The wind rushed through Ta' Zans hair with a speed that could only be matched by his excitement at how today's events have been unfolding.
Last night, he caught the Ajchikaj and Ok'owik tribes mid-prep for a wyvern nest raid—and somehow convinced them to let him join. As bait, sure. But still part of the raiding party nonetheless.
The nest was a treasure cove of neat material gathered by the wyverns. Material otherwise impossible to retrieve, let alone manipulate. The corrosive properties of the wyverns saliva could melt through anything out here in the swamp. It's what made these guys apex predators below the cliffs. And once the Suq people obtained their egg it was easy pickings for the bait to climb back up and collect his bounty. Hell, those terrible creatures even left pools of saliva on the cliffs, etching deep scars into the stone—yet never quite melting it away. A grim reminder of why nothing could survive a bite from a wyvern. It left Ta'Zan more than enough time to carve out the carapace of a gorgon ox exactly as he wanted.
His excitement nearly made him fumble as he finished the last acid-carved hole. He had barely completed the work before looking up—and realizing the raiding party had landed successfully in their kill clearing where the winged beasts are typically disposed of.
In the air the wyverns are unparalleled killers but once on the ground they become a bit less mobile, just as vicious, but the overgrowth isn't something they need to deal with ever. Only when the Suq hunt them.
'What an odd day.' Ta'Zan kept telling himself as he soared through the sky. The sun felt hotter. He was more aware of his breathing since the swamp woke up and the humming of the jungle sounded peaceful today… almost inviting.
He'd been smiling all morning, blaming it on the nest raid.
The bounty from the nest carried him over the Peak of Behemet—first in his imagination, and soon, he told himself, in reality. It was one of the reasons the decision to drop his haul to the bottom of the cliff to collect for later was not an easy choice to make.
But something felt odd today. Those were always his best days though. He never questioned these days. At least not until the next day when his body complained at how foolish or reckless he was the day before.
Yet… as he watched the second wyvern descend after his mate he realized he made an error about what he saw in the distance. The mother lay fallen by the main kill tree while the male dived into the mud, no doubt giving the lead on the raid more trouble than anticipated in their plan. The main party was supposed to lead the male through the dragonfly nests, keeping the wyvern occupied long enough for the egg snatchers to kill the mother. Once the hordes of the pest were inevitably attracted by the last wyvern, the rest of the party would safely reach the river– protected by the thick canopy that grew overhead.
Ta' Zan began to adjust his body posture to create more drag, to create more time before his inevitable descent into the jungle. To appreciate the oddness of the day just a little bit longer. He watched as the canopy changed from an ocean greenery to a labyrinth of branches and vines before his eyes. Still diving head first– with intent.
'Nothing in this land would ever irritate a whole colony of these things just by mistake. One or two hives sure but the whole thing! Unheard of, for anything that valued its life in these jungles.' A few dragonflies zipped passed him toward the same direction as him, the floor of the jungle.
He unlatched a pouch to reveal a three sharp pronged item, that he quickly tossed towards a sturdy looking branch, rope following behind as it connected with its target. The rope held tight as Ta' Zan's trajectory and speed changed to get ready for a landing. It was going to be a clean landing with no broken branches or limbs today. Ta 'Zan always appreciated landings that didn't consist of scrambling for his life before impact.
The jungle floor became visible and the source of his excitement came into view below the branch he stood perched on as he effortlessly unlatched the hooks with a flick of the rope he was holding.
'Another human?! What an odd day indeed.'