Dragon Conjurer, page 14
“Why didn’t we just do that in the first place?” I laughed breathlessly and tossed one of the crumbled rocks toward the pile. “Seems like we could’ve solved a lot of problems.”
“It takes… a massive… amount of energy,” Nala panted and leaned forward as her hand clutched her shapely bust. “I didn’t want… to expend my energy… so soon. Plus, the Russians… were already in the cave… when we got here.”
“You’re going to be promoted to Orange for sure after that.” I rubbed the dark beauty’s back. “You were incredible, Nala.”
“Thanks, Dyl.” She leaned into my touch and closed her eyes while I propped her body up to keep her from falling over. “You were pretty cool yourself.”
“We had under control,” the dragon tattoo girl growled as she stomped over to us. Then she crossed her arms and frowned, but somehow that only made the curve of her arched eyebrows sexier. “Why you come?”
“Same reason as you,” Nala panted as she wiped the blood off her face, and I realized I hadn’t even noticed her nose had started bleeding. “AIMM sent us to deal with the problem, and we dealt with it. There a problem, RMA?”
“RMA?” I muttered and looked at Steffi.
“Russia’s Magic Academy,” she whispered into my ear as she rubbed Ky.
“This is our turf!” The dark-haired beauty narrowed her ebony eyes and crossed her arms. “You know the Americas belong to AIMM. If you’d just stayed in Russia where you belong, we wouldn’t have had to save your asses!”
“Thanks for nothing, ladies,” Nick drawled and reached into his backpack to retrieve something. “You can go now. We’ve got the rest.”
The four blonde women glared at us, and I tried not to think about how, aside from Lia the Conjurer, all of them looked exactly alike. Lia was more… well-endowed than the others, but their facial structures and body types were very similar.
“Will mention you in mission report,” Lia huffed as she and the others turned ninety degrees and headed west. “We leave now.”
Even though I knew my team hated the RMA girls, I still couldn’t help but stare after Lia’s shapely ass while she and her team walked away. I hoped I’d see her again, at least so I could talk to her about our shared power.
“Goodbye!” Nick sang and waved. “Don’t let a rock hit you in the ass on the way out!”
“How do you think they found out about this first?” I asked and watched the foreign team leave. “If this is our turf, why would they just show up?”
“Maybe to make AIMM look bad?” the nymph suggested with a shrug. “There’s no fucking knowing with the other Academies. Every now and then, we encounter other teams, but it doesn’t happen unless there’s pride involved. We don’t know for sure, though. Communications are so rare, you know.”
“Radio Silva,” Steffi sighed as she leaned up against me. “Tell him we need a pickup.”
“Already on it,” the nymph said as he grabbed a small radio out of his backpack and pressed the button. “Captain Silva, this is Nick Walters checking in, over.”
“Read you loud and clear, Nick,” the fuzzy voice replied over the radio. “I’m heading your way now. I hope that fight wasn’t too hard, over.”
“Why is that, over?” The blond dude looked at the three of us and shrugged his shoulders.
“AIMM radioed in about ten minutes ago and said they have another mission for you, over.”
I blinked in shock. Fuck, another mission? Already?
“Copy that, captain, how are we to proceed, over?” Nick asked and shook his head.
“You can rest on the flight over there, but I’m afraid the celebration’s going to have to wait. Brace yourselves, kids. It’s going to be a long day, over.”
Chapter Nine
Another mission? Why did we have to get dispatched on another mission today? Didn’t we earn our break after we all fought so hard to make it out of that cave alive?
“So, why are we being sent on another mission?” I asked and folded my arms across my chest.
“Don’t know,” Nick said and shouldered his weapon. “Maybe they just don’t have anyone else who’s qualified?”
“Or maybe we’re the closest team?” Nala speculated with a hand on her pointed chin.
“Whatever the reason,” Steffi added as she pushed her loose cotton candy hair out of her face, “we have to go. We’re told to go on a mission, we don’t have a choice but to go.”
“Out of the frying pan,” I muttered to myself while the jet landed about twenty yards away from us.
“And into the fire,” Steffi finished as I picked Nala up and carried her bridal-style toward the plane.
“I’m fine, guys,” the dark beauty sighed, but she slumped against my chest. “Just give me a little time.”
“You’ll have time on the plane,” Nick said as we ascended the ramp into the jet. “Just take it easy, okay? You brought down the house with that one. You’ve earned a break.”
“From what I gathered,” Silva grunted as I eased Nala into one of the seats, “the new mission won’t be as dangerous, but it is urgent we get there in time to help those people.”
“What’s happened?” Steffi asked as she sat down and pulled her headset on. “Where are we going?”
“Alaska.” The pilot took his place in the cockpit and looked back at us. “Strap yourselves in, cadets. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
“Why so long?” Nick asked as he took a seat next to Nala and pulled his own headset on. Then he placed a headset on Nala and strapped her in. “We have enough fuel, right?”
“We’ll have to refill at one of the AIMM outposts in the Rockies,” Silva said while he flipped switches and pressed buttons. “Won’t be so bad. Simple pit stop, in and out before you know it.”
“We have outposts?” I asked through my headset’s mic. With the engines whining as aggressively as they were, I needed the earphones to hear what everyone was saying. “How big are they?”
“They’re big enough for two jets to refuel,” our pilot said as he got the jet airborne. “They exist for exactly this reason: if cadets are called on another mission and their jets need to refuel before they leave. This way, we don’t have to go back to AIMM, which is kind of out of our way, just to get fuel.”
“Can someone grab the first aid kit?” Steffi asked, and she cast a glance at Nala. “Our friend doesn’t look so good.”
“I’ll be okay,” the smaller girl said with a wave of her hand. “I just haven’t stretched my muscles like that in so long. I’m also hungry.”
“Here, Nala,” Nick offered, and he fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a granola bar. Then he unwrapped it for her and held it up to her mouth.
“I’m not a baby, Nick,” she grumbled as she refused to take a bite from the granola bar.
“Shut up and eat, okay?” The nymph boy held out more of the granola bar to her. “You seemed to be okay with Dylan carrying you.”
“Yeah, but I liked that--” The dark-haired beauty clapped her hand over her mouth before she could finish, but she couldn’t hide the blush creeping onto her face. Then she dropped her hand and cleared her throat. “I mean, it’s not like I can’t feed my own damn self. Give me the bar, Nick.”
“Okay, okay, jeez.” The blond dude held up his hands as Nala snatched the granola bar away from him. “Sensitive, much?”
“I’m going to sit next to Nala this time,” I whispered to Steffi. “Just to make sure she’s okay.”
“You’re sweet to be concerned about her.” The fairy girl patted me on the shoulder. “I’m going to rest now, and I’d suggest you do the same.”
“I will after I check in on Nala.” I got up, eased my way through the cramped cabin, and stood over Nick as he still tried to force feed our smallest teammate. “Hey, man, mind if I sit there?”
“Be my guest,” the nymph boy scoffed as he got up and moved to the other side of the jet. “If you can get her to eat, by all means.”
“I told you, I can feed myself,” Nala huffed and crossed her arms. Even though she had a lot of spunk, especially considering what she’d done earlier, her skin was still a little pale, and her shoulders were slumped.
“Easy, tiger,” I joked as I slipped into the seat next to her and pulled on the headset. “How do you feel?”
“I’m okay, really, Dylan.” Her caramel cheeks flushed just a tad, and she ducked her head as she pulled her own headset over her braided hair. “You guys worry about me too much.”
“It’s just because we care, Nala.” I laid my hand on her shoulder and drummed my fingers against her smooth, dark skin. “You were amazing out there, you know. You brought down the house with that final move. It was so fucking badass.”
“Thanks, Dylan.” The dark beauty blinked her ebony eyes at me as she flashed a smile of pearly white teeth. “You were pretty cool, too. Having a dragon to summon is fucking awesome. You’re so powerful and talented. It’s no wonder AIMM gave you the Red rank so easily.”
“I don’t feel like I earned my rank, though.” I leaned my head back against the chair and closed my eyes. “You know what I mean? They just sort of slapped me with this rank. You guys had to work for yours.”
“But where do you go once you reach the top?” she asked as her hand pressed against my tattooed shoulder. “You set the bar high, Dylan. That was our first real mission, and you handled yourself like a pro. You made our team look good, okay?”
“Yeah?” I opened my eyes and looked down at the girl sitting next to me. Her cheeks were still flushed, but she had a confident smile. “You think so?”
“I know so.” She crossed her arms, and then she leaned her head against the back of her seat and gave me an alluring smirk. “I’m glad to be on your team. I’m glad you’re my… friend. Think maybe the two of us could grab a bite alone together sometime?”
“Uhh… yeah… sure. That would be great.” Now, I was just confused. I really liked Steffi, but Nala really seemed to be into me, too.
“Why don’t we try to sleep?” Nala asked as her head fell against my shoulder. “I know I need it.”
“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered as I tried to relax and not think about how awesome it was to have two insanely hot girls interested in me at the same time. “G-Goodnight.”
I fell asleep even though my mind was racing, and I didn’t wake up until Nick tapped me on the shoulder.
“What?” I whispered and looked down to make sure Nala hadn’t woken up. The last thing I wanted to do was disturb her sleep. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve landed,” my teammate said as he stretched his arms over his head.
“To refuel?” I started to unbuckle myself from the seat, but I wanted to wait and see what had happened before I disturbed the girl snoring on my shoulder.
“No, for our mission.” The blond dude popped his neck and groaned. “We’ve arrived, man, and we need to quickly debrief.”
“You’re right,” I sighed and took my headset off. “We haven’t had a chance to see what we’re up against.”
“What’re we up against?” Nala asked groggily as she sat up and took her headset off. “Are we here already?”
“You guys have been asleep for a few hours,” Silva said as he came into the passenger portion of the jet. “Time flies when you’re flying, right?”
“Or when you’re sleeping,” I groaned and stood up after I unbuckled myself from the seat. “So, did AIMM send anything for us to look at, Captain?”
“Yeah, they gave us an audio recording.” Our pilot walked over to a console and pressed a couple buttons. “Here it is. I haven’t listened to it yet.”
“Good afternoon, cadets,” Dr. Hastings’ voice said over the loudspeakers in the cabin. “I’m sorry you haven’t gotten a chance to recover from your previous mission, but I’m afraid this takes precedence over leisure time.”
“Easy for her to say,” Nick muttered while he crossed his arms. “She’s in her cushy office, and we’re sandblasted and sunburnt.”
“We were monitoring the situation,” the recording continued, “in order to ensure it did not escalate once you and the other teams we dispatched had left. Unfortunately, the situation near Nome, Alaska has escalated, and as such, we hope the four of you can get it under control.”
“We’re not even dressed for Alaska, lady,” Nala groaned as she got out of her seat. She looked like she was feeling better, but I still planned to keep an eye on her throughout this mission.
“Since we anticipated the situation getting out of hand, we ensured your jet was equipped with snow gear and plenty of provisions in case Mr. Walters got hungry.”
“She knows me so well,” Nick snickered as he clasped his hands together and smiled. “Good ole Dr. Hastings.”
“Now, for information on the situation,” the doctor’s recorded voice said, and we all turned our attention back to it. “We’ve discovered two yetis have taken refuge near Nome, and they have been stealing food and supplies from the townspeople. This morning, we received reports that a man’s dogs had been killed in the night, and their heads were left in their dog houses.”
“We went from baby murderers to puppy killers?” Nala asked and shuddered. “Sick.”
“Your job is to track these yetis down and bring them to us alive,” the recording continued. “We cannot leave these monsters out where others can discover them. To leave evidence is to damn our anonymity from the rest of the world. I trust you cadets know what that would mean for you and the rest of the magic-using population of the world. We at AIMM are trusting this secret to you. We hope you will do us proud. Dr. Hastings out.”
The recording cut off, and silence rang through the cabin as we digested the information we’d been given.
“Well,” I said after a pause, “yetis. Neat. I never thought I’d see one of them.”
“Anything you can tell us about yetis, Dylan?” Steffi asked as we moved to the back of the jet to retrieve the supplies we’d need for the journey ahead of us.
“They’re supposed to be from the Himalayan region of the world,” I replied as I wracked my brain for the proper info. “Legends and supposed documentation of their existence goes back to the nineteen century, and sightings picked up speed after people started trying to scale Mount Everest.”
“What do they eat?” Nick asked as he popped open a compartment and started pulling out coats for each of us.
“Meat, when they can find it.” I took the coat Nick tossed at me and slipped it on. It had a red stripe down the sleeves, so I figured it was meant for me. Not to mention that the parka-like garment fit me perfectly.
“And if they can’t find it?” Nala wondered as she pulled on her yellow-trimmed coat.
“Well, they can eat plants, too.” I shrugged while I started to unwrap my shemagh, but then I realized it would provide some extra protection from the cold, so I left it on. “They’re fast and agile for their size, so don’t think they’ll be easy to evade.”
“I can’t wear a coat,” Steffi sighed as she looked at the garment Nick held out to her. “If I wear a coat, I can’t fly.”
“Right, right,” Nick muttered and stowed the orange-accented coat back into its compartment. “They should’ve sent you something else, though…”
“Here, Steffi!” Nala called out and held up four pairs of snow pants and what looked like sleeves without a shirt. “Arm warmers!”
“Awesome.” The fairy girl took a pair of pants and the arm warmers from our smallest teammate. “Do you boys mind stepping out while we change?”
“Uhh, yeah.” I cleared my throat as Nick and I went to the back of the plane so we could put our own pairs of snow pants on.
“I’m sure these pants are thick enough,” he said as he kicked his boots off to pull his snow pants over the trousers he was already wearing. “But I don’t mind having extra protection, you know?”
“Right,” I agreed as I followed his example. The pants were baggy enough to fit over my other pair of cargo pants, but they were thick enough to provide warmth without constricting movement.
“Comfy, right?” the nymph dude asked me with a grin. “I might just keep these after our mission is done.”
“I don’t know,” I chuckled and bent down to put my shoes back on. “We’re going back to California after this. I bet it’ll be too hot.”
“You boys ready?” Nala shouted. “We should get going.”
“Yeah, in a sec!” Nick answered and took a granola bar out of his pocket. “Refuel time!”
“It’s always refuel time for you,” Steffi sighed. “Why didn’t you eat earlier?”
“I did!” The nymph spat crumbs everywhere when he tried to speak around the granola bar.
“Glad Alaska is too cold for ants,” I muttered as I stepped around Nick to see the girls.
Then I had to stop for a second to take in the sight.
Even though she was covered from head to toe, Nala was still so beautiful underneath her coat. The parka hugged her narrow waist perfectly and accentuated her curves in all the right ways. She’d also ditched her shemagh and traded it in for a black toboggan, and I was glad I could see her pretty face without the scarf. When she grinned at me, I almost melted, and I thought back on her invitation to grab something to eat together and knew I definitely wanted to take her up on the offer.
Then I looked over at Steffi, and since the fairy girl couldn’t wear a coat, she was still wearing her form-fitting tank top. The black arm warmers Nala had given her rolled from her wrists to the base of her tattoos on her biceps, and the tight fabric left nothing to the imagination. Her orange-striped pants squeezed her thighs and calves to show just how trim and curvy she was, and the fairy girl smiled at me as she pulled on a maroon toboggan hat and matching gloves.
If my life were an anime, I would’ve started spewing gushers of blood out of my nose.
“Wow,” I gasped as I walked toward the pink-haired girl and grinned. “Are you sure you won’t be cold in that?”
“I think I’ll be okay,” she said and hugged herself a little. “You alright?”
