After collecting the bark fibers Ashwin sat in the shade of the baobab tree and twisted together fibers until he had exhausted what he had gathered, then he wove all of the twisted fibers together in a square mat, he would pour the Isinglass solution through this mat and let it cool.
Returning to the campfire Ashwin found that the strips of fish collagen had fully dissolved, he stirred the skull bowl a few times and was satisfied, he used two bone utensils to lift the bowl out of the campfire, he would allow it to cool slightly while he searched for a skull or suitable bone fragment to receive it.
“No rest for the weary.”
Searching the fossilized remains along the bank of the lake Ashwin located a second skull cap that would work to store the Isinglass in.
Returning to his makeshift camp Ashwin poured the hot isinglass solution through the fiber mat, letting the mat filter out any undissolved chunks.
Remembering how the mysterious purple baobab tree absorbed excess heat Ashwin laid the skull cap by the tree to cool into a gel, that afterwards could be used as a powerful adhesive.
“Time to get started on the hatchet next.”
Using the fine bone knapping tools he had taken the time to craft, and his assortment of stones Ashwin had Knapped up the obsidian hatchet head in no time.
“Ha, I’m getting faster and faster at this.”
For a handle Ashwin chose bone over wood once again and found a stout bone fragment infused with stony battle essence.
It took him a little bit of time, but thanks to the blue stone he had carved in a receiving notch through intense grinding and sanding.
Ashwin fit the obsidian hatchet head into the receiving notch.
Twisting up some more fiber he braided them into tight string and wrapped them around the hatchet head tightly.
“All tighty.”
Taking a break Ashwin took inventory, he now possessed an obsidian cleaver, the bone spear with obsidian spear tip, the granite pickaxe, the ghost mantis whip and now an obsidian hatchet.
Along with the water drop crystal, black pearl, drying racks, the skins, cordage, and isinglass
As well as his dozen or so of the translucent chitin hooks and needles that he had stashed.
The canteen and bow were two of the last items on his list before he could begin his rite of passage in earnest.
Before he could begin to stalk the Death Gigas.
The rush of adrenaline at the idea spurred Ashwin on and he felt a sudden thrill.
“Big game Ashwin, big game.
In it for the big game.”
It wasn’t the smile of someone who had survived.
It was the smile of a hunter who had finally chosen his prey.
While the tendon, cordage and skin dried, and the glue cooled, Ashwin knew he had to put this time to good use.
Collecting suitable fragments of obsidian from the sheets he had Knapped earlier Ashwin would spend the next two hours crafting obsidian arrow heads in the cool shade of the baobab tree.
In two hours’, Ashwin managed to Knapp thirty-six arrow heads, so now he would also need to craft thirty-six arrow shafts, and for this his choice of material was slivers of bone fragments infused with wind battle essence.
Sanding on each wind infused bone sliver with the coarse blue stone Ashwin would periodically inspect the bone arrow shafts for straightness.
once satisfied he would check the arrows center of gravity by finding the balance point.
If an arrow shaft was off balance he would gently sand on the heavy end until the arrow shafts center of gravity was perfectly in the middle.
Finaly Ashwin carved notches into the ends of the arrow shafts that would hold the arrow heads themselves.
This all took another two hours, Ashwin checked on the Isinglass in the skull cap and found it had solidified into a white semi-clear jelly, the glue was ready, now all Ashwin needed was feathers, and of course to fashion or craft the bow itself.
But he had not actually seen any birds up to this point, so he had no source for feathers.
That’s when the buzzing of wings caused Ashwin to turn his attention towards the lake, out over the surface of the water oversized dragon flies darted.
“No, don’t be stupid, that couldn’t work…could it?”
Looking over his shoulder, he saw the ghost mantis whip, “Oh buddy, there’s no possible way this can work, but I’ll give it a try.”
Walking over to the whip Ashwin picked it up and pulled on the slippery half hitch releasing the translucent filament of the whip, it curled and drifted around him like chained smoke, he made his way to the part of the bank that got him closest to the oversized dragon flies.
They darted rapidly over the water, “Here goes nothing” Ashwin flicked the whip and thirty-eight feet of drifting filament lashed out!
“CRACK”
One oversized dragon fly splashed down into the water along the shore of the boney bank!
Running quickly down to the dead dragon fly carcass with the ghost mantis whip filament curling around him Ashwin yanked the dead bug out of the water before any large predatory fish could steal his kill.
Kneeling down Ashwin inspected the four shimmering translucent wings laced with silver veins, reaching out he touched one gently and to his surprise found that it instantly detached from the specialized hinge called the nodus, which allowed the dragonfly to maneuver backwards. Get faster updates on g.com.
Each wing featured a thickened pterostigma, a pigmented cell on the leading edge near the tip.
This weighted spot acted as a counterbalance that prevented the wing from fluttering in the wind, enabling smooth effortless gliding.
Despite being made up from an incredibly thin and lightweight chitin matrix, the veins and corrugated membranes could with stand immense aerodynamic forces.
Dragon fly wings exhibited highly evolved properties for top-of-the-line aerial performance.
“These might be better than feathers.”
Ninety minutes and twelve dead dragon flies later Ashwin had secured all of the wings that he needed for his arrows, he had also gotten in some very good practice with the ghost mantis whip and was becoming more proficient with it.
Slaying twelve quick darting dragon flies by whip was certainly nothing to sneeze at, the workout had given him insight into the deceptive movements of the whip.
Making his return he got started on fitting the black obsidian arrow heads into the notches of each shaft, chipping away more material from certain arrow heads when needed.
Due to making custom adjustments for each arrowhead, they required no glue or binding, so tight was their fitting together.
Sticking all thirty-six of the arrows into a sandy patch on the fossilized bank, Ashwin began to fletch his arrows but paused as he grunted with one complaint, he had no plant astringent on hand to wipe the arrow shafts down with first.
“And I should scuff in rough lines with the blue stone to create microscopic texture for the Isinglass to hold onto.”
Using the granite pick Ashwin hammered at the bark of the purple baobab tree and collected the thatch, he placed this in the first skull bowl he found and added water.
The baobab tree was purple and high in tannins, boiling and reducing the baobab thatch would concentrate these tannins into a strong cleaning plant-based astringent, that he could use to wipe down the arrow shafts with removing oils, giving the Isinglass a stronger hold.
While the baobab tea boiled Ashwin used the blue stone to scuff the entire ends of the arrows using a dragon fly wing as a guide, rather than individual lines, just to be on the safe side.
By the time Ashwin had finished this task the purple baobab astringent was simmering and ready, taking it out of the coal bed Ashwin allowed it to cool while he added more wood to the fire, it was vital that he maintain an active fire or coalbed at all times.
Making a fine fiber swab Ashwin dipped it in the purple astringent and wiped each arrow shaft down, ensuring the glue had a clean surface.
Arrow by arrow Ashwin applied a strip of Isinglass on the outside edges of each wing and apply them to the arrow shafts.
Repeating this process, he worked until he had fletched each vane to each shaft.
“I wont touch them until tomorrow night, that will give the sun time to bake the Isinglass.”
Feeling proud of his accomplishments, Ashwin decided to crack open another fruit pod and enjoy a drink.
The cool wind flowing through the Purple Baobab carried away the day’s heat.
Afterwards he felt drowsy and fell quickly asleep.