The Shadow Above The Flames

by Daniel Swenson

  It grew darker outside as storm clouds accumulated. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Henry took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.

  He hoped Lenny had been able to make it to safety before this hellish fiend had made its appearance, otherwise all of this was for nothing.

  Henry shifted his position without touching the heated metal of the vehicle to see what was going on outside. He watched the Beast grab hold of a nearby van and ripped it apart with its clawed hands as though it were a cardboard box filled with caramel popcorn. Not finding what it hoped for, the Beast tossed the vehicle aside. The broken vehicle clinked and clanged as it bounced to a stop not too far away. Henry crouched low inside the van, trying again to steady his breathing.

  The Beast’s large head turned, and Henry could see its nostrils flare open, breathing in the air around it.

  You can smell me, but you don't know where I am because of all the metal. The mixture of the two must be throwing you off. That's why you didn't find me in that last van. That’s good to know."

  Henry smiled. The Beast wasn't omnipotent. He knew it could be hurt and that it was fallible. Henry could work with that. A plan started to formulate in his mind. He just needed to stay away from the Beast’s mouth and avoid the flames that came out of it, or the flesh from his bones would melt in an instant.

  Henry quietly slid over to the rear doors, doing his best not to make any noise and draw the Beast’s attention. The door was open almost enough to slip through. The winds had cooled the metal, but he couldn't open the doors without drawing the Beast’s attention.

  Think, Henry, think!

  He searched the inside of the van for other options when one came to mind. He grabbed one of the grenades from the bandoleer on his chest, pulled the pin, and lobbed it as best he could towards the broken rig that was ten feet away. The grenade landed in the dirt and bounced twice before rolling under the rig. When the grenade exploded, a great plume of dust rose into the air as the grenade spewed out shrapnel and debris. The force of the blast caused the rig to topple over on its side with a loud clang and thud.

  The Beast turned its head and charged past the van where Henry hid. Relieved, Henry jumped out of the side door and ran toward the control deck that still remained on the teetering viewing platform.

  The Beast drew in another deep breath to try to smell the human. It swiveled its head and narrowed its gaze as it watched the tiny human run towards the chasm. The Beast looked inside and drew forth the power that would turn its exhaled breath into fire when the sound of thunder rent the air. The Beast roared in pain as something struck its left wing and penetrated into its muscles. The Beast bellowed a roar of disbelief as it examined its injured wing.

  How could these insignificant humans cause me pain again? The Beast asked itself. They will pay! And when I am healed, I will go out to the lands across the waters and wreak havoc on every human I find. I will wipe out their very existence like I did the giant reptiles of old.

  The Beast swiveled its massive body towards the fleeing human. Unconsciously, it inhaled deeply once more, tapping into its power and letting out a powerful flame-enhanced breath towards the running human.

  Henry heard the sound of air rushing into the lungs of the gigantic beast over the clang of his boots on the metal surface of the viewing platform. A strange crackling sound preceded the flames as they rushed forward out of the Beast's opened maw. Henry dove into the control deck, slamming the door shut behind him. The flames slammed into the small structure trying to consume it. The security protocols engaged and fire-retardant foam coated the outside of the structure.

  Henry screamed as the temperature inside the control deck rose to beyond his tolerance. The retardant foam protected the control deck from the flames, but it could do nothing for the rising temperature.

  When the Beast's breath reached its limit and the flames died away, its eyes widened in disbelief. Its flames had not damaged the structure the human had disappeared into.

  How can this be?!

  From what it could see, there was only a little black scarring on the outer edges of the structure from the heat of its breath. Never in its long life had it found anything that could resist the flames and heat of its breath. Not even the ancient reptiles it had faced during its younger years could stand against those flames, only its kind could withstand the heat of its fiery breath.

  The Beast stared at the structure bewildered and confused. Unsure how to deal with this new development, the Beast picked up one of the large metallic human contraptions. It prepared to throw the object towards the structure to crush it when another crackle of thunder sounded in its ears.

  The Beast tried to react but was too slow because something struck its left forearm. Pain exploded in the Beast’s brain. Whatever had struck it, pierced through its steel-like scales and made its way to the soft muscle and tissue below. The Beast growled in defiance and shook its massive head, searching for the source of its pain and discomfort. When it couldn't find anything, the Beast swept out its massive wings, forgetting its damaged wing.

  The creature snarled in irritation as it slammed its clawed hand down into the ground. The power responded slowly at first and then rushed to the Beast’s command, healing its damaged muscles and tissue. Its bone re-knitted back together, and scales reappeared over the healing tissues. Soon it was able to flex and pump its wing muscles.

  Knowing the powers hadn’t fully healed its wing, the Beast called upon the power of the air and demanded that the winds carry it into the sky. The element responded, and the Beast rose into the air. Higher and higher it rose until it was a full forty or fifty feet off the ground, where it stopped to survey the area. That's when it saw a small metal object carrying two humans racing away from the Beast’s home. Its heart quickened at the thrill of the hunt. It bellowed out a roar of challenge that echoed across the countryside as it took up the chase.

  The all-terrain vehicle squealed as it turned onto Ardmore Road when the two men seated inside heard the bellow from the unearthly creature. Lenny slammed on the accelerator trying to draw the massive beast away from the drilling site while Rick snuck in to rescue Henry.

  Lenny's knuckles were white from the deathly grip he had on the steering wheel as he swerved around the many fissures and breaks in the road. Jacobson sat in the passenger seat holding on for dear life, worried the vehicle would throw him out as it swerved wildly back and forth.

  "Where did you learn to drive like this?" Jacobson asked.

  Lenny yanked the steering wheel to the left and then to the right trying to keep the vehicle bouncing along the road at high speeds, making sure to never let his eyes leave the road ahead.

  "Video games!" he yelled.

  Lenny drove, doing his best to stay ahead of the Beast that hurtled towards them.

  Rick watched the all-terrain speed off down Ballybogie Road. He whispered a prayer for his friends as they sped off. At first, he wasn't sure the Beast would give chase, but when it finally flew after them, Rick breathed a little easier. He carefully left his hiding spot, hoping he'd have enough time to find Henry before the guys looped back around to pick them up.

  Rick used a pair of wire cutters to cut through the chain-link fence to gain access to the drilling site. He moved from one broken vehicle to the next hoping to find Henry in time. Every second that he didn't find Henry, was one second closer to when the Beast returned.

  The heat around the drilling site was unbearable. Rick swore to himself that the other side of the fence was twenty or thirty degrees cooler. It baffled him that it was so much hotter inside the fence. Rick moved closer to the viewing platform. Time was running out for him and for Henry. Rick yelled out Henry's name, which echoed hollowly across the compound, but no response.

  Rick walked up to the edge of the chasm and looked down into the dark recesses, wondering what other possible evil could be hidden down there.

  Rick called out for Henry again and feared the worst. Seconds turned to minutes with
no response. Rick eased out onto the unstable viewing platform and found an area where the metal was warped and charred from the flames of the Beast’s breath. Rick knelt down and found that there were ashes stuck to the cooling metal.

  His throat tightened as a ball of emotion grew within his chest. "Oh, Henry, please don't let this be you."

  What cruel joke was the universe playing on the two of them? Just when he finally had Henry back, and just when they had what they needed to escape this godforsaken place without retribution from Union Forest, Rick had lost him.

  Rick thought about all the things he wanted to say to Henry. Apologies for his past actions and times they could have spent fishing at the lake, all of that was gone now.

  Rick knelt down on the viewing platform. "This can't be happening!"

  The sound of scrapping metal drew Rick out of his bitter contemplation, and he leveled his M16 towards the structure not thirty feet away. The structure remained intact, but a portion of the wall was caved in. The door moved, and the harsh sound of metal scrapping against metal echoed down the chasm walls.

  Rick held his gun tight against his shoulder ready to open fire on whatever came through that door. His pulse quickened as the door squeaked, his finger at the ready on the trigger. The door popped open, and Henry fell to the ground cursing. Rick lowered his gun, then ran across the rickety viewing platform toward where a beat-up, partially-singed Henry stood.

  Henry shielded his eyes from the light feeling a little dazed and confused. He ambled forward, tripping over a section of melted and warped metal. When he fell forward, Rick caught him before he hit the platform.

  Flames erupted along the left of the vehicle as it sped across the Irish countryside. The sudden surprise of the flames had Lenny roughly jerking the steering to the right sending the all-terrain through an old field that had once belonged to a farmer.

  Earlier in the mad dash out of Ardmore, Jacobson had climbed into the back of the all-terrain so that he could use the Milkor MGL grenade launcher to keep the Beast from snatching up the vehicle in its clawed hands.

  "Hold on!" Lenny shouted as he dodged an old rusty tractor.

  Jacobson, seeing what was approaching, readied and heaved a grenade at the tractor as they sped by. The grenade exploded and propelled portions of the tractor into the sky, causing the flying beast to pull up short to avoid being struck by the tractor’s engine. The Beast tired of the chase, so it decided to change tactics.

  It hovered in the sky flapping its wings to maintain its vantage. Once again, it tapped into its innate power to force the earth to obey its will.

  Jacobson remained in the backseat to keep a watchful eye on the Beast and was surprised that it discontinued its chase. It stayed there hovering in the sky with its eyes closed as Lenny sped away. Jacobson thought it odd that the Beast would stop pursuing them.

  "Hey, something’s not right!"

  "What are you yammering about?"

  A loud thunderous crack echoed from somewhere in front of the speeding vehicle. Lenny let out a yelp and yanked the steering hard to the right sending the vehicle in a full ninety degree slide as a fissure opened up before them, large enough to swallow the vehicle whole.

  Lenny was barely able to keep the all-terrain from toppling over the edge of the expanding fissure as he spun the wheel and raced off into another direction. The Beast bellowed in frustration; it's trap hadn’t worked. So it once again gave chase. Lenny punched the all-terrain into high gear, and the engine responded. The modified engine in the vehicle allowed it to get up to speeds well over two hundred miles an hour when it opened up.

  The Beast started to gain ground on the small vehicle. Jacobson took aim at the flying beast and fired off another forty-millimeter round from the Milkor MGL. The small grenade flew across the sky with the fury of an angry God. It struck the Beast in its right hip, exploding but doing little damage.

  Roaring in rage, the Beast swooped down towards the speeding vehicle and unleashed another conflagration. The blast would have consumed the small vehicle if it hadn’t been for Lenny's lightning fast video-game reflexes. Hearing the rush of flames, he swerved the vehicle to the left to avoid the flames.

  "How in the—?" Jacobson started to ask, but the sudden movement of the vehicle lurched to the left, causing him to grab a hold of one of the frame’s bars or risk tumbling out of the vehicle. "Next time warn me when you're about to pull a stunt like that again!"

  "Don't complain to me. Complain to that giant flying lizard that is trying to incinerate us!"

  Jacobson swung back around and quickly fired off another grenade towards the flying beast. The Milkor MGL kicked in response as the grenade flew out, bolting across the distance towards the Beast. Somehow, the grenade detonated harmlessly moments before it struck the Beast.

  When Jacobson saw it fly through the explosion without a scratch, he cursed.

  "Kick it up a notch, skinny!" he yelled.

  Lenny shifted gears and punched on the accelerator. Jacobson leveled the grenade launcher, ready to fire off another round as the vehicle bounced across the open expanse of another field. He held his shot and waited for the vehicle to smooth out. The Beast pumped its powerful wings and climbed into the sky.

  "Damn it! Where in the hell did that thing go?" Jacobson cursed as he looked up into the cloud-filled sky, searching for the Beast.

  "Turn on the scanner!" he yelled.

  "Why?"

  "That thing decided to play hide and seek up in the clouds, and I've lost sight of it!"

  Lenny leaned over to activate the scanner. "That's not good!"

  The monitor merely flickered due to the power drain on the vehicle battery.

  "The scanner is picking it up so we won't be caught with our pants down around—"

  Lenny slammed on the brakes as the Beast dropped to the ground in front of them. The impact created a massive crater that sent up a large cloud of dust and debris. Blinded, both men looked all around waiting for the Beast to attack. A low rumbling sound echoed all around them. Lenny flipped on the thermal scanners and slammed the vehicle into reverse yelling for Jacobson to hold on as another concussion of flames erupted out of the dust cloud, enveloping the spot where they had been moments before.

  Lenny flipped the vehicle around in a bootleg turn, causing it to turn a full one-eighty before speeding off again. Jacobson threw out a few grenades into the dust cloud in a vain attempt to slow the Beast down. The grenades exploded, and the Beast roared again, but this time, the roar had a hint of pain in it.

  Jacobson leaned forward in his seat. "I think our time has run out. Let’s get our asses back to Rick and Henry. We've been messing with this thing for far too long, and if we keep pushing our luck, eventually we’ll lose."

  Lenny spun the vehicle back around so they could head back towards the drilling site.

  "Just keep that thing from getting too close, or it’s going to turn us into extra blackened barbecue chicken."

  A cloud of dirt drifted on the wind as the clatter of metal took over the old Union Forest site. Henry had found an old bulldozer that was surprisingly still in working order. When he and Rick were able to get the bulldozer to crank over, they didn't dare turn the thing off because they were afraid it wouldn't start again. The fuel in the lines was old but appeared to have not congealed over the years. As the bulldozer moved across the drilling site, smoke puffed out of its exhaust pipe in a thick nauseating black cloud. The engine dangerously rattled in protest. In spite of this, Henry pushed the old engine to its limits by pushing broken rigs and busted-up vehicles into several large piles, creating barriers to provide cover from the Beast's fiery breath.

  Henry brought the bulldozer to a screeching stop by shifting it into reverse. He slowly backed up the bulldozer and used it to forcefully move one of the broken rigs to its intended place near the opening of the chasm. Henry and Rick had moved several rigs and vehicles into strategic locations in hopes that they could be used to trip up the Beast. However,
the plan all depended on whether or not they could lure it to the ground.

  Thunder boomed in the skies above. Henry ran a hand over his brow as the heat assaulted him. The temperature at the drilling site had risen again while they worked. Sweat soaked his clothing in a vain attempt to cool him. He looked eastward hoping Lenny and Jacobson were still okay. He noticed some large billowing ash-colored clouds with bolts of blue and purple lightning lurking above him. Below the clouds, Henry saw the massive beast flying in and out of the clouds.

  The graceful way that it swooped in and out of the clouds towards some target below mesmerized Henry. He watched in confusion as some small aerial explosions forced the Beast back up into the clouds.

  Henry could only assume that the explosions came from the Milkor MGL Jacobson had taken with them. The wind picked up as the clouds darkened. Henry whistled, signaling Rick to join him by the bulldozer. Rick ran over to construction vehicle.

  "What's up?" Rick asked.

  Henry pointed skyward towards the darkening clouds. Rick turned to see what he pointed at, though he already knew.

  "They're coming back," Rick stated flatly.

  Henry grunted as he put the bulldozer into neutral.

  "It appears we've ran out of time. I can only hope that the few extra minutes they were able to give us was enough. I want you to go to position two, and open fire on the Beast once they get here."

  Rick nodded and ran off to grab Henry's sniper rifle and a few extra things.

  "Hey, one more thing before you run off. This isn't going to be easy. But just before the others reach the drilling site, I want you to aim for the Beast’s wings. It's probably not the smartest idea, but let's see if we can clip its wings and bring it down. Once it’s on the ground, I’ll ram this bulldozer down its throat with the three pounds of Semtex I'm about to attach to the front of it. I bet that’ll do more than tickle its belly."

  "And if that doesn't kill the damn thing, then what?" Rick asked.