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===[CHAPTER 44: A JOHN DOE CAUGHT IN HEADLIGHTS]===

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Lights flashed from ahead. He could see it. Four wheels. An open top. A machine gun mounted on the back. And in the driver’s seat was none other than the man himself.

Sparrow.

The rebel managed to get his hands on an Avonian truck. An old, rumbling heap of wheeled metal that resembled a jeep the army would use… nearly a hundred years ago. The gasoline engine was loud and knocked horribly, chugging around the corner like a small freight train. Large rubber tires rolled it along the uneven stone surface, producing a low groveling sound as it moved. The hull was painted a dark gray though the paint was fading in some spots. Purple symbols, a rose and a phoenix, were stamped along the old surface. Imperial symbols no doubt. Golden headlights shone directly onto Eli like ghastly apparitions in the middle of the park's wall-like hedgerows, freezing him like a deer caught on the road.

Just as it appeared like the truck was going to run Eli over, Sparrow slammed the breaks. A painfully loud squeal, rubber burned as the jeep came to a halt about a yard in front of him. Sparrow pointed to the weapon mounted on the back, “Get on the gun!” he shouted.

Eli rushed, jumping into the open topped vehicle and clasping his hands around the mounted gun’s trigger. He turned until he was aiming it directly to the front – right as the Howler appeared around the corner. Its red eyes were like that of a demon’s, launching itself at the jeep full speed. Sparrow put the truck into reverse gear, and Eli pulled the trigger.

With incredible power, the machine gun opened fire. The first bullet missed entirely. The second bullet hardly grazed it, and the third bullet finally hit its mark. Nailing the howler in the chest, before a fourth finished the job.

“Drive! Get us the hell out of here!” Eli shouted to Sparrow.

Sparrow responded by fully sending the jeep into reverse. The tires spun wildly to gain traction, kicking up a storm as it dislodged dirt from the cobblestone path. They were sent flying backwards down the road, with the militia only now catching up to them. In panic, Eli opened fire at them with the gun, though he couldn’t see if it had been of any good use. Sparrow swung the jeep back to the front, and they were flying down the narrow cobblestone paths.

“Do you know your way out of here?” Eli shouted out.

“Nope! We’ll find it though!”

“We? I’m shooting, you’re the one driving.!

“Then quit yappin’ and shoot! I can’t focus!”

They hit a turn around a corner so tight that it nearly threw Eli from the gun, causing it to misfire and nail a small stone statue off to their side, destroying it completely.

The truck swerved and weaved through the path, the massive statues of the park shrinking. The end of this damn park had to be close, at least, so long as Sparrow wasn’t driving them in circles. Every now and again they’d run into a errant Riverlander patrol, forcing Eli to fire the mounted gun. Every bullet sent a wave of recoil flooding through him. Like being on the opposite end of a door being kicked down. Each bullet massive, sending the poorly equipped militia scrambling into cover.

And finally, they came across it. The park’s exterior fence, “Hold tight!” Sparrow warned. Eli looked behind him to see what he was talking about, only to find out that there was a gate guarding their exit back out into the Renewal District. A gate which had been closed.

“Sparrow! Sparrow! What are you doing? The gate’s closed!”

“Shock and awe!”

“What? No! NO!”

“Brace!” Sparrow slammed down on the gas, sending the jeep lurching forwards. The engine let out a roar that warned them it was approaching the limit that Sparrow could push it to. The militia formed up behind them, opening fire on the fleeing vehicle. With bullets flying past them, just barely missing their bodies, the truck collided with the gate.

And it punched through.

It was like a bomb had gone off, as the metal hull of the jeep smashed into the gate. Sparks and loose metal went flying into pieces around them, to which Eli was hit by a few. Yet, they had somehow lived.

The car was spat out into the street after the violent collision. Sparrow jerked the wheel to the side, forcing the jeep to fish tail and spin out on the road bringing them to a full stop, “See! I told you, shock and awe always works!”

“Just get us out of here, man!”

“Working on it!”

Sparrow floored it once again, but the car wouldn’t respond. He tried putting it into different gears, even putting it in reverse, but nothing would budge, “Ah… scrap.”

Eli could see a mob of very angry soldiers approaching them. They were advancing, and fast. Opening fire from their well protected positions within the park proper. Eli knew that reinforcements would arrive, not just from inside the park but elsewhere, “Come on! What’s holding us up?”

“It’s the engine! I might’ve stalled her out!”

“Fix it!”

“I’m trying! It’s an old utility truck, this thing was built before the scrappin’ Sacred War! Terribly outdated stuff they’re giving the Riverlanders really, the Avonians are just arming them with whatever’s in the –“

“DUDE, I DON’T CARE! JUST DRIVE!”

“IN A MINUTE!”

The gunfire exchanged between the two grew more intense. Eli had to duck down low to avoid having a hole punched through his skull by the red pulses of energy being hurled at him. All the while, he kept his hand holding down the trigger. Firing completely in the dark for survival’s sake. At this rate, he wasn’t even sure if he was hitting anything. All he knew was that the moment the gun stopped firing, they’d be in serious trouble.

And then the gun stopped firing.

His heart raced as he dared standing up to inspect it. He could pull the trigger just fine, and it sounded like the pin was being fired, so it wasn’t a jam. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen any actual bullets being loaded into the gun or casings being ejected from where a case would normally get tossed out. Instead, there was a large metal box on the side of the weapon which looked to contain whatever ammunition it fired, and when it was opened a glossy black stone greeted Eli’s desperate eyes. It looked like an ekron stone, just like the ones loaded into a pulser – but far larger. It occurred to him that the stone was depleted by some means, and he needed a new one!

“I need another rock!”

“What?”

“A stone! ekraw! ekra!” Eli called out incorrectly.

“You mean ‘Ekron’?”

“Whatever! The stupid gun’s empty!”

“Hold on,” Sparrow took a brief look through the back of the truck, his eyes scanning the back of it, before he produced another stone from underneath a crate near Eli’s feet. This time, it was a bright ruby red instead of the onyx color that the depleted stone had. Eli quickly swapped the surprisingly weighty stones, and when the replenished ekron was inserted, the gun automatically accepted it. Like a machine, the ekron was inserted deeper into the box, hidden out of sight. Once the stone was fully inserted, a red glow oozed from the length of the gun’s barrel. Ready to fire.

Eli once again pulled the trigger, just before the militia could advance any further to put them in jeopardy. The machine started to kick back with a renewed vigor, spewing hundreds of red energy pulses in only a second.

From the front, the engine roared once more, and a very delighted Sparrow emerged turned to face Eli.

“She lives, Comrade! She lives!” He laughed maniacally to the purr of the engine.

“I’m not your comrade, dude,” Eli whispered under his breath, of course Sparrow couldn’t hear him over the gunfire and general chaos surrounding them, “Get us out of here!”

Sparrow slammed on the accelerator, evidenced by the engine picking up and the car booming forwards. It was enough to again knock Eli from his feet, but he quickly regained his balance. Sparrow drove until the angry mob of armed militia grew distant past the city blocks and destruction… but there was something else following them. Another truck, just like theirs. Open topped, four wheeled, and fast. There was a soldier on the gun who got to firing immediately when he saw the duo peel away. It forced Eli down to avoid being struck, as he opened fire with his own machine gun to push their pursuers back. But with the rocking motion of the car and the fact that he couldn’t fully stand to aim properly, his aiming was erratic. He watched hopelessly as his bullets ricocheted off the chassis of the truck.

Another barrage of bullets were sent flying their way, narrowly missing Eli’s head and instead striking the glass windshield which shattered into hundreds of small pieces, “Heavens above Eli! Take care of them!”

“I’m trying!”

“Try harder!”

Sparrow jerked the steering wheel to take a sharp right turn, throwing Eli completely off balance until his body was sent careening into the metal walls guarding him. It was enough force to knock the air out of his lungs – at least briefly until the car corrected itself, and he was thrown in the exact opposite direction.

“For the love of God Sparrow… can you please drive straight?” Eli wearily asked him, though his voice was just above a whisper, and Sparrow couldn’t hear.

It didn’t matter anyway. The turn was enough to buy Eli enough time to get back on the gun. And this time, he’d be ready for their pursuers.

Inevitably the pursuing jeep rounded the corner, its engine basically screaming to catch up to the two. But joined by the jeep, were two more. They bounded the corner in hot pursuit, “They’ve brought more!” Eli shouted out while he opened fire.

“Scrap! Hold on! I’m gonna try and lose them!” Sparrow shouted back, shifting the truck into another gear.

Meanwhile, Eli tried his best to keep up the fire. He managed to render one out of service by nailing its tire, sending them careening into a storefront to the side. Another bullet came close to nailing the driver, forcing them to swerve out of the way. But still, there were three more trucks in pursuit of them, and Eli needed to find at least some way to at the very least delay them enough to get past.

Again, Sparrow hit a turn, sending their creaky old truck drifting into a narrow street. Markets on either side of the road were still stuffed full of goods that hadn’t been put away by the fleeing residents. Tents had been drawn out to the sides, concealing tons of wares underneath them. As the other trucks rounded the corner, the connection in his mind was made almost instantly.

He turned his gun to open fire on the wares, setting them loose and scattering into the middle of the street behind them. Hundreds of jars full of liquid, fruits, vegetables, sealed containers, all of them spilled out into the street. While most of it was immediately crushed by the wheels of the trucks without issue, some were more troublesome. Rocking their trucks far too much for them to get an accurate shot off, getting lodged into the wheels, or even for the sharp glass and wood that splintered into the street – popping tires. The second truck pursuing them lost its front tires with a loud bang, and it spun out on the road, crashing into the third – leaving finally just one more aggressive and very pissed off pursuer.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Both trucks exchanged gunfire as their speeds slowed down to a crawl. The roads through the Renewal District curved and grew even narrower. It forced both trucks to take uncomfortable turns through the densely packed street. Eli tried his best to shoot the gunner, but every time he managed to get the iron sights placed over his head, the trucks would again turn.

After around a minute of back-and-forth, the bleak concrete architecture of the Renewal District once again took over, and with one final turn, the truck swerved onto the main road. The very same one that drove straight through the labyrinth of towering corporate monuments, flashy glass store signs, and straight roads – the very same one that Sparrow and Eli had first emerged onto.

But instead of following them onto the main thoroughfare, the truck in pursuit slowed down. It refused to go on…

“They’re backing off!” Eli noted to Sparrow.

“What?”

“They won’t follow us! I think they’ve given up!”

“No… no! They never just ‘give up’! Especially not after what we just did!”

“Well, I don’t see anyone else on the road! It’s just us!”

“Then you aren’t looking right! Keep your eyes on a swivel and make sure that scrappin’ gun is ready to-“

There was a blood curling screech that broke Sparrow’s words. Like a hammer, smashing clean through a glass pane, it broke the brief tranquility that was offered from the truck stopping in its tracks.

Eli’s heart sunk straight to his stomach, fearing that a sentry had suddenly appeared in front of them, ready to make quick work of them as they lacked any form of defense against them. But the screech – though mechanical – was far different from any noise a sentry would make. He knew what it was.

Eli practically threw the gun up towards the skies, but between the upper floors of the skyscrapers, he could spot nothing of immediate concern. But he kept searching, turning to face the source when another roar rumbled from somewhere to his side. Though the rushing breeze made it hard for him to focus, he could clearly see in between the gaps of the buildings that something airborne was stalking them. It was large, had massive wings to either side, and a long reptilian tail.

“Dragon! It’s a dragon!” He yelled.

The body of the half-machine half-creature was visible only for a split second before it vanished behind yet another monolith of a building. Losing sight of the beast was just as unnerving as laying eyes on it. There was little he could do to harm the monster and he doubted shooting it would work, though perhaps it could.

His eyes kept scanning the surroundings for it, fingers shaky around the trigger of the machine gun. The skies suddenly became a threat to him as if the clouds themselves would hurl a massive bomb down onto their truck and blow them away. The dragon lurked somewhere, but where?

From ahead came yet another screech, Eli snapped the gun onto the source of the noise as fast as he could muster, and he was able to catch the glimpse of the coal-black creature as it turned a corner. Its eyes a demonic ekron red, its agape maw brewing with hot fire, it’s wings like curtains that cast a dark shadow onto the streets below. Each bat of the wings made a miniature cloud of dust swirl on the empty streets. The monster was hurtling itself towards Eli and Sparrow!

The beast opened its muzzle and red hot fire began shooting out from its depths – like a flamethrower torching everything in its path. Wood, concrete, steel, glass – it did not matter. All ignited at the touch of the dragon’s flame.

Eli opened fire and he swore up and down that each bullet hit the body of the creature, but it didn’t seem to care. Shrugging off the hits like they were nothing. The hard dragon scales protecting the obvious parts.

Just as it seemed that they were about to be incinerated, Sparrow threw the truck into a hard swerve, sending them careening off course to the left. Eli could only watch as the body of the dragon tried to correct in time to burn them, but it flew right over and past the truck like a jet zooming past.

“Holy shit!” Eli shouted as the hooked wingtip of the flying cyborg death creature missed him by only a few inches. He could feel a strong gust of air following the creature as it sailed past them, enough to get under his uniform and blow ripples through it. He held onto both the gun and the maneuvering truck for dear life.

The dragon flew away for only a brief second before it spread its wings out to come to a full stop. It hovered in the air for a moment and twisted itself to face them. With another bat of the wings, the dragon went cruising once again – this time in hot pursuit of the truck.

Eli once again opened fire, but he couldn’t tell if he was hitting something or not – but either way the creature still looked unharmed. He stopped opening fire which was throwing both his balance and aim off, and looked carefully at what he was doing. Every bullet mattered he figured. He needed to be smart.

Two red eyes. Both machine parts. A potential weak spot. He knew that the gun was inaccurate, but if he could gather all the strength he had, maybe…

He decided it was the best course of action, but to aim that precisely he would need the dragon to get closer. Much closer. Scarily close in fact. Luckily for him, the dragon was sprinting in an attempt to catch up to the speeding truck. Both the dragon and the fleeing vehicle were speeding straight down the middle of the Renewal District, with Sparrow constantly having to swerve in order to miss abandoned cars or piles of rubble that had gathered in the middle of the road.

The brutalist concrete buildings were practically walls on either side of the street, and the road was the hallway straight through the middle. Eli only had one shot at this. Right when the dragon inched closer, ready to let it’s flamethrower loose onto them, and when the red of it’s eyes were like giant portals into the flaming pits of hell… he knew it was time.

He jerked on the trigger and hardened his body around the gun with as much force as he could muster to try and counter the recoil. Red pulses were set free into the air…

And they hit right on target.

The ekron energy pulses hit the left cybernetic eye of the dragon with brutal effect, destroying the computer parts and causing them to combust into red flame. The dragon screeched in pain, and it spread its wings out to climb higher – aborting its strafing run to peel off and fly upwards toward the skies. It left behind a trail of mechanical parts that had peeled off from the left eye, with some parts hanging loose.

“Yeah! How’s that feel, asshole? Fuck! You!” Eli felt the exhilarating rush coursing through his body, feeling almost maniacal, still shooting at the body of the dragon as it began its frenzied ascent into the open skies.

But just when the truck had gained some distance, and it seemed like the battle had been won – the dragon stopped in the middle of the air. Wings spread out like those of a phoenix rising from the flames. It pulled them in once more, turned, and fell into a sharp dive.

Faster than it had ever gone before the dragon had not given up as easily as Eli hoped.

“Scrappin’ hell, it’s coming in for another go at us!” Sparrow shouted.

“Yeah, I know!”

It was faster than the truck, much faster, with the dive helping it’s fall. It screeched through the air sending a wavering echo through the corridor like street of Renewal. Sparrow pressed onto the accelerator, making the engine scream as they kept at their attempts to flee. But no matter how fast the truck could go, the dragon was faster.

Again, it opened its jaws. Flames brewing from deep within. Eli tried the machine gun again, hoping to strike it in the mouth in what he assumed would’ve been a massive weak spot. But the dragon had learned from last time. It swayed left and right through the air, making aiming accurately with the heavy gun damn near impossible!

Eli had to focus, the erratic swerving of the truck threw his aim off - but it was oddly predictable. If he could time his movements just right in sync with the motion of the truck, then maybe...

He sucked a breath of air in, waiting for an opportunity. The dragon was getting closer, jaws agape and burning with a pit of hot molten fire ready to spew out and incinerate the two humans at any moment. The sway of the gun with each motion of the truck swung the barrel around off target, but Eli focused. Waiting for it to get closer.

"Eli...?" Sparrow cautioned, turning back briefly to see the dragon's cybernetic frame gain ground on their tail.

Eli moved his finger back over the trigger, the jaws closed for a brief moment, denying Eli the opportunity he was waiting for. The lizard used the moment to beat its wings faster, catching up, before opening its maw again.

"Eli!"

"Hold on," Eli muttered, still trying his best to wrestle back control of the gun. Precision would be key, if he fucked this up, it would be over.

Closer, the dragon got. And closer. Closer still...

"FOR FUCKS SAKE SHOOT THE DAMN THING-"

Eli gritted his teeth, watching as the flames of the dragon stirred. It was about to unleash its napalm-like breath once again. The gun swayed directly onto target, there was no greater opportunity than now. With a quick finger, Eli pulled on the trigger, sending a powerful flurry of rounds out of the gun's barrel and into the dragon's maw.

Each bullet pierced the roof of its mouth, sparking, igniting. A burst of uncontrollable fire spewed from within its throat, engulfing the dragon's head in a cloud of black smoke and flames. It let out a powerful drying shriek as the bullets pierced through its skull. There was a massive explosion that enveloped both them and the dragon. Eli was deafened by the sounds of parts bursting, metal scraping, and fire churning behind him. The fireball was massive…

Yet, they drove out of it unharmed. The dragon on the other hand... Although the body was still gliding through the air, a hole had been carved through its skull. It’s remaining red eye had died to a coal black, and the fiery hell that was in its throat was extinguished.

The dragon was dead.

The corpse went careening into the ground, knocking down streetlamps, tearing up the concrete, and completely throwing the truck into an uncontrollable spin with it. Each and every attempt Eli made to try and regain control over the gun had failed, leaving his only option to hold on for dear life and not get thrown off. Narrowly, they avoided being crushed by the dragon’s body and they were instead sent careening into the sidewalk. Knocking over lampposts, signs, and garbage cans that lined the pedestrian sidewalk. Sparrow managed to keep the truck steady enough to avoid getting sent hurling into the buildings flanking their sides. Sparks, dirt, debris, all of it mixed in a cloud of chaos and devastation that ran straight down the road as both the truck and the dragon crashed. Luckily for Eli and Sparrow their crash came to a safe – though abrupt and rocky – end.

As the sounds of the chaos surrounding them ebbed, and the dust cleared, the two were left alone. Finally.

Eli hadn’t realized it until far after the fact, but he had a death grip on the gun handle. His arms were shaking, heart pounding in his chest like a rabid animal thrashing to get loose. His brown skin was clammy and cold and his mind scrambled. He tried to steady his breathing, one breath at a time, fingers still clasped around the gun as if the dragon which had plummeted to its death would reanimate and hunt them down once more. Thankfully, Avonian technology was not yet that advanced, for the corpse remained as such. Dormant, smoking, dead.

Sparrow on the other hand was absolutely enthralled, “WOO! YEAH! Now that is what I’m talking about! We are un-scrappin’-killable!” He cheered, standing up to pump a fist into the air, "That was insane! Heaven's above Eli, if I'd known you were that good of a shot I wouldn't have worried about taking you onboard with us. We need more people like you for one."

Eventually their eyes met. Sparrow’s impish smile turned to confusion when he saw that Eli was far from matching his energy.

"What?" Sparrow asked.

Eli, still shaken, shook his head from left to right, "S-sparrow... we almost died."

"Key word - almost," Sparrow didn't miss a beat at all, gesturing to the smoking corpse buried halfway in the pavement just next to their stranded truck, "Fucking hell, live a little, stop being so moody all the time. That was scrappin' awesome! It's not everyday you shoot a dragon out of the sky, I'll tell you that."

Eli swallowed, forcing himself to nod, "O-okay. Yeah," his voice cracked and tore with remnants of adrenaline still coursing freely through his body, "You're right. It isn't every day that I shoot a dragon out of the sky. Maybe it's because where I'm from, DRAGONS DON'T EXIST!" Eli didn't know why he decided to shout at Sparrow, he was frustrated but didn't know why exactly. He fought to steady his breath, ignoring the sympathetic look and quiet sigh Sparrow offered as an answer.

"Look, son. I get it. You aren't from Narva, right... I get that," Sparrow went on, looking down at the floor, "But you've gotta make a choice. Earth or Narva. You're in between two worlds right now. Either you're here, or you're there. You can't be both. You get what I'm saying?"

Eli inhaled, "Yeah... I chose Earth a long time ago."

"You sure?" Sparrow asked, "You're getting in deep on this Planet. There's something about you, Eli. I have a feeling you'll stick around."

"No. No, I won't. I will not, I refuse..." Eli muttered.

Sparrow sighed as sat back down in his drivers seat. His mechanical arm briefly showed underneath the bandages as he placed a hand back over the wheel, “You’ve got a lot to learn about this world.”

“I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface…”

“Trust me, Comrade, you’ll have plenty of time and opportunities to dig deeper. You’re a good fighter. They’ll need you.”

“Who?” Eli asked him.

Sparrow started the engine of the car, giving a smug look as the engine – by some miracle – jumped to life, “Your bosses. The Coalition. You’re useful and you’ll know more than most about this war. They’ll want to keep you as an asset when this is over and done with.”

“What exactly do you know about me?”

“Enough. I know you were in Raritan, and I know you were the primary reason why the War isn’t being fought like it was a year ago – deep into warrior elf soil. You’ve gotta know at least a few things about this world by now?”

“No… nothing but a vague idea.”

Sparrow only hummed in recognition. Slowly the car backed away. They drove slowly past the still smoking carcass of the dragon, buried now in a mix of dirt and broken chunks of concrete. It sat like a downed aircraft in the middle of the road. Vanquished. Conquered. It couldn’t bother them now…

They peeled off and Eli had a strange though somber feeling twinge through his heart as he watched the skyscrapers of the Renewal District fly by and grow smaller. Their surfaces glowing red in the face of the afternoon sun. Dark clouds hinted at worse trouble to come on the horizon, the battle was far from over. Even this victory, as consequential as it was, was but a raindrop in a storm.

One battle over, but the worst was yet to come…

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