The sound of the alarm bell rang loudly, jolting me awake from my sleep. I slowly opened my eyes and glanced at the clock—it was already 6:00 AM. Time to get up. Quickly, I prepared myself and changed into my uniform.
With my backpack in hand, I opened the door and stepped out of my room. Both of my friends were waiting for me in the living room. They had decided to escort me from the Prime Minister's residence to the airport.
At the airport, Captain Mavros was already there. He greeted us and informed me that he would accompany me until we boarded the plane. As for my friends, they would stop accompanying me once we reached the immigration checkpoint.
Everything went smoothly—from takeoff to cruising in the skies. It seemed all my worries had been nothing more than my imagination. The Prime Minister even reassured me to relax. He was well aware of the recent news about the dragon-like creature, but he assured me that this aircraft was special.
"Not only does it move at the speed of light," he explained with a calm smile, "but it also has top-tier safety features—advanced weaponry, reinforced protection, and more. The plane's body is stronger than steel yet as light as a feather."
His words eased my tension. He truly lived up to his reputation as a kind and polite leader.
I sat near the window, gazing outside. From this altitude, everything below looked tiny—houses, farms, barns, all reduced to mere dots on paper. Above us, clouds drifted like soft cotton candy, pure and white.
Suddenly, the intercom blared urgently:
"Emergency! Emergency!"
What was happening? My mind immediately jumped to the possibility of encountering that creature.
"There's a massive entity ahead!" one of the pilots shouted over the intercom. "Please brace yourselves. We're attempting to evade it rather than engage."
Was it true? Unable to believe what I was hearing, I rushed to the cockpit to see for myself.
On the radar screen, a large dot blinked repeatedly. It was approaching us rapidly, entering our detection range. I looked out the windshield, but all I could see was a thick veil of clouds obscuring our view.
Gradually, the clouds began to dissipate, revealing the clear sky ahead. And then, in the distance, something black emerged—a shadowy figure growing larger by the second. It couldn't be anything other than the creature we feared. Was it a dragon? Or something else entirely?
"Have you increased speed to avoid it?" I asked the pilots. They nodded, confirming they had done so. Yet, the creature remained directly in front of us, blocking our path.
I instructed the pilots to veer left, but the result was the same. Instead of disappearing, the shadowy figure transformed into an enormous creature.
"What is that?!" I exclaimed, unable to believe my eyes.
A dark aura enveloped its massive body, similar to the mutant animals I had faced before. Its head alone was three times the size of a train engine. Its wingspan stretched wider than five planes combined—two bat-like wings on the left and two bird-like wings on the right. Its snake-like eyes glowed with a thirst for blood, while its massive beak-like mouth seemed capable of swallowing anything whole. Its face was covered in lion-like fur, and two buffalo-like horns protruded from its skull.
Its arms and legs were muscular, neither too large nor too small, resembling those of a lizard. Its tail was long and thick, undulating behind it like a serpent. Its body was covered in scales—a mix of fish and snake textures. Its color was obscured by the dark mist surrounding it, but hints of brown or red peeked through.
The creature flew closer, stopping just a few meters away from us. It hovered in the air, opening its mouth wide as if preparing to unleash something.
"Quickly, dive down!" I shouted to the pilots.
A blazing inferno erupted from its mouth—not red flames, but dark fire. The flames struck the upper body of the plane, causing heavy turbulence. Though the damage wasn't catastrophic, the shaking was intense.
Suddenly, an alarm rang loudly inside the cockpit. The system indicated critical damage.
"We've lost the tail! The plane is going to explode!" one of the pilots screamed in terror.
The other pilot turned to me. "Hurry, leave the plane! There are parachutes nearby. Save the Prime Minister first. We'll hold the plane steady for as long as we can."
Realizing there was no time to waste, I rushed back toward the cabin. As I opened the door, the sound of gunfire filled the air—not once, but repeatedly. I drew my gun, expecting to confront another creature.
But when the door swung open, I froze in horror. The cabin was littered with corpses, their bodies drenched in blood. It wasn't the work of the creature—it was a massacre caused by bullets. The room reeked of rancid blood, making me nauseous.
The plane shook violently, forcing me to lean against the wall for balance. Unlike me, Mavros stood perfectly still, shooting everyone in sight without hesitation. Bullets ricocheted off his body, but he didn't falter. Blood poured from his wounds, yet he continued firing relentlessly.
Then, something strange caught my eye. His body was shrouded in dark mist, transforming him into a shadowy figure. Was this real, or was I hallucinating? What was happening to him?
I pushed these thoughts aside. I had to stop him before he killed the Prime Minister.
I aimed my gun and fired. The bullet struck him in the back, but he didn't fall. Instead, he turned around and pointed his weapon at me. Before he could pull the trigger, I shot both of his hands repeatedly until his gun clattered to the floor. Despite being soaked in blood, he remained standing, moving like a puppet rather than a human.
Realizing bullets wouldn't stop him, I aimed for his head. Finally, he collapsed, the dark aura around him fading.
I frantically searched for the Prime Minister among the corpses, hoping he was still alive. One by one, I checked their pulses, calling out to them, but no one responded. Finally, I found the Prime Minister sitting against the wall, his clothes soaked in blood.
"Prime Minister, are you all right?" I asked, checking his pulse. He was still breathing, though weakly. I quickly applied first aid, tying a makeshift bandage around the wound in his left abdomen.
Gasping for breath, he muttered, "Just go and leave me. I can't hold on any longer."
"No, Prime Minister," I insisted. "You must survive. You're the one who needs to make it out alive."
Leaving him momentarily, I searched for a parachute. Near the rear door, I felt a powerful pressure shaking the frame. Should I open it? The risk of being sucked out was high, given the damage to the plane.
Deciding against it, I returned to the cockpit. "The rear section is gone, and I can't find any parachutes. Do you have spares?"
The pilot unbuckled his seatbelt and opened a hidden compartment beneath the floor. Inside were two parachutes. Handing one to me, he urged, "Take this and go!"
I nodded and hurried back to the Prime Minister. After securing the parachute on myself, I tied him tightly to me. Despite his protests, I ignored his pleas to leave him behind.
Ignoring the danger, I forced the plane door open. In an instant, the door was ripped away, lost to the sky. Everything loose was sucked out, and I clung desperately to the edge of the doorway. Once stable, I leaped into the open air.
After a moment, I pulled the parachute cord, and we began to drift downward. Looking back, I saw the plane plummeting nose-first toward the ground, its tail and wings badly damaged. Flames engulfed the fuselage.
Thankfully, both pilots managed to escape the doomed aircraft.
But my relief was short-lived. The creature reappeared, opening its massive jaws once more. This time, it unleashed another wave of dark flames—not at me, but at the falling plane.
In seconds, the inferno consumed everything in its path. The plane, the pilots, everything turned to ash, blending with the air.
The force of the explosion pushed me violently through the sky. I struggled to control the parachute as the air pressure made it nearly impossible to breathe. My chest felt crushed, and my vision blurred.
Thoughts of the Prime Minister, the creature, and my impending death swirled in my mind. Death seemed inevitable now, smiling cruelly as if urging me to give up.
Despite my resistance, exhaustion took over. Slowly, my vision dimmed, and silence enveloped me. I could no longer hear the wind or feel the Prime Minister's breathing. Whether he had passed or I had lost consciousness, I couldn't tell.
My eyes closed, and my awareness faded into darkness….