Wild Wastes 6 -ch 12-

“Which way do we go?” Renata asked, the Orange Dragon’s head turning slowly in every direction.

Vince followed her gaze and realized that the question wasn’t just pertinent, but just about damning.

There were four hallways that led away from here. Not one of them in a straight line from the gate.

One to the left, the next forward but to the left, the third was straight and to the right, and the last to the right alone.

“Hit the wall in front of us. See if it’s something we can move through,” Vince murmured. “I think the Emperor is supposed to be at the center of this place so… let’s make our own doors.”

Safina sauntered up to the wall and then put out a low-kick. Her bare foot slammed into the wall with a thrumming boom. A section of the wall dented inward and part of it crumbled to the ground, but it didn’t actually give way.

“That felt rather solid,” Safina remarked then lifted up her foot and put another kick into the same spot. The result was similar, though more of the wall did dent inward and give way.

Grunting, the beautiful Blue Dragon bent down cupped her hands around her mouth, then breathed flame straight into the dent she’d made. Exhaling for an incredibly long time.

Canae and Dalia were watching the two hallways on the left. Renata and Red were staring down the right halls.

Sam was fluttering over them. She was holding a small SMG that actually looked right sized in her hands.

“You should get some Legionnaire armor,” Vince blurted out while staring at Sam.

The Fae laughed and met Vince’s eyes.

“They’re working on it. Considering it’s a one off, it isn’t high priority,” Sam admitted. “Though Red’s should be ready tomorrow. They made it so she could run like normal.

“The Deity armor is going to take a bit longer though. Trying to get it to work with, empower, and amplify Faith, is harder than the Whites thought.”

Ever further behind.

Ha.

I definitely want to run off to Russia now. I can leave all this to everyone else.

“I’m excited for the Deity armor,” Johanna admitted. “Apparently they’re tyring to make it similar to how they build the Elven armor.”

Safina stood up and ceased her impressive and what he would have considered impossible exhale.

The point that she’d blown flame into looked more like lava and nothing else.

“It’s solid. I don’t… that’s a lot of stone,” Safina mumbled and then looked to Vince.

“Concrete,” posited Vince with a small shake of his head. “The walls are filled with concrete. This really is a gigantic bunker. Now I wish I’d questioned Felix about how he’d reached the Emperor.”

“I don’t think it would have mattered,” Johanna countered. She lifted a hand and pointed to a corner of the hall they were in. Or more acurrately, the point above where Safina had just attacked. “This was once a hall. Look at the edges. You can see where the frame was.

“At least, thats what I think it is. What do you all think?”

Vince looked at what she’d been gesturing to and he couldn’t disagree.

There was wood there that didn’t match the rest of the wall or what’d been behind the wall. On top of that, the wall was flat and looked to have two different colors of worked stone or concrete.

Work that’d been done at different times.

“In other words, he expected this, changed things around,” Renata summarized. “Okay. So… we just don’t do what he wants. He wants to funnel us around.”

Renata made a shooing motion to everyone and moved toward the wall.

“Alright. I guess me not being a massive Dragon will pay off again,” she drawled as everyone slowly moved away from her.

Dropping down to all fours Renata stretched her back out, causing Vince to stare at her rear end.

In the next moment her armor started to shift around her body even as it began to morph and writhe. Transforming into her Dragon form right then and there despite the tight and cramped quarters.

Groaning, Renata was already sticking partway out into the two halls on the right as she expanded. To the point that she flopped down to her side before she got to her full size. She pushed her claws out in front of herself even as she lost the space to do much with them.

“Guuuh, hard-to-breathe,” moaned the Dragon. Her chest was partly wedged into one hall and the entry as well. Her head was stuck in the center where everyone had been just standing. The spikes that came out of her brow reached up far enough to have lodged in the ceiling. “Okay.”

Using her claws, Renata began to dig and claw at the wall Safina had attacked.

With a crunch and rattle Renata carved out large furrows in the wall. Concrete and rebar clattering and falling to the ground as she went.

Then there was the sound of gunfire from somewhere beyond Renata.

“Hey! Hey… did you just-shoot me-at my-backside?!” asked Renata incredulously. Even as she spoke her fingers dug away at the wall. Breaking away large sections and sending it crashing to the ground. “You just-keep doing that! As soon-as I’m done-here I’m-going to chew-you all to mush!”

Sam had been slowly prowling back and forth along the edge of Renata and where she met the ceiling and walls. Vince had no idea what she was doing.

Then she paused at the hip joint of Renata.

She wedged her weapon into what was likely a crack, though Vince couldn’t see it, and began firing. Short bursts of gunfire that launched casings against the ceiling and only for them to rattle down across Renata’s back and to the ground.

The opposing gunfire that’d been audible died away.

“Thank you-Sam. That-was kind of-annoying,” hissed Renata.

There was a boom as one of Renata’s paws suddenly shot forward.

“There-we go,” hissed the Orange Dragon before starting to shift down into her human form again. Even as she shrunk down she rolled onto her hands and knees and started to get up to a standing position.

Vince saw several guards rolling around on the ground or laying still as Renata no longer blocked the halls. Sam had done very well in aiming despite not being able to see very well.

Once Renata became human she stormed over to one of the guards that were moving around. She lifted her foot up, then brought it down on their head.

With a sickening crunch their skull popped open as if it were a melon being dropped on the ground. Their brain squirting out and splattering across the ground.

“Bastard,” grumbled Renata.

Safina had already gone into the hole Renata had made. The sound of gunfire was loud and Vince could feel the strange coldness that accompanied Safina’s magic.

“Red, go in after Safina? Canae, follow her. Dalia after that,” ordered Ynes, putting a hand to Vince and slowly moving him toward the hole Renata had made.

Red looked to Ynes, then nodded her head and disappeared through the gap.

“I know, you’re stronger than all of us, but that doesn’t mean we should put you at risk,” Ynes grumbled. “That’s just asking for trouble when we don’t have to. I’m sure this annoys you, or maybe wounds your pride, but I don’t care.”

“No… no I understand. I learned that lesson a long time ago,” Vince answered, watching as Canae and Dalia entered the hole.

His missing fingers were a constant and perfect reminder.

He had people with jobs and that included being on the front lines.

Don’t think like a soldier. Think like a commander.

“His hand,” Sam offered as if there was a question that hadn’t been asked. “His Daphne injury. It was injured when she was.”

Ynes made an “ah” like noise.

Then she patted him on the shoulder after a small burst of gunfire.

“You next, Vince,” she ordered.

Vince unsheathed his sword and activated it. The powered weapon flared to life and thrummed near silently in his hand.

Moving through the gap Renata had made, Vince found himself standing in a wide corridor. It went forwards a significant distance and looked to open out into a large auditorium like room.

At the end of the hall was Safina as well as Canae and Dalia.

They’d clearly sprinted down to the end rather than remain in this narrow space that was just asking for someone to spray a machine-gun down.

Moving ahead at a run Vince reached the rest of the group.
Canae and Dalia were holding fairly wide angles and had their weapons snuggled up to their armored shoulders.

Safina was standing practically between the two and had her hands up. A massive amount of blue tinged magic was swirling out of her hands and rapidly filling up the auditorium.

Direclty in front of her was a small semi-circle of magic that looked to have been created by the Elves.

Sheathing his sword, Vince drew his pistol and racked the slide. Lifting it up he held it in front of himself and moved up on Safina’s right side.

He could now see the entirety of the auditorium.

It was filled with enemies and almost all of them had a gun, or were wielding some type of magical weapon. They were all pointed at Safina, though no one was activating them or firing them.

Other than that, it was clearly a throne room.

There was a great many display cases filled with various objects throughout the whole room. As well as a great many tapestries and paintings that covered all the walls.

Felix had described his meeting with the Emperor as having taking place in such a location.

There was something that confused Vince though.

Given the way the defenses were laid out, and the way they were curved, this was all on the wrong side. Everything looked as if it were meant to be used from the side Vince was on rather than the side they were using.

Glancing back the way they’d come, Vince realized it was exactly that.

Their enemy was on the wrong side, as Vince and his people were on the wrong side.

Renata had dug through something that looked like ten to twenty feet of concrete. The hall had literally been partially filled in.

Looking at it from this side, the work done was sloppy and looked as if it’d been done in a hurry. All to take care of what had been a very over-the-top entry point originally and most certainly far too easy to breakthrough.

When Vince looked back to the enemy forces, their stunned lack of response fled.

As one, they opened up with weapons-fire, spells, and attacks of a magical nature. A barrage of attacks that struck the shield around Safina, and Vince as he was beside her, in a withering attack.

Fuck.

You know… if it wasn’t for healing magic, my hearing would be absolutely shot by now. I can definitely see why Felix made sure to make a medical pod that would treat hearing damage from gunfire.

Vince lifted up his pistol, stuck the weapon beyond the shield, and targeted a large woman that was holding a weapon that looked like a machine gun as if it were a rifle.

Sighting it on her head, he pulled the trigger.

The slide rocked back though it didn’t move much. Vince held the weapon tight and pulled the trigger again once the sights lined up on his target.

By the time he’d pulled the trigger the second time, the woman’s head had deformed. Dropping to the ground where she stood the woman was out of the fight.

Picking his shots, Vince slowly began working his pistol toward the left.

Any time he saw someone he could get a shot on, he took it.

He wasn’t concerned about the shield collapsing.

Johanna had arrived at some point and had started working to empower the shield. She had one hand on Canae’s shoulder and one on Dalia’s.

Vince was surprised to see a Dragon or a Dragon-newt align in his sights.

Unsure of how the rounds in his gun would do on them he pulled the trigger.

He watched as a round appeared on their forehead. Then fell to the ground.

Leaving behind a small pink spot.

Clicking his tongue, Vince moved his weapon away.

Another Dragon or Dragon-newt was there.

Again he just moved on down the line.

Except he had to move on again. Then again. And again.

And several more times.

“So many freakin’ Dragon types,” growled Vince.

Reaching the wall, he quickly started going back the other way. He found more people he could put a round into, near the center.

It wasn’t target rich but he actually had people to shoot at.

Though as he got closer to the right side, it once again became almost entirely Draconic.

Once he reached the end, he realized that was the extent of what he could do with his gun. There was no one else to fire at.

Holstering his pistol, Vince turned and looked to Ynes.

The Dryad was standing there with her maces in hand. She was flanked by Renata and Red.

All three looked as if they were ready to dive into melee combat.

“They’re mostly Reds! Though there’s a few other colors in there!” Renata shouted over the ongoing attacks.

Vince nodded his head and then looked to Safina.

The Blue gave him a smirk, her bright eyes looking at him from the side without turning her head.

“Give me a minute!”requested Safina. “I’ve almost cooled down the area to a point that those Reds will be uncomfortable! Red are so much closer to fire that this’ll take some edge off their power!

“I’ve also blanketed the area in a field spell so that when they die, they don’t revert to Dragon size!”

Unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, that statement was all that needed to be said to draw the Reds out of their cover.

Dropping weapons and rushing toward Vince and his people.

Ripping his sword free Vince felt his insides quiver with excitement. His heart bounced around wildly at the oncoming fight.

As soon as it was obvious no one was going to bother with ranged weapons, Vince shot past the shield. He let his sword fall backward as he went toward the closest enemy.

A young man with red horns curling up from his brow. He did have wings which meant he could be a partially shifted Dragon or an actual Dragon-newt.

An odd thought about why don’t Dragons partially shift more often floated up from the back of Vince’s mind even as he brought his sword around.

The man reached out with a clawed hand to knock the blade away.

Only to lose his hand from the wrist up.

It was cut cleanly off.

Drawing back with his sword, Vince stamped a foot forward, and then thrust with the weapon.

The tip slid into the man’s face, or more accurately, his eye. Slamming into the eyesocket and penetrating into his brain.

There was a weird squeak noise from the man before he fell backward. The weight of his body tugging the blade free.

Hearts!

Hearts to eat!

Feeling his blood pounding in his temples, Vince grinned. Grinned and felt the weight of his thoughts and the situation he’d been in fly away.

Nothing more than a piece of paper picked up by a breeze and taken away.

Vince darted toward the next closest foe.

A female Dragon this time, though she seemed more clearly a Dragon. She only had the normal horns and eyes that Dragons had in their human form.

Before the abnormally pretty woman could even open her mouth, Vince had brought his sword up. He’d been carying it low and to his left and it was now extended beyond and above him.

The blade had passed through the woman’s face at her jaw and exited near her temple. One of her hands came up and pressed to her mouth.

Even as half of her jaw swung away loosely, her tongue falling out, bouncing off her cleavage, and hitting the ground.

Then her left eye partially dangled out of her head as she spun to the side.

With a grotesque gurggling scream, the Dragon crumpled to her knees even as she pushed at her face. As if she could reattach it just like that.

Vince noted where she went down in a heap so he could come back and finish her later. In front of him right now was very clearly a Dragon-newt.

They most certainly had an appearance that didn’t lean into that heritage though.

Right now, they had a look that screamed nothing else than absolute terror and fear writ all over their face.

Dread.

For Vince, however, he was enjoying himself.

His sword was out of position, so instead, Vince reached out and grabbed the Dragon-newt’s horn with his left hand. The man’s eyes widened momentarily before Vince simply jerked his hand down and to the side.

Ripping the horn, and a majority of the Dragon-newt’s skull, clear off their head. Their brain slipped partly out of what remained of their head, their body falling in the same direction Vince had pulled.

Renata shot past him then and closed in on a male Red Dragon. They were wearing some rather expensive looking clothes for some reason.

Vince felt like he’d seen it somewhere before, in fact.

Surprisingly, she had an ugly and squat looking weapon.

He had no idea where she’d kept it but it wasn’t very large. No longer than a forearm, it resembled an ugly piece of pipe with a lever on it.

Jerking that lever, Renata’s body shudder and a massive boom went off.

Vince didn’t see what was fired out of the tube but it was heavy enough that it struck the Dragon hard. Hard enough that their left shoulder, and the arm it held, vanished.

Dropping the weapon, Renata reached out with her right hand.

She slammed it into the gaping would that’d been created. The sounds of bones breaking loud as she did so.

Then she jerked her arm back out and inside of her closed hand was a quivering heart. It even beat once, blood flowing out of it rapidly as it happened.

Laughing excitedly, Renata spun and put the heart down on a glass display case not far away. Then she looked to the other Dragons while scooping up her strange weapon.

She shoved the front of it forward with a clang, reached behind herself to the small of her back, and brought out a fairly large and sharp looking shell of some sort.

Vince had no idea how it worked, how it fired, or how it managed to hurt a Dragon as badly as he did, but he’d put money on the Whites being involved.

With a thump, Renata pulled the tube back into place, targeted a nearby Dragon, a woman, and pulled the trigger.

There was a boom followed by the Dragon losing their midsection. The top half nearly falling on her own legs.

“Another heart for me!” squealed Renata as she rushed towards the fallen Dragon.

Feeling his rage cooling by the strangeness of the scene, Vince looked over.

Not far off, Safina was eagerly tearing the heart of a male Dragon, while Red was just a bit beyond her, carving out a Dragon-newt’s heart as they struggled to push her off.

“They’re all eager to feed you. I made a suggestion earlier that you’d love to eat some Dragon hearts. As well as what it tends to do to you,” Ynes purred, standing next to him. She held up a bloody heart in one hand, her other hand holding both maces. “Reward me for the idea, as well as please enjoy this heart I got for you.”

Johanna stepped up, lifted her arms, and several Dragons died at the same time. Their heads literally exploding from the inside out.

Motivation is a terrifying thing.

“Let’s find the emperor,” Vince said instead of replying. “Because up to this point, I haven’t seen or heard him.”

“Red will do it!” announced Red happily and then stuck a quivering Dragon-Newt heart into Vince’s hand.