“What if we—” Lilli started to say. But before she could finish, a figure stepped out from behind a nearby golden building.
“Step away from my dragon,” Ikumi growled. She lifted her crossbow and aimed it directly at my heart. “Or it’ll be game over for you.”
“Ikumi!” I cried, overjoyed. It was all I could do not to run over and throw myself at her in a huge hug. “It’s me! Ian! And Lilli!”
She frowned, her eyes narrowing. She held her crossbow steady. “Yeah, right. You think I’m stupid? Ian and Lilli don’t play games anymore. Ian doesn’t even go online.”
Oh, right. Of course she would think that. And she wouldn’t recognize us with our new accounts. She could probably see they were registered to other people.
“Also, don’t think I didn’t see you at the gate. You were working with Atreus. There’s no way Ian and Lilli would work with Atreus,” she snarled.
“Look, it’s a long story,” I tried. “And I promise I’ll explain later.” I glanced at Yano. Was he twitching? How long did we have before he woke up? “But right now we need to get you to safety.”
“Safety? Are you kidding me? I was safe and sound until Atreus broke down my firewall. It was lucky Yano booted him from the game in time to move me to safety before you could do whatever it was you came to do.” She looked over at the frozen dragon. “If you killed him, I swear…”
My heart sank. So Yano had lied to her, too. Told her he was protecting her from us. How were we going to convince her we were who we said we were and that it was Yano who couldn’t be trusted?
“Look, I’m really Ian, okay? I’m just using someone else’s account after I got booted from the game,” I tried. “Yano tricked us, too. He told us you needed our help. That you had been kidnapped and we had to go into the game to free you.”
“That’s ridiculous. I came here to avoid being kidnapped.” She kept the crossbow raised.
“We know that now. Which is why we’re here. The game’s locked down, but we don’t know for how long. If Yano has you when it opens up again, he will take you to his new masters. And we don’t know what they plan to do with you.”
I gave another worried glance over at Yano. Was he starting to move? We were running out of time.
“I’m so sorry, Ikumi,” I cried. “We messed up, big-time. We thought we were saving you. Instead, we put you in danger.”
“Please!” Lilli begged. “You have to believe us.”
“Why should I? Why should I trust you?” she cried. She looked confused. Scared, even. My heart ached at the pain on her face. What could I do to prove to her I was who I said I was?
“You once trusted me,” I replied, my voice low. “You trusted me enough to tell me your real name.” I bit my lower lip. “Mirai.”
She startled at this, staring at us hard. “Anyone c-could know that,” she stammered. The crossbow shook a little in her hands.
“Yes,” my sister agreed. “But they wouldn’t know how you saved my life when I was trapped in a block of ice in Icelandia after that dragon blasted me. I thought I was dead. But you came back for us. You melted the ice away. Saved my life.”
“You saved my life, too,” I added. “Many times. When Atreus blasted me with fire? I thought I was done for. But you came back, even though you didn’t agree with our quest. You helped us anyway. And then…” I swallowed hard, thinking back on the memory. “And then you faced down Atreus when we couldn’t. We would have all died if it hadn’t been for you.”
Tears slipped down Ikumi’s cheeks. Her mouth parted. “Is it really you?” she breathed, lowering her weapon at last.
“It’s really us. The Dragon Slayerz,” I added. “And we’re here to help you.”
She ran to me then, the crossbow dropping to the ground as she threw her arms around me. Even though it was just virtual, it felt like a true hug, and I could feel my own tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Oh, Ian,” she whispered. “It’s so good to see you! I’ve missed you so much!”
“I missed you, too,” I assured her. “I’m sorry we messed up. We never meant to put you in danger.”
“I know. It’s okay. I believe you.”
“Aw. Such a touching scene,” sneered a sudden familiar voice.
I broke from the hug, heart in my throat as I whirled around. To my dismay, Yano was slowly coming back to life. His wings flapped. His legs twitched. His six eyes blinked open.
“Now,” he snarled, “about that game over I promised you.”
I turned to my sister and Josh and Ikumi. “Gear up, Mech Heads,” I said. “It’s time for a boss fight.”
We gathered into fighting position, weapons raised and ready. I wasn’t sure of our plan—and there wasn’t time to make one. We just had to keep Yano from Ikumi until the game opened back up and we could exit.
Easier said than done.
Yano charged at me, still a little sluggish, slashing at me with his metal claws. I dove back to avoid getting gored, then lunged at him with my sword, aiming for one of his necks. He dodged me easily, three mouths bursting into laughter.
“You think you can take me? I am the great Yamata-no-Orochi, destroyer of worlds!” He snapped at me again, quicker this time, regaining more of his reflexes. His fangs dug into my breastplate, ripping it from my body like tissue paper, leaving my chest exposed.
Not good at all.
Yano spit out the chunk of armor, and it clattered as it hit the ground. He started toward me again, this time opening
