George Atmell

I woke up from a dream. I couldn't describe it as a nightmare or a pleasant dream. It felt like...a prophecy of some kind. I did not remember the details, but I remembered that I saw Zardes and Malkar, two hellhounds that had impacted my life, looked at the stars and called my name. They seemed to be waiting near the outskirts of the city of Qeveriyt. Slowly, they were joined by those who fought with them, or simply allies they found as I continued my travel out here, beyond the stars. There was a humanoid goat with black fur and red eyes, a gray-furred hellhound being led by a red-furred hellhound, and a Fuzandre with no fur and pale gray skin seemingly shrouded by dark manifestation. Before long, Itresil joined them.

It may not make any sense to you if you did not know their story, or the fact that not one of them were remotely human. Only Zardes, Malkar, and the two hellhounds were subterranean while the rest...were true demons. I only knew their names when I go back home. The goat demon was Belial, the furless albino Fuzandre was Ammon, the gray-furred hellhound was Gehen, and his red-furred companion was Damos. I met all of them as I recounted my story of space travel, from when I met Arcturus until I met them. It is the story I am writing now, based on the journals I collected throughout my journey.

However, this dream...this prophetic dream, felt so real. That vision was replaced with me walking down what looked like a platform to greet Zardes. We talked, but I did not remember what we talked in that dream, and as I turned to greet his fellow adventurers, the dream ended with the noise of an alarm clock buzzing beside me.

I groggily woke up and went to turn of the noisy contraption before I noticed something in the dark. My first thought was that it was an animal, until it talked.

"Ah, you're awake. Pity. A little longe and I might learn a bit more about yourself. In the future, of course," it said.

It walked out of the shadows as it showed its form. At first glance, I quickly noticed that it was a black-scaled dragon with lime green markings. The dragon was normal except for having five green, featureless eyes instead of two. It seemed rather ethereal and ghostly, not to mention its multiple tentacle-like tails and wispy, smoke-like wings that seemed barely there. Other than that, it seemed rather normal.

"Who...are you?" I asked, curious. "And what do you mean by 'life'?"

"I'm a nobody," it said with a chuckle. "A sightseer, diving into the memories of your past and your future."

"So, you're a dreamweaver?" I surmised.

"Whatever your planet's culture regard me as. I do have power over your dreams, but I am more than a simple weaver. I am many things, but I call myself a dragon of Ossogoth. We have...a mutual friend, in the form of Domel Arcturus. I am who possessed him, for lack of a better word."

I remembered Arcturus telling me about the entity possessing him. This creature admitted that it was the same entity. However, I never thought it would be able to manifest itself in front of me. Arcturus did say that he was the only one who could see this creature calling itself a dragon of Ossogoth. It did look draconic, but vaguely. The correct term for it would be a 'monster'.

"How do you show yourself in front of me?" I asked.

"I simply have the power over your limited dimension," said the entity. "This three-dimensional plane may be a very restricting prison, but Arcturus, or in this case, his mind, helped me understand a different perspective. For the first time in my life, I felt...humbled, I suppose."

"Prison?" I asked. "But you don't look imprisoned."

"A very relative concept, I know," it said. "Long have I been forced to discard my old reality and dwell among you. I am forced to abide to your dimension's constricting rules as I...travel ever forward, no longer capable of physically traveling to any period of time or warp reality as I see fit. I am...simply am."

Its speech sounded rather confusing and had a lot of hidden meaning, and it did confuse someone who just woke up from a dream this 'dragon' claimed to have weaved for me. The effect on his voice did not help make things easier, either.

"Whatever you are," I said. "I hope you're not going to be a problem, for me or for Arc."

"Please, George Atmell," it said with a deep, cryptic chuckle. "Do not compare me to a parasite like those Dragons of Primal Light. It hurts my feelings."

"I doubt you even know what 'feelings' are, especially since you claim to be a god."

"I borrowed the term from you," it said. "To fit in. Oh, but I still have the opportunity to learn more of your...three-dimensional way of life."

It disappeared afterwards. I wondered why it showed in front of me and be interested in me. Back then, I knew that, one day, I would return home and meet with the people I left behind (involuntarily). Maybe it was just checking one of my futures, given how powerful it was. Even so, it was...limited in many aspects. It's trying to find out how we 'Three-Dimensionals' worked our lives with all our limitations. It acted like a god trying to understand its creation or something like that. But, there's something with it. I did not know. Maybe it was trying to subtly call for help, but maybe it's just my feelings. I do not know how to read emotions. In fact, I don't think anyone can. If Kilkaja, a Nuoevan, could not, then no one could.

The draconic creature's presence seemed to tell that our Trikelian problem was not as it seemed, which add to the layer of mystery towards our still hidden menace. But in order to effectively fight them, we need more allies, and along with allies, we need a better ship.

After ensuring that Andrates and the others from Lekan made things straight about what happened to Andrates and his involuntary reasons in causing so much damage in Arkari, we set off to Orlonel with Areil, a Lekan Vyrnian who was asked by Andrates to accompany us as a representative from Lekan. Everyone managed to convince the Vyrnians of Orlonel that one Trikelian caused the whole event on Arkari, and they were worried that more of those Trikelians would cause even more problem. Orlonel colony had already had a taste of what the Trikelian could do when the specimen they secured managed to escape solely on its own ingenuity.

Xilna, the leader of the Orlonel excavation team, recently told us that they recovered the Trikelian in question among the Arkari ruins, dead. Apparently, Arcturus's Vyrnian energy Burst did more damage to it than to Andrates, and Arcturus revealed that he knew the risks. The Vyrnian Burst he did to his father would not be enough to kill his father, but it would cause considerable damage to whoever was touching them, and the result, as Arcturus predicted, was fatal.

I did try to find the slimy alien, but it was far too fast even when gravely injured. Good thing it died when it should.

"That proof is the only way we can convince the Vyrnians of Orlonel to help you," said Xilna with a sigh. "The Vyrnians from Lekan do cause quite a stir."

"We never intended it to be that way," said Areil.

"I know. But, you're lucky, you know. Even with the Trikelian corpse proof, your outrageous plan to return the Vyrnians back to Vyrn could be dismissed as a crazy scheme. Now, Arkari and Orlonel are ready to back you. Whatever you're planning next...you can be assured that I'm ready to back you."

"Thank you," said Arcturus. I could see his expression changed into relief.

"So, tell me," said Xilna. "What are you going to do next? Find more allies?"

"That would be something we're going to ask you to do. For us, we are going to commission a ship, something we can properly use when the time comes."

"Why don't you use anyone of our ships, then?"

"We need a new ship," said Areil. "Something that's current tech, fast, reliable, and more importantly, a universal control scheme."

"Universal...control scheme?" asked Xilna. She contemplated those words for a moment before she said, "Wait, are you going to design a brand-new ship? One where the controls are completely different from everything out there?"

"I know it's rather far-fetched, but Andrates predicted that all space-faring civilization on this galaxy will have to unite if we ever want to have a chance to fight against the Trikelians." She then hesitated for a moment, before she said, "Because he knew...we're the most susceptible to them. If we fall, then the others will continue the fight."

Areil's declaration was new and sounded very depressing. The Trikelians did took over their home planet, forcing the Vyrnians to spread across the galaxy while sealing up their planet. That made them the prime victims of the Trikelians and would be the most susceptible while also the only race completely aware of the danger. If they fell...they needed to be sure the Trikelians die with them or gave the other races a fighting chance.

It was so similar to the history of the first dragon city of Dracokin. The Dragonsbane attacked the city and many dragons and their riders fell, but their sacrifice alerted the Western Region and gave them time to prepare, which quickly came to past when Seraphor and Avila, the two dragons who almost destroyed the Dragonsbane, returned after a hundred years from what they described as an 'interdimensional adventure'.

The whole thing sounded almost similar, with the Vyrnians of Lekan being the only ones who were aware of the Trikelian's danger and were trying to spread that awareness to everyone who bothered to listen, which they hoped would be everyone. I, a human from a pre-space planet, was there to witness everything while my planet was completely oblivious of it all. I wanted it to sound like a privilege, but with the looming danger, I did not think of it that way.

"Okay," said Xilna. "I get your point. I hope the credits won't be a problem, because I'll recommend a good place for you to design your ship."

Xilna then twisted a knob and the nearby board slowly go up, revealing a screen behind it which turned on to show a galactic map. One point on that map was blinking, and was where Xilna zoomed into.

"The planetary shipyard of Araxonis," she said. "They're the best Vyrnian shipwright who might be able to give you the right ship you need. But, they'll want a high price."

"Anywhere cheaper?" I asked.

"Araxonis is also contracted by other races, so it's your best bet for that universal control scheme. There is a chance they are currently researching it. You just have to ask the right questions."

Areil turned to Arcturus and Zarya and they discussed this among themselves. After they found an agreement, Areil turned to Xilna and said, "Contact us if you have a different place in case Araxonis refuses."

"I will," said Xilna. "Good luck."

"Thank you for the help. It's so good to know there are other Vyrnians who cared."

"I hope everyone is going to care even more after they know the danger, but for now...I hope my support is valuable. I will help to convince the others of the danger, but you gotta make your efforts count, too."

Everyone nodded, acknowledging that we had no more allies than we could count. If we succeeded, then we might be able to convince everyone that the danger was real.

I really hoped we could at least warn Earth about it, but when I told Arcturus about it, he was adamant that we kept my planet out of it.

"Even if they know the danger, can they fight it?" said Arcturus. "We have the non-interference policy for a reason, and that reason is to not cause more problem to a pre-space planet than they already have."

Which was the right reason. Even with Earth already united, they were still not ready for what we would face.

With the help of the net, I researched Araxonis to know about it in detail. It was a Vyrnian-operated shipbuilding company that provided services in designing and building spaceships. They were unique in that they were contracted to build ships for other races and was quite good with it, too. Their business slowed due to the Saukaur-Felinian war, but they started to recover from it.

They were contracted to design and build ships for many purposes, including exploration. They did military contracts for the Vyrnians years ago, but they stopped when they expanded their business to include other races.

The whole thing seemed to be a good prospect, if only it was not for one single uncertainty: the budget. The advertisements I got from Araxonis and even the price listings on their site gave us a whooping amount of credits, far more than everything I even considered expensive. Xilna did warn us that it would be expensive and if needed, we could to find a different shipwright. I told Arcturus about this, and he agreed that the credits, even in post-Exodus rates, were too expensive.

"Dad did not specify on the budget," he said. "We'll tell him after we got the numbers, but until then...I don't know."

That's not helping, I thought. Did Andrates even knew the cost of building a ship from scratch, not to mention designing a completely new navigational system? Nevertheless, we could only hope Andrates had the credits necessary. If not...well, we just have to find a way. It's not like there's any other issue other than money, right?

Well...I talked to soon. From the net, I thought that Araxonis may have been a bustling shipyard with workers building a ship or maybe a fully automated facility manned by robots. When we got there...it was nothing more than an abandoned shipyard. There were no ships being made or repaired. Several ships, partially constructed, were left in their moors, unpainted and not space-worthy. I thought that they were closed for business, but they could program some robots to do the jobs, right? In fact, I could see several robots and some machineries that suggested automated work. The robots were not activated when we noticed, and no work was being made.

"Did we get the coordinates right?" asked Arcturus, confused.

"Yeah. 10, 30, 76, 88, B42. This is Araxonis," said Zarya after double-checking the coordinates. She then pointed towards a nearby unlit beacon and said, "Araxonis. We're in the right place."

We contemplated on the place's current state when we were hailed by someone. Not sure who to expect, we opened a channel. On the screen was an old Vyrnian around Andrates's age, possibly even older. He seemed rather distraught but tried to act calm.

"Hello, Vyrkaya," said the old Vyrnian. "Welcome to Araxonis, or what's left of it."

"What happened to the shipyard?" asked Arcturus.

He then sighed. "Raiders happened. We can't help you, so...I'm sorry. Araxonis is closed for business."

Then the draconic being, now the size of a dragonet, sitting on the ship's console saying something to Arcturus. I could hear what it said, so maybe it let me listen in.

"Ask him if someone was acting strangely and gave out a suspicious call," it said. "You might find the answer soon enough."

Arcturus did so, and soon after, the old Vyrnian's expression changed. He was rather out of it before, but now he became serious.

"I think we need to talk," he said. "I can repair the tractor beam, but don't expect it to work."

"No need," said Zarya. "I can dock manually."

The old Vyrnian smiled. "Good to know we still have proper pilots out there."

The channel closed, leaving us wondering what the draconic creature knew. The creature simply smiled, showing that its mouth was full of sharp teeth that looked like it had a second or maybe third layer of it, much like Itresil's unnatural maw with a lower jaw that could...split. I still think I was only imagining it...until she confessed what she was.

As directed by the old Vyrnian, we docked on the only space dock that seemed to be intended only for visitors. Being surrounded by half-finished ships made the place both eerie and otherworldly at the same time. It was like a ship graveyard full of unfulfilled dreams. Those half-finished ships looked new, but with their abandoned, wrecked state, they also looked old at the same time.

The old Vyrnian greeted us as we docked and walked out of the ship. He directed us to his office, walking through a damaged facility. There were other Vyrnian staffs cleaning and repairing the facility. They turned to look at us, but I knew they thought that we might end up going without striking a deal after seeing the state of Araxonis.

"Tell me," he said. "How do you know one of my staffs acted strangely? I only told our clients that there's an indefinite delay due to a pirate attack, but not someone acting strangely."

"Wait, we didn't know you were attacked," said Arcturus.

"Where did you come from?"

"Orlonel, of planet Amurlun."

"Ah. There are not many customers around that area. We didn't bother making a full announcement there. In fact, no one from that area can afford our services, anyway. But more importantly, tell me. Where did you learn that piece of information?"

Arcturus was rather reluctant to say anything, thinking that no one would believe him that a draconic being talked to him suggesting that idea. Still, Areil told him what he needed to know.

"Arkari and Lekan were attacked by pirates called by one of those 'strange Vyrnians' you're talking about," said Areil. "We know why they're acting strangely, but I never thought you're already attacked."

"I see," said the old Vyrnian, rubbing his draconic chin. "Well, do me a favor and keep this a secret. The customers don't need to know we harbored a 'sick' Vyrnian."

"Where's this Vyrnian now?"

"Gone. Disappeared during the fighting. Hope he's not going to be a problem after this. Araxonis won't survive another full-scale pirate raid like that."

"But wait," said Zarya, contemplating on the story. "What happened to the contracts? Did they just cancel their orders and left you with half-finished products moored out there?"

"Oh, goodness me, no," said the old Vyrnian. "We were fortunate that Araxonis did not use pre-determined contracts. Due to the price we asked for a specific time window, almost everyone opted the 'no-rush' option. Of course, our reputation was that we still finish the contract as fast as we could and deliver it, so it's more a promise than a business. I know that business model won't help us be financially viable, but it protects us from losing customers."

I soon realized that there were people like that on Earth. Artists and craftsmen fitted what this old Vyrnian had in mind. They did not care of the money, just that they finish what they started and make sure it was to their customer's satisfaction. In fact, it was smart not to promise anything and kept it as a luxurious service.

But that also returned to our problems with the budget required just to create one ship. I hope Andrates knew that Araxonis was a poor choice to mass-produce ships due to their craftsmen mindset, especially if it was his plan to supply other ships with a control scheme everyone could use. I was sure that maybe it was a bad idea asking for Araxonis's service, so I told Arcturus about this, who agreed that maybe it would be a bad idea asking Araxonis for a mass-produced fleet.

As we walked to the old Vyrnian's office, who introduced himself as Jardani Saif, he found out that it might not even be possible to ask for a new ship since it would be very expensive and not serving what Andrates had in mind. He might be old, but he had a sharp mind.

"So," said Saif. "I know you expected me to help you mass-produce a military fleet when you listened to me and was disappointed that we do custom-made ships exclusively."

"Yeah...well...."

"But...we do hold patents of many ships out there. We have a separate division intended for ship design and salvage, one that I personally held and maintained. My partner headed the luxury division, though with our current problem, we help each other's division to the best of our abilities. So...I can ask for a compromise instead, one that involves you telling me what you need and we can talk the service fee later. What say you?"

"Xilna did say you design ships for other races, so I guess you're not wrong in that regard," said Arcturus.

"Then tell me what you have in mind."

"We require a ship design that encompasses everyone, one with a proper universal control scheme that even a blind Vyrnian could use," said Arcturus. "But we also require that it can also accommodate other space-faring civilizations already using a spaceship on regular basis."

"That's easy enough," said Saif. "We already had the idea doing it, but we hit a problem with size. Compared to other races, we stand several feet taller and our ships are bigger as a result. The only way to make it work is either a touchscreen interface, which is normally too small for Vyrnians with the screen usually taking too much space and energy, or...an AI-driven ship with mechanical and holographic components."

"Holo-interface," concluded Arcturus. "I never thought about it."

"Except that technology is lost when Vyrn was sealed off by a planetary force field 500 years ago, in the Exodus era," said Saif. "We do find examples scattered throughout the former Vyrnian empire, but most of them are too old, too damaged, or simply inaccessible."

"Then it is possible," said Arcturus. "We have schematics of pre-Exodus ships with us, in case you need a blueprint for it."

"Really? May I look at it?" asked Saif, skeptical.

Arcturus tapped on his pad before he gave the device to Saif, who checked the blueprint. His draconic eyes looked at each details in rapid succession, just as an experienced ship designer would. It did not take long before he looked at us in disbelief.

"This is a genuine, unaltered copy of a pre-Exodus ship blueprint," said Saif. "There's no way this is modified using post-Exodus technology. I heard of the Orlonel ruins, but I thought they said it's a planetary research facility, not a military ship design."

Arcturus turned to Areil. "Should I...?"

"Why not?" said Areil, shrugging.

Arcturus turned to Saif and said, "Those schematics came from within the Lekan database."

"Lekan, as if...?"

"The lunar colony of Vyrn, yes."

Saif stared at Arcturus and Areil, apparently studying them. That's when he gasped in disbelief.

"No...no way. You're...you're both pre-Exodus Vyrnians," he said in disbelief. "I never thought that's possible, but..."

"We can talk about that later. Can you build the ship or not?"

Saif shook his head and returned to his serious self.

"O-oh yes," he said. "But we need a ship with a working holo-interface, not just the blueprint. With our current knowledge, we cannot create the ship from scratch, not without orichalcum and those exotic metals no one's dealing with anymore. We can try using synthetic, lightweight composite material, but without a proper model, we can't build one."

"So, what you're saying is, we need a model ship. A pre-Exodus model ship."

"Well, you're in luck," said Saif with a smile. "I can hire you to help me salvage a near-undamaged pre-Exodus ship."

He then walked towards a nearby console and pulled up a coordinate on the screen.

"There is a pre-Exodus era ship on that planet," said Saif. "Planetary scan showed that the ship's intact and ready to be salvaged. But there is a catch. That planet's a populated stage six pre-space planet."

"Stage six?" I asked, only aware of five stages of pre-space planets.

"Fallen civilization," said Saif. "Not in the charts. Basically, that planet destroyed itself a long time ago and is currently in the dark ages molded from the technologies of the past. You might be more familiar with the term 'post-apocalyptic'. The ship was spared by that destruction due to it crashing in a remote mountain range. Outside, it's virtually undamaged. Not sure about the interior or the engine, but that's our best bet."

"And given the time frame, that ship must've been made more than 500 years ago," said Arcturus. "Not sure if the holo-interface is already gutted by the survivors of the crash or not, because if that's the case, we might have to deal with the locals."

"Oh, the non-interference policy is not very well enforced," said Saif with a chuckle. "Vyrnians broke the codes so many times. Sometimes, its mutually beneficial, sometimes it's not. In fact, you already broke it yourself. I never know any cream-skinned Orian, only the blue ones."

He was referring to me. I sometimes forgot that I was also pre-space. Technically, I had not caused problems to Earth since I had not visited it ever since going to space, but even back then, I knew one day I would return home. Everyone always come home, no matter how far they've been.

"Well, it happens," said Arcturus with a shrug. "I don't even know I crashed on his planet before he woke me up."

"Ah, don't think about it too much. Besides, I don't want to be called a hypocrite for reprimanding you for it. I'm coming with you."

"Eh? But..."

"Araxonis's not going to resume normal business for a while, anyway. I don't have anything to do except repairing the robots, but my employees are already keeping themselves busy with it. And besides, we won't let another raid happens. The defense system we installed will help us fend them off. Even if they fail, they won't find anything here."

Arcturus and Areil looked at each other, with Areil shrugging and said, "Just stay out of trouble."

"I am currently recovering from a trouble, so I'm pretty much expecting to stay on the safe side," said Saif.

"I mean don't break the policy more than we should. Just get on the ship, hotwire it, and get out. No funny business," insisted Areil. "Got it?"

"No funny business," he repeated, confirming it. "Not a problem."

"Then meet us back on the ship as soon as you're ready," said Areil.

Before we let him prepare for the trip, Arcturus turned and asked, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," said Saif with a smile.

I could see that Saif was once an adventurous Vyrnian who longed to be involved in yet another adventure. I wondered if, when I got old, I still want to find a chance for an adventure, provided I had not got sick of it?

I hoped I stayed positive, despite the dangers and the despairs we faced.