Jackson could see what was happening long before the alarms began to sound. Jagerheim sat on the edge of the Drakelands but very few of the dragons there actually posed any sort of threat to a city full of hunters. This wasn’t a dragon from the Drakelands, this was something bigger. The blood red color that now painted the sky was proof of that. His Sight was telling him the dragon wasn’t necessarily close, but if it managed to reach the city it could do some serious damage before it was taken down. As he neared the edge of town he let out a sharp whistle. From behind a nearby building a grey horse trotted up beside him. “Easy Nimbus,” Jackson said as he patted the horse. The stallions silvery blue eyes met “We have work to do.” Jackson climbed up into the stirrups but Nimbus took off the moment both feet were off the ground. Jackson took it in stride swinging himself up into the saddle and urging his mount forward with greater haste. For a brief second everything shook around him as a thundering roar echoed in his head. The dragon was closer than he though, good. It also meant it would be weaker, B class likely. Still dangerous but much more manageable. Once the roar had subsided the piercing call of a hawk echoed above him. A white hawk with green tipped feathers on its wings and tail swooped down. Flying next to him. “Find it Gavin,” he said, “Fire.” with that the bird took off in the direction of the roar. Jackson could see the red intensify above him, he was going the right direction. Off in the distance he could see a small don’t circling in the sky. It was time for him to break in his new weapons.

        The Drakelands was mostly arid badlands. Rock formations jutted erratically with seemingly no rhyme or reason. What little water was available came in the form of the Wyrm’s Run River which cut a massive canyon through the area. The river was almost entirely rapids and impossible to traverse by boat due to the rock formations that seemed to ignore that fact that there was a powerful river running over them. The region itself covered almost half the continent, and that size made it a popular spot for young dragon spirits, but the limited water made it intensely competitive. Normally he’d have run into at least two or three young drakes hoping to find an easy meal, but the presence of this dragon had changed things. Dragons that managed to maintain a territory in the Drakeland usually left for green more plentiful territory once they were strong enough. The ones that stat eventually found themselves overwhelmed as the limited game set a hard limit on overall strength so that eventually younger drakes would slowly chip away at it territory. For this dragon to come back to the Drakelands meant a bigger rival had forced it out of it previous den. The spirit would likely be wounded, and very unhappy.

        Another roar rang out but, now he could make out other smaller roars. Finally the spirit came into view. It was a mass of shimmering red, reptilian in form with a long neck and massive chest. A crown of glowing red horns crested its head like a crown and massive sinuous wings send waves of burning wind outwards. A sun dragon, full grown, but not very old. Around were two much smaller dragons, on was completely covered in what appeared to be white crystals, the other hand a long moss covered snakelike body with antlers, likely the previous owners of this spot. The two drake were clearly outmatched. Each wing beat from the sun dragon pushed them farther and farther back. The crystal drake eventually tumbled over and slammed into one of the rock spires. The jagged stones sent shards of crystal flying. Jackson ducked a shard passed overhead, nearly taking his hat with it. With its ally out of the fight the serpentine drake retreated. Jackson looked up to see Gavin take a perch a nearby rock. A soft growl rumbled behind him. “Took your time, didn’t you,” He said. A large white cat stalked up behind him. Its body was sleek, built for speed, with dark black spots and bright red eyes, a cheetah. Jackson gave the cat a scratch on it head, this was his hunting party. His horse Nimbus, his hawk Gavin, and lastly his cheetah Kei, and now it was time to hunt. “Kei, make sure we don’t have any surprise guests.” the cat darted off in the direction of retreating drakes. The cat would make sure they were preoccupied while Jackson dealt with the big one. He looked up at Gavin, “Harrier.” With that the bird took off towards the dragon. Jackson to a second to make sure his Cobalt Gale armor was secure and then urged nimbus forward at full gallop. His eyes firmly affixed on the sky, trusting Nimbus to do the steering. He drew his revolver, Jade Fire, it was lighter than he expected. He cocked the hammer and watched. Gavin swooped down racking its talons across the massive dragons nose. The spirit tower over most of the nearby spires, and Gavin’s tiny talons did nothing but annoy it, but the moment it reared up to attack Jackson fired. For a moment he though the gun had misfired. The characteristic bang he was used to was replaced with a much softer fwoosh, but the impact on the dragon was clear. The spirit roared as the round struck the side of its neck. Bits of red scattered like glass before dissolving into a soft red glow. Gavin swooped down once more, this time clawing at the fresh wound. A few more bit of red light fell to the ground. Jackson fired again catching the dragons neck on the other side this time. He fire again as the dragon thrashed in pain catching the first wound once more and sending more light fluttering to the ground. He stood on his as they neared came up on the dragon’s flank. He could feel the magic in the Cobalt Gale on his legs helping him balance. He fire once more, hitting the dragon in the chest. The beast turned as Gavin slashed across the new wound. Jackson jumped, as the magic of Cobalt Gale triggered he felt himself almost instantaneously land on the sun dragon’s back. Electricity rolled along the it back sending cracks along its body where he’d landed. He began to run up the spirits back towards the head, each step sending electricity crackling into his prey. The dragon turned towards the new irritant on it back, opening its gaping maw a gout of flames poured out towards Jackson, but he was already to far up the neck, still he could feel the heat on his neck. He gripped the hilt his sword Red Cloud. As the blade slide from the scabbard a thunderous boom echoed out as the blade ignited and cut in a single smooth motion. The blade passed through the dragon’s neck like it was air. A bright red light began to emanate from the cut and cracks rippled through the creatures form. Jackson jumped feeling Cobalt Gale shoot him to the ground. He watched as the more red light began to shout out from the cracks. The red creature exploded out into a thousand shards of red light, but froze in mid, then the pieces rushed inward condensing into a small orb of red light. The light cool to a soft glow then a fist sized red crystal fell to the ground. Jackson picked up the hunk of red dragon core. There was a soft glow in the center still. Dormant core was better. Nimbus trotted up to him. He slid the crystal into one of his saddle bags. He’d need to report his hunt to the HCC, but before that he figured lunch was in order. The red color a faded from the sky revealing the evening sky. Hopefully he could make it back to town before that food stall had pack up for the night.