"Bitch!" Jezi, Jessica's nic and the moniker she went by almost all the time now that any family she knew of was dead, shouted as the aeroskiff she did a loop de loop she hadn't expected. Laughing in the back of her throat, she let let a bit more air out of it's sails and glad that the two dogs were locked in the small boats mini-below. Had they been up top with her, she might be looking down on squashed boxer right about now.<br/>As it was, startled yelps were coming from them. "Aww be quiet then, it's alright." She said, her voice all sing songy.<br/>The golden horror that lead and dissolved, lead and dissolved had been leading her a merry chase till she had been about mad with it. The pups would wake her at night as the night terrors came to her, and would awaken her with their snouts in her neck and hair as they snuffled and whined in the night.<br/>Two nights ago was the last time. She had simply quit sleeping since then. This forsaken valley seemed to be where she was pushing to go, or rather a town just beyond.<br/>Caricatures of dogs with metal growing from them like porcupine shields snarled and snapped trying to jump and snatch the skiff from the air. Jezi thrilled that they couldn't reach her or the pups, and a scream of fear shot through her at the thought of what those beasts could do with their teeth and nails.<br/>Seeing the edge of the town just ahead and a safe landing spot, Jez brought the sled's power level down and landed. Calling her dogs to heel from the hold, she snapped leashes about their collared necks. No matter who well trained her pups were, there were things out there that weren't quite so nice and she wouldn't take any chances.<br/>She pushed the button that shrunk the skiff down to the size of 3 ft by 3 ft box. and locking it, stashed it in behind some ugly green and black bushes along the city's armored doors.<br/>She brought the dogs to a run fearing that the green flashes in the night's sky mean a storm would be coming sooner rather than later. A young man with a machine stood asking for admittance to the gate as she arrived.<br/>"Wait for me please, I too would ask for admittance and protection from the storm for my dogs and I."