Seven tails of one tale

chapter 3: into the gaze of the Mamba

A week following the assassin Rinkhals's murder, the scorpion den was unsure of whom to hold accountable. The only piece of information they had was the assassin's last words, which were inscribed in his own blood.

It was forbidden to even mention the name "black mamba" since it was thought to bring misfortune. When Sidewinder tried to look up her name, all of the scrolls that mentioned her were lost to time or Burnt to ash intentionally.

That's when she discovered a scroll with the title "the village that never existed." Taking a look at it to see whether it included any valuable information to aid with the predicament,

Sidewinder begin to read "Long ago, a settlement known as the Dune Oasis existed on the eastern border of the kingdom of Sand. It was inhabited by fabledly strong warriors and was a tranquil place, but battle seemed to come and, one by one, recruitment parties ruined the tranquility of the dune oasis.

This was the moment when a family confronted the army officials, telling them to either leave their community and never come back or to perish and let blood sink into the sands of the dune Oasis.

The army official begin to force dragons to enlist. they had made their choice and as such the family that had stood up to them. begin to mercilessly slaughter the officials. but either by karma or pure coincidence a massive sandstorm engulfed the village the storm rage on for weeks,

When the sandstorm passed, the oasis dunes had disappeared, the hamlet buried beneath the desert's sands, and it had been called the silent dunes ever since, a region where it is now forbidden to travel. Is the oasis still beneath the sands? Since no one is willing to risk their own life to investigate the enigma, none can truly say." Sidewinder finished reading. not sure what to make of this but she report back to Thorn telling her what she had learned,

"It is truly mysterious Sidewinder. I have never heard of a place called the dune oasis. but it might because it was before my time but while you were reading we found someone that knows something about the Mamba. I send you with a few of my outclaws to a local town. there you'll find a soldier called Taipan he supposedly knows something about the Mamba." Thorn said as Sidewinder nodded and turn to leave,

"Oh and sidewinder?" Thorn said and Sidewinder turn her head. "be careful out there" Sidewinder give a confident nod. and flew with the outclaws Thorn had provided,

Sidewinder held up suddenly as they were flying as the outclaw escort stopped too. "something the matter Sidewinder?" One of them asked. as Sidewinder narrowed her eyes and focused on something in the distance. then without words speeding ahead of the group the outclaws were confused by her reaction. but followed her quick as they could,

She dive at something blue and shouted "Abyss!" She then crash into him. with her speed tumbling with him down on the desert sands,

He chuckled as he got up from the hot sand. "heya Sidewinder. surprised to see me?" He said with a smile as Sidewinder composed herself. "Abyss what in the moons are you doing here? I thought I told you this place was no place for a seawing. and yes I'm surprised to see you!" Sidewinder said her seriousness tainted. by her the happiness she felt about seeing her seawing friend,

"Don't worry about me Sidewinder. I have had some training since last we met." he said as she tilted her head "training?" She asked,

"Well, I was a guardian at Her Majesty Royal Hatchery. The water there is unbearably hot, so my body acclimated to the heat being here. Now I barely feel anything aside from dry scales from this heat," Abyss replied. evoking admiration from Sidewinder. "Okay, I'm impressed Abyss; I was getting a little lonely. so I'm glad you're here," Sidewinder remarked, to which Abyss shot her a smile.