~"So 'ow do you not harm a beast thats tryin' to kill you..." Kyieslee
grumbled as she went over thier plan once more." Ah say we kill the
thing if it git's outta hand" A rat nearby commented. He instantlyfound
himself on the ground with Kyieslee towering over him. "Do you realize
how much that thing is worth?!As Agryc said, we have to bring that Tyra
back in ONE piece" The swan was cut short though when the crack of
thunder filled the mess hall."Not another storm...All beasts on deck!"
She yelled as she shot up the stairs....
They left the ship, they hadn't had any choice as there was now a large
gaping hole in the front of the Bloodtide. The life boats had been
filled and they had drifted for several days. "LAND HO!" Greytooth
yelled from the front causing the many beasts on board to jump.Kyieslee
leaped off the side and flew to the form in the distance, it was hardto
see through the mist but that was definitly land. An hour later they
where taking a role call, "how many have we lost?" Kyieslee inquired, "
One boat full of ten beastss." The adder captain Silkback hissed. "Now
we absolutely HAVE to find these Tyra, if we return without the ship or
the Tyra Acryc and Greylect could 'ave us killed." Kyieslee yelled."Now
where are we?" "Er we are still tryin' ta figure that out.sssss"
Silkback answered."Great, just great..." Kyieslee mumbled." Might as
well set up camp Beasts!!" Just then a rain drop hit Kyieslee's beak. "
Ah shoot..." The thunder cracked and the sky let loose a torrent of
rain. Fortunately for the group a scout managed to find them a good
sized cave to take shelter in for the night. The roof was as high as
seven badgers balancing atop each others shoulders and it went very far
back. " Ssssss, captain...we've been able to figure that we be
somewheres in the sssssouth." Silkback said as she slithered up"Good,
that means we aren't entirely off the trail" Kyieslee said as she
drifted off to sleep.
For some reason she awoke during the night, something was up. Kyieslee
spotted a dark form moving through the tents, she then noticed that it
was coming towards her! The creatures foot was now inches from herface.
The swan sqawked and dove to the side as a massive clawed paw crashed
into the ground where she had been. She quickly tried to take off, the
dark form bounded and was nearly apon her, "Just need to get a bit
higher.." she put in a burst of speed as a draft swept through the
caverns and shot up. The creature lunged but
missed."HHRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOaaaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!" It roared as it
leaped up unto a ledge above Kyieslee and tackled her. Instantly though
the camp was alive and beasts brandishing weapons of sorts burst onto
the scene. Like a shadow the creature had dissapeared. Kyieslee preened
her feathers. "It's gone now. What took ye so long?! It nearly 'ad me
for dinner!" Kyieslee said indignantly. "What was IT?" A pine marten
asked.."That was a Tyra" A voice answered, a grissled old rat stepped
foward. All eyes where apon him" Do tell more" Kyieslee said. "Yewmight
as well git comfterble, bird" He replied. " Now as ah was sayin'...
" Long while ago when I was in me prime I had been put in charge of a
shipment of loot. We had taken a ship, the Dreadwake, and headed out
'long the coast. We had o'er a month to go from Sampetra to a base on
the opposite side o' the sea. During the second week of our quest weran
into choppy seas and we ended up beached. After sum searching we made
our way into this cave, tho' back then there had been another entrance,
ah'm guessin' it collapsed. Anyways everything seemed fine untilstrange
things started to 'appen. One of our crew was found dead, a stab wound
thru 'is chest. Soon the rest began ta follow. Finally it came down to
there only bein' six of us left. We finally caught tha killin' scum at
work. It was a huge beast with gleaming eyes, foot long claws, and it
was several heads taller than a badger! We killed it, one o' the
suvivors, Blacken, started callin' it a Tyra The name stuck, I
don't even know how we got 'ome. I thought this cave seemed a little
familiar when we got 'ere, this just confirms it. We gotta leave afore
those things kill all o' us!" The old rat finished,"No can do" Kyieslee
replied"We 'ave to catch A Tyra"
"Heeere Tyra, Tyra, Tyra..." Blunder said as he checked the net."Do ye
actually think dis thing'l work?" The stoat asked." Are ye questioning
me?" Kyieslee snapped."Uh...no, hey will ya keep it down back there
Ripback! Ye'll wake the entire camp!" Blunder said." That wasn't me"
Ripback stuttered."Then wot was.."Kyieslee's sentance was cut short
"HEERrrrrrrrrrrOOOOWwwwwRRRRRR!!!!!!""Quick! Git the net!!!!" Kyieslee
gasped as she got her first real glance at a Tyra, It was huge, even a
badger looked small next to it. It was extremely tall with massive arm
muscles. It looked to be a cross between a ferret and a rat. A long set
of gleaming fangs lined it's massive mouth, on each paw where three
gleaming claws, each about the length of Kyieslees neck. It wore a
ragged loose leather tunic, made out of the hide of a snake. It's eyes
where sharp gleaming things, red all through out with black slits inthe
center. It's fur was straight black with cream stripes along it's back
and it had a mane of sorts jutting out from the back of it's neck, it
had a long rudder like tail that lashed the air, sort of like an otters
except longer. By this time the rest had awoken and now surrounded the
Tyra, the beast snarled the stench of it's breath filled the air,claws
fully extended it attacked. It threw one of the larger members of the
band, a great rat, straight across the cavern. It then snapped several
solid metal swords and threw several more beasts around. The beast then
attacked Kyieslee, desperately the swan tore at it, in a last ditch
attempt she grabbed a burning stick from the fire and tried to fend the
Tyra off. Much to her suprise it worked, the Tyra was afraid of Fire! "
Quick! Everyun git a torch! " Swiftly all the others reacted and they
began to herd the beast, prodding it until they got outside, the going
was slow but eventually they managed to get a net on the beast and
contain it. To their suprise the old rat commented that the Tyra they
had caught was a child, according to him the ones he had seen in the
past where much larger. The journey home was much longer than before
since they had to go on paw. They also had slight troubles with the Tyra
stalking them, at night the beasts could be heard roaring close by in
the forest. Several beast where picked off and the remaining all
clustered close to the fires come nightfall. Once they reached the
mountains however the Tyra gave up, despite the loss in crew themission
went rather sucessfully.~
Aye, a mighty fine job on yer mission, swan. Quite a find! This beast'll be the death of many an enemy to me!
