Somewhere in the Great Golden Desert…
Amidst the dune complex that spread across the world of dry gold, forming a picture that looked straight out of a fairytale stood houses and stone structures.
All around a distance across kilometers was sand, but in the middle of nowhere in the Great Golden Desert was this human settlement.
Houses constructed using mud bricks and stones covered a territory spanning kilometers. They were mostly small, compact, and where built in a dome shape except the one building that was at the center of this settlement.
Not only bigger than all the others, but this building was made like a pyramid.
This was the home of the Audun Tribe of the Great Golden Desert.
As the dry dust flew with the wind, activities went on inside.
"All rangers to the outpost and wait for instructions!" A loud voice reverberated through the heat of the desert as it yelled orders repeatedly.
"All new builders to the perimeter, join the others in the building effort".
"We must build the wall and erect a defense perimeter to protect our home before they get here!"
As soon as each order was yelled out by the commander, the corresponding warriors who were all dressed in desert clothes obeyed and sprinted to fulfill them.
Before now, the commander already assigned roles to them so they understood where they stood and obeyed as soon as the orders were given.
Standing among the warriors was a bright purple-haired middle-aged man, well, using his hair as comparison didn't matter since they were all purple-haired.
Purple hair was the defining trait of the Audun tribe of the Great Desert.
Most if not all of the warriors of the tribe had purple hair.
"All protectors to the wall, protect the builders!"
As soon as Altan heard this, he was jolted awake as he picked up his war sickle and sprinted alongside other warriors to the perimeter of the wall.
As he sprinted away, the commander's words slowly faded.
Altan briefly looked back at his home then he said his prayers. "May the Tree God protect my family until my return".
On arriving alongside the other warriors, Altan laid his eyes on the wall made of mud bricks and stones that was slowly being erected by the builders.
The builders were hard at work, relentlessly piling up the stones to push the wall higher as their survival probably depended on if the wall was erected on time.
While they did this, the transporters were also hard at work. Walking great distances, these warriors carried mud bricks and stones to the perimeter of the tribe for the construction of the wall.
The rangers were already sent out by their captain as they spread out in a semi-circle formation, scouting the surroundings for any threat.
Alongside the other protectors, Altan preserved his strength.
Honk!
The next moment, the loud sound of a horn reverberated, all the protectors stood up as they grabbed their weapons and got prepared for battle.
Honk! Honk!
2 more blaring horn sounds reverberated.
'3 horn blasts, a large army'. Altan's face turned grim.
As they waited, just a few seconds later, they finally saw them. Hundreds of Giant Desert Beetles charged down the sand dunes towards them with speed.
These mutated beetles were as huge as rabbits and also blessed with their speed, they had poisonous and extremely hard mandibles for tearing prey apart.
The Captain, protector Aegon raised a clenched fist to indicate stillness.
Altan held his war sickle tighter and prayed. "May the Tree God protect us".
Everything faded into static as the beetles charged in their numbers while the protectors waited until Captain Aegon finally gave the signal.
He dropped his hand. "Now!"
Boom!
The rope was cut by one of the protectors as the sand opened up on their front, swallowing dozens of Giant Beetles in one swoop.
The Beetles screeched as they paused their charge, right on time for the archers and warriors with spears to unleash their wrath on them.
Whoosh!
"The Head tribe has gone overboard this time!"
"We will not allow it…"
"No…"
As the elders caused a commotion voicing their thoughts, the Tribe head looked at them for a few seconds before shaking his head.
He roared the next moment. "Silence!"
Bam!
Aragast flared his blood-red pugilist energy as he crushed the stone-made armrest of his chair as he stood up and glared at all the elders. "You overpampered selfish bastards filled with only thoughts of acting when it involves your self-interest".
"Have you forgotten your roots?"
"Have you forgotten why you became elders?!"
"You lived long enough to become elders because our ancestors protected us, they built the foundation for us, their descendants to strive and survive".
Aragast raised a finger and warned. "In case you've all forgotten, the number one goal of the elder's council is to protect the younger generation and take decisions for them that they are too inexperienced to take".
"I agree with Kohama's plan. The Kong Tribe wants to form an elite allied squad of rangers and protectors to find the enemies first and discover ways to kill them before they kill us".
"From what we know, regular ways don't kill them and they are nocturnal".
Aragast glared at the elders. "Inform the Commanders, let them select the best 20 of our rangers and protectors and send them to the Kong Tribe".
"The council is dismissed".
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel