"Come on guys, we don't want to be stuck here till mid-day, get up." Blaze said loudly into the living room, munching on some home-made bacon. He heard a groan, and nothing else, so turned deftly, opened his muzzle and roared. He heard a flock of birds take flight outside, as half the squad jumped to their feet.
"That's more like it." He said smiling, returning to the kitchen, "If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were all dead."
"Blaze, you dumba - " The fire dragon hushed her quickly as the little girl peeked around his hind leg, looking curiously into the room. Frost grit her teeth and growled at him. Brooklyn still hadn't opened his eyes, but he groaned at the group.
"With all due respect Blaze, couldn't you let an old warrior rest?" He said, finally raising his head, "Actually, I vote we stay here another few days. Never know if Ezio could find us."
"And miss all the action? Come on guys, wheres your sense of adventure?" Frost face-pawed, but smiled all the same. Ion was already running about, shouting something about how he couldn't find his helmet, despite the fact that they had all polished their armor just last night. Hestia shoved past him and walked into the kitchen, mumbling something about coffee.
"We need to get moving guys. Yesterdays encounter will have alerted one of them, and we don't want to be here when they come looking for us. We need to lead them away from the village, towards Beijing." Blaze had an itchy burning feeling in his gut that they should have been going a lot sooner.
"In good time my dear Blaze." Hestia mumbled from her mug that the grandmother had given her.
"Nǐ yào qù dì dìfāng lóng? Nǐ huì huílái ma?" The child was intoning more Chinese up at him.
"What?"
"She asked you if your coming back." Hestia murmured, still half drunk on sleep, "Which probably not, so, 'Wǒ hěn bàoqiàn niánqīng rén. Wǒ huì yǒngyuǎn jìde nǐ, suīrán.'"
"That's a bit long for a simple no."
"That's cause it isn't just no, Kali. Unlike some particular former shadow force generals, I have compassion." Kali snarled at her violently.
"Wretch! I was coerced into fighting for the lack-honor Malefor, and you know it! I have no less compassion than any dragon or dragoness here, take your pick. And you know it!" The female said, jumping to her feet.
"Then why have you yet to show it? It always seems that danger follows you where ever you go, no matter how hard we try to hide. I've heard of the pull of Malefor's power. The dragon himself has no hold on it, and Cynder is proof that it's not him that consumes people, but his power." Kali's shadow power was already burning into the carpet, leaving dark marks. She went to fire off a retort, but Blaze stopped them both.
"ENOUGH you two. Hestia, Kali acquitted herself grandly when she helped to free Ezio from Malefor's pull. If you cannot trust her, then you cannot trust him. And Kali? She's just cranky cause she just woke up..."
The flight to Beijing was long, but good, as it got warmer, they finally had a decent amount of rest, but when they got there, everyone sorta just stopped.
Beijing sprawled before them, with the great wall in the background, the sun shining off the rocks, and in the center, what held everyone's gaze was the massive palace. The forbidden city.
"What do any of you make out?" Blaze asked quietly.
"I sense weapon fortifications along the ramparts." Brooklyn said, his earth element already stretching out and sensing the metal in the cannons, "Tanks and fifty caliber machine guns. Mostly defensive."
"If my previous experiences are correct, and they normally are, they'll have a large amount of shadow lieutenants in there, around 200." Kali replied, "And likely a direct link to Malefor. What else would you expect when they have the last piece?"
The captive dragon had told them about that. They had released him into the forest around the village just after they left. Allowing him to walk two hundred paces with a blindfold on, and then disappearing after he had taken only thirty.
"Suggestions?" The group was quiet, and after a while standing at the top of the ridge they were on, Blaze sighed, and moved down towards the city, "Lets find somewhere to stay then."
It didn't take them long. The outskirts were somewhat dilapidated, and there were large buildings which had been converted into refuge centers. They settled into the corner of one, trying to draw as little attention as possible.
"We can't stay her for long, we either need to find a local to bunk with, or rent a room." Frost nodded her agreement, "So you've had time to think about it. What do any of you have in mind?"
Again, silence. Brooklyn stared around at the different creatures, thinking and not seeing. Ion fidgeted to no end, but was also obviously deep in though, as he kept on shaking his head. Hestia, as always anymore looked highly disturbed. Kali was the first to speak.
"Well, we can't just go up and ask for it." ,Frost chuckled, but Blaze held up a claw.
"Why not?" There was ringing silence from that.
"Cause they outnumber us at about 40 to one?" Kali said, "Fighting our way through would be suicide."
"So we think about this strategically." Blaze said, rebuffing her. She only rolled her eyes, "Brooklyn, if you could get close enough, how many point defense cannons and tanks could you disable?"
"All of them. I could even trap their occupants inside by fusing the metal together on the tanks." Blaze nodded and smiled.
"Perfect. Ion, we'll need an area of effect short range EMP burst, to dismantle any com equipment." Ion smiled than, and gathered a very threatening ball of energy in his hand, toying with it.
"They won't know what hit them."
"What about the front gate?" Kali said, raising an eyebrow.
"Frost will have to breath supercooled air on it, and I'll follow up with some extreme heat. The difference should shatter it." Frost nodded again, also smiling now, "Kali, I need you to find the generals in the group and confuse them, make them think we're much bigger than what we really are, and have them attack their own. Can you do that?"
"On several targets at a time." she said, cracking her neck and giving herself up-to fate finally.
"And what about me?" Hestia asked quietly.
"Stay close to me, I'll need your firepower." Blaze said, rubbing his chin, "What do you think Kali? Bold enough?"
"That's to be seen."
It was a cold morning. Colder than most. The group moved through the streets on muffled wraps, careful not to disturb any of the garbage bins around them as they crept up an alley towards the looming oriental castle. They had spent the night at the refuge shelter in their corner, Ion and Brooklyn warding off any curious eyes with their presence.
When they were a couple streets over, Brooklyn brought a paw down onto the pavement, and dug his claws into the surface, bright green tendrils streaking away. At the same time, Ion let off a low frequency electromagnetic pulse, which disabled all of the electronics in a thirty mile radius.
"Alright, all systems disabled, move in at your discretion sir." Brooklyn murmured to Blaze next to him. Frost reached into her pack then, and handed out small packages.
"Be gentle, it's an experiment me and blaze are using. Blazes plasma setup, much like thermite, and a cluster of Ice. High impact from throwing it will set the thermite off, and it'll explode." The group moved off in different directions, Blaze and Frost sticking together.
As Blaze and Frost moved towards the wall, the fire dragon concentrated on the ramparts, hoping to the Ancient that no one would spot them. All went well as the mated pair dived under the overhang. Blaze could see old murder holes in the plaster and concrete above, used for pouring molten oil down on enemies at the base of the towering structure. He could hear large shouts, but no alarm had been sounded yet.
Frost opened her maw and spewed super-cold water onto the face of the metal door as they grew close, and shortly after, when it was covered in ice, blaze drew up a plasma lance, and drove it through the plate of ice. He exploded it shortly after-wards, and the metal shattered in it's frame, as if it were made of glass.
The pair tossed both packs of thermite in, and were rewarded by explosions. Four others were heard in the distance, and the pair dived inside and started fighting.
An alarm had still not been raised, and there were few enemies here. Blaze thought it might have been a small guard force. As instructed, no one but Kali used their elements, instead ripping through in hand to hand combat.
Finally, when the dust had settled, and the enemies were dead, including the ones that had ran, the group gathered. The imperial city was big, and blaze had done some research on it. The average length of the walls were eight miles long, and it covered over 26 miles in length. And he barracks, he knew, were located inside the central palace, over ten miles away, through a group of homes and gardens.
The group moved silently now, not talking at all, only using body and paw signals. Suddenly, an air raid siren went off, and lights started appearing all over the place.
"Alarm!" Ion said, breaking out into a sprint. Blaze got in front and led the charge, his large body and long stride causing him to streak over the ground like a blur of fire.
"We need to get to the central city before they have time to call in reinforcements." The dash grew headlong after that, and in the span of two minutes they were in firing range. Blaze lit up the ground, lighting dry grass and starting a large brush fire in an instant as he streak towards the citadel. A group of orcs dashed out from a side area, but Frost quickly dispatched them, using a sheet of Ice on the ground to send them sliding into a burning house.
The massive fields quickly caught, and were soon a turning swarm of flames. Blaze led them through the inferno that was his creation to the base of the castle, and felt the metal. Cool to the touch.
"It's titanium Blaze, we won't be able to blast through it like the last one!" Frost said of the roar of the fire.
Blaze looked lost now, like he was fighting his own element. Yes, he was resistant to heat. But he wasn't fireproof. He peered around desperately, looking through the flames for a way out. He felt the door, and it was growing hot.
"Then we wait!" He said, and walked ten paces from the door, then sat.
"What?"
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Blaze, whats going on? The fire is getting closer!"
"Enough! Do you trust me!" He looked around at them all, "Do you trust me, all of you?"
Frost approached him first, and looked into his eyes.
"With my life, to the very end of time, I trust you with every fiber of my being." He looked around at the others. Brooklyn saluted, as did Ion. Kali shouted something over the fire that sounded like "I'd take a bullet for you." and even Hestia, whom looked as if she was having a hard time, nodded an affirmative.
"Then buckle in! It'll be a wild ride! Ion, Brooklyn, when the gates go down, I need you to get to the brig as soon as possible, and get Katana out of there, we need her help! I'll try and keep up! Me, Hestia, Kali, and Frost will cover you!" the doors were glowing red hot now, with the fire around them. Blaze knew it was now or never.
"Brooklyn, with me! Ion, put your power into it! And Frost!" she turned to him, fear in her eyes, "I need your help, my dear."
As four, they raised their paws, energy building up, and fired at the door. The elements warped and turned, fire combining with earth to create a sort of plasma, ice and electricity collided to create supercharged and frozen particles, and the groups charged into one another, breaking down physics, and slamming into the door as a combined convexity beam.
The door didn't just shatter, it disintegrated...
The inferno flew backwards from the sudden out-draft, and Alpha squad poured in, firing in all directions. Brooklyn mowed down four enemies with a slab of earth pulled from the wall, Ion calling down lightening bolts from on high, and smiting enemies were they stood, as if he were Zeus himself.
The two got caught up in the fighting so Blaze simply saluted Brooklyn, and took his place, charging towards a door. The two followed, as the alarm truly started to rouse the entire compound. It felt almost as if the weight of the building was pressing in upon him.
And then Blaze felt the ground drop out beneath him as his foot fell into a well, tumbling down a flight of stairs, half fighting, half falling. There was a door to the right, and he scrambled to his feet, and darted through it, pulling Frost with him, whom staggered in, a large gash on her forehead, but otherwise fine. They darted down the hallway, and made a turn as soon as possible. Blaze turned into a room to his left, and drove the door closed, slamming himself around into the wall, and peering back out. There was a sound of splintering, and then footfalls as the group behind them searched.
"They can't have gone far! Spread out! Shoot to kill!" Blaze heard someone approach. Luckily, the room was dark. One of the dragons looked inside.
"Sir, this ones dark!"
"Well go on, search around!"
"I ain't going in there!"
Frost nearly snorted, but Blaze shot her a fervent look. The dragon felt around just inside the door, but there was no switch.
"Alright then, stand guard. I'll have a detachment sent along to search around inside."
Then all was silent. Blaze crouched low to the floor, and peered around the corner, then withdrew quickly. He motioned to Frost, holding up four claws. Four lethal enemies. Frost nodded and crouched, getting ready to fight. She tensed to pounce and...
"You six! What are you doing here? Don't you know there is an infidel attack outside! Move you cowardly lackeys, before I report you to lord Malefor himself!"
"Yes Ma'am!" There was a general rush of paw pads, and then all was silent.
"Blaze! Frost! It's Kali!" Blaze exhaled the breath he knew he had been holding, but hadn't dared let out.
"Good, we need to keep moving in and down, get to Katana. Wheres the others?"
"I don't know, we got separated in the courtyard. I know there's a large contention at all the exits, preventing us from getting out. It'll be a hell of a fight. And your fire still rages Blaze, inside and outside the walls." There was sudden running at the other end of the hall. The trio turned, ready for a fight, but the duo of shadow dragons didn't even look down the hallway, but just kept running.
"Don't use each others names, and we should be fine. Hallways won't be much of an issue because of how much visibility they block. And Kali? Thanks."
"No problem."
"Now lets get to the brig before they figure out where we are." Blaze said, turning down a random hallway, "Any idea where to go?"
"The place has to have some sort of holding chamber, it was built during what, the 1200's? Should be in the foundation of the building."
"Well I know one way to get there quickly." Blaze turned his face downwards and breathed a white hot torrent of flames upon the ground, and the stone beneath immediately began to glow red hot. The females shielded themselves with their wings against the heat, and soon, a shallow bowl was formed in the floor. The fire dragon leaped down, his side scrapping the edge of the hole, and taking off some molten slag. He brushed it off when he landed, as if it were a bit of soot.
"It's not that hot guys." Frost put ice around the edges anyways.
This floor felt much less corporate, and much more medieval. The walls were made of smooth stone bricks, unpainted, and the floor was made up of cut and shaped stone, of a darker coloration, and filled in with hard clay.
"We seemed to have moved back several centuries. This is more what were looking for." Kali said, running her claws along the rock facing, "Larger structures like these at least had some sort of fireproofing.
"The prison should be close by, we need to get to it fast before they move Katana." Blaze ran down the corridor, the two females in his wake. They rounded a corner and -
"Son of a BIT - " Frost's words were cut off as she ran headlong into the group of ten generals. There was little time to turn and run, so the adjusted on the fly, and began fighting. There was a loud rush, and then silence, and the four dragons, one the white form of Katana, stood amongst the smoldering, cracking darkened battle area, all the generals dead.
"Holy crap Katana, thanks for the help! It's good to see you!" The female smiled at Blaze as they turned and started running back, "How are you, they didn't hurt you did they?"
"They were always to slow for that. They never could figure that out, how I moved so fast." Frost was quiet for a while, but finally, she spoke up.
"Well I'm glad you didn't get hurt like I did down there. Now do you know where the next piece is?" Katana stopped instantly, and pulled from under her natural armor, a long metal item which had threading on both ends. There was a rubberized material that covered a grip the fit perfectly into her fingers. It glowed blue at one end, and shifted to red at the other.
"And check this out!" She said laughing at the looks of the others. She winked, and then she faded from view, leaving nothing but the walls and dark hallway behind her.
"Katana?" She reappeared behind Blaze, and whispered into his ear.
"Boo." Blaze jumped what must have been six feet in the air, spinning and grabbing wildly with his claws. Both Frost and Katana rolled on the floor, laughing.
"Not funny. Come on guys, we need to find Brooklyn, Ion, and Hestia." Katana was still wiping tears from her eyes. She gave Frost a funny look about Blaze's behavior, but the dragoness just rolled her eyes and shrugged.
The quartet jumped through the hole, Blaze leading the way. Frost and Kali jumped up after-wards, and Katana was last to go.
However, there would be an entire flight of shadow force dragons waiting for them. Ion, Brooklyn, and Hestia were among them, being held at spade-point by a trio of lieutenants each. A Field Marshall clad in golden armor was at the front of the group, his face fixed in a snarl.
"You four! Move, or in your case disappear, and we kill these three. Grab them, lord Malefor wishes to speak to them personally. Now take them to the courtyard for portal-warp! Come on gents and ladies, snap to!"
Ion leaned over to one of his captors, "Is he always this rude and pushy? And whats with the snarl?"
The lieutenant smiled, and whispered back, low enough that the Marshall couldn't hear, "Na, that's just always on his mug all the time. And yes, he is that much of a bastard all the time. Hand picked by Malefor, and that golden armor is custom made by the dark lord himself from the minerals on Titan."
Brooklyn smiled to himself. He had been making friends with the enemy ever since they had been captured. Smart move since it was almost certain they were going to the chopping block now.
"Well well well. The mighty Blaze of Volcanus. A brave and bold attempt son, but we far outnumber you." The Marshall said. Blaze scowled back.
"Numbers do not win a battle."
"That's utterly preposterous, and you know it. There is a breaking point of every soldier that you can easily overcome with numbers. Now, come." The Marshall turned and led them out to the courtyard, where a bright magenta portal was glowing, large enough for a SUV to pass through, and certainly large enough for a dragon to get through.
"He will contact us when he's ready for transport. Blaze. I have always been an admirer. Some of your combat tactics are nearly impossible to replicate, and I've always been amazed how you can shrug your way through combat with sheer brute force." He eyed the burn scars on the fire dragons side, "Ah, and the mighty Frost. I had heard about your feats of escaping Dante's freezer before the mighty conflagration. It was very powerful and – unique."
"Whats the story behind that, mom?" Kali asked, leaning in close. Frost leaned in closer, and whispered next to her horn, and Kali's jaw dropped.
"But now you will all know true power!" Lord Malefor awaits." He lifted his paw, offering the chance for Blaze to move forwards. Blaze moved out in front, and walked with confidence to his inevitable doom.
And then the portal shimmered, and then completely dissipated. And Ezio stood in it's place. He grabbed behind them, and pulled out the staff. The fore-gripped shook violently, and snapped out of place in the Marshall's paw, and then jumped into it's place, joining instantly with the blade and the shaft. The entire set glowed a bright white, blinding everyone. When the light died down, Ezio held the completed staff in his claws, the entire thing emitting a soft golden glow.
A soft breeze rustled the purple dragons hair as he stared down the Marshall. Spinning the blade swiftly, he drove it into the ground.
"Behold the power of the Ancient One."