Chapter XXVIII
Rescue
Jack and Vernon sit by the computer going through the files on Gerard's device when a red flashing light appears on a console to right. Vernon press' a button and Deryn's distress message comes through.
“Mayday, Mayday. Calling home base, over.” Deryn spoke in a frantic tone, which much to Vernon anticipation was exactly what he thought it would be. He sighed before hitting the speaker.
“This is home base. What's the problem? Over.” Vernon said, in an equally frantic tone, although unlike Deryn, Vernon seemed to be trying to keep his nerve.
“We need an evacuation chopper sent to the coordinates of the seismic activity. Over.” Deryn voice said, getting more and more frantic with every word.
“What’s happened?” Vernon said and he was no longer trying to keep control of his voice now, he knew that if Deryn was spooked then something must be very bad indeed, however nothing could have prepared the butler for what he heard next.
“Buckley is a Raven.” Deryn said over the line, causing Vernon to hold his breath. As Alan and Dmitri come over at the sound of the noise, noticing them Vernon turns back to the speaker.
“Evacuation chopper is being dispatched. Hold at your current position until it arrives. Over and out.” Vernon said, before killing the line, and turning to Alan and Dmitri in order to bring them up to speed.
As Alan walks over to the chopper, equipped in his old army gear, Dmitri begins to prep the helicopter for take-off. Behind Alan walks a dozen of Dmitri's new and improved Bots, he had to admit that he had done a good job with them, having learnt from past failures these new ones would now be tested against both the harsh weather of the east, and against one of the five. As Alan gets in Vernon walks up. Alan turns around and begins to try and head the butler off, no doubt Jack had told Vernon of his promise to him and this was to be a reminder of that.
“I know what you’re going to say Vernon. But I'm going on this rescue op.” Alan said as Vernon finished walking up and stopped a few paces away.
“If you mean the promise you made to Master Jack, I already talked to him about it, which is why I wasn't going to stop you. Just to tell you to bring back whatever object caused that disturbance.” Vernon said, this was the most important job, it had been hard to explain to Jack why his farther was already breaking the promise he had made to him, but the lad seemed to get it, or at least Vernon hoped he did.
“I will.” Alan said.
“Good. Well good hunting sir.” Vernon said taking a few paces back as Alan got into the chopper.
“Thank you, Vernon.” Alan said and closed the chopper door behind him, and they take off out of the cave and loop back on itself and head towards the east.
An hour later the chopper crested the mountains directly behind the manor and started to descend to a more manageable altitude. Dmitri put the machine on auto pilot and walked back into the cargo hold.
“We’re on auto pilot nor until we land.” Dmitri said checking the rounds in his gun as Alan takes out the long staff, which he hoped might delay whatever was now inside those ruins for long enough to buy enough time. “Are you sure about your plan?” Dmitri asked, he was sceptical of it, and thought it to be overly suicidal even for him.
“Yeah. If what Deryn said was true about Buckley. Then this will be the only thing that can stop him.” Alan said looking up at the green gem, glinting in the lights inside the chopper.
“You do realise that if you face him alone, you’re almost certainly going to die.” Dmitri said, he knew that whilst the gem would be able to beat the Raven back, he was conscious that it would take a strong man to wield it. And Alan was missing a leg and was thus more vulnerable as his encounter with Boris had proven.
“I know.” Alan said, as a brainwave hit Dmitri.
“Wait, you’re going on this mission to die, you want this to be a suicide mission.” Dmitri said, wondering why, why Alan would want to kill himself.
“I don’t want to die, but equally if I do, then I am ready to do that.” Alan said. looking around the chopper. “After all, Vernon can look after my sons a lot better than I ever could.” He continued.
“And what about me.” Dmitri asked, he didn’t remember saying it, but it was the truth. “After all, if you die, who’ll employ old soldiers who end up on The Mayor’s personal kill list.” Dmitri finished smiling slightly. Before he could finish however, a bleeping comes from the cockpit. “We shouldn’t be there yet.” Dmitri said more to himself than to Alan and rushed over to the controls, as Alan also got up and looked out of the windows.
“What is it?” Alan said looking around, he couldn’t see anything beyond a few feet in front of him.
“Senses are showing something up ahead.” Dmitri said, strapping himself into the seat and taking the helicopter out of auto pilot and resuming manual control of the vehicle. For a few moments there is silence until they come out of the dust and almost collided head long into something very large and very scaly. As the gunship veered out of the way. Dmitri’s mouth fell open as he stared at the dragon that flying around and, for the moment at least hadn’t spotted them.
“So, they’re real.” Alan said his own mouth wide open at the sight of the creature, he had heard the rumours but never had he believed them. He had always dismissed their destructive nature, as an excuse for natural events that this region was famous for. However, at this he realised something. “Why has the auto pilot taken us this far north?” Alan said, even with corrections to weather systems ahead of them, they shouldn’t have ended up in the beasts rumoured hunting ground. Dmitri checked the map on the screen to see why but turned back to Alan.
“We’re still on course. We’re still a hundred miles away from its hunting grounds.” Dmitri said, however the fact remained that the beast that everyone who ever ventured this far east had feared, seemed to be migrating southwards.
“Why is it this far south?” Alan asked, more to himself, whilst also preying to whatever gods there were that the beast didn’t decide to turn west. ‘Because if that happened, everything was over.’ Alan thought to himself, at which Dmitri flicked a switch and turned on the choppers camo systems, Alan looked out of the window to see the flickering from the helicopter blades but other than that the invisibly systems seemed to be holding steady, as he turned to Dmitri. “Can it see us.” Alan said.
“If it could, we’d be dead.” Dmitri said grabbing the controls. “Hopefully we can sneak by and hope we’re too insignificant for it to notice us.” Dmitri finished, even during his own time in the wastelands of the east, he had never been stupid enough to go too close to the rumoured spot where the beast lived. Although he had never truly had to worry about the giant lizards, as he had only gone a few miles in, but this creature proved that they could and would move hundreds of miles away from their nests to resettle somewhere else entirely. And like Alan, Dmitri hoped that the beast would not choose to head west at all, knowing the destruction that would come if it did choose to make towards the setting sun. Now certain that they were far enough away as to not attract the dragon’s attention, Dmitri put on a burst of speed from the engines and continued to fly the chopper as fast as it would go, over what would soon be a boneyard if the dragon decided to settle here.
After a tense half an hour they were miles away from the dust storm and mere miles away from the ruins.
“We should be safe; it didn’t seem to notice us.” Dmitri said but he also didn’t turn of the cloaking device, as if he feared not being right.
“How much longer?” Alan asked.
“About an hour until we arrive. The cloaking device requires us to go slower than usual.” Dmitri said, as they continue to fly further and further into the east.
It was almost dark by the time Alan and Dmitri had found the extraction point and began their descent. When the chopper touched down on the dusty ground. Alan, Dmitri and a dozen Bots rushed out. Deryn looks at them.
“So, you're the rescue mission.” Deryn asked looking at Dmitri with a look of trepidation, he had read the stories about the man in front of him and was surprised to see that Alan had allied himself with this criminal.
“Is this all that's left?” Dmitri asked, he had heard that a hundred people had gone on the mission, but looking around now, he guested only ten remained and that was optimistic.
“Aye. Plus, the girl who ran back into those ruins.” Deryn said looking back at the ruins, where the dark clouds had temporally stopped only to start up again a few minutes. As Dmitri talked with Deryn, Alan walked towards the ruin drawing his staff, followed by two of Dmitri’s bots.
“Can you get up?” Dmitri asked.
“No.” Deryn said. “I think I’ve broken my hip.” Deryn continued. Dmitri looked up and saw Alan enter the ruins, he sighed and hoped that he wouldn’t get himself killed. He helped Deryn up and took him over to the chopper as the other survivors were getting in. Once Deryn was safely buckled into place he exited the chopper and gazed at the ruins.
“Everyone’s on board sir.” A BOT said.
“Not everyone.” Dmitri said turning to the BOT. “Don’t let them take off.” He finished before running into the dark clouds hoping that he could find Alan before he did something stupid.
Charlie couldn’t see a thing, the dust continued to swirl around him as she moved about the ruins, although she could have left and wouldn’t have known the difference. She had thought initially that she had given Rhazien the slip, but quickly realised that the lord of the Ravens was most likely toying with her. She continued to move through the dust until he entered the eye of the storm inside what he guested used to be the main hall. Only to realise that Rhazien was waiting for her, simply standing on top of a stone table, Charlie raised the staff, before realising she had no clue how to work it. As Rhazien floats down from the stone table and begins advancing, the ground in front, behind and to the sides of him rose up, effectively sealing him inside a dust box.
Charlie turned around to see Alan standing a few meters away, his staff placed firmly in the ground, the green gem on the tip glowing brighter than she had ever seen. She took one last look at the dust box that for the moment at least seemed to be holding, but how long that would last, she didn’t know. Before running over to where Alan stood.
“We’ve got to get out of here now!” Charlie shouted.
“Go. I’ll hold him off.” Alan said in a resigned tone, that alerted Charlie to exactly what he was planning on doing.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Charlie shouted. “If you stay here any longer you will die.”
“I know, I’ve made my peace with that.” Alan said, his deadened tone was enough to convince Charlie that he was telling the truth and she began to try to pull him back, but Alan didn’t budge. As the dust box around Rhazien began to crack open. As the two bots moved forward to begin firing at Rhazien when he eventually would break out, Dmitri came rushing through.
“We’ve got to get moving!” Dmitri yelled; he was concerned that the soldiers might just decide to leave them if they didn’t move.
“He won’t budge.” Charlie said as she passed the staff she was holding to Dmitri, and once again tried to heave Alan away from the rapidly disintegrating box. Rhazien pushed his way out and made to leap at them, his black cloak billowing in the wind when he was suddenly blasted backwards, colliding with the wall. This did bring Alan out of the trance that he was in, to see Dmitri standing with Igradust staff raised, its clear gem light fading after having just been used.
“Alan, we came here to get this out of here, if you stay, you’re not only putting that mission at risk, but also handing over your own gem to boot.” Dmitri said, hoping that this would go through but then adding. “And if that happens it doesn’t matter who will look after your sons because we’ll all be one step closure to death.” Dmitri said. This seemed to work as Alan lowered his staff and the three left the ruins, sure that they were on borrowed time as they knew that Rhazien would soon be up again.
As they exited into the outside, Dmitri was gladdened to see that the chopper was still where they had left it and that the terrified soldiers hadn’t decided to abandon them. Alan and Charlie got into the chopper, but as Dmitri was about to, he had the impulse to turn around and look back at the ruins one last time.
When he turned around, he not only saw the dark cloud circling around where the ruins had been, but he also saw a what looked like the ghost of a black bearded figure standing in front. He was about to ask the others about the apparition but a screak from inside the black cloud convinced him that it could wait. So, he got into the pilot’s seat and lifted the chopper off the ground, and began the long journey back west, with a lot fewer people than had headed east what seemed like years ago.
