" All right, we can go back.Picking up the phylactery, Zarri said, calmly approaching her sister.

There was a soft flapping sound from the girl's back, like a cloth fluttering in the wind. Grabbing her sister's arm, Huona pulled the girl toward her, and then both of them froze for a moment in shock – a couple of meters away, at the very edge of the cliff, three huge lizards soared into the sky and, flying over the very heads of the elves, flew towards the Monastery.

– Who is it? Winged?Zarri asked, clutching at her older sister in bewilderment.

– No, did you see the webbing on his wings? The winged feet don't look like that. They were mountain wyverns.Huona replied, recovering from the unexpected encounter."Hurry, we need to get to the monastery as fast as possible, they're going there!"The girl shouted, pulling her sister after her.

****

With a single sweep of its powerful tail, an old wyvern with slightly frayed wings tore down the archway of the stone archway, covering several guards with it. The Templars swung their engraved blades, glittering in the sun, and charged at a pair of young animals that were rampaging around the main square. The lizards flew in circles around the garden, playfully clashing in battle with each other and did not even pay attention to the approaching opponents. When one of the elves finally gave the party away with his furious war cries, the wyverns scattered to either side of the garden and swooped down in a slicing maneuver, knocking the temple guards to the ground. The fallen elves were about to get up, but the merciless lizardmen landed on top of their immobilized enemies. Bones crunched under heavy paws, and even the heavy armor that the dwarves had forged especially for the Monastery's guards couldn't withstand the force of the blow. The poor devils died under the clawed paws of bloodthirsty lizards, without the ability to resist the monsters.

– Get down!"Kait shouted as Yuona ran up, spotting a flying clot of wyvern acid from afar.

–What's going on?"– trying to shout over the screams of the dying and the sounds of battle, the girl asked.– Why did they attack the Monastery?"

– We don't know.The guard shouted as he ran to safety."The lizards arrived so unexpectedly that we didn't have time to raise the alarm.

– Where is the Elder?Zarri asked, tapping into the conversation.– I don't see him on the battlefield.

– He is near the Monastery fighting off the alpha male of this pack with other guardians. Now is not the time to talk, I need to help the others, so find a place where these creatures can't reach you and keep your head down until everything calms down.The templar said in a commanding tone, already gaining on his squad

– Well, no way!Huona shouted angrily and resolutely – " I'll find the Elder, they might need help."

– Will you leave me alone with these winged monsters running around?– Looking into the eyes of her sister, Zarri asked – Well, no, I'll go with you too.

" Zarri is not safe," Huona drawled, trying to dissuade the young elf

–no. This is not up for discussion. I'm coming with you, period!– strictly answered the girl, catching up with her hurrying sister.

The lizards tore down everything they saw in their path, sometimes smashing down stone structures, sometimes spitting acid on monastery gardens and houses. There was chaos all around, noise, confusion, the screams of wounded or burned guards mingling with the clang of steel swords against the tough scales of wyverns, maintaining an unbearable atmosphere of madness around the bacchanal. The dying Templars crawled along the blood-soaked ground in the hope of escaping, but the lizards caught up with them and tossed the pain-stricken elves into the air, playing with the bodies of the guards as a cat plays with a trapped mouse. Most of the inhabitants of the monastery settled in houses that the monsters, for unknown reasons, did not attack, passing through each house in pursuit of warlike templars and monks. It seemed that the lizardmen were selective in their goals, attacking only warriors and magic-wielding monks, but what was driving the unexpected rampage of the dragons, who had previously lived peacefully in their caves, only occasionally attacking passing caravans, was still a mystery. The monks were lost in the chaos, torn by difficult elections that would have a lot of consequences. There were guards who were slowly losing their vitality and needed to be helped to heal the warrior's wounds, for which you would most likely pay with your own life if you didn't have time to escape from the wyvern that had overtaken you. Or you can just run away from the battlefield, letting the poor guy die in the clutches of ferocious monsters, for which you will reproach yourself for a long time, realizing the weight of your guilt. Of course, most of the priests, ignoring possible remorse, hurriedly left the danger zone, locking themselves in the Monastery, like cowardly rodents hiding in their burrows in case of danger.

– Cowards! Traitors and scoundrels!Elder Valn shouted from the locked door of the temple – " Saving your own skins at the cost of the lives of others, isn't that what your abbots and ancestors taught you?"

– Accept your death with dignity, old man, " one of the priests replied through the locked door."Today, everyone is saving themselves as best they can.

– The gods will punish you for your treachery!Valn shouted furiously, abandoning all attempts to negotiate with the terrified monks.– The death of all these people will be on your conscience…

After taking a few steps down the stairs and leaving the pillared terrace, Valn looked around for his enemy. Growling fiercely, the old male flew down from the temple roof like a tornado, landing in the very center of the courtyard. This wyvern was three times the size of its own kind, larger and stronger than even the largest of its kind, an old man covered from muzzle to tail with scales that were horny like stone growths, which even a well-equipped warrior could not break through. With its wings, the lizard could take down a squad of heavy infantry, and with the spiked tip of its tail, it tore down walls and towers built of strong stone that were beyond the power of even a well-assembled battering ram. The monster's fangs and horns were as sharp as sharpened dwarven swords that could split heavy carapaces of black silver, and the monster wielded them as well as a swordsman wielded his blade.

– I'm not afraid of you winged serpent!Valn shouted as he lunged at the alpha male.

The beast snarled angrily and swung its long neck, waiting for the elf to reach a certain point. Waiting for the right moment, the lizard lowered its head to ground level and let out a deafening wail that made the Elder's ears bleed. Covering his ears with his hands, the priest fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

– Valn!Leta shouted as she ran up to the temple, sending a magical swirl through the wyvern.