KING'S RISING (6)

"So, how is school?" Nagamine asked.

"It's going well," Ayana replied as she stirred her curry. "We're suppose to be studying about Hinduism, Buddism, and Mesopotamian mythology this year."

"We're also going to be taking a refresher course on some domestic religions as well," Asagi added, as she drew some ramen with her chop sticks.

"That's good. I know the school year is just starting, but what have you learned so far?" Nagamine asked.

"We've been going in between our studies quite a bit. Buddism is our primary focus at the moment, but we've also had to stay up to date with our history and economics classes," Ayana explained.

"So far, we've just been focusing on Shingon and Tendai," Asagi spoke, "Once we've refreshed ourselves with them, we'll be moving onto our other subjects."

"So how are things with you?" Ayana asked Nagamine.

"Stressful as usual," She replied.

"Saito?" Asagi questioned.

"Yes, and given some of our recent discoveries we've made, he's pushing us to capture a live Gyaos specimen even harder."

"What discoveries have you made so far?" Asagi inquired curiously.

"I'm... I'm not really allowed to say," Nagamine replied hesitantly. It was clear she wanted to tell them about what she'd found, but she wasn't allowed to discuss it outside of the lab and any government meetings she attended.

"Nagamine, please tell us," Asagi insisted.

Nagamine thought about it carefully for a moment before looking around. She wanted to be sure no one suspicious was listening in.

Once she was sure, she spoke. "I'm not sure if anyone is watching me, so I'm going to need to make this quick. I'll tell you all that I know," Nagamine began, "Over the past five years my team and I have been trying to find an undamaged Gyaos specimen. Gamera hasn't left us with very much after each encounter, but we got lucky a couple of weeks ago. We managed to find four specimens. Our guess was that they died of starvation, we're not completely sure, but we dissected them and this is what we found."

Asagi and Ayana's eyes widened when they saw a picture of the monster's skeleton revealing a forked spine.

"I know, it's amazing," Naganime said, "I believe this 'forked neck' and the creature's vocal cords act like some sort of tuning fork, creating their scalpel beams. But that isn't all. They're smarter than we thought."

Asagi and Ayana gave each other and uncomfortable look when they heard that.

"Remember what that flock of Gyaos did five years ago. That wasn't on accident. These creatures are not only growing stronger, but they're getting smarter too. They're showing problem solving levels of intelligence. That's how far they've gotten." Nagamine explained.

"This is huge," Ayana commented.

"Why doesn't the government want you to bring this information to the public?" Asagi asked.

"They don't want to create a panic. There are other details I haven't mentioned yet," Nagamine explained. "I can't tell you now though," Nagamine said before looking around cautiously. She didn't know if anybody had heard or saw them. "I'll meet you at the university, later on, Nagamine whispered.

"That's great. So besides school, what else are you looking forward too?" Nagamine inquired, attempting to sound as if nothing suspicious had happened.

"Well, other than that, there's very little else..." Asagi knew what was going on and decided to play along.

"Uh, A-Asagi. T-The trip," Ayana was also on topic.

"Oh, yes that's right. We'll be taking a trip later on this week."

"Where to?" Nagamine asked.

"Odo Island." Asagi replied.

/

"C'mon Brandon!" Emica beckoned her friend.

"Not so fast, Emica," Brandon replied as he trudged up the mountain slope. "I can only go so fast," He said as his backpack fell off his shoulder.

"If you kept up with your PT like you said you would this wouldn't be such a problem for you would it," Emica joked with a light-hearted chuckle. "Come on. We're almost there," She smiled before continuing.

Brandon groaned, "How does she have so much energy?" Brandon slung the heavy backpack over his shoulders before continuing.

Once Emica reached the top of the ridge she took a deep breath. Sensuikyo Gorge was beautiful. The sight of the surrounding mountains and rivers was absolutely stunning. She could even see Mount Aso from where she was standing.

As she stared, she thought about a story she'd heard about the mountain. The myth spoke about a giant bird that lived in the mountain. According to the legend the creature had wings that were so large, they blotted out the sun. Emica was never into mythology, but she did enjoy a good story from time to time.

As she took in the moment, she began to hear labored breathing. She looked behind her and saw Brandon.

"Made it!" Brandon proclaimed with an exhausted breath. He dropped his backpack and fell to the ground. "Nice view."

Emica laughed, "Have a nice walk, Brandon?"

"Leave me alone, Emica," Brandon grunted.

"Come on, Brandon. The hang gliding ridge is just a couple miles up that way," Emica said before moving up the trail.

Brandon watched her go. "You've got to be fricking kidding me," He panted before getting back up.

They reached the ridge and began setting up their gliders.

"You know I really have no idea why you talked me into this," Brandon said as he looked down the ridge, scared.

"Oh, quit being such a big baby. It's just like ridding a zip-line," Emica told him.

"Yeah, something else I also hate because it involves heights. At least you have a harness and can hang onto something, this is just... just... just..." Brandon said before screaming as he committed.

"It's fun!" Emica finished as she took off.

Brandon was still screaming when she flew up beside him, but he was in control. He remembered the lessons just like she did.

"See, it's not so bad," Emica bellowed to be heard over the sound of the wind.

"Easy for you to say!" Brandon was still panicked, but nothing was wrong.

"Just look at that beautiful view," Emica thought out loud as she began to take in the scene. She laughed when she looked down and saw the greenery below her.

She smiled when she saw the birds flying below. Emica always enjoyed getting outside, but this was by far her best experience yet. She'd always wanted to fly like a bird, and now she was. Feeling the wind blow on her face as she moved the small aluminum frame back and forth with her weight was the most euphoric sensation she'd ever felt. It was almost felt like she was in heaven.

Suddenly, Emica was taken out of the moment when she heard the sound of rumbling. An earthquake? She thought. It was a good thing she and Brandon were in the air then, if that was the case. Then Emica heard the sound of an explosion. She turned. Mount Aso was erupting. The volcano was a fairly active one, Emica knew this, but the abruptness of the eruption still terrified her.

Emica didn't entirely know what to do, she wasn't expecting this to happen. All Emica did know was that she and Brandon needed to get down as soon as possible. She didn't know how soon the volcanic ash would fill the air, and she didn't want to know. She just needed to find Brandon, get to the ground and leave as soon as possible. But Brandon was nowhere to be seen. She'd just seen him a couple of minutes ago. How could she have lost sight of him?

"Brandon!" Emica called for him.

"Brandon!"

Suddenly Emica's screaming was silenced by an overpowering bellow.

GAKKLUTLLLL

Emica looked back at the erupting volcano and saw a massive wing-like petrusion emerge. Another one appeared shortly after.

"Gyaos!" She screamed, hopping Brandon would hear her. Before moving to lower to the ground hopping she could find a safe spot to land. She knew how dangerous the creature's were. Even for how large the animal was a full grown adult Gyaos would still eat a human.

Emica watched as the monster rose from the volcano. Lava and magma dripped off of the creature as it came up. How could it survive that? Emica asked when she saw it.

As the volcanic rock and liquid fire fell off of the burning creature, it's form became more recognizable. This wasn't like any Gyaos she'd ever seen before. Could it have been a new species? No, it couldn't have they couldn't survive such a high temperature.

Then the revelation came to her and her muscles froze in terror. It wasn't a Gyaos at all. Its features were too incorrect. It looked more like a pterosaur, like a pterodactyl or a pteranodon. She couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Suddenly the creature let out another awful screech.

CHEEUULUTLLLL

The monster sure didn't sound like a Gyaos.

Emica looked at the creature in wide-eyed wonder as the creature began scratching at its head with the finger-like claws on its wings.

The creature turned its head up sharply. Emica could see the predatory look in its eyes. But it wasn't looking at her. It was looking at something... someone else. Brandon. She could tell by the color of his hang glider's wing.

CHEEUULUTLLLL

The creature saw him. The monster was several miles away, Emica wasn't sure how it saw him but it did. The gigantic pterosaur gave another screech before flapping it's wings, pushing itself into the air.

"Brandon! Get down! Get down!" Emica screamed up at him with tears in her eyes. But there was nothing she could do. Brandon was too high up. He couldn't hear her. Not that it would have made any difference if he had.

Despite how big it was the monster moved with the speed of a jet, closing the distance on it's prey quickly. After a few seconds the monster caught up to him. Brandon was gone.

"Brandon!" Emica screamed for him one last time.

Emica didn't see where she was flying. She couldn't even see, her eyes were filled with tears. By the time she realized what was happening it was too late. She'd flown into the top of a tree.

Emica was surprised she was still alive, let alone conscious after colliding with the obstacle. Emica was still crying for her friend, but it was too late now. She needed to get out of there.

CHEEUULUTLLLL

She heard the monster roar.

Emica turned around and saw the winged giant. Its massive sharp talons were wide open. It was the last thing she ever saw.

/

Aleksei quietly trudged through the forested terrain, thinking to himself as he did so. It was his turn for guard duty at the time. Unlike his comrades, he didn't mind being out in the cold. He actually really enjoyed walking alone, since it gave him time to think about things.

Aleksei thought about his wife ,Nadia. She was all the way back home in Samara. He'd been away from her now for almost a year. Nadia was the only thing Aleksei really missed about home. She was the love of his life, and although things got rough every now and then, he never got tired of spending time with her.

"YA skuchayu po tebe, moya lyubov'," He thought out loud as he continued thinking about her. He thought about her a lot over the past year.

He didn't lament long. He was going to finish his service in a couple more months and he'd be back home with her soon. They were planning on having a baby. Hopefully, if things went right, Nadia wouldn't have to wait too much longer.

He looked out at the horizon and saw the Ichinsky V mountain range. As he looked at it, he remembered stories that his friends used to tell him back when they were still in basic training. Some of them had grew up in this area, and they knew some things about the area. Some of them said the mountains were suppose to be cursed. Aleksei couldn't remember the details, but basically there was suppose to be some big monster living there or something. Aleksei thought they were drunk.

He did hear other stories about how the place used to be a nuclear testing zone back in the Cold War. Aleksei found that more believable, but he'd never seen anything to substantiate the claim.

As Aleksei continued walking along the path a bear appeared. It was a brown bear, a large 8 foot male by the looks of it. The creature saw him and roared. It was probably hungry. Aleksei readied his rifle as the bear charged towards him.

Just as he was about to take the shot, there was an earthquake.

Aleksei lost his balance and fell. The bear stood its ground.

Suddenly there was a loud unearthly sound.

EEEOONGK

...

Aleksei woke up a couple hours later. He didn't know what had happened. He must have blacked out or something. He felt his head and winced in pain. He must have been knocked out.

He began to check in with his comrades when he looked at the scenery infront of him. There was a massive trench dug out infront of him where the bear had been. The enormous trench continued to stretch over the mountain range.

"Chto, chert voz'mi, eto sdelal?"

/

"Are the charges ready?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes, Grand-Deacon Hikaru," One of his underlings replied.

AAYAOONG

"Do not worry, little one. Your time to feed will come shortly," Hikaru told the juvenile. The monster gave a docile grunt. Shinagami had taught him many things. He'd even taught him how to control the Gyaos. So long as the creatures weren't hungry they could be controlled. That's why he'd let them eat the captian. They didn't need him anymore.

"Shall we blow the charges, Grand-Deacon?" One of his subordinates asked.

"Yes," Hiraku replied.

The underling did as he was told and set the charges. They'd set the timers long enough for them to get far enough away before the bombs exploded.

Just as they were about to leave, something happened. The charges went off too early, something hadn't been done correctly. Hikaru didn't know what was wrong, he didn't know anything about explosives.

Hikaru and his subordinates were blown into the air. He landing a couple paces away before blacking out.

...

When he woke up his underlings surrounded him.

"Grand-Deacon. Oh, how glad we are that you are not harmed," One of them said.

"What happened?!" Hikaru questioned angrily. "What did you do?!" He began roaring at the cultist who'd set the charges.

"I-I-I... I didn't..." The cultist muttered fearfully as Hikaru held him by the collar of his hood.

"Tell me what you did before I..." Before Hikaru could finish his threat, another explosion came sending the group flying back. Some of the Gyaos recoiled as the explosion came. He was about to attack his subordinate again when he saw what was happening.

A large blue beam erupted from the side of the mountain where the charges went off. The beam tore a hole in the side of the mountain. It was followed by another beam, opening it wider.

Before Hikaru or his underlings could process what was happening, they heard a monstrous roar.

AAAAHHHOOOOEEEOONGK

The sound was unmistakable. Hikaru felt a cold chill run down his spine, despite how hot it was. He heard the sound of earth being moved before lava erupted out of the hole where the beam had came through.

AAYAOONG

The Gyaos screeched as they took flight. They flew in front of the hole and began opening fire on it with their super-sonic scalpel beams.

AAAAHHEEOOONGK

The sound came again. This time it was much louder. The blue light appeared again. The Gyaos let out a dying screech as they exploded into flames. And then Hikaru saw it emerge.

AAAAHHHOOOOEEOONGK

The reptilian's features and signature glowing dorsal plates were just as distinguishable as its roar. Hikaru saw the creature's eyes open. It grimaced when it saw him.

"Godzilla!" One of Hikaru's underlings screamed in terror before the monster let out another roar.

AAAAHHEEOOOONGK

Godzilla's dorsal plates glowed with blue light before the monster released another blast of atomic breath. Hikaru ran but his underlings didn't. Hikaru got back up and looked back at his subordinates. They were gone, incinerated by the monster's breath. He watched fearfully as the monster stared down at him. At first he thought the monster was going to kill him too, but instead it simply grunted before turning and stomping away.

Hikaru fell the the ground and sighed in relief, thankful that he was still alive.