"A Mutation? Really?" Elidar blinked, mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Lesser. A Lesser Mutation," Oulia corrected, her gaze sliding to the oddly-furred dragon in question. He stood protectively by Ranshee, his head hanging slightly. Maraelth was his name and, from what they could glean from his mind, he was not the only Lesser Mutation. He was also the proud father of a fully-blooded Mutation, although he kept his mind shut to which one.

The others were gathered in a loose semi-circle, Seren held aloft in a bubble of water that was held in place by absent motions of Elidar's mind. She was a fully aquatic dragon and had been staying in the heated pools deeper within the Aerd, where the dragons and riders regularly bathed. The remaining Hunters were either familiar to the idea of the Hunts or were friendly with other Hunters; as a result, the rules were left unspoken. Oulia scratched her head, looking the myriad group over. There were considerably more Hunters this time than last; whether that meant more 'good' Wyld would come or more 'bad', she was uncertain.

"Okay! We're just going to go when everyone's ready.", the bird-shifter hesitated, gaze flicking to the Lesser Mutation again. "I would ask that you stay behind."

Maraelth shook his head slowly. "I must go." The flat finality in his voice was enough to prevent Oulia from continuing.

"Ah-kay," Elidar murmured, then gestured outside. "We're going to the straits. There is more rock, more land, but the water is much more treacherous. Keep that in mind."

***

Camp was set up on the larger side of the straits; the rocks were barren and salt-encrusted, broken and twisted like the beasts that dwelled near it. Seren leaped and dove in the calmer waters between the rocky cliffs, within earshot of the others. Elidar was in the water with her, his shark form gleaming in the muted light.

A swarm of fish heralded the arrival of something more dangerous than a mere shark, however; Elidar gnashed his teeth, turning and digging into the creature that swam beneath; the mottled-black aquatic shrieked and struggled, but finally submitted to the assault. While the shark-shifter dragged the creature around to the path up the cliff, Seren found herself being dragged beneath the waves.

::What are you doing?!:: she cried and felt the passing of a much larger Wyld above her, just beyond the water; she could feel the water pouring between its outstretched claws and trembled in fear. The black-green that had pulled her deeper could only smile.

::I'm Ortag,:: he coiled protectively around her, gently guiding her to where the shark had left the water. ::And you need a protector.::

Above water, the Hunters were busy trying to shoot down-- whether with majyck, arrows, or whatever other projectiles they had-- the swirling rainbow of dragons above. In the water, Elidar was soon joined by both Elyan'Shni and Oushr'Noti, working to net anything foolish enough to go after them.

Maraelth tore into the sky and promptly wrenched a semi-aquatic dragon from the sky. The metallic violet beast shrieked and twisted in his talons, but once they were closer to the ground, Ranshee leaped up and clung to the male's head. Something passed between the three, a momentary sharing of minds that resulted in the metallic violet collapsing to the ground, clutching at his head.

::I'm Empty Sky's Rage,:: was all he said, pain lancing through his head in white-hot bursts. Ranshee stood on his back, grinning ferociously.

Two more dragons descended, this time of their own accord; shaken by the aerial display, they wanted no more fighting. Nosh'ha and Sea's Rage were placed with the first caught dragon. Others didn't choose to go so easily; Roczath was busy in the sky, harrying a mini-dragon that had dropped a rock on her earlier. She was joined moments later by Gangstath and Rixth, who worked in tandem to knock a mottled purple and a half-aven fire from the skies. The purple landed hard and seemed unable to move; before the dragons could descend and recruit him, Singer of Darkened Songs was already there, nosing the badly injured dragon. One of his eyes slid open, his muzzle wrenching into a pained smile. "I am Siden'Sest. I guess I should have landed sooner, huh?"

Singer sighed, shook his head and stamped his hooves nervously. ::Let's just get out of here before anyone gets any more hurt, okay?::

The purple cringed as he pulled himself to his feet and was joined by a rather merry mini-dragon. The creature glowed a muted red as she worked her majyck, which seemed to alleviate Siden's pain, if not actually heal the injuries. "Move! Get a healer!" she demanded, looking sharply at the equine Wynd. Singer stared for a moment, then skittered off to get help for Capha.

Meanwhile, Faccie helped Oulia get the half-aven into another box after ensuring her well-being; the healing mages were getting quite the majyckal workout, especially once Roczath landed with the mini-dragon clenched firmly in her teeth. The mottled bronze-blue writhed, squawking her name-- "Yudae!"-- at some unheard command. Then, she went limp and was quickly tended to; Roczath waited patiently and hoped that the small beastling had learned her lesson.

::This way!:: Seiseath launched herself from the cliff, Frank barely hanging onto the straps; he struggled to hold on while the acrobatic dragoness dropped and snapped her claws out to snack an odd, iridescent violet shape from the water.

::What are you doing?!:: came a watery mindvoice, anger evident in the bruised purples that radiated with every pulse of words. ::Hey! You put me down now or I will bite!::

Seiseath juggled the creature until she reached land, dropping the battered creature with a snort. ::You called for me! Why are you so rude?::

::Geez, you think a compliment means that I want you near me? Pah!:: the oddly shaped dragon flapped his wingstubs with irritation. ::And you, bird-thing, stop staring already. Cripes, but you think I'm rude? You chose that jackass.::

Frank was staring at what was the physical equivalent of Zoxiz. Stubby wing arms, bipedal, no forelegs. The only difference was that this guy-- despite his, ah, feminine colouration-- had an attitude! Frank stuck a cigarette in his beak despite Seiseath's protestations. Great. "What's yer name?", he managed to grunt and earned an equally rude, ::Zuiluz,:: in return.

Om'urn was busy in the skies, talons lashing out to clip the wings of another dragon. He hesitated when a huge, flaming rock suddenly fell inches from his various heads and his chosen, Pyngeh, uttered a hiss of anger. The purple-gold dragon they'd been pursuing had paused and, jaws still agape, seemed to be summoning the strength for another flaming wad of death. The leopard-spotted bipedra would have none of that, however; he lunged forward and slapped the dragon's muzzle shut.

::Name. Now!:: he demanded angrily, earning a hateful look in return.

::Zhaym'aelo.:: Spite dripped from his mindvoice and the dragon snapped fiercely at the paw that had struck him.

Gangstath, by the water's edge, was doing everything he could to get away from a Wyld. The shimmering pink female clambered onto land after him, warbling happily. ::Why are you running? Oh, please don't run from me! Besides, you know my name, you can't leave me!::

::Ah! Get away, you crazy ... thing! Rosqua, just back off already. Get off! Argh!:: It was too late; the semi-aquatic female had tackled him and refused to let go. While Rixth did his best to not laugh his tail off-- it was ridiculously funny to see the purple bipedra pinned by a much smaller and almost frilly female-- he soon found himself snared by something that was rather more unpleasant. A black-white aquatic glared up at him, fangs buried in Rixth's tail.

::Take me with you and I will make you proud.::

::Ah... whatever you say, Zever,:: something about the dragon seemed too shadowy... too evil for him. Too evil. Rixth shook his heads slowly and walked around where the other captured aquatics were being herded to, dragging the tenacious black-white with him.

Faccie, on the other hand, was too busy protecting an oddly luminescent dragoness from other Wyld that threatened to kill her. Dragging the striped violet from the water, she was greeted by a wet and friendly hug. Just when she thought she was safe from Wyld that recognized her, the luminescent violet gaped her muzzle in a happy, hero-worshiping grin.

::You saved me! Faccie rescued me! Oh, I promise I will do anything I can to help you; I promise! I will stop my evil ways....:: She paused, head twitching briefly, and then a darker voice took over. ::No... but I won't hurt you or yours. No, the others are far too interesting... we will go with you; we are Seafoam Brilliance.::

Good, evil, and insane? Faccie forced a smile to her face, even as she felt her stomach take a plunge. Why did the weird ones always end up finding her? Somewhere in the back of her head, Aunes was laughing; Fahuo wasn't much help, either, as she simply offered her condolences with an apologetic mental smile.

Frank was up to his hips in the water, kicking and thrashing as one Wyld after another tried to tackle him. He was drenched and stank of fish; on top of that, all his remaining cigarettes had ended up in the water and drifted away. A bad day turned worse; he was just looking forward to when he was done with the nonsense. Seiseath certainly didn't help; her splashes were large and got him more sopping wet than he wanted.

One of the Wylds got past the bird-anthro's defenses and tackled him to the ground, much to the delighted laughter of the mutant Zuiluz. The metallic black barked rough laughter, slithering off only after getting Frank thoroughly wet. Interestingly, he had a wet cigarette in his muzzle, sitting at a cockeyed angle; it bobbed, mockingly, but didn't fall free. ::I'm Syssar and, like it or not, I'm going with you and my buddy, there.::

::Ah! You're friends? Excellent!:: Seiseath exclaimed and clambered out of the water, leaving a very irritable Frank to try and find his own way up.

At some point, Irjalstu and Selzterr found their way back to land, their new companions trailing after them in the sand and rocks. Irjal' looked back and made sure that the banded indigo named Erachior was still following; the odd dragon reassured him almost constantly, but he seemed kind of flaky. Not so was Sedei'Sekl, who followed her Selzterr like a puppy. The semi-aquatic purple-white was almost bouncy, she was so happy.

With the number of Hunters dwindling, the Wyld themselves began to disperse, being called back by some deep call. The captured Wyld struggled in their boxes, shrieking and demanding to be released; SirenSong beckoned and it was madness for them to be unable to follow.

Tear of the World suddenly pounced on a metallic indigo-white, thrumming softly to try and drown out the faint song of the sea Mutation. ::Please be calm, Zearar! You are safer with us.:: The aquatic twisted a little and finally went still as the song faded out.

Ranshee had done the same for the oddly coloured Oudina, pulling the dragon's name from her mind with ease. She didn't fight as she was pinned, although she keened softly until the song was finished. Maraelth plucked the pair from the water with ease, moving them to where the others were.

In the distance, framed by the cliffs, a great and gleaming serpent twisted in the water, fins flashing with opalescent splendor.

::Take them, then,:: her voice was entrancing and beautiful, alluring in a way that was difficult for the humanoids to explain... but which was fully understood by the dragons. Her voice was lust and love and need; it was everything they wanted. But now, she renounced them and was greeted by a chorus of mourning cries. ::I will have others.::

She flashed brightly and vanished beneath the waves.

::You will see.::

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