by Juno Wells
He came in too hot and was late in retracting his wings from the gigantic power of the Other that gave him the speed. He felt his scales heat up to a glowing white in the thickening atmosphere as he dived down towards the surface, missing the spot where he had intended to land.
The confrontation with the Emperor had taken longer than he had expected. But the outcome had been no surprise.
He was no longer a captain of the flight. He had been demoted and expelled from the Emperor's service. The spaceship containing his hoard was no longer his.
He saw the crater below him. Among all the Pirgks, he couldn't tell if there were any humans there. A coldness spread in his whole body, creating a strange contrast with the great heat of his scales. Had he come too late?
The base, or what was left of it, was clearly visible as a scorched mass of molten materials. If she had been in there ...
And then he saw them, a group of humans huddling together and encircled by the dark gray mass of Pirgks.
And above them, the Emperor's dragons. They weren't there for the humans. The Pirgks needed no help defeating them. No, the silver dragons from the Imperial Guard were waiting for him. Five hundred, Dacron had said. Far too many for even an Ultraco prince to take on.
They would see him and attack him long before he could get close to the humans. Unless ...
He extended his wings again and forced the tips into the mysterious Other realm where they would always be pulled along by unknown magical forces. It was not something he had ever done inside an atmosphere, and everyone had always warned him against that. The great forces from the Other had to be passed on to the dragon's body, too, and the strain on the wings could become too much for his physical body to handle if it encountered the huge resistance that even thin air would provide at the speeds he was capable of.
Still he kept them out and accelerated wildly as he banked and aimed for the mass of Pirgks between the humans and the crater's edge.
It was painful, and he felt tendons and muscles stretched further than they should be. The dragon part of him recoiled and wanted to retract the wings. Only a few days ago, it would have had its way. Now, the man was in charge. Now and forever. The wings stayed out. He needed the greatest speed he could reach.
His golden scales were glowing a bright white from the friction of the air, and he had to narrow his eyes until they were almost completely closed and he could only see his target. He was distantly aware that his body was creating a loud scream as he tore through the air, and the Pirgks he passed over pointed at him.
He readied the flame, making it as hard and as hot as he could. He only had one pass to do this before the dragons of the Imperial Guard would hunt him down.
Then he saw her. Right on the outer edge of the mass of humans he saw her dark hair flowing, saw the curves of her delectable body. She was the only one standing up. It was appropriate. The sight made him deliriously happy and he knew he would succeed.
He had never gone this fast. The flame he was about to breathe had never been this hot. He had never been this happy.
He laughed in delight.
28
- Amelia -
Something was approaching. Fast. The ground first trembled, then it shook so hard she had to steady herself on Jean to not fall over. The air was suddenly completely silent and heavy with static electricity. Even the chanting from the Pirgks was gone. It was as if something was sucking all the energy out of the world. It was an extremely ominous sensation, and the other colonists threw themselves on the ground. But Amelia stayed on her feet.
She saw movement from the corner of her eye and her jaw dropped in amazement. A white fireball was coming, tearing through the air right towards her at a speed that her brain had trouble processing. She had seen fighter jets pass at high speed at air shows on Earth, but that was nothing against what she was looking at now. That thing was big, and it had to move at many times the speed of sound.
The ground shook harder and the air seemed to get sucked out of her lungs. She didn't even have time to be afraid, because it only took a second from she first saw it until it seemed to be at only arm's length. It was something big hurtling through the air so fast the air turned to a glowing plasma around it and made it look like a fireball. No, like a star. A real, brightly shining star shooting across the desert, just above ground, dragging a long tail of ionized gas.
It made no sound, but she thought she heard a deep, delighted laugh, resonating in her mind. It was not her own laughter. It was deeper, more masculine.
Then there was a hot flash so bright she was momentarily blinded, and then the fireball had passed and was still going hard away from her.
She opened her eyes slowly, her jaw hanging open. The colonists still had Pirgks on three sides. But on the fourth side, between the colonists and the side of crater, there was nothing. Just empty ground. There was nothing left of the thousands of Pirgks that had blocked their way. Not even ashes. They had been burned completely off the face of the planet in a flash. And the colonists were all still intact. Not a hair singed on their heads.
Then the sound hit her. It was a thunderous scream as from a million cotton sheets being torn end to end and a thousand chainsaws running wild. Then the boom from the searing flash of white fire punched her in the chest and knocked the air out of her. She clamped her hands over her ears and clenched her jaw until the infernal noise subsided and she could gasp for air.
The Pirgks around them froze for three heartbeats. Then they turned around and fled in panic, their victory turned to defeat in a split second. The dragons up above had been thrown into disarray, their orderly circle turned into a confused chaos.
Amelia stared after the fireball that had passed. Now it was just a point of light in the sky, a star that still moved faster than the human brain could comprehend.
That voice, that laugh ... she knew that.
She knew it so well. There had been a streak of gold in that fireball.
She took her hands from her ears and felt her eyes well up in relief and gratitude. In a split second, certain death had been turned to possible escape. Only a dragon could have done that. But that had not been an ordinary dragon. That had been something more. Much more. The air where he had passed was still glowing purple, like a magic contrail ten feet above ground, stretching in an arc up into space.
Jean got to her feet beside her and just gaped when she saw the Pirgks gone. “What the hell was that?!”
Amelia laughed through happy tears, and her heart swelled to bursting with pride and happiness.
What had that blue dragon called it? Oh yes, she remembered. And now she understood why, with perfect clarity. He was fucking magnificent.
She took a deep, trembling breath. “I think they call it 'Ultra Draco'.”
29
- Braxan -
His body held together, but only just. His wings felt like they were burning. He banked again, turning to go back. The Pirgks had been taken care of. But the Imperial Guard would come after him. And they were a much bigger problem.
Somehow he had to both protect the humans from the Imperial dragons and stay alive himself.
If he'd had his flight, this would have been easier. But at least Dacron, Karox and Evec had disobeyed his final order and not shown up among the Imperial Guard. If he'd had to deal with them, too, then this would already have been over.
He zoomed back at a slightly more leisurely pace. He could see the silver dragons coming for him, and he saw the human colonists hurry towards the edge of the crater. When they reached the jungle, he could relax a little.
If he lived to see it.
They came towards him, all five hundred of them. Taking him down, an Ultraco prince and captain of the only pure Ultraco flight in the empire, would bring immense prestige to all who took part in it. The Emperor would reward them and their hoards would swell. They would probably be given part of Braxan's hoard to share. Whichever part that the Emperor didn't keep for himself.
&
nbsp; He had to think fast. They were only dragons, and they were smaller than him. Only about twenty of them could attack him at any one time, and that gave him an advantage. Now, if he would just speed up again and try the same trick twice -
“My captain.”
Braxan's head snapped around. Dacron, Karox and Evec were flying right behind him, and he'd been so lost in his thoughts of taking on the approaching Imperial Guards that he hadn't even noticed.
“My friends,” he said, moved. “I'm no longer your captain. Emperor's orders.”
“And probably,” Dacron said with his silky voice, “that would have been of interest if we were only Imperial dragons and in thrall to the Emperor. But we are Ultraco princes. Now, we choose our own captains.”
For a moment Braxan was lost for words. This he had never expected. “I can't accept. You all sacrifice too much by following me.”
“Perhaps,” the blue dragon said. “And yet, here we are. You have been a competent captain, Braxan. And I notice we have five hundred of said Imperials surging up through the atmosphere to meet us at this very moment. I deem that under the circumstances, we might keep them at bay for a while. Possibly until your Mate is in safety. I doubt it, though. This is conceivably the end of the Ultraco princes. It's not a bad end.”
“Indeed not,” Evac stated with youthful fire. “Too long have we Ultra Dracos been used as mercenaries by a common dragon Emperor. If this is the end of us, then it is an honorable end. And you shall be our captain while we fight.”
Karox pulled up alongside. “I agree. Shall we attack, Captain?” Braxan had to smile. Always so business-like.
He pondered. Four Ultraco princes against five hundred dragons. It was an uneven match. But there was honor in it. And it was not hopeless. “Yes, Karox. I think we shall.”
30
- Amelia -
She was halfway up the slope when someone above her shouted and pointed up in the sky. She turned just in time to throw herself on the ground and away from the huge silver dragon that came falling from above. It hit the rocky ground with a thump that made the ground shake, and then it slid slowly down the side of the crater wall, leaving a trail of luminescent, green blood. It had a huge burn along one side and a long gash in its neck. It was very dead.
Daria looked up into the sky. “Where did that come from?”
Amelia looked up, too. The sky was still reddish, but there seemed to be a light show taking place high up, with white and blue and green flames and sparks and lightning. “Looks like there's some kind of battle going on.”
“Looks like it,” Daria agreed. “I guess as long as we're not directly involved, it has to count as good news.”
Amelia climbed on. “It pretty much has to. If those dragons are keeping themselves busy, then that gives us time to get to safety.”
“Or,” Jean said drily, “as much safety as we can expect inside an alien spaceship that has been alone for a long time and is taking just a little too much of an interest in the local wildlife.”
Amelia chuckled. She was in a very good mood. “Yeah, I guess we shouldn't expect too much. But he seemed to mean well. And well-meaning aliens is something we haven't had too much of on this planet.”
They kept climbing. The first colonists had already reached the top and were on the way down on the other side. Amelia doubted there were any Pirgks on that side. They tended to die when they entered the jungle.
She stopped for a moment and looked back. The Pirgks had had some time to think, and thousands of them were flowing back across the desert floor and towards the Earthlings. But they were too far away to catch up.
It looked like it would work out after all.
They kept climbing, and then Amelia was on top of the crater's edge and looking down on the other side.
“So that's the spaceship, huh?” Jean said, shielding her eyes. “I mean, it looks most of all like a huge forest from here.”
“Sure does. It's not too weird that no one realized what it was. But I guess it had to be pretty big if it was supposed to carry everything the Byt needed to settle on another planet.”
They started walking down the difficult slope. “And you didn't even see it when you were walking there? Like, isn't the ground suspiciously hard and doesn't it sound hollow when you bang on it?”
“No, I had no idea. It's been there for so long the ground is just thick organic dirt, like in jungles on Earth. Old trees and leaves and things like that for many feet down. There's even little streams and ponds.”
Amelia looked up. Only one silver dragon had fallen out of the sky, but the light show was still going on. It looked like it was much closer now, as if the battling dragons had been working their way down towards the surface.
“That looks like it's getting a little more urgent,” Jean said. “At this rate, they will be down here in just a few minutes. We should probably speed up. I'd prefer not to be in the middle of that fight.”
“I think you're right.” As Amelia watched, a large, white flame engulfed several silver dragons and she saw a golden dragon come zooming down.
And then he was there, hovering in the air in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat. He was a little overwhelming, still.
My love. His muzzle just touched her nose, as gently as a caress, and she extended her arms and held around the large dragon head. It was hot and hard, not at all like his human skin. His wings were blackened and singed, and he had burns along the sides.
She closed her eyes and felt the life and power in him. It was filling her, too. “Uh-huh.”
The Imperial Guards are gaining the advantage. If we don't disengage, they might kill us. When will you reach the forest?
She looked down the side of the crater. The first colonists were only about a third down. “It will be an hour or more. It's a difficult descent. And there are children among us.”
That will be too late.
She understood. They hadn't won yet. She kissed his muzzle and he soared up in the air and dived down to the first colonists, grabbed four of them with his claws as he flew past them and then dropped them by the edge of the jungle two seconds later. Then he returned and did the same with four more and then another four, and by then the colonists stopped climbing down and just waited for him to lift them and carry them down.
“You realize he'll have to do that a hundred and fifty times,” Jean pointed out.
Amelia smiled at the sight. He was saving them all for the second time that day. “Yeah, but it only takes him a couple of seconds each turn. He'll be done in no time at all.”
The huge golden dragon was just a blur as he picked up the Earthlings and set them down at the edge of the jungle.
Jean watched in wonder. “He's fast. I get the feeling dragons are different from what we thought.”
Amelia nodded slowly. “Oh, you have no idea.”
Then she watched as Braxan picked up Daria, Jean and Hanson and set them down by the jungle's edge. And then, finally, he slowed down and flew up to her on strong wings. He placed his large, sleek head beside her and she looked right into his intensely yellow eyes.
She reached out and touched his cheek. “You're unbelievably great and I love you so much it hurts.”
I am an Ultra Draco. My love, I will not carry you in my claws.
He stretched his neck out, and she got the point. His scales were smooth and hard, and it wasn't easy to gain purchase with her fingers, but he helped, and soon she was sitting on his back, holding around his long neck with both hands. “What do I hold on to here?”
I will not let you fall.
And suddenly they were fifty feet in the air, and Amelia squealed from fear and exhilaration. She clung to his scales with her fingers and felt even her toes curl in a subconscious attempt to hold on. But he was right – he would never let her fall.
Scorching hot air passed by her as he breathed his white fire at a silver dragon that had gotten too close, and the smaller dragon tumbled to the ground, scorched black on o
ne side.
But another one was close by, and that one feinted and veered off to one side without attacking. It was clear even to Amelia what it was doing – it was waiting for its friends. And they were coming, too – a whole lot of silver dragons were shooting straight for them through the air.
I will tell my flight to get away. Then we will join your friends in the alien spaceship. I would much prefer to use my own ship, but I fear it has been taken from me.
Amelia clung on as they zoomed higher in the air. “You know, I like this. But it also scares the pants off me. Let's please not go any faster.”
Very well, my love.
Before she knew it they were approaching the battle, where it was now obvious that three large dragons were in a pretty desperate fight against a chaos of silver. It looked like three sharks being attacked by a mass of smaller, vicious fish.
Suddenly a deep hum filled the air, and Braxan dived back towards the ground.
I gave the order. Now we have to go just a little faster. You're completely safe.
They tore through the air, going straight down and accelerating much faster than if they had just fallen. Amelia used all her strength to hold on, and Braxan's neck protected her from the force of the air.
Then he leveled off at the same height as the treetops.
Amelia looked behind her. The three larger dragons were nowhere to be seen, but she and Braxan were being followed by a solid mass consisting of hundreds of silver ones. “Can we escape them?”
We can. And we will. Are your friends safe?
He dived down between the trees right at the edge of the jungle, and Amelia spotted Commander Hanson, standing by something that looked like an uprooted tree, but which she then realized was a hatch to the inside of the alien spaceship Marqatzo. He waved at her, and she waved back.
“He's waiting for me. Will you come, too?”
If they're safe, then I will not enter. I will draw the Imperial Guards away from you and them. If the Guards have to choose between me and you, they will pursue me without a second thought. They have no interest in humans.