Suddenly, she was back in her body. She slumped and Jim grabbed her, keeping her from falling off Chine. “Do it now,” she whispered before contacting Chine and saying, This one is all you, buddy.
With the last bit of her energy, Alex reached out to the Dark One. She imagined her hand wrapping around its hanging eye, and she focused all of her ideas and intent into the image. Then she saw herself ripping the eye from the ceiling.
An audible scream filled the cavern. Jim took that as his cue and detonated the mech. The mech’s reactor melted down as Chine flew away. They had only thirty seconds before the mech exploded. It wasn’t nearly enough time.
Below, angels crawled out of the tunnels. They stared up at the eye as if curious.
Chine raced away from the Dark One’s gaze while Alex held on as hard as she could. She struggled to stay conscious as the dragon swerved through the tunnels, Jim shouting directions as he gripped Chine’s neck to keep from flying off.
The angels were crying, a loud wailing throughout the meteor. Then there was an explosion. They heard it even though it sounded far away. The walls of the tunnel shook violently, rock falling from the ceiling. “We’re almost out of here!” Jim screamed. “Just hold on.”
Holding on was all Alex could do.
Chine shot his ether fire and broke through the side of the meteor as the flames from the explosion followed on his tail, shooting out as if the meteor was a flaming dragon.
The flames hit the dragon and he spiraled out of control. Alex reached out for Jim and pulled him close, holding him as tight as she could while Chine fought to right himself.
Another explosion cracked the meteor down the middle, sending rock and debris flying. A chunk of rock hit Chine on his wing as fire scorched the dragon’s tail.
As the meteor blew to smithereens, Chine fell from the sky. To the dragonriders on the ground, it looked like a meteor shower, Chine burning as bright as the brightest shooting star.
Chapter Ten
Alex woke up in a bed in a white room in the Wasp’s Nest. The crystal walls projected a calming, muted white light. When she tried to move, her head felt dreamy and distant. The world quickly came into focus as she attempted to pull off her sheets.
Nothing happened. Alex looked down. Her right arm was missing from the elbow down. There were no bandages, only a nub.
A sick feeling started in the pit of her stomach and raced up her throat. She held her right arm close to her chest as she cried. The sickness left with the tears, and the tears gave way to a realization: she was still alive.
She pulled the covers up to her neck with her other hand and sat very still. She listened to herself breathing. Tried to move the fingers that were no longer there. Let the silence of the room and the crystal glow of the walls pass over her. She drifted back into sleep.
There were no dreams, only a blank kind of rest. It was just what Alex needed.
When she woke up again, Myrddin was standing next to her bed. “Good morning, Alex,” he said.
She sat up, careful to keep her bedsheets covering her right arm. “Hey,” she said groggily. “I’m assuming we won.”
“All because of you. That stunt you pulled was foolhardy, rebellious, and dangerous. And thanks to you, Middang3ard is safe for some time. I cannot thank you enough.”
Myrddin waved his hand, and a chair flew from the other side of the room to him. He took a seat and sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for your loss. You had a multitude of visitors trying to storm your door, but I thought it better for you to have some time to yourself in light of what happened.”
Alex removed the sheet and looked down at where her arm had been. “Kinda funny, right? You give a blind kid her sight, and then she goes and cripples herself. That’s ironic.”
“Actually, that is poetic justice.”
Alex groaned as she leaned back. “Are you seriously going to quiz me on literary terms right now? Your bedside manner is atrocious.”
“Wizards are not known for indirectness. Which brings me to my second reason for being here. We will be having many talks in the future. Chine has informed me of your psychic potential, which is something we will want to develop. But before that, we must talk about your arm.”
“What’s there to talk about?”
“An armless rider is a liability. You have two choices: a magic arm or a cybernetic arm. Both are ready to be attached whenever you are ready, should you wish to remain as a dragonrider.”
The matter-of-fact way Myrddin spoke about Alex’s injury put her at ease. This was just part of the job. Riding wasn’t the same as it was in VR. There were real consequences; Alex understood that now. “I’ll take the cybernetic arm,” Alex said after thinking for a while. “Actually, it sounds pretty cool.”
Myrddin stood and magicked away his chair. “That was what Jim believed you would say. Would you prefer to allow your visitors in before or after the operation?”
“Before. As soon as possible.”
“They’ve been waiting outside for you to wake up.”
Alex smiled as she stood up. Still got two legs, she thought. Could have been worse.
Myrddin headed to the door. “Hold on,” Alex called. “What about Chine? Is he okay?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Alex turned her thoughts to the dragon as Myrddin politely waited by the door. Chine, are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.
Chine answered instantly, his voice much more excited than usual. Alive and well, Alex. Fire is the least of our worries for dragons. How are you? Myrddin told me the extent of your injuries.
Well, I get a robot arm, which I think is pretty damn sick. Glad to hear you made it
