Hunter Or Huntress

“That cheating little… hmpf,” Sapphire grumbled to herself as Yldril came back carrying not only the nets Jarix and Glira had been using to hunt with, but no less than four large red deer. Not a single one of which was sporting an arrow shaft. “It was supposed to be you doing the hunting.”

“I know right,” Jacky agreed, apparently having heard, standing next to Saph in the dimly lit greeting hall. The sun was just setting on the horizon, torches flickering at their backs as they all waited quietly.

Fengi was the last of the huntresses to return; it had probably taken quite a while to do all the work by herself. She would have had to set the nets, finish up the deer, pack everything away and load up said deer, all by herself. There could be no doubt this was an achievement even with the help of a dragon, but it still left Saph with a sour taste in her mouth.

“Oh would you two just let her be,” Essy scolded, Saph being forced to conclude she had been a lot less quiet than she thought. “Hopefully the two had a good day together.”

“Yes Essy,” Saph and Jacky sighed in unison, shoulders drooping a little. “Besides, if you feel cheated, remember one must dress their kills as well, and I doubt Yldril will be much help with that.”

“Oooh yeaaah,” Saph let out, remembering that part, suddenly not feeling so bad about only bagging 5 Jackalopes in total.

Jacky had looked a little perplexed when Saph had laid out her bounty on their pine branches for the parade. Jacky for her part had gone for a rather unusual assortment of things. Most confusing to Sapphire had been the three bundles of gory feathers that were truly beyond recognition. They looked like a sparrow which had gotten caught in a dragon’s blast.

It turned out not to be too far from the truth as apparently they were green tipped tits. The exact same as what Sapphire had brought back last year. Only these ones had been taken with a shotgun rather than skill. There had also been a pair of green geese and a duck of some kind, which had all survived the treatment a bit better.

“I’m pretty much done already then,” Jacky snickered. “You don’t pluck trophies.”

“No, but you sure do pluck geese before dinner. Did you put hot water on yet?” Saph questioned, rather hoping the answer was no.

“Sure did,” Jacky grinned, strutting with confidence once more.

‘Damn and blast.’

As Fengi had dismounted, she had brought the severed head of a rather large stag to be presented before Nunuk. The little huntress was covered in gore pretty much from tip to toe, likely from having manhandled the large animals into position to get tied on to Yldril’s rig. She looked down right savage in the dim light, but even standing proud with her trophy, they could all tell she was tired.

Nunuk had accepted the trophy and added it to the parade, Fengi bowing as she handed it over. There were a fair few goodies out on show. Essy had, much like Sapphire predicted, brought some roots, and what looked like just leaves to Sapphire. It was probably something you could make tea with… or perhaps it was those which gave you a funny tingly sensation if chewed.

There were Jacky’s birds of course, and Dakota had brought home both some heaven bark, which was honestly not much of a challenge, and grey squirrel which had clearly been taken with a bow, which was rather more impressive.

Yldril had stood there patiently as Fengi removed each of the four trophies and added them to the parade, one stag and 3 doe. Probably the better part of a half a ton of meat between them.

“Go on you two,” Essy then said as they all watched. “Help her get the rest of them down.”

“On it,” Saph had sighed, Jacky following along behind her as they both went to lend a hand. Quite how Fengi had managed to load up Yldril in the first place was a mystery to Sapphire, but it certainly made sense why she was tired.

Yldril for her part was also covered in gore. Fengi had apparently done much of the gutting in the field, likely so they would be easier to load up, the result being that the black dragon’s sides were literally dripping blood on the floor.

‘Gonna be quite the cleanup job,’ Saph had sighed to herself as they set about getting the animals down and added to the parade. More pine branches were brought out to make enough room. And with several sets of hands helping, it didn’t take long before they had the dragon unloaded.

As soon as they did, Fengi went to a bench in the corner and sat down, clearly knackered.

Saph did feel a little bad about having called her a cheat; she herself had been on a rather relaxing hunt after all. Mostly just gliding along with the occasional crash dive. And Jackalopes were many things, but they weren’t that heavy. Unlike the dragonette version.

With the work done for now, Yldril had laid down, Fengi not telling her to move down below and the dragon seemingly content where she was. Silence reigned for the most part as they waited. Flames flickered and wind gently blew as they all watched the horizon. Tom had lights on, so they would see him before they heard him. The question was just when.

“He does know he has to be back before nightfall right?” Saph questioned, not talking her eyes off the setting sun.

“No, they scrapped that rule for him,” Essy added as she nodded sagely. “We might be here for a while.”

“Oh for the love of… right,” Saph replied, looking around for a chair. She wasn’t going to be standing here for gods knew how long.

“Perhaps we should get started on dinner and the gutting without him,” Essy mumbled to herself, quietly walking off towards Dakota and Nunuk.

That left just Jacky studying the horizon. “I wonder what he’s up to?”

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Right, I’m cold, it’s dark. I don’t know where I am. I broke my fucking shovel, face planted in mud with Jarix watching, and I still haven’t killed as much as a field mouse. Either this works or I’m going home without jack or shit,” Tom grumbled to himself as he slowly crawled up the ridge, goggles lowered. He had spotted something big in the distance, too far for a shot in this light, but close enough for him to make out that it was worth making a try for.

He was already wet and covered in mud, so crawling the last bit to the summit of the ridge was hardly a sacrifice. Cresting the edge, he peered out while doing his best to not make a single sound, not even breathing. And there it was. Some strange looking creature, standing on all fours and doing something to the grass. It looked almost like it was licking it or something.

It was pretty damn big though, and furry. Tom couldn’t quite work out what it was, and with the goggles he could only really see its outline. But from the rough shape, he would guess canine.

‘Perhaps it’s one of those big ass wolves… wouldn’t that be something… wait, don’t they hunt in packs?’ Tom thought to himself as he felt his heart racing. He slowly scanned left and right, trying to spot any more movement. But he got nothing at all. ‘And possibly sneaky… Buuut it could be a lone wolf.’

He endeavored to observe a bit longer as he readied the rifle, checking it was loaded and pulling back the hammer, cursing as it latched back with a click.

The wolf looking thing seemed to have heard it too. The range couldn’t be more than 30 or 40 meters. It looked up from whatever it was doing and looked around, Tom raising the NVG’s to get a slightly better look. It sure looked like a wolf to him, with silvery and brown fur. Its eyes apparently were not able to make out the camouflaged Tom.

He was quite surprised it couldn’t smell him though as he took aim. If it wasn’t alone he would just have to call for the cavalry and hold them off until Jarix got here. He had 4 spare rounds and six in the revolver. Surely that would do the trick.

He drew a breath, looking down the scope at the now alert wolf which was still looking around. As its eyes landed on Tom it stopped, and Tom squeezed the trigger.

With a crack and a brief flash, the wolf was illuminated for but a moment. Then the whining began. Tom had caught it low in the chest, and it turned to run, both forelegs not obeying their master’s command with quite the same haste as normal, sending the whining wolf limping off into the night.

Tom chambered a second round and fired again, missing. A third round in quick succession caught the beast in the top of the back, sending it limp to the ground with a fresh yelp.

Tom got up onto one knee and started scanning around as he reloaded the rifle. If there were any more wolves out here, he would be hearing from them soon he thought. But as the whining quieted down into a whimper he saw nothing. He knew those buggers could be sneaky though, so he just kept looking around until he heard the reassuring sound of wingbeats up above gliding through the night.

“Where are you at, Tom? Did you get something?! It’s not you whining right?”

Tom just sighed and stood up, turning on the flashlight while still holding the rifle at ready as he started walking towards his soon to be kill. He had started the day full of hope and expectations. He had ended it cold, wet, and miserable. But still, he had done what he set out to do, and it seemed like he would return in one piece afterwards.

“Oh there you are,” the dragon called out, starting an about turn as he slid into the night once more. Tom made sure not to blind the poor guy as he came in for a landing, though he did give Jarix a bit of light to work with. “What did you find?”

“A wolf of some kind,” Tom replied back. “Big mother fucker too.”

Tom turned to shine his light at the wolf, its face smeared with blood. Sweeping his flashlight across the ground, it was covered in blood, far more than could ever have come from the wolf itself.

“What the…”

“My that is quite the mess,” Jarix added as Tom turned his attention back to the wolf, looking at it more closely.

It didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it. It wasn’t ill or black, which was something one had to consider around these parts after all. When Jarix had landed, the beast had fallen silent, likely knowing there would be no escape. “I’ll put it out of its misery. It was a shoddy shot.”

“Well it is dark,” Jarix said, turning to watch what Tom was doing, walking up close enough that he could help in case the beast was bluffing.

Tom appreciated the gesture as the Wolf lay perfectly still, then seemingly decided it was time to get out of here. Only the weakened forelegs would obey as it attempted to drag itself away from the dragon. It was a slow, pitiful sight. Tom raised the rifle, taking aim at the neck, and with a final crack, the night fell quiet.

“There. It’s done.”

“Fine kill, Tom.” It came from Zarko, “but beware, its friends may be near or far. Jarix, walk with him as he gets the quad. They will not dare get close to a dragon.”

“Good idea,” the dragon echoed with a nod, looking to Tom. “Besides, surely they can smell this much blood for miles… It smells like deer to me.”

“It is certainly possible,” Zarko added, looking around. “Tom, could you come up here and shine the light about please?”

“Oh uhm sure,” Tom replied. He was instead inspecting his kill by flashlight. “She is a beauty… and feel the fur. So thick and soft.”

“Ready for winter, yes… also he,” Zarko corrected. “It is much too large to be a female direwolf. Now come, please.”

“Oh right. He… Well he is going to make one fine coat… or maybe a carpet,” Tom pondered as he made his way to Jarix’s side and climbed up a foreleg, using the handles on the harness to help out.

“I am sure Jackalope will be most pleased.”

“Unless her hunt didn’t go so well,” Jarix chuckled heartily as Tom made it up to his back, starting to shine the light around. Jarix and Zarko both followed the light as they glanced around.

There was a lot of blood, and it was spread out over a fair area. Tom also spied what looked like a mound of entrails. “Huh… I guess someone didn’t want to carry home the sausage casings.”

“One of the huntresses then. A fine mess they have made. Must have been several deer.”

“Fengi then. Even Jacky isn’t carrying that much home,” Jarix added, Tom nodding in agreement.

“I guess we owe her for baiting the trap then. Don’t tell her though.”

“Of course,” Jarix added with a chuckle, Zarko not giving a response.

Tom looked back down at the wolf, letting the light shine upon it. Had it still been kicking, he guessed they would have been looking eye to eye. It was certainly the biggest wolf he had ever seen, not counting the one decorating the floor of Dakota’s room.

“You know… If these things are just as smart as the wolves back home, or maybe even smarter, it might be possible to befriend one of them.”

“I have heard tales of it done, yes,” Zarko added, much to Tom’s surprise. “Though mostly whenever a beast talker is involved.”

“What… like Wiperna?” Tom had never quite worked out what the extent of her magic was. She could do something with animals, that much was certain. And they often joked that she “spoke to them,” but it seemed more like she could feel how they were doing to him. Maybe it was more like an empath sorta thing.

“No… and yes. I won’t claim to know, but I believe her magic is rather weak… and more about sensing. A true beast talker has more in common with Joelina.”

“Ahr,” Tom let out, trying not to let the disapproval show. That just felt like animal cruelty to him. Not that his shoddy shooting wasn’t as well.

“From what I have heard, such people often have good relations with their beasts. Though it may just be stories of course. I suppose it may vary.”

“Well if they can do it a little more painlessly, then that would be grand,” Tom grumbled as he went to climb back down. He wanted to have a closer look at his trophy.

“I once heard about one who could literally understand what they were saying. Everyone thought he had gone mad,” Jarix added as Tom clambered down, the dragon waiting patiently.

“We’ll put that one at the top of the list then. I want a wolftamer,” Tom joked as he jumped the last bit of the way down.

“I will make a note of it,” Zarko chuckled dryly. “Now fetch your quad, night has already fallen.”

“Yeah… wait, why did I need to get down for that?” Tom questioned, looking up at the woman who was still sitting high and mighty at the base of Jarix’s neck.

“You didn’t. You were the one who climbed down yourself. Besides, we mustn't aid. Isn’t that right, Jarix?”

The dragon just nodded with a big shiteating grin.

__________________________________________________________________________________

They had waited for quite some time. The kids were put to sleep, Fengi had gotten to work skinning her kills, and in general things had devolved a bit from the religious reverence into casual smalltalk.

The outer door had been shut, leaving just one guard outside on the platform to watch for Tom’s return as the rest of them huddled for warmth. It was kinda hard to heat up the greeting hall since there were no proper fireplaces. If they had squeezed Baron inside, that might have helped things a bit, but for now he was outside, as was Yldril.

The black had been evicted to make room for the larger than expected parade of kills. The black dragon didn’t seem to mind, retreating to her little shelter with only minimal fuss about “Enjoy your cult sacrifice.” Which was to be expected from her.

Saph had cut off the antlers from her five prizes, and she was currently wondering just what to make of them for Maiko. She guessed they could easily enough make a crown or elaborate circlet, but she didn’t really think that was his sorta style. Armbands perhaps, and a necklace was always an easy one.

Then the man himself had sat down next to her on the bench by the wall she had commandeered for her work.

“Jackalopes, ey? Small and hard to hit I hear.”

She smirked a bit at the compliment, holding up two of the small pairs of antlers. “And rumored to be quite magical too.”

“Oh yes of course, the strongest of all rabbits and hares. Known as charms of strength and virility. Planning on doing anything in particular with them? Or are you giving away all the trophies to the gods tonight?”

“Noo, I was thinking we offer up the heads, maybe the feet too. The meat is quite tasty and these,” she handed over the two antlers, “are for you. I do still need to work out who to make of them though.”

“Oh, thank you. Hmmm… perhaps they could be shaved down to the white and strung together into a large necklace?”

“If that is what you want, then sure. 10 antlers should make a pretty decent one. I could carve something into them too perhaps. If I have the time. Oh, perhaps Shiva could add little silver caps to them too. Or perhaps some inlay? Should only cost melting down a few coins.”

“You do know that’s illegal, right?”Maiko chuckled, not seeming overtly opposed to the idea.

“Yeah yeah, no one gives a shit out here. Silver is silver after all.”

“Don’t let Paulin catch you saying that.” Maiko chuckled, “Or Victoria for that matter. It’s defacing the king’s image… or Queen if you get some old ones hehe.”

“It’s hardly the most heretical thing going on out here.”

“Technically it isn’t heretical at all… just illegal. At least I think so.”

“Well in that case, why not,” Saph jested, picking up another of the small antlers and inspecting the tips. “This one should be center then. 8 points. That is a heck of a lot for a Jackalope.”

“Is it? I only think I’ve actually seen one running around once or twice before.”

“Hah, city boy.”

“Lights!” Balethon called out from the ledge where the guard had been peering into the darkness. “White lights, must be Tom!”

“About bloody time,” Sapphire cursed, not moving as other people started getting up. “I wonder if he got something good?”

“Would be pretty funny if he didn’t get anything at all,” Pho added, the young huntress seemingly having been woken from her nap by the commotion.

“We shall know soon enough. Also, next time mother, do not allow him to take so long,” Dakota added, looking to Nunuk, who was remaining seated as well.

“Come now, he needed a chance, and you know how he loves the dark,” the old Lady replied with a knowing look, Dakota seeming unimpressed.

“I am well aware mum, but we should have been sleeping hours ago.”

“It’ll take a while before he’s back here I think,” Sapphire added with a chuckle thinking back to Tom trundling along in the past. “At least he’s not towing a kite today.”

“You never know, maybe Jarix got tired,” Maiko added as he played with placing the antlers on his wrists and upper arms. “Sounds like a right leisure cruise to me.”

“Not in this cold it isn’t. I’m kinda surprised Jarix hasn’t come home yet looking like a flying icicle,” Sapphire added with a chuckle.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure, Zarko has kept him nice and warmed up all day.”

“I guess. Speaking of warmed up, do we need to light the fire then?” Saph questioned, looking to Dakota and Nunuk, Rachuck going outside to check on Balethon.

“We will give it a little longer, but yes sooner rather than later,” the old lady replied. “He might need time to prepare his sacrifice as well after all.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

As Tom reached the bottom of the stairs he realized one final hurdle with his thus far, pretty great plan… There wasn’t a welcoming committee down here, and judging by the large lit fire and open door, he was supposed to deliver his cargo to the greeting hall.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… really?” he cursed aloud as he sat on the quad, staring up at the keep. He turned the machine off, the lights fading, leaving only darkness. “They really want me to carry it up there?”

There was of course no reply. He doubted they could even hear him up there. He watched as Jarix set down gently upon the platform, only adding to his annoyance.

“What? Scared of a little haulage?” The deep rumbly voice of a bemused Yldril echoed out. Tom looked over to her little shelter where he had thought the dragon to be sleeping soundly.

“Look who’s talking? Have you ever moved something without complaining?”

“Plenty of bodies over the years, sure.”

“Oh fuck off.”

“As you wish… though it wouldn’t be hard to lift that little wolf up there for me,” the dragon replied leadingly, turning around to lay back down with her back to him. Tom just sighed, relenting to at least hear her price.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing… though some of the meals have gotten ever so bland.”

“You want enough spices for a meal for you… to lift up a wolf 4 stories?”

“Well when you put it like that,” the dragon rumbled contently before both of them turned their heads to look into the darkness.

“Do not listen to her lies Tom, and do not defame the ritual,” the familiar booming voice of Baron rang out through the night. “You think yourself ingenious… prove it.”

Tom just stared for a bit at where he assumed the red dragon to be laying. If he had made it back already that likely meant things were fine at both Deriva and Hylsdahl, so that was good, even if he apparently hadn’t decided to stay for the night at either place.

Tom raised his voice a bit to reply, since he wasn’t really sure where Baron actually was in the darkness. “Uhm… It’s just some stairs. Not that hard really, just annoying.”

“Then get on with it,” the dragon rumbled in reply.

“Yes yes, I’m going,” Tom grumbled right back. He was a little annoyed at getting called out for not being smart because of not wanting to go up some damn stairs. He could try hauling it. It was heavy as all hell, but not immovable.

‘And leave a bloodtrail all the way up aaaaaall the stairs… no smarter way,’ he pondered, looking up at the platform where a few faces were peeking over the edge looking down at him. Of course no one was coming to help him out.

‘Wait a fucking minute…’ Tom thought to himself, remembering the old winch block set in the wall above the entrance to the greeting hall. Apuma said it used to be part of a wooden crane-like contraption for hauling up stuff from down below. ‘And we got plenty of rope now,’ Tom chuckled to himself, glancing at the quad bike. ‘Yeah, that’ll work.’

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Welcome Tom, have you brought your tribute?” Nunuk questioned as the human came stomping up the stairs.

Saph did note he seemed a bit agitated and more importantly empty handed. Not to mention covered in mud from head to toe. She supposed he had not had a brilliant hunt. It could be hard to say with Tom though, the mud might have been part of the plan. But judging by his demeanor it had probably not gone according to said plan. Bad hunts happened of course, but she had to admit, she was surprised he had failed. And even more so that he would have returned before the sun came back up if he had.

“Yeah yeah, gonna be a minute,” Tom replied, walking past the lady to the edge of the platform and looking down. Then he moved to the right side of it, going to check again, and then up along the wall leading up to the next level.. “Yeah that should work.”

“What is he up to now?” Fengi questioned as the human turned around, walking right back towards the stairs.

“I have no idea,” Saph replied as all eyes followed the human, no one willing to speak up loud enough to break the silence of the night.

It did not take long before he returned with, of all things, his climbing equipment.

“Uhm Tom… are you sure this is wise?” Nunuk questioned, looking at him with a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Yeah yeah. Jarix can catch me if I mess it up,” Tom replied, everyone looking to the blue dragon who was also sitting patiently along with the rest of them.

“He will be ready for you,” Zarko replied for the young dragon, who just nodded. The two of them seemingly had an idea what he might be up to.

‘So that is what they were talking about earlier,’ Saph thought to herself, growing even more intrigued.

Tom spent a little bit getting into his climbing harness, then, rope attached at the waist, he set about scaling the side of the keep.

“What is he doing that for?” Fengi questioned again.

“Still got no clue,” Sapphire replied as they stood and watched.

Jarix had moved so he could indeed catch if the worst came to pass, the dragon inching carefully around the sacrificial fire which was starting to look like it might need a few more logs.

The human climbed out of sight, a few dragonettes shuffling around to see just what he was up to, but no one dared make noise. Whatever it was didn’t take long as he came back down with another length of rope. He tied the loose end of rope to some sort of sack and threw it into the night, pulling the other end up into the darkness.

This time it was Sapphire’s turn to question,“Is he making some sort of hoist?”

Fengi replied, “Just what did he kill?”

The human jogged back off, this time with climbing kit dangling from his harness. Saph did note just how shiny some of the things were in torchlight. Maybe he would teach them how to make orange steel someday as well. It would look quite dapper, she thought… assuming it was steel of course.

As they all stood waiting, it became clear the human wasn’t coming back right away this time. A few took the chance to inch towards the edge and look down. Nunuk cleared her throat and people returned to their places as the rumble of the quad bike started back up.

“Oooooh… Now I get it,” Saph broke out as the ropes started to move, something getting hauled up. They all waited with bated breaths before a very large direwolf indeed was winched up into view.

“Daaaaamn. Okay, never mind, he did good,” Fengi broke out as they all stared, not quite sure what to do next. He hadn’t as such delivered it to Nunuk yet after all, it was just sorta dangling there. They all waited a bit to see if something was gonna happen then the wolf slipped back down out of sight, slowly and gently.

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Right, there we go,” Tom went to himself contentedly as he put the quad in park and got off. And the quad immediately started to slide on the damp grass, forcing Tom back on. “Oh for god’s sake!”

“Is it going well?” Yldril questioned merrily. The dragon apparently having elected to watch him like some sort of sport.

“Yes, just fine. Everything is perfect in fact,” Tom replied, looking around with his flashlight, grumbling. “I need stop chocks… no, rope is pulling the front up, won’t work… something heavy…”

He couldn’t actually get off or the wolf was coming back down. He had probably already rather ruined the grand reveal, but that wasn’t any reason to make it worse.

“You know I am quite heavy,” Yldril offered, clearly finding this all absolutely hilarious.

“Yeah we should be feeding you a bit less… actually why did you go today? Did Fengi force you?” Tom tried, hoping to distract her a little from his unfolding fuck up.

“No she asked actually, believe it or not. And in return I get a nice freshly grilled deer tomorrow. Not any of the scraps. Mine. My deer.”

Right…” Tom replied, a little unnerved at the dragon’s response. She sounded like Smaug talking about his gold or something.

‘What to do, what to do… The winch! Hah, that won’t go anywhere… still have to get off though… Right right, down it comes.’

Dejectedly he let the quad roll forward, watching as the wolf descended back out of the darkness once more, swinging about and even smacking against the keep a few times, which did make Tom wince a bit. It probably left big red marks on the stonework too.

Once back down he ran out the winch, looking for a suitable thing to anchor to. He found just what he needed in the shape of the woodbarn. With the winch hooked up, he could back up once more, hoisting his prize back up to where it needed to go, then simply sit on the quad as the winch rolled in the slack

‘I am a genius,’ he declared to himself as the small electric motor whirred away. Then the lights on the quad began to flicker, and then the engine died.

“You have got to be… Oh what now?” Tom cursed as he set about looking over the engine for any signs of problems, as the dragon started to chuckle anew. All seemed well, but that of course didn’t mean it was. Then he noticed the fuel cock. It was on reserve.

“When did I do that?” he questioned to himself, trying to think back over the day’s events. Taking the cap off the tank and rocking the quad side to side a bit, he was met with silence. “Out of fucking gas… are you kidding me!” he called out as he went to grab the spare jerrycan, finding nothing on the side of the quad. “What the… right, where did I put that thing, I know I brought one.” Tom shone his flashlight about, landing on the now mostly empty trailer parked next to the keep. Where lo and behold, the jerrycan sat prettily.

“You have got to be shitting me,” Tom swore as his day just kept getting worse. He looked at the amount of cable left to wind in and tried to remember just how much power that winch motor actually pulled.

“Better not wreck the battery, only got one spare,” he sighed. Then, relegated to his fate, he let the quad roll forward once more in defeat as the wolf came back down.

‘They must think I am a fucking idiot right now.’

Yldril certainly thought so, as he could hear the dragon snickering even from here.

‘Last laugh is the loudest,’ Tom cursed as he got off once more. He wasn’t getting beat by a fucking dog on a leash and some stairs. No fucking way.

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Do you think he is doing it on purpose?” Fengi questioned as all the dragonettes watched the wolf come back up into view once more. “Some sort of religious thing perhaps?”

“He never struck me as very religious… perhaps he asked some of the kids what he was supposed to do?” Saph replied as Jacky scratched the back of her neck.

“I mean… I don’t think so… Maybe it’s like a silent puppet show?”

“With one puppet?” Fengi challenged, clearly not believing that explanation. This time the wolf remained hanging and the lights of the quad remained on for some time. Then they finally turned off, letting the darkness return once more. “I guess we might be about to find out.”

It of course took a while more before Tom made it back up the stairs, the human looking properly fuming by now, and they were all starting to get rather tired. No one asked questions though; Tom didn’t really seem like he was in the mood for those right now. It certainly didn’t help that he was carrying a halberd.

The reason soon became clear as he started poking at the wolf, dragging it in over the side of the platform. It was a rather ungainly procedure, as the dead creature swung back and forth, and quite how he intended on getting it down Saph didn’t know. She would have tied some sort of quick release knot, but knowing Tom, he likely had no clue how to make one.

“Årh kom nu din fucking lort,” Tom spat out in his strange tongue, Sapphire believing he was cursing, though it could also be a strange sort of prayer. Jacky did chuckle, so probably the former.

Tom had seemingly concluded the same as her, realizing the fact that he didn’t really have a way to get the wolf down even when it did swing in over the platform. Seemingly sick of this shit, he decided to just swing at the rope, probably wanting to cut it off and be done with it all.

“Is that thing even sharp?” Fengi questioned as the human took his third swing to little effect.

“Well it’s not mine, so no clue,” Jacky added with a shrug. “If it’s one of the training ones, then definitely not.”

It would seem that was in fact what Tom had gotten his hands on as he wound up for an even bigger swing, clearly done with this shit. It looked rather comedic, but the force was there as he hit the rope just above the knot holding the wolf. The rope didn’t budge, but something sure did as there was a loud metallic ping! and the wolf fell down on the very edge of the platform. Tom looked confused rather than relieved for the split second he had before something hit him in the back of the head, bouncing off his helmet with a clang, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the human. The rope quickly disappeared away into the night before going taut, the teetering wolf carcass heeling over and tumbling off the edge into the night.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that probably wasn’t supposed to happen,” Saph said in disbelief as Jacky started snickering, Fengi letting out a little whine.

“Oh poor guy.”

Tom for his part recovered from the hit rather swiftly, rubbing the back of his head under the helmet as he walked up to the edge and looked down into the darkness.

“Det er kraftedme løgn det der.”

And then the deep booming laugh of a certain black dragon started.