Sandra’s location was everything we needed it to be. The worn pathways that led to the rocks hadn’t been used in some time, not since the mines were moved closer to the village. It was a large, bowl-like depression that sunk into the ground, several tall pillars and rock formations were spread around the site. They would serve as excellent vantage points from which Tahar could attack our target.

The towering bird-woman squatted against a tree and inspected her weapons of choice. Her bow was almost as tall as me, capable of dispatching foes with a bone shattering impact before the sharpened tip of the arrow had a chance to do the same. She had been silently collecting more arrows over the preceding weeks, utilizing the hardier materials she could find on the continent to forge them even stronger.

The penetrative value of the arrowheads was not the primary concern though. She could use the same technique that her tribe had taught me. [Ryon Nagamu] was capable of turning a dulled edge into one that could cut through almost anything. It made striking critical areas of the body much easier. It was distinct from [Power Strike,] which offered a small increase in impact damage that scaled upwards with the value of the weapon used.

“You’re in charge of this one, Tahar.”

“Me?”

Cali opened the chamber of her catalyst and made sure it was loaded; “You will be the one to deliver the first strike, and have the most experiencing with hunting animals. It will be easier if you are co-ordinating our movements and informing us of where it will go next.”

Tahar stopped adjusting her bow and turned to me, “Is that… okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You are band leader. Very rare for others to give orders to.”

“I’m capable of recognizing when there’s someone better suited for the task.”

What had intended to be a simple deference of responsibility was clearly more meaningful to Tahar than us. This was another moment of culture shock. She couldn’t understand why I would give her the leadership of this little ‘operation.’ She made her views clear to me very quickly, “Band leader always leads. I follow. I am not skilled enough to lead a band.”

“We’re not much of a band, Tahar.”

“More than two, is a band.”

“That’s not really the point,” I insisted, “When you came along with me, you said you’d be willing to listen to what I say.”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“And what I’m saying now is that you’re the most experienced hunter. As leader of the band, I want you to be the one to give the orders while we’re fighting this thing. I know that might be strange to you, and I don’t mean to imply that the way your tribe does things is wrong. I’d feel safer and more confident doing this if you were the one at the head.”

It was the most earnest, and perhaps the kindest thing I’d said to anyone in a decade. I was trying to avoid offending her, or making her feel even more disquiet about the situation. Tahar was an extremely skilled hunter and tracker – she was the one woman I would put my trust into when it came to a battle like this. She knew animals inside out. She could read their body language from an incredible distance which I suspected was due to her eyes; they resembled that of an eagle’s. My rhetoric worked for once, and Tahar agreed to the task.

“Very well. If band leader demands, I shall act.”

“Good. What’s going to be the best way to take this thing down?”

Tahar returned to tuning her weapon – tightening the string until she was happy with the level of tension. “The drake has a soft underbelly, which is not covered with the same quantity of hard scales as the rest of her body. I will attempt to wound it with my arrow. Until I do, you should stay back and avoid fight.”

“Got it.”

“The creature is protective of this territory due to the egg it has lain. It will not flee the battle, it must protect its young from us. This will end with its death, or ours. It is fast and strong. You should be cautious when getting close. It also has sensitive hearing, the work in the quarry caused it to investigate the sound. It will become distressed and dazed if we deafen it.”

Cali tipped her hat upwards, “I shall make it so. Allow me to cast ‘blast’ near the head.”

“Once it is wounded and stunned, you can begin fighting it using your own weapon, Ren. [Ryon Nagamu] would provide enough power to cut almost any area on the body or head. I suggest targeting the body again. To harm an organ would be to ensure a swift death, and you would not run the risk of glancing off of its skull.”

Good advice. While it was always tempting to aim for the head and score a swift kill, larger creatures like these would die very quickly if their organs ceased to function properly. Even a broken bone could cause a great beast to under-eat and grow weaker. I wasn’t going to let it get away to die naturally though. I needed it dead then and there, and I needed to be close when it happened so that I could consume its soul before it escaped to the other side.

Tahar grabbed her quiver of arrows and hooked it around her shoulder, “I believe that is all. I will tell you when to move. Let us return to my tribe with a song of great victory. A creature this large would surely earn me another Shuntan.”

“Shuntan?”

Tahar held out her arm, revealing one of the red tattoos that ran up the muscular limb. I realized that she was talking about the marks her tribe awarded for important moments in their lives. She had never used the original name around me before. They also awarded them for great feats, it seemed. Killing a drake would certainly qualify. Though I hoped they didn’t expect us to bring evidence with us. Any one part of the monster was too large to comfortably bring with us.

I retrieved the explosive device from my bag and handed it to Cali. We would be positioned in a safe location around the site of the battle. Cali would detonate the device, and then we would have to play the waiting game to see if it attracted the drake to our trap. I felt a nervousness in my chest all over again. Finding Stigma had forced me into increasingly absurd situations; getting caught and nearly executed was the worst so far.

I crouched down behind one of the many tall trees in the cauldron and waited. Cali disappeared over a small hill, and Tahar used her incredible strength to climb the pillar of stone. There was no hesitation and no struggle. Her claws confidently found holds where there seemed to be none, and her upper body was powerful enough to hoist her up without a place to rest her feet. It was awesome in the most literal sense of the word.

When she was finally at her vantage point, she shouted down to Cali, “Ready!”

A few moments later the sound of an explosion could be heard. It sent a plume of dust and steam into the air and the sound echoed off the walls of the valley’s mountains. Again, and again, it reverberated and repeated, travelling further away from us and towards our prey. This drake could not fly but it was very fast. We would know whether our ploy had worked in due time.

I counted down the seconds in my head. There would come a moment where the ground would quake from the weight of its immense body. I had to place my trust in Tahar – that she could strike the beast accurately and safely. She wanted to get the drop on it. She stuck close to the centre of the pillar and tried to stay out of sight.

And then I felt it.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

They were even louder than the glass of stone that Cali had detonated the minute before, and much faster too. Each echo piled on top of the other to create a cacophony of harsh noise. It was heading our way, and fast. I pressed myself deeper into my hiding spot, not wanting to blow the plan on accident. Tahar was looking at something that I could not see. Her eyes tracked the monster with calmness.

She pulled one of the arrows from her quiver and pulled back on the dense piece of fibre that she used as a drawstring. The wood bent backwards from the pull of her arm, her entire body shook as she put everything she had into tensing her muscles. The size of the bow made this feat all the more impressive.

It was getting louder and louder – hopefully Cali had done her bit and fled the area before it arrived. Given her lust for life threatening situations, I couldn’t help but wonder. The sound was deafening. I couldn’t even here myself think, never mind what Tahar was intending to shout to us once the fight actually started.

But over the tops of the trees, I could finally see it. The creature had fallen for our bait, rushing to the source of the noise to try and locate the cause. I thought to myself that Tahar couldn’t possibly hit the underside of the beast while she was above it, but her instincts were much greater than mine - as the drake reared up onto its hind legs and stretched its neck as far as it could go. It was trying to expand its field of vision, and in doing so had given Tahar the perfect target.

She did not rush. Tahar kept her cool even under immense pressure. She waited and waited, for the perfect moment to release the tension of the cord.

“[Ryon Nagamu!]”

When and only when she was certain that the arrow would find a mark, she released her clawed fingers and allowed it to fly. The force of the bow snapping was like a cannon. It released a crack of thunder. The snow and dust around her body was summoned into a miniature whirlwind as the sheer air pressure displacement released a mighty gust of wind.

I tried to track the path of the arrow with my eyes, but it was simply too fast for me to keep up with. By the time my head and neck had rotated enough to see the point of impact, the feathered end of the shaft was already poking outwards from the drake’s stomach. It let loose an almighty roar of pain. It had embedded deep and struck something. The wound bled enough blood for five men.

Tahar tried to fire a second, but the drake was quick to slam itself back down onto four legs once more and protect itself. She turned to me and waved. I scrambled over the snowy embankment I had been hiding behind and charged straight for it. It ignored me for the time being and focused on the pillar of rock that Tahar had been using.

“Shit!” I gasped. It twisted around and swung with its tail. I barely managed to stop my momentum before it hit me. As I slipped and fell on the slippery ground, I bore witness to Tahar’s vantage point being turned into nothing more than a pile of rubble. The tail had shattered it into a thousand little pieces. Tahar leapt away just as the tail hit, flying through the air and rolling to soften the impact.

I yelled so loud that my vocal chords cracked, “Cali! Blast it!”

I needn’t have wasted my breath. Cali had already gotten into a prime position. As the overgrown lizard hissed and roared in the direction where Tahar’s attack came from, she saw her window of opportunity. She dashed towards it with surprising swiftness and pointed the barrel of her gun at the side of its head, where a large hole allowed it to hear. Not for long it wouldn’t.

“[Blast!]”

A plume of smoke and fire engulfed the drake’s head. Even my ears were ringing, and I wasn’t in the path of the explosion. Cali did not wait there to see the results of her attack. She turned around and ran back the way she came. It roared again and swung blindly at its surroundings, demolishing trees and tearing up the muddy earth.

Dazed and confused, now was my time to shine.