Free Fall of Heroes by Jeramey Kraatz Page A

was all over—and who knew what that meant.
    His thoughts were interrupted as he watched Bug step carefully onto the ice, placing one foot in front of the other and moving so slowly that for a moment Alex thought he, too, had been frozen. He had a death grip on the dock. He’d pulled his long, dark hair into a short ponytail that stuck out of the back of his head. Alex cautiously took a few steps, found his composure, and was able to move without too much trouble.
    â€œI shouldn’t have come out this far,” Bug said warily. “Please tell me you had extensive ice-walking training or something so I don’t feel like a total loser.”
    â€œActually, it’s our first time. Well, the Betas’, at least. I don’t know about Kyle and Kirbie. But I’m sure all our other agility trials and stuff over the years make it a lot easier for us.”
    Bug smiled a little, clinging closer to one of the dock posts. Alex smiled, too. It hadn’t been long ago that he would have used this as an opportunity to point out how much Bug might weigh the team down or what an amateur he was. But they were well past that now. Bug had more than proved himself. There was no way they would have made it this far without him.
    Bug’s eyes fell on something between two of the posts on the dock, a glimmer in the breeze. A dragonfly—much smaller than Zip—struggled against the sticky silk of a web. In one corner, a large gray spider looked on.
    â€œOh, man,” Alex said. He suddenly found himself in a situation that he’d never imagined he’d be in. In the past, he wouldn’t have given a second thought to the insect, but he wasn’t sure if Bug was going to freak out over the dragonfly’s impending doom. “Are you going to help it?”
    â€œWho, the dragonfly?” Bug asked.
    â€œWell, yeah.”
    â€œI could probably get it free,” Bug said, turning to Alex. “But I’d have to take down the whole web. Then the spider might starve. I’d just be punishing it for doing what it was born to do.”
    â€œBut Zip . . .” Alex was finding it hard to articulate what he was trying to say.
    â€œZip actually eats these small dragonflies, too. Different species, though. She’s a carnivore, not a cannibal.”
    â€œBut you’d rescue her if she was in the web, though, right?”
    â€œOf course,” Bug said, looking puzzled as to why Alex would have to ask such a thing. “She’s my friend. I’d destroy every web for her.” Zip alighted on his shoulder. Bug turned to look at her. “But she’s too smart to get caught in something like that. Go on, girl. Go find something to eat. You must be starved from the Gloom.”
    Misty materialized beside Alex and grabbed his arm.
    â€œThis is from Kirbie,” she said with a wicked grin.
    Before he could reply, they were swirling dust on the breeze. He was nothing but a consciousness and tiny bits of matter, and then suddenly he was whole again and falling through the air. He landed on the big yellow raft in the center of the frozen cove. Mallory and Kirbie pushed it hard, sending Alex spinning across the ice.
    â€œHey!” he shouted, wrapping his blue energy around the raft to stop it. He got to his feet, eyes flickering blue as he focused on the two girls a few yards away from him. With his thoughts, he scooped up some of the melting ice that had been dislodged from the surface of the lake by all the skiing and rafting, until two small balls of slush orbited his head. He smirked.
    â€œUh-uh, Alex,” Mallory said. She held a hand out, heat radiating from it. “I know what you’re thinking. If those things come anywhere near me, you’ll find out how fast I can melt a foot of ice under you.”
    â€œThat’s assuming I’m on the water,” Alex said. As he spoke, he raised the raft—and himself—until he was floating