by Ramy Vance
Toppinir would be the voice of reason. He had to be. That must be why he and Roy always teamed up. Roy was the crazy son-of-a-gun, and Toppinir was the cool, calm, collected strategist. The elf must have a plan up his sleeve.
Much to Alex’s dismay, Toppinir went to his dragon and leaped aboard, taking his seat on a saddle–the oldest tech Alex had seen since she’d gotten to Middang3ard. “More than a few hours,” Toppinir said. “I’d say at least twelve unless there are more of those creatures inside of the meteor.”
Alex rushed to Roy and Toppinir, waving her hands like they were capable of grounding the mech and the dragon. “Wait, aren’t you even a little curious to know what that thing is?” she shouted. “It’s obviously not a meteor. Meteors aren’t full of monsters.”
Roy ashed his cigar and leaned over the side of his mech. “Don’t matter, since you kindly pointed out what it’s doing,” he said calmly. “It’s dumping hundreds of vicious creatures into Middang3ard to destroy everything this realm knows. Can’t see how figuring what it is will stop it from doing that.”
Alex turned to Toppinir, hoping to get something other than insanity from the elf. “Are you serious? You don’t even know what that thing is,” she argued. “What if we destroyed it? You saw how all those bats dropped once we killed Holmorth.”
Toppinir ran his fingers through his wispy goatee. “True,” he admitted. “Even then, it took an extreme amount of artillery to shave off a little piece of the meteor in question. It’s unlikely we will be able to destroy it.”
Roy groaned loudly. “Don’t matter. There’s an army of the Dark One’s vermin up there, and as far as I can tell, it makes a pretty effective wall between us and whatever plan you’re trying to cook up.”
This was where Alex was going to put her foot down. She had more than a half-baked plan. “Okay,” she said. “What’s the difference between our dragons and mechs and everything up there?”
Roy chewed on his cigar as he leaned out of his mech. “All right, I’ll bite,” he grumbled. “What’s the difference?”
Alex flashed her mischievous grin. “What’s up there doesn’t have four legs,” she started. “Which means they expect the fight to be in the air. And only in the air.”
A sparkle danced behind Roy’s eyes as he caught onto what Alex was saying. “Hm. I guess there’s more to you than crazy ideas. You got crazy ideas offering a little bit of hope. All right. If we’re all gonna die anyway, what’s the harm in trying something new?”
Chapter Two
Roy, Toppinir, and Alex discussed the plan. Somehow, they were going to funnel the flying creatures to the ground. At first, it seemed like a straightforward idea. A problem eventually arose, though.
As the three were planning, Jollies casually pointed to the sky. “There’s more of them than before.”
When Alex looked up, she was shocked to see that Jollies was understating the case. The number of monsters had nearly doubled in the ten minutes Alex had been speaking to the two veterans. If this kept up, there would be too many of the Dark One’s forces to fight in any way.
Brath sauntered over to the discussion, his face smugger than usual. “You guys are spending way too much time talking this through,” he snapped. “We need to get in there and do some damage.”
Toppinir chuckled under his breath before saying, “We all saw how that worked out for you. I think it would be best if we don’t make the same mistake as you did.”
Roy tried to hide his snickers but was unable to. Brath blushed, but he didn’t back down from his point. He threw himself into the argument, defending his opinion with vigor.
At this point, Alex knew talking sensibly wasn’t going to happen. The moment Brath joined a strategy session, it devolved to irritated sighing and the occasional brief but intense shouting match.
Alex went for a walk, staring at the sky. She made her way to Chine, who was sitting away from the other dragons, blasting his claws with thin streams of fire. ‘Sup, Chine?
Chine lost interest in grooming himself and peered at Alex with his large, unfathomable eyes. Something on your mind, Dustling? You seem perturbed.
Alex gestured upward as she sat down across from Chine. You ever see anything like this before?
Chine nodded as he followed Alex’s gaze. I have seen these creatures before, but I have never seen them like this. From my understanding, shooting stars rarely hold monsters. When they do, those monsters are ancient, eldritch. Not such base creatures as vrosks.
What do you mean about shooting stars holding eldritch monsters?
Chine blew out a flame that briefly illuminated Alex’s face. Her eyes were dilated, almost reptilian, nearly the same as her dragon’s. Many of the eldritch Old Ones were conceived in a place between realms.
They were not born of flesh and blood, as many of us are. It is difficult to understand how they were conceived, but many of them were incubated in meteors and asteroids. When those rocks hit the realms, the Old Ones were born.
The meteor above was still stationary. The green aura around it spiked and withdrew as if it were a living thing. Do you think there might be something like that in there? Alex wondered.
Chine had grown bored looking at the sky and returned to grooming himself. Perhaps. But whatever is incubating inside is not an Old One. It is something new. Perhaps something worse.
Good talk, Chine. You always know just what to say to encourage me.
How is that encouraging, Dustling?
Sarcasm, my dude. Sarcasm.
Alex sat there for some time, thinking about what the dragon had said as she watched the sky. Holmorth had been in the meteor, but he had only been on the outer crust. It was almost as if he were a guard, protecting something more important within the meteor. What do you think we should do? Alex asked.
Chine’s scales ruffled as he stood and shook his wings. Roy and Toppinir are not like you and the rest of Boundless. They are soldiers, and they have been soldiers for some time. They have orders and they follow them. You, on the other hand…”
Yeah, I know, I don’t listen to orders.
You say that as if it were a fault. Thinking for yourself is an admirable quality, one that dragons respect greatly. It is a quality that will never fail you. Why should now be any different?
Alex crossed her arms as she tossed herself to the grass with a loud huff. All that it’s done so far is get my friends and me in trouble. What’s it going to get me this time?
The dragon leaned over Alex, looking her in the eyes. Perhaps victory. Or are you so weak-willed that a simple disagreement will sway you?
Alex rolled over and sat up as she pointed at Chine. You know what? I’m not a huge fan of this attitude. So, no. I’m not going to let it stop me. Now excuse me. I have a point to go make to Roy and Toppinir.
Alex marched up to Toppinir and Roy, coughed as loud as she could, folded her arms, and waited for them to turn. “There’s something in the meteor,” she said. “Don’t know what it is, but I know Holmorth was only the tip of the iceberg.”
Toppinir raised his eyebrows. “It isn’t an iceberg. It’s a meteor,” he corrected.
Roy rubbed his forehead as he sighed. “It’s a human idiom,” Roy explained. “You can only see the tip of an iceberg. There’s a whole mess of ice underneath. What’s beneath the surface usually does the damage.”
“An apt analogy, then. But I believe the rest of the iceberg has vomited out into the sky already.”
Alex shook her head in disagreement and said, “No, that’s the thing, I don’t think it has. Those monsters, all that—it’s just a smokescreen for what’s inside. Like, I don’t know, a defense mechanism or something.”
Toppinir looked interested in Alex’s reasoning. “Why do you think that?”
“Why would the most powerful thing be located on the outside of the meteor, close to the surface? And as soon as we damage the rest of the meteor, more monsters come flooding out? It’s to protect something. Like when you get to
o close to an anthill, piles of ants come out to protect the queen. There’s something else in there.”
Roy and Toppinir exchanged glances as they thought through what Alex had said. “All right,” Roy finally said. “What do you propose?”
Alex pointed up at the monsters passively flying in the sky. “See how they haven’t even attacked us yet?” she asked. “They’re waiting for us to go up there. Like I said before, I say we drive them down, wipe them out, and try to crack the meteor open.”
The plan wasn’t any different from what had been offered before. The big difference was, it caught Toppinir’s and Roy’s interest this time. Throwing your life away was one thing, but the mystery of what was in the meteor made the prospect more exciting.
Toppinir, still being the voice of reason, said, “And how do you propose we do this?”
Alex held her hand out in front of her. “This is the wall of monsters,” she explained. “They’re all grouped together. I say we swing around from the far side and come down on top of them. That’ll force them down. Sure, they’ll be stragglers, but we’ll catch most of them. Then we clean up the rest.”
Roy pushed Toppinir away and said, “Give us a minute to talk this out.”
Alex politely watched as Toppinir and Roy walked away, talking between themselves. They stood a little way off and discussed the mission prospects as the rest of Boundless came up to Alex. “What are they talking about?” Jim asked.
“My plan to figure out what’s inside the meteor,” Alex answered.
“Didn’t we already find out what was in there? Holmorth, right?”
“No, that was just the beginning. I think whatever is in there will put Holmorth to shame.”
Jollies gasped, and her hue shimmered to a deep blue. “Really? Worse than him?” she asked. “He was so strong and disgusting.”
Alex noticed Roy and Toppinir walking back as she shrugged off Jollies’ concern. “Yeah, Holmorth was pretty bad,” Alex agreed, “but we took care of him easy enough. No casualties. And he and his drones or whatever the hell they were are dead. I think we can take it.”
Toppinir and Roy joined the group, and the elf stepped forward. “We think your plan might be viable,” he said. “I suggest you check on your dragons and prepare to—”
Alex cut him off. “Our dragons are already prepped. When will you be ready?”
Toppinir was caught off-guard by Alex’s readiness. “Uh, give us half an hour or so. Then we’ll be ready for the battle.”
“Good. Hurry up. The longer we wait, the more of those monsters we’ll have to deal with.”
As Jollies had said, the cloud of creatures and monsters floating around the meteor had doubled. It truly looked as if the monsters had the potential to block out the sun.
The only speck of hope left was that the monsters hadn’t descended and attacked. They continued to float, unaware of, or perhaps unconcerned with, the dragonriders beneath them.
Alex thought the monsters might operate like some kind of security system. If you passed a certain point, the alarm went off, and the vrosks and bats would attack. As long as they didn’t pass that point, the dragonriders would be okay. The problem was figuring out what that point was.
Realistically, it couldn’t be just any spot in the sky; it had to be near the meteor. That meant, in theory, there was a lot of working space for the dragonriders. It was inevitable they were going to cross the line in the sky and send the beasts into a frenzy. They just had to make sure they were in the proper position before that happened.
Roy was rallying his troops with a speech, as was Toppinir. Team Boundless watched from the sidelines. Alex didn’t see the point in trying to whip her squad into a frenzy. Each of them looked ready to do what must be done.
There wasn’t any doubt on their faces. Team Boundless’ will was as strong as Alex’s.
Also, Alex wasn’t sure if she and Boundless were invited on the mission. She thought it better not to make a scene either way. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, she thought.
Chine’s voice chimed in Alex’s head. Both also stop being a problem in the face of defeat or victory. The dead can make no apologies, and victors have no need of them.”
Alex reached down and rubbed the dragon’s back scales. That’s exactly what I needed to cheer me up in the most morbid way as possible. She laughed.
I thought that would be motivating.
Roy and Toppinir pointed to the meteor in the sky, Roy shouting, “All right, mech riders, this is what we came here for. That hunk of rock is the most dangerous thing to come to Middang3ard since we did. Let’s remind the Dark One why we’re the stuff of his nightmares!”
Alex suddenly realized Jim wasn’t with the other mech riders. “Hey, shouldn’t you be with your squad?” Alex asked Jim.
Jim popped open his cockpit and leaned out. “Eh, they’re not going to miss me,” he said nonchalantly. “Besides, Myrddin put me with you guys. I’m Team Boundless today, whether Roy likes it or not. It’s my preference anyway.”
Toppinir and his dragonriders were also preparing to take off. The two veterans met each other’s eyes, gave the signal (a nod more usually reserved for running into someone you didn’t like at the supermarket), and took off, their riders following.
Alex didn’t wait for an invitation from the veteran dragonriders. She gave the signal to Team Boundless, pointing to the meteor and the battle awaiting them. “All right, Boundless,” Alex shouted, “We’re going in hard from the right. Flank them from the top, then bring down hell on their heads!”
Chapter Three
The dragonriders moved into position. They wasted no time, hardly making a sound as they swooped into the space between the meteor and the swarm of hellish winged creatures. Roy and Toppinir took the front line. Alex held back, watching and waiting to see what happened.
Toppinir looked over his shoulder and waved Alex over, shouting something she couldn’t hear. She motioned to her comm and tapped it, and the elf’s voice came through. “You don’t think you’re getting out of this, do you?”
As Alex urged Chine forward, she said, “I didn’t know I was invited to the adult table for the party.”
“Yup. It’s your plan.”
That was all the time they spent talking because as soon as Alex got beside Toppinir, Roy dove forward, firing missiles at the walls of creatures. His missiles weren’t as strong as a dragon’s breath, but it was enough to take care of a few vrosks.
Toppinir was next, his dragon shooting blue fire from its gullet in quick, controlled bursts. It wasn’t enough to kill anything, but it did damage. As Toppinir fired, he pushed his dragon forward, forcing the creatures to the ground.
Alex followed Toppinir’s example. Chine shot small blasts of ether fire, enough to graze the fur of the bats but not enough to set it aflame. Alex, Roy, and Toppinir headed up the attack, and the rest of the dragonriders came up on the side.
Those dragonriders took care of containing the overflow. As the three in the front forced the monsters down, a few creatures tried to flee from the scene, bolting to the right or left. The dragonriders on containment flew to the sides, blasting the monsters trying to escape and corralling them into a massive spire heading toward the ground.
Once Alex was certain the monsters were going to continue moving, she looked back at the meteor. The green aura floating over it had taken on a crystalline look, almost as if the energy had solidified into stone.
There was something else in the meteor. Alex could feel it deep in her mind as if whatever was in the meteor was reaching out to her and calling her, trying to speak. It took all of Alex’s will, but she turned away from the meteor. Whatever was in there was dangerous.
The creatures continued to be forced down to the ground. Their screeches filled the air, cut off only by the combustion of the dragon fire singing skin and fur. The whooping of the dragonriders was almost barbaric.
At the rate they were going, the creatures were g
oing to be on the ground in no time, and then the real battle would start. Alex figured it would be more like cleanup. Most of the monsters only had two legs. They wouldn’t be ready for a ground fight. “We got this!” Alex shouted.
Above the dragonriders, there was a very loud click. It was an ominous sound. A switch the size of a skyscraper must have been flipped.
Alex looked up, staring at the hole Holmorth had come from in the meteor. It was glowing bright green. “Oh, crap, this is not good,” Alex muttered before hitting her comm and shouting, “Hey, guys! Up above!”
The dragonriders all looked at the meteor, where energy was being pulled and charging with a twinkling of green light as if the riders were seeing a dying star.
Without warning, a blast of green energy shot from the hole in the meteor. The energy blast tore through the right side of the dragonriders’ right flank, instantly killing two riders. The remaining riders on the right pulled away.
With the break in the formation, the creatures poured through the hole, flying upward to attack the three riders trying to force the winged beasts groundward.
When Toppinir saw what was happening, he turned to Alex and commanded, “Bring one of your guys up here. I’m going to handle them until the right side can get back together.”
The clicking from above was followed by a whirring as if a great vortex were opening. Alex couldn’t help but look in the direction of the meteor as it prepared to fire again. “Are you with me?” Toppinir shouted, bringing Alex’s focus back to him.
Alex nodded and Toppinir took off toward the right of the formation, blasting the escaped monsters with his dragon’s icy breath. The rest of the riders on the right side joined him. Alex hit her comm and said, “Jim, I need you on my left. Now!”
Jim’s voice crackled over the comm, letting Alex know he was coming, as he swung over from the left flank of the formation, taking Toppinir’s spot between Roy and Alex. He instantly started firing his flamethrower. The flames weren’t as hot as a dragon’s, but they got the job done.
