Dragon Hunt 2021: In The Ancient Ruins... by Moosiferr on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
The aim of the hunt is to retrieve a single piece of treasure from a dragon's lair. Sounds simple, right? If you’ve ever witnessed a dragon hunt you’d know that it's not that easy. The arena is one thing; those dragons have been tamed, but the ones you will face are as wild as ever.
*** LORG FILE PLEASE DO A ZOOM TO SEE THE DETAILS
Oh my gods....this was a HUGE image. I don't have an exact amount of time I've spent on this over the past month, but it HAS to be going over the 40-50 hour mark. I want to say thank you so much to Gem and Ember for all of the encouragement, and help pushing me to get this sucker done! An additional thanks to Whit for letting me steal Castamere for my entry--I'm thrilled to put another OG nord into my entry. I chose the wood dragon, due to them being my favorite, but also to circle back to the very first dragon hunt I entered in 2019. I wanted to come back to this species, because I felt like I never did them justice in my first dragon hunt entry, so I drew 4 of them in this one! I am also proud of this particular piece, as most of the background and horses were done with very few brushes for help--most of it is hand painted with just a regular round brush! (of varying hardness and opacities of course!) I also wanted to go all-out on an image, and really test my skills, and apply some recent art tips--I think they were successful!
Featuring:
117 Chila'li 181 Aristarkh 275 Theo
Guest Horse:
54 Remuda's Castamere owned by: Remuda-Livery
***All horses pictured have been given Toxicate potion.
Story: 1154 words
“You are not entering that hunt.” Mira’s glare was like a razor.
Leanna rolled her eyes, then shrugged, turning back to the nordanners tied behind her. Chilly, the big bay mare closest to her, nickered and nudged at the nearby saddle, pacing in place.
“I am, I enter every year now. It’s actually not too terrible, you know. Nordanners are trained to do this, and they love it. Just look at Chilly--she can hardly stand still just seeing the armor!”
Mira sighed in exasperation, rubbing her temples, “Are we just going to ignore that you almost died last year going after that Vrux? Luck, and that Alerian that came with us saved you. Thankfully, Theo wasn’t too badly hurt when you got swiped off.”
The chestnut and white mare lifted her head at the mention of her name from Mira, and gave a small huff of greeting, before returning to grooming Ari next to her. The black and white stallion remained dozing where he was, only giving a slight ear flick to acknowledge Theo’s grooming. A fourth white, brown streaked mare tied behind him raised her head and whickered at Mira, who groaned.
“Leanna, how many more Nordanners are you going to bring home? We are going to have to expand the ranch again.”
“Oh, she’s not a new horse, she’s on lease for this year’s hunt from the Remuda. Mira, meet Castamere. She’s another of the founding horses of the breed--which is why I leased her. I’m thinking about taking this year up a notch. I want to actually complete the objective. Though this year, it’s easy. Just gotta retrieve a piece of treasure from a dragon.”
“That’s never an easy task, and you know it.” Mira shook her head, then angrily snatched the nearest brush, walking toward Ari. He woke when she came near, his ears betraying his displeasure at being awoken before settling and dozing again. “Guess I better come along so you don’t kill yourself. I call dibs on Ari, though.”
***
“The map that shopkeeper gave me shows the lair is just up ahead.” Leanna leaned toward Mira, showing her the map before shoving it back into Theo’s saddlebags as the horse walked steadily between them, keeping pace with Mira and Ari.
“This seems too easy.” Mira remarked, “Why would a shopkeeper just willingly hand us that map for free? Something’s up.”
“Oh I don’t think he meant any harm--besides, we are after wood dragons, we will probably be able to slip right in, snag a piece of treasure, and slip right back out without an issue. They aren’t very aggressive, and will probably keep their distance.”
“I still feel like it was suspicious.” Mira fell silent for several long seconds, the sound of the horses hooves on the soft ground, their breathing, and the near silent creaking of leather filled the silence until she spoke again, “I’m going to split off, go around the back. It’s best to go in as pairs, that way if one of us gets in trouble, the other can grab the treasure while the dragon is distracted.” Before Leanna could respond, Mira cued Ari into a trot, following a small winding trail off to her right. Theo snorted, then followed after.
Leanna turned to check on Castamere as they departed. The mare only followed the departing pair with her ears, electing to stay with Leanna and Chilly. Leanna sighed and shook her head, rocking with Chilly’s movement as she neatly stepped over a stream. The mare then stopped abruptly, her head raising as the smell of singed wood drifted around them. Castamere stopped as well, standing alert mid-crossing of the stream. Leanna looked around. The stream was rushing around what appeared to be some sort of ruins, buried in the heavy foliage and moss. It had once been some sort of square building, ornate archways lining its perimeter. She startled at a branch snapping, then let out a slow breath as she spotted Mira, Ari, and Theo across from her, stepping out of the dense foliage and under an archway. Those horses too came to a halt, Chilly tensed underneath her. Inside the clearing where the building had long ago caved, there were gems of a multitude of colors, scattered across the ground. In the center, atop a mound of rubble, Leanna could see the glinting of gold scattered across the top.
A loud rumble came from across the clearing, then a cloud of dust as a mound of what appeared to be foliage rose from the ground near Mira. Ari and Theo sensed the danger, and whirled as a bright blast of energy screeched toward them. The rumbling continued, and Leanna ducked as pebbles zipped around her, nearly sliding off Chilly’s side, only saved by the mare sidestepping underneath her. When she recovered, she looked up to see two adult wood dragons, gems glittering, stalking the perimeter of the ruins. One seemed to be guarding the center, near the treasure pile, but surely the aggression toward them wasn’t merely over treasure.
Heavy dread fell over her when she realized what else lay in the center, two young wood dragons, guarded by their parents. The one that had fired the energy burst had its maw partially opened in a snarl, bright energy started to pour between its teeth. If she was going to grab the treasure, she’d better do it now. She spurred Chilly forward, and the big bay mare leapt forward willingly, Castamere following, aiming for the treasure pile. She heard Mira’s yell as Ari dodged another energy burst, but was focused on the treasure. She grabbed the pad and edge of the saddle and leaned off as far as she could as the big mare’s strides plunged closer to the pile, reaching an arm out toward a golden, bejeweled piece of face armor for a horse. The hard, cold metal grazed her fingers, and she leaned harder, managing to snag it by a decaying leather strap as she whizzed past. Her foot caught on something as she did, and she glanced down to see and equally ornate bridle, still in decent shape, caught on her toe.
“Got it Mira! Let’s get the hell out of dodge!” She yelled as Chilly and Castamere bolted their way between Ari and Theo. Theo wasted no time whirling to follow, her long strides quickly catching Castamere. Ari grunted as he also lunged after them, nearly knocking Mira off his back. She laughed though, slapping his neck and urging him faster, until he drew aside with Chilly.
“Leanna you are one crazy redhead! But don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again! You were almost roasted by those dragons!”
“Got the treasure didn’t I?” She smiled brilliantly, then finally dared to lean down again, unhooking the ornate bridle from around her foot, “Two pieces actually--one for each of us!”
Mira groaned, but laughed again, “Crazy woman!”
Resources:
Suffolk Punch X 04- STOCK black stallion 10 black stallion rearing 3 Scampering
Background refs are too many to count LOL I looked at many images of rainforests and archways, and constructed my background off of those! Therefor, most of the background is from scratch!
The Bestiary The Nordanner Potions
Previous Entry Years:
Dragon Hunt 2020: Down By The Bay Dragon Hunt 2019: Embarking on an Adventure