The Burning Forest: Chapter 6

TRAPPED
“Who are you and how did I get here?” Logan said to the man who had obviously helped him.
“My name is Cornelius, the city’s only Doctor and part time Bokor. You are in Lambridge Down. Your friend Pin brought you here. The poor boy carried you for four hours.”
“Jeez, I’m really starting to get fond of the boy. Where is he? I want to thank him” he said trying to hide his smile.
“Why he’s up just one floor. He had a full meal and went to sleep. He should be awake by now”
“Might I ask, though? Why is it still dark outside? I’ve been in this forest for close to twenty fours and not once have I seen the sun.”
“That my boy is what I need to tell you. The magic that corrupts this forest as well as afflicts both you and your wife is the handiwork of a certain court mage by the name of Verus; a servant of Draug.”
“Another person I have to deal with. I had hoped it was just Draug responsible for the state of things.”
“You sir have more than Verus to worry about if you think you want to get to Draug.”
“You mean his lackeys and stooges? I’ve heard of Mr. Skin. How many could they really be?”
“How do seven highly trained sociopaths with power over miles of territory sound?”
“S-seven… Nobody said anything about them being seven.” He stammered.
“Those are just his wardens. Draug has control over the only thing that has made people worship him and allow the mere utterance of his name to bring fear into the bravest heart. Have you heard of his Hatchlings?
“Hatchlings,” he said getting up to his feet obviously feeling like he wasn’t fit for this. “What are Hatchlings?”
“Hatchlings are his private army; half dragon, half human soldiers with the ability to cover large distances in a few hours and leave their targets and everything in its vicinity nothing but a pile of ash and bone.
“Hypothetically, though, on what occasion would he consider it necessary to release these Hatchlings?”
“On occasions like your arrival,” Cornelius said grimly.
A loud explosion from outside interrupted the conversation and the two headed to the balcony. There is something about light that allows it be seen from the furthest distance on even the darkest night. This was the case as roaring flames could be seen enveloping a building far from where they stood. Flames tore through the sky again much closer this time and Logan could swear he could feel its heat.
“What is it, who’s attacking? He shouted struggling to see what it was in the dark sky.
“It’s a fucking Hatchling!” Pin shouted from behind them. He held a sniper rifle almost the same length as him with the confidence of a veteran.
“Pin? Do you even know how to use one of those?” Logan said.
Pin ignored him as he ran to the balcony and fell to the floor. He looked through the scope till he could see a winged man with black and red armor breathing fire onto a group of people that tried to run down the street. Pin held his breath and squeezed the trigger. A smile stretched across his face as the bullet took a direct course into its belly. The Hatchling shouted in pain but its dark, powerful wings let it hover in the sky. It turned its head towards the direction of the shot and made a beeline for it. Pin had barely moved his head away from the scope when a huge man flew in with green glowing eyes, screaming in anger above his head. Its hands twisted and bent till scales and claws replaced everything human about it. It didn’t waste a second as it took a slash at the unwary Pin with its target being his neck. A hairy hand stopped the attack and now a dragon stood face to face with a wolf.
“Ah, so you’ve become a werewolf! A dangerous dog must be put down!” it said with a smile that showed its wicked intent. It wrapped its arms around Logan and flew out the balcony.
“How many times would you people try this?” Logan shouted over the sound of air rushing through his ears. He opened his mouth and took a large bite into the Hatchling’s neck. It screamed as its blood ran down Logan’s chin and splashed onto the streets below. Its hands released their hold and Logan tumbled through the air violently towards the ground. He landed head first on the flat roof of the building below him and lay there looking at the Hatchling screaming with its hands holding the spot on its neck and back where blood rushed from heavily.
Logan looked satisfied, realizing how weak these Hatchlings had turned out to be. After all, they were half human. His confident look suddenly turned to one of terror as the already dark streets were covered by the shadow of a great beast. He got up quickly to gaze properly at the sheer size of the dragon that now flew above him. Its armor had fallen to the streets below and its human skin had been swapped in for thick, reptilian scales. Its wings flapped slowly, yet with every flap, Logan’s hind legs slid further back on the roof. Its green eyes settled on the lone figure of Logan and they narrowed with hate. Without warning, it released its fire from the deepest pits of its belly and the entire roof was engulfed in flames. Logan was now running for his life on all fours as he jumped from one roof to another in an attempt to escape the constant onslaught that was being volleyed at him. A deep laugh could be heard from where the dragon hovered and hopelessness fell upon Logan’s heart. He knew he couldn’t keep it up forever and the embers from each attack fell on the streets below or burned right through the building. The night was being drowned in the screams of the innocent. Logan looked at the Hatchling carefully. It had to have a weakness. For a minute, he couldn’t see a thing but as he got closer, he could see smoke spouting from a large hole in its belly. No doubt it was the wound it had sustained from Pin’s shot. The hole was getting bigger every time flames lit up the sky and he could tell it was killing itself all in the name of following commands. He knew at this moment, this was his only chance. He ran fast towards it; each jump to a building bringing him closer to the presence of the juggernaut. He saw the hole as smoke erupted from it. All he had to do was find a way to get to where the fire came from in its belly and expand it till it burned from the inside out. He got to the building that was closest to it. The dragon stared at him with rage ready to strike. Flames poured from its mouth and at that moment, Logan jumped towards it. His claws dug into its belly and he stood here firmly attached. He raised his right paw and began slicing away at its flesh. It bellowed in pain and the sound echoed throughout the city. Logan clawed until he could feel the heat seeping out of it. The beast bent its neck attempting to burn Logan at the expense of its own potential damage. Logan looked up at it as it breathed upon him. Flames spilled through the hole in its belly and covered Logan entirely. His hold on its belly loosened and he fell off before landing hard on the street below. The beast seemed to scream as it twisted and contorted in the night sky. It returned to its human form and lost its ability to fly. The Hatchling rolled through the sky before it landed a few meters away from Logan.
Rain began to fall slowly onto the burning city. The sounds of screams suddenly turned to ones of joy as the rain extinguished every flame. Logan lay there naked with burns on many parts of his body. He looked at the dying Hatchling bleeding onto the pavement. Rain ran down both their naked bodies and along the streets into the gutters.
“How many more of you are there?” Logan said. Every word was an effort in itself.
“Hundreds,” It said before its last breath escaped its throat. A wisp of smoke rose out of its mouth and its green eyes turned gray.
“Damn,” Logan said before his eyes closed again.
A van pulled up beside Logan. Pin sat at the steering wheel with Cornelius in the back. He grabbed Logan and immediately began tying bandages.
“Make a left here!” Cornelius shouted over the sound of the engine as he dressed Logan with what he enjoyed wearing according to Pin. “We need to get out of the city,” he said as he looked back at the armored jeeps that sped after them.
“Why do these hatchlings always have a cleanup crew?” Pin said struggling to swerve through the narrow streets.
“Because of the B Team every one of these saviors has.” he said looking at Logan.
“I’m no sidekick! If anything, I’m the hero of this story.”
“Let’s continue this argument when we’re in the badlands.” He said struggling to focus on speeding up Logan’s healing. A blue aura could be seen emitting from beneath the bandages.
“Sure thing boss….” Pin began before he noticed a jeep had rerouted and was now driving down the road towards him. He closed his eyes as the vehicles slammed into each other and theirs was thrown into the air. Glass and twisted metal flew around Pin’s head as the car rolled uncontrollably before landed in the middle of a closed clothing shop. Pin got out feeling pain all over his body as pieces of glass fell from his hair. He cursed under his breath as he limped to the back of the van. Cornelius sat there with a transparent blue dome surrounding both he and Logan.
“You didn’t think it would have been nice if that had protected me too? My bloody ankle is broken” he said obviously upset.
“I’m sorry. Hold still,” he said pointing his finger at Pin’s foot. A loud crack echoed through the abandoned store and Pin yelped in pain.
“Thanks, but you could have warned me.” he said angrily.
“We need more time, Pin. They’ll surround us in minutes and kill Logan. You need to hold them back till he’s conscious.”
“Knowing him that would take hours.” he said before walking over to the front seat of the now totaled van and pulling out an assault rifle.
“Be careful,” Cornelius said without looking up from what he was doing.
“Don’t I get a shield or whatever?” he said
“No”
“Fuck you,” he said before walking to the spot in the shop they had run through. Men clad from head to in thick, black Kevlar trooped out of the jeeps. They positioned themselves behind cover and watched the store for the slightest movement before they stormed it. One of them raised his hand to gesture to the rest to rush in and a bullet ran through his head.
The rest looked shocked at the level of precision in the poor light for a second before they began to open fire. Pin pressed his body tightly against the concrete wall as their heavily advanced guns tore through the building. He got up every now and then to dispatch one or two but they soon confirmed his position and began to concentrate fire there. He crawled across the ground back to Cornelius.
“Is he going to jump in anytime soon? I need to tag in my sidekick” he said smiling awkwardly.
“Afraid not,” Cornelius said before sighing loudly. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” he said before leaving the van and walking till he got outside into the pouring rain.
The men stopped firing and remained crouched in their positions more confused than anything else. Cornelius began to swing his hands in the air like a conductor who could hear music that wasn’t there. Light blue strings began to dance around him in the air. They twisted and bent like snakes following the movement of his hands. Cornelius, whose eyes had been closed since he stood there, finally looked at his targets. The strings lashed out faster than anything Pin had ever seen. They ran through every armored adversary till they lay on the ground in pools of their own blood. Cornelius smiled sheepishly as he walked back to where Pin and Logan were.
“Enjoyed yourself didn’t you?”
“More or less, yes”
“I-I’m sorry about cussing at you earlier,” he said a bit nervously
“Don’t worry kid. I like you too much to do that to you. For now”
Pin gulped before running over to where the soldiers lay.
He threw a few guns into the back of a jeep before running over to Cornelius and helping him with Logan.
In a few minutes, they tore down the highway towards the badlands. The city would have them in jail in an hour for all the damage they had done in just an hour.
Damien sat in the void. His eyes focused on the point Elizabeth had come from. He could hear whispers from beyond the darkness that sounded like gunfire and the voices of Cornelius and Pin. He wasn’t going to wake up yet. He had to wait to see if Elizabeth would return. All his memories of her had been destroyed but he couldn’t ever forget his wife.