Havoc - Piper McLean

13: kick names, take ass

|kick names, take ass|

—Piper tumbled through the sky. Far below she saw city lights glimmering in the early dawn, and several hundred yards away the body of the bronze dragon spinning out of control, its wings limp, fire flickering in its mouth like a badly wired lightbulb.

A body shot past her—Leo, screaming and frantically grabbing at the clouds. "Not coooooool!"

Camilla was just screeching, though it sounded like she was enjoying herself (not the time!)

Piper tried to call to the two of them, but they were already too far below.

Somewhere above her, Jason yelled, "Piper, level out! Extend your arms and legs!"

It was hard to control her fear, but she did what he said and regained some balance. She fell spread-eagle like a skydiver, the wind underneath her like a solid block of ice. Then Jason was there, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Thank god, Piper thought. But part of her also thought: Great. Second time this week he's hugged me, and both times it's because I'm plummeting to my death.

"We have to get Leo and Camilla!" she shouted.

Their fall slowed as Jason controlled the winds, but they still lurched up and down like the winds didn't want to cooperate.

"Gonna get rough," Jason warned. "Hold on!"

Piper locked her arms around him, and Jason shot toward the ground. Piper probably screamed, but the sound was ripped from her mouth. Her vision blurred.

Camilla screeched in Piper's ear when they slammed into her. Somehow, she managed to grab hold of Jason's arm and not stray away from them. 

And then, thump! They slammed into another warm body—Leo, still wriggling and cursing. Camilla was holding onto Jason and Leo both, trying to keep the group from separating. 

"Stop fighting!" Jason said. "It's us!"

"My dragon!" Leo yelled. "You gotta save Festus!"

Jason was already struggling to keep the four of them aloft, and Piper knew there was no way he could help a fifty-ton metal dragon. But before she could try to reason with Leo, she heard an explosion below them. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, "Festus!"

Jason's face reddened with strain as he tried to maintain an air cushion beneath them, but intermittent slow-downs were the best he could manage. Rather than free-falling, it felt like they were bouncing down a giant staircase, a hundred feet at a time, which wasn't doing Piper's stomach any favors.

They were all just a mess of limbs and bodies. Someone's elbow dug into Piper's stomach as she cursed, Jason's head banged against Camilla's sword hilt, Leo's accidentally kicked Jason in his shins... it wasn't an easy going. 

"Fucker" Camilla cursed. 

"Sorry" Leo blurted, "Full disclosure, I have no interest in you tits"

"Yeah, right, they're amazing, don't even lie"

"No seriously, I don't like tits"

Piper wasn't sure why all of a sudden the cold had given away to warmth and her face felt like it was on fire. Leo must have accidentally bumped into Camilla by the sounds of it. But was now really the time to focus on things like this? Were Camilla's tits really the thing they should focus on?