Chapter 3

Maybe today was a good day to wear brown pants….

I’ve watched enough movies and played enough games to recognize that the creature currently flying above me is a wyvern.

Its claws dangle above me as its fierce face and eyes focus on the city with all the chaos taking place. But, by the grace of God, it hasn't noticed me.

Yet.

I don’t even gulp as a single sound that isn’t coming from the wyvern may attract its attention, but that doesn't stop my legs from trembling and my breathing from being jagged. Does it intend to land on my car?

I look back and forth between my car and the wyvern. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’ll happen if I try to sneak off and it senses me. With the wyvern and car this close, I may be able to sneak into my vehicle. But even if I can pull that off… There’s the matter of starting the car. It isn’t exactly quiet….

But there is one thing I can do… Even though it’s a total hail mary.

With my heart pounding and sweat pouring, I slowly enter my car and quietly crawl over the passenger’s seat into the driver's seat, trying my best not to slip with all the sweat on my hands. I quietly close the door and softly put my foot on the brakes.

So far, so good. I can still hear the heavy flapping from the wyvern above me, even causing the car to shake slightly with each flap.

I quickly but quietly put on my seat belt and move my finger toward my means of escape, stopping just short and hovering over the start button.

The hail mary. Once I start this engine, there’s no way that wyvern won’t notice. If it’s like any other apex animal, my driving away will trigger a predator v prey response, and it won’t be hard to figure out whose role is whose.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

My phone decides to ignore the situation at hand and go absolutely crazy with emergency notifications, likely from the government. So much for the “do not disturb” feature.

My heart drops when I hear a nasty snarl come from the top of my car. There’s no way the wyvern didn’t hear that.

I slam my finger on the start button as the car roars to life, pumping on the gas a couple of times, causing the exhaust to pop before slamming the gear into drive. Thanks to Dad and Prim, this car has an 0 to 60mph of about 3 seconds.

The wheels spin for a bit before my head slams back and I desperately try to prevent the mechanical beast from slamming into the railings as I navigate the curve.

I check my mirrors with sweat dripping from my face. The Wyvern has backed off briefly and is looking at me from a distance, likely scared of the engine noise.

However, it releases a loud, high-pitched roar before arching back and darting toward me. Just as I thought, it’s now in pursuit. I keep looking between the road and the giant lizard behind me.

Speeding through the forest, I have no particular direction in mind. Right now, I need somewhere that is either straight to outspeed the wyvern or a busy place to distract it. With all the turns here, it’s hard to even get above 60mph…

I peer into the rearview mirror once again. Something is up with the wyvern. Its lower body has started to glow an icy blue. Chills begin to pop up all over my body as it rears its head back with a bright azure glow coming from its mouth. The sounds of a long sharp inhale manage to penetrate my car. Instinct tells me what’s coming next.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I obey and shift over to the wrong lane at the last second while screaming my lungs out.

The sound of sharp wind and ringing sweep by me as an icy blue beam of light strafes the lane I was just in, leaving behind a trail of blue icicles taller than my car.

My body begins to betray me as I start to hyperventilate. I thought it would breathe fire, like the dragon, but…

What even am I up against?! Some sort of… Ice Wyvern?!

I burn rubber with the wyvern still in pursuit, speeding past the mini ice age it just created with my car's interior being noticeably colder.

Pure adrenaline runs through my body as I attempt to keep myself on the road after what just happened. Ahead of me, a speeding truck comes flying around a curve and drives oncoming to me while honking,

I shift over as fast as I can, but the truck keeps honking at me. Does it know I have a wyvern behind me? In about 10 seconds, it’s going to be the truck’s problem…

Wait…. Dear God, I see it… My eyes widen.

Behind the truck, something big is flying. Something as big as the wyvern but… feathery? The creature has the face of a hawk, but the back of a lion, with big wings to go with it…

That’s… a griffon, isn't it?

This poor truck must’ve found itself in the same situation as me… But a part of my mind tells me that this is an opportunity.

Instead of bailing or turning away, I tighten the grip on my steering wheel and keep speeding forward without blinking. I fully commit.

I look at the truck and the griffon closing in on me.

“Don’t you dare bail,” I say to the truck with my voice shaking. “We can both get out of this alive.”

I’m having no problem staying ahead of the wyvern, but the griffon’s talons are reaching for the truck. But by some miracle, the truck doesn’t bail. The truck must be thinking what I am thinking.

My foot flattens the gas pedal as I speed past the truck, giving the truck a bit of a shake as it passes.

However, right above us, the griffon's attempt to pick up the truck is thwarted by a giant lizard smashing into it, causing a loud roar, piercing screech, and sharp smack. Then, the wyvern releases an icy beam that I hadn’t even noticed was charging up, freezing part of the road and tree branches above it as it collapses.

“LET’S GO!!!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I watch the angry griffon begin to tear at the wyvern in the rearview mirror, with the wyvern managing to freeze one of the griffon’s wings.

I mentally salute the truck as I make the curve where the truck came from. Then, I proceed to speed on a large and long straight road that passes many gated communities.

As I speed through, I can hear the noises of people’s screams and the 2nd amendment going off. I even spot a few fires…

A loud rush of air penetrates my ears as I look up for the source. Luckily. It sounds like jet engines and not wings. I look up to spot a squadron of a few A-10s rushing over me with the thunderous whistles of their engines. With their direction, they must be making their way toward the city.

Looks like the military is making their move, huh….

Military….

PRIM!!!

I snatch my phone from the car seat and turn off do not disturb. The second I do, I see over 20 missed calls and 45 new texts from Prim. And that’s ignoring all the emergency notifications that are still bombarding my phone…

I put the phone back in its proper place on the mount and right on cue, Prim calls me again. I answer without hesitation.

“Prim! Are you alive?!” I ask.

“Monarch! I-I reached you!! I finally reached you!” Prim exclaims, her voice shaky, sounding like she is on the verge of tears.

“Ahem!” She vocally pulls herself back together. “Listen, you gotta make way your back to the site. This place is outlined with titanium and is armed to the teeth. It’s the safest place in the entire county.”

“Ok. OK! I-I still have the address on my GPS; I’ll head over as fast as possible!” I say while prepping the nitrous.

“Monarch, in case anything goes wrong, there is a box inside the glove compartment.” Prim begins to explain. “Inside that box is a Glock and loaded magazine. Do you remember what I taught you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I remember the safety, loading, and unloading.” I say in return. However, that may change under pressure, but I don’t say that out loud.

“Good. Just head straight over here. Do NOT stop to help anyone. Just come straight here- wait…. Hold on,” Prim is stopped by something. “...wha-what do you mean we have ‘unusual seismic activi-’”

Either she hung up, or the signal was lost.

Doesn’t matter. I need to be there yesterday.

Nitrous preparation is complete. I hit the last button, and my head is thrown back, slamming into the headrest. The rest of my body feels the effects of inertia as my car reaches breakneck speeds. GPS says the destination is 10 minutes away.

I’ll make that 5.