Chapter 51
Critter watched her go, the pain of the shattered bones in his legs outdone by the new ache in his heart. Even in flight, with her back to him, he could see it. The swinging armored spade of her tail, which she'd held off the ground as she always had, now white instead of red. Her wings, the source of her pride, were no longer feathered, but webbed in some sort of thin metal-like material like the other dragons. Her optics were the same shade of red, but cold.
She was Sundance, but at the same time she wasn't. And suddenly he understood the sense of deja vu he'd felt when he first looked into her optics. She was lost, just as Demona had been years ago. Gone.
He tore his eyes away from her to focus on the smallest of the dragons, perched on her toes like she was ready to run, with her wings held rigid at her sides. Her red gaze was fixed on him, contemplating. Critter clenched his fists, wondering just where the hell Demona was, and if Ash was still alive. Crazy fucking kid, He thought, just like her parents. What the hell had she been thinking? Taking on one of the damn things with a BB gun. God, Shark and Rex would have his head on a plate when they heard about all of this.
"You knew her."
Critter clenched his teeth in pain, focusing on the dragon again. She was leaning closer, long head lowering slightly to get a closer look. He answered her unspoken question, hissing, "Her name is Sundance, and when her creators see what you've done to her, you'll have hell to pay."
She snorted, "Her designation is Lunar Song, and she belongs to-" An enraged roar cut her off from across the square, behind old brick buildings. Critter twisted to look while the dragon stepped over him and turned to fix narrowed optics on them. One of the buildings gave a deep groan before collapsing in a thick cloud of dust and smoke. Critter caught the flash of armor, and heard a harsh scream.
"Ash!" He whispered, green eyes wide.
He almost reached out to pull himself closer, but the dragon stepped on one of his legs, making him shout in pain. She leaned down over him, body blocking out the sun, "Be still, human."
Ash was running. Her feet pounded the pavement of the streets and slid through the gravel of the driveways. Her heart pounded in her chest, so loud it blocked out everything but the snarls of the big ass dragon that was running behind her. She'd tried to weave between the buildings, so that she'd have a chance of losing the damn thing, but there just wasn't enough of them. She was out in the open, running like mad, with the decepticon so close that she could feel her breath on her back and hear the shift of her armor as she moved.
One slip, and it would be over.
God, I wish Sundance was here.
She clenched her teeth, ducking into a narrow way between two squatty little brick shops. She paused just long enough to shift her grip on the BB gun and glance behind her. The dragon wasn't even slowing down, like she was just going to plow right through the buildings. Ash raised the gun and pulled the trigger, swinging it out at an angle. The tiny metal BB struck the decepticon in the nose. The dragon roared, raising her head and curling a paw full of wicked claws around the corner of a building. She tore it apart like she was ripping paper, and with a groan, it came crashing down.
"Fuck!" Ash shouted, turning forward to run, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
She slipped out just as the decepticon ripped into the other building. Someone screamed in fear, the sound harsh and grating on Ash's ears. Her heart clenched at the sound. She almost went back to search for whoever was inside, but decided against it when the dragon crawled over the mounds of rubble to fix her remaining optic on her. The hell-fire light of her gaze burned through the thick haze of dust and smoke, and her cold voice reached her in a whisper, "You can't run forever, little human. I will get my teeth around you. You're only making the hunt more worth it."
Ash bared her teeth, pale blue eyes narrowing to match the dragon's glare, "God I can't wait to see aunt Dem and uncle J tear into your big ugly ass!"
"The last thing you'll see are my fangs closing around your head." The dragon lunged, stepping off the wreckage to lash out with open jaws. Ash jumped back, avoiding the bite by inches. The dragon reacted quickly, taking a fluid step forward and stretching neck to smack her horned head into Ash's body.
Ash yelped, the blow sending her flying. She hit the wall of another shop and bounced off like a ball, hitting the ground hard. The impact knocked the breath from her body and left her paralyzed, struggling to recover.
Chuckling softly, the decepticon approached with slow, silent steps. By the time her shadow fell upon Ash, she was slowly pushing herself up. Ash met the dragon's gaze, her own glazed and unfocused. Ash tried to get her shit together, to get up and run. If she didn't, she'd die. Right here. She tried to force herself to move, but nothing was working. She could hardly feel her limbs.
The earth trembled with every step the dragon took, almost as if it were in fear. Ash let her body lean to the side, realizing that this was it. She stopped struggling, an odd sense of numb acceptance filling her heart. She let her eyes slide away from the dragon to stare at the sky, a part of her still waiting to see Sundance, the real Sundance, descending with wings stretched out and claws curled.
Her throat ached with sadness when she didn't see her. But at the same time, Ash smiled. There was a streak of rose red, racing across the sky, rushing towards them. It wasn't Sunny, but it was someone Ash knew would take care of this whole mess.
The decepticon stopped, head lowered with jaws slightly ajar. Her remaining optic narrowed. She said, "Why do you smile in the face of death?"
Ash smiled wider, and rasped, "I would...turn tail and get the hell out of here if I were you." She winced, pain filling her chest and her throat.
The dragon pulled back slightly, surprised. She recovered quickly, leaning back down to hiss, "You are in no position to be making such threats, prey."
"No..." Ash allowed her body to lean back, too tired to hold herself up anymore. At last, she gained some control of her body. She lifted a finger to point towards the sky, still smiling, "but she is."
The dragon froze, body growing tense as the raging snarl of Demona's engine filled the air. The decepticon turned sharply with a growl, raising her wings as the red femme transformed in mid air and dropped towards her with wrist blades drawn and optics full of fire.
The cavalry has arrived. :)
Hope you enjoyed. Much love to you.
Ash, her family and friends, the dragon trine, and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.
