Radiant beasts—creatures of the moon as profered by various myths and religion across Loonè were creatures of great power whose origins were obscure. Unlike man, elves, dwarves, winged and wingless beasts whose origins were consistent: from being birthed by the turbulent energies of Loonè. The radiant beasts were not as uniform. Some say that they were the true inhabitants of the world, and rather man and other humanoid species had devolved from their likeness. In nations like Cidor with an overwhelming human majority and an aversion to other species, gospel that man was the apex of radiance in living form after the radiant beasts was quite popular and accepted.
However, the most dominant hypothesis of their origin goes beyond the planet of Loonè, and to the source of radiance itself, the moon. Radiant beasts had migrated from the moon and some day, they'll return, was the general school of thought.
Another belief however was that sentient radiant beasts loved the company of fellow radiant beasts, and overtime, they could sniff the energies of one another kilometers away, could feel their energies, and to the point that their energies could resonate with one another.
The latter was partly true, and when Araes's radiant energy was snuff out, her friends noticed. It was unlike a radiant beast radiance to disappear, unless they had died or they moved extraordinarily far away. Araes could not have moved that far without them getting hints of her movement, for such a sudden disappearance, there could only be a single cause: death.
Death was unheard of in the Talcaf forest, especially within the radiant beasts, they had an incredibly long life, it had been over a century since the last death, and it had been because of that thing, that abomination. So when Araes disappeared, they feared that it had returned, and their friend was gone forever.
The ground quaked, beasts sang the name of their champion, their leader when days turned tough.
They gathered by a vast plain circular field, and as they waited, the ground moved in waves, rising like it would swallow the beasts about until it sank.
"XelanaTon!" A radiant beast cried, and as soon as it did, the ground burst open, and a giant creature surfaced.
It roared, arching its long large and scaly neck.
"Is it what I think it is?" It asked, its voice powerful and coarse.
A friend of Araes, one who had begun all this, stormed forward. Like Araes, it too was a master of the wind, with vibrant feathers, a pair of wings the span of a man, long scaly legs equipped with talons and a sharply bent beak.
XelanaTon could sense their worries, of all radiant creatures in the continent, he was the oldest and with the best sensory prowess of the radiant beasts, he could smell and see the distress and worry seep into their radiant aura.
The huge ancient beast stood in four legs that were hard to tell apart from rocks, its organs, and spine were encased in an oval shell with an insurmountable toughness, and at the frontal center, between its legs jutted out a neck that was thick as the trunks of trees with green moss whimsically adorning it. At its other end jutted a small tail which was well known to be a weapon of destruction.
XelanaTon stared at the worried radiant beast before him, radiant beasts were a family, and being the oldest and one of the strongest came its fair share of responsibilities. He would see this through.
"Speak Anear," He slowly lowered his neck.
"Araes is missing XelanaTon, her radiance has disappeared from the forest, abruptly and it left with a chill. I am afraid she is gone, or trapped. I want your help, we need to begin a search, whether to find her or exact vengeance."
"Hmmm," His deep voice echoed across the group, his eyes moving across them capturing their faces one more time. It had been decades since he had last been on the surface—more often than not to tend to important matters, but this one was grave, something hardly heard of. A radiant beast would not simply disappear. Impossible.
"Hmmm," The burly creature slowly averted its gaze and its eyes met a fiery wolf beast.
"Hesk, lead the search, and if that thing scent is caught in the forest, send a message. Perhaps a truce was a mistake, it should have been uprooted and blotted out."
The hellhound creature nodded.
"Creatures of Talcaf, be calm at the moment of storm. We are the oldest race, a race of insuperable powers, we will overcome this, and Araes will be found. Hesk will lead you, pay heed to him. Inquire with our dwarven friends, and by Ros' grace, we shall find her."
The crowd were calmed by his assurance, and a wave of confidence swept through them. XelanaTon watched thousands of radiant beasts lit up from his words.
'I do not miss this.'
A few minutes later, XelanaTon sunk back to his place of hibernation, except he was not hibernating this time. He was waiting.
Hesk and radiant beasts in his likeness with their powerful noses led the trail. The trees danced to the force of multitudes of radiant beasts sweeping through it. The mundane animals felt the tension, the rage and agitation and they made way for them. Even the dwarves could feel the tremors in the land and the atmosphere. Something has been stirred.
The radiant beasts were divided in a tens of groups, each led by a powerful sensory peer hastily on the trail for Araes' radiant energy—spots where it might have leaked and clung too.
This sweeping act lasted for about twenty minutes, when the leader—Hesk caught a subtle whiff of Araes.
He paused and gazed at the source through a push. His red slitted eyes fixed at the strange creature intently.
He was confused, this creature was by no means Araes, and even more, it was a creature the hellhound had not seen before so why did it smell of Araes?
He bared its fangs and let out a low growl. Araes or not, strange creatures were always worth the watch, and he remained fixated, waiting for a chance to pounce on it.
'Perhaps it had come across her,' he thought, and once Mark turned his way and met his fiery orange eyes, he howled, and the earth heeded his call.