Fanfic:MHD: The Darkness Within VII - The Mysterious Wyvern's Assault

NOTE: I am so sorry. For some reason, when I clicked on the link leading to this page from the previous chapter, the page didn't exist. That's why there appears to be two of this page on this Wiki. Again, I apologize. "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Elric suddenly exclaimed. He and his comrades, Illeera and Tenris, were about midway across the great grassland towards Castle Schrade. Now, he peered through his binoculars in order to take a closer look at the castle in the distance.

"What is it?" asked Illeera, eyebrows raised at his exasperated tone. Elric lowered the binoculars and replied, "Taka and Relcia are leaving Castle Schrade... and are going toward the Desert!"

Tenris groaned. "Deeper into the Great Frontier?" she said. "Have they lost their sense of direction?" Illeera silenced them with a wave of their hand. "No," she told them. "There has to be a reason why they are doing this. Taka would never do something this dangerous, or foolish, without a good reason."

Elric jumped into the conversation. "Well, good reason or not," he piped up, putting the binoculars away, "we need to catch up with them. If we keep moving, we should be able to meet up with them sooner or later."

Illeera checked the position of the sun - it was around early-to-mid-afternoon, it seemed. "We should have plenty of time before nightfall to cover as much ground as we can," she said. "Come on, and get your Cool Drinks ready." The three of them began to move forward once more, in search of their friends.

The sun was setting as they made their way into the Desert. The sheer silence of the environment disturbed them - the only noise came from the crickets and the wind. Now that Illeera thought about it, though, the wind seemed to be getting stronger. It's probably my imagination, she thought dismissively. Nothing more.

"I don't understand how they could have just disappeared," complained Elric. "Look - from here, you can see miles and miles of nothing but sand and rocks. Where could they have gone?"

Tenris stopped walking for a second or two, stretching her aching legs. "I don't care. We can search all we want tomorrow. I'm taking a rest before I drop dead from exhaustion." Elric was about to angrily protest, but Illeera nodded her agreement. "We have traveled a very long way on foot," she stated. "It would be wise to stop for the night and get plenty of much-needed sleep for tomorrow."

They set up camp, using a large cluster of boulders for shelter. Tenris built a fire from the few sticks she had gathered in the Great Forest, and they all shared a meal that they had packed previously - Gagua legs, left over from a few days ago. Illeera was struck with the bittersweet memory of the conversation that they had with Taka back then.

''"Did anyone ever tell you that you eat like a Bird Wyvern?" Elric asked. "No, but then again, I LOOK like a Bird Wyvern," replied Taka, laughing.''

Illeera felt tears sting her eyes. Taka was her best friend, and the thought of him journeying into this deadly region made her feel very, very frightened. I hope I can see you again soo, Taka, she wished sadly. Then I won't have to worry about such things.

The wind suddenly picked up, growing louder and louder as it became progressively stronger. "Thank goodness we're sheltered behind these rocks," Elric sighed, curling into a sleeping position. Illeera, all of a sudden, caught sight of sand flying in the wake of the gale-force wind. "You're going to be even more thankful in a minute," she said grimly.

Now the storm reached its peak, turning into a huge sandstorm that seemed to block everything from view. They party wasn't even touched by the wind and sand, but they could feel it nonetheless. Tenris shivered as the fire that they had constructed was blown out. Elric and Illeera huddled close together, trying to protect each other in case the wind suddenly turned around and blew the storm right in their faces.

The sandstorm raged literally all night. The relentless wind blew on and on, until the group began to grow used to it. Eventually, they decided that they should try and get some rest, shielded from the worst of the elements as they were. They curled up into tight balls, trying to remain warm and safe behind their barrier.

Finally, they were lulled to sleep by the consistency of the howling storm's noise. As they slept on, they didn't notice the storm die down at last, leaving the rocks and bushes that had been exposed to it to be buried under dunes of sand.

Daytime revealed a completely changed landscape. The sandstorm had wiped away whole sand dunes, only to replace them with new ones, set in totally different locations. If it weren't for the tall cliffs and large boulders dotting the area, there would have been no landmarks at all.

Illeera, Tenris, and Elric continued trudging across the sandy terrain, occasionally taking a gulp of Cool Drink. The desert heat was sweltering, and nothing moved. All of the monsters had retreated to the safety of the caverns to avoid the heat. Well, all except the Apceros - those Herbivores remained in loose herds to graze on what little vegetation they could find.

Suddenly, the herds began to roar and groan, rearing up on their hind legs and sniffing the air. Illeera became suspicious - the late Bronton had taught her that monsters had much better senses than humans did, and could thus detect subtle changes in the environment much quicker than any hunter could.

Now, the Apceros herds scattered, fleeing across the land and heading for the caves. Now Tenris and Elric began to realize that something was up. Both scanned the horizon for any signs of trouble. But while they had their eyes on the land, Illeera had hers on the sky. With a gasp, she picked out a single black shape in the otherwise calm blue yonder, heading right for them.

"Look out!" she cried to her companions before diving to the ground. The other two did the same as the unknown creature landed right where they had been standing. It skidded to a halt on the sandy earth with the force of an earthquake and craftily observed the three humans it had scattered in its wake.

Illeera and the others had never seen anything like this beast. It was clearly a Flying Wyvern - a Rathian to be precise. But its scales were a pitch black tone, and instead of toxic barbs, it had huge red spines on its tail and wings. The Rathian was bigger than any other Rathian that any of them had ever seen, and it now glared at them with blood-red eyes, sizing them up.

A primal fear took hold of Illeera as she remembered something about this beast. The Elder had once told her and her friends about the monsters inhabiting the Great Frontier. He had mentioned a monster that had lived on Earth since the dawn of time, a wyvern so ferocious that everything lived in instinctive fear of it. Although extremely rare, this creature had all the powers of a regular Rathian, but its strength had been enhanced by the gods themselves upon creation. This monster had taught subsequent generations of Rathian the measure of its abilities, but these skills had apparently been forgotten by all except itself.

It was the Ancient Rathian, the beast said to have come from hell itself. It was death given form, and now it blocked the trio's progress.

The Ancient Rathian growled, a deep, almost prehistoric sound that somehow reflected how truly ancient this monster was. And only Illeera was able to understand it, being the only one of the three that could interpret the monster language.

Unnervingly, she was speaking to them, not herself. What have we here? she said menacingly. ''Three little hunters who have lost their way? Pity - do you even know where you are going? Well, I do, and I would be more than happy to help you get there.''

She giggled, a horrid sound that grated in Illeera's ears. But Illeera got the monster's hint. As if it weren't obvious enough, the Rathian was here to kill them.

MORE COMING SOON