Toppinir and his dragonriders were also preparing to take off. The two veterans met each other’s eyes, gave the signal (a nod more usually reserved for running into someone you didn’t like at the supermarket), and took off, their riders following.
Alex didn’t wait for an invitation from the veteran dragonriders. She gave the signal to Team Boundless, pointing to the meteor and the battle awaiting them. “All right, Boundless,” Alex shouted, “We’re going in hard from the right. Flank them from the top, then bring down hell on their heads!”
Chapter Three
The dragonriders moved into position. They wasted no time, hardly making a sound as they swooped into the space between the meteor and the swarm of hellish winged creatures. Roy and Toppinir took the front line. Alex held back, watching and waiting to see what happened.
Toppinir looked over his shoulder and waved Alex over, shouting something she couldn’t hear. She motioned to her comm and tapped it, and the elf’s voice came through. “You don’t think you’re getting out of this, do you?”
As Alex urged Chine forward, she said, “I didn’t know I was invited to the adult table for the party.”
“Yup. It’s your plan.”
That was all the time they spent talking because as soon as Alex got beside Toppinir, Roy dove forward, firing missiles at the walls of creatures. His missiles weren’t as strong as a dragon’s breath, but it was enough to take care of a few vrosks.
Toppinir was next, his dragon shooting blue fire from its gullet in quick, controlled bursts. It wasn’t enough to kill anything, but it did damage. As Toppinir fired, he pushed his dragon forward, forcing the creatures to the ground.
Alex followed Toppinir’s example. Chine shot small blasts of ether fire, enough to graze the fur of the bats but not enough to set it aflame. Alex, Roy, and Toppinir headed up the attack, and the rest of the dragonriders came up on the side.
Those dragonriders took care of containing the overflow. As the three in the front forced the monsters down, a few creatures tried to flee from the scene, bolting to the right or left. The dragonriders on containment flew to the sides, blasting the monsters trying to escape and corralling them into a massive spire heading toward the ground.
Once Alex was certain the monsters were going to continue moving, she looked back at the meteor. The green aura floating over it had taken on a crystalline look, almost as if the energy had solidified into stone.
There was something else in the meteor. Alex could feel it deep in her mind as if whatever was in the meteor was reaching out to her and calling her, trying to speak. It took all of Alex’s will, but she turned away from the meteor. Whatever was in there was dangerous.
The creatures continued to be forced down to the ground. Their screeches filled the air, cut off only by the combustion of the dragon fire singing skin and fur. The whooping of the dragonriders was almost barbaric.
At the rate they were going, the creatures were going to be on the ground in no time, and then the real battle would start. Alex figured it would be more like cleanup. Most of the monsters only had two legs. They wouldn’t be ready for a ground fight. “We got this!” Alex shouted.
Above the dragonriders, there was a very loud click. It was an ominous sound. A switch the size of a skyscraper must have been flipped.
Alex looked up, staring at the hole Holmorth had come from in the meteor. It was glowing bright green. “Oh, crap, this is not good,” Alex muttered before hitting her comm and shouting, “Hey, guys! Up above!”
The dragonriders all looked at the meteor, where energy was being pulled and charging with a twinkling of green light as if the riders were seeing a dying star.
Without warning, a blast of green energy shot from the hole in the meteor. The energy blast tore through the right side of the dragonriders’ right flank, instantly killing two riders. The remaining riders on the right pulled away.
With the break in the formation, the creatures poured through the hole, flying upward to attack the three riders trying to force the winged beasts groundward.
When Toppinir saw what was happening, he turned to Alex and commanded, “Bring one of your guys up here. I’m going to handle them until the right side can get back together.”
The clicking from above was followed by a whirring as if a great vortex were opening. Alex couldn’t help but look in the direction of the meteor as it prepared to fire again. “Are you with me?” Toppinir shouted, bringing Alex’s focus back to him.
Alex nodded and Toppinir took off toward the right of the formation, blasting the escaped monsters with his dragon’s icy breath. The rest of the riders on the right side joined him. Alex hit her comm and said, “Jim, I need you on my left. Now!”
Jim’s voice crackled over the comm, letting Alex know he was coming, as he swung over from the left flank of the formation, taking Toppinir’s spot between Roy and Alex. He instantly started firing his flamethrower. The flames weren’t as hot as a dragon’s, but they got the job done.
The meteor was powering up for another shot. Alex knew that in their current position, they were defenseless targets. There wasn’t anything that could be done; it was a race against time. Could they get to the ground before the meteor tore them all apart?
Alex looked up at the meteor, focusing as hard as she could. All she needed was a clue. Luckily, her eyes were good enough to give her one.
In the middle of the green energy hole, Alex could see the faintest glint of white light. The light was moving back and forth. She assumed it was the aiming mechanism. From where she
