Chapter 11
The wake passes into the harbour; a few seconds later the barrels begin the detonate.
"It's a hot one alright! Glad I went with my Silver Rath set."
The movement of the shape slows as the blasts impact on it; a particularly dense cluster detonates all at once and stops it in its tracks, sending a thick spray of water across the harbour side; rapidly followed by the wake breaking across the docks.
"Whoa, the water's pretty warm already; that thing must be like a living furnace!"
"...We're too close to the edge; lets move back a bit."
"Okay Leona."
The four of them move back a few meters. Old Man Vangis turns to hunters behind them and calls out to them.
"Gunners! Get ready to unload; go for crag, pierce or cluster rounds for preference. Anyone on a Ballista, make sure you've loaded the regular bolts; binders won't do us any good while its still in the water."
The surface of water bulges, a moment later a forearm and hand like foreleg tipped with short claws breaks the surface. The hand smashes down of the edge of the harbour, revealing it be large enough to easily engulf a human, and with an almost stone like texture, along with glowing veins that seem to be carrying magma rather than blood. The water clinging to the limb rapidly turns to steam from the creatures body heat.
"That step back was a good idea."
A second hand emerges, and with a grip on the harbour side, the creature pulls itself up. Its head breaks the surface of water; it possesses a long snout and a toothy maw, easily large enough to swallow a man whole, and around the mouth its stone like skin forms jagged ridges, giving the effect of a second set of teeth. Its eyes are forward facing and unquestionably predatory, with a glow like white hot metal. The head is topped with growths that somewhat resemble a crown; if said crown had been made from volcanic stacks; which extends down the creatures long, sinuous neck.
It pulls more of itself out of the water; its shoulders, upper chest, and wings emerge. This reveals the creature to be relatively slender, with a fairly narrow frame and long limbs. The centre of the chest, and the sides of each shoulder contain large, glowing structures; resembling a pocket of magma held just beneath the skin. The wings are quite unusual, being clearly unsuitable for flight; but instead seem to be tipped with glowing openings; like living volcanic vents.
"Did the research team come up with a name for this thing?"
"Yeah Leona; they figured Dire Miralis sounded about right."
"Is it just me, or does it look a little bit like a scaled up Fatalis?"
"I wouldn't know Manny; I never got as far as tangling with one."
"I would Saul; and I agree with Manny; and if it is cut from the same cloth, we're gonna have to be observant and wary. It's gonna hit harder than anything you've ever faced before, and on top of that its gonna have some real nasty tricks up its sleeve."
"Really filling me with confidence with here Grandpa."
"Just trying to be straight with you all."
"Where should we start then? Those magma pockets look promising."
"Nah, hit it in the face first; that should piss it off, and get it pull itself out of the water."
"I don't think we can reach Grandpa."
"Don't worry; they can."
A barrage of bowgun rounds and ballista bolts cut through the air; most are on target and pepper the creatures face. Dire Miralis responds to this by blinking a few times, and crunching a couple of ballista bolts that struck it in the mouth. It scans the port of Tanzia; the multitude of hunters do their best to stay out of sight. It then crosses its arms and hunches itself forward, and the magma pockets across its body start to glow even brighter.
"Counter strike incoming! Get to cover!"
Dire Miralis throws its arms open, pitches its head back, and releases a monumental roar. Most of the glass in Tanzia shatters, and the majority of the hunters are momentarily incapacitated while they try to protect their ears. Two enormous jets of flame blast out of the vents on the tips of the wings, along with countless chunks of solid material. These rain down on the port as large, burning boulders; effectively forming a localised meteor shower. The majority of the buildings take a significant beating, and many of the hunters are forced to dive for cover. Manny intercepts and blocks one of the projectiles with his shield.
"How was it?"
"Rough; but not enough to take anyone out the running."
Leona calls back to the rest of the hunters.
"Anyone who took a hit from that, make sure you patch yourself up!"
Saul trains his aim carefully on the face of Dire Miralis.
"Lets see how it handles some sharp cooling."
He fires a round directly into one of its eyes; on impact the shell releases a burst of extreme cold. This causes it flinch a little, shaking its head. The harbour side then starts to crack up, as Dire Miralis transfers more of its weight to it.
"Looks like its had enough of paddling."
As the creature pulls itself out of the water, it partially crushes the harbour side. It briefly surges forward; forcing Leona's group to take evasive action. It then stops its advance and rises up to its full height on its back legs. In process, it pulls most of its tail out of the water, revealing it to be at least as long as its body and head; with the largest magma pocket yet, accompanied by another vent at the base.
"Might not be quite as chunky as a Lao Shan Lung, but I think it's even taller."
"Yeah, and it looks like its got the same sort of basic body structure as a Fatalis. The base of the tail looks like a promising point of attack."
Old Man Vangis charges in, driving his great sword into the base of the tail. This has the effect of chipping off some of the stone like outer scales; Dire Miralis notices, and tries to crush him under its tail. He quickly dodges, rolling between its legs, as the tail briefly scythes across the ground before impacting with the side of the canteen. The cosmetic cook pot on the roof is sent hurtling across the town; but the building itself withstands the impact.
"How tough is it?"
"You're gonna need to keep your blades sharp, but it certainly ain't invincible."
The rest of the hunters have recovered from the initial meteor shower, and unleash another barrage. The creature flinches a little as some of the ballista bolts impact with the magma pockets. Several hunters on the ground charge in and join them, getting to work on its feet and tail.
"Any joy on your leg?"
"Just a few loose scales so far; I don't think we can knock it down like this."
Dire Miralis glares down at the hunters around its feet.
"Uh, I think we might need to retreat!"
The hunters scatter as it brings a forearm down on them, following through with its body. The hunters narrowly escape being crushed; several structures on the dockside aren't so lucky.
"Everyone okay?"
"Yeah, we got clear; and it's on all fours now."
"Good. Maybe we can get a decent shot at its head; or even those wings. If we mess those up we might be able stop it dropping meteors on us."
The creature suddenly surges forward; the seating, tables, and several unfortunate hunters are sent flying across the canteen courtyard. Sparks fly from their armour as they skid across the ground; they lie still for a moment, but get to their feet quickly.
"Ow."
"Bastard."
"Not cool."
"Gonna pay you back for that; you oversized lizard!"
The hunters regroup, and Leona calls out to them.
"Careful; if you attack it while its moving like that you're just gonna get battered again."
"Aye, fair point; any suggestions?"
"It's not very manoeuvrable; and the buildings ought to slow it down a bit. Use them for cover and then hit when it tries to reposition itself; and if you've got any barrel bombs, see if you can set a trap."
The hunters retreat into the more built up parts of Tanzia. Leona and her group scale one of the nearby buildings.
"I've got an idea; from here we should be able jump onto it if tries to pursue that group of hunters."
"That's….an interesting idea Leona; I know some hunters like to try that on Jhen Moran hunts. It ought to give us at shot at those wings at any rate."
"You best stay back though Saul; I don't think gunners armour'll give you enough protection if this goes pear shaped."
"I hear ya Manny. I'll head for some higher terrain; I might be able to keep its focus off you."
Saul separates from the group; the rest of them prepare themselves to jump.
"...It's coming this way!"
"Okay...and…here we go!"
The three of them leap from the rooftop; they all manage to get a foothold on the creatures back. After steadying themselves they all set to work on dismantling one of the wings.
"This feels more like mining than hunting! Even a bloody Gravios has got more give in it than this thing."
"Just keep going Manny; something's gonna have to give soon."
Old Man Vangis lands a heavy thrust at the base of the wing; this time the damage isn't superficial, as the blade pieces deep. Superheated blood leaks from the wound, and the glow fades from the creatures wing tips. This does not go unnoticed by Dire Miralis; it lets out a roar, and looks back at them.
"Brace yourselves; it's probably gonna try and shake us off."
The creature then turns away from them; seemingly ignoring them; before hunching up.
"Okay, what the hell-"
"Is it getting warmer all of a-"
"Oh shit! Time to bail!"
The three of them leap off the creatures back just in time. The magma pockets and veins across the creatures body all suddenly glow much brighter than before, and an intense heat haze envelopes it."
"We nearly got cooked; and it isn't finished yet either."
The creature remains hunched, and the glow becomes even brighter. It then suddenly uncoils, and once again, torrents of flame burst forth from its wing tips; though to somewhat reduced intensity from the damaged wing. Another cascade of meteors batters the town, and hunters are sent scrambling for cover. Leona and the others try to regroup.
"Everyone okay?"
"I think so; I can't see Saul though."
"He'll be fine, he was looking for a decent vantage point, so he'd have had more time than us to get himself clear."
Dire Miralis starts to rise back to its full height.
"...Watch out, it's still retaining a lot of heat. I think it might be about to pull something else."
An intense glow starts to build in the creatures mouth; a moment latter it releases a blast of white flame. Leona and her team manage to get themselves clear of the impact point, but the ensuing blast scatters them. They quickly recover and look back at the results of the attack; there's now a crater where a building once stood, and very little by the way of debris falls back to earth.
"Well, that explains what happened to the lighthouse."
"Given that it just straight up vaporised a fucking building...I don't think we can afford to get hit by that."
"We did learn something useful though; it needs to concentrate its body heat to pull that particular move. The glow from its body just dimmed, and the heat haze has just about gone."
Another barrage of firepower from the gunners and ballistae rake across the creature. This time a significant concentration of high powered bowgun ammo peppers its face, and it flinches quite heavily, turning its head away.
"It felt that one! I think that was the high grade crag shot that Saul's packing."
It turns its head back to face the rough direction of the barrage; while both of its eyes are intact, one of them is bleeding from damage to the eyelid; giving the illusion of it weeping magma. It subjects the port to another of its roars; forcing many of the hunters to drop their weapons and clutch their ears. It then starts to walk forward; with each step it takes chunks of burning rock fall from its wings.
"Clever bastard; it's gonna be pretty damn hard to rush it from behind with those magma bombs dropping down."
It takes a few more steps forward; the voice of Big Sally calls out to a concealed group of hunters.
"It's right on top of it! Let it rip!"
A pair of gunners pop out from around the corner of a nearby building and fire several shots into the ground around one of its feet. A moment later, a pool of flammable liquid catches fire.
"Everyone, get away from the creature; the trap has been sprung!"
The fire spreads to a manhole cover; a moment later there's a substantial explosion beneath one of the creatures feet as a concealed cache of explosives detonates. The blast is enough to take the creatures balance, and it topples into some nearby buildings.
"Okay! I don't think it'll be down for long, so get stuck in; and make it count!"
About two dozen hunters emerge from various hidey holes and set about ruthlessly battering the downed creature. Every active gunner in the port does their best to pour extra firepower into the parts out of the melee hunters reach.
"Try this on for size!"
"How'd you like when the boots on the other foot?"
"You messed with the wrong town!"
"I'm turning your arse into a set of armour!"
Leona and the others approach the spectacle, but hang back.
"I don't think there's any room for us to join them."
"Not what you'd call dignified; but we've seen what its capable of, so I think absolute pragmatism's only fair."
The creature moves a little, but doesn't get up; encouraged by this, the hunters sustain their assault.
"...oh bollocks! Everyone, get back; it's trying to trap you!"
"Whatdya mean? It ain't doing nothing but breathing, and not for much longer if we have anything to do with it."
The glow from the creatures veins and magma pockets starts to intensify.
"No! It's concentrating its body heat! You have to get away!"
Not all of the hunters hear Leona's warning in time. A fresh wave of heat blasts across the immediate area, and flaming boulders once again cascade from the creatures wings. The sounds of weapons beating on toughened monster hide are replaced with the crackling of flames and the screams of burning hunters, as Dire Miralis effectively creates a firestorm around it. The creature slowly rights itself; on closer inspection the savage beating dished out by the hunters has taken its toll. A significant fissure has formed across its face, and one of its eye sockets is now empty. The magma pocket at the base of the tail is now fractured and dimmed, and a substantial crack is now visible across the one in its chest. It gets back to all fours, but pauses to catch its breath.
"Aw shite...looks like we've got about sixteen injured, eight of which are definitely out of the running. Hey; Sally; you think you can get the wounded to safety?"
"No sweat; the one and two star hunters hung back, so we've got enough spare hands. I'll make sure it doesn't target the evacuation teams."
Several groups of hunters emerge from hiding, and quickly gather up the injured. Big Sally runs around to the creatures face.
"Oi; stitch this!"
Big Sally draws her weapon of choice; a Brachydios hammer. She strikes some nearby rubble and sends it flying upward into the creatures face. The rubble; now coated with some of the explosive slime from the hammer; detonates on impact. The creature glares at her, but then glances in the direction of the injured with its remaining eye.
"Oh you absolute turd...Everyone who's in retreat; weave between the buildings; it's gonna go after you!"
Leona and her team realise what's going on.
"Dammit! It knew she was a decoy."
"So, what can we do Leona? How do we get its attention?"
"...Cause it some serious pain."
"Sound theory, but the only place I can see that looks sensitive enough is that empty eye socket, and I don't think we can reach. Doesn't mean we're screwed though."
"Got an alternative plan Grandpa?"
"Sort of; it's not mine though...any moment now."
A single bowgun round streaks across town from airship landing pad. It strikes Dire Miralis directly in the eye socket, and releases a burst of extreme cold. The creature lets out a colossal, pained roar; and it doubles up, clutching its head. The source of the shot turns out to Saul, who quickly loads another round as he advances. The creature turns to face him directly, and then opens its mouth.
"Saul! Take cover!"
The glow from its throat intensifies. Saul quickly dashes into the canteen building for protection; Big Sally manages to charge up to the creatures side, bringing her hammer down on one of its forelimbs. This is enough to make stumble a little; it releases a colossal blast of white flame that impacts just in front of the canteen. The ensuing explosion levels the building, nigh on tearing it out of ground in the process. Amongst the flying rubble the armoured form of Saul becomes visible; he bounces several times as he's thrown a considerable distance from the point of impact; and hits another building with sufficient force to breach the wall.
"…."
"Leona; Manny; see if you can help him. Me and Sally should be able to keep this bastard busy for a minute or two."
Leona and Manny rush over Saul's landing point. They find the breached wall and Saul just behind it. To their amazement he's still conscious.
"Heh...bit of a wild ride...but not enough to finish me…"
"Where are you hurt? We can't see with that armour in-"
"Don't take it off Manny; I think it's holding my bones in place. I felt something in my back go...but my arms still work, so it wasn't too high...and my legs hurt like hell, so I guess...that's good news in a way."
"Your legs are straight up crushed Saul; the armour's buckled around them."
"Guess they must've taken the brunt of the impact...maybe if you can get me onto the roof...I can take a few more shots at-"
There's another roar from Dire Miralis.
"Scratch that; you ain't got time to worry about me."
"We'll pay that fucker back Saul, you have my word."
Manny exits the building and calls out.
"Hey; we need medical evac over here; urgently!"
A small group of hunters carrying a stretcher rush over to them.
"How bad?"
"Bad. Legs are fucked. Probable concussion and internal injuries; possible spinal damage."
"We'll get him stabilised before we try to evacuate him; don't you worry, he's in safe hands."
The medical team enter the building as Leona makes her way out.
"...Be straight with me Manny; how bad-"
"Last hunt. I think he'll live though."
"…."
"That's what happens on these kinds of hunts. Credit where its due, it's going a damn site better than my showdown with Fatalis did."
"You never did talk about that."
"Not something I'm proud of. I survived; no one else did. Not much else to say. How're you feeling."
"Angry."
"Good; that means fear hasn't gotten the better of you."
"How about you?"
"The same. Enough to bury the fear."
"Then lets go kill a Black Dragon."
Leona and Manny rush back to join Old Man Vangis and Big Sally. Between them they've manage to cause Dire Mirals to fall onto its side again, and the magma pocket on one of its shoulders is now broken and dimmed. They've put a bit of distance between themselves and creature to avoid a potential counter attack.
"How is he?"
"Badly hurt; but alive."
"Well, lets make sure his efforts haven't been in vain then shall we?"
"Couldn't agree more Sally."
A burst of heat radiates from the creature.
"We ain't falling for that a second time pal!"
"Hey...what's that?"
Leona points to something out at sea; its headed towards the harbour entrance and seems to be gaining speed.
"Ah, that'll be the Argosy."
"What! Hasn't the captain seen the beacons?"
"Oh, he'll have seen them alright Leona. He's been out of the hunting business for a while, but I guess he's feeling nostalgic."
"...Has he engaged the engines? He isn't gonna do what I think he is."
"You'd better believe it...and I think we can help him out here. I'll gather up as many hunters as I can to operate the ballistae."
"Now I get it; we're right on the edge of the harbour. Go for it Sally; if we can keep it right here I think we've got a shot at it."
Big Sally disengages from the group. As Dire Miralis tries to right itself, Manny clambers onto its face and stabs it repeatedly with his gunlance. It thrashes around and knocks him off, but slips partially into the harbour waters in the process.
"Right, we need to keep its attention. Don't let up."
"Got you grandpa."
Leona and Old Man Vangis rush the creature, each of them hacking away at its forelimbs. Manny gets back to his feet, but notices something.
"Look out! It's about to try its fire blast again!"
"What! It shouldn't have enough heat!"
The creature turns to face them and opens its mouth. While somewhat dimmer than on previous occasions, the white hot glow appears once again.
"...Get behind me...Don't argue!"
The two of them rush behind Manny; who braces himself with his shield up. The creature releases another white flame blast a close range; providing no opportunity to dodge. Manny takes the full brunt of the attack.
"Manny!"
As her eyes recover from the flash, Leona takes in the results of the attack. Other than a small half circle area behind Manny, all the ground around them is glowing faintly from residual heat, and in places is rippled form where it momentarily melted. She realises she's unharmed, and the same is true for Old Man Vangis. Manny is still standing; but his shield is now glowing white hot. The rest of his armour is faintly glowing red, but is clearly rapidly cooling. He then drops the shield and takes a step back as steam rises from his armour, accompanied by the faint smell of cooked meat.
"...I'll be okay...the armour kept out the worst of it…"
"You need to see the medics right away-"
"I can walk; I'll make my own way there. Don't worry; Fatalis burned me worse than this; it won't be enough to finish me."
Manny slowly but steadily retreats, heading back to the building where the medics are treating Saul.
"How long till you're ready Sally?"
"Be right there!"
Sally charges back into the fray, taking Manny's place. The three of them proceed to lay into the upper body, forearms and head of the creature as it struggles with its position on the partially collapsed dockside. The sounds of the struggle are punctuated by thunderous roar of cannon fire.
"Right; it's time, we need to get back."
The three of them retreat a little; as Dire Miralis lunges for them, several cannon balls slam into its back and head. It starts to turn itself to face the incoming Argosy.
"...Now! Fire the binders!"
On the signal, the hunters operating the ballistae launch a coordinated strike. Multiple bolts with trailing cables streak across the town, and either anchor themselves in the creatures hide; or wrap around its limbs and neck like a bolas. A moment later the winches on the ballistae activate, and pull the cables tight, immobilising the creature. It struggles to break free as the Argosy closes in, with its cannons continuing to pound it. On deck, the captain gives one more order.
"Ramming speed!"
Realising what's about to happen, Dire Miralis thrashes violently, desperate to escape its bindings. In a last ditch effort, it concentrates its remaining energy into firing a salvo of meteors directly into the Argosy. The ship is battered by the storm of projectiles, but holds its course. Everyone anywhere near the dockside makes a hasty retreat.
"Brace for impact!"
The Argosy collides with Dire Miralis. The force of the impact partially crushes the bow of the ship, but Dire Miralis suffers a critical chest wound, with the central magma pocket on its chest rupturing. As the force of the collision transfers to the dockside, it disintegrates; but this has the effect of forming a slope out of the water. The momentum is enough to carry both the creature and the ship out of the water, and both slide some distance into the town. Grounded and severely damaged, the crew of the Argosy rapidly evacuate the ship. The Captain stands at the tip of wrecked bow and stares down at the prone creature; it appears to be unconscious, and is pinned beneath the hull of the ship.
"It's out for the count; prime opportunity to finish it off."
"Couldn't agree more captain, shall we carve?"
"Lets."
The captain leaps from the bow and lands a plunging strike in the creatures neck with his longsword. He's quickly joined by Leona, Big Sally and Old Man Vangis. They all get to work; within a few minutes they successfully separate the head from the body.
"Phew. That ought to do it."
"...Then why hasn't its heart stopped?"
"That'll be your own heart beat Leona; you'll still be full of adrenaline so."
"Uh, I hate to break it to you Sally, but…"
Big Sally examines the body a little more closely. She then gives it solid kick out of anger.
"...Oh for fucks sake! Now you're just taking the piss!"
"What do we do Sally? I know elder dragons tend to break the laws of nature, but just what the hell is this thing capable of? Could it recover from this?"
"What, and grow its head back?...Actually, knowing our luck, that probably could happen Leona."
"In that case, get every able bodied hunter down here, and chop the bastard up. I'd like to see it recover from that."
"That's gonna be a whole lot of carving Grandpa; and a lot of bits of monster to get rid of."
"Just one of many problems we've got now. Tanzia's damn near totalled; we've got most of our best G rank hunters hospitalised, and we've still got to figure out how to keep the guild running with all this mess."
"The staff should be back shortly; captain Argosy sent out some flares to signal that the danger was over, so with any luck they ought to be able to come up with something. In the mean time, I suggest you see how Manny and Saul are doing."
Leona makes her way over to the field hospital. She meets up Mickel at the entrance.
"I knew it! I knew you'd pull through!"
He rushes up and hugs her; lifting her off the floor.
"Glad you're okay Mickel. Did you see how the others were doing?"
"Katrina's tending to them personally. I won't sugar coat it; Saul's a mess. I managed to crack the armour off his legs, and they looked like hamburger meat. As for the rest of him; multiple broken ribs; some kind of back injury; broken orbital bone; dislocated collar bone, and probably some degree of internal bleeding. They reckon they can save him though, and he was able to wiggle his toes, so it looks like his spinal cord's okay; and Katrina insisted she get shot at saving his legs."
"Shit...how about Manny?"
"Not as bad; but its a little hard to tell. I think he must've sustained a lot of nerve damage in the past; because he should be screaming in agony right now, but he seems...well...almost at peace. When we took his armour off, a lot of his skin went with it; but it didn't seem to bother him."
"Can I give them the good news?"
"I'm afraid Saul's in theatre; but Manny already knows."
"So...how are the rest of the hunters?"
"About half of them are minor; they'll be sore for a while, but they'll hunt again. The rest...we lost about six of them; and the others'll probably have some kind of permanent damage."
"Damn…"
"Hey, chin up; compared to previous black dragon incidents, that's a spectacularly good result. I won't ask as to what kind of state Tanzia's in, but in terms of casualties you just set the gold standard. Previous instances typically had the death tolls in the tens of hunters and hundreds of civilians; and wiped multiple villages from existence."
"Ah well, at least we're making progress."
"That was Manny's way of looking at it."
"Can I go and see him?"
"Not right now; they're still tending to his burns."
"...Not much I can do here."
"I know the feeling; I guess we might as well head back into town."
Leona and Mickel head back into Tanzia. Mickel takes in the scene.
"...You know; I always thought those black dragon legends were overblown; but when I look at this, I get the feeling they were understated."
"It's gonna be one hell of a clean up job."
"Whatcha reckon they'll do with the Argosy? Scrap it, fix it; or turn it into housing?"
"I'm more interested in what we're gonna do with the Dire Miralis corpse."
"If it were my call...I reckon we could use the materials from it to fix up the harbour."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, think about it. There's only a select few bits on a monster that're usually up to snuff when it comes to making weapons and armour; but for building materials; I'm pretty sure just about all of them would do the trick. Not to mention it's bloody huge; I'm sure there's enough there to give the reconstruction work a flying start."
The evacuated civilians start to make their way back into town, accompanied by the hunters. A lone airship approaches the port.
"Ah, that'll be Patchy's ride; boy is she in for a shock."
"We'd better go and meet her; otherwise she'll think we perished in the devastation."
The airship comes in to land, but Patchy leaps from the vessel before its even been moored. She spots Leona and Mickel after a moment of panic.
"Hi Patchy."
"What. The. Hell. Happened?"
"That big bugger took a shot at Tanzia. As you can see; it was a valiant attempt, but we got the upper hand in the end."
"...Somebody got hurt, didn't they?"
"Yeah; Saul and Manny are in the hospital."
"How bad are they?"
"Bad. I think they'll pull through; but I think their hunting days are over."
"Can I go and see them?"
"Later; Saul's in theatre, and Manny's currently receiving treatment."
"So...what now?"
"Looking at the state of things; hunting's going to be some way down the list of priorities for a while around here. That said; did your hunt go okay?"
"Yeah, no sweat; I'm a little drowsy though."
"Ah, you took a dose of the old Great Baggi sleeping serum then?"
"Pretty much; I was supposed to be hunting a Lagombi, but I seem to be magnet for hunt crashers. Still, in the end I got to add him to the spoils."
There's the sound of a bell ringing at the guild hall.
"At least the guild hall survived; by the sounds of things they'll be wanting a word with us all."
The three of them make their way the guild hall; there's now a large gathering of hunters in and around the building. The guildmaster, Old Man Vangis, and Big Sally address the crowd.
"As you can no doubt see; today hasn't been what you'd call a good day for Tanzia. Don't let this spectacle of destruction dampen your spirits though; I don't doubt you can also see the remains of Dire Miralis. It attacked us; and it lost. The price of victory in this case has thankfully been mostly material; but not entirely. For the fallen and injured, your sacrifices will be remembered; and perhaps the most fitting monument will be to ensure Taniza rises from its ashes."
Old Man Vangis steps forward.
"First things first; we're somewhat unsure of the properties of Dire Miralis; but since it unquestionably falls into the elder dragon classification, it lies outside of the normal rules of nature. As such, we need to make absolutely certain it's dead; so in tandem with the debris clearance and Argosy relocation operations, we're going to need teams dedicated to chopping that beastie to bits."
One of the senior smiths interjects.
"Any plans on what to do with the carves? I mean, some of it's obviously gonna be just the ticket for hunting gear; but there's gonna be an awful lot that isn't."
Mickel quickly adds his voice.
"Use the rest as building materials. That should give us a head start on getting this town back up and running."
A few glances and nods are exchanged by the guild management.
"I like the sound of that; you might need the smiths to help out a bit though, working with monster parts isn't something you typically run into when it comes to building work."
"Well, you can count me in."
Big Sally addresses the crowd.
"Any hunters with relevant secondary skills; for the time being we'll need you to provide whatever support you can for the duration of rebuilding and recovery. If you think you can help out, have a word with the guild staff; they'll point you in the right direction.
Over the next few months, the reconstruction of Tanzia gets into full swing. While the scale of the task initially seems intimidating, the combined efforts of the citizens of Tanzia, the merchant fleet, and the hunters guild ensure progress is speedy. The port is rebuilt, expanded and improved; with much of the dockside now being reinforced with the carapace of Dire Miralis, and the forges fired with its blood. Once completed, the port now has the facilities to rapidly forge and construct hunter gear, siege weaponry, airships and oceanic vessels; and thanks to reinforced defences and newly mounted cannon, ballistae, and concealed underwater dragonators; it is estimated the port would stand a reasonable chance of repelling a Black Dragon attack, should one ever occur in the future. With the defences and vital facilities reconstructed, efforts shift to the longer task of rebuilding and repairing the housing and commercial buildings of Tanzia; as few, if any, buildings in the town escaped the battle of Dire Miralis unscathed.
The wreck of the Argosy is successfully transferred to dry dock, and is rebuilt along with the town. In recognition of their efforts, the crew of the Argosy receive a significant reward from the guild; along with helpful testimony of the incident for insurance purposes. Most of this ends up being invested in what becomes known as the resurrection of the Argosy; with the finished vessel being host to a significant number of improvements over the original. The captain also successfully convinces the merchant fleet to provide assistance, citing that Tanzia doubles up as one of the most important trade hubs available to them. They decide to moor as many reserve vessels in port as they possibly can; these are used as a mix of emergency housing and a floating market while the structures in town are repaired and reconstructed.
Manny makes a fairly speedy recovery from his injuries; but formally retires from hunting; and the guild present him with an honorary S-rank promotion for what amounts to the last day of his hunting career. Once he's sure Saul's out of danger, Manny takes a trip to his home town of Jumbo village; where he pays his respects to the fallen friends with whom he began his career as a hunter. He later returns to Tanzia, and decided to keep working with guild; finding employment at the newly constructed tavern.
Saul survives his injuries, and against the odds manage to regain the use of his legs, but is told under no uncertain terms not to return to hunting; since the cumulative damage he has received has rendered his body simply too unstable to handle the physical demands. He takes this in his stride, and decides that while he might no longer be able to hunt; his skills are still very much intact, and takes up the roll of training and teaching at the guild.
Leona receives a promotion to highest level of G rank; her leadership and intuition during the battle with Dire Miralis do not go unnoticed, and she's offered managerial duties within the guild. She accepts, noting that while this will somewhat reduce her opportunities for active hunting; having someone with the significant experience and skills in such a role should prove useful in both accurately gauging the abilities of hunters, and insuring they don't end up out of their depth of hunts.
Mickel receives significant recognition within the smithing organisation of the guild. While the use of monster parts in construction doesn't become a widely adopted practice; the guild none the less runs with the principle and makes better of use monster remains. In particular, the materials prove quite useful in the construction of fortifications, and the reinforcement of airships and sea going vessels. This proves especially significant in the research of Vastrax, as a reinforced airship survives a near miss, and is able to relay its findings to guild.
Katrina is offered a promotion within the Wycadamy, but turns it down; siting that she prefers to able to engage in hands on work whenever possible, and the administrative responsibilities that would come with such a position would interfere with this. She also makes the excuse that since much of her treatment of Saul involved cutting edge techniques, she wants to observe him personally to ensure there aren't any complications.
Old Man Vangis returns to research hunting once he's satisfied Tanzia's in good enough shape to manage on its own. The guildmaster suggests to him that he ought to retire, citing his advancing age; to which he simply states that he's having too much fun to stop any time soon.
Big Sally remains in Tanzia to provide direct support while the guild recuperates its loses from the elite G-rank hunters. She receives repeated requests from the Fangster hunters to return, but she turns them down; making it quite clear that the loss of standing of the Fangster hunters falls on them, and thus it is their responsibility to restore their reputation.
Patchy takes a break from hunting to assist with provisions; as her cooking skills aren't far short of those of a professional. During her time in the temporary kitchens, she meets up with Gaston; who remarks that while he feels the world of cooking has perhaps lost a promising chef; it's a fair turnabout, since he himself was formally a highly rated Palico before realising his true passion was in the kitchen. Unfortunately, her position as a chef generates further animosity with the low rank hunters, since most of them find themselves effectively press ganged into construction work. This eventually comes to a head...
