Monster Hunter: Dawn of the Hunter

Chapter 9

Rage had a flashback to when he had been knocked off the airship by Amatsu and he clung to the railing for dear life. As the ship stopped shaking Rage looked around. The front of the ship, the side he was on, was tilted downwards and Rage could tell it was slowly sinking into the sand. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the Caravaneer and Lyla.

Rage looked around. "Where's Zakrin?" 

"I don't know son. Might have gotten thrown off when Dah'ren burst through the ship." The Caravaneer said.

Lyla looked at the Caravaneer. "What do we do now?"

"We try and save people. There are some smaller sandships we can use. Follow me."

The Caravaneer lead them to a trapdoor that lead bellow deck, or, what was left of it. There was a giant hole in the back and most of the supplies had either fallen out onto the sand bellow or had slid to the front of the ship. The Caravaneer waved them over to a small boat that he pushed out the hole. They all jumped onto it and sailed around, picking up people who were stuck in the sand. As they picked up a middle aged man who was struggling to get out of the sand, Rage saw Jhen Mohran in the distance, moving closer and closer to Val Habar.

"Mr. Caravaneer, sir! Jhen Mohran! In the distance! What are we going to do?! He's getting closer!" Rage pointed to the figure on the horizon.

The Caravaneer eyes looked to where Rage's finger was pointing. "Sweet mother of pearl. Buckle up everyone!"

The Caravaneer turned the boat towards the Elder Dragon and made sure everyone was putting their back into rowing. As they got closer, two Dragonships passed them, on their way to stop Dah'ren Mohran. The sandship Rage, Lyla, and the Caravaneer were on, was picked up by one of the larger Dragonships as it passed. After they got on board Rage saw Zakrin, who waved to them. Rage smiled and waved back. As the Dragonships approached the Dah'ren, one on either side, it let out a roar and leapt out of the sand. It landed on top of the other Dragonship, crushing it. It then continued its trajectory towards Val Habar. Rage heard the Caravaneer curse behind him.

"Blasted thing! Now there's nothin' standin' between it and Val Habar!" The Caravaneer cursed again.

Rage looked around at everyone on the boat. "What about us?"

The Caravaneer slowly looked up at Rage. "Boy I think you're right. We might just be able to stop it. Its a small chance, but I like small chances. We are all that is standing between Dah'ren Mohran and Val Habar."

The Caravaneer looked around. "Now don't just stand there! Get to work! Full steam ahead! We don't got all day!"

"You heard the man!" The Ace Commander ordered.

Everyone quickly scrambled to load the cannons and ballista. The ship got closer and closer to Dah'ren Mohran until it was right next to it. Rage stood at a fully loaded cannon, ready to fire. He looked at the Caravaneer, waiting for the signal.

The Caravaneer looked around to make sure everyone was ready. Then he smiled. "Fire!"

The ship shook as the cannons fired one after the other into the Elder Dragon's back. Rage covered his ears.

"Ballista! Ready, aim, fire!"

The ballista fired out harpoons, attached to the ship by rope, into the Dah'ren's back.

"Now Hunters! You know what to do!"

Rage, Zakrin, Lyla, and a handful of other Hunters rode the rope down to the Elder Dragon's back. Rage looked at Zakrin and Lyla and nodded. They nodded back and then they joined the other hunters who were slicing and stabbing and the Dah'ren Mohran's back. As Rage was stabbing with his dual blades he looked up and could almost make out every minuscule detail of Val Habar. He looked around and saw the Dah'ren Mohran's head to his right. He sheathed both his dual blades and started running up the creatures back.