"I understand," Jet replied. I should warn you that this journey will be unlike anything that you have ever undertaken. I should be able to configure your pod through this interface, though. It will send your mind, your consciousness, into the game itself. From there, you will be able to construct your own body and begin to interface with the world. But it will be different."
"How so?"
"You've only played the game as it was being developed and refined. You will be jumping into a game that is technically a world. All of the players there will be Draco pros. They will all be a part of the cause. You will have no friends, no allies. Only one another to rely on."
Van chewed on that. This made the game sound even more dangerous than it had been before. "Jet, are you… are you able to transfer multiple people to the game?"
"I can transport as many as you want who are willing," Jet said.
"There are plenty of pods in the next room," Cindy said as she pointed to one of the large sealed doors. "These facilities were designed to keep Draco's game fully staffed even in the event of a nuclear apocalypse."
"But it's a one-way trip?" Van asked.
"Until you are able to establish a better connection, yes," Jet replied.
Van looked at Sang. "Send Neil out to find the best members of the Iron Dragons and ask them if they're looking for a real job."
Sang smiled and saluted Van. "Aye aye, sir!" She leapt up from her seat and rushed out to find Neil.
"I'm gonna go take a nap," Cindy said as she walked out of the room, as well, leaving Van all alone with the Xevov.
"You are really coming to save my race?" Jet asked.
"No," Van whispered as he put his hands on the beloved pod, the representation of everything that he had once held so dear that would now be put to good use. "I'm coming to save the universe."
EPILOGUE
Van stood before the nebula, unable to speak. Beside him was his closest friend, his loyal ally and his soon to be wife, Sang. They were standing on the bridge of a spacecraft and they were staring out at the infinite vastness of space. The craziest part about all of this was the fact that hanging around Van's neck was a pair of goggles. When he placed them over his eyes, they would transport him to the Elven Woods of G'thyril, where the warlike race of Anders was struggling against the Draco.
For twenty long years, Van and Sang had fought side by side against the evils of the Draco. With their leader dead, the Draco's ability to conquer was lost forever, but the efficiency of how they controlled their slave planets was startling brutal. The Xevov had been the first to be freed and, while the adventure had been something beyond Van's wildest dreams, each new planet was even crazier than the last.
But each race was grateful for the man and woman who came from earth to save their people. Race after race had pledged their allegiance to earth, and would even send gifts. One such gift had been the power for travel faster than light travel. A holiday had been made in honor of the day that the old Draco mothership had finally been discovered to be in orbit around the moon. And while the saga of Van and Sang was still continuing, their work was in the history books on many a planet.
And now they were heading to a place that they hadn't been to in a long, long time. They were going back to earth.
"I wonder what's changed?" Sang asked as she placed her hand on the railings and leaned forward.
"Probably everything," Van said. "All of that new tech they received, it probably changed the entire way the world operates."
"Yeah," Sang said. "But I hope the beaches are still there."
"Still dead-set on a beach wedding?" Van asked.
"If not on earth, then definitely in one of the simulations," Sang said as she pointed to the goggles hanging from his neck.
"These things are war simulators, not toys," Van retorted.
"Yeah, like you don't use them to play Dungeons and Dragons with Fredlin and the gang," Sang chuckled.
Van smiled at her. He didn't really remember when his feelings for her had transitioned from friendship to love. But he knew that fighting alongside her every day for twenty years had left him realizing that he could never imagine a world in which he wasn't with her. He'd asked her to marry him when they hadn't officially even been dating, and much to his surprise, she had said yes. They would continue to do the work of saving the universe together, until the end of their lives. And Draco's influence was far-reaching, but Van was confident they would continue to free each planet. Someday, the universe would be free of this scourge, and then Van could finally rest. He had heard news that a bunch of people from earth had been working to recreate Dragon Kings of the New World, and for the most part, development seemed to be going well. It was only a matter of time before Van would finally be able to return to the place that had once been his home.
"Oh, we got a message from Neil," Sang said. "He just escaped from an Ecuadorian prison."
"That's good to hear," Van said.
"And he's going to be at the wedding, too!"
"Wonderful," Van said through gritted teeth. The best part about space travel was being far, far away from that psychopath.
Sang giggled a little and leaned her head against Van's shoulder. "Can you really believe this is real life?"
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm wearing the goggles," Van replied as he wrapped his arms around her.
"The Faster-Than-Light Drive is now engaging," announced the ship's artificial intelligence system. "Destination: Earth. Total travel time: 3 days."
"That's enough time to destroy a few Draco Designated Reality Zones," Sang said. "You game?"
"Always," Van said as he slipped his goggles on, seamlessly transporting himself to a realm of trees and magic. Beside him was his bride-to-be, armed to the teeth and holding a trusty spear. As long as Van was still breathing, the adventures would never end. And that was a wonderful thing.
END OF THE IRON DRAGON
Pssst Friend lend me your ears…. Have you heard the tales of old and new of The Star Dragon, Dragon Kings of New World Book One? No? Then keep reading for an exclusive extract!
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BLURB
When the real world is threatened, it’s up to the players in a virtual one to save it.
Van Vanyushin doesn’t see the point in ever leaving the beautiful digital world of the game he loves—and for good reason. In the industrial wasteland he calls home, it is often the only way people can experience life’s simplest pleasures. But his allegiance to the game is tested when an ambitious CIA agent named Sang Ngo calls upon him to help as she goes undercover in the game to investigate Draco—the corporation responsible for creating the massively popular role-playing game Dragon Kings of the New World.
Sang is a gifted hacker who feels nothing but contempt for those who waste their lives in what she sees as a false reality…but when people start dying in the game, she must find out why. Van, a talented gamer, is her guide to navigate the world, level up their newbie characters fast and get into some of the most dangerous areas of the game. He dreams of becoming a pro gamer sponsored by Draco one day, but his partnership with Sang threatens to expose secrets from his past that could jeopardize those plans.