Darkness

by Kyle West

  “Focus,” Anna said. “Where did this dragon go?”

  Maybe a quarter mile ahead in the air I could see Gilgamesh facing us. Its thrusters pointed slightly to port, which caused the ship to veer to starboard.

  “Damn, that ship is huge,” Makara said. “It’s been hiding in 84 this entire time?”

  “Apparently,” Ashton said.

  “Everyone else make it out alright? Michael? Julian?”

  “Yeah,” Ashton. “Grudge is with us as well. Of course, Alex is also alright.”

  “Good.”

  “This isn’t the time for a reunion,” Elias growled. “Chaos is trying to communicate something.”

  Anna shook her head. “If by communicate you mean sending us spiraling toward our fiery deaths, then yes. You would be right.”

  “The Voice sent Chaos here for a reason.” Elias’s remained focused on the sky outside. “I must know what it is. Perhaps he means to lead us somewhere.”

  Before anyone could respond, the massive dragon dropped from the clouds above. Screams sounded on the bridge as the wings unfurled and beat against the wind – wings maybe two hundred to two hundred fifty feet across. Elias was right; this was no ordinary dragon. It was none other than Chaos, the dragon that had been roosting in Raider Bluff when we had returned to the Wasteland from Nova Roma. It was completely black, probably five hundred feet long from head to tip of tail. Cruel spikes jutted all over its long, reptilian form, and its angular head opened to reveal a mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth. The Wanderer had said that Chaos followed Askala from world-to-world, taking on a different form in each. On Earth, at least, he was the largest of all the xenodragons, the juggernaut of the Radaskim.

  And, despite what Elias said, I knew he was going to kill us.

  The creature faced us, its white eyes glowing in the dim, late afternoon light. Two more dragons, smaller, dropped from the clouds. One headed for Gilgamesh, the other for us. Chaos gave a baleful roar that shook me to the bones, even through the windshield. The fact that we were inside didn’t seem to matter.

  “Hold on!” Anna said.

  Aeneas lurched to port and took on a burst of speed. I fell to the deck and began rolling toward the port side of the ship as the floor angled in that direction. Just as suddenly as she had turned it, Anna righted the ship, spinning it around to face the smaller dragon attacking us from behind.

  Unfortunately, these creatures were far more agile than our massive ship. The smaller xenodragon dodged Anna’s move, disappearing from view.

  “I’m just going to take shots at whatever I can,” Anna said. “Makara, try to keep them off me.”

  “Copy that.”

  In a flash of metal, Gilgamesh swooped in front of Aeneas, deadly close. Its twin turrets blazed below its hull. Outside, one of the flying monsters screamed. Anna eased the ship left, giving us sight of one of the dragons spiraling toward the mountains below. A moment later, it crashed into a snow-capped peak in a cloudy puff of white.

  “One down,” Anna said.

  At that moment, the second small dragon dove from above toward Gilgamesh. Makara was going to be blindsided.

  “Makara, dive!”

  “I’ve got this,” Ashton said.

  As Gilgamesh pointed nose-down toward the Earth, Aeneas eased in from behind.

  “Target locked,” Ashton said. “Fire.”

  “Red button, right?” Anna said. “Sorry, still new to this.”

  “Yes. The one on the control stick.”

  Anna pressed it. The ship rocked as a missile streaked from its hull, splitting the air. The dragon turned its long neck toward the missile, realizing its doom. With a scream, the dragon turned away, flapping its wings madly to flee. But it was futile. The missile struck in a fiery ball of orange, blasting the dragon straight downward to the surface. One of the wings was ripped completely off. The dragon spun madly in circles, helicoptering toward the ground, leaving in its wake a trail of purple blood that misted into ice in the frigid air.

  That was when an impact came from the back of the ship, causing Aeneas to lurch forward. Anna veered the control stick upward, angling toward the clouds above. The readout LCD revealed Chaos just behind, gaining on us with massive speed.

  “He’s tailing us,” Anna said. “Damn, he’s fast!”

  “Lose him in the clouds,” Makara said. “Gilgamesh still has a few missiles left.”

  “How much longer, Makara?” Ashton asked.

  “Just a minute! It’s hard to do all of this on my own.”

  Chaos took on a sudden burst of speed, his jaws snapping toward Aeneas’s retrothrusters. Anna did a little dip to avoid the dragon’s attack, causing everyone standing on the bridge to topple to the deck once more. When the ship steadied, I decided to stay on the deck. It was probably safer than standing up.

  “Alright, got him in my sights,” Makara said. “Here goes nothing.”

  From outside, I heard the spew of one missile, then a second, hissing through the air. Chaos was still close. Anna made a sudden dive. The top of a peak came into view, not too far distant. We could not keep this dive up for long – maybe ten seconds before crashing. From behind, Julian and Michael both slid into me. I banged into the back of the pilot’s chair.

  A colossal scream sounded from behind, followed by an explosion. Chaos had been hit.

  Anna swooped us around as she evened out Aeneas. We had turned 180 degrees and were facing the direction Chaos has been chasing us from. A cloud of smoke filled the air where Chaos had been. I looked down, expecting Chaos to be falling to the mountains below. Instead, there was nothing but empty air.

  “Makara, do you have visual of the dragon?” Ashton asked.

  “Negative. It got real bright, but afterward, I saw nothing. Only one of the missiles hit. It must have flown up in the clouds...”

  “It’s still alive?” I asked.

  I didn’t see how it was possible. How could anything be alive after being hit like that?

  Our question was soon answered as Chaos lowered from the clouds, flapping its massive wings. It let out an ungodly bellow as it dove, not for us, but for Makara. It folded its wings as it dropped with surprising speed.

  “Makara!” Ashton said. “Run. Fly as fast as you can from here.”

  “But...”

  “Do as I say!” Ashton said. “There’s only one thing that’ll bring this bastard down once and for all.”

  With a curse, Makara piloted Gilgamesh away from Chaos, just in time to dodge its crazy dive. Gilgamesh appeared to be faster than Aeneas, so maybe Makara could keep it busy while we took our turn. Chaos gave chase to Gilgamesh. We had a small window to attack before either Makara messed up or Chaos managed to catch her.

  “What are you doing, Ashton?” I asked.

  He stared at his screen, keying at it intently. We watched for a moment as Anna floated closer to the dragon, keeping the ship locked on it.

  “Anna...” Ashton said. “Fire when ready.”

  Anna paused only a moment before pressing the red button. A single gray missile streaked out of the ship just as Makara gained good speed. Still, Chaos was locked on Gilgamesh, not giving Makara a break for even a moment.

  “Run,” Ashton said. “Faster, Makara!”

  We had only been turning for a moment when the missile connected with a brightness that rivaled a thousand suns. Immediately, the windows tinted, but I still had to shield my eyes.

  Then, I realized: we had launched a nuke at Chaos – and it had connected.

  At last, the sound caught up with the light, and an unnatural roar unlike any I had ever heard blasted the ship. The entire hull vibrated, and Anna had trouble turning the lumbering spacecraft away. Finally, when it was angled enough away and the massive, orange mushroom cloud was no longer visible, Anna gave Aeneas all it had. The retrothrusters burned to full, blasting Aeneas toward the south with amazing speed. The LCD revealed the fiery cloud spreading ever outward.

  I was still on t
he floor. I crawled to get up as soon as I was sure that this was over, that all the dragons that were attacking us were dead.

  “Keep going,” Ashton said. “I want to make sure we are good and out of range.”

  We continued. Nothing but static emanated from the radio. We had no idea if Makara had made it. She had been closer to the blast than we had. Still, she had been far enough to be safe.

  Hadn’t she?

  Chapter 17

  Five minutes later the bridge was still silent. The explosion from behind still crackled and expanded outward, the hellish clouds covering the mountains. Of Makara and Gilgamesh there was no sign.

  “She made it,” Ashton said. “I know she did.”

  “Well, she’s not coming out of that thing,” Anna said. “Maybe...maybe it’s time we faced the facts.”

  The radar was not working properly – something about the blast had knocked it out. I’d read something about electromagnetic pulses once, so maybe that had something to do with...

  “Wait,” I said.

  Everyone looked at me.

  “If she was caught in the EMP that could have grounded her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Julian asked. “EMP?”

  “Electromagnetic pulse,” Ashton said. “And no, she would have been far enough away from the blast to not have been affected by it. Besides, military craft are built to withstand it, and it’s only at high altitude that the Earth’s magnetic field...”

  “Is she alive or not?” Anna cut in.

  “It could be turbulence,” Ashton said.

  “Regardless of that,” Elias said, stepping forward.

  Everyone turned – I’d almost forgotten Elias and his followers were there, watching the entire time.

  “We’ll take it from here,” Elias said.

  I stood, meeting Elias’s stare. “Not until we’ve found our friend.”

  Julian, Michael, and Grudge stepped beside me. Immediately, the Community women reached for their own weapons.

  “Stop this madness,” Ashton said. “We’ll accomplish nothing as long as we are at each other’s throats.” He turned his blue eyes on Elias. “How do you expect to get anything done when you threaten the lives of this ship’s only pilots?”

  Elias’s face reddened. He knew he had no answer for that. From the center of the deck, Deborah and Ada watched Elias coolly. Elias took notice.

  “You,” Elias said with gritted teeth. He took a step toward the women. “I know it was you who did this. You launched this ship.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve always known you were tainted.”

  “That didn’t stop you from trying, though,” Deborah said. “Did it?”

  From the way Lyn looked at Elias as his face burned crimson, it didn’t take much imagination to know what “trying” meant. Deborah’s eyes taunted while Ada only looked unsure.

  “What of it, Elias?” Deborah asked. “Are you going to kill me now?”

  With a roar, Elias arched an arm back.

  “Stop!” I yelled.

  But Elias wasn’t listening. His arm swung outward as Deborah dodged the blow. Immediately, the Community women went to assist their leader. Lyn made no move to help.

  At that moment, Anna jerked the control stick, throwing everyone off balance. Elias clattered to the floor, rolling near me.

  I might not get another chance. It was time to fight.

  I crawled over to Elias, placing my gun at the side of his head. Michael joined me in pulling him to the ground.

  The bridge righted itself, and it was a moment before the Community women realized what I had done.

  I used Elias’s body as a shield and kept the gun trained on his temple.

  “Alright,” I said. “This ends now.”

  Every Community member with a gun instantly aimed it at me. I had no idea what I was doing, or how I could keep this up.

  “I need everyone off this bridge!” I said.

  The women’s eyes glanced between me and their leader, wondering what to do.

  “It’s alright,” Elias said softly, almost vulnerably. “You may leave me. I only want you all to be safe.”

  “No!” Lyn stepped forward. Grudge raised his gun at her.

  “My dear Lyn,” Elias said. “Please step away. It shall all go according to the Ascension. Askala shall provide for our escape.”

  Lyn’s eyes implored, but in the end, she stepped back. I held back a sigh of relief.

  “Come on,” she said to the others. “It is in the Voice’s hands now.”

  Her words chilled me – I didn’t know if she was referring to Elias or to the entity that was controlling Elias. If Elias was truly Radaskim, then why would Chaos have attacked us? Maybe it attacked because it knew we were on board, and Elias and the Community were a fair price for our deaths. It was the only answer I could think of, at any rate.

  The others gazed at Lyn, unsure. At Elias’s final nod, they left the bridge one by one. I wondered what made them so willing to do this – as if they truly believed I would go through with my threat. If I did end up killing Elias, then they would just in turn kill all of us.

  Finally, Elias was left behind on the bridge with us, along with Deborah and Ada. Ashton pressed a button on the dash, which caused the door to the bridge to hiss shut.

  I thought about pulling the trigger right then and there, but we couldn’t do that yet – not until we found out what had happened to Makara, and whether we’d be getting any backup when the Community attacked us upon Elias’s death.

  “Can they do any kind of damage from back there?” I asked.

  Ashton shrugged. “We’re in control of the ship, so they would have to get into ship’s security and override my security code.”

  “Which we did,” Deborah said.

  “Admittedly,” Ashton said. “This is but a temporary solution.”

  “What about Makara?” Julian asked, impatient. “We can’t just...”

  Ashton held up a hand, gazing ahead. Still the cloud of fallout spread outward, percolating into the air.

  “Julian is right,” Ashton said. “We need to find her.”

  ***

  We flew back in the direction where the explosion had taken place. All the while, the radio was silent.

  “Makara, this is Aeneas,” Anna said. “Do you read me? Please give your location. Over.”

  As the minutes crawled on, Michael took over my position of guarding Elias. The cult leader simply knelt, his knees on the deck and hands over his head. His brown eyes regarded everyone almost emotionlessly. But they were intent, focusing. Seeking any weakness. He reminded me of a caged predator.

  “Makara, this is Anna, aboard the Aeneas. Do you have a copy, over?”

  At that moment, the speakers sizzled. Within the cacophony was a voice, heavily garbled.

  “It’s her!” Julian said.

  I felt relief wash over me. If that truly was her, then Makara was still alive. But the fact remained – she had been extremely close to a nuclear blast. She could be...

  Her voice came through the speakers, loud and clear.

  “Hello? Anyone there...?”

  “Yes, we’re all here,” Anna said, breaking into a smile. “Glad you’re alright, Makara.”

  “I couldn’t reach you guys,” Makara said. “That damn cloud. I went above, thinking it would be safer.”

  “Meet us at the coordinates I’m about to send you,” Ashton said. “You have backup?”

  “Yeah,” Makara said. “I have twenty Angels on board. We’ll be there in two minutes.”

  “Thank God,” Julian said, closing his eyes.

  “What the hell happened in that Bunker?” Makara asked. “Where’s Alex?”

  “I’m here,” I said, stepping forward. “There was this crazy cult that was trying to kill us and they wanted to nuke Los Angeles using this ship. We have their leader in custody right now.”

  “He’s there? On the bridge?”

  I glanced at Elias, as if to make sure he was still th
ere. “Yeah. He is.”

  “And that whole cult is on the ship? Will twenty be enough?”

  “They probably have about forty on board,” I said. “There’s another thing. They’re all women except for their leader.”

  Makara paused. “Not even going to ask. Armed?”

  “Some of them,” I said. “Maybe ten. Whatever they are, they probably are not as well-trained as us.”

  “We can connect the airlocks,” Makara said. “The blast doors were designed to interlock.”

  “Meet us there,” Ashton said.

  “Gotcha,” Makara said. “Over and out.”

  ***

  Gilgamesh and Aeneas connected at the blast doors. In a matter of moments, our rescue squad was going to take back the ship.

  “Let them know, Ashton,” Makara said.

  Ashton held a button. “Attention, Aeneas. You are about to be boarded by the New Angels. Do not resist. I repeat, do not resist, and you will not be killed. If you do resist, your leader will be compromised. I repeat...”

  As Ashton repeated his message, I stood near the metal door leading out from the bridge, ready to open it and provide support to the New Angels once they boarded.

  “Elias,” Ashton said. “Tell your followers to stand down.”

  Elias said nothing. Michael shoved him forward, closer to the dash where the mic would pick him up.

  “My children,” Elias said. “Do not resist the boarders; do as this terrorist has said. It shall all go according to plan. Only have faith. The Community shall rise again.”

  Elias closed his eyes.

  “Stand by,” Ashton said. “Opening airlock in 3...2...”

  Elias opened his eyes, and I felt fear crawl all over me. He gave a sick, twisted smile.

  His eyes were completely white.

  Michael raised his gun, but Elias battered it away. He next targeted Julian, who only got a single shot off, which missed. Elias tackled Julian with surprising strength. Anna jumped from her seat, unsheathing her katana.

  Elias next focused on her. I raised my Beretta and fired at Elias’s chest. He took the bullets, dropping to the ground. A dribble of purple slime leaked from his lips. He fell the rest of the way, crashing to the deck head first.