Kiht Jakkya waited a few moments until she started hearing footsteps. She slowly peered over the rocks. Fortunately, she was wearing a white bandana to cover her long black hair. The Ixal did not seem like they were even looking for anyone. However, there were ten of them. The ten Ixal lingered; four of them staying near the cave entrance, and the other six spreading out evenly across the massive ledge. The gaze of all ten seemed to focus on the airships as they muttered to each other in their beast-man language.
The three airships slowly descended. Fortunately, from the angles in which the airships approached, Kiht was hidden by the boulders. When the three airships finally landed, they lowered their ramps. Unfortunately, more Ixal disembarked; thus, creating a total of sixteen. That was far too many for Kiht to fight; especially in such a bad location. Kiht peered over the rocks towards the cave entrance, but the four Ixal had not moved.
Not yet willing to chance an escape, she was going to wait and see if the airships were going to collect all of the Ixal. She waited for what seemed like half an hour, but the Ixal continued to linger and mutter at each other in their strange language - every sentence and string of words punctuated with squawks. Kiht greatly hated the Ixal language. Her ears pined back on her bandanna, and she never let go of her spear. Once again, she slowly peered over the boulders, but the situation had only grown worse. The Ixal near the cave entrance had been met by three others.
“Damn them, what are they doing?!†Kiht thought to herself.
As if the Fates themselves were playing a jest on Kiht, a loud high-pitched roar from what sounded like a huge beast echoed from within the canyon. Kiht and the Ixal turned their heads to regard it. Suddenly, rising up from the canyon, was a large dragon. Kiht's eyes widened in shock as the Ixal began letting out high-pitched squawks, and guttural muttering sounds of panic. Some of the Ixal began raising their harpoons while a few more began scattering to the airships. Kiht glanced up over the rocks, and looked at the cave entrance. Unfortunately, that's where six of the Ixal had decided to run. If she was careful, she figured she could follow them out. They would likely be so busy trying to get away from the dragon that she might have been able to get by them.
Kiht leaped over the boulders, and slid along the snow. She sprang to her feet then bolted for the entrance to the tunnel. Some Ixal pointed at her and squawked, but the others didn't seem to care. Just as she anticipated, the dragon was incoming quickly and angrily towards their airships. A few Ixal on the ships were beginning to prepare for take-off while a few others were readying their harpoons as if they were going to throw them at the dragon. Kiht began running into the cave, but went into a sliding halt as her eyes widened in horror once again. All six Ixal were running towards her for some reason. Their arms were flailing in panic, and many of them had dropped their weapons. From behind them, Kiht's Keeper eyes saw a smaller dragon moving through the cave right after the Ixal.
“Gods damn it, holy shite! This must be a swiving jest. A Gods damned swiving jest!â€
The Ixal were unlikely to attack her, but the dragon was big enough to take up much the entire cave's width. It squeezed itself along through it; digging and clawing at the rocks to scrape its way through the cave at them, there was no way Kiht would get through. She turned then ran to the Ixal airships. Two had already taken flight, but one was already set afire by the flying dragon. Only one airship remained on the ground. Kiht had little choice, so she charged towards the airship. A couple Ixal threw their harpoons at the flying dragon, but the weapons fell short of the target.
The airship on fire fell from the sky, but the other airship almost managed to escape the flying dragon until it turned around, and latched on the flying vessel. The dragon clawed at the airship's bladder; slicing it clean open. The airship plummeted along with the the dragon latched on to it.
There was then a chance that the third airship could get by. Kiht darted onto the airship, and hid behind some strange contraption in the middle of it. The other Ixal didn't even seem to care. They were already priming the airship, and as a few more Ixal boarded the airship, it took off. Several other Ixal were left behind on the ledge; squawking as they tried to reach for the airship. A few even jumped, but it was a futile effort. The airship had cleared enough distance from the ledge to where the Ixal couldn't reach it. They plummeted to their death. The few remaining Ixal stuck on the ledge turned to face the dragon that immediately began throwing fire right at them. There was no way for them to hope to evade it.
Kiht stayed low, but kept her spear grasped in her hands. She was near panic; heart pounding in her chest as she began breathing quickly. The many Ixal squawked, and ran around her as they operated the airship frantically. The dragon on the ledge was preoccupied with its victims, and the other dragon was likely still latched on to the other airship, or beginning to take flight again. Perhaps it was stuck, or fell to its death with the airship. Kiht could only hope.
She remained still; not that her leathers actually camouflaged her with the deck of an Ixal airship. She was hoping they wouldn't care about her, or wouldn't notice. However, it was only a matter of time.
After many minutes, just as the Ixal began slowing down, standing and surveying the distances, the sounds of large wings flapping echoed from the canyon below. The flying dragon from before was coming back for their airship. The Ixal began squawking, and maneuvering around in a panicked manner; once again operating their airship. They were trying to get it to fly as quickly as it could. Ixal airships weren't that fast, unfortunately.
Kiht was learning that as she watched the dragon close in. Oh how she wished she could stab it in the maw, but it was far beyond her reach. Even if she threw her spear, she would not do much damage to it unless she could manage to hit its wings. It was a long shot, but it was Kiht's only hope. She still had her knives, so she could still fight. She stood at the edge of the airship deck, and turned her spear into an over-arm hold. She aimed, and tried to measure the dragon's distance with her left hand as her right hand held her spear, and prepared to throw it like a large javelin. Her spear was simple - the spear she often carried with her for hunting. It was a steel spear of standard build. Nothing had ever been special about it, but it was reliable.
Kiht took aim, and boldly stood her ground attempting to steady her body as it had the urge to tremble. The dragon closed in, and she could begin to see its eyes, but she had to wait. She had to wait, and try to hit it in the wings. Even if she did hit, it may not have been enough to bring the dragon down, but it was her only hope.
Suddenly, the dragon turned in an aerial maneuver that sent itself into a roll. It quickly dived, and glided beneath the airship at a surprising speed. It pulled ahead of the airship, turned its head around and shot fire at the airship's bladder. It was extremely graceful, and extremely fast. Kiht was shocked. She didn't have time to think about it; the airship was hit. The bladder lit aflame, and the dragon maneuvered out of the way. The Ixal began panicking and making louder noises. There was not much Kiht could do. All she could hope is that they had enough sense to try and land the ship before the entire thing was set aflame.
Kiht stood there helplessly as she watched the fire encroach down the material of the bladder. She began to feel the heat of the fire, and unfortunately, the dragon began spewing more flames at the airship. In panic, one Ixal jumped off the edge of the ship. However, it was only a few seconds before Kiht heard a loud thump, and the sound of rolling rocks. She peered over the edge of the ship, and saw that it was just above a massive rocky formation that jutted up from the ground. It was still a relatively long drop, but she had to risk it.
Suddenly, a loud popping sound erupted, and the airship jerked. They were not going to land it in time. Kiht jumped over the edge. She fell twenty feet, and landed hard on an asymmetrical rock surface. Her legs gave out from under her, and she began to slip. Her body was forced into a roll as she tumbled along; striking and skidding across rock after rock. As she descended the formation, her spear went flying out of her hands. She finally impacted a snow-covered boulder that was stable and flat enough to prevent her from continuing to slide.
The three airships slowly descended. Fortunately, from the angles in which the airships approached, Kiht was hidden by the boulders. When the three airships finally landed, they lowered their ramps. Unfortunately, more Ixal disembarked; thus, creating a total of sixteen. That was far too many for Kiht to fight; especially in such a bad location. Kiht peered over the rocks towards the cave entrance, but the four Ixal had not moved.
Not yet willing to chance an escape, she was going to wait and see if the airships were going to collect all of the Ixal. She waited for what seemed like half an hour, but the Ixal continued to linger and mutter at each other in their strange language - every sentence and string of words punctuated with squawks. Kiht greatly hated the Ixal language. Her ears pined back on her bandanna, and she never let go of her spear. Once again, she slowly peered over the boulders, but the situation had only grown worse. The Ixal near the cave entrance had been met by three others.
“Damn them, what are they doing?!†Kiht thought to herself.
As if the Fates themselves were playing a jest on Kiht, a loud high-pitched roar from what sounded like a huge beast echoed from within the canyon. Kiht and the Ixal turned their heads to regard it. Suddenly, rising up from the canyon, was a large dragon. Kiht's eyes widened in shock as the Ixal began letting out high-pitched squawks, and guttural muttering sounds of panic. Some of the Ixal began raising their harpoons while a few more began scattering to the airships. Kiht glanced up over the rocks, and looked at the cave entrance. Unfortunately, that's where six of the Ixal had decided to run. If she was careful, she figured she could follow them out. They would likely be so busy trying to get away from the dragon that she might have been able to get by them.
Kiht leaped over the boulders, and slid along the snow. She sprang to her feet then bolted for the entrance to the tunnel. Some Ixal pointed at her and squawked, but the others didn't seem to care. Just as she anticipated, the dragon was incoming quickly and angrily towards their airships. A few Ixal on the ships were beginning to prepare for take-off while a few others were readying their harpoons as if they were going to throw them at the dragon. Kiht began running into the cave, but went into a sliding halt as her eyes widened in horror once again. All six Ixal were running towards her for some reason. Their arms were flailing in panic, and many of them had dropped their weapons. From behind them, Kiht's Keeper eyes saw a smaller dragon moving through the cave right after the Ixal.
“Gods damn it, holy shite! This must be a swiving jest. A Gods damned swiving jest!â€
The Ixal were unlikely to attack her, but the dragon was big enough to take up much the entire cave's width. It squeezed itself along through it; digging and clawing at the rocks to scrape its way through the cave at them, there was no way Kiht would get through. She turned then ran to the Ixal airships. Two had already taken flight, but one was already set afire by the flying dragon. Only one airship remained on the ground. Kiht had little choice, so she charged towards the airship. A couple Ixal threw their harpoons at the flying dragon, but the weapons fell short of the target.
The airship on fire fell from the sky, but the other airship almost managed to escape the flying dragon until it turned around, and latched on the flying vessel. The dragon clawed at the airship's bladder; slicing it clean open. The airship plummeted along with the the dragon latched on to it.
There was then a chance that the third airship could get by. Kiht darted onto the airship, and hid behind some strange contraption in the middle of it. The other Ixal didn't even seem to care. They were already priming the airship, and as a few more Ixal boarded the airship, it took off. Several other Ixal were left behind on the ledge; squawking as they tried to reach for the airship. A few even jumped, but it was a futile effort. The airship had cleared enough distance from the ledge to where the Ixal couldn't reach it. They plummeted to their death. The few remaining Ixal stuck on the ledge turned to face the dragon that immediately began throwing fire right at them. There was no way for them to hope to evade it.
Kiht stayed low, but kept her spear grasped in her hands. She was near panic; heart pounding in her chest as she began breathing quickly. The many Ixal squawked, and ran around her as they operated the airship frantically. The dragon on the ledge was preoccupied with its victims, and the other dragon was likely still latched on to the other airship, or beginning to take flight again. Perhaps it was stuck, or fell to its death with the airship. Kiht could only hope.
She remained still; not that her leathers actually camouflaged her with the deck of an Ixal airship. She was hoping they wouldn't care about her, or wouldn't notice. However, it was only a matter of time.
After many minutes, just as the Ixal began slowing down, standing and surveying the distances, the sounds of large wings flapping echoed from the canyon below. The flying dragon from before was coming back for their airship. The Ixal began squawking, and maneuvering around in a panicked manner; once again operating their airship. They were trying to get it to fly as quickly as it could. Ixal airships weren't that fast, unfortunately.
Kiht was learning that as she watched the dragon close in. Oh how she wished she could stab it in the maw, but it was far beyond her reach. Even if she threw her spear, she would not do much damage to it unless she could manage to hit its wings. It was a long shot, but it was Kiht's only hope. She still had her knives, so she could still fight. She stood at the edge of the airship deck, and turned her spear into an over-arm hold. She aimed, and tried to measure the dragon's distance with her left hand as her right hand held her spear, and prepared to throw it like a large javelin. Her spear was simple - the spear she often carried with her for hunting. It was a steel spear of standard build. Nothing had ever been special about it, but it was reliable.
Kiht took aim, and boldly stood her ground attempting to steady her body as it had the urge to tremble. The dragon closed in, and she could begin to see its eyes, but she had to wait. She had to wait, and try to hit it in the wings. Even if she did hit, it may not have been enough to bring the dragon down, but it was her only hope.
Suddenly, the dragon turned in an aerial maneuver that sent itself into a roll. It quickly dived, and glided beneath the airship at a surprising speed. It pulled ahead of the airship, turned its head around and shot fire at the airship's bladder. It was extremely graceful, and extremely fast. Kiht was shocked. She didn't have time to think about it; the airship was hit. The bladder lit aflame, and the dragon maneuvered out of the way. The Ixal began panicking and making louder noises. There was not much Kiht could do. All she could hope is that they had enough sense to try and land the ship before the entire thing was set aflame.
Kiht stood there helplessly as she watched the fire encroach down the material of the bladder. She began to feel the heat of the fire, and unfortunately, the dragon began spewing more flames at the airship. In panic, one Ixal jumped off the edge of the ship. However, it was only a few seconds before Kiht heard a loud thump, and the sound of rolling rocks. She peered over the edge of the ship, and saw that it was just above a massive rocky formation that jutted up from the ground. It was still a relatively long drop, but she had to risk it.
Suddenly, a loud popping sound erupted, and the airship jerked. They were not going to land it in time. Kiht jumped over the edge. She fell twenty feet, and landed hard on an asymmetrical rock surface. Her legs gave out from under her, and she began to slip. Her body was forced into a roll as she tumbled along; striking and skidding across rock after rock. As she descended the formation, her spear went flying out of her hands. She finally impacted a snow-covered boulder that was stable and flat enough to prevent her from continuing to slide.
