Chapter 135

  “Diamond formation,” Raelene’s voice came through the comms. “We can’t allow flyers to threaten the ground team, but we can’t slow pursuit either. Cripple what you can as we pass through. Downed is as good as dead.”

  Maximilian took point on the emerald dragon. He stood on its back between the wings, hands tucked behind him with the casual ease of someone who’d done this a thousand times.

  Raelene knelt behind him, gripping the conjured chain that ran the dragon’s length.

  Annie stood at the rear of the dragon’s back. Alexander noted she was doing something with her MetaMetal, somehow gripping the dragon’s scales directly, anchoring herself without need for a chain. Her arms had already elongated into long spear-like blades. She leaned forward, clearly eager to strike at anything that came within reach.

  Julia positioned herself to the right and behind the dragon, snowflakes trailing in her wake.

  Hjordis mirrored her on the left, wings leaving their own trail of wispy flames.

  Alexander took up the rear. Five shield-blade drones fanned out around him. The surveillance drone and the glitter-painted Annie Special held back, positioned for safety rather than combat.

  They closed in on the swarm of flying beasts rapidly.

  Over twenty creatures, a chaotic mix of forms. Things reminiscent of bats with leathery wings. Birds of prey with talons like curved knives. Something that looked disturbingly like a seagull, if seagulls grew to a size to eat humans. And at their head, leading the charge, was a gryphon.

  As the beasts came into range, their loose, disorganized formation tightened, almost jostling each other to get close enough to strike first. The gryphon shrieked, beak open wide, massive wings beating powerfully.

  A wall of claws, beaks, and teeth rushing toward them.

  Maximilian struck first.

  A dozen small shields materialized in the air ahead. Square platforms of light, hovering in a scattered pattern across the swarm’s approach. Chains erupted from their surfaces simultaneously, spearing into some beasts, entangling others. Wings crumpled as chains wrapped and crushed. Six creatures dropped from the sky, dead or crippled before they could close the distance.

  The gryphon was fast. Talons raked across the dragon’s chest. Its beak snapped at the dragon’s throat, seeking purchase.

  It found only armored emerald scales.

  The dragon’s clawed forelimbs closed around the creature’s torso and neck, gripping it. Then its jaws snapped shut around the gryphon’s head. One savage wrench ripped it free.

  The dragon barely slowed, casting the corpse aside as it plowed through the swarm’s center, causing the beasts to scatter, giving the dragon a wide berth.

  None of them wanted to follow the gryphon’s fate.

  Which gave Annie her opening.

  As the dragon glided through the gap, she went spear-fishing. Her elongated arms punched out at targets of opportunity. Creatures that strayed too close, too slow to react. The first strike caught a bat-like creature mid-wingbeat, piercing through the membrane. She tore sideways, shredding the wing. The creature tumbled away, screeching.

  The second spear took another beast in the neck. It screeched and gurgled, blood spraying, then fell.

  Annie retracted her arms, already seeking the next target. But she was too slow. The dragon had already passed through to the other side of the scattered formation.

  On the right flank, Julia shot daggers of ice into the oncoming wave. One beast dropped, an icicle finding a vulnerable eye.

  Then she collided with a pair of creatures. All three spiraled in a tangle of wings and limbs, claws and fists, losing altitude rapidly.

  Suddenly they wrenched apart. Julia held each by the throat, one in each hand. She spun in the air, fast, faster, a blur of motion.

  She released the first.

  It shot like a missile into a third beast, arcing down toward her. They slammed together, bones cracking on impact.

  Half a heartbeat later, she released the second.

  It crashed into the pile of the first two. What wasn’t already broken, shattered on impact.

  All three fell together.

  On the left flank, Hjordis’s flame wings spread wide.

  She pulled herself upward, hung for a moment, then swept the wings forward. Fire exploded outward in a wave, engulfing two creatures. They shrieked, plummeting from the sky as they burned.

  A third beast burst through the wave, heading straight at her, undeterred by the flames.

  Hjordis brought the massive two-handed sword down in a vertical arc. The blade carved through the creature from skull to pelvis. The two halves separated, passing on either side of her in a spray of blood.

  Alexander watched the remnants of the flying beasts rush toward him. Eight creatures in total, with him as the rearguard. And while he was certain the ground team could handle a few besides what they were already dealing with, he wanted to finish what they’d started.

  He empowered his five shield-blade drones with Animachina, flooding them with his Will. They spread out, responding to his thoughts, spinning through the air, mundane edges now humming with power.

  They targeted the wings, aiming for quick disabling strikes. A drone sliced through membrane. Another severed a tendon. The creatures faltered, lost altitude, and spiraled downward.

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  Those behind tried to evade. Alexander nudged the drones with Metallokinesis as the beasts twisted away, making sharp course corrections that caught them mid-dodge. A creature banked left. The drone adjusted instantly, carving through the wing joint.

  More fell. Wounded and crippled, no longer threats.

  Three remained.

  Alexander rolled, dipping below, aiming his gauntleted hand up at one. A bat-like creature with thin leathery wings, still beating frantically despite a deep gash in its shoulder.

  Rather than an instant discharge, he released the gauntlet’s energy at a sustained rate. Lightning arced from his hand and caught the wing’s edge. He swept his arm, dragging the bolt across the membrane, causing tissue to tear and burn.

  The charge depleted in a second, but not before he’d carved a ragged line through the wing. The creature fell, screeching.

  Two threats remained. One was already beginning to lose altitude, the five shield-blade drones harassing it relentlessly.

  The other dove at him, webbed feet tipped with sharp claws flexing in his direction.

  The seagull.

  Alexander considered his cybernetic arm.

  The gauntlet’s supercapacitor arrays held a decent amount of energy and took less than thirty seconds to fully recharge. The arm, running from fingertip to shoulder with much of its internal volume dedicated to capacitors, held roughly ten times that.

  He could unleash it all at once for a devastating strike, sustain a lower-powered beam across multiple targets, or fire several standard lightning bolts with no need to recharge between shots.

  He’d fully charged it after installation. It had taken almost five minutes, an eternity in combat.

  The giant bird closed in on him.

  Half charge. No sense risking damage to untested systems.

  He raised his left arm and fired.

  The lightning bolt struck center mass. Alexander imagined the process; the liquid in the seagull’s body super-heating instantly, forming an expanding wave of pressure away from the point of impact. A wave that had nowhere to go but out.

  The bird’s eyes exploded. Its back ruptured outward in a spray of blood and viscera.

  It was dead before it understood, wings spasming mid-stroke. Then it dropped like a stone.

  Half power.

  Alexander swept the arm with Technopathy and Metallokinesis, checking for any stress damage or overheating. Anything out of place.

  There was nothing. No damage. Everything appeared as it should. The arm had handled half power without issue.

  It would take roughly two and a half minutes before it was fully charged again.

  The drones chased after him, returning to formation as the final beast spiraled toward the ground. Alexander increased the oscillating wave, propelling himself forward faster, quickly catching up with the others.

  Julia rolled in the air, still flying forward but now facing him. A small smile played at her lips.

  “The arm was pretty impressive,” she said over comms. “Worth it after all?”

  Alexander grinned. “Wasn’t worth the pain. If I ever want a second one, I’ll get it removed surgically first.”

  Hjordis bellowed a laugh from the left flank.

  “So,” Alexander said, keeping his tone light. “Thought about that dinner?”

  Color rose to Julia’s cheeks. She opened her mouth to respond.

  “Quit flirting,” Raelene cut in. “We’re almost there.”

  Julia’s blush deepened at the interruption. She gave him a look he couldn’t quite read, then turned back around.

  Alexander watched her a moment longer, then glanced down at the forest which was growing larger by the second.

  Raelene sent a private comms request. He accepted immediately.

  “She’s been on a Japanese food kick since we visited Tokyo last year. Tonkatsu is her favorite.”

  Alexander blinked, glancing toward the dragon’s back. Raelene knelt in the same position, eyes forward, giving no sign she’d said anything at all.

  A pause. Then she added, softer, “Just don’t hurt her, Alexander.”

  He didn’t have time to respond. Maximilian and the dragon pulled up sharply, the others following suit.

  The forest loomed before them, a wall of ancient wood and shadow.

  The trees were massive. Two, maybe three times the size of anything on Earth. Towering trunks and canopies that would blot out the sky.

  It also explained why it had taken longer to arrive than expected. They’d misjudged the distance entirely. It had looked close because it was enormous, not because it was near.

  Alexander studied the forest. The trees were tightly packed, their massive trunks leaving relatively little room to maneuver. The dragon would struggle to fly between them. Above, the canopy formed a thick ceiling of leaves and branches, though patches of light broke through here and there. Passing through it wouldn’t be easy either.

  “We could burn it,” Hjordis said, flames dancing from her fingertips.

  Alexander shook his head. “Too slow. They’d escape long before we cleared a path. Might even circle back to the gateway while we’re distracted.”

  “We’ll need to split up,” Raelene said.

  A pause. Alexander could almost hear her thinking, processing the options.

  “Alexander takes the center,” she continued. “Use your drones to cover as much ground as possible. Julia, Hjordis, you two take the flanks. Spread wide, but stay within range of my power. The dragon stays overhead. If anyone finds a target or needs backup, we can crash through to assist.”

  Maximilian nodded from the dragon’s neck. “Agreed.”

  Julia and Hjordis voiced their assent.

  “Don’t forget that they’re likely planning to ambush you,” Raelene added. “If you find one, expect two.”

  The dragon’s wings beat powerfully, lifting it up and over the canopy.

  “Have fun,” Annie shouted down. She was waving at him with a huge grin on her face. “Lose a leg!”

  He didn’t have time to formulate a comeback before the dragon flew out of sight.

  Alexander shook his head and descended with Julia and Hjordis, the three of them dropping down until they hovered a few meters above the ground. Even just this close to the forest, the light dimmed, blocked by the dense foliage above. The air was thicker too, heavy with the smell of earth and rot and growing things.

  “Watch yourselves in there,” Julia said quietly.

  Hjordis grunted. “Kill anything that moves. Simple enough.”

  Alexander met Julia’s eyes. Something passed between them, unspoken.

  She held his gaze a heartbeat longer, then turned and shot into the forest, ice trailing in her wake.

  Hjordis gave him a sharp nod, settled the large two-handed sword over her shoulder, and launched in the opposite direction, flame wings casting flickering shadows between the massive trunks.

  Alexander was alone.

  He reached out with Technopathy, connecting to the surveillance drone hovering nearby. The angular, faceted surface caught what little light reached them, its pyramidal points glinting.

  He gave it the command.

  The drone spun, then fragmented. Fifty smaller units burst outward in coordinated waves, spreading into the forest in every direction. They wove between branches, slipped through gaps in the undergrowth, fanned out until they formed a network of eyes across hundreds of meters.

  Data flooded back to the central drone. Visuals. Heat signatures. Movement. The topology of the forest floor mapped in real time.

  He’d designed the command drone to handle the feeds. A fairly simple AI parsed them, filtering out unimportant data, feeding him important updates as they flowed in but not overloading his own limited multitasking ability.

  Droney was meant to interface between them, adding another layer of delegation, but they’d make do. With a thought, the command drone sent the filtered feeds to Raelene.

  Then Alexander flew forward into the dark, his remaining drones forming up around him.

  The forest swallowed him.

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