Caaros

Chapter Forty-Nine: New Beginnings When Nia's senses returned to her, they did so unsteadily and incompletely, all around her remaining a disorienting blur. Not an ounce of her body wasn't taken by pain that she could scarcely even register, still unable to focus anything on account of that exact pain to understand its severity. Whatever happened to her, it was so overwhelming that she could barely even think right now, conscious thought almost unable to discern the distorted sight before her: a mass of motionless red lit up by a roaring, dancing light of white that cast away the dark of night, some figure she couldn't quite make out soon stumbling between her and the pyre ahead. "No... no, no, no...", the figure spoke out with shaky terror, her voice being the first thing that Nia could recognize with any certainty, "Please... please don't be... Gog, there's so much bloo-". It was Sariko's voice, and she cut herself off with a gasp. "SHE'S STILL ALIVE!", Sariko immediately

Chapter Forty-Eight: Regicide It was here. Before it could be seen, all present at the Iron Bastion heard the beating of its immense wings, and soon after felt the winds become violent with its arrival. As soon as the air calmed, many could feel the shaking of this visitor landing on the south side of the wall, each footfall as it circled the courtyard shaking dust loose from every ceiling in this fortress as it slowly closed in on the focus of its intrigue. Not long after this, the two hunters within the interior corridor of the low wall could count themselves among those who could now see the terror with their own eyes as it finally stepped off of the walls and into the courtyard itself, cautiously eyeing the device at its center that seemed to radiate with the same energy that provided this Elder Dragon with great sustenance so long ago and far away. The red dragon had arrived. With this terror arrived what was only expected to a very small number of those who hid in wait

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Final Hours The day had come at last. All the repairs and additions to the Iron Bastion's defenses had been finished, the construction of Aelar's device had been completed, the airships had been moved to the relative safety of the port across the pass, and the second brigade had arrived. If all went as planned, or at least within acceptable parameters, today would be the final day that the Safi'Jiiva drew breath. When the next dawn rose, it would shine upon lands free of the red dragon that threatened ecosystems and settlements alike, the terror having already taken much from both sides of the balance the Hunter's Guild was sworn to uphold. This was the day that Operation Regicide would come to its conclusion. Nia couldn't but feel conflicted; of course, not about the Safi'Jiiva itself, but with all that had transpired in general leading up to this. Ever since she had joined the Guild around a year ago at this point, finally landing her dream job, so many

Chapter Forty-Six: Revelations Of all the sea-dwelling monsters that could be reasonably expected to attack right now, a Plesioth was easily the among the worst. As if their ruthless ferocity and overall lethality were not enough, they also had quite the reputation across the Hunter's Guild as being one of the most obnoxious creatures even for veteran hunters on account of many hits taken from them seeming to come out of literally nowhere, these piscine wyverns being deceptively good at landing attacks they theoretically shouldn't. Even worse, there was the fact that it shouldn't have even been here in the first place, as these waters were the territory of a Lagiacrus that was known to have a taste for this exact species, which should've been more than enough of a deterrent so that the prospecting operation could collect the ore on the seabed in peace. Alas, it somehow was not. Now, Nia's top priority was to get down there to rescue the divers still remaining below the waves, only

Chapter Forty-Five: Confessions Several hours had passed since the debriefing after the Lao-Shan Lung mission, which allowed both Nia and Sariko time for their nerves to calm after that quest's awful conclusion. Now, they both had found themselves alone in the nearby mountains underneath the stars, sitting on a raised ledge near the path they had walked to get here; not far enough away from the Iron Bastion as to put themselves at risk if a monster were to attack them, but also not close enough for a certain wyverian's overly keen hearing to have much chance of troubling them. Of course, they made this trip with all of their hunting gear, just to be on the safe side. "I've always found looking up at a clear night sky quite calming", Sariko mused idly, "There's just something so serene about all those little lights up there... all of them without a care in the world for all the troubles we've got down here". Of course, that starry sky, as beautiful as it was, was nowhere near as

Chapter Forty-Four: Savagery A couple weeks had passed since the first brigade landed and the operation could begin in earnest, and everything was going fairly smoothly, outside of the initial trouble with the Yian Garuga. Fortunately on that front, Nia and her team were cleared of any consequences that might otherwise befall them for slaying a monster that had no quest posted for it and wasn't bearing down on non-combatants; The simple matter of self defense and the mad bird's high likelihood of interfering with the mission and inability to be handled in any other way reliably was enough justification for them to take it down without prior authorization. It might have also not hurt their chances that Vehlan seemed thankful that they dealt with it in his stead, given his sensitive hearing that would likely cause him to suffer greatly in the face of such a deafening wyvern. Thus, Nia and her team were subject to little more than a refresher of the rules they nearly broke, alongside

Chapter Forty-Three: Landfall They had reached the Iron Bastion at last, the two heavy airships breaching into the fog-shrouded skies above the old fortress. Nestled between the Amber Weald and the start of a low, coastal mountain range, this quiet place once guarded entry to the pass through these peaks to the coast, though now it was now far too ruined to guard anything without repairs. Of course, the hunters here today had little need to defend from an outside attacker, as they intended to draw an Elder Dragon into its walls, facing it within the surprisingly wide-open courtyard while leveraging a few still-sturdy fortifications and the interior corridors to their advantage. Though, much work would be needed to mend where the defenses had fallen to the ravages of time, to equip these walls with armaments that would give them a crucial edge over their dire foe, and to secure the area from any monsters that might prove problematic. For example, the Great Jaggi and its pack that

Chapter Forty-Two: Old Memories The time had come for the first brigade, which Nia and her team were a part of, to depart west from Granport to the Iron Bastion, setting off on the mission that the entire city and its guildhall had been working towards for the past few weeks. With any luck, this meant that the end of the Safi'Jiiva that had taken so much from so many people would soon be at hand, and that the settlements and ecosystems of the region would be free from its reign of terror at last. Yet, even as the airship she was due to board was nearly ready to take off in front of her, even with the knowledge that she was at least partially responsible for this operation even happening in the first place, and even considering that the rest of her team was already aboard, Sariko likely minutes away from peeking up from below deck to see if something was wrong, Nia had become hesitant, finding herself struggling to approach the vessel. Fear was making those steps rather

Chapter Forty-One: Resolve Granport had become silent. It had been this way for a few days, leading up to a funeral now being held in the gathering hub. Many were in attendance, from hunters who had long served under the leadership of the man they mourned the loss of, to civilians who had never even met him. It was almost ironic; He had spent his final days believing himself unworthy to lead this guildhall, confident that he would end his days as any other hunter. He thought that he would leave this world having failed this city and its people. Haldys did no such thing. He did not just die a leader; He died a hero. Nia was attending the funeral in her armor, much like many here, including Sariko next to her. After all, it was only tradition that hunters saw fellow hunters off as their peers, and she was no different in this regard. Though, she was different in that she was hurt far more by this loss than anyone else, and not without good reason. In fact, she could scarcely even

Chapter Forty: Point Of No Return Darkness had fallen over all. A voice screamed out a name, echoing far too much to be heard with any clarity. A familiar face was seen in the distance. Great distance was closed to get to them, only to trip and fall away. The familiar face began to run forward. The name that they screamed out became clearer as they closed in. A roar was heard that shuddered all the world, its voice equally like an immense, guttural call of rage and the toll of a bell that signaled one's final hour. A sapphire light appeared in the darkness above and began to descend behind the face, who had turned to see it, before whipping back with fear in her eyes. Her run turned to a sprint. The light hit the ground. The light erupted into death, surging out like a wave. This death was faster than familiar woman was. The name being called out became audible at last. "HALDYS!". ----- "AGH!!!", Haldys screamed out as he jolted forward, his hand reflexively reaching for his