by Ramy Vance
As Alex shouted, the giant beneath her blew his horn again. “Not going to have any more of that,” Alex said as she drew her plasma pistol. She took aim and fired, and the horn shattered.
The giant below her smiled, its teeth dark and stained. Then it pulled a black rod from his side and aimed it at Alex. The giant shouted something and Alex felt a wave of energy wash over her, pushing her back. The force of the energy got stronger, shoving Chine back as well.
As Chine tilted backward, Alex felt her feet lifting off Chine’s back. They were no longer anchored. She frantically grabbed her dragon anchor, which was flickering on and off. “Oh, crap, oh crap!” Alex shouted as she floundered, trying to grab something to hang onto.
Alex wasn’t fast enough. She knew the fall was going to hurt, but she needed to think fast. If she wasn’t anchored to Chine, that meant the giants had something that would sever their connection. If they could do it once, they could do it again. Alex was going to be fending for herself.
As the dragon anchor flickered, Alex whipped her hand out again and pulled her scythe out right before the anchor cut off. She clutched the hilt tightly as the giants ahead of her watched her fall. “There really aren’t any easy missions,” she muttered.
Chapter Ten
On the ground, Alex felt powerless. Even with her scythe in her hand, without Chine, she felt like she was simply waiting to die. Fear had overcome her faster than any emotion ever had. Dozens of eyes glared at her from what was quickly becoming a haze, those of the giant who had pulled her from Chine’s back burning brightest of them all.
Alex looked upward, trying to find Chine. It looked like vrosks had detached from the ship above and were now attacking the dragon, trying to keep him away from Alex.
Whoever had organized this attack had figured out a vital aspect of the dragonriders. Dragon was the first part of the job title, rider came second.
Alex glanced at her anchor. It still wasn’t up and running. She wasn’t sure if that meant her connection to Chine was broken or not. As far as Alex knew, their connection was mental and based in Chine’s biology, not the tech attached to Alex’s arm. Chine, can you hear me? she called.
Chine’s voice boomed in Alex’s head. Yes, Alex, I am still here. Are you okay?
The giants were beginning to advance, the one carrying the black rod ahead of the rest, his club resting on his shoulder.
Alex took a step back, her scythe trembling in her hand. Uh, I am for the moment. But I’m staring at a bunch of giants. Get your ass back down here, please. As fast as you can.
Chine groaned in pain, and Alex looked up in time to see Chine whirling, trying to get away from the vrosks that were swarming him. Chine! Alex called.
Chine let loose a jet of fire, but he was still being overwhelmed. I can’t get away, Chine shouted. They must have been planning on separating us. You will have to fight alone until I can get back to you, Alex. Fight well.
Alex’s legs buckled as she took another step back, scanning the air for Jim. She hit her comm but heard nothing. The comms were connected to the dragon anchor. She was alone.
The ground thundered as the group of giants took another step toward Alex. Oh my God oh my God oh my God, Alex thought, the words reverberating in her skull. What am I going to do?
The scythe wasn’t large enough. She was too small and not nearly strong enough. There were too many giants and mammoths. What the hell was a dragonrider without a dragon? If this were Middang3ard VR, this would have been an instant game over, but it wasn’t. Here it meant a slow, agonizing death.
The giant with the black rod stepped away from the rest of the giants as thunder cracked above and rain began to pour. “Ah, you are the human we were warned about,” the giant boomed, his voice nearly as loud as the thunder. “What do they call you?”
Alex’s voice stuck in her throat. She knew she was being taunted but couldn’t answer, simply standing in silence as the giant gloated at her fear.
The leader of the giants pounded his chest and shouted, “Are you a mute as well as a cripple?” He pointed at Alex’s robotic hand. “Let me inform you of the name of the one who will bring your death. I am Hulmor, the First Giant of the Dark One. I will grind your bones up after I tear away your flesh.”
Alex knew she should run, but there was nowhere to go. The giants were much larger than her. She’d be caught in a matter of seconds. Where the hell was Jim? What was he doing up there?
Maybe I can stall until Chine can get down here, Alex thought. “How are you going to do that from all the way over there?” she shouted.
“Oh, so the mouse can speak?” Hulmor chuckled. “After we break you, I’ll boil you alive. That way, you will come right apart, and your bones will crack easier.”
“Break me? Are you talking emotionally or physically? You’re gonna have to be more specific because, I mean, I think I might be emotionally broken already. The last few months have been a hell storm. I saw a bunch of kids at my school die. Then my mind got flayed by your boss and his weird son/child thing or whatever. Oh, and I got dragged into a cross-dimensional rescue mission.”
Alex didn’t know why all those words were pouring out of her, but once she started, she couldn’t stop. They just kept flowing. “I mean, I have a crush on two guys. Which is, like, the least of all my problems. But I really wish it was just my only problem. I miss my parents, and I’m worried how upset and terrified they’d be if they found out how dangerous my life is.”
The giants looked at each other, obviously confused by the rant Alex was giving. Even Hulmor looked puzzled by how the situation was playing out.
Alex started pacing, rubbing her temple with her free hand. “I mean, I am exhausted. Like, really exhausted. I’ve never been this tired in my whole life, and I don’t feel like I can get anything right. I mean, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. It just feels like it’s not right. Not good enough. Even this! Chine’s fighting his ass off up there, and I’m sitting here freaking out about whether I’m going to get killed or not. He could get killed. Jim could already be dead! I mean—”
Hulmor clapped his hands, interrupting Alex by shouting, “Human, I think you are confused by—”
“I am NOT FINISHED!” Alex shrieked, the air around her instantly growing hot, a concussive wave of energy streaming out of her body as her eyes flashed red. And just like that, the energy was gone. “But I guess if you want to get all fight-y, let’s get this done. Is it really going to take a dozen of you to kill one human?”
Hulmor still looked stunned by the variety of moods Alex had just gone through. He quickly composed himself, though, and laughed cruelly. “It won’t take any more than me to—”
Jim’s mech crashed into the group of giants, his machine gun firing as he launched two missiles that sent a giant and mammoth flying. Then he leaped among the flurry of flames and bullets lighting the air.
Above, she heard the roaring of mechs as their thrusters cut through the silence of the night. Some of them were heading toward the ship in the distance, and the rest were getting ready to land in the valley with Alex and the giants. “Guess you don’t have a choice,” Alex shouted. “Looks like your friends are gonna have enough on their hands.”
Alex had no idea why she was goading the giant. Chine was still nowhere to be seen, and her dragon anchor still wasn’t online. The brief moment of confidence that had flared up was gone, and she was reminded that she was a very small human standing up to a very large giant.
The giant didn’t need a reminder. He leaped through the air, his club high. Alex lunged to the side, rolling away as the club hit the ground where she had stood, tearing up the earth. Even though the giant was huge, he was fast.
Alex scrambled away from the giant as he chased her, swinging his club. As the club arced down, Alex turned to see it was going to smash into her face. She pulled up her scythe, narrowly blocking the club. The force of the attack sent her skidding back, but she was still on her feet.
Alex looked down at her robotic arm. Steam was coming off of it as its cylinders reset. Alex knew she was stronger on any realm except Earth, but the attack from the giant would have knocked her out a few weeks ago. Maybe the robotic arm wasn’t such a bad idea.
As was usually the case now, Alex switched her scythe to her robotic arm and twirled it once to get used to the weight. Maybe I can do this, she thought. I fought giants earlier today. I’m just fighting another giant now. A larger one, that’s all.
Alex dashed forward as fast as she could, then leaped, spinning in a quarter circle as she slashed at the giant.
Hulmor raised his club, absorbing the force of the blow. It didn’t seem to have fazed him. Alex didn’t care. She’d seen the difference between herself and the giant, one Alex rarely noticed because she was always with Chine.
Alex was ridiculously fast.
Alex, still in the air, whipped around, twirling her scythe behind her back, and slashed again at Hulmor, who had to take a step back before she attacked again. Her next few attacks were relentless, her robotic arm steaming with each attack.
Hulmor continued to back up, barely able to move his club in time to catch her blows.
Alex hit the ground and caught her breath, sizing up the situation. She didn’t want to just run into this. She’d done that enough. Alex wanted to understand the fight. That didn’t mean she couldn’t trust her gut. It just meant there was more to her than that.
There had been a flash of something earlier. Alex had felt it. Fiery energy had given her a boost of confidence. Could it have been the augment she and Chine shared, the one that allowed her to make use of the draconic fluid in her dragon anchor? How had she accessed it before?
The last thing Alex had remembered before the sudden surge of energy was getting angry at being cut off. Maybe it was anger that triggered it.
Alex tried to think of something that pissed her off. Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult, but nothing happened.
Hulmor was breathing heavily but unwilling to betray his weariness. “Do you need a break, human?” he taunted.
Alex looked around the battlefield. The mechs above were helping Chine take care of the vrosks on his back. Jim and the other mechs were cutting down the rest of the giants and mammoths. Now that Alex thought about it, this mission hadn’t been hard. “No,” Alex called. “Let’s finish this.”
Hulmor and Alex ran toward each other. The giant went for the attack and Alex pushed herself a little harder, felt her legs aching as she tried for extra speed. Then, there it was—that flash again. She felt flames burst out over her body for a second as she gained a massive speed boost.
Alex slid under her opponent’s legs, stretched out her scythe, and slashed as she turned in a circle. The giant let out a scream of pain as his legs separated from his feet at the ankles.
Hulmor hit the ground, screaming in pain as his stumps bled. Alex looked down at the giant, reeling from the sickening gore.
Alex forced herself to remember what she was doing. Why she was here. That she was at war. She swallowed hard, reminding herself that Hulmor would have torn her to shreds if he had gotten the chance.
The scythe was raised and it fell, putting an end to Hulmor’s pained mutters of revenge.
Alex looked down at her dragon anchor as it turned back on. Then she went over to Hulmor’s body and picked up the black rod he had used to disconnect her from the Chine. She pocketed it before reaching out to her dragon. Hey, buddy, you still okay?
Chine landed right behind Alex, causing her to jump in surprise. A simple yes would have been enough, she said as she leaped onto his back.
As the dragon took off, he said, I saw your fight. You didn’t need my assistance. Perhaps you needed me to stay out of it, he said.
The rest of the skirmish was clearing out. The mechs had made short work of the giants and mammoths. Yeah, maybe I did need that, Alex said. It’s different when you aren’t there. Kinda terrible, you know? It’s easy to forget what I’m doing when everything is moving so fast, or you’re just chomping and burning through everything. Maybe I need to remember.
Chine didn’t answer, so Alex was left to interpret his silence. Instead of dwelling on it, she commed Jollies. “How did everything turn out on your end?”
Jollies sounded relaxed when she replied, “Easy-peasy.”
“Good to hear. We’re heading to the projected crash site right now.”
Alex and the rest of the Team Boundless arrived at the landing site. The ship had descended much faster once the vrosks had been removed from its sides.
The relief was instant when Alex could see this was indeed a ship and nothing like the meteor she’d seen before. The ship could hardly be called that; if anything, it seemed like an escape pod. It was no larger than twenty feet in diameter and was a perfect sphere, only the outline of a potential door disturbing its smooth and polished surface.
Most of the mech riders were standing around, watching the ship. No one made a move. That was when Alex realized Team Boundless probably held rank in the situation. If Roy or the teachers weren’t present, Boundless had the highest-ranking riders.
Alex looked at the rest of the team. “You guys want to come with me? I don’t feel qualified to be an alien’s first and only interaction. Plus, it’ll let whoever it is know that this isn’t one of those humans-are-the-best-and-rule-the-world kinda things.”
Jollies flew over and landed on Alex’s shoulder. “That’s an odd human thing to say, but sure.”
Jim and Gill came over to Alex as well, and they approached the scorched earth where the ship had landed.
Alex stood before it for some time with the rest of Boundless, but nothing seemed to be happening. She wasn’t sure if the passenger had been hurt or if there was some kind of technical issue, but waiting seemed just as rude as ignoring it. Not knowing what else to do, Alex leaned forward and knocked twice on the door.
The ship shot steam out of several holes that appeared. The faint lines gradually became more pronounced until a door popped open.
As the steam dissipated, Alex could make out the shape and features of whatever was inside the ship. It was humanoid and had a round head slightly larger than the rest of its body, the top of its head looking like a jewel of some sort. The creature had similar jeweled pieces on its chest, elbows, and knees.
The alien was oddly muscular, as if it were a fighter and regularly indulged in intense physical training. Its long, thick tail was curled around its waist. It was lying on the deck of the ship just inside the door.
Jim whistled as he took a step back. “That is not what I was expecting,” he muttered before turning to Jollies and Gill. “You guys ever seen anything like that before?”
Gill shook his head as he watched the alien closely. “No,” he finally replied. “I do not think this is from any of the known planets of the nine realms. This being is an alien to us all.”
The alien’s eyes fluttered open slowly. It began sitting up, groaning as it held its side. “Is this Middang3ard,” the alien muttered in a faint, almost echoey voice.
Alex stepped forward and said, “Yes, this is Middang3ard. My name is Alex. This is Team Boundless. We’re here to help you.”
The alien nodded as it tried to sit up taller. “Good. Take me to whoever is in charge. I have a way to stop the Dark One once and for all.”
Alex and the rest of Team Boundless exchanged glances as the mech riders murmured amongst themselves. “Hold on a second,” she said as she took a step away and commed Myrddin.
Myrddin sounded as if he had sobered up considerably when he picked up. “Alex, how did the extraction go?”
“We found…an alien. He wants to meet with you. You’re the one who’s in charge of everything, right? Like, across the board.”
“You could say that. A unit is already on its way. It should be there shortly.”
As Myrddin hung up, the ground brightened with beams of light from an extraction vessel. The vessel floate
d in the sky like a hanging city block.
The alien in the escape pod covered its eyes as it stared up at the vessel. Alex came over, shielding her eyes as well. “Guess our ride is here. Welcome to Middang3ard.” She extended her hand to the alien.
The alien looked at Alex’s hand for a long time before understanding bloomed on its face. With a nod, it took the hand and, looking Alex in the eyes, said, “Thank you. I only hope I have arrived in time.”
Alex was just exposed to an alien who has come here for mysterious reasons. Reasons that just might end the war with the Dark One. Find out what those reasons are in An Alien Affair.
Author Notes Ramy Vance
April 3, 2020
I've been hard at work on follow-up last year’s hit series – The Toddler.
Seems the Toddler is about to face his greatest challenge yet when a new heroes comes onto the scene.
Meet … The Sibling … Pray her nappy is dry.
Tired of the same old urban fantasy plot lines? Looking for something brand new and mind-bending?
Check out Ramy Vance’s brand new series Urban Fantasy series: The Silbling
Last year, the Toddler saved the city from a powerful magic. After battling dragons and dirty diapers, the Toddler thought he was prepared to face anything.
But now that there’s a new hero in town, the Toddler must face his greatest challenge yet. He must learn to share.
If you like the Dresden Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Seasame Street, then you’ll be helplessly addicted to The Toddler’s spin-off series: The Sibling
COMING SOON!
Praise for The Sibling:
★★★★★ “Finally a breath of … well … seriously stinky air.”
★★★★★ “Buffy meets Dora the Explorer.”
★★★★★ “Move over Paw Patrol … Adventure Bay finally has a couple of real hero in town.”
