Dragons vs. Robots by Mari Mancusi

Author:Mari Mancusi [Mancusi, Mari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

“Ahhh!” I screamed as I dropped like a stone, the trash mountain flying past me until it was no more. The wind rushed at my face, cold and fierce. My stomach plunged to my knees. My arms waved wildly and uselessly at my sides as I continued to fall, down, down, into the void. Going faster and faster until everything was a blur. At one point, I dared look up to see if I could still spot the shadowy dragon swimming through the air. But there was nothing. Only endless sky and space and falling.

Which was good. But also… not good. Was I glitching out? Would I fall forever?

Suddenly my eyes caught a flash of brown below, coming up fast. It took me a moment to register what it was. Ground. The pit wasn’t bottomless, after all. Which meant I was about to crash.

But weirdly, I didn’t crash. Instead, I met the ground and went right through. As if plunging into a pool of water that looks solid on top, but isn’t. But unlike water, there was nothing beneath this thin surface. Just more open space. And now I was no longer falling. I was simply floating. Like Alice going down the rabbit hole.

Wow. Just… wow.

Once I caught my breath, I looked around. I spotted my sister and Starr floating, too, not that far below me, their eyes wide with awe. And who could blame them? It was as if we’d entered another world. The sky above looked as if it was made of Minecraft blocks. Nearby a purple tree floated in midair. To my right I saw what looked like a zombie swimming through the sky. It growled at me and gnashed its teeth before floating on by.

Okay, this was really getting freaky.

Finally, we landed. Floating down to a new level of solid ground. I collapsed in relief, still breathing heavily. Wow. That was intense.

I looked around, trying to get my bearings. Which wasn’t easy, considering everything looked very odd. There were some finished parts. Patches of grass here and there. A small path winding into the distance. But much of it was unfinished. Just a purple grid stretching out in all directions. In the far back, you could see weird squiggly lines rising up. As if placeholders for future mountains or cities.

“Wow,” I said, rising to my feet. “This is crazy.”

“And completely freaky,” Lilli added, looking a little nervous as she tried to lean against a nearby tree. Instead of supporting her, the trunk gave way and she fell right through it, landing hard on the ground. Evidently the object hadn’t been fully rendered yet.

She scrambled to her feet, looking embarrassed. “Are you all right?” she asked. “I’m sorry I left you up there. I just… didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay,” I said, scrubbing my face with my hands. “You did the right thing.”

My mind flashed back to the mountaintop. Atreus soaring through the sky. A feeling of dread rose inside of me, and my heart pounded in my chest.

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