by Eric S Kim
THIRTY-EIGHT
8:42 PM
He couldn’t find Vincent and the Nevinoth in the other room. Everything on the eleventh floor had been left untouched, including the desks and chairs. Several rows of tables contained desktop computers neatly arrange beside one another. There would have been no indication of a harmful visit from intruders.
Lionel ran in search of the other areas on the eleventh floor. Victoria still questioned him on his current ethics. He just answered with basic phrases that did little to fulfill her curiosity. Another hallway led the Blackjacks into another room. This time, instead of cubicles, the room contained over a dozen rows of shelves that housed various computer equipment. Two small tables were situated at the front of the room. This was the Archives, used primarily by Shadow Service and the Hammerheads.
Lionel silently used hand signals and ordered his three teammates to separate and check for any animal that lurks in the shadows. Lionel crept across two rows of shelves alone. He ignored the rhythmic lights that turned on and off on each computer hardware. He checked for any possible pawprints on the floor, which lacked any clear signs of the Nevinoth’s whereabouts.
He grew more careful with each footstep. He heard whispers coming from behind one of the shelves. It was faint, though he could decipher some of the words in a discussion forced into a secluded spot. Lionel made it to the end of the shelves.
He whispered, “Tannitari? Are you here?”
He could hear the wolf’s claws scraping against the floor.
Tannitari appeared right in front of him. “How’d you find us?”
Lionel got down on one knee and petted the wolf. “All I had to do was do my job.”
Tannitari had stayed in the far corner of the Archives. From behind, Abakarit the beaver had joined his friend.
Lionel wanted to spend the next several minutes with his beloved dragon, but the leader of the Zadith was still on the loose.
“Where’s Vincent?”
Abakarit kept his voice to a low whisper. “He’s taken them away from us. He’s using that emerald to bring them out.”
It was Tannitari’s turn to talk. “Our two friends have already been hypnotized by him.”
Lionel nodded. “I saw it happen.”
“What do you think he’s going to do next?”
“I don’t know, but I have a funny feeling that it’s going to be a hell of a show for us.”
Lionel stood back up and noticed Victoria heading towards him between the shelves. She must have spotted the two Nevinoth animals since she started to point her own assault rifle at them.
Lionel refused her act. “It’s okay. They’re not going to hurt us.”
Victoria was still unconvinced. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because they’re my friends. Put away your weapon. There’s no harm intended.”
Victoria had a perplexed look on her face as both Tannitari and Abakarit initiated a slow exit from their hiding spot. They stood beside Lionel and didn’t act as complete savages to the other Blackjack Trooper.
Hector and Woodrow had joined the rest of the group from different directions.
Lionel made a quick decision. “Hector, Victoria, I want the two of you to look after them for me. Do not open fire, and do not give them a hard time.”
Hector asked, “Where will you be?”
Lionel started to run. “Out there. Woodrow, make sure that nobody else is on the top floor with us.”
He and the teammate with the cowboy hat left the group and exited the Archives.
8:46 PM
Lionel, after being separated from Woodrow, had made it to another room in less than a minute. It was an enormous meeting room with a wooden round-shaped table at the center. A projector had been left hanging on the wall. Several portfolios and stacks of paper lay on the table, with numerous pens alongside them. This would have been where Virgil Hamilton met with the higherups and many other employees of the company. An important meeting must have unfolded here before the emergency evacuation.
Lionel didn’t have to check carefully as they had already found who he was looking for. On the other side of the room, Vincent Yoon had his back turned as he peered out the window. He didn’t have to turn around to see who stumbled into the room.
He proclaimed, “You’re just in time to watch the fireworks.”
Lionel tightened his grip on his weapon. “What do you want to show me? A self-help video on how to suck off a giant mechanical dragon?”
He heard Vincent snicker. “You’re funny. Maybe you should star in one of those Hollywood comedies that has nothing but fart jokes and standard slapstick crap.”
“Why are you here? What the hell do you want with these Nevinoth?”
Vincent finally turned around with a little sadistic-looking grin. “To show the whole world what they are capable of.”
Lionel could hear a low growl behind him. He slowly turned his head to find the remaining Nevinoth animals standing at the entryway. The wolverine, the porcupine, the bighorn ram, and the red-tailed hawk had completely blackened eyes made possible by the Ivisian Emerald.
Vincent held the hexagon-shaped gemstone in his hand. “Make it count. Get out there and give them hell.”
Lionel had to step out of the way as the four animals raced toward the windows on the other side of the room. Vincent didn’t have to move a single muscle. The Nevinoth animals crashed into the glass and had them shatter all over the place. The animals jumped off of the eleventh floor and disappeared from view. Lionel ran up to the newly open ledges. To his surprise, the animals didn’t fall straight down to the sidewalk below. Instead, they transformed into their original reptilian forms. The four Nevinoth Dragons glided away from the main building and onto the street. They flew straight up and separated from each other.
Lionel immediately noticed the complete lack of Silver Skins chasing after them. The four Nevinoths were the only dragons in the night sky. Those that were among the crowd from below either screamed or shouted words that didn’t reach the top floor.
Lionel had to know the truth. He grabbed Vincent’s arm and said, “So what’s the deal? Why are they out there to begin with?”
Vincent’s smile almost made him shiver. “We are about to gain complete support of the American people. Nobody will ever dare to question Gorvex’s society ever again.”
“I really don’t like what you’re telling me.”
“Believe me. These dragons will give the people the most legitimate reason to stay on our side. All thanks to me.”
The Nevinoth Dragons, after hovering over Mystic Lightning Headquarters, dove straight down to the streets in the distance, an area that wasn’t blocked by law enforcement. One of them opened its mouth and a bolt of lightning exited out of it. It struck the center of the street from one spot to another in a continuous foray. Vehicles on the street exploded within seconds. Pedestrians on the street screamed and ran for shelter when the dragon swooped past them. The lightning bolt disappeared just as the dragon rose back up in the sky.
Lionel had already realized the motive behind Vincent Yoon’s hypnosis. He shouted, “You haven’t changed a bit, you bastard!”
Vincent smiled at him. “I really didn’t have to.”
A second Nevinoth Dragon had made it to the eastern side of the city. It opened its mouth and released a gray mist onto another street below. Lionel couldn’t see it, but he suspected that the gray mist would instantly freeze the cars and civilians to death.
He grabbed Vincent by his coat and pulled him closer. “Release them from your spell! Use the emerald! Now!”
Vincent pushed him away. “You’re out of luck. You have no authority here. Why don’t you go back to your station? You deserve a little break.”
Lionel craved a slow and painful demise for Vincent. He wanted to punch him in the face and shoot him in the stomach. The return of an enemy did nothing to spike his dedication to Gorvex’s society. In fact, it ceased the operations from within his mindset.
&
nbsp; Vincent slowly wagged his finger at him. “Don’t try to torture me. I’m the Zadith. I belong in Gorvex’s family. Don’t stop us. We’re almost there.”
Lionel couldn’t tolerate Vincent’s presence any longer. He ran out of the room with the distant sounds of the dragons and their screaming victims still lingering on. He had returned to Vigil Hamilton’s office after making a run for it. He slammed the door shut behind him and located the button in the file cabinets.
8:49 PM
Jerome didn’t have the necessary weaponry to stop the massacre. Instead, he could only stand on the rooftop to become an unfortunate spectator. The four Nevinoth Dragons used their own distinctive abilities against the people that only minded their own business. One of the dragons spit out three slimy pink balls out of its mouth and had them land near a crowd in front of a strip mall. The pink balls immediately hatched and tiny creatures with wings flew out of them. The civilians quickly fled in different directions as the winged creatures attacked them. It was an unpleasant sight from Jerome’s scope. The smaller winged creatures bit at the civilians, causing the men and women to bleed from the neck, the shoulders, and even the head.
Jerome had to duck down to avoid being seen when one of the dragons flew nearby. He started to look around for another race of dragons that should have been alert. He couldn’t find any Silver Skins anywhere in the sky. He began to wonder where they would be. They had confronted the Nevinoths when Lionel had been captured by one of them. Now, they could have been completely nonexistent in Santa Ana. Even Sorivo didn’t make an attempt to fight back. He had disappeared somewhere right when Lionel and Vincent confronted each other. The Nevinoth Dragons attacked the people that Mystic Lightning sought to protect, and nobody was there to stop them.
Jerome waited for a call from his father, or from Murdock or Hamilton. Anybody. He couldn’t stay here and have the dragons go on a killing spree without restraint. He wanted to hear that beep on his earpiece. Lionel should have made a decision by now.
8:50 PM
Lionel returned to the Archives but didn’t step inside. Woodrow, Hector, Victoria, and the two remaining Nevinoths had exited the room and now viewed the attack out the window. He only had one thing in mind.
“Tannitari, I need your help.”
The wolf asked, “What do you need?”
“We have to stop your friends from taking more lives. I need you to bring me to them right now.”
He showed his teammates and the two animals the Ivisian Emerald in his hand. “This is the only thing that’s going to stop them.”
Abakarit sounded troubled. “Where did you get that?”
Lionel put it in his pocket. “It doesn’t matter now. We have to stop your friends from doing more damage.”
Tannitari ran up to him. “Alright, let’s do it.”
Victoria had a valid question. “Are you sure this is going to work?”
Lionel walked away with the wolf and the beaver following him. “Nothing else will.”
But before he could exit the building, he grabbed another weapon from behind a wall. He didn’t want the other Blackjacks to notice. He kept it hidden from Woodrow, Hector, and Victoria. He retrieved it as soon as he left them. He attached the scabbard to his belt and ran for the rooftop.
Tannitari had made the discovery almost right away. “So what else have you been hiding?”
Lionel had no answer for that.
THIRTY-NINE
8:52 PM
Everyone who had stayed in the main building would have less of a chance being a victim of either a lightning strike or a swarm of tiny winged savages. The Blackjack Troopers’ only option was to observe the carnage brought upon by the exiled dragons. Hundreds of lives would be lost if the enemies continued their attacks. Preston tried to keep it together on the ninth floor. He had seen dragons grow aggressive before, when two Tennervarn Dragons were controlled by Roderick Hawkins in the city of Cypress. Now, four of the Nevinoth did the same. Only this time, there was no emerald to put them under a spell.
Preston, Nick, Kurt, Cliff, Bryce, Sabrina, Rebecca, Oswald, Elliott, and Milton Han stayed together as they peered out the window. They had no authority, but they yearned for a simple command from their superiors. The dragons’ intentions were extended since nobody interfered with their performances.
Elliott blurted. “Why’s no one stopping them?! Where are the Silver Skins?!”
Bryce replied, “I’m asking myself the same questions, and all I’m doing is confusing myself.”
Kurt banged his fist on the glass. “This is bullshit! We should be out there by now! What’s taking so long?”
Nick had already tried to call the captain on his earpiece. “I’m still getting nothing. We’re pretty much stuck here.”
Rebecca still didn’t give up. She asked Milton Han, “Why can’t we use helicopters? We can use the Cement Guns when we’re out there.”
Han could only express his disappointment. “I’m afraid it’s too much of a risk. The weapons we use won’t be enough for four dangerous dragons. They’ll pick us off one by one if we go for the choppers.”
Preston didn’t want to just stand around any longer. He still anticipated a direct command from Lionel.
Nick almost jumped up. He used his earpiece to say something to his captain, “Hey, Lionel, what the hell’s going on? What do we do?”
The other Blackjacks grew quiet as they waited for Lionel’s next command. But Nick had grown slightly perplexed by the words that nobody else could hear.
“But why should we? People are dying out there!”
He waited for a response, but simple silence from the other end of the call led him to tell his teammates, “I have no idea what’s going on.”
Sabrina asked, “Where’s Lionel?”
“I don’t know, but I hope he’s got some kind of secret weapon.”
The building began to tremble for a couple of seconds. A loud roar from above made the group on the ninth floor duck down in fear of a surprise attack. But instead, two different dragons had taken flight somewhere above the ninth floor and flew in the direction of the other four Nevinoths that terrorized the county. A man had taken a ride on one of them by mounting its back and grabbing on for the trip toward mayhem.
Preston pointed at the rider. “It’s Lionel! He’s doing it again!”
Everyone else had already caught on.
Kurt groaned. “What the hell, man?”
Cliff relied on a deadpan delivery in order to say, “Well, his paycheck is about to get slashed.”
Oswald exhaled through his gritted teeth. “War…This is war!”
As Lionel and the two dragons drew closer to the other four dragons, Preston placed his hands on the glass and held his breath for a little while. His only expectation for Lionel was that he would stop the four dragons and bring Southern California back to its safe and secure setting. He waited while staying eager for the outcome.
8:54 PM
Tannitari and Abakarit flew side by side as they each collected their stamina and consumed it for the flight. Abakarit chased after a different dragon. Tannitari already chose another. Lionel grabbed hold of Tannitari’s lower neck as the dragon brought him closer to the bloodshed brought upon by a familiar foe. The wind blew directly into his face. His shirt had been caught by the rapid gusts and swayed in all directions. Lionel kept the Ivisian Emerald in his pocket until he would reach the four dragons still under Vincent’s spell. Tannitari had caught up with the blue-scaled dragon that used its icy breath against the civilians. Lionel wanted to know the name of it.
Tannitari replied, “His name is Rikorro! He’s going for the freeway!”
He had been correct. Rikorro had flown above the freeway that passed through Santa Ana. He opened his mouth and sprayed the gray mist all across a particular section of it. Over a hundred vehicles were caught in the icy mist and froze within seconds. A thick layer of ice had been spread all across the left side of the freeway. Those that drove o
n the opposite lanes swerved away from the mist before the drivers and passengers fled on foot. Lionel didn’t have time to see what would happen next. He yelled at Tannitari to bring him closer to Rikorro, who already flew away.
Tannitari followed Rikorro, who roared at them and spit out an enormous ball of ice from its mouth. Tannitari managed to swat it away from him and his rider. The ball of ice landed on an empty college football field. Lionel finally brought the Ivisian Emerald out and kept it close. He waited until Tannitari was close enough to reach out and grab Rikorro by the tail.
Rikorro’s blackened eyes made it clear that he was still trapped under Vincent’s spell. Tannitari grabbed him and didn’t let go. Rikorro roared at tried to bit at Tannitari’s neck, but the latter was swift enough to avoid the two rows of teeth by swinging his neck back and forth. Both dragons spun around in a circle. Lionel had to hold on to Tannitari’s back as the land and the sky spiraled all around him. Tannitari seized Rikorro’s mouth and kept it closed.
Lionel raised the Ivisian Emerald high and said the correct phrases to bring Rikorro out of Vincent’s control. Rikorro squeezed his eyes shut as he didn’t let go of Tannitari’s neck. Lionel repeated the phrases, and soon Rikorro slowly brought his hands away from Tannitari’s neck. He opened his eyes again, and both of them returned to normal. His original irises reappeared. The two dragons let go of each other. They no longer spun in a circle.
Rikorro stayed in the air. “What happened?!”
Tannitari had the right answer. “It’s Vincent! He’s making us kill all of these people! We have to stop the others! Come on!”
Rikorro followed Tannitari as they focused on their next target. Three more Nevinoths had to be stopped. Not a single Silver Skin Dragon tried to stop them. Lionel suspected this as a planned strategy from Gorvex, Vincent, and the Zadith. He wasn’t in the mood to forgive any of them.
8:56 PM
