Jerik found the answer to his question in virtually no time at all. Riding on Athena’s back as she was much faster across long distances, they’d flown away from the platoon’s intended travel path, cutting a straight line through the wild countryside of the Menoran continent to the western mountain range that housed the most dangerous raid zone of them all. They touched down lightly on the last large hilltop when they made it to the intended destination and stared out across the last of the plains.
It was even worse than he’d expected. From where they stood to the opening of the path into the Iron Peaks, there was perhaps half a mile of broad, open plains. Except that they weren’t open anymore. Monsters were cluttered there, in huge groups, resembling massive campsites. Thousands of them. He let out a shaky sigh as he took the scene in. It was an encounter he wouldn’t dare attempt with five hundred men, let alone fifty. He gave a start as a dragon flew overhead, roaring louder than a jet engine.
“We need to be more hidden,” he said quickly and quietly to Athena. “We’re too exposed.”
She immediately turned away from the swath of monsters and ran down the opposite side of the hill, breaking away from the open hilltop. She laid down in a clump of trees, and the lights from her body dimmed considerably. From a distance, she’d be very hard to pick out. Jerik nodded his approval and dropped to his stomach, slowly crawling his way back to the top to peer through his rifle’s scope.
With Athena’s sight, it was easier to make out details as he switched between the camps he could see. The power dynamic was obvious, even at a cursory glance. Legendary-Class monsters attracted those of lower rank and power around them, forming those clusters he’d seen. There didn’t seem to be any consideration for monster type, everything was spread so completely. Just natural instincts at work, he thought. No doubt the work of an extra strong application of the Monster Winds. He thought the air was a bit heavier in this area. Athena definitely seemed more on edge.
“Do let me know if you start to lose control,” he muttered quietly, not even sure if she could hear him. Just to be safe, he loaded one of his precious few tranq rounds into Paragon. Each dart contained a concentrated dose of the yellow liquid cure, just in case her immunity failed. They couldn’t know for sure that the immunization would hold with how concentrated the Monster Winds was. “Not that it matters. I think we’re fucked regardless.”
The closer he looked towards the mouth of the pass, the more unique and strong he could see the monsters becoming. The two closest clusters were actually led by Raid-Class monsters, not Legendary-Class. The very last cluster was something of an exception from the others. The leaders were two Special-Class griffons. One Tek, one Magik. They, and the monsters grouped around them, were all wearing armor. Not a single one of them was lower than Legendary-Class.
“Fuck,” he said quietly, drawing the single word out. Just being within sight of the monster army was enough to make him afraid. Even though he was confident in his camouflage and knew he was hidden, he still felt his skin crawling, as if any second now, he could be spotted and swarmed. Logic and reason told him that there was virtually no chance of discovery and that he could make a quick escape. Fear and imagination replied that one or more of those monsters might be stronger and faster than Athena. Fear and imagination won.
“Yeah, we can’t stay here,” he muttered and started to inch backward. Then something caught his eye, and he looked through the scope once more. At the mouth of the pass, the Tek griffon had suddenly lifted its head, and, across that huge distance, met Jerik’s gaze. It gracefully rose to its feet, its vibrant green eyes shining maliciously. Jerik knew at once it wasn’t a fluke, and shot to his feet, ready to run. That movement made him clearly visible to dozens more of the monsters, and he heard a distant roar.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he said loudly, dashing towards Athena. “Get up! We need to run!”
She was on her feet in a flash, eyes reduced to slits. She turned her head to watch as he jumped onto her back, almost as if tempted to bite him. When he was seated securely, she hesitated, not taking off. That only served to increase his fear in the moment, and he swallowed nervously, taking out a syringe of the cure.
“Fight it,” he growled to her. “Let’s get out of here. We only have a few seconds.”
Finally, her wings slowly rose on either side. She jumped into the air, beating them a little unevenly. It was like she only barely had control of her own body, he thought. But he didn’t have time to worry about that. He looked back to the army, checking the distance between them. Just in time to see the wild Tek Griffon open its beak. A bright green light shined from its throat, and, before he could react, it fired a beam of energy directly at them. It moved with the speed of a sniper round, slamming into Athena’s flank a foot from his leg. Even then, the heat of it singed his suit, and Athena was knocked out of the air to land with a crash in the clump of trees.
“Shit!” He exclaimed, his body numb with adrenaline. He had to dismount to allow her to roll to her feet, losing more precious seconds. The ground around them shook, and the dirt a few feet away burst in a shower, revealing a Crawler, a praying mantis-type monster with razor-sharp blades on its arms. They could burrow faster than you could run. Catching up in that short time was no challenge for it.
Athena pounced on the Crawler at once, smashing it flat into the ground and tearing into its soft underbelly. The creature gave a shriek of agony, and before the sound ended, Athena was lifting off again. The shock of being hit by that beam seemed to have shaken off the effects of the Monster Winds, and she was herself again. Follow me!
Jerik leaped into the air after her with his magnetic flight, one hand reaching out to grab onto her back. Before he could, he was aware of green light in the air around him and knew the Tek griffon was firing its beam again. Athena turned on a dime, flying to intercept the attack her defenses engaged. The beam attack bounced off her body at a downward angle, searing through the hard-packed earth and leaving a hole several feet deep. Jerik didn’t want to imagine what that would do to his body if it connected.
He managed to place one hand on the base of Athena’s neck, and the magnetics took effect, holding him in place. He didn’t even wait to be fully secure before screaming at her to take off, which she did. It was all he could do to pull himself into a proper seated position, crouching low to avoid the buffeting effect of her slipstream. She beat her wings furiously to gain altitude, swerved to avoid another beam, then rolled over into a steep dive.
For several seconds, Jerik was only aware of the roaring wind in his ears and more flashes of green light. Then there was a burst of red-orange light, clearly a dragon’s breath attack, but Athena broke free of it and continued her dive. He chanced a look at their direction and speed and saw that Athena was barely skimming the surface of the hill with her dive, her wings now flared, her entire body vibrating with the violent rush of speed. Something screeched behind them, and he glanced back in time to see the Magik griffon flying into view. It was faster than Athena!
Athena, also realizing she couldn’t outrun her Magik counterpart, abandoned her dive for speed and gained some altitude. The Special-Class monster changed its trajectory with ease, its talons reaching out to snatch at Jerik. Athena’s message flashed across his field of vision, nearly making him miss the right moment to duck. I can’t kill it myself!
“Just focus on flying!” He shouted once he’d lifted his head again. He slapped Paragon onto his back and grabbed Benji’s rifle. He just hoped it could do some damage. “Avoid its attacks, and I’ll do the rest!”
It was the worst kind of situation. She had to put her trust in him if she wanted to survive, and their partnership was still too new for the kind of loyalty that required. Still, she let out a growl of irritation and went along with it. Tucking her wings in tight, she dropped like a rock, ending up beneath the other monster. Jerik lifted the rifle and opened fire at its stomach as it spun around to follow them. The rounds barely did any damage, mostly ricocheting off of an invisible barrier on its skin. Still, a few penetrated the defense, to open tiny wounds along its ribs.
“It’s a kinetic shield,” he said loudly, more thinking out loud than sharing actual information. “A Tek trait on a Magik creature. That’s a problem.”
Kinetic shields were excellent at absorbing blunt or slashing damage. It took immense piercing force and stopping power to break through those. A quality that Paragon had, but the borrowed rifle definitely didn’t. In addition, he could see that the minor damage he’d inflicted was already being healed, as the creature’s magic nature began slowly restoring its body. Cursing loudly, he knew he had to rely on his better rifle, even if it was a wholly unreliable weapon in these conditions.
He had the first round loaded in seconds, and Athena caught on to his plan. She veered to the side as the enemy griffon dived at her, and flew straight to the side before pulling up to hover in place, her body strangely still, her wings hardly beating. For a fraction of a second, Jerik felt like he was sitting on solid ground, not a moving creature. The moment passed too quickly for him to seize it, and his first shot went wide.
You’re too slow!
“I’m trying my best!” He snarled. “I only need one good shot to break that kinetic shield! Give me another moment like that, I can get it!”
First, she had to avoid the new rush the other griffon went into. It was more careful about its flight path and attack, coming even with Athena and cutting her off as she tried to turn. The two griffons grappled in mid-air, the magik beast’s talon flashing mere inches from Jerik’s helmet in its attempt to gouge at Athena’s metal hide. She couldn’t break free, and they began to plummet. The two monsters could probably survive a fall from this height, but not Jerik. He also couldn’t break free with how violently they were spinning, because he’d get hit by a wing or talon and be critically injured that way. Only one option left to him.
He drew the pistol off his hip with one hand and pointed it directly at the Griffon’s yellow eyes. He fired every round in the magazine in a burst of shots. The monster recoiled, breaking its grip on Athena. Just barely twenty feet from the ground, Athena pushed free and spread her wings, while the other griffon hit the ground with a nasty crunch.
Jerik clutched Athena’s back with one hand, and Paragon with the other, holding on for dear life as Athena pulled up, finally free and clear. She raced away from the monster army as fast as she could, slowly gaining more height. She’d taken some serious damage on her front right leg, the limb hanging limply as she flew. Several inches of wiring were exposed, and the wound was sparking. He’d have to patch her up as soon as they landed. Well, Nick would, he thought.
He took a moment to gain a better study of the landscape around them, making sure they were headed in the right direction. It was only then that he spotted, just barely visible in the direction he’d come from, the Smoke Brigade moving towards him. Either he’d been on that hilltop longer than expected, or they’d moved fast. Too fast, he realized. There were still monsters chasing him. Athena could outrun them, but not the platoon, and there was no chance to lose them before he made contact with his own men.
