Shadow, watching Stella moan to her own feet.

"What happened to you?" Shadow clicked. Stella just merely smiled.

"I traded my life for yours," She spoke softly, "I rather save you two and stay here for eternity than leave knowing that I left two purposeful lives behind like carcasses. I couldn't bear to lose you guys for the third time."

"Stella..." Shadow's voice trailed off, "No-"

"I had to do it," She shook her head, "It was the right thing to do."

"No its not," Shadow swallowed hard, "None of this is right! Why risk your life for ours? You'll die here!"

"I rather die knowing that the ones that I love are alive Shadow," She smiled weakly, letting a false teardrop seep down her demonic face, "It's worth it."

"But-"

"Save your words Tyrannosaur," She whispered, "It won't change the fact of the matter."

"I can't leave you here Stella," Shadow moved forwards, "Not this time. I....I won't be able to see you ever again if you're trapped in here."

"Shadow" She responded, shifting her shoulders, "I'll always be there,........by your side in life or death. I'll never leave you kid, no matter what happens from here on out."

"But-"

"Hey," Stella whispered, dipping her paranormal skull low, "It's going to be okay. Don't you worry about me...." I glanced up at the carnivore, seeing his eyes close as cool liquid dribbled down his puffy cheeks. And with a fumbling brain to search for troublesome words, he fell silent, bowing his head to hide the grief. Stella motioned and half-lifted her head towards the clock.

"Go now," She rumbled, blinking back sorrow, "I'll keep it open for as long as I can. It'll open up at the last 30 minutes of this time period. You have to time it perfectly or else....its over."

Shadow's head turned a full 90 degrees towards the dull clock behind him, knowing that if he touched it, Stella would be lost forever. Losing Stella was like losing a mother almost, and as I stared into Shadow's eyes, it reflected a charred up broken heart. He turned back to Stella in tears, though his words weren't of persuasion to bring her back, but of love and memory itself.

"I'll never forget you," He wept, choking on his own tears as he stared at the Triceratops. Stella blinked once, then smiled.

"And I'll never forget you Shadow."

She moved forwards to the T-Rex, same height with closing space, then rubbed his cheek and chin. Shadow closed his eyes as he embraced the comfort, before Stellas horn poked him in some part behind his ears.

Something flashed.

Something sparked.

"Wait..." Shadow began to back up as I gripped his tail moving towards the clock, now an arms length away.

"Shadow we need to go!" I growled, hauling him away. Shadow's jaws dropped.

"Oh my gosh..."

"You know where to find me little one," Stella's weakly smiled once more. But Shadow's face was filled beyond the normal expressions he once condemned minutes before. It mixed between fear, sorrow and the realization of something lost from his childhood.

"MOM?!" Shadow cried out, moving to her.

But his snout struck a cool crisp wall instead.

The wall of the Countdown Caverns.

The silence rang on in the rubble of the cave as me and Shadow stared silently, watching the red dots interchangeably switch numbers every second. Dust filled our nostrils with the familiar sour taste of ash and heat from outside, and dark rumbling roars quaked the ground.

We were back.

Shadow clenched his fist; "Why did you touch it?!"

"Shadow I...." I had no words. I dropped my tail as pure anger sparked in his face, but when the realization of his state came upon him, he relaxed, closing his mouth to let his front teeth shine bright in the dying lights of the outdoor world.

"It's not your fault," Shadow sighed. The ground suddenly trembled, and a Tyrannosaurus face poked out from the corners of the cave.

Both carnivores locked eyes instantly.

"Shadow," Thunder muttered, lost in words and trotting over to him. He wrapped his head around his shoulder in a tight hug, trembling with the twitches of tendons and muscles. But Shadow seemed depressed rather than overjoyed in rejoicing with his father. Thunder pulled back with tears in his eyes, then frowned.

"I thought I'd never see you again," He rumbled, "I thought you were lost like...." He trailed off, cockig his head, "What's wrong?"

Shadow's eyes glanced down at me, swallowing in the thought of his mother. And though I'm not a T-Rex, I know that it must've sucked to leave something that's been lost since your childhood, to lose only again for the last time.

Things do come back, no matter what, even though death.

"Nothing," He lied, returning a slight smile, "Nothing's wrong."

Another face poked on in too, an Indosuchus with a horrified look on his face.

"We're seriously running out of time," Atlas called, ignoring the presence of me and Shadow. Yet I felt worried.

"How much time is left?" I asked.

"Don't you know?" Thunder questioned, "You were trapped in there for more than 1 day."

"It's been days?!" Shadow choked on his words, "There's gotta be at least a week left."

Thunder shook his head.

"Days?"

"No."

I shuddered as he said the next time, "Hours?"

And Thunder sadly nodded his head, "We're almost out of time."