The Dragoso Series 2: Strength in Pain

Chapter 5

Darkness moved along the ground quickly, Salem on his back somehow as they moved as a shadow.

"This will work, Darkness, thank you," Salem said as they stopped on the side of the base in a shadow. Salem reappeared as his solid, vampire self and he looked up, seeing a vent on the wall. Darkness' head appeared from the ground solid, the rest of him still a shadow.

"Want me to wait here?" he asked and Salem nodded.

"Please." Salem reached his cane up to the vent, popping it open and catching the grate before it hit the ground, setting it down carefully. Darkness moved his head so Salem could step onto him and get into the vent without a problem. Salem did so and moved through the vent until he found an opening into the base, a few hunters walking past. Salem pulled the grate up and pushed it in front of him before dropping down with grace, rolling to continue momentum and staying in a low crouch as he rolled to his feet. He looked around before inhaling.

Alright Anna, I'm in. he thought and he felt a presence brush against his mind, Anna's voice echoing in his mind.

Ok, I'll guide you to the power supply. You have to keep an eye out for any other hunters and any hunter controlled dragons. Anna said and Salem nodded. He looked around before heading away from the hunters that had walked past and eventually found the room holding the generators. Salem held his cane up and it changed into two tonfa blades. He slashed the generators and the power died. It took only a moment for it to boot back up.

Alright, now for the back up generators, sit tight, I'm almost done, Salem thought and he ran from the generator room and found the back up generators pretty quickly. He slashed the power of the backup generators and a spark jumped from the blade and the weapons caught fire. Salem's breathing was heavy as he watched the weapons set on fire before he ran out and closed the door behind him, the fire still in his eyes.

Anna, it's done, move! Salem thought and he turned, coming face to face with a white and light blue dragon. Its eyes, however, looked almost mechanical, being green and black, the eye was littered with strange lines. Salem smirked, his blades returning to his cane and he turned and high tailed it away from the dragon, which gave chase.

Salem turned down a strange hallway, the dragon stopped there and snorted, not moving. It was almost like it was forced to stay there. Salem shrugged and turned, only to see someone he didn't expect to find.

The Hunter Leader. The leader had dark brown hair, although it was hard to tell considering the base was dark with metal floors and pipes for walls. Some walls were actually made of metal, but there were no windows, just small bulbs that barely gave off enough light. Beside the leader stood a blue and orange dragon with a strange harness on, a light attached at the chest that flashed like a strobe. The dragon growled, seeming to have a robotic voice.

"Blink and Destroy," the dragon said. Salem remembered it was called a Tech Dragon.

"Shut it, dragon," the leader tapped the dragon's back leg and it backed off. "No normal human can get into the base and outrun a Glacier Dragon, so I take it you want something from me." Salem got into a stance, staring at the leader with his silver eyes, his cane went back to the tonfa blades.

"I'm no normal human then," Salem mocked. The leader leaned against the dragon at his side, exchanging a look with it before it shifted its weight, not jostling the leader at all.

"Oh, I know you aren't human at all. I know everything about you, Salem. Vampire king, slightly insane, and a slave to the dragons," the leader mocked back. Salem scoffed and rolled his eyes. He turned his head slightly and smirked.

"Your time is up," he said as Anna enters the room, charging right at Salem. Salem ducked as Anna jumped over him and onto the Hunter Leader, the dragon moving away, most likely by influence of Anna's powers.