Chapter20: Disorientation
The Mech platform swayed and rocked in the wind as he crossed the waves. Megufu had no idea how to pilot this thing. It seemed as far as he could see looking back at his enemy that they had at least two or three people per platform working gears, panels and levers. If they caught him they would undoubtedly bring him back to Rouge and Serdian combined justice. They could charge him for crimes against the human species if they caught him – such was the severity of his crimes. A burst of lightning shot out smacking the platform hard. He felt the electricity running through him and his body tensed in pain; his eyes closed clenched and tight.
The bolt stopped but the damage was done. The platform had caught fire and was starting to drop in altitude.
"Warning, artificial gravity unstable"
Megufu took his chances and jumped off. With a flash he was a dragoon sailing through the night air. He took out the sword, which burst into life and charged towards the platforms below his own transport crashing into the waves.
"What in Soa's name!" exclaimed someone in the night.
Flying backwards he passed under one of the platforms and passed the sword across the bottom wrecking the propeller. It slowed and sank towards the sea the men on board panicking.
They shot at him with a burning wave but the flames missed and sank into the sea. He attacked the next at high speed the sword cutting through all the pilots on board in one swipe. Nothing was severed but instead the men slumped to the ground as if the wound had come from within. The sword was deadly it was no wonder that it had killed Kongal.
A spark of dark magic rippled in his left hand.
He could feel the power of the dark dragoon spirit stronger than ever.
"What is this?" he said gazing out across the waves.
There was a crack of darkness and pointing the sword forward a beam of solid night struck one of the platforms right out of the sky. It turned round several times the noise of the propeller screeching in the night. The men fell screaming in different directions into the waves below one bumping off of the metal hovercraft. Fire burst out on the waters lighting up the waves in an eerie glow.
"I can use magic?" he asked himself, "Of course I can… I'm a dragoon"
He had waited too long pondering the power. A blast of white light hit him hard and sent him thrashing and screaming through the sky like a beast. Megufu smashed into the freezing waves below clutching the sword desperately his eyes temporarily blinded. They'd gotten him. He looked out unsure what was sky and what was water.
He thrashed about on the waves. In the darkness he found a large sharp piece of strange metal – probably part of one of the rotor blades. It floated well and he rested on it trying not to slip off. He was no longer a dragoon as he looked at his hands. He was in such pain he hadn't even noticed the transformation. The light had hurt him. He had never been hurt so much in his life. They'd hit him against his element.
"Search the area!" called the enhanced voice of one of the remaining men, "Search for survivors!"
The lights crossed the waves and Megufu prayed they wouldn't see him in the dark. He was wet all over and the salt water was extremely cold. He was shivering in a matter of minutes.
The bright spot lights passed again and again over the waves. They passed briefly over him several times but even with the bright light it seemed the men couldn't make him out against the waves. The ship hummed distantly as he drifted on the waves. He clutched the sword tightly. The blade was only tiny now and shimmering a soft blue. He was drifting away from them. He was wrecked and now at sea. If he had had any sense he would have handed himself in. Now he was doomed to die in the great ocean. Too late he waved and shouted but they didn't hear him. The lights were distant now and searching for friends not enemies. It was hard to see anything in the darkness and the waves rose high out at sea. It was impossible now to make out the ship.
He was too far away. He was falling away. His mind lost proper consciousness, his hands gripped the sword and the propeller tight. Megufu was by no means fearless. He had a morbid fear of drowning. He could imagine nothing worse than being under the waves with no air.
We've been wrecked before we had, but I doubt we'll survive this time.
Princess Louvia – why? We killed the wrong one how – stupid.
Black monster. I was the black monster – or at least Rose was.
Back then there were many dragons.
Demingrad. If we had gotten there sooner we might have stopped it all then and there. So many times if we had been that little bit quicker we could have stopped it all. Now we're going to Demingrad again. I wonder what has happened to the crystal palace.
We won't make it.
The night is long. Anything can happen in the dark.
The attack came at night.
But if we had killed Shana ironically it would have been worse. Better the way things are done and over with. There is a soul still roaming the world but no body at least to that extent we are safe.
I don't think I can make it.
I don't think we're safe.
I think you are overreacting.
I don't want to drown.
It's been a long night.
"Wake up!"
He was very tired. Even so he opened his eyes.
"Wake up!"
The sound of the sea. Was he still at sea? He felt himself rocking too and throw. The sun was bright and it was hard to look at anything. He coughed and water came up. He couldn't speak.
"You okay?"
What a stupid question. Who was asking him that?
"Are you Meru?" he whispered.
"Who?"
The noise of the sea lapped. The water felt very warm. He touched it with his hand. It wasn't sea – it felt curiously like sand. The propeller was underneath him. It was still just as sharp – easy to cut his hand on in the wet. A noise – a sea gull. He was on land.
