After a week's voyage, Ryker's fleet stopped at a remote island under the pretense that they wanted to trap a few dragons. But once Ember saw the island, she knew that there was an ulterior motive. She'd been to the island before, only two weeks ago. While they docked on the opposite side she'd been on, she recognized the tall snow capped mountains at the center of the island.
Embers fists clenched when she remembered what she saw during her time here. A group of six vikings had built a base on the island, and it was rather impressive she had to admit. But, they had one serious flaw. The vikings were dragon lovers. It made Embers stomach sick when she watched them treat the beasts as if they were humans. Actually, it was like they worshipped them.
The huts built for each viking were made to resemble the dragon of their choice. She knew of tribes who also treated the Dragons as deities, but this was on a whole other level.
Now Ember didn't know why she was sent to scout the island. Normally the hunters didn't get involved in little scuffles with fledgling groups as long as they didn't bother them. As far as she knew, these vikings hadn't done anything to interfere with the hunts.
But Ember had learned a few days ago to not question what Ryker does. She reasoned that he was a seasoned hunter and there must be more to the situation that she doesn't know.
It was early in the evening when they arrived, and traps were set before it got too late. At first light the next day, all the hunters made their way into the forest to check those traps and bring back any dragons that were caught.
Only the bigger traps were set, and Ryker decided at the last minute he wanted a few terrible terrors in case a message needed to be sent to another group of hunters or their leader. Ember was tasked with capturing them, since she was the best archer and swift enough to keep up with the little monsters. Instead of viewing this as a miniscule job, Ember was eager to carry out her assignment. While she enjoyed taking down the more dangerous dragons, hunting Terrors was like a fun exercise for her to sharpen her skills. She had to be quick and precise, as the Dragons were the size of a small dog and quick as a rabbit and unless you were extremely focused, it was hard to catch them, let alone shoot an arrow and hit the target.
Ember had already gotten three that were currently in a large basket on the forest floor while she was perched on a tree branch, eyeing a little flock of Terrors perched on the tree next to hers.
She had her bow drawn and it was aimed at the one nearest to her, a bright red one with a white belly that stood out from the rest that was a mixture of greens and browns.
The arrow was released and hit its target, the dragon immediately dropping forty feet to the ground. This caused the rest of the flock to flee, and Ember shot down two more before deciding that six in all was more than enough. She was already going to have to carry some by their tails because she only had one basket that could fit two or three at the most.
Ryker should be more than pleased, Ember thought to herself.
Once she exited the forest and into the beach, she saw that there were five dragons in cages. With her haul, there were eleven dragons total. Not too bad for only one night she supposed.
The Terrors were locked into cages, still unconscious from the dragon root and would likely be that way for another couple hours.
As Ember walked around to see if there was anything she could help the others with, she saw Ryker slam a hunters head into a cage that held a monstrous nightmare.
"Just load'em up." Ryker told the hunter.
"Yes, Ryker. Sorry, Ryker." The hunter apologized, unable to free his head from Ryker's grip. He was forced to look into the eyes of the Monstrous Nightmare as Ryker continued taunting him.
"Look at him. Powerful. Perfect. Remember, they're smarter than you." Just as the Monstrous Nightmare was about to chomp on the hunters head, Ryker let him go and the dragon bit down on the cage bars. "But not me." Ryker chuckled but stopped when Ember reached his side. Ember thought it was because of her that he stopped, but when he sniffed the air she knew it was for another reason. She copied him and both turned to the pair of boulders about twenty feet to their right.
"And grab that Nadder!" Ryker ordered, and several hunters nearby readied their weapons. When the deadly nadder flew into the air, exposing itself, Ember saw that there was a viking riding the dragon.
"Get us outta here, Stormfly!" The blonde yelled, and Ember scoffed when she heard this. Who gives a dragon a name?
"Archers! Fire!" Ember retrieved her bow that was slung over her shoulder and quickly notched an arrow. Dozens of arrows were already being shot, but none were successful in hitting the dragon.
Ember saw that ryker was getting frustrated and decided it was up to her to get the job done.
She got her opportunity when the Nadder shot spines, exposing its belly. The arrow struck dead center. It cried out in pain and immediately is affected by the dragon root.
"When a Nadder shoots its spines, it always leaves its belly exposed." Ryker said, voicing Embers exact thoughts. They watched as the rider tried and failed to keep her dragon airborne. Eventually she was thrown off and landed into the ocean while the Nadder collapsed on the beach. Nets are thrown over it to keep it from getting away and it takes four hunters to drag it to the nearest empty cage.
"Move out!" Ryker ordered his men.
"What about the rider?" A hunter asked and Ember saw that the blonde was being swept out to sea by the waves, but managed to grab onto a piece of driftwood to stay afloat. Ember wasn't too worried about the girl. She knew that the other dragon riders would realize that one of their own was missing and come looking for her.
"Never mind! We got the dragon." Ryker said and no one was going to question him beyond that. He looked around and his eyes landed on Ember and he motioned for her to come over.
"Did you get me my Terrible Terrors?" He asked and Ember nodded proudly.
"Yes sir. Six of them." Ryker hummed and seemed to be having a battle in his mind. Ember waited patiently for him to speak, standing straight and tall- well as much as she could, being only 5 feet tall- with her hands clasped together behind her back. Ryker seemed to have made up his mind and she was curious to what he was going to say.
"From this point forward you're a part of the archer group." Ember swore her heart skipped a beat. Was she being promoted? "I have a few hunters who can take your place in cleaning the stables since they can't properly shoot arrows." Years of experience with keeling her emotions in check kept Ember from jumping up and down in joy. She kept her features neutral as she responded.
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." She said, and Ryker nodded in approval for her keeping her countenance then motioned with his chin to the ships.
"Go help with preparations to set sail." He ordered.
"On it." Ember responded and she took off to catch one of the small boats about to make its way to the ship with crates of supplies.
Ember looked calm and collected on the outside, but inside she was beaming with pride. She was no longer a stable girl, and will be more involved in the hunts. One day she hopes to command her own fleet of ships and work day and night to fulfill her dream of trapping and slaughtering every dragon. She wanted every one of those beasts gone and will do whatever it takes to make that happen.