Upper Level Five

  Keira and Solara stood as the wall slowly lowered before them.

  It revealed a massive domed chamber.

  Torches sprang to life one by one, firelight crawling up the curved stone.

  Keira tilted her head.

  “What is it?” Solara asked dryly.

  “I thought it would be bigger,” Keira said, face scrunched in disappointment.

  Solara turned to her, eyes wide. “Master Sergeant, it’s massive. It must be at least forty feet tall. What were you expecting?”

  Keira shrugged. “Could’ve been bigger. But have you noticed something, Lieutenant?”

  Solara’s focus shifted back to the monster forming in the chamber. “It’s sapphire. Based on the scaling from what we’ve seen, we need to focus.”

  Keira held her hand out toward it. “The fog. And well done, Lieutenant, you know your colours. What would I do without you, my hero?”

  Solara rolled her eyes. “No need to be smart, Master Sergeant. But you’re right. Those scales aren’t moving like the others. It’s closer to the armour a true emerald creates when it evolves. And those eyes… they aren’t hollow. Those are actual eyes.”

  The sapphire dragon spread its wings.

  It looked at them.

  Then it roared.

  The entire floor trembled.

  Solara stepped forward. “Alright, Master Sergeant, we will—”

  Keira placed a hand in front of her. “Did you forget something, bitch?”

  Solara raised a finger calmly. “First, that’s 8,472 hours now. Second, if that thing was emerald, sure, go crazy. But this? No. We take this seriously. Leave the ego at the door for once, Master Sergeant.”

  Keira shrugged again. “Maybe I could tell Lyra you lied and broke a promise. You know you’re her idol, right? Pretty sure I heard her praying to you the other night. She calls you ‘Oh God,’ by the way.”

  Solara closed her eyes briefly. “Fine. Knock yourself out. But don’t come crying to me when—”

  Keira was already moving.

  “And she’s gone,” Solara muttered.

  Keira racked the bolt mid-run.

  The moment her boot touched the stone, she launched into the air.

  Her Revolutionary jacket snapped behind her.

  The dragon’s head lifted slowly to track her.

  Crack.

  Then again.

  And again.

  Each shot landed before the previous thunderous snap had even cleared.

  The sapphire dragon’s eye burst.

  Its wing joint jerked.

  Scales evaporated in sprays of light.

  Keira laughed like a lunatic as she flew over it.

  She hit the far wall feet first.

  Kicked.

  Vanished low.

  The dragon twisted, roaring, claw sweeping toward her.

  She slid under its belly, muzzle flashing over and over, fresh magazine clicking into place as she moved.

  Rounds tore upward.

  She burst out the other side just as its tail slammed down, barely clearing it before the stone cracked.

  She skidded back beside Solara, kneeling, grinning.

  Solara stood with arms folded. “You could at least pretend like you’re not having the time of your life.”

  Keira raised an eyebrow. “This has been my dream since I was eight. I can’t help that the universe finally wants to cash in those IOUs… wait—”

  The dragon turned.

  Flexed.

  There was nothing.

  Not a scratch.

  Keira shouted, “I SAW THE WOUNDS! WHERE ARE THEY?!”

  “Don’t worry,” Solara said quietly. “I saw them too. Regeneration. The lower-level ones took minutes to recover like that. That was instant.”

  “It’s bullshit!” Keira snapped.

  Solara leaned slightly toward her. “8,473. Change of plan. I’m sorry. We work together.”

  Keira bit her lip, eyes locked on the dragon. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Shiny asshole mocking me. I’ll fill it with holes and let’s see how it likes that.”

  The sapphire dragon slowly puffed out its chest.

  It looked down at them.

  Keira’s expression shifted instantly. “Lieutenant! Barrier! Now!”

  Solara grabbed Keira by the collar and yanked her closer as both her hands shot forward.

  A pane of shimmering force snapped into existence just as a torrent of roaring flame erupted from the dragon’s jaws.

  The fire split as it hit Solara’s barrier, flooding around them in two violent streams. Heat swallowed the chamber. Stone hissed and blackened. The flames poured past on either side, relentless.

  “How can it breathe fire?” Solara demanded through clenched teeth. “What is this thing?”

  “I’ll explain the beauty of Skyrim later,” Keira shot back. “Just don’t get caught in its line!”

  The inferno finally died down.

  The stone around them glowed as if it had caught fire itself.

  The dragon rose onto its hind legs.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  With a violent thrust, both wings slammed forward.

  A shockwave of wind tore across the chamber, snuffing out lingering flames and blasting into them with crushing force.

  Solara threw a second barrier behind them to brace their footing as the pressure shoved them back across the stone.

  The wind slowly settled.

  “Master Sergeant!” Solara shouted. “You take vitals — eyes, wings, legs! I’ll handle cover and everything else!”

  Keira was already moving before Solara finished speaking. “Understood! Avoid its direct front, Lieutenant! Back angles only!”

  The sapphire dragon lifted from the ground, hovering just above the stone.

  Keira broke right instantly.

  The dragon tracked her movement, head turning as she wide-hugged the outer wall of the chamber.

  Its chest swelled.

  Fire built in its throat again.

  Keira grinned at the sight. “He’s going to be so pissed when he finds out about that.”

  Flame burst forward.

  A single violent crack split the air.

  The dragon’s side jerked as Solara’s blade cleared low and fast, sending it hurling sideways into the wall.

  Solara smiled faintly. “He can cry about it later.”

  The dragon rebounded and dropped directly into Keira’s path.

  Its claw came down.

  A pane appeared beside Keira, catching the strike mid-swing.

  She vaulted over its head in the same motion.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  A barrage hammered the same wound Solara had opened.

  The dragon slammed back to the ground.

  Keira landed behind it and kept running the curve of the chamber. “So? Any ideas?”

  The dragon turned.

  Solara stood perfectly still in the centre of the room.

  It roared and charged her.

  Solara stepped forward.

  Foot planted.

  Sword raised.

  The dragon dove, jaws wide.

  Steel met fang.

  They skidded backward across the stone.

  “I thought you were the expert on these things?” Solara said through the grind of pressure.

  The dragon spread its wings wide.

  Crack.

  One wing clipped.

  “That was a game!” Keira shouted. “I didn’t actually think they were real!”

  Solara dragged her blade forward, forcing her edge along the dragon’s jawline.

  The sound was long.

  Unending.

  Steel carving through scaled flesh.

  She vanished from its front.

  Now behind it.

  “Hm,” Solara said calmly as it began to turn. “Two options. We either need to hit harder… or there’s a limit to the regeneration.”

  The dragon lifted its claw high above her.

  “One shot — full mag!” Keira shouted.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  The dragon’s eye snapped shut as rounds tore into it.

  Keira used its lowered head as a step, flipping backward mid-air while firing down at it. “Oh, you beautiful thing. Want more?”

  Another wave of cracks.

  Both of the dragon’s eyes slammed shut as it roared in rage.

  Its claw still came down.

  Solara did not move.

  The claw stopped.

  Frozen inches above her head against an invisible pane.

  Keira blinked. “Bitch what are those things for real if that can’t even smash them? Also, what are we actually doing here?”

  “You know,” Solara replied evenly, “I don’t know anymore. But as the Captain always says — just hit it harder. Something will break eventually.”

  The dragon’s eyes snapped open.

  It shifted its weight onto the pane.

  Then, it swung from the opposite side.

  Before the strike could connect, Solara flicked her wrist.

  Her blade spun once.

  The dragon’s entire arm split clean through at the point of contact.

  Keira laughed. “And you pretend not to be just like us, you beautiful sparkly psycho.”

  Solara smiled faintly. “Well—”

  The dragon moved.

  Faster than before.

  Solara was ripped sideways and sent crashing into the wall.

  Keira stopped running and pivoted on the spot, turning and heading straight for the dragon head-on as she shouted, “COME ON, SPEAK TO ME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!”

  Solara dragged herself back up, rubbing her ribs and wincing. “Damn it… that actually hurt. It can regenerate whole limbs just like that, this might be—”

  Crushing stone.

  She barely had time to register the sound before the dragon’s tail, which dug into the floor like an anchor, swept toward her.

  She heard loud cracks in the background, felt the air move, tried to react—

  Too late.

  Solara was flung across the room.

  She twisted mid-flight and saw Keira smiling like a lunatic, then the tail flicked up and launched Keira brutally into the wall.

  Keira hit.

  Slid.

  Went limp.

  The dragon reared back and unleashed an enormous wave of flame toward her falling body, heat so intense that the stone along the wall began to melt and run.

  The fire swallowed Keira.

  Then the flames faded.

  Keira hung mid-air, surrounded by panes.

  A boot slammed into stone.

  A low hum began to fill the room.

  The dragon turned.

  Solara walked toward it, calm and furious, eyes like thunder as pane after pane bloomed into existence around the dragon, a swarm boxing it in from every angle.

  “Touch her again,” Solara said through her teeth, “I dare you.”

  The dragon lifted off the ground and surged toward her.

  All that followed was the ringing of steel.

  The dragon crashed into the stone as scales split and parts of its wing rained down.

  Solara was already back at Keira, lifting her and gently leaning her against the wall.

  Keira groaned, breath ragged. “I’d call that even, Lieutenant.”

  “Sure,” Solara replied, turning back to the dragon. “You tell yourself that. Master Sergeant, leave this to me.”

  Keira tried to get up, failed, and sat back down. “Yeah… good call. All yours. Just don’t—”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Solara cut in, softer. “Rest up. I’ve wanted a reason to try this.”

  She stepped forward again, watching the dragon’s parts knit back together, but slower now, like it was fighting its own repair.

  “You’re slowing down with that healing, aren’t you?” Solara whispered, a grin cutting through the anger. “Let’s see how long you can keep that up.”

  The dragon snarled.

  The next heartbeat, Solara was gone, shockwaves erupting across the chamber in bursts as steel clanged again and again.

  The dragon looked up to see her above it, standing on a pane, then another, then another, moving with terrifying precision.

  Claws swung and met panes.

  Wings tried to beat and slammed into immovable walls.

  Panes kept appearing, trapping angles, stealing space, turning the whole chamber into her board.

  The dragon was trapped from every angle.

  Solara’s thoughts tightened as she moved.

  I’ve had this ability my whole life, and I still don’t know what it is or where it came from, but it has always been there, like it’s waiting for me to choose it, except it never feels like a choice; it feels like it needs me to use it.

  She blurred past and clipped the dragon’s wing in half again.

  But every time I force it out of my body, it rejects it. Every time, the same result—I throw up. The more I do, the more sick I get. And when I awakened here, something changed that I can’t explain. The larger the panes, the more of them I create, the more I can handle the next time.

  The dragon twisted, tail snapping toward her.

  She was gone before it could even finish the swing.

  But one thing has never changed… nothing has ever broken them. I hate the name they gave it, but none of them looked at me weirdly, none of them treated me like a freak the way monsters did; they embraced it, they embraced me.

  “Absolute Point,” Solara whispered. Such an idiotic name… but it’s mine.

  Right, Elyria?

  The dragon suddenly lowered its gaze toward the floor and began to swell its chest again, fire building in its throat.

  “Staff and Corporal are down there,” Solara muttered. “Can it—No. I can’t risk it.”

  She leapt pane to pane in rapid succession until she reached the ceiling of the dome, landing feet-first on a final platform. The pane behind her ignited with force and drove her downward like a hammer striking an anvil.

  Before the dragon even saw her coming, Solara crashed onto its back like a falling mountain, her sword buried deep into scaled flesh as the pane continued to push from above. The stone floor beneath them fractured instantly, cracks racing outward in jagged veins before the entire level gave way.

  They fell.

  The dragon fought to hold altitude, wings flaring, claws tearing at empty air, but the pressure behind Solara kept forcing it down. Floor after floor shattered beneath them as they punched through the dungeon levels in a storm of stone and dust.

  The dragon twisted violently, trying to throw her off.

  Another floor broke.

  Another.

  From above, Keira’s voice tore through the chaos.

  “YOU BETTER NOT THINK YOU’RE SHOWING ME UP!”

  She dropped from the upper level, ripping both ammo belts free and letting magazines spill and tumble beside her as she fell.

  “ONE SHOT — FULL ARSENAL!”

  Gunfire erupted mid-air.

  Shot after shot cracked into the dragon’s wings and spine, bullets tearing through scale and muscle in a relentless hail as Solara and the dragon smashed into the next level down.

  Corwin and Veyra screamed at the sight just before another barrage of rounds filled the chamber with thunder.

  The dragon roared as if its life depended on it.

  That floor gave way, too.

  They dropped again, hurtling toward the starting zone half a mile below.

  Keira emptied her final magazine before impact, wings now perforated from edge to edge.

  Solara drove the dragon straight into the ground.

  The impact shook the entire structure.

  Above, Corwin lunged and caught Keira by the wrist as she dangled from a broken ledge.

  “Ma’am! Are you alright? Let me help you!”

  He hauled her up.

  Veyra shouted from behind him, “What the hell was that? You could’ve warned us!”

  Keira flopped onto the stone, grabbing her shoulder with a sharp hiss. “Ow… that actually hurt. Well, there goes my fucking shoulder.”

  From the floor above, Aidan leaned over the shattered edge. “Sis! You alright?”

  Keira lay flat on her back with a massive grin. “BEST. DAY. EVER!”

  Below, Solara stood over the cratered dragon. Its wings and back were riddled with holes, a car-sized dent caved into its spine from her descent.

  She exhaled slowly and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Well… that was a bad example to set.”

  She glanced upward at every member of the Revolutionary Army staring down through the massive vertical shaft she had just created.

  “If any of you tell him I did that,” she shouted, “double training for a month. That’s a promise.”

  A chorus of “Yes, Lieutenant!” echoed from above.

  Solara allowed herself the smallest smile and raised her sword to finish the dragon.

  The ground beneath her began to tremble.

  The entire structure shifted.

  She closed her eyes briefly.

  “Why am I not surprised…”