The second to notice the demonic dragon was Usun the Shaman. The shaman, who had been communing with the spirits of heaven and earth, suddenly opened his eyes. On the table before him, the animal bones he used for divination and spellcasting began to tremble in unison.
These ritual implements, which contained the spirits of beasts, seemed to have been targeted by some predator at the top of the food chain. Even their remaining instincts were wailing.
"What kind of monster is that?"
Wearing a nine-feathered ceremonial hat, with a sheepskin drum around his neck, Usun the Shaman hurried out of his tent, leaning on an eagle-headed staff.
The terrifying aura descending from the sky was like a falling sun, about to cast world-destroying heat upon the heads of the Tatar army.
Even from such a distance, Usun the Shaman could sense that scorching, powerful soul. Even the spirits of heaven and earth had to avoid its edge for the moment.
"It's a demonic dragon—a Frankish demonic dragon!"
In the Tatar language, demonic dragons had a specific term so they would not be confused with the imperial symbol of the Eastern Celestial Dynasty. These monstrous creatures could fly, had scales, and could spew flames, venomous water, and frost. On the grasslands, they were often deadly enemies of nomadic tribes.
When Usun the Shaman was young, he had followed his teacher in slaying a red-scaled demonic dragon that attacked herdsmen every day and preyed upon their sheep.
From the severed neck of that dead dragon flowed a half-solidified liquid like lava. Wherever it ran remained barren to this day, filled with a pungent smell of sulfur and smoke. Even in winter, snow would not settle there. The Tatars had always regarded it as forbidden ground that must not be approached.
Precisely