Fier paced up and down the length of the cadets. “Truthfully, I didn’t think any of us were going to survive, but here we are. Here you are, warriors in training. The Dark One is afraid of you. That’s why we were attacked. Take it as a backhanded compliment.”
Fier leapt into the air and wings spread out from her back. It was impossible to tell if she was mostly dragon or something else. “Get in the air,” she shouted. “Let’s get started.”
Alex raised her dragon anchor to the sky and called for Chine. She looked at the sun, its dazzling brightness, the blue skies, and the sparse white clouds.
Chine came to her in a flash of black smoke, faster than the rest of the dragons. Alex leaped onto him, and they took off.
Alex looked down at the other cadets. Many of them were still waiting for their dragons. I’m glad we made it through everything, Alex said to Chine. You and me.
Chine turned to look at Alex, his eyes dancing in a smile. I as well, he said. When we were trapped, I honestly wasn’t sure you and I were going to see each other again.
It’s weird. I feel like we never really talk. I mean, not as much as everyone else I see. Not as much as Jollies or Gill or even Brath. But I feel close to you. Like, if you weren’t here, maybe I wouldn’t be here.
Chine soared above the clouds as the rest of the riders started to take off. It is the binding. It is not a thing that can be put into words simply, but we are intertwined. Nothing will change that. I am here for you. You are here for me.
Fier and the rest of the cadets were now in the sky. Fier raised her hand and targets appeared in the air. She pointed at them and barked, “All right, everyone, get into groups of four. Take down your targets without using your dragon’s elemental powers. Got it?”
Jollies, Brath, and Gill made their way toward Alex without saying anything. The four of them sized up their targets and took off.
Jollies busted through the smaller targets, Amber firing her shoulder plasma cannons. Brath was right behind her, cleaning up the larger targets. One of the targets Brath hit split into two more targets and flew away from each other,
Gill went after the two new targets. Timber swiped the targets, his mech claws tearing through both of them.
Alex was at a loss as to what to do. All the targets in her vicinity had been destroyed.
Fier came up behind Alex, sneering. “Well, it seems like you four are far beyond target practice,” she said. “How about we try something a little bit more advanced?”
Fier waved her hand and the sky disappeared. It shimmered into darkness, a darkness Alex was familiar with. Guess it’s time for VR, Alex thought.
Chapter Nine
The blackness faded and opened up into the lush world of Middang3ard. Alex was still atop Chine, flying through the sky amidst clouds, but the clouds were different. When Alex looked down, she could see the villages and hamlets she had grown so accustomed to in Middang3ard.
Brath, Gill, and Jollies were still beside Alex. Gill was looking around as if he had been dropped into a reality he didn’t understand. “Where in the realms are we?” he asked.
Alex flew in front of her friends. “We’re in a VR simulation,” she explained. “Like the game I used to play. The game that brought me here. None of this is real. Well, not real in the sense that we can die or anything like that, but it’s real enough.”
Brath stared down at the world beneath him. “It almost looks like home. Almost.”
Alex’s heart broke for him, but before she could say anything, an icicle flew through the air, narrowly missing her head. If Chine hadn’t dodged at the last minute, it would have decapitated her. “We got incoming fire!” she shouted.
Whatever had thrown the icicle was obviously not in the air. That meant Alex needed to get to the ground as fast as possible. If their enemy could throw something that far, they must be extremely strong. “Come on,” she said as she leaned forward, directing Chine toward the ground.
Her dragon rocketed toward the ground. Alex blinked back tears from the speed. This was everything she loved, yet she knew it wasn’t real. Part of what she had loved about being a dragonrider was the game; this was just a reminder.
Chine and the rest of the dragons landed, throwing up dust and dirt all around them.
The four dragonrider cadets and their dragons were in front of a mountain covered in ice. Its summit was not visible, extending far into the clouds.
At the base of the mountain were twenty frost giants. They were at least ten feet tall, their lanky arms nearly scraping the ground. Ice hung from their fur, and icicles clung to their beards.
Alex leaned forward, spurring Chine onward. Chine shot a jet of ether fire at the frost giants.
The largest frost giant stepped forward and waved his hand, dispelling the fire.
Alex turned to the rest of her party and shouted, “It’s rigged against us! We can’t use dragon attacks!”
Brath shrugged as he pulled Furi back, trying to rein him in. “What do you mean, we can’t use dragon attacks?” he asked. “Or that it’s rigged against us?”
“This isn’t real life. There are certain rules that whoever made this is forcing us to play by, and one of them is obviously that dragon attacks can’t do anything. Gill and Jollies, get behind the giants. Brath, me and you are going to hit them head-on.”
No one asked questions. In a moment of precise coordination that frankly surprised and awed Alex, Gill and Jollies swooped behind the frost giants. Brath guided Furi over to Alex. “We have to use our weapons, just like the target practice we were
