Fight back

So, they were like the successors of the Gatekeeper of The Realm Of Gods!

"Then the statue of the deity we worship at the temple is?" Priest Dravya asked. If they were what he had thought they were, then the deity must be someone different too, right?

"The deity in our priesthood is the gatekeeper, the Original Guardian of the Realm of Gods!"

Priest Dravya let out an 'Ah' as he finally understood the foundation of this priesthood. But something was still amiss.

"Then the ceremony of turning metal into gold, what is all that about? And where does the stone fit in this story?" Shaurya asked. Priest Dravya glanced at him in surprise, he had snatched the words right out of his throat and then at Priest Dharma while nodding in agreement. He wanted to know the relation between the two as well.

"The stone has the power to command souls like you all know, it was embedded in the hilt of the Original Guardian's broadsword. That weapon was gifted to him by the Goddess Bhairavi herself. The stone turns the metal to pure gold using the evil spirits as a source of power. Afterall, Gold is a symbol of purification. The abundant spirit energy of the forest makes sure to replenish its powers on its. It takes about a year to get it back to full function."

Everyone let out another 'Ah' as they understood the schematics behind this other worldly ceremony. So, it was a symbolic ceremony that wouldn't work outside the priesthood since it required the heavy spirit energy to function. The priesthood really had connections with the Gods and that's what must have made them most prominent in the country.

"Look!" Trisha yelled as she pointed towards the shield with her eyes widened in shock. Everyone got up to see a crack in the translucent shield and broke into a cold sweat. The calamity was finally upon them. Ashwin gulped hard as he stared at the beasts that were ready to pounce as soon as the shield went down. Shaurya was supporting Priest Dharma as he looked at their large canine teeth dripping with saliva. Their pupil-less eyes evoked a fear in all of them. The memory of being chased around and bitten was still fresh in Priest Dharma's mind. He had already given up back then, when he saw the witches, there was a ray of hope. But this Hundred Chambers of Deception has proved otherwise, they all will definitely die here, a gruesome and painful death at that. Being teared apart by so many beasts at the same time couldn't be the best way to go, right?

Another cracking sound almost made their hearts stop, and the previous crack started to spread further. Trisha started to take steps back. She could see her end near in those low growls that were now starting to escape through the crack. With every crack the sound grew louder and made them retreat several steps.

Awwwoooo!!

Their howls were now clearer than ever as they all did it in unison. Can they do that? Do beasts even have the knowledge of such unison's existence. Shaurya had never seen a pack that howled in such perfect sync like that. There was definitely something wrong! The cracks kept getting bigger as they spread through the entire shield.

With a loud crashing sound it was blown to bits and set free those vicious Shunis. The beasts let out another howl before they leapt towards them. The pack had to starve for three whole days in that shield. They were more restless than ever.

"Run!" Shaurya yelled and everyone took off. Shaurya and Priest Dravya held up Priest Dharma as they started to run. None of them could gather the courage to look behind as they ran for their lives, but they could easily hear the maddened growls getting closer. The distance between the humans and the beasts was rapidly closing. Shaurya screamed as he felt several sharp teeth clutching right at his ankle. He could feel the grip tighten as it touched his bones sending a sharp pain all over his body. He let out another scream and broke into a cold sweat. He looked behind and saw a Shuni holding his leg and another one about to pounce at him. He started chanting and raised his arms aiming at them. A sharp power flew out of his palms and knocked the beasts several feet away.

"Stop" he yelled and everyone glanced at him. He put down Priest Dharma and turned to others. He could see the confusion in their eyes and fear on their pale faces.

"Running won't do any good, so let's fight back." he said and a killing intent shone within his eyes that made the priests shiver. Ashwin and Trisha nodded back in agreement.

"You can't! They are sacred beings, they cannot be harmed." Priest Dravya yelled. But Shaurya had already made a decision. He was not going to give up his life for the so called 'sacred beings'. If the gods loved these things so much then they could come and save them. Ashwin and Trisha took their stances ignoring the priest's words completely and started chanting. A fire could be seen forming in their palms as they stood surrounding the priests ready to burn them into the very ground.