Space Dragon Allepexxis

by C. K. Pershing

  A leopard standing about three feet tall waited patiently, his golden eyes staring out at Paress. “Paress Handrel and Companion Casten,” the leopard said in a low voice. “I’ve come to escort you to Dr. Behlen.”

  “Yes sir,” Paress said with a bow. Along with the leopard’s piercing eyes, he was covered in very sharp spots that Paress found hard not to stare at— except for the fact that the leopard was also wearing a small tunic that approximated a Space Knight Academy staff uniform. Paress had encountered members of the Felis race— intelligent cats— before. They were native to Wystra and a Tiger cub attended his elementary school. But he’d never seen any wearing uniforms.

  “Hey, let’s go,” Paress called over his shoulder and Casten appeared. Like Paress, he took a moment to adjust his sightline to the new arrival, notice the uniform, and then bow.

  “Follow me,” the Felis said and turned to go.

  “Yes sir,” the boys said in unison and then looked at each before following their strange guide out of the dormitory.

  “Uh, it’s nice to see someone else from Wystra,” Paress ventured after a few minutes of walking in silence. “Where are you from?

  “Trells. In Wayhad,” the leopard said. He looked up at Paress. “Have you ever been there?”

  “No sir, Mr. uh…”

  “Mriniw,” the Leopard offered.

  “Ah. No sir, Mr. Mriniw,” Paress said. “Although I’ve always wanted to visit the old Battle Golem Works from the Great War. All that cool mech stuff from Wayhad…I’m from Galarisa…”

  “The capital,” Mriniw said. “‘The Empire’s Eternal Heart’.”

  “Uh, right. Yes sir.” Paress said. He didn’t remember the Tiger Felis he knew from childhood being so weird to talk to. Then again, that guy was also from Galarisa. Maybe Mriniw’s weirdness had something to do with being Wayhadi. “We don’t have anything like the Battle Golem Works from that era in Galarisa. It’s mostly Battle Tractor factories from those days…”

  “Hmm,” Mriniw nodded in understanding and kept walking along, his stride measured and graceful.

  Paress finally gave up on small talk and walked along in silence. He glanced over at Casten, who returned his look with a shrug.

  They walked across the campus, threading their way through various students, teachers, and other staff members, making their own ways to their destinations. Unlike the previous day, on this day, some students actually made eye contact with Paress. A couple even smiled. A pretty human girl even gave a small wave and after Paress looked around to make sure it was actually him she was waving to, blushed and returned her wave. She smiled before disappearing into the crowd.

  “Didja see that?” Paress asked Casten.

  “Yeah, it looks like maybe the spell is finally being broken with these people,” Casten said.

  “I hope so.” Paress noticed that despite the chaos of all the bodies moving around, they still very subtly moved out of the way of Mriniw and his charges. The Felis never had to stop because someone obstructed his path. He strode along without issue, cutting through the crowd with apparent ease.

  “He must be a pretty big deal,” Paress said to Casten in a low voice, indicating the parting crowd with his chin. Casten nodded.

  Eventually, they made their way to a large gate with a sign over it that said “Hyper Battle Machine Works North”. Nobody was going into or out of the gate and the area around it seemed devoid of any activity.

  “There’s something about this place…” Casten said uneasily.

  “There must be hidden security measures and defenses you’re picking up on,” Paress said. For that matter, he also felt a little weird, like a chill was running down his back. Even some of Mriniw’s fur stood on end.

  The large gates swung open on their own, letting the three go through. The gates then closed behind them and as Casten watched, he thought he could see a couple of grotesque forms flicker in and out of sight behind them. He grabbed Casten’s arm.

  “What? I don’t see anything,” Casten said.

  “There’re these ghost things back there,” Paress breathed. “We must’ve walked right past them. Or through them maybe…”

  “Dread Phantoms,” Mriniw said. “They guard the gates. If we weren’t supposed to go through, we would have been dead long before reaching them.” It was the most the Felis had said since he first came to get Paress and Casten. His voice sounded sympathetic. “I don’t like them either, despite being gifts to the Empire.”

  “That explains why there’s nobody even near the gates,” Paress said.

  “Yes,” Mriniw said. “That unease you felt. Any who aren’t supposed to be there would have felt such a sense of fear and…dread…that they’d likely lose consciousness. And for those who don’t and continue on, death. The Dread Phantoms are very efficient.”

  “Ah,” was all Paress could say, still unnerved. He looked at Casten. “I still can’t believe you couldn’t see them. Can’t you see in pretty much all the spectrums?”

  “Yeah, but the spirit spectrums can get kinda weird…”

  “Dread Phantoms are also chosen because they exist in a state that no known Mechanism can see,” Mriniw said. “It speaks of your high level of construction that you could even feel their presence. Most Mechanisms would not.”

  Casten smiled at the odd sort of compliment.

  “Cadet Handrel,” Mriniw continued. “You likely caught quick glimpses of them thanks to your heightened psychic perception.”

  “Hmm, yes, that makes sense.” Paress said.

  After a moment, Mriniw said, “I can see them perfectly.”

  “What?” Paress said. “Good Lord, that’s terrible! How?”

  “Felis and our kin have always been attuned to the spirit realm,” Mriniw said. “So I see the Dread Phantoms in absolute clarity as if they were solid.” He looked up at Paress. “They’re quite terrible. I try to close my eyes tight when I walk past them.”

  “I don’t blame you!” Paress said. “I’m sorry you had to bring us here and experience that.”

  “Thanks. But I live here, so I’ve had to adjust to many things over the years.” Mriniw sighed. “I wish it got easier with familiarity. It doesn’t.”

  Paress wanted to reach over and smooth the fur on Mriniw’s head in sympathy, but knew that to do so would be incredibly rude. So he gave a sympathetic smile and walked along.

  “Empress Kriemhilde I…” Paress suddenly remembered. “A Dread Phantom saved Emperor Gustav II from the atomic weapons because of the Empress, right?”

  “That is correct,” Mriniw said. “As a child, the Empress helped the Princess of the Dread Phantoms when she got trapped in our world. The Princess repaid the debt by sending a Dread Phantom to rescue the Emperor.”

  “I heard the princess and the Empress had to become one or something…” Paress said.

  Mriniw stopped and looked up at Paress, the leopard’s eyes unreadable. “Where did you hear that?”

  Paress was startled. “Uh, well, it’s just kind of a thing in Galarisa. There’s even a statue at the old church my parents were married in. It shows the Empress and the Princess kinda like, mirroring each other and their hands are blended together.”

  “The Paradoxic Dichotomy,” Mriniw said.

  “I’m sorry, the what?”

  “The Paradoxic Dichotomy. The statue’s name. The sculptor was Anjlen. Those who have studied the statue and the sculptor believe the name is a joke— an absurdity. I disagree.”

  “Uh, well, okay,” Paress said.

  Instead of explaining his opinion on the statue’s name, Mriniw said, “The story you heard is correct. It happened when Princess Axzhinae became trapped in our realm thanks to a cursed ritual performed by one of Dotellus’ followers. The sorcerer had tried to lure a Dread Phantom into the world of the living to kill the royal family of Drancia in a rage. But he accidentally summoned the Dread Princess instead and she appeared in the garden where the then-Princess Kriemhilde was reading.<
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  “They were both about your age and while Kriemhilde was sunny and lively, Axzhinae was dark and brooding with black roses in her hair. And yet, they both felt an immediate, incredible attraction to each other— one beyond mere physical feeling. As they kissed and explored each other in the most intimate ways in the garden, it soon became obvious that Axzhinae was dying, the life force of our existence was poison to her.”

  Paress and Casten stood transfixed, listening to Mriniw’s story. Paress had never heard such a detailed account of this incident and he could tell by Casten’s expression that he hadn’t either.

  “And so, Kriemhilde gave of herself to save her dark lover. And when she did so, Axzhinae was no longer poisoned. But having some of the essence of a being of the living inside of the Dread Phantom Princess was such a shock to her body, that it immediately tore her from our realm and sent her crashing back into her own.

  “Kriemhilde, distraught, told her mother, the mighty Queen Lanurellia what had happened, and when the Royal Guards found the sorcerer and killed him, they brought back a large magic mirror. When Kriemhilde gazed into the mirror, she saw Axzhinae there and knew her lover was safe in her own realm. As the court looked on in amazement, Kriemhilde and Axzhinae reached to touch each other through the magic mirror and for a moment they did and their hands merged. The Paradoxic Dichotomy statue depicts that moment.

  “But having given Axzhinae some of herself, Kriemhilde had essentially made Axzhinae her…aspect…in the death realm of the Dread Phantoms. And they could no longer exist in the same space. When their hands merged, one of the Horns of Doom sounded and the mirror shattered, leaving Kriemhilde’s lovely hands and arms cut and with deep black scars that never faded for the rest of her life— scars that despite the wagging tongues of the court, she bore proudly.”

  “You said she shared something of herself with the other princess,” Paress said. “What was it?”

  If a cat could shrug, Mriniw seemed to do so. “Some say, it was some of her breath. Others some of her saliva. Some maintain blood. And still others say it was the nectar of her intimacy. Who’s to say, although I’m inclined to believe it’s one of the latter two considering the power that comes with such things.”

  “So, when the Emperor Gustav II was rescued by a Dread Phantom before being killed in the atomic blast, it was sent by Princess Axzhinae?” Casten asked.

  “Yes. When the unconscious Emperor materialized safely in front of Kriemhilde, a single black rose had been placed in his hand. The same sort of rose you’ll remember was worn in the dark princess’ hair. It was a message to Kriemhilde that she accepted that she had fallen in love with Gustav, and it was also a debt repaid for helping her return home years before.”

  Paress and Casten both shivered. “Wow, that’s pretty amazing,” Paress said.

  “Did Kriemhilde truly love Gustav or was it just a marriage of convenience to bring Drancia into the Empire during the Great War?” Casten asked. “After hearing this story…”

  “I’m positive she truly did love him,” Mriniw said. “Ironically, it was likely Gustav’s acceptance of Kriemhilde’s intimate encounter with Axzhinae and his acceptance of her black scars that opened her heart to him. It’s easy to forget now, when Kriemhilde is celebrated as a hero everywhere and even a saint in some parts of the Empire…but at the time Gustav married her, she was considered tainted.

  “She had shared herself with a princess of one of the dark realms. A dead realm. To many, this was tantamount to mating with a corpse. Despite Kriemhilde’s vitality and beauty, she was considered unclean and damaged. Many people pitied the young Gustav for having to marry such a disgusting creature and appreciated that he was doing it to strengthen the Empire and the Quadruple Alliance during the Great War.

  “But Gustav, who hadn’t seen Kriemhilde since they were children, instantly fell in love the moment he laid eyes on her in person and swore his undying loyalty. And when he kissed her scarred hands, streaked with blackened lines from the Dread Realm, her heart thawed after so many years of being persecuted. When they married, their wedding was one of true love and a beacon to all during the dark days of the Great War.”

  “What about Princess Axzhinae?” Paress asked.

  “We’re told that she eventually married the Carrion King of Fools. Supposedly because he was the one being in all the realities who could make the dark princess smile. But when we consider that her laughter will begin the end of the 28th Era and result in the deaths of billions, that may not be such a good thing.” Paress couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that Mriniw had given a wry smile.

  “On the other hand, the King seems to be blessed with knowing the exact amount of mirth to bring his Queen to keep her amused while not causing her to laugh. This is truly a gift that makes him a fool in name only. It would seem the Queen is happy with the arrangement even after these hundreds of years. Empress Kriemhilde I passed away centuries ago, and yet Queen Axzhinae still looks in on the world of her first love from time to time and lets us know she remembers their what they shared.”

  “Earlier, you said the Dread Phantoms at the gates were gifts…” Paress said.

  “Indeed,” Mriniw said. “They’re proof of Queen Axzhinae’s remembrance. One day they just appeared at the gates, apparently knowing how important this entrance is. There are others throughout this planet. All were sent with messages from the Queen that only the most powerful archmages could read. They’ve been here ever since. As I said, I don’t like them. But I see their value, and my opinion on these matters is irrelevant.”

  Mriniw seemed to have said all he wanted to on the subject and suddenly began walking again. Paress and Casten looked at each other and jogged to catch up. Paress was still shocked at how much the Felis had to say on the matter and with just how detailed his story was. Paress didn’t understand everything about what they’d been told, but he understood enough and decided he’d have to do some reading on the subject.

  They were on a smooth sidewalk surrounded by flowers in an empty grassy field. The area was quite beautiful with butterflies and bumblebees flying around the plants. Paress had no doubt the idyllic scene hid an array of shields and defensive weaponry that could vaporize him if he somehow made it past the Dread Phantoms. For all he knew, the flying insects may have actually been small attack robots.

  After walking about fifty feet, they came to a small cylindrical structure made out of smooth white marble. Two doors silently opened as they approached and Mriniw stepped inside. The boys followed and the doors immediately closed behind them. Moments later, Paress felt a slight nudge as what was undoubtedly an elevator began to descend.

  “Does everybody who wants to see Dr. Behlen have to go through all this?” Paress asked.

  “Not always,” Mriniw said. “But for his current location, yes.”

  “Where’s his current location?”

  “His favorite office.”

  Paress supposed that was a fair answer. It wasn’t like he knew the geography of Elise Empyreah, so even if Mriniw would have given him a specific location, how would Paress know where that was? Besides, as near as he could tell, he was in a true elevator and not a turbolift because it only seemed to go down and hadn’t yet branched off on a horizontal path.

  Just as soon as he considered that, the elevator suddenly stopped and the doors opened. Paress thought it interesting that Mriniw had never specified their destination level and that that the elevator itself didn’t show one. They stepped out into a gigantic lobby that was surrounded by what appeared to be at least another hundred elevator doors. People came in and out of the doors, giving the area the feel of a giant transportation hub, which Paress supposed it was. Apparently, all the other doors were connected to turbolifts that came from different areas of the planet since they all couldn’t have just gone straight up and down.

  “I thought maybe we were in an elevator since we only went down, but seeing this, were we also in a turbolift?” Paress asked.

 
“Yes,” came Mriniw’s simple reply.

  “I bet you could go to anywhere on the planet from here,” Casten said.

  “Yes,” Mriniw repeated before heading off again. Once again, despite being smaller than many of those he passed by, he somehow made his way through the crowd without issue.

  As Paress and Casten followed along, Paress couldn’t help but see that they were the only two students. In this place, they were surrounded by adults, most wearing uniforms, but others wearing the individual clothing of civilian specialists. Being from the Francescan capital city, Paress felt he had a fairly cosmopolitan knowledge of the races that made up the Empire. But he had to admit that there were quite a few people here who were completely alien to him. By the time two red spheres suspended inside of empty box frames floated by, chatting with each other amiably, Paress decided to stop trying to keep up with it all.

  Mriniw lead them away from the hub and down increasingly emptier and smaller hallways. After going through some more doors, they found themselves in a musty hallway with old panelling on the walls and cracked fibre ceiling tiles. The lights were old fluorescent tubes, some of which were out.

  “This is kinda cool, but also kinda creepy,” Casten said to Paress.

  “Yeah,” Paress said. “It’s like, I’m surprised that someone who’s so important would be down here in this weird place. But also, I can kinda see it.”

  They came to a wood door with a glazed glass window. On it read “DR. J. BEHLEN, HYPER BATTLE MACHINE DEVELOPMENT”. Under the window, a handwritten note was attached that read, “Jeddeg, You’re a dead man. —L”. Paress read the note and turned to Casten, who shrugged. “Huh…”

  “I’ve delivered you,” Mriniw said. “Good luck to both of you.” He turned and began to walk away.

  “Thank you sir,” Paress called after him. “I hope to see you again.”

  “Perhaps,” Mriniw said, without looking back.

  After watching the Felis disappear through a door, Paress turned back to Casten. “Well, I guess that’s that. Let’s go.”