“I wanted to thank you for all your help, Manny. I don’t think I could have come this far without you. And I want you to know I really appreciate everything. Uh, are you a hugger?”
Manny shook his head as he turned his mouth down in disgust. “Oh, gods, no,” he exclaimed. “Sorry, it’s nothing to do with you, but Beholders don’t do physical affection. Most of us don’t even do positivity. But I appreciate what you said. And you’re welcome.”
“I’m going to be doing this one on my own. Just me and my new eyes.”
Manny smiled proudly as some of his eyes vibrated in their sockets. It reminded Alex of how she had once read rat eyes vibrate when they’re comfortable. “That’s great news. I wasn’t looking forward to another ride. So, Myrddin’s spell is working well?”
“Took a little getting used to, but these are my eyes now. Time to put them to the test.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. You four should probably just sit tight here. Gill, Brath, and Jim took care of their fittings earlier today. They should be here in a little bit to take off with the rest of you.”
Alex looked around the stables, suddenly realizing something. “Wait, aren’t Roy and Toppinir supposed to lead this? Don’t they have their own teams as well?” she asked.
Manny’s eyes stopped vibrating, and he looked worried. “Actually, those two are going separately from you five,” Manny explained. “You’re going to meet at the mines and move the minerals from there.”
“Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense. Well, I guess I’ll just kill time then. Thanks again, Manny.”
“I’m proud of you, kid. You’ve come a long way from where you were when you got here.”
Manny left the stables. Tribble made eye contact, did something similar to smiling but more confusing, and followed the Beholder.
Alex paced the area near Chine’s platform, waiting for the boys to show up. By the time she looked at her watch, it had already been ten minutes. “I’m going to go for a walk.” She double-checked the coordinates to the mine. “All this waiting is driving me insane.”
Jollies flew to Alex and took a seat on her shoulder. “I’ll go with you. I am unbelievably bored right now.”
Alex waved at Chine as she walked away. See you in a little bit, big guy.
The two dragonriders peeked at the different dragon roosts and admired the dragons sleeping or lazily lounging about. For a while, they watched the skies as dragons came and went, flying at ferocious speeds.
Alex turned a corner and stopped. She could hear something in the distance, voices that sounded familiar. Maybe it was Myrddin, and she could corner him to get a better explanation for their sudden departure. Alex was still a little sore about her weekend being over.
There was an office, and the door was open slightly. Alex snuck over to it and pushed it open a little more so she could see who was inside.
Roy and Toppinir were inside, sitting at a desk and talking to each other. A three-dimensional map was projected between the two of them, and Roy was pointing to something Alex couldn’t quite make out.
Then the map changed.
Now the map depicted a giant orb. The orb was not stationary, though. It was flying toward the planet like an asteroid, and if it was an asteroid, it was one of those world-ending ones. The orb looked huge in comparison with its destination.
The map changed again, showing a region that looked familiar to Alex for some reason. She tried to figure out where she had seen it before, then it clicked. There was only one place she could have seen it—Middang3ard VR. Those were her only visual memories.
Alex tried to remember where in the game the region was, but she was too focused on trying to hear what Roy and Toppinir were saying to concentrate on the memory.
Roy leaned forward and pointed to a region on the map. “At this moment, who knows what the impact is going to be?” he grumbled. “On top of that, we don’t even know what’s in the SOB. All of our intel sounds insane.”
Toppinir sat down in his seat and drew on his pipe. “What do you mean by ‘insane?’” he asked.
“We got word from the Mundanes earlier today. They said the sphere is some kind of ship, and it’s filled with genetic experiments. First thing that came to my mind was a biological weapon. I wouldn’t have thought the Dark One would stoop so low.”
Toppinir tapped the ashes out of his pipe and repacked it. “True. Even humans have the decency to steer clear of biological warfare. It’s an extremely barbaric tactic. It seems odd, though. The Dark One would seem to have too much pride to try something like that.”
Alex tried to push the door open a little farther. The movement made it creak.
How does a crystal door do that? Alex asked herself as both Roy and Toppinir leaped to their feet.
Alex attempted to look as if she hadn’t been spying, but there was no way to hide it. Roy stomped over to the door and slammed it in Alex’s face. “Guess we weren’t supposed to hear that,” Alex murmured as she stood up and headed back toward Chine and Amber.
Jim, Gill, and Brath were waiting for them near their dragons. Their dragons’ platforms had been grouped together. Brath looked up impatiently as Alex and Jollies approached. “Took you guys long enough,” he complained.
Alex brushed off Brath’s words. She was learning how to deal with his constantly sour disposition. It was starting to seem rather endearing if she was honest. “Shut up,” she replied. “We’ve been here for like an hour, waiting for you guys.”
Gill was already atop his dragon Timber, sitting with his legs crossed as if he were meditating. “Brath
