by Ramy Vance
Alex rubbed her head, trying to shake away the ringing in her ears. She wasn’t ready to keep fighting, but it didn’t look like she had a choice. “Wait, Vardis is screwed. The shard is on Middang3ard. He can’t get out of this realm without the collider, and that’s where everyone is.”
Roy was on his feet, and a vein in the side of his neck was bulging. “Unless he has got more tricks we don’t know about, which wouldn’t surprise me. I didn’t think the S.O.B. could fake his death so easily. Why the hell did he do that?”
“Information. He obviously was so focused on the fight that he couldn’t just lift the masterplan from our minds, so he waited until Chine conveniently explained everything that’s happened since he attacked me. Vardis might be insane, but he knows how to plan.”
“That makes our next step easy. I’m loading the coordinates into your anchor. Looks like he’s far enough away that however he was jamming our comm isn’t working anymore. Or maybe he just doesn’t care.”
Alex checked her anchor for the coordinates, and just as Roy had said, the jamming to their system was gone. “You want to talk to the team, and I’ll focus on riding? I need to talk to Chine.”
Alex climbed onto the dragon’s back, and Roy followed. She anchored and then pulled out a pair of auxiliary reins that she attached to Chine’s back and then handed to Roy. “Hold on,” she advised. “I’ll take it as slow as I can.”
Roy waved away Alex’s concerns. “Don’t worry about me. This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the back of a dragon without an anchor. Do you think they just shove us into mechs without bothering to teach us the basics? You fly as hard as you can.”
Alex nodded and pulled back on her anchor, launching Chine into the air. You can find him, right, Chine?
Chine replied, If we work together, we can find him. He’s trying to cover his tracks by blocking his energy from us, but together, we can find him. Reach out, Dustling. Reach out and grab him.
Alex did just that, focusing on scanning the sky for Vardis’ energy. She knew that energy intimately since it had tortured her mentally and tried to kill her for the last two hours. It shouldn’t be difficult to find.
The rider and dragon searched for a little bit before Alex picked up a trace. She zeroed in on it, directing Chine to fly after the flicker. “Hey, Roy, you get in touch with everyone yet?”
Roy’s voice came over Alex’s comm. “Yeah, I did. It’s going to take them a little time to get prepared, though. The facility’s only makeshift. Most of the dragon hardware they have still needs to be set up, and Boundless is going to have to bring every weapon that they can get their hands on to this fight.”
Alex was about to answer Roy when she felt a sharp pain near the back of her skull. Then her mind erupted in agony, but not the sort she felt from Vardis’ attacks. This was much different. It was as if a single thought were repeating as often and loudly in Alex’s head as possible.
She knew exactly what it was.
The Dark One.
Alex stopped trying to fight it and let the Dark One in. The world around her faded away, and she was in the dark place with a thin sliver of light in the distance. The thought was coming from the light. “He comes for the shard,” the Dark One growled.
Alex wanted to roll her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was why the Dark One had invaded her mind. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”
“Have you rethought my proposition?
“Uh-uh, what did we talk about when it came to names? Use mine.”
“Alex. What is your decision?”
Alex hadn’t thought about the Dark One’s promise since he made it. Something had appealed to her about it, and she was starting to think that was because of the Dark One’s influence. Since then, she’d grown stronger, strong enough to ward it off unconsciously. “I’ll keep Vardis from using the weapon, but I’m not giving it to you, and I have no desire whatsoever to join your army. I’m going to destroy you.”
“I advise you to—”
“I’m done with this.”
Alex cut the link, violently forcing the Dark One from her mind. It surprised her as much as it must have surprised him.
Suddenly Alex was back in the real world, riding Chine, who had taken over during his rider’s brief lapse. She looked down at her anchor, which told her they were only a couple of minutes from the other base. Vardis might already be there, but it didn’t matter. He hadn’t beaten her yet. Why would this time be any different?
Chapter Six
By the time they arrived, the base’s alarms were going off. Even from far off, Alex could see that a huge chunk of the base had been destroyed. Vardis had found the shard.
They landed near the makeshift stables, where Team Boundless was trying to prep their dragons for the counteroffensive.
Alex jumped off Chine as her team ran up to greet her.
Jim gave Alex a hug, holding her as tight as he could. “It’s good to see you made it out of there all right. We’ve been trying to get in touch with the base since we left. Everyone just assumed it was a communication malfunction. We had a couple of people from the base tell us it was. It must have all been part of Vardis’ plan.”
Brath’s arms were folded, and he was stewing. “Yeah, it looks like the asshole pulled the wool over all of our eyes. Even if we didn’t trust him, I don’t think any of us thought he was going to try something like this. Getting the shard transported and everyone to move to a base that hardly runs was a stroke of genius.”
Jollies flittered to Alex’s shoulder and landed on it. “We were worried about you after the explosion. You are okay, right?”
Alex rubbed the back of her head, which had been hurting since the Dark One invaded her mind. “Yeah, I’ll live. I’m only tired. Vardis has been drawing this out for a long time. It’s like he doesn’t get tired.”
Gill, who was still working on setting up the augment station, called over his shoulder, “He does seem to be on a very different level than we once thought. He’s already removed the shard and left with it, and we’re stuck here, prepping for a fight that might very well be over by the time we leave. Got any idea about what to do next?”
Alex crouched as she thought about what her next step was going to be. If she was able to track Vardis to this base, maybe she’d be able to do the same when she was in Middang3ard. The alien’s energy was unmistakable. “Guess the first step is to find out how bad the damage is. See if we can find out where he went from the collider logs. Roy and I will check it out. You guys keep getting ready for the fight.”
The team went back to their duties as Alex and Roy headed for the collider. They didn’t need to know the layout of the base. All they had to do was follow the path of destruction Vardis had left.
From the looks of it, he had torn through the base looking for the shard, which had been held in a special containment area.
Alex and Roy walked past the destroyed containment area. Wounded soldiers were being attended to by medics, but there didn’t seem to be any casualties.
The riders followed the wreckage Vardis had left in his wake. It wasn’t long until they reached the collider, which was still running, a portal open on the teleportation pad. “That can’t be good,” Alex murmured as she and Roy ascended the railing. “Aren’t those supposed to close after they’ve been used?”
Roy opened the log. “Yeah, they close instantly. They can’t be kept open.”
Alex stared at the portal, trying to make sense of what she was looking at. “Do most people know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“That the portals always close. Would someone who’s unfamiliar with them know they don’t remain open when they’re not in use?”
Roy continued to look through the list of potential coordinates. “I don’t see why they would.”
“This isn’t real, not the way we think it is. Vardis is playing another trick on us. What was the last place the teleporter accessed?”
“Looks like the Wasps' Nest. Vardis probably went there to set off the shard. There’s a lot of magical energy to draw from there. The kin would probably love that.”
Alex shook her head as she came over to look at the console. “No, I don’t think so. Vardis said they were elementals, and magic isn’t an element, it’s energy. The shard probably wouldn’t work there. It’s another distraction Vardis put up for us, just like that portal. Which isn’t really there.”
Roy looked at the portal and then to Alex. “You sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure I see a portal.”
“If it really were an open portal, don’t you think there would be technicians trying to shut it down? If the system was broken that badly, this whole base would be in danger.”
Roy nodded in understanding. “He’s messing with our minds again.”
Alex shut her eyes, focusing her tired mind on dispelling the telepathic fog Vardis had placed over the room. Or maybe he had inserted it into their minds, along with everyone else’s at the base. Was Vardis strong enough to affect hundreds of people at the same time?
Roy pointed at one of the ceiling’s corners. “He destroyed the cameras in here as well.”
“Hold on. I’m trying to concentrate.”
Alex turned her focus inward, trying to find anything that didn’t belong. She had the same feeling as when she’d tried to remember any information about her parents after Vardis’ attack. The sensation was recognizable.
There it was—the telepathic schism.
Alex slashed at it with her mind and did the same to Roy’s, which caused him to yelp. “Oh, crap, you weren’t joking,” he said.
When Alex opened her eyes, the portal was gone. In its place was what looked like a small tear in the fabric of space and time. It distorted everything around it, crackling with the same energy that came off of Vardis. It was the same energy Alex had seen when the grenade in the back of the van exploded. “It’s a psychic mine,” Alex explained. “He was hoping we’d try to use the fake portal and set it off.”
“Hm, that’s ominous. Any idea how to get rid of it?”
“None. You should call someone to take care of that before we leave. Now, if you were going to go to one place that had unlimited elemental potential in all Middang3ard, where would it be?”
“They mentioned that volcano, and Vardis was there for that briefing, I think. If he’s anywhere, that’s where I’d bet.”
Alex pointed to the console. “Hit the coordinates and let’s go.”
Roy started searching the console. “No collider opens there. We’re going to have to travel some of the way.”
Chine flew through the hole in the ceiling and landed near the dragon teleportation section of the collider. Are we ready?
Roy hit the teleportation terminal, and a portal ripped into their world. “We are now,” Alex said as she ran to the dragon. She jumped onto his back and anchored herself as Roy followed, then they flew into the portal.
Alex felt herself tumbling through the portal, watching thousands of stars race past as she was pulled between the realms.
They landed on a teleportation portal in Middang3ard in the middle of a base not very different from the one they just left, except the technology was much more advanced.
Alex sent the coordinates they had used to the rest of Boundless and ordered them to come through to Middang3ard and head for the volcano as soon as possible. Alex, Roy, and Chine were going to find Vardis and try to stall him.
The attendants at the collider stared at the dragon in confusion. “Uh, excuse me,” one of them said. “You weren’t cleared for teleportation.”
Alex leaned over his neck. “I know, I’m sorry, but it’s an emergency. I’m Alex Bound. I should have full clearance.”
The attendant pulled up his HUD menu and scanned it for a few seconds before nodding and giving Alex a thumbs-up. “Did anyone else come through here recently?” Alex asked. “Someone without the proper clearance?”
The attendant looked at Alex, scrunching his face as he thought, as did the rest of the attendants. They looked like they were trying to remember something but couldn’t quite get there. “Uh, no, no one else came through,” the attendant finally said.
Alex looked at Roy, who was starting to figure it out too. “Vardis must have tampered with their memories.”
Chine rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. He was able to cast an illusion on you from between realms and distort the memories of those here as well. I’ve never seen a telepath that strong before.
“You worried, Chine?”
Slightly. But what else is there to do?
The dragon was right. Alex pulled up on her anchor and sent him into the skies of Middang3ard to chase Vardis.
Chapter Seven
It had been so long since Alex had been in Middang3ard that she hardly recognized it. She was captivated by the skies, the first ones she had ever seen, in passing as she was taken to Middang3ard.
In many ways, Middang3ard felt more like home than Earth ever could since she’d seen Middang3ard in VR for such a long time. Until she’d gotten her eyes, Middang3ard had been all she’d ever seen, other than her textbooks and holographic lessons.
This was what was at stake.
Vardis had tried to pose his offer as having Alex destroy a place she didn’t care about, but he hadn’t known that Alex felt more at home on Middang3ard than anywhere else.
Alex quickly pushed her feelings aside. Nostalgia wasn’t going to help her. What was important now was getting to Vardis as fast as possible. She drove her anchor forward to push Chine to maximum speed.
It was obvious that Vardis was going to make it to the volcano before they did; nothing could be done about that. But Vardis was crafty, so there was going to be something waiting for them when they arrived.
Alex ran through the different scenarios she could anticipate Vardis hitting her with. There was telekinetic energy. Then there was telepathy, either Vardis trying to influence her thoughts and perspective, or attempting to envelop her in a full-on psychic attack, pulling at her memories to confuse her about reality.
Any of those options, Alex felt like she could handle. She’d already experienced them firsthand.
She tried to lock onto Vardis’ energy. Even from so far away, she could sense it. He was heading to the volcano. From what she could tell, he hadn’t arrived yet. Hopefully, that meant he wouldn’t be able to set up a good defense.
Even though Vardis was insane, there was something almost admirable about how much he was willing to throw away, to sacrifice for his single-minded desire to kill the Dark One. Alex wondered if she’d ever be capable of that kind of conviction.
Then she wondered whether she would ever want that kind of resolute determination, the ability to kill billions of people. She would never do anything like that, but she was starting to see why someone would.
They were coming up on the volcano.
It sat in the middle of an island that was mostly covered with jungle. The island was the size of a small country, and there didn’t seem to be any fauna on it. The volcano looked angry, ready to explode at any given moment. Smoke plumed from the open chasm in the fiery mountain.
As Chine neared the island, Roy asked, “This is where we’re supposed to be fighting?”
Alex didn’t bother answering. She was still wondering why Vardis hadn’t started using the shard yet. There was no way they’d beaten him to the island. She could feel his energy lighting up the area. “Yeah, something is going to happen here.”
Rather than go to the mouth of the volcano, Alex decided to land Chine at its base. She and Roy got off the dragon and stared at the volcano they were going to have to scale. “Any reason you decided to land us as far from the fight as possible?” Roy asked.
Alex hardly heard him. She was busy tending the augments that were still on the dragon. He’d been outfitted with the bare minimum for a fight, probably having guided one of the military personnel on how to attac
h them. “Chine needs to be looked after,” Alex explained. “I’m not taking him into a fight until I do that.”
She got to work draining the draconic fluid from the augments. There was a build-up of fluid, but it didn’t take long. Alex finished by plunging her anchor into Chine’s spine and absorbing the rest of the fluid. “He’s waiting for us,” she said. “He could have summoned the kin by now, but he hasn’t. I think he sees us as on par with the Dark One. We’re one more step he has to take before he can get rid of him.”
Roy clicked his tongue as he checked the energy on his exo-suit. “Sounds like this guy is getting crazier by the moment.”
Alex was looking up the side of the volcano. It wouldn’t take long to scale it with Chine, but she was worried about what she was going to find when she got to the summit. Whatever Vardis had was going to hit hard, and she wasn’t certain if she was ready for it.
Chapter Eight
The three started to make their way up the side of the volcano. Roy wanted to fly Chine straight up it, thinking they were wasting valuable time, but Alex convinced him that this was the wiser tack. She couldn’t explain why, but it had something to do with her connection to Vardis’ mind.
Vardis’ thoughts were drenching the volcano. It was a physical presence. All three of the interlopers felt the effect.
At first, the feeling was subtle. Alex felt it as mild irritation without knowing what she was annoyed by. Neither Roy nor Chine were talking, yet her mind was replaying nearly everything Roy had said over the last few minutes, then days, then months, looking for something to be bothered by.
Alex saw Roy casting disapproving glances at her. She didn’t need him to say anything, nor did she need to read his mind. It was all over his face.
She wasn’t sure if that was the reason for the silence. Was Roy judging her? Did he not think she was capable of handling this?