“That should hold you over for a while,” Eve says in exhaustion. Using Dragon Magic of that magnitude is always a serious drain on Eve.
“This will hold us over for a year,” Coltrex says.
Eve is feeling lightheaded, on the verge of collapse. Coltrex grabs her as does another dragon standing next to her.
“I need rest. Take me to the city, since we are already close to there.” Eve’s voice, though clearly exhausted, still shows her power.
They fly over the Salamanders to the gate of the city. Netran is waiting there with his daughter.
“Take her to the palace, to my room quickly,” Netran commands.
Eve has already passed out. They rush her into the palace and place her in the King’s bed. She falls into a deep sleep.
“What is wrong with her?” Netran asks.
Coltrex says, “I am not sure, but it probably has to do with powerful Dragon Magic she was using.”
“You are probably right. Using magic that powerful no doubt has a cost,” Netran says. “Well, she can sleep it off here.”
“Thanks.”
“Not a problem at all. I am glad to see your herd get food.”
“Not as glad as we are. Ha ha.”
“I bet.” The two continue to laugh together.
***
After two days pass, Eve is still in a deep sleep. Doc has been closely following the transmitter imbedded into Eve, which also monitors her life signs. She finds the city where Eve was staying and lands there in her shuttlecraft. She is met by the King as she gets out of her shuttle.
“Greetings, and welcome to our humble city. I am King Netran of the Salamanders.”
“I am Doctor Farshe Mezeenabark from Wolfkin. I am the Empress's doctor,” Doc informs.
“Interesting, I would not think a being like her would need a doctor,” Netran says with an inquiring mind.
“She isn't a god, even though it may seem like it at times. Although with the statue outside, I am hoping she isn't starting to make people worship her. That must be an interesting story. And what is with the ice? This planet doesn't get cold.” Doc continues her inquiries as she gets out her gear.
“The Empress did that using Dragon Magic,” Netran says as they walk through the palace. They come up to the King’s room and go inside. Eve takes up the whole bed with her wings, and the bed moans with creaking sounds from the sheer weight of Eve. Eve's body is glowing a bright yellow color. Doc walks up to Eve and tries to touch her, but her hand passes right through Eve. She begins scanning her with different scanners.
Doc turns to the King and says, “I am not getting any readings at all on her. How long has she been this way?”
“Few days. She collapsed right after using Dragon Magic.”
“That is unfortunate. I do not know much about Dragon Magic, other than it is very different from Sorcerer Magic.”
“I don't think anyone does. I have spoken to the dragons that surround this place. They do not even know about it, other than it is very rare that a dragon is developed mentally and physically enough to obtain the knowledge to use it. Sorcerers learn their magic from experimentation and they share what they have learned with each other. Obviously dragons do not use this method,” Netran says looking at Eve. “One of the older dragons went to Faerie World to get an ancient Faerie Dragon that uses Dragon Magic and bring him here.”
“Interesting. When will he be here?”
“I am not sure.”
“He is already here,” Toothy says in a high pitch tone as a colorful tiny dragon about three feet tall flutters in the room. He’s very thin, with brightly colored scales and butterfly wings. He continues, “I am Toothy of the ... Er... I can't recall.” As he speaks, he runs into the bedpost and bumps his head. “Damn it! That is very rude to get in an old fella's way.” Toothy scolds the bedpost, rubbing his head.
Doc starts scanning Toothy. She notices the little dragon is suffering from old age; he is partly blind and can barely fly. Doc guesses he must be a few thousand years old, but has nothing to compare to since this is her first encounter with this type of dragon.
Doc asks, “How did you get here Toothy? I’m just curious.”
“Somebody snatched me out of my home. I mean… I flew here. Why? You don't think I am capable? I still young in my wits,” Toothy says, looking around the room and trying to see who is talking to him. Doc is standing right next to him, wondering why Toothy is scanning the room trying to see her. Then Doc figures out the old dragon can't see who is talking to him.
Netran tries to keep from chuckling. “Yes, you are just a new hatchling, fresh out of the egg. We can all see it.”
“Damn straight. I am fresh as ... um,” Toothy pauses, seeming to have lost his train of thought. Doc is looking at his scans, and sees a few items she could help him with. Toothy’s gaze lands on the nightstand and he starts talking to the lamp.
“So whatcha want me here for anyways?”
Doc says, “What do you know about Dragon Magic?”
“Eh, whatcha say?” Toothy says to the lamp on the table.
Doc repeats what she said much louder. “I asked what you know about Dragon Magic.”
“Well, you don't hafta yell, honey britches. I can hear just fine,” Toothy says with some annoyance to the brass lamp. “Someone as pretty as you shouldn't be yelling at your elders... not to mention if you didn't smell like burning fish oil, more mates would be chasing you.”
Doc and Netran look at each other and smile, trying to contain their laughter. They can hear the maids who were eavesdropping out in the hall laughing their heads off.
“Dragon Magic ya say... That’s some serious stuff. Very dangerous if you don't know whatcher doin’.”
“I have a friend that used Dragon Magic, and now she is in some sort of sleep with a glowing yellow light all around her.”
“Oh, your friend is in Dragon Sleep. That means she is walking in the Dragon Netherworld, the place where dragons live before they are born and after they die. Very few dragons can venture into Dragon Netherworld while still alive, and only when they possess some understanding of Dragon Magic. Dragon Magic uses the life force of the person using it. Because of this, it forces the user to fall a meditative Dragon Sleep, transporting them to the Dragon Netherworld to regain their life force back. While they are walking in the Netherworld, they learn about Dragon Magic workings and new incantations, including the cost in life force to use such spells. Time passes differently there than here. Days, weeks, years pass here while in Netherworld it’s years, decades, centuries, or longer.”
Doc is concerned. “How long will it take her to come back to us?”
“Hard ta say... depends on the incantation and how much life force she used. See, each spell has a minimum life force that is needed to activate the spell. But the spell caster can increase the effectiveness of the spell by giving more life force. That is why the spell caster must be able to control this, or the spell could kill the caster by accidentally draining all of their life force. The more experience your friend gets in the Netherworld, that less chance of her killing herself by accident.
“That being said, there are a few spells that are very dangerous to cast regardless of how skilled the caster is, like a few types of summoning spells. The most dangerous is the resurrection spell. I have seen two dragons with master spell casting skills attempt resurrection. Both failed; one barely survived and the other was killed. The one that was killed became an Undead Dragonlich.”
“Undead Lich? Like the ruler of the Undead Empire?” Doc says with surprised revelation.
“One in the same,” Toothy says.
Netran stutters with disbelief. “So that is how the Undead Empire was created? The arch-Lich failed the resurrection spell and it turned her into a Lich, which created the Undead hordes?”
“Yes. I was there when it happened. The arch-Lich used to be a Faerie Dragon. She tried to raise her mate from the dead, and something went horribly wrong. Instead of just being kill
ed, she was changed into a Lich. It is said that her soul was partially fused together with her mate's; both of them are stuck halfway between here and the Netherworld. Sometimes the Lich appears to be male and sometimes female. She was a morphic dragon in life, and from what I know, can still shape shift. Because of what happened to her, she hates all life and wants to make everyone suffer by making them Undead, too.”
Doc has been recording everything Toothy said. She transmits the data to her ship to be sent to the Wolfkin home world.
“That is a fascinating tale, Toothy,” Doc says. “There is something I would like to do for you.”
“Eh...what’s that?” Toothy wonders.
Doc walks over to him and turns him around so he is facing her and not the lamp. She pulls out a few medical tools.
“I can fix your eyes for you,” Doc states.
“What? There ain’t nothing wrong with me eyes! I can see just fine,” Toothy says with wounded pride.
“I mean, I can make them prettier for the ladies,” Doc clarifies, not wanting to insult his ego.
“Oh... Er... In that case, okay.”
“I going spray some stuff in your eyes that will make them feel a little tingly to numb the pain. Do not move while I am using this laser,” Doc explains.
“Okay.”
Doc sprays Toothy’s eyes and uses the lasers on his eyeballs, removing some bumps on them. She fixes his corneas as well. After about thirty minutes, she is done. Toothy's eyes begin to focus; his sight is slowly returning. Then the focus becomes perfect, and he shrieks and jumps backwards from the nightstand. “Holy bejesus! Someone hit you with an ugly stick, honey britches. I never seen a dragon with pink fur before!” Toothy says with a serious tone. Doc and the King Salamander burst out laughing.
“Silly dragon. I am a Wolfkin, not a dragon,” Doc says while laughing.
“Oh... that explains at lot. Er... I mean... I knew that! I was just testing you,” Toothy says with embarrassment, trying to cover his mistake.
“Let me fix your ears, too, so you can hear the ladies better.”
Toothy grumbles, “Nothing wrong with me ears, but it can't hurt, I suppose.”
Doc pulls out some tweezers and turns up the light on her forehead band so she can see better into Toothy's ears. She puts the tweezers in one ear and pulls out a few brown dragon ear mites. Then she does the same to the other ear. She wonders how long those bugs have been living in his ears. She cleans out his ears and repairs the damage the bugs did to his inner ears. She does a sound test on him.
“Woah, so much noise in this room now. I can hear stuff now! ... I mean... Er... Never mind.” The proud dragon tries to act like nothing is different.
“I’m glad I could help,” Doc says with a smile.
“Join us for dinner?” The King asks.
Doc says, “Sure”
“I think I’m going back to me home. Thanks though,” Toothy says.
“Nice meeting you.” Doc is barely able to say this in time, as Toothy casts a small spell and disappears.
They leave Eve and go to the dinner chamber. After entering into a large room with a big round table and a lot of chairs, Doc takes a seat at the table where Netran and his daughter Sevta are sitting. Another older female Salamander enters the room and takes a seat as well.
Netran says, “This is my wife Furda. Furda, this is Doctor Farshe from Wolfkin.”
“I met your daughter on the way here. It's nice to finally meet your wonderful wife as well,” Doc says politely. They begin eating.
Furda says with a soft voice, “Nice to meet you as well.”
“I have sent for Eve's two daughters to come here if you don't mind. They are human for the most part,” Doc says.
“How is that possible?” Netran asks.
“Eve was not always a pure dragon. She is a hybrid created in a lab, and so are her daughters,” Doc tries to explain. “Her daughters are not mutating like their mother did. Eve changed over time because of a mutation. It is very complex science.”
“Sounds fascinating. I am not a science buff, but we do have some doctors and scientists in our city. None of them are quite up to your caliber, though.”
“Why thank you. I would still like to share trade secrets with them if you don't mind. I have never had the pleasure of gaining information about your race,” Doc states while eating some fish off her plate.
“I am sure we could arrange something.”
“Thank you. I am not sure how long Eve will be out of it, so I would like to use the opportunity to study your species, as well as some of the dragons outside while I wait.”
“Sure. I don't see any reason why not.”
Chapter 4
Two months pass. Evella Noctu's daughters, Xaqu and Chaca, both arrive via a new battle station that was built by the Consortium using engineering plans created by Xaqu and Chaca. The station is the size of a small moon. The ship has about 100,000 personnel, all of which are telepaths that escaped the Elemental Empire. The ship was a gift to Evella for the service her daughters gave the Consortium for designing new ships, weapons, and androids for them. The ship is nicknamed Dragonstar. It has 10,000 fighters and 30,000 Space Marines. The ship is quite an impressive engineering feat.
Doc is studying the Salamanders and categorizing all the different dragon species while they wait for Eve to come out of her Dragon Sleep. Xaqu and Chaca arrived about a month ago and were busy designing ships for the Salamanders. They were creating weapons as well. They had designed a new power generation system that the Salamanders were now in the process of building.
King Netran is inspecting the new power plant's progress when a house servant comes up to him, totally out of breath. “Sir, the Empress has awakened.”
“I am on my way,” Netran says, running down a few streets and eventually into the palace. He makes his way to his bedroom and sees Doc, Xaqu, and Chaca standing in front of Eve, who is sitting up on the bed. Doc is scanning her with scanners.
Doc looks up from the scanners and says, “You have changed some.” Eve shape shifts and her wings disappear. “How long where you in the Dragon Netherworld?”
“Yes, I have learned how to shape shift better, along with many other things. How long was I out here?”
“Two months.”
“Ah... okay. It is hard to tell time in the Netherworld. I was there for many years, maybe twenty or so,” Eve says, still trying to wake up.
Xaqu says in amazement, “Wow that is a long time, Mom. You have changed so much since the last time I saw you in person.”
“Yes it is. I am glad to be back and that you three are here,” Eve says as she turns to Netran. “Thank you for you hospitality. You have been a wonderful host.”
“Not a problem at all. These three have been helping my people and the dragons outside quite a bit.”
“It is time for us to leave now,” Eve states, looking at herself in the mirror. She has turned a tad blue during her sleep.
“Good. You can see the new battle station that we designed for you, Mom,” Chaca says with some excitement.
“Really? You two never stop amazing me or making me proud. Let's go,” Eve says.
The king gives her a blue hooded cloak that his wife made. They exchange farewells as the four take off in Doc's shuttle up to the Dragonstar in orbit.
“That is a big ship.”
“It is the latest in technology. It has 10,000 fighters, 30,000 Space Marines, and a total crew of 100,000, all telepaths. You sent a message to hire all the unemployed telepath refugees from the Element Empire. We could only hire 100,000 because that is the crew size for this battle station. There are actually a few million that are still unemployed. Since the Consortium doesn't really need more bodies, they just make more androids,” Xaqu informs.
“That is okay. We will need the rest of them to help build this Empire up,” Eve says.
They dock and get out into a large docking bay where thousands of Space Marines are lined up in bat
tle armor and brandishing rifles. They salute the party as they walk through the exit of the bay into the hallways. They continue down a maze of corridors and go into some airlift tubes as the tubes take them toward the bridge. They get out of the tube and walk on the bridge. A crew of about fifty makes up the bridge command staff. They get out of their chairs and salute Eve in her blue leather outfit with matching cloak.
Eve says, “Thank you. Carry on.” She sits in the captain's chair and looks at the big screen. She can see thousands of Space Dragons following the ship. Xaqu and Chaca sit in chairs that are on both sides of the captain's chair.
Eve says, “Status.”
42 turns around in his chair and says, “All systems go, Your Majesty.” The high tech android goes back to looking at his console.
Eve is surprised to realize that a few of the people in uniforms are her old merchant crew. She sees Gartooth Hammertail, a crocodile, at tactics. Nelma and Selma, twin Snakekins, are at navigation and helm control.
“It is nice to see you guys again Gartooth, Nelma, and Selma. Are you sure you can handle this beast of a ship?” Eve asks.
Nelma says, “We have been training for months. We won't let you down, Your Highness.”
“You guys have never let me down. I have full confidence in your abilities. Big change from a little merchant ship I bet,” Eve comments while looking at star maps on her console.
Selma says, “I could never have dreamed of being an officer on a ship like this.”
Eve chuckles, “Soak it in. Set course for Dragon World.”
Nelma responds, “Course laid in.”
“Engage.”
Helma says, “Roger that.”
“Time to destination?”
“Two days,” 42 says.
“This thing moves fast for its size. Very impressive design, girls,” Eve says to her daughters.
***
Two days of space travel give Eve enough time to study the schematics of the ship, its major workings, weapons systems, defense systems, and engine capabilities. She is also able to review the fighters, ground troops, armor, and weapons. She conducts some inspections in an effort to meet the crew as well.
She is reviewing some maps in the captain's study, when her intercom badge activates. “We have reached Dragon World, Your Highness,” 42 informs. Eve gets up, goes into the bridge, and sits in the captain's chair.
“Status.”