The Ashen Wrath (Watty's SHORTLIST recipient 2018) CHAPTERED VERSION

*65

"The thing's smashing through the walls! We have to get out of here!" yelled Kooper. He tugged me toward the exit and we rushed outside into a moonlit night. The serpent's grinding screams filled the air as it thrashed. Fire climbed up the tower in erratic amber veins, choking the air with black smoke. A massive spire toppled from the highest reaches and jabbed into the ground a few steps away from us.

We retreated further into the field as the once great Obsidian Tower began to collapse, coming straight down as if a giant hand was shoving it directly into Hell. When the dust cleared, I saw the shocked faces of dozens of naked men and women, their bodies dripping with black fluid—the other pilots. I was overjoyed to see the majority of them had fled, but I dared not count the stragglers. Those who remained sent empty gazes into the flames, mesmerized.

"Did you find the commander?" I asked Kooper. Both of us were too stunned to celebrate our victory.

"No," he replied, "but at least I was able to free the prisoners."

"Good," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was too busy to see if any of them were coming down the stairs. Had the tower commander already fled?"

"I don't think so. The inner sanctum was completely empty. It looked like it had been abandoned for days. We've been obeying the commands of an automated system."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I'm not sure," said Kooper.