by JD MITCHELL
Ali didn’t know what to do. Should she let go of the joystick?
She didn’t ponder long. Without warning, the pixie disappeared, and the drone became unresponsive to Ali’s commands.
“They’ve commandeered my drone,” Ali said. For good measure, she batted the joystick back and forth like a cat playing with string. The drone stayed its course. “I guess I’m done.”
Red shrugged. “Switch to your secondary drone.”
Ali deflated. She’d forgotten about her back-up drone. On the first screen, the primary drone flew between the branches like a dancer on the wind.
At least she wouldn’t have to navigate the woods any longer.
She reached for her second monitor. The screen blipped to life. She flipped the toggle changing the controls to the second drone. Long green grass came into focus.
As she had done the first time, Ali guided the drone above the trees toward the ocean. She leveled the craft twenty feet above the treetops. With nothing to look at besides leaves, she watched the pixie operated drone. On screen, the ATVs entered a clearing and advanced on the castle like wild horses racing across a prairie. Except another fifty ATV’s joined them from thin air.
“The ATV’s just doubled,” Ali said aloud. “How…?”
Red’s lips formed a wicked grin. “I know.” He pointed to the monitor. “Keep watching.”
Her first drone ascended toward the apex of the action. Within moments, the entire battlefield was in view. Ali scrutinized the scene, searching for the source of Red’s glee. Patches of a nearby fire burned the grass and trees, spreading like a slow oil leak. The ATVs maneuvered the inferno, forming a motorized snake which slithered between the flames.
A slender shadow stood atop a battlement.
“Son! Right battlement!” Ali squeaked, her heart racing into overdrive.
Leigh and Sawyer both stole a glance at her primary screen.
Behind her, the radio crackled and Red spoke. “We have a visual on a Son. Top right battlement.”
“I’ll send a team,” Aengus’s voice crackled back.
An explosion filled a quarter of the screen startling Ali.
“What was that?” Red asked.
Smoke billowed from an area of upturned earth which spanned fifteen feet. ATVs dispersed around the smoke like fleeing ants under a shoe.
“I think an ATV exploded,” Ali said noticing a rim spinning on part of a broken axle. As the smoke dissipated, she saw the charred skeleton of an ATV. She hoped the Pixie operating it hadn’t died and pushed the thought away.
Again, Ali looked for the silhouette, her eyes scanning every shadow of the battlement.
“He’s gone!”
“Who has eyes on the Son?” Red asked over the radio.
Empty static filled the room. Ali feared they’d lost signal when an excited voice crackled in response. “There is a Son on the ground! It’s Dain! He’s approaching the ATVs!”
“Shit.” Red leaned closer to Ali’s monitor; his hot breath on her neck.
She strained to give Red room, but there wasn’t much space for her to give.
Dain appeared on the primary monitor, stealing her attention. He wore a white suit again, his long dark hair and beard a stark contrast. She remembered their last encounter and wondered if his eyes held the same reckless fire.
With a flick of his wrist, three ATVs flew thirty feet into the air, then hovered. Tiny bursts of lightening streamed from the ATVs. One light stopped mid-flight, lingering nearby. Ali realized it was a pixie.
On the ground, two ATV’s still headed toward Dain. He reached his hand forward but wasn’t quick enough. He dove to the side as one ATV swerved around him, and the other drove through him.
“What…?” Ali asked dumbfounded. That ATV should have hit him.
“Half of them are projections,” Red said with a smirk. “I thought the Sons might enjoy the challenge.”
Dain stared after the projection, which continued on a path toward the castle. He pushed himself upright, then snapped his fingers. The hovering ATVs rained down in slow motion before colliding with the earth. One of them landed in a burning patch of grass and exploded.
“Mother-effer!” Red yelled.
On the screen, Dain appeared to study the flaming ATV.
“No…” Red groaned. He held the radio to his mouth. “Aengus, they know the ATVs explode.”
The radio crackled back. “We will be careful.”
Without warning, Ali’s first drone suddenly dove toward Dain.
“Oh,” Ali exhaled as Dain’s silhouette became larger.
On her monitor the missiles armed sending her heart racing. The pixie operating her drone was going in for a kill shot.
“Red!”
Her hands flew to her mouth as Red stood behind her. She held her breath as Dain’s head turned toward the drone.
The pixie released a missile just as Dain disappeared like he snapped from existence.
“He vanished!” Ali exclaimed.
On the monitor was a small explosion before the drone changed course and accelerated skyward.
Red exhaled, then radioed he lost a visual on Dain.
Ali grasped her drone controls once more filled with a mixture of relief and disappointment. She didn’t want to watch anyone die. But Dain was a threat. Uncertain of her exact emotions, Ali focused on her top monitor. Blue waves and a rocky beach came into view. Her second drone neared the fight.
On her first screen, a group of ATVs flipped sideways and two more exploded. She wanted to watch the battle, but it was more important to get her second drone into the fight.
“No!” Leigh growled.
Ali had just enough time to see his drone plummet into the icy blue water before his screen darkened.
“Aim for his mouth!” Leigh said moving quickly. He flipped on his secondary screen and started his backup drone.
Jessica’s drone whipped around, the dragon’s head filling her screen. She deployed a missile, but it missed the dragon by inches. Jessica barely escaped, charting a course over the water. “I’m getting low on missiles. Nash, do you have any left?”
“On it,” Nash said calmly.
Ali looked at the background of Nash’s monitor, then at her own. Several landmarks lined up. A drone flew past her screen. Following, she guided her drone over the side of a cliff to the beach, suddenly faced the dragon. Chills raced through her, the leftover anxiety from her first dragon encounter twisting her gut.
Nash’s drone fired a missile, striking the dragon in the mouth.
It screamed.
The screeching sounded less horrible over the monitor than Ali witnessed in person, but it was petrifying.
Flexing her fingers to stop the shaking, she circled above the dragon. This wasn’t the same dragon from the woods. It was smaller. Black horns protruded from its head down its spine to the end of its tail. Large yellow snake eyes sized up her drone, following her movements and turning her blood to ice.
“Ali! Do you have missiles?” Nash asked.
“Um,” she dreaded what came next. “Y-yes. All of them.”
“I have one left,” Nash said, his eye on his screen. “Distract it.”
She exhaled slowly. Here goes.
Her drone dove like a hawk on prey. Ali fired a missile, hitting the dragon on the back. She pulled hard on the controls, sending the drone skyward again.
“Get closer to its head!” Nash yelled.
Annoyance overrode her nerves. She may have made a temporary peace with Nash, but she didn’t have to accept him shouting orders at her.
Keep your cool.
Ali adjusted the drone until it was level with the dragon’s skull. She fired a missile. It careened off the dragon’s head like a stone skipping across smooth water. The missile wobbled then landed in the ocean where it detonated. Even though Ali didn’t hurt the dragon, the missile grabbed its attention.
“Good! Do that again!” Nash yelled.
From the b
ack corner of her screen she saw Nash’s drone closing on the dragon. If she could keep this up, Nash could land his shot.
Ali fired another missile, missing by several feet.
“Again!” Nash yelled.
The dragon’s face consumed more of her screen than she was comfortable. In a panic, she launched another missile which collided with its rib cage. The dragon bellowed, baring large teeth and emitting an awful shriek.
“One more!” Nash yelled.
Ali was so close, colliding with the dragon was a certainty. Rather than argue, she bit back her concern and depressed the button to file a missile. It was almost a straight shot, but the missile skipped off the side of the dragon’s jaw.
Dismayed, she tried to move out of the way, but was too close.
Long sharp teeth parted as the dragon’s mouth closed around the drone. The crunch of metal signaling her failure as its jaw shut. Her screen darkened, then snapped to static.
She blew it.
“We did it!” Nash yelled. “I can’t believe it!”
Ali looked to Nash’s screen, but only saw the rocky shoreline.
Jessica pointed toward her own monitor. “Look! It’s choking on Ali’s drone!”
Missiles flew from Jessica’s drone, aimed at the dragon’s head. She hit it in the eye.
The dragon flailed on the rocky beach, the tail end of Ali’s drone hanging from its open mouth. She watched with fascinated horror as it attempted to spit the drone out. Blood poured from its eye socket where Jessica’s missile impacted.
A final missile from Jessica’s drone sent the dragon tumbling into the water. It heaved a few times, before plummeting into the waves. Water shot into the air before the ocean enveloped the dragon’s body. Only its wings remained visible.
“It’s down! It’s down!” Sawyer shouted, joining the excitement. His drone still with the group fighting the other dragon.
Jessica flashed her a smile. “You did great!”
Stunned, Ali watched the monitor.
It was an accident.
Leigh gave Ali a quick hug, and Red punched her lightly on the shoulder. Next to her, Sawyers toothy smile protruded. He gave her a high five, then returned to his screen with a fresh look of determination. The remaining four pilots – Jessica, Leigh, Nash, and Sawyer – seemed reinvigorated with the task at hand.
“One beast down! Dibs on the other!” Nash yelled.
“Not if I kill it first!” Leigh challenged.
The radio crackled. Ali turned to see Red grinning as he spoke into the radio. “We have eliminated the first dragon. I repeat, dragon one is down.”
“Excellent,” Aengus responded.
Ali bit her lip. I killed a dragon.
She knew it was a good thing, but she couldn’t help but feel remorse. She didn’t want to kill anything.
With nothing further to do, she stood next to Red and watched the monitors. Leigh, Nash, and Jessica raced their drones across the beach toward the second dragon. Ali’s first drone was still airborne, acting as surveillance. Several smoking holes punctured the castle where ATVs had broken though the stone walls.
Dain continued to rip the ATVs off the ground. He flung them into the air like a child with new toys. However, the ATVs no longer flew aimlessly, Dain targeted the flames. Explosions sounded in a symphony of drums, destroying the battlefield. The pixies may have breached the wall, but the damage wasn’t great enough to justify the growing flames and pockmarked earth. Only a few ATVs scurried about now, and Ali wasn’t sure if they were real or projections.
On the battlefield, the attack wasn’t going well. Ali wondered what Aengus had in store next and if it was enough.
The sky outside the command unit darkened giving her a chill. Oddly, the sun still shone on the monitors. Ali peered outside, wondering if rain was on the horizon. Expecting to see clouds, it surprised her the sky was clear.
Her stomach churned.
A boy wearing black slacks and matching dress shirt stood outside the other unit. His short, coal colored hair framed familiar bright blue eyes.
Dub.
The surrounding air darkened, spreading across the field. It looked like the sky filtered the sun through a jar of rum. Light dimmed to oranges and browns as though it would continue to darken until Dub extinguished the sun.
“Red,” Ali whispered.
He didn’t hear her. Ali fumbled for his arm. She gripped it, pulling him toward the window as she pointed.
“Oh, shit.” Red pushed Ali away from the window, then whispered into the radio. “Dub is outside command unit one.”
There was no response, only static.
Inside their mobile unit, Leigh moaned with frustration.
Ali spun on her heels and shushed him. Leigh raised an eyebrow at her, but she held her fingers to her mouth. This drew attention from the others.
Unsure of what to do, Ali pointed toward the door and whispered. “Dub.”
Four pairs of wide eyes stared back.
Red pointed to the control panels. “Keep the drones airborne.”
Twenty Five
Ali stood without purpose, waiting on someone to give her direction. Red pushed past her, slipping into the driver’s seat. He pointed to the chair next to him. “Ali sit!”
She obeyed, and Red thrust the radio into her hands.
“Strap in,” Red said. He turned the ignition over as Ali fumbled with her seat belt.
Outside the passenger window, Dub stared at them, his frigid blue eyes sending a shiver down her spine.
The other command unit remained motionless.
Ali gripped the radio and yelled into it. “Unit two, run!”
Their van lurched forward, heading for a gravel road.
Dub ignored them, reaching his hand toward the other team’s unit.
“They aren’t running,” Ali said. She watched in trepidation, hoping to see someone escape. A quick flash from a front widow gave her hope. Perhaps they fled out a side door.
Her wishful thinking didn’t last long. The unit collapsed in on itself like a crushed can of soda. Crunching metal and shattered glass reverberated across the field as the unit compacted.
Red pressed the gas pedal to the floor, scattering grass and dirt in the wake of their vehicle.
A chorus of objections came from the back. It sounded like someone fell to the floor, but Ali didn’t turn to look.
“Hang on!” Red yelled.
Aengus’s voice roared over the radio. “What happened? Three drones tumbled from the sky!”
Ali pressed her face against the glass of the passenger window. The other unit was now the size of a compact car. Metal stuck out at odd angles, but the lump was otherwise circular.
She depressed the radio’s button, her voice shaky. “Dub destroyed command unit two!”
“What–say–can’t–you…” Intermittent static disrupted Aengus’s voice.
Ali smacked the radio trying again. “Dub destroyed unit two!”
Nothing but static.
She looked across the empty field. Dub disappeared but the sky continued to darken.
“Red, I don’t see him!” Ali yelled.
Their tires found the gravel road and tore across it. Even if Dub hadn’t vanished, the field was no longer in view.
“What’s going on?” Leigh yelled.
“I don’t know yet!” Red growled.
Red’s eyes darted from the road to the mirrors. Ali did the same. She tried to focus in the side-view mirror, but the vibrations from the gravel made it nearly impossible to see.
“What do we do?” Ali asked.
Red’s voice was stern as he grabbed the radio from Ali’s hand. “If this vehicle doesn’t make it, Leigh knows where to find Aengus.”
She didn’t ask what Red planned. The tone in his voice suggested their situation wasn’t up for debate.
“I’ll stick with Leigh,” Ali promised.
A hand touched her arm. She spun to see Sawyer standing in the spa
ce between the driver’s cockpit and the rear of the unit. Behind him, Jessica, Leigh, and Nash operated the drones with difficulty because of the jolting vehicle. Leigh was the most successful as he gripped the bottom of his stool with one hand and operated the joystick with his other.
“I crashed my drone,” Sawyer whispered as he gripped her seat for support.
Ali grasped his fingers, helping to steady him as the unit sped away from Dub. It struck her how small his hands were.
“What’s the status of the second dragon?” Red asked Sawyer.
Sawyer glanced back at the monitors. “It’s near the castle again.”
Thunder cracked through the air. A great force pushed against the underside of their vehicle like the ground exploded beneath them. The command unit tipped, and their center of gravity shifted. Everything not strapped down crashed toward the driver’s side.
On instinct, Ali reached for Sawyer, his fingers slipping from her grasp. Sawyer smacked into the wall with a thwack. Strands of Ali’s hair flew into her face as Sawyer’s mouth formed an O shape. She never heard him yell, just saw him tumble into the rear of the unit toward the others.
Red’s head bashed into the driver’s side window, creating an impression in the glass that resembled a cobweb as the vehicle landed hard on its side. The road spun out of view as they slid into the grass before coming to a slow stop. Ali was fortunate not to be thrown. The seatbelt secured her to the seat, but her skin burned at her neck and across her chest where it had constricted. Frantic, she looked for Sawyer. He laid limp against the wall which was now the floor. She couldn’t see anyone else, but Jessica’s panicked voice called to the others. They weren’t strapped into their seats and likely flung when the unit crashed.
Please let no one be dead.
Gravity pulled her body toward Red. The belt buckle dug into her skin, and her arms were covered in tiny cuts from the broken glass. Flexing her fingers, she used her left arm to push against Red’s chair for support as she unsnapped her buckle with her right hand. Unable to support her own weight, Ali tumbled on top of him.
He groaned.
“You’re alive,” she breathed with relief.
Red opened his eyes. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead and he blinked a few times. He pointed into the back of the unit. “We have to get them out now.”
