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I shook my head and fought to cover the last few metres to the top of the dune.
There, spread out below us was one of the many oases which dotted the desert. Under the sand, we'd likely find the remains of horses and travellers; those fallen prey to the creature and the elements. Even this close to the Vault, death was queen.
"Any sign?" Dex panted and came to stand beside me. He sounded eager. His eyes shone with excitement.
I didn't respond immediately. I watched the dunes, eyes intent, ears open, nostrils flared slightly. I reached out with my wolf sense and delved, looking for a sign of life, intelligence.
Finally I pointed. "There." It lay in wait, cunning, but hungry.
"Are you sure?" Dex frowned, eyes squinting. No matter how hard he looked, he wouldn't feel what I did. Fortunately for me, my skill was invaluable to the Keeper, or I might have been executed by now. Or exiled to Melbourne.
"Have I ever been wrong before?" I asked.
"Notyet." Dex grinned.
I ignored the insinuation. "I'm not wrong this time either." I nodded for everyone to undress and leave their clothes in piles on the top of the dune.
I did the same, then closed my eyes and let my inner wolf out. Slowly, and with only the discomfort of twitching muscles and shifting organs, I shifted into a large wolf with dark fur and dark eyes. I tossed my head, happy to be free of my human form. My senses were heightened a hundredfold. I smelled the wind, the sand, my brothers and our prey.
It was close, so close.
It moved under the sand, fearful of the new creatures it felt nearby. Humans were easy quarry. Wolves… We were not.
I wanted to howl to the sky. Instead, on silent paws, I started down the dune. No need for my senses; Dex and the others would follow.
Halfway down the dune, I stopped. I gave a short bark-growl for the others to do the same.
Careful.
The sand shifted, writhed, then exploded upward.
I turned my face to shield my eyes. Sand stung like a thousand tiny pins under my thick fur. The dune moved under me, threatening to throw me off my feet.
A metre or two away, a wolf yelped in alarm.
The dune shifted again and sand started to slide down toward the oasis. Several wolves lost their footing and rolled toward the base of the dune.
I put myself between Dex and the incline, and held him in place with my body, while trying to keep my own balance.
I growled. My human self would have sworn.
Dex grunted in my ear. His dark grey muzzle whipped around, alarmed.
The sand fell still.
I stepped away from Dex and shook sand off my body.
The wolves at the base of the dune rose on unsteady feet. One raised a front leg bent at an awkward angle.
Dex gave me a look and I imagined the words he would say if he wasn't in wolf form.
"I spoke too soon about you being wrong," he'd remark.
I shot him a wry look that said, 'I found the dragon.'
Or the dragon found us.
The dragon lay on the sand, still half submerged, metres from the wolf with the broken leg. Scales almost the colour of the sand showed a tinge of green. A female then, the more aggressive of the species.
