Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
*** LYDIA ***
S o much was left unsaid as the journey continued.
There were too many ears to listen and too many eyes straying to their commander as the soldiers' tension grew.
Lydia could feel Hesher's strong, warm arm pressing against hers as the truck bounced over the ruts in the back roads it was using.
That simple contact was enough for now. He tensed each time the driver announced another of his ships had landed, then forced his arm to relax and soften for her benefit.
She knew his thoughts were running along the same line as hers.
Why hadn't they been attacked? There wasn't any way they could have remained undetected.
The Xycon ships couldn't have missed them, and their occupants would send messages to those on the planet.
The shield openings would have been noticed and the Talonian ships landing would show up on every detection device on Earth.
Darkness and distance from the cities couldn't hide them.
Surely, the Xycon had access to those devices.
So, where were they? Did they have so much confidence that the unknown entities on the strange ships held no threat for them?
She didn't believe that for even a minute. They were planning something .
The trucks stopped in a traffic tunnel. From there, the travelers would be on their own. The drivers wished them luck and continued through the tunnel making it seem as if nothing had changed.
Lydia grabbed Hesher's arm and said, "It's too quiet. There should be more traffic and noises coming from outside. Why aren't we surrounded? Someone should have questions for us. They’re planning a trap."
"I know," Hesher replied. "Just keep walking.
We have to go ahead anyway. We will confront whatever comes our way.
When we get to the end of the tunnel, take your crew and circle in the opposite direction of my soldiers.
Disassociate yourselves from us so you can get to the roofs before we come into view.
Stay in small groups of twos or threes. You will appear less suspicious.
They will not spring their trap until we are there.
Get in place before sunrise. If I fail, get out and save your crew. Live for me."
"You won't fail. I'm not going to let any weapon touch you. We'll both make it through this. Then we'll have a small war of our own."
Hesher's frown deepened. Lydia knew he was aware of her meaning. Where was their relationship and declaration of love leading them? Would they break apart and suffer for the rest of their lives or would one of them compromise and leave their planet behind?
The tunnel ended, and the sky wasn't quite as dark as it had been when they entered it. Lydia and her crew would have to run in order to reach the rooftops before sunrise. They scattered over the streets, winding their way through alleys as the Talonians disappeared in the opposite direction.
It was easy, far too easy, to slip past the guards.
Humans with flamethrowers stood against the buildings facing the enemy who held guns.
They didn't shoot. Lydia supposed it was due to the body armor covering the humans from head to toe.
People were walking past them as if they didn't exist. It was the oddest sight Lydia could imagine.
How did you go about your business so casually when aliens were taking over your home?
Then it dawned on her; they weren't human.
Unable to tell who was who except by what weapon they carried made the whole situation more real.
As the sun rose, from her rooftop perch she could see that other buildings had soldiers with flamethrowers standing guard.
Her breath stopped when she saw Hesher walk through the open gates.
The guards had given up those posts long ago.
As one, the aliens turned their guns on Hesher and the Talonians.
They paused, too intrigued by the shimmering coming from in front of them to shoot.
The pause gave Lydia, Marcus, Sophia, and the rest of the hidden crew the time needed to use their lasers.
They knocked the guns out of the Xycon's hands. Instantly, they became transparent.
However, it was too late. Before them was an army of weredragons.
Fire shot from their mouths and a series of explosions shook the building, knocking Lydia and her crew down.
The gun-wielding aliens were no more. The people on the street turned to fight, producing weapons from pockets and briefcases.
The dragons rose into the sky, dodging bullets and arrows.
Their fire heated the air as they destroyed the Xycon one by one.
The heat from dragon fire turned the air thick and shimmering.
Lydia pressed her cheek against the rooftop ledge and watched the sky fill with weredragons.
They moved in formations she had never seen.
They flew in tight clusters that broke apart and reformed, each dragon covering the blind spots of the others.
Hesher’s red form led the widest arc, drawing fire away from the smaller dragons below him.
She understood instantly. He was using himself as bait.
On the streets, the Xycon who had kept their human forms scrambled for cover.
Some ducked into doorways. Others tried to blend back into the civilian crowds, but the dragons banked low, nostrils flaring, and separated them by scent alone.
A green dragon dove and released a concentrated burst that turned an entire alley white with heat.
When the glow faded, the Xycon who had been hiding there were gone .
Lydia counted the injured. A bronze dragon was flying lopsided, one wing torn at the membrane.
Two more had scorch marks along their flanks from near misses with the lasers.
They did not land. They did not slow down.
She had commanded soldiers, but she had never seen anything like this—an entire company fighting through wounds that would have grounded any human unit, driven by something deeper than orders.
Lydia pulled herself up and clung to the edge of the building.
Any weapon aimed at her beloved red dragon was shot from the enemies’ hands.
Sweat was dripping from her body. The grass was on fire, and she worried about the men who had been protecting the building.
She dared to look down to see if they were safe and was shocked to discover the armor laying empty on the ground.
No bodies were in sight, just piles of clothing and armor.
They hadn't been human at all. No wonder there hadn't been any shooting.
It was a ruse, and she had fallen for it.
She and Hesher were trying to protect a building that had already been taken, wasting time and risking lives for nothing.
The doors opened and the enemy, dressed in familiar military clothing, streamed out.
Lasers pointed to the sky. A bright yellow weredragon screamed in agony as his tail was all but severed from his body.
He was falling rapidly toward the burning ground and the enemy below.
Two other dragons caught him, taking him far from the fight.
Lydia panicked when a laser left a hole in Hesher's wing.
She began shooting at anything moving on the ground, desperately trying to protect the dragons.
The dragons were taking damage, but they were winning.
Every burst of fire thinned the enemy’s numbers.
The Xycon on the ground were running out of bodies to hide behind.
Lydia could see it in the way they moved—less coordinated, more desperate.
Some broke formation entirely, sprinting for the side streets.
The dragons let them run. It was the ones still fighting that needed to die.
For every Xycon the dragons destroyed, another appeared to take its place. They had infiltrated the military to a greater degree than the president had been aware of. Was it the same in every country?
Many of the weredragons were injured, but they continued to fly.
Less and less of her crew members were shooting, having sustained injuries as well.
It was an ambush of epic proportions. The only reason they weren't all dead was because of the one surprise that had gone in their favor.
The enemy hadn't known their new opponents were dragons or that they had the one element that could kill them.
Could the Talonians lose this war? Lydia was beginning to fear it was possible.
Helicopters, military and civilian, filled the sky. Lydia lost all hope. How could the weredragons defeat so many, especially those flying amongst them?
But they weren't aiming at the dragons. Their machine guns were aimed at the Xycon. As the solid bodies were hit, they became gaseous, and dragon fire did the rest. This was what was left of the human military, and the president had followed through on his promise of aid.
The shooting from the ground diminished rapidly, and Lydia relaxed her vigilance.
She turned to see if those on the roof with her had been hurt.
She was bending over Sophia, wiping blood from her scraped arms with the bottom of her shirt, when she heard the door to the roof slam against the wall.
Men, or what appeared to be men, were standing there with lasers pointed at her crew.
Hers was on the ground, out of reach. Sophia's was lost somewhere on the roof from when she had fallen.
The others had dropped theirs when the men had suddenly appeared.
Their weapons would be useless anyway. She glanced at the sky, but the dragons were occupied elsewhere.
"What do you want from us?" Lydia asked, raising her hands in surrender. She needed to buy time until the dragons or even the men in the helicopters noticed what was happening on the roof.