For Inktober, Tuesday, October13, 2020. Prompt word: "armor." Tuckerization: Toby Stahl
A reminder that volunteering for tuckerization only means a character in the story shares the participant's name. Other than that, there are no other similar characteristics implied.
Last of the Big Game Hunters
by Alan Loewen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Toby Stahl settled back into the hunting blind, glad for the large thermos of coffee that helped to keep his insides warm. Early November mornings on the shores of Castle Rock Lake were brutal, but if you weren’t in your blind before sun-up, there was no point in showing up at all. Toby took another sip of his coffee. Staying warm was a challenge this time of year. The two layers of wool he wore under his armor were barely enough. The titanium would still slowly drain his body of heat.
From outside the blind, Toby could hear the crunching of footsteps. The flap of the blind opened, and Toby scooted over to let Tanner share a seat.
“Was wondering if you were coming,” Toby said. “Sun’s up in less than half an hour.”
“Had to hammer out some dents in the breastplate,” Tanner muttered.
Toby snorted and shook his head. “You had a whole year to bang that out, and you waited until today?”
Tanner shrugged. “After last year, I didn’t know if I was ever going hunting again.”
Toby smiled despite himself. “Yeah. I was wondering if you were going to really show up. How long did it take for you to grow your hair back after tussling with that Green? Two months?”
“Two months after the acid burns healed. Hey, you gonna share that coffee?”
Toby shifted his seat and took out another thermos. “Moocher. How did I know you weren’t going to bring your own coffee?”
“Why should I bring coffee when I know you’ll bring along an extra thermos?”
Handing him the thermos, Toby stood in the cramped blind. “I’m going to recheck the gun.” Climbing a short set of steps, Toby looked over the gun that sat on the reinforced wooden roof of the blind. He checked the M240 machine gun to make sure the belt that held the 400 rounds of 7.62-millimeter bullets was ready to go when the game started flying in.
“Toby!” Tanner yelled from below. “Three o’clock. We got an early bird!”
Toby scanned the horizon to the north and finally saw the expanding black dot. Quickly, he grabbed his mini-binoculars until he could see the approaching prey.
Toby growled in exasperation. “It’s a Gold, Tanner. Protected by law. Let’s hope it flies over us.”
He watched as the gold dragon continued to fly toward them and groaned when it was apparent it was coming in for a landing. With a spray of water, it hit the surface of the lake and sank in up to its hips.
Burying its muzzle under the water, it started looking for weed grass. In moments, it raised its head, green weed dangling from its jaws as it slowly chewed. Gold dragons were beautiful but were as bright as cows. They were also protected by the DNR as they were harmless to humans, strict vegetarians, and rare.
Toby shifted in his seat and yelled down into the blind. “Tanner, go chase the stupid thing off.”
“Why me?”
“Because I’m operating the gun.”
Grumbling, Tanner left the blind and started to walk to the lake’s shoreline. “Be off with ya!” Tanner yelled. “Go on! Get out of here.” He started waving his arms to catch the dragon’s attention, but after a glance in his direction, it returned to stripping the lake bottom of weed.
Toby watched with amusement as Tanner waved his arms, shouting, and jumping up and down without effect. Disgusted, Tanner turned around, looked up at Toby, and immediately screamed, pointing past the blind.
Spinning about, Toby's jaw dropped open in horror. A crimson dragon had swooped in behind him unseen and was on the verge of landing. Fire breathers, Crimsons were rare and known for their silent flight and their voracious appetites. That they had no problem with eating meat that had been burned to a crisp made them even more deadly.
Spreading its wings, the Crimson hit the ground and took in a deep breath to spray Toby with fire. Toby could do nothing but drop down into the blind and cover his head, praying the fire retardant that he painted the blind with would protect him.
He heard the whoosh of fire, saw flame fly past the opening in the roof, and heard the pops of four hundred rounds of superheated ammo start to explode.
Without the M240, Toby knew that he and Tanner were in grave danger. He hoped that Tanner had found shelter and waited for the moment when the Crimson would use its claws to shred Toby's blind and end his life.
Suddenly, the air was split with a deafening sound of a roar, forcing Toby to cover his ears.
Outside came the sounds of pandemonium.
Toby crawled toward the entrance flap and carefully peeped through the gap near the ground. Outside, not more than twenty yards away, the Gold and the Crimson fought together with their jaws seeking the other’s throat.
Toby had just enough time to see the two dragons grapple and then roll toward him. Covering his head, he screamed as he heard the blind crumble around him.
*
Tanner had run into the water. Though it was icy cold, better to die from exposure to the freezing water than being cooked alive. At least the Gold would neither burn him alive nor eat him.
Tanner had just waded into the water with it reaching his chest when a sudden colossal wave knocked him under the water.
Sputtering and coughing, Tanner regained the surface to find, to his surprise, the Gold had jumped from the water, flown over him, and had engaged the Crimson in a fight. Moments later, he gasped as he watched the two dragons roll over the blind with Toby certainly inside.
Tanner could see the Gold had the better of the fight, but it was a good five minutes before the Crimson went limp, the Gold’s jaws almost severing its opponent's neck.
After worrying the Crimson's limp body, the Gold eventually opened its jaws, letting it drop limply to the ground. Black blood flowed freely from the Crimson’s neck and jaws.
The Gold shook itself, looked once more at its defeated opponent, spread its wings, and flew off.
Shivering, Tanner tried to quickly get out of the water, all the while screaming for Toby.
The wreckage of the blind was complete, but a moment later, Tanner saw boards and the remains of a tarp pushed upward, then tossed aside as Toby stood unsteadily to his feet.
Tanner ran to his friend as quickly as he could. “Toby! Are you okay?”
Toby looked down at himself, surprise evident on his face. “I … I think I’ll be writing a rather nice letter to the manufacturer of this armor.”
Tanner laughed with relief. “Well,” he said, clapping Toby on the shoulder. “Looks like we got ourselves a Crimson. I’ll go and call the retrieval company.” He pulled out his cell phone and watched as water poured from it. “But I’m gonna use your cell phone. Mine’s out of commission. Anyway, same time, same place next year?”
Toby turned around to survey the ruins of the blind and his machine gun. “Nah,” he said. “I think I’ve had enough of dragon hunting for a while.”
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