Shara Journey Trial

Shara scanned the desolate fiery dunes that rippled in the afternoon heat. As far as she could see there was nothing and no one around her. The blazing sun blasted down onto her pale back relentlessly as she kept a close eye on her surroundings. All desert dwellers know that it is a fool's errand to try and travel across the vast dunes of the Thedalian desert during the day and so the massive ancient tyrian had partially buried herself in the sand. When she buried herself the only thing left exposed was the tip of her muzzle so that she could breath, effectively rendering her completely invisible. Beneath the sand, the massive empyrean was safe from the scorching heat and could comfortably doze the unrelenting day away. She wasn't a fool though, every couple of hours Shara's head emerged from the sand to scan her surroundings. The last thing she needed was to be blind sided out in the middle of nowhere by poachers or even worse... by that psychopath. She frowned as she remembered the numerous encounters the massive tyrian had the displeasure of experiencing over the course of her long life.

Just as she was starting to get distracted by unpleasant memories a dark blot on the horizon slowly shimmered into existence. Shara frowned as she stared at the dot, unsure if it was actually there or if it was just a heat mirage from staring at the blinding sands for too long. She watched it for what felt like a few minutes and slowly but surely the blob slowly became more and more defined. Far across the sands, a lone vayron was slowly trudging towards her. Shara sighed, well it wasn't the freak but only psychopaths or people with bad intentions wandered the desert alone. The pale empyrean quickly buried herself once more this time shimmying even deeper into the dune so that even her nose was buried beneath the grains. As Shara waited beneath the ground, she activated her magic to control the air around her. A small stream of air flowed down through the sand, allowing her to breath and at the same time Shara controlled the wind current around her to probe her surroundings. Slowly but surely she reached out until she made contact with the distant vayron, who she was mildly surprised and disappointed to confirm they really were alone out here.

Shara kept close tabs on the approaching vayron and was mildly unnerved that, even though the tyrian was completely buried beneath the sands, they were for some reason still walking straight towards her. There was no way they could know she was hiding here was there? The closer the stranger got the more nervous she became until finally the vayron was standing right above her and much to Shara's horror they stopped right in front of where she was buried. The stranger cleared their throat, "Uh, uhem... I know you're around here... I saw you..." The female vayron paused each time they spoke, as if giving Shara the opportunity to respond. "Please, I mean you no harm!... I'm lost out here, I was on my way to the capital for my journey trial when I got separated from my companion..." Shara remained silent, still not trusting the unknown vayrons words. "If you could at least point me in the right direction I promise to leave you alone!... I really don't want anything else!" The vayron continued to plead. Uncertainty and fear continued to plague Shara's heart as she inwardly debated on whether to respond. Just as she was deciding to remain hidden she heard the vayron sigh while choking on a sob. "... another mirage..." she could hear the vayron mutter as they started to trudge onward once more.

Racked with guilt and knowing that the vayron was heading in the wrong direction, Shara finally decided to push down the screaming paranoia that was keeping her rooted beneath the sand. Through her magic Shara projected her voice to the vayron, "...Wait." The vayron jumped and let out a small startled noise at the sudden sound from nowhere. They looked around wildly trying to locate the source when the ground beneath their feet suddenly started to shift. Shara slowly shifted and leaned back and forth beneath the sand while pushing her massive body up. Slowly but surely the tyrian rose to the surface of the desert. The vayron let out a frightened squeal as she frantically tried to scramble away from what suddenly felt like a quicksand pit. The first thing to emerge from the dune was one of Shara's massive red tipped wings. She reached high into the air before bringing her talons back down and pushing firmly into the shifting sands. The span of her wing membrane was easily two and a half times the size of the vayron, who at this point was frozen in terror as a tyrian larger than any she had ever seen before slowly rose from beneath the surface of the desert.

Yadira felt intense terror grip her heart as she suddenly found herself facing a ginormous empyrean with a bizarre face. It was more triangular than normal and its eyes were still firmly shut despite no longer being buried beneath the sand. Its oddly angled head made it look as if it was gently smiling down at her but it was so odd looking she couldn't tell if it actually was or not. Its wing membrane and tail looked twisted like the roots of a tree and the mane along the top of its neck stuck out in almost petal-like spikes. She found herself lost in terror as she stared up at the extremely disturbing tyrian. When Yadira didn't say anything, Shara sheepishly spoke, "Hello there." Somehow the tyrian's voice was both disturbing and soothing at the same time. It was hollow and she had a distinct lisp, it almost sounded like some sort of wood instrument and it gave any who heard it an uneasy feeling. "You are going in the wrong direction." Shara continued, offering the vayron some form of dialog to engage in. After another few awkward beats of silence the red runner blinked and recovered enough from the shock to respond.

"Oh... Oh! uh thank you!" the runner bowed her head in thanks and nervously stepped back from the tyrian before turning to face the direction she had come from. "You're saying the capital is that way?" she asked indicating in the direction she had come from while trying avoid the somehow piercing gaze of the tyrians closed eyes. Shara frowned uncertainly as the runner indicated the wrong direction again, "No." She reached out a long purple talon and pointed in the right direction. Yadira nervously chuckled and backed away more, tripping over her baggy desert garb. The tyrian was making the runner extremely uncomfortable by just existing and she wanted nothing more than to flee but she knew if the tyrian wanted to, there was no way she could escape. Just as she started to babble about looking at the time and that she should really get going the runner caught a glimpse of something black darting across the sky in her peripheral. Curiously the runner turned to look in the direction and screamed when she saw a black tyrian in a kill dive rapidly closing in on the two of them. Shara's head snapped in the direction the runner had been looking before loudly swearing and moving to block the rapidly approaching attacker from the runner.

The black tyrian slammed into Shara with an insanely strong body slam, rocking the significantly larger empyrean and nearly knocking her over. The attacker laughed uproariously as he viciously clawed at Shara's thick hide. "You're not getting away this time~" he trilled in a happy tone that oozed blood lust. Yadira rapidly scrambled away from the sudden violence as both sand and limbs whipped through the air. The runner scrambled back and watched in shock as the massive tyrian she had been so afraid of was suddenly being assaulted right before her eyes. Shara screeched in rage as Gigante dug his teeth into her shoulder, the female tyrian whipped her head around in response grabbing the male by the scruff before roughly yanking him off of her. Finally free from the slashing black and ciruela mad man, Shara thrashed around wildly with his scruff still firmly clamped between her teeth. After thoroughly disorienting her attacker she roughly slammed him down into the sand as hard as she could leaving the black tyrian in a daze. Before he had the chance to get up and resume his assault Shara quickly snatched Yadira up in her back talons and took to the sky.

Yadira screamed in terror at suddenly finding herself thousands of feet over the ground and froze up in the massive tyrian's grip, praying her kidnapper wouldn't drop her. As Shara recovered from the shock of the sudden attack she rapidly apologized to the terrified runner. "I am so sorry! Are you okay? He didn't reach you did he?!" the tyrians honest concern slowly eased the fear that was keeping the runner locked like a statue in the tyrians grip. Slowly Yadira calmed down enough to answer her savior. "I-I'm fine. What the *&^% was that?!" the runner exclaimed as she squinted her eyes against the harsh wind sheer blasting her face. "A mad man who has been chasing me for ages." Shara began to explain when the wind snatched Yadira's protective hood off her neck causing the vayron to exclaim in surprise and discomfort as her eight extra eyes were suddenly blasted by the wind. Shara glanced down in concern at the sound and was surprised to see the vayron was an arachne. Grim dread washed over Shara as she realized they didn't have a way to hide the vayrons extra eyes and she had already been a target when Gigante had seen the vayron with her.

Long ago that freak had cornered Shara and she had demanded to know why he was attacking her, that was when the freak had admitted that he was a self-proclaimed connoisseur of exotic foods. And after all there was nothing more exotic than unique specimens, especially specimens of species who could fight back. Since then she had heard horror stories of his "food tour" across the various continents and she had constantly been on the run trying to avoid him at all costs. The psycho had taken her escape and subsequent evasion personally, and was now hell-bent on hunting her down. Now she was holding yet another poor soul who fit his criteria perfectly. Shara grit her teeth in determination as she resolved herself to ensure the runners safety. Shara extended her massive wings and powerfully propelled herself toward the capital of Thedale as fast as possible. There was no chance, that little love tap and been enough to knock that juggernaut out of commission and she needed to gain as much ground as possible before he caught up.

Miles of desert flashed past as the tyrian rapidly flew toward Thedale, Yadira couldn't help but marvel at the insane speed they were traveling. When a faint white glimmer caught her eye, Yadira realized the tyrian was using wind magic to accelerate even more. Right when she was starting to feel safe an unwelcome familiar black figure loomed in the corner of her eye. Yadira turned to survey the sky behind them and to her horror could clearly see Gigante rapidly gaining on them. "He's coming!!!" She screamed in warning to Shara, who bared her teeth as she exerted all of her strength to fly just a bit faster. Far ahead on the horizon the faint shimmer of the capital was just barely visible but there was no way they would make it before he caught up to them. Once she accepted that fact Shara got the idea to turn her magic against her pursuer. A nearly blinding flash of white light erupted through the air around them as Shara took control of all the air around them. Using her ability to sense objects' locations through the air she used the wind current to slam and twist the black tyrian in mid air. As Shara's magic flipped her pursuer upside down mid stride an uproarious laugh could be heard over the wind. Yes! Now this was a hunt! This was the meal he had longed for, for so long! He couldn't wait to savor every bite!

Far ahead of the tyrians at the city walls of Thedale a junior guardsmen was walking along the ramparts, enjoying what seemed like a normal uneventful shift. As he was about to turn around to pace back along his route, something bright flashed in the distance and caught his eye. The guard paused and turned to see what could have made such a thing. After first he couldn't tell what it was, from this distance it almost looked like a star had fallen out of the night sky and was hovering on the horizon. Confused, the guard grabbed the set of binoculars that were dangling from his chest and brought them up to get a better look. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the glare he nearly dropped his weapon. Two tyrians were flying towards the city at breakneck speed, the one in front was obviously wounded while the black one behind it was actively trying to attack it. Adrenaline flooded his system as he watched in horror as the black tyrian slashed viciously at the fleeing orange tyrian who seemed to be desperately protecting something in its hind talons. With shaking hands the guard fumbled with his horn briefly before finally bringing up the instrument and blowing into it with as much force as he could muster. A deafening bellow echoed across the dunes, and as soon as the first warning call had been issued other guards turned toward the sound and also witnessed the horrifying spectacle rapidly approaching the city. Other horns joined the initial call and suddenly the entire city was buzzing with tension. The guard rapidly mobilized its air based division and within a minute of the first horn blow a squad of guardsmen took to the air and launched themselves toward the approaching confrontation.

Meanwhile Shara and Yadira could just barely hear the echo of the horn in the distance, relief and hope washed over both of them as they realized the city had seen them and were surely mobilizing help! Their relief was short lived as Gigante managed to wrestle himself free from the turbulent wind strikes and launch himself up to the duo to attack them once more. The insane tyrian laughed giddily as he attempted to slash the larger female's wings. Shara immediately tucked in her wings as soon as she felt the first strike and turned into a rapid aileron roll, trying to shake off her unwelcome passenger while also protecting her wing membranes. The breakneck maneuver cost her some altitude but thankfully did wrench the black tyrian off of her back and dumped him in her wake. Yadira screamed in terror as she squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying desperately to hold on for the intense g-forces that threatened to launch the runner to the ground far below. Gigante tumbled end over end briefly before quickly righting himself mid-air and returning to the chase. 'You can't get rid of me that easily~' he thought to himself as he flashed a malicious grin. The black tyrian prided himself in his excellent control and maneuverability when it comes to flying, these little tricks would only briefly slow him down but he could tell his prey was finally losing steam! It wouldn't be much longer now, just a few more miles and this delicious morsel would finally be in his grasp!

Gigante had been solely fixated on Shara's back, not letting his attention waiver for even a second. He was so focused that he didn't even notice the swarm of heavily armed, mounted guardsmen riding some of the meanest tyrians and winged vayrons he had ever seen until he was suddenly swarmed by them. The attacking swarm of guards barked orders at the black tyrian while lashing out at him effectively cutting him off from his prey. He could only helplessly watch as his prey rapidly flew toward the city while being escorted by even more guards. So close... He was so close!!! He snarled and rage and frustration as the prey he had been hunting once more slipped between his talons. The guardsmen encircled him, weapons raised and ready as the tyrian continued to not comply. The leader of the squad raised his weapon menacingly and continued to bark orders at the black tyrian who continued to not pay attention to them. He glowered at the now tiny tyrian who was barely more than a speck on the horizon. He would always be able to try again after all. As the guardsmen rapidly lunged at Gigante the mad tyrian easily dodged the thrown chains, nets, and javelins that assailed him. With a graceful dodge the black tyrian easily slipped between the enmeshment of guards and took off in the opposite direction of his prey. The guards attempted to stop him but the black tyrian was too swift and they eventually were forced to turn back. They had gotten an excellent look at him though and that criminals face would surely be plastered across every wanted board on the continent in no time.

Meanwhile Shara finally made it to the city gates, where the exhausted tyrian practically collapsed onto the sandy cobblestones panting heavily. Yadira finally stumbled free from the orange tyrian's grasp and while sobbing walked around to the tyrian's face and thanked her for everything she had done. Healers and clerics rushed in to help them as the guardsmen watched over the duo. They would give them a moment to gather themselves and to be assessed but they had a lot of explaining to do.