The menus were broken down by dragon body part. The first section was for the feet, and then it worked itself up to the claws, the shoulders, the chest, and ended with the anchor. The diagram of the dragon on the console placed the anchor on his neck. Alex assumed that must be the collar Chine wore.
Alex clicked on the feet and almost wanted to shut down the console. There were over ten thousand choices. This was either going to take forever, or she was going to mess something up. “Chine, there are way too many choices,” she moaned.
Chine’s laugh boomed through Alex’s head. Yes, there are. If it makes it any easier, you don’t have to look through each one. The console is psychically linked to me, as I am to you. If you think of something, an idea, I can relay it to the console, and it will show you something similar.
Oh, okay. That sounds more manageable, I guess.
Alex closed her eyes and tried to think of something that would be useful on a dragon’s hind legs. She didn’t think it needed to be something offensive since she’d never seen a dragon fight with their hind feet. All she’d ever seen a dragon do was rear up on their hind legs.
That gave Alex an idea—maybe some kind of stabilization, something that would give her the edge and round out her fighting capabilities if she were on the ground instead of the air.
Alex looked down at the console. There were only two options now, and one of them stood out to Alex. It was an augment that distorted the gravitational field around the dragon’s feet that could either increase or decrease. Now, that’s interesting, Alex thought as she selected it.
Next was the hands. I’m partial to clawing and tearing, Chine offered, If that helps.
Alex closed her eyes and imagined Chine tearing through the side of a mountain. Yeah, it sure does.
When Alex checked the console, there were a handful of claw enhancements—energy claws, fire claws, and things like that. None of them looked particularly interesting. Alex scrolled to the end. The last one was a stasis field generator, but it could only be used three times a day.
Alex read more about the generator. The field could be used to freeze an enemy, or the dragon could extend the stasis field outward, creating a concussive blast. You could even combine the uses into a massive attack. Done, Alex said as she moved on.
Now it was time for the chest. I’d prefer something that doesn’t rattle, Chine suggested. I have a sensitive chest cavity.
Alex tapped the console to look through chest augments. She closed her eyes and thought. The idea of Chine’s chest getting hurt was horrifying. When she opened her eyes, there were several choices. She picked an augment that boosted Chine’s defenses and allowed him to deploy an energy shield around his chest. Any ideas for your shoulders?
I believe missiles are redundant since I can breathe fire. Also, they’re loud. Maybe something to help with stealth? I’m not the, hm, most subtle dragon.
I know just the thing.
Alex chose a pair of misters for each shoulder. When activated, they would cover the dragon and the area around him with heavy fog. It would be perfect for throwing off the enemy and taking them out fast. All we’ve got left is the anchor. What exactly is that?
The anchor is our tie to each other. The augment of the anchor will give us an ability we share. It can be used together or separately.
All right.
Alex scrolled through the different augments as she tried to imagine what she wanted to choose. She stopped as soon as she saw the augment titled, The Unwieldy Element. When she looked up the description, she had to stop herself from squealing.
The Unwieldy Element allowed the user to cover their body with a random elemental aura that increased all of their physical and mental properties. It also set their body on fire. Alex chose it mostly for the latter. Can we try it?
Chine laughed as he looked around the stables. It might not be a good idea for me, but you can give it a try.
Alex read through the instructions on how to activate the power through her dragon anchor. She made a fist and slammed it against her hand, and there was a crackle of lightning. Then her body burst into flames, lightning flickering off of her.
Across the room, Jollies, Amber, and Tribble looked up as the flames across Alex’s body started to fade. “Oh, my God, that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done!” the rider squealed.
Chine stretched his front legs, and his scales rippled. Then you’ve made the right decision. It should prove to be invaluable on this mission.
As Alex and Chine talked to each other, the door of the stables opened. Myrddin and Manny came into the stables, the old wizard looking more grim than usual. “I’m afraid we’re cutting your weekend short. We’re moving up the delivery date.”
Chapter Three
Myrddin curtly explained the reasons for the change in plans to the two dragonriders. He seemed rushed, as if he had little time to spend explaining the situation thoroughly, and he left as soon as he finished giving them the bare bones of the information.
Alex, Jollies, Tribble, and the dragons were left to try to put together the pieces from what Myrddin had said. It didn’t matter, though. They were shipping out at the end of the day, regardless of why. That was part of being in the military.
Manny stayed after Myrddin left, and Alex came up to him. She thought about giving him a hug, but it might be weird. Not emotionally or anything—she just wasn’t sure how squishy his body was. “Good to see you again, Manny,” Alex said with a wink, pointing at her eye. “See what I did there?”
Manny laughed
