As it turns out, no they had not. It seems the legends of dragons and legendary knights that slayed them had not reached the ears of the beasts. Understandably so, it is unlikely that people would have read such stories to a Lion in a zoo or their pet bunny rabbit.

However, while they had not heard of the tale of the dragons, these beasts had a natural inclination towards the so-called 'Natural Hierarchy', as if the image of the food chain had been seared into their very bones. It was so strong that, even through brief descriptions of what a Dragon was, that they could feel its supremacy leaking out. The presence of Omelette, who was the closest relation to a Dragon, certainly helped with that too.

The 'Roaming Shadow of Death' constantly emanated an aura of supremacy that was undeniable to these beasts. It didn't make them automatically subservient to him, instead instilling a natural sense of respect.

It was the same way that an average person would avoid the terrifying, scar riddled man carrying a large gun. You feared him, and would rather stay out of his way to not draw his ire. You naturally understood the innate danger and how easily they could kill you, and thus would be more agreeable and show some twisted form of 'Respect' to this individual.

This feeling was essentially what Omelette projected with every fibre of his awe inspiring being, and he was not the only one.

Not just the bestial companions, but every member of the expedition party held their own aura of danger. Some were like blades, honed to a razor's edge. While others let it run wild, raging around them like a turbulent storm.

Much like Seth had, to the humans, hidden himself behind the mask of the weak, unassuming squire. For the beasts, he was not much different. While others were powerful with their abilities, his lacked the same destructive force that theirs did.

His 'danger aura' was spread incredibly thin, across the entirety of his puppet army. Not to mention the multiple signals that were mixed in with his own, owing to his connection to his 'children'. To the beasts senses, his aura was simply a weak, jumbled mess. Something confusing, but otherwise not important enough to focus on, especially when surrounded by the rest of his party.

It was surprisingly an effective camouflage, even if it was never intended as such or that Seth was even aware of.

Of course, while they looked at him like the weakest of the pack, and therefore the best meal to fill their bellies, these beasts took such feelings in the other humans as a challenge.

Much like the human hunter taking down a lion for bragging rights, these lions felt the same way about the dangerous humans. At least, they did when they thought they had numbers on their side, and the assistance of Omelette and his companions.

Lacking that back up, they were faced with only one option. Hope that the Alpha would kill them instead. It was with this thought in mind, and nothing but doubts towards the humans far fetched tales, that the beasts eventually decided to bring them back to their kingdom to bow before the Alpha.

This was precisely how the group found themselves slowly but surely trudging through the grassy plains of Scotland, being subtly led by the pack that had tried to ambush them minutes before.

The pack seemed mightily upset when they saw the humans mount their bonded beasts and ride atop them, but they kept their snouts muzzled and simply bared their teeth in annoyance. In their minds, the humans would undoubtedly pay for their ignorance when they met the Alpha and would have their lies exposed. Not just the humans, but the lizard too.

Leaning down, Seth brushed the side of Omelette's head as he looked towards Astra, who was riding alongside him casually. He didn't bother speaking in a whisper, as he could already see the Werewolves ear flickering backwards just from the sound of him shuffling in his saddle.

There was no way that they would be able to whisper quiet enough to get anything passed hearing like that, and yet even despite the seemingly futile effort he kept his voice low and soft. Not quite a whisper, but enough that it was a true effort not to be overheard. Alongside that, he added a hint of worry, his voice squeaking slightly as if he was nothing but a timid little mouse being protected by the large Wyvern.

"Madam, I hope that you haven't been swindled by these savage beasts. I'm almost certain this will be another trap. You understand that, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Even still, I am hoping that this 'Alpha' will be open to negotiations or that we can reason with it. "

"Good, Good. But if it doesn't go that way, I'm hoping that you have a plan for how to not get us killed in the process. I'd very much like to not die today."

"I do."

"...And that plan would be?"

She slowly turned her head to look at him, scowling slightly as she looked into his eyes.

"Do you trust me?"

Chucking softly, Seth leaned back in his saddle and kept the eye contact. While others might have found her intimidating or scary, with her resting death glare, Seth had recently found a strange comfort in her gaze that was simply undeniable. He could see the storm raging within them and it was oddly relaxing, as if the storm inside her eyes absorbed the storm of emotions welling up within his chest.

Nodding softly, he placed a hand over his heart as if he was performing some kind of vow.

"With my life, naturally."

"Good."

"You're not gonna tell me the plan, are you?"

"Nope. You're on a need to know basis, squire. Just trust in your leader and you'll be fine."

She gave him a playful smile, flicking her hair as she turned to face forwards once more. Seth couldn't help but chuckle again at her attitude.

A smirk played on his lips as his eyes flickered towards the Werewolf, whose ears were completely perked up and turned backwards so that it didn't miss a single word. Once they were finished talking, it leaned down to one of its companions and began to mutter in the beast language.

They were so proud of their enhanced senses, no doubt thinking that the humans were simply being naive in the belief that their whispers were at all subtle. The thought that they were being intentionally led astray never once crossed their simple minds, but what could be expected from beasts?

Even with some semblance of intelligence, humanity had been at this a lot longer than they had.

Seth was just thankful to have a competent second in command who could so easily pick up on what he was trying to do and simply go along with it without discussion. It was almost as if she could read his mind, or simply knew exactly what he was thinking.

Although it seemed to be more one way than he expected, because he genuinely had no idea what she was planning. Seems he spent too much time trying to read her expressions instead of her mind, but it was undoubtedly all worth it for the subtle smiles that he would have missed otherwise.

Unfortunately they didn't conveniently arrive at their destination just as they were finishing their conversation, as nice as that would have been. It took them a few more miles of walking through luscious grass until they arrived.

By the time they were looking upon the beast kingdom, the sun was straddling the horizon like a teasing mistress that was causing the sky to turn beet red in embarrassment.

The beasts led them towards a towering steel gate, one that did not seem freshly constructed but instead seemed like a relic of the before world, with various plants and vines wrapping around it obscuring whatever sign it once displayed from their sight.

Standing guard outside of these gates were a pair of beasts, one on either side, which resembled a strange mixture of a Minotaur and a Centaur. The body of a horse, and the head of a furious looking bull. Between these two, where a human appearing torso should be there was instead a fuzzy, muscular torso that seemed like it was more suited to a Gorilla instead of a human.

The odd sight of the creature stunned Seth for a moment, mostly because he had no name in his head for what it could be, or if it came into being through evolution or... procreation. Was it a Minotaur? A Centaur? Both? It's a... Minocent. Good enough.

As the group approached, the Minocent's huffed through their noses and strode forward, all whilst lowering the spears they clutched in their fuzzy knuckled hands.

"The human's will dismount our kin. No beast will be servant to the Human God within this city."