If the engineers who’d created the dragon were going for authenticity, they would have installed the main control unit in the creature’s head. I’d chop it off and see if that solved the problem. If not, at least the particle cannon would be out of the game.
Although I ran full tilt, the dragon was fast, too. As I charged, my weapon already coming down, the monster opened its mouth, preparing to roast me alive. I hit it on the nose as hard as I could. The ax shattered, and I caught the dragon’s jaws with my hands and feet as it rotated its head and slammed me hard into the ground.
I hit my head on the compact dirt, and the blow knocked me stupid for a split second, but I never let go of its jaws. The dragon was strong, and it took all I had to keep it from ripping my guts out with its teeth. I flinched when it produced new ear-splitting sound.
I looked down and saw Enra smiling triumphantly as she worked hard to dislodge her ax from one of its legs. She pulled it free a second later. The blade was dripping in red.
“So,” I said as I released the dragon, “you can bleed.”
Maybe this monster wasn’t entirely made of scrap metal and microchips. That was good.
“Here,” Enra said as she tossed me an ax.
I caught the weapon. It was small, much smaller than the one I’d shattered on the dragon’s hide. I aimed the ax at the glowing red orbs that served for the dragon’s eyes before I threw it. The weapon spun end over end, but before it could connect, the monster snapped it up and swallowed it.
The dragon turned to Enra, who was already making a hasty retreat. I charged the same moment the dragon did. But I was faster.
The dragon snapped at Enra, but I grabbed one of the dragon’s legs in both my arms. Its jaws missed Enra by only a few inches. I lifted the beast into the air with all my strength. It spread its wings, but it was too late. I slammed the beast into the ground. Gears stripped, motors came loose, and bones broke as it howled. There was even a little blood, although not enough to suggest I’d done anything except make it angry.
I scrambled past its flailing legs and wings before I climbed onto its belly. I picked a random scale and punched it hard until it bent. The dragon tried to right itself, so I hit the scale again. The monster tried to snap at me, so I punched it in the nose, sending its head slamming into the ground at the end of a long-necked arc.
My fingers didn’t fit under the edge of the dented scale, so I punched it a few more times and was satisfied to see blood forming at the seams. When I checked it again, there was just enough room to get my fingers under it. I pulled hard, ripping the beast open and exposing its living components. The dragon bellowed as blood streamed from the wound.
The next scale was easier to get my fingers beneath, even though the blood was making it slick. I’d just started to pull when the dragon’s roar changed pitch. I turned my head and spotted one of its front feet heading right for me. Yard-long claws extended from the foot, but I dodged the swipe before I grabbed what served for its ankle or wrist. I twisted it with my whole body and tore the paw off, leaving behind a bleeding stump.
The dragon’s grinding scream reached a whole new level.
Several of the men were running forward and jumping back whenever the dragon spewed plasma. They were trying to get close enough to help, but they were failing hard. Charred corpses lay in a circle around the dragon, and every second the dragon’s particle cannon discharged, more dead were added to the pile.
“Get back!” I ordered.
They did, but not before one of them was cut in half by a flailing wing.
I had to end the battle before more people died. I began ripping scales, searching for something important. At the last scale, I found it. A device, no larger than my head, was shaped like a large egg and resembled a power hub.
Good enough.
If it wasn’t the central hub, it would at least shut down a good portion of the dragon. I reached in, wrapped my fingers around the device, and got the shock of my life.
I collapsed to my knees as electricity raced through me, but I managed to grab a handful of dragon-flesh and hold on. I gritted my teeth as the pain wore off.
“Jacob!” a voice called.
My vision quickly cleared, just in time for me to see a battleaxe spinning end over end headed toward me. I caught it, saw Enra retreat from a flailing leg, and made a quick mental note to thank her later—in whichever way she preferred.
“Now, this is an ax.” I held the double-bladed weapon above my head and swung into the soft flesh.
The first strike cut the meat inside the dragon, but it didn’t slow it down at all. I swung harder and recoiled as sparks and blood spouted up toward my eyes. The third time, I swung with all my might. The dragon shivered as the ax came apart at the sheer power of the impact. Metal scales crunched against each other as the monster’s strength fled from its limbs and collapsed onto the ground in a ground-trembling crash of blood, sparks, and viscera.
“Jacob has slain the dragon!” Enra yelled.
The Ish-Nul showed their appreciation by barking a war cry. They were about to swarm me, but I lifted a hand for them to stay back.
“We’re not done yet!” I yelled. “We need to make sure this thing is really dead.”
I got on my hands and knees to inspect the power hub. I’d shattered the
