by Ramy Vance
But for now, there was a fleet of ships coming through a portal from another dimension, along with a horde of vrosks and two interdimensional beings, and it was obvious which one was trying to destroy reality.
Alex sat up in the back of the mech. “You need to let me out of here.”
Jim pulled his arms and head out of the neural connection, his eyes confused and wide. “Are you serious? You just woke up. You’re in no position to—”
“We need everyone on deck. You see what we’re up against. If I’m okay, Chine has to be too. We’re getting sky-ready. Let me out.”
Jim didn’t argue any further. He hit the lever for his cockpit, and it popped open.
Alex climbed out and said, “Thanks for taking care of me. And I’m not forgetting about the disco jams. Ever.” She leaped down and headed toward Chine, reaching out to him mentally.
Chine answered quickly enough, even if he sounded groggy. I assume we’re going to be joining the fight.
Alex ran over to Chine and leaped onto his back, looking at his scars and burns. I talked a big game, but if you can’t fight, we’re going to sit this one out.
Chine looked at the wounds on his arms and sighed heavily. I’ll live. But…
Alex didn’t need to be told twice. She plunged her dragon anchor into Chine’s spine, drawing out the draconic fluid that was no doubt burning through his skin.
As that was going on, she felt a wave of heat passing over her body. That had happened a few times since she’d absorbed the fluid into her anchor, but this time it was different. It didn’t hurt nearly as much. It was almost comforting. She looked down at her anchor, and the readings said she’d absorbed enough so that Chine wouldn’t be in any pain. “Let’s do this,” she said.
Alex pulled up on her anchor, feeling like she had more control over Chine than during the last battle they had been in. Maybe he was relaxing. Maybe she just had a better idea of what she was doing. It didn’t matter; the connection was there. It could be the binding, Alex thought, still very aware she didn’t understand what the binding really meant.
You didn’t have to know the details about something to know it worked, though. Alex’s dad could drive a car. Didn’t mean he knew anything about combustion. With that, Alex soared into the blackness of space. “Boundless, thanks for holding it down for me while I was out,” she shouted. “Let me know what’s going on.”
If any of her team was surprised by her being back on the battlefield, they didn’t let her know. Gill answered before anyone else. “We’ve been trying to funnel the vrosks down to Furi and Jim since they have the most firepower, but we weren’t prepared for the influx of forces. We could stick with the original plan, but it doesn’t take into account what the ships can do.”
Alex was watching the ships. They were small enough to be fighters, which made the most sense. That meant that they were going to be fast and mobile. The Dark One’s flagship was probably packing a lot of heat, but it couldn’t maneuver through the asteroid field. That was why it was hanging back.
Options were weighed quickly. “Jollies, I want you with me. Gill, keep doing what you can to get them to move toward Jim and Brath. We have enough firepower to deal with these guys. We just have to make sure we aren’t overwhelmed. If we keep our distance and spread them out like you were doing, we should be able to handle this.”
Brath interrupted Alex’s train of thought. His voice was surprisingly unnerved. “What about the Dark One’s ship?”
“We’ll worry about that when we have to.”
Alex scanned for Vardis, who turned around and met her eyes. His thoughts came through to her. I will be joining this battle as well.
Why the hell hadn’t he joined it before? Alex thought. Glad to hear you’ll be joining us, she sent, trying to keep her tone even.
“What should I do?”
From where Alex was standing, it didn’t seem like Vardis was capable of doing much. He hadn’t helped with the kin. All she had seen him do was fly and use his telepathy. “Whatever you can,” she finally told him. “But don’t endanger the weapon. I’d rather have you make it back to Earth with it than fight now.”
Vardis’ face hardened. “Nothing will happen to the weapon.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. If you’re going to help now, I’ll leave it at that.”
The portal above had finally closed. Whatever reinforcements the Dark One had sent for were here. Nothing else was coming through for the time being. Alex wondered if that was the extent of what the Dark One had at the moment. Maybe that was why he was so reliant on personnel from the other races of the nine realms.
Alex sped toward the fighter ships that had come through the portal. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Vardis leaping onto one of the asteroids. He wasn’t flying as he had done before, and it didn’t seem like the lack of gravity meant anything to him. He bounded from one asteroid to the next.
The asteroids posed a slight problem, but one Alex felt she was able to handle. She wove through them as she approached the bulk of vrosks, who had massed where the portal had closed. Gill shot out of his hiding place, heading toward her.
Three of the vrosks veered off from the rest. They were coming for Alex, but she wasn’t going to let them be the ones who brought the party.
Alex leaned forward with her anchor, driving Chine toward them as Gill came up on her side. “We can bust through and scatter them,” she suggested.
Chine fired a small explosive gravity attack, similar to a proximity mine. That reminded Alex of what she’d heard the team planning earlier. “Wait, Jollies already prepped for this!” she shouted.
Alex pulled up her tactical display and saw where Jollies had dropped the mines. “All right, we’re funneling them that way!”
Alex shot a small gravitational well ahead of the vrosks who were coming toward them. It exploded, pulling them in but fizzling out enough to give the vrosks the impression that they weren’t going to affect it too heavily.
The vrosks took the bait, along with all the others behind them. They flew after Alex and Gill, who headed toward the mines the vrosks had managed to miss by coming through their portal.
While Alex and Gill were handling the enemies in front of them, Jim and Brath were continuing to fire their artillery, taking care of the vrosks who had forgotten about them. They didn’t bother with the ships.
Vardis was standing on the edge of one of the asteroids, looking at the ships that had come through the portal. Suddenly, he let out a scream of rage, and an aura of golden fire surrounded him. He leaped toward one of the ships, landing on top of it.
The ship veered to the left, trying to shake Vardis, who held on regardless of the speed. Vardis raised his right hand, and it began glowing with energy. He gathered a ball of it in his hand and slammed it into the ship’s hull as the tendrils tried to wrap around him.
Vardis tore through the hull and grabbed the pilot, an orc whose skin seemed to be rotting off the bone. He flung him into the coldness of space.
The orc clasped his throat, trying to breathe, but quickly succumbed to the vacuum of space. His body drifted out into the darkness as Vardis leaped to the next ship. It barrel-rolled, trying to throw the alien off but failing miserably. Vardis pierced the hull with his hand again, this time causing the whole ship to explode as he leaped through the flames toward the next.
Alex watched the carnage Vardis was unleashing on the Dark One’s forces. To say she was surprised would have been an understatement. There was no way she could have known that Vardis was packing so much power.
Or rage. It was almost tangible, the anger and hatred coming off Vardis. It was so strong that both the vrosks and the dragonriders stopped for a second, watching the seething destruction Vardis deemed proper for the forces of the Dark One.
Alex took the chance to implement the second part of her plan. Jollies had done more than just set up mines around the initial perimeters. She’d set mines up on the other side of the astero
id belt as well. Alex fired two laser beams at the vrosks in front of her, catching them off-guard. Then she and Gill sped toward the last line of mines, swooping low to give Jim and Furi a chance to pick off any vrosks they could.
They fired a flurry of specially made space grenades that exploded on contact, and a weapon Brath was just unveiling now. Furi stood up on his hind legs, showing what looked like a harness across his chest. But the harness had a bulge in the middle, resting on his sternum.
The dragon roared loudly, and the bulge, which was molten metal, shot out at a remarkable speed and formed into multiple different projectiles. They maintained the same speed and density and tore through vrosks flying overhead.
The horde of vrosks had been noticeably thinned, and the rest were following Alex and Gill closely, firing their magical staffs. Alex and Gill wove in and out of the asteroids as Jollies showed up to provide backup, flying between the vrosks and electrocuting whichever wasn’t paying close enough attention.
Finally, Alex and Gill got to the mines. They swooped down into them and turned around to make themselves seem like better targets. Just in case the vrosks didn’t take the bait, Alex prepped another gravitational well and tossed it out.
The vrosks were already heading in, though. The gravity well went off and the vrosks were pulled toward the mines, which instantly detonated as Boundless flew out of the blast’s proximity.
They headed back toward Brath and Jim, who were prepping for the next wave of enemies. Vardis was still leaping from ship to ship. They couldn’t avoid him, no matter how fast they were.
The team sat down on the asteroid together and watched Vardis working. “Didn’t know he had it in him,” Jim muttered. “Didn’t seem like much of a fighter.”
Alex was watching the place the portal had opened. “No, I wouldn’t have thought so. We can’t do this all day, though. If the Dark One opens portal after portal, we’re gonna get tired. We need to retreat.”
No one disagreed. They had probably all been waiting to hear those words.
“We’re gonna move now before they send more reinforcements. Get the hell out of here while we still can.”
The plan was straightforward enough. There seemed to be a lag before another portal could open, and they were going to take advantage of that and hoof it straight back to the base. She was uncertain about whether the Dark One would give chase.
Brath thought it was a terrible idea. “You guys will end up like the gnome world. Maybe even worse. The Dark One never landed on our planet. Can you imagine the damage he could do?”
“I don’t think so. Look at this whole fight. If the Dark One was powerful enough to wipe us out single-handedly, he wouldn’t have brought a small army with him. He might be strong, but he’s not a god, no matter what he keeps trying to tell me. He needs forces, and he obviously doesn’t have enough to deal with us. He won’t have enough to deal with the base on Earth.”
Brath had nothing to say back to that, and neither did the rest of Boundless. Alex did have a point. If the Dark One could just kill everything, why would he bother with armies? Unless he was after something else.
Alex thought back to what she’d heard the Dark One saying. The weapon Vardis had was strong enough to destroy life as she knew it.
And the Dark One didn’t want that. He wanted things to keep living.
“He won’t do it,” Alex said finally. “He’s not here to destroy.”
Jim opened his cockpit and leaned out. “I know you’ve spent a little time in the Dark One’s head, but I don’t think you should start taking his thoughts as the Lord’s truth. We can’t trust him, not even what his mind tells you. He might just be trying to manipulate us.”
Alex knew Jim was partially right. She couldn’t believe any thoughts she’d received from the Dark One, but she could make use of the connection between the two of them.
Jollies was flapping her wings anxiously while Amber huffed out a small storm of electricity. “Are we going to sit around and talk about retreating, or are we going to wait until we have a big enough group of vrosks to retreat from? I think if we’re going to go, now is probably the best chance we have.”
As Jollies was speaking, the portal opened again. The Dark One’s tendrilled ship came through first, with more ships and vrosks following him. Alex felt the familiar dread creep over her at the sight of the ship. She knew the rest of Boundless was feeling it as well.
Vardis, who had just rejoined them, was the only one who didn’t seem to be affected by the sight of the flagship, or at least not like the rest of the Boundless. He looked livid, as if it was impossible for him to hold his anger inside.
She still didn’t know what to make of the alien. He obviously hated the Dark One, but he’d been less than forthright about many things, and the situation with the kin had almost seemed like a backhanded attack. But why would he have attacked them while they were helping him get something he wanted? There was no motive.
From where Alex stood, Vardis was just as trustworthy as the Dark One. Hey, Chine, Alex thought, do you think you could help me reach the Dark One? The way that he reaches out to me?
The dragon’s voice sounded proud when he responded. I don’t think you’ll need my help. I’ve been watching your telepathic abilities grow. You might not realize it, but you’ve been doing most of the heavy lifting recently.
Do you think it’s safe?
I don’t think seeking a conversation with him is in any way safe, but I don’t think you need my protection. I will listen in, though.
Alex turned to the rest of Boundless. “We’re not retreating yet. You guys can deal with another wave, right?”
Brath yawned as he drew his axe and leaned on it. “I got another four in me. What about you, Gill?”
Gill, who was sitting cross-legged, stood and stretched his arms and legs. “At least three at the current number of troops and resting times between the portal’s opening. Jollies?”
“Five. I’m not using nearly as much energy as you guys. Jim?”
“I think I might need to gas up after four or five, but that’s my only concern.”
Alex folded her arms and nodded, satisfied with her team’s answers. “Good. Chine’s going to watch my back. I’m going to have a talk with the Dark One and try to come to some kind of agreement. The way I see it, we have a weapon that can instantly kill him. He might not know we know how to use it.”
Vardis’ eyes widened as he turned to face Alex, his whole body shaking with what could only have been rage. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to talk to him?”
Alex didn’t bother to meet Vardis’ eyes. She was looking at the Dark One’s ship. “I think it’s about time we had a talk on my terms.”
Chapter Five
It felt like second nature. First reaching inward, finding her voice. The voice she’d been using all along when she spoke with Chine. The voice Myrddin and Vardis had both drawn out of her. The voice the Dark One had tried to drown out when she’d found herself within his mind. The voice was there. It was strong—stronger than she’d been aware of.
Alex wondered how long the voice had been there. There had never been any occasion for her to use anything like telepathy. She assumed the way she’d moved around the world when she was blind was because she’d grown used to it.
But if she thought, really thought back, she could remember instances of strong feelings and picking up on things people felt even though she couldn’t see their reactions or body language. It was a deep knowing as if she was somehow connected to them.
Those feelings had grown since she’d been bound to her dragon. It wasn’t something she would have put into words before, but for some reason, everything was clicking now. Chine had sharpened her telepathy by proximity and communication. She wondered if that was how it was for the rest of the dragonriders, but it was doubtful. If it had been like that, they would have talked about it by now, having sensed it growing in each of them.
Above, the vrosks an
d fighter ships were preparing to attack. Boundless was gearing up to go on the defensive and turn the tide. They all seemed fairly certain that they were going to be able to handle whatever the Dark One was throwing at them, and there was no lack of trust in Alex and what she was capable of.
Alex took a seat next to her dragon, who covered her with his wing, promising to keep her safe. I appreciate it, Alex said. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I get in there.
Chine chuckled softly as he flexed his wing. If it’s anything like last time, it will be somewhat terrifying.
Somewhat? That’s an understatement. Alex called to Brath, “Hey, little guy. You’re in command while I’m out, okay?”
Brath puffed up his chest as Furi reared. “What the hell do you mean, ‘little guy’?”
“I was talking to Furi.”
Brath fake-laughed as Furi stamped the ground. “Hurry up,” Brath chided. “We could use the extra firepower.”
As Alex was preparing to telepathically call out to the Dark One, Vardis walked over to her, crouching to her eye level. It was the first time Alex had noticed how physically imposing the alien was. When they’d been back at the Nest, he’d looked frail behind the glass walls. Now, out here, Alex could see how strong he really was. His attack on the fighter jets hadn’t hurt that impression either.
Vardis peered at Alex, his deep, dark eyes difficult to read. “This is a foolish idea. The Dark One has broken people with his mind. He is not—”
Alex didn’t have time to waste talking to Vardis, especially if he was going to try to talk her out of something her mind was already made up about. “I’ve been in there before, and I came out alive. During the last psychic attack, he hit me with something I could live through as well. I advise you to keep up with everyone else.”
Vardis’ inner eye flickered as he leaned back on his haunches. “If you wish. Be safe.”
“You too.”