The room was silent as all eyes were fixed on Dominic. Cruise tightened his hold on the Viper, but he also wore an expression riddled with fear. He glanced at Isabel. The young woman's eyes fell to the ground as she tried to comprehend what he had just heard.
''Two Drakes?'' she gasped. ''Why would you call them?''
Dominic struggled against Cruise's grip. A look of regret flashed across his face. ''I had no choice. They cornered us and allowed us to live if we served them. If I let you go without informing them, they would have discovered what I did and punished my group.''
Cruise scoffed. ''And do you think they'll give a damn about you and your people when they're bringing fire down upon us?''
He clicked his fingers. Instantly, Pitt hurried out of the room to gather the rest of the Crew. The Vipers with Dominic did nothing to stop them. Most of them seemed just as surprised by Dominic's confession. There was no point in trying to pry their leader free from Cruise's grasp, they had more pressing matters to concern themselves with, such as the Drakes that would be here any second now. They grabbed their weapons and started marching out of the room, leaving their leader behind.
''Guess your ass is not worth their lives,'' Cruise said. He pulled back, leaving Dominic to cough and slump against the wall. ''We need to make like a tree and get out of here.''
Giovanni nodded. ''We'll gather everyone and make a break for it.''
As they started moving, Isabel was clutched over holding her head. It felt like her brain was being crushed beneath her skull. The pressure she was feeling was so much worse than when her colony was being stalked by Lacron. It was bad enough that there were two Drakes, but each of them felt more intimidating than Lacron by a long distance. And the pressure kept building quicker with every passing second. She nearly doubled-over from nausea. The only thing stopping her from falling was Helen and Jess reaching out to grab her. Though, they both almost buckled under the weight of Isabel's heavy body.
''There's no time,'' Isabel said grimly. ''They're going to be here any second now…''
''Don't even think about it,'' Helen said.
''Mom, I need to do something otherwise we're easy targets.''
''We're not having this conversation again! You can't hope to hold your own against two Drakes. Even if you could stall one, the other will come for us…''
''Then we fight together.''
They both turned to Jess. Her eyes were drowning in fear, yet, she didn't look away nor let herself be consumed with panic.
''We can use whatever weapons are laying around to help Isabel. It's the same as before, if she's given a boost with fire, she can hold them off long enough for others to escape.''
Isabel shook her head. ''But that would be others at risk.''
''We'll all at risk,'' Jess stated. ''This is the best chance we have to save as many as we can.''
Every part of Isabel wanted to fight against that claim, but deep down, she knew that it was true. No one liked the idea, even Jess seemed unsure. However, their options were limited and Isabel knew that she wouldn't stand a chance any other way. She sighed and looked at them both. ''Okay, let's see what we can use.''
XXX
Everyone hurried to find whatever they could. Unfortunately, Dominic's Vipers had a few items that would be useful. The best that they could hope for was flares that might give Isabel some heated to help ignite the fire within her. As they got ready, another group helped the rest escape. Erika and Jon guided everyone to safety through the hallways leading towards a back exit out from the bridge's remains. They climbed over the wreckage, passing food and equipment to the next person. Even Thane was doing his part, leading people through the safest part.
All the while, Isabel could feel the Drakes approaching at a frightening pace. She grasped the flares in her hands and turned to Dominic. ''Anything I should know about them?''
''As I said, they're brother and sister,'' Dominic replied. ''Albatox is the male. He tends not to stall. If he wants to kill his prey, he'll do it without hesitation. The female is Baerock. She likes to toy with her food and playthings. If you make her mad, she'll turn you into both her food and plaything. I don't know in which order.''
Isabel gulped. ''That's comforting to hear.''
Beside her, Cruise, Pitt and Giovanni were passing around any firearms that they could find. However, the majority of them had limited ammunition. If some were lucky, they would only get one or two shots. And other than the Crew and most of Dominic's Vipers, none of them had used weapons like these before. They knew that the bullets would have no effect on the Drakes, so the idea was to use them on Isabel.
Jess stared at the handgun in her hand apprehensively. ''Are you sure about this?''
''Yeah, I'm bulletproof,'' Isabel replied. ''Maybe I can use the energy to make myself stronger?''
''I thought heat made you stronger.''
''Let's think of this as an experiment,'' Isabel's grip on the flares tightened. ''A very, very dangerous experiment.''
The air turned warm and Isabel's skin went cold. They were here.
She turned to the front exit and began to walk out. Before she left, Helen grabbed her arm and forced her to turn in her direction. ''Don't prolong the fight longer than necessary. Do whatever you can to distract them long enough for everyone to get far enough ahead.''
Isabel nodded. It took every ounce of willpower within her to not grab her mother and kiss her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jess stare at them sadly. It was not a look of jealousy. She knew that the two of them couldn't express themselves with everyone else watching. Isabel kept thinking about them. She wanted to live freely with her mother, and Jess. She wanted everyone to be free. She couldn't do that if she died here today.
She walked out of hiding, flicking the flares on and welcomed the warmth as they sparked close to her skin. Immediately, Isabel could feel a world of difference. She just hoped that it would be enough.
It only took a few steps for Isabel to step outside and see the Drakes waiting for her.
They looked almost identical to Lacron. However, Isabel noticed a slight difference with their scales. They were longer and more spikes jutted out from the crevices of their hard skin. They were both taller and wider than Isabel's previous foe. She found it difficult standing near both of them. Her fears were confirmed now that they were face to face, each of them made Lacron look like a child by comparison.
One of them laughed as their eyes flickered between Isabel and her allies hiding in the bridge behind. ''Look at that, someone brave enough to come out and play.''
At least Isabel could now distinguish between them. Baerock cackled as if they were about to play a fun game. Her scales shimmered in the sun, whereas Albatox's darkened scales didn't reflect the sunlight.
He glared at the flares in Isabel's hands. ''What are those supposed to do?''
''They're your warning,'' Isabel growled. ''Leave now, before you join Lacron in hell.''
Baerock's head twitched to the side before she laughed. ''You are the one that killed Lacron? I knew that hatchling was weak, but I didn't expect him to be killed by a little human.''
''This little human is…'' Isabel's sentence was cut short when Albatox closed the distance in the blink of an eye and punched her in the gut.
Isabel coughed up a pool of blood as she stumbled to the ground, dropping the flares which fizzled out. It felt like her ribs had been reduced to ash. She hated to admit it, but she missed Lacron. Albatox stomped on Isabel's back and pushed her down onto the ground. He pressed down on her, not even giving her a chance to speak. Just when Isabel felt like she was going to pass out, she heard gunfire. A bullet struck her on the hip, just missing Albatox's foot. He flinched and glanced in the direction of the humans that shot her.
Baerock clapped wildly. ''Oh dear, those humans need to work on their aim. They shot their own. They're doing the work for us, brother.''
Albatox narrowed his eyes on Cruise. The human put away his gun and smirked at the Drake. ''They weren't aiming for me.'' He stated.
Before he could do anything, Isabel found a sudden burst of energy on the right side of her body where the bullet landed. She rolled away from Albatox and then licked up at him, catching the underside of his chin with her boot. He was sent hurtling in the air before crashing to the ground in a heap. Just like Lacron before him, Albatox appeared more shocked than hurt, though that knock did cause his jaw to ache.
Isabel rushed to her feet and was about to charge at the downed Drake when Baerock tackled her from the side. She dug her foot into the ground and held Baerock in place. The two of them tested their strength by trying to wrestle the other to the ground. Baerock laughed louder than ever, amused that a human was giving her a good fight. She leaned forward and tried to chomp on Isabel's head. She weaved away from her jeans before adjusting her body around so that she could clatter the Drake's face with her elbow.
''You bitch!'' Baerock stopped laughing. She clutched her snout and sneeze up some blood. ''That hurt.''
Isabel wanted to strike while she had the element of surprise, but Albatox was already chasing her down. She avoided his claws but was tripped up by his swinging leg. She tried to stop herself from falling, but that's when Baerock returned to kick at her. Isabel skidded along the ground. Stopping her fall, she felt two shadows on top of her. Hoping to gain some distance, she swung her arms, catching Baerock in the process. Albatox was too quick. He dived under her swinging arm and grabbed her before throwing her to the ground. The earth cracked upon impact.
The Drakes stalled when they heard another gun being fired. This time, the bullet hit Isabel's forehead. She glanced up to see that it was Pitt who fired that one. It seemed like everyone had passed their guns to him and Cruise as they had the most experience using firearms. Isabel felt an exhilarating rush course through her body, spurring her back up and willing her to continue the fight. However, when she tried to go after one, the other caught her off guard. Despite her being stronger than ever before, she was outmatched when fighting both of them at the same time.
Fists and kicks collided with her body repeatedly. Isabel felt bullets hit her back, trying to help, but she could do nothing as they overwhelmed her.
Eventually, Isabel heard clicks but felt no more bullets. They were empty.
She lashed out at her opponents desperately, but Albatox caught her arm and then tripped her so that he could pin her to the ground. She fought to break herself free, but she had no hope against the Drake's superior strength.
''You are an interesting one,'' Albatox said, sounding genuinely interested.
As Isabel struggled, Baerock turned her attention towards the rest of the group. She licked her lips with her fork-tipped tongue and ran towards them.
''No, don't kill them!'' Isabel screamed.
Suddenly, Baerock changed direction. She held out her arm. The air sizzled around her palm as she pressed it against a metal beam and pressed hard against it. The metal turned red and melted. The terrifying groan coming from the unstable ruins buzzed in Isabel's ears as she watched it begin to tip over. Baerock pulled her arm back and slowly returned to her brother and their prisoner. ''I won't kill them. The bridge will.''
Isabel watched on hopelessly as she watched the tall structure begin to topple over. She could no longer see where the others were, but she could hear their screams as they ran to safety. The immense size of the structure meant that even those who were fleeing with Erika and Jon would be caught. The sound was deafening as the bridge finally fell to the ground, creating a wave of sand and dust to cloud over. For a split second, everything went quiet and Isabel couldn't hear anything. Tears filled her eyes as she waited and prayed.
Her heart was lifted when she heard voices among the wreckage. She listened carefully, trying to recognise the voices. It sounded like there were still a few survivors scurrying around.
Then she heard her mother scream.
''Jon! No!''
In that moment, flashes of Isabel's life played before her very eyes, much like what she saw on the camcorder earlier. Everything she saw centered around the friendly giant of a man that was Jon. Other than Jess, he was the only one who treated Isabel with kindness in the colony. He would be there sometimes to assist her mother with her work, despite the fear of getting in trouble with the council. He always welcomed Isabel with a smile. She kept thinking about that smile. Wishing that she could see that smile again.
''Someone help,'' Helen's yells echoed far and wide. ''He's not breathing.''
''We can't save him,'' Cruise's called out. ''He's gone.''
Even if Isabel could see through the cloud, she would have been blinded by the tears welling in her eyes. She failed to protect someone close to her. All sound was drowned out as Isabel felt something inside of her burning. She could see Baerock approaching her, saying something while laughing, but Isabel couldn't hear it. Everything around her was burning. She clawed the ground as her blood boiled.
''You're going to pay for that,'' she growled. Steam emitted from her body, surprising Albatox. Then, he was flung backwards as Isabel's scream turned into blood-curdling rough. Beneath her red locks, strands of hair turned yellow. The colors made her look like a living flame. ''I'll make you pay!''
Baerock had no time to react before Isabel had leapt towards her and slammed her to the ground. Baerock lifted her head and was then stomped into the ground by Isabel. The young woman let out an inhuman roar as she grabbed the Drake's upper and lower jaw. Isabel began to pull them apart. Baerock clawed at her, but she wouldn't stop. Her skin was cut, blood trickled down her body and stained the ground, burning it. Isabel heard Baerock's jaw cracked as she pulled it apart.
Isabel noticed a shadow behind her, but it was too late to react. Albatox clenched his hands together and struck her on the back of the head. Isabel's vision went black as she released Baerock and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Baerock crawled along the ground, crying out in pain and clutching her jaw. Blood trickled from her mouth. She snarled at Isabel's unconscious body and went to attack it. ''She almost killed me!''
Albatox stepped between his sister and their prey. He looked down at the human with great interest. ''Indeed, this human is quite special.''
''All the more reason to rip her guts out.''
Ignoring his sister, Albatox considered his options as he stroked the end of his chin. His jaw still hurt from the kick earlier. And the outburst she had just now was unlike anything he'd seen before, even from other Drakes. ''We're taking her with us.''
''What?'' Baerock shrieked.
''I'm sure that the Doctor will be very interested to see how this human works.''
XXX
HELLO MY SWEET SUPERSTARS! I HOPE THAT YOU WILL FORGIVE ME FOR THE CLIFFHANGER ENDING. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS CHAPTER? AND WHAT ARE YOUR THEORIES ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? NEXT WEEK'S UPDATES WILL HAVE SOME VERY BIG DEVELOPMENTS. I REALLY CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW THEM TO YOU AND I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY THEM AS WELL. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT. YOU ARE THE BEST READERS IN THE WORLD AND YOU DESERVE THE BEST. KEEP STAYING AMAZING AND KEEP SAFE TOO. I WILL BE BACK MONDAY WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER. TA-TA FOR NOW.
