Shadow Sun Expansion

by Dave Willmarth

  “Hunting rifles! He’s too far out! Shoot him in the face!” Helen shouted.

  Kira, who didn’t yet own a plasma rifle, raised a flare gun and fired it at the dragon. The glowing projectile shot forward leaving a stream of smoke behind it. The dragon saw it coming and ducked its head, the flare passing above to bounce off its back.

  Water Drake

  Level 15

  Health: 11,200/19,500

  The high-speed crash had done considerable damage to the drake. Raising his own rifle, Allistor sighted through his scope and saw that one of its wings was badly broken, exposed bone shining white against its blue hide. The massive beast was limping toward them, suggesting that at least one leg was damaged as well. He took aim and fired at an eye, seeing the round strike a bony ridge just above the eye, doing little or no damage.

  Handing his rifle to Kira, he asked, “You know how to use this?” In answer, she grabbed it, slid the bolt back to chamber a round, raised the weapon and fired. Allistor pulled his .50 cal sniper rifle from his inventory and dropped to the ground. While his people continued to send rounds downrange at the monster, he lay prone and quickly set up the bipod at the front of the weapon. Loading it, he situated himself and took careful aim. A thousand feet was a short shot for this weapon, and the scope let him zoom in on the creature’s eye. Just as he was pulling the trigger, it shifted its head upward and roared. Allistor completed the pull, and the weapon recoiled, sending up a small cloud of dust. The heavy, penetrating round struck the roof of the dragon’s mouth, drilling inward but missing the brain, and thick blood poured from the wound.

  The massive drake whined like a wounded dog for a moment, lowering its head so it could scratch at the side with one of its foreclaws. After a moment the head shook violently, as if the drake were trying to shake loose the hot lead inside its snout. With a roar of frustration and rage it gave up and resumed its forward hobbling.

  Still way too far away for him to use any magic, Allistor chambered another round and fired. This time he aimed for the neck just below the drake’s head. As before, the devastating round drilled through flesh to disappear, and the dragon reacted. This time its roar was weaker, and blood sprayed from the neck wound until the roar ended in a cough.

  Still the beast pushed closer.

  Water Drake

  Level 15

  Health: 6,800/19,500

  The conventional weapons were doing some damage, but not enough to kill it before it reached them. Allistor fired his sniper rifle twice more, both shots aimed at an eye and missing as the monster’s head moved back and forth.

  When it was within three hundred feet, Allistor shouted, “Plasma rifles!” and the four airmen switched out almost instantly. Hot plasma began to streak toward the dragon. Though it had shrugged off all but a few of the lead projectiles, the plasma strikes definitely got its attention. The closer it pushed toward them, the less energy was lost by the plasma projectiles, and the more damage they did.

  At about a hundred feet, the dragon stopped and took a deep breath. When it exhaled, a cloud of vapor washed toward them. Allistor shouted, “Inside!” and grabbed hold of Kira, throwing both of them through the door of the plane. Rolling to one side, he made room for the others as Bagwell, Corvin, Helen, and Fisher stumbled through. Fisher screamed and clutched his leg as the door slammed shut behind him.

  Monroe, still outside, had gone stiff and fallen against the door, pushing it closed. The majority of the vapor had remained outside, with just a small amount making contact with Fisher’s leg. “I can’t… my leg is… cramps!” Fisher practically screamed.

  The others could hear a creaking noise as the muscles in his leg tightened and then snapped. Fisher screamed again.

  Outside, the mist had blown past them, and Allistor kicked the door back open. Looking through the door’s porthole window, he cast Erupt right in front of the dragon. The stone spike shot upward, penetrating the base of its neck and pushing all the way through.

  A quick check on Monroe showed his body contorted and a vacant, dead look in his eyes. Allistor took a deep breath and channeled his Storm spell.

  He did his best to hide behind the door as he channeled, not wanting to expose himself to the injured and enraged dragon. It tried to push closer, but the spike prevented it, shoving deeper into its flesh every time it moved. When it took a deep breath to exhale more of the mist, the spike seemed to block that too. The exhale was little more than a weak cough.

  Finally, the storm above had formed, and lightning began to arc down onto the drake. Bolt after bolt struck its head, torso, and wings. The smell of cooking flesh permeated the air, but Allistor kept channeling, crouched behind the door and peering through the glass. At fifteen seconds, there were too many bolts to count, each one slamming into the target or the ground nearby. Finally, the massive head dropped to the ground, and experience points flashed across Allistor’s interface.

  He immediately turned to cast a heal on Fisher, but found Helen and the others had taken care of it. The man was sitting in one of the passenger chairs rubbing his calf and thanking his buddies. “Damn, that hurt. It was some kind of paralytic I think.”

  Allistor nodded. “Yeah, Monroe took a full dose. He’s… twisted up pretty bad. He’s gone.” Allistor broke the news. The others just nodded, having assumed as much. A year after the apocalypse, they had all learned to accept death.

  Allistor turned to Kira. “I’m sorry about the plane. We’ll help you get a new one. And once this place is stable, I’m sure we can find people to help Gene repair this one.”

  Kira shook her head. “This baby is toast. Too much damage to the body. She’ll never be structurally sound without replacing most of her, and then she just wouldn’t be Baby.” she paused, patting the seat next to her. “But she saved our lives. Outran that dragon for almost a minute!”

  “That she did.” Allistor smiled. Turning his attention back to Monroe, he observed. “There’s not much wood up here. Let’s salvage what we can out of the plane, then give them both a funeral fire.”

  Kira nodded, and they went to work. She retrieved her maps, thermos, and other items from the cockpit and slid them into her inventory. The guys found some tools and removed the nice leather seats from the passenger area, as well as a couple of parachutes, extra gas cans, and other items that Kira pointed out. They stacked them all on the air strip, well away from the plane and the dragon. After moving Monroe’s corpse inside and removing his inventory ring, Allistor cast Flame Shot into the plane.

  None of them waited for the flames to die down. Instead Allistor directed them to loot the drake, then harvest as much of the meat, hide, and other useful parts as they could. The six of them worked until it was nearly dark and they were all coated in blood.

  Not far from the strip was what was left of the airport structure. It looked like it had once been a short tower, before the earthquake. Regardless, Allistor stood among the ruins and opened his interface, creating an Outpost. Stone walls went up, and a single-story stone structure rose from the earth. Allistor added a basement level with sleeping quarters, kitchen, and baths. He’d heard that the west coast sometimes suffered powerful storms, and he wanted anyone stuck here in one of those storms to be safe. After adding the utilities and sensors, he called the others inside.

  “It’s too late to go exploring tonight. This place will keep us safe enough, assuming there are no more dragons here. In the morning, we’ll explore the island and set up the Stronghold. Then we can teleport in more people and supplies. Maybe take one of those boats we saw across and get Kira her jet plane.”

  The others nodded, exhausted. They headed downstairs to get showers and try to clean their clothes. Allistor put a hand on Kira’s arm. “The others already know this. But when you get to your room, just ask Nigel to connect you with Gene, so you can let him and your girls know you’re okay.”

  Kira looked at him for a moment, then grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. “You’re a good man, Allis
tor.” She turned and headed down the stairs, leaving him alone on the ground floor.

  Stepping outside, he began to fetch the plane seats two at a time, bringing them in and setting them outside the kitchen. When all six were in place, he went to an unclaimed room and stripped, standing in the shower for a solid five minutes, just letting the heat wash over him. Another of his people gone, just days before the aliens arrived. He needed to call Andrea and let her know. Out of the shower, he put on a clean pair of boxers, jeans, and a GameLit Don’t Quit t-shirt featuring a honey badger wearing a Viking helmet. Sitting on the stone bench that would serve as his bed for the night, he placed the call to Andrea.

  Apparently, one of the others had beat him to it. She already knew about Monroe, and exactly what had happened. Allistor felt guilty for not being the first to let her know. When he apologized, she scolded him.

  “None of this is your fault, Allistor. The way I hear it, you managed to finish off the dragon by yourself before it could hurt more of you. If it wasn’t for you, everyone there would be dragon snacks right now. Shake it off. Get some rest, and get that Stronghold built tomorrow. Time is short, and you’ve got a lot of shit to do.”

  The next thing he heard was Nigel’s voice. “I’m afraid she instructed me to terminate the connection, Prince Allistor. Quite emphatically.”

  Allistor snorted at the ridiculousness of that. Leaving the room he’d chosen, he found the others already gathered near the kitchen. They were talking quietly, sitting in the plane’s chairs. Allistor walked past them into the kitchen, finding some utensils in a drawer. He turned on the stovetop and grabbed a couple pans. “I’ve got dinner. There’s this recipe for dragon steaks that I got from Meg…”

  By the end of the evening everyone retired to their rooms with full bellies, a decent buff of +2 to both Health and Stamina Regen, and slightly tipsy from a bottle of rum that Bagwell had produced from his inventory. Kira had leveled up four times from the fight, and they’d all congratulated her with several toasts, as well as one each for Monroe and Baby.

  Chapter 22

  Bacon and Boat Rides

  Allistor was awakened by the smell of breakfast. Sitting up on his stone bench, he quickly checked his armor. He’d cleaned it the night before, using the shower to wash the dragon blood off the leather, then hanging it up to dry.

  Donning his armor, and sighing with relief as the buffs he was now so used to kicked back in, he left his room and joined the others. This time Bagwell was in the kitchen, frying up a large stack of bacon. There were some oranges sitting on the counter, and several packages of pre-apocalypse snack cakes.

  “Breakfast of champions!” Bagwell greeted him, spotting him before the others. Allistor grinned at him, grabbing an orange and taking a seat while he awaited the bacon.

  Corvin said, “Been outside already. First thing I saw was a bunch of pigs rooting around the plane. So, I shot one, and… bacon!” He grinned at Allistor, flourishing a hand toward the breakfast meat sizzling on the stove.

  “Just regular pigs? Not like, mutant alien six-eyed spider pigs or something?”

  “Regular old Earth wild hogs. The kind with tusks. One shot to the head with a plasma round, and it went down. This one was level 2, so it must have murdered some smaller creatures at some point.”

  “Just makes it that much more tasty!” Bagwell flipped some of the bacon out of the pan onto a growing stack. He quickly laid out some more strips in the pan and kept going.

  “Well, it smells damn good.” Kira added.

  “Any thoughts on where we’re going today?” Fisher asked. Allistor could tell the man wanted to say something by the way he fidgeted in his chair.

  “Not sure yet. Got any suggestions?”

  The man smiled, relieved at being asked. “That bluff above the cove we flew over. It was high enough that no waves short of a world-ending tsunami will reach it. The steep bluffs on two sides make it easier to defend. The slope up from the beach is gradual, and curves around. So anybody landing there planning to invade will have to walk under the ramparts twice in two different directions to reach the gates. Plenty of time to rain hell on ‘em.”

  Corvin nodded. “And that is solid rock. Even earthquakes aren’t going to break it. I was looking at this ridge while I was out there. On the other hand, the soil on either side of the runway is volcanic. They probably built it here because volcanic rock is softer and easier to break than granite. Which is also why it popped up and cracked in so many places.”

  Kira added, “I was thinking it would be a nice place to put a house as we flew over. Beautiful there. Plenty of room for a Stronghold. And the walk down to go fishing isn’t bad. Five minutes, tops.”

  Allistor just nodded along as each of them spoke. He’d been thinking something similar himself. Though he had a surprise for Kira regarding the walk.

  “Alright then, the bluff it is.” He pulled out the map of the island he’d brought with him. Doing some quick measuring with his thumb, he guessed, “Looks like it’s maybe eight miles from here to there. The good news is, about half of that is downhill. The bad news is, the other half is uphill.” He grinned as Corvin and Fisher groaned. “There are several small ridgelines between here and there. How’s the weather?” he asked Corvin.

  “Beautiful. Sunny and maybe seventy with a strong breeze off the ocean. Good day for a long walk. Even uphill.”

  Bagwell came walking out with a heaping plate of bacon, and they all paused to consume the deliciousness. It didn’t have the same buff as the dragon steaks, but it did provide a +1 to Stamina and a +1 to Stamina Regen that would last for three hours.

  Not wanting to waste the bacon boost, they were soon on their way. Kira gave one of the chairs a last pat as they left. When he got topside, Allistor opened his Outpost interface and scrolled through until he found what he needed. He added the landing strip option, and the rough and broken tarmac at their feet smoothed itself out, widened, and sprouted lights running along each side. The charred remains of the plane simply sank into the earth. Kira whispered a soft goodbye to her plane, then turned and walked away.

  Hearing that, and seeing tears forming in her eyes, Allistor fell into step beside her. “I really am sorry about the plane. I’ll make it a priority to get you a new one as soon as we set up the Stronghold. We’ll take one of the boats across to the airport and steal you one of those fancy jets you admired. And I’ll buy you a compatible hydrogen fuel engine that Gene can install for you. Or if you prefer, I’ll buy you a small alien craft.”

  She shook her head. “No need to spend all that on me. I’ll miss Baby, but she was just an old Cessna. Worth less than one of those plasma rifles.”

  “Not to you. To you she was a family heirloom. And you sacrificed her to save all of us. That means something.” He patted her shoulder, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, “Besides, I have more klax than I could spend. Don’t worry about the cost.”

  As they walked, Allistor spotted and grabbed several plants he’d never seen before, hoping one of them might be useful for Nancy, either to plant or as ingredients. They saw several groups of feral pigs roaming up and down the various ridges, but none came close enough to be a threat. Kira pointed out a huge nest in a tree they passed, and a moment later an eagle landed on the edge with a fish in its beak. Several smaller eagle heads appeared, demanding their share. They stopped to watch as the majestic bird ripped pieces from the fish and fed it to the young ones. The hikers didn’t push their paces, averaging between two and three miles per hour. They stopped a few times when they encountered streams to splash water on themselves and rest for a moment. Bagwell spotted fish in one of the streams, and amused everyone by splashing around trying to catch one with his hands.

  Eventually the smell and sounds of the ocean grew more noticeable. They’d been going on dead reckoning based on the position of the sun as it rose in the sky. When they reached the northern shoreline, they found they were only about half a mile from the bluff they wan
ted.

  “It’s all downhill from here!” Fisher stretched his arms into the sky and then twisted himself left and right at the waist a few times. “Good thing, too. Haven’t walked this far in one day since basic training.”

  They half jogged down the grassy slope to the base of the bluff’s sloped side, where it began to rise back up again. “Damn. Mostly downhill.” Fisher corrected himself, earning a chuckle from the others.

  Allistor led the way up, all the way to the cliff face. They looked down at the ocean, the waves breaking gently against the rocks maybe a hundred feet below. Allistor turned to survey the area. From their vantage point, they could see miles and miles of ocean. To the east, he could see the coastline where what was left of Santa Barbara’s skyline was waiting across the channel. It was hard to judge distance across the water, but based on his map, Allistor guessed it was thirty miles or so.

  To the west, the island continued for several miles, though he couldn’t see much of it, as it was at a higher elevation. To the south, a creek ran down from the ridge they’d just descended, feeding into the ocean at the bottom.

  “This place is called Pelican Bay.” Allistor said as he consulted his map. “Seems like a good name, yeah?” The others nodded, and he opened his interface. Pulling up the Stronghold tab, he confirmed that he wanted to construct a Stronghold at that location.

  As always, the world became invisible and a grid appeared over the land around them. He positioned the structure about two hundred feet back from the cliff’s edge, and placed the short wall much closer. On the landward side facing down the slope, he set the wall at thirty feet, with the gate facing due north. He made the structure four stories tall above ground, and added a couple towers for lookouts, leaving the top of one tower flat for landing alien craft. After adding the usual greenhouse, motor pool, power, water, and sensors, he grinned to himself. Now for the surprise.