Clattering Bones (3)

--Gatix--

“Here!” I hugged Ms. Queen tight, twisting myself in mid-air so she was on top. The fall was shorter than I expected, but the landing and subsequent rolling still sent spasms of pain throughout my body.

“Uuh...” Ms. Queen rolled off when I let go of her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Pain in my ass, but I'll live.” Dirt cascaded off my armor as I stood up. “Let's g-” Another shriek cut me off, powerful enough to vibrate the ground.

“Oh... no...” Azala's eyes widened when she turned to the tower. Slamming a paw into the structure, Horot's skeleton raised its head high to shriek loud enough for the ground to vibrate. A swing of its tail sent bones flying in all directions as it slammed its other paw forward, a spiderweb of cracks shooting through the tower's base.

“We need to go.”

“No need to tell me twice.” Ms. Queen shot off. I wasn't far behind her.

“Agent, I will start the teleport.” Another shriek, followed by the indistinguishable sound of something large collapsing.

“Leave it, Nev.” The entire landscape seemed to move as the bone piles started to wiggle.

“Considering the enemies you've faced in the tower, this one likely has the same abilities.”

“You have a plan for this thing?”

“I can drain it if we get out of the null zone,” Azala answered.

“That's too far.”

“I agree with the sentiment,” Nev said.

“Don't teleport without me telling you to.”

“Ms. Queen will be faster on her own.”

“And I might wake up dead. Not risking- shit!” Several loud thumping noises prompted me to look over my shoulder where a collapsed tower and a gigantic skeleton standing on all fours waited my sight. After giving its head a brief shake and sniffing the air twice, it let out a single yelp before its gaze locked onto me. The force of its charging paws stirred one of those ancient nerves responses that had ensured humanities survival throughout the ages: I was intimidated. “Nev...”

“You can't win this fight, Agent.”

“But I can delay it. Activate all stabilizers and put Scythe's output at maximum.” The effect was immediate: the motors in my suit increased their whine as my movement became stiffer.

“Gatix?” Ms. Queen looked at me as she started to pull away. “What're you going to do?”

“Buying us some time.” The doubt in her eyes was plain as day, but she continued running. “Nev?”

“Stabilizers activated, Scythe's output set. You can fire two blasts before the weapon will overheat.”

“Swell.” I raised the weapon, pressing the rifle's butt firmly against my shoulder before pointing it at the approaching giant. Years of practice have taught me to aim within a second. This time was no different. Inside my visor, the red crosshairs lined up with the middle of the skeleton's head. With as force as Scythe could exert, aiming the old-fashioned way wasn't an option. “Think this will work?”

“Not at all.”

“Me neither. Firing!” I pulled the trigger.

BANG

I would have been flung backward if it weren't for the stabilizers, not to mention the possibility of my armor and body being torn apart, yet I still spun halfway around. The approaching dragon wasn't as lucky: upon impact with my shell, its head exploded in bits too small for the eye to see, and two legs broke away. All signs of un-life vanished as it fell to the ground.

“Removing stabilizers.” My limbs slackened almost immediately. “I suggest-”

Several curses left my mouth as a new force latched onto my back. “Get off!” Something white flashed in the corner of my eye, and pulling it forward revealed one of the headless freaks. Most disturbingly was the piece of metal in its right hand. “These things can break through my armor?!” I rammed my fist through its rib cage in protest.

Another latched onto my left shoulder. That problem was solved by twisting to the side and delivering a kick. I hurriedly surveyed my surroundings. Two dozen of the headless maniacs charged toward me, two already in the process of leaping. I moved sideways to dodge the first, but the second required more violence. “Nev! Shock gauntlet!” I heard the static as several blue arcs shot out from my hand to strike the nearby skeletons. I didn't expect to stun them, but imagine my surprise when all those affected dropped into a pile of bones.

“More incoming.”

“How many of these things are there?!” I dodged another one. No use in fighting what can't die.

“I am counting two hundred fifty signatures in the imminent vin-”

“That many?!”

“It is likely there are more.”

“Shit!” I fired the electro glove a second time. “I'm really hoping Ms. Queens' life drain works...”

“The teleporter is rea-”

“Do not teleport me!”

“Why?”

“Other than the health risks?” I put my fist through the chest of a skeleton that came too close. “Ms. Queen has the trisortium.”

“A trivial amount.”

“Irrelevant! Where's she?”

“She is close to the barrier. You should be able to rejoin her in under five minutes.” A horrifyingly familiar shriek cut him off.

“Don't tell me that thing has already regenerated?!”

“In that case, I do not have any feedback to provide you.”

“Shit!” I felt the ground starting to vibrate again.

“Ms. Queen has reached the edge of the null zone.”

“And here I'm playing fetch with the dog.” A massive shadow caught my attention before the dragon landed next to me, creating a shower of headless minions around its impact zone.

Too close for Scythe, I thought as I sheathed the weapon. My pace was good, so I didn't lower it. Instead, I changed my direction to run directly at the dragon. “Glove!” Several skeletons dropped, but the dragon only raised a front leg. “Not getting me that easy.” Big paw dropping from the sky to squash an enemy? Done to death. The best way to ignore it? Dodge to the side. Which is what I did, successfully. I compensated for the shock wave by briefly scrambling on all fours before steadying myself, never losing a step. Dust and dirt sprayed all over me as one of the gigantic hind legs slammed into the ground, but I escaped the creature's cover a few steps later.

“Yeah!” The dragon's shriek probably said the opposite.

“How far?”

“Three minutes to the barrier.” I thought I would have been able to see Ms. Queen by now, but the legion of skeletons blocked most of the view. “Any ideas, Nev?”

“Dodging.”

Something exploded to my side to throw a mass of skeletons into the air. “What he-” Another explosion somewhere to my right. “The hell is that?”

“Look up.” Doing so revealed five orange-red balls, each striking the ground in an explosion as more appeared in the sky. “I think Ms. Queen is helping you.”

“Remind me to thank her for that.” I could feel the thunderous vibrations starting anew. “But I think those are only gonna piss that thing off.”

“It's coming.”

The dragon landed at my side this time, giving off the loudest shriek yet. The sheer force of the sound was strong enough to halt my momentum. I had to resist cowering and covering my ears.

“Incoming!” Nev warned.

A drive to my left managed to dodge the incoming paw, but I didn't expect the dragon to slam its tail into my rib cage directly. I was airborne in a second, demolishing a skeleton as I flew through it. Red lights were already filling my visor as the armor protested. But more importantly, I was in incredible pain.

“Nev...” The copper taste of blood filled my mouth. “Stabilizers.”

“Activating.” I could only close my eyes and hope for the best. Sheer momentum meant I bounced off the ground upon impact and continued rolling until I slammed back-first into a rock wall. If the pain was previously a mild discomfort, it was now a raging alarm. Darkness tinted my vision, and both my legs were bent at unusual angles. That is if my visor could be trusted with the crack through it, with the left side altering between a flickering mess and static.

“Stabilizers damaged.”

“No shit.” I grimaced in pain. “Scythe?”

“By your side. Damaged heatsinks will make reloading impossible, but the firing mechanisms are functional.”

“Good.”

“Activating teleport.”

“Gatix!”

A flicker of movement caught my attention. “Not yet.”

“Gatix!” Ms. Queen bent next to me, using her left hand to hold my head in a stable position. “Are you alive?!”

“Yeah.”

“We're out of the null zone.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Horot is coming, but I should be able to take it from here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well... no, but...”

“Thought so.” Several red splotches appeared inside my visor when I coughed. “Listen. I can at least stop it but... gonna need your help.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Can you see the creature?”

“It's coming straight towards us.”

“Excellent.” If anybody were to ask me, my hand shook to bring her attention to my weapon. Not due to the injuries. “Point Scythe at it.”

She shifted herself to my right with a nod, grunting as she brought the weapon to my hand. Through the scope, I could see the dragon leaping closer in splashes of minions. “Little to the left... there.” The stinging pain in my ribs became worse with each second. “Listen, I'll probably disappear when I fire this shot. It's possible I might not make it out alive. If that's the case, find your traitor... and cut his head off.”

“And if you don't die?”

“Then I'll be back, and you'll probably find me soon.” The dragon was close enough to count its teeth. “See you around, Azala. Nev?”

“Eighty percent completed.”

“Gatix?”

“Yeah?”

“Don't keep me waiting at the end.”

The creature gave a triumphant shriek, knowing its prey could not escape. Right at the same time as I squeezed the trigger.

BANG