Windborne seems to be heading deeper into the city, his snout constantly sniffing in a straight line. How the hell did they get so far in such a short amount of time? After what seemed like about an hour, we stopped and went into a nearby building.
"Let's take a break. You deserve it." I pat Windborne on the head and he curls on the floor. I put a blanket over him to make sure he stays warm, though he probably doesn't need it. I sit down next to Windborne and begin concentrating on my memories. I only managed to get through about fifty of them last time, so I should use this time to get through as many more as I can. Time blurs by as I sort through them. Before I knew it, two hours had passed and Windborne had woken up. I packed the blanket and we headed back out on Clara's trail. Shortly after we left off and turned a corner, Clara's trail of wet snow disappeared and turned into strange, gigantic impressions, patterned with deep grooves and oddly geometric edges pressed deep into the snow. No normal animal can make this kind of footprint. None that I know of, anyway, and I know quite a few.
We continued along and repeated our process of taking a break and starting until the sun began to set.
"Let's settle down for the night, Windy." I steer him over to another building. This time, it looks like a skyscraper stretching upwards beyond the clouds.
I lay down next to Windborne, wrap a blanket around us, and set my mask aside. We slowly drift off to sleep next to each other. Shortly after I completely drift off, I'm awoken to the sound of Windborne growling. I sluggishly get up and scratch my eye as my vision comes to. He seems to be glaring at the darkness near the entrance. Dark red eyes stare back at me. Then another one appears. I start backing up, signaling Windborne by waving my arm.
"Uhhh, Windy…" I quickly grab my things. A snout appears from the eyes, showing the full face of a snarling wolf, or something similar to it. Scars and wounds line the mouth. More heads appear behind it. The wolves begin growling and panting, preparing to pounce.
"Shit! We gotta run!"
Windborne quickly shifts into his tiny form and clings to my shoulder as I hightail it deeper into the building. I find a flight of stairs leading up and immediately run up. A convenient bookshelf awaits at the top, and I drop it straight down the stairs to slow the horde of wolves down. New sets of eyes and corpses appear on each floor, adding to their numbers. Were they resting here? This explains the corpses I saw in the other buildings earlier today.
"What the hell? Why are they so damn fast!?" I narrowly dodge the swipe of a claw before speeding up my sprint.
A few more sets of stairs later, I'm panting and sweating.
"I should really work on my endurance," I say between breaths.
After a few sets of stairs, the next one is blocked off by the pack of wolves on that floor.
"Damn it! I can't go up anymore!." I quickly look around as the pack closes in on me. Glass… The glass window! I charge my boots and jump through it, glass shattering and electricity crackling through the air.
"Windy!" I grab him from my shoulder and throw him. He transforms into his medium stage in the air and falls at the same speed as me. I smoothly wrapped my legs around him and held onto his stomach for dear life. More eyes appear on the buildings next to us, not just the one I was in. Do they only appear at night? He begins to pull up, the gravity from the fall making it seem difficult for him at such speeds. I feel my bag slightly grazing the ground just before completely pulling back into the air, and then stabilizing.
"What the hell was that!?" I say to myself. There isn't any safe spot for the time being. The streets and buildings are riddled with these things. I climb back onto Windborne back, no longer dangling from his stomach dangerously. Just as hope seemed lost for a night's rest, a light appeared in the distance.
"Is that… a tower?"
I fly Windborne lower to the ground so as to not get spotted, but enough to not get the attention of the feral wolves. As we reach closer, the wolves start to become less in number. The light from the tower repels them. We land in a building close by that's far enough to not be spotted but close enough to see clearly and repel nearby wolves. At the central point is the tower from before, standing at about 75 feet tall and made of concrete. At the base of the tower are what look like… mechs? Giant robots? My eyes instantly light up.
Around them seem to be small housing buildings enough to fit around 3 people. A little further out is a fence, probably to keep any stray wolves that aren't affected by the lighthouse.
"I would kill to have one of those mechs," I say with a mischievous grin, practically drooling from my mouth under the mask. One of the mechs is laying on the ground and getting repairs from the people there. From my angle, I got a clear view of its feet, and it's identical to the footprints I saw earlier. Clara must be held here.