Next little bit...^_^

*************************

	They hit a dead end. All of the doors they had passed opening into 
rooms, not the exit Hajime had hoped for. Gods, they had to get out of 
here! Amaru looked up to him, no condemnation on his features, just 
trusting expectation. He knew Amaru held no doubt that he'd get them all 
out of this safely. Gods, he wished he held even a small part of that 
confidence.

	"Let's try the other way." 

	Amaru nodded and followed his brothers fast strides at a trot.

	The soft vibrations continued to shiver through the rock of the hallway 
and tickled the soles of his feet. Tsuzuku must be expending massive 
amounts of energy for him to feel it all the way down here. He worried 
over that as he threw open the few doors on the right side of the 
hallway, Amaru doing the ones of the left. A variety of scenario's 
flashed through his mind, the best being that Tsuzuku was simply venting 
his fury on the compound itself. The worst was that the American Armed 
Forces had found him and were trying their best to bring down the 
unknown threat in their airspace. They had to get out of here!

	"Hajime!" Amaru's pleased crow brought him instantly.

	Amaru held open a fire door that showed a flight of red lit cement 
stairs going up. "Good work, Amaru-kun!" Hajime grinned at his brother, 
resisted the urge to ruffle his hair.

	They ran up the zigzag of the staircases, stopped before the door that 
led, hopefully, to the outside and freedom.

	"O.K. Amaru, stay behind me." Hajime instructed as he pushed the bar of 
the door, shoved it quickly open hoping to take anyone who might be 
standing guard by surprise. Heat rolled over him along with Tsuzuku's 
roars as he took in the surroundings with a fast glance. No one was 
waiting. That at least was good. The fire that burned around the 
recessed rectangular pit was another thing entirely. There was another 
short flight of stairs ten feet in front of the door leading up and out. 
He motioned Amaru to wait, started up those stairs in a hunched crouch. 
Gods, the air was so hot it hurt to breath it.

	He was about half way up when the high pitched keen hit him, made him 
gasp as the skin on his scalp tightened and sent a shudder through his 
whole frame. He knew that sound. It was the sound of a dragon in pain. 
And the voice was Tsuzuku's. *Don't panic!* He snarled at himself, 
forced himself to pause, peek over the edge of the recessed wall. 
Everything was burning. His eyes registered the inferno of the house a 
hundred or so yards to his right, the trees that created walls of flames 
all around him, but his mind focused on the Fire Dragon and it's 
tormentors. He was hurt, kept twisting his serpentine body to try to 
keep that damaged side that dripped blood like lava down to sizzle on 
the ground away from the two who where attacking him.

	"Tsuzuku!" He bellowed as the Fire Dragon snaked his head around to 
snap and breath at the glowing white figure that hovered to his left 
while the one that glowed green darted to his right, a sphere of power 
growing between his hands. His warning went unheard, lost to the roar of 
the fire. He was over the wall and running, his own aura growing 
blue-white as he watched that thrown power connect with Tsuzuku's 
wounded side, sent him sailing sideways with another keen of agony over 
the edge of the cliff to writhe and coil just above the white tipped 
waves. The white form shot after him as the green began to form another 
sphere between his hands.

	Hajime shouted, no words, just a sound that was the culmination of his 
rage and frustration as his power flowed forth without conscious 
thought. It had the desired effect as the green figure whirled. The 
powers left their authors simultaneously, the scintillating orbs passing 
each other with eerie slowness. Jonah. Hajime recognized the man who 
raised his arms at the same time he did, each trying to ward off the 
others attack. Hajime's hit a split second before Jonah's green glow 
slammed into him. A split second that would be printed forever in his 
memory. He saw the translucent bubble shimmer into being, *ward* his 
mind informed him, and pop like the soap bubble it resembled as his 
blue-white incandescence overtook it. It was like seeing an X-ray, then 
the man was just...gone. Just gone. *Oh gods! I didn't mean...* then 
Jonah's attack hit him. He heard himself scream as his body arched, felt 
flesh shred, bones shatter as he flew backwards.

************************************************************************
Any comments or suggestions? Please feel free to pass them on. (Kergma, 
I did fix the part about the gears. ^_^) I know it's a short 
installment, but I'm going to try to post it as it goes instead of 
waiting for a big chunk, O.K.?

Shannon

trichm@iu.net