Now that gravity had been increased, the vrosks had ground to a stop, as had the trolls, all of them weighed down by a force of nearly a twenty gees.
Alex leaped off Chine, slamming her dragon anchor to her chest as she spun her scythe around her back before bringing it back to her dominant hand and slicing off the heads of three trolls in one sweeping move.
Behind her, Amber and Jollies flew forward, the pixie activating one of Amber’s augments that caused the lightning sparking off the dragon’s body to echo a shadow of her movements as she increased in speed, leaving behind afterimages of herself that vibrated with electricity.
Jollies flew between as many of the trolls as she could, ramming Amber into them, leaving an image of the dragon and shocking their bodies with electricity.
Alex spun around and sliced at a troll who was holding a rifle, cutting it down before it could fire.
Up at the top of the canyon, the vrosks were beginning their descent upon the remaining dragonriders and the mech riders. The vrosks swooped down as the trolls hurled energy-charged spears.
Gill raised his dragon anchor, and Timber deployed a forcefield that spread over the riders. The energy spears collided with the forcefield, exploding and sending sparks flying everywhere.
The vrosks pulled up, trying to avoid the sparks, but many of them were caught in them. Then Brath detached from his position and flew toward the vrosks as Furi shot fireballs. The veteran riders just looked around as if they were caught in their first battle.
On the ground, Jollies was getting ready to rejoin the rest of the riders. Alex had leaped back onto Chine, and they were headed up as well.
One of the vrosks reared its head, and its beak glowed an icy blue before it fired a volley of icicles at Jollies. They hit Amber and the pixie head-on, nearly knocking her from her dragon. They veered to the right and crashed into the canyon wall.
Alex turned Chine’s head to face the vrosks again, and he shot ether fire at the vrosks. They scattered, giving the pair enough time to get back on track, and the two riders flew as hard as they could to meet the others.
Once Alex and Jollies were back with the other riders, she was able to assess the situation. The vrosks and trolls at the bottom of the canyon were still reeling from the attack. Now would be the best time to put an end to them, but doing that would require leaving the minerals with minimal defense again.
Alex glared at Alborn, waiting for him to get his head in the game. The elf still appeared confused by what was happening. “Are you going to do something?” Alex shouted at him.
The vrosks above swooped down on the dragonriders, showering them with ice as the trolls continued to pepper Gill’s forcefield with spears. “It’s gonna give any moment now!” the drow shouted.
Alex, fed up with waiting for Alborn, pointed to the canyon. “We all move down!” she shouted. “They still haven’t recovered, and we aren’t going up anytime soon. Mechs, you’re coming with us! So are the rest of you!”
Alex’s comm opened again to a hearty agreement from the mech riders. She and her dragon made the first move, plummeting toward the canyon floor. Alex knew her trick wasn’t going to work twice. She still had the element of recklessness on her side, though.
Just before Chine collided with the ground, he pulled up, soaring over the vrosks. Alex figured if they couldn’t take on all the vrosks and trolls, they could at least avoid their attacks. She hoped speed would win out, and they could make it to the drop-off point and get reinforcements.
As Alex and the rest of the riders passed the vrosks and trolls, the canyon walls began to shake.
The wall to Alex’s right exploded in a hailstorm of rocks and gravel as a fiery hand pushed its way out, followed by a flaming skull with curled horns. Sulfur and soot filled the air as a balrog stepped from the stones, a flaming whip in each hand.
Alex collided with the canyon wall as Chine tried to straighten out. “You have got to be kidding me!” she shouted as the dragon reared, then turned around. “All right, Boundless, this is where we make our stand. Jollies and Gill, you take care of the vrosks above. The rest of you with me! Mech riders, you keep going. Make it to the rendezvous.”
Jim and Brath flew up next to Alex, along with the remaining dragonriders of Alborn’s party.
The vrosks from above had met up with the vrosks at the bottom of the canyon. The balrog stood before them all, cracking his whip as he roared in fury.
Alex’s heart was in her throat. At her side, Jim turned and smiled weakly at her. “Guess this is where we die. Nice knowing you.”
Alex shook her head and shouted, “We’ve been through worse than this, Jaws!”
“Yeah, in VR!”
“Just means we got permadeath now!”
With that, Alex and Chine charged forward. Alex slammed her dragon anchor to her chest, and her and Chine’s bodies were covered in an icy armor as the dragon raised his glowing right claw. A concussive force shot out like a cannon, knocking the balrog back.
It roared in rage as it cracked its whip, pushing the vrosks and trolls forward. The vrosks sped past Alex. It was obvious her and Chine’s fight was with the balrog.
Gill was right behind Alex. Jaws and Croy were in the air, firing heat-seeking missiles. Alex breathed a sigh of relief at seeing how fast Jim was. Mech dragons were badass.
When the missiles collided with their targets, they distorted gravity around them, creating a gravitational field that suspended the nearby vrosks and trolls.
Timber and Gill leaped into the air. Timber stretched out his claws, so when he landed, they dug into the earth. A seismic blast went through
