Fire licks along the burned out clearing as the great beast flies overhead spreading its aura of fear over the plain like a looming omen. It lands, earth shaking from the impact, to thrash its tail in defiance as arrows puncture its wings from afar. A heavy claw swipes at the ground in anger as its scaled head looms high above seeking out those that took it from the skies. Only at the last moment does it see a man emerge from the fires.

Every lick of flame glints off the silver-white scales upon his armor as he advances cautiously. The gladius in his hand reflects the image of the great dragon wanting to taste of its flesh. Feet are kept apart and balanced while he holds up a hand, calling for his kith to let loose another volley at the beast. But a ceramic jar flies from the smoke and dust, crashing into the beasts? great snout with a sickening crack.

?Larcius, you idiot!? Arthurius bellows as greek fire begins to spread across the dragon?s horned crest. The liquid splashing up into its eyes, searing the scaled lids shut. Blinded by the light and fire its head thrashes back and forth as tail, claw, and wings beat wildly to keep its attackers at bay. With a curse, he rushes forward to get inside its defenses. A dragon is only dangerous when it can see and smell its prey after all.

Talons hooked in the string of her bow while she awaited her grandfather's instruction. Skull poised atop her head, dark gaze poises on her target. The blistering snarl of the dragon's agony didn't hinder her courage. Taking account of her kith's position, she primed her ears for the call.

"Loose!!" came from Raena and arrows were away, spiraling in their decent towards the animal below.

Sharp rain poured down from the heavens as fingers readied another serpent's strike. Another sharp whistle broke loose from her bow and moved, letting the light of night glint off her crimson scaled armor. The next position was assumed, another volley made ready as she called out to her mother," Ready to unload!" All she needed was to lay her sights on that sweet spot.

Up on the ridge, where she stood poised next to her twin, Lucretia, Aquillia's bow string was not yet fully taut. She had unleashed her first arrow in near perfect unison with Lucretia on her mother's command; such as they were, the twins found a reason for competition in nearly everything. Still, the first-born grand-daughter to Gaius Arthurius (if only by five minutes) longed to be down on the ground amid the dirt and blood of the maimed dragon. Aquillia watched as her grandfather and brothers effectively (might she say professionally?) worked together to bring the gargantuan monster to his near knees. Something she was constantly proud of was the way her kith functioned as a single force when engaged in battle. Her grandfather was mostly to receive the credit for this, though it was her mother who fostered her love of the bow. Still, Gaius Arthurius had started this family crusade that they followed with fervor.

Oftentimes had she watched her grandfather and father created different sorts of weaponry in their family fight against dragon-kind, wishing that she was a part of the development of such incredible inventions. Still, she knew where she was needed the most. And at present, that was here on the ridge, longbow in hand. Taking aim and nocking the arrow once more, she awaited the order to fire. There was a tense creak from the leather tab at her finger as she whispered to her arrow's vane, just as she had learned from her father Octavius, "Diana, perde pr?dam." Diana, destroy my prey.

The taunt from Larcius only draws a grim smile from the Praetorian as he rolls under the swiping tail. A twist of his shoulder sets Arthurius into a turn mid-roll so he comes up behind the monster? flank. He pivots, centrifugal force building from his shoulders and hips to drive the point of his gladius deep into the scaled tissue, right between joints at its foot. The blade bites into the cartilage and sinew.

?Maximus! Pincer!? he calls out to his grandson, directing the lad to position himself under the great beasts head as Larcius drives it down in surprise.

The light of Jupiter dances along his hands as they grip the leather wrapped hilt of the gladius. Lightning arcs between the chain metal links merging the scale of his armor to the boiled leather straps, where his entire body becomes statically charged with the elemental gift from the King of the Gods. Leveraging the blade, he can only feel elation at the howls from the dragon. The lightning runs down his blade to hit every surface nerve along the beast?s muscular leg, rendering it immobile as the muscles constrict and tighten beyond use.

He fights to keep the blade in place, feeling the dragon trying to shift its leg to free it of the lightning, but the man is not going to budge in this. ?Crossbows! Rear Flank? Calling up to those on the ridge to switch weapons, it was time to snare this beast once and for all.

?Crossbows! Rear Flank!" Arthurius called out to his kin.

"Crossbows, Ready!" Raena called out to her kin. She knew the drill well. She moved to bring up the cocked and loaded dual crossbow she was carrying. She had been working with her twin daughters Lucretia and Aquillia to hone the crafting of the specialized bolts.

The tips of the bolts were designed with rare metals chose to pierce the hardened scales of even the most ancient of the beasts. They had been experimenting with different substances to see what was effective in stopping the beasts. Poisons, greek fire, bile sacs... Everything that might be effective.

"Loose!" She called out as she fired those bolts into the flank of the beast. He father and two of her sons were in the range of that beast. Momma was letting loose with that deadly aim of hers.

At the command of their mother, the twins Aquillia and Lucretia loosed the larger crossbow bolts with alarming accuracy. When they were younger, those crossbows had been a two-person job. But now, as each of the young women entered into their second decade, they were finally ready to handle the weapons.

Aquillia had kneeled on the edge of the ridge to watch the great beast below get taken down by her grandfather and brothers. Aunt Livi was with her brother Tiberius and they had let grandfather's Black Cannons loose. That was always a show: fiery and dynamic, that weapon almost always brought an end to whatever foul dragon they were exacting their vengeance upon. (Except for once, and that was a time that Aquillia didn't want to remember.)

But today, Aunt Livi and Tiberius's strikes were devastating and awe-inspiring. As the smoke and fire burned down and cleared away, Aquillia squinted to see that all of her kith were accounted for. She saw her grandfather and Max; yet it was a few anxious moments before she saw her elder brother, Larc.

Her shoulders heaved a sigh of relief as the odor of the nearly half-charred dragon. She looked back at her sister and mother with an easy smile on her face. "Grandfather's senses once again were perfect. And here we thought the beast was going north." The cool hue of her eyes once more found her family on the battlefield; she wore her expression of pride like a medal.

Maximus had continued his timed slashes to slice open the great beast's throat, and was preparing yet another slash. That was until his grandfather timed slam of his shoulder in to his gut. Lifting him up off the ground, as he was being carried away from the field of battle. He fought like a wild man to break free.

"Put me down!" Maximus roared at his grand father while beating at his back with his fist. Gaius ignored his kith's demands, only to drop him like a sack of potatoes on the ground when they were far enough away. Laying there a moment, before scrambling to his feet. With a glare, that lasted a moment.

"It's dead, Maximus." Gaius growled at his nephew, before Maximus moved to stand by his grandfather. Glaring daggers as both watched as the dragon takes two lumbering steps forward before falling to the ground, its crash kicks up a wall of dust in all directions.

Continuing to follow his grandfather's lead as he remained where he was at, recalling what happened just as he was carried off. Aunt Livianna and his youngest brother Tiberius's strikes landed true and were destructive, as it put an end to the fight.

Tiberius got a glare for those words, but no blows were dealt towards him. "He caught me off guard." That was partly true, but at the same time. He also knew that would of been the only way to get him to run. Someone literally dragging him off the field of battle.

One hand clapped Tiberius's shoulder with a nod, before looking towards their mother and sisters. Flashing them all a smile, as well as one for his aunt and brother. Now that it appeared to be over, that bloodlust of battle was starting to wear off.

Aquillia was leading the pack as she scampered down from the small cliff on high, leaving a dust trail and disturbed rocks in her wake. She was usually the first one on the battlefield after she had been kept from the throng of fighting; she so loved the close-quarters style of fighting that her grandfather and brothers partook in. Perhaps she was even a bit jealous.

"You guys okay?" Her first thought, always, was of the safety of her loved ones. Even though the "family business" was nothing new, the danger of it was never as near as when they were in the midst of one of those great and terrible beasts.

"Tiberius? Max?" Her first thoughts, like any good elder sibling, was for the youngest of their crew. "All right?" Her silvery gaze skidded over the bodies of her brothers looking for anything that wasn't dragon blood. Naturally her eyes lingered a bit longer on Max, since he was usually covered in blood; his fighting style was savage and quite frankly messy. Still, he seemed to be fine with only their enemy's demise on his clothing (...which had earned him the unique honor of doing his own washing, since most of the family members threw their hands up at the notion of washing yet another dragon's innards out of his clothes).

"Larc?" The shrewdest of the children and the oldest garnered her interest as she watched him hobble slightly. Aquillia winced as she noted that not all of the muck on him was the dragon's. While he was an incessant teaser and donor of countless noogies, she looked up to him like she did hardly anyone else (not that she would ever really tell him that). "Is it bad?"

She nodded toward Arthurius with a near hushed tone, "Grandfather? Larc is hurt I think." She heard the displaced shift of gravel behind her, and she knew that the rest of the family had made it down from the cliff.

The dust settled, he takes a visual head count of those whom had engaged the beast in melee. Dour features remain so until giving a satisfied nod watching Larcius walk out of the dragon?s wake. Turning from the carnage his gaze moves skyward to the ridge and further as he pans around. This had been?too easy. Why had the dragon waited so long to deploy its breath? Why land after only three volleys of arrows?

To say Arthurius felt concerned would be understatement still, one less dragon in the world. He wasn?t about to go leaping at shadows without anything to support his troubled thought on this kill. For the time being, he keeps these thoughts to himself before looking to Aquillia. ?He knows where his sister and father are. If he needs them, he can go to them.?

He does smile a little now, with Maximus and Tiberius? banter lightening their engagement. Advancing on the carcass, he goes off in search of his sword. ?Mark the kill on the map. It?s too big to take back to the capital, have to send a wagon team to collect the larger pieces. And Maximus? Try not to use every soapstone in the villa when next you clean your equipment, otherwise you will have to start buying your own.?

When the dragon fell, Lucretia remained above, her gaze turning towards the sky. It was always a wise idea to do so while a dragon's corpse was on the ground. There was always a chance of its mate rearing its head when her family wasn't paying attention. Granted, this also allowed her to keep her distance from the squabbling and the others nit picking at each other for whatever reason.

Keeping crouched in her spot, now and then she'd grin at the squabbling below. Glancing down for just a moment, she tilted her head towards the gutting of the beast and Larc's precision. The smell of blood and entrails wouldn't keep them safe for long. Scavengers would come.

Raising bow and arrow, Luc shifted on her feet and assumed a higher vantage point. Her voice called out then, to her grandfather below," The smell carries, we've not got much time before it draws unwanted attention!"

Hearing her Grandfather, she nodded quickly and removed the small pack on the back of her waist. She pulled out the map and laid it on the ground, her hand resting on it to keep it steady in the breeze, as she drew forth her writing stylus. Aquillia paused twice to look around and check the geographical markers she could see to pinpoint their location on the map. Then, gauging the position in which the beast had been felled, she marked the spot with a thick, black "X." Furthermore, as she heard her family talking around her, she illustrated a dotted black line to indicate from where they had first engaged the monster. In doing so, Aquillia was helping her family in tracking lair routes and passages. It had come in handy in the past, and she was firm on continuing the traditions that her Mother and Grandfather had passed down. Their knowledge and expertise in these matters was nearly flawless.

"Okay, I've mapped the position where the dragon now lies and I see a pattern from where we first contacted it." She turned the map slightly as she stood up and looked off to the south. "It seems that there was a strange turn in the beast's projection just there," pointing, "over that shallow ridge." In fact, Aquillia briefly marveled at the fact that she hadn't noticed the strange crater-shaped ridge when she had been up on the cliff with her Mother and siblings. Of course, her focus then had been on the dragon, so it was not so far fetched.

As the wind blew a mote of dirt into her eyes, she turned her back to the breeze and squinted. Her eye watering, she could see her family beginning to gather the wagon for the transport of the dragon's near charred carcass. A heavy blink or three and she winced as the sharp pain of that stubborn speck of debris made her vision cloud up. Gritting her teeth, she bowed her head and tried not to rub her eye too vigorously. She was still holding the map when she felt another, stronger wind kick up behind her.

"Is there any way that we can hurry this up?" She called to her Grandfather and brothers who were naturally doing their best to hoist such a prize into its transport. "There's a storm coming..."

A branded dragon? While he has always suspected a driving force behind the beasts attack and the slow drop in numbers over the last forty years, he wants to believe it is just their success. What if it is not? Larcius' discovery holds truly terrifying portents. "Keep it with you, we'll talk of it with the others once we get home."

Just as Aquillia calls out, Arthurius feels the shift in the winds and nods in agreement with his eldest grandchild. "Aye lad, I do. Something feels off."

If it were at all possible, his scowl becomes that much deeper watching the clouds on the horizon darken. "The Orrery didn't predict any storms this day. Looks at least a few hours off."

Sending up a whistle to get the attention of the others he calls out. "Raena, get the horses and secure the crossbows. We will make for the Port of Etsy to the east. Should provide the fastest route back to the Captial as I'd rather not ride through that storm. Better to try and go around it. Maximus! Get Tiberius and the two of you each cut a wing membrane and roll them up. Aquillia and Lucretia, you gather what arrows and bolts you can salvage from its hide. Larcius, you go and pack up the cannons with Liv, Elia, and Octavius."

As for Arthurius, he gazes off into that distant storm feeling ice in the pit of his stomach. Those rolling black clouds looked familiar. "And make haste", he bellows.

Working like clockwork with the rest of his family members to load the dragon to make it ready for transport, with a light growl to the stronger winds. Mostly due to it kicking up the dirt that was around the felled beast, with him jerking his head to the side while coughing, but continued his work.

Hearing the calls from his other family members about the coming storm and took a moment to glance up for a moment. With a slight twitch of his frame, as much like the rest of his family. This storm had everyone in a slight state of unease, as he took a moment to look around at his other family members, with the sharp whistle from their Grandfather getting his attention.

Sending up a whistle to get the attention of the others he calls out. "Raena, get the horses and secure the crossbows. We will make for the Port of Etsy to the east. Should provide the fastest route back to the Captial as I'd rather not ride through that storm. Better to try and go around it. Maximus! Get Tiberius and the two of you each cut a wing membrane and roll them up. Aquillia and Lucretia, you gather what arrows and bolts you can salvage from its hide. Larcius, you go and pack up the cannons with Liv, Elia, and Octavius."

"Tiberius! You heard Grandfather!" Calling out to his youngest sibling before he climbed up onto the back of the beast to start cutting one of the wings free. With a curse under his breath that he learned from Grandfather, to the blasted winds that were kicking around. Before finally cutting his side free, just in time to hear Aquillia yelling up at them. "Sorry! The winds are making it harder!" Called back, before moving down from the back of the beast to roll the wing membrane up.

Once it was rolled up and loaded, he looked up at the lightning of Jupiter as it raced across the sky. There was another faint twitch between the young male's shoulders, before shaking his head and moved onto his next task.

"Natural or not, we need to get moving." He bellows above the increasing wind. "Leave the dragon to be found later, we must be on our way."

Arthurius has all ready mounted his horse and kicks his feet against the beast's belly while looking to the others. Eyes look again to the coming storm before stopping near Larcius and bends down from his saddle. "Keep your find to yourself till we're home." The words just loud enough for the eldest of the children to hear but not the others.

Righting himself the patriarch of the family starts moving to the others, urging them to mount quickly and get themselves ready to ride. Even Lucretia who was not a fan of riding, preferring to run on foot. His circuit comes full eclipse as the first streak of lightning splits the sky. "It's ten miles to Etsy and then two leagues to home."

His hope is that reminding them all how close they are to the Empire will keep their moods light. Though felling the beast lifted those anyway, more reinforcement could not hurt them. "Shimmer-Scales! Mount up and ride out."

She nodded to her eldest son and moved in a fluid motion that bespoke of her ease in the saddle. Once situated, she Start calling you, adding a sense of urgency with what abilities she had.

"Mount up! If it can be replaced, leave it behind!" She called out. Now was not the time to worry about items. She held her own mount steady getting the rest together.

"Father, we have arrived..." Raena pulls her father from his distant thoughts with a gentle hand upon his shoulder. She knows that look well, seeing it brings lines of worry to the corner of her eyes, but she understands better than the mention it.

Arthurius shifts in his saddle to look at her with a soft nod. "I must have dozed," he excuses his failing to remain alert and sits up straighter.

"Even the sharpest blade dulls from over-use," she replies using one of his countless epithets heard while training.

He actually laughs at her choice of words and gives his reigns a snap, "I taught you everything you know, not everything I know, but I think you'll surpass me one of these days. Or one of the boys will. Be interesting which of the clan rises to the occasion.."

Arhturius can feel the eyes of his daughter on his back as he rides away. Lifting a hand overhead and circling it in the air he calls for the others to tighten up. They've managed to stay ahead of the storm so far, however the ache in his knee reminds him it is right on their tails. Then he hears the roar...

There had been little chatter on the way. Usually Aquillia and her twin, Lucretia spoke of idle topics on a ride, even after a kill. But this day, both she and her twin rode quietly, nearly hunched over the pommels of their saddles, bracing themselves against the wicked wind. The two girls rode just behind their Mother and Grandfather, with the rest of their siblings behind them in birth order. Only Larcius rode behind with their Father, Octavius, bringing up the rear.

The raven-haired maiden saw her Grandfather's command and acted upon it at once. As she pulled on her steed's reins to move him into position, closer to her family, the wind roared. It whipped at her so violently, pulling her hair and cloak strongly, almost enough to feel as if the wind itself was trying to dismount her. She saw her Father saying something (for he was almost always the one to whom she looked when she had a fear, be it a childish nightmare of years ago, or when looking for direction in life). The wind, however, robbed her ears of her Father's voice. Larcius also was gesturing wildly with his arm. Her silvery-blue eyes, slanted against the elements, looked to her Grandfather and her Mother, as they were nearer to her.

"What is this?" She yelled to them, but they did not hear her. Aquillia, who prided herself on her practical dissection of almost any matter, found herself out of reasonable explanations for why the weather had turned so foul so quickly. As she jockeyed her mount closer to her siblings, she found her hand clasping at the pendant on her chest, bearing the image of Vesta, the goddess of hearth, home and family. For more than anything in this moment did she want to be safely home with her kith.

Aquillia had been turned toward her father when the blast hit. She was about to ask him if she'd left her magnifying lens with him. While she was a competent hunter and slayer, she often left tools in her wake. Though her father, Octavius, (whom she was named after) was always more than proud to collect his daughter's trail of occupational hazards. Octavius Carvilius Praetis fancied his daughter as something of a chip off the old block as it were, as he had been known to leave his things around the house, be they speeches he was working on or half-finished inventions.

Octavius' raven-haired daughter, however, did not get a chance to ask her question. The blast from their ship sent her horse into a deep lean as it reared up and nearly knocked Aquillia from the saddle. She gripped up on the reins, as if she was clinging for her life. There was another shudder that went through the stallion she was riding and it was all Aquillia could do to jump from the mount before her horse toppled onto its back. She had rolled away just in time as the powerful animal came down hard just a few feet from her legs. She jumped to her feet and looked around, hearing her grandfather scream, "DRAGON!" Crouching down close to the ground, she tried to look around as she reached for the bow on her back. The smoke that erupted from the ship blew hard over her and her family. She could hear her mother, brothers and sisters in an indistinct cacophony as her vision was nearly taken from her by the smoke.

However, before she lost her line of vision completely, she was able to see it. A large shadow overhead; its form rippled in muscle and scales. Part of the job in the Shimmer-Scale family was to identify their enemy as quickly as possible. Green? Black? Red? Blue? White? Color meant the difference between grabbing the correct weapons or burying kin. "I...I can't tell!" Aquillia yelled as loudly as she could, though she felt as if her volume was nearly swallowed up by the thick tendrils that wound their way around the clan. "Green...wait...black! Black I think!" The smoke was inhibiting her usually keen vision. The light reflecting off of the smoke was playing tricks with the color of the dragon.

Regardless of the color, one thing was certain: its location. And this dragon was close. Much too close for comfort. Aquillia nocked an arrow, though as she held her bow in the position ready for release, she couldn't tell which direction to let it fly. She thought better of simply releasing an arrow into the area when her family was so near. So, she stayed there, in a crouched position with her weapon, awaiting the moment when she could take her shot.

Caught in the dust and wind he can't make out a thing. Too much noise, too much chaos. Beyond the cloud, Arthurius can hear his family shouting their positions and struggling to get eyes on target. Two in one day? A sickness settles deep in his bones at such close proximity. Not a sickness...fear. Dragon Fear.

"It's a Tra-" His words cut off by a tree sized something coming out of the dust storm that sends him sailing. All he catches is a glimpse of blue before connecting with the munitions cart. Wood splinters against his back as Arthurius collapses to the ground. His head spins from the excruciating pain the last thing he makes out is a deep inhale of breath. A history of fighting tells him what is to come next.

"Lucilla, I'm sorry..." the apology slides from his lips, expecting this to be his last handful of moments.