S1|E2 Fire-Breathing Road Blocks
They stole a car.
"How did you guys even get to Mya's house without a car," Nik demanded as they sped down the highway, forty miles over the speed limit.
"Shadowtravel," Lani answered at the same time that Llyn and Alli replied, "Apparated" and "Party can turn into a parrot the size of a dragon."
"Here me roaaarr," Party squawked and flared his wings from his spot on Alli's lap.
"Okay...?" Nik turned in the passenger seat to look back at them. "So then why are we using a car now instead of...that?"
"We somehow ended up in the underworld," Lani answered while it sounded like Llyn and Alli said. "America has Apparation zoning for minors," and "He's tired."
"Gods, guys," Mya muttered and squinted over the dashboard, into the night. "It sounds like you could fill an entire book with just how you got to my house. "
"You could," Alli nodded. "It's an interesting story, if you're willing to write it?"
"Will you pay me?" Mya laughed.
"Coffee every five chapters."
The grin slowly fell from her lips. "We'll talk about it later," Mya confirmed. There was a pause. "Nik, were you okay in getting here? "
"If you call getting shoved in a box by a chick in a rainbow t-shirt, and getting dragged across the entire southern United States in the span of about fifteen minutes -- then of course, it was peachy," she crossed her arms over her chest.
"She still wears those t-shirts on mission calls..." Mya murmured almost to herself and brushed a hand under her eyes.
"I'm not finished yet," Nik snapped. "What is up with that basement, those boys looked insane -- like mentally. And that rotting corpse sitting on the floor posed to look like it was watching TV!? I'm mentally scarred, Mya."
"That rotting corpse's name is Karma," Mya sniffed defiantly, as if the name of the dead thing in her basement really mattered. "And she's a zombie -- who is very touchy about what you call her, may I add."
"You were serious about that?" The fact seemed to disturb Alli to some degree.
Llyn twitched at the neck and shoulder.
"Of course." Mya's eyes wandered up to the rearview mirror. "Now since we still have a bit of drive ahead of us, how do you guys find out the whereabouts of Phogystic?"
There was a pause in which Alli looked at Lani and Llyn pointedly. They didn't seem to understand until Llyn sputtered out, "Oh, what -- us?"
"I got an anonymous tip off and a file folder sent to my house, yesterday morning," Lani sighed and kicked her friend's leg lightly. "Me and Llyn tracked down Alli and Celin as quickly as we could; and Celin flew out ahead of us to try and secure Rachel."
"Does she know where in Scotland to find her?"
"Nope."
"Do we know where in Scotland ?"
"Nope."
"Hell of a way to meet up for the first time," Nik muttered and gazed out into the road. All she could see was other cars and road bumpers going on for miles. "How do we even know where we're going?"
"We don't," Llyn supplied helpfully.
"So we just have to trust that Mya knows what she's doing?"
"Yeap."
"Yeap," Nik sighed.
"Don't we always?" Alli rolled her eyes.
"Yeap," Mya echoed distantly. "No worries as long as the roads don't change and the riders stay off the highway...we should be okay. "
There was another long stretch of silence in which the rest of the appeared to ponder her words. Finally, after about half a mile, Llyn said, "Okay, I'll bite. Who are the riders."
"A gang. Nasty guys," Mya replied immediately. "They ride around setting fires, exploding things, taking girls and causing riots. We had to drive through on of their road scavengings during a road trip we took last year to the East coast. To say the least... it wasn't pleasant."
"They're on motorcycles?" Lani asked.
Mya shook her head. "No, not motorcycles, dragons."
"Dragons?" Alli repeated.
"They're the reason everyone says that dragons are ev...il...." There was a loud screech from up above them, like an eagle the size of a horse had decided to take a joy ride over the highway.
There was another ten seconds of silence.
Nik hit a button on the dashboard causing the roof panel to slide open. She twisted around in her seat and craned her neck to peer outside before slumping down again. "Like those dragons...."
Mya shot a glance over her shoulder. "Exactly like those dragons," she nodded and forced her eyes back to the road. "Hold on!" She shifted the car out of cruise control and slammed her foot down on the accelerator.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Nik narrated loudly as the dragon swooped down at the road and bathed the pavement in fire. Mya spun the wheel wildly so that the column just barely liked their back tires. "We appear to have hit a spot of turbulence. Please remain in your seats and refrain from screaming."
Lani screamed, causing Party to take off and hide in the back behind a duffel bag.
"And as always thank you for driving with Guilded," Mya gasped and slammed on the brakes, barely avoiding a mass pile up on the road. There was a loud thump as someone in the back flew forward.
"Oh my gods, oh my gods," Llyn whispered under her breath as a mammoth winged lizard the size of a bus landed down upon the burning wreckage. It's wings were blacker than night with eyes the color of molten lead. The wind picked up readily as another five or so, beat at the air with their wings.
Nik's breath caught in her throat as a figure in black leapt down from the back of his dragon. He was dressed like a biker with baggy jeans, and a leather vest hanging open over his bare chest. He held a motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm and used his other to raise what looked like an automatic machine gun at the sky.
"Okay everyone," he yelled as another five dragons, some with one rider and others with two, landed down on the roads, blocking all possible escape routes. "There's no need to worry, we're only here for a little deal with each and every one of ya."
Another man -- this one obviously younger, in a leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and black eyeliner -- ran up between the cars with his gun held easily in his hands. "Alright people, listen closely," he yelled -- his voice carrying easily over the hum of fire.
"Never, you moron! Shove that 'tude where da Sun don't shine. Crackers," Party the parrot bleated mercilessly from his hiding place in the back.
Alli twisted in her seat to hush him while everyone else in the car froze, waiting for a retaliation.
The riders didn't appear to hear and continued on with their agenda.
"Now you all are going to do what we say and you're not going to try anything!" Yelled, vest dude. "You try anything, we shoot. You look at us funny, we shoot. You piss your pants, we shoot, because nobody wants to see that." He spread out his arms widely. "No need to worry, your day of reckoning is upon you!"
"Great," Mya groaned and lowered her head onto the steering wheel. "If they've found God, we are worse than screwed. "
"And why is that?" Llyn whispered.
"Have you ever seen a mission on a mission!? Add capitalism into the equation, and you might as well write everyone on this freeway out of existence. I mean look at what England did to the natives in the continental United States. Screwed, I tell you, screwed. "
"Someone's a little melodramatic," Lani muttered under her breath.
"Someone doesn't like being woken up at one in the morning."
"You were already awake when we found you."
"That's beside the point."
"Guys shush, listen," Alli whispered and pointed to leather jacket, eyeliner guy who was flailingly spinning about, pointing his semi-automatic at everything that moved.
"Drivers!" He yelled and shot a few rounds out into the air, causing the five of them to jump. Nik's heart started to hammer in her chest. "Drop your keys on the ground and I want you all to get out of your cars nice and slowly. "
Mya paled considerably. "Guys....now would be a splendid time to figure out that escape plan."
Leather jacket, eyeliner dude fired a shot at the windshield of the van in front of them. A sharp smell of gasoline blanketed the air as the glass shattered. Nik adjusted the vents so that they were pointed at the ground.
Mya yanked the keys out of the ignition and tossed them out the window. "Sooner rather than later would be nice..." she added as she pushed open the driver side door and stepped onto the freeway.
All the drivers from the two dozen or so surviving cars were violently forced down to their knees at gunpoint. Several dragons grumbled loudly at the sorrowful whimpers and screams of the victims, as if the sound were more a nuisance than anything else.
"Has anyone tried calling 9-1-1?" Lani asked nervously.
Llyn fumbled for her phone and hit the emergency contact icon. She listened for a minute before shaking her head stiffly. "Nothing, the reception out here is blocked. What about you guys?"
One by one, the rest of them each dialed for help only to be met with the same result.
"Someone's jamming the signal," Nik brought her phone down in frustration after failing to make a connection. "We need to -- "
"Everyone else, out of the vehicles. Now!" A third hoodlum in a ripped up demin shirt screamed. Several shots went off. Someone started to cry.
"Okay, plan plan plan...." She muttered as she stepped out of the car and knelt down behind the door.
"How's this for a plan," Lani said slowly got to her feet and drew her katana.
"Lani, no!" Llyn's cry pierced the air like an arrow. Nik and the rest of the guild leapt to their feet, but it was already to late.
She lunged.
"Get out of my house," Rachel demanded and took a step back as a group of three guys in ski masks barged into her room. "No offense, but this is my space and you're kinda invading it."
Pedro leapt to his feet and started barking up a storm.
"Great," Rachel rolled her eyes and clutched the text book to her chest. "I just got him to sleep and now he's gonna wake up the whole city. Thanks a lot."
"Don't try anything stupid, sweetie. Just come peacefully and we have orders not to hurt you," guy number one growled, seeming rather upset by the prospect.
"And if I don't come peacefully?"
"You're going with us either way, so drop the book and C'mon."
"Oh I'll drop the book, alright," Rachel muttered and rushed forward. Today, she simply was not in the mood for getting kidnapped. Just because she lived in a different country than the rest of them shouldn't have made her that first target for kidnapping. It was stupid, annoying, and prejudiced.
She swung the textbook up, making her arms ache (as it was a heavy one) and brought it down straight into the first's kidnappers face. He screamed in pain (because knowledge hurts) and stumbled back into one of his partners, causing them both to go rolling on the floor in a mess of yells and limbs.
Rachel didn't pause to watch her triumph and walked straight up to the the last one and kneed him in the you-know-wheres. He squealed like a hot pig and went down with a crash that knocked over a table.
"Time to go, Pedro," she breathed and picked the small dog up from the ground. He squirmed wildly in her hands, but she ignored him and vaulted over the last guy who was rolling around in front of the door.
She was just at the bottom of the stairs heading toward the main entrance of the house when she heard the floorboards creak, signifying that someone was getting to their feet.
"Shut up, shut up," Rachel growled at the dog as she made toward the kitchen exit. Voices started accompanying the stomp of heavy feet down her stairs.
Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of leaving, but at this point there was simply no choice. With Pedro tucked carefully under her arm, she ducked out of the kitchen exit, and out into the cold rainy morning. She could feel the water soaking straight into her shirt as ran away from the house and, into the dark, pouring, twilight.
N O T E:
Okay that's a wrap on episode two.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Do you think Lani will succeed in besting several guys and their dragons? What is Rachel gonna do, where will she run? Where do you think Sarah and Celin are? What the Hell is happening!?
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