Once Valen had secured his pack, and discreetly retrieved his carving knife, he headed up for the upper deck, where all of the Low Rank hunters were already ready.
A pile of hand gliders sat in the middle, and the commander nodded at Valen once he saw him. So he joined the group of hunters and waited for the instruction.
It was getting a bit hard to breathe, due to the airship being so far up the air was thinner. But Valen didn’t complain, he would just have to bear with it.
A large map was then spread out on the ground, with weights on the corners pinning it down. It was a scaled up map of the surroundings they were in, and several X dotted it around, with numbers accompanying them. There was also a pile of flare guns next to it, with cartridges of ammunition among it, and they handed them up while the Commander started talking.
“Here is how you will all be spread out. Those that have a better score with the gliders are further away. You all will reach your designated position, we are distributing your assigned number on the map right now, so once you receive it, locate your position and prepare yourself to jump, we are on a tight schedule, and the airship needs to land back down before our target starts flying around.”
Valen was handed a flare gun, which had red and green flares, along with his number, which he noted was one of the higher ones, and he frowned, as the position seemed to be the farthest out of the map. He glanced at the commander who walked next to him and said. “You, Hunter Valen, are a special case, you are the only High Rank hunter we got for this mission besides our elite team. And your score in the test is also the highest, so we assigned you the furthest spot we could assign. That also means that you would have to fight longer before the reinforcements arrive. Do you think you are up to the task?”
Valen didn’t even need to think about it. “I am.” He then grinned behind his helmet. “Though the team should not tarry if I’m the unlucky chosen, who knows, maybe I’ll take it down by myself.”
The commander frowned. “Careful with arrogance, only a few hunters were known to take down an Elder solo, and only two who did so while High Rank.”
“Do not worry, that was just in jest, I’ll do my best to fulfill my task.”
“Good, you’re the first one to leave. Good luck and may the Sapphire Star guide you.”
Nodding in response, Valen, checked his destination and their headings on a compass then picked up one of the hand gliders and braced himself around it. They were quite large, being designed to carry armored hunters. The assemblage was made out of metal, and thick wyvern leather was what made out the cloth. Inspecting it for holes, he found none, and after taking a deep breath, he jumped off the airship, from the side that would lead him towards his destination.
Hand glider training was difficult, and had the highest occurrence of injuries out of all the segments hunters go through. But Valen had aced it, finding himself to be in his natural element. He first picked up speed and once he was sure that was enough, leveled himself out and headed towards the direction he knew he was supposed to go.
It took him several dozen minutes for him to reach the spot he was designated to, identifying the couple hills he noted on the map as landmarks, one of them being his target destination. So he angled for a landing approach, it being the most tricky part of the flying, but he knew that the most important was killing all of his speed at the last moment. He flew close to the ground and aimed for the uphill, then once he deemed he was close enough, he flared up as much as he could and touched down, running a bit to not faceplant.
Taking several deep breaths of air that wasn’t rushing his face, he examined his surroundings and carried the glider on his back, making sure it couldn’t catch the wind and climbed to the top of the flat hill. He had to keep his hand glider nearby in case the Valstrax landed in an area down below so he could reach it as soon as he could.
Now that he had reached his destination, he took the time to pondering on the small exchange he had with the elite team not long ago, he knew he shouldn’t base his opinion of people on a first impression, but they felt so… Wrong and self-centered he didn’t know how they were hunters.
He had already decided that he would attempt to complete the hunt by his lonesome. He just hoped that his experience with Nikki was strong enough.
Scanning the skies, he noted that it was barely the start of the afternoon, but his experience in Nikki’s cave told him that it was also the perfect time for a Valstrax to start hunting or flying around. For some reason Nikki flew less often on the morning than at the early afternoon. He sighed and made himself comfortable on the grass, he knew that the time would soon come, but would Nikki know where he is? And how would she make sure that the rampaging Valstrax landed near him? She would find a way, he was sure, he trusted her.
However, not long after he landed, he spotted a red dot flying in the clear skies, he narrowed his eye, he didn’t know which one it was, but in a hunch, he stood up and waved at it, if it was their target, drawing it towards him would do the job regardless, and if it was Nikki? It would confirm his location to her.
For a few second he pursued the motion, until he noticed the dot turning around soon after. Valen let a smile appear on his face, it looked like his gut feeling was right, and it was indeed Nikki. Now, all he had to do was to trust her and be ready for action. So he started scanning the skies periodically, daring not to sit down, and walked around, so that his muscles didn’t cool down.
Valen didn’t know for how long he had been waiting but judging by the progress of the sun, it couldn’t be more than a couple hours, and he was tempted to sit down but he resisted the temptation. He looked around in the skies then immediately, movement caught his attention. And he focused more, then when he realized that it was not one but two red dots he was seeing, he tensed.
One red dot was ahead of the other, and he noted that the direction they came from was the one he saw Nikki leave for once she noticed him. They were still both far away, but he knew how fast Valstrax were, so he did not let his guard down and prepared himself to jump into action at any moment.
And indeed, they were closing fast, and not even a couple minutes later, they were both almost directly above him. Then, suddenly, the front dot changed directions, seemingly to the surprise of the other, which took a split second later to follow suit.
They started circling, like a pair of Great Jaggis judging each other for the dominance of a pack. But Valen kept his eyes trained on the both of them, keeping track of which he thought was Nikki and the other.
Suddenly Nikki jerked and headed directly towards the other, and Valen winced because the collision between the two could be seen, they merged for a bit until they separated again, but he could see that one of them was flying more erratically, and more strained. He hoped it was the one that had been collided upon.
The other dot seemed to realized that aswell, and immediately headed towards the other again, however… This time they didn’t separate. And they were heading directly towards Valen.
Realizing the danger, he ran directly perpendicular to the direction they were headed towards, keeping his eyes on the both of them. It only took a dozen seconds, but when both of them were about to impact the ground, he saw one of them separate from the other and was starting to pull up, and the other didn’t pull up.
Valen immediately dove for the ground, then a shockwave passed through him right after, and his ears rang, but he could feel that he was completely fine, which meant his armor protected him. He did not delay though and immediately got back up on his feet, one hand on the handle of his weapon.
The scene that greeted him was of great devastation. A deep trench now marred the grass that covered the hilltop, which continued for several dozen meters, but he couldn’t see clearly what was at the end of it, a cloud of dust having been kicked up by the crash landing. He drew his weapon, engaging the first level of the lever to disengage the safety mode.
However the dust fell quickly, being mostly composed of dirt and grass and it soon revealed a dragon of silver scales, trident shaped wings, that were however even now leaking dragon energy, but also a lot of scars present on his back, which also had a bleeding wound that almost seemed to have been dented. It was shaking its head, its eyes closed but when they opened, Valen saw that they were completely bloodshot, with no trace of the usual blue iris that he saw present on Nikki. And his chest, now visible was leaking a huge quantity of dragon element. For such a violent crash, it seemed to have barely any wounds, but he noticed that a bleeding gash was present right below the chest vent, which probably meant a sharp rock pierced through there.
Focusing on the claw, he counted the ones on his right legs, and seeing that all three of them were intact other than being scratched, he sighed in relief, he now was sure that it wasn’t Nikki, her broken claw was still regrowing.
He immediately started running towards the Elder, holding his weapon to the side, he knew he had to take the opportunity that was presented to him before it could recover its spirits. And he knew his priority: prevent it from being able to fly away, as he wasn’t sure Nikki could repeat her feat. So he winded up and slashed the axe head towards the weakpoint that he knew it possessed: his chest vents.
The weapon dug deeply, and before he could push further in, the Valstrax recoiled back and shrieked in pain, a shriek so intense Valen had to try to block the sound with his hands, even though he had taken care of plugging his ears with earbuds before leaving. Shaking his head, he rolled towards the right then looked at his opponent.
It was now looking murderous and stared at him with sheer rage, knowing that it had been dealt a wound that stopped it from flying away. And Valen also immediately noticed his left wing was already reared back, so he reacted automatically, rolling to the left, avoiding the thrust that was aimed his way. It was fast, but he had dodged faster ones from Nikki.
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On a gut feeling, he immediately rolled to the right instantly after, avoiding the second thrust that had been aimed his way, which seemed to catch the elder by surprise. Valen did not let the opportunity go to waste, doing a rising slash with his axe on the leathery tissue connecting the tube-like wings, and was rewarded with a spray of blood and a tear starting to form.
Valen knew that it now couldn’t use that wing for thrusts again, lest it completely rip it apart. It didn’t stop it from using it to shoot projectiles at him though.
Once the Valstrax recovered from the pain, that is exactly what it seemed to realize, shifting orientation on his wing so that the open ends were aimed towards him. It took a moment to gather energy, blood bubbling on his chest while it inhaled air through it, then shot at him.
The hunter was already running when the projectiles headed toward him. But they were simply carpet bombing him, the Valstrax too incoherent to aim properly at him. So he ducked one, and sidestepped another, and the rest simply missed widely. However before Valen could swing his weapon, the Valstrax seemed to realize the danger it was in and hopped sideways, raising his left wing, intending to squash the hunter with it, like a giant fly swatter.
Nikki however had used this tactic before, and he already knew the way to deal with it, and so he jumped left, as the Valstrax instinctively did not let the wing go past their face, so it mostly would slam its left side, but left the right side clear. Nikki corrected this error after a while, but she rarely did this attack, as the goal of their training was still to let Valen improve, not beat him senseless.
The Valstrax seemed to have realized its mistake immediately and attempted to swat him with a paw while it raised its wing. But Valen would not let it. He jumped on the wing and slashed on it again, on the membrane connecting the first digit to the second, and a large tear appeared on it once again, then he jumped off it, and using the moment the monster was recoiling from the pain to smoothly morph into Sword mode and scoring on its right leg. However he immediately saw its power through this pain and was about to try biting him, so he sidestepped the motion and got clear of his whole body.
The Valstrax finally seemed to have realized it was a bad idea to let Valen get in close quarters, so it backstepped several times and slowly walked sideways. Valen followed, walking in the same direction, the two of them circling each other. The hunter knew he had partially disabled the most dangerous weapon the Valstrax had, and negated its mobility advantage, but he knew the battle was far from over, though time was in his favor, the elder bleeding profusely from several deep wounds and it would only be a matter of time before it would be weakened enough by it.
This seemed to also be the conclusion the Valstrax reached. As it stopped circling, and examined his wounds. Then he stared at Valen, who stared back, holding his stance with his weapon on the side. A long moment passed through them, however for a split second he thought he saw clarity come back into the Valstrax’s eyes, its eyes gaining a tinge of blue, however, Valen blinked and they returned to bloodshot red immediately after. It then screeched, the distance allowing Valen to power through it this time, but he heard a distinct rumbling through it, and immediately noticed his wings powering up, but since they faced behind him… He knew it meant to charge him, but he wasn’t sure if he could dodge it in time.
Then he realized he also could use the opportunity. So he braced himself, and squeezed fully both the lever and the trigger, his weapon morphing into Sword mode… And energy starting to gather up in it.
The Valstrax charged for an instant longer, then immediately released the energy it has converted and blasted towards Valen. It was arriving at him at high speed, but not as fast as it dived from the air.
However right when it was about to reach him, Valen faced his weapon downwards toward the Valstrax, and released the trigger, releasing a modest-sized explosion… That he did not brace against, so he was blasted backward a bit into the air… And its wing-arm where it was connected to its back, caught him on his chest. Since he had reduced the speed difference, it didn’t impact him with the full force of the charge, but it still knocked the wind out of him.
The Valstrax did not expect this and had flown through the shockwave front face-first, disorienting him and almost losing control of its dash, but it also immediately realized its opponent was on its back. And immediately dug its claws in the ground to stop its charge.
However, Valen would not let it attempt to buckle him off. He reacted immediately by grabbing firmly on the wing with his right elbow which was also holding his weapon, and, pulling out his carving knife with his left hand, stabbed through its back to have a grip. He was surprised at how easily the knife plunged through the scales but did not let this fact distract him. Releasing his grip on the wing-arm, he raised his weapon and baring his teeth, he screamed a shout of rage and plunged the sword downwards. Towards the back of its head, where its nostrils were.
The Switch Axe dug deeply, and the Valstrax immediately reared up and screeched, flailing wildly, dislodging Valen from its back, and his breathing still labored, releasing his grip from his knife and weapon. He rolled when he reached the ground and prepared himself to dodge the follow-up attack that he thought would come… But was surprised when he laid his eyes on his opponent.
The Valstrax was still flailing around wildly, and Valen could see that the sword had pushed deeper than he though… He realized he must have hit the brain. He was witnessing the death throes of an Elder.
The flailing continued for a couple more seconds before it stopped, collapsing on the ground, its eyes were trained on Valen, but instead of being bloodshot like before, its eyes were back to being blue. And it seemed to study him for a moment… before Valen thought he saw a spark of respect and gratitude in its eyes, and it collapsed, going limp.
It later that Valen realized that when it had collapsed, its wings and chest had stopped leaking energy. But on the moment he was still tense, ready for it to be a trick and coming back to life to strike him.
One minute passed. Two, and it was only half a dozen minutes later that Valen realized that yes, the Valstrax was dead, and he was the one that dealt the killing blow. It only just now sunk in for Valen, and he immediately fell to his knees, his legs growing weak. He panted long and hard taking deep breaths to calm his raging heart. It was the shortest hunt he had ever made… But also the most intense, having to keep his full focus throughout, since he knew no mistakes were allowed.
But it paid off… He did it. He managed to slay the Valstrax solo. He pulled himself back up on his feet and walked towards the body, crouching near it. Placing a hand on its snout, he closed his eyes and did a silent prayer towards his opponent, which he knew was not fully itself. It was off but had sparks of clarity, sparks that knew it was doing something that shouldn’t be done. But that part of it had retreated deep inside itself and only came back to light at the end.
Once he had done that, he pulled back up on his feet and pulled out his weapon from where it was extricated. The blood was already coagulating when he pulled out his weapon, so it didn’t flow out that much. But for now he simply stabbed it on the ground, he would have plenty of time to clean it up later. He also pulled out his carving knife while he was at it.
A rustle immediately made him go on alert and he instinctively grabbed his weapon and turned around to try to locate the sound, his one good ear made him unable to pinpoint the location, but he almost dropped it when he saw Nikki emerging from the bushes. She was definitely battered, a lot of scales singed or scratched, but she seemed to have nothing broken, apart from a couple of gashes, but he supposed that she would heal them in time.
He didn’t know what to think as she approached… He had killed a member of her species, but it was also her who told him to do so… So he simply signed. “Why?” The same question he had asked her last time.
And to his surprise, she answered this time. “Sick. Madness. Danger.”
He didn’t know how to respond to that, it confirmed that something was wrong with it, but still didn’t explain why, but he wasn’t certain Nikki would answer if he asked for clarifications.
Then she surprised him by approaching the body and touched it with the tip of her beak, taking a deep inhale. And then she raised her wing vertically… And stupefied him by starting humming through them.
The melody was primal, full of sadness and sorrow. Regret and resignation. It touched Valen with the deep emotion it contained. The sounds he could hear were deep and made his bones vibrate. It was as if an organ touched the deepest part of yourself, and could make even your instinct understand. It was a melody that could not be misunderstood for its purpose. And it was Nikki who was emitting it, as if she was transcribing her emotions to the wide world to hear.
Valen was starting to tear up when the tone abruptly shifted. From sadness to joy. From sorrow to hope. From regret to determination. And from sorrow to happiness. Instead of being about the past, of mistakes, of things that had been. This one was full of promises, full of wishes. It spoke about a beautiful future, of a time where peace would come. Where a great blight was vanquished, and of cooperation, it took a while for Valen to understand that Nikki was singing about them. About their future.
And with a final note, the melody died, and the plains became silent when the last echo of the sound faded. Nikki looked at Valen and rubbed her beak to him. He hugged her and simply said. “Thanks you.” He didn’t need to sign. She understood his meaning regardless.
However, she turned her beak into a direction and immediately became more urgent. And Valen understood immediately, they needed not to be seen, and she wished for something to be done still.
She nosed his carving knife and made a motion with her head for him to follow. So he unsheathed it and followed it. And then she tapped a spot on the back of the head with the tip of a beak. She seemed to want him to carve a part of the body, but he didn’t know why. He didn’t question her motives though.
The knife cut through the scales with surprising ease. It was even easier than for the Plesioth with his old knife. And it took him only a couple cuts before he felt resistance, so frowning, he cut around, and when he managed to extract the item, he gasped.
A deep red stone was in his hand, looking fragile but yet strong. It was just big enough to fit in the palm of his hand but he could feel the power pulsing out of it. And some kind of… Awareness.
He faced Nikki as to question her, but she simply said. “He, respect you, thanks you. Help you.”
Valen was about to ask her to clarify, but she immediately turned around and ran down hill. He supposed that she would take off from a different part of the surroundings, so that it was like they never met. She even made sure to take a path where she would not let footprints on.
So he focused back on the stone. He knew that it was important, but he suspected Aki could help him understand what it was. So he retrieved a drawstring bag from his pouch and delicately placed it inside. Then he put it back in his pouch. He noticed her taking off from a long place away and heading away, probably to go back to her nest by a roundabout way.
He also just realized that he still hasn’t sent a flare up, and that he would have to ask questions about that later… But for now. He pulled out the flare gun clasped to his coil, swapped out the red flare for a green one, that meant a completed hunt instead of request for assistance… And fired it up. He followed with a second one so it couldn’t be thought of as a mistake. The guns were packed with extra punch and it sent the flare way higher than he expected, along with extra recoil. But he knew they would be seen.
He took a deep breath, and sat on the ground… He expected to have to shout once they arrived. But he did not regret his actions.
