Lightning Bringer: (Lighting Seeker Book 2)

Streaks of Fire

Nothing was right. The world froze, crawling to a painful pause as Dash hit the ground. He was still, too still for Vale's liking. All Vale could hear was her breathing, unsteady and panicked as she stared at Dash, willing him to move. No. No. No.

A moment later, the world sped back up and Vale watched as their hoverbike, now no longer manned by Dash, screeched as it hit the left alley brick wall. Vale was thrown up into the air and hit a heavy piece of metal back first. Scrambling backwards, she whirled around and found herself on the enemy AI hoverbike.

She tackled the first AI she saw before it could react. Punching it through its face, her metal fist crushed its way inside. Vale watched as electricity ate it's way up her arm. "I'll just borrow this if you don't mind."

She leaped back, kicked her thick boot into the AI, and watched it fall, hitting the driver. The hoverbike swerved, slamming into the alley wall, bouncing off, and then hitting the now-stalled hoverbike, where Dash was. The sound that tore through the air was deafening, promising to haunt Vale for the rest of her days. High screeches of metal protested as the hoverbikes lost their form and sounded like dying souls as they ripped to shreds.

The scene threw Vale back to the first airship she ever traveled on. The Libertatem had been destroyed the same way, ripped from the sky like rain melting tissue paper as it came into contact with an AI ship called Resistere Futilis. A ship that still haunted Vale's dreams.

The ground below her shifted as metal gave way to air. Vale jumped over the side, breaking her fall with her metal arm, and rolled several feet. The hoverbike hit the right alley wall, pulling itself away from the other bike, and exploded, casting bright breathtaking, and terrifying streaks of lights across the alley.

Vale felt the heat of the fire, as it grew tall, melting the AI's to the metal hoverbike, leaving them incapable of moving, statues trapped in a new form as their eyes stared at Vale, emotionless. Vale scrambled to her feet and ran to Dash's hoverbike, ignoring the eyes that followed her.

She held her breath as she took in the wreckage of Dash's hoverbike. He was half buried underneath scraps of sharp metal. She prayed that none of the pieces had pierced him and tentatively made her way towards him, not wanting the metal to buckle and push him further underneath it. His eyes were shut, dark lasses striking against his pale skin. Too pale. I need to get him out of here.

She finally reached him and gripped a metal sheet covering his shoulder. Yanking it back, she let out a sigh of relief. He was intact, his body untouched by the wreckage. "You are one lucky guy," Vale whispered as she pulled his arm over her shoulder and slowly moved him out.

She lowered him down onto a small section of the deck that wasn't a disaster of sharp shards and took his pulse. A steady rhythm filled her fingers as she placed them against his neck. He's alive. Scanning his body, she spotted the gun wound as it tainted his dark dress shirt a deep crimson red. He was hit in the shoulder. Shit. That's going to be tricky to fix. I need tools.

She bit her lip. If it hit the subclavian artery, the artery that feeds the main artery of the arm, he'll be dead in a few minutes from blood loss. "Dash," she shook him. "You need to wake up. We need to move you." It was more than that. She needed help. She couldn't fix this. The only person that could, was unconscious below her.

She shook him again, doing her best not to panic as her brain shouted more potential complications. If it hit the brachial plexus, the large nerve bundle that controls arm function, he could be left with an arm that can't move.

A crash pulled her out of her spiral. Turning, she saw the AI's fingers ripping into their own metal torsos, pulling themselves apart. She was left dazed until she realized they were planning on coming after her, crawling with their half bodies, determined to reach her.  

"Dash," she shook him harder. The AI's began to crawl towards them, the sound of their arms dragging their bodies across the ground, raised the hair on the back of her neck. Glowing eyes staring at her, unblinking as they moved at a terrifying speed.

"Okay time to go." She turned back to Dash and groaned. Ripping several strips off of the bottom of her dress, she pushed them against his shoulder and wrapped one tightly around it, hoping to slow the bleeding.

"DASH WAKE UP!" She shouted, shaking him far more aggressively than she normally would. When he didn't move, she swore, lifted her hand, and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a clean pink mark across his jaw.

Dash groaned. "What the hell," he muttered bringing a hand up to touch his jaw. His eyes fluttered open, glassy, and confused. "What was that-." Vale didn't let him finish.

"No time. You can yell at me later. I need you to give us a boost out of here. Can you do that?"

Dash's green eyes were suddenly clear as they shot wide at the sight before them. The AI's had made their way to the hoverbike and were starting to climb up the side. "Crap, that's terrifying." He nodded and Vale helped him to his feet. Wrapping her arms around his chest, she felt them shoot into the air, just as a pair of metal fingers brushed her ankle. She kicked but the AI wrapped its fingers around her, yanking her downwards. Her grip around Dash slipped. Dash wrapped his arm around her metal hand, doing his best to keep her from falling. They lifted into the air, Dash pulling Vale up by the arm, and Vale pulling up the AI by her ankle.

She shook wildly again and the AI swung back and forth, throwing off Dash's balance. They suddenly shot sideways, flying above the alley. The AI reached out and grabbed a ladder to a fire escape, pulling them to a sudden stop.

"Reach for the bottom on the side of my boot," Dash shouted down at Vale. She squinted against the jet's fire and saw a glistening button. Slamming her hand against it, she watched as the fire in the jets tripled. The AI, surprised by the sudden jolt, lost it's grip and was left hanging on the fire escape.

Vale screamed as they spun wildly, Dash unable to control the speed change. They were suddenly parallel to a river, racing towards a large steel bridge with large intricate victorian steel swirls for beams. Vale caught their reflection in the water, two swirls of speed and a pattern of bright light where feet would normally be. It would have been breathtaking if the speed wasn't so terrifying.

Before they could hit the bridge Dash dipped down, sending them crashing into the water, ripping the image of colorful swirls of light from Vale's vision and replacing it with nothing but thick darkness and ice chilling cold.