Creatures Of Sonaria: Sands Of Time

Part 1: Daimona

       Dune was looking around the chaos in Aire's new oasis. The peros, the anies, even Igiris's old followers. Roars, squeaks, and screeches all meaning the same thing: fear. She looked at Aire, who was feeling overwhelmed already. Dune moved over to her and tugged her wing. "Tell them to be quiet and try to explain what you'll do." 

       Aire nodded and spread her wings. "SILENCE!" She roared, and within seconds, everyone was quiet. They all stared at her and waited for her speech. 

       "Gher may be gone into hiding, but if he ever does come back, I trust all of you to work together and kill him."

       An ardor warden in the back came through the crowd to face Aire with a bow. Dune had never seen an ardor warden before. She was nearly all pink in different shades, except for her heart patterns, which were a dark brown. "Ruler Aire," she said. "Many of us are worried about..."

       "Ezel, there's no such thing as the portal of Daimona!" a red and white sochuri said from the back. "It's just a stupid story the hemokais made up to make them feel special."

       "It is not a story, Hexen!" Ezel shouted back at him. "The hemokais said there was a dangerous species on the other side of the portal, and now Gher is going to try and unleash it!"

       "It's true," Diala said. The ani was almost shook with fear. "The hemokais are speaking the truth. The creature on the other side of the portal is there, waiting to be free so it can end us all and the world we live in. Us ani have lived long enough to witness the creature itself. If Gher unleashes it, nothing will be able to stop it."

       Now everyone was panicking. Dune felt Aire's emotions like they were a morinus's mane. Dune tapped Aire's shoulder and nodded her head up at Igiris's old cave. "We should speak to Diala," she said. Aire nodded and went to confront Diala, who was standing in the middle of the chaos and trying not to look guilty about the trouble she had caused.

       "Diala, would you please speak to me in Igiris- I mean, my cave, please?" Aire said. 

      Diala nodded. Aire went to fly up to the cave. "Dune, please escort her up while I take the time to think about this," Aire called down. Before Dune could reply, Aire was already too high up for her to hear.

       Dune looked down at Diala and gestured her head to get moving. They both walked through the panicking crowd, listening to the roars and shrieks of fear. The sun had began to rise behind them, making Dune's scales look like opals, but more yellow than white. 

       Walking up the hill was a bit more difficult for Diala than for Dune. Climbing sandstone was easier with curved claws, but Diala looked more like a flailing khiku trying to climb a pillar, so she wrapped her tail around Diala, carful not to prick her with her barb, and carried her up the hill. Diala crawled out of her tail to climb onto her back, sitting in between her glowing spines and holding on.

       Climbing up the sandstone wall was a bit harder, but not impossible. Dune's claws dug into the small crevasses of rock and pulled herself up. It didn't help that the weight of Diala was dragging her down. Once they were up, they finally made it outside Aire's cave. Dune peaked in to see Aire pacing around in circles, looking at her own talonprints. 

       Dune cleared her throat, and Aire stopped pacing to look at her. "Dune! Diala! Uh, please. Come in," Aire said, clearing away the talonprints with her tail. Dune came in and grabbed the clingy ani off her back and set her down in front of Aire. She looked around nervously, her black eyes seeming like empty holes with no emotions, but her brows furrowed to seem almost scared of what was going to happen to her.