Astraphobia

The tower stood tall enough to pierce the clouds. Lilac froze after stepping inside, watching as the electricity inside danced along wires, designed to that this force of nature could be domesticated, used without a second thought as power.

She took a step forward, trying to ignore how her leg trembled, as if her body itself was hesitant to enter.

"Lilac, wait!"

Torque skidded to a stop, panting. "You don't have to go in alone."

The dragon smiled shakily as she looked at him. The medals he wore lit up whenever the lightning would strike, reflecting the flash back at her.

"Look at me." He commanded, wrapping his cape around her. "It's okay."

Lilac struggled to hold on to the makeshift blanket, the wind tugging at the golden feathers. A single quill went flying off into the air and into the path of an electric current. Lilac shrank at the zap, eyes fixated on the now-fried feather. She ran her hand along one of her pigtails as teardrops fell onto the cape.

"Lilac."

She snapped back to attention at the sound of Torque's voice. "Don't look at it. Look at me. I'm here. And...And I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

The dragon struggled to breathe, her own screams running through her head before being drowned out by lightning harshly striking the metal around her.

"I-It wasn't just me! I had friends, and they're-they're not..."

She slammed her fist against the ground. "She said she wouldn't leave me!" She gasped out. "She's always been by my side, and now she's just going to DITCH us for the person that was never there for her?!"

Torque carefully put an arm around her.

"It's complicated...they're family..."

"You flew all the way here to help us, and she can't even stick around for longer than a second!" She sobbed, burying her face in the cape. "I just...I lost everything, and I just want to have her by my side."

With a deep sigh, the dragon raised the cape to her eyes, using it to wipe the tears from her face. Torque reached out a hand to her.

"It's okay, take your time," he whispered. "You don't have push yourself. Just focus on me. I won't leave you."

Warmth ran through Lilac as she allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace—relief from no longer drowning in her own thoughts.

"Alright. I'm ready. Let's go find her."

Lilac realized how lucky she was as she watched a deep blue flame meld the wires in her friend's hand.

"Alright, I think we're ready to head up!" Torque looked back at her, clipping the blowtorch back to his belt as the wires he had sewn together raised the platform they were standing on. The first thing they met eyes with, however, was not the open sky or the mercenaries they've been chasing, but a large mechanical bird.

Lilac flinched before stepping forward, preparing to boost into it, when she heard a voice.

"Woah, throttle back, Tiger!"

The bird turned to the Corazon, who thrust a wrench into its chest. Sparks flew from the artificial avian as it collapsed before the smug wildcat.

"You four sure love to cost a girl a fortune in hanger repairs, don't you? Luckily, you're not the only smart cookies around here!" She twirled the wrench in the air, gesturing to the fallen machine.

"Carol came up here to find you! Where is she?" The dragon demanded, clenching her fists from the stress.

"Other than 'gone,' who knows?" The pilot replied with a roll of her eyes. "I'd say she'd gotten tired of it all. Merga, Magister, all that jazz." She flicked her tail in frustration, turning away. "Spirits know I have...can't blame her for punching out."

"So, you're telling us Carol would just abandon everyone? I'm not buying it."

She looked over her shoulder to see Torque standing there, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, and if it isn't Commander Twit?" The alien blushed at her jab, averting his gaze. "How would you know anything about my Sis that I don't?"

A spear was suddenly put to her neck.

"Talk, Kitten."

Neera growled as Milla sped to Lilac's side.

"Look, I don't know where she ran off to, but take a page out of her book: get gone and stay gone! Merga's got this in the bag. You're all way behind the power curve here, so get out before it hits zero!"

She pounced onto a passing platform, disappearing from sight.

"Lilac, are you okay?" Milla looked up at the scowling dragon.

"I...I'm fine..." She mumbled out. Neera's ears twitched at the deceit.

"We have bigger problems. While we may have disabled the beacons in THIS region, we can't waste any time taking out the rest." She grabbed Lilac by the wrist, determined to get her out of here and stop whatever this was. "Let's go."