Wolf in The Desert of Ice

Trick

Shiek had gone directly to Bull's house and to his room. He had met with Fareed and his family, quickly saying his goodbyes.

In his room, he had donned the leather armour in his closet. It was a bit large for him and It was uncomfortable to wear. After that, he had picked up his scimitar and an axe that he had Bull forge for him. He had come to the realisation through his days of training that wielding an axe was more manageable than a sword, so he had chosen it as his weapon of preference.

After he was ready he headed down, being careful to avoid Fareed as not to worry him. He went around the back, circling around the house and then heading towards the gate where he met up with Bull. "You ready kid?" The man asked as Shiek approached. "No, I have seen saanbeasts hunt before, I am afraid to approach such a large group" Bull nodded and looked at Shiek up and down. "The armour is large but a few more months of training and it should fit you well, at least if you die you will do so looking like a proper warrior Shiek" "Well, I hope not to die but thank you, sir" Shiek said forcing out a smile before walking out of the gate "Now we shift, it is a whole day of running in primal form so keep your wits to you," Bull said as he walked next to the young man before changing. Unlike Shiek bull grew even larger, horns sprouting out of his head and his limbs growing long and strong, even in his primal for he retained his huge frame, where Bull once stood now there was a Sand bison, a species of bison which was common near the western end of the desert, larger than a normal bison with bigger horns and hoofs adapted to walk the dry earth and sand of the desert.

Shiek also changed once again, transforming into the grey wolf. Still, this time he noticed some changes; he could feel that this form was larger than his usual, his senses sharper and his fur shorter, he started to move confused by the sudden change before he heard a voice in his head, it was a loud voice. It hurt. "Shiek, Bull can you hear me? It's Oki I have opened a communication channel between the two of you, me and the general, now you should be able to talk to us and each others" "Thank you Oki, now both of you get going we need to know what is coming, also Shiek you have knowledge of the saanbeasts tell us more about them, apart from their looks I do not know much about them" As the large bovine and the smaller canine started to run along the desert Shiek spoke "Saanbeasts are relatively humanoid beasts, the have two arms but only one leg, the look like worms with not no eyes or hair or ears, they have hidden hooks all over their bodies, these hooks are poisoned and can be retracted into their skin, but the worst thing is their mouths, they have four mouths, each is filled with hundred of thin needle like teeth, the mouths are situated one their head, on the ends of each arm and on their chests, they also are ambush predators, waiting in the sand and attacking whoever comes into striking distance" The general wrote what shiek said down before pondering for a couple of seconds "If they have no eyes how do they know who comes into sticking distance?" "Flow of magic, they are still beasts, even normal people have free-flowing magic In them. Meanwhile shifters don't unless one is trained in magic; that is why I have never been attacked by one of them," Shiek replied quickly.

A couple of hours passed when Bull and Shiek stopped, the hoard was much closer than it should have been, but it was still small, little more than 100 individuals, the saanbeasts were all staying still, forming circles around a figure in the middle of the circles stood a man, it was no saanbeast but an average human, with a long flowing robe and a wooden stick at his side the man stood there eating like there like he had no care in this world.

Shiek and Bull had turned back to their human form; they looked at the strange man and waited. Shiek started estimating the number of saanbeast while Bull kept an eye out for any unusual movement.  As Shiek looked on, he noticed that the saanbeasts were hypnotised, usually, it was rare for saanbeasts to lay outside of the sand or earth, but here they were in a sleep-like state outside under the element's influence. Bull and Shiek kept looking at the man for a couple of more hours before he fell asleep "We should kill him", Bull said quietly. "I agree, but we don't know what the beasts will do when we do" "Oki, what happens to a familiar when you kill its master?" Bull asked through the mind link, "They go berserk. Besides I have never heard of someone taking so many beasts as familiars. Do they have any emblems or markings on them?" "They do; all of them seem to have a circular scar somewhere on their bodies" "Then it's probably slave magic, although it has never been done on beasts to my knowledge" "Can we kill the owner or not?" "Yes, but with so many beasts gathered, you better run fast because they will notice when their contract is broken" Bull did not hesitate at this, taking Shiek's axe and throwing it, the axe soared through the air, hitting the man who was sleeping on the ground straight in the head, but there was no impact the axe had flew straight through the man's head.

Immediately after, both the man and the beasts started disappearing. "We have been done in. It was an illusion!" Bull shouted as the hearth beneath them began to shake. "Bull, one of them is coming; watch your feet" Shiek called as a pale limb covered in hook-like spikes shot out the sand aiming for his foot. Shiek managed to dodge, quickly sinking his axe in the creature who a bloodcurdling shriek. The beast now fully emerged from the sand stood in front of the two men, taller than both of them. It was bleeding where Shiek had hit it. Still, before it could do anything it was hit two more times, both Shiek and Bull had quickly reacted not giving in into panic, shiek had slashed the creature's naked skin across its chest then sinking his scimitar into one of it's mouths. In contrast, Bull had quickly loped its head in one swift stroke.

"General, it is safe to assume they are already on their way to Hvall. You had better called reinforcements because we are going to need them" Bull said before quickly shifting back to his primal form and starting the run back to Hvall quickly followed by Shiek.