Coureur

Ashlandis checked the sails and the ropes, tying them all down. She walked around Coureur examining every plank and the railings. The safety harnesses, the hook points, and the loops! She examined the crew quarters and the helm! The engine bay and the kitchen! She made sure the supplies would last 3 weeks, even though their mission was expected to take 2. Coureur was ready to fly, the crew was to board in 3 hours. Ashlandis, stood atop the rail, hanging off of the rope, looking down onto the lands below.

She looked down from her ship! Below her clouds, in between them, lands and cities. She smiles, she was happy. Coureur was her home, was her partner, was her life! She was the proud captain of dragon-slayer airship, and her wealthy client was soon to board the ship to an expedition to hunt a mighty dragon of the north!

She turned around and looked at the floating port city Dario. Her first-hand now stood on the boarding plank, smiling widely! From ear to ear he grinned with his teeth showing- “AHOY CAPTAIN! This’ll be a blast aye!?” She jumped down from the railing and smirked – “Hey Cidolfus, lovely seeing you again, have you and the crew had good rest?” The first hand nodded – “uhuh captain! We rested plenty, you’re always generous!”

Ashlandis walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Cid was at least twice her age! An experienced captain of his own vessel in the past, a sailor that anybody would wish to have in their crew. He smiled even wider – “Captain!? Have the pre-check been done?” She nodded – “yes, first mate! Supplies for an extra week, fuel has been loaded, engines are ready to go, med bay and cantine are ready to go.” 

Cid extended his hand and placed it on her head, or, to be more precise, he placed it on her leather flight-hood and gave her a friendly pat – “Always so hard working captain! HGave you yourself got any rest?” she grinned – “We had 2 weeks off, of course! I actually stepped off the Coureur for a few days myself!” to Cid, this was a surprise since he knew that captain Ashlandis valued the ship more than her own life.

Cid went down to settle his bag in the crew quarters. Unlike most other vessels, all crew shared sleeping quarters. Hammocks in bunk-bed formation in a large’ish open room below the deck. On board of Coureur every crew member was equal, captain, the first hand, the cook, the hunters, the general crew! They were all equal, and all were trained to operate any part of the ship in case of emergency.

Couple of hours passed! Most of the crew, 18 of whom in total, have boarded the ship! Only a few were left, and the expedition requestor. Ashlandis sat on the railing, feet dangling off the ship, hundreds of meters above the ground. “Captain, why do you never wear a safety harness despite your reckless behavior?” asked Cidolfus curiously, leaning on the railing beside her. She looked down and smiled. 

-”Because, Cid, this vessel is an extension of my own body…” she pondered for a moment “there’s no way for me to fall off of it, it’ll catch me… doesn’t make any sense does it? Let me put it this way! Should I fall, by chance, somehow, the ship will catch me, there will be a rope for me to grab onto! Or my feet will get tangled up!” Cid chuckled – “The spirit of the ship guards you!”

Ashlandis nodded – “yeah! I love Coureur! She is my partner for all of life!” She patted the planks on the railing on which she sat and then grabbed on with her left hand, then leaped off! Swiftly, mid-air she turned and pulled herself back up, leaping over the railing and landing firmly on her feet. “First hand Cid, are we ready to set sail?” Cid turned around and looked at the warlock standing at the bow of the ship looking onwards – “AYE AYE CAPTAIN!”

Cid jumped at the helm and rang a bell- “ALL CREW RECOUNT! SETTING SAIL IN 3!” A commotion could be heard downstairs as the crew double-checked all their preps! Engines coughed to life with a thick cloud of black smoke, followed by the all-familiar roar. Ashlandis’s smile grew wider as she put her flight goggles on, grabbed onto the rope of the sail and swung herself across the entire ship to the bow, landing on the railing and then running up the bowsprit and standing at the tip of it grinning.

This was it! This was her life! Her lover, Coureur about to set sail once more! She was about to fly! Excitement, thrill, adrenaline! – “ALL HANDS ON DECK” Shouted Ashlandis as the crew manned their positions. Cidolfus rang the bell again- “ONE MINUTE! CREW RECOUNT LAST CHANCE!”. Silence followed, only the echo of the engine roar as the propellers slowly spun to life! The knots were undone and the ship slowly drifted away from the dock, preparing to venture out!

30 seconds…20…10…5… 1… At last the time has come! All crew accounted for! Mechanics gave no signals of issues! She was ready, the journey began! “FULL SPEED AHEAD!” Shouted cid as he pushed the speed selector lever all the way to the front and smiled widely “WE HUNTING ONCE MORE!” the crew cheered! A loud celebratory cheer! This was their life! This was their purpose! Dragon hunting vessel, dragon hunting crew!

They were heading north! Very far north, hunting for Hardar, The Fierce – dragon of the north! The menace of the northern skies!! The threat to the cities in the north! The ship set course and the journey was underway. It was a 2-week expedition, it would take them roughly 5-6 days to reach the lands where Hardar hunted. Estimated to take 2 days to hunt the beast, and since they were not out for resources this time, but the body, there was no ‘prep’ time needed in between. A quick hunt and return! 

Whitmore leaned on the railing at the bow of the ship. Ashlandis still stood tall at the top of the bowsprit. He spoke to her – “So! Captain. Thank you for taking on this request from the empire” Said the necromancer. Ashlandis didn’t turn around, she looked onwards, onto the horizon – “I didn’t take request FOR the empire, I took the request for money. You paid well, that’s all that matters to us, hunters” 

Whitmore nodded – “Yea! Oh, by the way.. I’m….” Captain interrupted him – “Whitmore the royal necromancer! Major of the 3rd army of the west, the ‘Terror of the west’ as they call you! 1 of the strongest necromancers in the world. I know” she did not avert her gaze from the horizon! As if she was the eyes of the ship, she stood proudly looking onwards and only onwards. To her, nothing else mattered at this moment.

The necromancer gasped – “Y..you’re well informed captain” she nodded – “If we weren’t well informed we’d never take shady requests like ‘we need to kill a dragon so we can revive it’s corpse and use it for our own needs in the war’. The necromancer sighed – “that… was…” she spoke in calm tone – “Secret information, yes I know… we, the hunters, know way more than you can imagine. Oh and…” she continued

“your petty excuse of ‘we just wish to use the reanimated corpse for research’ is so stupid you might as well not even try” She said with a hint of a smile in her voice. The necromanced nodded his head – “yes, so it would seem”. Ashlandis’s tone changed – “Oh and 1 more thing, a friendly reminder – you have no authority on this ship. If I hear of you demanding anything from my crew again, we’ll see how well a necromancer can fly, is that clear?”. He gritted his teeth but nodded – “yes m…ma’am”

Hours passed, eventually days. The crew of Coureur were all pros, they navigated through turbulence with ease and used air currents to their advantage! Any change in wind was quickly accounted for and the course was adjusted. Necromancer Whitmore dared not speak out ever again. He humbly stayed out of everyone’s way. Crew rotated every 12 hours, men and women were well-rested.  

At the end of day 8 of their expedition, they saw another hunter’s vessel, smoke plumes rising from it. Ashlandis quickly ordered the crew to approach the vessel and be on high alert! The dragon hunter they approached was the ‘red fang’ The ship was banged up pretty bad. Masts were broken, and engines smoking. Hull was damaged! A large gaping hole at the bow of the ship. Ashlandis was swift to jump over to the red fang where she found blood.

But to her surprise, along with the hunters of her vessel, they didn’t find a single corpse. Blood-stained decks and railings. Claw and scratch marks, but not a single crew member was left. The ship hovered still but the fuel would be running out soon. Cid nudged her in the side – “captain… there’s cities below, civilians may have seen something… and we need  to bring red fang down to avoid casualties”

Ashlandis nodded – “yea.. 2 men stay aboard, we’ll send 1 engineer over to the red fang! Bring her down safely, we’ll follow!” Upon returning to her vessel, 1 of the crew members brought her the captain’s journal from the red fang, which she began to read through as Coureur and Red Fang slowly began to descend. 

She flipped through the journal, it was a pretty standard captain’s journal. Nothing, in particular, caught her attention until ‘day 13, we spotted a swarm. It appears to be a swarm of smaller species of Grenderal. We will track them and investigate this phenomenon. She pondered over it and showed the log entry to her first-hand, Cid. Who shook his head – “but..drakes of grenderal species never flock together.”

Ashalndis nodded – “This could mean only 1 of 2 things… Either something forced them to group up or…” Cid finished for her – “Or there’s an alpha in the region who forced them to submit to its will and feed it”. Ashlandis nodded – “a single crew of hunters can’t take on more than a few grenderal drakes at once… if it’s a swarm, there must’ve been at least 10, and alphas require a whole fleet! First hand, what are the options?”

Cid pondered for a moment – “We can return to the Dario and gather a fleet of hunters… We could go to verify the existence of the swarm / alpha, since the hunters guild would probably kill us if we gathered a fleet and there did not turn out to be an alpha… Or we could descend, inform the civilians and request them to sent a notice to the hunters guild” 

*****Audience Input*****

Vicernia Night: (So, dear audience, what shall it be? Do they return? Continue their journey? Go to investigate the swarm / alpha? or request the civilians to send info to the guild?)

Leona Lucifra: Getting killed by a dragon seems more interesting than by an angry mob

Atheris Hispida: Investigating a swarm of drakes all by themselves? What could possibly go wrong, sounds like a great idea to me.

Morrighan Meadbride: “They are on their way down anyway…”Paresse Yonel: they have to investigate before make a report

Zelzza Arlathan: I agree with Atheris, What could go wrong

Paresse Yonel: it’s maybe just a family of dragons who walk around

Paresse Yonel: a big family ? ^^

**********

They brought the Red Fang down just outside the city and requested the civilians to preserve and defend the ship until the guild can reclaim it. The city’s authorities had no problems with it and described the battle they had observed as ‘nightmarish’. They said the red fang was swarmed by no less than 15 drakes, each in size no smaller than a bear! 

Ashlandis and her crew took notes and made preparations, finding out that the swarm, in fact, was seen flocking to the north after their attack on red fang. Ashlandis and Cid, having exchanged glances and obvious concern, made ready to set sail, and thus they did! Coureur was once more in the air, flying north in search of a drake swarm. 

The crew lookout had been put on high alert! Watching vigilantly 24/7! Not a minute went by without at least 3 crew members at the crows nest, observing the horizon! But all was quiet. They steered clear of storms and fogs and dense clouds, they couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks! 

End of day 12 of their journey, they were pretty far north by now, entering the turf of Hardar by now! The crew was anxious! The hunters were prepared. Their grappling hooks were sharpened, their lances charged and ready! The ship’s cannons and harpoon guns were at the ready, the crew was anxious. The swarm was nowhere to be seen, which made Ashlandis quite nervous. 

She stood beside Cid looking out onto the horizon, at the rising sun of the day 13 of their expedition. “Good thing I prepped extra resources,” she said confidently. Cid nodded – “yeah, the wild hunt for a swarm that seemingly left no traces anywhere else sure sent us chasing our own tail huh?” Ashlandis shook her head – “Something isn’t right… Hardar is an alpha…” she said, anxiously tapping her foot on the deck. 

Cid turned his head and swallowed audibly – “You think Whitmore requested to hunt an alpha knowingly?” she shook her head – “No… I think Hardar only recently became an alpha, evolved you could say.” Cid shook his head – “that takes hundreds of years!” she nodded – “or it takes a supernatural phenomenon. But why was his flock so far out of his territory then?”

Cid pondered for a moment – “his flock wouldn’t be that far out unless else he’d have no control over them anymore! The alpha’s control over drakes extends no more than a hundred kilometers, we covered at least 500 since then!!” She nodded – “an alpha coming to take over Hardar’s turf?” Cid shook his head – “Alphas are territorial, not aggressive, usually…” 

She placed her thumb’s nail in her mouth, anxiously biting it – “Alpha that hunts  dragons in their home turf?” Cid chuckled – “well shit, we won’t get paid if Hardar gets killed before us, right?” She smirked – “aye… keep your eyes peeled! This smells nasty” she said, walking down the stairs from the helm and checking in on the rest of the crew.

Few hours passed in deafening silences, only the whirling of the propellers and the roar of the engine, as the crew anxiously observed the horizon. Noon was approaching when suddenly a shout – “SHAPES AT PORT! MULTIPLE!” Ashlandis dashed to the portside (left) and looked onto the horizon! In the distance, couple of km away, the flock of drakes, ahead of them, a mighty large dragon flying right at them. 

“There he is! The hardar of the north!” said Whitmore, standing beside Ashlandis who grabbed binoculars to observe the situation. She could see, something, at the middle of the flock but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. A smaller shape. The swarm was no less than 20 drakes! She watched – “I don’t see an alpha! How is this possible? If there was an alpha dragon he’d be obviously visible and much larger!” 

Cid diverted the course to slowly approach the dragons to about 1km distance, safe enough to make an escape but close enough to see details of the upcoming battle. The crew watched as the ship slowly closed into the action. Mighty dragon of the north, being swarmed by a dozen drakes! They clawed and bit him! Hardar’s mighty wings and jaws made quick work of 4 drakes at the beginning but as they clawed and got a hold of his back and wings, there was little he could do!

Growls and roars, filled with pain as the smaller drakes ripped through his thick scales and tore at his wings. Shortly after, the mighty beast of the north, the terror of the northern skies was plummeting to the ground. But what cough Ashlandis’ attention wasn’t the coordinated assault of the drakes, rather, it was the shape at the center of the flock. A humanoid shape, with wings. She watched it closely as the small shape at the center seemingly admired its minions making quick work of the king of the north!

Ashlandis’ heart skipped a beat, and her body froze solid in place, from sheer terror when the shape in her binoculars turned and stared at them. She saw a dragonborn female. Similar to herself in shape and size, with a pair of wings growing out of her back. The dragonborn au’ra watched the ship for brief moment before darting down to the ground where hardar had just slammed.

Hardar hit the ground hard, breaking his wing in the process but the mighty beast still stood up! The crew began to descend to watch the situation unfold. Hardar swiped, clawed, and bit at the drakes assaulting him. It was easier for him to fight on the ground against the smaller drakes but still, they overwhelmed him. 

Pained roars and loud snaps! The land was filled with nothing less than sounds of pure horror. Cid shouted but Ashlandis’ attention was entirely on the creature she had seen earlier, and the horrible battle she was observing. Another shout, and another, at last, a hand on her shoulder and a violent shake caught her attention – “CAPTAIN! ORDERS!?” 

Ashlandis watched the dragon fall, struggling to get back up just to fall again. Hardar was about to breathe his last breath. Above him floated a dragonborn au’ra, a creature of legends. A swarm of drakes under her command, assaulting and killing the mightiest creature in these lands. Before her now 2 paths opened, one would lead to death of the potentially entire crew, the other, to the death of thousands of civilians in the region. What is the right choice? Engage? Or run?

*****Audience Input*****

Ashlandis Kahkolk: We can’t run!

Ashlandis Kahkol: Maybe we can talk it out?

Lunamana Zhongxin: Fight fight fight fight FIGHT! \o/

Lunamana Zhongxin: Or… well.. ask the dragonborn how her day is going

Paresse Yonel: yes we have to fight to protect Hardar

Atheris Hispida: We’ll just use the dragonator and pierce that dragonborne. The ship has one, right!

**********

“ENGAGE!!!” Shouted the captain as she dashed down the stairs to grab a set of dragon-hunter gear. The set consisted of a grappling hook attached to a harness, and a power lance with a smaller shield. The lance had a power charge allowing the user to shoot the tip of it out with incredible force, this is always enough to pierce the scales of even the toughest dragons. Along with her 4 other crew members dashed down. 5 other dragon hunters were already at the ready on the deck!

The ship plummeted into a dive, descending swiftly and then quickly leveling out just a couple of dozen meters above the ground. The hunters leaped off of the ship, falling, to what to others may have seemed like certain death, but to them, it was battle on the enemy’s turf. The way dragon hunters fought was the use of their grappling hooks. Hooking onto dragons and battling them in the air.

Ashlandis and her hunters leaped over the railings following the previous group of hunters. The ship, in the same time, pitched sharply to the left “FIRE THE CANNONS!” shouted Cid. The thunderous roar of cannon fire followed instantly, all cannons aimed at the single target, the dragonborn who, rather elegantly, avoided the projectiles. The ship leveled as the crew reloaded, the dragonborn shot up into the air aiming for the ship. 

But soon as she flapped her wings and began to ascend, 2 hooks wrapped around her legs. Ashlandis and another hunter. The sudden weight and shock from it pulled her down and slowed her ascend. The dragonborn began plummeting, flapping her wings vigorously to slow her descent. She came to a stop a few meters above the ground, 2 meters below her Ashlandis and the other hunter hung – “SHOOT FOR THE WINGS” yelled out Ashlandis as she pointed her lance at the dragonborn and fired without hesitation. The tip of her lance shot out the same instant. Unable to maneuver, the lance’s tip pierced the dragonborn’s wing. A pained screech and sudden fall. Ashlandis and the hunter impacted the ground, a moment later so did the dragonborn. 

They were experienced with falling so they rolled the moment they impacted to reduce momentum and impact. They escaped this encounter unscratched. Swiftly cutting their hook’s ropes and charging at the dragonborn while she recovered. But before they could get to her, 2 drakes pounced at Ashlandis. 

Sending her tumbling to the ground as she shouted an order to the hesitating hunter beside her – “GET THE DRAGONBORN!” She swiftly pulled out a knife she had at her chest and pierced the drake’s neck with it, a hard pull on the knife with a scream accompanying it as the beast clawed at her leather armor, a moment later, warmth as the warm drake blood gushed out of its slit neck. The drake collapsed on top of Ashlandis as the 2nd of the 2 attempted to bite at her neck. 

She jerked her head, causing the drake to bite at her aviator hood which had a hard metal ring built into it. Drake of this size wouldn’t be able to crew through the ring in a single bite. The drake jumped back a step, ripping the hood off of her head, causing a minor cut on her neck from the strap, as it spat the helmet out, while Ashlandis tried to crawl from under the corpse of the other drake. 

But her efforts were in vain… The drake’s corpse was too heavy for her to move it on her own. She grunted as she managed to free up her arm and reached for her lance as the 2nd drake pounced at her once more. Just in time for her to raise her lance. The drake impaled itself on her lance and collapsed on top of her. She was stuck for good now.

The next 5 minutes of battle were filled with pained screams, screeching, thunderous roar of cannons, and whistles from the ship as it made passing runs. The battle raged on and it was nothing but chaos and misery! Ashlandis slowly crawled from under the corpses of the drakes on top of her. Those 5 minutes, felt like an eternity. Every human scream made her heartache. It was her heroic crew…they were sacrificing themselves at her order! She had to get out! She had to get back into the fight! 

She had to… When suddenly, a deep raspy voice echoed in her head- “I…thank you, human, but, leave the rest to me!” Her eyes widened, she looked to the left and watched Hardar raise to his feet once more. The mighty dragon let out a roar! Blood gushing from countless wounds! His scales were torn off, and his left eye missing. She leaped at the dragon born and swiped his mightly paw at her. 

She took a direct hit and was sent flying through the air. Hardar chased after her. Each step left behind a puddle of blood. The king of the north was making his last stand! He clawed and bit! The remaining drakes tried to get in the way, but Ashlandis’ hunters vigorously held them back! Hardar, in a swift bite, took the dragonborn’s legs. A pained screech, and then another bite. She tried to fight, but the beast was too strong.

Hardar turned and stepped on a drake that was about to pounce another hunter. He walked slowly and shakingly towards Ashlandis. The hunters watched in awe and fear as the beast, size of a house, approached their captain, who was buried beneath 2 corpses. He carefully with a single claw threw the corpses off of her, and then, collapsed beside her. “Tha..nk…” the voice echoed in her head once more.

Ashlandis watched in shock, as the beast whom they always presumed to be no more than just that, a beast, fought valiantly, defended her hunter, and helped her out before collapsing. She watches as the mighty dragon closed its remaining eye and let out its final breath. She watches his body go limp with its final breath. A tear rolled down her cheek… She had just saved thousands of lives and lost a few of her friends. She just watched the king of lands die, and not from her own hands.

She scouted the area after wiping the tear. A few of her hunters were injured but being tended to. 3 corpses that she could see. She swallowed hard and clenched her teeth – “Glorious bastards you will be remembered!” she said as she walked to an injured hunter. In the next minutes, the ship landed and the rest of the crew disembarked. Nobody spoke, they cared for the wounded and carried the corpses onto the ship. Necromancer did his thing, did what he was there for and got more than he had bargained for. 

Their expedition came to an end. And while the losses were heartbreaking, the crew as a whole lived on and the mission was a success. Necromancer had obtained the dragon of the north and a dozen smaller drakes, which appeared to be the limit of his abilities. Ashlandis, upon returning to the guild, made sure the dead crew members were hailed as heroes and their families received life insurance. She made it personal to deliver the news to every family member of every crew member who died on missions. 

The crew of Coureur, led by Ashlandis are said to still sail the skies and fight dragons. They are among the elite crews and are known legends across all the lands. And although each loss is painful, they hadn’t suffered a single casualty since that expedition. 

The end!