Alex pivoted her foot slightly and then pulled up hard on her dragon anchor, activating the thrusters on Chine’s back.
She instantly saw what the technicians had meant by her needing to take a lot more control of the dragon. There was noticeable resistance when she pulled her anchor back. Turning would be difficult.
But the thrusters worked fast. Chine was already rising in a fashion not much different than Jim’s mech, which was also starting to ascend. The rest of the riders were lifting off as well. Alex could hear them muttering over the open channel they usually kept open once everyone was airborne. “Oh, I don’t like this!” Gill said.
On the other hand, Brath was cackling. “Are you serious? Furi loves this.” He laughed. “Do you see how big these thrusters are? We could really haul ass if we wanted to. Plus, this guy is overjoyed that he practically gets to sit this one out. Just a big ol’ boat, right?”
Alex tuned out the rest of the riders. Not because she wasn’t interested or didn’t want to joke, but she really wanted to get a handle on what this ride was going to be like. She’d already noticed an increased amount of tension, and Brath had mentioned how strong the thrusters were.
There was only one way to figure that out.
Alex rotated her hand, instinctively changing the direction of the thrusters and punched forward. They launched at full throttle, rocketing into the sky with a force unmatched by anything humanity had sent to the stars to date.
She looked over her shoulder and watched the base disappear in a matter of seconds. “Holy crap!” she shouted as she slowed down, waiting for Boundless to catch up with her. She hadn’t been expecting to move that fast. “This thing is like a hyperdrive!” She laughed.
The riders had nearly caught up. Alex couldn’t help but wonder what Jollies’ and Amber’s speed was like. They were the faster riders by a long shot.
“Not quite hyperdrive,” a voice said.
Alex looked around and saw that Vardis had joined them. He wasn’t using a ship, though. He was merely flying through the sky, a bright yellow aura around him. As if reading Alex’s mind, which he probably was, he said, “Your atmosphere is much thinner than I’m accustomed to. I can easily keep pace with you and your dragons for our trip to the moon.”
Just how strong is this guy in our dimension? Alex thought, becoming increasingly aware that Vardis might be able to read all of her thoughts. It made her very uncomfortable.
Chine’s voice came through Alex’s head. Don’t worry about Vardis. He might be a powerful telepath, but he’s nothing compared to me. As long as I’m conscious and we’re this close, he won’t hear anything. Nothing like what happened at dinner could occur right now.
Alex heaved a sigh of relief. I’m glad to hear that.
This was the fun part—breaking through the atmosphere. Alex knew how powerful the thrusters were, but she didn’t see the point in pushing them to their limit again. Instead, she started a steady ascent, paying close attention to how each movement between her and Chine felt, while also allowing herself to enjoy the new sensation of flight.
Having this much control was different. It felt more like what she’d experienced in VR. Very familiar, but not as good as the real thing. Still, she was glad it wasn’t completely foreign. She could still enjoy the experience.
And what an experience. It only took one look over her shoulder at the Earth disappearing behind her to make her heart swell. Everything she’d known in her earlier life had become small.
As the air started to thin, Alex felt the dragon anchor start to heat up. That must have been the oxidation of draconic fluid to oxygen. Thank God for magic tech, Alex thought. Gonna have to shoot Abby an email about this one.
The stars got much larger. One moment, Alex was very aware she was still in the Earth’s atmosphere, and the next, they weren’t. She felt the last bit of gravity relinquish them, and there was a moment when she felt her body rising as if she’d float off of Chine. Then the anchor kicked in, and she settled down on his back again.
What a sight it was—an infinity of blackness peppered with lights that twinkled and invited. It was beyond anything Alex could ever have imagined. It must have been the same for the rest of the riders and dragons because they were all silent.
“This is so beautiful,” Jollies finally said. “Incredible.”
Alex nodded before she realized she was still capable of talking. “Yeah. I can’t wait to see the moon,” she finally said. “Let’s go, Boundless.”
Chapter Eight
Team Boundless raced toward the dark side of the moon. They were all silent, thoroughly engrossed by the foreign beauty of space. For all their lives, they had stared at the sky at night. Alex didn’t think any of them had ever dreamed they’d be up there.
Crossing into different realms had been exciting, but there was no comparison. The realms were mirrors of one another. Nothing was very different or alien. Space was something else entirely.
Alex activated her HUD and started to record everything she could see. Her parents would lose their minds over this. It would be a nice memory to look back on after the Dark One was taken care of. “Hey, remember that time I went to outer space?”
The moon was getting closer. It was time to focus on the mission at hand. “Vardis, where are we going?” she asked. “Did you send us specific coordinates?”
Vardis came up on Alex’s side and shook his head. “No, it was dangerous to send them. If the Dark
