Under the faint bluish-white glow of the distant moon, Hartley and Zhi Ruo stood on a outcropping of rocks, observing the large beast-men village directly north of their position.
It was a quiet night, the whispering wind swept gently through the cold night air. There wasn't much movement in the village except for the patrolling beast-men.
"We have to go there."
Hartley pointed towards the huge weather-beaten statue situated on the other side of the village.
Zhi Ruo tensed involuntarily, the gentle wind swept by and fluttered a few strands of her loose crimson hair.
She watched the distant beast-men patrols weave through the many wooden structures, then thought of the battle with Drago.
"Can all those beast-men use the elements like Drago?" she asked as the patrols of the gigantic beast-men snaked through and around the periphery of the wooden buildings, disappearing from sight.
"I think so," Hartley replied, "it's called spell-weaving, but Drago seemed to be limited to using only the wind and earth elements."
Zhi Ruo turned her head to look at Hartley with concern.
The soft glow of the moon outlined her beautiful profile, brightening the silhouette of her face exposed to the beams of moonlight.
"You mean those beast-men down there might be able to use more elements than Drago?" she asked with a hint of nerves.
"Maybe, but I think they're definitely stronger than Drago. " Hartley solemnly answered as he turned to meet her eyes, the profiles of both their faces were inches apart, outlined in the soft glow of the moonlight.
The beauty of the husband and wife standing face to face in the dark wilderness, was a spectacle out of place in the dark and dreary backdrop of the desolate barren lands.
Hartley smiled at her lovingly, instantly releasing the tension he could sense within her.
"Do you believe in me Ruo?" He asked.
Zhi Ruo inhaled the crisp night air and her whole body relaxed, she trusted Hartley with her life, how could she doubt him after coming this far?
She leaned in with a kiss.
"Of course I do."
*****
The couple stopped at the edge of the village, stretching out his awareness Hartley led them east towards a flaw in the patrol pattern.
They halted at a small building, waiting for a team of beast-men to move north on what he determined was their predestined route.
From Kang, Hartley had learned that the beast-men had no natural affinity to the elements, so he wasn't worried about them discovering Zhi Ruo through her elemental fluctuations.
They continued stealthily on a winding path through the dark village and towards the statue.
After half an hour of lurking between buildings, timing the patrol routes and avoiding any random encounters with the villagers. The couple finally set foot onto the huge rocky basin and faced the huge beast-man statue in the dark.
It was eerily empty and silent, the patrols didn't dare to encroach on this part of the village. This was their sacred grounds.
The antiquity of the statue could not be denied, being open to the weather for countless years had taken a visible toll. The face of the statue was no longer recognizable, clearly worn down by the wind over a passage of time.
The beast-man statue stood with regal pride, chest out and chin up with a large crown perched on his head, right hand grasping a long sword with its tip pointing at the floor.
Hartley carefully looked around for the entrance to the pocket dimension.
It was nowhere in sight. He searched around the statue and out in the open but nothing seemed out of place, worse of all, there were no elemental fluctuations anywhere that he could sense.
Just as he began a second sweep of the area.
Thud... thud...
Fooststeps sounded out, followed by a deep gruff voice.
"How dare you violate our sacred grounds!"
The voice thundered out from the darkness.
A beast man covered in black scales made his way onto the rocky basin. He was huge, bigger than Drago by a couple heads.
The beast-man made some quick finger gestures with his left hand.
A white orb flew upwards from his right hand and the world exploded with brilliant light. A shadow of the royal beast-man statue was casted back over the length of the village.
Zhi Ruo gasped as she tured away from the blinding light, unlike Hartley this was her first time witnessing a light rune.
The light almost turned the night to day and reflected off of the beast-man's jet black scales.
He had a face like a Rhino, with a massive overgrown horn sticking out from his forehead, measuring at least 8 inches in size.
Black interlocking scales covered the length of his body like a full suit of black plated armour.
This beast-man who carried no weapon was leaps and bounds above Drago's capabilities.
The air tingled with power as he strode across the basin. It was as if the elements in the air were dancing with glee around the beast-man.
This was a gold tier spell-weaver, this beast-man had power comparable to an elemental saint.
Hartley's mood was bleak, he suddenly understood why no one crusading into the barren lands, trying to eradicate the beast-men ever returned.
It was because the beast-men had hidden warriors who were above the xiantian realm.
Only a collection of saints would have a chance of eradicating the beastmen, a few hateful and overconfident xiantian experts would only venture to their demise in the barren lands.
Hartley was sure that if he had been in the barren lands killing beast-men wantonly, he would have been confronted by one these powerful beast-men long ago.
Zhi Ruo quickly had her daggers out, fearlessly ready to confront the threat. She was about to move forward.
"Ruo let me handle this."
Hartley stepped out quickly and stood in front of her.
She snorted with disappointment and retreated behind him.
There was no way he could battle the powerful beast-man and protect Zhi Ruo at the same time. The shockwaves alone from such a battle would turn her to dust.
Wracking his brain for a solution Hartley thought about his black energy sphere, he immediately dismissed the thought, Zhi Ruo wouldn't survive that blast either...
" Soon you two filthy humans are going to be begging for death, but that will be a slow process that I will enjoy."
The black scaled beast-man growled out a statement like a cat that had cornered two rats.
He made his way over the rocky ground with authority oozing from his demeanour.
Pandemonium was breaking loose within the village as all types of shouting and growls could be heard.
It seemed like the entirety of the village was roused from slumber and rushing to the bright light over the basin like moths to a flame..
Hartley gritted his teeth in frustration, he had to abandon the search for the pocket dimension, escape was the only viable option now.
Enclosing himself and Ruo in his sphere for protection, he brought down his full 250 gs of gravitational downforce onto the rocky basin...
He had to create a big distraction then try to slip away during the confusion.
With a bang that shook the ground like an earthquake, the rocky basin juddered.
Cracks immediately began to appear, flinging dust and debris upwards through the white light.
The scaled beast-man was caught off guard by the sudden impact. He staggered back as he was pushed down by the multiplied force of gravity, spider web cracks crawled and spread out below his feet, sounding like shallow ice cracking on a frozen lake.
Huge fissures began to open up and down the length of the rocky basin.
Zhi Ruo trembled and held on to Hartley tighter.
Some of the force was negated by the the floating sphere but not all, she had beads of sweat racing down her forehead as she watched the destruction in amazement.
A loud rumble echoed out in the barren lands as the rocky basin began to collapse underfoot. Sending dust and sprays of shattered stones flying in all direction.
The royal beast-man statue, that had probably stood for hundreds of years, leaned and buckled one way, then rocked the other. A few seconds later it came crashing down like an old sky scraper being demolished with dynamite.
Hartley quickly floated to the left and out of the way of the falling granite statue.
The statue fell face first onto the rocky basin, shattering with a huge bang, the echoes sweeping out for miles.
Stone shrapnel flew out like bullets, indiscriminately injuring those rushing to the scene.
The black scaled beast-man disappeared from sight, going down with the royal stone statue as the whole rock basin imploded in on itself with a massive hellraising crash.
Hartley and Zhi Ruo floated above the collapsing ground, standing in the sphere twinkling with flashes of blue. Watching the basin and statue disappinearing under ground.
A mushroom cloud of dust engulfed everything, rising half a mile into the sky, swallowing the light rune that was floating above and returning the night to its former darkness.
Just as Hartley was about to grab Zhi Ruo and make a run for it. A pulse of blue light flashed from the star tattoo on his chest.
****
There was a massive roar from within the suffocating dust below the surface of the basin, a whirlwind of green lights surged out, it seems like all the wind elements in the vicinity were summoned below.
Tornado-like winds whistled and whirred, pushing back a portion of the lingering dust-cloud, forcing some debris back above ground like an erupting volcano.
With a roar, the black scaled beast-man shot back to surface in an explosion of green particles.
He floated above the basin on a cushion of wind elements, his expression grim.
The village was in utter chaos, there was growling and screams of pain, some bawled out in shock after seeing the destruction of the sacred grounds.
The black scaled beast-man surveyed the horrific scene with eyes radiating utter hate, his head swivelling from right to left, searching for the filthy humans.
When he saw the missing statue of the first king of the beast-men, he howled to the heavens with bloodshot eyes.
"This act of desecrating the scared grounds is unforgivable, I'm going to skin you filthy humans alive," the beast-man shouted to the moon before diving back into rubble in search of the humans.
*****
After the beast-man was swept away with the statue, without hesitation Hartley hugged Zhi Ruo close and dived down below into the rubble and dust of the collapsed basin.
There was a maze of winding tunnels, saturated with thick dust below the basin that led in various directions.
Hartley scampered to the northwest, he was sure his blue star fragment was resonating with the gate to the pocket dimension.
Booms and cries of frustration echoed out from behind as the scaled beast-man gave chase. It sounded like a bulldozer was breaking through every piece of rubble behind him.
Soon Hartley and Zhi Ruo reached a dark dead end. His tattoo was pulsing quickly with a blazing blue light, visible through his robe and the thick dust.
Hartley gave Zhi Ruo in his embrace a gloomy look, he wasn't afraid of the beast-man, he was sure he could hold his own.
It was Zhi Ruo that concerned him. If they were cornered in this dead end cave, the first exchange of blows between him and the beast-man would mean certain death for Ruo.
There was nothing special in the cave but his star tattoo was still flashing in a frenzy. Hartley held Zhi Ruo and walked over to the wall.
There was an almighty ruckus outside, it sounded like the neighbouring caves were collapsing, swirling dust came flying into the cave. Hartley knew it was the beast-man coming.
Hartley inspected the wall for a second. There was nothing special about it either.
He looked at Zhi Ruo who looked scared and said, "Ruo I love you."
Before she could answer he extended his left hand and touched the wall.
It immediately felt like his guts were being wringed inside out, the horrifying screams of Zhi Ruo next to him sent chills down his spine.
His chest felt tight as if an anvil was sitting on it as he tried to suck in breaths.
Both of his eyes bulged to the size of golf balls and was about to pop clean from their sockets.
Just when he was about to pass out, the pressure suddenly disappeared.