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  The inside of the plane was decorated modestly but still managed to be luxurious. There were few seats—six at most. Each had a table, and there was a hefty amount of space between them. There was another table built into the wall, and it was set with snacks and fresh fruit.

  A television hung above the counter. Alex gravitated toward it, still trying to hide her growing excitement. She chose the seat directly in front of the television and buckled her seatbelt. “We have to wear these, right?” she asked.

  Manny laughed as he floated into the seat across from Alex. “I think wearing a seatbelt while flying thousands of miles in the sky is a pale excuse for safety,” Manny joked. “But whatever helps you feel comfortable.”

  Alex smiled and looked at Manny as she reclined in her seat and tried to find the remote. “I’m not afraid of heights. I mean, it can’t feel any worse than VR, can it?”

  Manny’s eyes all blinked at once, causing Alex’s vision to black out for a second. So, she really was seeing through his eyes. “Uh, we’re allowed to watch TV on the flight, right?” she asked.

  Manny was reading a dossier on his table and looked up with one of his spare eyes. “Huh? Yes, of course,” he answered. “I think it only gets elvish channels, though. It’s mostly news. I don’t think the elves grasp the medium’s potential for entertainment, although their books are spellbinding enough. Fair warning—the news of late is a little depressing, to say the least.”

  “Where’s the remote?”

  “Oh, there isn’t one. It’s magical. You just imagine it on, and there you go.”

  Manny’s eye turned back to whatever he was reading, and Alex turned her attention to the television. She concentrated on turning it on, and a blip appeared. The blip slowly blossomed into an image on the screen. Alex wanted to squeal.

  This was the first time she’d ever watched TV.

  The image was of a thin man walking through a forest while talking to himself. There were words written on the bottom of the screen. Even though Alex didn’t know what the English alphabet looked like, she knew that what she was seeing on the screen wasn’t English or even human.

  It was an easy conclusion since the thin man on the screen was anything but human. He looked vaguely like one of the elves from Middang3ard, but somehow, even through the television, he seemed more real. His skin was thin, almost see-through, yet he didn’t look frail.

  The elf’s body looked wiry and strong. He didn’t look like he was having a hard time making the hike through the woods. Alex turned to Manny. “Is this the news?” she asked.

  One of Manny’s eyes flipped up, and he looked at the television. “This? Yep, this is the news.”

  “It’s just someone walking through the woods.” Alex had never watched the news before, but she’d listened to it enough with her parents to know it was nothing like this. Usually, someone would explain a story.

  “Elvish news is very different from human news. For one, elves don’t like being lectured. It doesn’t matter by who. So they’ve come across a more ‘pleasant’ way to deliver information to each other—soothing visuals with the news running at the bottom.”

  Alex unbuckled, then stood from her seat and walked to the television. She couldn’t see much of the color of the forest. She was limited by Manny’s color spectrum and the planes of vision in which he saw. But she could see that the forests were massive, sprawling things she’d never seen the like of in Middang3ard. “There’s nothing like this in the game,” she said.

  “That’s because the game is based on human ideas of what fantasy realms look like. In reality, each realm is much different than the next. The dwarven mines are nothing like a human could ever conceive. Not because you lack imagination, mind you, but because the dwarves are very different from any other race. And don’t even get me started on gnomes. Those guys are insane.”

  Alex felt a rumbling from the plane. She turned her attention from the television to the window next to hers. As she walked back to her seat, she saw they were moving. Was this what her parents experienced every time they flew? This sense of adventure?

  The plane rolled down the tarmac, gaining speed until its wheels lifted slowly and broke her concept of gravity. As their speed increased, the aircraft took off.

  She watched all this from her window, her eyes wide as she tried to take it all in. The airport beneath her became smaller as the plane rose, and it reminded her of being on her dragon in VR. The world around her was disappearing, leaving only the sky.

  The white clouds—Manny could see white—rested playfully beside the plane as they sped toward a destination that Alex was all right not knowing. This was part of the adventure. Everything was a mystery right now, one she couldn’t really believe was happening.

  Alex pulled herself away from the beautiful vista of the sun breaking through the clouds thousands of miles above the sea. How fast is this thing moving? she thought. There wasn’t an ocean anywhere close to where she lived. “Manny, is this plane magical too?” she asked.

  Manny didn’t bother looking up. He was deeply engrossed in his work. “Hm? Oh, yes,” he responded. “It was enchanted by Myrddin. Sometimes we have to abide by human laws and so forth. Airspace regulations, things like that. All of it’s ridiculous, but Myrddin does have a taste for fast toys and, well, you can see what I mean. Also, we are always kind of in a rush.”

  “Am I going to get to see any of the other realms? Like the dwarf realm?”

  “Who knows. Most of our MERCs are in Middang3ard. It’s something of a neutral space for the different races. Some don’t like humans in their realm; they aren’t as trusting. For a long time, the elves thought we were making the whole situation up. That humans were, at least.”

  “Don’t elves trust others?”

  “No, nothing like that. The threat of the Dark One was just too much for most to wrap their heads around. They wanted to pretend it didn’t exist. Myrddin had to seed all of human literature with the idea of other realms, and also meet with nearly every world leader to convince them to let him launch his plan.”

  “What was his plan?”

  “Well, you’re part of it. You’ll find out the details later. Until then, maybe take a nap. It’s a long ride, and you’re going to have a very long day ahead of you once you get there.”

  Alex thought Manny was more concerned about taking care of his work than helping her understand what she was getting involved with. That didn’t matter though. She was ready for whatever surprises came her way.

  Alex did not remember falling asleep, but she woke up with a start. She looked around the plane, uncertain if all of this was a dream. When she heard Manny snoring loudly, she knew it was real. Even sleeping, several of his eyes remained open, which was how she could still see. She knew she couldn’t have dreamt up such an odd scene.

  The pilot, who had also been their driver, exited the cockpit. He was a young man with a very square jaw and cold eyes. He motioned toward a plate of food in front of Alex. The meal was a regal porterhouse steak and a smattering of lackluster vegetables. “We’ve landed. Please, you should eat,” he said.

  Alex realized she’d never seen the meals her parents cooked her, only tasted their delicacies. She poked the steak with her fork, surprised at how squishy it was. “I’m not really all that hungry,” she replied.

  “It’s for the trip. Myrddin would prefer it if you didn’t do any realm-jumping without a proper meal. People tend to get sick.”

  “We’re going to another realm?”

  “Of course. There aren’t dragons on Earth, are there? So, eat up. We’re a little early.”

  The pilot walked back into the cockpit as Manny started to stir. When Manny’s other eyes opened, he leaned over his table and began devouring a bowl of unidentifiable slop. Alex had no idea what it was and didn’t want to find out.

  Alex cut into her steak and took a bite. It was mouthwatering, a steak her father would have appreciated and lamented that he had not cooked himself. For
the second time that day, Alex wished her parents were here appreciating this with her.

  Even if her parents weren’t there physically, it didn’t mean they had to be kept in the dark about everything. Alex pulled out her phone, rearranged her food a little bit, and snapped a picture. Then she sent it to her parents with a message that said, First things first. Food on plane is amazing.

  When Alex was done eating, surprised she had managed to get the whole steak down, the pilot came out and straightened his tie as he stood awkwardly. “All done?” he asked.

  “One of the best steaks I’ve ever had. Not as good as my dad’s, but still pretty good.”

  “Fantastic. Manny, are you ready to leave?”

  Manny grumbled as he floated up from his seat, the odd porridge still dripping down his face. His tongue slipped out of his mouth and lapped up the food. Alex turned away to be respectful but also to keep from being grossed out. “Let’s get going,” he exclaimed.

  The pilot opened the door of the plane and hit a button that caused stairs to stretch toward the ground. He led the way as they descended to the tarmac.

  Once Alex was on the ground, she was able to get a better look at where she was. It was nearly night, and the light of dusk illuminated a massive facility. It reminded Alex of something she’d read about in a science fiction novel. The large white structure covered in windows seemed to glare at her with its lights.

  Alex pointed toward the sprawling building. “What is this place?”

  The pilot started off briskly, and Manny floated behind them. “This is the boring part of a very interesting bit of human ingenuity, mostly offices. What we’re looking for is actually under the building, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

  The three of them stopped at a gate where armed guards waited. They nodded at Manny as the pilot pulled out a badge. The guards took the badge, looked at it, and handed it back. “And this is the little protégé?” the guard asked.

  Alex puffed out her chest and stood as straight as she could. “I’m not little,” she retorted.

  “Sorry, ma’am. Didn’t mean anything by it.”

  The guards opened the gates, and the trio walked through. There was another guard on the other side, waiting for them in a large golf cart. They climbed in and headed toward the building. Once they stopped, guards exited to guide Alex and the rest to the door.

  As they passed through the foyer of the building and were guided to an elevator, Alex couldn’t help looking. It was surprisingly empty, almost as if it had only been set up to look like a building on the outside.

  In the elevator, Manny whistled absentmindedly as they descended. There were no floors on the display, yet the elevator continued to drop rapidly. Alex had the feeling that gravity ceased to exist for a few minutes, almost like she was in freefall.

  The elevator came to an abrupt stop. It was so unexpected that Alex had to keep herself from falling. Manny snickered. “Sorry, I thought dragonriders had better balance.”

  Alex held onto the side of the elevator as its door whooshed open. “I’m not on top of a dragon,” she retorted. “And even then, laughing is still pretty rude.”

  The guards didn’t pay attention to Alex’s and Manny’s bickering as they gestured for the two to step out. Alex did as she was told and surveyed her new surroundings.

  The room was massive, as if the entire area under the building had been excavated. Scientists wearing white coats shuffled around them while holding clipboards and talking hurriedly with each other. None of them seemed to notice Manny or Alex. There were no fantastical creatures that Alex could see.

  Manny floated forward, with Alex trailing. They were heading toward something that was humming loudly. Alex felt like the sound was coming from inside her skull. They walked up a flight of stairs, and a few scientists moved past them. One smiled and nodded to Manny.

  At the top of the steps, Alex could see why so much of the earth had been excavated. What sat in the middle of the underground research facility was nothing Alex could identify.

  A long steel tube nearly thirty feet across and easily fifty feet from top to bottom stretched across the expanse. It was covered in wires and cables and ended in the middle of the facility, where something like a platform sat beneath it.

  On the opposite side of the room was another metallic tube. This one was not as large, but it stretched out nearly as far and joined the other tube at the platform. The platform was small, about enough space for two people to stand on, and it had rails on all sides.

  Manny continued to make his way forward while Alex stopped to watch the scientists going about their jobs. “Come on. We’re kind of on a tight schedule,” Manny said as one of his eyes flipped back to watch her.

  Alex jogged to catch up. “Sorry, sorry,” she apologized. “What is this thing?”

  Manny descended the stairs in front of him. He took his place on top of the platform, and then, with one eye, he motioned for Alex to stand beside him. “This is the Hadron Collider,” Manny explained.

  “The Hadron Collider?”

  “Yes, Myrddin had it built years ago by the Swiss.” Several of Manny’s eyes winked at once. “Usually, we use magic to move people from Earth to Middang3ard, but the process is complicated. Not to get too technical, but it involves binding with familiars or other creatures of magic and all other sorts of other nonsense. Since dragonriders don’t have familiars, we had to figure out another way to transport people back and forth.”

  Alex had come across the Hadron Collider in her recent research. It sounded too unbelievable to be true, but she’d studied it simply to sate her curiosity. She’d heard the Collider had shut down and might have created an alternate reality. “Was that true?”

  Manny watched as a few scientists approached them. “Was what true?”

  “About the Collider creating an alternate reality. It was all in the Middang3ard chatter and stuff.”

  “To a certain extent. The Collider didn’t create an alternate reality, it merely connected our realm to another. We had to come up with a press release. Too many people started asking why we were using up so much of Switzerland’s power.”

  Manny laughed as one of the scientists came up onto the platform. “We’re going to need you two to hold onto the rails,” the scientist explained. “Once we start the Collider, there are going to be a lot of atoms coming at you very fast. We don’t want you getting blown off when the portal opens.”

  “Is this a good idea? Getting hit by atoms?”

  “Normally, no,” Manny called over the hum. “But when they’re magically enhanced atoms…”

  Alex’s mind was racing. They were going to open a portal between two different realms, which seemed impossible. But here she was, standing next to a Beholder, seeing for the second time through his eyes. Maybe the CERN reactor being a link between realms wasn’t that farfetched.

  The scientist walked over to a computer and checked a few readings. “All right, are you two ready?” he asked.

  Manny sighed and wiped his face with one of his eye tentacles. “As ready as I can be,” he grumbled before turning to Alex. “You’re going to want to hold on tight for this.”

  Alex inclined her head toward the scientist. “I’m ready,” she replied.

  The man pushed his glasses up and nodded. “All right, y’all better hold onto your butts,” he said before turning back to the computer.

  Alex couldn’t see anything happening, but she could feel it. The air around her was getting warm. The Hadron Collider started to make an odd churning noise as they turned on what she thought was the electromagnetic field she’d read about.

  A sensation like gravity ceasing hit her, but stronger than when they had been in the elevator. Around her, things were beginning to blur. She realized it was because she was spinning faster than she ever had before.

  There was a loud rip like paper being torn, and Alex felt the platform jerk as the world around her melted into darkness. After a moment, the black wa
s peppered with bright lights—stars in the distance rushing toward her.

  The platform continued to spin, and Alex held on with all her might as her body was pulled back and forth. Suddenly the spinning stopped, and everything went still.

  Alex glanced around, but she was still too disoriented to make sense of anything.

  Beside her, she heard Manny puking. “I hate that part,” he finally managed to mutter.

  “Where are we?” Alex asked.

  “The Wasp’s Nest.”

  Blinding lights came on.

  Chapter Three

  A voice spoke, rich and smooth like velvet. Alex felt like the sound was melting into her ears. “I’m glad to see you made it on time.”

  All at once, Alex’s vision, or more specifically, Manny’s vision, came rushing back to her. She was in a field with greenery nearly as high as her knees. The stars shone overhead, and there was a strong, chilly breeze rustling the grass.

  Alex jumped back when she saw a griffin standing in front of her. She nearly screamed before her eyes widened with a level of awe she hadn’t known she was capable of feeling.

  The creature had broad, deep-brown wings that stretched nearly ten feet. Its towering lion’s body was covered with majestic golden fur that seemed to catch what little light was cast by the moon.

  The griffin bowed so deeply that its eagle’s head almost touched the ground. When it rose, it looked as if its beak were turned up in a smile. “You must be Alex,” the griffin said. “My name is Samara. I’m pleased to meet you.”

  Alex held her hand out from habit, and the griffin looked curiously at her. “Uh, I’m Alex. I’m pleased to meet you as well. Um, where are we?”

  “Outside the Wasp Nest. It’s complicated to teleport into an enclosed space, but we aren’t far. Manny, will you be coming as well?”

  Manny had stopped floating and was lying on the ground. He still looked very sick. Most of his eyes were half-closed as he moaned loudly. “I’ll be coming,” he groaned. “Just give me a minute. I think I’m going to be sick again.”