“The last time we fought off the Dark One’s army here, we were unprepared. This time it’s different, but it feels the same.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Just like that day. My guts are all messed up. At least before, we had the benefit of being surprised. It was all adrenaline. I felt like I was operating on autopilot the entire time.”
“Not like today. We’ve been through worse than this, but it feels like it’s the first few weeks of classes. I’m glad we’ll be able to make up for the first attack today.”
Alex hadn’t thought of it like that. It was almost like they were being given a second chance, and this time, they were prepared for what was coming for them. All the lives that hung in the balance were going to be protected. That was what mattered.
Gill drifted away silently as he often did, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts. Instead of dwelling on them, Alex walked over to Brath and took a seat next to his platform.
Brath’s dragon Furi was the largest of all the dragons at the Nest. A hulking red beast, he was the only creature at the Nest with a quicker temper than Brath.
The gnome was sitting on Furi’s back, fiddling with the anchor component attached to the dragon’s spine. He looked up from his work as Alex approached. “What’s up?”
Alex checked Furi’s augments. “You find anything you want to use?”
Brath pointed to the dragon’s right shoulder, which had a large plasma cannon attached to it. “Saw this a couple of days ago,” Brath said. “Supposed to be twice as strong as the smaller cannons, and I think Furi is the only one big enough to use it. Can’t think of a better chance to test it.”
“Comfortable being part of a larger squad?”
Brath looked annoyed at the new line of questioning. Talking about weapons was more his style. Getting to the root of how he felt wasn’t something Alex thought she was going to be able to do with one conversation, but she wanted him to know that she cared enough to try.
“As long as they don’t get in my way, it’ll be all right,” the gnome said. “Don’t make me hold back because you don’t want me showing up the new guys.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Brath. Let me know if you need anything before we head out.”
“Gotcha, boss.”
It was still unbelievable to Alex that she and Brath were on speaking terms now. When she’d first arrived at the Nest, Brath had devoted the majority of his time to making sure Alex felt as alone and pathetic as possible. All that had changed the day of the invasion, when Brath had seen what Alex was really made of. In a lot of ways, that was when Alex had found that out too.
Alex made her way over to Jollies, who was attending to her dragon, Amber. Jollies was still in the process of choosing her augments. It always took her noticeably longer than the rest of the riders, but the pixie found the most specific and interesting augments. Her loadouts were generally the envy of every other rider. “Yo, Jollies!” Alex shouted.
She turned at the sound of her name. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and she hiccupped slightly as her lips trembled.
Alex rushed over to her, and the pixie floated into Alex’s hands. “Oh, my God, Jollies, are you okay?” Alex asked.
Jollies’ voice was small, hardly above a whisper. “I don’t know why I’m scared, Alex, but I am. I’m so scared.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. That was what she felt as well. She had no idea where the fear was coming from, why it cropped up so fast, or where it had been hiding during the last few months, incubating and growing stronger. It was here now, and if it was here for her, it must have been there for the rest of the team too.
Alex held her hand up to her face so she could look her friend in the eye. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she said. “We’re not scared kids anymore. You got that? We’re dragonriders now.
Jollies nodded as she wiped away her tears. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “Still feels like I’m a scared kid, though.”
“Same here.”
Jollies laughed as she floated back over to Amber. “Don’t worry. I’ll pull it together.”
Alex walked to Chine’s platform and hopped up. She watched Chine curling and uncurling his tail. Even the dragon was nervous about the upcoming battle.
A beep went off on Alex’s dragon anchor. It was an incoming call from Abby. Alex opened the message and the anchor projected a holograph of Abby in front of her. “Whoa, that’s new,” Alex yelped.
Abby smiled widely as she fist-pumped. “Sweet, it worked,” she exclaimed. “Been trying to get the new software upgrades to you guys for a bit. Anyway, I took a look at that rod for y’all. Got bad news for ya.”
Alex groaned as she braced herself for whatever Abby was going to say. “This isn’t one of those good news/bad news situations, is it?”
“Nah. All bad news. That thing is dangerous. Severs the connection between your dragon and anchor and blocks all telepathic communication. And here’s the doozy: it stays active until someone kills the person who used it.”
“That’s great. I was starting to get my hopes up about this mission.”
Abby’s next smile was not nearly as enthusiastic. “Yeah, don’t shoot the messenger, okay? But don’t worry, I ain’t gonna leave y’all hanging. I’m working on something. Kinda like a firewall.”
“Are you going to have it finished in the next ten minutes?”
“Uh, no. In a rush or something?”
Alex nervously chuckled. “Kinda in the middle of an invasion.”
“Oh, well, hope you don’t have a lot of these. Good luck! I should let y’all get
