GD3: Stamping Hooves

Rain season is approaching, and a massive hunting party has gathered between the various settlements in order to take advantage of the herds that had gathered in search of water. Usually they would not hunt together, but the massive herds of animals makes hunting a difficult challenge for even the most seasoned of hunters- dragons or riders. Today Flash had brought Quake and Nova, two quick-running Earth dragons to flush the herds out, and he was met by Ashiwa with her Ouroboros (levitating noodle-dragon who was responsible for chasing in the air, Nova secretly thought levitation was very strange and very unnatural but who was he to judge) and Salathiel with his partner (in hunting, he would say, but Flash was 100% sure they were partners in crime) Rythe. Out of all of them, Nova was perhaps most intimidated by Rythe, and he could tell that Quake and even Flash was a bit antsy around the massive wyvern. It was fairly understandable, as Rythe was reclusive at the best of times and Salathiel, his person (not rider as insisted on by him), downright antisocial. They made a great pair, Flash privately thought. But then it was time to start the hunt, with the location and strategy decided, and the humanoids took to the sky with their dragons.

The three riders, all winged, took the lead in flying, soaring across the arid landscape with the hot sun searing their feathers. Behind them flew the forms of Rythe and Ouroboros, with Quake and Nova running on land. The hot wind whistled and whipped at their faces, mixed with the change in pressure that signalled a storm was coming in a few days. Some birds, probably vultures or condors, took full advantage of the hot wind and soared with the dragons and riders. Below them, the arid plains full of long pale grass was broken up by the occasional sandy stone formation and the odd canyon here and there. This sort of landscape made a large hunting party on both sky and land imperative- the animals here are experts at using the thick cover to their advantage.

Speaking of animals, Ashiwa let out a piercing screech as she spotted a large herd of buffaloes trudging along the horizon. A little irritated at himself for not spotting it first, Flash powered forwards in her wake with Salathiel following behind. A quick check backwards confirmed that all four of their dragons had heard the call too, and Salathiel split off from the group to fly lower- his dark wings would be easiest to spot from the ground, and he was the slowest flyer so he’d join the dragons in singling one out near the ground. By this point, they were gaining on the buffaloes fast, and some of them have evidently sensed a disturbance (likely from the silhouettes of Rythe and Ouroboros) because the herd has increased in speed.

Back on the ground, Quake and Nova split their paths so each was running to either side of the herd. They were the fastest runners and had the lowest profile when running through the tall grass, so they would be the ones to control the sides of the herd. Flattening his crest, Nova sped through the undergrowth until he was parallel to the middle of the herd, and by some miracle the panicking buffaloes haven’t even seen him yet. With a quick glance to see that the high-flying dragons were diving down, Nova slowed his pace down and waited for the signal.

Rythe, his large wings beating, arrived above the herd who were scattering and trampling each other in order to get away from him. The mass of limbs and horns was too much for him to deal with, and the second he tried tentatively to reach down he was forced to fly back up again, or risk severely injuring his wings. But grabbing from the herd wasn’t his job right now- his job was exactly what he was currently doing, which was scaring the herd into panic. Next to him, Ouroboros scanned the herd until- there. She had spotted a straggler from the herd, running a little too slowly and it was now behind the majority of the defending bulls. With a wave to Rythe, she tucked her wings and down she went like an arrow straight for the buffalo.

The first hunt was a quick success- Ouroboros was upon the slow buffalo without it having any time to react, and she buried her fangs in its neck while wrapping herself around it like a snake. It was enough to immobilise it until Ashiwa showed up, and she was quick to put it to sleep with a single injection. (It was some new tech that she had bought recently- thank gods that Thunder and Jungle riders existed, this thing could be injected to quickly stop an animal’s heart but loses its potency as soon as the animal is dead.) Ashiwa then carefully handed the buffalo back to Ouroboros, who wrapped it again and would be the one to carry the carcass for the rest of the trip. Ashiwa silently thanked the power of levitation once again.

Over at the herd, the hunt was still in progress. The buffaloes, now seeing one of their own taken out, had become extra cautious against attacks from the sky. Instead of running, the herd has started to take a defensive stance, with the strongest and largest beasts at the outskirts of the ring and the smaller and weaker inside. It also gave them a chance to rest- unfortunately, their plan of simply running them down couldn’t work. Every time the two humanoids or Rythe came close to the buffaloes, the beasts would raise their horns into the sky in threat, and for them it was akin to attempting to land on a pad of needles without getting pricked. So Flash proposed a new strategy, Plan C as they had called it: to break open the herd’s protection.

Rythe flew in first, his large form once again drawing the attention of the entire herd, and he made a few feint passes for the middle of the ring. The herd responded correspondingly, moving stronger members into the centre to combat the dragon, and some slightly weaker bulls had taken their places in the sides of the ring. At this point they still could not see nor scent the two Earth dragons in hiding around the herd- it was a neat trick of Rythe’s to use his wind magic to blow their scents away from them. The herd, concentrating solely on the attacking large dragon and the two smaller riders harassing them, didn’t see Quake coming until it was too late.

Quake sped through the grass in a beeline straight for the weak and distracted member of the wall. She jumped directly on its shaggy back, gripping the horns with her front legs and beating her wings so the nearby buffaloes would not retaliate immediately. It wasn’t enough to get her in the air because the weight of the buffalo was too much for her to bear, but it bought enough time for Rythe to swoop in and finally snatch one next to her. They scattered away from the massive black and red scales of Rythe (obviously, who wouldn’t), and Nova pounced on the one Quake was holding for a swift kill.

Today was a very plentiful haul, with the dragons bringing home three buffaloes which should feed their families for at least the week to come.