Dragon conjurer 8, p.2
Dragon Conjurer 8, page 2
“Are they all dead?” Steffi asked as she forged a golden lantern of energy in her hands.
“Yeah, I think so,” I answered.
“They are,” Nala confirmed as she lowered her stone pillar back into the ground. “I only feel our movements now.”
Zofia dropped down to a smooth landing before me, and my mind-control dragon jolted slightly as Griff popped into sight right next to her. Griff’s bright orange eyes stared at my gloomy-purple dragon for a moment, and then he shook his head like a wet dog and trotted around her playfully.
Beyblade slithered down to the ground between the two and snorted dismissively at my stealth dragon before he nuzzled possessively against Zofia’s side.
“Oh, geez,” Steffi laughed, and Zofia blinked sagely at my fire dragon’s slightly jealous behavior.
“Don’t worry, buddy,” Nick patted Beyblade’s scaly hide affectionately. “Griff knows that Zo is your girl.”
As if he was agreeing with Nick, Griff trotted around in a circle and then came up to stand slightly behind me.
“Good job, guys,” I chuckled at my dragons and patted my muted-orange dragon gently on his chest.
Then Elisabeth padded over and then began to shift out of her polar bear form. Her long coppery hair extended down her back in a long braid, and her pale green eyes twinkled back into place in the golden light of Steffi’s lantern.
“I think we could probably rely on the remoteness of this area, and you know, the three-month-long night to hide our efforts here,” I continued.
“I can churn the earth up a little bit,” Nala suggested as she walked over to me. “Just to cover up some of the bodies.”
“Thanks, babe.” I grinned down at my curly-haired girl and pulled her in for a quick kiss.
Nala smiled at me, and then she took a step back and hesitated for a second.
“Maybe we should move back a bit?” Elisabeth suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Steffi chuckled.
We all moved out of the middle of the minefield of dead monster bodies, and then Nala took a deep breath and raised her hands in front of her. The ground trembled under my feet for a moment as the ground of the battlefield shifted and turned like an enormous baker kneading dough. A moment later, the ground was clear of the dead bodies and the majority of the river of blood that we’d created. The snow was conspicuously gone from a large area of this remote part of Greenland, but I had a feeling that it would soon be covered up again.
“Great work,” I praised my team again. “Let’s get the fuck out of this cold.”
“Seriously,” Nick agreed with a groan. “I swear my nipples could cut diamonds right now.”
“Ew,” Nala laughed. “But, yeah, it’s fucking frigid.”
“Should we fly back on the dragons to save time?” Ronin suggested.
“I do not recommend that,” Steffi muttered, and I saw her gingerly patting her almost-frostbitten cheeks. “With the speed of flying factored in, we’ll be twice as likely to end up with frostbite before we get there.”
“Ahh, this is a good point.” Ronin nodded stoically.
“Komme Tilbake,” I said, and Thor disappeared in a bright flash of indigo light and a slight crackling of air.
I’d started to notice lately that my storm dragon was creating a sort of static electricity around him when I summoned him, and when I recalled him into his tattoos. It was like I was constantly rubbing a latex balloon in my hair and touching a metal doorknob, and I hoped that it wouldn’t get more intense than it already was.
“Bianxifa, Búcsú,” I said, and Beyblade and Zofia disappeared in a fwoomping flash of orange light. A pleasant shudder of warmth raced down my spine as my fire dragon curled up happily on my chest, and then I looked around for Griff.
My stealth dragon had an incredibly playful personality, and he liked to disappear at random like a constant game of supercharged hide and seek.
“He’s gone ninja again,” Steffi giggled as we all turned our heads in search of my muted-orange dragon.
“Olly Olly oxen free!” Nick called with a laugh.
“Oh!” Elisabeth gasped when Griff suddenly popped back into sight right beside her, and then she laughed and reached out to pat his orange scales. “Oh, you little devil.”
Griff practically grinned, and then he leaned his large-eared head down to nudge affectionately against my shapeshifter’s shoulder.
“Come on, buddy,” I laughed and gestured with one hand that it was time for Griff to come back into his tattoo. “Dychwelyd.”
I could almost see a pout on my muted-orange dragon’s face as he silently vanished into thin air and wriggled up on my thigh.
“Let’s go,” I said, and we started to tromp back through the heavy snow in the direction of Silva’s jet.
About twenty minutes later, the shiny silver jet glinted in the soft glow of Steffi’s energy lantern.
“Hey, that’s pretty genius,” Silva said to my fairy-girl as we approached.
“Thanks.” Steffi smiled, and she extinguished the gentle light. “It’s fucking dark here, and it’s really just impossible to hold a flashlight in the middle of a battle”
“I bet,” Silva chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “And it is fucking dark here. Earth can be a weird place sometimes.”
“Very true,” Ronin laughed.
We walked up the ramp together and settled comfortably into our seats, and Nick started to pass out little hand warmer packs to us all as we pulled our headsets on.
“Oh, thank you!” Ronin exclaimed as she took the little warmers and snapped them into life. “Aaahhh.”
“Yeeees,” Steffi sighed with pleasure as she tucked the warmers down into her boots. “Oh, my poor toes.”
“Seriously,” Nala agreed.
“Thanks, dude,” I said, and I tucked the warmer into my pocket. Beyblade’s fire had warmed me up almost immediately to a comfortable temperature, and I almost felt bad that the cold wasn’t bothering me at all.
“Settle in, kids,” Silva’s voice announced over the comms. “The runway’s a little slick, so take off might be a little faster than normal.”
“Goodie,” I grumbled under my breath, and I gripped the armrests of my seat until my knuckles went white.
I’d grown much more comfortable with flying since I’d joined AIMM, but I still didn’t enjoy take offs or landings. The stomach-lurching shift of gravity and altitude awoke something primitive in my brain that knew humans just weren’t meant to be in the air this high. But I had to laugh at myself and my curious distaste for flying in an airplane when I had zero issues with flying on my dragons. There was something natural and comfortable about sitting on one of my dragons’ backs and soaring through the open air.
“Ugh, it’s so good to be out of the cold,” Steffi said once we’d leveled out at cruising altitude.
“It is,” Ronin agreed as she shrugged out of her thick winter parka.
“I am troubled about the number of monsters on this mission,” Elisabeth said after a moment.
“Yeah, me, too,” Steffi agreed. “There weren’t supposed to be that many monsters.”
“And those werewolf things came out of nowhere,” Nick pointed out.
“That has been happening quite often as of late.” Ronin frowned in her seat across the aisle from me.
“That’s for sure,” Nala said as she sat beside me.
They were both right.
Over the last few weeks, the missions had become a lot more intense than when I’d first joined AIMM. Not only were there more and more displaced monsters appearing, but the groups were bigger, and it felt like we rarely got a good heads-up about that before we were hip-deep in corpses.
I’d brought up that fact with Burkhard a few times in the weeks since we’d returned from Africa, and it was clear that the headmaster was taking the issue seriously.
“I’ve appointed a team of my best technical minds to sort out the problem and figure out why we’re not getting the intel we have come to expect,” Burkhard had said after our mission against the Curupira.
“It’s not a huge problem for us, sir,” I’d said to the Kingpin look-alike. “But I’m worried about the other teams. What happens if a monster ambush comes down on a team that doesn’t have my dragons to back them up?”
Burkhard had looked like he didn’t really know what to say about that, but I could see it was a worry he’d thought of himself. I knew he wouldn’t be thrilled to know it had happened again, and I was just relieved that it had happened to my team and not someone else’s. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if Zahra’s team were to be ambushed like we had been today.
But there was a feeling deep in my gut that the lack of full intel and the increasing severity of monster attacks wasn’t simply a coincidence. I couldn’t help but wonder if The Great Scaled One had found a way to hide His numbers from our satellites, or to transport the armies from other locations. None of it made any sense, though, and I couldn’t figure out a logical explanation for how anybody, even a centuries-old magical monster, could accomplish such a feat.
The horrific images of the Master Stoor Worm, Coi Coi-Vilu, and Azhi Dahaka that Dr. Hastings and I had uncovered in SEEKR’s databases popped back into my mind, and a shudder raced over my skin. We hadn’t found anything new since we’d dug up those enormous, scaled monsters from the archives, and I was a little relieved by that. Those monsters were plenty for my subconscious mind to taunt me with whenever I tried to get any sleep, and I didn’t need more monster fuel for my nightmares.
I settled lower in my seat as my team softly conversed about the much-preferred weather of California over Greenland’s frigid climate, but I knew there would be no more rest for me here than in my bed. My mind churned with the stagnated state of events in the last two weeks, and not much had changed. While the monster attacks and news of The Great Scaled One hadn’t been anything more than what we’d learned from the Curupira, things continued to be intense, and monster numbers continued to be high.
Eventually, the exhaustion and the usual hum of the jet’s engines worked their magic on me, and I slowly slipped into a few hours of much-needed and restful sleep.
Then the slight jerk of the jet as its wheels touched back down on the ground woke me up, and I blinked my eyes repeatedly to clear the sleep from them.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Nala said sweetly. “Did you have a nice nap?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, and I stretched out in my seat. “I did.”
“Good.” Nala kissed me and smiled happily at me. “You really needed some good sleep. I’m glad you got it.”
“Me, too,” Steffi said as she leaned over the back of the seat in front of me.
“Come on,” Nick said with a touch of anticipation. “Let’s get our debrief over with so we can get some breakfast. I’m hungry!”
“Honestly, I am as well.” Ronin smiled as we all stood from our seats and filed down the aisle toward the jet’s ramp.
I listened quietly as Nick and Ronin debated what we should have for brunch as we walked from the hangar bay to Headmaster Burkhard’s office.
“French toast and bacon is such a perfect brunch food,” Nick proclaimed.
“I must agree with you,” Elisabeth giggled. “French toast, although not originally from France, is the best toast.”
“It is delicious,” Ronin conceded. “But an omelet with freshly diced peppers and perhaps too much cheese is much preferred so close to lunchtime.”
“Why can’t we do both?” Nala suggested.
“Both?” Nick pondered, and he turned to look at Ronin.
“Both,” they said together.
“Both is good,” Elisabeth laughed.
I chuckled lightly at my teammates as I reached my hand up to knock on Headmaster Burkhard’s office door.
“Come in!” Burkhard’s voice called from inside.
I opened the door and held it as my ladies filed past me and took their usual seats in the chairs in front of the headmaster’s desk. Nick walked past me and stopped behind my ladies, and then I followed him in and closed the door behind us.
“Mr. Cooper,” Burkhard said, and he pushed a stack of files to the side. “How did the mission go?”
“It went well,” I began, and then I frowned slightly. “But we had another ambush situation on our hands.”
“Damn,” Burkhard muttered under his breath. “I, once again, have to apologize for the poor intel you received for this mission.”
“It wasn’t a huge problem, sir,” I said. “Their numbers weren’t terrible, but there was an extra group of Adlets that showed up. I’m not sure if that was an unlucky coincidence, or if they’d been waiting for us.”
“There is something I feel that I must share with you all.” Burkhard frowned heavily, and he knotted his large hands together on the shiny surface of his desk. “These occurrences seem to be stemming from an issue within SEEKR’s programming.”
We all stared in silence for a strained moment, but then my nymph best friend shattered the tension.
“What the hell does that mean?” Nick asked.
Chapter 2
“Unfortunately, Mr. Walters,” Burkhard said, and he heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m not really sure what it means.”
We all continued to stare at the broad-shouldered man in front of us in stunned silence for a moment, and it was clear to me that none of us knew what to say.
“I must admit,” Burkhard continued after a few seconds. “I’m not the most technologically literate person. I can navigate my computer fairly well, but SEEKR is a technology that goes a bit above my head. Dr. Hastings has informed me that the inaccurate and incomplete information we have been getting about missions is due to some fault within our systems, and I have no reason not to trust her expertise in this instance.”
“And that means…” Steffi said questioningly.
“It means we must take all of our intel for the time being with a grain of salt.” Burkhard frowned with displeasure.
“Or a whole sack of it,” Nick grumbled.
“Indeed, Mr. Walters. I have assigned Dr. Hastings with the task of appointing a team of technical specialists to investigate the issue,” Headmaster Burkhard said. “She has assured me they will uncover the problem and fix it, but I have concerns that this problem will not be an easy or quick fix.”
“So…” Nala began hesitantly. “What do we do for now?”
“We continue on with business as usual,” Burkhard announced with what felt like forced confidence. “Or at least, as close to it as we can, Ms. Jefferson. I will continue to provide as much intel for missions as I have, but we must be on our guards. I will keep you updated on any new developments.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said.
“Right, then.” It looked like there was more Burkhard wanted to add, but he just folded his hands together and nodded at us. “You’re dismissed, enjoy the rest of your morning.”
I nodded respectfully at the Kingpin look-alike, and we filed through the office door and into the hallway.
“Well, that’s troubling,” Ronin muttered as she leaned close to Elisabeth.
“I must agree,” my French girl whispered. “I do not like going blind into missions.”
“Well, we’re not totally blind,” I said as I started to lead my team down the hall toward the elevators.
“Dylan’s right,” Steffi said with a touch of forced cheerfulness, and she looped her arm around my waist as we walked. “We’ve dealt with unknown factors on missions before.”
“And we always kick ass and make it through just fine,” Nala agreed.
We stopped in front of the elevator doors, and Nick pushed the call button
“I don’t know about you guys,” Nick said. “But I’m absolutely starving.”
“I am as well,” Ronin agreed ruefully. “I do believe an omelet with ham, cheese, red peppers, and a bit of fresh spinach sounds entirely perfect at the moment.”
“Ooooh,” Nick sighed, and his eyes closed slowly with imagined satisfaction at such a meal. “That does sound really fucking good.”
“I’m still too cold to be hungry,” Steffi said, and she suppressed a shiver as she leaned closer into my side.
The elevator doors slid open silently, and before we could enter, we were greeted by Zahra’s bright, smiling face. Beside her was a guy of average height and lean build who had a nose that seemed a touch too broad for the rest of his face, and unremarkable brown eyes. He had sandy-brown hair that fell over his forehead and curled slightly at the base of his neck, and it made him look like he’d missed his last two haircuts. I didn’t have to wait long for confirmation that this was the only male cadet on Zahra’s team.
“Hey, baby,” Nick said smoothly as he stepped onto the elevator and wrapped his arms around his exotic-looking girlfriend. Then he turned to the sandy-haired guy who had a comfortable and friendly smile on his face. “Hey, Brandon, how’s it going?”
“Not bad,” Brandon said, and I caught a touch of a southern accent in his voice. “Zahra was just telling me about that new game you’ve got.”
“Oh, yeah!” Nick’s green eyes lit up. “A Way Out, it’s really awesome.”
“We were going to grab a quick snack from the cafeteria,” Brandon said, and his brown eyes flicked to Nala who was holding the doors for us.
“Nah, dude.” Nick shook his head, and he reached over to press the button for the sixth floor. “Come up to the suite with us. We’ve got all kinds of snacks, and we can game for a while.”
“Yeah, come up with us!” Steffi agreed. “We just got back from a mission, and hanging out sounds perfect.”
Brandon glanced around the group to see how we all felt about Nick’s invitation, and I gave him a friendly nod when his gaze reached me. I was down for a chance to finally get to spend some time with the male member of Zahra’s team.
