Discovery
THOOM!
A gigantic explosion split through the air like a mallet, smashing the windows of the nearby, desolate buildings. Ember dived to the left, whilst Flair spun to the ground and rolled underneath what resembled a car with no wheels.
"Where are these things coming from?!" called Ember, sheltering behind a large slab of pavement that jutted out from the ground like a dagger. Flair quickly re-loaded his weapon and answered whilst discarding the empty clip.
"I have no idea, but were gonna have to get through them somehow if we ever want to leave!" he yelled back over the noise that was being made.
A small, sliver , spherical object landed inched from Ember's hiding place. It's sleek surface reflecting the orange glow of the fire that seemed to dominate the area. Ember's frown of confusion turned to a look of both fear and surprise as her mind suddenly recognised it.
"Ember! That's a GRENADE!" warned Flair, bolting from his hiding place with a war cry that echoed through the dismal street. He ploughed into Ember's side, lifting her from the ground and sending both of them crashing through what remained of a small, futuristic looking shop. The grey, glossy walls were stained with dirt and spattered with what sickeningly resembled blood.
The wind was knocked out of Ember's body as they slammed into the dusty floor.
"Please get off me!" she managed, attempting to pull herself back up.
"Sorry... just remember to move next time a grenade lands right in front of -," started Flair, getting up off his fallen companion and sweeping himself clean off debris just as another volley of bullets swept through the room.
"MOVE!" screamed Ember. Thinking quickly, she brought her legs to her chest and kicked Flair down again. He fell with a quiet 'Oomf' and once again rolled away for cover. Ember whipped herself from the ground with incredible grace and flipped herself up and over the shop's counter.
The bullets pelted the wall, tearing small chunks of metal and concrete off. Ember peered round the corner to see three, large metal battle robots climbing through the shattered window. Their wrist blasters were raised and ready to fire another round of lethal pellets. Their intense, un-caring eyes surveyed the room, locating the hiding dragons easily.
"TARGETS ACQUIRED, INITIATE FIRING SEQUENCE, COMMENCE TERMINATION," they spoke in unison and locked their sensors on Ember and Flair's hiding places.
"Flair, get out of there!" yelled Ember as the patrol's bullets tore through the air once more.
Flair flipped himself up and landed heavily on a grimy table at the back of the room. He swung his gun up to point directly at the guard that was now aiming at him and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
His shot drove straight into the robot's wrist cannon and crushed the entire thing. With a screech, the disabled robot lowered it's gun and began to stamp over to Flair. At this time Ember was running frantically across the small chamber trying desperately to avoid the hail of shrapnel that was dropping from the ceiling as the robots missed her and fired through to the second floor.
A large section of the tattered ceiling fell away, leaving a gaping hole big enough for a truck to fit through. Ember continued her sprint until she was within attack range of the defenceless robot that was advancing on Flair.
With a growl, she leapt up and brought a flying kick smashing down through the guards head. Instantly, pain shot up through her leg as the force of the blow rebounded back onto her. She grimaced and pulled her heel free from the twisted metal remnants of the metal monster.
"SHIT!" yelled Flair as seven more sentry units smashed their way through the wall. They raised their weapons to shoot just as Ember pulled Flair down from the table and ran back across to the wide gap in the roof.
"UP!" commanded Ember, practically throwing the purple dragon through it. She followed him with a leap, aided by a gentle burst from her wings which grazed the sides of the hole as she escaped the robots below.
"Now what?" queried Flair, examining their new surroundings. They were in a dully lit corridor that seemed to stretch on for miles in either direction. The walls were grubby, and stained with a dark substance that looked horrifically like blood. The floor practically froze their feet as it was so cold and was riddled with cracks and splits, as if it had been subjected to years of constant abuse. There were no windows, meaning that they were unable to check up on the situation out side.
"You live like this everyday? We were better off in the white void!" Ember exclaimed, slouching against a section of the wall that was not coated in dark patches and breathing heavily.
"Well... kinda, but it's not always as hectic as this... usually the enemy is the one running away," replied Flair, reloading his weapon and checking for damage.
"We aren't running away... it's a tactical retreat...," explained Ember, seeming comforted by the notion.
"Tactical retreat...right... okay... so what happens when we reach the roof?" Asked Flair, running his hand across the scales on his forehead, wiping the dirt away.
Well... depending on the situation when we reach the top, I might be able to fly us somewhere else," she explained, analysing a graze on her wrist with distaste.
" 'Depending on the situation'?" Flair repeated with a questioning expression.
"Well, if we're being shot at still, I'm not going anywhere 'cuz that could just put us in even more danger," Ember informed, stretching her wings and checking the membrane for further damage. Finding none, she folded them and indicated for them to start going.
"Alright then. But in case we aren't so lucky, there is a chance that this building has an elevator or some kind of cable-retraction mechanism. If we find on before we hit top level, we could use it to climb down," suggested Flair.
"Sounds like a plan," smiled Ember, giving her companion a congratulatory look.
The two dragons began a steady jog down to the end of the hall, avoiding cracks and casting cautious looks back over their shoulders to see if the mechanic terrors had made it up yet.
Then, to their surprise, the corridor came to an abrupt end.
"Damn it!" cursed Ember, thumping the wall with her glistening fist.
Flair paused, frozen in place and listening hard to something that escaped Ember's attention.
After moments of contemplation, Flair looked up with a grin at his accomplice.
"That's not a door," he said, his glee and relief evident in his voice.
Ember gave him a puzzled look.
"It's a door! Couldn't you hear that echo on the other side when you whacked it? It's a sliding door!" After rapidly explaining this to Ember, he grabbed a section of panelling on the wall and ripped it off, revealing an old computer panel.
"I can get it open but you need to be ready to attack anything that sneaks up behind us, okay?"
"Sure," she replied, drawing her gun from it's holster and turning to face the opposite direction.
A series of bleeps could be heard as Flair punched in a series of codes on the seemingly lifeless computer.
"That's not going to work, There's and infinite number of combinations that could open that door and random guesses aren't going to get us anywhere," muttered Ember, more to herself then Flair but that didn't stop him from hearing.
"I'm not stupid. There are a couple of old military over-ride codes that still work nowadays. Most code-combination locks or seals are made with basic military over-rides installed, just in case," explained Flair, slightly irritated at Ember's doubt in him.
"Fair enough," shrugged Ember. Aiming into the endless hallway trying to detect movement.
"There we go!" chirped Flair, grinning broadly at his handiwork as the door slid grudgingly open, "Ember, let's move."
She turned and followed Flair through the door and around the corner, where they found a gigantic steel staircase.
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Ember, grabbing Flair around the chest and squeezing him in an appreciative hug. The sudden contact between them made Flair jump slightly, and then blush faintly.
"Thanks," whispered Ember, releasing the male and returning her attention to the next task.
"Er... you're welcome... I think...," stammered Flair, still thrown off by her sudden thanks.
He grabbed her hand and together, they both began to ascend to the roof of the dingy building. Each step created a set of echoes that bounced off the walls and surrounded them, making it seem as if an army of beings were making their way up. Their claws clacked against the hard surface and made small, but still distinct, dinging sounds that added to the already ringing chamber.
"Phew...almost...there," gasped Ember as a small door came into view at the top of the next flight of stairs.
'BANG!'
Sparks flew out in front of the pair as the banister exploded in a shower of shrapnel and glowing splinters of metal.
"What the-?"started Flair, but he was cut off by another explosion, inches away from his foot.
"We've been found!" yelled Ember above the clanking that was now emanating from the floors below.
The robots had now made their way through to the next floor and were quickly heading towards the fleeing Dragons.
"GO! Go now!" yelled Flair, urging Ember to move.
Bullets whizzed past their heads and burst against the wall leaving dents the size of Dragon Eggs. They finally reached the door and hurled themselves through, out into the fresh, cold air of the night. The silhouettes of odd, partially destroyed buildings were visible for miles in every direction and enormous columns of smoke towered into the sky, obscuring the stars. Gunfire and smashing could still be heard as the patrols searched the area below.
"Damn, we never did get that retraction device...," worried Ember, gazing at the strange city scape before her.
"Can't you fly us away?" asked Flair, sealing the door with a large metal pole.
"No, if we're seen we'll be shot at and we could end up crashing to the ground. We'd be safer locked in a cell with Gnasty Gnorc and no air-fresheners," Ember told him.
"Who?" asked Flair, puzzled.
"Forget it! We need to find a way off this roof!" she panicked.
"Well I'm stuck for ideas! The buildings don't have fire escapes or window ledges or drain pipes or ladders or any of the things they may have had in your time so we're kind of screwed!" Yelled Flair over the noise of the robots pounding on the door behind them.
"We didn't even have cities! We all lived in peaceful villages or in caves or huts!" Ember yelled back, having to strain her voice.
"Tell me, did you guys do cave painting as well?" He joked. It wasn't taken well though, as Embers reaction displayed.
"Excuse me?!"
"Never min- ... can you hear that?!" asked Flair, un able to hear his own voice over the shooting.
"THAT'S CALLED GUNFIRE! WE'RE BEING SHOT AT!" Ember yelled as loud as she could.
"NO! LISTEN!"
Over the sound of the robotic guards hammering the door with bullets and the explosions from the street below, another sound was filling the air. Ember stopped moving, lowered her weapon and listened carefully, searching through the sounds of the moment to hear what Flair heard.
' VWOOORP! VWOOORP! VWOOORP! VWOOORP! '
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" called Ember, searching for the source of the sound.
Flair didn't get a chance to reply, for at that moment, the robots burst through the door and swarmed out like ants. Some of them remained inside the building, seemingly under the impression that Flair and Ember were doomed and that they were not needed. The robots that had emerged stood in a small group, taking aim, ready to kill them both.
Ember shut her eyes, waiting to feel the pain of a thousand bullets splitting through her scales and ripping through her heart. Her mind was racing. So many un-answered questions, so much left un-said... so much left un-done. Moments passed until Ember realised that the robots were not shooting. Amazed to still be alive, she opened her eyes to discover why they weren't firing. The group were still there, but their eyes were locked onto the sky, watching something above Ember.
Flair turned slowly round and gazed up, nudging Ember and indicating towards the sky. She turned around and instantly took on a look of confusion. Above them in the distance, the sky began to change. Only a small section of it though, about as big as a regular house. It seemed like the heavens were twisting into a small whirlpool as a rift formed in the very fabric of reality. It started to swirl and a faint white light appeared in the centre of the vortex, like a second moon, only smaller. This is where the sound seemed to be coming from.
The grinding sound became louder, and more strained as the rift buckled suddenly, shattering across the darkness like a giant crystal, leaving the sky intact.
'VWOOORP! VWOOORP! VWOOORP! VWOOORP! VWOOORP!'
"DUCK!" screamed Ember suddenly, pulling Flair to the floor to avoid being hit by the strange blue object that was hurtling towards them from the direction of the rift. It ripped through the air above their heads, spinning frantically before slamming into the robotic crowd behind them, crushing them flat. The sound stopped, and the pair got up, spun around and gazed un-believingly at the new arrival.
"... what is it?" whispered Ember, shooting a worried glance at Flair as they began to approach slowly, both of them staring in amazement.
"If I knew... I'd have explained by now...," replied Flair, jamming his weapons back into the holsters.
It was a fairly large blue box that was at least 4 feet bigger then the Dragons, 5 if you counted the cylindrical light on top of the box. The was a sign at the top of each side of the box that read 'POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX' written in white letters on a black background and faintly lit. Underneath each sign were 2 white windows that were glowing faintly but revealed nothing of the insides. A small sign underneath the left window at the front read ' Police Telephone, Free For Use Of Public, Advice and Assistance Obtainable Immediately, Officers And Cars Respond To All Calls, PULL TO OPEN.'
It had landed messily in front of the door, meaning no other robots could get through to the roof level and was still producing a very faint metallic grinding sound.
"Flair? What's a 'Police Box'?" whispered Ember, not removing her eyes from the scene before her.
"Didn't you people have police back in your day? This thing is an ancient telephone box... created by humans... well, this one probably wasn't...," replied Flair, curiously running his clawed hand down the side of the box.
"It must've fallen through into this dimension from that rift... and if it's old, maybe it fell through time?" wondered Ember aloud.
"It's possible... I suppose...," murmured Flair.
He reached for the handle on the front and pulled. There was a faint click, but the door refused to budge. He tried again, yanking sharply this time, and still it stayed sealed.
"Damn... it's locked!" exclaimed Flair.
"Try pushing?" suggested Ember raising an eye-brow.
"It says 'pull to open', I don't think pushing will work," said Flair, his voice filled with attitude.
Ember grabbed the handle and pushed. The door hissed gently, but eased open.
"Well, I suppose the sign was wro-..." started Ember, but as the door swung further open, her entire body froze and she assumed a look of both surprise and confusion.
"What?" Flair asked, waving his hand in front of Ember's face.
Ember snapped out of her petrified trance and slammed the door shut before Flair could look.
"Stay away from it!" she warned as she began to circle the mysterious blue object, seeming to dis-believe what ever it was that had startled her as she examined it's external dimensions.
"What?!" asked Flair, slightly more irritated this time.
"It's... that's not possible!" she whispered in amazement as she felt the back panels of the box, "this just isn't...right...how does this even exist?"
"If you don't start explaining, I'm going to start getting really agitated," Flair warned, folding his arms and giving Ember a threatening, but curious glare.
"It's... bigger on the inside...," she whispered.
"Huh?"
"The inside of this box is bigger then the outside...," Ember explained.
"What do you mean?" questioned Flair, shaking his head ever so slightly.
"Look!" Ember exclaimed, forcing the door back open and shoving Flair in front of it.
The doors revealed an impossibly large (considering the outside of the thing) dome-like chamber that was faintly lit with a green light that was radiating from the large circular console in the middle of the room. In the centre of this console was some sort of core that stretched up to the ceiling where it was attached to another circular structure with wires and pipes leading out of it and connecting to different sections of the ceiling. The console itself was a mass of different control mechanisms, ranging from an advanced looking series of blinking lights to what resembled a bicycle bell and pump. A raised platform surrounded the console and appeared to be a walkway for anyone operating the strange machine. A soft plume of white smoke was billowing from most of the controls and sparks were flying from sections of the wall.
"...shit," was all Flair managed to say.
Behind them, five robots had mad their way up the side of the building by use of jet-packs and were now aiming at the unsuspecting Dragons. They hovered in a 'v' formation about 10 feet above the roof and loaded their weapons. Ember, hearing the clicks of the robotic cannons, glanced around at them just as the first one fired a globule of glowing green plasma.
"MOVE!" she yelled, pushing Flair inside and diving in after him. The doors shut themselves behind them and the blasts from the robotic sentinels were heard no more.
Heavily panting (mainly out of fright) Ember picked herself up from the metal floor and checked herself for damage. Discovering that she was unharmed, she moved her attention to Flair, who seemed to be in pain as he dragged himself into a sitting position.
"Are you okay? Did you get hit?!" she asked him, bending down beside him and helping him to his feet.
"That stupid gun jabbed me when I hit the floor..." explained Flair, massaging his side.
"Sorry..." she said, biting her lip.
"Don't apologise... you saved my life at least...," he told her.
"Yeah, well, we keep saving each other...," she smiled, hoisting him up.
"Hang on... we're not alone in here...," Ember said, holding Flair where he was.
"I didn't think so... there are some funny smells in here..." Flair commented.
Ember walked forward carefully, sniffing the air and looking around cautiously.
"There's a human in here... Female...about 18..maybe 19 years old... but there's another being here as well...," Ember explained, approaching the front of the console.
"Yeah... but it's not even human...," commented Flair, looking confused.
"It's not a Dragon... I don't know what it is... and that burning smell is really getting in the way..." complained Ember, tapping the bike-bell lightly with a claw.
Flair walked past Ember and around to the other side of the core. He seemed to be looking for something as he reached a set of damaged chairs facing a small, buzzing screen at the base of the core. He gasped quietly as he reached the opposite side of the room and his eyes widened in shock.
"Ember... I found them..." he called, looking over the motionless bodies of the machine's occupants.
In case you're wondering, Yes, I'm tying this in with 'Doctor Who.' But for any who dis-like it, it won't be for long!
I owe all of you an apology for the length of time I took writing and up-loading this. I hope you enjoy this and if you don't, read something else! Please read and review (Your comments are appreciated)!
A big thanks to Lithe, for his character Flair (I hope I haven't messed him up) and also to my Sister, for all your help with this chapter. Thanks :)