by Ramy Vance
Vardis pulled the closest islands into the lava as well, leaving Alex nowhere to go as the alien continued trying to pull Chine into the lava.
Chine, in a last-ditch effort, reached out of the lava and grabbed Alex. He flung her toward another island.
Alex hit the island and rolled across its surface, then drew her scythe, and slammed it into the stone to keep herself from going off the edge.
Vardis was already back in the air. He was pulling rocks from the side of the mountain and throwing them at Chine to keep the dragon from getting out of the lava.
Alex knew that even if Chine could handle being exposed to lava, he wasn’t a red dragon. The lava was going to eat through all his augments and eventually his skin as well.
Not knowing what else to do, Alex concentrated on a mental spear. She hurled it at Vardis, infusing it with every hurtful thing she could remember from his past.
Vardis grabbed his head and swayed to the side. It was enough to let Chine pull himself out of the lava and fly to Alex.
The dragon landed behind his rider and collapsed in a heap of flames. Alex ran to him, only briefly deterred by the flames. She took a deep breath and plunged through them to throw her arms around Chine’s neck. Hey, buddy, are you okay?
Chine groaned as he tried to lift his head. Just need a moment.
Alex looked at Chine’s claws and could see he was bleeding draconic fluid heavily. She plunged her anchor into the claw augment to draw out as much of his pain as possible.
The feeling was almost unbearable. The psychic link between Chine and Alex was strong enough that she felt all of his pain, coupled with the pain of absorbing the superheated fluid into the anchor.
But it wasn’t only going to the anchor. Alex felt the draconic fluid entering her blood.
A boulder smashed into the island Alex and Chine were on, nearly hitting the dragon in the head.
Vardis was floating above them with four boulders revolving around him, preparing to launch another attack.
Alex drew her scythe and slashed one of the boulders as it flew at Chine. “Leave him alone! He’s done! Can’t you see that?”
Vardis cackled madly as he prepared to throw another boulder. “Is he?”
Behind Alex, Chine whimpered softly.
That sound was too much for Alex, and something in her snapped.
Her blood started to boil.
Everything went red, and Alex reached out with everything she had to pull Vardis to her.
Black flames erupted across Alex’s body as her blood metabolized the draconic fluid in her blood, boosting her energy exponentially.
Vardis was pulled to Alex, incapable of stopping her.
The alien hit the island face-first.
Alex, eyes burning pure black, grabbed him by the back of the neck and raised him into the air, then kicked him in the stomach with a combination of brute strength and telekinetic energy.
Vardis spit up blood as his eyes went wide with pain.
Alex slammed her bionic fist into the top of Vardis’ skull, smashing him into the ground. Then she climbed on top of him, blind with rage, and started punching him in the head. The air was filled with the sound of bones cracking.
Her fist blazed with black energy as it crashed down on Vardis’ head again and again.
Alex didn’t know how long she’d been striking him. She didn’t stop until she heard Chine’s voice in her head. They’re here. Reinforcements are here.
The flames disappeared and Alex ran to Chine, then leaped onto his back and attached her anchor. “Can you fly?”
Yes, Dustling.
Alex pulled up on her anchor, and Chine took off. A circle of riders ringed the rim of the volcano. All of Boundless was there, along with more than twenty mech riders, their weapons trained on Vardis.
Alex reached for the shard and pulled it to her, clutching it tightly under her arm as she and Chine got out of range. “Hit him with everything you got!” she shouted.
Boundless and the rest of the riders didn’t have to be told twice. They unloaded energy projectiles, breath attacks, and missiles at the alien.
Vardis weakly threw up a shield, but it did nothing.
A small explosion erupted in the volcano as each attack landed on Vardis.
Once the smoke settled, Alex could see Vardis’ body. She, along with everyone else, watched to see if the alien was going to stand.
He didn’t move.
Alex commed her team and the rest of the riders. “I’m going to check and see if he’s done.” She guided Chine down to Vardis’ body, jumped off, and walked over to the alien.
Smoke was still coming off the body. She knelt beside him and put her finger to his neck to feel for a pulse.
Vardis’ hand shot up and grabbed her arm. He weakly tilted his head and glared at her. The hate and anger in his eyes would probably have killed Alex if the alien had any more strength left. “You had your chance,” he spat.
Alex wrenched her arm away from him. “No, you had yours. We could have worked together. Your blind desire for vengeance did this.”
Vardis started laughing, hacking up blood. “Oh, Alex, it was so much more than vengeance. Do you know what it is like to not know your own mind? To have it broken so you do not even know who you are anymore?”
Alex stood up, looking disdainfully at the alien. “I got pretty close to finding out because of you. You’ve become everything you hated.”
Vardis was still laughing softly. “What are you going to do with the shard?”
“Put it someplace safe. I know how dangerous it is. We’re never going to let anyone like you get their hands on it again.”
Vardis continued coughing blood and rolled over on his side, glaring at Alex from one of his eyes. “You might think so, but I have a parting gift for you—one you will no doubt enjoy.”
Vardis closed his eyes, his body thrumming with energy. A shockwave emerged from him and spread through the volcano, but it did not stop there. It reverberated across Middang3ard and into all nine of the realms.
“Let them see you for what you really are.”
The vision hit her with the force of a megaton bomb. It nearly obliterated her memories.
Then she felt something between her and the vision. Alex wasn’t certain what had put itself between her and Vardis’ illusion, but whatever it was, it was strong.
The vision was not meant for her. It was meant for the rest of Middang3ard.
She could see herself in the medbay. Roy was there. There was a knock on the door, and Roy answered it. Vardis asked to come in, and Roy allowed it.
As soon as Vardis stepped into the room, Alex’s eyes went wild with hate. Ether flames burst across her body. She flew into a rage and attacked Vardis.
The two began their battle through the military base, Vardis fleeing from Alex and her giving chase. She killed two nurses in her rage. Nothing was going to stop her. Finally, Vardis managed to knock her out to give himself enough time to escape.
Roy came to Alex’s side, asking why she had attacked Vardis. Alex gave no answer but turned on Roy instead, knocking him out. Then she chased Vardis, finding him at the collider.
Vardis went through the collider, and Alex went after him. She followed him to the volcano, where he was trying to place the weapon. He explained that Alex was wrong about it destroying the whole universe, that it was a mind trick the Dark One had played on her.
Alex watched herself telling Vardis that there was no trick, that the Dark One had promised her power and she’d accepted it. She told him she was betraying Middang3ard.
Roy came over the rim of the volcano. He begged Alex not to go over to the Dark One’s side. Alex shouted that it was the only way she could save her life. The Dark One was going to win. She wasn’t going to become a slave.
Alex attacked Roy with Chine, nearly killing him. Then she turned her wrath on Vardis.
The mech and dragonriders arrived as Alex was beating Vardis, who was begging for his l
ife. He promised that if Alex would just let him use the weapon, the Dark One would be destroyed, and she wouldn’t have anything to fear.
Alex climbed on top of the alien and strangled him to death.
The vision ended, and Alex stumbled away from Vardis as the alien cackled and coughed. He spat blood and looked at her. “You had your chance, Alex.” Then he closed his eyes, never to open them again.
Alex was trying to get a grip on what had just happened. She looked up at Team Boundless and the rest of the mech riders, watching to see what was going to happen.
Across from her, Roy had gotten to his feet and was approaching Alex. There was something off in his face. “You killed him,” Roy murmured. “We were so close to destroying the Dark One, and you killed him.”
Alex backed away, waving her hands. “No, Roy, it isn’t what you think.”
“You sold us out to the Dark One.”
Roy’s face was dark as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Alex, but I can’t let you leave.”
Chine dropped from the sky and grabbed Alex in his claws. He took off into the air as Alex crawled up his arm and anchored herself to his back.
Chine swerved around some mech riders, heading for the open sky. Vardis warped their memories. You saw the vision?
Yeah, I saw it.
That’s what they all believe to be true.
Alex’s heart sank as she imagined Boundless believing she had betrayed them. Everyone?
Not everyone. I was able to shield Boundless, so they were only partially affected.
Alex thought it had been Chine who had protected her. Wait, you didn’t help me?
No. That was not me.
Alex commed Boundless. “Team, on me! We need to get out of here.”
No one answered at first, but then a steady stream of replies came in. Alex looked over her shoulder and saw Boundless peeling off from the rest of the riders surrounding the volcano. “Alex?” Jim asked. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later. We need to get out of here now.”
Boundless followed Alex as Roy walked over to Vardis’ body. He knelt beside him and cradled Vardis’ head. “You didn’t deserve this, not after everything you did to help us.” He closed the alien’s eyes and commed the mech riders above. “Pursue Team Boundless.”
The mech riders took off.
Roy stood in the volcano peered at Vardis, and his left eye started to twitch. It was the unease of a man who knew something was not right but did not understand what was amiss. He stared for some time at the alien’s body.
Chapter Ten
Team Boundless didn’t speak as they flew. Alex wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence. Even she wasn’t certain about what she’d just seen. She knew it wasn’t true, much like the memories Vardis’ had placed in her about her parents, yet they were there and as easy to recall as anything she’d experienced.
I couldn’t have seen them since I was blind, she repeated to herself. She analyzed the vision from Vardis the same way, looking for the inconsistencies that only she could see and reminding herself of what she knew to be true while allowing Chine to fly unguided.
“We got bogies on our six!” Jim shouted.
Alex checked the area. The mech riders were closing in on Boundless. She had to get her head in the game. There was no way to know what the mech riders were planning to do to her and Boundless, but she wanted to be prepared for whatever came.
One of the mech riders opened a comm to Alex. “Team Boundless. We are ordering you to descend. You will be taken into custody. I repeat, descend.”
Alex weighed her options. She knew the extent of Vardis’ power, even during his dying breaths. Whatever was lodged in their minds was not going to be easily destroyed. “Negative,” she replied.
As Alex was preparing to give orders to her team, the world went black around her, the back of her head erupting in pain.
It was the Dark One.
“Vardis’ attack would have destroyed you if not for me,” he said.
Alex burst out laughing. The Dark One had saved her? Why? “You’re kidding. Why would you have saved me?” Alex asked.
“Consider it recompense. You saved my life. It was fitting that I saved yours.”
Alex didn’t know what to make of the statement. The Dark One being capable of something like honor went against everything she thought she knew about him.
Rather than engage with him, Alex concentrated on severing their connection. The darkness faded, and she was back with Team Boundless.
Gill and Brath were shouting, trying to find out what they were supposed to do.
Alex wracked her brain, attempting to come up with a plan to get them out of the mess they were in. “We’re not going to fight them. Even if they don’t know it, we’re on the same team. Keep heading east. We’ll lose them in the pixie forest. Their mechs can’t keep up with us in the trees.”
Jim’s voice came through the comm. “How do you know that?”
Because this is the forest where we took out those giants on our date!
Alex didn’t answer. Even if Boundless hadn’t been affected by the illusion like the rest of the riders, it was obvious that there had been some disruption in their memories. “Do you guys trust me?”
The comm was silent.
Finally, Brath said, “Yeah. With my life.”
Then Gill. “I’m with you.”
Jollies, who had been shouting indiscernible words the whole time, finally managed, “Always, Alex.”
There was silence again. Alex waited to hear what Jim said. “We’re heading for the pixie forest, right? The one where we took out those giants?”
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, that one.”
Jim slowed his mech down and fell behind the rest of Boundless. “Good. I got this one. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
As the team sped past him, he let off ten proximity mines. Then he plunged into the forest beneath him.
The mech riders raced past where Jim had been, intent on dealing with Alex.
The mines went off as they flew over them, blinding the riders and disrupting their mechs.
Jim kicked in his thrusters to catch up with the rest of Boundless. They were flying through the forest, weaving between the trees while trying to stay as close to the ground as possible.
Alex pulled up her tactical map and surveyed the area. There was a cave up ahead, and earlier intel suggested it might be in use by the pixies of the area. “Jollies, I want you to go ahead and talk to the pixies. See if we can hole up in their cave. Got it?”
Jollies delivered an exceptionally chirpy “affirmative” and peeled off from the rest of the group.
Alex took Chine down to the ground and ordered the rest of Boundless to land.
The only dragon rider having a problem was Brath. Furi was too large to move comfortably through the forest. “Brath, don’t wait for us. You can’t do this stealth stuff with Furi. Head to the coordinates I’m sending you and make sure it’s safe.”
Brath didn’t bother responding, just took off toward the lake.
Alex turned to Gill and Jim, who had rejoined them. “We need to take this slow.”
The three of them took their time moving through the forest, occasionally stopping to listen as the mech riders flew over them.
The forest was too dense for the mech riders to see through, and the trees covered any heat signatures Boundless might give off.
Gill watched the sky as Alex and Jim moved forward, occasionally calling out the position of the mech riders, who kept stopping and scanning for Boundless.
Jollies came rushing back, staying low. “The pixies say we can stay. We just have to get there fast.”
The pixie cave wasn’t far from the lake. Alex commed Brath, told him about the change of plans, and sent him the coordinates of the cave.
Under the setting sun, Boundless made their way to the cave, taking their time, ever aware of the riders above them. They made it t
o the cave without incident.
The pixies stood outside, watching Boundless anxiously. One of the pixies came forward and asked, “You two. You were here before, weren’t you?”
Jim opened his mech and stuck his head out. “Yeah, we were. Weren’t we?”
Alex leaped off Chine and approached the pixies. The tiny beings looked as if they were ready to flee, but they held their ground. “A little while ago,” she said, “all of you escorted us on a date. Do you remember?”
The pixies flicked through different hues, eventually landing on a faded pink. “Yes, a date. It was truly awkward for you two. How could we forget? Come, come.”
They led Boundless to their cave, which was much larger than a pixie cave had any reason to be. Boundless was easily able to fit inside, and their dragons rested on the outside, concealing themselves as best they could.
Alex and the rest of Boundless sat just inside, watching the mech riders flying overhead and waiting for the heat to die down.
Jim came over to Alex and took a seat beside her. “What’s going on?”
Alex, who didn’t take her eyes off the mech riders above, said, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Is that cool?”
Jim nodded solemnly, and he and the rest of the team went farther into the pixie cave.
Alex continued to watch the mech riders long into the night. She didn’t get to sleep until dawn approached.
Alex woke up the next morning under Chine’s wings. She was nestled close to the dragon, his heartbeat making it difficult to join the land of the awake. Ugh, Chine, I had the worst dream ever. Vardis tricked everyone into thinking I was a crappy person, and then we had to go on the run. It was the worst.
Chine stood up and spread his wings, flapping them gently and sending dust everywhere. Dustling, I am sorry to tell you that was not a dream.
Alex stretched and got to her feet. How long have I been out?
Two days. The rest of Boundless went to the lake. They’re waiting to hear from you.
