MHD: The Darkness Within VIII - Out of the Desert, Into Dondruma Town

The wind was rushing through Taka's face as he flapped steadily away from the Desert and onto their next destination. He had taken the form of a powerful Frontier wyvern called a Berukyurosu, a monster feared in these parts for not only its power, but its intelligence. Indeed, Berukyurosus were the only recorded wyverns capable of speaking both the human and monster languages.

Relcia and Lauren were crouched on his back, trying to avoid the uncomfortable wind as best as they could. Strangely, Relcia had insisted that he become, not a full-sized wyvern, but a much smaller version of one. His current Berukyurosu form was only a third of the size of a regular one. Relcia's stated reason, when Taka asked why she had insisted this, was because a small wyvern would have a better chance of going unnoticed than a large one.

It was to Dondruma Town they flew, and Taka now reflected on the peculiar and quite ominous reason that they were headed there: they needed information. Not only on the quickest way to reach the Tower, but on a rumor that they had heard shortly after they had begun to travel across the Desert again.

The three of them had run across a group of hunters, and had been seen. They had been pretty much forced to stop and talk, and what Taka, Relcia, and Lauren had heard was disturbing. The hunters had said that shortly before they had taken their current hunting request (Taka thought it was a Diablos hunt, but couldn't quite remember), the Guildmaster of the Frontier Hunter's Guild had been found murdered in his quarters. And now Dondruma Town had a new leader - Tartu.

Taka didn't want to believe this, but something told him that the hunters were telling the truth. So he, Lauren, and Relcia decided to go to Dondruma Town themselves and find out if this was true or not.

It was a risky strategy. If Tartu, and undoubtedly Mylie, were running the place, then Taka and Relcia would have a battalion of hunters on their tails in no time flat. That was why they decided to lay low and sneak through the back alleys, avoiding the local authorities and, especially, the local hunters.

Taka was brought back to attention when Relcia leaned down and gently patted his neck. "I can see Dondruma on the horizon," she said in his ear. "You should prepare to land soon." With an affirmative nod, Taka increased his flying speed, dead set on the city that was indeed looming ahead of them.

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