Free Dragons vs. Drones by Wesley King Page B

have passed out.
    â€œMarcus. Where am I? What’s your name?”
    â€œDree,” she replied, watching him closely as he took an object out of his pocket and checked it. “And you’re in Dracone.”
    â€œAn alter-world? I knew it! Do you know a George—”
    He suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowing.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Dree asked.
    Marcus stepped past her, still staring up at the sky. “Impossible.”
    Dree followed his gaze. Far ahead, just below one of thescattered clouds that was lazily drifting across the morning sky, were two black dots. They seemed to be floating. Each had a red eye blazing like a furnace and watching the city below, unblinking. Dree instantly thought of dragons, but the objects didn’t seem to be moving. Instead, the clouds just rolled over them like water over a stone. As she squinted for a better view, she saw three more shapes, as white as the clouds and almost invisible in the daylight. They were larger than the red-eyed ones, though they had the same triangular shape and seemed just as motionless. They were all just waiting above the city. Watching.
    â€œWhat are those things?” Dree asked.
    He never got a chance to answer. A streak of light filled the sky, and then one of the shops across the street exploded into a massive fireball.
    Dree and Marcus staggered backward as a cloud of debris swept over the block, spraying the busy street with fragments of wood and brick. There was a brief moment of silence as the darkness blocked out the sun, and then screams erupted everywhere as people picked themselves up and saw the massive crater where a shop had once been. Dree looked up and saw the black and white shapes dropping toward the city, moving in a perfect triangle. They moved gracefully—no flapping wings or tails or feet. Just silent death.
    Marcus heard a sudden burst of noise cut through the city like the frantic beating of a drum. The drones had switched to their machine guns, and they were leveling the neighborhood.
    Marcus pushed past Dree, his eyes on the sky.
    â€œWhat are they doing?” he said faintly.
    As they watched, the drones continued their attack. Houses and buildings burst apart or collapsed. People were gunned down relentlessly as they tried to run away. The drones were laying utter waste to the city, and they were doing so directly on a path to Marcus and Dree.
    â€œI would be more concerned with what they’re
about
to do,” Dree snapped, grabbing Marcus’s arm and pulling him into the alley. “We need to go.”
    â€œWhere?”
    She looked around, trying to get her bearings. Her brother Rochin lived only a few blocks away, in an apartment building on the edge of the downtown core.
    It would have to do.
    â€œFollow me,” she said, starting down the narrow alley. She looked back and saw Marcus still staring out at the drones. “Now!” she shouted.
    He jerked and took off after her, the sounds of screaming following close behind them. Dree hadn’t heard screams like that in years. Not since the day of the fire.
    Marcus looked back and saw the drones make another pass over the city, moving in perfect formation. Another brick house was cut to ribbons.
    Why are they attacking?
he thought.
Are they searching for me?
    Dree and Marcus rounded a corner and burst across a busy street, where people were running frantically in all directions to escape the onslaught. Armor-clad soldiers camecharging down from the local barracks, but as soon as they saw the source of the attack, they stopped and stared at the drones in obvious confusion, lowering their swords and spears with uncertainty. None of them moved.
    â€œGet the dragon weapons!” the commander shouted.
    That meant catapults and bows and snares. Dree doubted they would work against the flying machines.
Flying steel
. She had known it could work, but not like that.
    She led them to Rochin’s apartment building and threw