by Ramy Vance
Alex responded, “I’m glad you’re on board with killing it.”
Brath was staring down Holmorth and the undead dragon. “Of course, we’re going to kill it,” he said. “Holmorth killed our friends in cold blood. We don’t have a choice. You hardly ever get a chance for revenge. Now we can make him feel every one of their deaths.”
Alex had been trying not to think about what had happened at the Wasp’s Nest. She didn’t want to think of the dead cadets, their bodies broken and mangled by the invasion Holmorth had led. But Brath was right. Innocent lives had been lost, children mostly, and it had been Holmorth’s doing.
Alex sized up the dragon as Holmorth stood gloating, rambling on about a new age of darkness or some other apocalyptic drivel. The undead dragon was easily twice the size of Furi. A straight-on fight was going to end up with all the riders dead. “We go low,” Alex suggested. “Back into the thick of the fight.”
Gill chuckled and said, “So, you’re opting for running this time? A bold new strategy.”
“Hey, you gotta try something new sometime,” Alex said as she leaned forward, sending Chine diving into the chaos. The rest of Team Boundless followed closely.
Chapter Nine
Team Boundless plunged deep into the battle, weaving between bats and other dragonriders with the undead dragon and Holmorth hot on their tails. Alex knew she was going to have to come up with something better than her current plan.
To be fair, the plan was working fairly well at the moment. The undead dragon was too large to maneuver through the flying bodies. It was more likely to hit a bat than to hit any other dragonriders since the dragonriders were so outnumbered.
As long as Alex could stay out of the undead dragon’s way, she would have time to figure out what needed to be done. Hey, Chine, anything I need to know about undead dragons?
His answer was hardly encouraging. Undead dragons are the eldest of all dragons. They are the progenitors of our race, extremely powerful. Even death could not hold them. Their own power brought many of them back to life.
Okay, but how do we kill it?
The same way you kill any dragon—beat it to death. There is only a little life left in its body. Extinguish the flame that burns within it, and the dragon will remain dead.
Now Alex could see the only flaw in her plan. If the undead dragon was incapable of attacking Team Boundless, the team couldn’t go after it that way either. There was too much going on for a straight-on attack. Whatever their next phase was going to be, it would have to be heavy on creativity. “Jollies, you read me?” Alex asked.
The pixie’s voice came through the comm crystal-clear. “Yep! You having an easy time dodging all these bats? I swear, I didn’t know there were this many bats in the world.”
“Not as easy a time as I wanted. I’m going to need you to come with me. We need to start whittling down Holmorth’s dragon, and see what Holmorth is capable of as well.”
“On it!”
Jollies came zooming through the battle from the other side. Amber and Jollies had speed that Alex couldn’t even dream of competing with, and it was that Alex needed at that moment.
Alex and Jollies turned back around, heading toward Holmorth. A group of bats flew at the two dragonriders. They were only able to narrowly pull away at the last minute as the bats sent sonic blasts toward them.
Jollies went low and Alex went high, Alex clearing a path with Chine’s ether flames. Once the bats were out of the way, the dragonriders continued toward Holmorth.
Holmorth was waving his wand above his head, lightning crackling from the tip like a whip as he lashed out at the dragonriders around him. He knocked two of them from their dragons and they plunged to the ground, screaming in pain.
Alex noticed lightning seemed to be coming off of the elder dragon’s body as well. Maybe Jollies wasn’t the best to bring along for this particular plan. “Hey, Jollies, is lightning the only element Amber can use?” Alex asked.
Jollies and Amber buzzed around Chine’s head. “No! I got an elemental switcher on her,” Jollies answered. “We can go with water, too.”
“Hm…water, huh? All right, Jollies, soak the bats directly around the dragon, okay?”
“On it!”
Jollies split away from Alex and started to circle the bats near Holmorth, drenching them in water while Alex occupied herself dodging the lightning attacks Holmorth was directing toward her. “You done yet, Jollies?” Alex shouted.
“Just about! All right, I got them all.”
“Good. Now light them up.”
Jollies ducked in and out of the bats, Amber’s body changing from the softness of liquid to the uncontrollable energy of lightning. A chain of lightning hit the bats surrounding Holmorth, creating a falling lightning cage.
Holmorth raised his wand, waving away the bats that were falling from above. While the wizard was distracted, Alex brought Chine close to the undead dragon’s jaw. His claws glowed bright white as he charged.
Chine slashed the undead dragon’s jaw, splitting the bone down the middle. The undead dragon recoiled, pulling backward as he unleashed a torrent of ether fire into its face. “Fall back,” Alex commanded. “Let’s see if we made a dent.”
Jollies and Alex backed away from the undead dragon as the rest of her team converged on them.
The undead dragon was roaring in pain—a terrifying noise—but it wasn’t going down. In all honesty, Alex hadn’t thought it was going to.
Holmorth raised his wand from atop the dragon and aimed it at Team Boundless. All of the bats around him broke off with the dragonriders they were fighting and flew toward Boundless. “At least we got his attention,” Jim said over the comm as he fired his missiles at the bats.
The rest of the riders took evasive maneuvers. Jim had the luxury of being able to tank. He was able to handle an onslaught of bats. All the riders with real dragons had to worry about them getting hurt.
Brath had the most trouble getting out of the way. He struggled to fly through the throngs of bats and dragonriders locked in combat. A bat came at him from the side, ramming into Furi and causing the dragon to spin in the air. Brath grabbed him and held on while the dragon righted himself.
Jollies easily managed to avoid getting hit, but she wasn’t in any position to help anyone around her. Gill had broken off with Alex, and the two of them were flying around Holmorth, preparing to flank him.
Holmorth spun to the right as Alex got behind him. He pointed his wand, and there was a flash of red light as a long, slimy tentacle reached out from it. It wrapped around Alex and lifted her in the air.
Alex screamed as she flew through the air, hitting a bat, bouncing off, and freefalling through the sky.
Gill took off after Alex, and as he turned, Holmorth’s dragon launched a fireball. It hit Timber in the back, scorching his wings. Timber faltered in the air, twisting, trying to spin to put the flames out.
Alex continued falling, reaching out for something grab, but there were no options. Chine swooped beneath her and Alex fell onto his back. She anchored herself to Chine and caught her breath. Holy crap! Let’s not do that again anytime soon.
Chine flew back up toward Gill. The dragon is powerful enough to sever our link. We need to be more careful, he suggested.
Yeah, I can see that. That thing almost blasted Gill out of the sky with one fireball.
Jim’s voice cut through on the comm. “Hey, I got an idea. Wanna give it a shot?”
Alex replied, “Sure, I’m all out of ideas.”
“All right. I’m going for it!”
Alex had a faint hint of what Jim was going to try. He knew the limitations of his mech as well as anyone else. He also knew its strengths.
Jim hit his thrusters and went full ahead, aiming at Holmorth. He fired his missiles as he cut a path through the bats in his way. His mech reached out its arms and grabbed the undead dragon’s throat, but Jim didn’t kill his thrusters. He kept pushing, forcing Holmorth out of the cove
r of the bats while reducing his dragon’s movement.
Alex pitched up and headed toward Jim and Holmorth. “All riders on me!” she shouted as the rest of Boundless raced toward her. “We’re surrounding this ass-wipe!”
Boundless surrounded Holmorth as Jim forced the wizard and his dragon completely out of the swarm of bats. The undead dragon was doing its best to get away, and the mech’s gears screamed in protest at the dragon’s strength.
Jollies went in for the first attack. She aimed at Holmorth, ignoring his dragon. He easily dispelled her first attack, but she had speed on her side. Amber bashed into Holmorth’s hand, knocking his wand away.
Next was Gill, swooping in from above as he fired spire after spire of crystals, peppering the undead dragon’s back. That was followed by Brath coming from below, Furi spitting fireballs.
Jim pulled away, his mech finally getting near its breaking point. He fired a cluster of missiles as he backed off, blanketing Holmorth in smoke.
Team Boundless waited for the smoke to disappear. Alex didn’t think Holmorth was down for the count yet. She remembered how much damage the wizard had caused in the Wasp’s Nest. There was no way he was done.
The smoke settled, and Alex was right. Holmorth and the dragon were still standing, albeit scratched up. The only difference Alex could see was that Holmorth’s face looked as if it were starting to settle. Maybe he realized he was in trouble.
Holmorth raised his hands to the sky and screamed as the wind began to whip around, tossing the dragonriders back and forth as a cyclone appeared out of nowhere. As the dragonriders tried to get clear of the twister, Holmorth leaned forward and plunged his hands into the undead dragon.
Bones rose from it and pierced Holmorth through the body, impaling his arms and his chest as he screamed in pain, his face becoming liquid and dripping onto the undead dragon’s back.
The wizard and the undead dragon began to fuse, bones popping out of Holmorth’s body as his torso grew larger, his legs melting into the undead dragon’s until it was impossible to see what was wizard and what was dragon.
Alex and the rest of the riders watched in horror as a dragon’s skull burst through Holmorth’s head, breathing fire as fireballs floated in the palm of his hands.
Brath laughed nervously and said, “Oh, this looks so much better for us than it did before.”
Alex couldn’t disagree. Then she heard Chine say, The wizard has made a dire mistake. He’s combined his life force with the undead dragon’s. That means you no longer have two enemies, you only have one. Whereas you and I are still two.
Alex smiled as recklessness made her heart pound. “All right, then I guess it’s time to do something stupid. Squad! Keep this freak busy. Time to end this!”
Holmorth roared and shot fire into the sky as he launched his fireballs at the riders. Alex wove past one, heading for Holmorth. She pulled her scythe from the ether and leaped onto the undead dragon’s back, staring at it. “Ready to dance?” she asked.
Chine tackled the undead dragon, grabbing its hands as Jim followed suit, punching its stomach as Jollies flew in and out of the path of its fire.
Brath was flying around the perimeter of the fight, burning through the bats trying to come to their master’s aid.
Alex stared at the abomination Holmorth had become. “If you aren’t, I am,” she said as she slammed her anchor to her chest, unleashing the cataclysm of stored draconian fluid. Her body burst into flames and she sprinted at Holmorth, leaping into the air, her scythe raised.
Holmorth reached out and swiped Alex away, slamming one of the fireballs into her.
Alex skidded across the surface of the undead dragon’s back, but the fireball didn’t do any damage. Instead, Alex had absorbed it, and her flames were even brighter than before. “Hell, yeah,” she shouted as she ran forward.
Holmorth swiped at Alex again, but this time Alex dodged, sliding underneath Holmorth’s hand. Chine! The gravity flux!
Chine activated his gravity-distorting augments. The effect spread and covered the entire undead dragon.
Alex’s feet lifted off its back. She suddenly realized she should have thought that command through; she was floating in the air without gravity. Holmorth, on the other hand, was tethered to his dragon. One life force, Alex thought to herself. And the dragon is barely alive. It’s got to be Holmorth.
Alex reached out and concentrated on the dragon’s throat. She envisioned her hand closing around it, choking the life from the creature.
Holmorth stretched his clawed hands toward Alex, who floated like easy prey.
Suddenly, Alex felt the grip. It was not Holmorth’s hand around her, but her mind around Holmorth’s throat. Alex pulled with everything she had.
Holmorth jerked toward Alex, dropping his fireballs and grabbing his throat. As Holmorth came toward her, she raised her scythe as high as she could. Then she brought it down on Holmorth’s head.
The scythe sank into his skull.
“Team Boundless! Unload on this thing!”
Team Boundless released the undead dragon, giving themselves space. Then they fired everything they had without mercy, unloading all of their ammunition into the dragon.
Alex pulled her scythe from Holmorth’s skull. The wizard’s face started to contort, sloping forward, his teeth falling out, his eyes boiling. He let out a low, pitiful moan.
Alex pressed her hand to Holmorth’s head. “This is for the Wasp’s Nest,” she whispered, focusing her thoughts in one place: the palm of her hand.
The back of Holmorth’s head exploded as his body burst into flames.
Alex fell and hit the back of the undead dragon’s back hard. All around her, the dragon was coming apart. She ran toward its wings and leaped off, mentally shouting, Chine!
Chine swooped down and caught Alex in his paw. Alex climbed his shoulder until she stood on his back.
Alex joined with the rest of the team, who were watching the battle that had taken place adjacent to them. The bats were falling from the sky as if someone had turned them off. “Jim, can you grab one of those?” Alex asked.
Jim flew out and grabbed one of the closest bats in his tractor beam. Gill went over to the bat to get a look at it. “You won’t believe this,” Gill said, “but it’s inorganic. I think it might be some kind of drone.”
Alex didn’t even want to think about that bit of information. “Okay, okay. Let’s just get on the ground. I think we’ve earned it.”
Chapter Ten
Alex and the rest of Team Boundless were the first ones on the ground out of the sky full of dragonriders. As soon as they touched down, Alex said, “All right, let’s get these dragons taken care of pronto!”
The riders jumped to it. The process was painful, but didn’t take nearly as long as it had the first time. Everyone was able to finish within ten minutes. It was important to Alex to make sure they took care of their companions as soon as possible.
Once the battle had ended, Alex couldn’t stop thinking about how much pain Chine must have been in. After seeing the undead dragon and what it had become with Holmorth, Alex realized things had to be different with her and Chine. Always.
He hardly winced during the maintenance, and once Alex was done, he stretched his wings and said, Thank you. I truly value your attentiveness. The riders above are still congratulating themselves on your victory.
Alex shrugged, trying not to let the compliment go to her head. Don’t worry about it. You’re important to me. We’re bonded. Gotta take care of my boy.”
Brath and Gill were walking over to Alex. “How the hell did you know about that thing?” Brath asked. “You knew exactly where to go and what to do. How?”
Alex laughed at Brath’s accusatory tone. “I looked through Manny’s eyes earlier. He didn’t know what he was looking at, and neither did I, but I knew it was important. So, I guess you both were right. I took another stupid risk.”
Gill shook his head as he rested his hand on Alex’s shoulde
r, causing her heart to try to rip out of her chest. “No, I should apologize,” he said softly. “I was out of line earlier. You’ve been doing an amazing job. And that up there…you were like a moving work of art.”
Alex stared at Gill, fairly certain she was going to faint. Gill’s cheeks turned pitch black, and he started blinking rapidly and cleared his throat as he said, “I meant, force of nature. Like a force of nature.”
Brath gave Gill a sideways glance and shook his head. “Uh, I wasn’t going to say all that, but it was pretty badass. I mean, really badass.”
Jollies and Jim joined the team as the dragons lumbered off on their own. “Couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Alex exclaimed. “You all were amazing. Can you believe any of that? I mean, Holmorth and the dragon and… I mean, jeez, it’s kinda a lot, right? Is it just me? It can’t just be me.”
Jollies flew over and took a seat on Alex’s shoulder. “No, it’s not just you,” she agreed. “The last few days have been out of control. I could never have imagined I’d fight an undead dragon, let alone blow one to pieces.”
Alex gently nudged Jollies’ chin. “Well, now you can cross that off your bucket list.”
The ground suddenly shook, and Alex spun around to see what was causing the commotion.
A dozen mech riders had just landed. The largest one opened, and Roy jumped out of it. Next to the mech riders, the rest of the dragonriders landed. Toppinir didn’t even wait for his dragon to land before leaping off, landing next to Roy.
Roy stormed up to Team Boundless and shouted, “All right, which one of you brats is in charge of all of this?”
All of Team Boundless pointed their fingers at Alex, who, unsurprisingly, was pointing at herself. Roy knelt and got in Alex’s face. “What in the nine hells did you think you were doing up there?”
Alex fought against all her inclinations to give a smart answer. She swallowed her pride and remembered why she’d made up her mind to join the battle to begin with. “After we were done with our mission, it came to my attention that you and Toppinir were in a bad situation.”