Preparing for combat

If regret could kill, Kowalsk would probably be dead.

"What exactly are these creatures, doctor?" he asked.

Feeling flattered and considering the circumstances, Mr. Kaminski didn't even bother to correct him, to tell him he wasn't a doctor of anything.

"These animals aren't real dragons or dragon offspring, as one might mistakenly assume. According to the information I remember from captivity, they're a kind of war scavenger. They're used solely to remove the bodies of defeated dragons from battlefields. They're generally not used as weapons of war, at least not for attacks, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of overcoming a human."

"Don't talk nonsense, doctor. Even a crazy cat a tenth of their size could kill a human, let alone creatures this size," said Kowalsk, already imagining the massacre it would be for his group, noting that the number of dreikis was constantly increasing.

"What chance do we have against so many of them, old soldier?" asked Gareno, already searching for his second glove.

"How would I know?" replied Kowalsk, feeling hopeless and guilty about the situation. As the elected leader, he couldn't show such emotions. Whether he liked it or not, he had to act as a leader and find quick, practical solutions so everyone could survive.

"I mean, I still don't know, but if we can buy some time, I might get us a chance. But I need information from all of you, all the important information you can give me. Gareno, how many of these creatures can you stop with one of your impact punches?"

"Maybe three or two, if they're lined up."

The doctor, who hadn't seen Gareno in action yet, found Kowalsk's question a bit strange, and Gareno's answer even stranger.

"Very good, Gareno, but that's very little for these circumstances."

"Don't forget I have my other hand to use too, which means the result is double what I said. And with a minute's wait, I can repeat the dose as many times as necessary."

"Well, mathematically speaking and considering the highest probability squared... Six dreikis down per minute. A reasonably good number, but considering there's only one of you to achieve this feat... We're toast," Kowalsk affirmed, looking at a growing number of opponents.

"What can you do, Thilláila? Do you have any skills that can help us right now?"

"Unfortunately, I've discovered I do have some skills, but they're of no use to us now."

Approaching Thilláila, curiosity in his eyes, Kowalsk asked, "And what are these skills you have that wouldn't help us?"

"Don't ask me how, Mr. Kowalsk. I don't even know why, but I can communicate with these dreikis."

Without waiting for the rest, Kowalsk hurried to Dr. Kaminski and asked urgently, "And what about you, Dr. Kami?"

"If I have any special abilities, I still don't know, Mr. Kowalsk. But you can count on me. And if you want, I can come up with a tactic that will help us escape this predicament."

Meanwhile, the dreikis were already positioning themselves in two rows, showing that an attack would soon follow.

"Dr. Kami, what I'm about to ask may sound crazy, but I need a few minutes to find ammunition for these weapons, which are currently worth no more than a broken vase. Can you do that?"

"Old soldier, you know this is madness, don't you?" Gareno asked, already preparing for the imminent attack.

"Yes, Gareno, I do. But it's our only chance to survive. Stay here and protect them as best you can. I'll be back soon with plenty of ammunition to take on these dragon offspring."

And after Kowalsk ran down the corridor toward Gate Zero One, the dreikis swiftly headed toward that strange quartet composed of an old man who had spent much of his life in laboratory test tubes, a genetically modified soldier with a true gene salad in his DNA, a woman whose origins were unknown even to herself, and last but not least, a dragon that was much smaller than before.

Still, the beasts approaching them seemed to have a mixture of anxiety and curiosity in their eyes. After all, they had never engaged in combat with a human before, but they had already smelled many who emitted a strong odor of fear just from seeing them.

But these humans were different in such a way that they seemed not to care about their numerical superiority, which was around forty dreikis and growing steadily.