Cobalt gave a brisk nod and bared his fangs. “Lead the way.”
We fought our way across the yard, to where the large square building loomed at the edge of the walk. A group of soldiers now stood in front of it, firing their guns at any clone that got close. They were, I noted in relief, shooting specifically at the vessels and not at the rogue hatchlings. The last thirty feet to the armory was a mass of writhing bodies, and we had to claw, shoot and fight our way past several clones before the way to the building was clear.
“Lieutenant!” Garret called as we rushed up.
“Sebastian.” The older man shook his head with a wry smile. “Still alive, are you? I’m glad. Looks like your dragons got here, after all.” His hard black eyes shifted to me and Cobalt, standing a few feet away. “You didn’t mention you were bringing an Adult.”
“That a problem?” Cobalt asked with only the barest hint of a curled lip.
“Not at all.” Martin spared a glance upward as Jade soared past, chasing a few stray clones. “We may actually win this fight...”
He trailed off. I felt the ripple of...something...go through the air, and a chill slid up my back. Maybe fifty feet overhead, Jade curled gracefully around to pursue the clones—
—and something hit her from above, bursting through the clouds to slam into her back. Huge and dark, with leathery wings and blank silver eyes, it hit the Eastern dragon like a falling airplane, driving them both to the ground. Jade didn’t even have time to look back before she struck the earth with the other dragon on top of her. The crash from the two behemoths shook the ground, and a cloud of dust billowed up where they landed.
An enormous shadow rose from the swirling dust storm, its scales the metallic gray of the clones, only this dragon was much, much bigger. Pale horns framed its face and twisted back from its skull, and a line of bony ridges curved wickedly down its spine to the tip of its tail. Looming over the motionless body of the Eastern dragon, the monstrous vessel reared onto its hind legs and roared, making everything inside me cringe in fear.
Cobalt snarled, crouching down and half opening his wings in a semi-instinctive reaction. “What the hell? They have an Adult clone? Where has Talon been hiding that?”
Garret’s commander looked pale. I didn’t blame him; in one swoop, the clone had taken out our strongest ally, and with her our best chance at stopping it. From this distance, I could just make out the graceful curve of her body, lying motionless in the sand, and felt sick with grief, anger and fear. Was Jade really dead? It didn’t seem possible that the Eastern dragon was gone. Without her, I didn’t know what we could do against a massive Adult dragon that showed no fear and no instinct for self-preservation. Unless we killed or severely crippled it, it would keep coming, and something that huge would cause massive destruction before it was finally put down. The soldiers of St. George stared at it, too, their expressions grim. They knew, better than most, how nasty Adult dragons could be, how difficult they were to take out.
“I don’t suppose you lizards have any more tricks up your sleeves?” the commander muttered, never taking his eyes away from the Adult. “Another dragon you’ve kept in reserve, just in case?”
“Sadly, our reserve of Adults is rather slim at the moment,” Cobalt growled back. “Jade was our heavy hitter before that thing blindsided her.” He shook his head at the enormous Adult vessel, his spines bristling in fear. “Shit. Any bright ideas, St. George?” he asked, turning to Garret, who stared at the huge dragon with narrowed eyes. “’Cause I’m feeling a little outgunned right now.”
“Lieutenant.” Instead of answering, Garret turned to Martin. His voice was surprisingly calm. “Sir, are the keys to the garage in the same spot?”
“Yes.” Martin frowned, obviously as confused as we were. “I take it you have a plan, Sebastian?”
“I hope so.” Garret turned to me and Riley. “Stall that thing,” he told us, making Riley snort in disbelief. “Just for a few minutes.” His gaze went to mine, dark with worry. “Can you do that, Ember?”
“Yeah.” I gave him a savage grin. “Don’t worry, we’ll hold it. For as long as we can.”
He nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Spinning, he sprinted away into the flickering darkness.
Cobalt shook his head. “Oh, this is gonna be fun,” he muttered, and gave me a look from the corner of his eye. “If I don’t get eaten by a dragon, Firebrand, I’m never letting you forget this.”
Before I could respond, he leaped into the air, flying straight up so that he could be seen by everyone. “All right!” he roared, jerking everyone’s attention to him. “Hatchlings, fall back! Get out of sight, and do not engage that Adult! I don’t care how much you want to help, this is nonnegotiable. Retreat to the rendezvous and stay there until you hear from me or Wes. Go!”
With a flurry of flapping wings, the hatchlings rose from the ground in a bright swarm and soared over the fence line. As the last dragon swooped out of sight, Cobalt landed beside me with a grim smile. “There. At least the only dragons that thing will be eating tonight are us.”
Opening its massive wings, the Adult vessel gave a leap that propelled it into the air and then streaked like a fireball in the direction of the chapterhouse.
RILEY
Godzilla was coming.
Stall the thing, St. George had said. Easy for him to say. Shit, this was a bad idea. How were two non-Adult dragons and a handful of human soldiers supposed to stall that thing? It was an Adult. An old Adult, by the size of it, close to forty feet from head to tail. Maybe if it choked on us while we were sliding down its windpipe? I was just relieved the hatchlings were in full retreat and that no one had argued about staying to battle this monster.
The Adult clone landed in the center of the yard with a boom and another roar that made my eardrums throb. As soon as it touched down, every soldier of St. George left opened fire, filling the air with the roar of assault rifles. The bullets that struck the chest and belly plates sparked harmlessly off, and the ones that did get through seemed as effective as air pellets. The Adult gave a chilling, banshee-like howl and lumbered forward, plowing through the bullet storm and coming right toward the armory.
I looked at Ember. “Ready for this, Firebrand?”