So, if you've read the author's note at the end of the first book of Shattering Peace, you'll know that I'm making a collection of short stories rather than an entire book. It'll make writing this series faster since I'll be able to pick and choose which scenes I want to write. I might be writing the books anyway after I get enough shorts done of a particular movie. Nonetheless, I don't want to worry about that right now. I just want to write, and I want people to enjoy my stories.

I originally planned to write the movies out of order because there were certain things I wanted to write first. I will stick with the rearranged timeline, so some characters from certain movies will appear sooner than later.

I feel pretty solid on the next four 'books, ' which would be Movie 11, 3, 7, and 12. The rest of the movies could still be rearranged. None of this matters other than a few new plot points I want to write and knowing some of those characters have already been met or are currently in the Ring. I'm also going to try and connect the movies better to each other (for example, because of something that happened in Book 3 (Movie 3; The Great Giving), it triggered something in Book 4 (movie 7; The Stone of Cold Fire).

Lastly, as I said in my last chapter of Book 1, I'm willing to take any scenes from the movies and the TV show that you would like to see. I have a big list of what I'd like to write. If a scene is suggested, it'll either get added to my list or bumped up to be written sooner. I'll also be writing extra scenes that correlate with the lore of Shattering Peace and not the LBT movies, like when Irfan grows his wings. Feel free to suggest ideas for those too, just don't expect me to write all of them because they may or may not fit in the storyline.

Also, I've done some minor edits to the characters again. Just some recoloring so that their hair color matches their dinosaur color. I recently got a color update on the app I use to make their human portraits. All the characters look decent with their dino-scale color as their hair color, so I'm going with it. A few more art updates still need to be published in the app before I start posting their profiles on DeviantART. Hopefully, sometime later in the fall, I can get the portraits posted.

(P.S. I've already got some exciting physical attractions and romances planned XD).

Onto the story!

Requested by ChocoDrake: The fire scene from Movie 3 in which Topps (Barrack) leads Cera (Rekka) the wrong way, nearly getting themselves killed if Grandpa Longneck hadn't rescued them.

Shattering Peace Short

A scene from the 3rd LBT movie

Burning Colors

The group of five pushed through the brewing storm as it grew stronger by the second. Mirth silently cursed the darkening clouds and howling winds. If it hadn't so suddenly sprung upon him and his friends, they would have plunged down into the Wasteland in search of the second piece of the relic. If they could just repair the relic and place it inside the shrine within Arassataika's Monolith, then, just maybe, the massive amounts of magic flowing into the Ring would finally stabilize.

Even now, Mirth could feel the hot pain in his joints and the icy chill clawing through his flesh. The all too familiar metallic tang of blood touched the back of his throat, and his eyes grew wet with crimson liquid. This storm was of magical origins, and it was going to be bad, if not worst, than the first.

"It's another magic storm, isn't it?" Aaralyn asked, sky blue eyes wide as she turned to Mirth. Her hand pressed to her mouth in terror as the blood welled from his eyes, bloody tears whisked away by the wind.

"Yeah…" Mirth pushed through a powerful gust of wind, a loose branch nearly gouging out his eyes as it flew past. He nearly lost his footing when Irfan stumbled back, the smaller boy unable to stand upright in the powerful winds. Grabbing onto Irfan's shoulders, Mirth peered up at the ever-darkening clouds. Multi-colored lightning danced within them, purples, yellows, blues, and pinks. "It's going to be bad."

He turned to Aaralyn, and his heart clenched. Her eyes were glowing. Just like they had during their journey to find the Ring through the strange forest of white-barked, indigo leaved trees. And it was like the first time the storm broke over the Ring less than a moon ago. Mirth had crumbled into a heap of pain while Aaralyn was forced to run away, but he had seen her irises glow blue like they were glowing now.

"Aaralyn…"

All he needed to say was her name, and the young woman snapped her gaze away from him, squeezing her eyes shut and rubbing the heel of her palms to her eyes.

Thunder boomed overhead. Irfan had torn himself from Mirth's grip, struggling through the howling wind to reach Aaralyn. His fingers were a breath from her long billowing skirt when a branch barreled into his midsection. He tumbled into Rekka, who caught him. She gripped Irfan by the back of his shirt, hauling him to his feet even as he cried out in pain.

"Shut up and keep moving. You're not that hurt." The Fire Asili pulled Irfan through the storm, a snarl twisting her features as she pushed ahead of Aaralyn and Mirth. Irfan clung to her arm, whimpering in pain as terror danced in his dark brown eyes.

Garreth walked behind her until he reached Aaralyn and Mirth. Pressing a large dark-green hand to their back, he guided them forward. He froze, gripping onto their shoulders as the sky lit up. The Yari of Dusk pulled Mirth and Aaralyn to his chest as a bright arc of violet and magenta struck a nearby tree.

All three of them looked over Garreth's shoulder, watching in horror as violet and magenta flames lapped at the dried bark as the old tree crashed to the ground. The flames shifted through a spectrum of colors as they crawled across the tree, lapping at the nearest dying vegetation. The fire caught quickly as if the withered yellow leaves were scraps of paper. Plants dying from magical means and a magical fire did not mix well.

"Come on…" Mirth blinked through bloody tears at the dark storm clouds. "Come on…give us rain. Put out the fire. Please."

But the clouds did not unleash their burden. Instead, a hot wind kicked up, spreading the fire toward the five. Multi-colored flames raced across the ground, hungry for anything that would burn.

"Run…" Mirth breathed, enraptured by the red-purple flames reaching for him. He squeezed Garreth's shoulder, unable to look away. "Run!"

The Yari of Dusk hauled his sister and friend over his shoulders and ran as hard as he could. Rekka was close behind, nearly dragging Irfan behind her. They ran along the marked fire paths of the outer Ring, but the fire was faster. As if having a mind of its own, it sprung and nearly singed Garreth. He yelped and turned down another path.

The fire was moving fast, devouring everything in its path.

Irfan looked over his shoulder at the devastation left in the fire's wake. "That isn't normal fire!"

"No shit," Rekka hissed through clenched teeth as she tugged the small boy to keep running with her. "It doesn't even feel like normal fire."

They pushed through the rising smoke, stumbling upon their guardians watching over one of the streams that weren't overly tainted with magic. Aaralyn's mother had a small vase clutched to her chest, a droplet of water clinging to its rim. Barrack stood over the dark-haired woman, a scowl etched onto his sun-darkened skin.

"That's enough," he snarled before Aaralyn's mother could dip the vase back into the water.

"But—"

"I said that's enough, Nerida. You can make all the water you need. You are a Water Asili after all," his dark eyes bore into her similarly dark gaze.

Something flashed behind her eyes, but she stepped back onto the bank. "Water Asili can't just *make* water. We must pull it from the plants or air, and only the most skilled can do that. The plants here are just as burdened with magic as the rivers are. That does my people no good for collecting water. But Fire Asili wouldn't know that, would they?"

Near a half-dead tree, Mirth's grandparents muttered to one another. Third leaned over, speaking out of the side of his mouth to his wife. "That *Soot* Asili is getting far too controlling."

Sapience simply nodded, her amber-brown eyes glowing a fraction brighter as they narrowed on Barrack. She glanced up at the darkening sky, lips pressing in a thin line. "We should head home. This doesn't feel like it will be a good storm." She grabbed Third's arm.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Mirth rushed out from the foliage.

Aaralyn ran past him, grabbing her mother's arms, her blue eyes wide. The glow in the young woman's eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest as she stumbled over her words in panic. "Mama! There's fire! Magic fire! Lightning struck a tree, and now the fire's everywhere. We have to get everyone out of here!" Aaralyn pointed at the colorful flames rising in the background, already lapping at the brittle leaves hanging from half-bare branches and crawling across the ground, devouring dried grass and broken branches.

"It's near Secret Pass," Mirth pointed in the direction of the flames. "My friends and I saw it start, and we ran to warn everyone."

Third's eyes narrowed as the smoke rose above the trees. He sucked in a sharp breath, the sharp scent of burning wood and magic washing over his senses. "This is terrible. What is…what is happening? The magic itself…it seems to be… burning…."

The crackle of the encroaching flames made him turn to the people around him. "Quick! Follow me! We must get away from the flame's path." Third jogged past the half-dried stream, everyone following him on the worn path that led outside the Ring. However, Barrack blocked the elderly man's way.

Arms crossed over his chest, and head held high, he sneered at the older man. "I will lead the way, O?ó." He turned, waving an arm to the others, "This way!"

No one moved.

"You're heading downwind. The fire will spread as it is pushed by the wind. We must head upwind." Third looked to the rocky cliff side that surrounded the Ring. "And away from vegetation. Please, friend, think of everyone. My way is safer."

"Friend," Barrack scoffed. "You are not a 'friend' O?ó." With his back still turned to the unwilling group, he turned over his shoulder, the same sneer still pulling at his lips. "Rekka. Come."

"But you will be leading yourselves into danger! That is no normal fire. Can't you see?" Third gestured at the colorful flames crawling ever closer to the stalled group. "They are some sort of magic flame. Can't you feel it in the air or smell it in the smoke?"

"I want nothing to do with magic. Why should it burn any differently than normal flames?" He nodded to Rekka. "Daughter."

"But…Dad…" Rekka swallowed hard, glancing between everyone that stood around her. The fire didn't feel like a normal fire. She had felt its heat lapping at the back of her legs when she ran with Mirth and the others. It wasn't the same as the comforting red-orange flames she could control on a whim. The flames behind her were chaotic.

"Rekka!"

Clenching her fists, Rekka stepped away from her friends. She spared a glance over her shoulder, the smallest glint of fear in her green eyes. The others stared back in horror, too rooted to their places in fear and confusion that no one made a move to stop her. Only when her back was turned that Mirth jerked forward, reaching for Rekka, her name lost on his lips.

"You're endangering her life!" Third stepped in front of Barrack. "Those flames aren't normal!"

"Fire is fire." Barrack shoved Third aside, charging off in the opposite direction, Rekka reluctantly following.

"This isn't good," Aaralyn muttered, hands clasped in front of her chin, glowing blue eyes wide as she glanced at everyone.

"Grandpa! We have to stop him! They're going to…." Mirth couldn't finish his thoughts, terror dancing in his russet eyes. "If they go that way, Rekka will…." He shook his head. "I can't let another person die, Grandpa."

"I know, Mirth." Third raised his head to the thick smoke rising into the sky. "I'll go after them. Your grandmother will lead the way. Help everyone you can." Before anyone could stop him, Third plunged into the foliage, following Barrack and Rekka's path.

Sapience watched her husband disappear into the foliage. A stray ember caught the trembling leaves, catching them fire in a beautiful display of purples and greens. Her amber-brown eyes darkened. "Be safe, Third."

She turned away, looking over her shoulder at everyone who was waiting for her command. "Come. We mustn't waste any more time. If we find stragglers along the way, we will help them as best as we can, but be warned, there may be bodies. We won't be able to save everyone."

Nods were passed to her. The group pushed through the ever-thickening smoke to somewhere where the flames couldn't reach them.

Rekka and her father plunged through the undergrowth. Smoke billowed into the sky, blotting out the sun even as the storm clouds dispersed. The colorful flames seemed to follow the pair everywhere they stepped: through the trees, into small gorges, and over mossy logs. It was relentless in its chase, a kaleidoscope of colors moving among the flames that raged through the Ring.

"Dad!" Rekka shouted over the crackle of the fire. "Where are we going?"

Barrack nodded ahead. "To the river." He pushed forward through branches before they could catch fire, making sure Rekka was following.

A wall of orange and pink fire surged upwards, nearly meeting Barrack. Shouting in surprise, he changed his direction, Rekka following just a pace behind him. The pair charged through vines and branches into a forest clearing, but the air was hard to see through. Smoke was filling their lungs and stinging their eyes.

Barrack's arm snapped out in front of Rekka. They stopped, staring down into a gully. Flames rose around them.

"Dad?"

Barrack glared at the flames behind them. "We must have taken a wrong turn." He frowned, searching the flames for an opening.

Colorful embers floated through the air, one landing on a nearby leaf. It caught fire, blue-green flames hungrily devouring the foliage.

"Rekka, can you—" Barrack was interrupted by his daughter's scream.

The flames had touched her leg, scorching the flesh. Out of pure instinct to get away from the pain, she leaped across the gully, but there wasn't enough power in her legs. She just caught the ledge of the gully, but the soft earth gave way under her fingers. She screamed again, tumbling into the gully as more earth fell from the crumbling ledge.

"Rekka!" Barrack scrambled down the gully, dropping to his hands and knees next to his daughter. He dug through the earth until he could see his daughter's face again. He carefully brushed away the soft soil from her skin and clothes, taking in her pained face and following her hands to where they gripped her injured leg.

Rekka's features were twisted with pain, hands wrapped around the burn on her calf.

"Come on. We have to run." Barrack didn't even look at Rekka's wound as he pulled her to her feet.

"Dad," she gasped, tears in her eyes. "It hurts."

Barrack huffed, looking over his shoulder at the flames crawling down the gully. "We need to run."

Gasping in pain as her father forced her to run, Rekka followed him through the forest. They had to keep running or succumb to the fire.

Every which turn, they were blocked by raging flames. They ran until their lungs burned and their eyes stung from the magic-laced smoke. Barrack pushed forward when something cracked. He wheeled back, pushing Rekka behind him as a massive tree covered in indigo flames fell in front of him. He stared at the tree in horror, the flames rising in front of him, changing into a pale yellow. Barrack turned to run in the direction he and his daughter had come from, but another wall of flames jumped in front of them.

There was nowhere to run. They were encircled by fire.

"Rekka!" Barrack shouted, arm wrapped around his daughter as he looked across the colorful flames. "Do something!"

"I can't!"

He looked down at his daughter, mouth open to argue, but then his eyes fell upon the angry red blisters on her calf where the small flame had touched her. His daughter had been burned. A Fire Asili had been burned by the flames that surrounded them.

"You have to try," the panic seeped through his voice.

Rekka stared up at him, the tears in her eyes reflecting the fire. "I have been, Dad. They aren't normal. Everyone told you, but you didn't listen. I can't do anything with this fire."

Barrack couldn't look at her anymore. "I thought… I thought…" He couldn't finish, lost for words, just as movement caught his eyes.

Through the flames, a human figure emerged, the tongues of fire never seeming to touch them. The fire in front of Rekka and Barrack dipped low to the ground. It was as if an invisible board had been laid on top of the flames, smothering the life out of the fire.

Third stood in front of them, one arm covering his face, trying not to breathe in too much smoke. Blazing orange-pink flames rose around him but couldn't quite touch him, an almost invisible shield of violet magic keeping them at bay.

"Run! I can't keep the fire off for long!" Third shouted.

Barrack bolted out of the flames, pulling Rekka with him.

With the two wayward escapees beside him, Third led them up a narrow dirt path through the weakest parts of the flames. The heat nearly cooked them alive, but no flame touched any of the three's skin. Third's magic surrounded them in a weak protective shield, but it was clear the elderly man was tiring.

They broke through the last of the vegetation, Third's violet magic dissolving away. They kept running, scaling the rocky cliffside of the Ring until their lungs met air that wasn't so tainted by smoke. They ran until they saw a group of people gathered on a large ledge overlooking the ring.

Cheers rose from them as Third appeared over the ledge, Barrack and Rekka in tow.

Immediately, Mirth and the others rushed over to Rekka, but they couldn't get a word in as Barrack turned to his daughter, brushing her friends aside.

"Are you alright, Rekka?" He asked, kneeling down to check the burn on her leg.

"Yeah." But she gasped when he gently touched the painful blisters. She looked away from her father and friends, trying not to let the tears fall. "I'm-I'm just not use to being burned. It hurts."

Barrack sighed loudly. "I know, sweetheart. I know. Your father's been burned a lot." Barrack cradled his daughter's injured leg in his hands. He pulled out a small vial from his pants pocket and poured a thick white-translucent ointment onto his hands. Gentler than thought possible, he rubbed the ointment onto her burn.

"What-what is that?" Rekka sniffed, blinking away the tears as the pain was eased.

Barrack huffed, lips pressed in a thin line. "A Soot Asili needs to know how to take care of wounds when around Fire Asili."

Capping the ointment, he looked up, only for his jaw to drop in horror. The Ring had been burned. Over half the forests had been devoured by the colorful flames while the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. "Our home…"

As Barrack gawked at the destruction, Mirth slunk forward. The small bout of bloody tears had stopped, though dried blood rimmed his eyes. "I'm glad you got here in one piece, Rekka," he muttered. "I didn't know if Grandpa was going to find you or not."

"Whatever," Rekka mumbled, still cradling her injured leg as she wiped away any remnants of tears from her eyes.

"I am glad everyone made it out alright." Sapience placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, gazing at the people that were gathered. She squeezed Third's shoulder and gently pushed him to a small ledge. "Now, you will sit and relax, dear. You're exhausted." She wiped his sweat-slick forehead, shoving his damp hair away from his face.

"Yes, dear," Third smiled, still breathing hard.

"We are lucky that no one was severely hurt," Sapience raised her voice so that she could be heard. "Hopefully, the others of the Ring have also found a safe place."

"Lucky," Barrack scoffed, still standing protectively over Rekka. "You call this lucky? That strange magical fire has destroyed the Ring. We are without water and without food. We no longer have a home." He gestured to the destruction, a clap of thunder ringing through the air.

Everyone looked up as the rain broke from the clouds. Barrack glared at the rainclouds, wisps of smoke wafting off his bare arms even as the deluge drenched him to the bone. "It couldn't have started while my daughter and I were running for our lives? It couldn't have rained when the fire began to destroy our home!" His roar of rage echoed through the silent crowd.

His head hung, rain streaming down his face, "All is lost."

"All is not lost." Sapience stepped forward, head held high and a sharp glint in her amber-brown eyes, which glowed slightly in the dim of the storm. "You are alive, and so is your daughter. The Ring will grow back. Homes will be rebuilt. There will be more than enough resources to use as it grows back."

"But what about the disturbance of magic?" Barrack looked up at the tall woman, the fight within him extinguished like the flames that had burned through half of the Ring. "The Ring won't survive with so much magic. You O?ó can barely handle it. The water has been poisoned, and the plants are sickly. Nothing will change with this much magic in the Ring. How could anyone fix it? We…we won't be able to go back to the Ring if nothing can be done about the magic."

Mirth cleared his throat. "Well…I might know a solution." He crept forward, hands clasped behind his back, unwilling to look anyone in the eyes as he bashfully stood in front of his grandmother.

"Go on, Mirth," Third encouraged from his resting spot.

"I was going to tell you earlier, but then the storm happened and the fire and…." Mirth steadied himself and looked up at Sapience. "I think I found something in the Wastes. It was a piece of a relic I found when the Yari of Night were stealing from the tomb. I think if we could fix the relic and put it in the Shrine built in Arassataika's Monolith, maybe it would stabilize the magic in the Ring."

Fearful and panicked whispers undulated through the crowd. Some had never been outside the Ring, while others had terrible experiences in the Wastes and refused to ever go back. Nonetheless, Third and Sapience nodded to one another.

Before they could speak, Barrack stepped forward. "We need to go out there and find this missing relic."

"We must think this through carefully." Third stood. "A relic could draw in dis-pleasurable company. The Wastes have people with lesser good intentions, some of whom might just be looking to spill blood and take the lives of the innocent. We must make a plan."

"I have a plan." Barrack glared up at the taller man, chest puffed out and jaw clenched.

"I hope it's better than your fire escape plan," Javor grumbled, quietly stroking the thick red beard that lined his jaw, green eyes not quite meeting Barrack's stone-hard gaze.

"What'd you say, Earth Asili?" Barrack growled, turning on the red-haired man. Even as the rain continued to stream down his bare arms, thick smoke coiled off his skin, accompanied by the hiss of steam.

"This is no time to argue," Sapience tried to calm the situation, but the two men didn't seem to hear her.

"At least I had a plan," Barrack barked back.

Javor sneered, fist raised. The lone tree growing on the ledge shifted, branches reaching for Barrack.

As the adults continued to argue, a certain trio of young adults watched, brewing their own mischievous plan.

Author Explanations:

- I have planned that in the 2nd book (movie 11), the Gang finds many relics, so this is where part of the relic comes from.

- I have planned that in book 3 (movie 3), the book this would take place in, the Gang suffers a 'magic storm' which takes the place of the meteor shower. The magic storm caused ill effects, including so much magic that it started killing off plants and making the water toxic to drink.

- Saurus Rock = Arassataika's Monolith

- I did not include Littlefoot/Mirth leading the group through the smoke since there's no longer a size discrepancy, and pretty much whatever Mirth can do, his grandparents can do. I couldn't use the excuse of the magic smoke blinding everyone but Mirth or something like that since Sapience would have been able to lead everyone just as well.

- Since there was a slight shift in the world-building (again, sorry, I keep playing with stuff and trying to make my realms unique to each other and more detailed that I just keep changing small things and adding other things), that Third/Grandpa Longneck's O?ó ability isn't exactly strength anymore, at least, not physical strength. In other words, he has learned the 'Far' Art, and has telekinesis. Feel free to ask more questions about the current world-building and characters I have set up (though I might not spill too much if I know I'm going to write with them ;P).