Mercenary rites of passage

The three dragons currently perched on a massive rock formation were nothing alike, and yet all three had two things in common, the first that they were trying to work together to take out the  massive beast below..  And the second, that they all had the same dam. 

Belthir was the most independent of the three literally, having no rider to bond with, and yet he kept in contact with both his dam and his siblings as much as he could, and it was he that had brought the information on the mammoth that was wandering in the chronoscape. "There are three of us, surely we can take it out." He said, using both sets of forelimbs to peer out, it was an older beast, grey furred and slow, the wyrmlike hatchling eager to get into the fray. "Also.. What we don't eat, we can sell… well ..your riders can sell it anyway." The other two Afterall were as mercenary as he was.

Rathiel flared his wings, the red panda like markings in the light as his tail twitched. Though he nodded, his rider was a tactician, and the three of them were still small and young. The wyvern hummed. "He's a lot bigger than us though, so we need to be smart." He chirped. "We'd get squished if he traps us." His tail gave away his eagerness. "Atzii?" He asked turning to their half sister.

Atzii yawned, stretching lazily in the warm sunlight. "So we make sure he doesn't squish us. We're small and fast." She wrinkled her nose at Belthir's comment about selling it, would Zyanya need anything from a mammoth? She didn't think they had poisons which is what her rider was researching. Still… she needed to somehow prove her worth, Keahi and Uriiti were both jungle hybrids and could speed up plant growth and create poisons…. She meanwhile was pure fire and young at that; this mammoth.. Would be a good way to test her fighting and fire skills. 

"I say we dive down onto his back, with three of us wounding him he shouldn't last long… I know its not a quick kill.." Belthir shrugged, it was the only way they'd learn. Thankfully neither of the other two seemed bothered by that; and they weren't hunting for sport either. The red dragons whiskers twitched. "I'll go first, startle him, you two are stronger and can probably cause more damage against that thick hide." The wyrm and wyvern both nodded  as Rathiel said. "IF it gets too dangerous, flee. Better to live and fight another day." Atzii huffed in amusement, before spreading her wings and gliding down, her descent slow and wobbly, for flight was not something any other them had mastered yet.

Silence followed, the winds warm in the sun, the mammoth lounging in the heat he was likely unaccustomed to.. In fact the head had affected him somuch that he didn't sense the dragon landing on his back… at least not until her teeth and claws stuck, bellowing he reared up to dislodge the attacker, the sound echoing across the savannah around him.  Atzii held on tight, her talons digging in and she bit, tearing through the dense fur, why did it have so much fur. She felt rather than saw Rathiel flutter down, his club tail raking the beasts side and landing on the ground below, in danger of  the massive feet.

Rathiel knew it was dangerous to be this close, a single stomp and he'd cease, but he'd already spotted that Atzii's talons and teeth were only scraping the surface; they needed to get it off balance, expose the softer parts.. And so he sliced his tail across the trunk of a leg, before darting out of the way and repeating the attack but against the hind limb. Roll and attack, he'd seen Meeth do the same against more powerful foes, using her agility to wear them down, occasionally he threw his entire weight and strength against a leg to see how the beast was doing… in between dodging the feet and trunk… and more importantly the massive tusks that it bore.

Belthir went last, leaping off the rock and flaring his wings to help slow his own fall, his target the beasts head. With 6 limbs he could hold on better, snarling he landed on its forehead clumsily and fell forward, scraping his own talons on the beasts head and trunk, using his talons to grasp a tusk and pull himself up.. Immediately the beast stopped using his trunk to swipe at Rathiel and instead curled it to grab Belthir bellowing in anger. Belthir moved all his limbs, clambering up to both avoid the truck and the strike at the eye… to anger it… for the only way they would win was to use its own strength against it.

It was not quick, even after it charged into the rock formation after been blinded in one eye, it held on, even as its legs failed it, the mammoth fought, even as more and more blood was let by the claws that lashed against his hide.. But time was  this preys enemy. For the three hatchlings refused to give in, even as exhaustion shook their bodies, and their fur and scales coloured red, then continued… until at last the mammoth breathed its last.

The three youngsters panted, leaning against one another as they stared at the fallen beast, night had long since fallen and the sounds of night scavengers could be heard.

"I.. Think… fire… magic… might … be .. The way.. To .. Go." Atzii panted glancing at the other two

 Rathiel groaned suddenly. "I.. Know.. We took it out… but how are we gonna get it back?" He chirped, flicking the blood encrusted tail.

"I dunno? Maybe we just stay hear and work on eating it? And then we try to sell the other bits.. Scavengers won't touch those tusks Afterall." Belthir all but purred, though his chest still heaved.

They looked at one another and then the mammoth…  before agreeing with Belthir… as it was it was far to large for the growing hatchlings to move.. Even with Belthir and Rathiels earth heritage. "Well .. Lets eat." Atzii purred, diving into the flesh before them….and the two males followed suit.