Gales POV
[Self Preservation] activated
[Self Preservation] activated
[Self Preservation] activated
As the system repeatedly flashed the skill window, I felt every part of my body screaming at me to turn and leave; the skill tried to force me to stop, but I kept going. I bit the inside of my cheek as I ran and ignored my body's warning. I grabbed one of the abandoned rifles and dropped beside the boulder. A narrow gap lay beneath it. I wedged the rifle into the opening, shoved a smaller rock underneath as a fulcrum, and pushed down with everything I had.
"Try and move!" I yelled at Ashes.
"H-huh? O-ok," stammered Ashes as she attempted to pull her legs out.
I kept trying to lift the rock as I heard Lucas on the ship's intercom saying, "You moron! Stop wasting your time! We have to leave!"
I ignored the call and kept trying to lift the rock as the sounds of Rekka's attacks grew more intense against the creature and her laugh became more maniacal. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. Sweat rolled down my forehead as I forced more weight onto the rifle, and unwanted thoughts flooded my mind.
'You idiot, why did you come back for her? You could have gotten away from this place! Why risk everything for one person! You remember the last time you helped someone; do you really want history to repeat itself?!'
My arms shook as I forced more weight onto the rifle. Through it all, I heard an engine start and pull away. I bit my lip, listened, and continued. Eventually, I lifted it just enough for Ashes to crawl out, and once she was out, the boulder crashed back down. I looked toward the sky, already wondering if I'd just gotten us both killed.
As I turned toward the ship, I saw what I already knew. The ship was already airborne, rapidly pulling away from the island. But I also saw something take its place. A large metal capsule, smaller than the ship, with an engine in the back.
It was the escape pod.
I quickly turned to Ashes and said, "Can you run?"
"I-I think so," replied Ashes as she slowly began to stand up.
As soon as she stood up, I grabbed her hand, and we ran towards the escape pod with all our might. As we made it, I saw a door on the side with a metal wheel and went to open it, asking Ashes for help in turning the wheel, and together we managed to turn the wheel and open the door and made our way into the capsule, where we saw two seats next to each other facing a small console. We quickly took our seats. Although I wasn't familiar with the technology, I used what I learned from watching Lucas and Max work on the ship and got the escape pod working. As the pod started up, the glass showing the outside also appeared. As this happened, I could see Rekka continuing her attack and growing tired from the constant attacks, but she kept laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on, you big bastard, don't tell me you can't fight back?!"
The creature's head was buried beneath smoke from the constant explosions. Soon after taking all those attacks, the creature moved its head, and I could see it clearly. Nothing. After all that, there wasn't a single scorch mark on the creature's head, and I realized its attention had never been focused on Rekka; it looked as though it was searching for something. As it continued to look, another fireball came towards its head and hit a few of its eyes as Rekka yelled: "HOW DARE YOU FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ELSEWHERE, YOU PATHETIC CRE-!"
Rekka couldn't finish her sentence as the large creature lifted its claw almost impossibly fast for a creature its size.
The claw came down.
Rekka disappeared beneath it.
The island shook.
As soon as I saw this, I refocused on the console and managed to start the engine. Using what I knew, I got the pod off the ground and into the air, then began moving away from the island, though a little awkwardly.
As I did this, I could see the creature turn its head toward our pod in the air for a moment. I inwardly cursed my luck and prayed.
'Please don't follow us. Please go back to wherever you came from.'
As I thought this, I also looked towards what seemed to be a radar and saw a large red blip behind us slowly get farther away. I heard something massive dive into the ocean. That red blip began to follow us.
"Oh come on!" I yelled.
Ashes began to panic when she realized the creature was following us, and I did my best to raise the pod higher and move slightly faster, just in time as well. As I moved away from our previous altitude, the creature erupted from the ocean beneath us, jaws snapping shut where the pod had been only seconds earlier. There was no doubt about it now. For whatever reason, this creature wanted us.
I raised us higher and away from the creature, and soon Ashes leaned towards the console and pressed a button. Before I could ask what she was doing, a small screen appeared in the glass in front of me, showing everything behind us.
"Sorry, I saw it said camera, and I thought we could use it," said Ashes.
"You can read?" I asked.
"H-huh? Yes, I can read," Ashes replied.
We couldn't continue our conversation because I saw on the camera that the creature began to build speed, and its back began to expand. Soon, two massive wings unfurled from its back, and the creature flew from the ocean, continuing its chase.
I could see the rest of the creature now, and it was far more massive than I'd imagined. Its body reminded me of a dragon, but with webs on its feet. I could also see its fins on its back and on its arms and legs. It had a long, serpentine tail with a fin at the end, and its body was covered in large scars.
I couldn't keep looking at the creature, so I moved the pod away and tried to lose it, but it kept flying after us. I knew we had no chance of outrunning it as it slowly caught up. As I continued flying the pod, I had an idea and asked Ashes, "Can you find anything that will speed us up?"
"M-me? I don't know if I ca-"
"I CAN'T READ ANYTHING! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS! SO UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE, THEN FOCUS!"
Ashes flinched and stared at me with tears beginning to form, and soon I took a breath and softened my tone and said, "I need you to look at the console and see if there is anything that can speed us up or distract the creature. You can do this."
Ashes took a moment to look at me, and when I said that last part, I saw her eyes light up; she soon had fierce determination, and she quickly began reading the console's various labels. As she did this, I kept dodging the creature, which kept biting at our pod, each bite closer than the last.
I worked as hard as I could, but we didn't have much time left. Ashes kept reading the labels, but I could see her starting to panic as the creature drew far too close to the pod, and I realized the next bite would be on ours. As I silently prepared myself, I heard Ashes yell out, "There's a button under the console that says Emergency boost!"
As she said this, I smashed the glass cover with my fist and hit the button. Once I did this, I felt the pod begin to vibrate, and a red screen appeared on the glass in front of us. I saw the creature open its jaw, and in an instant, I felt my body fly back into my seat as the pod sped up, leaving the creature behind as we flew to parts unknown.