by Ramy Vance
The last few days (or weeks, she didn’t know) had finally caught up with her. Everything she had been pushing down, pretending it wasn’t driving her crazy, came bubbling up to the surface. It needed to be gone. She needed to get it out.
Alex pulled away from the toilet and cowered in the corner as she sobbed. She tried to keep herself from crying. This was her life now.
She caught her tears in her hand and held it out. Alex had never seen herself cry. Part of her wanted to look in the mirror to see what this pain looked like.
Alex heard the door of her dorm room open and close. She jumped at the sound, worried that it might be an orc running into the room before she remembered the battle for the Nest was over. There were no orcs. It was just her roommate.
It hardly took any time to wipe her tears off and compose herself. She stared in the mirror, finally seeing herself. There were bags under her eyes from not sleeping the night before.
Alex didn’t recognize her reflection, but she had only seen it a few times. Is this me, she wondered. Is this who I am?
Alex walked out of the bathroom. Jollies was waiting for her, a plate of food next to her. “I thought you might be hungry,” Jollies said without meeting Alex’s eyes.
Alex was hungry. She had forgotten how hungry she was. “Thank you,” she managed to say.
Jollies took a deep breath before speaking. “They were chanting your name,” Jollies whispered. “Alex the Boundless.”
Alex forked a piece of bacon into her mouth and assumed it was obvious she couldn’t talk because her mouth was full.
Jollies didn’t relent. “Is that weird? I mean, do you feel weird about all that? People? Just all of it?”
Alex looked up from her food. “Yeah, I do,” Alex admitted. “It doesn’t seem right. With all… With everything that happened. No one should be saying my name. All I did was try to help, and I didn’t. Not enough. Not nearly enough.”
Jollies fluttered over and landed on Alex’s shoulder. She nestled close to Alex’s ear. “I know,” she said. “They were chanting my name, Gill and Brath too. It felt weird, like they shouldn’t have been doing it.”
“Myrddin made it sound like I saved everyone. I didn’t. You saw…you saw the funeral. I didn’t save anyone.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Alex tried to focus on her food. She still couldn’t get over the fact that she was seeing without Manny and not relying on the blindfold to numb her senses.
Jollies pulled Alex’s ear. “You didn’t save anyone. We did. All of us together.”
Alex laughed. She didn’t know where the laughter came from, but it was genuine. She couldn’t express how much she appreciated Jollies at that moment. “You’re right. It wasn’t me. It was all of us.”
“We did the best we could, and that’s the important thing. We can’t beat ourselves up about what we didn’t or couldn’t do. We did all we could.”
There was a knock. Both Jollies and Alex jumped at the sound. Alex went and opened the door.
Brath and Gill were standing looking haggard and unhappy. Alex opened the door wider and motioned for them to come in. Brath sat down on Alex’s bed, while Gill remained standing over by the door. “How are you guys doing?” Alex asked.
Brath pulled out his family’s knife and held it in his hand. “You didn’t stay for the rest of the funeral.”
“I couldn’t. It was all too much. I-I had to get out of there.”
Brath picked at his fingernails with his knife and nodded. “Yeah, I understand. I wish I hadn’t gone. It didn’t help. None of it helped.”
Gill walked over to Brath and rested his hand on the gnome’s shoulder. “We needed to pay our respects to the dead.”
Brath leaped off the bed and pushed Gill away. “Did we?” he asked. “Did we have to see everyone we couldn’t help? Did we have to lay coins on their eyes and hope they’re guided to the afterlife in peace? I don’t think we did. It didn’t matter if we were there or not. They’re dead.”
Gill walked away from Brath and sat at Alex’s desk. He hung his head, running his hands through his hair as he tried to find the right words. “We needed to be there,” he said. “It was important. We can’t run away from any of this.”
Gill looked at Alex, his face older than Alex had ever imagined it could be. He looked as if he had aged forty years, yet he still managed to smile. “We helped. We did everything we could. That’s what’s important. That’s all that matters.”
Brath solemnly nodded as he continued to pick at his fingernails. “Yeah, I guess,” he agreed. “It still feels really crappy.”
Jollies flew off Alex’s shoulder and flashed bright pink as she fluttered around the room. “That is the important thing, isn’t it?” she asked. “Isn’t that what being a dragonrider is all about? We’re here to do our part. To protect the realms as much as we can. And we started doing that yesterday.”
Alex knew Jollies was right deep in her heart, but that didn’t make the pain go away. Maybe the pain would never leave. Maybe the pain was important, even necessary. “So, did they sing a song for us?” Alex asked. “You know, like those old odes and stuff?”
Gill laughed. “Actually, they did,” he said. “Myrddin led it. It was terrible. Like, really bad. The guy cannot sing. At all. When Roy and Toppinir took over, it got better, but none of the cadets can hold a note. You didn’t miss anything.”
“What now?” Alex asked. “After all this, what are we supposed to do next?”
Gill pulled down his visor and then turned it off. “We keep going. There’s training tomorrow.”
There was nothing Alex wanted more than a break. She didn’t want to have to jump back on her dragon and continue on, yet that was what was expected of her. She was a dragonrider. That was what she was here for. “All right. What are we doing?”
Chapter Eight
The next day, Alex rose with the sun and went to breakfast, surrounded by cadets who whispered her name as she walked by. She grabbed a seat by herself and was joined by Jollies quickly enough. Neither of them spoke much.
About half an hour into breakfast, Brath and Gill sat down at Alex’s table. The four of them ate their meals in silence before getting up and leaving.
When Alex got back to her room, she checked her messages to see if she had received anything from her parents. The only message in her inbox was a reminder of the training she had to attend in an hour.
Alex laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling. She wasn’t wearing her blindfold. Her sight was much better. Today might be the first day she didn’t need Manny to trail behind her. Now that she thought of it, she hadn’t seen Manny at breakfast.
If anyone deserves a day off, it’s that weird ball of eyes, Alex thought.
Jollies got back to the room a little while after Alex, and they both got dressed and ready for their training. Jollies flew over to Alex and pecked her on the cheek. “It’s going to be okay,” Jollies said. “We’re all going to be okay.”
Alex playfully nudged the pixie. “Yeah, I know. We got this.”
The two left their room and made their way to the training field. The remaining cadets had already arrived, no doubt showing up early to avoid staying in their rooms and thinking about the last few days.
Brath and Gill were already on the field. They scooted over to make room for Alex.
Fier walked out onto the field. She looked tired, more tired than the cadets. “All right,” she shouted. “Today, we begin a new level of your training. I’m not going to waste your time trying to play nice about what happened. I respect you all too much.”
Alex felt Fier’s eyes on her, and she looked at the ground. When she looked up, she saw Manny at the far end of the field. The Beholder waved one of his eye tentacles and Alex waved back.
Fier paced up and down the length of the cadets. “Truthfully, I didn’t think any of us were going to survive, but here we are. Here you are, warriors in training. The Dark One is afraid of you. That’s wh
y we were attacked. Take it as a backhanded compliment.”
Fier leapt into the air and wings spread out from her back. It was impossible to tell if she was mostly dragon or something else. “Get in the air,” she shouted. “Let’s get started.”
Alex raised her dragon anchor to the sky and called for Chine. She looked at the sun, its dazzling brightness, the blue skies, and the sparse white clouds.
Chine came to her in a flash of black smoke, faster than the rest of the dragons. Alex leaped onto him, and they took off.
Alex looked down at the other cadets. Many of them were still waiting for their dragons. I’m glad we made it through everything, Alex said to Chine. You and me.
Chine turned to look at Alex, his eyes dancing in a smile. I as well, he said. When we were trapped, I honestly wasn’t sure you and I were going to see each other again.
It’s weird. I feel like we never really talk. I mean, not as much as everyone else I see. Not as much as Jollies or Gill or even Brath. But I feel close to you. Like, if you weren’t here, maybe I wouldn’t be here.
Chine soared above the clouds as the rest of the riders started to take off. It is the binding. It is not a thing that can be put into words simply, but we are intertwined. Nothing will change that. I am here for you. You are here for me.
Fier and the rest of the cadets were now in the sky. Fier raised her hand and targets appeared in the air. She pointed at them and barked, “All right, everyone, get into groups of four. Take down your targets without using your dragon’s elemental powers. Got it?”
Jollies, Brath, and Gill made their way toward Alex without saying anything. The four of them sized up their targets and took off.
Jollies busted through the smaller targets, Amber firing her shoulder plasma cannons. Brath was right behind her, cleaning up the larger targets. One of the targets Brath hit split into two more targets and flew away from each other,
Gill went after the two new targets. Timber swiped the targets, his mech claws tearing through both of them.
Alex was at a loss as to what to do. All the targets in her vicinity had been destroyed.
Fier came up behind Alex, sneering. “Well, it seems like you four are far beyond target practice,” she said. “How about we try something a little bit more advanced?”
Fier waved her hand and the sky disappeared. It shimmered into darkness, a darkness Alex was familiar with. Guess it’s time for VR, Alex thought.
Chapter Nine
The blackness faded and opened up into the lush world of Middang3ard. Alex was still atop Chine, flying through the sky amidst clouds, but the clouds were different. When Alex looked down, she could see the villages and hamlets she had grown so accustomed to in Middang3ard.
Brath, Gill, and Jollies were still beside Alex. Gill was looking around as if he had been dropped into a reality he didn’t understand. “Where in the realms are we?” he asked.
Alex flew in front of her friends. “We’re in a VR simulation,” she explained. “Like the game I used to play. The game that brought me here. None of this is real. Well, not real in the sense that we can die or anything like that, but it’s real enough.”
Brath stared down at the world beneath him. “It almost looks like home. Almost.”
Alex’s heart broke for him, but before she could say anything, an icicle flew through the air, narrowly missing her head. If Chine hadn’t dodged at the last minute, it would have decapitated her. “We got incoming fire!” she shouted.
Whatever had thrown the icicle was obviously not in the air. That meant Alex needed to get to the ground as fast as possible. If their enemy could throw something that far, they must be extremely strong. “Come on,” she said as she leaned forward, directing Chine toward the ground.
Her dragon rocketed toward the ground. Alex blinked back tears from the speed. This was everything she loved, yet she knew it wasn’t real. Part of what she had loved about being a dragonrider was the game; this was just a reminder.
Chine and the rest of the dragons landed, throwing up dust and dirt all around them.
The four dragonrider cadets and their dragons were in front of a mountain covered in ice. Its summit was not visible, extending far into the clouds.
At the base of the mountain were twenty frost giants. They were at least ten feet tall, their lanky arms nearly scraping the ground. Ice hung from their fur, and icicles clung to their beards.
Alex leaned forward, spurring Chine onward. Chine shot a jet of ether fire at the frost giants.
The largest frost giant stepped forward and waved his hand, dispelling the fire.
Alex turned to the rest of her party and shouted, “It’s rigged against us! We can’t use dragon attacks!”
Brath shrugged as he pulled Furi back, trying to rein him in. “What do you mean, we can’t use dragon attacks?” he asked. “Or that it’s rigged against us?”
“This isn’t real life. There are certain rules that whoever made this is forcing us to play by, and one of them is obviously that dragon attacks can’t do anything. Gill and Jollies, get behind the giants. Brath, me and you are going to hit them head-on.”
No one asked questions. In a moment of precise coordination that frankly surprised and awed Alex, Gill and Jollies swooped behind the frost giants. Brath guided Furi over to Alex. “We have to use our weapons, just like the target practice we were doing. Come on, let’s do this!”
Alex leaned forward, and Chine charged toward the frost giants.
One of the frost giants reached down and pulled up a piece of earth. The dirt instantly froze over, and the giant threw it at Chine.
Chine shot a jet of ether fire that burned through the ice. At least the fire works for that crap, Alex thought as Brath and Furi flew past her.
Brath fired two plasma shots. One of them hit a frost giant in the chest, vaporizing it.
Gill and Jollies were in position behind the frost giants. They both started to fire their plasma cannons.
The frost giants turned around, stunned that they were being attacked from the rear. As the confused giants tried to make sense of what was happening, Alex zeroed in on the largest and fired a volley of plasma at him.
The plasma connected with the giant and burned through his torso, instantly eviscerating him.
Jollies and Gill were firing their dragons’ plasma cannons as fast as they could.
Gill leaned back, pulled up his visor, and scanned his options. He found one that worked for him and Timber and grinned as he let off a volley of missiles.
The missiles hit the center of the circle of frost giants, sending a couple of them tumbling.
As the frost giants caught up in the explosion soared through the air, Jollies swooped by using Amber’s extreme speed. Lightning crackled off both of them and they shot plasma bolts, taking care of whatever giants survived Gill’s initial blast.
Brath and Alex charged toward the remaining giants. “This is over!” Alex shouted as Chine reared up on his hind legs and shot a jet of celebratory fire.
Chine chomped down on one of the frost giants, ripping it in two. “This is a battle!” He chuckled.
Gill and Jollies cut through the back end of the frost giants, their missiles and plasma cannons shearing through the icy hides of the giants. Alex and Brath took care of the remaining giants in the front of the horde. Once the smoke had settled, only the dragonriders remained.
The world broke apart for a second and the bodies of the frost giants shimmered out of existence.
Suddenly, Alex and the rest of them were back in the Wasp’s Nest.
Fier walked up to the four cadets, smiling and shaking her head. “I don’t know why I didn’t assume you four would be the first to get through this,” she said. “Wasn’t expecting it to be in record time, though.”
Alex smiled as she looked at Brath, Jollies, and Gill. “Yeah, well, that’s how you take care of a threat.” She laughed. “At least in VR. Makes it a little easier when I know I’m not going to get killed.”
“And I see, no pun intended, that you didn’t need to bring along your seeing-eye Beholder.”
Alex hadn’t even realized she hadn’t brought Manny along for the ride. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind. She had been looking through her own eyes the entire time. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t have to,” Alex muttered.
“Oh, don’t go on being modest. We don’t have time for that crap. We need heroes. Looks like you four might be right for the job.”
Chapter Ten
Alex woke up around the same time as Jollies and they both changed into their new red uniforms. Today was the day. It had come faster than Alex had assumed it would, but it was here. She was going to graduate from being a cadet to being a dragonrider.
When Jollies and Alex stepped out of their room, Gill and Brath were waiting in the hall for them. The four of them walked to the Great Hall, turned a corner to the left, and headed toward Myrddin’s office.
Myrddin was waiting for them, sipping a cup of tea as he leaned back in his chair. Fier and Roy were with him. Roy stood in the corner as if he hoped to be hidden by the shadows. Fier, on the other hand, sat on top of Myrddin’s desk.
There were no seats, so Alex and the rest stood at attention. She didn’t know if it was appropriate since she had never been instructed to stand in such a way, but she’d read enough books to feel like it was the best decision.
Myrddin stood up, his face grave, as usual. “You all probably read the message I sent you by now,” Myrddin said. “I don’t see the point in repeating it. That being said, I am immensely proud of you four. Immensely. But we do not have time for congratulations.”
The room started to contort, the crystal walls moving out and making room for more. Myrddin’s office opened into a larger room, one as vast as the Great Hall.
Scientists zoomed by on hoverboards, checking on different computer terminals and monitors.
