Valen tailed the Anjanath for a couple of days before he confirmed that it was going to establish a new territory close to Astera… Too close for anybody’s comfort. He made a note of it, then the group flew back to the outpost. The return flight had a heavy mood, as Valen knew that the appearance of the Rathalos would not help matters for Ikari’s phobia, and the hunter would have to bring back the grave news to Astera.
Thankfully the return flight did not last long before they landed at the gate of Astera, freeing the Wingdrakes from their burden. They saw the Commander once he had a free moment, and he agreed with Valen’s assessment that the Anjanath might become an issue, but he would prefer to assign the hunt to a hunter that wasn’t him, Aiden or Jake if possible.
“We will monitor it for several weeks and if nobody else is ready by then, I’ll give the hunt to Aiden.” The Commander explained.
“Makes sense. Except for Aiden, we already have the best gear we can ask for, so the materials would be wasted on one of us.”
“I already have an idea of who might take it. You heard about Rapha?lle's latest exploits?”
Valen raised an eyebrow. “No, what happened?”
“A Barroth ambushed the caravan that carried the supplies to set up the new camp and she managed to slay it without issues. There was also a close call with a Rathian but it was routed. One of the scientists that was with it panicked and fled into the wilderness though. She’s currently trying to find him and bring him back.”
Valen rubbed his chin. “I’m definitely going to keep an eye on her then.”
“We also managed to find Zorah’s tracks again. And if it keeps the same heading, we might have an opportunity to study it more. I’ll tell you the details once we know for sure.”
“Oh? That is good news indeed.”
“Jake is the one tasked to follow it. Once he returns I’ll fill you in. I want you on standby until then.”
Valen nodded. “Alright, I’ll be around if you need me then.”
With that, The Commander walked away to relay the news Valen brought to the researchers. Valen decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in the Gathering Hub. The place was on the ship the First Fleet originally arrived on. But when they arrived at the New World, they had met an aquatic Elder that created a huge storm and the waves crested high enough that it wedged the ship at the top of a rocky hill. In the end, they left the ship as it was, becoming the home where the First lived until the other fleets arrived. It was also how the tradition of building Astera mainly with the ships they traveled on started.
Nowadays the ship had been converted into a meeting place for Hunters, to party, bring important news to all of them, or to organize large-scale operations. Valen believed it would soon be used for this purpose if he read the intent of the Commander regarding Zorah correctly.
He shook his head, it probably looked like a crazy scheme for him, but yet it also might work. So he simply dismissed the thought and went to enjoy a relaxing time at the Hub, listening to the stories of increasingly inebriated Hunters. His favorite was the one that believed he managed to slay a Rathalos with a whole squad of Heavy Bowgun users in under one minute, after drinking what felt like a barrel of beer. However, tradition called for nobody to call out another hunter on it, so he kept quiet, and spent the rest of the night having a good time.
A couple of weeks later, a lot of developments had happened. The main one was that Zorah Magdaros had been found, and his current trajectory was determined… And it was headed right toward the Great Ravine, which gave them an opportunity that the Commander would not let go to waste.
The full council had been assembled, consisting of all the members that were present last time, but with the addition of the Argosy Captain, who commanded the ship managing the liaison with Dundorma. The ship that Valen was on had been dismantled and incorporated into Astera, as the damage Zorah caused was deemed too extensive to keep it seaworthy. Now he was doing the journey back and forth, able to make the trip faster than the Fifth had, but he also was no longer limited by the speed Zorah was traveling at. He was sitting on a stool behind the Commander.
Jake was next to him on another stool, wearing his full armor as usual.
Next to Valen was Ikari, who was acting shy but Valen believed that he was intimidated by the number of important people present. Aiden and his handler, Lea, were next to him. Aiden was currently wearing a set of armor made of a Tobi-Kadachi that had terrorized a group of scientists. The lightweight armor meshed well with the weapon he was currently carrying, a gigantic Bow where some of the Tobi quills made the curves.
Finally on Valen’s other side were Rapha?lle and Sophie, the Hunter still wearing her Pukei Pukei armor, as she found the armor made from the Barroth and Jyuratodus—the name of the giant mudfish Valen found on the Wastes—too bulky to be used with her Insect Glaive and made her too much of a target.
The Commander looked around and nodded. “Now that the Blue Flare has confirmed the heading of Zorah, we can put the plan we made into action. Our goal is to try to restrain the Elder for a few hours so that our scientists can study it before we release it. To that effect, we sent the entire Second and Fourth Fleet ahead so they could set up. I’m here to discuss the details.”
Valen raised an eyebrow and asked the first question. “Are you sure you can manage to restrain such a large Elder long enough?”
“If everything goes well, it should be restrained for a long enough time. We don’t usually attempt something like this, but the physiology of Zorah, and the location it’s about to enter provides a unique opportunity.
“As you may know, the other large Elders we know the existence of, Lao Shan Lung, Dalamadur, Gogmazios, and Shen Gaoran, are covered in scales too thick for anything but a weapon made of Apex Materials or a Dragonator to pierce. The binders we use against them mostly loops around their limbs and they free themselves quickly. In Shen Gaoran’s case, it is too tall to restrain safely, and its shell is made of bone.
“Zorah, however, is made of Volcanic Rock, which means that with harpoons, we can shoot them deep enough in its shell that they are harder to dislodge. It also allows us to shoot more of them. So eventually if we restrain his movements enough, it will not be able to exert his strength to free itself. Then once we have conducted our research, We will free it and let it continue on its way. Ideally, we’ll try not to restrain it for more than two hours..”
Valen looked at the sky. The plan seemed ambitious… But with enough luck and preparation, it might work. Though he still wasn’t sure that restraining an Elder that way was a good idea, it might anger it and provoke it to rampage and wipe Astera off the map. But before he was able to voice his concerns, somebody else, Rapha?lle, beat him to it.
“I’m worried about the risk of angering the Elder due to restraining it.” Valen nodded to show his concern, and he noted Aiden and a couple of others around the table did so as well.
“Ordinarily I would not have gone for it too. But we received information that confirmed for us that this road is an option.”
He retrieved a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.
“Here is what this letter says: ‘We have received confirmation that Zorah encountered a Lao-Shan Lung on his way, and even though the other Elder battled with it and restrained it for a while, Zorah simply retreated into its shell and waited it out until the Lao seemed to realize it couldn’t bother the Elder and pursued his way after a last intimidation roar.’ So it confirmed to us that Zorah is more of a passive Elder, it may eventually wait out an inconvenience but eventually, it’ll go back on its path. We are almost certain it would do the same on our objective.”
Rapha?lle and the other seemed to be reassured by this but Valen still frowned under his helmet. However, realizing that he was alone in this, he simply shared a look with the Commander and shrugged.
“Is everybody in agreement with the plan on Zorah then?”
One by one everybody agreed, then the Field Team leader said. “We do have one matter to take care of though: The Anjanath. Zorah will be all hands on deck and I am afraid that it would realize Astera is understaffed and use the opportunity to try to rampage through it. It has already attempted probing attacks, I suspect it wants to extend its territory there. So we need to make sure it won’t be a problem before we depart for the operation.”
Valen looked at Aiden, who simply smiled and shook his head. He was about to ask why when a voice on his other side said: “I will take care of it if you allow me.”
Turning around, he was surprised by the fact that Rapha?lle was the one who forwarded herself to hunt the Brute Wyvern. So he asked. “Are you certain? It is not a weak one, for having managed to survive right below the tree for a bit.”
“I should manage. Flighty and I will be careful but we will manage. Besides, I believe I was invited here for a reason.” She raised an eyebrow at the Commander, who chuckled.
“Indeed. I intended to give that task to you from the start, and you did not disappoint me by forwarding it yourself. Succeed at this hunt, and you will be granted permission to be a solo explorer, which only a few were allowed. The only two others from the Fifth are both here.”
She firmed her stance. “Then I’ll make sure I do not fail.”
“Take the evening to prepare and go tomorrow. We leave in one week for the operation on Zorah. Everybody knows what they need to do?”
A chorus of agreement was the response. “Then may the Sapphire Star light your way. Dismissed!”
This put an end to the briefing, and Valen took his leave. There would be more meetings to discuss and refine the details, but the general information was done. The announcement would be made soon to the whole of Astera, and Valen had to prepare for his part in the operation. He glanced at Rapha?lle, who was headed towards her cabin to prepare for her hunt and nodded. He believed she would succeed in it, she had a talent he recognized only within a few hunters.
What looked like the whole of Astera had been spread out across the ledges of a gigantic pass between a mountain chain. The Great Ravine bore its name well, the pass looking like it had been created by the coming and going of gigantic monsters, and it probably was. But they had no way to know at the moment.
Valen had climbed to the top of the ridge, observing the proceedings from his position. Adem was perched on his shoulder, a familiar weight for the hunter.
He still thought the operation was far too risky for his liking, but by this point, he had been overruled, so he participated to make sure any threats that arose were dealt with.
A gigantic barrier of wood had been hastily constructed, blocking the path forward, though Valen had no doubts that the Elder would simply make it crumble by the sheer power of mass. Had they gotten more time and warning, they would have reinforced it with metal, but they had to make do. The goal was to make Zorah waste his energy breaking through it anyways, the most important barrier was further along the ravine, not visible from their position due to the twists and turns.
Countless ballistae had been erected, loaded, and ready to fire, with ammunition stockpiled near each of them. A fair amount of cannons also stood ready, just as well loaded with explosive ordinance. They would both serve well to exhaust Zorah and slow it down.
What looked like an army of hunters was also running around, manning the heavy weaponry or preparing to reload them once they were fired. All of them were decked out in their full armor, carrying their preferred weapon on their backs. There had been a last rush to upgrade weapons and armor before the operation, and it showed, with a fair amount of them proudly displaying their shiny new equipment.
However, Valen spotted Rapha?lle running around, shouting orders. She had been assigned as the lead of a squadron of hunters, after she had returned successfully from the Anjanath hunt, battered but alive, a team of Felynes pulling the body of the brute Wyvern behind her.
She had made new gear out of it, though she was using her Juyratodus weapon since using a fire-infused weapon against a fire Elder was simply asking for trouble.
Her tale of the Anjanath hunt had regaled the evenings before the departure, she had narrated how she had taken a more patient approach, using the environment to weaken it and injure it, even dropped a gigantic boulder only suspended by vines for some reason, before using its anger to lead it to an environment where it had difficulties maneuvering and fighting it to the death, the blood loss and the concussions from the boulder finally having gotten the better of it.
She had been promoted at the issue of the events and was now able to depart on exploratory expeditions alone. Valen however expected her to take the lead at one point. She had a knack for it, and the only thing that could be spoken against her was her inability to craft items on the field, only managing what could be considered “Very dubious potions, I would not drink that unless I had no other choice,” by Aiden.
He shook his head. There were whispers of her becoming the official leader of the Fifth Fleet eventually, but that would be seen in time.
Movement from the corner of his eye attracted his attention however and he looked up, and immediately his heart clenched.
A Valstrax could be seen flying overhead, which probably was Nikki, and he knew there was no way she would be unnoticed. The skies were clear of any clouds and the bright red dot was perfectly visible among the azure background.
Just as he was about to whistle for the Wingdrake that was perched next to him and fly down to the Commander, a plume of fire further along the Ravine distracted him, and after frowning, he saw their target, Zorah Magdaros that was incoming on their position, lumbering at its slow pace. He grimaced, which meant what they were preparing for was about to happen, and he wasted no time whistling for the Wingdrake, which immediately perked up and took flight. Valen grabbed the length of rope that was dangling from its harness and rode it down to the Commander.
The flight was quick and he jumped down from the rope once he was close enough to the ground, and after a quick burst from his thrusters to kill his momentum, he immediately said. “I spotted Zorah incoming from the ravine, it is about to start.”
“What about the Valstrax, will it be an issue? Our worker reports they have occasionally seen it flying above them while they were building up the defenses.”
“It is probably just curious, but I’ll be ready to repel it should it try to be aggressive.”
Arcos scratched his chin and said. “Think it is one from the Old World?”
“Maybe? There was one that was flying around Dundorma before I left. Could be the same one, could be another. We never know with them, we can’t keep track of them.”
“Strange then… Keep an eye on it, I want you to man one of those ballistae and relay to me anything unusual you notice.”
“I will Arcos.”
“May the Sapphire Star light your way then. Dismissed!”
Valen nodded and posted himself at the closest available ballista that he could see. The siege weapons were gigantic upscaled crossbows that shot bolts as long as he was tall. For peak efficiency, two people were needed to man it: one person to shoot it and one to help pull back the string and reload. The draw weight was immense enough to warrant it.
Adem would be the one that would help him. Even though the Felyne didn’t look like it, when he had a proper grip and leverage he packed surprising strength in his smaller frame. He had piled the bolts they would use next to the ballista, ready to pick them up and replace one that had just fired.
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Further along, the Ravine was another barrier and concentration of ballistae, but there they were loaded with binder harpoons so that once the Elder was in position, they could use their concerted strength to restrain the mountainous Elder. Every hunter would ride on Wingdrakes once Zorah broke through the first barrier.
But that was only in the future, and Valen focused on the moment, glancing at Nikki flying in circles above, almost like a revolture waiting for its meal, but he knew that she was just maintaining the speed she was at the most comfortable flying at. Zorah was finally visible at the bend, lumbering its huge mass towards them, one step at a time. He estimated that the Elder would be in range in a couple dozen minutes and that until then they could only wait for it.
Strangely it didn’t seem to react to their presence at all, Valen had no doubts the Elder noticed them, but he guessed that it simply didn’t register them as a threat.
The wait for the Elder to approach was a tense moment, every step he took echoing through the valley. The Valstrax circling above that some took as an omen of doom. The sun is hammering on them from above, causing the heat to rise and creating distortions in the air, painting the whole ensemble into an eerie scene.
Finally, Zorah entered the effective range of the ballista and there seemed to be a hush coming over every hunter, hearts beating strongly into each of them. Valen glanced around and could see everyone that was manning the siege weapons pointing them at the lumbering giant, one finger on the trigger.
Zorah took one more step, the low boom reverberating all around, and he could feel the weight of the step by the vibrations that it sent through the ground. He took another step, getting closer and everything seemed a bit louder. ‘How will it feel when he’ll be walking right next to us? I hope we’ll be able to handle it.’
Then just as it was about to do its third step. One voice resounded clear and wide through the improvised fortress. A voice that Valen had talked with not that long ago. The Commander shouted through a voice amplifier and said. “BALLISTAE, FIIIIIIRE!!”
Valen immediately depressed the trigger of the ballista. The twaaang of the string releasing all of the tension it was holding since he had armed it made the whole of the wood jerk. He watched the bolt already streaking towards the carapace of the Elder as he had aimed it, surrounded by countless others as everybody manning a ballista followed the Commander’s order..
It took a couple of moments for the rods to streak through the air and impact the black shell of the Elder. The impact seemed negligible, but Valen could spot some fragments of black shell exploding from the bolts impacting them. Though the overall effect on the Elder was minimal, it didn’t even react at all and continued his leisurely stride.
Valen helped Adem pull on the string, reloading the weapon, and then he corrected the aim that had shifted during the reload and fired again.
The first volley of shots became more of a constant barrage after that, every pair reloading at their rhythm, depending on their strength or their comfort with using the weapon.
Even still, Zorah Magdaros continued uninterrupted, and it came closer and closer to the barricade. Then suddenly the Commander shouted again. “CANNONS, FIRE!”
Countless detonations occurred in the valley at once, the noise deafening due to the echo, and he could see countless cannonballs, all filled with explosives, arc toward the Elder. And this time the explosions that covered its frame had more of an impact than the ballistae. Small craters now covered its shell, though they weren’t that deep, and he could see that Zorah flinched a bit from the huge assault. It seemed to pause for a bit but resumed its walk still, barely affected by the barrage, walking closer to the barrier, and now surrounded from, side and back by siege weapons.
But it did eventually grow irritated by the barrage, especially as one cannon shell impacted directly next to its eye, making it flinch. Zorah side-eyed the offending cannon, and raised himself completely, shifting from four to two legs, a gigantic paw raising with calculated but deliberate slowness. The hunters manning the siege weapon did not wait, and fled it immediately, which was wise, as the paw immediately slammed on it, completely wrecking it.
Seemingly satisfied, Zorah resumed walking towards the barrier on two legs. Everybody seemed to understand what was its intention: to crush the barrier with its immense weight. So it wasn’t surprising that every hunter that posted on it immediately started to book it, not wanting to be on the construct when Zorah decided to flatten it.
After firing another ballista bolt, Valen was about to help Adem reload a new one when the Felyne spoke up. “We’re all meow-t of ammo, Meowster!”
He nodded. “Then let’s prepare for step two. The Commander wants us, along with Rapha?lle and Aiden on its shell to target the magma cores.”
They had discovered that if they could break these, it would render Zorah lethargic while it repaired itself, and was the real reason it had waited the Lao-Shan Lung out: the Mountain Elder had broken one of them during their tussle.
Valen glanced above, Nikki seemed to still be circling the area, a curious observer above all of them. He looked back at Zorah, it had now reached the barrier, and he could see it starting to brace its front paws for the action it was about to accomplish.
Valen watched as slowly, eerily, Zorah crushed the barrier with a resounding cacophony of splintering wood and snapping ropes grinding against its shell. The barrier crumbled before its weight and showered Zorah with debris, some of which caught fire as they landed near its magma cores. Now back on all fours, it resumed its walk.
“GREAT JOB HUNTERS! PHASE ONE IS DONE, ALL ABOARD YOUR WINGDRAKES FOR PHASE TWO!”
Everybody reacted, and a huge flock of Wingdrakes, with hunters hanging below them, started to fly ahead of the Ravine, towards the second barrier, and all of the Ballistae loaded with Binders.
Valen whistled for his own Wingdrake, which swooped above him soon after and he caught the rope dangling below it. Adem grabbed his foot, hitching a ride on it, and they both flew to catch up with Zorah.
He spotted Rapha?lle flying a bit away from him, and Aiden not far from her. They nodded at him. They all had their target Magma Core and would try to assist the others once they took care of it.
Valen dropped to the top of the huge volcano-like shell, releasing the rope and cushioning his fall with a burst of his thrusters, barely a thought needed to activate them as if they read his thoughts. The behavior weirded him out at first, as they had integrated controls for them in his fingers but he eventually did not need them. He and Aki decided to keep them anyway for redundancy.
Adem had dropped next to him and followed his steps. The heat around was high, but there was a reason his armor was well insulated, and it was to allow him to operate in the harshest environments, either hot or cold.
He leaned forward and looked through the hole at the top, and as it has been reported, there was indeed a magma core at the bottom, pulsing with energy and occasionally releasing hot magma.
Valen offered an arm to Adem and said. “I’m going to drop down. Hold on tight, I’ll need to do a controlled descent.”
The Felyne jumped on his arm and after a deep breath, Valen jumped.
They accelerated only for a moment before his thrusters ignited, in a low but constant burn that allowed Valen to dodge the jutting imperfections in the tube that occasionally cropped. It became darker, the only light coming from the hole at the top, and the pulsing core below.
Eventually, they got close to the ground and his thrusters made a last burst to slow him down before he landed with a crouch. He straightened up and immediately drew his weapon. The gigantic Magma Core, several times bigger than him, loomed over him, the red hue betraying the intense heat it was radiating, that Valen could even feel through his insulated armor. He worried about Adem before the Felyne reassured him that he had drunk a cold drink before coming.
So with a nod, he immediately swung his weapon at the spire, chipping it and causing some cracks to drop down. He inspected his hit and judged it would take a while to make a sizable enough dent, so after enough wind-up, he struck again, more forcefully.
Adem followed his strikes, hitting it with his small sword between Valen’s swings. Eventually, the chips grew in size, becoming bigger, and bigger, but suddenly a bright glow started to emerge from them and Valen widened his eyes.
“TAKE COVER!” was all he had time to say before diving out of the spot he was striking.
Both of them narrowly managed to dodge the intense jet of magma that erupted from the spot they were hitting, intense heat radiating from the liquid magma.
Valen exhaled, that had been too close for comfort. But he steadied himself, they still had a job to do.
They did not stay in the same spot this time, deciding to weaken the structure all around, Valen started to strike higher up after, while Adem took care of the ground level. And they worked tirelessly at it, until.
CRACK.
With a resounding sound, a spiderweb of cracks suddenly appeared on the magma core, all of them slowly brightening up.
Valen immediately reacted, picking up Adem with his free hand, and ignited his thrusters right after, followed by his weapon that he pointed down once they were airborne. He aimed for a ledge higher up and managed to throw Adem at it then grab it with his now free hand, holding himself up with only that hand. He hoisted himself up immediately after, putting the ledge between him and the core below.
A resounding boom occurred below him, followed by a geyser of magma that filled the whole chamber. Said magma pulsed around and slowly started to solidify.
The whole tube started rocking, and it was only Valen’s honed reflexes that allowed him to hold on by digging with his weapon and using it as an anchor. They heard a roar, and they had no doubts about its origin. They steadied themselves for several long seconds before the shaking stopped. Valen waited a bit more before he peered below.
The core surprisingly was still intact… But while it was pulsing with energy and heat before, now it was dimmed, almost like the same appearance as the rock around save for the less rough aspect of it.
He nodded at Adem. “Our job is done here, let’s head back up…” Then looked above. “This is going to take a while.”
Thus they started climbing up, the numerous handholds present in the rock at least helped him in his task. He made frequent stops at ledges and always made sure there was one below him, because he had no doubts his partners would eventually complete their task, and Zorah would react just as violently as it had done before.
Which it eventually did. And thankfully Valen was at a stop at this time, though this time they almost got thrown off before they managed to steady themselves. Once the shaking stopped, it made them go faster in their ascent, they did not want to be in the same position for the third time…
And as luck would have it, right after they finished their ascent and they were on solid ground, Zorah roared again, for a third time and the shaking was even more violent this time. It abated, however, and they straightened up once they were sure all was clear.
What they did had an impact however, Zorah’s movements were visibly more sluggish and it seemed to falter in its steps. It was right at the perfect time even, as Valen could see they almost reached the second barrier and were about to enter the area where they would attempt to bind it.
He looked around, every hunter that was manning cannons or ballistae at the first barrier was now manning a Ballistae, without a partner to reload. The entire operation had been extremely expensive and cost a large portion of their resources, but should it succeed, even partially, they would gain extremely valuable insight into Elders and the Crossing.
Every step by Zorah was now extremely slow, calculated, and laborious. It seemed it was about to collapse from exhaustion. Which, given their goal, was good news.
Valen prepared to brace himself. Once the Elder was restrained, it was certain to try to free itself. He looked around and managed to spot the Commander standing upon one of the ledges, holding a voice amplifier in his hand. Their eyes met and both knew that what was about to happen might make history.
He raised the amplifier and shouted: “BINDERS! FIIIIIIRE!”
Suddenly, every ballistae shot bone harpoons with a rope trailing behind them, that was connected to the foundation of the ballistae, and it was the task of the shooter to secure the rope once it connected to the target.
Quickly enough, every harpoon connected to the shell of the Elder, and they immediately reeled the rope in, tensing it and reducing the range of motion of Zorah.
Zorah tried to thrash around, but he could only manage one sideways lurch before every rope had tensed enough that it couldn’t wind itself far enough to budge the harpoons. A few had failed to penetrate or dislodged when tensing, but it was a simple affair for the shooter to reel it back in an attempt to shoot again.
A few tense moments happened, where they waited in bated breath to see what the Elder would do, before it seemed to slump, too lethargic to put in an effort.
Valen was about to release the breath he was holding before somebody shouted, somebody that he recognized. “HOLD! ELDER INCOMING!” The voice of Jake resounded in the valley, and Valen looked up, fearing that Nikki was involving herself and that he made a mistake, but she was still circling above… Then movement in the corner of his vision directed his focus to it, and he narrowed his eyes.
Another Elder, but which seemed this time to be fully covered in spikes on his back, front paws, and wings, was diving towards them. His reflex was to unsheathe his weapon so he was battle-ready… Before he realized that it was aiming for the back of the Elder shell, towards where Rapha?lle’s assigned core was.
If everything was going to plan, Aiden should already have been going to join her, as it was where they would be taken back into the air by their Wingdrakes. But Valen needed to get down from the highest point of the Elder… But it was also a good thing that he had a way to get down quickly.
“I’m going to jump, climb on Adem!”
The Felyne did not question the order and grabbed his leg. Valen ran up and jumped from the volcano, splaying out his limbs… And with only a thought, the thrusters powered on at low power, pushing him towards his goal.
He could see that Rapha?lle was already engaged in combat with the unknown Elder. She was dancing in the air, carefully applying bursts of compressed air to redirect herself mid-flight.
Even with his boost, Valen landed still a way away from the fight. He lost no time however and ran the remaining distance.
It was only when he circled a jutting rock that he could see the two fighting again. Though he was relieved to see that the huntress seemed to have received no injuries yet. And on the other side of the field, he saw Aiden arriving as well, and he shouted: “I’M BAAAAAACK, MISSED ME?”
The shout had the effect Aiden wanted, as it immediately attracted the attention of the Elder. Valen now had a clearer view of it, and it was truly the most intimidating he had ever seen. Two giant, hulking horns emerged from its head, and white spikes sprouted from the back of its head until halfway through its back, giving it the appearance of a mane. Its underside was covered in orange scales, while the rest of its body besides its wing had brown scales.
Its paws were tipped with sharp claws, and the back of its wings were covered by scales as well, giving it a tougher appearance than most. Finally, a tail covered by spikes that lashed behind it completed the armament it possessed.
Valen never had heard about this Elder, because it was undoubtedly one, so he had no idea what its capabilities were. Though he would say it favored close-quarter combats as he didn’t see any indication it was able to use a breath attack or something similar. So he started approaching carefully, holding his weapon on the side, and Rapha?lle finally landed next to him from her latest aerial acrobatics.
“Anything you noticed while fighting?” Valen asked.
“It doesn’t fly that much, more like jumps with the assistance of its wings. No breath attack and only physical attacks… Though I don’t know if it can throw these spikes at us, given these weren’t grown on its head when I started fighting.” She answered while panting, catching her breath. “Also it is fast, really fast.”
“I see. So we keep our distance ideally.”
The Elder did not pursue its assault, seemingly observing the four, then five of them as Aiden joined them as well, along with Flighty.
An awkward standoff ensued, and just as it seemed the Elder was about to jump at them to resume the fight, hugging a tall wall of the shell, the Commander's voice shouted. “FIRE!”
All of them, even the Elder, looked at the source, and they saw a huge volley of ballista bolts streaking towards the Elder, only from one side of the valley, as the other side was blocked by the shell.
Valen gripped his weapon tighter, as he didn’t know how it would react, but the Elder surprised him by simply extending his wing and covering his flank with it, then countless amount of bolts struck it, most of them bounced from it through a few had the tip stuck a bit into it… Until the elder shook its wing and they all fell off.
The group firmed their stance. The fact that even on its wing, the powerful ballista bolts barely bothered it spoke about the resilience of its scales.
However, just as it was about to jump at them, a figure dropped from the air from a Wingdrake and immediately unsheathed its weapon, which Valen immediately recognized as a Longsword which only meant that the one fighting the unknown Elder was Jake.
Jake seemed to dance with the Elder, smoothly stepping away from the strikes, sneaking a couple of hits back though they didn’t pierce its scales. It didn’t seem to discourage the hunter, as he continued his fight.
Rapha?lle and Aiden looked like they wanted to help but Valen stopped them. “Wait, he needs a lot of room to swing his Longsword. We go if he starts having difficulties, we’ll only be a hindrance at this stage.”
And it was a truth, most Longsword users paired poorly with non-ranged hunters, which was why most of them formed pairs with them. It was the main reason not as many hunters used the Longsword, as it was a difficult weapon to work as a team.
It also displayed the experience of Jake, who even though it was the first time he was fighting such an Elder, seemed to understand its capabilities and expertly dodged its attacks.
Then suddenly the Elder reared up and attempted to slam his paw on Jake, but he had managed to sidestep it, and he used his momentum to spin around and unleash a devastating slice that cut through all the spikes on that paw. His opponent flinched away, not expecting this outcome. Jake returned to his neutral stance, waiting for the Elder to make its next move. But instead, it simply observed him, seemingly looking at the hunter with a calculating look. He then looked at the three of them waiting to engage, all of them tensed so they could jump at the moment Jake was struggling or there was a safe opportunity to do so.
The Elder seemed to reconsider its chances and then looked above. Valen followed his sight, and he could recognize the signs that Nikki was preparing herself to dive-bomb at a moment’s notice.
Then it concluded, unleashed a powerful roar that rattled their eardrums, and spreading its wings wide, flew away, unbothered.
Valen only relaxed when it had disappeared, then immediately joined Jake who had sheathed his Longsword. “Do you know this Elder?”
“We have gotten sightings of it before. We call it Nergigante, I sighted it once as well, but no altercations were issued out of it. For some reason, it seems to exclusively target Elders. I think it wanted to make a meal out of Zorah, but realized we were too big of an opposition to face, and it was uncertain of the outcome.”
“That was my suspicion as well… I have a feeling we’ll see it again.”
“Given our goal of studying Elders? I have no doubts. The question will be who will be tasked to fill it. I’m sure it would be an opportunity for our new rising stars to reach our level.”
Valen hummed. “Good point. Still. It looks like the operation was a success, to my surprise.”
“I will admit I had my doubts in the operation too, but we managed in the end. Now to exploit the opportunity before it stops.”
And indeed, right after he said that the Commander shouted. “GOOD JOB HUNTERS, RESEARCHERS, NOW IS YOUR TIME, GET DOWN HERE AND DO YOUR TASK, REMEMBER, WE ARE ON A TIME LIMIT!”
Valen looked at the Commander and nodded. The operation to temporarily capture Zorah was a success… And now they could start studying it. Nikki seemed to have stopped circling above and flew away, Valen no longer at risk
I was tempted to name this chapter “Snorah” at first, but I don’t think everybody would get the joke xD
In other news, we now have our first major canon difference in MHW. Normally Zorah would simply free itself from the binders and continue on its way, making the operation a fail. However here the operation is a success and the Research Commission is about to get valuable data on it! I wonder what other changes this might incur in the future…
I am curious though, what are your favorite monsters in MH for all of you? There is no question for me, but I wonder how much overrepresentation of Valstrax is there here due to that? xD
