by Ramy Vance
Abby fired a shot at the Gladiator, which merely swiped away the blast with his club. “Well, which one is it?” she asked frantically. “Three minutes is a lot of minutes.”
“Eight minutes. Eight minutes.”
Abby took aim again and fired as Persephone ran from behind her, wrapping her tentacles around the Gladiator’s legs. “Let everyone else know!” Abby shouted.
The creature reached down and took hold of the tentacles around its legs. It yanked hard and pulled Persephone into the air.
Abby slid under the drow, lining up her shot and taking it. The blast tore through part of the Gladiator’s arm, causing it to drop Persephone. Even before she hit the ground, the wound in its arm was healing.
A screech tore through the air, and Abby looked up as one of the red dragons plowed into the earth on top of the Gladiator, sending rock and sand spewing.
The red dragon tried to get to its feet as Alex on her ether dragon Chine crashed into it. Alex slashed at the dragon with her scythe as Chine fired a jet of black ether at the Gladiator, consuming it within its flames. The red dragon flipped, whipping its tail around to clear space before rising into the air. The force of it threw Alex off Chine.
Persephone reached out with her tentacles, wrapping them around the red dragon’s throat to try to keep it on the ground, but the dragon was too strong. It lifted Persephone into the air as it took off. Abby grabbed Persephone’s hand and held tight. The drow screamed in pain as she swung Abby up onto the dragon’s back.
She held on as tight as she could as the red dragon rose higher.
Alex had gotten back on Chine and they tackled the red dragon in mid-air, sending it careening off its course, while the rest of Team Boundless battled the other red dragon above.
As the red dragon tried to right itself, Persephone pulled herself up next to Abby. They made their way down the dragon’s back. Persephone wrapped her tentacles around the dragon’s neck and tightened them while Abby continued to the nape of the dragon’s neck.
Abby put her hand on the dragon’s nape and fired. It screeched in rage and pain, trying to buck Abby and Persephone off, but Persephone tightened her grip. Abby fired again, then again.
The red dragon started losing altitude, then plunged to the ground. It crashed into Terra’s Gladiator, sending the ancient creature into the arena’s stands.
Abby scampered off of the dragon along with Persephone as the great red beast got to its feet, staring down at the two girls, fire brimming in its mouth. Persephone and Abby were in the dead zone.
The red dragon had opened its mouth to unleash its fire when Terra sprang up and punched the side of the dragon’s head. The dragon fell forward, giving Abby and Persephone enough time to move out of the way.
Terra rolled under the dragon and delivered an uppercut with everything she had. Stew, who wasn’t too far away, caught Terra’s last punch and shouted, “See? Suzy, check it out! Humans can totally go one on one with a dragon,” before getting bashed in the head by a flying goblin.
Ether fire scorched the ground as Alex and Chine flew overhead, burning everything they could justify as an enemy.
Creon’s words broke through the chaos on everyone’s comm. “One minute!” he shouted.
Anabelle exclaimed into her comm, “Humanoids first, then dragons!”
The Mundanes, Dark Gate Angels, and everyone in between dropped what they were doing and headed toward the open Gate in the middle of the arena. Everyone but Abby and Anabelle slipped through. Once they were clear, Anabelle and Abby knocked over the Gate for the dragons, who were racing toward the portal.
The dragonriders passed through without a problem, but by now, the horde of orcs had figured out what was going on. One of the orcs fired a blast that disabled the Dark Gate, weakening the portal. Before Anabelle stepped through, Creon said, “Wait, wait, hold on. The Gate isn’t working anymore. I can’t send the signal to detonate!”
Abby and Anabelle looked at the horde of monsters approaching. “Uh, any suggestions?” the elf asked.
Abby glanced at her hand, sensing the connection between the nanobots in her blood and those composing the Gate. “I can still detonate it. Get through the portal.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have—”
Abby grabbed Anabelle and pulled her onto the portal. Their feet didn’t sink through; it was like standing on ice. “Ain’t got any more time!” Abby shouted as she closed her eyes and focused.
All Abby could hear now was the explosion, all she could feel was an odd energy washing over her, making her body as cold as if she’d been dipped in a frozen lake. Then there was nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Roy, along with a dozen other mech riders, hovered in formation above the Pacific Ocean, a couple dozen miles off the Japanese coastline. He was biting his fingernails.
The transport had been successful for the most part. The Mundanes, Persephone, Terra and her fighters, and the dragonriders had all been brought back to Earth, each sent to different coordinates.
Creon had worked magic. He hadn’t gone over how difficult the logistics were, but he had managed to split up the transportation three ways. There was no way dragons were going to be able to transport into HQ without tearing everything up. For the most part, it had gone off without a hitch. The dragonriders had been given coordinates to HQ and made their way back. A smaller group of mech riders had picked up Terra, Cire, and the rest.
Roy had watched Anabelle’s and Abby’s final decision before the portal exploded. He had thought it was going to come to that regardless. The plan had seemed too foolproof. Something had to go wrong.
He was beating himself up for not going on the mission, but Myrddin had anchored him. The wizard said it was for the best. There was no way he was going to throw every one of his operatives into this rescue mission. Roy had grudgingly agreed. Then he had watched Abby and Anabelle blow up the Gate and their only hope to come home.
That was when Creon had gone silent, throwing himself into his work, bouncing between three or four computers while Martin’s face flickered back and forth on the holoprojector. When Roy asked Creon what was happening, the goblin had shouted coordinates at Roy and told him to get there as fast as possible.
Once Roy had arrived where he was told, Creon informed him that Anabelle and Abby hadn’t killed themselves. They’d been sucked into the portal with its dying breath, sending them flying through some kind of subspace. With the last of Martin’s processing power and some quick thinking, Creon was able to redirect the portal to the coordinates provided to Roy.
There was no guarantee that Abby and Anabelle were going to come out alive, though. But at least they would be able to be given a proper burial, a hero’s burial like they both deserved.
Roy hadn’t allowed himself to think about Anabelle or Abby dying. He wasn’t going to entertain the idea until it was in his face. Until then, his mission was to pick the pair up and return them to HQ.
But the thought kept creeping into Roy’s head, worming its way through any kind of distraction he could hope to have. It wasn’t even a complete thought, just images. Anabelle’s head crushed against a stone. Abby’s face without any skin. The two agents were too good to die like that. Yeah, they were heroes, but they didn’t deserve this.
Roy wondered if this was how Anabelle had felt when she’d pulled him out of his mech a few days ago. Christ, that was a lifetime ago, he thought. Shit needs to slow down after this. Just for a bit.
Above Roy, the sky opened. It looked as if another sky had forced itself through Earth’s. This one was purple and flashed flames that fluctuated between light pink and deep crimson. The portal was nearly the size of an industrial freighter.
Two miniscule specks shot out of the portal. Roy pulled his scanner down and examined them. It was Anabelle and Abby, and their vital signs were faint.
Roy roared forward, the other mechs following him. He swooped beneath Anabelle, flipping over so his belly was facing up a
nd opened his cockpit as another mech swung about and did the same for Abby. He reached out and pulled Anabelle’s body out of her freefall.
She lay limp in Roy’s lap. She was cold, and her eyes were closed. The veins in her skin were bright blue and looked to have been inked on. If she wasn’t dead, she sure as hell felt like it. “Back to HQ ASAP,” Roy shouted as he turned his mech around.
There was only one thing to think about at this moment: how fast could his mech move. Roy pushed it harder than he’d ever pushed before, each second feeling like a lifetime. He let his tears fall easily and simply as he whispered over and over, “You’re going to make it.”
Roy and the mechs headed toward the Japanese Middang3ard base. The medical equipment there wasn’t as advanced as what was at HQ, but it was the best bet. Any time wasted could result in Anabelle’s and Abby’s deaths if it wasn’t already guaranteed.
Creon hadn’t given Roy a lot of information about where Anabelle and Abby had been traveling. The most he said was that it was not the same kind of portal everyone else had gone through. Abby and Anabelle had gone through some kind of negative space. It was all a little beyond Roy’s understanding, and he figured he was wasting time by asking questions.
Now he could see why Creon had been worried. Roy had never seen anyone come through a portal looking this bad before. Japan was definitely the best bet.
As Roy flew, Anabelle turned her face to look at him. Her eyes fluttered open. They were bloodshot, but she was alive. “Hey, there,” she muttered. “Wasn’t expecting to see you first thing in the morning.”
Roy let out a nervous laugh as he leaned forward to kiss Anabelle’s forehead. “Holy shit, you made it,” he gasped.
“Shh, shh,” Anabelle murmured. “It’s really loud, and I have a headache. Where’s Abby?”
“We picked her up too. We’re going to get you both fixed up as soon as possible.”
Anabelle yawned and stretched her legs. “That sounds good. I’m just going to take a quick nap. I hate flying, especially in coach. Ugh. Oh, and get me a martini, please. Thanks, darling.” With that, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Roy smiled to himself. First-class and martinis? But what really brought a smile to his face was the last thing she’d said.
Darling.
Abby woke up in the late afternoon two days after she’d been brought to the base in Japan, which had all the medical facilities necessary to treat her. The doctors had assured Anabelle and Terra that it was merely because Abby was younger, wasn’t used to as much strain, and her body was trying to replenish its nanobots.
The doctors were fascinated by how Abby’s white blood cells had been nearly replaced by nanobots. They had a lot of questions, and both Anabelle and Terra were happy that they didn’t know the answers. They had taken turns sitting by Abby’s bed, waiting for her to wake up.
When Abby did wake up, the first thing she did was throw up a disgusting slew of unusable nanobots. Then she asked for some water and laid back, trying to piece together the events that had led her to being in an unknown hospital bed. She didn’t have to think long, though. Both Terra and Anabelle were more than happy to fill her in.
For the first six hours that Abby was conscious, Anabelle, Terra, and she didn’t leave the room. They talked incessantly. It was as if they’d known each other their entire lives. Abby had gotten that feeling with Anabelle before, most likely the reason for her early crush, but the same was true of Terra.
There was a bond between the three women, one that was not formed easily or flippantly. It was the sort of thing that transcended friendship or family. When one of the three looked upon the others, they saw an aspect of themselves coupled with something beyond their realm of understanding—something so different that it drew them closer.
At some point, Anabelle was called away by Myrddin to deal with a debriefing and the aftermath of what happened in the arena. This left Terra and Abby alone for some time. Terra couldn’t express enough gratitude to Abby. She said she had felt like Abby was her guardian angel, looking out for her the entire time.
Abby, likewise, had come to think of Terra in a very elevated way. She explained that Terra had become a role model for her. She’d never seen anyone fight so hard. If there was anything she wanted to be able to do, it was fight that hard for something she believed in.
When Anabelle returned, she took Terra with her, much to the girl’s chagrin. If Terra was going to be part of the Dark Angels, she was going to have to get used to briefings, debriefings, and all of the boring, safe stuff that went into the war efforts of Middang3ard.
When Abby was alone, she watched the Tokyo skyline far into the morning, past the glowing lights of the night. She wasn’t tired. She felt like she’d slept for a lifetime.
The phone next to Abby’s bed rang, and she picked it up. “This is Abby.”
The voice on the other end of the line was crying. Abby recognized those sobs. She’d heard them at her father’s funeral. “Ma?”
The sobbing quieted, and the voice managed, “Yeah, Abby, it’s me.”
“Oh, my God, how did you get this number? How are you doing?”
Abby’s mother cleared her throat and inhaled so deeply that Abby could hear it clearly over the phone. “You didn’t say nothing about flying to other galaxies and fighting dragons when you said you were going to help in a science department,” she finally said with a weak laugh.
Abby was hit with a pang of guilt. She had never thought her family would see the broadcast of the last battle. That had slipped her mind. “Ma, I’m so sorry,” she said. “They needed things changed…and I have all these abilities…and—”
“Oh, trust me, I know, baby. I ain’t ever seen you do anything like that before. It was amazing. Hardly the little girl who left the farm only a few months ago. And I know you couldn’t have told me. I know it. You wouldn’t want me worrying. And to be honest, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m glad I just saw you being able to handle yourself. Your pa would be proud. He always said you were a fighter, even if you were a runt.”
Abby sat there quietly, taking in her mother’s words. “Thanks, Ma.”
“We’re all proud of you, Abby. My little girl on the front lines, defending all of humanity. And she’s still smart as hell. We couldn’t be prouder of you. All of us.”
There was a commotion, and Ma shouted something indecipherable. “All right, baby, I got to go. Your sisters wanna get on the line, and I was told you need your rest. I’ll give them your love.”
“I love you, Ma.”
“We love you too, Abby-Lynn. You keep giving ‘em hell.”
Abby hung up. She had too many emotions going on to get a handle on all of them. There was guilt but also pride. More than anything else, she felt gratitude. Her family understood her. Even if they didn’t understand all of what was going on, they understood that Abby was working toward something she believed in.
There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Abby said as she sat up.
The door opened, and Persephone, who had been held up for a few days in debriefings, stepped into the room, cradling her right arm as usual. “Hi! They told me I could come visit if it’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, yeah, come in.”
Persephone slowly walked into the room and sat across from Abby. The pair sat in awkward silence for a little bit before Persephone said, “I heard what you did with the portal. It was very brave. I don’t know if I could have done the same. Or if I would have known to.”
Abby waved away Persephone’s compliment. “I doubt that. Saw the way you went after that dragon. Doubt you would have backed down. But now that all that’s over, what are you going to do?”
Persephone bit her bottom lip as she released her arm. There were black cracks running up the drow’s skin. “Myrddin is sending me back home in a few days,” she said. “My parents are still there, and I’ve been missing for a long time. We don’t know what after that.”
Abby got o
ut of bed and walked to the window overlooking Tokyo. “You know, I’m not good at goodbyes,” she said. “But I’ve always wanted to go to Tokyo. You?”
Persephone came to stand next to Abby. “Never heard of it. I don’t know much about the human realm.”
“We should check it out. I’ll show you some stuff. Martin can translate for us…after we put a disguise on you. Drows ain’t exactly welcome on Earth. Not yet.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be resting? Won’t you get in trouble?”
Abby laughed as she opened the window and peeked out. “A few days ago, we fought off an army of orcs and a couple of dragons.” She chuckled. “I think I can handle a city of humans. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Nanobots covered Abby’s body, coating her in a sleek metallic second skin. She stepped out of the window, floating in the air, and reached for Persephone’s hand. “Next time, you can show me drow things.”
Persephone took Abby’s hand. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Terra was settling into her new place at Middang3ard HQ. She’d been there for two days, and even if it didn’t feel like home, it was starting to seem like a place she could live. A couple of months ago, it would have been overwhelming to come across so many different races from the nine realms. Now she was bummed that more orcs didn’t work with Middang3ard.
The orcs who came with Terra were held under supervision until she came to their defense. Myrddin had explained it was a simple precaution, the same thing he had done with Persephone when she arrived. It was only going to last a few days. He knew the role they had played and had no desire to treat them like lower-class citizens.
Until then, Terra could stop by the barracks they were held in and visit with Cire. They’d talk about their plans and what Myrddin was cooking up for the Dark One. Terra was excited to get to work, actual work. Going on missions with a goal sounded much more appealing than fighting in an arena for an unknown amount of time.
