“There it is.”
Crouched behind a tree at the base of the mountain, I raised my night-vision goggles and scanned the area. At one point, part of the forest had been cleared away, as a large swath of land in front of the mountain was flat and empty of trees, though nature was steadily creeping back again. Debris was scattered throughout the area; tires, car parts and rusting metal barrels lay in the dirt, covered with weeds and vines, and a badly decayed wooden cart was overturned in a ditch, falling to pieces. Past a faded, nearly unreadable Danger! No Trespassing sign at the entrance, a gaping oval tunnel had been carved into the side of the mountain.
“Well, we found it,” Tristan muttered after taking the night-vision goggles from me and sweeping the area himself. “I don’t see any guards, though I’m not certain if that’s a good thing or not.”
“It’s not.” Mist crouched beside us, peering at the entrance with narrowed blue eyes. “Talon doesn’t leave anything unguarded,” she said, taking the goggles from Tristan. “Especially if it’s an entrance to one of their top-secret laboratories. I’m guessing this isn’t an entrance so much as an exit—a bolt hole, should they need to get out quickly. There might even be several of these scattered throughout the mountain.” She lowered the goggles and gave me and Tristan a sideways look. “In case St. George comes storming through the front door.”
Behind us, Peter Matthews snickered. “So even way out here in the middle of nowhere, with an underground lab and an army of giant demon lizards waiting to take over the world, Talon is still scared of us. Good to know they have their priorities straight.”
I ignored him. “Do you see any cameras or security?” I asked Mist, who continued to scan the area with the night-vision lenses.
She shook her head. “No. Nothing.” Frowning, she handed me the goggles again. “That’s…worrisome. An iron padlocked gate can’t be the only thing between us and the entrance to the lab.”
“So what if it isn’t?” Matthews snapped. “Just give the assault team the signal to go. They attack the front gates, fire a couple rockets, and Talon won’t be looking at its back doors for long.”
“No,” Mist said calmly. “Once the attack begins, Talon will go into lockdown mode. We can’t risk tipping them off until we’re sure we can get inside, or the attack out front will be for nothing.”
“All right, lizard. So how the hell are we going to do that exactly?”
She gave him a brief, disdainful look and stepped away. “Wait here. I’ll check it out myself.”
“You?” Matthews voice had a hard edge to it. “I don’t think so. Like we’re going to let a former Talon spy tell us if the entrance to their top-secret facility is safe to approach.” There was a metallic click, as if he had raised his gun. “You’re staying right here, where we can see you.”
“Matthews,” I growled, turning to glare at him. “Stand down. You don’t make that decision. I do.”
He glared back at me, his mouth twisting in a sneer. “Commander,” he said, making the word sound like an insult, “you’re not seriously thinking of letting this lizard go off on her own? She could waltz right into the lab to let all the guards know we’re right behind her and to shoot us as soon as we come in.”
“Wow,” Ember commented, looking at Mist. “That is one elaborate plan. You’ve been with us all this time and went through all this trouble, just to betray us in the end. You should have just shot us all in the back while we were on our way here and saved Talon the effort.”
“Indeed,” Mist deadpanned. “Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”
Tristan snorted, sounding like he was trying to cover up a laugh, and I narrowed my eyes at Matthews. “Mist,” I said, not taking my eyes from the soldier. “Go ahead. We’ll wait for you here. Just be careful.”
Matthews made a disgusted noise but backed off. Mist nodded once to me, turned and slipped into the darkness like a ghost. I raised the night lenses again to scan the entrance and surrounding area for guards, cameras or hidden threats, but continued to see nothing.
I didn’t see Mist, either, though I knew she had to be approaching the mine shaft. As we waited, the minutes ticked by, and the Basilisk did not return.
Matthews gave a soft, menacing chuckle and shook his head. “I told you, Sebastian,” he said, his voice full of ugly triumph. “The bitch has gone to warn the rest of Talon that we’re here. You can’t trust a lizard.”
Ember growled softly. “Give her time. She’ll be back.”
“Says the other dragon in the party,” Matthews sneered. “And we don’t have time. The assault team is waiting for our signal to start the attack.”
Tristan gave him an annoyed look, but then glanced worriedly at the sky. “Garret, I hate to say this, but he’s right. Martin told us an hour, and it’s almost dawn. We need to move.”
I sighed. “Two minutes,” I said. Matthews’s jaw tightened, and he took a breath to argue, but I overrode him. “That’s an order, soldier.”
“Fine, Sebastian,” Peter Matthews said in a hostile voice. “But I hope you remember this when the lizards fuck our entire mission in the back. Tell your dragons hello when they send you to hell.”
“Tell them yourself,” said a voice, and Mist materialized behind us. “Because you would be the first to go. Sorry it took a while,” she told me, ignoring the glare from Matthews. “I ran into something…well, not unexpected, but troublesome.”
“What happened?” I asked her. She frowned.
“Better that you see for yourself. There are no cameras or guards, so we’re safe for the moment.”
I nodded and glanced at the others. “Let’s move.” We hurried across the clearing, prioritizing speed now rather than stealth, and ducked into the mine entrance. Inside, a rusted iron gate blocked the way forward, but the chain that held the door shut had been cut through, probably by Mist. After pulling the door back with a squeak, we entered the darkness of the tunnel.
“Ooh, a chain on the door,” Peter Matthews mocked, his voice echoing quietly. “That must’ve been a bitch to get through.”
“Maybe for certain oblivious humans,” Mist replied. “But that’s not what I was talking about.” She stopped and gestured down the shaft. “See for yourself.”
I shone my flashlight into the darkness, and my heart sank. About fifty yards ahead, the tunnel had been blocked by a massive pile of rocks and dirt. Judging from the size of some of the boulders and the way everything seemed to have settled, this cave-in must have happened months, if not years, ago.
“Dammit.” Tristan shook his head, giving the rock pile a look of dismay. “Well, that’s going to screw things up for us. No way we’re getting through that.” He shoved his fingers through his hair and looked at me. “Don’t suppose you know of another way in? Otherwise this mission is screwed.”
I didn’t, of course, and was racking my brain to come up with an alternate plan when Ember made a thoughtful noise and stepped forward.
“No,” she murmured, narrowing her eyes at the cave-in. “This isn’t a mistake. This is what Talon wants you to see. There’s no way into the cave, so intruders will turn around and leave.”
“Exactly,” Mist said, giving Ember an approving nod. “Talon excels in hiding in plain sight. If they had high-tech security guarding this place, anyone would become suspicious. So I did some digging. It took me a while—I had no real clue of what I was looking for, but in the end, I finally found this.”
Reaching down, she grabbed one of the mine cart rails and pulled. An entire section of track swung up like a trapdoor, revealing a concrete shaft and a metal ladder that went straight down into darkness.
Peter Matthews gave a soft chuckle. “Sneaky bastards,” he muttered. “I keep forgetting how shifty these things are.” He glanced at me, a wide, somewhat evil grin crossing his face. “Well, Commander? Door’s open. Let’s get in there and slaughter some lizards.”
I didn’t like the zealous gleam in his eyes, or the bloodlust, but here we were. The door was open and the mission had to go on.
“Lieutenant,” I said into my mic. “We’ve reached the back entrance.”
“Copy that, Sebastian,” Ward replied. “We’ll begin the assault.” There was a pause, then he added, “Good luck and Godspeed to you all.”
His voice cut out, and I switched channels to our support, who was overseeing the operations of both teams. “Wes. You there?”
“About bloody time.” The hacker sighed. “Yes, I’m here. I take it you’ve found the other way in?”
“Yes.”
“Right. I’ll guide you through best I can, but remember, I only have the blueprint. I can’t account for enemy guards or killer dragons ambushing you. You’re on your own then.”
“Understood. Just get us to that chamber, Wes. We’ll take it from there.”
A sudden flash came from outside, followed by the muffled but unmistakable sound of an explosion. We all looked toward the tunnel entrance as distant gunfire sounded over the trees.
“It’s started,” Ember breathed. Her expression was dark but determined, and for a moment, I saw the outline of her real self, a fierce red dragon with eyes glowing green, as she turned to me. “I’m ready,” she said. “Let’s end this.”
I nodded. “Move out,” I ordered, and we started down the ladder into the depths of a laboratory of monsters, ready to destroy them all and save the world.
Knowing full well we weren’t coming out again.