I sat staring out over the desert. Mind lost, swirling out amongst the sand.

"Your highness?"

A weak voice tore away my thoughts and returned me to the familiar pillars and walls of the palace meditation room.

I rose and faced the servant, despite being small for a Mipedian he still had to hunch slightly to stay on level with me.

I Was a bit annoyed "What is it? Has Kolmo arrived early?"

My meeting with Kolmo to discuss his infiltration of the Danian hive was to take place today but not for another hour.

"I much more urgent matter I'm afraid, the guards are in a bit of a panic…"

I could tell he was stalling, something was about to ruin my day.

I sighed "Out with it, what's the problem, invasion, riot?"

He still hesitated "well… I didn't see anything myself you see... but the guards have been reporting… a rouge warbeast your highness"

I shoved the man aside and ran.

A rouge warbeast? What did that even mean? Warbeasts had gone awry before usually when they didn't have a conjuror to control them, but their recklessness meant they ran out of energy and disappeared rather quickly. This could mean only one thing, it wasn't a rouge warbeast, it was a rogue conjuror.

I flung open the palace door and raced out into the city streets. Guards were rushing towards the south side of the city and I followed. I saw citizens huddle inside invisible and unseen waiting for the outcome of the chaos. I moved swiftly through the streets with the other guards, lines of dust racing behind us as we made our way to the city's edge. I arrived to find most of the guards set up in formation, I could barely make out a colossal black form in the distance, the shimmering waves of heat cast off the massive body obscured it but I made out four huge limbs and a pair of huge wings jetting out of the dark form.

I approach the first elite I saw, he was addressing several of the guards who ran off back into the city.

He turned to look at me and bowed. "Your highness, I'm glad to see you've arrived."

I wasn't interested in anything but the warbeast "Skip the formalities" I said "I want a report what the heck is going on here."

He stood up quickly and looked slightly nervous "well sir It isn't any warbeast we've seen before, our scouts tell us it's some kind of giant dragon. So far it's attacked anyone who went close enough to it and it seems to be slowly heading for the city."

"And how do you plan on stopping it?" I asked

"Well sir, the beast hasn't been able to detect our hidden troops easily so we plan on moving unseen to surround it, after that, we'll hit it from every side and hopefully be able to finish it quickly."

I frowned and crossed my arms "Has anyone been in contact with the conjurors?"

"Not yet sir" the elite replied, "but we can send troops to the catacombs after we deal with the problem here."

"Send a couple men to round up any conjurors currently in the city and bring them to the palace, tell the rest of your troops that were moving out now."

The elite made a move to object, then thought better of it and repeated my order to the crowd.

I waited only a moment before disappearing and sprinting forward towards the right side of the creature. The army took up formation behind me but I didn't slow my pace to wait for them. The others plan would work well if there was only one beast to deal with but I had to find the conjurors if we wanted to even the odds. The beast was in full view now, it was indeed a large dragon. It was roughly four stories tall with aven wings large enough to cover an entire other warbeast with ease, Its long black neck ended in an impressive mane of long sharp feathers which were bristled at attention. In fact, the whole beast seemed to be braced for something. Its back arched, its wings outstretched it stood almost motionless except for huge breaths which blew the sand around its feet. I was more certain than ever that this was a planned attack, and the other soldiers would be too. As we approached however they slowed and began to fan out around the creature according to plan. I took a wide birth around the creature's side and scanned the area around the beast, a rock formation nearby jutted out of the sand and was large enough to shield several conjurors from view. I turned and headed for it, I looked back and noted that the soldiers were finishing their formation around the beast, I would have to be quick if I wanted to confront the conjurors before they struck. I reached the rock formation and glanced around, it was completely deserted. Suddenly I froze.

I was aware of something I hadn't been paying attention to until now. the soft tingle on my nose that alerted all Mipedians to the presence of invisible creatures wasn't just coming from the soldiers. It also wasn't coming from the rocks as I had anticipated, it was coming from the area above the soldiers. I turned to become visible and warn the others but the trap was already in motion.

The beast moved first. It leaped up into the air the huge gusts from its wings were enough to topple several of the soldiers while staggering others. Like a flock of vicious birds, dozens of winged Mipedians appeared in the sky and dove onto targets disarming and disabling a soldier before leaping back into the air. They then leaped back into the skies in time for another great gust from the warbeast to knock the soldiers back again. In less than a minute every soldier had either disappeared, retreated or been disarmed. Suddenly I felt a presence approaching me fast, I drew my sword just in time to feel the clang of another blade against it.

The wielder appeared in front of me, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"You're attacking us?" I rolled backward away from my attacker's blade.

The large blue Mipedian sheathed his sword and shrugged. "Just a test son and I must say I was quite disappointed."

I was furious "A test?! If I find a single warrior harmed I'll throw you in prison and leave you there till the end of time!"

My father smirked, "I'd like to see you try little one, as of now I'm retaking command of our tribe."

Now it was my turn to be amused "Oh really? You think the tribe will just lift your exile just because managed to win one battle? Mudeenu's troops are less than a day to the north, not to mention the Mipedians still in the city, so you won't be taking it by force."

"I guess you haven't been reading your history lately, come we should get back to the city."

I still was nervous but considering my situation going to the city was the best option. So we started walking.

"I suppose I might as well start with why I'm still alive. As you know Mipedian kings have been living in exile since the age of king Khen-sep, with their heirs ruling in their place. The king takes the many mile journey to Omen summit and is never seen again. Until now everyone assumed the king just died there, and I can see by your face you kind of wish I did."

I sighed, "of course not, I'm sure you knew what you were doing but attacking our own soldiers is something I can't allow."

The king nodded "I understand. I was on Omen summit however where I met this group of Mipedians." he gestured to the winged warriors who walked behind us. "They have been living with our king's ages and I've been with them until now."

"So why come back now?" I asked.

"I was surprised at first too" he replied. "One day there was a great light in the sky far off in the distance, I could barely make it out but the group told me that it meant my exile had ended. I thought they might be about to kill me but they explained that long ago when their ancestors came here with Khen-sep they had promised to remain until the city of elements had been returned. Apparently, this was the symbol they had been waiting for."

I was shocked but it did make everything I'd seen today come together. "I'm guessing the attack was your idea?"

"Of course, I wanted to be sure I needed to take charge." he put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry son but this city is more important than you know, and I don't have much time left to act."

As we came close to the city a slender mipedian ran up to me.

"Iflar sir, I'm so sorry I missed our meeting, the chaos was…"

Before I could speak the king interrupted me.

"Who is this and why were you meeting him."

I didn't answer but Kolmo replied quickly "I'm Kolmo sir, I was meeting to discuss Danian relations…"

I waved a hand to silence him, my father looked annoyed. He spoke to Kolmo "come to the palace tomorrow and we'll talk more. For now, you are dismissed."

Kolmo looked at me for approval. I nodded and watched as he dashed away eagerly.

Suddenly I noticed the winged Mipedians had gathered in lines behind us.

One of them pulled me behind my father and whispered "Stay in formation for the procession"

As we walking into the city I tried to whisper an objection but instead heard a resounding cry from the winged warriors.

"All hail the return of Theb-saar!"