Ruin of Dragons

by Clay Kronke

  "We're not heading back down to holding," she said.

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means we only have a few minutes before we have nowhere to go," Voss said. "If we can split their attention, we'll have fewer to deal with. Once I'm on the second level, I'll try to draw as many away from you as possible. There's a set of fire doors ahead, I'll try to trigger them and cut off reinforcements."

  Kale was skeptical. "And if they come after me when you go rogue?"

  "Plead ignorant, Act like you have no idea what I'm doing." She shrugged. "Shouldn't be much of a stretch. When I give you the signal, crouch down, I'll use your shoulders."

  Kale nodded, and Voss stepped back a bit, paying attention to where they were in the corridor. When she saw the fire door seam in the walls appear around the bend, she slowed down, crouching down to adjust a buckle on her boot. The rear guard stopped alongside where Voss was kneeling. "Come on, keep up," he said.

  Voss looked up from her boot, dropping her Dwarvish. "Gimme a hand, would you?" she said, reaching up.

  The guard frowned, and in that second, Voss struck.

  She grabbed the front of the man's uniform and yanked downward as she stood back up. Unprepared for the dwarf's strength, the man was pulled off balance and fell forward. In the same instant, she brought her knee up to meet his throat. There was a crack and the man flopped over onto the floor, unmoving.

  "NOW!" she shouted, grabbing the sidearm out of the downed troop's hand as the rest of the guards, realizing something was going on, finally turned and started back toward her. She shoved the sidearm into her belt, grabbed the halfaxe off the guard's back, and bolted into the group as Kale crouched down.

  The two guards closest to her raised their weapons, but Voss was already there, knocking them both off their feet with either end of the axe as she sprinted toward Kale. The next two guards had their weapons up as she reached him, dropping the halfaxe next to Kale and stepping up to his shoulder. He grabbed the axe and immediately straightened up as Voss used his shoulders to spring into a vertical leap that took her well over everyone's heads to land neatly inside the upper level walkway.

  She ducked as the guards started firing at her, the railing taking a few of the shots as she started bounding for the next cross corridor, while Kale turned and confronted the guards closest to him. "So much for wanting us alive," Voss grumbled. She looked back as she ran, seeing Kale grappling with two guards after having disarmed them. He managed to take one down, shoving the other backward, sending him sliding a dozen feet back before turning to sprint up behind the five remaining guards that were now following Voss.

  Not waiting any longer, she pulled out her sidearm and shot at two consecutive sets of environmental sensors along the ceiling of the corridor, creating two fiery showers of sparks that set off an alarm and activated the fire doors. Kale made it through before the heavy doors slid shut, cutting off the three troops that had fallen back.

  While looking back, however, she almost missed the door opening ahead of her, and turned back just in time to see a new trooper running out at her from a side passage, unholstering his weapon. Instead of trying to dodge, however, she turned into the charge and closed the distance before he could bring his sidearm to bear. She tackled him mid torso, forcing him up against the wall behind him and knocking the gun out of his hand. He pushed back, and even though Voss was physically stronger, he used his higher center of gravity against her, and she found herself stumbling backward. She managed to get her feet under her, however, and used their momentum to pivot around, forcing the trooper off balance. Throwing her weight into him, she shoved him up against the walkway railing, the impact breaking through the metal beam and shattering the glass underneath. For a brief moment the world spun as the two fell through the air back down to the lower level floor. They landed with a heavy thud and a crack that echoed through the corridor.

  Voss lied there a moment, the wind knocked out of her, and she could hear the sounds of grunting, fists colliding and weapons impacting armor as Kale fought against the three troopers that had turned their attention back to him. She took a breath and stumbled to her feet, looking down. She had landed on top of the guard, cracking his spine on impact.

  Finding her sidearm missing, she instead picked up a discarded halfaxe lying nearby and started back toward Kale, checking the chamber to see if there were any rounds left. The indicator only showed one and Voss frowned, aiming the barrel at the first of the two guards Kale was down to.

  The blast was sharp and concussive, ringing through the corridor as it ripped into the guard, throwing him off his feet and out of the fight. Shifting her grip to bring the blade end to bear, Voss swung the halfaxe over her head—

  And flinched as another shot sizzled past her ear, catching Kale in the chest and dropping him to the floor.

  "No!" she shouted, glancing over her shoulder at two new troops that had stepped into the corridor at the other end, heading their way. She slid to a halt right in front of the trooper Kale had been fighting and swung the axe low, cutting his legs out from under him.

  She turned back around and charged at the two new arrivals with rage in her eyes, ducking as they tried to get shots off. As she approached the first she spun her axe between them, forcing the guard to take a step back. She extended and snapped the axe outward, aiming for the guard's neck, but he sidestepped, and she caught his weapon hand instead, knocking his sidearm to the floor. Voss pivoted, sweeping at his legs with the back end of the axe. The guard hit the floor just in time for her to stab downward with the blade end. It sunk into the man's neck and he stopped moving. She spun, pulling the axe back to swing again—

  But stopped suddenly as she found the second guard's weapon already aimed at her. She exhaled, dropped the axe and straightened up. The trooper stepped forward, towering over her, until the weapon was mere inches away from her forehead. Voss stood there defiantly, staring up at the faceless soldier, unable to see even his eyes behind the helmet's mirrored visor. "Well," Voss spat, spreading her arms wide. "What's it gonna be?"

  The guard didn't say anything but turned his head as another trooper entered the corridor behind them. He reached out a hand to the new arrival. "You have binders?" he asked.

  The second guard didn't say anything, but nodded, reaching a hand down to a belt compartment. The first guard turned back to face Voss, missing the fluid motion as the second guard reached past the wrist binders, pulling out a sidearm instead.

  Voss' eyes widened, but instead of aiming at her, the second guard aimed at the first, firing a single shot through the center of the guard's helmet. Voss was momentarily stunned, looking from the man crumpling to the floor at her feet to the one stepping up in front of her. This guard still held the sidearm loose, but wasn't aiming it at Voss, while the other hand reached up to remove the helmet, a cascade of platinum hair spilling down over the shoulders. "These helmets are great," Mira said, "I can hear everything that's going on—"

  Voss gasped and immediately leaped up into Mira's arms, cutting off her sentence with a forceful kiss as she wrapped her own arms around the elf's shoulders and neck. Mira dropped the weapon and helmet and returned the embrace, holding Voss close as their arms wrapped around each other. After a long moment, Voss leaned back, and Mira watched the momentary elation fade from her face. "What is it?" Mira asked.

  "Kale," Voss said, dropping to the floor and turning around to head the opposite direction. It was then that Mira noticed the dwarf lying among the scattered bodies near the fire door. "Gods," she breathed.

  Voss reached him first, kneeling down beside, with Mira close behind. Voss put a hand to his throat, feeling for a pulse. After a moment, she shook her head, her face falling. "Damn it." She dropped down into a sitting position and let out a long sigh. "You big idiot," she said, reaching up and closing his eyes. "Just when I was starting to like you."

  Mira put her hand o
n Voss's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

  Voss didn't look up, but put her hand on Mira's, and sat there for a handful of minutes. Finally, she sighed, pulled a ring off Kale's finger, and stood up. "Guess this is mine now," she said, turning to Mira.

  "What is it?"

  Voss lifted it up so the elf could see. It was a heavy ring, with an ornate seal carved into its flat surface. It was forged metal and looked very old and weathered. "The signet of the Seventh House," Voss said, turning it over in her hand. "Kale never had kids, and his brothers all died, one by one. Including my father. So this now falls…" She put the ring on her thumb, the only place it fit. "On me."

  Mira looked from the ring to Voss's face, her eyes widening. "Does that mean you're…?"

  Voss nodded. "The new Lord of the Seventh House."

  "Well isn't that handy."

  Voss shook her head. "Don't you start. Come on, we gotta go." She took a step, stopped, then turned back around. "Where do we need to go?"

  Mira's face hardened. "Control."

  • • •

  Petra clung to Lirwe as they fell out of the sky, getting increasingly farther from the group of dragons that had begun to level off their angle of descent, heading for the center of the city. "Come on," she pleaded, trying to reach the dormant dragon. "We're losing them."

  She strained, trying to feel the connection between them, but couldn't seem to get past the edge of her own senses. "Please," she said. "I can't do this on my own." She shut her eyes tight, not knowing what she was even looking for, and still finding nothing. She opened her eyes, saw the rest of the dragons were farther away still, and realized the ground was much closer, and approaching ever more swiftly.

  A wave of panic threatened to overtake her, and as she closed her eyes, grasping onto anything, a memory came back to her, something Lirwe had told her earlier.

  I can sense the discord within you, the doubt, but there is also great strength. You carry with you the drive and determination of your people.

  She got upset, realizing she knew almost nothing about her people. The disconnect made her angry and wish more than ever that she had taken her sister's advice and just stayed home. She was hit with a sudden pang of homesickness and realized that was the connection she was missing. She remembered her sister, after the first dragon attack, charging into the situation, being a leader even while scared and not really knowing what was going on. She thought of Viv, Rowan, the little patch of the world they called home, and realized that despite not being biologically related, she did think of Viv as family, and found herself longing for the simplicity of her life at home.

  That feeling was warm, and she held onto it, letting it infuse her. She stretched out her arms, relaxing, just letting herself feel. She felt the energy of the dragon, the heat coming off her body, she felt the pull of gravity, the wind whipping around her, pulling at the loose folds of her environment suit, rippling the ends of her wings—

  She gasped, opening her eyes. She could feel the wind on Lirwe's wings. She shut her eyes again, relaxing and letting her senses play out. She could begin to feel the subtle shifting in the muscles under the dragon's skin, the spasms that ran down the legs and up the wings, rippling out all the way to the tips, and the energy flowing outward from the center of the dragon's molten core.

  She opened her eyes, and the world was red and bright and very much closer to her than she expected. She blinked, suddenly seeing everything ahead as if it were right in front of her in frightening clarity, through the fiery lens of Lirwe's eyes. Instinctively she reached out, felt her wings stretch, and watched as her descent began to level off. She lifted her head up and spotted the group of dragons in the distance. She gave a strong beat of her wings and felt herself lift, a wave of elation running through her. She pushed down with her wings, again and again, feeling her speed increase, seeing the dragons ahead appear to grow closer, and let out a long, joyous laugh.

  I knew you could do it.

  Startled, Petra opened her eyes, and she was once more on Lirwe's back. She could still feel the dragon's limbs moving and the wings flapping, but she was no longer in control.

  "Thank god you're back," she said, relieved. "How do you feel?"

  Wrung out, strained, Lirwe's voice spoke in her mind. But there's no time, we must catch up.

  Lirwe straightened her body, the beats of her wings becoming longer and more powerful, and they somehow gained even more speed. Petra leaned forward, pressing her body to be as flush with Lirwe's skin as possible. They approached the back of the second wave of dragons, but as Petra watched, she noticed that they were beginning to angle downward once again, toward the heart of the Republic capital that was finally within sight.

  "What do we do?" Petra asked. "How do we stop them?"

  Let us see how strong their control is.

  Lirwe caught up to the rear line of dragons, propelled herself up and over, diving down in front of one of them, making an odd hissing noise and nearly colliding with it. The dragon, however, didn't react. It merely adjusted course and continued on.

  It's worse than I thought, Lirwe said. There is no consciousness in that creature. She is dormant.

  "You mean hibernating?" Petra asked. "How do you wake a hibernating dragon?"

  Heat.

  Lirwe approached again, diving down on top of the next one and physically landing on its back, surrounding it with her wings and filling the space with a blast of dragonfire that enveloped the creature's head and neck, destroying the control unit at the base of the creature's skull in the process. She then released her grip and flew back up into an overhead position. Petra watched as the dragon below seemed to seize up, dropping in altitude as its muscles spasmed for a moment before relaxing again. The creature shook its head as if waking up, then began flapping more forcefully, rising above the line it had been in and looking around in quick, jerking movements. Petra heard Lirwe's voice again, but this time her words seemed to be directed at the other dragon.

  Help me.

  The freed dragon's movement evened out, and it fell into formation behind them. Petra grinned as they headed toward the next one in line. If they could free a number of the other dragons, they might be able to help free the rest of them more quickly, as they were swiftly approaching the city center and she didn't know how much time they had left.

  "Castle, this is Stork," Petra said. "I think we found a solution. Target the control units on the back of the dragons' heads. They're hibernating underneath their control, but they'll wake up after a minute."

  "We'll still have to deal with a bunch of angry dragons," Aris's voice came back, "and you're all the way down there."

  "I know, but they should follow you. Can you have your Republic people shut down the city shields and bring them down here?"

  There was a pause. "I don't think they'll go for that," Aris said.

  "Just try," Petra said. "Trust me."

  She could hear his sigh on the other end, followed by another pause. "I'll see what I can do," he said.

  "Thank you," Petra said. "How's the rest of our team? I haven't heard from them in a while."

  "I think we've been found out," Aris said. "Avernus is jamming their comm lines now."

  "That's not good."

  "No," Aris agreed. "Keep doing what you're doing, we'll try to wrap things up here."

  "Copy that."

  • • •

  "This is new," Gareth said, looking up at the heavy armored pressure door covering the entrance to the hangar bay they had come through. He couldn't remember ever seeing them closed, though he understood what they were for. There were currently no alarms, however, that would normally indicate a shield failure or a pressure breach.

  He frowned, continuing down the corridor until the next hangar entrance came into view around the bend. It, like the first, was similarly sealed with a heavy pressure door. "I
think we've been found out," he grumbled. "Which explains the comm silence."

  He turned around and headed back the way he came, making for the cryo bays near the first hangar. Petra and Lirwe had succeeded in releasing the stasis on the remaining dragon specimens, and the possibility occurred to him that he might be able to lure one of the creatures out to the hangar entrance. But he dismissed the idea almost immediately, as he had no idea how he would actually go about doing that. Despite this fact, it had reminded him of the odd power spike he had seen in the staging area next to the main cryo bay. He checked the schematics on his handheld and made for the side passage, following it toward the end. He slowed down, feeling the charge in the air as he went. He frowned as he approached the final bend in the corridor. Whatever lied ahead was using an excessive amount of power.

  Around the corner the last leg of the corridor was relatively short and without feature, with only the single wide door at the end leading into the staging area. Gareth had expected to come up against a security lock or some other preventative measure but was not expecting the pair of armed guards standing sentry on either side.

  They immediately snapped their weapons up and Gareth stopped, taking a deep breath and bringing his arms out to his sides. He smiled, recognizing the firearms as a variety of plasma rifle, an energy weapon that had no significant effect on his physiology. He started forward slowly as the guards wordlessly adjusted their aim to his center mass.

  "Come on guys," Gareth started. "You know all the dragons in there have been set loose, right?" As he spoke, he cast a glance around the corridor bulkheads, looking for any weakness he could exploit. He knew that once the guards discovered that their weapons didn't work, they would shift to hand-to-hand combat, and Gareth didn't trust his skills against what were likely two elves with far more physical strength.