Creatures Of Sonaria: Sands Of Time

Part 13: Found

       The tier three trio stood beside each other, ready to fight off the devious flier. Dune's mind was racing. She found him. After weeks, she finally located Gher. But that stone slab... it was missing. Did Gher know where it was? Was he the one who wrote it?

       No, Dune thought. If Gher knew about the portal, he would have opened it a long time ago, before Igiris died. So who had the tablet? Was it Sane? Arrrgh, focus, Dune! She growled to herself. Kill Gher first, stop the portal later! 

       "You little nuisances," Gher growled, latching his sharp, curved talons on a hanging stalagmite, hanging halfway. "You just had to come all the way here just to stop the inevitable." He snarled, folding his wings neatly against his sides. "Well, you're too late. The portal is already in the process of being opened. I was supposed to be there, but I had to get a little something for my... acquaintance." He narrows his eyes down at all three of them. "Just my luck I had to run into my biggest problems."

       Armolten's mane flared as she stomped her hooves on the ground. "Ohoh, I'll show you just how big of a problem I can be!" She shouted, opening her jaws and shooting a blast of flames at Gher. The vin'rou reacted quickly, blasting sand to counter her attack. The breath combination created fragments of glass that showered all over the cave. Dune had grabbed a stone slab and ducked under it. 

       Gher flew down, Latching both claws onto each of the valkurse's horns. Armolten started shouting profanities while Gher squawked taunts, spreading his wings to keep him balanced. 

       Dune looked over at Arche, who was frozen in... fear? Shock? She didn't know, maybe he was just confused about what to do. But clearly, he wasn't helping at all. Dune groaned, running forward to try and knock Gher off. 

       Just as she was about to grab the nefarious flier off, something rammed into her. A heavy weight, just as heavy as her, knocking her into the cave wall. Some of her glowing spines cracked as soon as they made contact with the stone. Dune looked up to see a brown and tan furred creature with black eyes. Sane...

       She forced herself up, groaning. As soon as Dune regained her posture, She saw that Arche and Sane were neck and neck, scales and fur flying in the air. Arche tried to stab Sane with his tail, but she was fast, and spraying star breath. Dune still thought it was very uncomfortable to see an aereis open their mouth. But that was the least of her worries. Both her friends were fighting on different sides of the cave. She couldn't fight both of them at once. She had to choose...

       One one talon, Armolten was a fierce, strong fighter. Dune knew that. Plus, Gher couldn't take two creatures at once. He was fast, sure, but right now, he was distracted. 

       On the other, however, Sane and Arche were probably an uneven match. Arche fought like he hadn't been in a real fight in his life. Sane looked so confident, she fought so cleanly... Dune decided. She had to fight with Arche. 

       Something weird happened though. As if in sync, Dune and Arche froze. They couldn't move. Sane stopped fighting Arche, looked at Dune, and went to help Gher. She could hear Armolten starting to panic now, telling both of them to move and help her. Dune couldn't even turn her head. Something was happening to her, now. She started to feel numb, and all at once, she fell to the ground. Everything went black while the sounds of fighting became more faint.