Apollo: The First Entry

4- Through the Fire and Flames

Standing in front of the Wyvern as it made its way toward Enzo, he would pull his arrow back as far as he could. He knew this could very well be his last moment, but wanted to make sure he went down fighting.

Opening its mouth to let out a roar, the Wyvern would then make its way toward Enzo much faster than before. It would step on cars and grab onto buildings before shooting into the air and diving toward him. With a release of his arrow, Enzo would attempt to shoot the arrow at the Wyvern. Bouncing off of its face, however, Enzo's demeanor would change from determination to fear. The Wyvern, closing in the distance, would then open its mouth. From looking from below into the mouth of the beast, a blue light would begin to glow from within. And in mere seconds, Enzo would witness fire blow out of the beast's gaping maw, almost as if it was in slow motion.

Witnessing this all go down, the lady would run towards Enzo. Holding out her hand, her tattooed forearm would glow blue and a cross would appear in her hand. Swinging her arm, she threw the cross in front of Enzo, and it would stop in mid-air creating a blue barrier around him.

Holding his hands up as the blue fire would impact the barrier, but would flow around it, Enzo would look around, and noticed the cross itself. Glancing over at the lady, he would be confused. Why would she help him? He wouldn't know.

As the Wyvern stopped his barrage of flames, Enzo would grab the cross, causing the barrier to disappear, and would run. Grabbing onto the lady's arm, he would drag her through the flame-covered street. Noticing his attempt to run, the Wyvern would roar and begin to breathe more fire.

Jumping behind a car, Enzo would go to reach for another arrow, but when having the arrow in hand he would pull off the arrowhead.

"What do you think you're doing!" The lady would yell, trying to protect herself from the beast's flames.

"Just wait a damn minute!" Enzo replied, fishing into a bag he had attached to his waist. After a few seconds, however, he would pull out a rounder arrowhead with a red streak. "Bingo."

"What the hell is that?! Can't you see we are about to be fried alive!" The lady shouted, trying to understand what he was doing. Without a response though, Enzo would slide the arrow shaft onto the bulb and would stand up.

"Watch this," Enzo would say, smirking as he pulled back the arrow and fired it. Soaring through the air, the arrowhead would begin to glow a little bit. With it almost nearing the Wyvern, Enzo would duck back down. And before the lady could say a word, a huge explosion could be heard from the impact of the arrow.

Lifting himself back up, smoke would have filled the air. Moving past the car back towards the location of the wrathful beast, Enzo would listen. Everything was silent for once. Closing his eyes he could see his home, the snow, and the quiet hoots of the owls above. The fire that flickered from the Wyvern's mouth reminded him of his candles and fire pits. Smiling, he would let out a sigh of relief.

But as the smoke dissipated, there would be no body of a dead dragon, instead, there was a mysterious ooze.

"What is that?" The lady would ask, approaching Enzo as he opened his eyes.

"I'm not sure. It doesn't look like blood but more like some more...discharge," Enzo would reply, running his hands through the sludge. "By the way, I never caught your name," he would say, trying to get whatever it was on his hand, off of it.

"Just call me Cross for now," she replied, looking around. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"

"Not one clue, I had no idea dragons existed, let alone they were here in Hong Kong," Enzo replied. But before Cross could mention the fact that they are, the roar of the Wyvern would boom from above them. "SHIT!"

Grabbing onto her arm, Enzo would start running once again and would book it down the street. Without even having to look, the two would be alerted of the monster's presence as its landing caused the foundations around them to shake. Whatever just happened made them significantly angrier.

"What the hell did you hit it with!" Cross would shout, trying to keep up her speed with Enzo's.

"It was just a simple bomb arrow!" Enzo answered, "I didn't know how strong this thing was!" He would add.

"Shit man!" Cross would scream, throwing a few glowing green crosses behind them. With the Wyvern in hot pursuit, the two would finally come across a safe spot to hide.

For the few minutes they had, the two would catch their breath. Looking around them, Enzo wouldn't be able to spot an exit route. "We have to fight it, " he would pant, almost gaining full control of his breathing. "The dragon is on to us, so we can't spend too much time sitting here and-" Enzo would say before getting cut off by a high-pitched shout.

"Stop what you're doing at once!" the voice would yell. Turning around, Enzo would immediately spot a child. But this wasn't an ordinary child, it was one of the ones running around when he arrived in Hong Kong. He was wearing a bright pink and orange suit and held a sparkler in his hand. "I am the mighty Freight-Tale, leader of The Outcasts!"

With the child's words, the Wyvern would stop its search for Enzo and Cross and would turn its long neck towards the child. Approaching it, the dragon would begin to lift its head. Knowing what it was about to do, Enzo would shout at the kid.

"NO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" But it was too late. The kid would look at the dragon in fear as flames shot down from the Wyvern's mouth and onto the location of the child. Watching in terror, Enzo would run towards the spot but would stop halfway and drop to his knees. "Cross...we have to get out of here...Cross?" Enzo would look around to find his companion, but she would be nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, the dragon would stop the plummets of fire and would step back. In the place of where the fire was, stood Cross holding up a blue cross. And around her, the shield that protected him the first time. She had saved the kid.

"Enzo, use something that can stun him!" she would shout, still holding up the cross just in case the dragon decided to shoot for round two.

But, even though he had his doubts about her, Enzo would grab an arrow shaft and would pull a new arrowhead out of his bag. This time it was longer and skinnier and had two prongs at the end. Pulling the bowstring back, Enzo would release it right toward the Wyvern's head, and as it soared through the air, it immediately caught the dragon's attention.

As the arrow drew closer, the Wyvern began to step back as it was afraid, but alas the arrow was too fast and struck the Wyvern between the eyes. And that's when the unthinkable happened. Upon the arrow striking the beast, a huge shockwave of electricity would fire off of the dragon. Its body would stumble around before making its way toward Enzo. But before it could reach him, it would fall to the ground, its eyes flickering, and a whirring sound slowing down would be heard from its head.

"What the hell..." Enzo would mutter, grabbing the arrow and stuffing it in his quiver. "Someone made this?" he would ask, looking towards Cross who was comforting the kid.

"I guess so. Look to see if there are any clues," she would reply, hugging the crying child as tightly as she could.

Listening to her, Enzo would make his way closer, and that's when he'd see it. Behind the dragon's left ear would be a chip sticking out, like it was ejected after the shockwave.

"Hey look, I found this chip," he would say, holding it up for her to see. "Any idea what it could be?"

"No...but I know someone who will," she would answer, approaching Enzo and letting the child run home.