Ruin of Dragons Read online

  He turned to Gareth, but the other was already up and on his way out.

  The cockpit door closed behind him and Gareth sprinted the length of the ship, past the crew quarters directly behind the cockpit, around the circular hub the medical quarters formed in the center of the ship, and finally through the wide double blast doors at the rear.

  The containment complex was Vermithrax's main cargo hold and loading bay, taking up much of the back half of the vessel. A large expanse, it stood nearly three levels high, filling the space between the upper and lower hulls. Gareth bounded around the forward shield wall and slapped at the controls for the main doors, a wide strip down the center marked diagonally black and yellow that allowed heavy cargo to be hauled up inside using a system of lifts trussed to the ceiling above. A red warning light flashed as the center third of the floor dropped down and split open sharply, pounding the hold with a sudden onslaught of wind. He knelt down near the front edge and grabbed onto a handrail along the inner lip of the opening.

  "Ready?" Aris's voice asked.

  "Ready," Gareth said.

  Aris dove down to catch up with the falling elf, bringing the ship into a parallel path and trying his best to match her speed. As Vermithrax angled forward, the containment bay tilted up, and Gareth held on tight as the loading bay opening in the floor suddenly became a large upright door in front of him. He perched himself in the center of the lower edge, balancing himself steadily as the front shield wall of the bay was now a floor several feet below him. Keeping a tight grip on the rail, he leaned out and looked around, the wind pulling fiercely at him, threatening to upset his balance.

  A short distance away he caught sight of Mira in freefall, a little above their position. She hung disconcertingly limp in midair, tumbling slowly but not moving. "All right, I see her," Gareth said. "Pull back just a bit." The ship slowed a fraction, bringing Mira down level with the opening. "There. Now rotate starboard ten degrees." Vermithrax swiveled, centering Mira directly across from the bay doors.

  "Step it up, we're running out of room," Aris's voice said, and Gareth could see the ground below approaching at a frightening rate.

  "Almost there," he said, reaching his left arm out away from himself and standing as close to the center of the lower edge of the opening as possible. "Slow just a little more." Mira's position dropped a bit until she was level with where Gareth was standing. "Perfect," he said. "Now."

  Aris nosed the controls forward and the ship began to turn under itself, intersecting Mira's trajectory and bringing her right up to where Gareth stood waiting. He leaned out, put an arm around her waist, then leaned back sharply, bringing both of them back inside. "We're in!" he shouted as he pivoted left, putting his back to the floor grating just right of the bay doors and depositing Mira next to him. He felt himself pressed to the floor forcefully as Vermithrax righted itself, pulling up sharply and leveling out. He could hear scratches and scrapes as the tops of the taller trees slapped at the underside of the ship. The cargo doors slammed shut, equalizing the pressure and plunging the hold back into relative silence.

  He looked over to Mira, who was squinting groggily. She looked around, her eyes going suddenly wide as she realized where she was. "Voss!" she said, springing up immediately and bounding toward the front of the ship, pulling her helmet off and flinging it aside as she bolted out of the hold in six long strides.

  Gareth raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome."

  The cockpit door opened, and Aris turned as Mira dashed in, stepping up to the center console to peer through the front viewport. "Where are they?"

  Aris pointed. "We're coming up under them now. The dragon's flying up, no longer flailing. Heading for upper atmo."

  "Wasp, what's your status?" Mira asked.

  "Still alive!" Voss reported. "And it's good to hear your voice again, blondie."

  "I'm a little shaken, but not hurt," Mira said. "Except for possibly my pride."

  "Forget about it," Voss said. "This thing has a wicked tail, you're lucky it didn't snap your neck. You can thank her for some new ventilation in my suit, too, but I think she's finally decided I'm not going anywhere because we're heading straight up awfully fast."

  • • •

  Voss was crouched just above the creature's shoulders and was preparing to venture out onto the neck. Mira's voice came across her communicator. "Is the Blind still in place?"

  Voss looked to the dragon's head directly above her. The device that Mira had planted still seemed to be secure. "Looks like it," she said.

  "Good," Aris said. "Get to it quickly, I don't know how much window you have left."

  Voss watched the head as it bobbed steadily up and down. Small wisps of steam were already visible escaping from the corners of the creature's mouth and trailing back behind them in thin streams.

  "Yeah, I think I'm about out of window," Voss said grimly. Gareth's plasma suppressant pulse was, like all energy weapons that affected the creature, only temporary. Soon the digestive passageway would open back up, and then it would all be over.

  She started making her way carefully up the back of the dragon's neck, trying to be as steady as possible. She held her breath as she climbed, hoping desperately not to be noticed. It wasn't that far a distance but managing the pain and creeping numbness in her left wrist was starting to get difficult, and her progress felt absolutely glacial.

  She looked out, beginning to notice the darkness at the horizon. The air was getting thinner, and though her helmet supplied her with oxygen, she could feel the temperature and pressure dropping steadily. She was starting to feel stiff and lightheaded, and had to force herself to keep going. "Veil, you're buying drinks when this is all over," she said with a laugh.

  "Focus," she heard Aris's voice say.

  She shook her head to clear it and looked down, realizing she had made it to the top of the neck. Checking the device, it appeared to be secure and still functional. "I'm here," she said, activating the Blind. She felt a shudder pass under her, the wings slowed in their purpose and the creature seemed to relax a bit. Voss grabbed the control handles on the sides, pressing them forward. "Let's see if I remember how to do this—"

  Her words died in her throat as the dragon dove suddenly forward, flipping over and dropping like a stone.

  "Whoa!" Voss yelled, trying to correct by pulling back on the handles. The creature spread its wings, pulling out of the dive and rearing almost directly backward, looping up and over to dive straight down once again, sending Voss's stomach into her throat.

  "Let go of the yoke!" she heard Mira call out. Voss reluctantly released her grip, throwing her arms around the creature's neck instead. After a second the dragon's flight leveled off to a more natural descent, its wing beats evening out.

  "What was that?" Voss asked after she had regained her breath.

  "That was too much," Mira's voice said. "The neural transmitter in the device allows you to guide the creature, not drive it like a machine. It's more, well, art than science. It requires subtlety."

  "You don't think I can be subtle?" Voss asked.

  There was a pause as she imagined the elf rolling her eyes. "The device's sensitivity is not consistent from specimen to specimen," Mira said. "With this one it seems to be open full bore. You'll need a deft touch."

  "Deft," Voss said. "Right." She sat forward, braced herself with her legs and rested her hands gingerly on the control yoke. Pressing forward gently, the dragon angled downward and began a more purposeful descent toward the surface. She breathed a little easier. "Okay. Think I can do this. Stay with me, girl," she said, reaching forward and patting the creature on the forehead.

  The dragon snapped its head back suddenly, snorting loudly as licks of flame escaped from the corners of its mouth. "Sorry!" Voss said, putting both hands back on the controls and attempting to restabilize their flight. "I don't think she likes me."


  "She's still aware of everything that's happening," Mira's voice said. "She's just under a manufactured state of placidity. You'll be fine, just don't do anything unexpected."

  "Too late for that," she grumbled.

  They were continuing their descent, having crested the line of mountains, and Voss could already see the forest stretching away into the distance. She pressed forward a little, trying to coax a bit more speed out of the creature. In response it dove down into a steeper angle, and she could begin to make out the rough patchwork of Turic as the ground swiftly approached. "Good girl," she said, pulling back a fraction to level the creature out.

  The dragon complied, but Voss could feel the muscles in its neck tensing then relaxing as a shudder seemed to work its way through it. Without warning it dipped its head and dropped down sharply, nearly shaking Voss loose from her position. She grabbed for the controls and pulled, straightening back out. She sat anxiously, bracing for another spasm as Mira's voice broke into her thoughts. "Once you get to the extraction point, you'll need to get back to the Sting and hit the kill switch as quickly as possible," she said. "When you let go of the control yoke, the dragon will head in whatever direction she wants to."

  Voss held steady as the creature once again bucked under her. "I think she's doing that now," she said. "She's starting to resist."

  "Then you're almost out of time," Mira's voice was tense. "She's fighting off the effects faster than most."

  "All right then," Voss said, gritting her teeth. "Let's put you on the deck, sweetheart." She pushed forward firmly, and the dragon dropped immediately into a near vertical fall. As they came within sight of Turic, the creature seemed to wake up.

  The wings spread, and it pulled out of the dive, angling toward the north end of town and dropping its head down to sniff the air. Voss pulled back in an attempt to straighten out, gaining some altitude, but the creature continued jabbing its head back and forth, snorting. "Yeah, she definitely doesn't like me," Voss said.

  "She's hungry," Aris's voice said. "She can smell the silver under the ground."

  "Keep on it," Mira urged. "You're almost there."

  The dragon flew lower and Voss leaned into the yoke, trying to wring one last burst of speed out of the creature as it began to pass over Turic. It twisted, trying to change directions, but Voss countered, pulling the opposite way. "No you don't," she said through clenched teeth. "We've got an appointment to keep." She wrenched the controls back, trying to keep their course straight. They barreled through the rising columns of smoke coming off the south end of town, then were suddenly across and over open forest.

  The dragon was openly rebellious now, bucking and twisting and doing its best to fight against Voss's control. She held on resolutely, but it was becoming quickly evident that she was losing this battle. She looked behind her to where the Sting was attached to the spine below the shoulder blades, twenty feet and a world away, then turned back to the head, still bucking and twisting under her. There was no way.

  She dipped the creature down as low as possible, bringing it as close to the trees as she could. Not even attempting to aim for the extraction point, she simply tried to close the distance between herself and the ground. "Sorry guys," she said. "This is gonna be rough." She took a deep breath, unhooked her heels from around the dragon's neck, gave the yoke one final shove forward—

  And let go.

  The head dropped out from under her as it dipped down, and as she caught air she arched herself, flipping backward until she could see the spine of the dragon coming towards her. Released from her control, it pushed back out of the tops of the trees, and Voss reached out with both hands as, upside down, the Sting fell into view directly in front of her.

  She grabbed on as it passed, its momentum flipping her back over. She slammed bodily onto the creature's spine, dug her boot hooks into its hide as securely as possible and ducked her head as she struck down on the kill switch. The neuroinhibitor released and the dragon stopped moving.

  The head dropped, and the wings flopped back limp against the sides of its body as the creature simply fell out of the sky. Voss hung on for dear life as the dragon crashed down into the forest, its massive bulk not even slowing as it smashed through trees, plowing its way straight to the ground. The creature shook and bucked as it met the earth without stopping, laying waste to everything in its path. Voss closed her eyes and prayed for it to end quickly.

  They shattered through one last line of trees and out into a large clearing, throwing up great wakes of brush and soil as it went. Voss lifted her head to look, was alarmed to a see a house in their path and ducked right back down. At last the creature's momentum slowed, and after a few tense seconds the world finally came to a standstill.

  After a moment of nothing else happening, Voss opened her eyes and risked a glance outward. She was still perched atop the dragon's spine, seemingly none the worse for wear. She sat up slowly, looking around. Miraculously, the house in the middle of the clearing was still intact. The creature had come to rest just short of it, in a large plowed field off the west porch.

  She heard exuberant voices in her ear, but she couldn't make out the words. Her head was still stopped up from the sudden pressure change of dropping several thousand feet in two minutes.

  She unclamped her heels from the creature's hide, retracted her hooks and slid shakily down to the ground. She stumbled a bit as she regained her balance, staggering forward until she was standing next to the dragon's head. She took off her helmet and shook her hair out, happy to feel the sun on her face.

  She turned to the enormous beast lying prone in front of her, and suddenly found the whole situation absurd and hilarious. "That's right, stay down!" she yelled, throwing her helmet at the creature's head and laughing as it bounced harmlessly off the brow ridge to clatter down on the other side.

  She looked left as the dark shape of Vermithrax approached, hovering just above tree level. Her head was clearing, and she could hear laughing in her ear. "That was definitely one for the books," she heard Aris say.

  "Is everyone okay?" she asked.

  "Mostly," Aris said. "There might be a concussion and some mild heat stroke between us, but nothing serious, thankfully. You?"

  Voss looked at the creature. "You should've let me bring my axe."

  "Wouldn't have done anything," Aris said.

  "Yeah, but it would've made me feel better," she said, looking back up to the ship, which was now sidling out over the center of the clearing to hover over her and the fallen dragon. The cargo door split open on the underside and she could see Aris and Mira getting the lifts into position. The three arms swung around, descended to the opening and lowered three curved electromagnetic clamps down toward the creature. Voss stepped up to the first one and positioned it at the back of the dragon's head and closed the clamp around its neck at the base of the skull. Indicator lights flashed green as the clamp powered up.

  She crawled up onto the spine and waited for the second clamp, looking up into the bay opening. "Guys? Are we even sure she's gonna fit?"

  "Dragons are mostly neck and tail," Gareth said from behind her. She turned around to see him stride up to the creature and climb up onto its back, stepping up in front of her. "We'll just need to fold her up," he said with a smile as he reached up and grabbed onto the second clamp as it lowered, bringing it down between them.

  Voss grinned. "Just like you, stick," she said as they both knelt down to position the clamp. "Where were you just now, anyway?"

  Gareth shook his head dismissively. "Clearing an obstruction."

  They activated the clamp and positioned the third at the base of the tail. As the lifts brought the dragon up into Vermithrax's hold, the two stood on the creature's back, taking one last look out on the bright countryside. "Say goodbye to the planet Boone," Voss said. "Maybe the next one won't be so hot." Gareth rolled his eyes as they were swallowed up by
the cool interior of the ship.

  • • •

  Petra didn't quite believe what she was seeing, and her threshold had already been pushed considerably. After leaving the chaos of the burning Main Street, she had ridden in silence down the East Road, her thoughts a maddening blur of activity. Had the creature been driven away? Would it come back? What did it even want? It was too much. Petra had almost missed the turnoff onto the farm road leading to Rowan's homestead when a cacophony of screeching and crashes brought her out of her distraction.

  The noise seemed to have come from the direction of the homestead and she had urged Errol into as close to a gallop as was possible on the winding road. As the way widened and they came around the bend into the open clearing, the horse had come to an abrupt halt.

  Petra sat openmouthed, her brain attempting to process what she was seeing. The dragon lay prone in the center of the field next to Rowan's house, having apparently plowed out of the forest into the center of the clearing, leaving a violent wake of broken trees and destroyed earth littered behind it. As fascinated as she would have otherwise been, it was not the mythic creature that was holding her attention.

  Hovering fifteen feet directly above the beast was an elaborate black shape, a great metallic mass that hung motionless in midair. Like no vessel she had ever seen, it was immense, all sharp angles and straight edges, but sharing a similar black skin and hulking silhouette as the creature below. Jets of steam issued forth from the corners, and lights flashed along the sides. Petra had never seen a spaceship before. In a detached corner of her brain, she knew they must exist, as she had heard travelers talk about booking passage to other worlds in a port on the south side of the continent, but she'd never considered what that might look like.

  A wide door was split open along the craft's underbelly, revealing a brightly lit interior. Movement was visible inside, and three thick lines led out and down, connecting to the dragon at three points along the spine. Silhouettes of two figures could be seen standing by the third point of connection, but before Petra could even contemplate what they were doing, the lines started retracting and the creature lifted off the ground, being drawn up into the open belly of the great hovering craft.