Dark Gate Angels Complete Series Omnibus

by Ramy Vance

  He sizzled out of existence, quickly followed by Grok and Rasputina.

  Terra smiled broadly and waved at Abby and Anabelle. "Hey, guys! I missed you!"

  Anabelle stretched. "Terra, I saw you earlier this week. How did you manage to do that to your face?"

  Terra smiled even wider. "Oh, you like my new scars? Pretty sick, right?"

  "Every day, you are more like an orc."

  Abby chirped, "We think you look cool. And we miss you guys too."

  Cire cast a glance over his shoulder and whispered something to Terra, who leaned closer to get a better view of the rest of the DGA. "Okay, I gotta run guys. Apparently, there's pressing orcish business I must attend to. Orcs out!"

  Terra and Cire disappeared, leaving Anabelle, Persephone, and Abby. "You been staying safe?" Anabelle asked.

  Abby nodded, feeling a little childish for having to even answer the question. "Yeah, how about you?"

  "About as safe as risking your life every day can be. Sorry I can't stay and chat, Abby. The work is never over. Hopefully I'll be able to see you soon. Goddess, I'm so tired of being over all nine of the realms every week. I feel like getting killed is the only way I'll be able to take a break. Anyway, I'll catch you two around."

  "See you later, Belle," Abby said.

  From Persephone. "Stay safe."

  Abby released Persephone's hand, her eyes darting back and forth as she thought.

  The drow got up and knelt in front of Abby, looking her in the eye. "I know that look. What's going on?"

  Abby smiled coyly. "We think we know where to find an ether dragon."

  Chapter Nine

  In Middang3ard, far from the Red Lion, there were the remnants of a battle. The dead lay in piles—mostly humans, some dwarves and elves. Their blood stained the soil, seeping into the ground as their bodies slowly decayed. It was impossible to tell how long they had been there. The army that had decimated had moved on, but the wind still smelled of iron and rotting flesh.

  Alex Bound surveyed the battlefield. She was the leader of Boundless, a squad of the dragonriders. Her magical eyes, which she shared with her dragon Chine, were searching for clues as to where the army had gone. The ground should have been full of them. This would have been too much to cover up by traditional means.

  Tracking wasn't Alex's strong suit. She had other talents. She was mostly killing time until Gill, a quiet, analytical drow with little time for humor or fun, returned with his updates.

  Jollies, a pixie who rode a miniature electric dragon named Amber, zipped by, quickly informing Alex about what she had seen while scouting ahead. There were no clues as to where the butchers had gone.

  Far from the battlefield, Jim, Alex's second in command, scanned the horizon. Alex had positioned him to watch for any soldiers of Middang3ard. She knew the realm was full of MERCs, but generally, they didn't bother her or her riders. There wasn't an official bounty on Boundless' head. Well, that and they were usually deterred after seeing Jim in his dragon mech.

  The mech was nearly the size of a red dragon and outfitted with more weaponry than most outposts in Middang3ard had.

  The realm was full of tales of the Steel and Red Death. Alex knew Jim was proud to be half of that duo.

  The other half was Brath, who was patrolling the sky on Furi, his red dragon, the only creature Alex had ever met that had a shorter temper than his rider.

  Alex stood among the dead. She still couldn't believe the destruction before her. She and the dragonriders had been tracking this army for nearly two weeks. They had first heard of them up north after a village had gone missing. Boundless had been on the trail ever since.

  But the trail was drying up. If it hadn't gone cold already, it soon would.

  The grass rippled from the wings of a dragon. Timber, Gill's earth dragon, landed in front of Alex. Gill stood atop him, held in place by his dragon anchor, a tool on his wrist that connected him telepathically to his dragon and kept him from falling off during flight while offering him the ability to walk around on top of his dragon.

  Alex rose when she saw Gill even though she wanted to stay seated. She was tired. She hoped no one else could tell.

  Gill, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about looking tired. He came over to Alex's side and collapsed onto the grass. "Couldn't find anything. Not even a trace."

  Alex sat back down and hung her head in between her knees. "Damn it. They shouldn't have had time for all of this, not with their speed or their size. It’s like they have someone working just to keep them from getting caught."

  "You're not ready to give up yet, are you?"

  Alex wearily looked at Gill. She could see that his face was ragged. It only made sense. Boundless had been on the move for longer than Alex could remember. Luckily, they had been trained to survive in the harshest terrains under pressure from all sides. This part of Middang3ard was downright cozy compared to their training ground.

  Gill sighed and shook his head, looking as if he were ready to quit. "Why are we even doing this? Every day we're out here is another day we're unnecessarily risking our lives."

  Alex grabbed the drow’s arm and squeezed hard, hoping it was reassuring. "You know why we're out here. Just because the Corps fucked us, it doesn't mean we're backing down from why we signed up. We're still at war with the Dark One, even if the Corps is at war with us."

  Gill looked like he remembered something. "You’re right. I'm just tired. And frustrated. I never thought I'd get tired of playing hero from the shadows. Guess I didn't sign up for thankless tasks."

  "Or maybe you just don't like being branded a traitor."

  Alex hadn't wanted to say it out loud, but it was better than pretending that wasn't the case. It seemed like everyone in the nine realms believed Boundless had forsaken their oaths and followed Alex, who had become mad with the desire for power when the Dark One offered it to her.

  The problem was that the whole narrative was a lie. Worse than a lie, it was a false memory psychically implanted throughout the realms by Vardis, the most powerful psychic she had ever met.

  Alex would have been alone if it hadn't been for Chine, who had managed to shield the rest of Boundless from the psychic attack. She was glad since there was no way she would have been able to handle this on her own. The knowledge that the rest of the realm thought she was a power-hungry traitor hurt more than anything else, but she knew it wasn't their fault.

  That didn't take away the sting.

  Luckily, Myrddin's forces were spread thin. There weren't enough resources to spare, and there was no justification for chasing after Boundless if they weren't causing trouble.

  Which they weren't. Not for Myrddin, at least.

  Boundless had been focusing on dismantling every small-scale operation of the Dark One's they could find. They'd gone from raids to hunting down marauding bands of the Dark One's forces. Even if they didn't have Myrddin's approval, they were still making Middang3ard safer for all the free races.

  Alex looked at the sun. It was nearly two. "All right, team, let's get some food in us. Who is on watch duty for this meal?"

  Jim's voice came through the comm. "I have been in this thing for nearly five hours now. Unless you want me to permanently fuse with it, I suggest letting me get some fresh air."

  Brath's caustic, high-pitched voice answered, "That might be an improvement. You'd look better, and fly better too."

  "I swear to God, Brath, do not test me right now. First off, I'd fly circles around you. Secondly, I'd look better doing it."

  Brath laughed as Furi meandered over the sky. "All right, all right. I'll take the watch. I don't want Jim to get his jeans in a bunch. Or is it underwear? I never understand human expressions. So many of them have to do with clothing."

  Jim’s mech took off, bounding from its position toward Alex, where the rest of the riders were converging.

  Alex had already busted out the goods, the saddle of a lamb Furi had killed earlier in the week that they had butc
hered and smoked overnight.

  A few months ago, Alex could never have imagined herself looking forward to eating lunch surrounded by the bodies of the innocent, but there was a lot in her life now she couldn't have imagined before it happened.

  The rest of the riders looked just as tired as Alex felt. It wasn't the lack of sleep or the tracking. They were being worn down by not knowing what was coming next, and Alex couldn't offer them any encouragement.

  Luckily, Jollies was good at keeping things lighthearted. She zipped around, going on about what her family would have thought about her eating so much smoked mutton. Apparently, it would have been deeply unsettling.

  Brath waved his hand to shoo the pixie away, a habit that Alex knew she detested. "My aunt and uncle would have thought I was living the life. We used to have to jump through so many hoops to get meat, but it was always worth it. Stuff isn't easy to come across when you're poor."

  Gill tossed Brath another piece of mutton. "You ever think you'd be doing your best eating on the run?"

  Brath thought about it for a second. "Actually, I kind of did. Wouldn't say it was a goal, but yeah, I saw this one coming."

  Jim broke into the conversation. "Hey, guys, we got something coming at us fast, and you're not going to like this. It's Roy."

  Alex was already on her feet. "How far?"

  "Can't tell. He's booking it. Whatever upgrades he added to his mech are intense. I don't think we'll be able to lose him. If he's already going this fast..."

  Something black and metallic shot by overhead fast enough to generate a sonic boom. Alex watched as it came back around. "Boundless, saddle up. Get ready for anything."

  Jollies flew over to Alex and landed on her shoulder. "Are you really thinking about fighting Roy?"

  "I'm prepared to if need be."

  Alex reached out to her ether dragon, a young male named Chine, who was off hunting. "Chine, get back over here. Roy's coming."

  Chine, whose telepathy was extraordinary no matter how far away he was, answered, "I'm on my way."

  Then she commed Jim. “Get back here now."

  Jollies, Brath, and Gill were all on top of their dragons, weapons drawn.

  Jim hit his thrusters and rocketed toward Boundless. He stopped right in front of Alex. "So, it's finally time?"

  Alex shrugged as she watched the horizon. "I don't know. Even Roy isn't arrogant enough to come alone. Not to capture us. Definitely not to kill us."

  "Something was with him. It was just moving a lot faster than he was."

  "One extra person? What difference is that going to make?"

  There was another loud boom.

  A figure covered in sleek black armor that looked to be made from living metal floated before the dragonriders.

  The figure’s mask rolled back as if it were water, and Abby stared Alex in the eye. "Alex? Do you remember us?"

  Alex recognized the girl. They had met in the arena after Myrddin had conscripted the dragonriders for a rescue mission. Afterward, the two had corresponded, mostly sharing information about their tech upgrades, and occasionally venting to each other about the pressure of being a child fighting in such an insane war.

  "Abby? What are you doing here?"

  "We came with Roy. We need to—"

  Roy's mech landed with the sound of gears whirring, machinery working madly in tandem with the will of its rider. "Alex Bound, you are hereby under arrest. Your dragon will be confiscated, and you are stripped of your—"

  Alex stretched out her arm and brought it down in a slash, pulling her scythe from the ether while the ground around her flexed from her telekinetic powers.

  Roy's cockpit opened, and he poked his head out of the mech. "I didn't want to do this, Alex. I was just going to let you guys run as long as you stayed out of trouble, but we need Chine. That means it's time for you to come in."

  Chine shot a plume of black ether fire into the sky.

  Alex jumped onto her dragon’s back. "You have to listen to me, Roy. I didn't kill Vardis. I'm innocent. He—"

  "I'm not here to debate with you, Alex. I'm taking Chine and letting you go, or I’m taking you in."

  Jim's mech moved forward as the cockpit opened, allowing him to look out. "No one is taking Alex. It would be a good idea for you to leave."

  "If any of you stand with Alex, you stand with the Dark One. Do you understand?"

  Chine took a step toward Roy. If you'd even take a moment to see what we're doing on Middang3ard, you'd see that all we've done is attack the Dark One's forces. If we were working for him, why would we be killing our own troops?

  Alex saw something flicker in Roy's face. His lip twitched, and his expression suddenly froze as if he were trying to say something but couldn't. Then it returned to normal. "I'm not here to argue. It was hard for me to believe, but what you did was unforgivable. Now, what is your decision?"

  Jim's mech fired a plasma dart at Roy, the dart barely missing the rider’s head. "Don't worry about this one, Alex.

  Roy slipped back into the mech, broadcasting through his speakers. "You've been AWOL for a few months, and now you think you got what it takes to stop me?"

  Jim's mech tackled Roy's, steel connecting with steel as Roy swiveled, trying to get the upper hand and finally tossing Jim off. He fired his thrusters and took off, Jim following close behind.

  Alex looked down at Abby. "What were you planning on doing?"

  Abby's armor disappeared, replaced by an official DGA uniform. "I wanted to talk. Your message after you ran away? I read it. You said you didn't do it. We believe you. The night Vardis was reported dead, there was a massive spike in telepathic frequencies. They came from his death place and stretched all through the realms."

  The girl held her hands in the air, showing she wasn't going to fight. "We weren't affected. The augmentations we've made to our brain prevented it. We don't have any of the memories that they do, so we figured talking was a good idea."

  Alex pointed at Roy and Jim, who were circling each other in the sky. "What about them?"

  "Roy has his way of solving problems, and we have ours. Let's sit."

  Alex jumped off Chine, then grabbed a piece of smoked sheep meat and tossed it to Abby. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

  Chapter Ten

  Alex and Abby talked while Jim and Roy battled above. The two girls sat across from each other, filling the other in on the details of what had been happening.

  There was a lot Alex wasn't aware of. She hadn't received any communication since leaving the Wasps’ Nest, the headquarters of the dragonriders.

  Abby was more than happy to exchange information with Alex, even going so far as to offer to upgrade Alex's cybernetic arm.

  From what Abby said, it didn't seem like the war with the Dark One had gotten any better. That weighed heavily on Alex. She had hoped her personal confrontations with the Dark One had made a difference. It was disheartening to hear that nothing she had done so far mattered.

  When Alex expressed those thoughts to Abby, the young girl pulled back her hair while clicking her tongue. "You shouldn't say that. Everything we do matters, even if it's just prolonging the lives of everyone around us. We might not have ended this war, but we are keeping people from dying. That is worth our efforts."

  "You think that Chine can destroy those Gates?"

  Abby pulled out a glass vial. It was full of the Dark Melody. Upon being introduced to the light, it grew hard, then slammed itself against the glass, trying to break it. "This is what the Netherverse is composed of, and the Dark Gates as well, more or less. Would you mind?" Abby gestured toward Chine with the vial.

  Alex chuckled. "Sure, come on."

  She rose and walked over to the dragon, who was curled in a ball, dozing quietly as smoke flowed from his nostrils. She tapped him on the head, causing him to open one of his eyes.

  After explaining the conversation, Alex asked Chine to supply a little ether fire. She produced a torch and Chine breathed
flame, setting it afire with his ether breath. "Now what?" she asked.

  Abby opened the vial and held it in front of Chine.

  The Dark Melody reared up, trying to escape.

  "Now!" Abby shouted.

  Alex held the flame to the top of the vial. There was a screeching sound like air rushing out of a balloon.

  From proximity to the fire, the Dark Melody crystalized and then turned to dust, which broke apart even further until there was nothing there.

  Abby held the glass up to get a better look. "Looks like that'll do the trick. What do you say?"

  "I want to help, but I don't want to get locked up for something I didn't do. And I'm tired of being on the run."

  Roy's mech crashed to the ground, skidding across the earth and tearing it apart as Jim's mech slammed into it, claws tightly wrapped around his opponent's neck. Neither of them was using their weapons. This was more a contest of skill than an outright battle. It was hard to tell who was winning.

  Roy's mech managed to get away and took off, Jim following once more.

  Abby watched Roy fly away. "We obviously don't think you should be taken in, and we're pretty sure we can convince Roy of that. The mission you're on now—you said you've been tracking a marauding army of the Dark One, right?"

  Alex nodded, pointing in the direction she believed the orcs had gone, not that there was a chance they were going to find them now. Whatever tracking could have been done was over now that Abby and Roy had distracted them enough that the trail was dead. "Yeah, that's what we were up to."

  Abby followed Alex's finger. "We'll find the Dark One's forces together. Roy will be singing a different tune if he sees your squad dealing with the Dark One's forces. How's that sound?"

  "If we could still find the trail. It's been cold for a while."

  Thrusters formed on Abby's back as she floated into the air, her armor covering her body. "We'll take care of it. Excuse us, please." She blasted off in the direction Alex had pointed.