Music drifted through the isolated spaceship, two dragons performing in duet to let their crooning voices fill the empty corridors, much to the annoyance of the third dragon who inhabited the ship. The craft was large and elegant, a sweeping design that was vaguely reminiscent of a dragon’s wing. Towards the front of the ship was its identification number, 602-19. Beneath the number was a single word in the complex dreykonii language, reading ‘Astral Victory’.

The Astral Victory was a long way out from the expansive dreykonii empire, in a star system that had been largely uncharted. Long range scanners had detected signs of life on one of the planets surrounding the large, yellow star, and it was those readings that interested one of the dragons on board.

Omega had been able to convince two of the closest dragons to him to accompany him on an unofficial mission to the isolated system and explore the new planet, eager to see the alien life that was unknown to the dreykonii. His older brother Pyro, the First Prince of their clan and of the empire, had provided the clearance to go offworld, while his oldest friend and companion Maz supplied the Astral Victory.

They were approaching the unnamed planet, and Pyro was in the bridge by himself, head in his paws as he listened to the constant singing from his two companions. He still had a smile on his face though as the lilting voices rose and fell. Though he had told the two younger dragons on multiple occasions to be quiet so he could hear the ship’s computer, he actually rather enjoyed their voices, and was pleased to hear them continue.

“I still don’t understand our mission,” the ship’s computer said, cutting across the singing. Her voice could almost be confused for a female dragon’s voice, speaking through an intercom. There was perhaps just a little flatness to her tone that gave away her synthetic nature.

Pyro rustled his wings and shook his head. He glanced out the front windows, towards the distant planet that was slowly starting to draw closer, and beyond that the bright yellow star. “Nor do I, Avee. I’ve learned not to question my brother sometimes.”

The computer was a highly advanced AI unit, capable of flying the ship by herself without any input from the dragons onboard. She was designed to make tactical decisions in warfare, though was also programmed to always defer to the ship’s captain should their opinions clash. The only time she was capable of disobeying her captain was when it would result in the certain destruction of the ship or the death of another dreykonii.

After a period of silence between the two, she spoke up again. “I never knew my captain could sing. He and Omega have lovely voices. Did you know this, First Prince?”

Pyro chuckled to himself. “Of course. They love showing off whenever they can.”

“I have never heard him sing before,” Avee commented. “I wonder why that would be?”

Pyro shrugged, glancing down towards the dashboard, where a small holographic display of a dragoness stood. While he knew he didn’t need to look at any particular location to speak to the AI, he found it oddly comforting to look towards her physical manifestation when addressing her. It made it feel more like a conversation with a real dragon. “I guess singing isn’t really done too often one military missions. Don’t think he has many chances to get out with his ship by himself.”

“I’ll need to check the logs, but… Yes. This is the first time,” Avee replied, only a momentary pause needed to check her extensive mission logs, saved within her powerful core.

Another period of silence fell between them as they listened to the other dragons sing. “You should know, First Prince. We are approaching the gravity well of the target planet. I’ve started running some scans to determine information of the surface.”

“How long until we’re in orbit?”

“Two hours, three minutes, and seventeen seconds,” Avee replied without hesitation.

“Two hours would have more than sufficed.”

“But that would have been inaccurate information.”

Pyro rolled his eyes as he stood up. “Never mind,” he assured the AI. “I’d better go fetch the others so we can work out just what Omega’s plan is going to be.”

“Of course, First Prince. I shall keep our course true.”

***

The three dragons gazed down at the planet below them, eagerly taking in all the details they could. It was always such a thrill getting to see a new planet for the first time, the unfamiliar landscape laid out below them, and yet, some things were also so familiar, so consistent with almost every other inhabited planet the empire had come across. The oceans were blue, and the land was a mixture of lush green and arid reds and yellows. Even on the night side of the planet there was no sign of any advanced technology, no bright lights indicating any cities. Avee was certain there was life down there, and she was busy scanning the planet to detect as much information as she could. A few probes had been sent down to the surface as well to pick up on vocal patterns from the natives.

While they waited for the masses of information to come back, the three dragons talked, and once more Pyro had his head in his paws.

“You can’t just go down there and wander around,” the First Prince exclaimed, shaking his head as he pawed at his muzzle in exasperation.

“Why not? How many chances do we get of walking on an uncharted planet like this?” Omega replied, his tail twitching back and forth in his excitement. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the planet, imaginatively named G3V-4. He was currently looking at a pair of parallel mountain ranges running up the middle of one of the continents, two ragged lines of brown and white like a twin pair of spines. Clustered around the peaks were large swathes of clouds. Between the ranges was a large, open expanse that looked like lush plains fed by the mountainous rains. To the north, that eventually changed to dry tundra and then gleaming white ice caps. To the south, a wide open bay cut across the eastern ranges just above the equator.

“Are you even listening to me?” Pyro snapped, flicking his tail against Omega’s and drawing his attention away from the windows.

Omega blinked and looked up at his older brother. “Huh, sorry. No, I was thinking about what it must be like down there.”

“Well, get that thought out of your head. We came here to observe, not to interfere. Those are natives down there, unaware of anything beyond their planet, if even they’ve come to realise there are people beyond their own borders,” Pyro said, trying to drag his brother away from the front of the ship. “We’re aliens to them. They see us, and there are going to be all sorts of questions asked. Natives can be savage when they meet something they don’t understand or can’t explain.”

“Then we can go down and make sure we aren’t seen at all,” Omega grumbled as he twisted his arm in an attempt to loosen Pyro’s grip on his wrist.

Pyro scoffed and released Omega, folding his arms across his chest. “Not be seen? I don’t trust you not to interfere if you see something down there you don’t like. Remember that time on Ursa 7?”

Omega scratched at his muzzle idly, not quite able to look up to his brother’s eyes. “Yeah, I remember. I promise it will be different this time though.”

“The answer is still no, Megy. It’s not going to change,” Pyro said with a snarl. The older dragon spun around and approached Maz, who had started to go through some of the information that Avee was starting to provide.

“This is incredible,” Maz muttered, flicking across through several screens of information about the native species on the planet below. “There’s such a massive variety of species down there, many of which appear to have developed sapience and technology already. Both bipeds and quadrupeds seem to have evolved, some with six limbs too. Incredible, I know a lot of scientists would love to study how they all developed.”

At the press of a few buttons, a holographic screen obscured the windows and projected some of the images Maz was looking at. They showed a few of the different species. Some were bipedal and covered in fur, though one was mostly hairless and wrapped up in different fabrics. They looked oddly familiar.

“Are they humans?” Pyro asked, his earlier frustration with Omega largely ignored now as the fascination of discovery overwhelmed him.

Maz shrugged his shoulders. “They look like them, yeah. They seem to be native to this planet though, so it might just be a lucky fluke. Certainly no evidence of humans ever settling anywhere near here.”

The next species shown was one of the quadrupedal, six limbed species Maz had referred to. Their front half was covered in fine feathers, which gradually blended into something more like fur on their hindquarters. Large wings sprouted from their shoulders, which Avee calculated were easily strong enough to support flight. They were far from the most interesting though, and as Avee flicked the screen over to the next, the three dragons all paused and looked towards each other.

“Now that’s intriguing,” Pyro muttered.

What was displayed before them as a large, scaled creature with four strong legs and two wide wings with a membrane of skin between each elongated digit. Its shoulder height was almost as tall as the three dragons. According to Avee it was also capable of flight, as well as the ability to spit fire.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s a dragon,” Omega said. He smirked up to his brother. “You still think we won’t be able to fit in down there?”

Pyro groaned and covered his eyes. “Just because we look kind of like them, doesn’t mean we can go down there and expect not to be caught out. It’s foolish and irresponsible.”

“And we’re going anyway, aren’t we Maz? We’ll go and have some excitement while grumpy here stews alone in his spaceship, not knowing what fun is even if it bit him on the tail,” Omega said, placing a paw on his brother’s shoulder. “Just for one day. It will be fine. We’ll just sneak down there, have a look around and observe some of the natives from a distance. I want to see if these dragons really are as similar to us as they appear.”

Pyro hissed and shook his head, before throwing his arms up in exasperation. “Fine. Go down there, but I’m staying up here. If you two go down there, you’re on your own. Avee. What’s the air like on the surface?”

“Safe. Non toxic. Mixture of mainly oxygen and nitrogen, with-”

“Alright, alright. That’s more than enough,” Pyro said, cutting across the AI before she started delving into the more precise measurements from within the atmosphere. He turned to face Maz and Omega, the latter of the two was hopping from foot to foot in excitement, only too eager to descend down onto the unexplored planet.

“We’ll be good,” Omega promised, before turning tail and heading down towards the shuttles at the rear of the ship.

Pyro reached out and took Maz’s paw in his own before the other dragon could follow. “Look after him and make him behave,” Pyro warned. “I know what my brother gets like, especially with dragons. He might get… protective of these primitives.”

“We have no intention of interfering, I promise,” Maz said with a small smile. “I’ll try to keep him on a leash, but you know how hard that is.” Pyro nodded and sighed, releasing Maz. He turned away, slumping down in front of the computer terminal and started to flick through the information Avee was uploading.

“Looks like it’s just me and you now,” he said to the AI as he heard the loud clunk echo through the ship as one of the shuttles disembarked a few minutes later. He got no response back from Avee.

***

Omega could barely contain himself as he waited for Maz to catch up, waiting by the storage room by the shuttles. Maz picked out a few small, flat discs of metal from the computer terminal in the wall, holding them carefully between his claws. He gave two to Omega, keeping two more for himself. They were engraved with two slightly different symbols, one indicating sound going in to a small hole, the other sound coming out.

“Are these fully calibrated, Avee?” Maz asked as he placed one disc on his throat, where it quickly attached to his scales, blending in so it was almost invisible. The second was put in place just beneath his ear.

“Almost,” came the instant reply from the AI. “I’ll continue to download information onto the translators as I encrypt it. They speak a lot of different languages down there, but I shall prioritise work on those near where you land.”

“You’re amazing, have I ever told you that, Avee?” Maz said, before checking Omega had attached the translators correctly. He then picked up a couple of communicators, making sure they had more than enough charge to last them the planned full day on the surface. Avee had already informed them the rotation of G3V-4 was similar to that of their homeworld. The length of the day would be nothing untoward.

Omega made a small move towards the armoury, but Maz held him back. “We’re going down to observe, not to interfere. There aren’t any threats down there we need to worry about, so we’ll go down unarmed,” Maz said, to which Omega reluctantly nodded.

“Fine, if you insist. Now come on, let’s go,” Omega said, pulling Maz into one of the shuttles. Launch was quickly authorised thanks to Avee, and it was only a few moments before the two dragons felt the distinctive tug of acceleration on their bodies.

Maz piloted them down into the atmosphere of G3V-4, aiming then towards the continent Omega had been inspecting before. Scans of the terrain had pinpointed a remote area to land near the eastern mountain range, about one hundred miles north of the sparkling waters of the large bay. The shuttle bounced and rocked with the turbulence of their entry, but neither dragon showed any concern as their view was obscured by red and white light as their vessel heated up. The dull roar of their engines gradually increased as they fell further into the oxygen-rich atmosphere until their vision suddenly returned.

Omega let out a whoop of delight, clapping his paws together as they got their first, proper look of the land below. Rolling hills led into a massive range of tall mountains that stretched as far as they could see to the north, truncated by the ocean in the distant south. Lakes and rivers made themselves known, and it wasn’t long before they spotted a few signs of civilisation below in the forms of roads and tilled fields.

“Look, over there,” Omega said, pointing out towards the western horizon. A few wisps of smoke had attracted his attention, and soon it became clear that there was a settlement of some sort there. Immediately Maz tugged on the controls to guide the shuttle away from the settlement, much to Omega’s disappointment.

“Really? Why not?” Omega whined.

“I think flying right over a city unshrouded will be a bad idea, don’t you?” Maz replied with a chuckle. “We’ll land on the edge of that forest over there and have a look around on foot.”

Omega reluctantly agreed with this, and he started to pace around the small shuttle as he waited for Maz to land them on the borders of the large forest that covered most of the nearby foothills. After what felt like an age, he heard the landing thrusters fire, and the shuttle came down to a gentle halt on its support legs. Before Maz had even had the chance to power down the shuttle, Omega had opened the door and stepped outside, making sure he was the first dreykonii to take a breath of this new, alien planet’s air. It smelt crisp, and sweet somehow. An odd scent was on the air, and there wasn’t the single hint of pollution at all. This world was pure.

Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, Omega spread his wings wide to absorb as much of the light coming down from the single sun. He heard Maz step out by his side, before something was placed in his paw. He squinted open his eyes to look down at the small, white pill.

“Immunobooster. You’ll want to take that quickly. Should have had it before we came down,” Maz said. Omega nodded and quickly swallowed the pill. New planets meant a new range of diseases and illnesses his body wouldn’t be prepared for. What might be totally harmless to the local population could be utterly devastating or even fatal to him.

Closing the shuttle door behind them, Maz activated the shrouding system that would keep it hidden from any natives that happened to pass by. They didn’t want to run the risk of some poor native stumbling upon the ship and starting a panic.

Looking up to the sky, Omega gave a small wave to the hidden Astral Victory, invisible in orbit well above them. He knew Pyro wouldn’t be able to see them, but still he had to give that little wave, just so his brother knew they were both safely landed.

“Right. I suggest we explore the area on foot for a while, then go and look at that city when it gets dark,” Maz suggested as he clapped his paws together. He glanced around, before pointing towards the nearby trees. “How about a walk through the forest first?”

“If there are any of those native dragons nearby, then sure,” Omega replied. He scanned the skies, but couldn’t see any sign of the two large, flying creatures this planet possessed. He was tempted to contact Avee to see if she could track their habitat, but decided to wait until she had finished compiling the planet’s many different languages first. Even though they didn’t want to interfere, communication could still be important if they wanted to listen in on any natives they met.

Omega bounced on ahead of Maz, darting into the trees and exclaiming in delight as a couple of birds erupted from the foliage, squawking their displeasure at being disturbed. He attacked a few overhanging branches with the blade on his tail, slicing through the wood with ease.

“Did you really need to do that?” Maz muttered, shielding his face from the falling branches that clattered off his scales. “There’s no need to brandish that about. There’s only primitives here and they’re not going to hurt you.”

“Primitives can still be dangerous,” Omega replied, pausing for a moment to tug his tail free from a piece of wood his blade had embedded deep into. It took him a few tries before he was able to free himself, tossing the offending wood deeper into the forest.

There were other animals making their presence known amongst the trees, but few came forward into the light. Most were evident just from a few scurried pawsteps amongst the fallen leaves and branches rustling from their movements. That didn’t stop Omega exploring as much as he could, sticking his muzzle through every cluster of leaves and peering around every tree. On one occasion he could his face swiped at by a set of viciously sharp claws belonging to some small, fuzzy creature he couldn’t identify. That drew an amused chuckle from Maz.

“You’re like an inquisitive hatchling, Megy,” he said with a shake of his head.

Omega rolled his eyes. “How many times do you get to see a brand new planet, Maz?” he asked, running his fingers down a nearby branch and feeling the sticky sap exuding over his scales.

“A few times, but just be careful. You don’t know what’s dangerous and what isn’t,” Maz cautioned, resting his paw on Omega’s shoulder and pulling the other dragon back a couple of steps. “Remember we’re here to just observe, and not to interfere. We don’t want to leave any trace of our presence behind.”

“Yes, I know. You’ve told me already,” Omega muttered, shrugging his shoulder free of Maz’s grip. They walked in silence for a bit longer, the ground starting to slope upwards beneath their feet as they neared the steep sides of the mountains, a small trail emerging in the grass, trampled down by previous walkers through the forest. The peaks of the mountains loomed up tall beyond the canopy of leaves above their heads. Clouds were gathering around the distant snow-capped peaks, threatening the possibility of rain later on.

Without any destination in mind, the two dragons just walked to see where the little trail led them. It led steadily uphill, though amongst all the trees it was hard to tell just how high they were climbing. That was until they emerged suddenly back into the unfiltered light. They’d climbed all the way up one of the foothills, a sheer cliff face climbed high above them with a few hardy trees clinging to the near-vertical face of rock. It gave them a much better view of the surrounding land beyond the borders of the forest. They could see two roads sweeping their way through the undulating farmlands. On the nearest of the roads they could just about make out a cart of some sort, a few figures driving it on. They were too far away to make out properly, whether human or one of the other species that populated the planet.

“Do you think they can see us?” Omega asked, pointing towards the distant cart.

Maz shook his head. “I don’t think so. I doubt their vision is as good as ours. But just to be safe, we should keep moving. This trail has to lead somewhere, so we may as well follow it.”

“I can’t smell anything nearby either. I doubt anyone has been this way for a few days at least,” Omega added. The air was clean and fresh with just the scent of the trees on it, the wind coming down from the mountains crisp and cool. “Further up?”

“Yeah, let’s see what’s up there. See if we can find one of these dragons for you, as I know you won’t be happy until we find one,” Maz said, chuckling and giving the other dragon a playful shove. Omega responded in kind, giving Maz a little push back.

“And yet you and Pyro are being mean and won’t let me go and talk to one,” Omega muttered sullenly. Maz grinned and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go. I think I saw a route up into the mountains not far above us,” Maz said, giving Omega a tug on the paw to get him moving again. The two dragons began to head up into the mountains proper. Trees gave way to rough grass and long heathers as the slope began to increase, the landscape becoming a little harsher as they climbed.

The mountains rose tall around them, cutting off most of the sunlight as they walked, descending them into a gloomy shadow. Still they saw no trace of any sapient being, just the occasional bird flying overhead, or the scampering sounds of a small creature fleeing in front of them. It was a sparse terrain, and Omega was beginning to give up hope that he’d even get to meet a dragon. He wondered if Maz was leading him up this way to deliberately avoid running into one. Probably under orders from Pyro.

Omega was just about to question Maz about this when the other dragon suddenly stopped and flared his wings, raising an arm to warn Omega to stop. It took a moment for Omega to hear what Maz had. Approaching footsteps.

Silently gesturing to the darkening sky, Maz kicked off and took to wing. Omega followed just behind, not wanting to be seen by whoever approached. There must be another path close by, as the footsteps seemed to be coming from further down the hill, yet they were sure nothing could have caught up to them and they hadn’t passed anyone along the way.

Maz looked set to fly well out of range and disappear, but Omega didn’t go far. He found a ledge up a nearby cliff that mostly obscured him from view from the path below, but gave him a good vantage point to see what approached. He settled down and peered over the rock, hearing Maz land by his side a minute later with an annoyed hiss. He was sure the other dragon was about to berate him over staying back, but Omega held out his paw. He’d seen a glint of metal in the sunlight. Something approached.

A biped was climbing the mountain, though it wasn’t clear exactly what species it was just yet, as it was clad in bright, shiny armour. A horse was by the biped’s side, plodding up with his master, laden down with supplies and equipment. There even appeared to be a large pike strapped to the beast’s side, with a wicked hooked tip that looked like it was designed to do a lot of damage.

As they approached, Omega could see that the biped didn’t wear a helmet. He appeared to be a human male, fairly young with long black hair. Immediately Omega didn’t like the man. He didn’t know what it was, but something gave him an uneasy feeling.

“Do you have your sword on you?” Maz whispered in Omega’s ear, evidently feeling the same sense of unease. Omega grimaced and shook his head, his hip bare.

“You told me to leave it behind,” Omega hissed. His blade would be useful here, a powerful artefact that was capable of warning him when someone with ill intentions against dragons was near. He hadn’t expected to face any sort of danger down here amongst the natives, but this human put him in mind of others he had fought in the past.

Omega’s tail twitched as he crawled forward to the edge of the ledge, preparing to leap down to the travelling human below, but he was stopped by Maz’s paw on his tail. He growled, but held still.

“Don’t interfere,” Maz snarled, keeping his voice low and quiet.

Omega gripped his claws into the rock, but he obeyed the other dragon, growling under his breath as the human passed by with his horse. It wasn’t until the biped was completely out of sight did the two dragons stand back up again.

“We really shouldn’t be here,” Maz said, standing with his paws on hips and wings slightly flared as he looked down into the narrow valley the human had been walking through. “We should go back to the ship. You’ve had your chance to look around.”

“But we haven’t seen a dragon yet,” Omega said with a growl and an annoyed swing of his tail. “Pyro isn’t expecting us back until tomorrow anyway, so why don’t we find somewhere and camp out for the night?”

Maz sighed and shook his head, but he didn’t offer any vocalised protests to Omega’s suggestion. Instead he glanced up to the sky, where clouds were starting to gather and descend, a stronger wind blowing from what Maz believed to be the north. “Fine. But if something goes wrong, you’re taking responsibility for it. Now let’s get into shelter before any rain comes in. I don’t feel like getting wet.”

Omega whooped in delight and leapt off into the air, spreading his wings and catching a thermal to keep himself aloft. Maz reluctantly followed after, and the two dragons started to ascend again, this time keeping to wing and maintaining a firm eye out for the human somewhere below. They fortunately saw no sign of him, and it wasn’t long before they found a wide cave to take shelter in from the rain that was starting to sweep in from the north.

The cave mouth was wide, with a large flat shelf that descended into a steep incline in front of the entrance. The two landed together and looked around, a light mist of rain starting to fall around them. It felt like they were in the clouds, and their vision was drastically limited now, unable to see the rolling countryside at the bottom of the mountain. Instead they turned to the cave, stepping into the darkness and flicking their wings to clear them of any moisture. The weather had largely suppressed the scents in the air, and neither Maz nor Omega could detect any indication of life within the cave.

It was dark inside the cave, as they expected, but Maz soon extracted some small portable lights from within the supply pouch he carried at his hip. What they saw led to two completely contrasting reactions, with Omega bouncing on his heels, and Maz taking a step back towards the cave entrance. It was clear that this was an inhabited cave, with a bundle of blankets in one sheltered corner making a nest, as well as many other trinkets scattered throughout. One wall was charred and blackened, with a pile of dried branches scattered beneath.

“We should leave,” Maz said, taking hold of Omega’s arm, but the other dragon just shrugged him away.

“Are you kidding? We just found a dragon’s lair. This is what we came for,” Omega said, taking a couple of steps forward and ignoring Maz’s protests.

“Just to look, not to go and break into their home,” Maz hissed, taking a few more steps back until he felt the drizzle on his wings again. “Come on. We should go before…”

He trailed off, hearing wingbeats outside. Reacting quickly, he scampered into the cave and dimmed the portable lights. He grabbed hold of Omega and dragged him deeper into the cave, hoping against hope that the shadows would be able to hide them from sight.

The two dragons had a good view as the cave owner descended out of the misty rain to land on the shelf outside. The native was a large, copper scaled creature. Just as Avee had suggested, it was a six-limbed quadruped, with two massive, sail-like wings that were quickly tucked up against his back. Immediately his nostrils were flared as his eyes searched through the gloom of his cave. Omega could clearly see the spark of intelligence within those eyes. This was not a beast. It was a sapient being, and his heart hammered in his chest at his excitement.

The native growled beneath his breath as he took a couple of steps inside the cave, before spitting a ball of fire towards the gathered foliage. The dried branches immediately burst into flame, casting flickering light around the cave and sending Maz and Omega back a couple of steps to avoid being seen.

The dragon was a few inches taller than Maz and Omega, with a stocky body and long, slender tail. All four of his copper-scaled legs were powerfully built, and he had an array of natural weapons. His claws looked sharp and deadly, gleaming in the amber light of the fire. His tail possessed two rows of three spines near the tapered tip, and a crown of short horns adorned his head. It was clear he’d make a dangerous adversary, one Omega was suddenly a little nervous about being caught in his home.

“I’m not a dumb hatchling. I know you’re there.”

The dragon’s voice was a low, rasping growl, the language guttural and harsh. Omega was glad Avee had done her job, as he found himself able to understand the native’s words despite the harshness of his voice. Of course, then there was the matter of what the dragon had said. The native was glaring right into the darkness at the back of the cave that was sheltering Omega and Maz. He knew they were there.

Before Maz could stop him, Omega stepped forward into the flickering firelight. Immediately the native leapt back with a squawk. His tail was raised up threateningly next to his head, showing off the six vicious spines. Omega made an effort to keep his claws and tail lowered, not wanting to appear a threat to the native. When Maz came up to stand by Omega’s side, the native parted his jaws slightly, flickers of flame emerging between his teeth.

“By the Three, what are you both?” the dragon growled, his eyes flicking from Omega to Maz.

“We’re dragons, like you,” Omega said, his voice quick and excited. “Only we came from-”

Maz slapped Omega with his tail to silence him. “From across the sea,” he said, completing Omega’s unfinished sentence and trying to deflect from the grave error Omega had nearly made.

The native seemed less concerned about that. Instead he was tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes as he peered at the two invading dragons. “Your words don’t match what your mouths are saying. What sort of magic is this?”

Maz pushed Omega back a couple of steps, glaring at him harshly to warn him to remain quiet. “We speak a different language across the ocean. We have… magic that allows us to speak to you normally, and you to us,” he explained, hoping that the dragon would accept that answer. He had no way of knowing whether the translation of the word magic had been accurate, or even if it meant that magic was something prevalent on this world. Thankfully, the native seemed to accept it, nodding his head a couple of times and letting the flames spill from his jaw.

“You are a strange one, and I have never heard of that kind of magic before, but then I have also never heard of anyone to fly over the great ocean and return. I wasn’t even sure there was more land beyond it, unless you live in the sea,” the native mused. Then a growl returned to his voice. “But why are you here?”

“We came to explore,” Maz answered, keeping one wing partially flared to keep Omega behind him. “We too had never been across the ocean, and we wanted to see what it was like.”

“I mean here, in my cave. You may outnumber me, but I will protect what is rightfully mine if you seek to take it from me,” the native snarled. He lowered his head down, his legs braced and tensed, ready to spring if he needed to.

Maz held his paws up, taking half a step back from the angered native. This time it was Omega who answered. “We just came in to shelter from the rain. We didn’t realise it was claimed by anyone,” he said quickly.

The native snorted. “The rain? You definitely don’t live in the ocean then, if a little water is enough to send you scampering for shelter.”

Omega bit his lip on the retort that rose to the tip of his tongue. He didn’t want to draw the dragon back to anger so soon after placating it. “May I ask for your name, dragon?” he said instead.

The native peered down at Omega, a judging look in his eyes, as though determining whether or not Omega was worthy of knowing his name. Omega didn’t dare look away from the native, but after a while he had to concede, his eyes briefly flicking towards the fire. The native rumbled, showing off his teeth. “I am Axil. And just who am I welcoming into my home until the rain passes?”

“I am Omega, and this is Maz. We would be grateful for your hospitality, and to tell us a little more of the land around, if you would be so kind,” Omega said. He cautiously approached Axil, stepping closer to the warmth of the fire and sitting down on the cool, stone floor. Maz followed his lead and sat down by his side, hoping that their actions would indicate further to Axil that they meant to threat to him.

“Omega. Your name is a strange one, but Maz, that sounds a little better,” Axil said, swinging his head between the two dragons. Instead of sitting down, he added more fuel to his fire from a large store of wood near the back of the cave. There appeared to be enough wood to be from several large trees hidden in the depths of the cave, all torn apart by Axil’s claws into chunks each as big as Omega’s arm.

Axil didn’t speak as he built up his fire, carefully tending to it with a deft touch and complete precision. Omega was about to offer to help the native with the fire, using his own abilities, but he was silenced by a shake of the head from Maz, as though his companion had been reading his mind. Omega let off a low hiss, impatient to hear from Axil and eager to stoke a roaring fire to warm the cave, but he respectfully leaned back on his haunches and watched the native work. From outside came a rumble of thunder. Storms came rapidly to these mountains, it seemed.

“What is there to say?” Axil eventually muttered. The copper blinked his eyes a few times as he pulled back from the fire, watching it grow and spread over the new fuel he had added. The blaze filled the small alcove now, the smoke being drawn up through a few small cracks in the wall and keeping it out of the cave. “There’s too many humans, for starters. They’re growing bold and setting up their farms in territories that have long belonged to dragons. Not sure what’s worse, them or the culvari. At least the humans don’t have any fur that gets stuck between my teeth. Do you have them on your side of the great ocean?”

“We have humans, yes, though not many of them. But I’m not familiar with culvari,” Omega said, scratching his head and furrowing his brow. He didn’t know if they were the other sapient quadrupedal species Avee had shown them, or if they were some other species she hadn’t analysed at the time.

“Small furry thing. Loves the water, so probably not something you’d like,” Axil said. The copper growled in a way that sounded like a chuckle. “Must be a desert on your side of the ocean. Don’t know how you even made it across. Didn’t look down?”

Omega fought hard to suppress a growl of annoyance. He hadn’t come down here to be taunted by the natives, but he forced himself to remain polite. This was Axil’s home after all.

Maz showed no such concerns, laughing openly at Axil’s words with genuine amusement. It was all a lot of fun for him. “Worst flight I’ve ever had,” he said, nudging Omega in the ribs as he spoke. Omega rolled his eyes.

Axil snorted, finally settling down and slumping down on the pile of blankets he had gathered in one corner of his cave. He didn’t offer any of them to Omega and Maz as he yawned and stretched his legs out. “So, the other side of the ocean. Is that why you walk as a human would?”

Maz shrugged his shoulders. “All dragons are like us there,” he said simply, hoping that Axil wouldn’t want any further elaboration.

Before the native was able to question him more, Omega leaned forward and gathered Axil’s attention. “We saw a town not too far away. Is that a human town?”

“It is,” the native said with a snarl. He spat out a ball of fire, which struck the ground and sent a shower of sparks across the rock. “That’s Akhram. If you value your scales, you will keep as far away from that place as you possibly can.”

“I don’t fear any humans,” Omega said. His wings twitched at his back. He had fought many of them before, and he doubted that any primitive species would pose any threat to him.

This time it was Axil who laughed, and it was a cold, mirthless sound. “Do you not? Tell that to my brother. He went down to Akhram to offer a truce to the humans there, to set aside borders so that we didn’t have to worry about being shot out of the sky, and the humans never had to fear us accidentally taking their livestock. His head now decorates their tavern. They murdered him with a hundred pikes before he even had the chance to speak. No. If you do not fear the humans of Akhram, then you will learn or perish.”

“If they’re so close, why do you stay?” Maz asked. His paw found Omega’s tail, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Because this is my home,” Axil snarled. His tail thrashed around behind him, the spines scratching into the wall and leaving several small gouges in the rock. “If they want me gone, they’ll have to kill me. And believe me, they have tried. One thing Akhram is not short on is noble adventurers coming from across the land to try their paw at slaying the evil dragon in the mountains.”

“Dragonslayers,” Omega spat. He’d met those before.

“Dragonslayers, yes,” Axil confirmed. A dark look crossed his face, before he suddenly smirked. “They’d have an easier job on your side of the ocean. Throw a bowl of water at you and you’d melt into the rock.”

“It would take a lot more than that, trust me,” Omega muttered beneath his breath, before he turned to glance up at Maz. “That human we saw on the road, do you think he may have been a dragonslayer? I knew I had a bad feeling about him.”

Axil twitched his ears. “A slayer? I hope he didn’t see you two. I wouldn’t want him to go running back to Akhram with tales of two more dragons to kill, especially ones as exotic as yourselves.”

“He didn’t see us, we made sure of that,” Maz said, though he was filled with a sudden doubt that perhaps the human had been aware of their presence. They had seen no trace of him after he had passed them by. Perhaps he had circled back down to the village, or even gone on over the mountains and to whatever lay to the east. But then again, he could still be on the mountain with them.

A sense of unease fell over the three dragons, though they tried to hide it as Axil continued to tell them about some of the local area. He told them of the four species that lived in the area; as well as the dragons and humans there were also the kaur and culvari. He was glad there were no gryphons nearby, as they could talk for hours about how beautiful they looked, right down to the positioning of each last feather. From his description of them, Omega could tell that they were the other quadrupedal species Avee had identified.

After a while though, Axil started to yawn and stretch his legs and wings out. He blinked and looked towards the mouth of the cave. While they had been talking, darkness had fallen. “Dirus is hidden tonight,” the native murmured. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the cave, followed almost instantly by a deafening peal of thunder. “The storm will likely be with us all night. Even I would be hesitant to fly in this weather. You are both welcome to shelter here until morning comes, but I’m afraid our talk must come to an end. I have been flying all day and my wings are weary. I did not intend to remain awake for so long.”

“We are grateful for your offer, thank you Axil,” Omega said. He glanced out towards the cave mouth and the rain that poured down the lip, producing a curtain of water. “Would you like us to maintain a watch for you?”

“A watch? For one human? No, that won’t be necessary,” Axil said with a smirk. “Or do you fear the rain will come in to get you? Don’t worry, the fire will keep it at bay.”

“You know I’m really not that scared of water,” Omega said, snapping slightly at the native dragon. He then sighed and settled down on the hard floor, draping his wings wide. “Are you sure you don’t want me to keep watch?”

Omega turned to Axil, but the native was already curled up on his nest of blankets with his wing held over his face. He gave no response at all, though Omega could tell from the rise and fall of his chest that he wasn’t yet asleep.

Sharing a quick glance with Maz, the two dragons lay down together, paws resting on top of each other. It took just a tap of their claws to temporarily deactivate the translators at their throats to ensure a quiet conversation with each other, and judging from the look in Maz’s eyes, he expected just as much.

“He’s adorable, isn’t he?” Omega said, his tail slapping the rocky floor behind him.

“That doesn’t matter. We shouldn’t even be in here with him. We don’t know what consequences our presence could have on the entire future of this planet if we’re discovered, or when Axil finds out we’re not really from across the ocean,” Maz hissed, the ferocity of his glare forcing Omega to look away.

“There’s no harm in it. We’ll just stay here for the night then head back up. No one else needs to see us,” Omega said quietly, hoping to stave off Maz’s anger.

He was partially successful, as Maz sighed and covered his face with his paw for a moment. “If we’re lucky, then sure.” He peeked out at Omega through a couple of fingers. “But yes, he is adorable. But don’t get any ideas with him, alright?”

Omega stuck his tongue out. “The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

“Yeah, sure it hadn’t,” Maz said, softening a little and scratching Omega behind the ears. “You wait in here with him, alright. I’m going to head out and see if I can get some signal on my communicator. I want to let Pyro know where we are for the night. Think the storm is affecting the signal somehow.”

“You sure you’ll be safe out there?”

Maz smirked. “It’s only a bit of water.”

“I meant the slayer.”

“I’ll be careful. Like I said before, I’m trying to avoid being seen, remember?”

Omega sighed and nodded. “If you’re sure. Don’t go too far.”

“I won’t. I’ll be back before you know it,” Maz said, before hauling himself up and towards the cave mouth. He gave one distasteful look towards the weather, before stepping out into the rain. He was gone from view almost immediately, swallowed up by the darkness.

Omega switched his translator back on, but if he was hoping for a conversation from Axil, then he was out of luck. This time it looked like the native was truly asleep.

A little silence allowed Omega the opportunity to think about where he truly was. He had visited many planets before, but none had ever had any species that equated so closely with his own. He was sleeping with a dragon, a real, alien dragon that as far as he knew, had never been influenced by the dreykonii empire. It was thrilling, knowing that he and Maz were probably the first non-natives to ever set foot on this planet. No one could ever take that away from him.

He didn’t mean to fall asleep. He meant to simply close his eyes for a little bit and keep his ears trained to the sound of the rain falling outside, listening for any disturbances out there. And yet, the next thing he knew he was woken up by a piercing crack of thunder that felt like it shook the entire mountain. Maz still wasn’t back, and he had no idea how long he had been out for, whether it had been just five minutes or several hours.

He was about to sit up and check if Axil was awake when he picked up the faintest of noises from outside. He couldn’t work out what it was, sounding somewhat like metal and wood clicking together. Nothing was visible beyond the sheet of water pouring over the mouth of the cave, no source of light at all to illuminate what was making that sound. The clicks stopped and for a moment when the only sound was the rain, but then there was a snap and a whistle, and suddenly Omega’s shoulder exploded in pain. He roared in agony, feeling blood on his scales.

Axil leapt to his feet, awake in an instant as Omega groped to pull out the bolt that had buried itself between his scales. He hissed in pain as he felt the jagged tip of the metal shaft tear out some of his flesh, but the bolt was pulled free and tossed to the ground to clatter against the rock. The two dragons immediately knew what was going on.

“Come in here and fight, you coward,” Axil roared to the darkness. The native dragon took in a deep breath, and when he exhaled an intense inferno erupted from his jaws, a stream of fierce flames that jetted out into the darkness. Steam hissed from the cave mouth, and for a brief moment they could see outside. A human stood out in the rain, clad from head to toe in silvered armour, and a loaded crossbow in his paws, aimed right for them.

As the light from Axil’s flame faded, the slayer fired his crossbow again, the bolting flying through the darkness. With a moment of warning, the two dragons were able to flatten themselves against the floor, though Axil still yelped in pain as the bolt skidded over his back and knocked loose a few scales.

Omega didn’t give the human the chance to reload. He charged out into the rain to where the human had been, but the slayer had the advantage of eyes that were used to the darkness. He had easily sidestepped the onrushing dragon and dropped his crossbow in exchange for a more practical sword. He felt the bite of steel against his belly, but his scales were strong enough to protect him.

He spun around, flicking his tail out towards the human, but the slayer ducked and sliced his sword up, clattering against Omega’s tail blade. The human grunted. His armour looked strong, but it didn’t hinder his mobility at all.

Fire engulfed them both as Axil unleashed his flaming breath on them. The heat prickled over Omega’s scales but left him unharmed, steaming in the rain. He slowed for a moment, expecting the vulnerable human to be hindered by the flames, but he soon regretted that decision.

The human’s blade struck Omega’s wounded shoulder, piercing in beyond the damaged scales. He shrieked as the blade dug in deep, but through the haze of his pain he was able to crack his paw over the human’s head, a powerful blow that caused the slayer to slump even with the protection of his helmet.

His paw hurt from the impact, but as the human fell backwards, clearly dazed, Omega blinked the water from his eyes, growling down at the slayer as he drew his tail up, ready to slice into him with the bladed tip.

“Leave him alive,” Axil barked, momentarily distracting Omega. The dragon shook his head. He wanted blood. “If you kill him, you’re killing yourself.”

That caught Omega’s attention a little longer. He swiped at the human’s legs, knocking him to the ground. The man gasped as he hit the rocks, his movements quickly ceased by Omega’s powerful foot pressing down on his chest.

“Give me one good reason,” Omega growled, turning the focus of his ire to the native dragon.

“You’re wounded. If he used poisons then we need to know which ones,” Axil said, approaching the two and standing over the attempted slayer.

“Poisons?” Omega snarled. He pushed his weight further down onto the human. The satisfaction of hearing the slayer moan in pain was enough to sate his bloodlust for the moment.

Raising his foot, he quickly crouched down to grab the human, taking hold of him in both arms and pinning him to his chest, making sure he had no opportunity to escape his strong grip. He was easily able to carry the human back into the cave, despite the wound to his shoulder. The slayer didn’t even struggle.

Axil remained outside a little longer, sniffing around for any potential accomplices to the human.

Flinging the human to the ground, Omega shook some of the standing water from his scales, wincing as the movement flicked some blood against the cave walls. He glared down at the human. “Why have you come?”

“To slay the dragon,” the human whimpered, too scared to even look up at Omega. “What even are you? I’ve never seen a beast like you.”

“I’m your worst nightmare,” Omega snarled. He chose to ignore being called a beast for now. He had enough to go against the worthless, cowering human already. His foot pressed down into the human’s chest again, feeling the metal armour buckle beneath his weight. “Now tell me, and tell me truthfully. Did you use any poisons on those blades, because I swear to you, if you lie now and I feel myself dying because of poison, I will draw out your agony and long and as painfully as I can.”

“There was no poison. I swear by the Three, there was none on my blade,” the human whimpered. His paws gripped around Omega’s ankle, trying to push the dragon off him, but his strength was pitiful compared to Omega’s. “I swear to you, by Ha’Ti the First I did not try to poison you.”

“Just to kill us,” Omega growled. He didn’t ease the pressure on the human’s chest.

“I was told there was only one here. I didn’t expect there to be two. Please, can you remove your foot, you’re breaking my ribs,” the human gasped.

“There are three.”

Omega glanced behind him to see Maz stalking in to the cave with Axil by his side. Maz carried the human’s crossbow, while the native dragon dragged the large, wicked looking pike they had seen from a distance earlier in the day.

“Think this will make a good weapon to keep other slayers away,” Axil said with a growl, tossing the pike down onto the floor. Flames licked around his lips as he looked towards the human. The crossbow was dropped down with it as Maz approached Omega and the human.

“What is your name?” Maz demanded. He knelt down and ripped the human’s helmet off, revealing a dark-skinned face with long, jet black hair.

“I’m Ara’Saly,” the human said in a quiet voice.

“You’re from Suhn’Na? That’s a long way to travel for a dragon,” Axil growled. Maz and Omega glanced to each other and blinked. They didn’t know where Axil was referring to, but the human understood and confirmed the native’s question.

“The bounty on your head would have given me enough to buy my village free of all its debts to the chiefdom,” Ara’Saly said. Again he grunted as Omega’s foot pressed down into his chest, buckling his armour and making it dig down into his flesh. His ribs started to crack and he struggled to draw in breath.

“Let him up, Omega,” Maz ordered. “Let me deal with him.”

Such was the force of Maz’s command, Omega immediately lifted his foot off the human, but he couldn’t resist giving him a swift kick in the ribs first. Ara’Saly curled up and groaned in pain.

Omega reluctantly stepped back from the stricken human as Maz pushed him back. He retreated back to stand by Axil’s side, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice should the human show any signs of aggression towards his companion.

Maz reached into the small pouch he carried at his waist and pulled out a small, flat disc of metal embedded with many precious stones in the shape of the rune of his clan. He held it out to the human.

“This is made out of the purest metals and the most brilliant gems. It was made by the finest artisans of my people. There are no impurities, no flaws,” Maz said in a soft tone, turning the sigil over in his claws before gently pressing it into the human’s paw. Then his voice turned harsh, and he spat, “It will fetch you more than your bounty. Get up.”

Ara’Saly rose to his feet, wincing and holding an arm across his chest. As Maz turned to the side, he gestured to the cave mouth, telling the human where to go without any words. Nothing needed to be said, though Omega growled. He thought Maz was a fool for letting the human go free, but he trusted his companion’s judgement.

The human then stumbled and fell with a pained cry, landing at Axil’s feet. Omega didn’t realise he’d hurt the pitiful creature so badly, as it seemed he could barely get up.

Axil growled and kicked out at the human, before taking a couple of shuffling steps away. That was what the human had been wanting.

Before any of the dragons could react, Ara’Saly gripped his fingers around the base of the pike that Axil had just exposed. He spun it around, butting the shaft into Axil’s throat before piercing the dragon’s belly with the blade. The human roared in victory, pushing his weapon hard enough that the pike pierced up through Axil’s back with a burst of blood and gore. The native dragon didn’t even make a sound. He just collapsed to the ground.

Omega was instantly consumed with fury. His mind burned white hot. He extended his paws to the side, and from the burning embers of the firewood, the flames leapt up to his scales. The fire sheathed his arms as he paced towards the human, a calmness in his gait despite the anger his mind was trapped within.

Ara’Saly scrambled back. His weapon was useless now and he knew that. He fumbled around, trying to grab the crossbow before Omega reached him.

One paw extended out and flame lanced towards Ara’Saly’s chest. The human cried out in pain and panic as the flames spread around his body, engulfing his armour completely. No matter how much he moved, the fire stayed still and constant around him, never moving up to his exposed head or dripping down to the stone floor.

Under Omega’s furious gaze, the metal heated rapidly, searing the human’s flesh beneath. Ara’Saly cried out, tearing his throat raw as he begged for the mercy that was never coming. His flesh slowly cooked, destroying his organs from the outside in. Blood leaked into his throat, and he started to choke on it, coughing it up until it dribbled from his lips.

Just as the light was fading from Ara’Saly’s eyes, Omega lifted his arm and returned the flames to the firewood. The human’s armour glowed red hot. The dragon stared down at the wasted, shivering hunk of cooked meat that had, until a few moments earlier, been a human. A pathetic excuse of a creature that didn’t deserve to live. Omega plunged his tailblade through the human’s throat, tearing through flesh and bone with ease.

With one last, juddering gasp, Ara’Saly fell still, then Omega sliced the head clean off the shoulders. Picking the head up by the locks of black hair, the dragon hurled it out into the rain with a savage roar, before spinning around and jabbing his blood-soaked tail in the direction of Maz. “That’s what you get for trying to make deals with dragonslayers.”

Maz was crouched down by Axil’s side, his paw on the native dragon’s head. “He’s still alive, Megy.”

“Can you save him?” Omega growled, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to calm his anger, but every time his eyes glanced up to the twin wounds on either side of Axil’s body, he was overwhelmed by another wave of rage against the human he had cooked alive.

“Not with what I have here,” Maz said, a little panic creeping into his voice as he ran his paws over Axil’s shoulders. The native barely even reacted, just a couple of twitches from his tail. His breaths were short and sharp, chest hardly moving at all.

“Then get him up to the Astral Victory,” Omega snarled, tapping his tail blade against the floor.

“Pyro will have our throats.” Maz started to plea with his companion, but one look into Omega’s eyes and he relented. “I’ll call him again. Watch over him. Don’t let him move. Yell if anything happens.”

Omega nodded and took vigil at Axil’s side as Maz stepped back out into the rain. He tried to control his breathing in an attempt to suppress the rage he felt. It didn’t matter that he had already destroyed the human responsible for this act. He held his paw on Axil’s shoulder, feeling, but not looking at, the stricken dragon. The pained whimpers and small breaths were enough.

He reached down and gently squeezed Axil’s paw. His anger felt like it was fading away. “We’ll get you through this, I swear,” he said in a small voice. “We can heal you, we can save you.”

Axil’s lips moved, his voice so quiet that Omega had to lean right down to place his ear next to the native’s mouth to hear him. “Not bad… for someone who’s scared of water…”

Omega shook his head and closed his eyes. He could feel tears of anger and sorrow forming, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. “You are something special, Axil. I promise you that you’ll be alright.”

“Don’t make… promises you can’t keep. It was… nice… meeting you,” Axil whispered. He fell still, only the smallest movements of air coming from his nose.

Omega snarled and looked up as he heard movement coming from the cave mouth, ready to defend the ailing native with his life from any intruder. His heart hammered in his chest as his adrenaline and fury spiked again. It didn’t fade when he saw it was Maz returning, shaking off the water from his scales. “He’s locked onto our co-ordinates. He’s sending down an emergency portal, but there’s only enough power for two,” he explained, holding out his paw to forestall Omega’s response. “I’ll go through with him. You stay down here and work off your anger. I can see the fire in your eyes still, and Pyro doesn’t want that up on the Astral Victory. Calm yourself down and make your way back to the shuttle.”

Omega growled and glared at Maz, but he slowly nodded. A pinprick of light appeared in the middle of the cave, which slowly grew and expanded into a sheet of shimmering light. There was a flash of green, and then Pyro was looking out from the other side. The portal slowly moved through the air, and Omega took a couple of steps back as it moved over Axil’s head. The dragon disappeared through the portal until there was no trace left of him in the cave but for the pool of blood he’d been lying in.

Maz then approached the portal. He paused for a moment and looked up at Omega, then stepped through without a word. With a gentle pop, the portal was gone and Omega was by himself.

Left alone with his anger, Omega roared in frustration again, summoning the lingering flames from the alcove. Once more he aimed them towards the headless corpse of the human, intensifying the flames until the metal armour started to glow white hot. He snarled into the burning heat that prickled his belly. He didn’t stop until the body was utterly incinerated, with nothing left but a small pile of ashes that was slowly drifting away on the swirling wind in the cave. A molten pool of metal that had once been the slayer’s shining armour was all that remained. After sending one last blast of fire into the ceiling of the cave, Omega dropped down onto his haunches.

He held his head in his paws as the fires around him all extinguished, leaving him in almost total darkness, except for the occasional flashes of lightning from the storm outside. Slowly he rolled back until he was lying down, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. He could smell Axil’s blood. There had been so much of it, he didn’t know how the native could possibly survive.

Omega scorched the rock several more times that night. He carved a drekyonii symbol for peace into the ceiling. He knew no one on this planet would ever know what the symbol meant, but still he hoped that somehow it would be able to fill at least one person who saw it with peace and calm. But it was not the only gift he could give this planet.

He cradled the molten metal as it started to cool, shaping it with his paws to form a crude box, setting some aside and keeping it hot with a circle of flame. He placed the earring he wore as a symbol of his status amongst his people inside. Before sealing the box back up again, he had a quick look around the cave, his eyes catching sight of a small glint of metal.  It was Maz’s sigil.

Omega picked up the small disc of metal, turning it over his claws. It was truly beautiful. Maz had clearly been willing to part with it, so it wasn’t like the other dragon was ever going to be expecting it back. He placed the back of the sigil into the remnants of the molten metal, letting the two fuse together until he’d made a lid for the simple box. He then sealed the box and lid together with another careful blast of his flames, ensuring he didn’t damage the perfection of the sigil on top. He knew the intense heat would harden the metal so that it likely would not be opened by any tool on this planet for many generations to come.

He worked long and hard, ensuring that his box was crafted to perfection. By the time he was done, dawn had come and the rains had stopped. Secreting the box away in a hidden corner to the back of the cave, Omega then slowly stood up and stretched his aching limbs. He had been sat hunched over the freshly made box for too long. He stepped outside the cave and looked around. There was not much sunlight, as the clouds were still thick and the mountains were covered in fog. But there was light to see by.

Just down the hill a little, a horse was tied to a jutting piece of rock. It had been the slayer’s mount. Slowly, so as not to spook the beast, Omega approached it with one paw outstretched. The horse was skittish around him, but he was able to calm it and untie the rope that kept it in place. Though the beast struggled at first, Omega was soon able to guide it back up to the cave.

The dragon started to empty the heavy packs that adorned the horse’s flanks. Most of the slayer’s possessions were weapons, all of which got tossed to the side and forgotten about. There were a few packets of food and water, and even a small flagon of what smelt like beer. There wasn’t much in the way of supplies. Clearly the human hadn’t intended to be on the road for very long. He must have had a room rented in Akhram, as Omega couldn’t recall another settlement nearby.

Out of all the slayer’s possessions, Omega kept just one thing. He retrieved a small, leather pouch tied with a piece of string. He had opened it up to find a pile of dried aromatic leaves inside, the scent of which made his nose twitch. He grinned a little, bouncing the little pouch in his paw. Maz would like it. He placed it to the side before starting to refill the large packs with some of Axil’s possessions and blankets, hoping that the familiar items would help placate the dragon when he woke on their ship. It was bound to be a massive shock to the poor native.

Once he had had filled the packs as much as they could hold, he saddled the horse up once more and took hold of its reins. He started to walk back down the side of the mountain, following the lone path that twisted its way down through the rock. Though he had flown the last bit of distance to the cave, it wasn’t too difficult to find his way back to the path he had been walking on the day before with Maz.

Omega sighed and glanced to the horse as it trotted along beside him. “What’s going to happen to you?” he muttered quietly. He reached out to gently stroke one finger down the back of the horse’s neck, feeling the coarse fur rub against his scales. “I suppose you’ll be free now. I certainly can’t take you with me.”

The horse made no indication that he understood the dragon’s words. The beast probably held no sapience at all, though it did seem intelligent enough to follow simple commands. “Pyro will already be after my scales for what I’ve done. I don’t think either of us would survive if I took you up too.”

Omega fell silent for a few minutes, his head bowed in thought as he gripped onto the horse’s reins. “Was he a good owner?” he said eventually. “Did he treat you harshly?”

The horse snorted.

“I thought so.”

Omega fell into silence again. Everything was quiet around them, with just the sounds of the dragon’s feet and the horse’s metal-shod hooves against the rough stone ground to break the silence.

“What did he call you? Did he even have a name for you, or were you just a beast to him?” he asked, but once again the horse was silent. “What is it humans tend to call their stallions… mares… what are you?” Omega stepped to the side and glanced down. “Oh, mare. Buttercup. That’s something humans call their horses, isn’t it? That’s what I’ll call you.”

Buttercup didn’t seem to disapprove of her new name, so Omega decided that it would remain. At least until he set her free once they reached the shuttle. Until then, she could be the ears to listen to his worries.

“I didn’t just destroy a life. I obliterated it. It could have been quick and painless, but instead I made him suffer. Was I right to do that? Was I too cruel?” he asked the horse, but she just kept plodding on, her head nodding up and down with each step. “He just… he hurt my friend. Badly. Might have killed him. I couldn’t let your master get away with that. I hope you understand that. I didn’t have any choice. But it’s just… should I be feeling guilty for it? You depended on him. He’s probably got some family somewhere too. But… I feel… nothing. I don’t feel bad, and that makes me feel bad. I should at least feel guilty for torturing him, right?”

Omega sighed and shook his head. He glanced up to the cloudy sky, before looking around to see how far they’d walked. To his surprise, he was fast approaching the tree line, about to descend down into the forest that covered the foothills of the mountains.

Though his mind was still far from clear, Omega didn’t have anything further to say to the horse. He walked with her in silence, not even lifting his head to look up at the wildlife that perched and scurried through the trees around them. He just wanted to get back up to the ship so that he could oversee the treatment of Axil, and discuss matters with Pyro and Maz.

Once he made it through the forest, it was a simple matter of finding the shuttle again and deshrouding it. He unloaded Axil’s belongings from Buttercup’s back and carefully stowed them into the shuttle. The horse was then unharnessed and set free. He gave her a firm slap on the rump to get her running, hoping that she would be able to find somewhere safe to graze. Then, with one last look around at the planet, he stepped inside the shuttle and closed the door behind him. It was time to return back up to the Astral Victory.

Running a quick scan of the surrounding area to ensure there was no one nearby, Omega prepared the shuttle for launch and reactivated the shroud to keep it hidden. He then sat down and held on to the chair as he was pressed back as the ship quickly accelerated up into the crisp morning air. He glanced down to the receding landscape for a few moments, before he turned his focus up towards the sky above.

It took just ten minutes for the shuttle to return to the Astral Victory. By the time the ships were docking and the shuttle was being transferred back into the Astral Victory’s small hanger, Omega was already waiting by the airlocks, hopping on his feet as he willed it to move faster. He growled softly beneath his breath, tapping his claws on the metal walls.

When it finally opened, Omega charged through into the Astral Victory, but he smashed right into another dragon. Pyro staggered and almost fell back, before recovering his composure and standing before Omega, arms folded across his chest.

“I thought I said not to interfere?” he growled, before his eyes flicked down to Omega’s shoulder. “You’re wounded? Maz didn’t mention that.”

Omega tensed his arm, glancing down at his shoulder. Blood stained his scales, several trickles of it all the way down to his elbow. In the heat of the fight and horror at Axil’s injury, he had completely forgotten about the wound.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Omega mumbled, hoping to avoid the wrath of his older brother if he could, keep him distracted with other matters. “How’s Axil?”

Pyro frowned, but extended out his arm to place on Omega’s uninjured shoulder so the two could walk through the corridors of the ship side by side, heading towards the medical bay. “He’s stable. We’ve got him in temporary stasis to allow his body time to heal, but he should make a full recovery. He was incredibly lucky the spear missed his critical organs, but even so he probably only had minutes more to live before I got my paws on him.”

“Can I see him?”

Pyro frowned as he looked down on Omega. “He’s in the medical bay at the moment, so you can see him while I patch you up,” he said, before sternly adding, “But you may not touch or even approach him. I don’t want you undoing all the work I’ve done.”

Omega nodded. For once he would listen to Pyro’s order and obey it without question.

The doors to the medical bay slid open, and Omega followed Pyro inside. Immediately he found Axil, suspended in a stasis field and completely unmoving, with Maz standing vigil by his side. Though Omega longed to reach out and hold his paw, he kept his arms down by his side to limit the temptation. At least there was no more sign of the horrific wound in the native dragon’s belly and back, with just a discolouration of his scales marking a scar where the great rents had been.

Omega’s own wounds required just a quick patching up with a healing unit, knitting the scales back together until all that lingered of his wound was the blood staining his arm. When he was healed, he was coerced back out of the medical bay to get some proper rest. He reluctantly left Axil behind, confident that under Maz’s careful eye he had his best chance of survival.

Under Pyro’s orders, they would not return to dreykonii territory until they had the chance to return Axil back home, though Omega had tried to reason with Pyro that he couldn’t be allowed back down. Once he woke up, the native dragon would soon realise what they were, and he couldn’t be returned to the surface with that knowledge. After that brief discussion, Pyro had fallen silent and retreated to his quarters and requested not to be disturbed.

Omega and Maz shared guard duty over Axil, the two sat together in the medical bay so they could watch over the injured native. For a while they remained silent, with Omega not wanting to meet Maz’s eyes, for he knew the inquisition that was surely to follow. Instead, it was Omega who broke the silence first.

“I got you something,” he mumbled quietly. He reached into his pack and pulled out the small pouch of leaves he’d retrieved from the human’s belongings.

Maz raised his brow as he took the pouch from Omega, before he carefully opened it with his claws. He took in a deep breath of the potent smell. “Oh, now that’s an interesting aroma. Never had anything smell like that before,” he said, before closing the pouch back up again. He glanced across at Omega, one ear perked up. “Are you trying to bribe me with gifts?”

“Of course not. Just thought it would be something you’d like,” Omega said quickly, keeping his head held low, paws clasped between his legs. “I don’t know why I did it.”

Maz sighed. Slowly, he reached out to place a paw on Omega’s knee. “Your powers scare me sometimes, Megy. You lose control too often.”

“I never lose control over my powers,” Omega quickly retorted, but Maz shook his head.

“No, but you lose control of your temper. What if it was me, next time? Or Pyro? Or if I hadn’t been there to calm you down, where would it have stopped? Would you have taken revenge on Akhram? On any human you met? Would you have destroyed every non-dragon on this planet so you could get revenge for Axil?”

“I wouldn’t,” Omega said with a shake of his head.

“Wouldn’t you? I’ve seen your eyes when you get truly angry. There’s no thought there. It’s just instinct and fury. Sometimes it scares me,” Maz said, squeezing his fingers around Omega’s leg.

“What can I do about it though? These powers… they’re a part of me,” Omega replied, resting his paw on top of Maz’s.

“You can learn to control it. You have to. Or else you risk more lives than you save.” Maz sighed. He moved his paw up to place it on Omega’s chest. “I still trust you. I know your intentions are in the right place, even if you scare me from time to time. I believe in you.”

“I know,” Omega said with a quiet nod.

Maz extricated himself from the other dragon. He stood up and stretched his wings. “I’m going to have a few words with Pyro again. Keep your eye on Axil please.”

“I will,” Omega muttered beneath his breath. “I’ll try not to ignite him.”

Maz flashed a smile at Omega, ignoring the sullen joke before leaving him alone with the injured native. Standing outside the door for a few moments, Maz sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t sure who he’d rather see right now, Omega or Pyro. But he still had words to exchange with the first prince. There was no point delaying any further. His feet dragged as he trudged through the ship, before he quietly knocked on the first prince’s door. The command to enter followed just after.

“What do you want?” Pyro snapped as Maz poked his head into his quarters.

“I just wanted a quick word with you, First Prince, if you would speak with me,” Maz said, bowing his head and tail, keeping his wings tight to his back as he looked down at the floor. “About Axil.”

Pyro sighed. “Come on in then,” he said, waving the other dragon in. The door slid shut behind Maz. “Say what you want to say.”

“I understand how difficult it would be, and that there’s so many things to consider, but I think we should offer him the opportunity to come with us,” Maz said, speaking before Pyro had the opportunity to say anything. “We owe that much to him at least.”

“We owe him? I don’t think whisking him away from everything he’s ever known is exactly repaying a debt,” Pyro replied sternly. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at Maz. “And even if we did take him, where would he go? What would he do?”

Maz struggled to resist the impulse to quail away from Pyro’s firm gaze. “I’ll take him in. Welcome him into my clan. He’ll have access to all the support he could ever need,” Maz said, hoping to assure the first prince. Of course he knew it would be difficult for the native to adjust, but he also knew that there would be many dragons who would be eager to help him adapt to an entirely new way of living. Omega of course being one of them.

Pyro started to pace the small room, his tail occasionally striking Maz across the legs, but neither of them commented on it. Maz didn’t even move, waiting for his first prince to sort his thoughts out. Finally he stopped pacing, half-turning to face Maz.

“This is no small thing you’d be volunteering for. The dragon would need almost constant care to begin with. Everything he has ever known will have been taken away from him. He will be alone in a new world without any idea who or what anything is. This is not something to be taken lightly,” Pyro warned, extending a single claw out to gesture at the other dragon.

Maz nodded. “I understand, First Prince. We will look after him for as long as he needs,” he said.

Uttering a low growl, Pyro turned away and started to pace again. “But even so, the decision is not yours to make. Nor is it mine. Axil alone can choose what he wishes. And that is non-negotiable.”

“Of course. We’ll make sure to explain everything to him when he’s well enough,” Maz replied, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice in response to Pyro’s borderline condescending tone. One paw extended out towards Pyro, stopping just short of the first prince’s arm.

“Speaking of which, how is he looking?” Pyro asked, a little softness returning to his features.

“No problems so far. Everything seems to be going fine. Omega’s looking after him at the moment. He’ll call should he need us for anything,” Maz said. They shared a few moments of silence before Maz stretched his wings out as much as he could in the tight confines of Pyro’s quarters. He leaned forward and finally placed his paw on Pyro’s shoulder, lightly bumping their noses together. “I should get some rest. But thank you First Prince. For giving Axil this opportunity, should he want it.”

Pyro nodded once. “I still haven’t made up my mind. But if we take him – if he wants to come – then you and Omega will be responsible for him. Not me,” he said sternly. He sighed softly, his shoulders relaxing a little as he leaned forward into Maz’s muzzle. “I hope Omega understands that.”

After Maz assured Pyro he would ensure Omega understood perfectly, he retreated back to his own quarters to rest. His night on the planet had been disturbed and interrupted many times, and he had barely slept at all. If he were to help Omega watch over the native as he recovered, then he would need to be well-rested.

It took several more days for Axil’s recovery to progress enough for Pyro to think about waking the native up again. Since Maz’s discussion with the first prince, Pyro had barely spoken a word with either of them, keeping himself locked away and falling into brooding silences whenever they shared a meal together.

As Pyro prepared to wake Axil up, Omega laid out the native dragon’s blankets around the medical bay, placing a few bundled up at his forepaws.

“We should be taking him back down before waking him up,” Pyro muttered as he checked Axil’s vitals for the last time.

Omega shook his head. “We don’t have the equipment we need to make sure he’s stable down there. And besides, we can’t take him back. I thought we agreed that already?”

“We agreed nothing,” Pyro growled. “I told Maz it’s Axil’s decision and no one else’s. And even then, I still haven’t worked out what would happen to him if he came home with us.”

“I said I can adopt him into our clan. We’ll support him, and teach him all he needs to know,” Maz said, repeating his offer from the previous day.

Pyro growled, but didn’t say anything to argue. Maz and Omega didn’t know whether to take that as the first prince agreeing with them at last or not.

Omega had nothing to add, so instead he rocked back and forth on his heels, wings partially flared. He watched on nervously as Pyro started the process of waking Axil up, confident that his internal wounds were healed sufficiently. As the stasis wore off, the native dragon started to twitch gently. Omega placed his paw on Axil’s neck.

“Keep your eyes closed,” he said, giving the waking dragon a few gentle rubs. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here, I promise. Please, no matter what you see or hear, you’re amongst friends. Trust me.”

“Huh? Am I… did I die?” Axil murmured as he slowly roused into wakefulness.

“No, you’re still alive. You showed great strength in staying alive for so long,” Pyro said.

Axil flicked his ears, his eyes about to open before Omega placed his paws on the native’s face. “Who is that? Where am I? It smells very strange.”

“That delightful dragon is my brother, Pyro,” Omega said, grinning wryly up at the larger dragon. He then paused and took a deep breath. He wasn’t looking forward to this part. “Though we may not have been telling you the whole truth earlier. We aren’t from across the ocean. We’re… well, we’re from beyond the stars.”

“I don’t understand,” Axil said with a flick of his tail. “Can I open my eyes yet? I can’t make sense of anything.”

“Alright, but please. Stay calm. You’re safe,” Omega said, before slowly withdrawing his paws and taking a step back.

Slowly Axil’s eyes opened. There wasn’t the sudden snap of fear and panic that Omega had been worried about, but instead Axil just looked around, confused. His nostrils were flared open as he took in every new and unfamiliar scent. Eventually his eyes fell on Pyro and stayed there.

“Welcome to the Astral Victory,” Pyro said. He held out his paws towards the native dragon. “My brother has explained where we’re really from, but perhaps it would be better to show you. See if you’re strong enough to walk, and we can show you a sight no one you know will have ever seen.”

Axil pawed at his blankets and tilted his head to the side. His claws dug into the fabric as he carefully stood up, wincing as his weight was placed on his feet, but he was able to stand without falling. Holding one blanket in his teeth, he followed Pyro out, his head swinging around to take in every sight he could.

Omega smirked to Maz. “He treats that blanket like you do to your pouches. It’s adorable,” Omega said, before fending off the indignant slap from Maz.

“Come on,” Maz said, before leading Omega out and following after Axil and Pyro.

They took Axil to the bridge. Through the wide open windows they could see the massive expanse of the planet below them. Every mile of land that Axil had ever known to exist was laid out below them, a beautiful globe of land and water that glistened ever so slightly in the sunlight from the nearby star. Axil froze when he saw it, his head tilting to one side then the other as he struggled to comprehend what he was looking at. The blanket fell from his mouth. “That’s… that’s…”

“That’s your home,” Omega said, resting his paw on Axil’s shoulder. “You’re flying higher than anyone on your planet has ever done. You see that bit of land there? That’s where you’re from.”

Axil pulled away from Omega’s touch, skittering away a few steps. “How is this possible? You’re… By the Three! You’re from the stars!”

Omega smiled. “Yes we are.”

Axil looked between the three dragons, his eyes never resting on any of them for long, before they returned back to the sight of the planet, slowly spinning below. “You’re from the stars…” he gasped. And then he fainted.

“By the elements…” Omega sighed.

***

Omega was watching over Axil when he woke again. The native dragon had been carefully carried into spare quarters and laid to rest on the bed. A few of his own blankets had been used to replace the normal sheets, with Maz hoping that the familiar scent would be something the dragon could use to come to terms with where he was. The one he had been carrying in his mouth was draped over his back, scrunched up a little between his wings.

“How are you feeling?” Omega asked, when he saw that Axil’s eyes had opened.

The native dragon didn’t say anything. He simply shook his head and stared around the room, taking in all the unfamiliar sights. He clung to the blankets firmly. “I don’t understand how this can be real,” he said after a long period of silence that Omega respected.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s all true. You saw your planet with your own eyes, something no one else from G3V-4… uh… that’s probably not what you call your planet, is it?” Omega said, pausing and scratching his chin with a single claw.

“Farenar. We call it Farenar,” Axil said quietly. He carefully rolled over and closed his eyes, his wings draped down over the sides of the bed. “My head hurts, there’s just so much to think about.”

Omega placed a comforting paw on Axil’s foreleg. “Of course there is, yes. We are sorry. We didn’t mean for things to happen like this,” he said. He looked down at the native, who had kept his eyes closed. “You have a beautiful planet. It must be a lovely place to live.”

Axil scoffed, opening his eyes again and glaring up at Omega. “Lovely? No. Every day is a danger, constantly living in fear that a human or some other slayer was hiding in the shadows, ready to slay me for some ancient, superstitious belief,” he said with a growl. His fierce claws gripped hard at the bed beneath him. “Just ask my brother if you want to know how lovely it is.”

“Do you miss him?” Omega asked quietly.

Axil didn’t answer at first. Instead he pulled his leg away from Omega’s grip. His wings flicked against his back, as though he was about to pull them around his body to hide himself away, but at the last moment they folded back up again. “We were never very close… but he never deserved that. No dragon does,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Of course, you’re right. I’ve just… we’ve never had to experience that for ourselves. We dreykonii, we’ve never had any humans on our worlds. It’s hard to imagine what it could all be like, living in such constant terror.” Omega said, placing his paw on Axil’s shoulder before meekly adding, “Is there anything we can do?”

Axil scoffed and flicked his tail. “Unless you’re about to tell me you can reverse time, no. He deserved…” he paused and hung his head low. “Our tradition is to burn the dead, to cast the body into flame so the spirit can join with the Three. Not to be hung up in some human hovel and left on display.”

Omega bowed his head and kept his silence. He just wished there was something that he could do for Axil, but at the same time he knew that Pyro would never allow him to go back down to the planet’s surface, for any reason at all.

“So what happens to me now?” Axil asked.

“That’s up to you. Pyro will talk things through with you once you’re rested, to see what you want,” Omega replied, lifting his head up a little and patting the native dragon on the haunches.

“You mean to say I’ll be thrown back down on Farenar and have my memory stripped so that I can’t even remember you were even here?” Axil said, dragging himself a little further away from Omega to break the contact between the two.

Omega blinked and straightened up from where he sat. “Even if we could do that here, we wouldn’t.”

“You mean… you can’t strip my memories?” Axil asked in confusion, blinking a few times as he tilted his head. “What sort of starfolk are you then? I thought you had incredible powers and could do anything.”

Omega frowned. “That sort of thing… it would be barbaric to do. I wouldn’t dream of wiping someone of their memories. That makes up who they are. It’s cruel, and we think you’ve suffered enough.”

Axil’s head tilted around further, a little smirk coming to his mouth. “You wouldn’t? I know a kaur who can do it. Very skilled too. One touch of his finger to your forehead, and you could forget everything about yourself, even what species you are.” He paused for a moment to drink in Omega’s shock, his grin growing wider. “Maybe we’re not as backwards here as you think we are.”

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, Omega glared at the native dragon, trying to find any evidence that Axil was lying to him, but he appeared to be truthful. This was a piece of information he hadn’t been willing to consider, that somehow the natives had access to skills and abilities the dreykonii had long considered immoral, and were quite willing to use. The implications disturbed him, and after a short while longer, Omega excused himself, leaving the native by himself.

***

“Are you sure he wasn’t lying or joking?” Pyro asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Omega shook his head. “No. I’m pretty sure he was being truthful.”

Pyro frowned, tapping one claw against the table in front of him. Omega had been urgent in summoning the first prince to the mess hall, where they were speaking quietly together, away from Axil as he rested. “It would be fascinating to study, but we don’t have the resources here to do anything about it now. I’m sure a science team would be interested to know the co-ordinates of this planet so they can study this form of magic, to see if there’s anything we can learn from them.”

“But what else may they know? What could they do to us?” Omega asked warily. “Even Axil could turn on us.”

Pyro raised his brow as he looked towards Omega. “You know the native better than I do. You would be the better judge of his character than I. And I know you don’t believe he would do that, or else you wouldn’t have brought him here.”

A soft, mechanical voice chimed in. “I haven’t detected any traces of unusual or unexpected abilities within the dragon,” Avee said, her holographic presence manifesting between them. “There certainly is some strange force within him, and all dragons I have detected on the surface. I haven’t been able to identify yet, but it doesn’t seem of a threat to us.”

“Yes, thank you Avee,” Pyro said, waving his paw at the hologram to disperse her. The AI vanished, a quiet muttering heard through the speakers in the corner of the room. “Let me go talk to him. I’ll discuss his options in more detail, so he truly knows what sort of decision he has to make soon. And Avee can monitor the room in case he does have any hidden powers we weren’t aware of. Does that comfort you?”

Omega nodded, keeping silent as he clasped his paws over his lap. He didn’t want to doubt Axil, but they had already underestimated one of the natives of Farenar. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

When Pyro had left him alone, Omega leaned back and closed his eyes. His mind played through several possibilities of how he thought Pyro’s conversation with Axil would go, hoping each time that the native would agree to travel with them, but on a couple of occasions his mind decided to show what could happen should the native possess shocking abilities that would easily defeat them all. Each time that happened, he blinked his eyes open and shook his head, his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

He flicked his wings. Only a few minutes had passed. Pyro would probably only now be opening the door to Axil’s quarters. As much as Omega wanted to trust the native dragon, this was still his first prince and, more importantly, brother. He wasn’t going to take any chances in the matter.

Before Omega really realised what he was doing, he had started to make his way through to the armoury. This time he wasn’t about to be without any weapon, and he quickly found out his metamorphic sword. It had been forged for him by Maz from the remains of a venerable blade. It had been a truly mighty gift, imbued with a magical awareness for protection and loyalty. It was still as bright and keen as it had been on the day it had been forged. Upon the pommel was a flawless gemstone that seemed to burn with its own inner light, an ever-changing shifting of blue hues.

Once Omega wrapped his paw around the pommel, the light burned fierce and bright for a few moments, before fading down to a barely perceptible glimmer. The sword was attuned to him and no other, and it responded to his thoughts and emotions. It also warned him when danger was near, and that was what he most needed now.

Keeping the blade unsheathed, the dragon stalked back across the ship until he was outside Axil’s quarters. He remained quiet, leaning close to the door to hear the slightly muffled voices from within. Both Pyro and Axil were there. Taking a deep breath, Omega lowered down onto his haunches and held the sword in front of him, the tip resting on the metallic floor. With his paws on the pommel, he could clearly see the silver blade. If ever it started to glow, then he would be inside that room in a flash, ready to…

Well, he could work that part out when he got there. He could only hope that he wasn’t needed. Everything sounded civil for now, at least. He couldn’t hear every word that was exchanged between the two dragons inside, but he understood the gist of what was being discussed. They talked briefly about the mind wipes, and any other magical abilities Axil may possess. Omega couldn’t hear the responses, but he did hear the native laugh at the accusations of hidden talents.

Pyro evidently wasn’t too worried though, as he soon moved on to the offer of accompanying them back to dreykonii territory, and the suggestions they had to assist in integrating him into society as best they could. Again, Axil was quiet and his responses were muffled by the door too much for Omega to hear. His paws gripped onto the sword as he stared at the blade, willing it to remain as it was.

He was so focused on the sword, that Omega didn’t even notice the voices stop behind him until the door slid open with a hiss. He scrambled up to his feet and spun around, keeping the blade down by his side.

“Omega?” Pyro said, taking a step back in surprise. “I didn’t ask you to guard me.”

Omega bit his lip and glanced down at the floor awkwardly. “Oh, I… just thought that… in case…”

Pyro rested his paw on Omega’s shoulder. “The thought’s appreciated, but there’s nothing to worry about at all. I’m going to summon Maz. Meet us on the bridge in a few minutes, would you?”

Omega nodded as his older brother walked by, before glancing up at Axil. The native dragon’s brow was raised as he looked to the sword. “Did you think you’d need to use that on me?”

Suddenly unable to meet Axil’s eye, Omega’s twitched his muzzle as he looked anywhere but at the native dragon. “I wasn’t planning on using it.”

“But if I had been a threat… if I had wanted to attack your brother, you’d have come in and what? You’d have killed me?” Axil asked, keeping his distance from Omega as he spoke.

Omega sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what I would have done. I doubt I’d know until I found myself doing it.” He sighed again and slowly looked up at the native. “Please don’t make me make that choice. I don’t know if my heart could bear it.”

Axil snorted, the hint of a smile forming on his lips. “Trust me, Omega. I’ve had my share of being skewered by blades. I don’t want to experience that again if I can help it. I am of no threat to you, nor anyone else here.”

Omega nodded, returning the faint smile. “I know. I just had to be sure. You worried me with that talk of powers and abilities we may not have, and I’m honour bound to serve and protect my prince. If anything happened to him…” Omega trailed off with a small shake of his head. The punishment would be severe indeed if the first prince was injured or killed on his watch.

“Come on. Let’s catch up with your brother,” Axil said, nosing gently against Omega. “I have a proposition for him, that I want everyone to hear first.”

“So you’ve made your decision then?” Omega asked, but Axil just shook his head and started walking. “Oh come on, just tell me already.” Omega whined as he padded after Axil, but the native dragon didn’t say anything, just flicking his tail to stop Omega walking alongside him.

Omega grumbled to himself as they walked, but Axil remained silent with that annoying smirk on his face. His fingers gripped tighter around the sword handle, gently tapping the blade against the wall with every step. He wished now that he’d brought the sheath with him, but he’d left that back in the armoury.

Maz and Pyro were already waiting for them on the bridge. Beyond them, the vista of the planet below dominated the windows. Night had fallen on Axil’s home, though there were none of the bright lights on the surface that developed planets possessed, like Omega was used to seeing.

For a few moments, Axil stared entranced out the windows. He didn’t even blink as he looked down at his planet, most of the visible surface shrouded in darkness. “I will come with you,” he said in a small voice, before interrupting Omega’s cheer by spreading his wings. “But there’s something I want you to help me with first.”

“Anything,” Omega blurted out, before being stared down by a fierce glare from Pyro.

“I want my brother,” Axil said, turning around to face the three dragons. He pawed nervously at the floor, his claws scratching at the smooth metal.

Pyro flicked his wings. “There is no power we possess here that can get him back.”

“I know that,” Axil whispered, turning his head to the side. “I just don’t want him used as decoration in that tavern. I want to release his spirit so he can return to the Three. There’s not much of his body left, but let me at least burn what little there is, so he may be at peace.”

“We can do that, can’t we Pyro?” Omega asked, turning to face his brother.

Pyro ran his paw over his forehead and groaned. “I think that might fall under ‘interfering’, don’t you? In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly fit in with the natives down there?” he growled.

The hopeful light in Axil’s eyes faded. “I understand if you can’t,” he said pitifully, idly tapping his claw on the floor and turning away from the three dragons completely. His tail curled up around his hind legs.

Pyro’s other paw came up to his forehead. He closed his eyes, then steepled his fingers in front of his muzzle. “Tell me everything about this village, and where the tavern is in it. We’re going to go down there with a plan in mind.”

Omega and Maz shared a shocked look with each other as Axil blinked and looked up at the first prince. “You mean, you’ll do it?” the native asked, hope returning to his voice once more.

“I’m going to regret this, and it’s on your heads if anything goes wrong, but yes,” Pyro said, giving a couple of sharp jabs with his tail tip towards Omega and Maz as he spoke, making it quite clear who he would blame. “Now… how many humans live in this village?”

Though Omega tried to listen in to Axil as he discussed things with Pyro, he soon found his mind tuning out of the conversation. He just couldn’t keep up with what was being said, his eyes flicking around the bridge as he wandered back and forth. Eventually he settled down in one of the chairs, placing his sword across his lap as he started to idly flick through some of the information Avee had gathered on the various species on the planet below.

He didn’t bother reading through the vast swathes of text the AI had written up for them, instead just flicking through the pictures the ship’s sensors had taken. Humans certainly seemed to be the most widespread species, though there also appeared to be a number of subsets that had confused Avee. She wasn’t sure whether they were the same species or not, but they certainly looked similar. Omega swiped through those images, looking down at the humans in their small villages and cities.

There were barely any pictures of dragons at all, which upset Omega greatly. He couldn’t be sure whether they were simply elusive, or whether there were really so few of them that Avee hadn’t been able to find them. He glanced across to Axil, wondering if it was best they were taking him away, if his species was so rare.

Grouped amongst the pictures of dragons was another species. They were much smaller, but otherwise looked rather like dragons without their forelimbs. They were a curious species, similar to an ancient mythological species he recalled briefly from his classes. They made Omega scratch his head in confusion. Were it not for the limbs, he’d have thought they were young dragons. Unless the dragons of Farenar hatched with fewer limbs than the adults. He’d have to ask Axil about that later.

Distracted by the images, Omega didn’t realise the conversations around him had ended until he felt a touch on his shoulder. “We’re all going to go down,” Pyro said, seeming to understand that Omega’s attention may have been elsewhere. “Axil will go with Maz to his cave to get the last of his belongings. We’re going to Akhram together.”

“Did I miss anything important?” Omega asked bashfully, realising now that he probably should have been paying a bit more attention.

To his relief, Pyro just chuckled. “I’ll fill you in along the way. Come on, to the armoury. This time I’m letting you take some proper supplies.”

Omega grinned widely. “Yes,” he hissed in delight, practically leaping up from his chair and leading Pyro through the ship. Even if he didn’t need to use them, it always made him feel more comfortable knowing he had the protection of his weapons and armour close at paw.

Pyro and Omega both suited up with energy-shielded mail armour, strong enough to repel against any attacks they could anticipate in Akhram, and hopefully enough to deal with any Farenar magic. As Maz and Axil wouldn’t be going near any conflict, they decided against any additional protection. And a decision had been quietly made not to let Axil be in possession of any of their technology just yet, in case he decided to flee after all.

Pyro fitted himself with a spare translator, before taking a defensive sidearm for himself and Omega, who also sheathed his sword and hung it from his waist. Finally, a pair of personal shrouds designed to conceal them were picked up.

“Into the shuttle then,” Pyro said, shepherding the other three dragons inside the small transport craft. It was a tight fit, given it wasn’t designed for so many, and especially not a feral dragon like Axil. Pyro had to squeeze past the native in order to get to the control panel, pushing Maz out of the way at the same time. “Seatbelts on everyone.”

Axil was the only one to remain standing as the shuttle detached from the ship and started to speed down to the planet. His legs were splayed wide for balance, and he stared wide-eyed at the rapidly approaching surface. His wings and tail twitched as the soft roar of the atmosphere around the hull grew ever louder.

Pyro took them down to the surface at almost the exact same spot Maz had landed previously. All was dark when the four stepped out onto the planet, with just the soft light of the sole moon and the stars to light the way. Axil pawed at the ground, letting the dirt cling between his toes as though to reassure him that it was really there.

“Back here by sunrise,” Pyro said, gripping Maz’s wrist in his paw.

“It will take us almost that long just to walk up the mountain,” Maz protested.

Pyro shot him a withering glare. “Use your wings.”

“Oh right, yeah. Of course. Sunrise it is then.”

As Maz and Axil turned away to get some space to take off, Pyro gestured to Omega to follow him in the opposite direction. The night was cool and clear, with barely a breeze to speak of. It was perfect weather for flying.

Kicking off and powering his wings, Omega followed just behind Pyro as they flew south, towards the small village. Without much light to guide them, they relied on the wrist-mounted holographic map Pyro carried, tracking their course via the Astral Victory in orbit above them. All was calm and peaceful. They didn’t hear the approaching wingbeats until too late.

The first Omega knew of the attack was feeling powerful jaws biting down on his shoulder, razor-sharp teeth puncturing between his scales. Crying out in pain, he rolled in mid-air to throw his attacker off, but their grip was hard. He couldn’t see them to strike, but with a savage snarl Pyro had spun around and lashed out hard with his claws.

Omega heard a pained yelp, and the pressure on his shoulder was suddenly released. He quickly spun around to the terrifying visage of a massive, furred creature with leathery wings almost as large as theirs. It was a monstrous creature, and blood leaked from its jaws and the wicked fangs that protruded over its lower lip. It glared at the two dragons with savage bestiality. There was intelligence there, but no rational thought behind those cold, dark eyes.

With a chittering squawk, it lunged for them again. Then Omega’s sword flashed from his hip. The creature’s head fell from its shoulders. The body crumpled mid-dive and plummeted down to the ground, hitting the earth with a dull thud.

“The wildlife is more dangerous than I thought,” Pyro muttered beneath his breath as he held his position in the air, before glancing across at his younger brother. “Are you hurt?”

“Not too badly, I’ll be fine,” Omega replied, fending off his brother’s attention. “Let’s just get to the village before any more of those creatures show up. I’ve had enough of the natives trying to take a bite out of my shoulder.”

“That sounds good to me,” Pyro muttered in reply. The two kept a much firmer watch on the sky around them after that, but there didn’t seem to be any more of the creatures nearby. Omega couldn’t recall having seen them on Avee’s scans, so it was clear they weren’t considered to be one of the sapient creatures of Farenar, but they seemed dangerous enough. The two dragons were thankful when they swooped down to the ground a few hundred metres away from the outskirts of the village a few minutes later.

Not much noise came from within the village. It was late enough that most were already asleep, with just the footsteps of a few guards coming from the cobbled stone streets. In hushed tones, Pyro told Omega exactly what building they were looking for, and just where it was, in the very middle of the village.

“Shrouds on. And stay quiet,” the first prince murmured. He activated the portable device on his wrist, making his form seem to melt into the air until there was nothing left. If Omega hadn’t known where his brother was, he wouldn’t be able to find him. A few moments later, Omega activated his own shroud and vanished into the cool night air. After a few seconds, their shrouds linked, allowing the two dragons to still see each other, whilst remaining completely invisible to anyone else that happened to be around. In silence, they moved forward.

There was little in the way of fortifications in the village, despite the apparently vicious wildlife that lived nearby. A low fence circled the village, but Omega could see no other forms of defences.

The wooden barrier provided no resistance to the two dragons, who just spread their wings and leapt over the fence with ease. As soon as they landed, Omega unsheathed his sword and kept it gripped firmly in his right paw, positioned so he could see the blade, alert to any warning from the metal that danger was near. For now, it remained dark and still, much like the village itself.

Most of the buildings were constructed with wood. The houses were bunched together in groups of four or five, sharing a communal garden in the middle of them. In these gardens, Omega could see signs of vegetable crops. The dragon thought that they surely had to have larger farms beyond the village, but it appeared that the humans were trying to become self-sufficient.

The road that wound between the clusters of houses was cobbled stone, with ruts worn smooth by the wheels of the horse-drawn carts that passed through. It appeared to be well-maintained, to a level that surprised Omega. He crouched down as he walked to brush his free paw against the stones. They were smooth and hard. Whatever they were made of, he wasn’t sure his claws would be able to break through them.

Omega wondered at their origin, where they had been hewn from the rock and how they had been transported here and cut to the right shape and size to make this road. His mind was so distracted he almost walked right into the back of Pyro when his brother stopped. He blinked and straightened his back, lifting his sword up to make sure the blade was still dark.

“That looks like the one,” Pyro muttered beneath his breath, pointing towards a large, stone building right in the centre of the village. Flickering light shone from around the door, and some noise emanated out from within. A wooden sign hung just above the door, painted with a crude depiction of a dragon’s head. Omega growled and tightened the grip on his sword. This was definitely the right place.

“Come on, let’s see if there’s a way in around the back,” Pyro said, giving Omega a little tug on the arm to get him moving again.

The tavern was one of several stone buildings around the edge of a large, mostly empty square. There was a wooden podium of some sort in the middle, probably used for gatherings amongst the villagers to discuss important matters. And the slaying of dragons, Omega thought darkly. The other three stone buildings didn’t concern them, and they slipped around the side of the tavern, keeping a close ear out for anyone emerging from inside, but the door remained firmly closed.

They were in luck. At the back of the tavern were a couple of storage sheds, blocking view to the nearest houses. And in the middle of the back wall of the tavern was a single, small door. Silently, Pyro approached it and turned the handle. It opened easily.

Omega wrinkled his nose at the strong smell of beer and whiskey that wafted out. Inside the small, dark room were a number of barrels stacked on top of each other. While Omega held a paw over his nose to reduce the alcoholic scent, Pyro dug his claw into the lid of the nearest barrel and pried it open to get a better sniff at the intoxicating liquid within. His muzzle twitched and he nodded in appreciation. “They know how to brew,” he said quietly.

Both dragons started in shock as something loud crashed in the room next to them. Pyro gestured to Omega to come in and shut the door behind them, which Omega reluctantly did. It was almost pitch black when the door was closed, with just a small crack of light around the doorway to provide any illumination.

Pyro crept forward to place his ear against the door, trying to listen if there were any humans around, and if it was safe to proceed. Voices cried out indistinctly, making it hard for the dragon to work out how many humans there were, and just what they were talking about. All their words seemed to spill over into one, incoherent noise. He was just about to place his paw on the handle when a flash of blue from behind him made him pause.

Omega’s eyes flicked down to his sword. It had momentarily warned them of danger, but now the blade was cool and dark once more. Omega bit his lip and nodded to Pyro.

The door opened, and the two dragons shielded their eyes from the bright light. No cries of alarm rose up, nor were there any urgent footsteps towards the small storeroom. Cautiously they emerged from the darkness, taking care to avoid knocking anything over, even though their shrouds protected them from being seen and heard. They closed the door behind them, before taking stock of their situation.

Once more they found themselves in a store room, but this one was much larger than the first, and was used for all manners of food, rather than alcohol. From the multitude of counter tops and kitchen tools, it was also the place for food preparation. No one was present, but the door out to the main part of the tavern was open. A few drunken shouts came through to them, and a few moments later a few men started to sing loudly and poorly.

Omega pushed past Pyro, but as he neared the door, the two dragons shrank back as a couple of humans walked by. Neither of them looked inside the storeroom, and while they wouldn’t have seen anything, the dragons didn’t want to take the risk.

His heart hammering in his chest, Omega glanced down at his sword to realise that his fingers were hurting, as he was gripping the pommel so hard. He loosened his hold slightly, before stepping out into the barroom.

The air was smoky as a couple of fireplaces burned to heat the room. About a dozen humans were present, including the barman and a woman who appeared to be serving some food to the patrons, as well as attempting to clean up after the messes they made.

With Pyro on his tail, Omega prowled into the barroom, taking care not to bump into any humans as his eyes tried to peer through the smoky haze, searching for Axil’s brother’s head. At first he thought it wasn’t here, but as he turned around he had to suppress a savage growl and wave of nausea as he saw it. The glittering green scales were well-preserved, the head mounted on a plaque and hung almost directly above where the barman was stood. Omega longed to plunge his sword into the human’s belly and take the head, but caution stayed his paw. He didn’t know how many slayers may be amongst the drunken revellers. Pyro appeared to have the same thought, and his steadying paw rested on Omega’s shoulder.

Just as he was trying to work out how best to proceed, his ears caught a name that interested him. Ara’Saly. Immediately his attention snapped to two humans in the corner, sat around a table. One was tall, with piercing blue eyes and long black hair, while the other was short and wrapped up in a long, dark cloak. The shadows seemed to be particularly thick around the cloaked human, who was the one who had mentioned the slayer’s name.

“No sign of him, my Lord Ha’Ti,” the cloaked man’s companion was saying.

Almost immediately, Omega’s sword started to glow blue, warning him of danger. But it didn’t stop there. The glow steadily grew ever more intense, making the dragon glad that it wouldn’t be seen beyond the shroud that concealed them. And still it burned ever brighter. A tremor of fear ran through his body. That couldn’t be right at all. The blade was glowing so bright he couldn’t look at it, lest it blind him. It warned of a danger greater than any he had previously known, but it was only a human…

A human looking right at them. The one called Ha’Ti had turned to face Omega, his deep green eyes visible through the shadows that covered his body. Not just looking in his direction, but right at him. The human could see him. Omega took half a step back, pressing against Pyro as he raised his sword, the blade flashing in warning.

Then the human turned away again and looked to his companion, who seemed completely unaware of the silent exchange that had just taken place.

“The shadows are watching us,” Ha’Ti said to the other human. “Come, let us retire for the night. It is not our place to interfere in the business of the starfolk.”

Leaving their drink and food untouched, Ha’Ti and his confused companion left their table, walking calmly through the tavern and disappearing up a stairway in the far corner. Omega stood still, stunned by shock as the light from his sword started to fade as the threat against them receded. Just who was that human? What was that human?

His nerves were shot, and he jumped when Pyro’s paw returned to his shoulder. His brother seemed equally confused by the mysterious human, but they had a job to do still. Pyro pointed to the two fireplaces, then clenched his fist. Omega nodded. He knew what to do.

Pyro silently slipped through the tables again, skirting around the few humans and moving to stand behind the bar. If he wanted to, he could reach out and grab the barman, but the human was lazily wiping down a few glasses with a cloth, brow furrowed as he looked through the smoke-filled room.

Omega took a deep breath and extended his left arm out towards one of the fires. He glanced across to Pyro, waiting for a signal from his brother. It came with a small nod. Reaching out for the flames, it only took a moment for Omega’s power to act upon it. He barely had to exert any strength at all to snuff it out, closing his paw and extinguishing the flames in a puff of wood smoke, throwing half the room into darkness.

“Oh you idiots,” the barman snarled. He flung his cloth down and moved around the side of the bar, almost brushing up against Pyro as he did so. As Omega had hoped, the human blamed his patrons for the fire going out. He waited until the human was halfway across the floor before reaching out for the other fireplace.

The room was plunged into darkness, with just a few flickering lights from the stairway to illuminate a small corner. Several shouts went out, and chairs scraped against the stone floor as humans all around stood up suddenly.

“What witchcraft is this?” the barman cried out to the darkness. Shadowy figures moved around Omega, and he pressed himself back against the wall to avoid being bumped into. “Show yourself at once!”

Omega glanced down at his sword as it started to glow blue once more, a soft light that mirrored the simmering panic and anger that was spreading through the humans. The dragon had no intention of revealing himself to them, knowing that while the shields protected them from harm, their superior numbers would make it difficult to fight free, especially if any of them was trained to fight dragons. His fingers gripped his sword, listening out for anything from Pyro.

Wood splintered and cracked, audible over the humans as they struggled to get the fires lit again. Hoping that was Pyro taking the plaque from its mountings, Omega crept along the side of the wall before he came to the front door. He slammed on it hard, ripping it straight off its hinges and drawing a hushed silence from the humans as moonlight streamed in.

Even though he knew the humans couldn’t see him, the sight of every pair of eyes looking right towards him in the doorway unnerved him. He took half a step backwards as the barman came forward into the light, squinting as the human tried to see the unseen. In his hands was a loaded crossbow.

“Whether you be wizard or warlock, show yourself. We’re not afraid of you and your hocus pocus,” the human barked. Omega didn’t need to look down at his sword to believe the barman. He had already felt the full force of one of those crossbows. He did not want to relive the experience so soon.

Omega leapt back and turned to flee, feeling the crossbow bolt whistle through the air and just pass over his shoulder. He grimaced and clenched his teeth as he started to run, hearing the insults thrown out into the night from the barman. He didn’t want to wait, and he certainly didn’t want to go back to the poked hive of human anger, but he wasn’t about to leave his brother behind.

Quickly sprinting around to the back of the tavern, Omega wrenched the small door open, only to recoil and dive back. The wrong end of Pyro’s weapon faced him, before his brother’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Damn it, Omega. I thought you were a human,” the other dragon said as he holstered his weapon. Cradled under his other arm was the plaque, the grisly visage of the dragon’s head thankfully faced the other way for now. Just the thought of it made Omega’s stomach turn. With his weapon holstered, Pyro reached back into the storeroom to grab something else, which he quickly tossed to Omega.

“Here, carry this would you?” Pyro asked, before giving Omega a little push to hurry him along.

Omega rolled his eyes. It was one of the small barrels of alcohol. From the smell of it, whiskey. “Really, Pyro?” he muttered as the two started to run towards the village boundary fence.

“What? I wanted to give it a try. If it’s any good, I might be able to get a trading post infiltrated down here,” the older dragon said, turning his head away a little bashfully.

Humans were starting to spill out from their homes, disturbed by the commotion at the tavern. Glad for their shrouds again, the two dragons were able to pick their way out through the streets, before taking to the air just by the fence. Clutching their prizes, the two dragons were glad to stretch their wings and leave Akhram behind them.

Taking care to be on the lookout for any of the vicious, bat-like creatures that had assaulted them earlier, the two flew back to their shrouded ship in silence. Axil and Maz had yet to return, so the two brothers settled down on the grass, preferring to wait outside rather than cooped up inside the small shuttle. The head was respectfully laid down in the shadows, well out of Omega’s line of sight, while Pyro sat down with his stolen cask of whiskey.

Prying open the lid, Pyro took a few minutes breathing in the scent of the whiskey, before taking a small, tentative sip directly from the barrel. His licked his lips a few times and nodded in appreciation before, as an afterthought, offering the barrel to Omega. The younger dragon shook his head. Pyro shrugged. “More for me,” he muttered, but closed the lid and re-sealed it.

While they waited, Pyro treated the small wounds Omega had picked up from the creature on their flight to the village. The cuts and bites weren’t deep, and were quickly closed up again with the aid of Pyro’s light-born powers. Omega protested from the treatment, but Pyro warned him that they couldn’t be sure there wasn’t anything dangerous in the creature’s bite. There was no harm in making sure there wasn’t any infection or poison in the wounds.

Once Pyro declared him healthy, Omega wandered over to the nearby forest to start gathering together some wood to fuel the fire he knew they’d need later. He built up a big bundle, spending the rest of the night arranging it to perfection so that once it was lit, the fire would be a ferocious and intense blaze that would keep burning for a good number of hours.

The sky was starting to lighten when wingbeats finally heralded the arrival of Maz and Axil. The two were laden down with the last of the native’s horde, ready to pack into the already cramped shuttle. Though there was certainly excitement as Axil prepared to leave his planet behind, there was also sorrow there too. The native’s head was bowed and tears glistened his cheeks as Pyro presented his brother’s head.

“Thank you,” Axil said in a choked voice. His eyes didn’t once leave his brother’s, matching the dead, glassy stare. It was Pyro who turned the head away, resting a paw on the native’s shoulder.

“Would you like us to leave you alone?” Pyro asked.

Axil shook his head. “No. Be here, please.”

A few minutes later, the three dreykonii were stood around the firewood Omega had gathered. Omega carried a flaming torch in one paw, ready for Axil to light the pyre. They waited in silence, watching with reverence as Axil gently placed his brother’s head amongst the sticks and branches, gently positioning it so that the dead, glassy eyes stared up to the stars.

“Goodbye, dear brother. May your spirit live on with the gods. Be free and at peace,” the native intoned. He then stepped back and reached a paw towards Omega without looking. He took the torch from Omega and held it above the pyre. “May Tel find you. May Kyte guide you. May Ha’Ti protect you. Forever and always.”

The branch dropped and the fire quickly spread over the kindling. It took just a few moments before a roaring conflagration took hold. He slowly turned and looked over to each of the three dreykonii, his tears reflecting the firelight. “He is at peace now.”

Omega stepped forward and placed his paw on Axil’s shoulder, before gently hugging him. His mind was racing with many questions, especially at hearing the name Ha’Ti in the native’s prayer. He was a god. The mysterious human in the bar. No wonder he had seemed so powerful. There were so many questions he wanted to ask Axil about him, but he knew it wasn’t the time. Instead, he simply said, “They’ll look after him. Ha’Ti is close by. I’m sure he heard your prayer.”

Axil gave him a knowing smile. “He often is. Do you have gods too?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Omega said with a nod, pulling out of the embrace with the native dragon. “Come on. I’ll tell you about them on the way.”

“To the stars,” Axil added, the sorrow slowly draining from his eyes to be replaced by wonder anew. With his brother at peace, Axil followed Omega onto the shuttle to leave his world behind. Incredible wonders he couldn’t even dream of awaited him. Beyond the stars.