Episode 3 | The Dragon
Dragons in Space: a YA Science Fantasy Serial
This is a serialized story. Check out Episode 2 if you missed it.
Athyn
I rocket forward through the Black. Iām burning so fast my thrusters trail streaks of vibrant blue light behind me. I reach the nearest asteroid and shoot to the top before kneeling down. The mags in my suit adhere to the metal in the rocky surface and I widen my HUD which makes my helmet all but disappear from my view.
Distant stars wink above me and to the right the ascending light of the Polis Sun. Bright rays reach into the Black offering some definition to the asteroids around me, but it wonāt ever get truly bright here due to the position of my home planet blocking the light in this rotation cycle. VÅrsus is to my right looming as a giant next to Colosis and its moons in the distance.
Iāve personally seen nothing of the galaxy I live in, only the tales from travelers, but I can imagine the galaxy map room Iāve visited since I was a little girl. Glowing lights representing the seventeen planets of our system. Segregated into four quadrants, Iāve lived only the best life in Quadrant-4, but itās never stopped me from dreaming about travel beyond our wealthy sector.
Focus, Athyn. Mission first, dreams later.
I turn back to the task at hand and use the high vantage of the asteroid to scout. I have a wide view of a good portion of the field laid out before me. My military grade optics reach a great distance, but even still, no dragon appears. Just clusters of rock amid larger chunks. The Alvyn Belt in all its glory.
Most dragons have natural camouflage that makes them little more than black streaks against the already black Void, but still I expect to see something.
I initiate a scan but it comes up blank.
āDragons breath,ā I mutter.
It was right there. I even saw the sparkle of the air barrier all dragons maintain around themselves. Or was I just imagining it?
āReplay.ā
My view shifts to a replay of a few minutes ago and I see it again. Itās definitely a dragon swooping down past the asteroid Iām on now. It was right there!
The asteroid shakes violently beneath me. I fall forward, hands bracing for extra hold. āWhat in the Verse?ā
It quakes again and then a swath of black surges from beneath me, cascading out from under the asteroid and darting behind another one.
āGottcha.ā
I push off after the dragon, weaving in and out of smaller asteroids, mindful not to get too close. Clipping any of these space rocks could do serious damage to my suit even though its composed of the highest quality materials.
āTarget lock and follow.ā
My suit beeps acknowledgement and I let some of the calculation go to automatic tracking and object avoidance. I need the mental space to plan my next move.
Dwin and I worked on several strategies and I so badly wish to comm her. Sheās the level head I need to calm my racing thoughts. The kind of logical thinking that will talk me off the ledge ofā
A streak of vibrant blue light that comes from after-burn streaks past me.
āWhat in the Black?ā
The shape disappears. āIdentify.ā
I know my suit canāt tell me who it was butā
<IDENT: JARIS CāEIN>
I blink. My suit logged his identity when I touched his helmet, establishing a local connection, and it recognizes the signature now.
Well, at least I know my competitionāmy enemy?ālike the ancient book says, but Iām left wondering how in the Void he raced past me like that?
I open my mouth to initiate a harder burn, but speed wonāt win me the dragon, cunning will. Iāve got to outsmart him, even though Iām at a disadvantage.
Now, he knows what Iām willing to do.
Jaris
That cunning little vex!
I shoot past her position, but donāt even bother to give a backward glance. I thought we could be decent to one another even though weāre in the Determining. I mean, I know weāre not here to make nice, but it doesnāt mean we need to stop being civil.
I hear Vernās voice in my head calling me a slagged fool for thinking I could trust, let alone put my guard down, anyone inside this stars-born game, but here I am. The mistake is mine for letting slip what I saw.
I wonāt be so naive again.
My plan is simple. Find the dragon before her, initiate contact, and hope for the best. From everything my father told me, physical touch was his strategy going in and he had success, so I figure why stray from what works?
There are a million and one theories out there about what really happens when you meet a dragon, but the only one I care about is what happens when I meet mine.
Thereās a massive asteroid up ahead and, for the first time since we slipped past Nolis, I see other participants. Well, itās more like I see evidence of them. Some laser fire and a few quickly fading burn lines streaking in the distance. Iām happy weāre away from the majority of the fray, but Iām worried that it wonāt last.
One thing I know from watching cycles of the Determining in the past is that many opportunists wait patiently and scope out other participants. When it looks like they are getting close to a dragon, those opportunists swoop in and steal the dragon without a backward glance.
Iāve got alerts set up for incoming traffic, but that doesnāt mean cloaking or other tech wonāt be in play. Iāve got to keep my eyes open.
My focus is simple. I need to secure this dragon now andā
āHello, Jaris.ā
My jaw clenches. āHello, A.ā I emphasize the name signifier. Iāve never seen anyone manage to hack their suit so that only their first name appears, and Iāve never ever seen someone only have a letter as their full name. Itās not regulation, which tells me even more about her suit maker.
āYes, we meet again, hum?ā
Her speech is hard to place. Her voice is soft with rounded accents and thereās a hint of aristocrat to it. I wouldnāt doubt sheās high-level, not with the gear she has, but what in the Verse is she doing in the Determining?
If I know anything of high-level, which Iāll admit I donāt know much, itās that they pay out gobs not to have their kids participate. I mean, I get it, itās either this, Fleet, or some kind of trade if youāre low to mid-level, but for a high-level to even think of competingā¦well, thereās no sense to it.
āWhy donāt you run along and leave this dragon to me?ā Thereās a smile to her words.
āYou mean my dragon.ā I shoot around the asteroid and pull up short.
I run another scan and see a shape move just beyond the next asteroid. Yes!
āI meanāā I hear a grunt and see a few pebbles scatter across my field of vision āāmy dragon.ā
I see her before I know what Iām seeing. She rockets forward, using not only the momentum of her suit, but her push from the asteroid above me. Sheās a white streak across the Black highlighted by the rays of the Polis Sun.
My suitsās fast, itās one of the few things I put everything I had into, but sheās faster. I briefly wonder why she didnāt catch up to me when she clocked me racing past. A thought comes to mind as I, too, shove off the asteroid.
āYou sure you donāt need me to find it for you? With all that tech Iād assume you had better optics.ā I smile to myself because, while she certainly has better tech, Iām positive she doesnāt have what I have.
I see the evidence of this very thing as she veers to the left, but I see the tip of a shining wing to the right.
āThank you, dad,ā I mutter.
āDid you just call me dad?ā
I swear, jamming the comms. I forgot we had an open channel, but it doesnāt matter. Dad passed down the tech heād gotten from his father and his fatherās father. A filter that allows the glow of the dragonās breath-layer to be visible. Itās highly secretive tech, but itās my inheritance. About the only thing we have thatās wroth anything.
Iād never sell, no matter the bidder, but itās not about that kind of gain.
I catch the faint shimmer again and adjust course, putting a few smaller rocks between me and where I last saw A. I can see where sheās blind, but she can see me.
Weaving in and out, I zip through a cluster of small asteroids and then, when I see the shimmer again, I back-burn to a stop and shut off my signal. Itās technically an illegal move mainly for the fact that those in the Capital City are paying hundreds of Creds to watch this, but I canāt risk A finding me and Iām a small blip in a pool of hundreds of participants. I just need to get close enough without A following me.
Thereās the shimmer again. Closer this time. I wonder if the dragon is looking for me too?
Itās a foolish thought. They are known to be oblivious to humans unless allied and itās likely just searching for space dust to chow on, but Iāve been known as a bit of a romantic and the thought that my dragon might want to ally with me too is kind of comforting.
I push out into the open on what I think is the path of this dragon and wait. I only use minimal adjustments, the shortest burst of air, to keep me steady, and I wait.
Breath held, hands clenched, I wait.
The swish of a tail.
The edge of a wing.
The creature dives down in front of me like a tidal wave of darkness.
Itās massive body is like an asteroid itself, but mobile. I look up and am frozen for a moment in time. Shocked to be this close. I canāt think. Canāt move.
Then, with deliberate slowness, I reach up and trail my gloved fingers along its underside. Sparks leap and play in a rainbow of colors along my glove. Itās the breath-layer parting but not breaking. Itās fluid in a way I donāt understand but. Instead of bursting, it envelopes my hand then my arm.
The moment my palm connects with the dragons thickly scaled skin Iām yanked upward until my palm rests firmly against the chest of the huge creature. Iām pulled along by his motion, helpless to disconnectānot that Iād want to.
My heart pounds and Iām dizzy. Am I breathing? Have I lost O2 in my suit?
Just as I think I may pass out a voice reverberates through me, drilling into my mind. Itās the dragon, I know it in my core.
āWho are you?ā
Iām overcome. Overwhelmed. Mute. I canāt think. Canāt speak. Canāt.
Always be honest with them, Jaris. No matter what cost to you. My fatherās words come to me now, but I donāt know what honesty will do for me. If this dragon doesnāt like my answer I donāt know what will happen.
Fighting though my fear and expectation, I think back, āIām Jaris Cāein of VÅrsus. I am here to ally.ā
The dragon makes a chittering sound. āHush, small one. You are loud.ā
I think again, but softerāor at least I try to. āI wish to ally with you, oh Great Dragon.ā
Rumbling reverberates through its body and a shiver overtakes me.
This is the moment. This is my destiny. Hope swells in my chest and I grin despite the sheer terror I still feel so close to this massive creature.
It huffs, sending me shaking and rattling my bones, and then speaks directly to my mind, āI do not accept you as you are.ā
Dragons in Space (working title) is being released episodically as I write it. Read about why I chose to serialize it HERE. Forgive any errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation as this is not professionally edited upon release. You can expect new episodes weekly unless otherwise noted in the chat.
If you enjoy this blend of science fiction and fantasy you may enjoy my Xerus Galaxy Saga. Itās a fast-paced and swoony, no spice YA Science Fantasy space adventure with harrowing stakes, high action, and humor. Itās perfect for fans of Skyward, The Lunar Chronicles, and Star Wars.
Well, that ending was a sucker punch in the gut.
I'm guessing that the dragon isn't going to ally with Athyn either, but that it will accept her and Jaris as a pair. Which will be extremely awkward for them and amusing for us.
Also, I really love the worldbuilding here. The dragon speech is reminding me a bit of Toothless in the HTTYD books, though less sassy, and the concept of the breath layer is a unique twist I haven't seen before.
Keep up the good work!
Oh my gosh.... I need to know what happens! This story is amazing already!