Subject: [FF][Obscure!] Panzer Dragoon Legende 1/2 [REPOST]
From: Michael White
Date: 9/25/1996, 7:37 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com


Panzer Dragoon Legende

-/-/-/-
Panzer Dragoon is <tm> SEGA, 1995, 1996. All original material is (c)
Michael White, August, 1996 This fan-work is not intended to infringe on
the rights of SEGA Enterprises, Ltd., and is intended for *free*
distribution. 
-/-/-/- 
Thanks to SEGA and Team Andromeda for creating these
incredible games Direct all comments, criticisms, etc. to mikew@atcon.com,
or failing that aj331@ccn.cs.dal.ca
-/-/-/-


	"The Kouriheat are creatures of great potential; they are the
balancers of our world. All evils are met by them with good - all good,
countered with evil. Beware the winged Kouriheat, the dragon, for such
creatures possess strong magic, and should that magic be black, darkness
will befall all mankind..." - from The Book of Prophecy by the Tussuk
Monks

	My story has a simple beginning; son of a woodsmith and windmill
tender, I was born into the tiny village of Thuth on the edge of the Great
Western Sea, near where the battles between the Empire and the remnants of
Mechania still raged. Many a young man and woman from our village had gone
off to join the conflict, fighting for whichever side they deemed just. 
It mattered little; the Empire would pillage our town, whilst Mechanian
airships desired only the destruction of those who refused to join them.
Despite the threat, our tiny settlement struggled to remain neutral;
should we ally with one or the other, whomsoever became our enemy would
surely kill us all.
	Life in such a desolate outpost was not easy, even discounting the
war. Desert surrounded us to all sides, except the west which held the
great expanse of the sea. Most of the town's airships had been destroyed
or seized, our crops burned, irrigation ravaged... our K'saa trees -
mystical plants whose sap, when processed, could render any object lighter
than air - were slowly dying, and with them would die our village, for
without them we would have no airships and no way of trading with other
settlements . So dire was the predicament that fishers had stopped using
airships to harvest, and had constructed boats like those used in the
primitive settlements of the Northern Continent.
	Still, in spite of the hardship I grew up happy. As a very young
boy I would aid my mother as she maintained one of the countless windmills
in the town, helping her mend the cloth or repair the structure after a
storm. At times, I would also assist my fa ther as he carved out airship
hulls for the local fishers and merchants. I never ceased to fascinated by
the process of applying K'saa sap to the hull; seeing a massive pile of
lumber float about a room lighter than a feather always filled me with a
sense of wonderment and awe.
	However, despite the hard labor of my parents, we were an
impoverished family; our home constucted of lumber, mud, and brick only
had two rooms and a rooftop shack where we kept the family Yuffa - a
sturdy biped riding animal that had served us for a long time. Perhaps
too long; our Yuffa often got exhausted on relatively short trips and
could no longer carry our entire family. The fact that we could barely
afford to feed it was, I am sure, no help. Waning crops and an
increasingly poor fish harvest did not bode well for our community. The
only animal that abounded in these parts was the worthless Kouriheat... 

	I was only 15 years old when I was taken on my first Kouriheat
hunt. Kouriheat were worse than useless; not only was their meat poisonous
and skin too tough for garments, they would sneak into the town at night
and devour our crops. That, and the town elders would tell us that
Kouriheats could be creatures of great evil, and to harbor one would bring
poor luck upon a family. As a result, Kouriheat hunting had become a
popular passtime, even though it served no real purpose.
	I caught my first glimpse of a Kouriheat from the back of Palo's
Yuffa; it was an unimpressive creature, resembling a tiny Yuffa with a
tadpole-like tail. Also, its head was rounded, with a large, human-like
mouth filled with many tiny sharp teeth. The most pronounced feature of
the Kouriheat was its eyes; almost human-like, they glimmered with the
faintest trace of... intelligence? The idea was absurd. Most Kouriheat
didn't even know enough to run from humans.
	I quickly roused myself from my musings as Palo took aim at the
Kouriheat with his crossbow. The hairless grey creature was just standing
there as we charged at it, waving its odd little tail as we approached.
Palo fired, the K'saa vine of the crossbow giving an elastic-sounding
'thwa!' as it propelled the arrow forward, the pointed tip of the
projectile burying itself deep in the unsuspecting creature's throat. The
Kouriheat let out a mangled cry of pain, then collapsed to the ground,
dark red blood see ping from the wound and soaking into the sand.
	Palo was elated, but for some reason I felt saddened. This was
hardly the type of animal I had expected; the legends spoke of them as
beings of potentially great evil, but upon looking at the Kouriheat's body
and reflecting on its actions, I would almost classify them as 
*friendly*... 

	After technically becoming a man at 17 years and recieving a
crossbow of my own I still found excuses not to go Kouriheat hunting. Some
were suspicious of me, but thanks to the fact that I largely kept to
myself, they didn't press the issue. Besides, there was a larger, more
real threat to focus our efforts on now: the Vind.
	At first glance, the insectile Vind resembled a monstrous scorpion
half the size of a man. In reality they were much more lethal. Capable of
rapidly burrowing through the ground and launching themselves high into
the air, Vind had killed many townspeople with their acidic venom.
Disinterested in our crops, Vind seemed to feed only on the flesh of
humans and our animals. Hunters were hired weekly to voyage out into the
wastes to kill as many Vind as they could in an effort to stem the tide of
their influx . Lacking the talent for any other trade, I spent all my
money on a new Yuffa and signed up. Unfortunately, my first sojurn into
the desert proved less than profitable... but certainly memorable... 

	Being a novice hunter meant no-one else would hunt with me; I had
to prove myself by killing at least a few Vind before the seasoned hunters
would even pay attention to me. And so, head full of ideas of glory and
feeling generally invincible, I unwittingly trotted my new Yuffa straight
into a Vind nesting area.
	It was when I heard sand shifting that I brought the animal to a
halt. Warily eyeing the desert around me, I edged out my crossbow and
loaded six bolts into its magazine. Most crossbows only held four bolts,
or even two, but my father had built this one especially for me.
	As I watched, an area of sand shifted. I fired, and an insectile
scream pierced the desert air. Reddish-black blood could be seen welling
up from where the arrow had penetrated the sand; I had just killed my
first Vind.
	Suddenly, I caught another flicker of movement out of the corner
of my eye. I pivoted and shot, killing a second creature. On a hunch, I
fired a bolt into the sand ahead of me, slaying a third. It was then that
I realized that I wasn't an exceptional marksman; the Vind had completely
surrounded me.
	At that moment, three Vind launched themselves stinger-first out
of the sand dunes surrounding me. One I shot out of the air, but the other
two drove their venomous needles deep into my Yuffa's hide. It screamed,
and I could smell flesh burning from wher e the acidic poison ate at the
animal's skin. My Yuffa collapsed and died, and I flung myself clear as
several more Vind appeared and began feeding on its carcass.
	I turned and ran, ran as fast as I could. It did me no good; I
could hear several Vind burrowing through the sand behind me. I could run
fast, but they could dig faster. Ultimately, I stumbled down a sand dune
and fell, turning in time to see six of the disgusting insects leap out of
the dune and come flying towards me, blotting out the sun with their
grotesque forms. I felt certain that was the last thing I would see.
	Closing my eyes, I felt the Vind land on me heavily. Then...
nothing? No sting, no venom? Now that I thought about it, it didn't even
feel like a whole Vind lying on top of me. As I opened my eyes, I saw that
indeed the lower half of the insect was missing. The other Vind were also
scattered around me in pieces, looking char-broiled and smelling like
cooked meat. I frantically looked around for my saviour, found no-one, and
then looked up as I realized something was still blotting out the sun... 

	Hovering over me was a creature I can even now only describe as
awesome. It was an almost lizard-like creature, covered in vaguely
reptilian blue scales. Its massive talons resembled those of a falcon
magnified a dozen times over. It had an elongated tai l which filled out
into a rather slender body, tapering down to an equally long neck. Aside
from its talons, no horns or other protrusions jutted from its body or
head; its skin was completely smooth. The beast's leathery wings beat
slowly at the air, eff ortlessly keeping the mighty creature aloft. Its
elongated head housed countless sharp, smallish teeth, but those eyes...
those eyes that as I stared at them stared right back at me... they
conveyed something... intelligence, yes, but also... compassion?  Hope?
	Trust?
	It was at that moment I realized what I was staring at.
Illustrations in the Book of Prophecy I had seen so long ago came flooding
back to me now. What I was staring at was a fully mature winged Kouriheat.
	A dragon...

	Panic vyed desperately to convince me to run from this creature of
dark legend, but my sheer fascination kept me rooted where I stood. Mutant
dragons had been known to be bred in Mechania to serve as mounts for their
elite soldiers, but what I was staring at was no mutant, but rather the
*real thing*. Unaware that I had even gotten up, I took a step towards the
mammoth beast. It cocked its head as I approached, letting out a shrill
but soft cry. Slightly startled, I stopped, waiting uncertainly for it to
make the next move. Then as I watched, mesmerized, it drifted slowly to
the ground and landed softly, talons crunching against the golden sands of
the desert. My mind still refused to process fully what my eyes were
seeing; a dragon, a real *dragon* with a wingspan wider than our house sat
before me, waiting. Unsure of what else to do, I reached out
tentatively...
	The dragon gave a ferocious roar, opening its mouth wide and
giving me a closeup view of its many flesh-rending teeth. I saw a blue
light of some sort emenating from deep within the dragon's throat and
threw myself to the ground, convinced it was going to kill me after all.
Fatalistically fascinated at my own demise, I watched as a brilliant azure
beam leapt from the dragon's mouth, curved upwards, and blew an airborne
Vind to smithereens.
	For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, I was totally
shocked. The dragon had saved my life. Again. It purred softly at me and
beat its wings once, showering me with sand. Slowly, I got to my feet
again. It stared at me intently, chirping now and again but otherwise not
doing much of anything. Glancing over my shoulder to ensure no Vind were
sneaking up on me, I reached out once more. As I laid my hand on the cool
reptilian surface of the adult Kouriheat's snout, the entire world
dissolved around me... 

	I was instantly far, far away from the deserts near Thuth, and yet
at the same time I was still there. Here, time was a suggestion. It was
not a law that needed to be followed, and could be traversed at will. My
mind rationalized what I was experiencing as a purple-white tunnel, and I
was flying through it, weightless. I emerged from the tunnel, hovering
over a vast purple-white plain. The sky... the sky was so black. What
was...?
	At that moment I was bombarded with images, sounds, smells,
feelings... a whole lifetimes worth. *Many* lifetimes worth. I saw a great
city of gleaming towers, I saw a huge airship made of, of *metal* sailing
impossibly high above the clouds, sailing up into the night. I saw a
tremendous catacylsm as that same night sky was torn asunder. I saw the
same city in ruins, abandoned. I saw many things, many people... another
huge airship destroyed a village not unlike my own... another *dragon*
with a boy on its back soared after that airship. An explosion... the
airship plummeted... the dying heartbeats of the dragon as its rider cried
beside it. Just when I thought my head would explode from the torrent of
images, of *emotions* that flooded it, the deluge stopped, and I was in
the desert once more. 

	Reflexively, I jerked my hand away from the dragon's snout,
gasping as if I had just awakened from some dark nightmare. My mind still
swam with the images I had witnessed, the emotions I had felt, the meaning
of them just as incomprehensible as the metho d the dragon had used to
convey them to me. After a moment I regained control of my heart and lungs
and looked up; the dragon was still waiting patiently, obviously expecting
me to do something. Relunctantly, I touched it again, and again I recieved
scene s in my mind, albeit on a much smaller scale. I was still aware of
my location as I once again bore witness to events that had occured long
ago and far from where I stood.
	Once more I saw the airship that had destroyed that village; it
was leaking smoke and flying uncertainly. I saw a massive...
*something*... fly out from underneath the dying airship. It climbed up
into view, and it was then that I realized I was staring at a gigantic
black dragon.
	The black dragon seemed to stare straight at me, its red eyes
boring straight through my skull, seemingly peering into my soul. This
grotesque creature who was longer than my village filled me with an
unprecendented sense of foreboding and dread; for all appearances it was
Evil Incarnate...
	I watched as the black dragon confronted the same red dragon I had
seen in my earlier vision. I watched as the rider of the red dragon, a boy
no older than myself, resolutely pointed a weapon of some sort at the
immense monstrosity. The red and black dra gons came snout to snout and
hovered for a moment, the latter dwarfing the former. The moment of
tranquility did not last long; the black dragon swung its massive tail at
the red dragon, who dodged as its rider fired his beam weapon at it.
Mesmerized, I watched the two dragons dance their deadly ariel ballet,
the seemingly overmatched red dragon dodging the endless volleys of energy
from its mammoth foe, using speed and precision to place its shots. After
what seemed like an eternity, my heart leapt as a final blast from the red
dragon's rider struck home. The black dragon gave the young man a look of
pure hatred fueled by pain, and then literally disintegrated and fell into
the ocean.
	As the link ended, I distinctly heard five words. "The black
dragon lives again..." 

	I stared deep into the blue dragon's eyes, uncertain. "What does
this have to do with me?" I asked it, not really expecting a reply. I had
yet to accept that this dragon was a least as intelligent as myself, and
quite possibly more so. A final image came into my mind; a vision of
myself, riding atop this blue dragon into a veritable firestorm from
Empire and Mechanian airships and flitters, chasing the black dragon to
the ends of the earth... 

	I pulled my hand away in shock, stumbling backwards and falling to
the desert floor. "What?" I hissed. "Wh... why *me*?" The dragon simply
screeched in response, wagging its head.
	"No," I responded as I scrambled to my feet, full of fear. "No, I'm
just a simple hunter! I... I can't fight in a war!! It's crazy!!! I..." I
stopped. The dragon had also ceased moving and was scrutinizing me once
more, pleading in its eyes. Fear and uncertainty raced through my mind
but also something else, the beginnings of some sort of bond with this
magnificant creature. The notion of battle on the scale it was implying
still made me queasy, but the idea of flying atop such a wonderous beast,
of the two of us defeating such an evil, began to eat away at my doubts.
	That, and deep down I felt a debt to the Kouriheat for not trying
to stop the hunts, although I doubt I would have succeeded. I stared at
the dragon for a good long time, desert wind howling around me. I found
myself edging towards acceptance, but my rational side cried out 'This is
madness! You are no warrior! Let this dragon find someone else; if this
supposed black dragon is as great a threat as it says, then having a
trained soldier fight it would be better for us all!' Ultimately,
reluctantly, I walked away. Then dragon let out such a heart-wrenching
cry that I was forced to look back. It had lowered its head to the sand
and was staring up at me, a very clear indication that it wanted me to
ride it. With a long treacherous walk back to Thuth should I decline, I
hesitantly strode over to the dragon and mounted its slender neck... 

	I quickly came to the conclusion that flying atop a dragon was
absolutely nothing like flying in an airship. Sitting just forward of
where the dragon's wings met its body, legs wrapped around the joint, I
clung to its cool skin for dear life as we rocketed through the sky high
above the desert. I could feel the dragon's powerful muscles with my legs
as it pumped its wings, propelling us faster and faster. Although the wind
was ferocious and my purchase on the dragon's back was iffy at best, I was
estatic. The dragon had absolute mastery over the sky, a mastery it now
shared with me as I urged it through several banks and dives. It largely
flew its own course, but would respond to my urgings far more readily than
any Yuffa I had ridden. For several hours we gallavanted across the sky,
stopping only when I realized that mid-day had come and gone, and it was
well into the afternoon. My parents would be worried. Getting my bearings
I nudged the dragon towards Thuth.
	I should have anticipated the reception we would receive...


	As we approached the village, I could sense something was wrong.
Everyone was scrambling around the village, and I could see several people
fleeing the town. Concerned, I prompted the dragon to set down in center
of town. I had expected the townspeople to be overawed as I was when
confronted with a real live dragon. I underestimated the influence the
Prophecies had on the populace...
	My second mistake.
	I watched, horrified, as all around me townspeople raised their
crossbows or other edged weapons and began eyeing the two of us hostilely.
The blue dragon was also aware of this, and began shifting uneasily on its
talons. I wondered what these people were thinking.
	"Yara!!" one of the men cried out. "What, are you mad?! You bring
this creature of evil into our midst!"
	"He is not a creature of evil!" I replied to the crowd. "He saved
my life!"
	"No doubt to trick you into bringing it here!" One of the others
retorted. "We will have none of it!"
	I could do nothing except scream for them to stop as they began
their attack. The dragon cried out in agony as some of the arrows pierced
its thick hide, and then frantically tried to take off. I lost my grip and
crashed to the ground, watching in despair as the wounded Kouriheat
soared off into the sky... 

	"Yara, what do you say in your defense?"
	I looked down the stand at the stern faces of the elder council,
each of them in turn scrutinizing me. Much of the village had turned out
for this council meeting, and I could feel many more hot gazes boring into
the back of my skull.
	"The dragon would not have harmed anyone," I answered quietly. "He
saved my life..."
	"He has associated with a creature of evil legacy!" one of the
townspeople shouted out. "He must be put to death!"
	"SILENCE!" councilman Elor thundered, cutting off the numerous
sentiments of agreement that had ensued. "That is a rule from the Book of
Prophecy, it is not our law! We cannot execute him based on a rule from
the Book alone!"
	My heart skipped a beat.
	"However," Elor continued, staring straight at me, "nor can we
*protect* him under the law. May I take this opportunity to remind the
assemblage that the penalties for vigilantism, if caught, are quite
severe."
	Elor's tone of voice filled me with dread. He had basically told
the villagers that they could do as they wished with me, with little fear
of retribution or punishment.
	I made a decision; tonight, under the cover of darkness, I would
flee the village. 

	My parents were greatly saddened by this turn of events. My mother
cried on my shoulder, while my father simply disappeared. What he was
doing I would not find out until much later...
	"Oh Yara," my mother sobbed, "I feared this day would come..."
	I tried to comfort her, but her words confused me. She feared this
day would come? What did that mean?
	Glancing outside, one could easily see several people trying to
hide in the shadows, no doubt waiting for me to show myself. I despaired
against ever being able to make it beyond the village gates, much less to
another settlement. I also wondered about the enigmatic blue dragon;
would I ever see him again? 
 
	I was jarred from my fitful sleep by my father. "Come, my son.
I... I have something to show you."
	Stealthily, we crept from the rear entrance of the house to my
father's woodsmithing shop, extremely careful not to get spotted. As he
opened the door to the well-lit shop my mouth dropped with awe.
	Inside was the single largest suit of armour I had ever seen, laid
out on a wooden bench. It became immediately obvious that it had been
built from Marlack shell, and that it had been designed to fit over the
slender body of the blue dragon...
	"Father..." I exclaimed breathlessly. "Marlack shell is so
expensive... And, and a Rison horn?!"
	My father ran his hand down the slender white horn jutting out
from the ivory armour, smiling fondly at me. "For luck..."
	"I can't, father. It's too much, you could feed yourselves for
three years for the price this would fetch..."
	"That's not all there is, my son." He interrupted, disappearing
behind a wooden partion. When he reappeared, he was carrying a human-sized
suit of armour made from the same shell as the dragon armour, and was
carrying a weapon that looked strangely familiar...
	It was all too much. This was what father had been working on all
night? Tentatively touching the armour, I could tell it had been hardened
and lightly coated in K'saa sap, making it extremely tough and light.
"But... I... I am no warrior! How can I...?" 

	I stopped as my father gripped me by the shoulder. "You must," he
stated firmly, "or all is lost."
	"But I do not even know if the dragon will return..." I said
despondently.
	My father smiled slightly, then walked over to the large wooden
partion that segregated the work and storage areas of his shop. Pulling it
back, I was astonished and overjoyed to see my friend, the blue dragon,
wounds treated and healed. I ran to it and embraced it around the neck,
surprised to discover just how attached I had become to the Kouriheat. The
dragon let out a soft welcoming chirp and bobbed its head. "Father, how
did you..."
	"He must've recognized me..." my father said wistfully. Confused, I
turned towards him. "Son.... *I* was the young boy who rode the red dragon
many years ago. We defeated the black dragon at the cost of my friend's
life, but it lives again. I... I am too old to fight now. *You* must 
take up the battle." He said, shaking me slightly.
	I was speechless. My father was the red dragon rider? Now I
recognized the weapon he held in his hand; it was the same beam weapon I
had seen in my vision, albeit with some slight modifications. Then it
began to make sense; *that* was why the blue dragon had sought me out. 
Still, I was unsure.
	"Surely, father, a great many people more talented in combat could
be found. I am merely a failed hunter, what could I possibly hope to
accomplish?"
	"There is much more to dragonriding than being able to fire a
weapon!" he snapped, perhaps growing weary of my obstinateness. "You have
the mind and body necessary for the task!" My father stopped, taking a few
breaths to calm himself. "It is your decision, Yara... but there is
no-one else..."
	This was an impossible dilemma, I thought to myself. Then the
reality of the situation settled in. If I refused, I'd be dead anyway, so
the choice was a simple one: get killed fleeing this tiny burg in the
middle of the night, or take up a monumental battle against the forces of
darkness... and get killed. By all rights my life was already forfeit; why
not go out in a blaze of glory?
	"Very well," I said finally, "I will do it."
	I looked up as my father nodded approvingly, beaming. Together, we
lifted the surprisingly light armour up and onto the dragon's back, gently
settling it down for a snug fit. The Kouriheat fidgeted slightly as we
strapped it securely to its body, but see med to tolerate the armour.
	After securing the last strap, I began donning my own armour suit,
strapping it tightly to my form. Finally, I accepted my helmet and weapon
from my father, embracing him one last time before mounting the dragon,
*my* dragon, and preparing to take off.
	It was at that moment that several dozen townspeople pulled open
front gate of the shop. They had obviously seen the light from the lamp
and come to investigate. They were brought up short by a bloodcurdling
scream from the blue dragon, but soon regained their wits and began
firing. I almost laughed out loud as their arrows bounced pathetically off
the armour of both myself and my dragon, when I realized that one of us
wasn't protected...
	An arrow protruding from his abdomen, my father slapped the blue
dragon on the hindquarters. It wasn't much of a push, but was enough to
prompt the dragon to start running forward, bowling over the townspeople
and taking flight after clearing the door. Concern for my father made me
look over my shoulder, but deep down I knew there was no going back... 

	Several days later we sat around a Feska campfire, the steady
orange-white glow from the slowly burning plant essence warming us against
the frigid desert night. I was still concerned for my parents; I shuddered
to think what might've become of them, and wondered if I shouldn't have
stayed...
	The blue dragon snorted, jarring me from my reverie, the odd
phosphorescent blue-white marking on its throat casting a constant dim
light into the area. Unlike young and adolescent Kouriheat, dragons didn't
seem to ever need rest, nor food for that matter. I had shed my armour,
but the dragon seemed not to be bothered by its protective suit, so I left
it on; removing it by myself would have been a rather ardous task at any
rate.
	I was absentmindedly gnawing on a shank of meat from a large
rodent I had shot and partially cooked from the air earlier that same day;
it seemed that I could somehow *sense* where the creature was before I
shot it. I surmized that my link with my dragon also joined our senses to
some degree. I found myself intimately aware of my surroundings while
riding my dragon, even those outside of both of our fields of vision, and
concluded that it used some form of echolocation to monitor everything
from canyon w alls to the tiniest of insects scurrying along the desert
floor. I also apparently had access to my dragon's improved vision and
hearing, but my brain seemed to shut those out to a degree; getting two
conflicting signals regarding the senses tended to make me rather queasy.
	We had yet to encounter any Empire or Mechanian forces, which in
itself was strange considering our proximity to the front lines. We had
also failed to locate any trace of the black dragon, although not for lack
of trying. We seemed to be heading inland, although what my dragon
expected to find there was beyond me. I began to wonder if we'd ever
encounter anything more significant that a few Kanta rays and assorted
other bird life. 

	Almost a week later we passed over a site near the mountains that
had been absolutely devastated; broken hulls of Mechanian airships
littered the area, and what had once been a village had been reduced to
rubble. It had obviously been many years since the cataclysm that
destroyed this place occured; the desert was slowly reclaiming the land,
and sand coated most everything.
	Glancing around at the mountain range, I got the feeling that I
had seen this place before. Then it dawned on me; this was the village I
had seen destroyed in my vision. I had no idea what my dragon intended by
bringing me to this depressing pile of rubble and debris. Perhaps it
thought I still needed convincing about the consequences of not defeating
the black dragon. If that was the case, its point was clear; no-one could
have survived this calamity.
	I snapped my head up, alert. Movement. Behind us, below us, and
*massive*. Turning, I could see something huge burrowing through the sand
behind us, following us. I brought my beam weapon around to bear on it,
and not a moment too soon. Horrified, I watc hed as a massive sandworm
forty times longer than my dragon leapt from a dune, straight for us.
	Responding to my panicked urging, my dragon dove and the sandworm
passed overhead. I will never forget that moment, however, when I was mere
meters from the sandworm's tentacled, multi-eyed face, acidic green fluid
drooling from what passed for a mouth.  Driven partly by fear, partly by
revulsion I opened fire, a steady stream of blue energy pulses ripping
into the sandworm's soft underside as it flew overhead. At my mental
urging the blue dragon started firing as well, long blue energy beams
arcing out of its mouth, *changing direction*, and them slamming into the
worm's red underbelly. As the sandworm passed over us, I stared at its
stinger-like appendage. I was so engrossed we almost died; it shot the
mucus-coated needle at us, which we barely managed to dodge. Firing now
into the tough grey armour of the sandworm's dorsal surface, my dragon
shed some altitude as we became the hunters.
	The worm let out a scream of pain as I blew off a chunk of its
armoured skin, exposing the reddish meat below to the harsh light of my
Feska-essence laser cannon. After what seemed like an eternity of steady
fire, the sandworm broke apart into three segments, each segment becoming
a new baby sandworm. Not desiring any more of those monstrosities, I
disintegrated them one by one. This time they stayed dead.
	For a long time I just sat there, breathing heavily; that had been
quite the baptism by fire. Never berfore would I have had the courage or
skill required to face and defeat a sandworm. What was coming over me? And
how much of that was due to my apparent psychic link to my dragon?
Shuddering to think of what other changes in personality and ability I
might undergo, I returned my attention to the devastated village below. We
seemed to be leaving the area, not that I minded after our little
encounter. Still, I wondered where we were going. I sat back in the
rudimentary saddle and sighed, figuring I'd find out soon enough. 

	Three days later we had travelled a great distance from the ruined
village. We had also gotten our first glimpses of the Mechanians; several
times their flitters had almost spotted us. Flying sometimes less than a
meter above the ground through caves and canyons, however, had thrown them
off our tail.
	I sensed our destination long before I saw it; from my link with
my dragon it felt like a part of the mountain range, but somehow... wrong.
Despite its mammoth size it was most definitely man-made. Getting closer I
also realized it was not alone; several airships and flitters surrounded
it, but that didn't seem to be dissuading my dragon. Several minutes later
I saw what we were headed for and gasped; it was the wreckage of the
airship that had destroyed that village in my vision. The sheer size of
the ship rivaled that of the mountain it had crashed into!
	It was at that moment that we were first spotted. A Mechanian
flitter dove at us, orange laser blasts leaping from its needle-shaped
body. Jarred from the view I raised my own cannon and returned fire,
clipping one of its four stabilizer wings. The tiny aircraft went into an
uncontrollable spin and spiralled towards the ground far below. I wondered
about the hostile reception but realized we would be easy targets at this
altitude, so I prompted my dragon to drop all the way to the desert floor.
The cracked surface of the desert blurred by underneath us as we shot
forward, the massive ruined airship looming in the distance. It was
obvious that that flitter had alerted its brethern because from what I
could tell, the Mechanians were heading to intercept us.
	First came the speedy little flitters like the one I destroyed.
Smiling grimly as the first twelve came into range, I simply pictured them
in my mind and gave the dragon a little mental prompt. That was all it
needed, as a dozen azure beams leapt from its throat, arcing off into the
distance and totally disintegrating the incoming Mechanians. In the
interim, however, the remaining six flitters had closed to nearly
point-blank range and were strafing us from above. Firing steadily from my
inexhaustible la ser as they approached, I destroyed the three closest to
us and dodged the fire from the others. Holding the saddle with my left
hand, I turned my body around to shoot at the nimble fightercraft as they
passed behind me. I surprised myself as I killed two of them in rapid
succession, then tracked the final flitter and blew it out of the air.
	So concerned was I about the flitters that I had forgotten about
the airships. When I turned to face forward again, I had three seconds to
gasp, urge my dragon into a sharp left bank, and return fire before no
fewer than eight cannon shots from three Mechanian destroyers could
collide with us.
	Looking for all the world like mastless naval galleons save for
the mammoth humpbacked white structure hovering over each of them which
permitted them to fly, the destroyers turned to pursue us, firing flaming
projectiles from their many cannons. Again we banked sharply, coming all
the way around and charging straight at the first destroyer.
	Crew scattered as we flew between the brown wooden main hull and
the white Marlack-shell flight hull above it, strafing the wooden deck
below. Somehow I had managed to blow out two of the ship's three heavy
cannons and seven of its eight light gun emplacements in a single pass.
The other two destroyers had to refrain from firing as we passed within
centimeters of the first ship's hull. The damage we created also had a
bonus side effect; as we passed behind the damaged ship we were sheilded
from enemy fire by a thick plume of smoke that had emerged from a fire we
had started aboard the destroyer.
	I can only imagine how the crew of the second destroyer reacted as
we shot out of our smokescreen and blasted the stabilizers off the port
side of their flight hull, causing their ship to list violently to port
and destroying their manoeuvrability. On a second pass we attacked the
K'saa-soaked structure itself, fracturing it and causing the airship to
slowly lose altitude before slamming into a rock outcropping and breaking
apart.
	The fire aboard the first destroyer had worsened and the crew had
abandoned ship, permitting it to coast softly to the desert floor where it
shortly thereafter exploded violently as the fire interacted with the pure
K'saa sap in the center of the ship's flight hull.
	The third destroyer rushed at us, firing with abandon as we juked,
dodged, and blew out of the air the many flaming cannonballs they shot at
us. Diving almost to the desert floor they passed overhead by only a few
meters as I fired into their underside.  Bits of wood rained down on us
but we were saved by our armour from any shrapnel injuries. From somewhere
inside the ship came a massive explosion, and we had to dodge quickly to
avoid being crushed by the wreckage of the destroyer.
	Glancing skyward I saw our final - and most dangerous - foe: a
battleship. The huge white pyramidal airship lumbered towards us, holding
its fire for the moment.  Hovering alongside the huge warship were eight
conical flight towers which were technically the ship's biggest weakness.
Destroying those would sent the airship drifting earthward as its sheer
mass overwhelmed the ability of its hull alone to keep it aloft. We were
almost hovering over the desert as we waited for the battleship to attack.
We did not have to wait long.
	Energy pulse after energy pulse tore up the desert around us as
laser fire rained down from the ivory ship. Dodging left and gaining
altitude, I opened fire on the flight towers, mentally urging my dragon to
do the same. Beam after beam of sky-blue energ y arced from the throat of
my dragon, slamming into the white flight towers. At first, they seemed to
be having little effect, but then cracks appeared in the towers' smooth
surface. We were forced to break off our attack run early by a furious
hailstorm of red energy blasts, diving and banking to avoid the worst of
them. We weren't entirely successful as a handful of the blasts struck
home, singeing the armour and causing my dragon to cry out briefly in
pain. Perhaps motivated by my friend's injury, I brought us close to the
battleship's hull and began hammering away at two of the flight towers
from a lethally close distance before their weapons could be fully brought
to bear on us. By the time they started firing, all their laser blasts
found was empty air where we once hovered, and plummeting wreckage where
the two towers once floated.
	We dove into the battleship's shadow, dodging yellow blasts from
its heavy underside guns, and climbed sharply up its starboard side,
strafing one of the towers. It blackened, fractured, then literally
disintegrated under our heavy fire. We shot up past the hull faster than
their guns could track and looped backwards, heading for the ground once
more. Two more passes had destroyed another tower on the starboard side
and crippled one on the port. The battleship was flying erratically now.
As we destroyed a fourth, fifth, and sixth tower it began to lose
altitude, and I could sense several escape flitters being launched from
its lateral bays. We rocketed up the hull once more, taking out a seventh
tower on our way up, and kept climbing until we pierced the cloud layer. I
nudged my dragon into a wingover and we plummeted as I fired like mad at
the enlarging shape of the battleship. The tower blackened under our heavy
fire long before I could even properly see it, and disintegrated just as
it came into my view. Flapping hard, my dragon pulled out of our death
dive just above the desert floor and we rocketed towards the massive
crashed airship. Looking over my shoulder I saw the battleship plummet and
crash hard into the cracked desert surface, exploding soon after impact.
	I was exhilirated. This was a million times better than hunting
Vind! Adrenaline flowed through my body as my heart pounded. Alone, we had
just destroyed a respectable-sized Mechanian flotilla! Those were four
Mechanian airships that wouldn't be destroying any more villages! Yeah!
	I forced myself to calm down as we came up on the wreck. My dragon
wasn't flapping at all, using the pure momentum of our descent to propel
us forward. It didn't even seem tired, despite the exertion and heat. For
that matter, niether did I. Shrugging it off as one of the countless
things I'd probably never understand, I turned my attention to the charred
ivory form of the demolished airship.
	The front end of the airship was buried in the face of a
fair-sized mountain, broken off but not detached from the main body, which
lay basically intact on the desert floor. The aft section, however, was
pointed almost straight up after apparently crushing some sort of rock
formation. The airship was a complete wreck, most likely beyond any hope
of salvage.
	We cruised forward at a leisurely pace now, gaining a little
altitude as we approached the scarred and fractured hull of the main body.
When we reached the top I gasped; someone had cut a huge hole in the
dorsal hull.
	It was then I sensed it. Movement. Not much, but enough to set of
warning bells in my head. It was coming from... the hole. We drifted
cautiously down to the lip of the wound, peering warily into the absolute
darkness below.
	A massive shape bolted out of the dead airship, very nearly
ramming us. It halted and spun, and I found myself three meters from the
most horrifying visage I had ever seen in my life.
	The black dragon....

	Its two red eyes seemed to be laser beams boring straight through
my skull. Its mouth was small like my dragon's, but its teeth were longer,
sharper. It had a much larger body than the slender one of the blue
dragon, and its massive wings beat slowly at the air.
	The black dragon let out a blood-curdling scream and lunged
forward, trying the snap at me with its vicious mouth. If my dragon had
not dodged on its own I would be dead; I was too paralyzed with fear to do
anything. The black dragon screeched again, then spun and soared off
faster than I would've thought anything could travel, vanishing from sight
in a matter of seconds.
	We drifted once more to the surface of the airship, landing this
time on its broken hull. My hand was at my chest as I gasped for air; I
had not been prepared for that. Glancing off in the direction the black
dragon had vanished in, I wondered if I was up to this...
	It was at that moment that I realized my dragon had hopped down
into the gaping hull puncture, landing us in a poorly-lit hold of some
sort. I stared at the armoured back of its head questioningly, but there
was no response. After a moment I slid off the dragon's back, armour
clacking as I hit the airship's deck. I walked forward, and peering into
the darkness I could make out a doorway of some kind with light coming
from it. I looked over my shoulder at my dragon. It warbled, then gestured
at the door w ith the long Rison horn jutting out from the nose of its
armour. Uncertain, I turned back and walked towards the door, listening to
my dragon trot along behind me, its heavy footfalls reverberating
throughout the massive hold.
	Upon nearing the door I saw several long gashes in the bulkhead.
It dawned on me that the black dragon had been trying to break it down,
but why? And why was the black dragon in league with Mechania?
	Upon entering the room I looked around warily. It was fairly
well-lit, a hull fracture high above allowing rays of sunlight to waft in.
Everything in this hold had been tossed around and banged up pretty good,
but I failed to see anything of value. Then I looked up.
	In the center of some sort of circle rested a skeleton. 

	A dragon's skeleton.

	The skeleton of the red dragon.

	Behind me, my blue dragon moaned morosely, staring at the remains
of its fallen brethern. I started to approach the skeleton but a sharp
chirp from my dragon made me stop. Turning, I saw it straining against the
doorway, about half of its neck in the room. Looking around once more I
still couldn't see what was so impor...
	I flattened myself against the deck as a dozen blue beams leapt
from my dragon's throat, impacting against the ring mounted on the wall
where the red dragon's remains rested. I turned to the doorway in
confusion, but the blue dragon wasn't there. Looking back at the
now-destroyed ring, my confusion turned to terror as a massive secondary
explosion erupted, with every indication that a more devastating one was
to come. Dashing out the door I spied my dragon, vaulted onto its back,
and we sailed out of the opening seconds before a huge fireball
annihilated the top decks of the airship and blew chunks of its cracked
hull high into the air. Again I stared questioningly at the armoured back
of my dragon's skull, and again it remained stubbornly silent... 

	Direct pursuit of the black dragon was impossible; its flight path
took it straight through the most vicious battles of the Empire-Mechania
war, intentional, no doubt. So as a result we took a longer route through
the jungles of the north.
	Soaring through the dense foliation at a near-suicidal speed,
dodging trees and thick vines, it took me a moment to realize we were not
alone.
	Glancing to my side I saw a flitter dodging and weaving alongside
us. For a moment I stared at its hull, and my breath caught as I spied
what looked like a red claw mark. It was the emblem of the Empire.
	Despite the similarities in capital ships, Empire and Mechanian
fightercraft were of somewhat different design. Whereas Mechanian flitters
bore great resemblance to angular dragonflies, Empire flitters were like
four-winged double-barrel cannons in a white shell. Mechanian flitters
were much more agile, but Empire craft could pack quite a punch.
	As this one had apparently decided to demonstrate.
	Firing a steady stream of orange pulses, the Empire flitter turned
into us and shot past overhead. All its shots missed, but I was unable to
get a bead of the little fighter. Despite being more sluggish than its
Mechanian counterpart, it was still a nimb le little craft.
	I thought I had it locked up and fired my cannon, laser blasts
Ripping into the trees and vines where the flitter once was. It zoomed
overhead again, strafing us and darting back into the cover of the trees
once more.
	We were moving at a fairly good clip now, trees and underbrush
whizzing by us at a blinding pace. I could spy the flitter up ahead, and a
rather risky plan occured to me. Before really thinking about it I used
it, firing my cannon. The flitter dodged, thinking the blasts were meant
for it, but they weren't. Blue-white fire tore into a clump of trees,
blasting them apart. Just as I had planned, three of the trees fell
directly into the flitter's flight path, colliding with it and sending it
careening into another large tree. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated
the fourth tree falling into *our* flight path, nor had I forseen the pain
that would ensue after hitting a falling tree at over seventy kilometers
per hour.
	I went soaring through the air in a world of hurt. If it hadn't
been for my armour I'd most likely be dead. I'd probably still die if I
connected with one of those trees I was flying by, this time without the
aid of a dragon, but whoever controlled the fate of fools was kind to me
that day, for I instead landed rather ignominiously in a bog, sending up a
small wave of mud as I hit.
	My dragon, who hadn't even been nicked by the falling tree,
circled around me as I slowly got to my feet. I was bruised all over but
there didn't seem to be any broken bones or serious cuts. Hauling myself
out of the mud, I thought I heard what sounded l ike some form of laughter
coming from my so-called friend... 

	Still limping from my intimate encounter with high-velocity plant
life, I hobbled over to our little camp, some relatively dry firewood in
my arms. Piling it in the center of a ring of rocks, I dipped my finger in
the small Feska essence sac I carried with me, smearing the greenish goo
onto the logs. Thoroughly wiping my finger clean, I then started the fire
with sparks I created by striking two rocks together. Using my laser
cannon to start the fire would've been overkill; it would've blasted the
logs to shrapnel.
	This hot, humid jungle brought a new nuisance that I had never
encountered in the desert: insects. Not the Vind-sized ones, but
microscopic bugs which although lacking the Vind's size, shared their
taste for human flesh. As a result I got little sleep, and just as I was
about to nod off, a rampaging Marlack nearly bowled me over.
	I leapt into a rather thorny bush as the huge creature jumped into
our midst, cursing my luck with the plants of this jungle. My dragon had
already taken off, circling us loosely. I spied my laser cannon and armour
resting underneath the Marlack and curs ed again; if it found me, I was
dead.
	The Marlack resembled a white flat-topped cone with a pair of
powerful incisors at its base. It moved around on four spider-like legs,
each also protected by a sturdy shell. Marlack shell was incredibly tough;
most armour, including ours, was made from it.
	I tried to stay as quiet as possible as the Marlack scouted our
campsite, seemingly unaffected by the campfire it was perched directly
over. My heart stopped as its foot came within centimeters of smashing my
armour and laser cannon. After a moment of in spection - and after eating
the wild boar I had shot for supper - it moved off to find more
interesting things and I breathed a sigh of relief. Gingerly dislodging
myself from the pointed vines I had unthinkingly dived into, I managed to
get free in time to see my dragon land, emitting the same chortling sound
it had when I was stuck in the mud.
	Deciding I couldn't spend another minute in this homicidal forest
I donned my armour and mounted my dragon, and together we took off into
the night... 

	I yawned tiredly as we skimmed the treeteops, hoping we'd soon be
clear of the jungle and into the rocky highlands I saw in the distance so
I could get some sleep. Looking up into the sky I regarded the three moons
that rested there; the looming silver one partially blotted out by the
tiny dot of one of the two smaller ones. Taking in the expansive
starfield, I thought back to my vision of that airship that soared between
the stars, and wondered what it would be like... to visit... another...
star... 

	I woke up some hours later still perched atop my dragon, who had
landed on a rock outcropping on the outskirts of the jungle. I had fallen
asleep in the air? I must've been tired. It would've been embarrassing -
and potentially fatal - if I had fallen off, though...
	I shook my head. It hadn't happened, so why worry about it?
Glancing at the sun, I guessed it to be about mid-morning and stretched,
yawning. It had been quite the night.
	After gorging myself on a breakfast of popperberries and refilling
my canteen at a nearby brook, we once more took off in pursuit of the
black dragon... 

	Three days later we had crossed the Northern Sea and come upon the
rocky island of Sasalee. The Northern Sea was infinitely smaller than the
Western one, and crossing it had actually only taken a few hours.
	Sasalee was an island belonging to the Empire, and so when I
sensed two destroyers hovering over its main city, I assumed them to be
Empire airships. I was wrong.
	Cannon shot after cannon shot rained down on the hapless city from
the two Mechanian airships, light gun emplacements strafing the fleeing
civilians. On the outskirts of the city I could make out two burning hulks
of what were once airships, and assumed they had been Sasalee's defenders.
	As I saw a young family fall to the indiscriminate fire of the
Mechanians, I made my decision. Diving at the first destroyer from a great
height, we blew its flight hull to pieces before it really knew what was
happening. As the second airship pivoted to attack us, we got several free
shots into its hull, damaging it. Easily dodging its clumsy cannon shots,
we returned fire with steady laser pulses and arcing beams, disintegrating
the lower hull and demolishing the ship. The crewless flight hull just
hovered there as the main hull broke apart and plummeted to the sea.
	The fight had been a short one, but I was still breathing heavily.
I was *furious* at those Mechanians, and had *enjoyed* destroying them.
There had been people aboard those airships. Murderers, yes, but people
nonetheless. Was I becoming the type of cold-blooded killer I had just
destroyed? Shuddering at the thought and forcing it from my mind, I sat my
dragon down on one of the city streets, and was shortly thereafter
confronted with an officious-looking man and several armed guards. Wary, I
prepared for a fast takeoff should we get the same reception here as we
had in Thuth.
	"Greetings, friend!" the finely-garbed man bellowed. "As Precis of
the glorious Empire state of Sasalee, I salute your courage and valor in
fighting off the evil and vile Mechanian horde!"
	"Uhh... thank you." I replied uncertainly.
	"Such a magnificent mount!" he exulted, looking my dragon over.
"Truly a marvelous specimen."
	"You... don't believe dragons to be creatures of evil?" I asked,
still cautious of these Imperials.
	"You mean the Prophecies? Bah," the man waved dismissively. "No
self-respecting citizen of the Empire believes such rubbish. So tell me
young man, how goes the war against Mechania? How far are we from
victory?"
	I stopped, realizing the conclusion he had jumped to. "I'm not a
citzen of the Empire, Precis. I am a neutral from Thuth."
	The man's expression soured visibly. "Neutral, eh? Why did you aid
us, then?"
	"You needed assistance, so... I gave it to you." I answered,
wondering if it had been wise to correct them.
	"Yes, well, we *appreciate* your help, although we had the
situation well in hand," he said, frowning. "From Thuth, you say? I'm
surprised anyone made it out of there..."
	My heart stopped. "What?"
	"Didn't you hear? A Mechanian flotilla levelled that place just
over a week ago..." 

	I was absolutely furious, driving my dragon to greater and greater
speeds, trying to outrun the pain and hurt of my village's destruction...
of my parents' deaths... The coastline of the mainland blurred by
underneath us as we shot northwest at over two hundred kilometers per
hour. The wind was ferocious, driving my tears straight back along my
face... 

	Two days later I was still sullen and depressed; not even
vaporizing a score of Empire flitters that had tried to attack us had
lifted my mood. As we kept moving north I vaguely wondered when we'd catch
the black dragon, and what an ally of Mechania was doing so deep in Empire
territory.
	Crossing a massive mountain range, I was dully aware of the frigid
arctic winds coming off the snow-covered peaks, but it didn't really
bother me. We were skirting the outer edges of the Empire's domain; to the
north were primitive settlements that neither faction had yet bothered to
conquer. That we had yet to find the black dragon concerned me; if it
hadn't gone north to attack Empire cities, what was it here for?
	Two days later I got my answer...

	Upon detecting the first destroyer I felt my mood lighten
somewhat; perhaps a little combat would rouse me from my dark thoughts.
Urging my dragon forward, I soon realized that that destroyer wasn't
alone. Ten minutes later I had detected no few than fifteen destroyers
and three battleships, along with scores of flitters.
	A fleet...
	Somewhat worried, I half expected my dragon to go around these
ships or at least change altitude, but instead we kept driving towards
them, even accelerating slightly. As I mentally prepared for battle, I
hoped my dragon knew what it was doing.
	It didn't take long for me to realize that the fleet was attacking
something on the ground. A village, as it turned out. I was shocked to
discover that these were Empire ships; annihlating villages was a
Mechanian tactic.
	We didn't remain undetected for long, and soon scores of Empire
flitters were executing long sweeping passes on us, strafing us with their
dual cannons as some of their destroyers broke off to intercept. By the
time the first destroyer had arrived, we had blown two-thirds of the
Empire's fightercraft out of the sky while the rest struggled to regroup.
Bombarding the first destroyer with a vicious amount of firepower, we
downed it before it even managed to get a single shot off at us.
	Two more destroyers tried to flank us, but we dove under the
starboard one, laser blasts Ripping into its hull and sending it on a slow
descent to the desert floor. Dodging close-range cannon shots, we once
again used the smoke emanating from the burning destroyer to mount a
surprise attack on its counterpart, raking the other ship's hull with
blue-white fire before they knew what hit them.
	Accelerating away from the crippled destroyer, we swooped down on
the village where Empire landcrawlers were firing freely into the stone
houses. Dodging blasts from above and below, we strafed a column of
crawlers, blowing most of them high into the air. Pulling up as we
cleared the village wall, we briefly attacked one of the battleships,
killing one of its flight towers.
	It was then that I spotted it. The black dragon, flying in amongst
the battleships, raining energy blasts down on the hapless village below.
	Feeling none of the fear of our earlier encounter, only a grim
determination, I fired steadily at the grotesque creature. I smiled
slightly as it shrieked with pain and dove out of formation. We were
forced to do the same as the concentrated fire of three battleships and a
handful of destroyers became too much.
	As we soared away into open sky, I looked around frantically for
the black dragon. 

	And found it.

	A furious stream of yellow energy rays ripped through the air
towards us, followed by several red laser blasts which seemed to change
direction and home in one our position. Diving once more, we cut into an
adjacent valley in an attempt to shake the black dragon, but were only
partially successful as rocks and snow rained down on us from several
near-misses. Using the stirred-up snow as a screen, we looped around the
mountain and charged at the black dragon once more, blasting away at its
thick hide. We shot by, only meters away from its lengthy tail, turning
from the hunted to the hunters to the hunted again in a matter of seconds.
	Swooping up through the narrow gap between two of the battleships,
taking out three flight towers on our way up, we pierced the cloud cover
as angry red energy blasts shot past us. Rolling and juking, we avoided
the worst of it and looped up, diving back down at the black dragon.
	We were rocketing towards each other at a suicidal speed, firing
crazily at one another. It was only a matter of time before one of us
struck home.
	One moment I was sitting on my dragon's back, holding my laser
cannon's trigger down and gritting my teeth. A split second later I was
freefalling, blown clear of my dragon by a well-placed energy bolt.
Another split second later and I was enveloped in angry red fire. I felt
a searing, burning sensation, and then, oblivion... 

	I bolted up, snapping my eyes open and looking around. I seemed to
be sitting on a hard white floor, possibly marble. Looking around I saw
that this ivory plain stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was
pitch-black... just like in my vision...
	A voice echoed in my head. 'Yara... Yara...'
	"Wh... what do you want?" I called out. "Who are you?!" As I voiced
the question, an image appeared in my mind; the blue dragon. "Wh... what
is going on here?!"
	'Only in your current state can we communicate like this, Yara. I
mus...'
	"Am I dead?" I whispered, dreading the answer.
	'No, Yara. You are in a coma, near death to be sure, but not dead,'
I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Yara, there is much you need to know before
we can defeat the black dragon. I had hoped that much of this knowledge
could be taught to you by the inhabitant s of this village; they were
great thinkers, who knew many, many things about the past, but they are
all dead now. Yara, in our world exist several places of power. That
ruined airship was one of them, the only one we have access to, so we must
return there.'
	"For what purpose?!" I cried out, greatly confused.
	'To make you aware of the past... weapons alone cannot defeat the
black dragon this time... it is too powerful, with too many allies. We
must return to the airship, perhaps it will hold a clue...'
	"Why did you attack the skeleton of the red dragon? There is so
much I don't understand!" I yelled out in frustration.
	'That is how in must be, I'm afraid. Our time grows short... from
this point on our link will be forever strengthened, but I do not believe
we will ever communicate like this again. Good luck, my little friend...'

	Once more I opened my eyes, this time to the real world. I knew it
wasn't a vision, because visions didn't hurt this much.
	It seemed every muscle in my body had been strained almost to the
point of tearing. My head was pounding with the worst migraine I had ever
had in my life, and I was freezing and bone-tired. Slowly I became aware
of the fact that I was slumped over my dr agon's back and that we were
hidden deep in some cavern. I dully registered the fact that I had somehow
hung on to my laser cannon, but that gave me little solace.
	My little psychic conversation with the Kouriheat came back to me;
if I didn't trust the blue dragon implicitly - and if I didn't owe him my
life - I would've been sorely tempted to throw my hands up on this whole
confusing mess and just walk away. What did the past have to do with any
of this? Why had the blue dragon avoided my question about the red dragon?
And a community of 'great thinkers', that pathetic little village in the
middle of nowhere? Soon, however, my weariness overcame my confusion and I
lapsed into unconciousness once more... 

	Flying south, we soon traded the arctic blasts of the mountains
for the searing heat of the desert as we traversed the Northern Sea, known
of course as the Southern Sea to the inhabitants of this continent, and
headed for more familiar landscapes.
	I still ached from our duel with the black dragon, and the
throbbing in my head had not completely died down. I was lucky to be
alive, to be sure, but our defeat had only made me more depressed.
	Almost a week after our encounter with the black dragon we
returned to the crash site. Little had changed except for the sand which
now covered the wrecks of the four Mechanian airships. We landed inside
the widened hole in the dorsal hull, touching down on one of the innermost
decks, now completely exposed to the elements. If the airship was
unsalvagable before, it was doubly so now. Thinking about that for a
moment, I wondered if that hadn't actually been the blue dragon's
intention. Shrugging it off, I turned my attention to our surroundings.
	Everything here had either been destroyed or overturned. Huge
ruined passageways bisected the deck at regular intervals. Hopping off
into one of those passageways, we flew down it, heading for the bow of the
airship.
	I marvelled once more at the sheer size of the ship, impressive
even in its devastated condition. It was then I noticed what appeared to
be laser burns along the walls of the passageway, and what appeared to be
several blown-out gun mounts and missile racks. The farther we got
towards the bow, the more convulted and ruined the corridor became.
Several times we had to backtrack and take an adjoining passage because of
cave-ins. Finally, when we could proceed no further, we ducked into a hull
breach and landed on a slightly warped deck. Feska illumination still ran
here, as the self-sufficient panels shone forth, emitting a dim light into
the eeriely quiet ship.
	Sliding off my dragon and walking about the hold, I was about to
ask what it expected to find here when the floor panel I stood on gave
way.
	I crashed through no fewer than four decks, finally hitting solid
flooring with a loud 'crack' as my armour absorbed the impact. Picking
myself up off the deck, I looked up at the hole I had created and found my
dragon staring down at me.
	"Thanks for the warning." I said dryly. It merely barked
indignantly, shaking its head slightly. Pulling off a section of armour, I
massaged my sore back as I looked around the small hold I found myself in.
I quickly came to the startling conclusion that everything here was made
of the rarest of substances, *metal*, not the shell-wood-shell layering of
the other decks. This place could be worth a fortune!
	A thick layer of dust coated everything. Now that I looked around,
this room didn't seem to have any entrances or exits, save for the one I
have just unwittingly created, and seemed like it hadn't been used for
many, many years. The air was extremely mus ty, and the only light was an
odd blue-green glow coming from a panel of some sort.
	Wiping the dust off a sort of angled table fastened to the wall, I
saw several buttons and switches with unintelligible markings. One of them
was a large green button that almost begged to be pushed. Wondering if it
would open up a treasure vault or blow us all to tiny pieces, I pressed
it.
	I jumped back as the entire room came to life. Lights winked on,
machines began making noises... I almost turned and fled, but a voice
calling out to me made me stay. Gaping at the wall, I saw the image of a
*man* speaking in some unintelligible voice...  and the image was
*moving*.
	Suddenly I felt a surge in the psychic link between myself and the
blue dragon, even though we weren't physically touching. Then, just like
that, I could understand what the man was saying.
	"...ou can hear me, then you have found one of our caches. I am
President Yurai Hepanya, speaking to you from the capital city of Pacano,
on the eve of the darkest age humanity has faced since we first became
civilized."
	I looked around uncertainly, fear of the power demonstrated here
urging me to flee, but my fascination forcing me to stay. Perhaps my
tendency to be overawed at some things would get me killed some day...
	"If you are not aware of the events which led to this tragedy, if
they have somehow become lost in the mists of times, allow me to enlighten
you.
	"In the year 2796, humanity had spread to several of the near
stars. We had made first contact with a host of other sentient species,
and become members of the multispecies Free Worlds Consortium, a mighty
alliance of many diverse and powerful races. Mam moth starships used an
effect known as the Killktree Effect to travel between the stars. Without
these ships our planet would be forever cut off from other human colonies
and Consortium settlements; the nearest colony would be several hundred
years travel at sublight speeds. It was a golden age for humankind, one of
prosperity in economics, science, and the arts until a great disaster
struck."
	I watched, enthralled, as a ship identical to the one I had seen
in my vision so long ago soared into the night sky. An odd rainbow ring
appeared before the ship, and then the entire sky flared, yellow light
flooding out the screen.
	"That event has come to be known as 'the Ripping.' All our
starships who were tunneling at that moment simply ceased to be. We tried
sending one starship off, then another, but they too were never heard from
again. Our only means of travelling between the stars had deserted us.
Humanity seemed doomed.
	"Allow me to explain; over the course of the few centuries prior to
the Ripping, our solar system and our planet have been mined to the point
of exhaustion. In our hurried attempt to leave our cradle, we never
considered the ramifications for our homeworld, this world, Earth.
	"And so, suddenly cut off from vital mineral convoys from distant
stars, our supply of raw material to manufacture basic necessities and to
power our cities began to die out. We enforced strict recycling policies,
to be sure, but no recycling scheme is perfect; there is always *some*
waste, and that waste began to eat away at our stores. Mining the other
planets of our solar system aided us for a time, as did the pillaging of
of the Cerberus starport and Gulfer manufacturing satellite, but our
supply of fuel for interplanetary travel was soon exhausted. We converted
a few ships to the ancient ion drive, but over the centuries they were
either lost or malfunctioned.
	"The year is now 3414. Our last great hope, a project using nanites
to theoretically give us limitless resources, has failed. Pacano is days,
or perhaps even hours away from our last power source, an antiquated
nuclear reactor, dying out. Most of the planet is already in darkness,
some areas for several decades now. Attempts at communication with the
other colonies of Earth and the Consortium have also met with no results,
even though by now we should have recieved a reply, especially with our
laser comm unications array. What this means I do not know; speculation
runs the gamut from a space-time distortion caused by the Ripping to an
alien invasion.
	"Earth is crumbling all around us. Human civilization seems doomed;
I cannot help but weep when I think of the efforts of our ancestors, and
how it was all for naught. We have, however, endeavoured to ensure our
life without electricity or modern amenities will be as comfortable as
possible by utilizing the one scientific field in which Earth is well off:
genetic engineering.
	"All over the globe, we have planted countless trees, genetically
altered specimens from Theressa IV," A picture of a K'saa tree appeared on
the screen. "The sap of these trees, when processed, has certain
antigravitational properties. Also, we have planted large numbers of
fireflowers from Ceressca VII," The image of a Feska flower appeared. "The
essence of this flower burns slowly, hotly, and steadily. It can also be
used for everything from a source of heat to a form of laser.
	"In addition to these and several other types of genetically
engineered flora, we have placed a nearly equal number of fauna on Earth's
surface. Radically altered insects from Tvid III," The picture of a
stingerless Vind appeared, "have been nested in every village. Once
savage meateaters, these specimens now gather fruit and vegetables. Any
settlement with a Tvid nest in it is almost guaranteed a bountiful harvest
with little or no effort. We have also populated the planet with
hard-shelled Morroc," A Marlack appeared, "for easy hunting and its hard
shell. A plethora of other species have also been introduced, all benign
and completely harmless."
	I snorted in disdain. They certainly weren't all harmless any
more, one only had to ask my dead Yuffa.
	"Also, we have set up several places like the one you now stand in
wherein examples of all our technology and knowledge is stored. These
places still have reserve power, and should this crisis come to pass, can
be used to rebuild our world. One the only starship to have survived the
Ripping, as it was in spacedock at the time. Another is a tower near
Trinidad in the Pacific Ocean where much of our technology has been
stored. Several other places exist, and their location is outlined in
attached files.
	"But humanity does not face this crisis alone. Also on-planet are a
number of members of the only race we know of that is unaffacted by our
atmosphere. They are our staunch allies in the Free Worlds Consortium who
helped us fend off the U'ryktuk invasion of Earth in 2652, they are the
Kouriheat..."
	I looked up at my dragon in shock. It returned my gaze soberly as
if saying 'Now you know...'
	"The Kouriheat representative has pledged that his people will use
all their unique mental and physical powers to aid humanity in our darkest
hour, and for that we are eternally grateful..."
	My attention was drawn away from the monitor as a muffled
explosion rocked the downed airship slightly. My dragon screeched at me,
and I wondered what kind of force was necessary to affect a ship of this
size. Another explosion could be heard, and the ship shook more violently
this time. The screen where the man had been speaking went dark, as did
most of the lights in the hold. Staring one last time at the blackened
screen, I began climbing up the wreckage to where my dragon sat. 

	Soaring out of the dead airship, I despaired to see the remnants
of the fleet we had encountered to the north. Frantically looking around,
I failed to spot the black dragon and concluded it had not come with the
fleet. It was obvious that the black dragon was allied both with Mechania
and the Empire, each side believing that it worked for them alone, and so
flying with an Empire fleet through Mechanian territory could bode poorly
for its alliance with Mechania if it was spotted.
	The fleet was bombarding the massive airship with shot after shot,
but shifted focus when we emerged, laser blasts and flaming cannonballs
slamming into the desert around us.
	Rolling left and climbing, we took out one of the remaining nine
destroyers as we gained alititude. Zipping between two more destroyers, I
smiled as the port one took some friendly fire from Empire gunners who
hadn't realized what we were doing and were too slow to cease firing in
time.
	We broke off as heavy fire from the three damaged battleships
filled the air in front of us, diving to the canyon floor. Two destroyers
broke formation in pursuit, and we led them on a merry chase through the
narrow ravine. Blasting a rock outcropping as we shot underneath it, I
managed to nail one of the destroyers and bring the other one up short.
Looping around, I fired through the dust cloud at where I thought the
second airship was, and was rewarded with a large explosion as I nailed
its flight hull.
	We shot along the lip of the canyon, shooting at the enemy fleet
above and killing one destroyer while crippling another. Pulling up to an
almost vertical climb, we actually *increased* velocity as beam after beam
slammed into the first battleship's port -side flight towers. Blowing them
apart one by one, we looped backwards and dove as the ship lurched
violently, listing heavily to port and beginning a slow, circling descent.
	Shooting wildly over my shoulder as we dove, I managed to get our
two pursuers to break off. Several minutes later we had knocked out all
but one battleship and two destroyers, and all three ships were leaking
smoke and firing erratically. Not wanting to press our luck we headed
northeast, landing on a rock outcropping once we had put some distance
between ourselves and the enemy. 

	Leaping off my dragon, I spun harshly to face it. "What did that
mean?!" I shouted. "I still don't under..." I stopped as my mind was
seized by the Kouriheat. Once more I found myself in another place,
another time, this time millennia ago and across a gulf of stars... 

	I looked around frantically at my new location; it certainly
wasn't the deserts of the S'rah region. Odd purplish plant life abounded,
and a heavy grey mist seemed to settle about everything. The mist cleared
somewhat, and I could see... my breath caught ... I saw a whole village, a
whole *city* comprised of primarily adult Kouriheat! Many were wingless,
but some soared through the air. The scene shifted slightly, and I watched
a tall building seemingly assemble itself as several Kouriheat stood or
hovered nearby, the odd marking on their throats glowing brightly.
	Suddenly the scene shifted again. I watched a fragile-looking
starship - crystalline and black, and much larger than the human starship
I had seen earlier - leave the Kouriheatan planet and vanish into the
night.
	I watched the Kouriheatan starship confront a smaller, more
primative human starship.
	The scene shifted dramatically to several decades, or even
centuries later. Kouriheat and humans settled many worlds together, and
often visited each other's home planets. Another scene shift, and I
watched several Kouriheatan and human ships exchanging fire with a mammoth
alien fleet. I started as one of the Kouriheatan ships suddenly exploded,
victim of a concentrated barrage from the grey alien ships.
	The images ended, and I found myself hovering over a purple-white
plain as I had before. "How does this help me defeat the black dragon?!" I
shouted. An image appeared before me; the black dragon... aboard a
Kouriheatan ship? It had lived that long ago?
	I gasped as a surge of endorphins washed through my body;
obviously that had been a right answer.
	Another image appeared; the black dragon in the same room with the
man I had seen on the moving screen. The black dragon had been the
Kouriheatan representative he had talked about? Their leader?
	Another surge of endorphins; I had to admit, this was quite an
incentive to make correct guesses.
	I shook my head. This was milennia ago! Kouriheat couldn't be
immortal... my own father had killed the black dragon! How could it simply
ressurect itself?
	An image came into my mind; I watched a Kouriheat die, and then be
reborn as an infant. After seeing this several times over, I surmized that
the Kouriheat were capable of reincarnation. I got confirmation, and then
the images changed. The Kouriheat died, and was not reborn.
	"The Kouriheat... what... cannot reincarnate forever?" I asked out
loud. I frowned as I felt a twinge of pain in my left cheek. "OK, that was
wrong... They... they can *choose* whether or not to be reborn?" I
ventured. I felt one last surge of endorphins.
	"So," I said, trying to get all the facts together, "the black
dragon was your leader on this planet a long time ago, but... something
went wrong. What happened?"
	I watched the black dragon die and be reborn several times. I
*lived* part of the black dragon's life, experienced the weariness he felt
but also his determination not to rest until his people's survival was
guaranteed. I saw humanity as the black dragon came to see it after
centuries of dealing with them; a backwards species that restricted the
Kouriheat and refused to recognize them as their betters...
	I watched the black dragon rise to the leadership of the Kouriheat
several times, and I felt him growing more and more impatient with
humanity. Finally, he simply snapped, declaring that the Kouriheat would
not rest until humanity bowed down to them or died. The other Kouriheat
denounced this and ousted the black dragon as leader, but relations
between the Kouriheat and humans were forever cooled. Millennia went by
and the black dragon still refused to die. Then the peoples of the Tantuk
sent a strike fo rce and killed the black dragon to 'end the threat' as
they put it. The black dragon was reborn, however, and annihilated the
Tantuk in a mad rage, and killed several Kouriheat who had tried to stop
him...
	I sighed as the vision came to an end; the black dragon was not
evil incarnate, just a tired Kouriheat jaded by living so long.
Immortality could be a curse, which was why the option to not be
reincarnated was such a blessing to the Kouriheat. I also fel t greatly
saddened by the actions of my fellow man; had the Tantuk not attacked the
black dragon, it would probably simply be sitting in a cave, fuming but
not willing to turn on its own kind who still protected the humans. I was
also saddened to know that we today hunted for sport a people who had
once been our most loyal allies, who had died for us. That we did not know
of these events was of no solace to me; we had done the Kouriheat a great
wrong, and part of me wondered if what the black dragon was d oing wasn't
the justice we deserved...
	I felt a sharp jabbing pain in my gut. "Will you stop that?!" I
snapped, not appreciating the blue dragon's messing with my body. "And I
still don't see how this is supposed to help us."
	A final series of images came to me, and I concluded that the blue
dragon thought the only way to truly defeat the black dragon was to reason
with it, to convince it to lets itself die and not be reborn. I felt a
part of the blue dragon still respected t he black dragon for its
millennia of leadership, but at the same time it felt the black dragon had
lived too many lives, and it was time for it to rest.
	"Reason with the black dragon?" I replied disbelievingly as the
link ended. "Why not try and convince sandworms to do birthday parties
while we're at it...?" 

	As we flew northwest, I began to grow increasingly edgy as we
approached the front lines of the Empire-Mechania war, headed straight for
the heart of Empire territory. A Mechanian task force of four destroyers
passed by us but thankfully didn't spot us a s they headed east. Three
days of leisurely flying later, we could see the violent explosions and
streamers of light on the horizon, telltale signs of large-scale conflict.
The entire western sky seemed filled with fire day and night as airships,
battlesh ips, and ground troops slugged it out, niether side seemingly
able to get the upper hand. The Empire had infinitely better supply lines
and numbers, but the Mechanians were veteran soldiers fighting for their
homeland. I suppose if I had to root for eithe r side I'd cheer for the
Empire, but I'd much rather see them both destroy each other so we
wouldn't have to put up with their respective vices any more.
	I half expected everyone on the battlefield to stop shooting at
each other and turn their guns on us as we shot through the thick of
things, and while a few did, most were embroiled in mortal combat and took
little notice of us. We attracted fewer than t hree dozens shots as we
passed by, and I was cautiously optimistic that we'd weathered the worst
of it. 

	That feeling dropped like a rock twenty minutes later as we
encountered the Empire's reinforcements. 

	*Hundreds* of Empire airships filled the western sky, and we had
the good fortune of being the only hostile target in the area.
	I believe my exact words at that point were "Oh.... shit...."