I was sitting in the Dragon Head lost in thought, on my second brandy. This had something to do with the game. I don’t know why, but it did. What did I know about games? I was never that much into them. Sure, I played that one online with the battleships, but all that was, was positioning yourself and hoping the rest of whoever you were with didn’t run off and abandon you. Then there was the shooter that I played with my grandkids. They hated it when I found a sniper rifle in the game. I smiled inwardly. Still. This wasn’t that type. This was more something that they played. That assassin game or the one that you killed rabbits for weeks on end. Can’t even remember what they were called. What did something like that have to do with an entire galaxy? I remembered the game magazines as well….

“Greetins Michael. How ya be?”

“Greeting Dorvus, I am well.”

“Ya don’t look that well ta me.”

“Okay, how about well enough?”

He chuckled. “We were hoping that you would come back.”

I sighed. “I never really left. I was passed out in my lair until Noregus came for me.”

“Yah, ya had us all worried. Some o the other dragons said they could feel ya when ya lost it out there. Course the rest of us weren’t in that good a shape ourselves.”

“I remember seeing the dragons screaming before I passed out.” I said, staring out into space.

“Aye, it wasn’t pretty. Will this be happenin… well, you know.”

“I don’t know.”

“Michael, this could drive the other dragons mad.”

“I know. Sad thing is, I know how to fix it.”

“Ya do?”

“Yes, but you and all the other people would pay the price.”

“Ya mean to kill us all?”

“Gods no. What would you think about immortality?”

He almost fell off of his chair. “That not be somethin ya just toss out on the table like a copper, Michael.”

I sighed. “I know. You would pay the price for the safety of my race.”

“How would ya even do somethin like that?”

“I couldn’t. But I was approached by a god.”

“Oh no… What did they be wantin?” He had paled.

“Just for us to take over the galaxy.”

“Galaxy?”

“Imagine all the stars in the sky. Multiply that by a thousand and you have a small idea.”

“They not be wantin much.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be hard. I could open portals to each and every one, if I wished. I am thinking of doing a few of them anyway so the dragons would have places to explore.”

He was quiet for a minute. “That be expainin the immortality offer then.”

He was quick on the uptake. “Yeah, they wouldn’t hand that out for free, even if it did save the dragons.”

“So, what ya tell em?”

“That I would have a meeting in a week to let the nobles know and then they would have to talk to their people first.”

He laughed. “How’d that go over.”

“Well they did up the offer…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, ascension and Haladoria.”

His face blanked. “They need somethin bad then.”

“Yeah, that is my thought. Thing is, they asked me if I would take those two… gifts… even if the races decided against the other.”

“I would be watchin then.”

“I intend to.”

“I think I be goin now. I want to talk this over with Cornal.”

“Fair winds Dorvus.”

“Take care… Lord Dragon.”

I face palmed and he laughed as he walked out.

I took another sip. If this was a game, then who were the players? Why an entire galaxy? I closed my eyes and took another sip. The scent of the brandy tickled my nose and suddenly I was afraid to open my eyes. I don’t know if I was more afraid of seeing Haladoria or not seeing her. I forced my mind back on trying to figure the mess out and opened my eyes. Shryke was staring at me.

“Are you alright, Michael?” He asked softly.

I sighed. “About as well as can be expected.”

“We were worried about you.”

“I am more worried about the other dragons. How are they taking this?”

“Some have withdrawn, some still seem to be in shock. Others? They just seem to be going from day to day. None of us wish to be away from our friends, but the thought now of losing them… I don’t know. If this is to happen every time one of them dies, I think we will go insane.”

I sighed. “That is my fear as well. The problem is, there is a solution for it, but it would be the people who pay the price.”

He stared at me for a few moments. “What is the solution?”

“The gods have offered to make the other races immortal.”

His eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. “That is a hard price.”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told her that the people would have to make the decision. They were wanting me to just say yes and then inflict it on the people without warning. I cannot see doing that to those we care about. It has to be their choice.”

“Good. How will you do this?”

“A week from now, there will be a meeting. Then the nobles will go and talk to their people.”

He sighed. “What will you tell them?”

“The truth, the gods want us to take over the galaxy and they offer immortality as payment.”

“The galaxy? Why?”

“I don’t know. This whole thing stinks.”

“I don’t see what that would do for them unless they get points over what they control.”

“The game.”

“Precisely. That also makes it seem as if they are players as well.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” I said staring off into space.

“Still immortality? It would make sense as it would make the expansion that much faster. Either that or they are desperate.”

“Yes. That makes sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“The “god” that I talked to seemed… I don’t know… fearful? They even tried to up the offer if I would accept.”

“What else?”

“Ascension for me and Haladoria.”

His eyes widened till they looked like they would fall out. “Gods… This isn’t something simple then.”

“No, and my thoughts keep getting drawn back to the game. There is more here than we know.”

“I don’t know what to say. No one even pays attention to the game other than to see how much they have grown. There is no real… wait. There is no goal. Maybe the gods are wanting to set goals to get the game back on track?”

I thought about that for a few minutes. “Makes sense.” I said cautiously. “But still, that would also mean that something has changed. They mentioned that our consolidation of this world and the other was an unexpected surprise.”

“So maybe they didn’t realize.”

“I don’t know. We are in a standoff till the people of the lands make their decision.”

“I bet that makes them happy. I do wonder why they just didn’t do it?”

I cocked my head. “Do what?”

“They are gods, why didn’t they just go ahead and give the races immortality?”

Yes, why wouldn’t they? “I don’t know. They are being very careful to ask. And they are offering bribes… They have something to lose, then.”

“They keep coming back to you as well. Those offers seemed to be made to make you make the decision for them.”

I stared at him for a minute. I remembered what she had said to Arienach.

“I don’t know Michael. They never told me a damn thing before the incident.”

I sighed. “I can’t think of a damn thing…” I stopped as Noregus’s words came back to me. ‘You sleep on a mana vent.’

He looked at me strangely. “Did you think of something?”

I shook my head. “Just something Noregus said that I hadn’t considered.”

“About the gods?”

“No, about my sleeping habits.” I chuckled.

“Well, no one really understands how you sleep in molten rock.”

I laughed softy while staring out into space. There were more and more pieces, but they didn’t even look like the same picture, let alone part of a puzzle.

“I need to get back. I don’t like leaving Darhla alone and she isn’t up to coming out yet.”

“When this meeting happens, could you and a few of the other dragons go?”

“Sure, but why? We cannot in good conscience argue for them to accept.”

“I wouldn’t want you to argue that anyway. No, I want you to explain what they would face.”

He smiled. “You care for your people.”

“Aye. It’s becoming a curse I think.”

“Fair winds Michael. I would not have your place in this.”

“Fair winds Shryke. Give my regards to Darhla.”

I finished my drink and walked out into the night. I greeted a few people as I made my way through the ring. Gods offering rewards that were beyond generous. At least for them. Expansion out into the galaxy. Nervous gods. Nervous dragons. The game… it all came back to the game for some reason. It was the only thing that made sense. But it didn’t. I went back over the conversations I had over the day. Something was bothering me.

The mana vent. I used my planar sight to track down through the magma. The vent expanded under my lair, almost as if the edges had collapsed inward. The shaft was almost twice the size of the opening. Down I went. The walls were straight and perfectly round. So it was some type of impact, but strangely, what ever it was didn’t come apart. There would be signs of that in the walls and the shaft would taper and become irregular. Down I went. Strangely, the magma stayed the same color. I wasn’t a geologist, but wouldn’t the rock be hotter further down, closer to the heat source? Just past half way to the core of the planet, I found it.

“Michael, what the hell is that?”

“It looks to be a starship.”

“What is it doing here?”

“I have no clue.”

My sight wouldn’t penetrate the shell. It was long and smooth and obviously not natural. It looked like it was driven into the planet like a bullet. Then I felt it. Even through my sight, I felt it.

“Arienach?”

“Yes?”

“This is where the mana is coming from.”

We both stared at the long cigar shape that was buried almost to the heart of the planet.