Chapter Nine

It seemed the destruction wrought by Maia and Ignacio’s last visit to the bunker had yet to be properly repaired. As the little rescue posse came gliding in, they were able to clearly make out the destroyed portion of the building, a litter of destroyed vehicles scattered through the destruction. Some of it had been cleared and a large tarp was fitted over the hole in the roof, but it was still a glaring weak spot. They easily agreed to focus their attack there.

Ignacio and Rafael made a few passes, waiting until the right moment before they both began to unleash the dragon fire burning within their bellies. They set the place ablaze, shooting blast after blast all around the area until a scene of pure chaos had been created. When a stream of men erupted from the building, weapons in hand, both dragons swooped low to the ground and came in for a landing with another scorching blast of fire. During that moment, Erica and Maia slipped from the dragons’ backs and slipped in amongst the fray.

As Ignacio and Rafael took turns keeping the Government cannon fodder busy and confused with alternating attacks of fire, Maia and Erica made their way into the bunk to find Mateo. As they ran, Erica tried to explain to Maia that she had managed to obtain and memorize the layout of this place and knew exactly where Mateo was. She hoped the information would calm Maia down, since Erica could tell the young woman was freaking out. Maia was brave, that much was obvious, but she was still a regular person and any regular person would certainly be freaking out in that moment.

Erica took them down a series of corridors that led deeper into the compound than where Maia had been held during her… visit… to the place. After what felt like a lifetime listening to the booms and sounds of explosion coming from outside, the two women finally came to a room containing a large cell. It was lined with two sets of triple-thick bars of some intense looking metal. Laying on the cot in the center, sprawled out as if drunk, was Mateo.

“Mateo!” The sight of him stopped Erica’s heart short and she ran straight to the bars. “Mateo, are you alright?”

Maia followed behind her. Looking at the cell, she could see plenty of evidence that Mateo had turned into a dragon and made several attempts to get himself out. It was no use, obviously, so how were they supposed to get him out?

It seemed Erica had been planning this little breakout for some time. From her back pocket, she pulled out what looked like an ID card and went to the control box on the opposite side of the room. She inserted the card into the control box, punched few keys and after a tense few moments… the door of the cell clicked and opened with a pneumatic hiss.

Maia just watched Erica with amazement on her face. Something Erica noticed but brushed off as if it was nothing.

“A techy friend of mine made me up a fry card,” she explained as she crossed the room towards the cell again. “They’re a one-shot deal… but you can get past just about any electrical security system with them.”

“Well that’s… frightening as shit,” Maia said. “Remind me to stick to old fashion means of security as a back-up home plan, hm?”

“Come on, we’re running out of time,” Erica said, going inside of Mateo’s cell. “I think he might be blacked out for some reason. Help me carry him.”

Maia nodded and went to help. They got him up, supported and balanced between the two of them before starting off back the way they had come. It was strange they hadn’t run into a single guard or armed agent their entire time inside the building. But then again, when there were two dragons attacking just outside, it was pretty unlikely anyone was going to stick around inside just to play hall monitor.

The roar of chaos became almost deafening when they burst from the building and into the thick of it all. As they ran, or hobbled along with Mateo in tow, they looked up to track where Ignacio and Rafael had gone. Both were circling low overhead, prompting Erica to call out for them. Time to air lift their way out of here. As Rafael swooped around to come towards them, they were able to see that his front leg (his left arm) had been shot somehow and seemed to be badly injured.

The girls made a run for it as best they could, closing the distance between themselves and where Rafael had come into land while Ignacio circled overhead to provide cover-fire. Just as they reached Rafael, Maia tripped and went down hard causing Erica and Mateo to stumble. In her attempt to get back up, she realized she’d twisted or sprained it.

“Of-fucking-course,” she snapped. “I’m in the middle of a daring, fire-bathed rescue of a fucking DRAGON from some government prison… and I get taken down by a MOTHERFUCKING ROCK!”

She reached out from where she sat on the ground to grab the fist-sized rock that had become her nemesis. Turning, she chucked it as hard as she could towards the men who Ignacio was currently showering with flame. It landed, nowhere near anyone, with a thud in the dirt and she growled.

“How fucking ridiculous does my luck have to be?” She asked no one in particular as she slowly struggled to stand, somehow managing to forget about the chaos around her as she complained. “Of all the stupid ways I could hurt myself… this is the one I get. Ridiculous.”

“Maia! Get over here!” Erica yelled.

She had managed to get Mateo hoisted up onto Rafael’s back with a little help from the golden dragon and now she had to get Maia up there as well. She met Maia halfway and helped to hurry her up back to Rafael. Once both Maia and Mateo were up and secure, Erica cried for Rafael to take off into the air again. Now it was time for Ignacio to land and pick up Erica. They managed to switcheroo rather well and Erica managed to get airborne again without further injury to anyone else in their party.

As he beat his massive, blood-red wings against the night’s sky to gain altitude, Ignacio paused. Drawing a deep breath, he let loose an intense stream of heat and fire from his maw, for the second time leaving the bunker a smoldering, scorched mess.