Warning: Every Last One

The screen glowed with a text from Maratana: I swear I saw a huge Jorseph floating naked over River-Jewel. Is this a prank something? A picture below the text showed Jorseph’s face looming as he flew low along the rooftops. Avelina put her phone away without responding.

The sound of battle abated. Projectiles no longer snapped metal. Fire crackled as officers called out for their comrades.

Large wings flapped above. They fluttered her mane as the yellow dragon hovered clutching Grabby by his feet.

“Grabby!?” Avelina shouted.

Glossy black claws snapped open. Grabby rolled across the tarp while holding up his arms to protect his eye. His body halted in front of Avelina, where he unfolded and snapped to attention. He gave a startled screech and backed away on seeing her.

“W-what are you d-doing here!?”

Avelina clutched at the elevator cage to get back on her feet, “I was going to ask you the same question. Why are you here?”

The yellow dragon landed with a commanding thump in the center of the tarp. With a flap of his wings the dusty humid air billowing around cleared by being cast out in all directions. Claws clicked while wings compressed against his back until neatly folded.

“Grabby works for me as an independent contractor. His knowledge of artifacts has proven useful on more than one occasion. I summoned him here to make an assessment, unfortunately the violence and power of this particular artifact put him in harm’s way.”

Grabby stiffened as sweat drops formed on his upper eye-lid, “Well, in a sense it’s-” the tip of the staff poked his back, “I mean, yes, that’s true. I’m an artifact expert, of course!”

Avelina put her lower hand on her left hip as she slapped the tarp with her tail, “You never told me anything about artifacts.”

“T-that’s-”

The tip of the staff poked Grabby again. The yellow dragon coughed, “That’s probably because just like you and I my dear, he keeps his work to himself. I understand that Grabby has been watching your son off and on for nearly ten years. He never told a thing about it until recently.”

The giant hazel pupil looked to the left, then to the right as Grabby wiped his upper eyelid, “Yeah, umm, no hard feelings, right? Wait a minute. The mop is still on the loose. She went in the ocean. That’s probably the worst thing that could happen!”

“Why is that the worst thing that could happen?” Avelina asked.

Reddened water from the corner of the ceiling ran over the tarp. Grabby tried to step back so it didn’t get on his claws.

The yellow dragon took a deep breath, then belched flames, “Excuse me. That fight took quite a bit out of me. A water goddess with a grudge has just accessed an essentially infinite supply of water,” he made snapping sounds with his claws, “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe she’ll be overwhelmed by the ocean and get absorbed. Her powers won’t be limitless. We’ll wait for them to exhaust, then retrieve the artifact.”

Grabby sighed, “Fidglesticks-” the tip of the staff poked into his back again.

-----

The refinery burned. Bright wisps of flames rose from the pressure release vents. Clouds fled the maze of well-lit pipes. Heat wisps curved the moon. It stood tall, dominating the squat vats, parking lots, and dimly lit warehouses surrounding it.

Cat walks clanked with the boots of the night shift crew. Shouts of workers echoed from the pipes when not drowned out by the hiss of valves. Tanker truck engines revved as wheels turned. Diesel, regular, and high octane churned in the tanker trucks to be delivered throughout the city. The refinery soldiered on despite chaos across the water. Its spotlights reflected off the bay’s surface.

Blasting horns hailed the approach of a crude tanker delivery. Just offshore, a dark vessel docked in a deep-water terminal. Lights flashed along a steel hull pitted with rust. Loading arms connected the pipes of the ship with the terminal. Beyond the hum of connection machinery, only the cry of gulls and the call of dock workers stabilizing the tanker could be heard over the waves.

The ocean bubbled. A figure rose in the shadows, one with the waves herself. She pulled the mop out of the water as her torso took form. Legs extended, even feet. She walked on water. The vessel stood in her path. Her right eye glowed. Fingers tensed about the mop’s handle as she took a step forward.

From the deck of the tanker, workers stopped to notice the approaching wisp. They could see her eye, if nothing else. One pointed, another called into the interior of the ship.

Her eye only brightened. Feet splashed upon the water’s surface. Intermittingly, they merged with it. Her gaze remained fix, her posture upright, her steps unrelenting. The ocean arrived at her signal. She raised her weapon against the vessel. A sharpened tide bore down upon the hull. Steel dented, then sparked. A ball of fire condensed within, then roared upwards. Metal shards rocketed ahead of a billowing cloud of sooty smoke.

Another sharp tide slashed the bow from the terminal. The vessel shuddered as the aft spilled flaming industrial blood; it toppled and sunk first. Another explosion split the aft into fragments. Fire roared. It spread across the surface with the oil.

A rain of metal splashed around Zenobia as she walked as if pushing through a busy street crossing. Flames roared over the tides. She reached the terminal and jumped onto the metal cat walk.

The burning sinking wreckage flamed behind her as she faced the refinery. But first, she turned her head to look back. The remains of the tanker exploded again in a torrent of high-pressure ocean spikes. Steel shredded as if made of sand. Explosions poured across the remains of the tanker from stern to aft. Debris launched from all directions. A burning loading arm fragment sliced the catwalk behind her on its way down.

Zenobia cast the oil out of her form. Droplets pelted the tide as she cleaned herself. Then the ocean itself pulled back from the refinery. The tide rushed inward. The islands grew bigger, became connected. The terminal groaned as it collapsed into sands. Yet Zenobia maintained the same height.

A water jet formed her mobile pedestal. Distant rumbling gathered behind her as she approached the refinery.

I’ll slay these dragons before I go home, every last one.