by Ramy Vance
The tips of Roy’s index fingers began to give off a faint blue light, then a plasma blast the size of a small car burst out, pushing him back against Alex.
It went straight at Vardis, whose eyes widened in fear. He tossed up a psychic shield as the plasma blast engulfed him.
Roy ran over to Alex and helped her to her feet. “Come on, we need to take cover. I don’t know how much juice this thing has.” He ran off, dragging Alex behind him. “Speaking of juice, how are you holding up?”
Alex leaned on the tank they were taking cover behind. “Tired, but I’ll make it. I don’t know if I can launch any more psychic attacks, but other than that, I can hang. What’s the plan?”
“Uh, now that calling for backup is out of the question, I’m thinking we maybe try not dying?”
Vardis’ scream rang through the hangar as the ground trembled. “He’s losing it,” Alex said. “He was referring to himself with the royal ‘we’ earlier, and you saw the look in his eyes. He’s unhinged.”
Roy was looking at the power reserves on his suit. “I was thinking it had more to do with the whole ‘wipe out an entire universe without thinking twice’ vibe but you know, to each their own.”
“I reached out to Chine, but I don’t know if he heard me, and I don’t think I can do it again.”
Roy nodded as he checked over the side of the tank for Vardis. “Guess it boils down to us. Thought you should know, you fight better than most people with three times your experience. And I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid with as much heart as you.”
Alex clapped Roy on the shoulder. “It’s cute how you get all sentimental when you think you’re going to die. Has Myrddin seen this side of you?”
“More than I’d like to admit. You ready? I’ll go left—”
“I’ll hit him from the right. Let’s go.”
They split up and went their respective ways. As Roy ran through the maze of broken tanks and helicopters, he kicked a truck-sized amount of debris out of his way, then stepped into the open.
A tank flew at Roy. He barely jumped out of the way, then rolled on the floor and fired two more plasma blasts in the direction the tank had come from.
Meanwhile, Alex circled around to flank Vardis while the alien’s attention was on Roy.
Vardis was out in the open as well, but a psychic shield surrounded him—a giant bubble with a blue aura.
Alex assumed the shield would protect Vardis from psychic blasts and a reasonable amount of physical damage, but she wasn’t planning on limiting it to “reasonable.”
She charged him at full speed. While the alien was focused on deflecting Roy’s plasma attacks, Alex leaped, whipped out her scythe, and slashed his shield open.
Vardis spun, catching Alex in midair. He pointed, and she slammed into the wall.
The rider tried to move, but she could not. It felt like a giant hand was squashing her into the wall. The alien wasn’t holding back anymore.
Roy clapped his hands and fired another giant bolt of plasma.
This time Vardis was ready. He flew toward the ceiling, letting the plasma race past him. Then he yanked Roy into the air and held him there for a moment before slamming him into the ground.
Roy was trying to get to his feet when Vardis grabbed him again and flung him into the air before sending him back into the crater the first attack had created.
Vardis laughed loudly as white energy shot from his eyes.
Alex felt the alien’s grip tightening around her body.
Once more, Roy was thrown into the air, only to be brought back down with enough force to break more than a few bones. This time Roy didn’t get back up. He laid there, unconscious.
Alex struggled against Vardis’ grip. “Get up, Roy! Get up!”
Vardis whirled to face Alex. “You can’t get up when you’re dead, human!”
Come on, Chine! If you’re gonna get here, you better make it fast, Alex thought.
Vardis floated over to Alex and stopped nearly nose to nose with her. “Did you think you had a chance?”
Alex tried to fight off his attack, but her mind was too tired. “What now? You kill me and go to Middang3ard like nothing happened? Don’t you think everyone is going to be suspicious if Roy and I don’t show up?”
“You’re in the medbay, and Roy said he was going to stay with you until you got better.”
“And the staff here? They’re just going to pretend they didn’t see anything.”
Vardis pressed his finger to Alex’s forehead. “A few human minds to warp? Hardly a problem. You should know by now how fragile the human psyche is.”
Alex tried to pull away from Vardis’ finger. “Doesn’t seem to be any more delicate than yours. Remember, I was in your head as well, and what I saw didn’t look particularly strong.”
Vardis winced at Alex’s words. “Sometimes the things we see, they change us. We don’t always get to choose how they do it. Change just happens.”
The two looked at each other in silence for some time, Vardis’ words hanging over Alex like an axe ready to fall on her neck. “You don’t have to be changed like this,” she offered.
Vardis turned away from the rider. “No, Alex. Someone must be strong enough to destroy the Dark One. I have that strength. I will not fail.”
Alex felt a familiar warmth in the back of her head. It was Chine, but she was too tired to hear him. There was only a faint feeling of reassurance.
All Alex had to do was keep Vardis talking. She’d noticed the more she tugged at him, the harder time he seemed to have fighting. That was all this was now. He was distracted enough not to outright kill her and Roy. “What happened, Vardis?” Alex asked. “What really happened? Everything in your dreams, in your mind, was all jumbled. What did you see?”
The alien’s shoulders relaxed and he sighed heavily. When he looked at Alex, his eyes had returned to normal, and his lower lip trembled. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. There are things I remember, but I’m not sure if they’re my memories or if someone placed them there.”
Alex wanted to take his words and throw them back in his face since apparently his mind could be broken as well, but that would have sent him into a rage that could easily end with him killing her right then and there. “Did someone tamper with your mind?”
Vardis’ eyes hardened, and he looked like he was preparing to fly into another murderous rage. “It doesn’t matter. I know the Dark One is real, and I know what he is capable of. That is all that matters. Goodbye, Alex.”
Alex felt an invisible force tighten around her throat and wrists. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were starting to burn, and everything was going fuzzy. “Wait, wait…”
Vardis crossed his arms and laughed harshly. “What for?”
The concrete wall Alex was pinned to exploded forward, throwing concrete and debris everywhere as Chine’s head burst through the wall.
Vardis released her, and she fell to the floor.
Chine scooped Alex into his claws, where she lay limp for a moment, almost too weak to stand. I am here, Alex.
Alex shakily got to her feet, peering over Chine’s claws at Vardis. Glad to hear that. Now let’s toast that bastard.
Chine smiled toothily before loosing a blast of ether fire that consumed Vardis.
Chapter Five
Alex climbed up Chine’s back and laid down, anchoring her feet to Chine so she wouldn’t slide off. She felt ready to pass out. The battle had been grueling, but it was over. An extended stay in the medbay sounded heavenly.
Then she remembered Roy and sat bolt upright. “Chine, we need to check on Roy!”
The dragon swooped from the rafters to Roy’s body. Alex forced herself up and jumped off Chine. She ran over to Roy’s side and knelt next to him. “Roy! Roy!”
Roy rolled over, groaning loudly. His nose looked broken and was gushing blood, but other than that, he looked fine. “Don’t know why we stopped using these suits. These things are tough.”
&nbs
p; Alex helped Roy sit up. “I don’t think you can give the suit all the credit for you still breathing.”
“Don’t want to get too full of myself. My head is big enough.” The mech rider leaned back, wincing from the pain, and looked at Chine. “Glad you made it when you did. I don’t know what kind of steroids Vardis was on, but he was a monster to take down. Wouldn’t be surprised if he would have given a couple of dragons a run for their money.”
Alex took a seat next to Roy. She needed to be off her feet for a little bit. “Yeah, talk about good timing. How’d you find us, Chine?”
The dragon curled around Alex and Roy, smoke coming from his nostrils. I’ve been looking since we were escorted off the base. It seemed odd that we all had to leave you while you were in the medbay. The captain who issued the order did not seem to be in complete control of his faculties.
“Vardis probably inserted the idea into his head. The poor man most likely didn’t know the idea was false.”
Chine nodded slowly. That was what I assumed after I remembered how strong a telepath you said Vardis was. It is not a simple task to rewrite someone’s memory; even I can’t do that. But once I had my doubts, I did not stop searching for your thoughts and your heart. Unfortunately, I’m too large to sneak away from a convoy without being missed.
Alex laughed as she imagined the dragon trying to sneak through the Nest. “Yeah, that’s hard to imagine. Where did you come from?”
Boundless and I were responsible for transporting the shard to a collider transport near here. There are a few military bases with designated colliders, this being one of them. From there, we were being taken to another base to get outfitted with augments in case something came up.
“How come Myrddin didn’t have you go back to Middang3ard?”
Roy stepped in to answer that one. “He probably had them hang back in case something happened here. Boundless might be one of our best teams, but you aren’t the only forces Myrddin has at his disposal. The shard’s going to be heavily guarded. It would make more sense to have you guys stationed here in case something happened.”
“Something like Vardis trying to kill you and me.”
“Exactly.”
Roy struggled to get to his feet, leaning on Alex’s head like a makeshift cane while hauling himself upright. Then he reached down and helped her up. “Come on, we should check out the corpse. Knowing Myrddin, he’ll probably want to ship it to some science department and have it dissected.”
Alex thought of Abby getting Vardis’ body in the mail and how much it would freak her out. “Oh, yeah, I imagine that’ll make everyone’s day.”
The two of them walked over to where Vardis’ corpse lay, followed by Chine, who towered over them.
Vardis’ skin was burned to a crisp, and his body, which lay face-down looked like a broken toy. Alex thought the alien’s corpse looked pathetic, almost tragic. The last few moments she’d shared with him had deeply confused her. Even though Vardis had the drive, it didn’t seem like he understood where it was coming from. “I think someone tampered with Vardis’ memories,” Alex suggested.
Roy rolled Vardis’ body over, knelt, and peered into the alien’s eyes. “Wouldn’t know how to tell. The only training I have in all this psychic stuff is protecting my mind. I don’t know how to tell if someone has been or is currently being manipulated. Not my field of expertise. But even if he was, you gotta hand it to the guy. He sure as hell knew how to put up a fight.”
“The Dark One is stronger than he was.”
Roy looked over his shoulder at Alex, his face puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Alex thought it was obvious. “Vardis nearly tore us apart. If Chine hadn’t gotten the jump on him, he might have been able to take him as well. He destroyed nearly twice as many ships as anyone else on the moon without breaking a sweat. Vardis was the strongest being I’ve ever met. And the Dark One is supposed to be even stronger?”
Roy shrugged as he pulled out a cigar and lit it. “Yeah, he is stronger. Don’t mean we can’t beat him, though. You saw today that just because someone is tough, it doesn’t mean they can’t die. Vardis was the biggest, baddest son-of-a-gun you’ve fought so far. Now he’s dead. The Dark One is next. Don’t tell me you’re starting to crack.”
“No, it’s not that. I just mean, if I was as strong as Vardis and knew there was something stronger than me out there, I might have been insane enough to want to use that shard. It would probably seem like a good idea.”
Roy walked over to Alex and ruffled her hair. “Well, I’m glad you’re not that strong, then. Come on, we should regroup with the rest of the team. They’re probably wondering where Chine is by now. I’ll radio for someone to take care of this. Comm should be back up with this asshat taken care of.”
Roy pulled up his comm and frowned as he heard static. Then he pulled up his HUD menu. There was nothing there. “That’s odd.”
A massive psychic blast erupted, sending Alex, Roy, and Chine flying.
The cracked skin on Vardis’ body started to peel back like the burned outer layer of a marshmallow. A slimy, slippery Vardis emerged from the thin layer of burned, dead skin. He looked untouched by Chine’s fire attack.
The alien stretched out his hand as if he were getting used to his new skin. “I’m flattered that you had such kind things to say about me when you thought I was dead. It’s fitting for warriors such as yourselves.”
Without wasting another word, Vardis exploded into the sky, taking off in the direction Alex could only imagine led to the shard.
Alex rubbed her head, trying to shake away the ringing in her ears. She wasn’t ready to keep fighting, but it didn’t look like she had a choice. “Wait, Vardis is screwed. The shard is on Middang3ard. He can’t get out of this realm without the collider, and that’s where everyone is.”
Roy was on his feet, and a vein in the side of his neck was bulging. “Unless he has got more tricks we don’t know about, which wouldn’t surprise me. I didn’t think the S.O.B. could fake his death so easily. Why the hell did he do that?”
“Information. He obviously was so focused on the fight that he couldn’t just lift the masterplan from our minds, so he waited until Chine conveniently explained everything that’s happened since he attacked me. Vardis might be insane, but he knows how to plan.”
“That makes our next step easy. I’m loading the coordinates into your anchor. Looks like he’s far enough away that however he was jamming our comm isn’t working anymore. Or maybe he just doesn’t care.”
Alex checked her anchor for the coordinates, and just as Roy had said, the jamming to their system was gone. “You want to talk to the team, and I’ll focus on riding? I need to talk to Chine.”
Alex climbed onto the dragon’s back, and Roy followed. She anchored and then pulled out a pair of auxiliary reins that she attached to Chine’s back and then handed to Roy. “Hold on,” she advised. “I’ll take it as slow as I can.”
Roy waved away Alex’s concerns. “Don’t worry about me. This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the back of a dragon without an anchor. Do you think they just shove us into mechs without bothering to teach us the basics? You fly as hard as you can.”
Alex nodded and pulled back on her anchor, launching Chine into the air. You can find him, right, Chine?
Chine replied, If we work together, we can find him. He’s trying to cover his tracks by blocking his energy from us, but together, we can find him. Reach out, Dustling. Reach out and grab him.
Alex did just that, focusing on scanning the sky for Vardis’ energy. She knew that energy intimately since it had tortured her mentally and tried to kill her for the last two hours. It shouldn’t be difficult to find.
The rider and dragon searched for a little bit before Alex picked up a trace. She zeroed in on it, directing Chine to fly after the flicker. “Hey, Roy, you get in touch with everyone yet?”
Roy’s voice came over Alex’s comm. “Yeah, I did. It’s going to take them a l
ittle time to get prepared, though. The facility’s only makeshift. Most of the dragon hardware they have still needs to be set up, and Boundless is going to have to bring every weapon that they can get their hands on to this fight.”
Alex was about to answer Roy when she felt a sharp pain near the back of her skull. Then her mind erupted in agony, but not the sort she felt from Vardis’ attacks. This was much different. It was as if a single thought were repeating as often and loudly in Alex’s head as possible.
She knew exactly what it was.
The Dark One.
Alex stopped trying to fight it and let the Dark One in. The world around her faded away, and she was in the dark place with a thin sliver of light in the distance. The thought was coming from the light. “He comes for the shard,” the Dark One growled.
Alex wanted to roll her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was why the Dark One had invaded her mind. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”
“Have you rethought my proposition?
“Uh-uh, what did we talk about when it came to names? Use mine.”
“Alex. What is your decision?”
Alex hadn’t thought about the Dark One’s promise since he made it. Something had appealed to her about it, and she was starting to think that was because of the Dark One’s influence. Since then, she’d grown stronger, strong enough to ward it off unconsciously. “I’ll keep Vardis from using the weapon, but I’m not giving it to you, and I have no desire whatsoever to join your army. I’m going to destroy you.”
“I advise you to—”
“I’m done with this.”
Alex cut the link, violently forcing the Dark One from her mind. It surprised her as much as it must have surprised him.
Suddenly Alex was back in the real world, riding Chine, who had taken over during his rider’s brief lapse. She looked down at her anchor, which told her they were only a couple of minutes from the other base. Vardis might already be there, but it didn’t matter. He hadn’t beaten her yet. Why would this time be any different?
