“Hey, what are you doing in there? Who are you?” the guard asked, pulling his taser. “Put your hands where I can see them, and no sudden movements.”
“Alright officer, you got me. I can explain, alright?” Axle began, waiting for the man to got close enough. He saw that the guard was reaching for his radio, and began to think of the best move to make. He couldn’t get to the man in time, as the door was still locked between them. He could fire the taser at Axle through the gate, but Axle couldn’t get to him.
So he acted quickly, running so quickly into the door that he knocked it off its hinges. It slammed into the man, knocking him out instantly. “Sorry, sorry. But it’s better you’re knocked out than hurt.”
Axle quickly stepped over the man and made his way into the rest of the building. He wore a simple t-shirt, which made him look incredibly out of place among all of the men in their suits and corporate clothing. However, no one said anything to him. The joys of a large office—everyone expects everyone else to be where they’re supposed to be.
Axle sniffed, trying to see if he could pick up on Nat’s scent in the building, but the smell of sulfur was getting thicker, and soon, the fire alarm went off. Axle watched as people began filing out of the door, walking orderly as they left the building. But the order turned to chaos as a scream from the floor above told everyone that something else was wrong.
Axle dashed for the stairs, and as he opened the door he found a demon dog creature standing in the path of a woman who had been left behind, trying to get downstairs. Axle wasn’t sure what type of creatures they were, but from the look of their skin and the thick gray goop that dripped from their lips, Axle was sure they weren’t there for anything good.
He rushed over and kicked the dog off to the side, sending it flying. It let out a whimper before vanishing behind a desk. Axle turned and reached out for the woman, stretching a hand to help her, but she was already on her way, running for her life. As Axle turned around, he saw the dog step out from behind the desk, along with four other creatures similar to it.
“I do not have time for this,” Axle said loudly, pulling out his phone to call Bingwen. As he brought it to his ear, the creatures all charged at him.
Axle jumped up, leaping over them just as they opened their jaws to bite down on him. He dropped to his feet with the phone ringing. “Come on, wizard, pick up!”
The dogs turned, growling viciously. Axle could see their sharp claws almost glinting. They were in severe pain for showing themselves in this realm. But with Kanai close, it was obvious that he was the one responsible for them, and he would be paying the most.
But if he got his hands on the bracelet, he would have enough power to negate whatever natural vows stopped him from getting away with things like this. Not only would it make him a lot more powerful, it would allow him to do whatever he wanted, and there was no way that would end well for anyone.
Axle quickly grabbed his wired headphones from his pocket and plugged them in, before sending the wires up to his ears, so he could fight hands-free.
The line continued to ring in his ears as the dogs charged again. This time, Axle faced them head on, catching the first one across the neck and hurling it into the wall. Before it even hit, he felt the teeth of another one of the dogs on his forearm, biting into it. Axle let out a groan, grabbing the creature and slamming it into the ground.
He felt a bite around his thigh as well, and looked down to see two of them at the back of his legs. He kicked forward, throwing one of the creatures off. Catching its tail, he pulled it back and slammed it into the floor before reaching for the next one to do the same, but then he felt a bite at the center of his back.
“Dammit!” Axle cried.
He knew they had some sort of venom, which would definitely kill the average human in a matter of minutes. As a dragon, it wasn’t going to hurt him, and he could feel his body already working to heal the wounds and force the venom out of his system. But there was nothing he could do against the intense pain that came with each bite. Their jaws were incredibly powerful, and Axle had to take the brunt of that.
He turned around in time to see the one he had thrown into the wall diving right at him, and he punched it with all of his strength, sending it back in the direction it had come from. A sickening crack from the demon reached his ears, and he knew he had broken something in it. He swung an arm, slapping one off to the side, before grabbing a nearby laptop and flinging it at the dog.
It caught the device lengthwise and crumpled it like it was paper, throwing it off to the side and rushing back in again. Their speed rivaled Axle’s, making it hard for him to react to their attacks in time. He heard the sound of the call click in his ears.
“Go for Bingwen,” the wizard replied calmly, before the sound of an explosion rocked the building.
“Have you seen her yet?” Axle asked, grunting as the dogs pulled him to the ground. He realized that they were trying to go for his throat and eyes, looking to finish him off. He grabbed the neck of one the creatures, squeezing as hard as he could, looking to finish it off instead. It struggled, biting at his arm, clawing and scratching.
“Yeah, we’re just…trying to get away from Kanai, have you gotten it yet?” Bingwen asked, his voice showing just the lightest bit of strain. “It’s on the third floor.”
“Third floor, on it,” Axle replied. “Can—”
The sound cut off, and he realized the creature had cut through the wire as they struggled, ending the call.
“That does it,” Axle growled, pulling his other hand free and bringing in the skull of the dog. He grabbed the jaw of the creature and pulled it apart, snapping and killing it instantly.
The others quickly let go of him, looking at the dead one and then back to him. Axle smiled as he saw the creatures begin to whimper in fear. They turned to run, and he went right after them. He couldn’t let any of the creatures get away, as they would only cause more chaos.
Axle rushed through the wall, blocking the path of the creatures as they tried to run down the corridor. He caught the foot of the closest one, seeing as it tried to pull away. He grabbed its neck, putting his arms around its neck and squeezing till he heard it pop. The creature went limp.
One of the demons growled, darting right at him. Axle was stunned by the sudden display of bravado from the dog, and at slammed right into his face. It brought its jaws wide open, about to take a large bite of Axle’s face. It sliced into his eyebrow and his lip before Axle yelled, punching right through the gut of the creature. His arm went in and he pulled out, throwing the dog off of him. As he looked up, he saw that the last one was gone.
He listened to the sound of the creature running across the halls, and he realized it was heading to the end of the corridor. It was heading up to where the bracelet was. Axle quickly ran, feeling the prickles of pain running through his legs and arms from all of the cuts he had sustained from the fight. As he got in, he saw cubicles being thrown up in the air and to the side as the dog made its way toward a single table.
Axle looked right at it and jumped, throwing himself as hard as he could until he was in the path of the dog. “Come here!”
It slammed into his chest, knocking him into a cubicle. As Axle got up from underneath the table, he saw a box that was made out of wood that smelled quite similar to the caves, telling him that he had found it.