by Sam Hval
She was now lying on top of the flapping wing, inching her way carefully toward the pile of sticky explosives. She reached out with one arm, took her fist up, and slammed down on one of the balls.
There was a short beep, then a barely audible clicking noise, and finally, a bright flash of orange.
***
One, single tear traveled down Goldan's face, causing Cross's eyes to well up also. Stelly pulled back on the control stick and turned the vehicle around. Pushing forward, the vehicle made its way back to the city, and Cross looked out at the fiery explosion in sadness.
The beast swooped up in flames. It swung its left wing up and down, trying to put the flames out. But the fire spread across his body, as more and more the C-Nades were set off. The dragon roared in pain, and sunk head first into the battlefield, a cloud of sand bursting up with him.
"She was the best scout I've ever known," Stelly muttered.
“Absolutely,”was all Cross could manage to say.
***
Corridan watched the dragon slowly burst into flames, and come plummeting down into the ground. Someone had actually managed to stop it. But who?
Corridan thought a moment. He came to an unlikely conclusion: Q-Squad did it. The question of how was still up in the air, but Corridan could sense that they had done it.
For once, in this losing battle, Corridan found a glimmer hope. He prayed it wouldn’t be the last.
***
William held on to his seat, as the ship was gradually pulled in by the long grapples attached to it. There had only been a few moments in William's lifetime where he was scared. This was one of them. After what seemed like an hour, the tethers came to a stop, and the distant buzzing noise of the pirates locking on to his ship was heard.
"Where is he?!" A voice echoed down below in the cargo area. William silently wished to whatever god was listening that Angel wouldn't get caught.
Unfortunately, a few moments later he heard her scream. Then, the laughs of what sounded like three pirates came. "Come down here Will! We got your pretty lady!" One of them yelled.
William sighed, stood up from his chair, and stepped into the elevator. After the quick ride down, he was greeted by the sight of a tall, muscular man with a short beard and a long, shiny cutlass placed on the nape of Angel's neck. Behind him, another, much smaller, man stood guard next to another man of the same type. They both held small, Pre-Breakout muskets.
"You told us," the pirate holding Angel began. "That you would pay us back for our services. You haven't."
William lifted both his hands up in the air in an act of confession and said, "Listen, I'm a busy man. I know it's been a while, but something came up, and... It's pretty important. So if we can just hold off on your payments a little bit longer, I promise everything will be cleared up."
He pressed the cutlass tighter against Angel's throat. "I don't care! I want my money!" The edge of the sword was starting to bruise her neck. Angel squirmed in pain.
"Our money!" One of his two crew members added.
"If you don't pay us right here, right now, your girl will be sliced in two!"
"I don't want any trouble," William tried to diffuse the situation. He couldn't let Angel die like this, even if he wouldn't care too much if she did. "Here, I'll give you what I have right now."
William slowly maneuvered his right hand down towards his brown, jacket. He reached inside, quickly pulled out his small, hold-out blaster, and said, "You're gonna need an upgrade my friend."
He squeezed the square trigger, and a small, blue blast of light shot out of the gun. The blast followed all the way into the pirate's arm.
He dropped his sword, and in a quick turn of events, Angel picked up his cutlass and stabbed it into his stomach, while William shot the other two at the same time.
Angel stood over the man's body, and breathed heavily. "Nice job kiddo," Was all William could say.
"Thanks..."
William's eyes locked on to the sword in her hand. "Let me see that." He walked over to her, stepping over the body on the floor, and took the shiny weapon from her hand. He laid in down in both palms, and stared at it in awe.
"This is a custom job," William said with wonder.
"What's that mean?" Angel asked, her breath now caught up.
"It means this guy, uh," Williams tried to remember his name. "Killigon? I think, was a highly prestigious man. Enough to earn this from the top of the ladder guys."
"I don't even know who this guy is," Angel reminded him.
"He's a pirate."
"Wow, I've never actually seen one."
"Well, you've learned a valuable lesson from all of this."
"What?"
"Don't make a deal with pirates."
Angel giggled, and William handed her the sword back. He ripped the sheath off of the body and handed her that as well. "Keep it."
"Really?" She said.
"Yup," William replied, "You've earned it." Just as he was about to tell her about clearing up the bodies, he remembered something. "Also, those rags you're wearing won't do you any good. Take some of those pads and clothes from the men, and put em' on. Whatever fits best."
Angel looked down at the bodies on the floor, "Alright."
"After that, we'll clean up the mess, then figure out how to get this ship off of us."
Chapter 23
Varik gazed at the fiery inferno of death before him. He had spent so many years waiting, and now all of that patience was crashing down in front him. The dragon was dead.
Varik stood watching, confused. How had it happened? How could such a powerful beast be brought down in flames? The incident became especially confusing considering that Varik had not seen a single glimpse of what could have...
The white glow he had seen earlier. Of course, but what did it mean? He had thought nothing of it, other than that it was out of place from the rest of the colors that were a part of the battle. Was it, perhaps, some sort of destructive new weapon the Corridian military cooked up?
There were too many questions, with too little answers. Varik now knew that he had to let one more secret out. He had thought that one dragon would be enough, but obviously the armies were much more skilled than Varik thought. He still had a trick up his sleeve.
It was something much bigger than they would ever anticipate: an entire legion of dragons hidden away for centuries. It was a discovery Varik had thought would be too dangerous to claim for himself, but he knew his plans of taking over the province even before he found them.
He knew that, in time, they would be quite useful. So he trained them. For many years they slept, and now was the time they would be awakened. At this point, Varik knew he could stop at nothing to win this war. The beasts knew who to attack. Even if they do wipe out some of the Oldies, Varik trusted them enough to be a huge aid in the war for the Oldies.
As he watched the dragon wither to a pile of burnt scales, he ran through his plan once again. First, he would give the command, then have one of them push out stacks of boulders that had trapped them in, and finally release them to the battle.
It would work, he could sense it. As he ran through the plan in his head in anticipation, he sensed something else. A familiar feeling from not too long ago: The feeling of death.
Was his secrets and identity destined to be exposed? Was he really going to die? Only time could tell.
And this was not the time to tell him. If he was to die, he would die with valor. Because now was the time for him to win.
***
William placed the lid on the container, and pressed it in. "That should do it," he announced. "Nobody will even think to look in there."
"You're not gonna just leave the bodies in there are you?" Angel asked with disgust. William looked at her newly donned outfit. She had brown, leather shoulder pads on each shoulder, a thick, black belt around her waist with the sword in its sheath, and a light blue undershirt. She wore heavy-looking brown boots, and black pants.
&n
bsp; "Don't worry, I'm gonna dump em' off somewhere," he assured her. "Nice outfit by the way. Interesting combination. I have no doubt anyone will notice they came off of pirates."
"I hope so. Female pirates probably aren't that common anyway."
"You make a good point."
Angel looked over at the open ramp leading into the ship attached to them. "How do you suppose we detach?"
"Let's go figure out," William said.
Angel followed in pursuit, as William headed down the ramp into the small pirate ship. William took a look around. He couldn't seem to find any way of getting off the ship. Then, out of his peripheral vision, he saw a small control room to his left. "That should be it," he said. "Why don't you scavenge around a bit. See if you can find anything to take with us."
"Sure," she said, and off she went.
Alright, let's figure this crap out.
***
Angel decided to take a look in some of the tall lockers on the right side of the room. One by one, she pulled open each door to take a look inside. Unfortunately, all of them were empty. Just as she finished closing up the last locker, a small movement caught her eye.
What was that? She focused a little more on where the movement came from. It was a deep, circular bin. The lid on top of the container was sliding around, as if something or someone was trying to break out.
As she walked towards it, she heard a grunt. Then, there was a groan.
"Uh, Will?" Angel yelled.
"Yeah?" She heard behind her.
"I think there's something you should take a look at over here."
***
"What is it?" William asked, as he headed over to Angel. She pointed a finger towards a large bin over in the corner of the combat ship's holding area. The lid slid across the top of it about halfway. A pair of tied up hands poked out. "Oh my god."
William hurried over and peered in. It was the man from his first encounter with Angel, the one who started this whole mess. What was his name? Ryan, Randy, R...
"Red?" William finally said. The bulky man was yelling through the piece of tape stuck to his mouth. William lifted him up from under his arms and pulled him out.
"Is it really him?" Angel put in.
"Yup," William said, as ripped off the tape. "Your name's Red right?"
"Yes," He muttered.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was kidnapped," He still had that unsettling grumble in his voice.
"Why? How?"
"I was sent by the King."
"What do you mean? Corridan?"
"Yes. I was told to find the Novidian Fleet."
William stood there in confusion. Who was this guy?
"Do you work for him?"
"Yes."
"Hold on," William started scratching his head. "Why did you try and hurt her?" He pointed at Angel.
"I thought she was Devil."
"The Devil? What?"
"No, Devil. Leader of Oldies."
William began to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind now. Red is one of the King's personal agent. That much was easy to figure out. He was sent to kill Devil, who is the leader of the Oldies, but it was Angel instead. Timothy must have known who he was, and that was why he let him free. Devil is most likely Angel's grandmother, and that was why Red was at the farm.
William didn't realize how clueless both he and Angel actually were. "Devil is your grandmother Angel."
"What? How could she have kept that secret?" Angel was obviously just as confused. "Devil isn't even her name?"
"I don't get it either, but that's not important right now," William tried to remind her. "We need to get to the Fleet, and fast."
He looked back at Red, "You know how to get us off this ship?"
"Uh huh."
"Okay, let's get outta here."
Chapter 24
The mighty, green dragon lunged into the stacks of boulder and rocks. The beast’s back smacked straight into it, causing the tower of rocks to crumble off of the cliffside. The dragon roared, signaling all of the others to follow him.
It leapt upwards, flapping his enormous wings to boost itself up into the sky. The others followed. First, it was slightly smaller dragon, with pointy spikes strutting out of its back. The next, was a fatter dragon. Its stomach hung out from under it like a sack of potatoes. The third was a skinny, slimy one. It slithered out of the cave like a snake, choosing to travel across the ground, rather than soar in the sky with rest.
One by one, the imposing beasts shot out of the cavern. Soon enough, swarms of dragons, little and large, were causing mayhem above the battlefield.
***
Red pressed a complicated looking set of buttons, and was able to separate the ship off from the locking mechanism. “Go,” he said.
William and Angel hopped up on the ramp, as it slowly lifted from the ground. William suspected that Red would hop on as well, but instead he ran off into the pirate ship’s interior.
“What the hell are you doing?” William called out.
“Guess he likes the ship,” Angel said.
“Yeah, well so do I,” William said. “But mine’s better.”
Just as the ramp was about to reach the halfway closed point, Red showed up, sprinting to the ramp. Except now, he had some sort of bag. “Hurry!” William yelled.
Red jumped on to the ramp, practically hanging off the edge of it. William grabbed one of his hands and assisted him in climbing up. They jogged down the ramp into The Whiskey 2.0, as the steep ramp closed behind them.
“What were you thinking?”
“I had to get my stuff.”
“Ah, well you should have done that beforehand.”
“Do you know where to go from here?” Angel asked, worried.
“Yeah, we’re not too far off,” William replied. “Hey Red if you wanna come along and help, we’ll be happy to take you back.”
“Yes.”
“Alrighty then,” He extended his hand out toward Red. “Welcome aboard.”
***
Corridan looked out at the tall windows, which were still broken, and stared at the army of raging beasts that soared over the battle. It was a sight he thought he would never see. One dragon was enough to shock him. An entire army? Who was responsible for all of this?
“Danken?” Corridan called.
One of the guards came into the room. “Yes?”
“Is Q-Squad available for another mission?”
“They have just recently returned.”
“Have them come report to me.”
“Of course,” He finished, hurrying out of the room.
Q-Squad had already successfully completed two missions in this battle, Corridan trusted them to the fullest. Obviously, Red had still yet to come back from his mission. He had probably got himself caught up in the pirate activity near the fleet.
Corridan had almost felt bad for sending out the two unknowns. For all he knew, they were also caught up with pirates, and this whole war was now doomed to be lost to the Oldies.
But he had an odd sense that they weren’t, and that they would be flying in at any moment with swarms of combat ships, bombers, and supplies.
One could only hope, and Corridan did. He always did.
***
The colorful hordes of dragons were mixed in with the unending mess of arrows and laserfire. Fire blazed across the battlefield in all kinds. Short bursts, long stretches, and rapid spits all tore up the ground below them.
The already varied array of lasers was now even more colorful with the addition of the dragon fire. Oranges, reds, blues, purples, greens, and yellows all shot out from the mouths of the beasts.
The numbers on the field of both the Corridian army and the Oldies were becoming lessened. This was no longer a battle between two factions, it was a battle between three.
Chapter 25
"I'm glad to see you're all alive and well," Corridan said, as Cross, Goldan, and Stelly stepped into the King's
quarters.
"As are we, your highness," Cross replied with a smirk. Corridan's face turned from pleasant surprise, to sudden confusion.
"May I ask where your scout is?" Corridan asked them.
"Aliah sacrificed herself to slay the dragon," Cross explained. "She accomplished something none of us had the bravery to do."
Corridan looked down in sadness. "She was a good soldier. I am deeply sorry for the loss of your squad mate."
"Thank you, your highness."
"Hopefully, once this damned war is over, we can supply you with a new scout," The King said. "But we can’t worry about that now. There was a reason I called for you. I have another important task for you."
"What will you have us do?" Goldan put in.
"My scouts atop the walls have discovered the entrance of where the dragon appeared from, and where, as you may have noticed, all of the others have come from as well."
Cross looked out the broken window in awe. Swarms of dragons in all shapes and sizes were shredding up the battlefield.
"It would be of great service if you could go to the spot mentioned, discover what is there, and if possible, stop the source of it all," Corridan straightened up and looked Cross in the eye. "I trust you all with my life. You have been on many perilous journeys to unknown locations before. Hopefully, this won’t be your last."
Cross turned around and looked and Stelly and Goldan behind him. They nodded. Cross turned back around to face the King and said, "As you wish. Who must we contact for the location of this spot?"
"General Terren," Corridan replied.
"Are you certain he is well and alive?"
"We don't know for sure, but my courier had spotted him in the armory not too long ago."
"We'll get right to it, your highness," Cross saluted, and left the room with Stelly and Goldan behind him.
