Chapter 28 - Setting up Camp

Captain Thorne and his men paused at the bellow echoing down the river. They were already leery considering the howling and shaking air for the past few minutes, but this was something else. It was concerning to all listening, since the boy's trail they were on led upstream, right to where all the noise was coming from. And night had almost fully grasped the Green Sea.

"What the hell was that," someone muttered while everyone stood uneasy. Another faintly uttered, "Hey look, I think there's something in the water."

Everyone looked as they cautiously took a fews steps away from the riverbank.

A hunter spoke softly after peering closer, "Looks like a dead fish to me." Then he caught sight of more objects floating by. A lot more. He got quieter, "A whole lot of them." Then something big caught his attention. "Hey, can one of you guys bring a torch closer? Just for a moment please."

None of the men looked eager, so the captain grimaced and motioned a man forward, even as another eerie bellow sounded out. Reluctantly, the selected man walked to the water's edge and held his torch high.

The light bounced off wet corpses being carried off by the river current.

The hunter saw what he needed and waved back the light, "Thanks, that's enough."

That was all the man needed to hear and he quickly backed up to the group.

"Captain, something is killing a lot of monsters upriver. Even the big ones."

That was not what anyone wanted to hear and everyone glanced to the captain for orders.

Captain Thorne just grimaced. "Well, whatever's going on up there, we're about to find out. Men, prepare yourselves for combat. We might have us a dragon to save." He really, really hoped not though. That boy and his dragon better still be alive...or there'll be hell to pay... He gritted his teeth, for me...

Ash looked up from scrabbling for sticks in the dark as the crunching near the turtle stopped. "Huh, what is it Rasp? You sensing something?" Shit, are the monsters back already? The boy paled at the thought, and wasted no time in sprinting back to his partner for safety. His heart pounding, he tried to figure out what had gotten the dragon's attention. In the dim starlight, he saw Rasp focused on the bend downriver.

Only to suffer a thankful surprise, as a man bearing a torch came round the river bend. Then a few more, until there were eight torches in total.

The dragonboy could also see a few men not carrying torches. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, they really came for us! He'd known the captain would definitely send people after Rasp and him and all, but had started to doubt if they'd be found that night.

Ash cupped his hands around his mouth, "Hey, over here! By the turtle! Don't worry, it's dead!"

Captain Thorne and his men were preparing their own camp a short distance away from the dragonboy's fire. Hastily thrown together walls of brush and hacked branches were building up around their bonfire and the captain made sure the boy was doing the same at his own fire. He didn't know how effective the walls would be, after learning the dead saberwolf off to the side had been capable of jumping twenty feet in a single leap. But the little morale boost from have some defenses wouldn't hurt, considering they were miles off the road in a monster filled forest and it was better than nothing. Especially considering the large, very numerous tracks scattered along the bank.

But the shrimp dragon managed to chase them all off. The same dragon that was ignoring all the activity to keep tearing into the turtle. To be honest, Captain Thorne was severely annoyed at the whole situation. And the fact he could do nothing to punish the scaly weapon was irritating as all hell. But it was clear the dragon was not to be denied this feast. At least, that was his opinion after hearing Dragonboy Ash's report.

Now that he found the boy and dragon though, he had new concerns. Like how their convoy was now off schedule and trailing behind the Dessur caravan. Without any idea of when the dragon would be willing to leave.

The captain was already imagining how the situation could get worse. Hopefully it doesn't intend to devour the whole goddamn thing. The scary thing was, he could imagine it trying to do just that. It had been clearly powerful when it was alive, and its flesh would appeal to strong beasts. Just like a certain hungry dragon. Or heavens forbid, it smells something else it wants to eat and we go on another hungry dragon chase. If we get the chance, we're gonna have to help harvest it to speed this up.

But for now, they were stuck, camping along a stream out in the open, next to an apparently irresistable carcass and an ancient treeline that could reveal any sort of magical monsters. While setting camp on poisoned ground...

The boy had warned them of the dragon's fatal poison, and the captain had already seen to it that the area they were camping in was lightly swept to the side. No need for anyone to die because they accidently got a little dirt in their mouth. He'd also see to it that the area was fortified the entire time they were here. We need some sharp stakes too, he considered...

Captain Thorne took his eyes off his men to consider the dead turtle once more. Gods above, its huge...and it stinks!

The river monster's eyes were missing, as any soft bits within view had already been thoroughly ripped away at by scavenging beasts. But little significant progress had been made beyond that, simply due to the sheer size. Quite a grisly scene.

One hunter had tentatively identified it as a Slabshell, one old enough to be Emperor class. So an Emperor Slabshell. the captain snorted, quite the presumptious name for a damned turtle. No matter how huge it was.

The hunters had asked him if it was possible to harvest the creature. They had been clear that something like this was certain to have valuable materials. He was fine with the request, but only with what the hunters could carry themselves. If they could ever get near the turtle that is. The dragon wasn't letting anyone near for now. So the hunters would have to wait for a good opportunity.

It still left him with thoughts as to why the dragon desired it so. Something so old must have quite the large beastcore, right? Was that what it sensed. Or maybe its flesh is imbued with some sort of special power? Unless the meat was thoroughly contaminated by the poison, he intended to try some and find out.