The Descent
Dragon Approved™ Book Six
Ramy Vance Michael Anderle
The Descent Team
Thanks to the JIT Readers
Dave Hicks
Kathleen Fettig
Diane L. Smith
John Ashmore
Deb Mader
Kelly O’Donnell
Dorothy Lloyd
Larry Oman
If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!
Editor
The Skyhunter Editing Team
This Book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2020 by Ramy Vance & Michael Anderle
Cover Art by Jake @ J Caleb Design
http://jcalebdesign.com / [email protected]
Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
A Michael Anderle Production
LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
LMBPN Publishing
PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89109
First US Edition, March 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-1-64202-785-3
Print ISBN: 978-1-64202-786-0
Dedication
To Wee Orla… you should be here by now!
—Ramy
To Family, Friends and
Those Who Love
to Read.
May We All Enjoy Grace
to Live the Life We Are
Called.
— Michael
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Author Notes Ramy Vance
Author Notes Michael Anderle
Other Books by the Authors
Connect with The Authors
Chapter One
Alex impatiently tapped her feet while she stood outside, waiting for Team Boundless to meet her. She’d already been waiting for an hour, and patience was not one of her virtues. She’d become very aware of that fact.
Waiting for the team was much better than waiting for the higher-ups to take her seriously. At least the team was going to show up.
When Alex had decided that Boundless was going to go help Roy and Toppinir, she’d thought they would just jump on their dragons and head out. Then Gill had brought Alex back down to reality and explained what they would have to do before they could get moving.
The dragons had just been in an impressive and taxing battle a few hours before. Maintenance had to be the first and foremost priority if the dragons were going to be moving again. The dragons could very easily get hurt if their equipment was not maintained, not to mention, they needed a break.
Alex had jumped at the chance to do anything to help Chine feel better. She hadn’t been aware that he had been in any kind of pain. None of the dragons seemed to have been damaged during the battle, and she had completely forgotten what she’d been told when she was back at the Nest.
Gill once more burst Alex’s bubble. It wasn’t as simple as just going to change out their dragon’s equipment. They would need access to the stables in this facility—the facility they weren’t supposed to be exploring. The same facility where everyone was on edge and which was filled with patrols.
“I see your point,” Alex had said. “You’re basically telling me we have no options. We just have to sit around, even though we all agreed that we’re going to help Toppinir and Roy. That is what you’re saying, right, Gill?”
Gill had taken a deep breath and launched into a lengthy explanation of his plan to get the team out of the facility with their dragons healthy and newly equipped. The plan was long. And complicated. There were moments Alex thought Gill might have snapped under the pressure. But it was a plan—that much she could be certain of.
The team had decided to go with Gill’s plan, seeing as how they didn’t have any other options. That was why Alex was waiting outside, very aware that she wanted to be pacing and even more aware that pacing would just draw more attention to her. Which was not in the plan.
Gill, Brath, Jim, and Jollies exited the facility and rushed over to Alex. Jim and Gill were carrying a couple of video cameras and cords that they packed onto Jim’s back. Brath was playing with a set of keys. “What are those for?” Alex asked.
Brath tossed the keys to Alex. “We’re going on a little joyride,” Brath replied.
Team Boundless rolled down the quarry, driving a yeti ATV. Naturally, the ATV was nearly twice the size of a regular ATV, and as a result, Alex and the others had to come up with a creative way to drive the beast of a machine.
Alex and Gill were given brake and accelerator duty. They were both down at the bottom of the ATV, shoved together tighter than Alex liked. As they worked the two pedals, their hands occasionally brushed.
Gill didn’t seem to notice. Alex tried not to notice Gill not noticing.
Jim sat on a milk crate in front of the passenger seat, working the clutch. For some reason, yeti ATVs required two yetis to operate them, possibly because they were so large and demanding.
Whenever Brath shouted, “Shifting,” Jim would kick down on the clutch so that Jollies, who was zipping around in the ATV, could slam against the gear shifter and move it to the appropriate gear.
Brath was taking care of the steering. He was the oldest of the team members. Alex found this extremely surprising because Brath seemed like the least mature of the group. But as the oldest, he had been the only one who knew how to drive.
The ATV bumped up and down as Brath steered over a large rock. “How did you ever get a chance to drive?” Alex asked from the bottom of the ATV. “Do gnomes even have cars?”
Brath struggled with the wheel as he tried to rein in the beastly ATV. “I mean, they’re close enough to human cars,” Brath explained. “They’re kinda slower and clunkier, kinda like your human’s steampunk nonsense. Except ours actually work
