“What is happening over there?” I ask from the top of my mount. We were currently on a rocky ledge overlooking a valley below. Just beyond a large open plain like valley, a hilly area at the other end of the plains held a massive battle. “Thugs versus a horde of some kind of droopy looking blue pals…” I squint to try and get a better view as the explosions start going off.
[That is a nest of Depresso. The two Alpha parents are trying to guard their newborn eggs with the rest of their family from the poaches.] My Paldex pulls up a screen with a magnified view for me to witness the poor little pals getting beaten left and right. [They are weakened due to just giving birth, and are unable to relocate until the eggs hatch.] The window closes out as I watch a few get captured by a sphere, while others were just killed off.
“Who are they, those so-called ‘thugs’? They aren’t human.” I let out a low growl as I watched from a distance as the struggles of the last Alpha Depresso brought down three thugs before a bunch of grenades finished it off.
[Invaders, possessed by an evil power to be here. Sadly they don’t die, but reform overtime, unlike your respawn system.] My Paldex beeped as the thugs began to carry away the eggs, leaving the fallen bodies to be swallowed by the island. [Their sources are linked in an alien way that we can not detect or decode, yet.] The Paldex’s voice softly spoke in a whispering tone.
“Do you even know what they are doing here?” I tap on the side of my Alpha mount, signaling them to move on. What I did not expect was for them to leap directly off the ledge before us. “Woah!!” I cried out as I frantically grabbed onto the handles as the pupper leaped from large boulder to boulder as we neared the peak of the cliff.
“Awooo!” The Alpha Direhowl cried out, the howl echoed throughout the valleys below, causing the smaller pals to run in fear. The smaller Direhowls spirited away in all directions as well, none were stupid enough to stick around.
“Okay, nicely done. Now how do we get down-?!” I swallowed my question as the Alpha bolted forwards into the open air, and over the side of the cliff. “AAA-!!” My hands clutch onto the grips for my life, while my legs clenched so hard, I bet the big wolf felt it. The fall lasted seconds longer than I wanted it to, but the abrupt and painful landing did not follow.
“Ruff!” My Alpha mount barked out, telling me to open my eyes.
“We’re alive?!” I opened my eyes in disbelief as I patted myself down before looking up at the towering stone cliffs a good hundred plus feet above our heads. “How…” I just stare blankly at the big pupper with a confused innocent look on their face.
“Woof!” The Alpha Direhowl barks out before turning back around and running in a new direction between some rocky cliffs. We entered into a small clearing in the center of some tall rock formations. There was a little pond with a boulder for an island in the middle of it. “Ruff?” The Alpha looked at the sleepy furry foxes resting on the rock.
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“How did we survive that fall?!” I screamed at my wrist before my body bent over backwards due to my mount taking off after its prey. “What happened to that magical seat belt to keep me upright?!” I yelped as I struggled to reposition myself back onto the saddle, as my mount unleashed attacks upon the fleeing prey paddling in the waters.
“There!” I yelled in triumph as I managed to swing around and grab hold of the grips again, just in time for some bright attack to strike me in the face. “GUH!!” I cried out as I let go of the grips. Blood streaming out of my nose as my head flies back to land hard against the back of my mount.
“Woof!” My Alpha Direhowl yelled out in anger as they finished off the remaining foes with a few quick swipes of its large glowing paws. “Awo-” It started to howl in victory.
“Shut it!” I screamed out while smacking it on the side. My teeth were clenched as I held my aching head. “Stop attacking anything that moves!” I yell out in frustration while I hold my throbbing face. After a few moments of silence, I recovered enough to sit up.
A small high pitched whine draws my attention to the sadden looking Alpha Direhowl, once a mighty killing beast of great size and ferocity, now had a drooping face with sad puppy eyes. I just sighed while shaking my head at the pouting pup who’s larger than a truck. I gave in and began to pat both sides of their neck, as far as I could reach, making the Alpha pupper wag its large lethal tall.
“No more attacking on sight, got it?!” I stop the scratches to get the Alpha’s full attention, yet the big doggo just pants in bliss from the earlier pats. “Either obey, or get replaced. While this may seem cruel, it’s just life on this fucked up island.” I stare at the large wolf who turned to lock eyes with me. I felt the Alpha shiver underneath me, it nodded in acknowledgement before turning to run up a steep incline of a pathway. “Good pupper.” I said while gripping onto the saddle as our height up the steep cliffside pathway continued on.
[All Mounts with equipped saddles will be able to harness their auras to make their landings from any height manageable, it is the main safety feature of the Pal Saddle. Others include an emergency floatation device for swimming or diving accidents.] The Paldex finally chimed out with a few informational screens as we were nearing the top of the pathway up. [There are also specific enhancement saddle types for special pals to unleash their powers even more.] A bunch more windows were popping up in my view.
“Thanks, but not now, we have company.” I said while waving the holographic screens away. A large black pillar of smoke from a large bonfire rose before us into the sky, if you were quiet enough, only a few evil chuckles or laughs could be heard. “Hmmm, should we try to raid them? What do you think?” I asked the Alpha Direhowl who was staring at me waiting for orders.
“Woof!” It barked out loudly as if to answer me.
“Forget stealth and just charge in, crazy plan pupper.” I shake my head while the Alpha tilts theirs in confusion. “Let’s ride!” I shout while pulling out my new fixed bow.