Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux Read Free Page A

the image of his
friend lying dead on the ground. He heard a rumble from the east; the winds
shifted, pushing the blimp. He looked towards the sound to see a storm cloud
rapidly spreading from above a volcano. The earth shook as the volcano erupted
and a large silhouette rose from the lava spewing from the mountain. Had it
taken flight? Was this some unknown Drakoni enemy? Omar readied himself to
activate the launcher by positioning his body in the direction of the approaching
mass.
    Omar stood there staring, stuck in the moment and unable to move. At
that distance… its size… it must be massive. What is it? Omar kept asking in his
mind. It moved with supernatural speed and was now approaching quickly.
When Omar saw it in all of its horrible glory, he let out a gasp. It was The Great
Red Dragon that his old assistant Tyree had described to him. It was one thing to
hear a monster spoken of and an entirely different matter to see it in person.
Omar could feel goose bumps start to rise on his arms and the hair at the back
of his neck raise. It looked directly at Omar, or so it seemed to him, bearing
down on him impossibly fast. Omar hesitated for a moment and then sent a
rocket flying at the massive dragon. If only Omar had brought the matter
displacement chip that he had gotten from Tyree… but there was no time to
think of regrets now.
    Omar watched as the rocket hit and bounced off of the dragon’s scales
and fell to the ground never exploding. Was it a dud? These rockets have been
field tested. But then the laughter came. It was a wicked sinister laughter. Not
audible; it resounded in Omar’s mind.
    As the Dragon dove to attack, its tail whirled around and struck the
blimp ripping through it like butter and leaving a man sized gash. Before Omar
could fly away he was thrown back by the force of the balloon ripping and
letting out all of the air. Like when someone lets go of an untied but blown up
balloon, the blimp rocketed south and east. All Omar could do was hold on.
    He felt helpless: a feeling alien to Omar these days. Fear struck him as
he saw how fast the scenery blurred by. He loosed his wings from the hidden
flaps in his outfit and tried fly away. It was a desperate attempt but as he
suspected, the amount of g-force acting on his body at this moment would not
allow him to even flap. Instead of flying, his wings were pinned to the deck of
the platform . I don’t want to die , he thought in despair. I don’t want this
existence to end; I have come so far… accomplished so much here.
    Tears rolled down Omar’s cheeks. He began to have what he imagined
was a panic attack. There was a pain in his chest and he could only take short
breaths. He felt as though someone was choking him; his throat felt so tight.
    Omar looked to either side, barley able to move his neck because of the
g-forces. His stomach dropped as the blimp plunged and hit the ground with
such force that it rocked his entire body. The skyship broke apart, tearing his
skin and snapping his bones. Omar felt intense pain and pressure but then he
couldn’t feel anything below his neck.
    Then all was still. Blood mixed into his tears tinting his vision. I never
found poor Misaki… he thought desperately as darkness swallowed him and he
fell unconscious.
    MYLES LOOKED AROUND. Is this real? Or is it another dream? His vision
was blurred. Am I drunk? Confusion engulfed him. Last he remembered he had
been dreaming that he was sleeping on a sheet of ice and all was dark around
him except for an albino cat. As if looking on from above, Myles could see
himself sleeping. The white cat circled his prone body and pawed at him a few
times before it climbed on top of him, walked up to his face, and lay down on it.
The cat was smothering him in his sleep. Myles felt panic come over him, but he
could do nothing. He could feel himself begin to choke and cough as the cat
perplexingly looked at him with love. His body started to rot as his arms