Now, we follow after the Haze, and Dove's escape. Lots of fun characters in this one, not to mention creatures. We've still got one hell of a long run ahead of us, so this is hardly big action. This is quiet compared to the rest of it. Enjoy!
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Growling? What?
Recognizing speech patterns, Sir.
I opened my eyes to one hell of a sight. I was on a wooden bench on what seemed to be a blimp- no, an airship that was flying over a field of purple cotton. No, it’s flying over the haze- we’re above it!
Sir, your DNA…
I looked myself over. That same mix of… what was it? Falcon and human. Peregrine falcon, I believe. The ship was piloted not by humans, but other creatures. One was standing next to me.
‘Are you alright, avian?’ It asked me. It was a he-I think- I don’t know how I could explain him.
He was tall, nearly seven feet. The legs were double-jointed, and scaled, but with green scales of a lizard. It was very anthropomorphic in nature, standing on two legs like that. It had a face much like a lizard’s but better built than one, and the crest of bright blue feathers on the top made a difference. He had wings on his back- bright blue ones, same color as the crest, covered in feathers. The claws on the limbs had some feathers on them as well, and the thing’s long tail had a poof of feathers at the end. It wore a battered and patched leather long-coat and some stitched together denim pants made to cover his long legs and give room for his tail. I noticed I was a bit shorter than him, but my wings were nearly a foot above his head.
I tried to respond, but a sort of squawk came out.
‘I saw what happened to you- So don’t try to speak just yet. You may figure out how to speak in dragon-speech soon enough.’ It said. So they called themselves dragons, after the myths.
‘Do you understand me?’ He asked. I nodded and stood up- and nearly fell over. Still unsteady.
‘Careful, Avian. My name is Velo- welcome to the High-rise.’ He said. I looked out over the haze.
The buildings that I saw that went through the haze went far above it, apparently. These Dragons, they’ve gained quite the control over our equipment- and they’ve settled one of the buildings. It was a glass office building, towering and patched up. Many windows were broken, but the Dragons didn’t care. Huge spotlights were mounted on the roof, walls, and a large dock on the side. The lights slowly moved- and changed colors, from blue to green to red to white, like the Dragons were setting out a beacon for a dance party. Several airships much like the one I was in now were docked on the roof or the dock on the side, swaying in the breeze.
I turned to my left- a huge factory stood in ruins over the haze, evidentially set up on ground not far below the haze. Huge cracks arched on the walls, revealing holes and fires burning within. Smoke quietly puffed out of the broken smokestacks.
All around, ruins poked out of the haze, most were just a single wall, bare of paint and life. But these two buildings were different.
‘I saw what happened down there, chased by those beasts. Why did you change so suddenly, I wonder…?’ Velo muttered. ‘Anyhow, I see you are wearing what seems to be the remains of a human military uniform- are you the one who will be our savior, freeing the land from this damnable haze?’ He muttered. I did a sort of shrug.
Sir, I am trying to figure out how to get you to speak- if I can find an example of the Dragons’ handwriting, I can use that.
You can decode it?
I can do a lot of things, Sir. Your change has also given me an extra boost of strength.
Really…
My HUD was gone as well- probably gone with the eye cover. My life is so changed now…
‘We are approaching the building to our right- it is our “den”, if you would like. The building to the left is one of the “towns” you avian types live in. You’ll have a lot of time to visit them both- but first we have to get you flying.’ Velo said. I nodded and took a quick look around the airship. It was crewed by several Dragons with varying scale and feather color for each. It was seemingly made entirely out of wood, with a huge airbag made of all kinds of fabrics above, much like a giant quilt. It had sails built onto the sides, and if I was going to go by the shape of the other airships docked, it had sails on the bottom and the top. I also noticed that the dead factory had no airships docked.
‘Oh, you have so much to learn, Avian. I envy you.’ Velo said. He walked away, chuckling. I guess I do.

Our airship glided in after a short while. These things go slow, but from what I’ve learnt so far, they have quite the amazing capacity and can go for a long time on a full tank of whatever fuel they receive. We docked at the dock on the side of the big, flashy building- but then I realized I have to fly down.
‘Come on, Avian.’ Velo said. ‘I know you can fly; you are not a fledgling.’ He said- and he shoved me off!
But he was right- there were instincts there, and thus I was gliding about on my own wings! I still have so much to learn, though…

I landed on the dock with Velo and his crew after a quick joy-flight.
‘Your first flight. Glad to see you enjoyed it.’ He said.
‘Indeed.’ I replied, suddenly. Caught me off guard. My voice sounded like a parrot with a sore throat, but it was understandable, even when it was full of squawks and trills.
‘And so you speak. So what’s your name, Avian?’ Velo asked. The wind blew his jacket astray and blew bits of fabric around, along with his long-coat. It was made for nearly floor-length on a human, but it was about two-thirds of his legs.
‘Andrew. Andrew Dove, actually.’ I responded, noticing the irony in my own name.
‘Well, Dove, welcome.’ Velo said, and he opened the doors to the huge building. I was greeted by a blast of hot air- the temperature there was pretty hot. Almost immediately, Velo tossed off his coat and threw it onto a big coat-hanger nearby the door. Of course- they were reptiles; they needed good heat, and big coats for the air-ship piloting. I watched his crew disperse in the crowd of Dragons around- it seems like we entered a market.
‘Any human currency is welcome here, along with our own currency. You are hungry, I would expect.’ He said. I nodded.
‘Very, but I have no money of any type.’ I responded.
‘No matter.’ Velo said. He walked over to a black-scaled and blue-feathered Dragon in a stall near the door.
‘A Trade-master! Nice to meet you, sir.’ The vendor said.
‘You too, vendor. My friend here needs a meal- anything good?’ Velo said. He pulled me over.
‘Are you some new Avian variant?’ He asked me.
‘Not exactly.’ I muttered. I noticed he was selling hamburgers.
‘You have hamburgers?’ I asked.
‘Indeed! Directly from the pastures in high India!’ the vendor shouted. ‘Want one?’
I looked over to Velo. He nodded, and handed me a coin. It had the shape of a Dragon’s head on the front, and an inscribed picture of this trade-center inscribed in the back. I handed the coin to him.
‘One hamburger, coming right up, along with some water, just for you!’ He said, and he ducked back into his little metal stall. I could hear sizzling.
‘Little vendors like him sell off the occasional meal, but they’re, sadly, quite poor. The larger places sell more, and so I always try to help these little vendors.’ Velo said. He slipped me a mix of Dragon coins, dollar bills, and some Chinese currency.
‘We can meet at the roof at 9:30, ok? There’s clocks all over, don’t try to get in trouble. But I suggest getting some ammo for that gun of yours.’ He said, and he slipped off just as the vendor appeared.
‘Here’s the burger- where’d that Trade-Master go?’ He said. He handed me a big burger with a glass of water. I took the thing.
‘Off to do something…’ I muttered, and I sat down on a nearby bench to eat.

A burger for breakfast… wow, I never expected to do that. The light of dawn was just reaching above the haze, lighting it up to an almost bronze color.
I checked the time- it was almost 7:00, so I’ve got about two and a half hours to explore. I’ll check out the other building later, for now, lets explore.
I finished the food and walked down the crowded hallway, somewhat getting shoved. Some gave me odd looks, but most didn’t give a damn that I wasn’t a Dragon-beast like them. So they turned this huge office building into a huge market- and Velo’s a Trade-master, whatever that is. So many mysteries, so little time.
I entered a room which was seemingly blown open years ago, so it was open to the wind. It howled through it, blowing around clothing in the stalls. There weren’t many customers here- more stalls than customers, actually. One stall was being taken care of by what seemed to be a large bird of prey. He was selling clothing, and my tattered uniform was about to fall off, so why not?
The vendor squawked at me.
‘Hello! You seem to be a new variant. Anyhow, welcome!’ The bird said, cocking his head at me.
‘Afternoon.’ I said. The vendor looked at me.
‘Come on now, do we hardly need to talk in Dragon-tongue?’ He said in a language which I identified as a sort of squawking, full of trills and whistles. I automatically responded in the same language- and I could speak it better. Hell- I guess it’s my native language.
‘I’m too used to it.’ I responded.
‘I guess so. These clothes are for Dragon-kind, but with some adjustments, I can make some of these cloths fit you.’ The bird said.
‘Thanks- Would be helpful.’ I responded. I picked up a weird jacket that seemed to be made of denim, yet it was a long-coat.
‘Guaranteed to keep you warm on those cold travels!’ The vendor squawked. ‘For Dragon-kind, anyhow. We don’t really need it- feathers are fine. Still- you may like it. I’ll give you a discount since you’re one of my fellow Avians in this reptilian center. Wait- that tattered jacket you’re wearing now… It’s a human military jacket! Where’d you get that?’
‘Very long story.’ I said. I fished three dollars and one Dragon-coin out.
‘I’ll take the dollars but not the coin.’ The vendor said. ‘Name’s Achiez- maybe we’ll see each other again. In the Roost, perhaps.’ He said. He took the bills and the jacket. ‘Give me a moment.’ He said. Achiez picked up a small dagger with one talon that seemed to be made of some type of bone and tore two large holes in the back of the jacket with it.
‘Usually, we Avians don’t need clothes, feathers cloak us just fine.’ The bird stabbed the knife in the bottom of the jacket’s lengthy end, balancing on one talon. ‘But you- you may get kicked out, so…’ He tore the back of the jacket right down the middle, giving me room for my tail feathers. ‘There! Should work now.’ Achiez said. I grabbed it.
‘And you are…?’ Achiez asked. I tried the jacket on- Achiez’s adjustments worked.
‘Andrew Dove. Call me Dove, if you will.’ I said, and I walked away.

The trade center was pretty crowded because more ships were arriving, some carrying a couple dozen passengers. Odd thing was- many saw my old uniform (I was wearing it under the coat from Achiez.), and called me a savior. Myths?
I went up two stories to an area which seemed to be the weapons shop. There were seven booths and about three dozen Dragons here, not including the half a dozen training with some type of staff that had electrified ends. I walked up to a metal box of a stall which said it was selling “All kinds of weapons, from the Electra-staff to the MP5!” The Dragon who owned it- she had a rather odd mix off green feathers and pink scales- looked at me oddly. She was a bit shorter than the males and she was thinner, but the tail was longer.
‘You going to buy something, or what, Avian?’
I pulled out my revolver to show it to her. ‘Got any bullets for this?’ I said in Dragon- tongue.
‘Maybe. Mind if I take a look?’ She asked. I handed her the gun. She looked it over and crouched down to look through her shelves. ‘This thing looks old, but it doesn’t have rust. Human made?’ She asked as she shuffled through a tray of bullets.
‘Yeah.’ I replied.
‘Quite the antique- I’ll buy it off of ya for 170 Dragoons.’ She said. I chuckled; the coins were called Dragoons?
‘No thanks- I like that thing.’ I said. She looked through a couple of rusty ammo boxes. One fell over, spilling dozens of small bullets and cartridges. She swore as she cleaned it up. She picked up a dozen or so larger bullets. Rusty, but they were magnum bullets.
‘These work?’ She asked. I looked them over. Magnum rifle. I shook my head.
‘Sorry- that’s all the ammo I got stray. That antique of yours is un-used, and has been for several hundred years. Buy it off of ya for 200 Dragoons now?’ She asked, smiling.
‘Sorry- It’s got some value to me.’
‘Fair enough.’ She said.
‘I’ll buy a new gun, though.’ I responded. She instantly perked up.
‘What do you want?’ She asked, smiling. I pulled out a bundle of dollars and Chinese currency and handed it to her. ‘What ever you can get for that much.’

I strode out of there with a tactical shotgun and a small machine-gun, with plenty of ammo for each. The shotgun looked somewhat like an old human one, but it was glowing red at the tip and streaks of red glowed down the sides. The SMG had the same abnormalities. The gun-shop owner said that they were incendiary weapons.
Surprisingly, the guns on my back and hip didn’t give many more looks. Actually, less people gave me a glance, probably in fear of getting shot.
I checked the time- about 8 AM, should head up soon.
I entered a wide open floor near the roof that had some stalls around the edges, but most of the floor seemed to be a dance floor. Well, there were strobe lights flashing different colors and some bass-heavy music playing. An airship floated by the windows that were on all sides of the building; the pilots of the ship were laughing and enjoying some type of alcoholic beverage.
Sir, I am liking this music- what is it?
I have no clue, Seven-four. Play along.
Seven-four took that a little seriously and started chirping along with the tune of the techno music. I told him he got it wrong, and he shut up. No need for chirping in my head, now…
These Dragons know how to party- dancing in the morning! Or was it until morning?
An alarm went off, seemingly almost part of the blasting music. Someone dashed out of the door from the stairwell, staggering. He shouted, ‘We’ve got Air-demons to the east! Everyone, get the hell down to the lower levels!’ He shouted. I tried to run with them, but a burly Dragon stopped me.
‘Sorry, Avian. Only we Dragons are allowed down there, you got to go back to the Roost.’ He said. Everyone dashed out, and he closed the door. I tried it- locked. Shit!
They left everything on- even the music was still thumping.
There was a tremendous roar- very high-pitched- That actually broke all the windows around me, along with the strobe lights! I heard screaming from the stairwell- they didn’t like that screech. I was fine.
Then I saw it.
It was huge- a couple dozen feet long, almost like a flying maggot. It looked like one too, flying on a dozen pairs of insect wings. It screeched again, the whole head opening into three segments, revealing a huge mouth full of teeth. I saw several others out there too…
I roared in rage and pulled my shotgun off my back. If these things were going to attack, hell- I’ll kill them.
One of them released another super-high scream as it flew straight at me. I darted out of the way, and nearly fluttered out over the edge. I flew right back- who knows what the recoil of this shotgun would do in the air?
The thing left a trail on the ground of rubble and slime, causing some disturbance. The music was still blasting, though- through the speakers all around the room. The stalls were vacated, and the good left there.
Another one smashed through the wall and several stalls, right at me. I side-stepped and blasted off two of the thing’s wings with my shotgun- and lit it on fire! The dealer was right…
Another Air-demon smashed through several walls, making the two floors above creak ominously. I was nearly smacked, but I put a shell into the thing’s rear end, lighting that aflame. It slowed down- and then fell down into the Haze.
Another AD behind you!
I spun around and jumped out of the way of one of the last demons smashed into one of the walls. It was too thick; the AD was out for the count. But it really damaged the wall. Oh shit- it’s collapsing…
I dashed to the edge and flew out and then to the left as half of the two floors above me and one below just slid off the side of the trade center and tumbled into the Haze, the spotlights on that section flickering and going out. It landed with a loud crash; I can imagine the Hounds feeding off the dead. Thankfully, it took the Air-demon with it, leaving me with a single demon left- the one missing two wings and on fire. It was sputtering like an injured sparrow.
It let loose another roar as it flew straight at me, and I pulled out my SMG in response. The wind howled through the room, making my coat whip about and my feathers flutter.
Its mouth was open- I fired straight into it, and it just tore asunder, splattering blue-green blood everywhere. I flew out the back to avoid getting swamped in maggot blood and gore, and then I landed back in the room. It was slick with blood- the Air-demon was blown to bits half way down!
I stepped over the chunks of burning flesh as I made my way to the edge of the collapse.
‘Damn, Andrew! You fight well.’ Velo said from his ship, which was slowly floating down. He threw out the grapple to hook it on the broken floor. I caught the grapple and hooked it myself.
‘Indeed.’ I replied in Velo’s tongue. He called me over onto his ship, and I flew over.
‘We fear that our center may be at risk. Those demons are usually spawned in the gas, from the rotting flesh of humanity…’ He said. His crew was watching us. ‘Let us speak. Cast off, let’s find another place to land.’ His crew responded quickly, leaving me, Velo, and one Dragon at the helm on the deck.
‘I’m guessing some people have thought of you well, in that suit.’ Velo said. I looked down at my shredded military jacket.
‘This?’ I asked.
‘Yep. We have a story- one clad in the memories of humanity and wielding an impossibly bright gun from the old age would get rid of the gas and save us from these attacks. They’ve been calling you that. The Savior.’
‘Really? I guess I do fit that category…’ I muttered. ‘…And I do have some slight clue on how to de-activate the things making the gas.’
‘How?! We’ve tried everything, blowing them up, blocking them, even corrosive acid! Nothing has worked, the gas still comes up!’ Velo shouted.
‘That’s because you haven’t tried the underground complex.’ I said. Velo looked at me with a face of disbelief.
‘An… underground… complex? Human built, I guess.’ He said. I nodded.
‘Indeed. That’s where my venture started.’ I said. I told him my story until when he found me, the quick version.
‘Damn. So that explains it, you were human once. Alright, Dove. I’ll rally who I can to attack the Complex, and you may want to visit the Roost.’ He said. He shouted out some orders to the Dragon at the helm.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘They are less developed, they believe in the Savior legend more than us. They know how to fight; they can make a good army.’ He said. I nodded.
‘Now go! I can not help you out inside the Roost, but I can help out here. This is time to change the tide of war!’ He shouted. I gave a beak-ish smile.
‘Sounds like fun.’ I said, and I flew off.

The wind in my face was negligible- I was built for aerodynamics. But now, this day… war is beginning, to save this world, to save the Dragons and the Roost, to save my friend, I must fight. War is hard, but with all of these… ah, creatures at my side, we should win.
I dived down to the roof- I hit insane speeds. Peregrine falcon, fastest animal ever, of course.
I landed perfectly, and I was greeted by none. The roof wasn’t as important here as the trade center. There was a small access point over to my left. Into the Roost…