“Elena?”
“I heard you. It’s complicated.”
“What is?”
“I really don’t want to speak about him, please. Can we change the subject?”
His smile faltered, and he nodded.
“Do you know if the Rubicon has any weaknesses?”
Lucian’s eyebrows knitted. “What?”
“You faced him twice. Does he have any weaknesses? Mia told me, but she said it wouldn’t help me much.”
Lucian chuckled. “The Rubicon?”
“Yeah?”
He squinted again. “He’s tendrils are extremely sensitive, if you can get on his back. Not a job easily done.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Very. The last time I tried, I almost got trampled by his feet. Everyone always tries to go for his tendrils. The Rubicon protects them with his life.”
That was why Mia said it wouldn’t help me.
“Listen to Mia. His weakness will not help you.” He chuckled and shook his head.
I got a feeling we were not speaking about tendrils at all.
“It’s the reason you need to get into that sim. It will help you process the beasties easier.”
I stared at him with a raised eyebrow. “Stop making fun of my beasties. They will stay beasties until the day they die.”
We both laugh.
“Yeah, the Rubicon is everything but a beasty. You really need a shower.”
“Yeah, yeah, thanks for introducing me to the sim. I’ll get there, but I’m not ready yet.” With that, I got back up and walked to the castle. I needed a shower badly.
That evening,Dad dragged me to the simulator. I hated Lucian sometimes.
Dad was super giddy, and Lucian actually padded him up. He put on the suit, went all out for this one. King Helmet explained it helped with the sensation, making it even more real. He pulled on the gloves last and looked like one of those ghostbuster characters. I stayed in the computer room, watching the screen as Dad and Lucian exited on to the obstacle course.
Lucian eventually came back and put on earphones that had a microphone close to his mouth. He handed me one as he grabbed a chair on wheels and dragged it next to me.
I put on the earphones and could hear Dad speaking on the other side.
“It looks so real,” Dad said.
“Now you know why I’m not ready,” I replied.
“Bear, this will be great for you. You need to try it.”
“Okay which dragon, Jako?” Lucian asked.
“I think I’m going to try a Copper-Horn. I always wanted to know what Dragonians feel when they face us.”
