Phoenix Rising (Dragon Legacy)

by Previn Hudetz

  “Ivers, take that dragon out before it destroys my command tower.”

  “Yes, Highness,” the old Knight replied, and three fists of Knights changed course and engaged the dragon, heckling it down from the sky toward the guns.

  Harris saw one of the Knights land decisively on the dragon's neck and successfully embed his shock-lance into the base of the monster's skull, shooting off a full blast into its brain pan. Its head dissolved, followed by the rest of its body, leaving nothing but a faint spinning dust, and the Knight rejoined his fist to engage in another fracas on the far side of the Citadel.

  “What's that warrior's name?” King Harris asked.

  “Sir Wayne,” Ivers replied. “New to Montana's fist since Grint...well, you saw that on the news, I'm sure.”

  “Impressive skill. He's a Captain after we win this battle. Citation for meritorious service to the crown.”

  “Yes, Highness.”

  King Harris then watched as the rest of the lesser dragons were dispatched by his forces, one by one, until the skies were cleared. The reports streamed in as they began passing through the wormhole. Then...the old nebula was behind them, and they emerged into orbit next to the pride of the Brigadier Empire. The Prime Citadel.

  It was magnificent in scope and grandeur, and built for war. Harris's attention was diverted, though, as he saw other Citadels arriving. The Gann, the Rhikon, and the Velaran were sliding through their wormholes, and still fending off a large number of dragons. Explosions were visible across the surfaces of the other Citadels, and the Alba was profoundly absent. It was time to take control of this situation.

  “Perfect timing,” Harris said through his teeth, then shouted, “Get my Citadel between the Rhikon and the Velaran! We have to kill those dragons before they can close down those wormholes!”

  “Looks like you've got this,” Eli said to Kita as he unstrapped from his pilot chair. Slowpoke was on a steady course through the spectral storm toward the strong signal of the Prime Citadel, and Eli could feel his blood sugar dropping fast. “I'm heading into the back for something to eat.”

  “Why not try the front?” Kita grinned.

  “I...” he stammered. “...I'll be back in a bit.”

  “See you soon,” Kita said, and blew him a kiss.

  As he walked through the dark commons area toward the kitchen, he saw the kids were asleep. Snoring. “Glad they're getting some rest, at least,” he muttered, and decided to keep the lights off for now. They'd be snapping out of warp soon enough, and the kids would need their rest. “Crazy plan,” he said as he took a bowl over to the grop dispenser

  “Crazy can be good,” a voice whispered from behind him, and Eli shook his head.

  “Hi Alex,” he whispered. “You should be asleep.”

  “Funny,” she said as her silhouette moved through the shadows toward him. Too close towards him, he realized as he felt her breath across his chest when she leaned in. “I had some trouble sleeping,” she whispered into his ear, and Eli felt his pulse quicken.

  “Well, you should try it, anyway,” he whispered as he tried to back away, but she moved forward toward him like a cat stalking her prey. She had him cornered. In his own ship.

  “Try what?” she asked, running her index finger along his open collar.

  “Sleeping,” he muttered.

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “Maybe what?” another voice asked as the lights slid up just enough to see that Alex was in a silky nightgown that hugged her athletic body, leaving little to the imagination. Skippy floated beside Kita, and let out a disapproving buzz.

  “Kita,” Eli coughed, and Alex pulled away to leave.

  “Looks like you found something to eat,” Kita said as she blocked the doorway before Alex could leave.

  “Hi,” Alex smiled. “Just going to take Eli's advice...and try to get some more sleep.”

  “Good idea,” Kita glared, but let Alex pass. Then, with a glance at Eli, she asked, “So...anything you want to tell me?”

  Eli looked at his bowl of grop, and put it on the counter. “We should wake up the kids. We'll be snapping out of warp in less than two hours.”

  “Lovely,” Kita said as she turned on her heel and walked silently back to the cockpit. Skippy buzzed behind her sympathetically, ignoring Eli for the first time in a long while, and the lonely captain dumped his grop into the sink with a sigh.

  Stella swished her mouth with a small amount of water as the final step in brushing her teeth. Wiping her face with a towel, she was glad to be in space again. Altonas had been horrible, at least after that incident with those giant hungry centipedes in the cellar.

  “Ugh,” Stella gagged at the memory. She hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep for the rest of their stay, knowing that beneath the monastery were thousands of creepy crawling creatures just dying to consume her and her friends. She shuddered as she remembered them coming after her, their sharp mandibles and large antennae reaching for her...she could still hear them, crawling, climbing, and that horrible cooing sound as they got closer and closer...

  “Stella,” a voice abruptly accompanied a hand on her shoulder, and she yelped in surprise.

  She spun around in a panic, and hit Mtumba with her towel before she knew what had happened. He laughed at her and lowered his hands from their protective position, unhurt but definitely amused. She shot Mtumba a dirty look and stormed past him.

  “Someone's a little jumpy today,” he laughed and followed her as she stormed into the commons.

  “Hey, keep it down to a dull roar, would ya?” Alex Fox growled from her alcove bunk where she'd been trying to sleep off her injuries. She elected to hitch a ride on Slowpoke just in case someone recognized her own ship and decided to shoot her down before she could make it into port. Still, Fox had stocked up on some special supplies from her personal lab before she'd come aboard. Fox was the jumpy one, not her, Stella huffed as she sat down and looked at Rok.

  “Hey,” Rok coughed, looking up from the table console. His grop sat untouched in its bowl, the spoon sparkling and unused. “You guys all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, we're fine,” Stella huffed as she compulsively kneaded her amulet, “except that creepers over there decided to sneak up behind me while I was brushing my teeth!”

  “I did not sneak!” Mtumba retorted.

  “Not for me to judge,” Rok shrugged with a sniffle, and went back to the console.

  “You gonna eat that?” Mtumba asked him, and Rok shook his head with a grimace. Mtumba smiled and reached over to pick it up. The spoon, too. He dug in as if he was starving, and Stella just stared at him.

  “Don't you ever get full?” she asked.

  “What?” he asked around a huge glob of grop. “No, I'm hungry.” He hunched over his food protectively, and resumed eating. Skippy gave an annoyed beepy buzz as he floated past Mtumba to refill the grop dispenser.

  Stella sighed and looked over at the sleeping Alex Fox, wondering what her story was. What a strange person. A shape-shifter...or changeling, as she'd referred to herself. Stella hadn't even known that kind of thing was possible on that scale, but apparently, it was. Sure, there were bio-alters, but that was usually just minor stuff, and only safe to do once or twice...or was it?

  Fox's bag was open, and Stella looked at one of the visible canisters with curiosity. It was gleaming blue, and had a white injector-tip. Curious, she walked over and knelt down to take a closer look. She picked up the small blue vial and looked at it, then chuckled as she playfully pointed it at her shoulder, imagining herself as an elegant lady of the court, or a famous female pirate captain like Esther Hood...

  Fox was out of bed in a flash, and had Stella pinned up against the wall. The harsh woman snatched the vial from Stella's hand, and held it up in front of her face. Fox was scary with the black circles under her dark, bloodshot eyes, and looked like she was ready to kill someone. Stella's hands felt clammy, and she was simultaneously ashamed and frightened.

/>   “What do you think you're doing?” Fox hissed menacingly.

  “Nothing,” Stella answered. “I wasn't going to use it.”

  “Really,” Fox grunted and released Stella, who crouched into a ball against the cold, hard wall. Fox squatted on the floor, searching her eyes. “Stella, right?” she asked, and Stella nodded. Fox turned the blue canister over in her hand, inspecting it. “This,” she said as she looked back at Stella, “would kill you if you tried to use it.”

  “But I saw you use one just like it!”

  Fox laughed, and put the gleaming beacon of mystery back in her knapsack, then closed the flap and secured the strap. Tightly. She shook her head. “Wrong. You saw me use a flushing serum, which gets rid of this stuff.” She smacked the side of the bag.

  “But what is it?” Rok asked as he sat down beside her. He was obviously burning with curiosity, and Fox laughed. Mtumba squatted beside him, apparently also eager to join the conversation. Fox looked at them, shook her head, and spoke.

  “Okay, listen close, because I'll only say this once.” They nodded, and she continued. “The serums I use would kill you. Any of you. I can only survive the process because I had a...” her eyes got cloudy for a moment, but she continued, “a special predisposition to genetic flexibility. Long story, but all you need to know is that if you'd tried injecting that, you wouldn't look like Father Levi Davenport. You'd look like you...but dead. Claro?”

  The kids nodded, and Fox grumbled something as she crawled back into the bunk, and slammed the shade closed. “Now let me sleep, for Kark's sake!” she snapped from behind the thick green curtain. There were grumbles as she shifted around to get comfortable, settling in for some rest. Stella knew she'd finally found the perfect position when she heard a contented sigh that marked the beginning of a restful slumber.

  Stella grimaced when Eli sauntered back from the cockpit, leaned through the doorway, and yelled, “We're gettin' close! Should be less than two hours before we pull into port! Make sure you're ready, cause we won't have much time once we land!”

  There was a muffled growl from the alcove.

  “What was that?” Eli called out playfully.

  A pillow shot out from the bunk and bounced off his barrel chest.

  “Hey, what was that for?” he chuckled.

  “Because you just told me that I only have two more hours to sleep!” Fox snapped.

  “Two hours?” he asked with mock-seriousness. “No, you have to be ready in less than one hour.” He dodged another pillow, and then looked at Stella. “Wasn't she listening?” he smirked, then whistled his way back to the cockpit.

  Stella shook her head. Men.

  25

  Fire in the Sky

  “I can't believe I agreed to do this!” Eli shouted as they snapped out of warp into a storm of dragons, wormholes and Imperial military might. Skippy squealed a series of beeps as something bumped the starboard side of the ship, and Eli cursed. “Hold on tight!” he yelled as he swerved to get out of the way from a squadron of Spearcraft rushing by to intercept a black dragon.

  “Don't hit the dragons!” Rok shouted, and Eli spared him an annoyed glance.

  “Just hold on,” Kita whispered as Eli swooped around a battle between a black dragon and two fists of Brigadier Knights.

  “How can they breathe in space?” Rok asked, and Kita answered.

  “They get the air from their armor.”

  “Yeah,” Fox added. “Unless you're the High King, and you what? Just hold your breath? Still uses a jetpack though...”

  “Keep it down! I'm trying to keep us from getting killed!” Eli snapped as he made a hard turn to avoid hitting a dragon that was being chased by three Spearcraft. The dragon swiveled and ripped one in half, then jumped at the other and swung it against the third.

  “Skippy, where’s my side thruster, buddy? Come on, I need it now!” Skippy beeped affirmatively and darted back toward the engine room.

  “No! No! No!” Eli chanted as he tried to slide away from the dragon.

  “Please,” Stella whispered as she grasped Rok's warm hand. She closed her eyes and clasped her amulet with her free hand. “Please,” she repeated, and felt it pulse once. The sensation was faint, but clear.

  Her eyes shot open as the dragon shrieked, and then with a sharp twist of tail and wing, the majestic animal disappeared into the darkness. Stella blinked, but didn't have time to process what had happened as Eli dodged another fracas on their desperate course toward the Prime Citadel.

  As Eli captained them through the madness, Stella took a closer look around them. Four Citadels were centered on a fifth that dwarfed those beside it, and they were all being attacked by dragons. Stella knew the largest structure must be the Prime Citadel. There was no other possibility. Still, her mouth was open with awe when she glanced at Mtumba, who had a similar expression.

  “Blast, I need to check something,” Eli said as he punched into the news feed. A display came up on the side of the cockpit window, showing a reporter standing in front of the House of Lords on the Prime Citadel. The display was clear, so she obviously wasn't just using her earbud's visual ping system, since most news agencies had external device managers. Behind her, a large crowd held signs and chanted a mishmash of antiwar slogans and epithets about those who voted for the war.

  “This is Aylee Hakima with breaking news here on the Prime Citadel, where a large antiwar rally has formed at the gates of the parliamentary lawn. As our brave military battles the dragons overhead, these men and women are claiming that our leaders have been manipulating us into an unjust war, and need to find a better solution.” She was jostled as a protester pushed past her, but Aylee continued.

  “The Prime Citadel's peacekeepers have been keeping the crowd under control, but there's rising concern among experts that this could erupt into a full-scale riot. We're at a flash point here. Honestly, Rogers, I've never seen anything like this. Back to you.”

  Even as Hakima spoke, reinforcement squads of peacekeepers streamed onto the scene. As soon as their boots hit the flexiphalt, they rushed in to press their shields against the throng, pushing them back from the gates. Some peacekeepers climbed on top of the transport vehicles and aimed large mounted pulse-guns at the crowd. Stun settings, but still strong enough to cause severe disorientation.

  What they hadn't foreseen was the panic that would incite. One area of the crowd stampeded away from the blasts, leaving several injured people behind on the ground. The peacekeepers came in and dragged them to a prisoner transport. The conflict quickly began to escalate, and the feed from Hakima went dark.

  “Holy Kark! This is absolutely insane!” Eli yelled at the screen. “First dragons and now riots! This changes everything! We can't go in there!”

  “It doesn't change anything,” Fox said. “Except that now we'll have better cover for what we need to do.”

  “Cover?” Eli said, looking at her incredulously. “You saw what they're doing to those people! It's barbaric! What makes you think we'll be able to keep the kids safe once we get inside?”

  “Safe?” Fox laughed.

  “We?” Mtumba asked.

  Eli grunted. “Look, I'm not comfortable throwing you into this,” he said to Mtumba. “It's just too dangerous.”

  “Who said anything about safe? If you want safe, then go hook yourself into a Virtual-Life-Tank. If you've got the credit,” Fox laughed.

  “Those are peaceful protesters,” Stella interrupted, looking at him. “Why are the peacekeepers shooting at them? And why are they being arrested?”

  “Not the first time that's happened, little sister,” Kita interjected, and Mtumba nodded.

  “But why?” Stella cried, mortified at what she saw onscreen. “Don't they know it isn't right?”

  Kita sighed, and her voice conveyed deep sadness. “Right for who? Those people are in the way of someone else who has the power to stop them, and doing right doesn't pay the bills for those officers. Far from it, in fact.”
r />   “We have to help!” Stella cried.

  “I agree,” said Kita.

  Fox laughed. “What do you think we can do?”

  “Dare to be courageous,” Stella answered.

  Kita nodded. “We need to find out who's on that recording, Alex. Can you do it?”

  “Oh, I can do it,” Fox chuckled. “Especially if you need me to.”

  “I still say this is all crazy talk,” Eli added, and Kita sighed.

  Captain Eli maneuvered them through the increasingly thick ship traffic as they approached the Citadel ports beneath the rim. The fighting was slightly less dense, and Stella noticed that Eli was searching his display, scanning through earbud listings. “Come on, Hamish. Come on. Tell me you're on shift.” The console display flashed, and a wiry freckled Celtsman appeared on the screen.

  “Glad to see you, Eli,” the man grinned though a thick brogue. “How'd you make it past the dragons? You know what? Never mind. I don't want to know. You picked a heckuva day to pay us a visit, boyo. I take it you're lookin' for some clear docking, eh?”

  “A nice, safe hangar if you can swing it,” Eli smiled.

  Hamish chuckled, then yelled and hit his computer. “Good luck with that! Just don't tell me you've got another shipment of bobble-heads in yer hold...”

  “No,” Eli blushed, his face turning serious as he turned to look at Kita. “This is important.”

  Hamish nodded, clucking his tongue, and an icon blinked on Eli's screen. “Good man, good man...here, I've got one hangar open...but it could be tricky getting out of it. Lots of demonstrators today. Not lettin' up, either. Some riots already startin' in a few spots after that stunt the peacekeepers just pulled in front of the House of Lords. Could be a risky run for that rusty old ship of yours...”

  “Easy there, Hamish. Slowpoke and I go way back,” he said with an affectionate pat on the dashboard. Skippy beeped, and Eli craned his neck to smile reassuringly at his little friend. “Well, of course you'll always be my number-one buddy, Skippy.” That seemed to make the boisterous airbot happy, and he gave a satisfied beep.