The dragon was bigger than I remembered.
That was my first thought as we crept through the dark temple, entering the beast’s inner lair. Atreus lay sleeping on a massive hoard of gold and jewels, his thick, scaly tail coiled around his body like a snake’s. He was so large, in fact, he barely fit into the cramped space, and I wondered wildly how he could possibly be comfortable all squashed up like that. A totally ridiculous thought, I know.
But I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Too busy freaking out with fear.
I shot my sister a questioning look, wondering if she noticed the change, too. Had Atreus really grown bigger since we’d seen him last? Were his scales redder now—more blood-like—or was it just a trick of the light? His wings seemed longer, his tail thicker, his talons sharper.
As if evil had gotten an upgrade.
Suddenly, what seemed a totally doable plan down at the bottom of the mountain now seemed a craziness of epic proportion. What had we been thinking? We were just two kids—total noobs. And yet, here we were, hoping to take down the biggest, baddest dragon in all the land by ourselves.
This was so not going to end well.
Atreus stirred, rousing from his slumber. We dove behind a crumbling stone column, desperate to stay out of sight. My heart thudded madly in my chest as his eyes slid open, twin golden crescents shimmering in the darkness. A burst of steam shot from his snout as he yawned lazily, showing off a dark pit of razor-sharp teeth. Sweat dripped down my back. How could we ever hope to defeat such a creature?
But we had no choice. Everything came down to this.
I squeezed my hands into fists, trying to wake my inner hero. To remind myself that here, in this world, I was not Ian Rivera, twelve-year-old gamer geek from Austin, Texas, and real-life total wimp. Here, I was Lord Wildhammer, premier knight of the realm. Lord Wildhammer wouldn’t be scared of some dumb old dragon. Lord Wildhammer would be chomping at the bit to slice its ugly head off and save the world.
Lord Wildhammer, it would seem, was a major idiot.
Atreus’s eyes began to rove the chamber, and the walls seemed to close in on us, tighter and tighter with his every glance. When he reached our hiding spot, he stopped, his head cocked and his ears pricked.
I froze. Could he see us? Could he sense, somehow, that we were here? My heart beat so hard in my chest I was half convinced it would break a rib. What were we going to do? How were we going to survive this?
My sister reached out, squeezing my hand hard.
“Remember, it’s only a game,” she whispered.
But the thought wasn’t as comforting as it should have been as my eyes fell to the dragon’s belly, glowing a deep, dark red as it warmed with deadly fire.
Because this might be a game.
But one wrong move and it would be game over.
This time forever.
Welcome to Dragon Ops!
Dragon Ops is a new kind of theme park, set on a secluded island deep in the South Pacific. Unlike regular theme parks where you simply ride rides and watch shows, at Dragon Ops we want you to become part of the adventure!
Just slip on your AR goggles, zip up your SensSuit™ and step through our front gates—and into another world. Become a character in our story and leave real life’s worries far behind. Based on the best-selling computer game Fields of Fantasy, Dragon Ops is a fully immersive gaming experience allowing visitors to fight deadly creatures, solve tricky puzzles, and take on epic quests. Level up and earn valuable treasure that can be exchanged for exciting prizes to take home.
And if you’re really good, you might just get a chance to face off against the island’s biggest, baddest creature of them all: the dragon Atreus. (Coming soon…)
Welcome to Dragon Ops.
Just like real life… but a lot more fun!
One Day Earlier
“I can’t believe we’re stuck here for an entire week.”
My cousin Derek paced the deck of the old ferry, his steps unsteady as the boat bobbed and swayed under his feet. He stopped at the railing, staring out over the choppy waters of Buccaneer Bay, a scowl creasing his slightly sunburned face. I was pretty sure I hadn’t seen the guy crack a smile since his ninth birthday, when he threw a fake turd in Grandma’s swimming pool, then sat back to watch the other kids run out screaming.
Too cool for school, my mother always said. Though in Derek’s case it seemed like he was too cool for pretty much anything.
“Do you even know what a big deal this is?” I shot back. “How long the waiting list is going to be once this place finally opens up? And we get to see it first—before anyone else!”
“Congratulations, Ian. You’ll be king of the geeks now for sure.”
Ugh. Why did I bother? I rolled my eyes and plopped down onto a nearby bench, my legs still jiggering with excitement. He could say what he wanted. I was not going to let him ruin what was sure to be the best week ever in my twelve years on this planet. A full week at Dragon Ops—the world’s very first mixed-reality theme park—months before it opened to the public.
When they’d first announced plans to build the park, I’d completely freaked out. After all, no one loved the Fields of Fantasy video game—which the experience was based on—more than me. So when I heard there was going to be a mixed-reality version? Where, instead of sitting in front of a computer screen armed with a mouse, you’d actually get to walk around, wielding a sword and doing quests in real life? I seriously couldn’t think of anything cooler. And if that made me king of the geeks, I’d wear the crown with pride.
“Hey, kids! We’re almost there!”
I whirled around to see Uncle Jack—aka my complete and utter hero—step out onto the front deck of the ferry. Uncle Jack was my mom’s younger brother and an amazing computer programmer just like her. He’d worked on all these super-secret gaming projects all over the world and was now consulting for the company that made Fields of Fantasy. Which, in my opinion, had to be the best job in the universe.
When I grew up? I wanted to be just like Uncle Jack.
When I first heard he was working for the new game, I’d imagined he might be able to score us some free tickets at some point down the road. I never dreamed he’d suggest to Mom that we should come with him on a last-minute trip to the park before it even opened. The company wanted him to debug a few issues, and Derek’s mom was away on a business trip to China, meaning Uncle Jack had to take Derek with him. He figured Lilli and I could come along and keep Derek company while he worked.
Normally I would rather gnaw off my own arm like a wild animal escaping a trap than be stuck spending an entire week entertaining Derek the Drag. But this was Dragon Ops we were talking about here. Babysitting Derek seemed a small price to pay for such a life level-up.
I watched now as Uncle Jack strolled to the front of the boat, leaned against the white-painted bow, and pointed across the bay. “There she is,” he announced, his voice rich with pride.
“There what is?” grumped Derek, his eyes narrowing as they followed his father’s finger. “There’s nothing out there but some deserted island with a beat-up old dock. I thought this was supposed to be a theme park. Where are the roller coasters?”
Uncle Jack snorted, then flashed me a meaningful grin. He knew I understood, even if his own son didn’t.