The patrol warrior’s mind linked from the southern outpost had Siroos stiffening.
Two Sikalas had been spotted not far from the training arena. And now he could feel the low tremor of the sandy ground.
They were ancient monsters which were put to eternal sleep by one of Siroos’s predecessors. Now that he knew the truth it was done by him in his previous life. As they were extremely dangerous and posed a threat to all kinds of life in the lands of Dusartine.
No Sikalas had been seen for at least 50 years and they had assumed their extinction. Seemed like Siroos missed a few in his other rebirth.
The pack always did war rehearsals where the different beats of the war drums were taught to all pack members including children. The beat for Sikalas hadn’t been sounded since Siroos was born but today they had to. Mindlinking the respective warrior, Siroos instructed the drum to be beaten.
The wind had already picked up and Siroos could see the sand storm brewing up.
"Ranon! Prep up," he ordered, his eyes narrowed on the brewing storm in the distance as he readied himself to shift.
Ranon quickly nodded and opened the mind link, gathering all the warriors. For this one, they would need their maximum strength. The enemy was new and they hadn’t faced it before. If the tales about them were true then they were going to be formidable enemies.
Faris jogged towards them as warriors began to gather and passed out iron armours for the upper bodies of those who weren’t going to shift.
"Sikalas, man. I thought they were gone for good," Faris clicked his tongue in distaste as another warrior handed him his axe and armour.
"Me too. Seems like I missed a few in my last life." Siroos turned to face his brother and the gathering warriors.
"Don’t worry, we will get them this time around," Faris answered, plastering the armour to his sinewy chest. Siroos stiffly nodded, his thoughts travelling to his mate as he passed a look to Ranon, which his Beta understood and mind-linked Lana.
Turning back to his warriors, he quickly explained the plan.
"We will round them up near boulders and will use weapons and our bird warriors for an aerial view. Rest my shield will remain around all of you. This enemy is not to be taken lightly so remain vigilant," Siroos laid out instructions for his slightly panicked warriors. He could feel their fear as they armoured up.
"We will return victorious...don’t lose hope. Let’s head out for the victory," Siroos shouted and the others roared behind him.
The clamouring of the ground continued to increase, and the wind picked up, spraying them with sand.
Some shifted, others remained in their human forms, mounting their horses, and the warriors rode out under the supervision of their Alpha.
"Let’s go," Faris shouted, waving his war hammer above his head.
Siroos dived forward and shifted mid-air into his giant black dragon. It roared, raising its head, filling the hearts of his warriors with sprouts of hope.
Above ahead the air had turned musty and grainy. The sandstorm Sikalas had brewed hit them in full force. Siroos’s blue halo shot out of his dragon, expanding until it formed a shield around his warriors; he had been practising and widening the range.
The swishing sounds like something large slithering against the sandy surface told them that the Sikalas were near.
Dragon’s crimson eyes were coated with a transparent layer of flimsy material which enabled it to see through the sandstorms without getting sand in its eyes.
Eagle shifters shifted and carried one warrior each with them, carrying bows and arrows, ready to rain poisonous arrows on the Sikalas.
And then one of the Sikalas emerged from under the ground with a loud screech. It opened its wide mouth, the size of a giant elephant. Its pointed teeth were like thousands of long needles, ready to pierce the skin of whatever they made contact with.
The warriors had all taken positions on the boulders surrounding the area, the warriors with bows and arrows, aimed and let their arrows soar into his ajar mouth. One of the arrows pierced its left eye, and the blood fountain shot out, spraying the gold sand in vermilion liquid.
It thrashed, its long tongue wiggled out, trying to get to overhead warriors, but they remained out of his reach.
Faris let out a charged roar, shielding his eyes as he aimed his battle axe towards its right eye. The thunder flashed behind him in a flurry of strong sandy wind. The axe whipped through the air and lodged itself deep into Sikala’s right eye, blinding it.
"Woooohhho!" Faris celebrated from above his horse as he galloped to the side of the raised boulders.
It writhed in pain and fell on the sandy ground. Its long tongue waddled out and tried to wrap itself around a warrior who was trying to drive a spear through his head. Siroos’s shield prevented it from becoming Sikala’s morsel. It let out a wounded howl and wormed its way into the ground to avoid further attacks.
Siroos was scanning the ground, looking for its companion; he knew the other was lying in an ambush. But he could only detect one, the other seemed to have vanished.
The warriors tapped the ground with their spears while taking positions on the boulders, trying to lure it out. They knew they had fatally wounded it.
It was then that Siroos received a mind link from a very frantic Lana.
’Alpha! Luna has left the dwelling looking for Wila. He is missing, and she didn’t heed our words. Please! Help her.’
The dragon went berserk hearing that, what was she thinking?
Did she have a death wish?
The fierce growl, followed by a storm of fire, escaped the dragon’s maw, targeting the sandy soil below where the Sikala had weaselled through. A part of it was caught on fire as it half emerged and the onslaught began on it by the warriors.
’Ranon! I am going to look for Cassandra. She has left the dwelling. Wrap it up here and be careful, the other one is yet to surface.’
Passing the instruction, the dragon ardently flew back towards the dwelling, in search of his human mate.