by Ramy Vance
The orc grunted, voicing his frustration at his prey getting away. That was all Alex needed. She sprinted toward the sound. When she thought she was close enough, she squeezed Jollies a little bit.
Jollies got the point, shut her eyes, and tensed her whole body until she flashed bright white. The part of the room they were in brightened instantly.
The orc turned around, dazed and confused, his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden bright light. Alex pulled out her knife and slammed it into his chest, pushing him back against the wall.
The orc didn’t go down. It wrapped its hands around Alex’s neck and lifted her into the air.
Alex gasped for air as she pulled out her knife and drove it into the orc’s skull. It let go of her and fell to the ground dead as Jollies’ white light faded.
Jollies flew down to the orc to check if it was really dead. “Holy crap,” Jollies gasped. “That just happened. You killed him!”
Alex wiped the blood off her blade before she sheathed it. She was still trying to catch her breath, but her neck didn’t hurt as much as she expected.
Her second orc of the day.
Alex knelt beside the body of the orc and checked it for anything useful, but found nothing. Guess this place is not going to beat that VR randomly-generated loot system. She laughed.
The limits of Alex’s physical body had definitely been extended. She was strong enough to drive a knife through solid bone. That was definitely an upgrade.
Jollies perched atop Alex’s shoulder. “That was crazy. I didn’t know you were such a tough guy. Never would have thought it from how you were acting with Brath.”
Alex chuckled as she walked back toward where she thought the other cadets were. “Well, I wasn’t trying to kill Brath. Dealing with bullies is harder than killing an orc. At least the orcs aren’t trying to torture me psychologically.”
By the time Alex and Jollies caught up with the other cadets, Brath and Gill had freed them all. “You took care of the orc?” Brath asked.
Jollies lit up bright white for a second, illuminating everyone. “Oh, man, you should have seen it! She was so flippin’ cool! That orc didn’t stand a chance.”
At least ten other cadets had been captured. Alex could barely make them out in the dark. She didn’t want to waste time trying to introduce herself to everyone, so she just asked the group, “How are you guys? Is everyone okay?”
A quiet voice came from the mass of bodies. “Yeah, they didn’t do anything to us. They just said they were going to hold onto us for someone.”
“For someone?”
“Yeah, they kept going on like they were waiting for someone.”
Alex looked around the room, trying to make out its features and figure out where exactly in the Nest they were. “Uh, anyone know where we are?” she asked.
Gill pulled up his map and pointed to its center. “We’re in the Great Hall. Guess when we aren’t all paying attention, the Nest relaxes or something.”
“Is this place alive?”
“Honestly, I’m starting to wonder about that.”
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Alex was dazed for a second and she covered her eyes, but before she could orient herself, a strong force like a wall of metal slammed against her and sent her flying.
Alex struggled to get to her feet as her eyes adjusted to the light.
“Ah,” a deep voice crooned. “More cadets for me.”
Chapter Five
In the blinding light of the Great Hall stood a man in a black cloak, its hood pulled down over his face. The light was emanating from him. He held a gnarled wooden staff with a glowing crystal atop it.
The man pulled back his hood. It was impossible to tell if he was an elf or a human or some other race. The features of his face seemed to shift continually, his eyebrows growing larger and moving as his eyes dropped to his mouth, which curled up to his ears.
The dark wizard raised his staff and laughed, a sickening sound like glass being broken. “I am Holmorth for the Dark One, and I have come for you, dragonriders!” the creature screeched, his high-pitched voice making Alex’s ears prickle. “My dragonriders!”
A horde of orcs filled the hall behind Holmorth. They looked like a pack of rabid dogs waiting for their master to unleash them.
Alex pulled her blindfold back down as she made her way to her feet. It was too bright, and there was too much visual information for her to process. She was glad to cover her eyes again. The image of Holmorth’s contorting face would probably haunt her nightmares. Seeing it once was enough.
Manny severed his psychic ties with the cadets and floated ahead of them. This action forced Alex to use her own eyes.
The Beholder squared off against Holmorth, all of his eyes facing forward, giving the wizard his undivided attention. “Holmorth, what are you doing here?” he asked. “Have you gotten bored pretending to be a dark magician in that hell pit you call a home?”
Holmorth laughed again and swiped his staff upward. A bolt of lightning issued from it and hit the ceiling, sending a cascade of glass falling. The recently rescued cadets screamed in fear as they backed up, inching closer to the far edge of the hall.
Alex, Brath, Jollies, and Gill did not retreat. They held their ground behind Manny, who had moved forward, his eyes still trained on Holmorth.
Holmorth rested his staff against his shoulder as he chuckled. “I see Myrddin is still having you play babysitter,” he said tauntingly. “I wonder why a powerful and eldritch creature such as you has allowed a lowly human to make you his errand boy?”
Manny’s body swelled as if he were growing in size. A pulse of energy came off him, which Alex felt wash over her like a wave of heat. “We both know Myrddin is far from being a lowly human,” the Beholder countered. “He’s a finer wizard than you’ll ever be. I’d be surprised if you are even capable of handling me alone.”
Another wave of energy came off Manny, hotter than the last. “Apparently you need an entire army to deal with children now,” he followed up. “Are your powers waning? So sad to see your potential wasted.”
Holmorth took a step forward, and dark energy radiated from his body. Even though the light was shining from him, he was still cloaked in blackness. “Hardly,” Holmorth said, snarling. “Nothing you taught me has been wasted, unlike that fool Myrddin.”
Holmorth waved his hand, and the floor before him broke into spikes that floated into the air and flew at Manny.
Manny did nothing, yet when the spikes should have hit him, they disintegrated into pebbles.
Holmorth laughed again, the same ear-piercing sound. “You are wasting your potential, Manny. The Dark One would reward power such as yours instead of delegating his menial tasks to you. An eldritch being of your power should be a ruler.”
“And that’s what you’re doing? The Dark One wants to rule. He won’t share it with anyone.”
“That is where you are wrong, Manny. The Dark One will indeed rule, and there are some of us who will also rule what has been given to us through his many graces.”
One of Manny’s eyes flipped over and looked at Alex before he turned to face the cadets. “Do you all have weapons?” he asked.
Alex and the rest of them solemnly nodded, and Jollies pulled a tiny crossbow out of her knapsack. Alex whispered to the Beholder, “If you could do all that, why not save us all the stress? The cards, the sneaking around. You could have just blasted them the whole time.”
“Because I won’t always be with you, and I needed you to see your actions and understand your potential. You are a leader who cares for her soldiers. You are a strategist who seeks survival over frivolous battle, and you are more powerful than you know. Myrddin was right about you, Alex the Boundless. I am proud to have been your eyes, as brief as that time has been.” the Beholder’s eyes softened as he looked upon her. Then turning to everyone, he said in a loud voice, “Good that you have weapons, because you’re going to have to fight your way to the stables. I’ll
hold them off for as long as I can, but you make it to the stables and you leave. Don’t turn back. Don’t try to help anyone else. Do you understand me?”
Alex grabbed the rifle slung over her shoulder. “No way,” she shouted. “We’re not just going to leave you.”
“You have to. You cadets are more important than me. You’re the hope of Middang3ard. Do you understand me?”
A bolt of plasma went flying past Manny and hit an orc in the chest. The rest of the orcs screamed, ready to bolt forward, but Holmorth held his hand up to keep them back.
Gill, who was holding his smoking rifle, shrugged. “We’ll go,” he said slowly. “But we aren’t leaving you alone. If we’re running, so are you.”
Manny sighed as one of his eyes flipped over to watch the horde of orcs across the room. “Fine, we’ll all go,” he agreed. “But I’m going to need to stall Holmorth if we’re going to make it. When I say go, go. No questions asked. Understood?”
Manny faced Holmorth again and floated forward as the dark wizard started to walk toward Manny. “I assume you still honor the old ways?” the Beholder asked. “The eldritch traditions I trained you in?”
Holmorth folded his arms and snarled, then he nodded.
Manny and Holmorth stood face to face a few feet from each other. “Good. Shall we begin?”
Holmorth said nothing, only clutched his staff. He aimed it at Manny, and a bolt of lightning fired from it.
Manny raised one of his eyes, and the lightning deflected and struck the wall. Then Manny’s eyes burned bright white, and a black hand, twice as large as Holmorth, appeared in the air. The hand grabbed Holmorth and wrung him as if he were a wet towel.
Holmorth shouted, and the boom of his voice destroyed the hand. He fell to the ground and grabbed his staff, then turned and aimed it at one of the orcs.
The orc was hit with a blast of green light, and it fell over as its body started to swell and bulge. A tentacle ripped out of it—a creature was growing within it. Within seconds, a massive kraken burst from the orc’s body.
The kraken flew at Manny, who floated to the side as quickly as he could. The kraken was easily the size of a bus, its tentacles flying about as it screeched, clacking its beak.
Alex raised her rifle and took aim at the kraken.
One of Manny’s eyes flipped over and saw Alex. “No!” he shouted. “Don’t interfere. This is between Holmorth and me!”
The kraken reared its head as Holmorth aimed his staff at Manny, shooting a fireball that went careening toward the Beholder.
Manny dodged the fireball and turned his attention to the kraken. Manny’s eyes shifted color again, glowing bright white.
The walls next to the kraken shot out spikes, impaling it.
One of Manny’s tentacles sketched a shape, an ancient sigil from times long past. The kraken’s skin caught fire and it burned to nothing but bone and ash. Then the ash rose from the ground.
Manny turned to face Holmorth. He pointed one of his eyes at the black wizard and the ash from the kraken flew toward Holmorth, covering his body in black soot.
Holmorth struggled and tried to escape but could do nothing.
Manny retreated back toward the cadets and shouted, “Now! Let’s go!”
The cadets broke into a run toward the back of the Great Hall as Holmorth tried to free himself. The black wizard screamed in rage and then shouted, “Don’t just stand there, you idiots! Kill them! Kill them all!”
The orcs ran toward the cadets, who had already made it to the end of the hall. The crystal door presented a datapad, and Manny slammed his tentacle onto it, shouting, “Open faster, damn you!”
The crystal doors opened, and the cadets rushed through. The doors shut quickly behind them and Manny commanded the doors to lock before heading toward the stables.
The orcs could be heard firing their plasma rifles from behind the door, trying to break through.
Alex was running beside Manny. “Damn, dude, that was really impressive,” she said. “I didn’t know you were that strong.”
Manny chuckled before coughing and wheezing, trying to catch his breath. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a duel of thoughts,” he admitted. “Honestly, I didn’t know how well I was going to do. I’m glad I made it out alive. I didn’t go into recruitment to have fights like that.”
Alex thought back to all the time Manny had spent helping her without saying anything. Having seen how powerful he was, she knew he could be using his talents anywhere else. It meant a lot to her that he had stuck by her for so long.
The cadets took a right turn at a corner and continued running. Behind them, Alex heard the door Manny had locked explode. Holmorth’s scream echoed down the hall.
The most frantic cadets were toward the front of the group, mostly younger students. Many of them were crying. Alex wouldn’t have been surprised if they were imagining how they were going to die. She might have been doing the same if it had been earlier in the day. Now all she could think about was getting to Chine.
Alex reached out to her dragon with her mind. She wasn’t sure if she was close enough to speak to him. Even though she had been fairly certain she could navigate the Wasp’s Nest blind, running through hallway after hallway while being chased by orcs had left her a little disoriented.
There was no reply. Alex tried again, focusing as hard as she could manage on Chine. Hey, Chine! Are you okay? she sent.
Still no reply. For the first time since the invasion started, Alex worried if Chine was alive. She had to get to him as fast as possible. If anything happened to him… Well, Alex didn’t know, but she felt the consequences would be terrible.
Chapter Six
The cadets raced down the changing halls of the crystal Nest. Alex had assumed the path would be straightforward, as it always had been before, but the Wasp’s Nest was doing its job. The nest was providing the cadets with what they needed: confusion to their enemies.
As the party ran through the hall, everyone trying to get their bearings, Gill shouted left or right as he saw fit. Alex could hear the orcs chasing them, their roars making them seem like a horde of nightmares eager for a butchering.
Gill was at the head of the group of cadets. He was doing a great job of keeping a level head, but Alex doubted he was ever anything other than calm. Regardless of the Nest trying to keep the orcs away from the cadets, Gill was making sense out of the ever-changing labyrinth.
Jollies had decided it made more sense to rest in Alex’s hand. She wasn’t used to flying so strenuously, and she was exhausted.
Brath, on the other hand, was up front with Gill, occasionally shouting to the cadets to keep going, rallying them.
Manny stayed at the back in case any of the orcs or Holmorth started to close in on the cadets.
Alex was replaying Manny’s battle with Holmorth in her head. She had never seen magic used in battle before. Not like that, at least. She had seen the Nest, and that was very different. Panic was starting to creep up on her, but she shoved it down as far as she could.
This isn’t the time to freak out, Alex thought. I keep telling myself that. When is the time to freak out? Freaking out would feel kind of nice about now.
For some reason, Alex had become extremely worried about Chine. She couldn’t get him out of her mind, and it confused her.
Gill pointed ahead and shouted, “Left now!”
The cadets took the left and the Nest closed the hallway behind them. They stood before a large crystal double door—the stables, at last.
One of the cadets reached out to the datapad next to the door. She pressed her hand to it, and the doors swung open. The cadets rushed in.
Manny turned to Gill and told him to turn the lights back on. It didn’t make sense to be running around in the dark. They might as well be able to see everything.
Gill did as he was told, hacking into the system as quickly as he could. The lights flickered on after a couple of seconds. Without thinking, Alex pulled off her blind
fold. The light flooded her eyes, but she pushed past the pain.
The room was blurry but quickly coming into focus. Once her eyesight returned to her, she wished she could have looked away.
The stables were almost completely destroyed. There was rubble everywhere and no dragons to be seen. Alex thought back to the tremors and explosions she had felt when the invasion had first started. She hadn’t seen any damage to the rest of the Nest. The attack must have been focused on the dragon stables.
Alex grabbed Manny and shouted, “I need to find Chine!”
Manny avoided Alex’s eyes. He floated away, trying to get a grasp of just how much damage was done. “They can’t be dead,” Manny whispered. “Their cadets would have felt it. Everyone would have felt it.”
Brath walked away from the other cadets and said, “Maybe the Nest helped them like it’s been helping us. They could be hiding.”
Alex needed that little bit of hope. Hope was all she had. She pushed her way through the rest of the stunned cadets and ran farther into the main area, looking around to see if she could find where the dragons might have gone.
It felt like Alex’s whole plan was falling apart. She had put everyone in danger in the hope of getting to their dragons. Now they might be gone.
Everyone could end up dead because of me, she thought.
Her chest closed up, and her heart was racing. She kept thinking of the orcs—their footsteps echoing in the hall, their screams as they readied their swords and rifles. It was almost too much.
Tears poured out of the rider’s eyes. She felt like her heart was curling up. She wanted to scream, to cry, to be anywhere but where she was right then, yet she was there. The orcs weren’t going anywhere, and neither was she.
Alex faced the rest of the cadets. She didn’t bother wiping the tears from her face. Instead, she stared at the cadets as she hiccupped through her tears. “Manny says the dragons are here,” she said, her voice more confident than she felt. “Everyone, find your dragon. This is where we fight.”