by Sean Grigsby
I nearly threw up when I stepped into a heap of Behemoth droppings.
“This is awesome,” Afu said. His voice bounced off the rocks and echoed deep into the cave. He kicked at a group of rocks. “These look like stone dildos coming out of the ground.”
I loved Afu, but I wished he’d shut up. Sure, we were trying to draw out the Behemoth, but I didn’t want to ring the dinner bell for it either. But after a while, I was bored. We didn’t see any more smoke, and the therma goggles weren’t revealing anything but a few cooling piles of dung.
“How far have we gone?” I asked.
Naveena checked her holo-reader. “Just over two miles.”
“Shit!” My voice echoed as if I’d stuck my head inside a church bell.
Naveena spun on me. “Why don’t you just start shouting the scaly’s name, Brannigan?”
“Afu’s been talking the whole time back there about stone dicks and all kinds of other stuff.” I pointed for emphasis.
“I wasn’t that loud,” said Afu.
“Let’s do it here,” I said. “The closer we are to the entrance, the better.”
“We don’t have anywhere to hide here.” Naveena held a hand to our surroundings. “And it’s not flat at all. We’re more likely to get ourselves impaled on a broken rock.”
“I’m thinking of conserving our energy and being in a spot we can bail out if we have to. I don’t like being this deep as it is.”
“That’s what she said,” Afu snorted.
“Fine,” Naveena said.
With all our gabbing, I might not have had to release the wraith at all, but since I’d opened my big mouth and Afu was already creeping toward the cave wall to get away, I held out the remote. I shone my light on the buttons to make sure I hit the right one.
After pressing the black button, a white light shot from the tip of the remote’s coil, and Theresa’s wraith leapt back out into the world, slashing and shrieking as if I’d only pressed pause on it from the night before.
I gritted my teeth to keep from yelping and ran to where Afu crouched. Naveena backed away slowly, keeping her sword arm forward, even though I’d told her it would do no good.
A roar came from deeper in the cave. And we still had a wraith to deal with.
“The wraith did its job. I’m trapping it again,” I yelled to Naveena.
The wraith flew toward me.
“No,” Naveena said. “Wait for the dragon.”
The ghost stopped and turned to speed toward Naveena. It couldn’t make up its mind on who to go after.
“I have to trap it now.” I ran at the wraith with the remote outstretched in my hand. I was about to press the catch button when my foot hit a rock, and both me and the wraith-catcher tumbled across the cave floor.
Claws scratched across my helmet, as I scrambled away on my hands and knees, and the wraith’s glow illuminated the rocks a foot or two in front of me. I didn’t see the remote anywhere, but then the wraith’s glow winked out and only my flashlight beam was left.
“Damn, Brannigan.” Naveena said behind me, holding the wraith remote. “You’re clumsier than a three-legged clown in a banana factory.”
Normally, I would have had a good retort for that one. Instead, I said, “So, we just wait around for the Behemoth to show?”
That’s when I heard the rocks cracking behind me.
“I don’t suppose either of you brought any playing cards?” Naveena asked.
Afu laughed like an old car low on gas.
“Hey, Afu,” I said. “How long have you and Williams been together?”
“You knew about that?”
Naveena sputtered. “Even the dragons knew about that, man.”
I laughed just before the ground shook and orange fury set the cave alight. Above me, all three heads of the Behemoth shot out of the dark, spewing fire as its claws and wings crushed through priceless rock formations, throwing a fit like a big, douchebag three year-old. The wraith hadn’t only attracted the scaly to us, but it sent the dragon on a rage-filled feeding frenzy, and as far as I could tell we were the only things flammable and edible within the immediate vicinity.
“Go!” Naveena left me, running toward the cave entrance.
Afu was already ahead of her.
My helmet’s flashlight bobbed all over the place, and I had to navigate by flashes of visible surroundings as they came. Zigzagging, I ran past an ice-like formation, but one of the Behemoth’s heads crashed through it, sending rocky shrapnel all over me.
Teeth clamped just behind my ass, then came the fire.
This pattern wouldn’t hold for another two miles. I was either going to die down in that cave, or I was going to disappoint the propellerheads and bring them back another dead dragon.
I could live with disappointment.
Skidding to the right, I spun around. The Behemoth’s center head charged for me, spreading its jaws and breathing flames. I power jumped, but aimed forward so I didn’t break my neck on the cave ceiling.
I landed on its snout and held on to whatever my hands could find. Unfortunately, my right hand had found the inside of its mouth. The scaly bit down, and an ungodly amount of pressure crushed into my arm. The power armor cracked.
Another head snapped at me from the side. This one grabbed my legs in its teeth, and both Behemoth heads pulled me in either direction. My power suit was obviously not designed with this kind of treatment in mind. My arm was in danger of being ripped out of the socket, my legs ground into pepperoni. It was like two dogs fighting over a chew toy. The third head with nothing in its jaws roared out a victory. I roared back.
I flung myself over and hit the button for my laser sword. The beam shot into the middle head’s gums, and the jaws let me go. Using the same momentum, I swung to the underside of the head that held my legs and sliced deep, avoiding my own appendages.
For a second, the resulting roars of pain were a three-part harmony, but with my laser sword I cut it down to an angry duet. I fell hard onto the rocks below, having to roll away from stomping dragon feet as the Behemoth lost its shit.
I flinched when I crawled into a cluster of teeth, but realized it was the severed Behemoth head.
There was no way not to kill this scaly and survive – so I went for its legs. Above me, a different kind of growl burst from the headless neck, then fire exploded from the bloody hole in a continuous stream. I guess one benefit of being a dragon is that you can cauterize your own wounds.
The Behemoth galloped away from me.
“No, you don’t!” I latched onto its hind ankle.
The scaly clawed through the cave with dizzying speed as I collided with several rock formations and maybe even a wall or two. If I thought I was lightheaded before, the concussion I was likely suffering made me want to puke.
Stop the dragon, Mom, I want to get off. But letting go wasn’t an option.
Daylight shone from above. We were at the entrance. The dragon stretched its wings and flapped, even as it continued clawing against the cave walls.
Renfro and the rest of the smokies waited at the entrance. They were stunned to see me holding on to the Behemoth’s ankle at first, gaping their mouths and staying low to avoid the river of flames pouring from the headless neck. Then they began to fire.
“Stop shooting!” I yelled.
The scaly carried me higher.
Voices sounded through my helmet, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
I really didn’t want to fall again, so I stretched my laser sword and thrust toward the dragon’s gut, but just like last time, I missed. And just like last time, I fell. Thankfully, it was from a much safer height. I landed at the edge of the cliff overlooking the cave entrance, rolling to a stop just before I would have dropped over the edge.
I pushed myself to stand and watch the erratic Behemoth pick up altitude. It was much slower having to fly with a decapitation, not paying much attention to where it was going.
“Cast,” I said, re
membering Naveena’s plan. “Brannigan to Jet 1, the dragon is in the air, heading,” I checked the position of the sun, “east. It’s still low in the air, but it’s spewing fire and picking up speed.”
“We’re on it, Brannigan,” Jet 1’s pilot replied. “Captain Jendal already gave us a heads up.”
Jet 1 flew over my head, so close I could have power jumped to catch a ride. The big cannon hung from its nose, looking more dangerous than it really was. Farther toward the horizon, the Behemoth changed direction and soared straight for our jet.
“What the hell did you do, Brannigan?” Naveena came up behind me, out of breath.
“What? It’s still alive,” I said, watching the two airborne beasts sail toward each other.
Jet 1 fired the cannon. The beam flashed like lightning, but missed the dragon by at least a hundred feet. The dragon shot its own beam – an EMP. Jet 1 maneuvered out of the way.
“Oh, damn,” Naveena said, almost in a whisper.
The remaining Behemoth heads aimed toward the jet and roared with determination, even as the headless section continued blowing fire. The jet doubled back for another round of Chicken.
“Shoot it,” I said, urging the jet to strike before the dragon closed in.
Three streams of fire were spewing out now, as the dragon reared its claws to slash at the jet.
“Fire, damn it!”
At the last minute, Jet 1 fired again, nailing the Behemoth dead center. The dragon heads dangled and no longer spewed flames, but its wings were still extended as it pitched forward.
“It’s unconscious, right?” I asked Naveena.
The others had gathered behind us.
“I think so,” Naveena said.
“Then why is it still flying?”
“Ah shit,” Afu said. “It’s not flying. It’s falling – straight toward us!”
We all ran as far as we could. I turned in time to see the Behemoth land faces first into the ground, tumbling over itself and sending sand all over us. A few granules got in my eye. This stupid dragon was a pain even while unconscious.
After the sand had settled, we watchfully surrounded it.
Afu kicked the Behemoth. “Uh, you guys? You sure that cannon is nonlethal?”
“Yeah,” Naveena said. “Why?”
“This thing’s not breathing.”
We all watched the Behemoth’s middle, hearing nothing but the song of a wind gust in the distance.
“Damn it!” Naveena said, jolting us out of our trance. “Damn thing must have broken its neck when it hit the ground.”
“Necks,” I corrected.
“What are we going to do now?” Renfro asked. “Donahue and the propellerheads wanted a live dragon.”
In the air, Jet 1 circled for a landing. I sat on the sand and watched it descend in the distance. A job not very well done.
Chapter 32
On our way home, Naveena was pacing in the back of Jet 1 when I exited the cockpit and took my seat. “What were you doing in there?” she asked.
“Just talking to the pilots.”
I guessed the answer was good enough, because she went back to her pacing and under-the-breath swearing. The others in our crew had their eyes closed, worn out from the strain of nabbing the Behemoth. Renfro was still awake, but looked like he would fall face first at any moment. Hell, I did most of the hard work, and I felt great.
The dragon itself hung about fifty feet below us, secured with magnetic rope we’d had to shimmy under the Behemoth’s dead body. The work had taken at least a couple hours, and everyone else had to take a break every few minutes. It wasn’t fun by any means, but I kept going as they took turns securing the ropes to make a net around the scaly. When we were done and loaded onto Jet 1, the plane extended a high-powered magnetic claw and picked up the Behemoth like it was a ball of paper.
“You can blame it on me,” I told Naveena.
She shook her head and kept marching. “No, Brannigan. As much as I want to, you didn’t do this.”
“So, tell the truth. The dragon died because it couldn’t go to sleep like a good, little scaly.”
“It was my plan,” Naveena said. “I should have known shooting it in the sky was a bad idea. This is on me.”
“Well, you know how I feel. It’s just another dead dragon. Case closed.”
“Easy for you to say, Dragon Blood.” Renfro stared at me through heavy-lidded eyes.
“Williams called me that before. What’s it supposed to mean?”
“Don’t tell him,” Naveena said. “It’ll just be something else for him to bitch about.”
“Well, now you know I won’t let it go,” I said.
“You don’t wear out, and you’re jumping on dragons like a wild man,” Renfro said. “You don’t think that’s a miracle?”
“A miracle of science, maybe.” I shrugged. “That blue shit Yolanda whips up in the lab is awesome. Ieiunium whatever.”
“And where do you think the curate comes from?” Naveena said.
“Don’t say dragons.”
“Dragon blood,” Renfro said. “And while any scaly blood is good for making small-scale medicine for bruises and the like, we only had one supply of live dragon blood. And guess who got it pumped into them while rolling around Canada in a box?”
My jaw dropped.
“Face it, Brannigan,” Naveena said. “You’ve got more scaly in you than all of us.”
I felt violated.
Staring at the floor for a few minutes, I noticed the slight turbulence in the air, the muffled conversation of the pilots behind the cockpit door. “So… do I have, like, super powers?”
They laughed, so loud it made Afu and Williams jump in their sleep, although they didn’t wake up.
“We’re smoke eaters,” Naveena said. “Is breathing smoke and resisting heat not enough?”
“I guess I was hoping for something more,” I said. “Like x-ray vision.”
“You old perv.”
Renfro leaned forward. “Yolanda has a theory about why we can do what we do. She thinks before the dragons went back underground all those centuries ago some warriors drank dragon blood or injected themselves with it somehow.”
“And their bloodlines kept the scaly code as the DNA was passed from generation to generation,” said Naveena. “Our people were going to inject a non-smoky and see if it had any effect.”
“So,” I said. “I got the live blood because…”
“Because you needed it,” Naveena said. “Your death drop changed plans.”
I crossed my arms. “I see. So, now we’re in the business of manufacturing smoke eaters.”
“If we can,” Naveena said. “There aren’t enough of us. If we can turn the tide of this war without having to rely on random genetics–”
War, huh?
“What about people with cancer?” I said. “Quadriplegics? Those people need that curate more than we need soldiers.”
“Dragons are more of a threat,” Renfro said. “Shit, Brannigan, I thought you would understand more than anyone.”
I wasn’t the one being hypocritical here. The scalies were a particular thorn in my ass, sure. But for ages, mankind has put more money, more time, and more brain power toward destruction than healing. And now that we know the thing we’re fighting against has the potential to change lives for the better, we hide it from the public and use it for our own agenda?
Same shit, different day.
“So, that’s why you’re pissed,” I said to Naveena. “We had one of the biggest living scalies to farm blood from, and now it’s dead.”
“Would you guys save the political talk?” Williams stared at us with one eye still closed. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Yeah,” Naveena said. “We’re almost home anyway.”
And boy, did I have a surprise for our entrance.
I looked out the window. The crowd of protesters had tripled outside our headquarters. It looked almost like a rock concert, especially with t
he huge speakers among the crowd, and the flashing of glow sticks. I couldn’t hear anything, obviously, but I hummed a tune, imagining they were jamming to it.
Droids had been brought in for crowd control. I wouldn’t let that sour my mood.
Naveena squatted beside me and looked out of a porthole. “Why are we flying in this way?”
“I asked the pilots for a favor,” I said.
Naveena glared at me. “What did you do?”
I smiled.
Naveena charged toward the cockpit, but by that time Jet 1 was over the front stairs of Smoky HQ and the weight we’d been carrying abruptly left the bottom of the plane.
“Whoa,” Afu said.
Naveena froze and turned back.
I readied to defend myself from any flying punches, and said, “I figured the crowd would appreciate a grand entrance.”
Chapter 33
Naveena didn’t punch me, although I saw in her body language that she really wanted to. As Jet 1 backed into the bay, she jumped out before the hatch had fully stopped lowering, and ran for the front of headquarters.
After exiting my power suit, I ran after Naveena, but when I broke through the doors to the hallway Sherry nearly tackled me with a hug.
“You look great!” Sherry said.
I was in a sweat-soaked smoke eater uniform and was still spitting out grains of desert sand. Wives are wonderful creatures.
Kenji stood on his hind legs beside Sherry, barking and begging for a pat. I smiled and gave him a rub.
“Your chief said you went to New Mexico to nab a dragon?” Sherry said. “Was it hot there? Is the thing still alive?”
Sherry was being exceptionally high-spirited, so much so, I thought maybe Donahue had drugged her just to keep her from demolishing the walls. Whatever the case, he’d kept his word, and Sherry was safe.
“I’m glad to see you,” I said, “but I’ve got to get to the front of the building.”
“Kenji and I’ll come with you.”