Dragon Conjurer, page 30
“Making a move!” Steffi’s voice said over the earpiece as her form zipped toward the reared front legs. She dove and bobbed and weaved her way through the legs like a human-sized hummingbird and tied the Pegasus’ legs together.
“Nala, harden the sand!” I ordered as I drove my fist toward the ground and directed Beyblade to the monster’s shoulders. “Nick, don’t waste time!”
“Got it, boss!” the nymph responded as Ky ducked under the Mega-sus’ hooves and flew around until my blond friend had a few good loops around the monster’s feet.
“Now, Nala, now!” I screamed as Ky dropped Nick into the water and flew up to meet Beyblade for the final attack.
Behind me, Nala let out a pained cry as the sand turned a darker color and grew rigid around us. The Pegasus stopped its bucking and started to fall toward the waves, which was just the right time for Ky and Beyblade to swoop in and combine elements to topple this thing once and for all.
“Do it, Dylan!” Steffi cried out through the earpiece as she zipped down to pluck Nick out of the water.
“Dragons, attack!” I dropped to my knees as my companions made their final move. Both fire and ice attacks created a mist around the Mega-sus’ back and flank, and I lost sight of them for a moment, but then the fog cleared, and Beyblade and Ky came back to me just as the two halves of the Pegasus fell into the churning waves below.
Almost as soon as the remains of the huge horse faded below the surface, the wind calmed down, and the waves stopped beating against the shore so hard. The pit in the water disappeared, and the clouds lightened a little. The hurricane didn’t stop, but it definitely slowed down.
“Is it over?” Steffi asked as she dragged Nick across the surface of the water and back to the beach next to Nala and me. “Did we win?”
“I think so,” Nala panted as she fell to her knees beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. “We actually did it.”
“Fuck, yeah, we did,” Nick chuckled as he laid face up in the sand and stared at the churning sky above us. “We’re the baddest mofos around.”
“Let’s go home,” I sighed and pressed a finger to my earpiece. “Silva, get us the fuck out of here.”
“Roger that,” the voice said on the other end. “Be there faster than two blinks of a changeling baby.”
“The fuck does that mean?” Nick muttered as we sat around and waited for the plane to show up.
To my surprise, Silva managed to land the jet right in the middle of the eye, so we didn’t have to hoof it back down the beach to wherever he set down. The black plane settled onto the sand and kicked up more dirt into our eyes, but I didn’t care too much.
I was just happy to see the jet again.
“How the fuck did you manage to fly into a hurricane?” Nick asked Silva as we walked up the ramp. “You’re right into the middle of it, man!”
“Easier than making you kids hoof it a mile down the beach,” the pilot explained as he turned in his chair to watch us file in. “No telling what the storm would do if I waited somewhere else, and I didn’t have the fuel to fly in standby mode until the storm moved.”
“So, how are we getting out of here?” I asked and buckled into my seat, and I made sure the straps were tight since I didn’t want to be thrown around once the wind kicked up.
“Cooper, there ain’t nothing my jet and I can’t do.” Our captain flipped the switch to raise the ramp, and then he turned on the seatbelts light. “Get strapped in, ladies and gentlemen. We’re in for a bumpy ride!”
“Am I going to puke?” Nick joked as he tightened his seatbelt. “Because I don’t want to puke all over myself.”
“Just clench your butt cheeks and hold on tight.” Silva pulled back on the stick, and the jet shot off the ground like a rocket at a forty-five-degree angle.
“Shit!” I shouted as I got pinned to my seat from the g-forces. “Warn us next time!”
“I hope there won’t be a next time, kid!” the pilot yelled back and flipped another switch as the jet cleared the storm clouds. “Alright, we can fly over the hurricane now, so it’ll be a little smoother from here on out.”
“Holy fuck, that hurt,” Nala groaned as she bent her neck away from her headrest. “Shouldn’t have been leaning forward when we took off.”
“You going to be alright?” I asked and looked over at the dark-haired beauty.
“Yeah, it’s just a minor bump.” My smallest teammate rubbed the back of her head through her curly hair and closed her ebony eyes. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry about me. I’m tougher than this, trust me. I can’t be a wuss after we took on a wild herd of Pegasi.”
“You’re definitely not a wuss, Nala,” I assured her. “Everyone did fantastic out there. We really came together as a team and pulled off our baddest mission yet.”
“Amen to that,” the nymph added and pumped his fist up into the air. “Everyone did amazing! It was so cool. Nala, you were just shooting sand at those horses like a real life earthbender, Steffi was flying around like the manic pixie she is, and Dylan! Dude, you were riding a fucking dragon!”
“You tried to ride one of the Pegasi.” I grinned out of one side of my mouth and shook my head. “That took a lot of guts, man. Plus, you got to ride a dragon, too.”
“It looked cool, too, Nick,” Steffi added. “You were like a cowboy trying to tame a bronco.”
“I wish I could’ve seen it,” Nala grumbled and tucked her chin to her chest. “Sounds pretty cool, even though Nick’s a dork.”
“Not today, Nala,” the blond said and puffed out his chest. “I’m not a dork anymore. I’m a badass motherfucker who rode on a Pegasus and a dragon. That’s stuff only Greek legends have done.”
“That’s a fair point,” the dark beauty next to him started, “but Dylan rode on a dragon. That was pretty badass, too.”
“Nick also got a dragon ride.” I waved my hands in front of me and rattled my head like it was a Shake Weight. “We’re a team, and we all do badass things to contribute to the team. Nala is an earthbender, Nick is a forest nymph, Steffi’s a fairy, and I’m--”
“A super awesome dragon tamer-slash-rider,” Nick interrupted. “I’m stoked we get to be your teammates. We’re the coolest kids in AIMM now.”
“Glad I can be of service,” I chuckled. “Whatever would you do without me?”
“We’d be very sad,” Steffi breathed as she leaned against my arm and closed her dreamy golden eyes. Even though we’d been whipped around by the wind, the fairy girl’s cotton candy hair didn’t look any worse for wear.
She was just so beautiful, and she was all mine.
“Alright, kids,” Silva grunted from the cockpit, “we’re at cruising altitude now, so feel free to roam about the cabin and help yourselves to complimentary refreshments provided by yours truly, AIMM Airlines. We thank you for flying with us, but frankly, we know you have no other choice. And, as always, if you have any complaints, my name is Captain Silva, and you can go fuck yourselves.”
“Glad he’s always so cheery,” I snorted and unfastened my seatbelt. “Steffi, you coming? I’m actually pretty hungry after that fight.”
“Me, too,” the fairy girl said as she unbuckled herself and slid her dainty hand into mine. “We’ve been through a lot recently, and I know it’s probably not going to slow down, but I wanted to say I’m glad you’re on our team. You’ve been a great leader and a good friend.”
“I hope I’m not just a friend to you, Steff.” I smirked.
“You’re more than a friend, Dyl.” She lifted her free hand up to my chin and forced me to look directly into her warm, honey-colored eyes. “I care about you more than I’ve ever cared about anybody, so don’t think I consider you just a friend anymore.”
“Thanks for making me feel better about it.” I kissed her on the lips. “I care about you, too.”
“Alright, get a room,” Nick muttered as he pushed past me and headed straight to the cargo area. “I’m famished. Let’s get some food!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Nala said as she hopped out of her chair and followed after him. “All that sand throwing made me hungry, and I’m not about to pass up on free snacks.”
“As opposed to the snacks we have to pay for in the caf?” I asked and took Steffi by the hand as we walked into the cargo area with the rest of the team.
“You know what I mean.” The dark beauty’s face twisted into a scowl, but her gorgeous eyes were sparkling, so I knew she wasn’t really mad at me.
“I hope we get back to AIMM soon,” Nick said around a mouthful of animal crackers. “I want to get the report to Burkhard over with so we can chill for the rest of the day.”
“How do you think the other teams did?” Steffi asked as she pushed past the other two so she could grab a banana. “You think they succeeded?”
“I hate to say anything nice about Bruce and his team,” Nala began after she took a swig of red Gatorade, “but they know what they’re doing. Before Dylan came along, they were pretty much top dogs.”
“But they’re not anymore.” The blond nymph dude was already moving on from the animal crackers, and he was now tearing into a bag of gummy candy. “Dyl is the cool kid now, and we are cool by proxy, so Bruce and his cronies can suck it. Especially Johnny. That little twerp deserves pain.”
“Because he’s a suck-up to Bruce?” I asked as I picked out a small bag of cheesy crackers and ripped it open. “I mean, I agree with you if that’s the case. I just want to know if there’s something more going on.”
“He’s getting too big for his britches,” Nala explained and wiped the back of her hand across her full lips. “He’s strong, of course, but only because he’s strained himself to prove it.”
“I never found this out, but what’s Carrottop’s power?” I munched on a handful of the crackers, and I felt so much better than I did before.
How could a snack loaded with artificial flavors and MSG be so rejuvenating?
“He can absorb electricity and turn it into strength,” Steffi said as she tossed the peel of her banana into a nearby trash can, and then she moved back to the snacks and picked up a box of animal crackers. “So, if he’s struck by lightning, he’s super powerful. Sometimes, he’s been known to tap into a power system to give himself just a little extra juice.”
“How much energy does he need to be strong?” I swallowed another heavy bite of cracker before I reached for a bottle of water. “This doesn’t sound sustainable to me.”
“It’s not,” Nick scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Johnny can’t really power up inside AIMM without knocking down some systems, so he only gets little jolts from time to time.”
“No wonder he looks so weak.” I crumpled the empty bag in my hand and downed a huge swig of deliciously crisp, filtered water. “Does his appearance change when he’s full of electricity?”
“No, not really.” The fairy girl pursed her perfect, rosy lips and shook her head. “His eyes start glowing, but that’s about it.”
“I think I remember seeing them glow.” I thought back to my fight with Bruce, and now that I sifted through that memory, it did seem like Carrottop’s eyes started glowing when I was trash-talking the bullies.
“Probably,” Nala snorted and rolled her eyes. “He thinks he’s all that, and to be fair, he has a lot of power.”
“But it’s not worth the fuss he makes about it,” Nick added and shook his blond head. “He’s just a prick who Bruce manipulated into thinking he’s better than he actually is, so now we have a mini Point Break walking around like a ginger shadow.”
After that, the team and I snacked in silence until all four of us had gotten our fill of salt, sugar, and syrup. Then we walked back to our seats and strapped in quietly.
“I was just about to tell you to strap in,” Silva said as the plane started to descend. “We’re approaching home, sweet home.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy,” I mumbled as the jet touched down on the runway. “AIMM is kind of like home now, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” the fairy girl sighed as she pressed her forehead into my shoulder for a moment. “It’s been a place for me to stay, but since you got here, it feels more like home.”
“You two make me sick,” Nick gagged and put his hand over his mouth. “Can you just not be so sappy all of the time?”
“I like it,” Nala sighed and blushed. “I think it’s dreamy.”
“You think Dylan’s dreamy, more like it,” Nick snorted.
“We can try to tone it down, Nick, but that’s all I can promise you.” I winked at him, and then I kissed Steffi on the top of the head as the jet pulled into the hangar.
“Once again, we thank you for flying AIMM Airlines,” Silva said from the cockpit as the ramp started to lower. “But then again, we know you have very little choice.”
“Thanks again, Captain,” I said with a wave to the cockpit. “You’re definitely a good pilot.”
“I try to be, cadet.” He stood out of his chair and placed his headset on his neck. “Now, get your asses off my plane.”
The four of us disembarked in a single file line, and then we waited at the foot of the ramp until a shuttle showed up to taxi us back to the entrance.
“Welcome back,” the driver greeted us as we piled onto the bright yellow cart. “I’m glad you’re all in one piece.”
“Have the other teams come back?” Steffi questioned while the shuttle started to roll away from the jet. “Is there any news?”
“Olsen’s team arrived about an hour ago, but they were in rough shape.” The driver never looked away from what was in front of him, but I saw his shoulders tense up when he talked. “They’ll be fine, but I don’t think the mission went well.”
“What about the other team?” Nick piped up and leaned toward the driver. “Have they come back yet?”
“Not yet,” the driver sighed with a shake of his head. “I’m surprised you all came back in such good shape. There’s not a scratch on you.”
“We had a great leader to keep us safe.” The fairy goddess sitting next to me grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
“We want to report to Burkhard ASAP,” Nala added and folded her hands in front of her. “Even though we’re physically fine, we’re all exhausted.”
“I bet.” The driver stopped the shuttle at the hangar’s exit. “You four have been given a lot of missions lately, so you deserve a breather.”
“We’ll try to take one,” Nick chuckled as we hopped off the cart and left through the massive doors.
“Chatty, wasn’t he?” I asked as the doors slid shut behind us, and we walked down the hall toward the elevator.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of excitement going around,” Steffi mused with a thin hand on her chin. “A lot’s happened in the last few hours. We’re all a little on edge.”
“Yeah.” Nick nodded his blond head. “We’ve never seen anything like this before, so everyone’s trying to make sense of what the fuck’s been going on.”
“There is no making sense of it,” Nala murmured as she ran her fingers through her curly dark hair. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. Monsters working together to coordinate attacks on one country? Do you think it’ll get worse?”
The veterans of AIMM seemed really fixed on the fact that monsters were now working together, but I was more concerned with the possible end of the world. Since AIMM still didn’t have all the answers in regards to monster-kind, I thought it was possible monsters had worked together in the past without AIMM knowing about it.
But ending the world? Yeah, that was fucking new and worrisome.
“It might, if those monsters are planning something big.” I set my lips into a thin line as we piled into the elevator. I pressed the button to take us to Burkhard’s floor, and then I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I hope this is as big as it gets,” Steffi whispered. “I don’t like the idea of fighting monsters on such a massive scale, especially since we have no help from the other Academies.”
“We’ll get help,” I assured her. “Japan already extended something like an olive branch to us. Maybe these attacks will help bring the Academies together, so we can work toward a better future.”
“Don’t get your hopes up just yet,” Nick sighed. “Things can happen. Maybe Japan wanted to warn us so they’d get on our good side as a favor for later. You never know, in the political side of AIMM.”
The doors slid open, and we started to step off as Bruce and Johnny started to step on.
“Look who it is,” Point Break growled as he pressed a hand over the white bandage on his forehead. “It’s Red and his team. Finally back from your mission?”
“Hey, fuck off,” Nick grunted while he tried to shove his way around the two, but he couldn’t get anywhere.
“We’re on our way to report our mission to the headmaster,” Steffi informed the asshole and crossed her arms under her voluminous breasts. “Excuse us.”
“Report that you failed?” Johnny sneered. “I’m sure it was a massive failure on your part.”
“Hey, we stopped a Category Five hurricane.” The nymph folded his arms across his chest and curled his upper lip.
“And we did it without a scratch,” Nala added as she cracked her knuckles. “More than we can say for you, Bruce. Where’s the rest of the team?”
Point Break’s blue eyes seemed to blaze with anger, and he actually pulled his fist back like he was going to punch Nala, but I stepped in between them and held my hand up to block it.
“Touch her, and it’ll be the last thing you do with that hand,” I growled in a low voice, and a spark of fear flashed in Bruce’s eyes as he dropped his arm and stepped back.
“You’re dead,” Johnny growled as we made way for them to get onto the elevator while we stepped off. “This isn’t over, Red. You’ll be sorry--”
But the doors slid shut and cut off the rest of his sentence.
