Wonderful 21.

The Nomads Plains...

"Come on let's go and see" says Halatai, his cousin Amagin nods his head and grins, and the two boys slip out of camp as the sun rises in the east on a new day here in the north of the Nomads Plains.
The two boys, both around ten years old, head down through the dry gully near their tribes camp, they both have their knives on their belts, and they're both carrying their bows, as they like anyone else, wouldn't be caught dead going out onto the plains without carrying a weapon.
Halatai the slightly bigger of the two cousins, holds up a hand to stop as he hears something once they're out of the gully, he looks back and spots someone following them "Flalil" quietly says Halatai in a dry tone of voice.
Amagin looks back and spots his little sister heading through the dry gully, he sourly smiles, and the two cousins couch down in the shade of a rock pile and wait for the girl to catch up. She spots them, and hurries up to where they're next to the pile of rocks "I want to come too" says Flalil when she reaches them "We know" dryly says Amagin to his little sister, who says to her brother and her cousin "Domatai and Tolagin already left camp before you two".
The two boys share a look, then Halatai sourly says "By Qxain is everyone going to be there this morning?" without waiting for an answer, the older cousin leads the way, and heads out over the flatland that's close to the tribe's camp.
The three young nomads move quickly and quietly over the flat ground, even young Flalil who at just seven years old, knows how to move with stealth and speed in the harsh environs of the plains that bares their people's name.
The trio are heading to a rise to the southwest of the camp, about a mile away, they constantly keep looking to the east at the sands a couple of miles away, where sand dragons dwell. At least they know there won't be any heading to the rise, or any wild wyverns too, who for the past two weeks have avoided it, and avoided it with good reason.
The cousins cross the flatland and make their way across some rocky ground. Contrary to what townsmen think, the nomads plains isn't completely flat, with the odd rolling hill like terrain. You can find all sorts of terrain in the nomads plains, even foothills at the base of mountains along the very northern edge of the plains of the nomads.
But the townsmen of Belinswae are correct about one thing, the nomads plains terrain is all arid and dry, there's no denying that fact.
The three cousins drop down into a dry river bed, which hasn't flowed with water in millennia, about fifty yards in, and they go up a bank, all in a crouch, making their way to a boulder field, where you can see the rise which isn't too far away.
"Hell, is everyone going to turn up this morning?" says a voice to the right, Halatai looks that way and sees Domatai in the lee of a boulder, Halatai nods to their fellow tribe member who is the same age as himself, then asks "Has it come out this morning?". "It has" says Domatai, who nods for the three cousins to follow him, he leads them up through the boulder field, until they get to a large boulder, which his brother Tolagin is sitting in the shade, around the the front of it.
The youngsters join him, and they all look up to the rise, where the opening to a cave is, a cave that's used for one of the tribes water stores, as there's a natural pool in it. A cave that for obvious reasons, is no longer able to be used. At the peak of the rise above the cave mouth is the decomposing head of a wyvern, while to the right of the cave entrance is the skeleton of the sand dragon that's been annoying the tribe for the last couple of years, until it met it's fate a couple of weeks ago.
"Where is it?" asks Amagin, Tolagin the oldest of the youngsters sitting in the shade of the boulder replies with "It's gone back in" he continues with "It was baying like a jackal earlier". "We know, we heard from camp" says Halatai, who was with his father and uncle when they discovered, for lack of a word, what dwells in the cave now, he then adds "It usually comes out a few times before it gets too hot" they've learnt from the tribe's scouts and hunters that it's way more active at night than it is during the day.
In silence they wait for sometime, so much so, that Flalil, the youngest of them, starts to get fidgety, and she breaks the silence, by saying "Where's the monster?" her older brother Amagin is just about to tell her to have some patience, when the monster makes an appearance as it comes out of the cave.
"It's naked again" dryly says Halatai "I forgot to mention that" says Tolagin as young Flalil giggles, and her older brother Amagin softly chuckles as they all watch the monster standing there naked, stretching in the early morning sunshine, while in one hand it holds a long spear, and in the other, a very large sword.
As usual when the monster makes an appearance, a spirited argument breaks out amongst the children, as to what it is "I'm telling you, it's a goblin" says Domatai, who is convinced the monster is a goblin, for goblins are green, and so is the monster.
"Please, no goblin is that big, everyone knows that" says Amagin "How would you know, you've never seen a townsmen, let alone a goblin" says Tolagin who comes to the defense of his younger brother "Nor have you" says Amagin, who continues with "But from the stories of the bard, no goblin he describes is that big".
The brothers Domatai and Tolagin are about to argue some more, when they fall silent as Halatai quietly says "It's not a goblin" he continues with "My uncle says it isn't" everyone knows Halatai's uncle Saladén the far hunter has traveled in the lands of the townsmen, where he's met goblins.
Halatai continues with "It might be green like a goblin, but uncle says it's far larger than any of them grow, they don't even grow to be as tall as most men" there's a few moments of silence, then Domatai asks Halatai "Then what does your uncle think it is?" Halatai shrugs his shoulders, then says "He has no idea".
Halatai has overheard his father, the tribal leader, and his uncle Saladén, as well as Amagin and Flalil's father discussing the monster. All three brothers have no idea what is, for the far hunter thought it might be a troll, which he heard about in his travels in the lands of the townsmen, but never actually saw one. But the monster doesn't match the description of a troll, nor does it resemble one in any of the tales of the bard.
The children are about to continue their argument, when Flalil giggles again, and says "It's taking a piss" the boys all laugh as they watch the monster piss, it pisses in a spray more than a stream, and the children all under twelve years old, find this hilarious.
"At least it's not taking a crap too" says Amagin in a sour tone of voice, as he and his cousin have witnessed that, and the wind was up that morning, and blowing in the opposite direction it is today. The two cousins got a whiff of the monster's excrement that morning, a smell so strong and disgustung, that it sent the two boys running back to the camp.
"By the plains gods that was gross" mutters Halatai as he recalls the morning last week when the monster took a dump, the son of the tribe's leader shakes his head, then says "I'll never forget that" Amagin nods his head in agreement as the children continue to watch the monster.
"What's it doing now?" quietly says Domatai as the monster which has been trying to scratch it's back with the spear it's got, uses the rock face to one side of the cave, to scratch it's back. Even from where they are, the children can hear it growling and rumbling away in some language, in what sounds like contentment and satisfaction, though they're not entirely sure.
"I think it's happy it got that itch" quietly says Amagin, who then falls silent as the monster loudly grunts, then stands away from the rock face next to the cave mouth, and look directly at them in the shade of the boulder they're in as it sniffs.
"You think it can see us?" whispers Flalil to her cousin Halatai, who with the knife and the bow, is the best out of the children here, he nods his head, then whispers back "I do" then he and the rest of the children go completely still as the monster, who is staring at them, roars in a loud voice, then it thumps on it's bare chest with the clenched fist that's holding it's spear.
The monster charges a few steps down the rise and roars again, Halatai in a reassuring murmur to the others says "Keep still" the monster stops, it's large chest heaving as it breathes, then after it roars once more, it starts shouting at them.
What's it saying, they don't know, as it's yelling in a language they don't understand, then it yells in another language, which some of the children recognize as the language spoken by the townsmen of Belinswae, though none of them speak it, but Halatai, Amagin and Flalil know their uncle Saladén knows the language of the townsmen.
Then the children all glance at one another, as they're certain they hear a few words in the dialect of the tribes of the nomads, interspersed in the language of the townsmen, they're pretty sure those words are, they kind of stick out, as they're swear words, though used completely out of context, without meaning, well meaning to them.
"What's an asscunt?" murmurs Flalil, which causes her brother Amagin to chuckle as he never thought he would hear those two words used like that, he quietly says to his little sister "You better not say that infront of mother and father" he's about to continue when the naked monster stops yelling, roars, then starts running down the rise in their direction.
"Don't move" hisses Halatai to the brothers Domatai and Tolagin who are about to bolt as the monster heads down to the boulder field where they are, it's kicking up dust as it runs down towards them. Then all of a sudden, it's right hand holding the large sword, lifts up, and it smacks itself in the forehead with the flat of the blade, causing it to come to a stumbling stop.
"Huh?" murmurs Domatai, who then adds "What's it doing?" as they watch the monster lift the sword, and smack itself with it, the flat of the blade comes down repeatedly, hitting it's own shoulders, then it turns around, shouting and yelling in what's obviously annoyance and anger.
The monster runs back up the rise, whacking itself in the ass a few times with the flat of the large blade it's got, the children all burst into laughter as they watch the antics of the monster, who yelps, then shouts angrily as it hits itself in the butt.
The five youngsters watch as the large, green monster tries to fling away the large sword, which easily has a six foot long blade. But it's unable to, and the sword comes up and hits him in the side of the head, which sends the monster, which yells in anger, stumbling sudeways as it approaches the cave mouth.
The monster runs into the rock face next to the entrance of the cave, smacking it's head, it stumbles back, shakes it's head in anger, roar, then proceeds to punch the rock face a few times, kick it once, then headbutt it, before it staggers sideways, then stumble into the cave entrance, and go out of sight.
There's a moment of silence, then the children all burst out laughing again, after their bout of laughter, they all asks one another numerous questions.
"How can it punch that rock without breaking it's hands?" asks Domatai "Or cracking it's skull too?" says Amagin in reference to the monster headbutting the rock face, not to mention it smacked itself in the head with it's own sword a number of times, and they weren't light, gentle swings too, as there was a bit of force behind those blows.
As the other children ask themselves these questions, Halatai interrupts them, and says "Well we now know how it can kill a sand dragon by itself" he nods to where the skeleton of the fourteen foot long sand dragon lies, he continues with "Anyone who can hit that hard and not get hurt, is definitely tough enough to kill a sand dragon by itself".
Halatai pauses as the others take this in, then he nods to the top of the rise, to above the cave where the head of a decomposing wyvern lies, and he says "And how it could kill a wyvern too" . . . . . .