Searing 5, 122
The sun had not yet risen over Wawari Bobul, but the contingent of Dragoons and guests were already departing. It had been a short lived time in the small village, but for Norani, it was a time she would never forget. She intended to return on her own and visit more regularly. Now that she had the ability to travel about on the wings of Ruvaf, had the freedom of adulthood, she planned to experience as much of this world as she could. She was enjoying making new friends, Eya of this village, the heir apparent to the chieftain and Yeva, her closest friend.
Norani was excited, in a couple of days or so, they'd be back in Ounokt Nora and Norani would introduce her to her family, show her the beautiful lake and tree in which she grew up. Last night she had offered a place for Eya to stay should she decide to ever come visit as well. With a silent signal, as it was still dangerous until the sun rose, the contingent took off. None of the Ci'uvan let loose their shrill cries, disappearing into the slowly ebbing darkness, saying farewell to the village that had hosted them for the night.
The direction they flew this day allowed for the unobstructed viewing of the sky as it shifted from inky black to an impossible swirl of innumerable purples. Then the sun crested, splashing reds and oranges to split the darkness. This was big sky country, not a cloud in the sky, able to see for hundreds of miles in every direction over the grasslands. For several hours, the flying was easy, soaring on the hot air currents as the sun quickly heated the land.
Then one of the senior scouts, flanking the primary formation, let out a sharp whistle. All of the riders were looking down to the ground to see just what the scout had seen, but their eyes were not as trained as hers. Chieftain Boraba started a low descent, and the contingent followed suit. As they grew closer, Norani could now see the very faint lines of motion between the twenty foot tall grasses. Her body stiffened against Yeva's, her arms holding in closer around the woman as she leaned them forward in the soft dive.
The Laughers were racing toward something. Normally the Dragoons wouldn't interfere in such a natural thing as predators hunting, but the Laughers were a constant threat and danger on the grasslands, so they often took the time to cull their numbers when able. And the only time they were more easily trackable was when they were already on the hunt for something else.
The Dragoons swooped in low, their bellies, and the feet of the riders, whipping across the soft tips of the sea of grass. Up ahead, there was a break in the grass, where the river took over and other plants competed, and the Laughers were on a beeline for it. Norani did not hear the warning cries of a vulnerable herd of animals like she expected, but rather, the same vibrations as she had yesterday.
The bees.
The Laughers broke through the grass line first, and with their cover of stealth gone now, they began letting loose their loud, shrill laughs and twills that earned them the name. The females of the pack stood just as tall as the horses of the north, covered in mossy, algae like substance that helped them disappear from sight in the grasses. Packs of Laughers were known for their ability to hunt and take down any terrestrial creatures in the grasslands. And they had an intensely complex system of communication, and it was known among the villages that the packs learned and shared tactics with one another.
A constant and growing threat, one that was hurtling its way toward a crowded stretch of land that was filled with the giant bees. Norani and the other dragoons began reaching for their weapons, but Borabi raised a hand, stopping them as they raced forward. She would handle this herself. Norani knew that this must be due to them carrying the guests and passengers, not wishing to expose them to excess danger. That would take precedent over a singular opportunity to train the new recruits. Borabi gave another signal and the recruits began to head for the strange pile of bees.
Boraba leapt down from her Matriarch, and on the twenty foot drop, she sent Wind Singer slicing toward the pack of Laughers. Their was a soft, crystalline ringing around the land as it flew, a pleasant and beautiful sound. Norani swooped in down around the bees, speaking quickly to Yeva, "Stay with Ruvaf." Then Norani slid off the back of the Ci'uvan, landing in a shlurp in the mud of the riverbank.
Ruvaf had warmed up to Yeva over the last few days together and he knew his role in this moment. Keep Yeva safe, be the eyes in the sky. He would respond to any of the motions or commands that Yeva gave, if they were the same as he'd learned from Norani.
Norani trudged through the mud, drawing a melee chakram in her left hand, a throwing in her right, making her way to protect the bees. It was strange to see them all clustered around something. She couldn't see through the bodies to know what was beneath there, but she, and the other dragoons would be the rock the Laughers would crash against running from...
BOOOM!
Wind Singer's melody crashed as it speed up, breaking the sound barrier, and sliced cleanly through many of the pack, right down the middle. Boraba was chasing after them as the great wind relic whistled its way back toward her. The pack was now in chaos and disarray, some splitting up to flee, others continuing forward toward Norani and the bees. Norani took the foremost position in the semi circle they'd formed to guard it, tensing and readying. At the front of the formation, she barked, "Be the stone in the river!"
They all knew what that. Drive the Laughers around them and away while causing as much damage as possible. The water guarded their backs, the two scouts were overhead, coordinating the flying Ci'uvan and keeping eyes on the ground. The first of the Laughers approached Norani at full sprint, a small male, the size of a northern wolf, laughing maniacally. The Orkhan planted her feet, lowering her center of gravity finding purchase deep in the mud, watching as the Laugher slowed due to the same. Others were behind it and Norani twisted at her hips, waiting, coiling, as her draconic scales began to flare out, deep emerald with black tinting color, over her arms, torso, legs, and face. From above, her and the others, would look more like dragons than Ork, unleashing their true forms now.
The closer it got, the slower it moved, and Norani uncoiled her spring of a body and sent her chakram flying. It soared over the mud, and found purchase between the maws of the creature that laughed no more as it flopped into the mud. The others hesitated but pushed onward, for Chieftain Boraba was gaining on them and Wind Singer just boomed its way through another half dozen of the creatures. Norani drew her second melee chakram as the others pushed forward in a panic, and the scattered and scared pack crashed against the dragoons. Another approached Norani, and she twisted her chakram so that the blade was not pointing outward, but upward from her wrist and she punched forward. This gave her a bit of a shield as she found her striking hitting the creature in the shoulder, absorbing some of its forward momentum. There was a shock in her wrist from the blow, she hadn't expected the creature to be so muscularly dense. She pushed against it, driving it to her right. As she did, she chopped downward with her second chakram, a deep score just behind the creature's shoulder.
This drove it down the line to the other dragoons, the formation working as intended. There were many more, but Boraba was cleaning them up quickly and she was about a hundred yards out from the group, sending more and more Laughers to the grave or scattered back to the grasses. They just had to hold on for a little bit longer.
