I am Dust

Chapter 7

Yang Xiao Long

I couldn't believe it... no, I COULDN'T believe it! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I watched him make a dead sprint from the pillars and try to cross the bridge by himself. I was... too late, maybe? No! I felt his fingers scrape against my palm; I could have gotten a hold of his hand! He dropped right in front of me like a stone, not even screaming. I could feel my lungs empty as he disappeared in the fog. Someone just died! I felt my chest tighten and my heart start pumping faster. I turned back to look at everyone else, their own eyes wide as they knew I was too late.

The Nevermore swooped back up from the fog and shot straight in the air, screaming, like a victory cry, maybe. I got back up to stare at it. My fists were clenched so tight, I could feel my knuckles crack and my whole arm shake. I couldn't tell if it was from shock, fear, or just pure anger. But I knew for sure that I was pissed...! I wanted nothing but to rip that thing's beak apart! I'm killing it...! I'm GOING to kill it!

There was a swooshing sound directly behind me. I felt my body freeze up a bit, my body widening up. I turned around a full 180 degrees to watch as a trail of mist shot straight into the air. It was a small, thin mist, so it definitely couldn't have been another Nevermore. I had a crazy thought in my head.

Clyde...?

I shook my head and blinked my eyes to be sure it wasn't an illusion. There's no way he could've shot back up...! How would he!? I don't think he has a semblance that works like that, unless he was playing around while he was falling. But, he looked genuinely terrified! I looked up to the sky. The sun was blinding my vision, so I held my hand up to block the rays with the back of my palm and tried to look. I saw a black spot up in the sky that was slowly growing bigger. I deducted as much reasoning as I could to figure out what it was. There was no way it was him, and if it was, I'm going to bash his skull him for scaring me like that!

God, I hope I get to bash his skull in.

Clyde Lynx

The following dialogue will sum up basically everything that was going through my head.

"WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!"

I felt the air blast around me as I began falling from the sky. I couldn't even measure how high in the air I was, and I was too busy planning my landing to care. I felt a heavier object in my right hand, one that replaced the stick. I took a quick glance at it before diverting my eyes back on the ground. It appeared to be a short, wide blade, the shape similar to the tip of a sword. A chain appeared to be attached to the bottom of the hilt, but I couldn't get a closer view. The bridge had a large gap in the middle. It looked impossible to cross. Everyone was still on the side where the pillars stood. The Nevermore was still floating over the area. I watched gunfire going in two directions; one wave was being showered at the Nevermore, and another was repressing a Death Stalker. It looked like the same one I was struggling with before. I guess I had more of a chance to fight it now. If only I had a freaking falling plan!

I saw I was falling down back to the foggy abyss. I had no way of readjusting my plummet so that I could at least land on the platform. I gritted my teeth as I realized it; I was merely delaying my end.

Or maybe I'm giving myself a chance...?

I had to think hard, trying to decipher the secret to how I was able to make those chains. But then... it hit me. This could be from my aura...! I never had something actually appear from my aura. My father created burnt feathers when he used his aura, and my mother made flower buds. But I never actually figured out what my aura created. Until now. It was a complete gamble, but I had no other choice. I twisted my body until I was twirling. My eyes focused on the target: The Nevermore's back. With a hard throw, I launched the blade out of my hand and let it sail straight to the Nevermore.

It worked! A red silhouette of chains appeared around my arm and stretched out from my palm, solidifying into solid metal chains. I waited and watched with amazement as the blade stuck quickly into the Nevermore's back. It did not like that one bit, as it suddenly shrieked and yanked to the side, the chains flowing right behind it. I witnessed the speed it had while it tried shaking it off. I knew exactly where this was going.

"Crap..."

My entire body was yanked hard, my shoulder nearly being popped out from its socket as the chain started quickly dragging me along. The chain seemed to be tugging me again, retracting back into my arm, but the bird was moving too damn fast. I grunted as I start reaching for the chain with my left hand. I barely grasped it in time as I began slowly yanking myself forward on the chain, the retraction making it easier with one hand. It was a lot harder than I thought; the bird was darting around the ruins madly, whipping me around like a spider on a string of web. I didn't know how much this would keep going. I was beginning to make a plan... until I heard something fly past my ear. I heard a pulse of wind ripple past me, and another, and another. I turned my head to see where it was coming from. And there I saw the girl I had "saved" before... aiming a large red rifle at me.

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, EASY WHERE YOU'RE AIMING, THIS BIRD HAS A PASSENGER!" I hoped that got passed through, because I was still pretty far away.

Luckily it had, because she lowered the rifle. Four of the girls began to move to the edge of the broken bridge. The group included the girl with the rifle, the white haired girl, the blonde girl, and a girl with black hair. They all seemed to have their own way of crossing the bridge: The black haired girl threw what appeared to be a small scythe to swing down below the bridge and over to the top, landing on her feet, and the white haired girl aimed her rapier and making a small bridge for her to slide across, the blond haired girl following her on the bridge along with the girl with the rifle.

It was hard to hear exactly what they were saying. But they seemed to definitely be planning something. But I wished I was paying attention, because when I looked at the bird carrying me, I saw it was making a quick detour right to a large, tall tower. I felt myself freeze in shock, and my arm held in place. This was a major mistake. The chain started to retract harder and quicker. This would have been fine... if the blade was only stuck in tighter. When I felt the hilt in my hand again, I knew I was going to have to make a rough landing. The bird continued to head at the tower, and with lots of loud crunching, the tower was blown into pieces. My momentum continued to carry me forward, which left me time to plan out where I was going to land. There were plenty of large pieces from the tower still plummeting, leaving me to do something quick and life threatening, as usual. I landed on top of a large boulder and began hopping for my life. I pushed with all my strength to hop as high as I could, grabbing every piece of falling platform to launch me up more. It felt like a desperate scramble for life, with an added addition of flips and body twists. I finally pushed away from a boulder and fell backwards, waiting until I felt a hard solid platform. I let out a harsh grunt as I slid back, waiting for my momentum to cancel. When I felt my head stop spinning, I slowly got back up to my feet. I stumbled a bit, like a newborn baby deer, but I quickly fixed my balance. I looked to see that I had landed on a different broken bridge with the group, staring at the bird.

"This is getting us nowhere...!" The white haired girl spoke in an annoyed tone.

She was completely right. I witnessed a barrage of attacks being landed on the thing. Even now, the black haired girl had hooked herself on the bird and began slicing at its head with what seems to be a sword. In only a few seconds, she landed back next to the blonde girl with much more grace.

"None of our attacks are puncturing!" The black haired girl growled those words out as well.

I realized at how helpless I had been this entire situation. I hated being helpless.

"I got an idea!" I began running to the edge of the broken bridge and began searching the area. I finally spotted what I had been looking for; the broken tower still had large pieces left, including one that was almost half the size of the tower. I knew what I had in mind, but I doubted it would work too well. The bird had already knocked the thing down with little effort. But I'm hoping that it would become a mistake to the Nevermore.

"Get his attention over here! " I didn't even bother to wait for an agreement as I had already hooked onto a boulder of the rubble and zoomed over there. The blonde haired girl had yelled at me, but it was too distant for me to here.

The girls began to start firing at the bird with a rapid amount of ammunition. It actually looked like it was doing some damage, the bird twitching in pain. I even saw the feathers being knocked off him. It didn't go down without a fight though, as it started shooting right at the girls. I knew this was perfect timing.

Okay, now I just take the other blade and... no... wait! I don't have another blade! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

Everything was moving so fast in my mind that I had yet to rationalize a better solution. My original plan was to create an anchor around the Nevermore's neck with the pieces of the boulders. But without another hook, I had nothing to get myself across the gap.

C'mon...! I need another blade! Now...! NOW!

I demanded my entire body to make another hook. I thrust my left hand out as many times as I could, but it did nothing. The bird was still heading headstrong at the girls, who continued to blindly fire at it.

If they get hurt, it's my fault...! I'm not losing again! Not like this! C'mon!

"COME ON!" I felt a power rage through my chest as I roared those words out, a power that surged straight to my outreached arm. I felt the energy zoom out from my palm and reach forward. It was another hook, but the chains and blade glowed a bright red light as it stuck into the side of the Nevermore. It let out a horrible shriek before jerking to the side and upward, shaking its head violently. It wasn't looking to where it was flying, and crashed straight into the earthy cliff. The girls stared at the crumpled figure with a bit of astonishment. They must have seen my plans a mile away at first. But this might have not been something in mind.

The bird began to get back up, perching itself on the edge of the opening to a temple, cawing at everyone in a menacing tone. It began to flap its wings and move up. But its plans were soon blocked, as the white haired girl launched straight at it with fast speed. Her movements were steady and graceful, as if she had this all planned out before she moved an inch. Her blade swiped at its tail, and then again, shards of ice stretched over its tail, pinning it in place, flapping its wings wildly.

"If you're doing something, now would be a good time to do it!" She snapped me loudly, pointing at it with the tip of her rapier.

My mind suddenly cleared back up, my brain functioning back to normal. I finally had a moment to plan my next move, and I seemed to have plenty of time. I still had my chain stuck to it and my other to the boulder. I looked back and forth at both ends, thinking of what I should do. It needed a tie to keep it anchored to the ground.

Well, if I'm going to die, this bird is going down with me...!

Again, this wasn't my best ideas, but it sure would work. Of course, my mind was building a thousand more plans during the entire movement. But at that point, it was too late. I mustered up all my strength and yanked at the boulder hard. It began to roll out of place and begin to fall forward. I felt it catch on my shoulder as it began to plummet. It quickly snatched me off of my feet and took me down with it. I could hear a loud gasp from the ice queen as she saw me disappear. I could feel the Nevermore tug at the other end as I continued to fall. I closed my eyes and waited. But suddenly, I stopped. My shoulder nearly popped out of place, but I stopped nonetheless. I felt my body hit against the side of the cliff. I let out a grunt as I looked up to see the mist just cover the peak. I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at the dangling boulder. But then it realized it. The Nevermore was still pinned to the ice. I flicked my wrist and let the chain slip back to my arm. The boulder was released and disappeared. I could hear a crunching thud as I assumed it hit the ground. I flicked my other wrist and zipped back up to the top. It had become easier to control, even if it still felt awkward. I felt the soft earth on my hand and I pulled myself back up. What I came back to was a scene that made me cringe hard. The Nevermore's head appeared to have snapped down onto the ground from the force, leaving a small crater next to the neck. The ice appeared to have held it down long enough. The red girl with the sniper was now holding a large scythe and had just finished swiping it hard, severing the head of the Nevermore.

"Woah... Clean cut."

I was earned with a cheerful, yet shy, "Thanks...!" The red haired girl smiled lightly at me, as if to show that she was friendly.

I guess when you DO look at me, I don't look like the most friendliest person you could meet.

(AUTHORS ONE AND ONLY NOTE: For all who have been following me, thank you dearly from the bottom of my heart. I know I have been very inactive, and due to pure rushing, the ending of the chapter is lackluster in quality. But I'll assure you, I found my fire again, and I will be posting much more frequently and have broken every bit of writer's block that has stood in my way. If I still have your attention of this story, I would like you to keep waiting, for I will be putting so much more into this story than anything I have before.

That is a promise.)