"Hey guys, sorry for the little break, a lot of shit happened. So, for your patience, I have made this extra-long chapter. I hope you all enjoy."
_______________________________________________________
It had been a few days since the Leah was quite literally, dropped at their front door, and the commander was dying inside as he sat at his personal desk and went through long incident reports regarding one handler and unknown dragon. The disdain for paperwork clear on his face as he went through what Leah had told him had happened when she, against all rational thought, snuck out into the ancient forest and contacted by her words a "terrifyingly smart Elder Dragon." he was currently looking at the sketch Leah had taken of the dragon during her time with it.
While it wasn't professional, it was well made and had good descriptions of certain details, and many crossed out potential names. The drawing would have to be remade by an official guild artist while the guild officially named the beast. Speaking of Leah and her partner, he had assigned them to look into rescuing a lost scholar in the wild spire wastes while the researchers tried to pinpoint Zorah Magdaros's Location.
As he continued through the literal mountain of paperwork, he was interrupted by his grandson. (I'm calling him matt for convenience cause Matt Mercer voices him and it's tedious to write Field team leader all the time.) "Grandfather, they've returned, and they have the scholar. The researchers have also wanted me to inform you they've projected Zorah's next move." The commander nodded and stood from his desk as he moved towards Matt. "Good, gather the council." He replied as they stepped out into Astera and moved towards the council table.
Once the council had been gathered and both Leah and the Hunter were both present, the commander began to speak, cutting off any side conversations going at the table. "Gather around everyone, we're ready to begin. Thanks to you, we've made great strides towards understanding the tracks that have turned up across the continent. Our researchers have done some projections and now we know where Zorah Magdaros will go next. Its heading for the Great Ravine."
Leah soon responded. "The Great Ravine, the huge valley past the Wild spire?" The commander gave an affirmative nod and began to speak again. "Correct. So, I have a proposition for all of you. I say we try and capture Zorah once it gets there." "Have you gone mad!?" The provisions manager questioned as the Analytics director repeated "Capture it?!" The commander cut them off. "Hear me out! The ravine is the perfect terrain for staging such an event. We're not going to get a better chance than this." The commander looked around the table as the Chef spoke excitedly. "I like the sound of this."
"If we don't take THIS opportunity, it could be a decade before the next opportunity presents itself, maybe longer." The Chief Ecologist spoke as the voice of reason on the commander's behalf. The Second Fleet Master looked towards the commander and began to speak. "Is it even possible?" he asked before the commander immediately responded. "If I said it wasn't, would that stop you?" Almost immediately after he finished speaking, the Tech Chief yelled out. "Let's give it a go! With the Fifth supporting us, our chances are as good as ever!" The commander smiled then spoke. "Then it's settled!"
Matt then stepped forward and began to speak. "Before we send the hunters out for the capture, we need to secure Astera. An Anjanath has been active in the area, not the kind of monster to mess around with. And I'm worried about the unknown Elder Dragon." The commander regarded him before looking towards Leah and the hunter. "Your right. Hunters, you have your next assignment. Take care of that Anjanath. But be careful, the Anjanath is a fearsome monster, one slip up and you're done. While you hunt, I want you on the lookout for any tracks or signs of the Dragon. Leah, you have had contact with it already, but we need all the evidence we can get for the guild." Receiving nods from the duo while the Chief botanist began to speak. "Commander if I may. I think I have a great idea."
he then looked towards the hunter. "Hunter I could use your help, drop by later if you will." He received a nod and grunt of acknowledgement from the man as the commander spoke up and looked towards the Huntsman sitting behind him. "Another thing. That troubling report we received; think you could...?" The huntsman regarded his old friend for a second before speaking. "Right" he said as he nodded. "Good then. Let's get this show on the road! We have an Elder Dragon to Capture, everyone dismissed!" As everyone dispersed, the hunter and handler went to the botanist and were told to hunt a Tobi-Kadachi receiving a ghillie mantle from the botanist. The duo left almost immediately after receiving the request, but not before stopping by the Canteen.
Jason POV
After I had dropped Leah off in Astera, I had begun to lay low, well, more low than usual. Small search groups came by every now and then, but they were usually driven off by the Anjanath that lives around here. I've also noticed a Tobi Kadachi has begun to roam the area recently, but neither of them tends to bother me much, sometimes the Tobi will stumble upon me, and act all tough to drive me off but usually just standing there makes it second guess itself and it leaves. The Anjanath on the other hand usually smells me before it gets near me, and it goes the other direction.
Earlier I had seen Leah and the hunter flying over the forest into Astera by wing drake with a third person behind them, away from the direction of the Wild spire. I wonder what that was about, those two usually work alone. I was currently just wandering through the ancient forest and admiring its beauty. The game did a fantastic job of it, but it just can't compete with real life. The sounds, sights, and the smells, it was all amazing. I have been doing this since early morning, watching life go on, all the small creatures, even the bug trappers, who, while still wary of me, have grown used to my Prescence. I have yet to run into the first Wyverian, but no doubt he's fully aware of me.
As I'm walking, I can hear the nearly silent footsteps of the Tobi Kadachi going around me and up the tree, clearly trying to avoid me. I look towards where it's climbing and it immediately stops in its tracks as it looked back at me, trying to hide itself. "Nice try but I can still see ya lil' buddy." I thought with a smirk as I looked away and heard it begin to scuttle away quickly. As I began to walk, I could feel my stomach rumble, so I began to head where there's always Aptonoth. A small, secluded clearing in the forest where you save the handler from the Deviljho.
The closer I got to the clearing, the more I could hear the stomping of the Aptonoth who were blissfully unaware of me while they munched away on whatever caught their fancy. When I could see them through the brush, I didn't bother to crouch and rushed in, not like any of them could dodge me in time. They tried but there wasn't anything they could do. As they began to scatter, I targeted the largest ones I could see. Immediately, I backhanded one of the larger Aptonoth, feeling it crumple against my paw, and sweeping my tail behind me and sending a second one flying into air and both soon landed hard ground.
Grabbing the two Aptonoth, I take off towards my tree. As I cleared the treetops, I looked out over the area, seeing if anything was going on, and in the distance, I could see, coming from Astera via wing drake once again, Leah and the Hunter heading towards the camp near the main clearing. "Great, wonder what they want. I don't think they're after me in particular cause if so, o think Leah would more than likely make her wing drake fly all the way up to the top of the tree. It must be about either the Tobi or the Anjanath. Wait a minute......"
The realization made me stop midair as I watched them land. "It has to be the Tobi. This is the first Tobi that's been around here and, in the game, when there is both a Tobi and an Anjanath, it's the precursor to the first encounter with Zorah." There were no other large monsters in the area but those two. I haven't seen a great Jagras for a few days so I think I can rule out them just going on an expedition.
Once I landed on the tree, I moved towards the edge and munched on my two Aptonoth as I watched the duo move into the forest, and out of sight. Pretty soon I could hear the sounds of clashing in the forest and the distinct, enraged roars of the Tobi. "Well, that was fast. sorry little buddy, but that's life. But what I don't understand is why Leah went into the forest. The hunter, yeah, he has to, but she would stay at camp during hunts, so what could she be doing I wonder?"
Leah POV
"Alright, time to find some clues. Where should I start though?" I thought out loud to myself as I moved towards the forest. "Oh, I know, I should check anywhere Aptonoth are, after all, they're the best source of food for something that large around here besides Great Jagras and other large monsters." With a goal set in mind, I began to start looking around areas I knew Aptonoth frequented. Obviously, there was the main clearing, but I didn't find anything there besides Tobi and Anjanath tracks, and the dragon clearly doesn't leave corpses around like other predators, it seems to fully eat them or dump them somewhere.
The only other place I could think of that Aptonoth like to hang out would be the other clearing within the forest. I began to jog my way through the forest while in the distance, I could hear the roars of the Tobi Kadachi pard was hunting. He found it pretty quickly too. As I went deeper into the forest, my Scout flies lit up blue and swarmed on a group of tracks on the forest floor that were bigger than me. "Found you." I said as I began to take samples and followed the trail, finding shed scales now and then, and lemme tell you, these scales were tougher than anything I've ever seen and they feel like they are brimming with energy, almost numbing my hand when I held them, kind of like the feeling when your hands asleep.
As I got closer to the other clearing, I wasn't hearing or seeing any Aptonoth, and all the tracks lead towards the clearing. I kept pushing through the forest and as I entered the clearing, I saw large cracks in the ground one part of the ground looked like it had been swiped by something, probably its tail. I looked around the clearing for any more signs and found more tracks and another scale. I think I've gotten everything I can for now, best to go back towards camp and wait for pard to finish the hunt for the Tobi, then we can move to the Anjanath after regrouping back at Astera and seeing what the botanist has.
Going back the way I came, I soon came back out into the main clearing, only to see the Anjanath drinking water in the clearing before it looked up at me. "Uh oh." was all I could say or think before the Anjanath roared out and began to chase after me. I began to sprint through the forest in a random direction while I heard and felt the Anjanath right behind me. As I ran, I could see up a head a drop, and just above the drop, a wedge beetle. Pushing my legs to go a little faster, I ran towards the drop as I could feel the Anjanath snapping at my back.
I aimed my clutch claw and shot it towards the beetle, and when it made contact, it pulled me off the ground as I felt the Anjanath snap at the air behind me. I looked back and saw the Anjanath slide to a stop before the drop. *Phew* I let out a sigh of relief as I swung to the other side. Bending over, placing my hands on my knees, i began taking deep breaths. "That was close. I should go find pard." I stood back up and began to walk away from the ledge, but the next thing I knew, the ground shook beneath me as I heard a growl behind me. Looking back, the Anjanath had jumped the gap and was right behind me again.
"Oh, come on!" I yelled as I got up and started to run again, this time up the tree, the Anjanath hot on my tail again. "Pard!! Wherever you are, I could sure use some help right now!!!" I yelled out into the air as I ran through brush and found the main path up and began to go even higher up the tree. I ran as fast as I could up the tree, swinging on vines, and climbing up ledges, the Anjanath matching me step for step as it chased me.
Before I knew it, it had chased me to the large barrier that blocked of the top of the tree. Seeing the little opening I had made the last time I was here; I dove down and began crawling through to the other side as the Anjanath smashed its way through. What met both of us at the top was a large red dragon looking at us in both surprise and what I could only tell as annoyance. I heard the Anjanath immediately try and slow down, stumbling as it tried before it came face to face with the dragon who looked down at it. I was in between the two of them, looking at one then the other as they stared at each other. As I watched, I could hear footsteps running up the tree, and I looked past the Anjanath to see pard coming to a dead stop as he looked at my predicament.
No one moved, or even breathed, all except the dragon. The Anjanath stood stock still as the dragon looked down on it, and before anyone could react, the dragon's front paw came up and gripped the Anjanath by the neck and slammed it down onto the ground, the Anjanath crying out in pain as it struggled under the mountain of force pressing on its neck. Taking the chance, I ran to pard and once I reached him, we both looked back and watched as the dragon dragged the struggling Anjanath across the ground towards the ledge of the tree.
Jason POV
I was getting tired of people thinking they can just run up here and be an annoyance. Leah, sure she was curious, but Monsters coming up here like they own the place constantly and me having to kick them out. I also would like to keep Leah alive, and while I may not interact with the people of this world, I would rather have a good relationship than a bad one. Plus, this Anjanath keeps taking all the Aptonoth.
I could feel it trying and failing to escape my grip but at this point I don't care anymore, and I dragged him to the edge of the tree. "Enjoy your express ride to the ground." I said as I tossed it off the edge and watched as it fell, hitting branches and vines alike, slowing it's fall, before finally impacting the ground unconscious, but alive surprisingly. Lifting my head back up, I turned to look at the duo who were staring at me wide eyed, well Leah was, I couldn't get a read on the hunter behind his helmet.
I began to move towards them slowly, hoping it would scare them enough to run, and it looked like it was working, but what I did not account for, was the hunter having brought flash pods. Before I could react, I quite literally saw the light as I got a flash pod the face and my ears began to ring. "MOTHER FUCKER!!" I roared out as I began to stumble around and try to rub my face to try and get rid of the blindness.
Eventually I was able to see again, but both of them were gone. "Son of a bitch thinks he's batman with these disappearing tricks." I thought as I moved back towards the edge and looked out to see the two with wing drakes flying back to Astera looking back at me. "Oh, gee thanks for saving us Mr. dragon, that sure was awesome Mr. dragon, here have the literal light of god in your face as thanks." I said in mock voices of the two as I turned and went back to where I was lying to try and nap the rest of the day away, I don't feel like doing anything.
Sometime later back in Astera. Narrator POV
The duo had just landed within Astera, Leah immediately running to the council table to report what had happened while the Hunter had gone towards the chief botanist, receiving the reward. Nearing the council table, Leah began to slow down as she called out. "Commander!" The commander and his grandson both stopped what they were doing as they looked up towards her with matching looks of confusion. "What is it?" He asked as Leah took deep breaths to calm herself before speaking. "We had another run in with the dragon." That made the duo's eyes go wide. "Tell me everything, in great detail." The commander ordered.
"Well, Pard had gone to hunt the Tobi Kadachi for the botanist while I went looking for evidence on our mystery dragon and found these." She explained as she set down the red scales she had found. "They're from the dragon, no doubt about it. What bothers me the most though, is that they feel like they're brimming with some sort of energy." The commander reached out, picking up on of the scales, looking at it closely as it silently hummed in his hand. "Strange, there's definitely something about them, but whatever this is will have to wait. Good work on gathering evidence. but what else happened, how did you two come into contact with the dragon, was it hostile?" He questioned.
"Well, after I had collected all the evidence, I began to move back to move back towards camp to wait for pard to return, but when I cleared the tree line, the Anjanath had been there, and it caught sight of me. It started to chase me all around the forest to the point I had run all the way up the tree with it right on my tail the entire time. When I had reached the top, I ran into the dragon, which made the Anjanath stop in its tracks with me stuck between the two." She paused for second, letting the commander soak in all the information before starting again. "Pard showed up shortly after and I took the chance to move to him while the Anjanath was occupied. We watched as the dragon gripped the Anjanath's neck and dragged it on the ground before throwing it off the tree."
" After that, it looked back towards us and began to make its way to us before pard launched a flash pod, letting us escape. When we were in the air I looked back, and the Dragon was watching us leave. It didn't chase us. I even saw the Anjanath slowly getting up, but it was clearly severely wounded from the fall, I'm shocked it actually survived to be honest. But we should be able to hunt it by tomorrow morning, it will take weeks for it to recover from that." The commander nodded at that and began to speak. "Well, I'm glad you both are safe. I want you on the hunt for that Anjanath by tomorrow, then we can finally set our plan into motion. I'll let the researchers have a look at these scales, and I'll send one to the guild with my report, now go get some rest." Leah nodded and left to the canteen, where she met with her partner.
The next day, the duo had gotten up early and immediately left to hunt the Anjanath, finding it sleeping and severely injured, making for an easy kill. When they returned, the hunter was able to make a new armor at the workshop using the Anjanath parts. (I know you technically need parts, but this is real life, they gonna use the whole animal, not just cut off some small pieces) Decked out in his new Anjanath armor, the duo went to the council table to report they had finished.
The commander, satisfied with their work called the council. "Gather 'round people. We have much to discuss." The commander began. " All our preparations are complete, and I have all of you to thank for working double time to make it happen. I'm especially impressed with the fifth for hunting the Anjanath and looking into the mystery elder despite being new here. That's one less misery standing between us and capturing Zorah Magdaros, well done." He then looked towards the Chief ecologist. "When will Zorah reach the Great Ravine?" The old wyverian quickly responded. "Precisely at daybreak." The commander nodded before beginning to speak again.
"Good. let's run through the operation one more time." he said as he began marking the map and telling the plan. "Our hunters will rendezvous on sight, once the beast appears, the operation will commence. We've built two barriers in the targets path. your objective is to stop it at the first barrier, initially wearing it down with ballistae and cannon fire, then restrain it with binders. How ever, there is a chance it will break through. If so, we'll initiate the mounting phase of the operation. during this phase, we'll attempt to weaken it further, so that we'll have a better chance of restraining at the second barrier. Make sure you hammer it as much as possible with cannons and Ballistae, they're there for a reason!"
Looking around the table, he began to assign each team a role. "The technicians will do final checks on equipment; quarter master's will conduct inventory on all our supplies. Researchers, proceed to the ravine with your escorts as soon as you're ready. We can't bring our quarry back to base, so take what you need and be prepared to conduct research on sight." Receiving affirmatives from each group he began to wrap up his speech. "Keep your ears open during the operation, I'll be giving orders as the situation unfolds. May the Sapphire Star light your way! Dismissed!"
Leah then looked to her partner as they began to leave the table. "Wow, the big moment is finally here. I'm shaking up a storm here, how about you?" The hunter merely nodded in response, receiving a giggle from Leah as the two went towards the canteen, preparing to go for the capture of Zorah. Within the span of a few hours, every hunter within Astera was piled in the canteen, getting ready for one of the biggest missions in their careers.
Once they were all ready, everyone departed via Wing drake, making their way to the great ravine, while the researchers were well ahead of them with an escort of hunters and carts full of supplies, along with the technicians. As they all flew to the ravine, they passed over the ancient forest, catching the attention of Jason, who watched the army of hunters depart. "Guess it's time. I can't miss this, getting to see it all in real life will be awesome, I just have to be sure I remain hidden." He thought as he let them pass before taking off silently into the sky, flying far behind them, and high enough he wouldn't be noticed.
Hours later, everyone had arrived and began to unload everything, unaware of the elder dragon hidden among the massive crags of the ravine away from prying eyes watching everything. The commander and matt began to walk through the encampment, moving towards the second fleet master who was yelling at his engineers. "Quite a sight" the commander said, as the Second master pulled out the schematics and responded. "Just wait till we're finished."
"Soon I hope," the commander said as the Second fleet master raised his fist and said proudly. " The Second Fleet always delivers!" As they were walking, they met up with Leah and the Hunter. Leah being the first to notice them called out. "Chief, Commander!" The commander looked towards her "So?" he questioned "We'll get it ready by morning, I promise." Leah said adamantly. "I'll hold you to it."
He answered before looking towards the hunter and saying, "When the time comes, you know what to do," receiving a nod from the silent man. "The operation will commence at daybreak." Matt then laughed lightly. "Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us, eh old man?" The commander looked to him and nodded before looking out into the night sky to the full moon. "By next moonrise, Zorah will be in chains."
Hours passed as everyone worked tirelessly to prepare for the mountain sized Elder. Soon, dawn began to break in the distance, everyone watching out into the ravine with bated breath for any sign of Zorah. Suddenly, everyone's scout flies turned a deep shade of blue and swarmed together before dipping down into the raven, many did not notice a small group break off to move towards the crags, but some eagle-eyed hunters caught notice, but that was short lived as all the flies turned red and the ground rumbled before Zorah erupted from beneath the earth.
"GET TO YOUR POSTS NOW!!" the commander shouted as the heat in the air drastically increased and the sun rose higher into the sky. Hunters began to pelt Zorah with cannon and ballistae fire, the massive elder roaring in annoyance as the small ordinance pelted him again and again. Soon enough, bits of rock and scale began to break away from Zorah, causing him to roar even louder, but on anger this time.
Meanwhile, high above both Zorah and the hunters, Jason watched in awe as the massive elder trudged through the ravine. The sound his roars even reaching infrasound levels, and the constant thundering booms of the cannons shook the air as the rocks vibrated from the constant bombardment of soundwaves. "Holy shit, this is awesome!!" He thought as he felt his body shake and watched on as Zorah reached the first barrier.
Soon enough, Zorah was restrained and began to get pelted even harder by the cannons. The cannon balls left dents within his old scales and large holes riddled the bits of volcanic rock on his body. After a few minutes, Zorah had ripped through the retrains and began to slam against the barrier, and Jason watched on as it splintered and cracked beneath the titanic dragon.
Eventually, it had broken through, and multiple hunters leapt into the air and flew via wing drake onto Zorah's back, swarming to magma cores and battering them with attacks. Soon enough they had broken one of the cores and Zorah let out a deafening roar of pain as they began to attack the other two cores upon it's back. The hunter could be seen scaling the side of the mountain on Zorah's back, reaching the summit, and then drawing his great sword before jumping down onto the last core and swinging with all his might, brought the sword down on to the core, cracking it and making lave spew in every direction. Soon enough, the last core had been shattered by the hunter as he began to climb out of the mountain.
Zorah then made it to the second barrier, where the commander yelled out "Ready your binders...... FIRE!!" Multiple binders shot out, embedding themselves into Zorah as it roared in pain and became stunned. As they began to pelt him again and again, Leah noticed something strange. "Wait what's that, that black figure up in the sky." The commander looked to her, then to where she pointed, and his face became pale. "Oh no, hunters you need to up onto Zorah Magdaros's shell right NOW. Ballistae team, get ready to provide support!"
Many around them looked into the sky and saw an unknown monster covered in spikes land upon Zorah and let loose a terrifying roar. "That must be the mysterious monster leaving all the thorns behind!" Leah said as she watched her partner rush to combat the new monster. Everyone was left wondering just what on earth this thing was, everyone except Jason who watched as the Eater of Elders Nergigante arrived. "So, the porcupine has arrived. I wonder how the hunter plans on dealing with him." he thought as he watched the hunter rush to Nergiante.
The hunter slid on the ground, picking up stones and placing them into his slinger before aiming a shot directly into the Nergigante's eye. It roared in pain but was only stunned for a second before looking toward the hunter with a glare that could kill. Nergigante leapt towards the hunter with it's armed raised, poised to strike, before bringing its claws down hard. The hunter barely dodged out of the way before swinging his great sword into Nergigante's forearm, hitting nothing but thick spikes, before being backhanded by Nergigante and getting sent flying.
"I'm baaaack. Miss me?!" the blonde hunter known as Aiden yelled out in excitement as he landed on Zorah's back and ran towards the Hunter and heling him up. They both looked towards Nergigante who let loose a roar that stunned the two of them. Back at the wall, the commander began yelling. "C'mon, back in position NOW. Aim, FIRE!!" a rain of ballistae bolts whistled towards Nergigante before it blocked them all with it's wing, at the cost of all the spikes, making both Aiden and the Hunter smile as they prepared to attack again.
before they could run in, Nergigante swung its tail around in a spin as it tore off all the bolts that riddled its body, before bringing its arm up in an uppercut swipe, sending both the Hunter and Aiden flying into a wall of rock. Then, to the astonishment of all who watched, the huntsman came running into the fray out of nowhere and began to attack Nergigante, managing to cut off the spikes on its forearm. "He's from the first!" a pukei-pukei armor clad hunter yelled before matt pushed passe him and looked to see the Huntsman, before calling out "Master!"
As the dragon and huntsman faced each other down, the spines upon Nergigante's wing and forearm began to sprout again, sharper and stronger than before. Leah watched on in astonishment at such a thing. "No way..." she said as they watched Nergigante rear up with its arm raised and claws poised to rend the huntsman apart. As it brought its arm down, embedding it into the rock of Zorah's back, the Huntsman managed to dodge.
Jason watched on from a distance as the spectacle unfolded, fully expecting Zorah to no break free and send Nergigante away, but the moment never came. Zorah was still stunned and Nergigante began to wail on the old hunter as the Hunter and Aiden tried to give him support but were also getting rag dolled against their opponent. Not keen on getting involved, Jason watched as they got hammered, waiting for Zorah to move, but for some reason, it was still stunned, trying to recuperate, and Nergigante was pummeling the Huntsman into the ground.
Jason POV
"This isn't supposed to happen. Why won't that dumb piece of rock move!?" I am freaking out; I don't know what to do anymore. I watched as the trio were getting pummeled while the Commander kept having ballistae give support, but Nergigante kept shrugging off the hits. "C'mon, think! I can't take Nergigante on head-to-head, sure Anjanath no problem, but Nergigante is an Elder who eats Larger Elders, it would kill me if I went toe to toe with him. Wait... Nergigante has no long-range attack, but I do. Safi 'Jiiva has the laser. But how do I do that?" I kept thinking on how to do the attack, until I remembered that Safi needs to consume bio energy, but how do I do that?
I slammed my claws down and impaled them into the ground as I closed my eyes and tried to feel something. anything that might be it. I tried and tried as I heard the fighting continue, making me dig deeper. Before I knew it, all sound cut out. I couldn't see, hear, feel, nothing. Just nothing. But within the nothing, I could "feel" something there, something pulsing throughout the void. I focused on that something and "reached" out to it. When I made contact with it, I felt searing hot energy piece into me, but it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt great.
I could feel my body growing hotter and my senses rapidly returning. My chest was on fire and my heart going a thousand miles per hour, and I involuntarily let loose a roar that echoed throughout the ravine. I could feel the energy flowing through me, and I thought of it flowing into my chest, and it went there, and before I knew it, I brought my wings down hard, jumping into the air and looked down at Nergigante. I felt the energy well up in my throat and I opened my mouth before letting loose a beam of white-hot energy towards the dragon.
Leah POV
I watched on as Pard was slammed into the ground time and again along with the Huntsman and Aiden by that monster. I don't know what I could do, there's nothing I can do. "Commander, we need to go up there, please!!" I begged the commander as he kept having the ballistae fire at it. He looked at me and spoke. "I'm sorry, but they need to hold out just a little longer, we need to capture Zorah and that thing isn't going to stop us. I trust you partner not to die; he's always been good at doing just that." he said as he ordered another Volley of ballistae.
"C'mon pard, hold on." I though as I watched him stand and swing his great sword onto the monster's head but immediately getting sent flying after, while the Huntsman flanked it and attacked it's hind legs with Aiden on the other side. But the beast folded its wings close to it's body, then launched them out with spines, sending the two of them flying into the air. I looked back towards the Commander and saw Matt standing next to him and he was looking just as worried as I was and was shouting at the commander.
"Grandfather, let me go up there! They need help!" The commander seemed hesitant but looked back towards Zorah and the fight upon it's back, then back to Matt. "Fine but be-" He was cut off and everything stopped as an ear-piercing roar sounded through the ravine, shaking the ground and there was a strange light that filled the air, almost like scout flies but pure white. I looked up to where the roar came from and saw the Red Dragon flying into the air before hovering there, it's wings glowing, looking like starlight, blue energy waving off of it.
We watched as it opened its mouth, and its neck and chest began to glow blue with energy and a beam of white light came blazing out towards the monster attacking pard. It had not time to react, being blindsided by the energy, sending it flying onto the ground, roaring in pain. Zorah was even shaken by the force of the impact. I lowered my goggles and zoomed in to see the ground up on Zorah's back turning white hot and melting. The monster on the ground writhing in pain from the beam before it finally cut off and the red dragon began to fly at high speed towards Zorah before landing directly onto the weakened monster. It grabbed its wings with its paws and began to push them on the ground as it started to bite on to its bare neck. You could hear the monster struggling and roaring in pain as they fought.
Jason POV
That pain took a lot out of me, but it didn't matter right now. I had landed onto Nergigante, all the spikes on it had been blasted off and its wings were tattered from the beam, and it's body covered in burns. But I felt something from it. That same energy I drew from the crags, only denser, stronger. And it made me feel hungry, not for food, but for something else. Before I knew what I was doing, I had Nergigante pinned and I bit down onto its neck, feeling my teeth pierce its scales and I felt the pull again, only this time it was easy, like a muscle being flexed.
I pulled on the energy and felt the energy begin to flow into me, and Nergigante started to writhe in pain, it's roar became a squeal as it started to fight back harder but I clamped down onto its neck harder. I watched as instead of the white energy; it was tinted blue. It felt so pure, it was intoxicating, and I could not stop. The struggles became weaker as I felt myself grow stronger. I was in a trance; I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. After a few more minutes, of this, I could feel Zorah start to move and I felt my grip on Nergi's neck slipping. I let go and it immediately shot up but with a noticeable sluggishness, it stumbled and wailed as it quickly took off into the sky, it's flight erratic as it fled.
"What was that?" I thought as I came out of the trance like state I was in. I felt more energized, I felt like I could fly for days, make beams that last for hours, and it felt great. I could only imagine what the pure energy within the elder's recess is, but I don't know where the Xeno is. In the game you immediately get taken there, but I would have to tear the recess apart to find it. For now, I can wait. But I also need to learn to control all this new energy, and to be careful cause I could accidentally change an ecosystem.
I looked towards the trio of hunters on Zorah's back with my, and they looked dirt tired and battered, hell, even the hunter's armor was cracked in someplace and his helmet was broken, showing one of his eyes, and he was looking at me with a mixture of thankfulness for getting rid of Nergigante, but there was fear there, fear of another monster. They feared me and I hated it. I don't want to be feared by them, I want to have a peaceful relationship with these people, not have them motivated by fear to hunt me. So, before any of the trio could react, I grabbed them tightly and took off into the air just as Zorah slammed into the next barrier, crumpling it into splinters.
I could see the hunters watch on a Zorah passed through the crushed barrier, then turn their attention to me as I flew towards them. All Ballistae moving to aim at me, with the Commander yelling something I could not hear before seeing Leah block him, and pointing towards me, at what I assume was the Hunter. The commander looked back towards me, and I locked eyes with him. We stared at each other the entire time I flew until I landed upon them. Everyone cleared the area as the commander stood his ground.
I dropped the exhausted trio on the ground gently and allowed them to get up. They looked at me, then to the commander, then they moved towards the rest of the hunters behind the commander and were immediately surrounded by medics who gave them max potions, putting them back at a hundred percent. The commander regarded them for a second, then looked to me again before speaking. "It is to my knowledge, that you are able to understand us. If so, it would be helpful if I could receive some confirmation.
I stared at him for a second trying to figure out how I would prove to him that I could understand them, but before I could think of something, Leah came running over to her partner. "Thank goodness you're ok. I was so worried about you!" she said as she pulled him into a tight hug, and I swear, I heard the armor cracking slightly. "What the Hell kinda strength is that?" I thought confused. She then turned to me and did something that I was not expecting. She motioned for me to come closer, and I lowered my head. I noticed that made the commander's eyes widen, which I guess this proved that I could understand them. My eyes almost bulged out of my head when I felt Leah begin to hug my face, or I guess nose, and say "Thank you for saving them, I knew you were nice!"
When she let go, I raised my head again, and I looked towards the commander to see what he was going to do. He started to look around at everyone, then to me, then to the direction Zorah went, with the mountainous dragon still in the distance. "Everyone, back to Astera. Go rest up, we're gonna be going double time for the foreseeable future." Everyone around us started to get moving, packing up what they could onto carts and taking whatever they could carry able flew back towards Astera.
The commander then looked towards Leah, then towards the Hunter, and began to speak again. "I want to speak with you two when we get back to Astera, for now, make your way back and stop by the Canteen. After everything that's happened, I think the Chef might cook you both something nice. And you..." He stopped at me, looking me dead in the eyes before continuing. "You saved these three, and I thank you for that. I can't force you, but if you would be willing to come back with us to Astera, I think we Could give you a more proper thanks. Besides, I know a few people who would love to have a closer look at you."
When He finished speaking, I looked towards Leah who was looking at me with a bright smile, then back towards the commander, before nodding. That seemed to make Leah's face brighten even more. "Great, now I can give you more of the Chef's food, cause you seemed to like it last time and I can always appreciate having another foodie around." I have to admit, even after consuming all that energy, just thinking of the Chef's food was making my mouth water.
The commander started to speak again, but this time to his grandson. "Fly ahead and inform everyone about our guest here. and have the chef prepare something, preferably dragon sized. "Thank you!" I said in my mind as nodded at him in thanks. Matt nodded and then left towards Astera. The commander looked towards the hunter, huntsman, and Aiden. "Well done you three. I couldn't be prouder." The huntsman then chuckled. "Save it, I'm getting too old for this." The commander smiled, then started to speak again.
"Let's go home." The trio all called their wing drakes and left towards Astera. The commander turned to Leah and said, "Let's go." she hesitated for a second before she started to speak. "Actually commander, you go ahead." she turned to me then started to shift nervously. "You think I could.... ride on your back?" she asked, which caught me of guard. I stared at her for a moment as I thought about it "I don't see why not."
I nodded at her, and I don't think there could ever be a brighter smile. The commander Chuckled at this, then looked towards me. "See you both in Astera." and he left with his own drake. Leah started hopping like an excited child and I lowered my hand for her to climb on. She stepped up and held onto my claw as I lifter her onto my back, where she climbed into a comfortable spot. I looked back at her to see if she was all good, and she called out to me. "I'm good, just go slow!"
"Go fast? okay!" I flapped my wings down hard and shot into the sky, the endless energy I felt I had from Nergigante was pushing me to go faster than ever. I could hear Leah screaming, and slowly those screams turned into cheers as I began to level out and speed towards Astera. It will be nice to finally be around people again without fearing about being hunted, and I had the chef's food to look forward too. "This is gonna be a fun night." I thought as I could see Astera on the horizon.
_______________________________________________________
Alright guys, this thing is 7,613 words long. I hope you all enjoyed and sorry for the wait.