“I have no clue. But Ashton is up there. If we don’t let him know…”
“How is he going to find us in this mist?”
“We need to find a spot to hide, until things clear up a bit,” Samuel said.
“Where can we go?” I asked. “The forest is down the mountain, and it seems like there might be a Blight nearby…”
“A big Blight, if one of those things lives in it,” Anna said.
Samuel shook his head. “No. I don’t think there is a Blight. If there were, Augustus would surely know about it. I think there is some other explanation.”
“The Praetorians?” I asked.
“All dead and scattered,” Julian said. “We only survived by hiding against this.”
The flying monster gave another roar that echoed from the mountains. In response, the crawlers screeched in the distance. They had gone away. For now.
“They might come back,” I said.
“We need to get back to the city,” Samuel said. “The plan has changed. With the Praetorians gone, we need to get Makara and get the hell out of here.”
“I can lead us to the hospital,” Julian said. “It isn’t far.”
A colossal rush of wind pummeled us from above. The ground shook as it landed, sending the mist scattering. At first, I saw giant, claw-like feet, covered in crimson scales. The talons were as long as swords, and they curled as they buried themselves in the dirt. A massive body flared upward, crimson and snakelike, along with a massive spread of wings — wings impossibly large. They must have been at least a hundred feet wide. The creature was enormous — it was like a gigantic crawler, only with wings. From its back hopped two creatures to the ground — additional crawlers, who looked like they had been piloting the monster. The monster’s long, serpent neck lowered. It had no eyes — just two empty holes where the eyes should have been. Two massive nostrils opened at the end of its short, scaly snout, quivering as they sniffed the air. The head was round, bald, black as night, the darkness of the head fading to the deep, ruby red scales that covered the rest of its body.
It opened its mouth to reveal rows of thin, needle teeth, already stained with red blood. It opened its mouth and screamed, two forked tongues quivering as the roar emanated, shaking me to the bones.
And all I could think was: is that a dragon?
“Run!” Samuel shouted.
We scrambled up, just as the crawlers that had been riding the dragon flanked us on either side. The dragon stepped forward, neck and head extended. We ran, but it was too fast. Its mouth opened and closed, snapping as it neared us.
That was when the roar of an engine from above deafened us, sending us all to the ground. It was Gilgamesh. A blinding light flashed on, causing the crawlers to screech in pain. The dragon still kept going forward, terribly close.
Gilgamesh’s twin machine guns then opened up, deafening and thunderous. Lines of bullets entered the dragon’s body, causing it to scream in pain. I turned on my back, to watch the creature standing above us. Its body shook and convulsed as the bullets entered its chest, its neck, its hideous face. It opened its mouth to scream, but nothing came out. It started to fall forward.
“Out of the way!” Samuel yelled.
We crawled forward as fast as we could, the creature falling into the spot we had just vacated.
The crawlers, on their multiple legs and with white orb eyes, looked upward at Gilgamesh, hissing angrily. Then, they turned on us.
As Gilgamesh lowered itself to land, the crawlers charged for us in tandem. I could do nothing but dodge the first one as it tore past me, right for Anna. Anna fell to the ground, the creature looming over her. She skewered it with her katana, quickly pulling it out of its stomach and rolling aside before it could fall on her.
Samuel and Julian attacked the other crawler. Samuel kept his gun pointed at its front, distracting it while Julian swung around. Julian leapt onto the body. The creature turned, as if to swat off a fly. Julian tumbled to the ground, but it gave Samuel the opening he needed to fire on the creature’s gut. Samuel emptied his entire clip as the creature screamed, again and again. Anna rushed forward, dealing the final death blow by slashing a deep ex on the monster’s abdomen. The crawler screeched again as its entrails burst from the wound, spilling onto the ground.
Behind us, Gilgamesh alighted on the ground, boarding ramp extending.
We rushed up the ramp and into the open door. As the door shut behind us, we lifted off from the mists and into the night sky.
It was time to go after Makara.
Chapter 21
We ran to Gilgamesh’s bridge, finding Ashton intent on the controls and white hair wild.
“You got here just in time, old man,” I said.
Ashton turned his head, blue eyes wide. “You kids have got my blood pumping! I had to dodge three of those things just to get here…”
He saw Anna, for the first time. He smiled. “Good to see you with us, Miss Bliss. Now, if we can just get out of here…” He frowned. “Where’s Makara?”
“Down there,” I said.
“What? You left her behind now?”
“We had no choice,” Samuel said. “She was injured in the Coleseo, and she is in the hospital. Augustus is holding her hostage until we bring you to him.”
“Like hell you’re bringing me to that bastard! We need to get to Makara!”
Ashton turned the ship, facing the city. “If we can find a spot to land, you guys can get there on foot.”
“With those…things…flying around?” Julian asked.
“They’re dragons,” I said.
“No,” Anna said. “They’re not.”
“Well, whatever they are, I think I lost them back in the clouds…”
“Maybe not,” Samuel said, pointing.
Shadowy shapes of wings descended, not for us, but for the city of Nova Roma.
“The invasion picked a hell of a time to spread to the Empire,” Ashton said. He looked at Julian. “Where’s the hospital?”
“Well, from the sky it will be difficult to find, but if you could land in Central Square…”
“Central Square, then,” Ashton said. “Find something to hold onto, kids. Things are going to get dicey.”
We rocketed forward, having to hold to the sides of the ship as we descended toward the city. There were at least two of those things flying around, causing chaos.
“Maybe those dragons will change Augustus’s opinion about things,” I said.
“Stop calling them dragons!” Anna said.
“Why? That’s what they are.”
“It’s so unoriginal. Surely you can think of a better name.”
“This isn’t relevant,” Ashton said. “I guess the meeting went poorly?”
“Yeah,” Samuel said. “But he wants to use the Xenos as an excuse to conquer the rest of the Wasteland.”
Ashton sniffed. “It doesn’t surprise me. I was right to keep him out of Bunker One.
At least you got some good intel out of him.” Ashton focused more intently on the controls. “We’re getting close, now.”
“Just land us in Central Square, and fly off again,” Julian said. “That would probably be the easiest.”
“And how will I find you again?” Ashton asked.
“We have flares, right?” Samuel asked.
“Yes, there should be some in the ship’s armory.”
“I’ll get one,” Anna said, rushing off the bridge.
“When you have Makara, get to the hospital roof and shoot the flare,” Ashton said. “Night like this, I’ll be able to see it easily.”