Alex noticed lightning seemed to be coming off of the elder dragon’s body as well. Maybe Jollies wasn’t the best to bring along for this particular plan. “Hey, Jollies, is lightning the only element Amber can use?” Alex asked.
Jollies and Amber buzzed around Chine’s head. “No! I got an elemental switcher on her,” Jollies answered. “We can go with water, too.”
“Hm…water, huh? All right, Jollies, soak the bats directly around the dragon, okay?”
“On it!”
Jollies split away from Alex and started to circle the bats near Holmorth, drenching them in water while Alex occupied herself dodging the lightning attacks Holmorth was directing toward her. “You done yet, Jollies?” Alex shouted.
“Just about! All right, I got them all.”
“Good. Now light them up.”
Jollies ducked in and out of the bats, Amber’s body changing from the softness of liquid to the uncontrollable energy of lightning. A chain of lightning hit the bats surrounding Holmorth, creating a falling lightning cage.
Holmorth raised his wand, waving away the bats that were falling from above. While the wizard was distracted, Alex brought Chine close to the undead dragon’s jaw. His claws glowed bright white as he charged.
Chine slashed the undead dragon’s jaw, splitting the bone down the middle. The undead dragon recoiled, pulling backward as he unleashed a torrent of ether fire into its face. “Fall back,” Alex commanded. “Let’s see if we made a dent.”
Jollies and Alex backed away from the undead dragon as the rest of her team converged on them.
The undead dragon was roaring in pain—a terrifying noise—but it wasn’t going down. In all honesty, Alex hadn’t thought it was going to.
Holmorth raised his wand from atop the dragon and aimed it at Team Boundless. All of the bats around him broke off with the dragonriders they were fighting and flew toward Boundless. “At least we got his attention,” Jim said over the comm as he fired his missiles at the bats.
The rest of the riders took evasive maneuvers. Jim had the luxury of being able to tank. He was able to handle an onslaught of bats. All the riders with real dragons had to worry about them getting hurt.
Brath had the most trouble getting out of the way. He struggled to fly through the throngs of bats and dragonriders locked in combat. A bat came at him from the side, ramming into Furi and causing the dragon to spin in the air. Brath grabbed him and held on while the dragon righted himself.
Jollies easily managed to avoid getting hit, but she wasn’t in any position to help anyone around her. Gill had broken off with Alex, and the two of them were flying around Holmorth, preparing to flank him.
Holmorth spun to the right as Alex got behind him. He pointed his wand, and there was a flash of red light as a long, slimy tentacle reached out from it. It wrapped around Alex and lifted her in the air.
Alex screamed as she flew through the air, hitting a bat, bouncing off, and freefalling through the sky.
Gill took off after Alex, and as he turned, Holmorth’s dragon launched a fireball. It hit Timber in the back, scorching his wings. Timber faltered in the air, twisting, trying to spin to put the flames out.
Alex continued falling, reaching out for something grab, but there were no options. Chine swooped beneath her and Alex fell onto his back. She anchored herself to Chine and caught her breath. Holy crap! Let’s not do that again anytime soon.
Chine flew back up toward Gill. The dragon is powerful enough to sever our link. We need to be more careful, he suggested.
Yeah, I can see that. That thing almost blasted Gill out of the sky with one fireball.
Jim’s voice cut through on the comm. “Hey, I got an idea. Wanna give it a shot?”
Alex replied, “Sure, I’m all out of ideas.”
“All right. I’m going for it!”
Alex had a faint hint of what Jim was going to try. He knew the limitations of his mech as well as anyone else. He also knew its strengths.
Jim hit his thrusters and went full ahead, aiming at Holmorth. He fired his missiles as he cut a path through the bats in his way. His mech reached out its arms and grabbed the undead dragon’s throat, but Jim didn’t kill his thrusters. He kept pushing, forcing Holmorth out of the cover of the bats while reducing his dragon’s movement.
Alex pitched up and headed toward Jim and Holmorth. “All riders on me!” she shouted as the rest of Boundless raced toward her. “We’re surrounding this ass-wipe!”
Boundless surrounded Holmorth as Jim forced the wizard and his dragon completely out of the swarm of bats. The undead dragon was doing its best to get away, and the mech’s gears screamed in protest at the dragon’s strength.
Jollies went in for the first attack. She aimed at Holmorth, ignoring his dragon. He easily dispelled her first attack, but she had speed on her side. Amber bashed into Holmorth’s hand, knocking his wand away.
Next was Gill, swooping in from above as he fired spire after spire of crystals, peppering the undead dragon’s back. That was followed by Brath coming from below, Furi spitting fireballs.
Jim pulled away, his mech finally getting near its breaking point. He fired a cluster of missiles as he backed off, blanketing Holmorth in smoke.
Team Boundless waited for the smoke to disappear. Alex didn’t think Holmorth was down for the count yet. She remembered how much damage the wizard had caused in the Wasp’s Nest. There was no way he was done.
The smoke settled, and Alex was right. Holmorth and the dragon were still standing, albeit scratched up. The only difference Alex could see was that Holmorth’s face looked as if it were starting to settle. Maybe he realized he was in trouble.
Holmorth raised his
