“What do we do?” I asked worriedly.
Starr thought for a moment. Then her eyes brightened. “Empire Strikes Back!” she exclaimed.
“Um, what about it?” What did Star Wars have to do with this?
“Don’t you remember? The AT-AT scene! What if you did something like that?”
My mind raced, trying to remember what she was talking about. In the Battle of Hoth, the rebel forces had managed to take down the giant four-legged robotlike creatures by tripping them up. Could something like that work now?
“I’ll try it,” I declared. Nerd strategy for the win!
“Okay,” I told Atreus. “New plan.” I whispered my idea in his giant ear. I had to admit, now that I wasn’t frightened half to death of this guy, he was kind of awesome.
Atreus listened, nodding. When I had finished, a grin spread over his face. I like the way you think, tiny human, he declared, then pushed off of the ground again with his mighty legs, shooting us into the air.
But this time we didn’t fly high into the sky. This time we stayed low, skimming the ground. When we got to the robot, Atreus wove through its legs, then around them, making figure eights in the air. The robot tried to swipe at him, but the dragon was too fast. And when the robot attempted a second blow, it lost its balance completely. I watched in delight as it started to wobble, waving its giant robot arms, trying to stay upright.
“Watch out!” I called down to the girls below. I didn’t want them to get squashed. They dove away, out of the robot’s falling zone.
Now it was our turn.
“Go, Atreus!” I cried. “NOW!”
The dragon zoomed forward just in time for the robot to topple over. I watched as it hit the ground headfirst, the entire trash mountain shaking on impact. For a moment, it thrashed back and forth as if trying to get up. Then the fight seemed to go out of it, and it went still.
Dragon versus robot. And we had won.
“Woo-hoo!” Starr and Lilli cheered as Atreus and I came in for a landing. I was out of breath, still sick to my stomach, but filled with so much excitement I didn’t even care. We had done it! I’d conquered my fear, tamed a dragon, and taken out a giant robot. Which basically made me a legit superhero.
“That was awesome,” Starr cried, rushing over to us as I slid off Atreus’s back.
“Yeah, well, it was your idea,” I reminded her with a small grin.
She reached out and stroked the dragon’s nose. “Good job, boy,” she praised him. The dragon purred contentedly, nuzzling his snout into her hand. And suddenly I was taken back to the very first time we’d hung out with Atreus at Dragon Ops. Before Eugene messed with his programming.
A sudden thought came to me. Maybe before he’d escaped Dragon Ops, the powers that be had removed the extra programming Eugene had added to make him act evil. Maybe he was back to his original self now. The dragon who liked belly rubs and naps in the grass. The one who wanted to help humans, not hurt them.
“I feel like an idiot for being afraid all this time,” I confessed. “It’s like being afraid of a kitty cat.”
“Please. Atreus was fierce back in Dragon Ops,” Lilli scolded. “As were all the other creatures. Remember the ice dragon? The one who froze me solid? I still have nightmares about being trapped in that ice, wondering if I was ever going to get out.” She hugged her chest with her arms. “I can’t remember ever being so scared.”
“I was scared, too,” I admitted. “I thought I’d lost you forever.” I shivered as I remembered that moment, seeing my sister encased in ice.
“But you didn’t,” Lilli reminded me with a smile. “We’re still here. Which makes us survivors. And we’re going to survive this, too. With this guy’s help.” She stroked the dragon’s nose. “I’m just glad you’re on our team now,” she told him in a baby voice.
I smiled at my sister, a warm feeling rising inside me. We were survivors. Both of us had gone through something terrible—and we’d come out the other side. Maybe we’d never be the same as we were before we went into the game, but maybe that was okay. At least we had come out together. And by talking and being open with each other, maybe we had a chance to start healing.
The dragon seemed to be enjoying the attention quite a bit. His eyes grew sleepy, and his tongue lolled from his mouth. I half wondered if he was going to collapse onto the ground and take a cat nap right then and there.
“Sorry, big guy,” I said regretfully. “But we’re not done yet. We’ve got another… quest… to do. And we need your help.”
Atreus seemed to consider this. Once I was the quest, he said. You tried to kill me.
“Um, we did kill you,” Lilli corrected him. “I mean, no offense.”
Atreus frowned, looking insulted. I almost felt bad for the big lug. “It was part of our programming back then,” I assured him. “We all have to follow our programming, right?”
I suppose so, he agreed. And now I am programmed to follow you?
“Exactly,” I said. “To save Ikumi. And live happily ever after.”
Atreus snorted, sending puffs of smoke from his nostrils. Very well, he said. Then let us get started.
And so we did, climbing onto his back—which was admittedly a bit of a tight fit—and instructing the dragon to fly down through the hole in the world and then through the wormholes until we got back to the gate where we’d first seen Ikumi. As we flew, I explained to our new teammate what we needed him to do. I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure Atreus could open the gate by himself—originally we
