The clockwork dragon’s head exploded in a cloud of fire when the first few rounds connected, and was immediately obscured by the smoke. Wally didn’t stop firing, however, firing way more rounds than there would be in revolvers like the one he was shooting. After a while, though, he lowered them and started reloading, and looked over to Eris. 

“Bit of help, yeah?” he said, nodding at the gun Eris still held loosely in his hand. Eris raised it and aimed at where he thought the dragon was, having to estimate it behind an expanding cloud of smoke and what seemed to now be steam. Squeezing off a few rounds, he had no idea if anything he was doing was actually working. “Just keep firing,” Wally yelled over the sound of detonating gunpowder as he circled the creature. “If we can keep it staggered, it might not be able to hit us!” He stopped to look at Eris. “By us I mean you. He’ll kill you in a single hit.” He gritted his teeth. “It might take him three for me.”

Before Eris could say anything, a tail made of interlocking brass plates swung through the air, trailing smoke, and Eris and Wally threw themselves flat on the ground as it swung overhead. The gun went click as Eris pulled the trigger again. The dragon was still impossible to make out in the foggy bank of steam. He emptied the cylinder, noticing that the shells disappeared as soon as they hit the deck. 

“Now what?!” he yelled at Wally. 

“Fuck!” Worried for a moment that this was the only answer he was going to have, Eris jumped to his feet and tried using his Aspect View, even if it was just to get an idea of where the thing was. As he did, the world turned gold and he saw the little menu he’d seen over Walther’s head before, clearly outlined through the smoke. That was something, at least. “Catch!” Wally tossed him a little pouch that seemed designed to fit on a belt, and Eris clipped it on. He’d have a chance to admire his outfit later. As soon as he did, it felt a little heavier. “Secondary weapon ammo refills automatically,” Walther shouted. “Sorry, forgot about it! Don’t hold back,” he added as he reloaded and opened fire again, randomly firing shots into the miasma. 

Eris spent a few seconds fumbling with the bullets, then looked in the direction of the clockwork creature again. Its head slowly emerged, its face still fixed in a hateful grin full of teeth. Other than a few very small scrapes, Wally’s barrage seemed to have had very little impact on it. The bullets from Eris’ own gun just glanced off the brass skin, and he noticed that the creature was lurched low. 

“Careful!” Wally crouched down, carefully looking at the creature. “I think it’s going to stri--” He’d almost finished his sentence when the dragon flipped forward, much too fast for something of that size, and its tail thundered into the deck where Wally had been standing just a moment earlier. Eris saw him recover from his sideways roll on the other side of the dragon. The creature’s glowing eyes fixed themselves on Eris, and it once again coiled its body. He was ready when it struck the deck, but his sideways jump was awkward. While the creature didn’t hit him, he landed uncomfortably on his shoulder.

“Fuck,” he mumbled. The creature was still between him and Wally, and he didn’t want to risk getting hit by its massive tail. Another few shots made it very clear to him that the small caliber bullets going ‘tink’ off its armor weren’t doing much to help his situation, and the malicious glint in the dragon’s eyes indicated that another attack was coming soon. He couldn’t dodge forever. Walther was clearly doing his best to draw the creature’s attention, but the effect he was having was minimal. The dragon lazily swiped at Eris again, and he jumped backwards, noticing that the little glowing menu was still visible above its head. 

Okay, the gunfire wasn’t working, and he was running out of options. He pointed at the creature with the gesture he’d set for the Web of Chaos ability, hoping it would do something, well, useful. The first thing he became aware of was that the menu was now big enough to read, the monster’s aspects clearly visible. 

Core Aspect: Boss

Creature Class: Clockwork

Type: Flying

Subclass: Dragon

Stance: Hostile

Target: UserID_Eris

Lvl: Hidden

Hidden: Hidden

The list of hidden aspects went on for quite a bit longer, but what drew his attention was that all of them were lighting up, one after the other, then dimming again, like they were being highlighted. Finally, the cycling stopped and the “Subclass” aspect glowed briefly. Then, the word Dragon disappeared, and the giant creature in front of Eris turned into a chicken. He blinked, and looked at the menu. 

Subclass: Chicken

“Huh,” he said. Well, that was clear. It was, indeed, a chicken. A clockwork one at that. It looked at him sideways with eyes that were no less malignant or angry, but it also made no effort to close the distance between them. It did go ‘bawk’ a couple of times, clucking angrily to itself as Wally walked over to Eris.

“What did you just do?” he asked. It was clear he was having trouble keeping a straight face. Going from mortal peril and imminent death to Chicken was more than a little surreal. He did keep one of his guns trained on the angry poultry as he walked over.

“I have,” Eris said with all honesty, “no idea. I think this Web of Chaos thing m--” That was as far as he got when, with a thundering roar, the chicken was a dragon again all of a sudden. Eris and Wally both jumped backwards, shocked. 

“Why did y--”

“I didn’t!”

“Turn it back!”

“I’m trying,” Eris said, but every time he pointed, his vision flashed a very dull red for a moment. A little timer appeared above his hand for a second, and then faded. It was counting down from ten. Wally looked at his hand, then at his face, then back at his hand, put two and two together, and started blasting at the dragon again, presumably to buy Eris time. Putting his own gun to use, Eris made sure to circle the monster, trying to keep out of range of its blind swipes at where he’d been a while ago, as he counted down the seconds. Wally followed him closely, making sure the two of them didn’t get separated again. 

“You getting close?” Wally asked. “Not to rush you or anything but I can’t keep this thing busy for a lot longer I think, and I’m not getting through that armor.” He kept squeezing off round after round, but fewer and fewer of the shots were causing the clockwork monstrosity to recoil. Eris heard a little ding when he’d mentally hit zero, and tried again, pointing at the creature. The creature’s menu popped up again, and the aspects once again started highlighting until it finally stopped, on one of the hidden ones. Eris looked at the dragon, then at Wally. Both of them turned around and started running as it charged at them, exactly the same as it had been, with one notable difference.

“Why is it pink?” Wally yelled over the sound of bellowing dragon. 

“I don’t know! I think it’s random!” Eris replied. They both dodged aside, one in either direction, as the massive tail slammed into the ground between them, knocking them off their feet. When Eris pointed, he saw the numbers appear above his wrist again. He’d need at least fifteen seconds more. Crap. Maybe he could distract it long enough for the Web of Chaos ability to recharge. The pink faded, and the gold brass colour shone in the sun. Eris looked at Wally, then at the tail. Wally shook his head. Eris nodded. Wally shook more insistently. Eris jumped on top of the tail. 

Immediately, he was yanked away and the whole world turned into a blur as he clung on for dear life. The creature didn’t seem to know what to do about his unorthodox assault, spinning in a circle and giving Eris the unpleasant feeling of having to throw up on an empty stomach. He jammed the pistol between the brass plates of the creature and pulled the trigger several times. Maybe they’d ricochet on the inside and hit something vital, and even if they didn’t, it made him feel slightly more in control of the ridiculous situation he was in all of a sudden. The dragon, snarling in frustration, made to bite at its tail, and only because of his momentum did Eris manage to jump away far enough at the last second, landing on the deck with a thump. Behind him, giant, serrated teeth dug themselves into brass plating. A giant roar cut through the air and Eris couldn’t help but feel a little smug that he’d managed to make the creature hurt itself. Wally rushed over to help him up. 

The growl behind them reminded them that they weren’t safe yet, and Eris spun around, firing off his ‘web’ for a third time, hoping for a more useful outcome. Again the various aspects lit up, until the highlight settled on a hidden parameter and the dragon froze. Then it trembled for a second, and they could hear the sound of groaning metal. Then it slammed into the deck with a deafening crash.

“What the h--” Wally said, and the whole deck lurched again, buckled for a moment, and then planks decided that bending was no longer preferable to breaking, and the air was full of splinters and shattered wood. The dragon disappeared beneath the flooring. Eris and Wally were thrown to the deck and found themselves quickly sliding towards the hole in the floor. Eris grabbed a piece of piping and held on for dear life, but Wally slid confidently forward, and simply grabbed Eris by the collar, yanking him down with him. 

“What,” Eris managed, before they were both airborne. Below them, the dragon had recovered from its sudden and apparently huge increase in weight and had started to climb up. Teeth glittered as it saw them fall down and it coiled itself up to snap them out of the air. “Oh f--”

The dragon was gone. So was the ship. Suddenly, the two of them were in freefall. Wally whooped triumphantly, punching the air victoriously. “Yes!” He looked at Eris, who was confused, scared and utterly lost. “The trigger is under that deck! The game thinks we died to the dragon and put us in the next scene. 

“We’re falling, Wally! The ground is right there!” Eris pointed, as if that was necessary. “I’m not very familiar with falling from heights, but I can make a wild guess at what’s going to happen when we get there!”

Wally looked smug, hooked his hands behind his head, as if he was lounging on clouds. “Enjoy the view,” was all he said, and nodded up. Eris spun around in the air and finally saw the airship they’d been on top of. It was massive. In fact, massive didn’t do it justice. It was a palace, a small city, floating on top of a network of skyscraper-sized balloons and zeppelins, several of which were looking dangerously empty. That’s what he’d been on top of?

“That whole thing is going to hit the ground?” he asked, incredulously. Something that size would utterly destroy any landscape it made contact with.

“Yup,” Wally said. “Three times a day, like clockwork.” He grinned. “Pun intended. Oh, sweet, ride’s here.” He looked behind Eris, who turned around just in time to see a giant maw close around him, and then everything went black.

Elamimax

Things go from strange, to stranger. If you want access to several chapters that have already been released, you can check those out over on my Patreon, which would already go a long way in supporting me, which helps me write even more! In the meantime, why not check out my other stories? I've also been releasing We're Not So Different, You and I, as well as a new story, Among Brighter Stars. Feel free to check those out, too!.