Chapter 159: Tiamat

RoOOaArR!

The beast's roar stunned everyone. They didn't expect it to go berserk at the first sign of hostility. Everyone dropped to their knees from the effect of its roar, and their shock turned into dismay when it disappeared within the first gust of sands.

However, before they could think of where it went, a loud flapped of wings rippled the sky and with it an eerie cry.

Tiamat has arrived!

----

Ryu and the others were traversing the desert in calculated steps. Every beast they saw they avoided, and every notable place they could hide, they took notes while finding the exit.

Their progress was slow, but so far, they hadn't met any trouble.

Then Ryu's eyes shone when he spotted the mammoth grazing at a patch of grass on a small land. While they were spread out searching for the exit, Ryu approached the mammoth, being careful not to alert it.

The mammoth grazed at the grass without care, and when Ryu was but meters from it, it stopped chewing, and its giant head turned to him.

Ryu stopped dead in his tracks. The mammoth resumed eating and ignored the halfbreed while the others signaled Ryu in hush voices. The mammoth might not be hostile, but they didn't know what would trigger it.

"Ryu, what are you doing?" Marcus whispered. His heart was thundering against his chest when Ryu pulled out the Jar of Capturing Life and opened its lead.

Everyone held their breaths.

.. .

.. .

But nothing happened, and this confirmed everyone's suspicion that the mammoth was indeed a Rank-A beast or higher.

"You. . ." Marcus didn't know what to say when Ryu returned with a disappointed look. "Honestly, don't be so reckless."

"At least we know that it's a Rank-A beast," Seraphina defended. "Nice job in figuring to use the jar to know its rank."

Halfjack nodded.

Ryu's face was stoic, and the corner of his lips was down curved. "I just want the meat."

".. ."

".. ."

Marcus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Let's go. The exit isn't here."

Seraphina looked worried. "Rather. .. this place is still barren sands. We don't even know if we're walking in circles with no lead nor landmark."

Ryu shaded his eyes as he stared at the blistering heat. His back was still silent as ever while his anxiousness grew louder by the minute.

"We don't have a choice but to grit our teeth and continue ahead. We only traveled for days into Tiamat's territory. The exit might be deeper ahead," said Marcus.

The group could only nod at Marcus's words, and they resumed venturing. But a loud roar that echoed in the desert put an ugly twist on their faces.

RoOOaArR!

"What the!" Marcus didn't have time to ponder when the roar was soon followed by the loud flapping of wings. "Hide!"

Seraphina's face was white as a sheet. "Hide. .. where?" They were on exposed grounds that not even a sight of a dead tree. Should they dig the sand? But were they fast enough to bury themselves before Tiamat made her appearance?

The flapping was getting louder and louder, and with it, an enormous shadow was fast approaching at the distant sky, bringing with it plumes of smoke and thunderous crimson light.

Halfjack twirled round and round, grabbing his bear head with his paws. "We dead! We dead!"

"Stop panicking!" Marcus hissed, but he too couldn't think straight with the sudden turn of events. Who were the idiots who made too much noise enough to alert Tiamat?

If the dragon spotted them, it'd only take one fire from its mouth, and they wouldn't even get the chance to scream as they burn.

At least it was instant death. Marcus thought and shook his head. He couldn't die now! Jane would be truly left alone!

"How about we hide on that?" Ryu pointed at the behemoth, who was still eating grass like it didn't hear the loud roars from its brethren.

"Are you crazy? What if it attacks us?" Marcus said.

"What if Tiamat decided to snatched that large behemoth for snacks later?" Seraphina added.

"We dead! We dead." Halfjack was going crazy.

Ryu looked at the others with a severe face. "We don't have a choice. Either risk it or die where we stood." They couldn't overtake Tiamat. No one could.

"For the love of!" Marcus couldn't think anymore as the Queen of all Beast was fast approaching. "Let's go!"

Ryu swept Seraphina in his arms as he leaped towards the mammoth.

Marcus and Halfjack zoomed towards the behemoth but skidded to a stop when Ryu and Seraphina paused. Ryu put Seraphina on the sand. His eyes focused on the giant when its head turned to them. It was still chewing grass with its saliva hanging thick on its mouth.

"Put away your weapons," Ryu instructed when the behemoth's snout puffed a hot steam of smoke, and it shifted its head to the side. He didn't know why but he seemed to understand its intentions.

"But–"

"Just do it," Ryu cut Marcus.

The others looked at each other before they did as Ryu instructed and stored their weapons. The behemoth let out another puffed of dust from its snout before it resumed its daily activity of eating grass.

Ryu approached it with careful steps, and everyone looked at him with unrelenting focus. They each released the breath they held when Ryu made it under the enormous beast without any accident.

"Come on, hurry," said Ryu.

The others hurried under the behemoth's large belly, hiding behind its enormous legs while their heads peeked at the sky. They could only hope that the behemoth wouldn't start to move or run or even lay on its tummy, or they'd be swat flat from its weight.

"I hope Tiamat won't snatch this thing and decide to eat it later as a snack, or it'd be disastrous for us if it did," Marcus said the others' thoughts.

RooOOoAArGH!

A dreadful bellow echoed throughout the desert. The terrifying beast emerged above the sky, flapping its great wings and belching thick smoldering smoke fumed from its nostrils as its slit eyes looked over prey from below.

Ryu caught his breath and couldn't take away his sight at the terrifying yet majestic creature enveloping the horizon like it would swallow the land. Its scales red and claws black. Its razor-sharp horns formed multiple crowns on its head, and rows of sharp teeth lined its jaws. With its massive form alone, it was befitting as the Queen of Dragons.

A beast of the past that still lurked in the shadows of the present, Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons.