Space Dragon Allepexxis

by C. K. Pershing

  “Yes sir!” Casten said happily.

  Well, at least this is working out well for somebody, Paress thought.

  “Jil, take these guys back to their dorm and make sure to get then something nice to eat. But don’t dawdle. I need you back here as quickly as possible to help me get to some of these tomes that have managed to become wedged in nearly inaccessible places.”

  Jil saluted and bowed. “Yes sir!” Paress and Casten also bowed, but Behlen was already turning away to look through the contents of a bookshelf, waving his hand absently.

  After they made their way through the office maze and went out the door, Jil said, “You guys really did do something amazing today. The Doctor can be a little weird with how he expresses himself, but he was surprisingly candid with his compliments to you.”

  “I think he’s been pretty cool,” Casten said happily. “What do you think, Paress?”

  Paress, still distracted said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Hey what’s wrong?” Casten asked.

  “Everything,” Paress said.

  “Nah. I know some stuff went bad but…”

  “Casten, somebody entered my mind and stole something important from me! While I was sitting inside a Hyper Battle Machine, where I was supposed to be safe! Yeah, I’d say it’s bad.”

  “Sorry, that’s not what I meant,” Casten said.

  “I know,” Paress said. “Sorry. It’s just…I don’t know. I’m pretty sure other Space Knights haven’t had to deal with this kind of stuff.” He looked to Jil for confirmation.

  She sighed. “You’re right. I can’t say I’ve ever dealt with a Hyper Battle Machine that had such a crazy starting synch sequence, or one that somebody was able to invade and steal the pilot’s memories from…”

  “Who do you think it was?” Paress asked. “The Ol…”

  “I don’t know,” Jil said, quickly cutting him off. She stared at him hard and then around them as if to say, “The hall may be empty, but someone’s listening.”

  “Maybe some old tech or something,” she said loudly. “Who knows?”

  Paress, getting the clue, didn’t pursue the question. “Well anyway,” he continued, “I just gotta have some time to get over this stuff.” He looked at Casten. “I am happy that we synched up. That’s really exciting. I can’t wait to see what #25 can do. It should be pretty awesome… I just need some time to let some of this other stuff go.”

  “That’s cool,” Casten said agreeably. “I understand. Sorry about all of that.”

  “Nah, it’s okay.”

  As they walked on and started to get back into the more populated areas leading to the hub, Paress noticed people pointing and whispering at him. There were smiles and nods of approval. “Good job with Allepexxis,” an older man said. “It’s about time somebody started that thing up,” an elf said. “I was starting to think maybe it was a hoax.”

  The professional accolades given here stood in sharp contrast to the more heartfelt and frankly, almost scary, congratulations he’d received in the hangar. Paress smiled and nodded as more people joined in with the friendly words. This seemed more like the kind of world he was used to and he found himself actually forgetting his troubles for a moment here and there.

  “Tell Behlen I’ll be giving him that dinner I owe him for the bet I lost,” a woman told Jil. “He said Paress was the one.” She turned to Paress. “Sorry I bet against you, but I’m glad I lost. Make us all proud and show us what that dragon can do.”

  “Yes ma’am!” Paress said happily.

  Casten was also getting some friendly attention. “Call me crazy, but I think Dr. Machten has just proven herself the top Creator,” a creature covered in red hair said. “You’ve exceeded all our expectations, Casten.”

  “You know my name?” Casten asked, surprised.

  “Of course!” The creature turned to its colleagues, an assortment of races that Paress noticed included a few Companions. “Did you hear that? He was surprised we knew his name.” They all laughed and one of the Companions, a girl about their age, gave Casten a hug and a kiss on the cheek before flitting away.

  “Alright, everybody,” Jil said. “I need to get these two superstars fed and back to their dorm so I can get back to the man in charge.”

  There was a murmur of agreement and the crowd parted so that Jil could get the boys on to the elevator they’d come down on with Mriniw. When the doors closed, Paress found he could talk happily with Casten and Jil again. The brief interlude with seemingly normal people had done him a world of good.

  “So hey, howzabout that girl that kissed me?” Casten said proudly.

  “Pfft, another Companion,” Paress said. Does that even count?”

  “What do you mean? Why not?”

  “Isn’t she like, your sister or something?”

  Casten rolled his eyes. “That’s dumb. Does that mean every organic girl is your sister?”

  “I know, I’m just messing with ya,” Paress said.

  “Ha. Yeah, you gotta hassle me because a girl kissed me and not you.”

  Paress glanced at Jil, who stared back with eyebrows raised.

  Casten, after watching them a moment said, “What?”

  “Well?” Paress asked Jil.

  “Well what?”

  “Earlier. You kissed me.” He turned to Casten, who looked stunned. “Down in the Doctor’s office, she kissed me.”

  “Really?” Casten asked.

  Jil rolled her eyes and turned away. “You’re imagining things.”

  “I knew it!” Casten said.

  “Really! She did. Tell him!”

  When Jil stayed silent, Casten laughed some more. “It’s okay, I’m sure a girl will show up for you soon enough.”

  “Please. A girl will ‘show up’ for me? It’s not like just because some girl kissed your cheek and then disappeared you’re dating. And besides, a girl did show up for me! This one!” He gestured wildly at Jil, who kept her back turned to the both of them.

  The elevator door opened on to the empty section of the campus that housed the elevator structure and began to walk toward the gates. It was early evening out now and warm lamps illuminated the area. It would have normally been a pleasant scene except for the fact that they were walking toward the Dread Phantoms.

  As Casten and Paress started to shy back, Jil finally turned to face them. “Not you guys too.”

  “Those things don’t give you the creeps?” Paress demanded. He kept his eyes averted down so he wouldn’t catch another glimpse of them like he did before.

  “Nope,” Jil said proudly. “I’m a dwarf. Magic stuff like that usually doesn’t bother us.”

  “Mriniw said they could kill anybody who isn’t supposed to be here.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt it. But I can get killed by plenty of other stuff too and I don’t worry about it. For as many elevators and turbolifts I take in a day, there’s a good chance of a mishap there…”

  “Well that doesn’t make me feel any better!” Paress said.

  Jil walked back and took each of the boys’ hands in hers. “Come on, I’ll lead you if you want to keep your eyes closed.”

  “Okay,” Paress said. Casten grabbed his other hand and the three of them slowly crept past the gates. Paress kept his eyes closed tightly as he felt the overwhelming ominous presence of the giant dead things on either side of him. So strange and terrifying in comparison to how Mriniw described their Queen as one of the most beautiful beings in any of the universes.

  This time he could hear the Dread Phantoms talking. Their voices sounded old and harsh and made his skin crawl. “A dragon of power to bring doom upon others of its like.” “This one has the aspect of one who has seen the Truth.” “What would the Queen think of such a thing?” “She would find its little body a delight to mount and its soul delicious enough to perhaps laugh about.”

  And then Paress heard them make a sound so hideously terrifying, he nearly wet himself. He realized they were laughing.
What were they talking about? Him? And what was so funny?

  Paress felt Casten pull closer to him. Casten must have heard them too. A tiny spark of defiance flared up deep down inside of Paress and to drown out the sound of the laughter, he found himself starting to loudly sing the music he’d heard in Allepexxis’ cockpit. As he did so, Casten, catching the tune began to sing along.

  The Dread Phantoms stopped talking and laughing. They listened. Paress and Casten kept singing and Paress could feel another shift from the Dread Phantoms as Jil pulled the boys farther along and they started to gain distance from the terrifying things. Paress could feel a sense of… approval? Did those things actually know and appreciate the music? It was a well-known fact that music could be a powerful sort of magic in its own right when dealing with magical beings and spirits. But the feeling he got was that the Dread Phantoms knew this music and were glad to hear it.

  When they got farther away and out of range of the presence of the terrifying guards, Casten said, “That music. It’s what you heard in the cockpit, right? I could feel things change. Like they were kind of liking it.”

  Paress slowly let go of Jil’s and Casten’s hands and opened his eyes to see them both looking at him. “Yeah. That…thief who stole my memories was gonna take that from me too but left it after I begged. I don’t remember what happened to me while I was hearing it, but I knew it was something amazing. So it just popped into my head to sing it to make me feel better when they started talking.”

  “Talking?” Jill said. “What’d they say?”

  “I don’t know! They sounded really scary. I almost peed myself! And you know I’m telling the truth because I’m not embarrassed to say it. I think they were talking about me. And they said their Queen would mount me and that she’d laugh about my delicious soul.”

  “Mriniw said that if she laughs, some kind of Age will end and billions of people will die,” Casten said.

  “I know!” Paress said. “I don’t want that to happen. And also, she’d mount me? What am I? Some kind of weird trophy? Am I uh…what’s the word…taxidermy?”

  “They might not have meant it like that,” Jil said. “You can be mounted in other ways…”

  Paress had no idea what she was talking about until he saw something flicker in her large magnified eyes. “What? No! Not with someone like me! Maybe the Empress, but not me!”

  “I don’t know,” Jil said. “These spirits all sound weird to me, so who knows? I mean, her and Empress Kriemhilde totally went down on each other when they were really young, right? Why wouldn’t she go for you? You’ve got something even the Empress didn’t have…”

  Casten, finally understanding what they were talking about, said, “Are you kidding?”

  “Sex magic is pretty powerful from what all the mage boys around here keep telling me,” Jil shrugged. “I mean, it did work with the Empress, right? We know you’re pretty special, Paress, so why not you?”

  Paress shook his head. “Well, I don’t care. No way! Especially if it caused a bunch of death and a world or an Age or whatever to end.”

  “Well, she’s supposed to be pretty beautiful…” Casten said, considering.

  “I don’t care!” Paress said. “It’s not happening!”

  Jil laughed and started to walk again. Paress and Casten followed along. As with the transportation hub, people started to come up to them and congratulate them. Since these were mostly fellow students and thus closer to Paress’ age, he felt the most comfortable receiving their accolades. It slowly took his mind off the subject of the Dread Phantoms and their Queen.

  “How do these people know about what happened with the Machine?” Paress asked Jil.

  “Someone might have fired off a quick message to one of her friends to spread the word while you guys were still talking in the cockpit,” she said with a grin. “I think you guys deserve this. It’s been pretty heavy since you got here, but you also need to enjoy yourselves!”

  She led them through various groups of well-wishers to one of the small food carts. “Okay, the doctor told me to feed you. Anything you want is free, okay? The Blessed and their Companions become our defenders— the least the Academy can do is foot the bill for your food along with your room and board. So go crazy. Celebrate!”

  Moments later, their arms stuffed with junk food and treats, the boys followed Jil back to their dorm room. Someone had taped a sign on their door that said, “Space Knight Paress Handrel & Companion Casten. Team #25”. It was in a girl’s writing and a big heart was around their names. Paress looked at Casten. “Maybe this is a good sign.”

  “I hope so,” Casten said.

  “Is that all you two think about?” Jil asked.

  “We also think about games and cool mecha and stuff,” Paress said. “But there’s not much of that around right now, so… yeah….”

  Jil opened their door and shoved them in. “Come on, heroes.”

  She walked in and barely had the door closed behind her when she grew deadly serious. “Alright, wait.” She took out a device and waved it around. After a moment, she nodded and put it away. “Okay, this room isn’t bugged. The Doctor has always been pretty good about giving people their privacy in their own space, but outside, all bets are off. Besides, there are plenty of other people here who are listening.”

  As she spoke, Paress and Casten sat on the edges of their beds and started to eat their food, listening intently. “I can’t stay long. You heard the Doctor. He wants me back fast. So I’m going to tell you some really key stuff and you have to keep up, alright?”

  Paress nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Okay, first of all,” Jil walked over to Paress and pulled the candy bar he was about to bite into out of his hand. She pushed her body up against him and kissed him hard and deep, her tongue probing into his mouth. When she pulled away, she put the candy bar back into his hand and looked at Casten.

  “Paress was telling the truth earlier. He wasn’t lying when he said I kissed him. A Space Knight and Companion should always be truthful to each other no matter what. You guys can joke or whatever, but if Paress says something is true and isn’t joking you have to believe him. Paress, the same goes for you if Casten tells you something is important. This is one of the core principles of the Space Knight and Companion bond: trust. Got it?”

  They both nodded dumbstruck as she continued. “I just now kissed Paress again so you wouldn’t think maybe I was covering for him out of pity or something. He was telling the truth.”

  “But the first kiss wasn’t like that,” Paress gasped.

  “Well, I figured you deserved a bit of a reward after everything you’ve been through today, so…” She winked. “But that’s all you’re getting!”

  “Do I get a reward?” Casten asked hopefully and Jil laughed, the first time they’d heard her do so.

  “You already did,” she said. “That Companion girl at the hub! Remember, you told Paress one day he’d have a girl, so that must mean you already have one— her.”

  “What? No!” Casten said. “I don’t even know her!”

  Ignoring him, Jil said, “Okay, let’s also get this out of the way too. I’m a Painted Lady on the side. I have about ten solid clients here at the campus ranging from students to instructors. I sometimes take care of a few guys at the same time if the price is right.”

  She took off her lab coat to show Casten her body and her clothing underneath. She did it in an almost clinical way, with no sexy glances or movements or anything like that. She was simply stating a fact. She put the coat back on.

  “I’m telling you because the millisecond I go out that door, I know Paress would be blabbing about it. You’ll also hear about me here and there in passing because a couple of my clients are in nearby dorms.” Jil stared at Casten. “Paress is from Wystra. Galarisa. Painted Ladies are an honorable profession in the Empire, but some worlds accept it more than others. Wystra is cool with it. Is your world? Is this gonna be a problem?”

  Casten sat
quietly, mouth agape. When Paress threw a pillow at him, Casten suddenly said, “Uh, no! No, everything’s okay on my world. Dr. Machten has three husbands and one of them owns a place where Painted Ladies work. I’ve never been there of course, but it’s supposed be really nice.”

  Now Jil looked surprised. “One of her husbands owns a bordello? Huh, that’s interesting. I’d heard Dr. Machten was a cool lady. Dr. Behlen thinks she’s awesome. I guess I can see why.”

  “She is a cool lady,” Casten said with pride, almost with a dare in his voice.

  “Okay, okay, I believe you. Calm down,” Jil said. “Alright, so on to the important stuff. Pay attention. If you have questions, ask away, but keep them pertinent. “So… The Old Man the Doctor talks about was his mentor, Professor Ferdinand Locke. Dr. Behlen was his student and friend. I don’t know much about it because that’s from way before my time as the doctor’s assistant. Coming up on my fifth year.

  “As for what happened to him? Nobody knows. He used to disappear for long periods of time. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard. Like days, weeks, sometimes months. Apparently he was gone for almost two years once. But when he came back, he always had some amazing new idea or something for Hyper Battle Machines and the tech would take a big leap forward.” Jil spoke as if she was describing a person from mythology and not an actual person.

  “So you’re saying one day he disappeared and he hasn’t come back since?” Paress asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re sure he’s not dead?”

  “No. Nobody’s sure. That’s the whole thing,” Jil said. “He could be dead… Or he could just be on another one of his ‘walkabouts’ and this one is his biggest yet.”

  “How long’s he been gone?” Casten asked.

  “He disappeared almost eight years ago.”

  “Eight years?” Paress coughed. “That’s a long time to be gone! And you’re sure he’s not dead?”

  “I’m not sure of anything,” Jil said. “Personally, I think he’s dead. I think he was on one of his journeys and tripped and fell in a deserted cave or something and died by accident.”