A War of Dragons

Table City, Milos

The sunlight nearly blinded Winry as she walked through the train station and out into the morning sun shining over Table City. Her eyes teared up from the light. Stretching her hand out in front of her, she smacked an arm.

"Damn it, Winry!"

"Sorry, Ed. I can't see anything." Cupping her hands around her eyes, Winry blinked rapidly, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the sun's brilliance. When she could finally see enough to move without crashing into anything, she started following Karina.

"Hey, wait up!" Alphonse whined, catching hold of her belt. "I'm blind."

"Wuss," Edward said, almost under his breath. Winry noticed he'd shaded his eyes, too, and squinted beneath his hand. Catching her look, he wrinkled his nose at her. She snorted in return.

"This way," Karina said, all but dancing in place in her eagerness to lead them to Julia.

"Come on, Al," Winry said, pulling him along behind her. Edward kept pace next to her, lowering his hand, though he still squinted. Winry did, too, but by the time they reached Julia, and some man dressed in a kind of a robe Winry didn't recognize, her eyes had adjusted as much as she figured they would for the time being.

"I hope you had a chance to eat breakfast," Julia said as a greeting.

Alphonse let go of Winry's belt. "Good morning. Daniel took us."

"After he checked out Petras. He approved of Winry's stitches. She sewed her up, and me, too." Edward gave her a warm, but fleeting smile. "He didn't look at my shoulder, though." He rotated it, showing the ease of movement.

Julia smiled at Alphonse first, turning to include Edward and Winry in her greeting. "I'm sorry, that was rude, wasn't it? I'm glad you're feeling better, Edward, and you, too, Winry." Dark circles marred Julia's eyes, and her skin had a papery texture to it Winry recognized as being caused by lack of sleep. "This is my councilor, Leon Santiago. Councilor Santiago, these are Edward and Alphonse Elric, and their friend, Winry Rockbell."

"It's nice to meet you," Winry said, bobbing her head.

Edward ran his hands down the length of the Milosian tunic, seeming lost without pockets to shove his hands in. "Hey."

Alphonse shot Edward a glare, but smiled at the councilor. "Good morning, Councilor Santiago."

"Hello," he said, "it's nice to meet you, too." The expression on his face didn't quite match his words.

Julia didn't notice, or if she did, didn't comment on it. "We were talking about repairing the train line." She waved toward the rails. "I wondered – I hoped – you'd be able to help me."

"Transmute the land bridge?" Edward let out a low whistle. "That'd take a lot of energy."

"And a lot of time," Alphonse agreed, looking down into the valley below. Winry followed his gaze, seeing rubble from the land bridge down on the canyon floor. The new rock gleamed against the thick muck of the valley floor, where it had sunk upon landing. "And more than two of us."

"Three," Julia said, "I'm an alchemist, too, remember?"

Edward said, "I'm not any more." Winry wanted to reach out to him, squeeze his arm, let him know it was okay. That what he'd done to get Alphonse's body back was amazing. She fisted her hands, pressing them against her thighs. Edward shrugged at Julia's gasp. "Al still is. He's good, too. But even if I was an alchemist, three of us couldn't fix that bridge. It'd need a lot of alchemists, working together to rebuild it." He raised his eyebrows at Julia. "How many alchemists do you have here?"

"Just me." Julia didn't quite glance at Councilor Santiago.

Alphonse scrubbed his hand over his hair. "Maybe some Amestrian alchemists can help." He glanced to the east. "Can we get a message over there?"

"Unfortunately not. The radio towers were knocked out in a recent raid," Councilor Santiago said. "We haven't had a chance to repair them. Creta's been hammering us with their airships." Rage flashed across his face before he schooled it away. "We have had no contact with anyone outside of Milos since Creta attacked the train line."

Wind whistled around them, toying with Winry's hair. Strands lashed her cheek as she realized what the councilor's words meant. "Granny doesn't know we're alive?" Her legs gave way, nearly dropping her to the ground.

"Hey, whoa!" Edward leaped to her side, wrapping his arm around her. "It'll be okay, Winry. The old hag knows we're too tough to kill."

Black dots danced in front of her eyes, and Winry bent over, breathing through her mouth to keep from vomiting. Granny needed to know they were okay. With a moan, Winry fell the rest of the way, her knees cracking against the ground. Edward squatted next to her, pulling her against his chest. "She knows, Winry," he whispered in her ear, a chant she could hear even over the roaring in her head. "Granny knows we're fine, because if we died, she'd find me and kick my ass anyway for letting anything happen to you."

"Maybe you could send one of the dragons over with a message," Alphonse said, and Winry thought he sounded so far away. "Let them know we're all safe, and get a message to Risembool."

Edward patted the crown of her head. "And ask for alchemists to help repair the bridge," he said.

Winry pulled a little way out of Edward's embrace. "Please," she said, looking between Julia and the councilor.

Julia nodded once, decisively. "We can send someone over, Winry. With a white flag, to make sure they know we're not attacking." From the tilt of her head, Winry knew Julia said it to console the councilor, though she wasn't sure why. Milos and Amestris weren't warring with each other. Maybe the idea of a dragon landing on the Amestrian side of the canyon might be taken for an attack, but Winry hoped not. What could one dragon do against a bunch of soldiers with rifles, anyway? "I'll start composing a letter now. Councilor, would you like to accompany me? Alphonse?"

"Yes, of course," the councilor said, though he bridled, shooting a sidelong look at Alphonse.

"I know most of the State Alchemists by name," Alphonse said. The stiff, polite way he spoke let Winry know he knew he should be offended by the councilor's response. "And can write to Granny, too." He nodded at Winry. "It'll be okay, Winry."

"Yeah, tell the old bat 'hi' for me," Edward grumbled, and Winry couldn't help but laugh. "That's better," he told her, loosening his hold so she could move farther away if she wanted. Winry decided to stay where she was for a few seconds more, still unable to get to her feet. Her legs still didn't have any feeling in them. Edward sighed, leaning his chin against her head. "Granny's gonna yell at me," he said. "Every time you go anywhere with me, you disappear, and make her worry."

"Hmph. She's not going to believe you this time. Airships and dragons?" Winry marveled at the way her voice didn't quaver.

"Maybe that Spaso guy will fly us home, then she can see the dragons in person."

Winry wriggled and Edward loosened his hold on her. "You and Al could stay here, and learn a lot." Aware of his hands cupping her elbows, she said, testing, "I think Petras likes you."

"Gah, just what I need, a dragon liking me." Edward's face lit up, at war with his words. "Bad enough some machine junky likes me."

"What?" Leaning farther back, Winry scowled at him. "Who said I liked you?"

Edward snapped, "You did, when you kissed me!"

"You kissed me back!"

"Yeah? Well you." Something caught his eye, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say. Shading his eyes again, Edward squinted at something above and behind her. "The hell is that?"

Twisting around, Winry got to her knees. She tilted her head back, gulping at what she saw. "Airships! We need to get back underground!" Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed Edward's arm, tugging to start him moving.

"Airships and…what the hell are those things?" He let her lead him, stumbling.

Glancing overhead, Winry spotted what held Edward's attention. The dark silhouettes on the sky, flying among the airships, didn't look anything like the dragons, except for the way the wings flapped. The shape reminded her more of a leech, with a huge forefront and a narrow end. "Ed, we have to get underground!" she shouted at him, trying to break into his concentration. She shook his arm for good measure.

"Yeah," he blinked, as if remembering she was next to him. "Yeah!" Grabbing her hand, he started running, and Winry raced to keep up with him. They reached one of the entrances to the caverns below and charged down it as sirens began to wail, announcing the imminent attack on Table City. "What were those things?"

Winry panted, "Colonel Mustang, he said Creta was known for its chimeras."

There wasn't time to wonder how – why – the bastard had told Winry that. "Damn it! They transmuted winged chimeras to fight the dragons." Edward bared his teeth. "We've got to get to the aeries and warn them!"

Winry yanked Edward to a stop, pointing at a child running through the corridor. "Hey!" she called, and he hesitated, staring at her with wide eyes. "We have to get to the aeries, as fast as we can. Do you know Karina?"

He stuck his lower lip out. "My sister."

"So you're…Marcus?" Winry held up her finger. "Karina told me about the tunnels. Your tunnels. We need them!"

Marcus drew back. "Why?"

"Because we have to save the dragons, Marcus." Pointing up, Winry said, "There are monsters out there, made to fight the dragons. If you want to help us save them, we need to get to the aeries, now!"

Scrunching up his face, Marcus asked, "Really monsters?"

"Really," Edward said, nodding. "Can you help us?"

Marcus waved at them to follow him, and took off running.

"What tunnels, Winry?" Edward asked as they chased the boy.

"Kids always know the shortcuts," Winry grinned back, as the boy stopped, pointing at a hole in the wall.

"Follow me. It's slick!" he added. He sat down on his butt, stuck his feet in the hole, and pushed off.

They stopped next to the hole, Edward scowling. Winry dropped to the floor. The hole widened up a bit on the inside, but the rock had been worn smooth. It reminded her of the ice in Briggs, and how she'd fought to stand. Giving Edward a quick grin, Winry swung her legs in. "Good thing you never got all that tall," she told him. "You probably wouldn't fit!" She pushed off before he could answer.

X X X

Dmitri pushed the hood he wore back with his thumb. Something happened he didn't recognize. Something made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Glancing around, he studied the Milosians. They glanced toward the ceiling of rock overhead. They spoke in quick phrases, their voices low. Their concern moved through the damp, still air like a swarm of bees.

The stone under Dmitri's feet shuddered, just the faintest sensation. He knew that feeling. Bombs fell outside in Death Canyon, or overhead in Table City. He gritted his teeth together. Forty-eight hours, the Colonel promised. This wasn't enough time. He hadn't even found his way around this labyrinth of tunnels yet. How could he destroy the dragons now?

"Flightleader!" someone shouted.

Dmitri whipped around, spotting a woman running through the carved tunnel, waving her hand. "Flightleader!"

"I hear it, Miriam!" he yelled as he charged off. "I'm going!"

The woman skidded to a stop. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Good luck! Be safe!"

Dmitri rubbed his palm over his thigh, feeling the explosives wrapped around his leg. No one paid him any attention. Tugging his hat back down, he followed the man called 'flightleader'. Since explosions made the stone shudder, Colonel Zoglakis had to have ordered the attack. Something must have happened to make her move up her timeline. Whatever had forced the colonel's decision, Dmitri had less time to accomplish his mission.

As he jogged after the flightleader, Dmitri smiled to himself. Explosives, after all, worked much faster than poisons.

X X X

"I didn't know you had elevators," Alphonse said, peering around the small car. He felt cramped in the tiny space, especially sharing it with two other people. He wasn't even sure if his old suit of armor might've fit in here all by itself. The lift car certainly was more cramped than the back seat of an automobile.

"There are a few of them, mostly for the miners and the hand cars used to haul the dirt to the surface," Councilor Santiago said. "And for Creta to supervise our people and make sure we were hard at work." Disgust marred his face at the memory.

The car jolted down the tunnel, the grinding of the mechanism making Alphonse wish they'd walked rather than rode. Maybe he could suggest Winry take a look at it. She might be able to make it at least sound safe.

"We lost some of the elevators during the coup," Julia said. "We should get to work repairing those, but it's not really top of our list of things to do, what with everything else going on."

The light flickered for a second. Alphonse tried not to wince, but his shoulders rose reflexively. He had to keep from reaching for the grill surrounding the car.

"It does that, Al." Julia laid her hand on his arm.

The car jolted, knocking him into Julia, pinning her against the car wall. The grill groaned at their combined weight. "Damn!" Alphonse yelped, pushing off of her. "Sorry, Julia!"

"My lady, are you all right?" Santiago caught her shoulder. Blood trickled down his face from a cut in his hairline.

Holding up a hand, Julia managed a quick smile. "I'm all right. And that's new," she added, for Alphonse's sake.

The car still whined its way down through the shaft. "Great. Can we stop the car and get off now?" Alphonse asked.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Julia threw the lever to stop at the next floor. The car shuddered again.

Alphonse planted his hands against the grill wall to help keep his balance. "What is that?"

"Explosions," Santiago said, glancing at the ceiling of the lift car. "Creta is bombing us."

How he said it so calmly, Alphonse didn't know. The sound of sirens bounced up through the tube, reverberating against the stone walls. Alphonse wanted to cover his ears to block out the shriek, but he didn't want to move his hands and get knocked down. If the stupid car stopped, he'd use alchemy to get them out – but if it fell. Damn it, he didn't want to be imagining that!

A slice of light showed at their feet, and the doorway appeared like a dream in front of them. Julia pulled the gate back before the car stopped entirely, gesturing Santiago through the opening first. Alphonse took her hand to make sure they went together. Letting her go last wasn't going to happen. "Where now?"

"I have to get to the aerie," Julia said. "Councilor, can you take care of Al, and make sure he gets to his room?"

"Why can't I go with you?" Alphonse asked.

Startled at the question, Julia seemed to consider for a few seconds. "All right," she murmured, "maybe it'd be better if you're there." She straightened, nodding at Santiago. "Until later, Councilor."

"Be safe, Lady Julia," he said. "Young man."

"Thank you, sir, you, too," Alphonse said over his shoulder as he followed Julia. She took off running, heading for a spiral staircase carved into the rocks. The stone jarred Alphonse's knees as he raced down the stairs, but he wasn't going to lose Julia.

"We can't take the bat wings down, not while Creta's overhead," Julia shouted back at him, as if he'd asked a question. "The fastest way to get to the aeries is the most dangerous, right now."

"Let's try to survive long enough to get to the aeries, then," Alphonse puffed along behind her. Running down the stairs was definitely easier than climbing, but he knew Izumi would've thrown him down the steps for feeling winded already. Something to think about. Mei'd told him about all the mountains in Xing, and how climbing some of them was considered not only an honor, but almost a sacred accomplishment. He'd vowed to himself to climb those mountains – but if he couldn't run down a staircase, how could he ascend the peaks?

When they arrived, the aerie was already in chaos. Someone shouted across the giant cavern, over the cries of the red dragons and their handlers. "There're more than just the airships in the sky! Listen! More than airships in the sky! Creta sent flying chimeras!"

"Chimeras?" Alphonse couldn't help but glance up, as if he could see through rock to the sky above. "Flying chimeras?"

"They're finally going after our dragons." Julia's face seemed pale in the dim light of the cave. Sucking her lower lip between her teeth, she came to a decision. "Al, I have to get Marina ready." She stood on her toes, kissing him on the cheek. Spinning away from Alphonse, Julia darted off into the mayhem of the aerie. He lost sight of her in the jumble of people amongst the dragons.

There was nothing he could do here. Alphonse wondered where he could wait, if anyone would bother him if he stayed out of the way. Or should he try to find Edward and Winry? What could they be doing? "Petras," he muttered to himself, and glanced around, finally spotting what had to be a stairway down to the other aerie. They might be there, rather than anywhere, considering how much time they'd spent with the dragon. Alphonse jogged across the aerie, ignoring the red dragons and the riders readying them for combat. Nothing he could help out with here, and at least finding Edward and Winry would be doing something.