The Rise of the Black Plain

When he heard Minos' answer, the winged lizard sensed sincerity in the words of the human who was emitting the terrible aura of Dragons.

Then he asked. "Why is your group being pursued by Gorgons? Gorgons are terrible, but they don't act without a reason."

"They attacked one of my companions because of old problems, and I had to defend him. Anyway, it's a complicated story." Minos said, looking around while standing over Nite's head.

"Is it? But for your group to be on the run, they must be pretty strong, right? At what level are they ones chasing you?" That creature probed, looking for as much information as possible.

These days, everything made him more defensive and worried about the future of his people.

With a war already raging between the Sky Whales and the Dragons, he didn't want his rulers to get into any more trouble, especially at home.

Minos tried to make an assessment. "I don't know. If we had found them, we probably wouldn't be in one piece, and maybe we wouldn't even be able to have this conversation with you. A level 95 elder led the last group that attacked us. I imagine the one currently chasing us is led by someone stronger."

Gulp!

"Are you serious?" The creature slowed down and distanced himself from Minos' group.

But he could sense that there were no lies in Minos' words, and considering what he himself knew about Gorgons, it was very likely that it was all true.

Gorgons were vengeful and didn't bother using elders to deal with juniors.

"I wouldn't lie," Minos replied sincerely. "I wouldn't risk my group going into the Dragon territory if it weren't for my situation."

The creature felt his scales tremble as he thought about what could happen because of this group and the ongoing hunt.

'The Gorgons aren't strong enough to threaten the Dragons, but given the current sensitivity of the continent, anything could start a widespread rebellion in our lands.' He thought, trying to decide what to do with this information.

With the changing times and the beginning of an era of scarcity, anything that would inspire acts of vengeance was more likely to raise the 'temperature' of these lands.

Everyone moved to increase the level of their supplies and strength, for once the hard times began, natural resources would take much longer to mature, and cultivation itself would become more difficult.

So, battles for resources were sure to occur in the future. And anyone who had reason to believe that a new rivalry would arise was more likely to become violent against other groups.

No one could say for sure who would survive the coming disaster. Still, it wasn't uncommon for weaker tribes to become bolder during such times, causing problems for the stronger ones.

With this in mind, before such times began, any heated act could provoke immediate responses to prevent future rebellious acts.

'As for this group, I don't think they're here to sabotage the Dragon Tribe.' He considered it as he looked at the many sea creatures above the two phoenixes.

Although the group had a rather strange and suspicious configuration, they didn't seem to have any warlike intentions.

With this in mind, the large-winged lizard said. "You should go to the Great Hyena Forest. I've heard that a level 94 Dragon is doing business there. Maybe he'll dissuade the group of Gorgons that are chasing you."

After saying this, the large winged lizard flew away from them, determined not to follow them any further, lest he get into trouble that could cost him his head.

As much as he was a subordinate interested in helping the Dragons and willing to sacrifice himself, he was not a fool who would accept dying for any reason.

Seeing no reason to join this group and see what would happen to them, he watched them disappear over the horizon as he flew in the opposite direction and looked back.

'If I'm wrong, the old man will take care of you...' He thought as he sighed, wondering what would happen next.

...

Meanwhile, Minos' group was not bothered by the winged lizard's departure after his last comment.

"Do you want to visit the Great Hyena Forest, Minos?" Nite asked. "We're not far from there.

"But is it safe for us to follow the advice of a stranger? Who can guarantee that the Gorgons aren't behind him?" The Arctic Whale, the creature in this crew who least wanted to meet Dragons, voiced this doubt.

But then the other Phoenix standing beside Nite said. "Impossible. That creature belongs to a race loyal to the Dragons. He would rather die than submit to other beings.

For the subordinates of the Dragons, their superiors are like gods. Taking orders from anyone else would be like equating mortals with gods."

"Hmm, there is no chance that level 93 elder is related to Gorgons," Dunyxa said, confirming what the large phoenix carrying Minos had said.

Minos was aware of this, as he knew very well the relations of the ancient tribes of this continent and how the direct subordinates of the Dragons acted.

"Let's go to the Great Hyena Forest. It's not far from the path we were on. If we don't find anything there, we'll lose at most two travel days." He said, willing to risk it.

"But that will wipe out the advantage we've gained by working so hard these past few weeks!" The whale argued.

"It's worth the risk." The level 91 woman of the Sea Folk agreed with Minos. "If we can meet such a powerful Dragon, it is worth the risk of losing these days."

With a Dragon around, there was no guarantee they would be safe. But if the Gorgons caught up with them near such a creature, they and the Gorgons could draw the creature's attention and force it to act.

Since they were the weakest, they were confident that the Gorgons would have more trouble in such a situation than they would.

This was Minos' plan!

With that decided, the two phoenixes carrying the group soon subtly changed the direction of their flights, pointing toward the Great Hyena Forest.

Meanwhile, Dunyxa felt a shiver run down her spine as she realized that it wouldn't be long before some of her tribe's strongest elders caught up with them.

She thought as she sweated. 'I don't think the previous strategy will work this time.' She looked at Abby and Minos.

One way or another, their peace had already come to an end. As they flew into the Great Hyena Forest, a group of Gorgons was only a few hours away from them.

And as they had expected, this group was much stronger than the one from months ago!