Love And Aliens: A Middang3ard Series (Dragon Approved Book 8) Read online

  One of the things Suzuki had told her was each battle was shaped by a variety of factors that were determined before the fight took place. Some of those factors were understood on an unconscious level, like size, strength, and things that could be easily seen.

  Other factors had to be searched out, and those were often the ones that determined victory or defeat.

  Alex had wished she could have spent more time with the Mundanes. It had been refreshing to see so many humans close to her age. Since she had never gone to high school, Alex had only had the experience of cliques at the Nest to learn how people her age acted. Spending time with the Mundanes might have been a relief.

  A focused mind was what Alex needed at the moment, but she couldn’t seem to keep her thoughts from wandering. Resentment was something she felt strongly. Her mind kept going back to the first few weeks of classes and how most of the first years had completely ignored her. She was angrier at them than she was at Brath, who she’d forgiven. At least Brath’d had the nerve to get in her face.

  Her resentment felt like a betrayal, even if she never expressed it. She’d sworn to protect the Nest and all of the people within it. Part of Alex hated them, and she wished she didn’t. She wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to any of them, but she despised the way they had cheered for her when she’d given her speech after her first battle. How they’d told her she was so brave for continuing after her arm had been blown off, as if they’d all forgotten how much she struggled, being the first and only human dragonrider. Alex’s mother had told her resentment could sneak in and eat at you from the inside, a cancer that would kill you before you realized it. Alex was aware of her feelings, and she did feel like they were killing her.

  Jim’s voice brought her out from her circular, intrusive thoughts. “Hey, are you okay? You seem kinda spaced out?” he asked.

  Alex didn’t want to talk to Jim about any of the things she was thinking. He’d either think she was being an ass or was just generally ungrateful. Well, to be honest, there was no way to be certain how Jim would react to her thoughts, but Alex didn’t want to risk him being another person who gave her odd looks. “Nothing, just trying to figure out the next move,” she said. “Come on.”

  She pointed to a raised spot in the forest. “We’ll be able to get a better view from up here.”

  The two humans and the dragon made their way up the steady slope until they came to the top. Alex was right, there was a much better view of the ship. From here, it was easier to see the swerving streak the ship had left behind in the sky.

  The ship was definitely coming down, but it must still have power because its descent was measured, as if the pilot were trying to conserve as much energy as possible. That would also explain why the ship hadn’t bothered fighting off the dark creatures that had attached themselves to it.

  At the rate the ship was descending, it could be another two or three hours before it touched the ground. And there was no way to intercept it, given the lack of resources the Nest had at the moment. On a properly staffed day, Alex could have called for a dropship to scoop up the craft. There would have been reinforcements to deal with the dark creatures.

  Great day for a holiday, Alex thought.

  Jim exited from his mech and walked over to the edge, gazing through a pair of binoculars at the scene. Past the forest, the land stretched out, with hills breaking up the flat land. “That doesn’t look good,” Jim muttered, passing the binoculars to Alex, who waved them away. Instead, she focused.

  In the darkness, there were other creatures moving about. Dozens of wargs and giants moved through the shadows toward where they assumed the ship was going to come down. There were more than Alex and Jim could deal with alone—enough to pose a risk if they were to screw up.

  These were the visible elements Suzuki had talked to Alex about—the things that would determine if she was going to end up dead. Now was the time to look for those invisible factors.

  Alex remembered that Myrddin had told her to check out the tactical planner in her dragon anchor. She hadn’t heard anything about it before Myrddin had brought it up, so it was probably a new addition, either from an upgrade or her steady increase in rank.

  As Alex pulled up the tactical planner, she noticed Chine was moving uncomfortably. The dragon was probably getting annoyed with his augments. It would be a good idea to take care of that before a fight if there was going to be one. Hey, Chine, ready to get drained?

  He rolled his shoulders and breathed a small wisp of fire. I don’t think it’s necessary at the moment. It is only a slight discomfort.

  Oh, come on. Better safe than sorry, right? It’ll only take a little time.

  Chine’s body relaxed, and he let himself sink onto the soft grass. Alex knew she wasn’t going to have to ask again.

  Alex walked around to his front legs. She found the dragon anchor insertion slot and slid her hand all the way down the anchor and into it. The anchor covered her skin, which would have been burnt otherwise.

  The augments dragons wore for battle were extremely effective, but they had one very bad downside. They were hell on a dragon’s body, constantly tearing the flesh and burning them by drawing so much of the dragon’s fiery, acidic blood. With careful maintenance and communication between rider and dragon, this could be avoided.

  That was where the dragon anchors came into use. Not only did the anchors literally anchor the rider to the dragon’s back during flight, but they were also used to drain the dragon’s augments of draconic fluid and process that fluid through the rider’s bloodstream. Once a rider was bound, they became more dragon each day.

  The process had never been fully explained to Alex and seemed to be taken for granted by all the other riders and teachers. Alex hadn’t gotten over her fear of being seen as an idiot for asking, so the whole situation still was shrouded in mystery. But at the same time, Alex’s eyes had the capabilities of a dragon’s. She was already more dragon than any of the other cadets.

  Alex soaked the draconic fluid into her dragon anchor and let the anchor integrate it into her blood. When she was finished with all the augments, Alex climbed atop Chine and plunged her anchor into the final spot, his spinal augment. That augment was never removed. It was what anchored Alex to the dragon and the dragon to her.

  Once the fluid had all been drained, Alex sat down and let the fluid integrate into her bloodstream. She was glad she had taken care of it now. The longer you went, the more painful the process became for the dragon and the rider. At the stage it was at right now, it was only uncomfortable for Chine. After a drawn-out battle, it was like having salt thrown on a wound.

  For Alex, the difference was in how much her blood heated. Either way, it was going to hurt, but absorbing this much hot fluid into her body was easily doable. After a couple of minutes, the heat in her veins disappeared. She decided to take a brief break to look at that tactical planner.

  Alex opened her anchor and looked through its menus until she found the planner. She clicked it, and a virtual board opened in front of her. The board was mapped in a sixty-mile radius around her position.

  There were figures representing Alex, Jim, and Chine, along with figures representing the descending ship, the mass of flying dark creatures, and the land monsters hunting the ship. “Whoa!” Alex exclaimed, “Now that is kinda cool.”

  Alex jumped off of the dragon and waved Jim over to her. “You gotta check this out,” she told him. He wasted no time. “We have a pretty good look at the lay of the land from this thing right here.”

  Jim took a look at the hologram. “I think it’s only showing what you’ve already seen. Look here. You don’t have anything displayed over that hill. I think it’s because we can’t see over it.”

  A little of the excitement left Alex. She wished she had paid close enough attention to have seen that for herself. Still, she was glad Jim had brought it to her attention. “Okay, well, then I know what we’re doing next. We need to map out the rest of this terr
ain.”

  Alex commed Jollies and asked, “So, where are those reinforcements?”

  “I’m nearly there!” Jollies answered.

  “Wait! I thought you said you were finding reinforcements?”

  “Since you’re so good at listening, you might remember me saying almost no one is here. We don’t have enough bodies to leave their stations, but Brath said he’d take care of the night watch on his own until a replacement came by, so I flew out here to help you.”

  Alex would have preferred another couple dozen riders, but Jollies was more than competent on her dragon. Besides, if Alex was being honest, she would have taken Gill, Jollies, and even Brath over twenty other riders. “All right, Jollies. I got something for you when you get here.”

  “Kinda figured we weren’t going to have time to wait for reinforcements. You know, since they’re not coming.”

  Alex stared down at the blank spots of the hologram map. She was going to start acquainting herself with those invisible factors.

  Chapter Seven

  Gill and Jollies arrived at Alex’s and Jim’s coordinates around the same time. Jollies was riding Amber, an electric dragon proportionate to Jollies’ small frame. The two were a good match, but it was always funny to see Jollies with the rest of the squad. Jollies was small enough to fit in Alex’s palm, but she had a personality the size of a mountain.

  Gill rode Timber, an earth dragon. He was a muted brown with relaxed scales and unassuming claws and fangs—a dragon perfectly suited for Gill, who was a quiet drow. Gill rarely raised his voice to anything above his usual deep, soft tone. It was hard to tell when he was excited. Unlike Jollies, his skin didn’t change color with his mood.

  The two dragonriders jumped off their dragons and came over to where Alex and Jim were sitting. Jim and Gill exchanged a quick hug, Gill asking Jim something Alex couldn’t hear. Even if Gill wasn’t so soft-spoken, Alex still probably wouldn’t have been able to hear because Jollies came flying up to her ear, speaking rapidly.

  Alex politely pulled Jollies away from her ear and placed the pixie on her shoulder. “Hold on, hold on. I’ll tell you everything later. We have something more pressing to take care of.”

  Jollies flashed bright red and crossed her arms. “What makes you think I wasn’t talking about the mission?”

  “Were you asking me about the mission?”

  Jollies didn’t answer right away. Finally, she said, “No.”

  Alex pulled up the tactical display and nodded smugly. “That’s what I thought you were going to say.” Alex sighed. “Well, might as well get down to business. You guys know about the incoming ship. Hey, how come Brath didn’t come?”

  “We couldn’t both leave. And yeah, we clocked the ship after you called us. It must still have power because it’s descending so slowly. It’s not a crash-landing.”

  Alex pointed to the tactical display, noting their position and the position of the ship. She drew their attention to the creatures that were in the valley and those above the ship. “Looks like we’re not the only ones trying to pick this thing up, and if it’s important to the Dark One, then it’s important to us. I doubt if it’s supplies or anything like that. From what I could see, the vrosks were trying to rip the thing to shreds in the air.”

  Gill leaned close to look at the display, his hair falling over his face. “This is a welcome addition to our tech,” he said before straightening up and opening his display. “Formulating plans will be much easier. If you’ve decided to start planning things, that is?”

  A few months ago, Alex would have gotten defensive, but she’d grown pretty familiar with Gill’s wry sense of humor. That jab was as close to a joke as Gill ever got. “Yeah, I figured it might be the best route to keep from getting our heads blown off. And I’m open to contributions.”

  Gill smiled as he brushed his hair out of his face. “I’d like to hear what you’re proposing first.”

  Alex pointed to the blank spots on the map display, east of where they were currently. “The ship is heading in that direction and we don’t know what’s there. The descent is still pretty slow, so we can easily make it there before the ship does. I want Jollies to do a quick recon of the area and give us an idea of what we’re walking into since she’s the fastest.”

  Jollies zipped back over to her dragon and climbed aboard. “The display will automatically update for you guys?”

  Alex nodded as she pointed to it. “That’s what it did last time. I’m pretty sure it’s sourcing information from our HUDs and dragon anchors.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back ASAP. Don’t do anything fun without me.”

  Jollies took off, heading east toward whatever lay over the hills.

  Alex turned her attention to Gill. “I want you to check out the hills. You’re the quietest of us all, and the only one I trust to get a better picture of what’s trailing the ship. Jim’s mech is too loud, and it’s not a secret that I’m not good at laying low.”

  Gill nodded, turned off his display, and went back to his dragon. He left without saying a word, rising into the sky like a giant black cloud and disappearing.

  Jim went back to his mech and jumped inside. “So, I’m guessing my role is to sit here quietly and do nothing?”

  “Not nothing, but I don’t have anything specific for you to do. Ideas?”

  Jim looked at his tactical display. “No, I think you’re right. I just don’t like having to sit on the sidelines because of the whole mech thing, but like you said, the thing is too damn loud and not nearly as maneuverable as your dragons. Sneaking makes sense, and I can’t do what Gill is about to.”

  Alex wondered if there was a hint of jealousy in Jim’s voice. She could have just been hearing something that wasn’t there. And then she wondered why she would hope Jim would be jealous of Gill. That didn’t make any sense.

  Jim was playing with the controls on his mech. “At least I can calibrate this thing,” he muttered under his breath. “Got a feeling we’re going to need heavy firepower in a little bit. I didn’t need to get close to see there are a lot of monsters trying to get into that ship.”

  Alex had climbed back onto Chine and was scratching the dragon behind his horns. What do you think is in the ship?

  Hopefully an enemy of the Dark One. We could always use more allies, Chine answered.

  Wouldn’t that be sweet?

  At best, maybe it is something to help end this war sooner.

  It took Jollies less than an hour to return, but the tactical display was updated long before that. Alex could appreciate why Myrddin had added it to their tools. As soon as Jollies had arrived at the valley and done the survey, the display had changed. If something had happened to Jollies, Lord forbid, it wouldn’t have kept the team from receiving the intel.

  Gill, on the other hand, took a little bit longer to get back. The three dragonriders were patiently waiting for him around a fire they had started. They watched the ship continue to descend. Alex was surprised the vrosks hadn’t gotten inside yet. She’d seen what vrosks could do up close, and it wasn’t pretty.

  Jollies was already bored with waiting, and she’d only gotten back a few minutes ago. She paced up and down the length of a tree branch until finally jumping from the tree and landing on Alex’s shoulder. “Okay, if you aren’t going to give me any details now, the least you can do is tell me what you did,” she whined.

  Alex wanted to flick Jollies off her shoulder and let the conversation end there, but she knew it was because she was getting anxious, waiting for Gill to get back. Sending members of her team out alone always made her uncomfortable. “Fine,” Alex relented. “We got into a fight with some giants and ended up running across a bunch of pixies living in the forest.”

  “Figures you two would get into a fight on a date. And there are pixies out here in the forest? I had no idea. What were they like?”

  “Actually, now that I think of it, they were different from you or any of the pixies in the Nest. Not nearly as high
energy. They were still beautiful, though.”

  “That’s because the pixies in the Nest, including me, aren’t woodland pixies. Most of us come from pixie cities. Things move faster there. Roy said it was like the difference between humans who grow up in the country or something called New York. Anyway, I’d like to meet them at some point. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with woodlanders.”

  “Is that a common thing? I mean, not knowing much about another branch of your own race?”

  Jollies shrugged. “Depends on how you look at it. Most high elves don’t know much about drow other than what they’ve read. I’ve heard it’s the same for you humans. You don’t know much about humans in other countries. Isn’t that the basis for most of your wars?”

  Alex couldn’t disagree with her. “One of our leaders, a long time ago, said the only way humans would stop fighting each other was if we had to work together to fight something bigger than us.”

  Jollies laughed as Alex chuckled ironically. “That’s a sad thought,” the pixie whispered. “But I think you could say that about any of the races throughout the realms. Even the elves, regardless of what they’d have you think. Gnomes are the only race that has had an extended peace.”

  Alex found that hard to believe. “Really? Brath seems so angry, and so do all the other gnomes.”

  “That’s just because gnomes are prickly. They haven’t had a war in hundreds of years. That’s why their homeworld fell so quickly. They had the weakest army of anyone attacked.”

  Alex let that irony sink in as she leaned forward and stared into the flames. She could see Jim’s face through the fire, also pondering what Jollies had just said. He’d been quiet since the recalibrations on his mech had been finished—deep in thought, his eyes distant.

  Behind Jim, Alex saw Gill’s dragon land. The rider walked up to the flames and took a seat next to Jim, who patted him on the shoulder. “Glad you made it back,” Jim said. “These two were trying their best to depress the living hell out of me.”