Rock Bottom

Grey, muted skies peeked out from behind the enormous civilization shelf that was high above Sayane. In between their battleground and the underside of the massive airborne metropolis, the airships hovered and continued firing flaming fury down onto the conflict below.

Soundless explosions ripped hardened soil from its earthly place and flung it high into the air all across the wasteland. Sayane now found herself being carried across.

Fuzzy was there beside her. She could not remember his name, but she could feel the soft, matted tufts of fur from its body grazing along her arm with every thudding step from the great machine that was carrying them.

Sayane did not understand if the machine itself was speaking or if some unseen figure was piloting it. All she understood was her primal instinct telling her to cling to its metallic grip for dear life. A nearby shelling shattered the ground, and Sayane screamed in terror as she covered her ears.

“Wake up! Wake up, please!” Sayane screamed to herself.

Fuzzy’s paw touched her arm to comfort her, but it was to no avail.

“Azag, what are you doing here?!” Fuzzy called up to their rescuer.

“Damn fools rushed into a trap! I warned them, but no one ever listens to me! They’ll all be dead by sunset. I came to save who I could!” the voice named Azag growled.

Hollow whizzing sounds suddenly zipped past them, and Sayane felt as though she was being shot at. Her screams continued, and she pulled all of her body into the tightest ball possible.

“Oh no! Pursuers!” called Fuzzy as he buried himself against Sayane.

“Why are they following us?!” the deep voice shouted from inside the great machine.

Three of Fuzzy’s eyes glanced at Sayane while the last one looked up at the center of the machine in debate. Something settled in Fuzzy’s mind, and he spoke.

“Azag, we have to get to safety now!! This hume is a songstress!!!” Fuzzy screamed over the vacuous screeches that were searing past them and ricocheting off the machine’s metal shoulders.

“What?!” Azag shouted.

“I truly believe she is! The Silence’s enforcers threw her in our cell, and all of us sensed it! This girl is a songstress! You have to take her to a safe house! Take us to your tavern!” yelled Fuzzy.

Without pausing, the machine churned into a higher rate of speed. Its footsteps became bounding strides that bounced Sayane and Fuzzy to and fro within its tightened grasp. Then there was a humming sound, and blue flames ignited from the machines' back.

“Hang on!!” Azag shouted as the machine began to leap into a sprint.

“Esca! Burst mode!” Azag shouted as the machine leapt into the air.

Every jump covered a soccer field’s length before landing with a crushing thud that immediately pivoted into the next jump.

Winds howled and whipped at Sayane’s skin as she fought off screaming until she passed out. Horror and shock flooded her body with adrenaline, turning her skin to pins and needles. For the briefest moment, she opened her eyes once more to see the ruins of long destroyed buildings towering over her, as the upper deck of the megacity above gazed down in brutal metallic silence.

The archway of a tunnel overtook them, and soon the sky was cut out by the stone curves overhead.

“We’re going to jump! I’ve got you! Hold on to my hand!!” shouted Azag.

“Ohhhhhh Gaia!!!” Fuzzy screamed as he looked ahead.

Sayane couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes, but she did feel more searing burns of invisible attacks tracing ever closer to her face.

Then Fuzzy was there, crawling into her arms.

“Songstress! Forgive me but I’m going to need you to hold me!!” shouted Fuzzy as he displayed his small paws in surrender.

Sayane glanced at him and understood. His tiny claws would not be able to hold onto anything during the free fall. Without hesitation, she scooped his body against her stomach and chest, then wrapped one arm over him, then the other around the metal finger of the great machine. Her legs locked around another finger just as it closed ever so slightly to better shield them.

“Please keep your hand exactly like this!” Sayane shouted.

“Understood! I will not let you go!” Azag screamed just as the ledge appeared before them.

Now, Sayane dared to look behind them at their pursuers. Though it was dark, she was able to see two small hovering cylindrical devices closing in on them.

“There are two of them!” Sayane shouted.

“Understood! Thank you! Hold on!!” Azag yelled as they reached the precipice and leapt into the darkness.

Cold abyss swallowed them as the light vanished, and the machine began an absolute free fall. This time, Sayane was not the only one screaming in terror. Fuzzy’s roar of fear struck something in Sayane’s chest that registered beyond fright. Even Azag was yelling in a frightful struggle as the machine spun side to side, while the air threatened to fling them into the nearby walls.

The great machine’s blue flames erupted once more, and Azag fought for balance.

“Come on! Come on, Esca! Straighten! Straighten!!” Azag screamed as the blue flames burst and roared.

More tracers screamed by them. Their pursuers had followed them into the darkness. By now, they had been falling for several seconds. The blue flames were burning so strongly that the metal of the machine was glowing from the heat that almost reached Sayane’s leg, but she couldn’t move.

“No, no, no!” screamed Sayane as the nightmare of everything happening almost broke her focus.

Still, she clung to the machine.

Finally, the blue flames exploded in a thunderous roar that sent waves of echoes across the walls and into Sayane’s body with a boom. Now they began to stabilize. Lights clicked on from the machine’s chest, projecting yellow beams of clarity onto the walls.

“Brace!!” shouted Azag as the machine’s other hand reached out just in time to slam an enormous lever they were falling past.

Beneath them, there was a single opening. It began to close.

“Azaaaaaaag!!!!” Fuzzy screamed as he looked down.

“I’ve got it! We’re going to make it!” Azag shouted as attack beams began to tear through the machine's metal.

The blue thrusters activated once again, slowing them even more. Now their pursuers were close. Below, the opening was half closed.

“AZZZZZZAAAAAAAAGGGGG!!!!!” Fuzzy roared.

“Trust me!!!” Azag screamed as invisible attack beams began to shred the metal plating around Sayane.

All she could do was scream until the air abandoned her lungs, and close her eyes so tight that she hoped they’d never open again.

The machine met the opening and made it through with only inches to spare. Its blue thrusters pointed downward to brace their final descent, and the water beneath them burst away in a whirling blue storm of steam.

The heavy machine struck the ground, sinking into two meters of water, and sprayed gallons of steam in all directions just as the opening above them closed. The pursuers couldn’t stop, and the last thing Sayane felt and saw was the concussive boom of the cylinders slamming into the closing doorway and exploding into a red inferno.

Then it was over. Dense steam filled the small room as the machine hummed and shook from strain. Sayane couldn’t move. Her arm stayed locked around its hand like it was the only thing tethering her to the world she’d found herself in. Releasing it felt like it would welcome some new nightmare. She could feel it flex and shift as it held her without complaint. The machine’s rounded headpiece slowly turned to look down at her with its single glowing monolens.

She couldn’t move.

“Are you okay?” Azag asked, his voice winded.

Fuzzy perked his head up and finally looked around the darkened chamber where they had landed.

“We made it. We’re in the flood control network. Brilliant work, lad!” Fuzzy exclaimed in appreciation.

Sayane couldn’t speak.

“Songstress?” Fuzzy asked softly as he touched her shoulder.

“Is she okay?!” Azag asked.

The machine’s headpiece hissed as pressure valves opened. The headpiece opened, and the chest cavity unlocked.

Sayane began to cry. It was soft at first, then it was a sob.

“Wake up. Please wake up… I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here…” she sobbed as she lost control of her thoughts.

Above her, the machine’s chest cavity opened. A gloved hand covered in metal bracings and gears reached out to grab hold of the side for support. The hand had two large fingers and a thumb. It was trembling and seemed to be struggling.

“Azag?” Fuzzy asked.

Sayane still could not look up to see the figure appearing above her. The other hand appeared, also gloved and covered in a gauntlet. The figure known as Azag hoisted himself out from the pilot terminal and looked down at the panicking Sayane, but her breakdown stopped her from looking up at their rescuer.

Her sobs became hysterical. Shock undid any mental strength, and all she could do was choke on the cold air as tremors of confusion shook her body while her gasping tears fell without ceasing. She had died, it seemed, and her afterlife was some form of hell. Or, she was trapped in the most severe nightmare she'd ever experienced, and she wouldn't wake, no matter how hard she begged.

Above her, the gloved hand reached out but then stopped.

“You’re okay. It’s okay. You’re going to be safe now. I will not let any harm befall you,” the deep, tired voice whispered as Azag’s hand retreated back into the darkness of the cockpit.