The First Human Rider
Page 7
She was glad she did because Liza and George were practically screaming as the dragon rose higher and higher. Either way, they’re going to freak out, Alex thought. Might as well give them something to scream about.
Alex pulled back on her Dragon Link and her ether dragon shot up into the sky so fast it brought tears to Alex’s eyes. The screams of her parents grew louder and louder, until finally they burst through the first layer of clouds.
The dragon slowed, almost floating in the air.
The sun filtered through the clouds, painting everything in a golden hue. From here, it was smooth sailing. The dragon soared above the village beneath them. “This,” Alex said, “this is what I spend all of my time doing. But this? This isn’t nothing.”
Alex leaned forward, and the ether dragon sped up like a shooting star. They were headed east. There was something Alex wanted to show her parents—her favorite place. She’d never shared it with anyone else in Middang3ard.
Alex wasn’t even sure other players knew about it. This area of the map was hardly ever explored since there were so many high-level monsters on the ground. But Dragonriders? They could go anywhere.
They flew in silence for some time. Liza and George had finally relaxed and were watching the clouds pass. They were beyond words. Alex knew how they felt; it had been the same for her.
Alex could never sum up how it felt to stare down at the world of Middang3ard and see how small and fragile everything was. She didn’t think she would ever get tired of it.
Finally, they came up on what Alex wanted to show them. It was a mountain, nearly as large as the one during the final expansion raid. Its peak was covered in snow.
Alex leaned forward to coax the dragon ahead. A few minutes later, they were at the top of the mountain. She guided her dragon to a landing area and leaped off before telling her parents they could do the same.
The Bounds walked across the snow-covered ground. Alex went to the edge of the mountain and sat down, dangling her feet over. Liza sat down next to her, while George stood behind them. “So, this is what you want to protect?” Liza asked.
Alex didn’t say anything at first. It was more than a want. “This is what I have to protect,” she finally replied.
A voice came from behind them. “What do you think of Middang3ard?”
Liza and George turned and were greeted by another holograph of Myrddin. Liza looked down at the sweeping green plains, the villages, and all the people not even visible from this height.
Above them, youngling dragons were playing with each other and dancing in the sunlight. “It’s beautiful,” Liza admitted. “And it’s real?”
“Just as real and fragile as Earth.”
Liza sat back down at Alex’s side. “Honey, what do you want to do?” she asked.
“You mean it?” Alex replied.
Her mother took a long moment before finally nodding, wiping away her tears. “There’s nothing I can say to stop you.”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
Liza nodded, gulping back more tears. “This is your decision, not ours. Not mine. Whatever you decide, we’ll support you.”
Alex watched the dragons dancing above as she leaned back in the snow so she could feel the cold creep up the back of her neck. “I want to be able to talk to them every day, no matter what. Anytime I want to.”
Myrddin came over and took a seat next to the Bounds. “Of course,” Myrddin offered. “Unlimited communication is the least we can do for our champions.”
Alex’s face lit up with a smile as she turned to face Myrddin.
“Awesome. When do we leave?”
The story is far from over.
The battle continues in Ascent to the Nest!
If you enjoyed this book, you might also enjoy the Middang3ard series.
Available now at Amazon
What if J.R.R. Tolkien's work wasn't fiction, but a primer to help humanity get accustomed to a harsh truth?
There are nine known realms, a world for each race, including dwarves, gnomes, and elves.
In the middle rests Middang3ard.
Each world knows the others. Each, except Earth.
Humans long ago turned their backs on magic, throwing their stock into science and technology, their governments shielding the people from the reality of what was going on elsewhere.
So be it. Humans were never very good at getting along with other races anyway.
Then the Dark One appeared, threatening to overrun the nine worlds, starting with Middang3ard and ending with the humans’ planet.
The second planet just went dark, Earth can't stay out of the fight, but can it do anything to save its own future?
Now, humans must send elite warriors to Middang3ard to fight, else humans will fight on the shores of their own lands when the Dark One invades Earth.
Too bad their elite starts and ends with Robert ‘Suzuki’ Fletcher and his team of Mundanes.
Get it now at Amazon
Author Notes Ramy Vance
December 21, 2019
It’s Christmas, people… and here in the Vance household we have a tradition... we sing ‘Hi John’.
Sure we also sing Christmas carols, carve turkey and wear sweat pants, but it wouldn’t be Christmas without ‘Hi John’.
John (my four year old at the time of this publication) was born 5 weeks early in one of the most harrowing 20 minutes of my life. My wife had developed a condition called H.E.L.L.P. (ironic name, I know). It is incredibly dangerous for the mother and she needed to have an emergency cesarean.
Over the next 6 days, I spend my time divided between the post-natal ward with John and the ‘blood ward’ (my name for the place) where my wife was being treated.
So here I was, alone with a new born that I had no idea what to do with. Hell, I didn’t even know any nursery rhymes or songs. My wife knew them all, but she was in another ward, completely out of it.
John would cry and I wouldn’t know what to do (even writing this induces the water-works… hold yourself Ramy! You’re in a very crowded cafe. Stiff upper lip. Stiff upper lip!)
Eventually I did the only thing I could think of … I made a song up. Now if you’ve ever met me, you’ll know that I have zero musical talent. Seriously. I mean, I’ve heard about the ‘beat’. People have told me it exists, but I’ve never experienced it for myself.
And the little diddy I made up for my son reflects that… Here are the lyrics:
Hi John, how are you?
How are you, today?
I love John so much,
I love him more than play…
Hi, John, how are you?
What shall we do today?
Rudimentary, right? But here’s the weird thing. My son would stop crying as soon as I sang: I love him more than play...
When he heard those words, he’s go silent.
Every. Single. Time.
In the coming years, I have convinced people I know to professionally record the song. I got country-and-western singer named Steve Rivers to do it, a Norweigen Rock Band and a Hip Hop Producer, too. (If you’d like to check out the various versions of the song, they’re all in my Facebook Group: House of the GoneGod Damned. Click HERE to join. I’ll be sharing a post about the song on Chrismas Day, 2019.)
And so now, several different versions of ‘Hi John’ later, a new Christmas tradition is born.
A song for John, the kid I truly love more than anything, even play...
Author Notes Michael Anderle
December 21, 2019
Thank you for reading our story! Because of you readers, we get to do what we love…create more stories!
“Blind? We are going to do a blind hero? AND you want to…”
You know, I don’t really remember the exact way Ramy and I worked out this story.
Not without going back through our notes, where we chatted back and forth, but I am very happy with this first book. In it, we lay out the challenges of our protagonist and how she
has to overcome her preconceptions about herself.
And she’s then unleashed into her future.
The more I learn about my own disability (I’m a bit on the spectrum), I realize that had I known more about it earlier in my life, I might have sought out ways to overcome the challenges. However, I am completely happy with the unexpected benefits.
Yes, I am challenged at times working with other people because I fail to communicate well. I’ve had issues talking to everyone from my older brothers to workmates because my brain fails to put into words all of my thoughts in a cohesive discourse.
When I see nothing but confusion on the faces of those I’m speaking to, I know I have once again left out a few salient points.
But unleash me with a laptop, and the challenges I have talking to others go away. I can’t explain a story while chatting at the table, but I can weave a tale with a typewriter.
For all the challenges which often cause failure when speaking, I’m provided benefits when I type. What I would have sacrificed to “fix” earlier in my life, I wouldn’t give a dime to change now. What felt like a curse, I now count as a blessing.
May you find how what you feel is a curse might become a blessing to you as well.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Other Books by the Authors
Other Middang3ard Books
Never Split The Party (01)
Late To the Party (02)
It’s My Party (03)
Death Of An Author: A Middang3ard Novella
Other Books by Ramy Vance
Mortality Bites Series
Keep Evolving Series
Fatebound Series
Other Books by Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes. To see all LMBPN audiobooks, including those written by Michael Anderle please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/audible
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