In Pursuit of a (Flying) Monster

The whistle's shrill cry sliced through the air with the precision of an arrow. Corinth dashed forward in pursuit of Callista, but the distance between them stretched further with each stride. In his periphery, the familiar light blue hue of his steed intensified, drawing nearer with each passing moment.

Pyrois surged forward with a swiftness that defied mortal comprehension, his spectral form gliding effortlessly above the ground. As he ascended, each stride propelled him higher, until he raced across the asphalt with a velocity that matched his master's urgency. From his mane, brilliant blue spectral flames cascaded, while smoke billowed forth from his mighty exhales. His coat, a glossy onyx hue, shimmered under the flickering streetlights, casting an ethereal glow with each passing stride.

Corinth jumped on the hood of the next parked car he passed, stepped up to its roof, and then leapt of it to the back of the passing steed. It neighed loudly like the engine of a car when the pedal was pressed to the floor. Lowering his body mass to be closer to the spectral horse, the reduced drag allowed Pyrois to increase its speed more.

A red aura flowed off of Corinth as his shotgun formed in his hand out of the ether. It was locked, loaded, and ready to go, he just needed a clear shot at her. Pyrois dodged cars driving down the street, causing them to swerve left or right. The spectral horse even went up and over one that didn't move out of the way in time. Its hooves digging into the hood and roof of the car before landing back on the road, never slowing down.

Looking up into the sky, Callista was moving fast, but Corinth was doing his best to keep up. He needed to slow her down or he was going to lose her once she made into the city, disappearing between all the buildings. His only option was to shoot her down.

Motioning for Pyrois to move out of the street and onto the sidewalk, Corinth took aim with his shotgun. The motion of the horse and the tall trees that passed by were creating havoc with his aim. With the shotgun shooting slugs, he didn't have the added benefit of scatter shot.

His eyes darted forward and he saw a break in the trees. Through that gap, he would be able to fire on her and hopefully slow her down. If he could damage a wing, then he would be able to catch up and maybe even put her back on the ground. Maybe was a long shot, but it was all he had.

The gap in the trees approached and he took aim, leaning back on the horse, keeping his back straight, he pulled the shotgun across his front and aimed. As Callista came across his sights, he squeezed the trigger, sending a slug shooting through the air. With trained muscle memory, he spun the the shotgun around, loaded it, and re-aimed and fired again. The second shot was more wild as he didn't have enough time to properly sight in his target.

The winged woman dipped to the right and dropped altitude as one of the slugs slammed into her right shoulder. She screamed loudly and her hair blazed even more, but she was dropping. Corinth watched as she vanished on top of one of the taller buildings in the vicinity and steered Pyrois in that direction, cutting across a small park to close the distance.

It didn't take long for the spectral steed to pull up to the front door of the office building and Corinth jumped off of it as soon as it came to a stop. Corinth didn't know what the building was used for, but there were many lights still on inside, which hopefully meant that the front door was unlocked. And it was.

He pulled the doors open and rushed to the nearest elevator. Luckily, there was one already on his floor and he rushed into it as soon as the doors opened. Pushing the button for the top, he waited as the elevator began it's slow climb.

The music, or muzak, that played was very outdated, but then again, was any muzak not outdated? He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pill bottle, twisting the cap off, he dumped two pills into his hand. He looked at them for a moment and spilled two more out to join the previous. Tossing all four into his mouth, he swallowed them down and put the rest of the pills away.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and he moved out fast, looking for the stairs to the roof. The floor he was on held the more fancier offices. The offices of the owner of the company and CEO's. Fancy art, expensive wooden desks, the works. He wondered why he didn't have an expensive wooden desk at work and made a mental note to ask Dalia about that.

Following the signs, he found the stairs that led upwards to the roof access. Charging up the stairs, he rammed into the door, flinging it open and letting it slam against the wall. Shotgun raised, he made his way out onto the roof, the flaming hair Empusa waiting on him with an angry, yet wicked smile.