I held up my hand as a signal. Zak and Arran nodded in response. It was coming. In front of the full moon, a black shape was visible, temporarily blocking out some of the moonlight. It was Kushak, my tamed Dragon. Zak and Arran's Creatures were nowhere to be seen. The ground began to shake, as the black beast came towards us. Loose scree came off the rock I was sat up against. It was getting closer. Suddenly it was so close that I could feel it's evil breath on the back of my neck. It's sword like fangs dripped with it's saliva, which glinted in the moon's rays. A clawed paw gripped the rock, making more rubble fall onto me. I gripped my knife, the blade sharpened before the hunt. I looked to where Zak was. His eyes were wide, alert, fully responsive. I dared to nod at him. The beast noticed this movement and lunged a paw at me. I dodged and drew my knife. Arran started his assault. Zak climbed on the rock with his trusty bow. I leapt at the creature's face and thrust my knife into it's amber – like eyeball. The beast screamed and swiped, knocking me into a boulder. My armour dug into my side, winding me. The beast fell on the floor in pain while Zak poisoned it with his arrows. The poison was powerful, wiped from the backs of Arrowpoison frogs. The beast didn't stand a chance. When the poison had seeped in the creature's system, Arran attacked it with his Katana. Zak ran over to me.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeh, fine." I managed to cough.
"We could do with another attacker over here." shouted Arran as he dodged the beasts claws. Zak helped me to my feet, and I drew out my horn. I blew into the Dragon head shaped item and it issued a soft, Reptile – like call. A Dragon responded, and Kushak flew down from the heavens, his great wings issuing him a soft landing. Kushak took over from Arran, and he and Zak revealed their horns. Arran's was in the shape of a beak, and a hawk – like call. The sky was temporarily lit up with sparks as a golden Griffin came soaring into the night sky. It's gleaming feathers glittered as he came to land by Arran's side. Zak's horn had a human face carved into it, with razor sharp teeth. From it I heard a harsh trumpet sound, and out of the darkness of the forest formed a beast that few had seen and lived to tell the tale. The Manticore rose up out of obscurity like an angry God. It pounded the ground with it's Dragon – like feet. Kushak looked around for a moment, and the black – pelted beast broke free and pinned him to the ground. Kushak struggled but the strength of the creature held him firm. Arran sent his Griffin, named Taqouri, to help Kushak. He obeyed and struck the beast with it's diamond – hard talons. Kushak managed to get to his feet again as the creature leapt up and screamed in pain. Taqouri could see the purple poison as scarlet blood leaked from the wound. It swiped and the Griffin flew away just in time to make the attacker miss. I gripped Zak's arm.
"We need it alive." I said, and with that, Zak sent in Tsaleth his Manticore. He leapt on the beast with lightening speed and paralyzed it with his scorpion sting. The beast lay there, twitching as a struggle against the powerful paralysis venom. Zak pointed his arrow in the air and shot. The arrow exploded into a net and held the creature to the ground. With the net being made of titanium, there was no way the beast was getting free. I called Kushak over. He was limping, the claws of the creature had sunk even into Kushak's metallic skin as it held him firm. His warm blood ran down the cool scales. I ran my fingers over his silver snout. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, content now that his mistress was safe. Taqouri and Tsaleth rejoined their masters, them too relieved that the fight was over. As we began to walk away, our creatures stood their ground. I gave a worried look to Zak and Arran. They both shrugged. The beast had recovered from Taleth's venom, and struggled in the net, and failed to get free. I gave a relieved sigh. Zak came over to me.
"You think he'll stay in there?" he asked. "I mean, until it's taken away." I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry." I assured him. "You know the net is made of titanium, right?" Zak nodded and smiled. "Do you mind if I ride Tsaleth with you? Kushak is injured, I don't want to risk anything."
"Sure." Zak called over Tsaleth. He got on then gave me his hand to help me on. Even though Tsaleth looks like the kind of creature that'll tear your head off at first sight, he will be prepared to die for his master and friends. I was prepared for a rough take-off, but surprisingly, I barely felt us leave the ground. Kushak also took off, followed by Taqouri and Arran. Tsaleth was a swift flyer, and I had to hold on to Zak with fear of falling off. Zak turned around.
"It's alright for you," I said "You have his mane to hold onto." Zak laughed.
"He's not exactly designed for two passengers." He said. I turned to Arran, who waved as he kept one hand on Taqouri's glistening neck feathers. I waved back and smiled. Down below, the Midnight Cougar we captured lay still in it's net. Beside us, Kushak glided on the night air. He looked at me and snorted. I smiled back at him, and we carried on flying, with only the moon and stars illuminating night.