Joy Pursuit: Steel Dragon [Sci-Fi Fantasy | Horror | Action]

Ranger Okari's eyes were glazed over, staring down at the corpse of a half-fish aberration that lay splayed across the Tectonaph's glassy surface. The mangled corpse was silhouetted by the low blue glow of bioluminescent microorganisms that were pressed against the wyrm glass of Gore's Vivathecca. The morbid thing was ominous, its rising black blood against the shimmer of alien light below. Yet, Okari found herself weirdly fixed on the contrast of the rising blood and ensnared fauna. The beauty of life pressed against a layer of glass that separated it from the vile intrusions of a leaking abyss.

Distant thunder boomed, sending a rumbling shudder down her body. She shook herself away from the mesmerizing mix of gore and light. Her eyes fluttered as she swallowed her disgust. Around her were other members of the Guivre Squad that had been stationed here on the glassy expanse of the massive aquarium. She counted her fellow man, her lips quivering, as the count failed to reach her last. This death ground stationed atop the synthetic sea below was Post 33.

RMMMMMMBL…

She braced her stance as the glass below shuddered. The echo of coarse scales against the esoteric glass guided her eyes towards the bleak horizon. Something stirred under the waves.

"COMMANDANT!" a ranger's voice burst through the proximity channel as he suddenly gripped her shoulder.

"What is it, Ranger Goss?" She answered, jolting away from his grip.

Ranger Goss reached out again, seizing her by the shoulder and pointing at the sky. "THE TOWERS ARE FALLING!"

Okari pried herself away from the man, her eyes instinctively following his hand. The stormy sky was murky black, and with the contrasting glow of the Vivathecca, it was even harder to see. She squinted as she adjusted her visual module until—

FLASH!

The sky lit up as her stomach sank to the deepest reaches of her guts. Pink lightning tore through the Inverse Sea, the incandescent afterglow of the thundering light revealing the ominous form of the Skolas Sky Metropolis tearing through the skyward sea.

Goss stumbled back. "HOLY SHIT, THEY'RE CLOSER!" he wailed, panic breaking his voice.

Okari stumbled back, nearly tripping on the black remains of a Caused. A dizzying dread ripped through her, pulling her gaze back to the Vivathecca's glowing surface. It won't hold… And that thing will. She looked back up at the panicked ranger. "Goss! Gather the remaining survivors and make a run for the nearest Tectonaphis maintenance chamber; we need to lure the Vai'tolant to the furthest chamber!"

"Wha-what about the injured?" He stammered.

"Carry them if you have to, but we can't let the Vai'tolant get infected!" She commanded. "I'm heading back to update Morray. I'll make sure to send a support team!"

"Y-yes! Ma'am!" Goss answered before turning on his heels and running towards another group of weary rangers that were lost in the ominous display of light and the colossal shadow in the sky.

Okari ran, her heavy boots echoing through the glass, causing the bioluminescent life below to react by shifting from a light blue glow to an ominous magenta.

Thunder rumbled in the background, her panicked gaze drifting to the sky with every flash, the looming shadows getting ever closer.

There.

Fleeting relief washed over her as the lights of Vivathecca's edge pierced the rainy haze. She pressed on, the distant silhouettes of buildings sharpening in the mist, where the faint shapes of panicked rangers shifted across the structures.

She took a deep breath, pushing forward until she finally reached the looming wall of stone. Her palms met the cold surface, steadying herself for a heartbeat before she forced her legs up a nearby flight of stairs.

One of the rangers noticed her. "Commandant Okari! We're under Morray's orders to get the Stolkgliders ready for emergency takeoff!"

Okari felt mild relief as she came to a stop. "Good work, ranger! Where's Hassle?"

"Captain Morray is prepping for takeoff at the airstrip near post 32!" the ranger said as he met with Okari at the top of the stairs.

"What are your orders?" she asked.

"My unit's orders are to hold Overwatch over the blocking unit."

"Roger. If you have any men to spare, send them to Tectonaphis Maintenance P-78 my unit should be meeting with the team stationed there to lure the Vai'tolant."

"Understood," the ranger said, straightening themselves.

Okari nodded, sprinting along the connected wall of buildings that comprised the edge of the Vivathecca. She rushed through the rain, brushing past stunned rangers that were lost in the fleeting glimpses of the dreadful figure of the Cetarro tower growing closer and closer with every flash.

What in the world is happening up there? She wondered when—

Rmmmmmmbl…

The ground shook violently, causing her to slip forward. She barely caught herself on a wall, turning toward the resounding reverberations that echoed from the Vivathecca. Her helmet caught it first, then her eyes. Far off in the distant murk, she could see the faint placid blue glow shifting into a dreadful magenta that poisoned the air.

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RMMMMMBL…!!!

A deeper, resonant quake shook the structure, causing more of the panicked rangers to stumble. "It's near the surface…" she muttered to herself, the magenta glow parting through the blue as the waters stirred.

She took a deep breath, gathering her bearings, and continued her desperate pursuit through the rising rain—

—Rising rain that climbed the darkness and into the turbulent waves of the sky bound sea that filtered through the storm spiraling around the foreboding figure of the Cetarro tower. And at its apex, standing proud at the edge of this abyss, we find Ezzeks.

A ghostly gargoyle standing proudly against the Supercell, he peered down at the churning sea from which a volatile mass of blackened tendrils and pale shimmering scales emerged, rising violently with the rain and up the tower's spine.

Ezzeks' jaw cracked into a smile as the Cerberus rose up the tower, its claws ripping through the glass as lightning illuminated the revolving storm, the vile arcs silhouetting both beasts against the penumbra.

The pale Coarseblood took a deep breath of wet air. "Haaa~! How stimulating!" He roared as he peered down at the rising beast. "The perfect opportunity to honor our old King's GLORIOUS memory! Are you ready, Vaal?"

Vaal sighed, "Just don't get me killed."

Ezzeks had a hearty laugh that resounded with churning waves. "Wahaha, bereft of patience as always… But quiet your worries. For this will make that wicked heart of yours beat like never before!"

The sky shuddered in a low rumble. "Just kill that nasty Thing already!" Vaal complained.

Ezzeks's smile dropped slightly. "That's no Thing! It's a living being. My proud adversary in this sky bound bout!" He leapt from his perch, his bony claws skidding across the side of the building, his body pulsing with violent Kyyr as he barreled down, ripping through glass and stone.

The Cerberus let out a vile shriek, its body engulfed by surging lightning, its claws melting glass and scorching stone as it raced up the tower.

Thunder roared.

Lightning arced across the heavens, striking the beastly Cerberus, illuminating the sky in a perpetual flare of violent light. The light erupted through the gray and the esoteric sea. The abyssal fulgor stretching through the tattered land, illuminating the exhausted rangers, bringing fleeting light to the Ordovis Coast.

BOOOM!

Every window aboard the Cetarro tower shattered. Abyssal energy surged through the ruined hall, raising the hairs of those still breathing as a numbing buzz filled the air. The Cerberus drew closer and closer to the Coarseblood—who, through it all, remained utterly calm.

Ezzeks focused all his Kyyr in a single point in his good arm. One chance in the midst of the rising rain. One chance to strike the beast true. His arm began to glow a dark purple, his true Kyyr rippling from under his bony armor, tearing through Coarseblood flesh. Something new began to writhe within.

Fell spawn…

The Cerberus let out a booming howl, planting its feet firmly into the side of the building. Resounding Kyyr exploded from its claws and jaws, launching it through the air.

I cannot promise you rest.

Ezzeks twisted his body, readying his claws as violet flames hissed against the rain.

But I know they will…

Time slowed. Opposing Kyyr crackled violently, the energy shattering stone and glass as the engulfing light consumed the two.

GRA———BOOOOM!

!!!

!!!

!!!

Twin blazes ripped through each other, leaving behind flaming marks of scorched impact.

The Cerberus flew high through the sky, turning with open jaws to witness his adversary. And from below, a pale frame glimmered in the dark. Sizzling. A scorching ember in the abyss. Ezzeks was there, his talons planted against the Cetarro tower, bony white growths woven tight through the scarred tower. His arm was burnt black, the rain hissing against the flaming scales as they evaporated from the heat.

The Cerberus's single pale eye widened against all odds as pain finally settled through its body as it looked at its arm.

Gone.

Before it processed what was happening, it felt its body get ripped from the tower by an unseen force.

Ezzeks let out a hearty laugh, "WAHAHA! That lightning fucking hurt! WAHAHAHA! FELL SPAWN!" He roared against the thundering storm as he pulsed Kyyr into his legs. "Your rest is nigh! So hear me roar! MY NAME IS EZZEKS, DRAGON GOD OF HEROES, AND MY SPIRIT HAS NO QUARRELS WITH HEAVEN OR HELL! THEREFORE, I AM IMMORTAL!" He raised his blackened arm. "FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!"

From Ezzeks' planted feet erupted a bony-built spire that raised him into the sky, rising through the storm past the flailing Cerberus that was suspended amidst the storm. It let out a roar as the raging water of the inverse sea rose in panic to save the husk of their forlorn master.

But it was too late.

Ezzeks's body combusted into violet flames that burnt through the storm. His alabaster scales faded away to reveal a vaguely human form that burst into a spreading fire that consumed the inverse maelstrom in a blinding light so bright that—

Down below, enveloped in the inverse rain, rangers fell to their knees in awe. Okari froze mid-run, her eyes grew wide, as she caught a glimpse of an undeniable figure in the sky.

Her knees buckled, back pressed to the cold wall. "It can't be!"

Nearby, while prepping to board a Stolkglider, Morray froze in place, dropping his pills on the mud as his crimson-gold eyes saw the blazing figure in the sky.

And though apart.

Okari and Morray both whispered the same words.

"A Dragon."

And at the center of the blazing figures' enmity, at the core of the burning cyclone, was the Cerberus, wallowing in terror as the overwhelming Draconic Kyyr rend its flesh into singed ribbons. It let out a horrid screech as the blistering heat of the dragon fire tore into it.

Ezzeks's voice boomed from within the massive silhouette of the radiant dragon.

"LO, I REMAIN! EVERMORE! IN THE NAME OF MY KING, I SHALL SPLIT THE HEAVENS!" Ezzeks then let out an incredibly loud roar as the flaming dragon raised its head up into the sky and let out a pillar of flames erupt from its jaws; the torrent of fire pierced the void of space before slicing downward through the storm and into the helpless Cerberus.

FWOOOOOOM!!!

The storm and sea were sliced in two!

The darkest darkness parted under the blazing violet flames of the Dragon God of Heroes, revealing to the world once more the crimson shattered night sky.

The incandescent glow of the dragon shone bright, its resplendence searing its figure above the descending towers.

The Cerberus was numb; its body scorched beyond recognition, leaving behind a deformed remnant gliding through the night sky. Its single eye too burnt to even cry. Its gaze drawn to the pale luminous moon hanging defiantly against the crimson shattered skies.

A soft voice rang in its mind. "If only I could fly to the moon…"

The Cerberus fell through the clear skies, its body careening straight down into the light blue glow of the Vivathecca.

And following closely behind, the silhouette of the dragon faded into the starry sky as a small figure fell down the cool night sky.