Ha! Ha!
Altan struggled to breath as he collapsed on the floor.
After a tiring battle that lasted well over an hour and after some inescapable sacrifices, the protectors finally managed to drive the Giant Desert Beetles back.
Amid his rapid breathing, the first thing that Altan thought of was thanking his god for saving his life as he made a brief praying form to the east.
After that, he just stayed lying on the sand, looking at the blood of the beetles that stained his body and that also stained his war sickle.
His war sickle was a customized weapon. Before becoming a warrior, he was a farmer who served the Tree god by trying his best to nurture the few trees that can grow in the extreme conditions of the desert.
He believed that the Tree god was eternal. The fact that a tree could survive in a desert as hot and dry as this was proof that his god was eternal.
While resting, he looked at the corpse of his comrades that were already being taken care of by the rangers.
'When will this all end?' He wondered.
He briefly remembered the Hermit's promise and he felt at peace a little.
He barely closed his eyes to rest before the loud voice of his Captain interrupted him.
"Amak, Arya, Anabel, Altan, Arnold, Argast, Ackermann, you are all to report to the elder's pyramid with me".
"Yes captain!"
Without any questions, Altan forced himself up before following the captain and the other 6 protectors that were called. In no time, they arrived before a full elder council alongside 12 other warriors from the rangers department.
Tribe head Aragast addressed them himself.
"The threat of the Titans is approaching faster than we expected".
"The Freljord tribe was attacked yesterday, they barely made it".
"At the moment, the only bit of information that we know about the animated Titans from the sacrifices of rangers of the Freljord and Kong tribes is their nocturnal weakness".
"If we don't act fast, we may die before we know it".
"Kohama's plan is to send an elite team of protectors and rangers to go deep enough to know more about them, we know too little at this moment".
"I agree with the plan and you lots will be the 20 champions that will be representing our great Audun Tribe".
"Take this mission with great honor".
"Dismissed".
"Clan head". The warriors bowed before making their way out of the elder's pyramid, they were given a few dozen minutes to go see their family.
Of course, Altan did not waste this opportunity as he ran to his house where his wife was outside tanning animal hide while his son was playing about.
At the tender age of 4, Agan still had a year to enjoy his childhood before officially being taken into the ranks as a warrior of Audun.
"Daddy!" Agan cried as soon as he saw his father, running into his embrace.
Altan carried his boy. "You're growing so fast".
Like him, the little boy also had purple hair.
"You're back?" Altan's beautiful wife asked as she left what she was doing, prompting a wide smile to lit this warrior's face.
Unlike the other 2, Altan's wife, Jeldia was of the Jabari tribe and had wine-colored hair. Altan embraced his 2 most important things in the world for a few minutes, giving his wife the hint that she wanted.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes". Altan whispered into her ear. "An elite team to stop the Titans".
She patted his back slightly and kissed him on the lips before pulling out of the embrace, then she turned her back to him. "Fight hard, kill the Titans and make the tribe proud".
"I will be cheering for your victory".
"I will".
"Father, promise me".
"I promise". Altan laughed.
With her back facing him and her shoulders vibrating gently, tears flowed down Jeldia's eyes. "Please don't die…"
…
Once all the warriors were gathered, they left for the Kong tribe.
It took them a few hours but after moving through the dangerous terrain of the Golden Desert safely, they arrived at their destination.
The Kong tribe settlement was much like the Audun tribe settlement with few differences. Being the head tribe of the other 7 tribes, it was much more prosperous and powerful than the Audun tribe.
Alongside the Drago Celeste tribe, they were the only tribes to have a protective wall already around their territory for a long time.
After leaving them outside at the entrance to the Kong elder's pyramid, their Captains, Protector Aegon and Ranger Amanak entered inside.
About a minute later, Protector Aegon came back. "Come in".
Alongside the others, Altan went in only to see dozens of other warriors already gathered before them. It seemed they were the last to arrive, there were warriors from all the other 7 tribes gathered already in this hall.
At this moment, they were all standing before the elder's council of the Kong Tribe and Tribe head Kohama himself was about to address them.
"Welcome, warriors from the 8 tribes of our ancestors".
"Today, for the first time in over a century, we are about to embark on a mission that involves all 8 of our Great tribes".
"I call this mission the Vanguard Mission".
"Through the sacrifices of a lot of our rangers and protectors, we were able to learn very few about the Titans and their momentum is increasing".
"First things first, we've learned that the Titans are weak and cannot move at night, bringing the hypothesis that their reanimation is powered by the sun".
"Every part of their body is invincible and can not be killed even when you cut off their neck or you stab right through their heart".
"Their only weakness is their brain. They have a certain crystal inside their brain, I believe this is how the Clown Society controls them".
"By destroying the crystal, you succeed in killing them".
"This vital information was learned by one of our strongest protectors".
"The Vanguard Mission requires more from you, I hear you're the elites of your various tribes, now is the time to rescue your family with your skills".
"The Titans are too strong, fighting them head-on will lead to our annihilation, we need to find a way to destroy them from their very root".
"We believe this secret lies in their ancient tomb".
"They've been dead for centuries until the Clown Society woke them up".
"Your job as the Vanguard Mission is to find the secret trigger to bring an end to all the undead Titans".
"You must achieve this goal if we are to survive, even if that involves losing your life, the Clown Society has pushed us this far".
"Remember, the mission is to find the secret trigger".
"Once you find it and cannot pull it, retreat and report the discovery, a bigger army would then be assembled to fight their way through and pull the trigger once and for all".
"May your various gods protect you".
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