Pushing his grizzled old bones to the limit the hunter sprinted his way up the steps. Following closely behind him was the hunter that the Guild had insisted accompany him on this hunt. He had only grudgingly accepted when they mentioned what would happen to his children should something go wrong. Wheezing he skidded to a stop when he realized that chunks of the stairway had been smashed into bits. Looking upwards he knew he had no choice, the Fatalis was getting far to close the village and his family. He pushed the other hunter back a ways despite his protests and took a running jump leaping across the gap.
He heard his bones crack arthritically as he landed just barely on the otherside, without waiting for the other hunter he continued running up the stairs hopping over the bits where the stairs had been completely demolished. He was nearly there now. He could hear the young man behind him catch up breathlessly. He hid a small smile, See He silently told the Guild. I can keep up with any new hunter.
He jumped the last few broken stairs and surveyed the large circular platform which would serve as the final battle. Ivy had long over taken the tower, working its way like a spiderweb around and across the old stone tower. This tower had long been used as a place to offer Kelbi to whatever phony-baloney Gods people worshipped. Once beautiful colomns now lay cracked and crumbled around the circumfrance of the tower. Torches that had once lit the skies for a mile around were now stamped out permanently.
He looked up in the air and saw the white dragon begin its violent decent, the wind that was kicked up threatened to blow the two hunters clean off the tower with its sheer force. As it landed they could hear the stone flooring being crushed and the rest of the tower shivering uncomfortably. The Dragon's mane floated around it with the power of the elder dragon. It snapped its powerful jaws open and roared so loudly several pillars blew clean off the tower. Thank god for high grade earplugs the hunter thought, grimly drawing his longsword.
His attack was immediatly preceded by an arrow the young hunter had shot from his Rathian bow. The arrow struck the dragon's snout and shattered sending shrapnel in all directions. The hunter saw it recoil visibly at the sudden barrage of attacks, he took the opportunity to lash out his own attacks at the exposed belly. The barrage left several shallow wounds that would heal within a week if they didn't kill the Fatalis. He could feel his muscles vibrating from the aura that surrounded the dragon, like it could kill both hunters with a sneeze. Finally it swatted at the fly that dared oppose it.
The hunter dropped onto his belly to avoid the attack which still stirred him up like sand on the bottom of the ocean. He skidded to the edge of the building, barely catching hold with his Blangonga bracers. Working his old bones to their limit he hauled himself back onto the tower. As he clamboured up he realized that he had lost his longsword somewhere in the whirlwind the dragon's tail had spawned. He looked desperatly around and saw the razor sharp blade was stuck into a half demolished wall.
He sprinted at it, dodging the dragons next attack with a clumsy roll that hurt his back. He recovered badly and raced towards the hilt pulling it out with a huge tug, causing the rest of the wall to crumble. He turned to see the dragon flinching once again from the poison that now coursed through its gigantic veins. It would be dead fairly soon granted the Ioprey venom stayed inside it. He ran full force at it ignoring his back pain and unleashed all his power into a series of frenzied cuts that tired him out entirely too fast but did enough damage to cause the Fatalis to turn its attention to the small hunter that had caused it so much annoyance.
It rippled with power and its next attack landed square on the hunter. His Blangonga armor cracked loudly and he was knocked half unconscious as he stumbled and rolled to a motionless stop. He groaned audibly. I definatly felt that one...
He looked up in time to see an arrow lodge its self into the Fatalis' throat causing it to gag and sputter. It thrashed around smashing colomns like they were glass, It was dying and it knew it all to well. With one last look at the old hunter it approached baring its teeth ready to snap him into pieces. It stumbled.
The entrie tower shook roughly knocking the bowman onto his backside. The Fatalis' mane was still blowing in the non existant wind. The old hunter stood grinning ear to ear. He pumped a fist into the air and shouted in joy before turning to the other hunter who still had an arrow notched and ready to release.
"Hey don't worry youngster! We did it! we saved the village!" He was greeted by a crooked smile.
The old hunter shrugged and started appraising body parts trying to figure out what he wanted to carve. He selected a nice claw when he heard a loud whistling reach his ears. Before he could figure out what the source was he stumbled. An arrow the size of a sword was now lodged in his chest, the crimson tip exposed. Gasping he fell onto his face paralyzed from the Genprey venom that now froze his blood flow. He felt a hard kick nudge him onto his back, right onto the edge of the tower and looked at the grinning face of his murderer.
"Sorry old man." He said in a voice as soft as silk. "It was fun. But those Fatalis parts, they're worth a fortune. And the Guild says if I rub you out I get to keep the whole lot of it."
"The Guild?" He mumbled through paralyzed lips, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
With a wicked smile the young man punted the elder in the nose and off the tower. The older hunter caught glimpses of the ground far below and the sky. He glanced off the tower painfully hearing his old bones break. He felt tears fill his eyes, Tears that had nothing to do with the pain or the betrayal. He saw his life flashing before his eyes, his childhood, his first love, even his children's births. He felt his tears of pain and sorrow leaking out his eyes and as he twisted closer to the ground he felt the arrow in his chest snap from the rushing air. Then there came an abrupt and painful crunch. Darkness.