“Yeah, I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you when you first showed up.”
Jim pointed to the forest. “I wanted to check this out. I haven’t seen a proper forest before, being a city boy and all that.”
“Sure, and I’m pretty certain everyone playing VR games is a city person. Would you be playing video games if you had anything interesting around?”
Alex and Jim left the field behind. The forest was ominously dark, the trees growing thickly everywhere except on the walking path. “I highly doubt it. One of my favorite parts about VR was how much nature was everywhere. Even in the village.”
“Do you remember that one elf village we went to? The one in the trees? That was wild.”
Jim stared up at the canopy, nodding. “Yeah, that was pretty crazy. I wonder if real elf cities are like that. It would be amazing to see them. You know, in real life. I would never have thought they were real.”
“Yeah, and what about the dragons?”
Jim turned to Alex, grinning. “Wouldn’t have ever thought those were real either,” he agreed. “I still haven’t met a dragon, but then again, I’m not a rider, not like you. I’m part of the mech program under Roy. My dragon is metal.“
“So, I’m still the only human rider,” Alex muttered to herself.
“Excuse me?”
“Ahh, sorry. It’s just that when Myrddin recruited me, he said I was the first human rider. Then you showed up, and I was kind of like, guess that didn’t last long. But you’re in the mech program, and, well, I wonder what’s up with that?”
“Yeah, I hear that. I asked to be a rider, but I was turned down flat. Something about reaction times and not having a magical nature.”
Alex sighed. “Too bad. You are an incredible rider.”
“VR rider,” Jim countered.
“Rider,” Alex corrected. An awkward silence fell between them, and suddenly Alex just wanted to run. That wasn’t an option, so she took another tack. “How did you get into the program? Did you beat the raid?”
Jim laughed and shook his head. “No, I failed every time after you got in. I couldn’t even get into the bee vortex without you. No one would even listen to me when I told them how to get past the bees. Now I see why you didn’t bother explaining and just did it.”
“Yeah, sometimes people aren’t going to listen to you. But you didn’t tell me how you got in, you just told me how you didn’t.”
“Oh, yeah, that. Well, my dad is in the military, some really upper-level stuff. He’s not even allowed to talk to us about it. But I figured, why not ask? If the VR game was a recruitment tool like everyone was saying, it would make sense that the military knew about it.”
“Yeah, it would.”
“So, I asked my dad, and he didn’t want to tell me anything, but I kept after him. I showed him the game, all my stats and everything. He didn’t say anything at first, but the next day there was this military guy in the living room. He asked me all sorts of weird questions, and then out of nowhere, he handed me an application.”
Alex almost didn’t believe what she was hearing. “Wait, you got into the program just by applying?” she asked.
“Not quite. Turns out, my dad has been working for the mech department of the dragonriders, doing a lot of organization. He told me that when I showed him my stats, he couldn’t in good conscience fail to pass my information along.”
“He didn’t have a problem with his son going to war? He did know that it’s a for-real war, right?”
“Of course, he did. He works for the military, remember? We had a long talk about it. He said it was my decision to make, and he knew I’d find a way eventually if I wanted. So, I filled out the application, and he got it to the right people.”
Alex stared at the shadows moving throughout the trees. “That’s pretty cool,” she finally said. “I had to fight my mom and dad. They didn’t let me go until I showed them what the VR world was like. I think they kinda forgot about the whole ‘fighting the Dark One’ part after that.”
“Or maybe they thought you could handle yourself. That’s what my dad told me. And most of the trust he has in me is because of you.”
Alex looked away from the trees and met Jim’s eyes. “What do you mean?”
Jim sat down on a tree stump and sighed as he clasped his hands together. “You’re amazing on a dragon,” he explained. “From the first time I saw you, I knew you were special. I always watched you closely. A lot of what I do when I’m in the air is because I saw you do it.”
Alex blushed and turned to hide her face. As she turned, she saw Gill and Brath walking through the forest along the same path, heading right toward them. Damn it, Alex thought.
Gill waved amicably at Alex and Jim. “Greetings,” he called. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Jim rose and reached out to shake Gill’s hand, who took it heartily. “I’ve heard a lot about you from the instructors. You and Alex handled yourselves pretty well when the orcs came through.”
Gill nodded, his face betraying no expression. “Thank you. Alex was invaluable to our defense. I’ve heard good things about you as well, Jaws, is it?”
“That’s my call name, but yeah, Jaws.”
“Myrddin seems particularly excited to have you riding with us. I hope you’re a good fit for us cadets.”
Jim smiled widely. Alex’d had no idea Gill could be so friendly. It made her wonder why he had seemed so
