A/N: Big thanks to Алексей Исланов! When I googled the name, it got translated as Alexey Islanov… Thanks, comrade!
Also about the break I took, I will explain it at the end of the chapter.
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An Elder Mammoth that went mad?
This is what we called in my past life 'shit has gone south and in the worst way it can possibly go'.
Imagine it as an unmanned train or a falling plane... a disaster that is simply unstoppable. The only way for it to end is to fall and it will do damage... Shit, ton, lots of, damage.
Elder Mammoths are huge! Not like an African Elephant huge, it is double the size, double the tusks. Yes, like four tusks. I am not talking about the Gomphothere or anything from my past life, it is just like that colossal and primordial being that lived through the ages. An Elder Mammoth's age is around 300 to 400 years. [A/N: Gomphothere is an extinct type of elephants https://ibb.co/i6Nzjf freaking awesome.]
When the Elder Mammoth reaches the end of its lifespan, there is a chance that it would feel an agonizing pain to the point that it would start rampaging around to find its peace. This is one of the reasons why the elder mammoths get to be hunted on a periodic pace.
There is nothing like zoologists in this day and age but the nearby Nords normally keep an eye on the situation to keep the Elder Mammoths in check. Still, for a mad one to appear... it must have come from the deeper lands in the marshland of Eastmarch.
"I'll go wake them up!"
Hilda didn't wait after she got the news and ran deep into the fort, she has to wake up everyone.
"Sigh! I am not in the right mindset to hunt an Elder Mammo..." Jonrad seemed to want to bail out.
"I am going!" I said.
"Well, I am coming then." He went back on his words.
It is not really necessary for us to join the hunt, Jonrad and I can bail out whenever we like. We are born under the Serpent stars and we are not bound by the rules after all.
Still, I wouldn't laze around.
"I am coming too, I will just observe. Alina and Jull, bring my tools."
Nurina also joined in. She has her own agenda that she wasn't interested in hiding.
After some time, the hall became busy again. Twenty of us Firemanes were all geared up and looked majestic, Grandpa was leading the bunch and the guards were loading barrels of javelins on the horses.
I also got geared up and carried my weapons.
"This will be a good chance for you to learn more about the Flame Magic that the Dragon Guardian grants." Jonrad said.
It is true, if I remember correctly, the Dragon Guardian makes the Fire Resistance and Effectiveness much stronger. For a Dragonknight like Jonrad, this is one of the core aspects of his strength.
Anyway, most of the adults were ready for the ride. But once we reached the stable outside the fort, I almost stumbled from the surprise.
In front of me, there were over ten Flame Atronach Horses.
"You guys... you learned them in less than a week?"
"Haha! Nephew, you did something great, those who don't have companion beasts that can be mounted can use these fancy Flame Atronach Horses now." Uncle Tyr was grinning ear to ear.
He meant that someone like mom can ride on Ylva but someone like him who can't ride his snake is now able to ride my luxurious Flame Atronach Horses.
Still, I only gifted the spell to the clan a week ago. But to think ten has already learned it. I totally underestimated the Firemanes' lust for anything that has the word 'Fire' or 'Flame' in its description.
"Let's not wait anymore, open the gate!"
Grandpa gave the order as he was riding on a large Black Bear and we all followed him.
***
The trail went as usual, we were about twenty members of the family and a hundred member of the guards in addition to Nurina, Alina, and Jull.
The plan was simple! Search, lure, and ambush.
The road to Kynesgrove was not long and we reached the place in less than an hour.
Aunt Skadi talked with the locals and we saw the amount of damage caused by the mammoth and the tracks it left. Looking at its footsteps gave me cold shivers over my spine.
"That's almost a meter in diameter. How large is the damn thing?"
"Don't ask me! This will be worse than expected."
Jonrad wasn't happy with the situation either.
Grandpa looked at Uncle Forseti and the later sent his owl to survey the place. The Owl Guardian grants the trait of sharing the sight with the companion owl as well as making the sight much better. One of the most enviable gifts one can get.
I can do the same with my Familiars but it is not as perfect.
"Found it! It is near the river fighting with another wild beast."
"I understand! Hilda, did you find a good spot for trapping it?"
"Yes, Father! Northwest to our sacred ground, there is a lake that has a bit of a small cliff north of it. If the mammoth ran to its direction, it will not see the lake and will trip over in it."
The clan's sacred ground is 'Bonestrewn Crest'. A small hill with a Word Wall in the center of Eastmarch. The place will later be a dragon lair just like Mount Anthor, the sacred ground of the Moonblade Clan.
"So be it. Who will be on the luring team?"
This is where the arguing will come.
Some of us need to go and make the mammoth chase them until the trapping spot.
"I'll go." Uncle Tyr stepped forward.
"I'll go too." Vladimir also stepped forward.
These two learned how to use the Flame Atronach Horse spell so they are confident in its speed.
"I'll go too." I stepped forward.
"Jonhild, you don't need to…" Hilda almost freaked out on me.
"I'll go with him." Jonrad stood beside me.
Hilda sighed and shook her head. It wasn't a situation a mother and a wife would want to be in.
Well, it was four of us to do the taunting now.
***
"If I remember correctly, I got reincarnated in Skyrim, right?"
"Why are you asking me that question?"
"Well, I went through some weird ritual when I drank a weird potion and saw a weird dragon made of light then became some sort of Beastmaster and now I am tracking a mammoth with a spear in hand while crawling on the ground between the dried grass."
"I still don't know how to link that with the reincarnation?"
"Well, the exact same scenario happened in 'Far Cry Primal', it just made me wonder."
"... What is 'Far Cry Primal'?" Jonrad asked me.
"Oh... Nevermind! Is this close enough?"
We were stalking the Mammoth. It seems to have got into a fight with some bears from the area. The bears were squished though.
"Yes, the trail is fresh. What should we do from now on, uncle?"
"Vladimir and Jonhild, you two survey the situation from afar, make sure that nothing or no one gets involved...."
Tyr and Jonrad started giving Vladimir and me some instructions as the both of us were the ones to keep watch over the situation.
***
"Is it me or this situation is not right?"
Vladimir asked me.
"I have no idea. What situation are you talking about?"
"Look at the mammoth… It is not that old."
"How do you know?"
"There are signs to determine the age of a mammoth such as that but this one is just not that old to fall into madness yet."
I didn't understand what he meant until he started explaining the aging signs and all the mammoth related stuff I don't know.
"Shouldn't we inform them before they make a move then?"
"It won't matter anyway, they have noticed from the beginning and it will make less difference. The mammoth is confirmed mad."
I nodded to what Vladimir said. But he still looked uneasy.
About a hundred meters away, there stood a gigantic creature around five meters in height and was moving around in anger.
The ground was obliterated by the mess that mammoth caused. The area itself doesn't have many trees but nothing was standing in front of that angry fellow.
The problem is that Kynesgrove village was around the corner so that mammoth should be lured in the marshland once again so it can be hunted with ease.
Tyr and Jonrad made sure to keep their Flame Atronach Horses hidden closeby so when things break into a total mess, they get to make a run for it.
Once they were close enough, the started crawling on the ground with javelins in their hands.
The mammoth was just about twenty meters away from them when they stood up and threw the javelins at the mammoth's butt.
A thundering cry sounded from the mammoth as it raised its head and snot high from the pain. It turned around only to see Tyr and Jonrad running to the other side.
Rage appeared on the mammoth's face and it started to move.
"Let's go." Vladimir and I also started to run to our horses.
And the pursuit started.
Our advantage was being easy to spot at the night because all our horses were Flame Atronachs and it was the version that I developed, so not getting caught by the mammoth was not that hard.
"Just keep riding south, look ahead and watch where you go." Jonrad said.
I was riding in the lead according to the formation.
It didn't take much time and we could see the signal of Hilda and understood where the trap exactly is.
"My turn."
I rode forward faster than the rest towards the trap and cast a spell once I reached it. The trap was a small rock slope hidden by some long grasses. The mammoth is tall but it won't see it anyway.
As the person who reached the trap first, there were only five seconds for me to cast two Expert Level spells… Not an easy task!
"Okay, now!"
The other three joined me already and jumped from their horses to ride the Flame Atronach Hawks I just conjured.
Once all of that was done, the hawks rose in the sky and attracted the mammoth's attention. It was now looking at those flaming birds the same way it looked at the horses, it even became faster.
"Damn! That thing…"
"Just go higher!"
I increased the flight speed as much as I could and we barely survived the tusks of one angry elder mammoth, it was still following though.
It didn't look down as we, its target, were going up. That helped when the mammoth approached the trap and….
*THUD* *SPLASH*
It fell just like that.
Under the trap was a big muddy pit-like pond. The mammoth fell from the height of two meters and big splash erupted.
"NOW!"
The Firemanes appeared from their hiding and started the assault. Those who could use magic used it, those had had javelins threw it. It was an all-out attack against the mammoth, but…
The mammoth stood as it was nothing! An angry cry rumbled as the mammoth trumpeted as it stood with ease.
No one expected this!
"Dammit! Is it really a dying mammoth? How can something like that be mad at the prime of its strength?" Tyr roared and asked me to direct the Flame Atronach Hawk down.
"Fine, you three go down, I will bug it from above."
The Flame Atronach Hawks landed on the ground and the three passengers ran to help the rest.
My part was to buzz around the mammoth, it would be better to divert its attention towards something it can't reach.
Still… why do I feel this unease?
The answer came just a second later though... with a roar from another angry mammoth!