HOME | DD

Description

Nordanner Dragon Hunt 2020

Main Entry
Placing: N/A

Rider: Luna Pendragon (No ref yet.)

Nordanner:
1036 Thalia
1185 Noctis
A6181 Gladiolus

Prompt:
An Elderly Vrux dragon has been sighted living on one of the cliffs that overlook the sea. She is said to guard a Nest of unfertile eggs and will attack anybody that crosses her path to protect the offspring that will never hatch. See if you can take the eggs so that she can be relocated to a more remote area.

Story: 1556 words
It was the afternoon of one of the last hot days of the year when the hunt was set to start. The queen had set up different quests for the hunters to choose from and, being our first, I thought of picking up the one I found the easiest: Picking up the eggs of a cave from an old dragon.

    I was taking three Nords for the hunt. The more than experienced Thalia, my trustworthy stallion Noctis, and the young Gladiolus. Yuna had stayed in town with Arthur to take care of our usual quests as the old man didn’t feel like facing a dragon head on. Not that I wanted to either, but the prizes if successful were more than handsome. What we can do for some gold… I will never be able to tell.

    We started to march on our way as soon as the sun started to set in the horizon. The coastal caves were a bit farther away than I thought at first, but the three Nords were more than used to traveling long distances, so this short of a trip was nothing for them.

    Noctis looked very eager to go hunting today, the ambiance surely had some influence on him as many other hunters came along. Thalia was way more quieter and followed behind while keeping Gladio at bay. The young stallion also got quite excited by the ambient, but he was a bit too exhilarated. Knowing Thalia she would have him down in no time.

    Our way to the cliffs was quiet and peaceful once Gladio had finally calmed down. As we got closer to them I opted to part with the group and led the three Nords up to the top part of the cliff as the others started to light up their lanterns and torches and got inside of the caves.
The stone surface was covered in some spots by moss making the surface quite slippery if not careful. If you do not believe me ask Gladio, he siddied quite some times over the moss before trying to eat it all.
Noctis and Thalia stayed close to me, sniffing the ground like sniffer dogs, most likely already smelling the dragon’s scent.

    We stayed a while longer up there, trying to pinpoint the dragon’s cave from above. But we did not have to wait longer to know where it was, as after a few loud yells echoing through the caves a huge Vrux got out of one of the biggest cavities.

    The beast’s roar startled Gladiolus who quickly came to meet us in the middle of the plateau. The Vrux’s wings appeared from behind over the top of the cliff before it started to fly just in front of the cliff, like inspecting its prey and deciding who it would go after first.
It was not difficult to know that we were the more visible group as we stood alone on the top of the cliff. So before it could spot us I dragged the three Nordanner with me further inside the flat surface, spotting a cave going downwards and putting us three inside of it.

It was very dark inside, but I did not dare to lit a light in case the Vrux had spotted us and was coming after our group. Instead we kept going forward, Thalia taking the lead at some point and Noctis shouldering her in the front while me and Gladio could only look back from time to time to check if the dragon was coming.

The inside of the cave was completely silent, and even our echoes seemed to be muffled by something. As I checked the ground I noticed it was all covered in moss. And as I tried to touch the walls the hairy sensation of the plant ran through my fingers. The plant silenced all the sounds in there.

Thalia and Noctis kept on going, but the further in we went, the heavier their breathing was getting. Gladio also seemed to be a bit unsettled, and that could only mean that we unconsciously had taken the good route towards the dragon’s nest, where its smell was stronger than anywhere else.

And sure enough we reached the big cavity shortly after. Our steps started to echo in the now stone covered surface giving away our position. The horses seemed to notice it as fast as I did and we stayed still for a few minutes until we were sure that the creature was not around. Both me and Noctis sighed. Well, he actually snorted, but I am sure it was of relief.

The shining scales of the Vrux were everywhere around the cave, lighting it up dimly, just enough for us to figure out where to go and not hit the stalactites and stalagmites growing around.
I patiently walked behind the two adult horses unlike Gladio. Who, as soon as he realized there was no danger around, started to roam freely around the cave.

There was no helping it, he was young and full of energy. And for once, that energy and roaming led us to our objective: The never to hatch Vrux eggs.

There were a total of seven eggs inside a stony nest. The usual glow the eggs of this creature emitted had far disappeared, making the carcasses look more like glass than shining crystals, allowing you to see a shadow of what was inside.
Dragons were mighty and ferocious creatures, but I sympathised with these poor creatures that would never see the light of day. I touched one of them and said an apology before starting to pick them up and tie them to the saddles of Thalia and Gladio. It was time for that old Vrux to move on, and we were going to help it.

I quickly had Gladio ready and then headed to Thalia who had started to breathe faster. Her eyes warned me of the upcoming danger, and I started to quicken my pace and tie the last two eggs on her back.
But I could only tie up one before we saw it.

Gladio was up on his hinds and neighing, warning us of its presence. Thalia snorted loudly at it while I, egg still in hand, jumped on Noctis’ back who was also snorting at the creature.
The Vrux stood tall inside the cave, its belly shining with the crystal scales. Its mouth was leaving out smoke, surely as it was getting ready to breath out its deadly fire.
His blue eyes seemed to scan the situation playing in front of it. Gladio started to back away slowly towards the tunnel where we had come from as Thalia and Noctis held their ground, knowing that once they two moved hell was going to explode.

“Let it better be hell than death boys.” I said as I held Noctis’ reins in one hand and the egg in the other while the Vrux started to hiss, already knowing what was going on.

There was no time for other words. As the Vrux gulped and his front limbs started to go down Thalia and Noctis turned around sharply and caught up with Gladio just before the intense light and burning temperature of the fire started to get closer from behind.

The three Nords jumped inside the tunnel, their hooves slipping over the moss as I tried my hardest to stay on the saddle and not letting the egg go.
The dragon’s cry echoed in the cave behind us and I could see its eyes at the start of the tunnel, they sent a glacial shiver down my spine.

“Faster guys! Faster or we will get cooked alive!” I spurred Noctis and he seemed to catch his grip on the moss for a split instant and he sprinted forward taking over Thalia and Gladiolus who followed suit and ran faster as well.

I dared to look back only for my eyes to nearly get burned by the heat. The tunnel was filled in flames fastly approaching us. I really believed we were done for, but somehow the three Nordanner had managed to get to the end of the tunnel in time. And as they jumped outside the flames shot upwards as the tunnel ended, we only had to sorry the loss of some of Gladiolus’ tail hair.

But there was no time for victory yet. As soon as the four of us had caught up our breaths we had to leave immediately to camp to deliver the eggs.
The Vrux was obviously not happy for them having disappeared and we had little time before it followed us outside through the open cave, that is if our fellow hunters didn’t finish it first.

But that was not the objective of the hunt. The Queen asked to relocate the creature, not kill it. And if someone wanted to claim the prize we better stick to her demands instead of contradicting them.

We galloped North, to where we had set camp in the afternoon. The moon and stars watched over us as we advanced full speed ahead, praying for no shadow to loom over us as we held tightly onto the christal, colorless eggs that had been guarded so preciously by the Vrux, who I hoped strongly that it could find a new home and grow a new family.

Description

Nordanner Dragon Hunt 2020

Main Entry
Placing: N/A

Rider: Luna Pendragon (No ref yet.)

Nordanner:
1036 Thalia
1185 Noctis
A6181 Gladiolus

Prompt:
An Elderly Vrux dragon has been sighted living on one of the cliffs that overlook the sea. She is said to guard a Nest of unfertile eggs and will attack anybody that crosses her path to protect the offspring that will never hatch. See if you can take the eggs so that she can be relocated to a more remote area.

Story: 1556 words
It was the afternoon of one of the last hot days of the year when the hunt was set to start. The queen had set up different quests for the hunters to choose from and, being our first, I thought of picking up the one I found the easiest: Picking up the eggs of a cave from an old dragon.

    I was taking three Nords for the hunt. The more than experienced Thalia, my trustworthy stallion Noctis, and the young Gladiolus. Yuna had stayed in town with Arthur to take care of our usual quests as the old man didn’t feel like facing a dragon head on. Not that I wanted to either, but the prizes if successful were more than handsome. What we can do for some gold… I will never be able to tell.

    We started to march on our way as soon as the sun started to set in the horizon. The coastal caves were a bit farther away than I thought at first, but the three Nords were more than used to traveling long distances, so this short of a trip was nothing for them.

    Noctis looked very eager to go hunting today, the ambiance surely had some influence on him as many other hunters came along. Thalia was way more quieter and followed behind while keeping Gladio at bay. The young stallion also got quite excited by the ambient, but he was a bit too exhilarated. Knowing Thalia she would have him down in no time.

    Our way to the cliffs was quiet and peaceful once Gladio had finally calmed down. As we got closer to them I opted to part with the group and led the three Nords up to the top part of the cliff as the others started to light up their lanterns and torches and got inside of the caves.
The stone surface was covered in some spots by moss making the surface quite slippery if not careful. If you do not believe me ask Gladio, he siddied quite some times over the moss before trying to eat it all.
Noctis and Thalia stayed close to me, sniffing the ground like sniffer dogs, most likely already smelling the dragon’s scent.

    We stayed a while longer up there, trying to pinpoint the dragon’s cave from above. But we did not have to wait longer to know where it was, as after a few loud yells echoing through the caves a huge Vrux got out of one of the biggest cavities.

    The beast’s roar startled Gladiolus who quickly came to meet us in the middle of the plateau. The Vrux’s wings appeared from behind over the top of the cliff before it started to fly just in front of the cliff, like inspecting its prey and deciding who it would go after first.
It was not difficult to know that we were the more visible group as we stood alone on the top of the cliff. So before it could spot us I dragged the three Nordanner with me further inside the flat surface, spotting a cave going downwards and putting us three inside of it.

It was very dark inside, but I did not dare to lit a light in case the Vrux had spotted us and was coming after our group. Instead we kept going forward, Thalia taking the lead at some point and Noctis shouldering her in the front while me and Gladio could only look back from time to time to check if the dragon was coming.

The inside of the cave was completely silent, and even our echoes seemed to be muffled by something. As I checked the ground I noticed it was all covered in moss. And as I tried to touch the walls the hairy sensation of the plant ran through my fingers. The plant silenced all the sounds in there.

Thalia and Noctis kept on going, but the further in we went, the heavier their breathing was getting. Gladio also seemed to be a bit unsettled, and that could only mean that we unconsciously had taken the good route towards the dragon’s nest, where its smell was stronger than anywhere else.

And sure enough we reached the big cavity shortly after. Our steps started to echo in the now stone covered surface giving away our position. The horses seemed to notice it as fast as I did and we stayed still for a few minutes until we were sure that the creature was not around. Both me and Noctis sighed. Well, he actually snorted, but I am sure it was of relief.

The shining scales of the Vrux were everywhere around the cave, lighting it up dimly, just enough for us to figure out where to go and not hit the stalactites and stalagmites growing around.
I patiently walked behind the two adult horses unlike Gladio. Who, as soon as he realized there was no danger around, started to roam freely around the cave.

There was no helping it, he was young and full of energy. And for once, that energy and roaming led us to our objective: The never to hatch Vrux eggs.

There were a total of seven eggs inside a stony nest. The usual glow the eggs of this creature emitted had far disappeared, making the carcasses look more like glass than shining crystals, allowing you to see a shadow of what was inside.
Dragons were mighty and ferocious creatures, but I sympathised with these poor creatures that would never see the light of day. I touched one of them and said an apology before starting to pick them up and tie them to the saddles of Thalia and Gladio. It was time for that old Vrux to move on, and we were going to help it.

I quickly had Gladio ready and then headed to Thalia who had started to breathe faster. Her eyes warned me of the upcoming danger, and I started to quicken my pace and tie the last two eggs on her back.
But I could only tie up one before we saw it.

Gladio was up on his hinds and neighing, warning us of its presence. Thalia snorted loudly at it while I, egg still in hand, jumped on Noctis’ back who was also snorting at the creature.
The Vrux stood tall inside the cave, its belly shining with the crystal scales. Its mouth was leaving out smoke, surely as it was getting ready to breath out its deadly fire.
His blue eyes seemed to scan the situation playing in front of it. Gladio started to back away slowly towards the tunnel where we had come from as Thalia and Noctis held their ground, knowing that once they two moved hell was going to explode.

“Let it better be hell than death boys.” I said as I held Noctis’ reins in one hand and the egg in the other while the Vrux started to hiss, already knowing what was going on.

There was no time for other words. As the Vrux gulped and his front limbs started to go down Thalia and Noctis turned around sharply and caught up with Gladio just before the intense light and burning temperature of the fire started to get closer from behind.

The three Nords jumped inside the tunnel, their hooves slipping over the moss as I tried my hardest to stay on the saddle and not letting the egg go.
The dragon’s cry echoed in the cave behind us and I could see its eyes at the start of the tunnel, they sent a glacial shiver down my spine.

“Faster guys! Faster or we will get cooked alive!” I spurred Noctis and he seemed to catch his grip on the moss for a split instant and he sprinted forward taking over Thalia and Gladiolus who followed suit and ran faster as well.

I dared to look back only for my eyes to nearly get burned by the heat. The tunnel was filled in flames fastly approaching us. I really believed we were done for, but somehow the three Nordanner had managed to get to the end of the tunnel in time. And as they jumped outside the flames shot upwards as the tunnel ended, we only had to sorry the loss of some of Gladiolus’ tail hair.

But there was no time for victory yet. As soon as the four of us had caught up our breaths we had to leave immediately to camp to deliver the eggs.
The Vrux was obviously not happy for them having disappeared and we had little time before it followed us outside through the open cave, that is if our fellow hunters didn’t finish it first.

But that was not the objective of the hunt. The Queen asked to relocate the creature, not kill it. And if someone wanted to claim the prize we better stick to her demands instead of contradicting them.

We galloped North, to where we had set camp in the afternoon. The moon and stars watched over us as we advanced full speed ahead, praying for no shadow to loom over us as we held tightly onto the christal, colorless eggs that had been guarded so preciously by the Vrux, who I hoped strongly that it could find a new home and grow a new family.