A Dragon Among The Stars

The parting of two brothers.

Izakel, Kiel and the rest were frozen from the shock. Seeing the sudden appearance of an unknown force, the situation was on the point of giving up.

Kiel muttered in a daze. "That thing... came from up there?" Pinching his cheeks, telling himself that something like this is impossible . No human is capable of achieving this feat. 'Unless...'

Kiel gulped hard as this lines passed through his mind. Remembering the location they were in, everything became plausible. He started sweating from his forehead due to nervousness.

"S-sir! F-from behind us!" One of the soldiers said. His voice with a hint of trepidation and uneasiness. Seeing something unknown silently appearing behind their backs in this kind of place. Anyone would feel unimaginable fright and goosebumps.

The others look from behind and saw vague silhouettes emerging from the darkness. They appeared to be taller than any human and had a slim build. Each were holding various kinds of weapons, be it a spear or a sword, there were even hammers and battleaxes. They knew instantly that this newly arrived group came from the deepest part of the relic.

In this modern age, no people would bring this kinds of weapons here. The unknown being stopped in their tracks. Every member f the group were tense as waves of danger and uneasiness came from this unknown silhouettes, leaving their backs in cold sweat.

Seconds later, numerous red lights appeared, what seems to be pairs of eyes. Eyeing them from the darkness.

Izakel discovered that the situation is brimming with danger. He decisively weighted his choices. He made the decision to head to the passageway leading to the inner parts of the site. "Move! Head towards the inner parts, withe the other three group here, we can make them our temporary shields!"

Retreating was out of the question, and confrontation wasn't a wise choice. He could only pin their hopes of survival in entering the inner core of the site.

The rest of group swiftly executed his commands and moved towards the passageway.

...

Frederic and the rest had their hearts on their throat ever since the arrival of an another group. Terror preminated through the air as dust clouds assaulted their faces.

Jayson had a grim face as he said in a serious tone. "What the hell is that!?"

Rudeus with the same face replied. "whatever it is, I'm sure that this is not human." Hearing this remark, everyone's face further drop in grimness.

Metallic footsteps were heard as faint silhouettes emerged from the dust clouds. Every footsteps they made resulted in their group making a step back,

The soldiers flashed their lights on this mysterious silhouettes, and what they saw would make them deeply remember this frightening moment.

Frederic shouted in his mind. 'Skeletons!? made out of metal!?' What appeared before them were tall skeletons wearing armors and capes. Their bones appealed with a metallic sheen and their eyes were radiating murderous red lights. Every movement they made was infused with great strength. They numbered to more than a dozen.

Even though they outnumbered the skeleton soldiers, they didn't felt safe not one bit. They slowly aimed their sights at these frightening unknown beings. Frederic had a black face and said in trepidation. "don't fire! Retreat to the inner parts... take it slow!"

Seeing Frederic's group slowly making their retreat, the other two groups started following suit. But how could these robotic monsters allow them. The largest of them situated on the front raised his spear, pointing at the group. He let out a word with its metallic voice. It was from a different language and the group didn't understood a thing. But one things for sure, that word just spelled disaster for them.

Frederic shouted on the top of his lungs. "Retreat to the inner parts!!" His men hearing this started retreating while giving fire towards these monsters, trying to suppress them.

The robotic skeletons cared little this puny firepower and started their charge towards the intrudring group. They were fast, barely anyone from them could keep track of their bodies. The way attacked were beyond brutal with fountains of blood and dismembered limbs flying through out the vicinity. Every swing and thrust of their weapons would reap the lives of a living person. They couldn't do a thing to stop any of them. Slaughtered like pigs, waiting for their death.

...

Kiel looked at the other group's situation, his face painted with deep horror. This brutal scene was a first thing for him. He looked back and saw another group of those monstrous skeletons chasing after his group, eyeing them like a hungry predator who can't wait to devour their pray. From the prowess of these monsters, they stood no chance of winning. They could only run as it was the only hope they felt that could lead to their survival. He quickly urged the others to hurry up. His heart pounding as fast as he tried to run.

Izakel shouted "Use your flash bangs and smokes!" His face was contorted with urgency, deep inside he was nervous as the others. Their brutality and murderous intent was deeply printed in his mind. Even thought e was still steadfast and hopeful. He thought to himself. 'There's a way out of here! I know there is!'

Hearing his call, his men started throwing flashes and smokes, praying that it would work, To their surprise, it actually made the skeletons stopped in their tracks as they were blinded and their sights hindered.

Frederic already noticed Kiel and Izakel's presence among the people fighting for their lives. He would love to end their lives but he couldn't care less anymore due to the threat posed by the skeleton monsters, These damnable skeleton were a bigger enemy to take care of. He thought to himself. 'They could still pose some use against these monsters.'

Their numbers dwindled into half as four groups arrived at the entrance towards the inner parts of the site. They didn't dallied with their grudges and quickly made their ways toward the corridor.

As they arrived at the end, what greeted them was a sight of a spacious room. There was a pathways leading to four more pathways. Looking down, one would only see dark deep abyss.

Hopeful they made their way towards to the passageway. But to their horror, they were surrounded as they arrived at the middle. Skeleton soldiers with varying sizes started appearing from the darkness. Some were emerging from the top while some from underneath. They were surrounded from all sides and deeply outnumbered,

With no choice, they could only fight it out and hope for an opportunity of survival to arise. Most of them knew deep inside that there's no way out and all of them would end up here as corpses. But they were hardened veteran soldiers, despite the situation, they bravely confronted death and made their last stand, dying with dignity, Even though their enemies were monsters, they were firm and ready as ever, fighting towards the bitter end.

Kiel and Izakel looked towards each other. A lot of various emotions were passing through their hearts and minds. They nodded at each other, aware of each thoughts. Words were unnecessary and didn't need to be conveyed.

Throughout the bloody fight, one of the soldier tried to throw a grenade but before he could, he was killed with a beheading slash. The grenade rolled itself towards Kiel and Izakel

Fortunately, Kiel was able to notice it and acted fast. He pushed Izakel away, resulting in him being blasted away from the passageway towards the abyss,

Izakel was in a daze by the sudden explosion, seeing his big brother fall into the pits of the abyss crushed his heart. He shouted Kiel's name on the top of his voice, reaching is hands as his teammates held him back.

Parting with a love one has always been unbearable.