Dragon Approved Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 13): A Middang3ard Series

by Ramy Vance

  She flexed her fingers, then closed them to make a fist. She was glad Myrddin hadn’t wasted any time getting her the new arm. The best part was, the arm felt as natural as though it had always been a part of her body.

  There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Alex said.

  Myrddin and Jim stepped into the room. The wizard wore a fashionable pale-blue suit. Jim was wearing his dragonrider uniform, the same one Alex wore. “Getting to be about that time?” she asked.

  The wizard nodded, opening the door wider. Alex rose from her bed, cast one more glance at the cadets in the field, and exited the room.

  The mess hall of the Nest had been transformed into a banquet hall of such elegance, foreign dignitaries could have been hosted within it. She saw table after table covered in delicious concoctions, reflecting the various races enrolled in the dragonrider program.

  The mech riders were amongst the invited guests. Most of their tables boasted human delicacies. They were, in fact, a mostly human riding corps.

  Team Boundless sat in a place of honor near the stage. There was a general murmur throughout the hall. Everyone was waiting for Alex to give a speech.

  Alex stood behind a curtain on the stage, trying to calm herself. She had never spoken in public before, and she had nothing prepared. Myrddin had only told her she was expected to give a speech a few minutes ago.

  Not knowing what else to do, Alex reached out to her dragon. Chine, what am I supposed to say?

  Chine did not answer immediately, but Alex could tell he was mulling things over. Mortal creatures are very sentimental. You should speak from the heart. Do not overthink it. Just be yourself. That is who they are here to listen to.

  All right. Guess I’ll see how that works out. If I bomb, I’m blaming this on you.

  Alex could hear Myrddin talking past the red curtain. “And now I introduce to you the first human dragonrider,” Myrddin called.

  That was Alex’s cue. She took a deep breath and walked out.

  The lights were very bright, and at first, Alex couldn’t make out anyone in front of her. Slowly, everything started to come into focus. She could see Team Boundless sitting near the podium and the rest of the dragonriders filling the room.

  Alex tried not to think about what she was going to say as she hobbled across the stage. She was still pretty beat up. The audience patiently waited for her to get to the podium, and she cleared her throat before taking a deep breath.

  When Alex spoke, her voice was shaky, almost cracking. “So, we won the battle, I think,” she joked. The crowd chuckled politely as Alex summoned her courage and went on. “You know, I saw what the Dark One was in the meteor. Part of that was terrifying, but the rest? The rest was pathetic. I saw what he’s planning on doing. He thinks he can improve us. He thinks we are weak, and we’ll be stronger through him. What do you guys think?”

  A chorus of voices shouted their disagreement, slammed their hands on the tables, and clinked their glasses. “Exactly,” Alex shouted back to the crowd. “This war is far from over, but I’m damned if I spend it running from the Dark One.”

  Alex raised her cybernetic arm and clenched her fist. “We will fight. We will bleed. We will sacrifice.” She let her words hang over the crowd for a moment before speaking again. “We’re taking this fight to the Dark One. I am a dragonrider. The first human rider, sure, but I promise you this: I will not be the last. Dragonriders, the Dark One is coming back, but we are ready,” she said as she looked at the cadets, at Toppinir, at Roy, at Brath, Gill, Jollies, and Jim, and with unbridled pride cried out, “And we will win!”

  The shouting and war cries of the dragonriders could be heard long into the night. They were accompanied by the roaring of their dragons.

  The sound would have frightened anyone.

  Even the Dark One.

  Author Notes Ramy Vance

  February 13, 2020

  Since we’re so close the April Fools (at the time of publication), I had to share what I did last year. Check it out!

  Hey everyone! Check out my new series:

  Tired of the same old urban fantasy plot lines? Looking for something brand new and mind-bending?

  Check out Ramy Vance’s new series: The Toddler…

  The Toddler is coming. Pray he hasn’t missed his nap.

  Prone to tantrums, resistant to sleep and perpetually hungry, this pint-size hero has just soiled himself.

  It seems that a powerful magic has befallen the city, putting all the adults to sleep. And now there’s no one around him to change his dirty diaper.

  Now The Toddler must risk all to save the adults from their endless slumber.

  But time is running out, for if he doesn’t find a cure soon, he’s going to have one hell of a diaper rash.

  If you like the Dresden Files, Mercy Thompson or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then you’ll be helplessly addicted to The Toddler series.

  COMING SOON!

  Praise for The Toddler:

  ★★★★★ “Finally a breath of … well … seriously stinky air.”

  ★★★★★ “Buffy meets Dora the Explorer.”

  ★★★★★ “Move over Paw Patrol … Adventure Bay finally has a real hero.”

  There are three more covers, but because of space issues, I couldn’t put them here. I have them on my Facebook feed and/or join my Facebook Group: House of the GoneGod Damned … all the covers, plus this year’s April Fools are in there!

  Author Notes Michael Anderle

  March 22, 2020

  THANK YOU for reading our story! We have a few of these planned, but we don’t know if we should continue writing and publishing without your input. Options include leaving a review, reaching out on Facebook to let us know, and smoke signals.

  Frankly, smoke signals might get misconstrued as low hanging clouds so you might want to nix that idea.

  I live on the strip in Las Vegas and it is presently one week since I got back from London and five days since most of the hotel-casino’s on the strip shut down due to the efforts to contain Covid-19.

  I live next to the Aria, beside the Cosmopolitan, and across the street (and a block or two down) from the MGM Grand and New York New York casinos.

  The Aria and New York New York are important because the restaurants I frequent are inside them. You know, inside where I can’t even get take-out anymore.

  Presently, it is 1:30PM in the afternoon and traffic on Las Vegas Blvd (always a mess on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons) is not a mess.

  In fact, the whole strip is about 95% shut down. There are a few restaurants open including Giordano’s (we are helping them stay open and paying a few workers), McDonald’s, a hot dog place in front of Bally’s (I can’t remember the name but purchase a Mexican Coke every time I am over there) and also Wahlburgers. Plus, any CVS or Walgreens (which seem to occur every few blocks near my place.)

  I have a theory why we have any traffic at all.

  Theory: People from outside the strip (think Henderson or RedRock area) are taking a drive to see the strip closed. The expectations of no cars traveling up and down is doomed to disappointment because of sightseers coming in to see the absence of cars—therefore, there are cars.

  Well, it’s only a theory.

  This morning, I went up and down the strip buying a little from each of the stores and trying to give everyone a little business. Of course, I cleaned hands wherever I went as I walked through the stores looking for a bit of TP or anything we might be able to use that didn’t require refrigeration.

  I purchased frozen dinners from a Walgreens across the street because the manager personally showed me the Walgreens app and the items in the freezer on sale. I explained I was walking back and couldn’t carry that much.

  She told me to take the little shopping cart on wheels and simply return it.

  I bought more than I technically needed at that store and I WILL go back. Not only to return the cart (it’s so damned cute!) but also to support them and the
ir efforts to stay open when the strip is closed for business.

  I wish I had a larger freezer to help them more.

  However, I hit two CVS’ and two Walgreens’ plus a Target and I scored one roll of tissue paper. That’s not a package of 4, 12, 16, 24…it was one from all five stores.

  They had about thirty single rolls on the shelf, so I took my one and felt like I had downed a 14-point buck at 200 yards through trees so thick it looked like a fence.

  (Is fourteen points a good-sized deer rack? I really don’t know as I don’t hunt. If you were nodding your head with my story, remember I am paid to lie for a living. It’s a good life.)

  If you live here in Las Vegas, remember that the little (expensive) stores on the strip have way fewer shoppers. One of our people inside LMBPN mentioned that no one remembers that truck stops often have toilet paper. I tried that.

  They didn’t .

  I suppose it is possible there is a different side of the store than the one I went into to find the elusive TP. Where I looked, it was a seriously small shelf space that was empty. Hmmm.

  I should have called Stephen Russell (Author S.R. Russell) who was a truck driver for a few decades to ask him before I left there empty handed the other day. Well, not truly empty handed as they had buy-1-get-1-free on M&M’s. I figured why the hell not? We might need protein (peanuts), emotional healing (chocolate), and calories (sugar) in order to survive the next few weeks.

  There, if you needed an excuse to buy Peanut M&M’s, you’re welcome. If you don’t, I applaud your lack of concern when purchasing junk food. I had to give myself a reason to load up on them.

  I’ve used that damned ‘sugar is calories’ excuse a LOT in the last 7 days.

  Take, for example, the following ‘food’ I purchased using the sugar is calories excuse.

  It has Mike in the name. How can I not support THAT???

  For now, we here in the Cave in the Sky™ are doing fine. Neither the wife nor I have tried to suffocate each other yet, nor have we tried to toss each other out of the windows. Fortunately, I purchased a mattress topper a month ago to put on my couch in the office for naps. If I need to, I can hang out here if the wife starts to moan….

  BRAIINNNZZZZ.

  All joking aside, this is a new time in our world. The challenges we have encountered will be overcome, the new society that comes out the other side will be interesting. It’s time for those who can to help those who need it.

  For those who need help, raise a hand when your neighbors ask.

  I am grateful to you our readers who read our books. Later this week, we will place a few of our books (all of them) for children out for free, paying the young author for the privilege. We are not a children’s publisher, so we do not have many selections. Look for Sienna Lawson.

  Love And Aliens

  Dragon Approved™ Book Eight

  Chapter One

  Myrddin declared a holiday at the Wasp’s Nest, the first ever. Most of the staff didn’t know what to do with their time, and none of the students did.

  Other than Alex Bound.

  She knew exactly how she was going to spend her day off.

  And who she would be spending it with.

  The wind was rushing past Alex’s face, bringing out the red in her cheeks. She almost gasped for breath. The cold air had come out of nowhere, but it was refreshing. She continued to climb into the clouds as if she were trying to get as far away from the ground as possible.

  Her dragon, Chine, had been silent for most of the ride, trying to give Alex space. It was a big day for her, and they’d discussed the proper boundaries the night before.

  The reason it was such a big day was that Jim was flying in his mech dragon next to Alex, both of them heading toward some destination Jim had picked out. There were many ways in which Alex could see this day going terribly wrong, and each of them had something to do with her. They were generally vague notions, but if she thought long enough, a crystal-clear version of her screwing things up would manifest itself.

  Alex had no idea why she was so nervous. She’d been through much more nerve-wracking experiences over the last few months. She was thousands of feet in the air on the back of an ether dragon, which would have been enough to freak most people out. Going out with Jim should have been a walk in the park. I wonder if he’s taking me to a park? Alex thought. We didn’t bring anything to eat.

  A gust of wind pushed past Alex and sent another set of shivers down her spine. She tapped the environmental control on her dragon anchor and felt her suit warming up.

  Jim had hardly said anything since the two of them had left the Wasp’s Nest, the main base of the dragonriders. He had been all jokes and flirty glances when Alex had been getting her dragon ready. Now there was comm silence between the two of them.

  Alex wondered if Jim was as nervous as she was. This was technically a date. Maybe everyone was nervous on their first dates, but that didn’t make any sense for Jim and her. They had spent years playing Middang3ard VR together, and since then, they had gone on several death-defying missions as members of the dragonriders corps. She’d think they could hold a simple conversation.

  Yet here they were, flying through a perfect sky, on the way to a date they were both looking forward to, riding in complete silence.

  What did people do in situations like this? Alex wished she knew what to say, but any time she felt like she was supposed to say something, she froze. It was almost as if awkward silences made her brain shut off.

  Was it awkward, though? Wasn’t one sign of a good friendship that you could be comfortable being quiet with someone? What if that was all this was—just two friends going out? Jim hadn’t said it was a date…or he hadn’t used those words specifically. What if this was just one of those “friends” type of things?

  Fighting the Dark One’s forces was nothing compared to the stress of this ambiguity.

  Alex cleared her throat and looked at Jim as she hit her comm. “So, where did you find out about this place?”

  Jim looked through his cockpit’s windshield as he answered. “Gill told me about it,” he replied. “Said it was a nice, romantic place.”

  Alex felt a dagger in her chest. Figures I’d say something that would bring up Gill. She still hadn’t thought about her feelings about Gill, but she’d already made up her mind about Jim. It didn’t seem like Gill’s feelings had been hurt, either. I mean, he did recommend a romantic place for Jim to take me. He can’t be too heartbroken, Alex thought.

  Chine interrupted Alex’s rambling train of thought. You seem to be having a problem speaking to the human you’re infatuated with. Perhaps you two could talk about the weather?

  Chine, shut up. I’m not having a hard time talking. Just, this is my first date.

  Chine chuckled as he soared higher. Ah, human mating rituals. Your species is downright adorable when you’re trying to—

  Alex interrupted Chine, shouting, “Wait, who said anything about mating? This is just a first date. Like, my first date ever.” Alex realized she was speaking out loud and not telepathically directing her thoughts toward Chine.

  And her comm was still on.

  Jim was looking at Alex, trying to hold back his laughter. “I’m not laughing at the first date thing. I mean, it’s my first date too. You knew this was a date, right?”

  “Of course, I knew it was a date. I’m not dense. What the hell did you think was so funny?”

  Jim pointed at Chine, who was lazily blowing out small ether fireballs to dispel the clouds in front of him. “Just the whole telepathy thing you have to do with Chine. I’m very happy I don’t have to deal with that. Mechs don’t talk, and they can’t give me shit.”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of the ghost in the machine? Maybe it’ll grow its own soul.”

  Jim opened his cockpit and stretched his arms out, letting the mech fly on autopilot. “I’d prefer not to think about that. These things are already hard enough to handle. I don’t even want to think
about contending with a real personality.”

  “Guess that’s the difference between us dragonriders and you mech riders. We can interact. I’m pretty sure all you guys are doing are pressing buttons and hoping the thing doesn’t break down on you.”

  Jim feigned taking a shot to the heart and fell back into his mech. “Damn, if that’s your idea of flirting, you might want to put on some gloves. You’re going to leave my ego way too bruised.”

  “Dude, I haven’t even started teasing you yet. This isn’t even the first round.” Alex started shadowboxing, tossing jabs and hooks at imaginary foes. “You’re lucky you’re not in the ring with me,” she said as she jabbed. “They call me ‘Thunderfists’ out on the mean streets.”

  “Oh, really. Thunderfists? When did they start doing that?”

  “First thing my mother said when I was born,” Alex said, putting on a fake Southern accent. “Mamma said I punched my way straight out into the world. Been a slugger ever since. What’s your story, cowboy?” she asked.

  Jim steered his mech closer to Alex’s dragon and leaned out of the cockpit. “My story? Oh, I just came in with the wind. I don’t have a story,” he replied with a horrendous Western accent. “And I’d like to keep it that way. Stories hold you down. Make you all weighty and heavy. Nope, a man like me don’t need no story. We just roll with the wind. Can’t lose what you don’t collect.”

  Alex giggled as she noticed how widely Jim was smiling at her. It was the kind of smile that made her want to stop what she was doing, whatever it was, and just stare for a little bit. “You’re not too bad at that. Wouldn’t have pegged you as one for improv.”

  “Before Middang3ard VR, I used to do a lot of tabletop role-playing. Sometimes we’d just roll random characters, and you’d have to pretend to be a klepto orc or a skittish elf for a month. Kinda seems funny in hindsight. You know, with having to fight orcs and having a drow for a teammate.”