Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy-Seven - Like Shooting Fish with a Dragon

I didn't know much about hunting. Actually, I didn't know anything about it beyond a few things I might have picked up from books and TV and stories.

There was a culture of hunting back home, but it wasn't something I was super interested in. I don't think I could pull the trigger and take out Bambi's mom without crying. Besides, as much as I didn't like splitting things along those lines, I'd always felt like hunting was a bit more of a 'guy thing.' Not that that had ever stopped me before, but still!

My dad liked fishing. It was pretty inexpensive as a hobby, as long as he didn't go out and buy all the latest gear and stuff. Just a licence and a rod he'd had since he was a teen. I'd gone with him a few times. We'd drive out to the countryside, park next to a river and I'd sit on a cooler while my dad tried to catch something along the shoreline.

He never caught anything huge, but we'd still bring home a decent lunch for the cost of some worms and a bit of gas and time. I was worried that the experience was more fun in my memories as it had been in the moment. Fishing involved a lot of waiting around, and I wasn't super big on sitting down and not doing much.

What we were doing now was a sort of combination between fishing and hunting, I supposed.

Calamity, as our resident hunter, with an actual hunting class, was the lead for this one. Rhawrexdee's method of hunting was to fly in great big circles high above, then when he saw something he wanted to eat, he'd eat it, because he was a dragon.

As it turned out, his plan for levelling Booksie up involved her riding him on his hunt and maybe smacking whatever he caught if it was still alive.

There were a few problems with that plan. Actually, more than a few.

So we came up with our own, slightly more manageable plan to hunt down some gryphons.

The first step was baiting them closer. To do that, we picked up the leftovers from Rhawrexdee's lunch and loaded them up on a tarp on the Beaver's deck. Those were carried over to the nearby mountains, where we saw some gryphons in the distance.

We slowed the Beaver way down, then waited.

"Looks like they're takin' the bait," Calamity said as he squinted out towards the horizon.

I turned, following his gaze towards a flock of dark shapes way out in the distance. They were downwind of us, winged forms slowly growing closer. "Are we sure they're going to attack?" I asked.

"No way of knowing until we're in the thick of it," Calamity said. "But if I know one thing about apex predators, it's that they're prideful."

"You can say that again," Booksie muttered with a slight smile. She tilted her head back, looking into the sky for her boyfriend. We couldn't see him, he was either too high up, or invisible.

Discovering that Rhawrexdee could use magic wasn't a surprise. He was a dragon. He was a blue dragon, which apparently meant that he was naturally inclined toward thunder and lightning magic. That was what his dragon's breath was made of.

But that didn't mean that it was the only kind of magic he could use. Lightning magic was only an aspect away from light magic, and light magic was fantastic for illusions.

Amaryllis had used some very colourful language when we discovered that the dragon could use some pretty strong illusion magic to camouflage himself.

It was far from perfect. He just turned the same colour as the space behind, but it left a large, blurry, dragon-shaped patch in the sky. It was kind of very obvious from up close, but when he took off and flew high up, it became tricky to spot him. He blended in perfectly with the sky above, but sometimes stood out if a thin cloud moved past.

It was more than good enough, I figured. I had asked Amaryllis about applying that same kind of magic to the Beaver but she gave me a disgusted look and said that I didn't know anything. That was Amaryllis for 'this is a lot harder than you think, and I'm not nearly strong enough to do that, but refuse to admit it because it would sting my pride.'

To be fair, I didn't expect it to be possible, at least not in an easy way. The Beaver was a pretty big ship, and covering it with even Cleaning magic was beyond me.

"Captain, any orders?" Clive asked.

I snapped out of my thinking bubble and refocused. The Gryphons were approaching, I could make them out fully now. They had eagle wings and an eagle's head, but massive. Their heads were easily large enough that I could squeeze into their beaks. Their forelimbs were clawed talons, and their rear was more cat-like, with a tail and clawed feet.

"Starboard towards the gryphons," I said. "Awen, get your turret ready. Everyone! Prepare for trouble!"

The goal was simple. We'd all try to give the Gryphons a bit of a smack. As long as everyone was actively helping, then that should count as contributing to the fight.

Then Rhawrexdee would sweep down and take care of the big beasties before they overwhelmed us.

I felt a little bit bad. Hunting was already something I wasn't too keen on, and this was kind of like shooting fish in a barrel, only instead of using a gun, we were using a dragon. It was inherently unfair.

Then again, gryphons were dangerous to passing airships. They were more than willing to attack the Beaver, even if we were baiting them with the stink of rotting meat. Amaryllis and Awen both confirmed that they were problematic, their populations often culled by the local government to prevent them from breeding too much and becoming problems.

They were somewhat necessary for the local environment. They hunted mountain goats and other herbivores in the mountainsides, and where enough of them roosted, it prevented young dragons from coming and installing themselves in the local mountains.

Even Rhawrexdee said that young dragons were a pain in the tailbone.

The whole crew gathered on the deck, and we started going through last-minute preparations. One of those included tying everyone to the ship. We made quick knots around our belts, the other end of the rope linked up to the railings in the centre of the ship between the two hulls.

Gryphons hunted by grabbing their prey, dragging it aloft, then releasing it and letting gravity do most of the work. We didn't plan on letting them get close enough for that to work, but being safe didn't cost anything.

Everyone that had a ranged spell lined up by the rails facing the flight of gryphons. The rest of our group grabbed a crossbow. Booksie had a large one in hand, Awen's current go-to crossbow, actually. It made her look surprisingly small and awkward, but she was able to shoulder it well enough.

"Remember," Caprica said. "One hit on each is all you need. Don't linger on any of them. We're not trying to kill them, just do a bit of damage and that'll be enough!"

The Scallywags and the rest of the crew nodded. We didn't just have spells. Awen and Amaryllis had gotten their heads together and created small glass bottles filled with an unstable spell that would go off a few seconds after being pumped full of mana. The spell wasn't explosive, but it did make a bright burst of light.

"Ready!" Calamity said.

I gulped and summoned a big brace of little fireballs, as many as I could manage all at once.

The gryphons were getting closer, close enough that the whoosh of their wings and their angry cries reached us. They were loud, really loud, and their calls were the sort that sent shivers down my spine and made my instincts shout at me to hide.

"Steady... steady," Calamity said. "Fire!"

My fireballs rocketed forwards, trailing after Desiree's more numerous and stronger fireballs. Arrows and bolts flicked ahead, and then the glass bulbs tossed by the crew, followed by quick snap-shots from more crossbows. Awen's big crossbow turret opened up just as the flash-ball went off and created a few bright bursts of light.

I had a moment to see a couple of the Gryphons jerk back, their wings flapping wildly. Then Rhawrexdee was on them.

He came down like a falling star. A very, very big and very, very angry star that was discharging crackling lightning from his maw like a prairie thunderhead roiling over us

The air stung, and I felt every hair on my head puff outwards before the dragon was suddenly past and gone below in a flash of blue.

The gryphon flight collapsed, a dozen bodies flopping through the air, sparks of electricity dancing across their fur.

Ding! Congratulations, you have shocked Seven Peaks Gryphon, level 19!
Due to combating as a team your reward is reduced!

Ding! Congratulations, you have made Seven Peaks Gryphon, level 22 buzz off the mortal coil!
Due to combating as a team your reward is reduced!

Ding! Congratulations, you have electro-executed Seven Peaks Gryphon, level 17!
Due to combating as a team your reward is reduced!

I blinked as Mister Menu had a field day, bringing up a bunch of dings all at once.

"Huh," Booksie said. "That actually worked!"

***