Tales from the Void: A Space Fantasy Anthology

by Chris Fox

  One thing Triston had learned about himself early on in his adult life was that the Marine always won.

  He turned away from the hillside, leaping for the cave, and plunged into the darkness within.

  Only, now that he was here, he saw that it wasn’t pure darkness. A strange, yellow glow emanated from deep within the cave.

  He stood there, staring at the darkness and the glow, and only then realized something else—the creatures hadn’t followed him in.

  In fact, a glance back outside showed leaves rustling, showing a movement of them retreating. Odd, he thought, turning back into the cave… but the thought didn’t last long as the glow vanished with a movement in the darkness, followed by two, monstrous, red eyes.

  Instinct told him to run, his body told him to piss himself. He listened to the former, fighting his body and instead telling it to move his fucking legs. All he could do was throw himself backwards, out into the air, and then find himself tumbling down the hillside.

  Suddenly the ground was gone and he was falling. Mind racing for options here, with images of Enise and her dented armor, he pushed his legs up in front of him, toward a bit of a cliff to his left, and turned on his thrusters.

  The effect was that he was thrown in the opposite direction. He wrapped his arm around an extending tree, spun around it, and placed himself on an unsteady clump of dirt.

  And then his heart stopped, because he saw what had frightened him. The owner of the red eyes, with long, leathery wings spread wide, the orange light shining through the skin of those wings so that they glowed. The beast turned to take him in.

  He’d seen images similar to this one, back at the space station in fantasy movies. The closest description he could come up with was that of a dragon, with its long neck and tail, horned head and teeth as long as swords. Scratch that—it wasn’t just a description, or a comparison. These things were dragons.

  His head spun with the thought that dragons had taken out the fleet. He scrunched his nose at the thought, considering how insane it sounded, even in his own head. How the hell could dragons take out fully armored, shielded, space fighters?

  The dragon didn’t give him much time to contemplate it. Already spreading its wings wide, it let out a roar that shook the hillside, then turned to him with its red eyes and opened its mouth wide.

  Flames rose up from inside the beast’s throat, then shot out.

  Triston didn’t mean to be there when those flames connected. He was pretty sure that, if the dragons had been what took out the fleet, his armor wouldn’t stand a chance. The only option, therefore, was to thrust sideways and into another one of those caves.

  He turned on his thrusters to give him a head start, and then landed in an all-out sprint. While the exoskeleton could certainly make him run fast, he was pretty damn sure the dragon would be able to move faster still, so he had to come up with a plan, and quickly.

  A golden glow came from deep within this cave as well, enough for him to see small passageways breaking off from the main chamber. As the light from the entrance was blocked out by what he imagined was the dragon, Triston threw himself into one of these side passages, and ran.

  He didn’t want fire following him into one of these and being able to catch him. He didn’t want to die. If he didn’t live on, then Enise’s death and that of all the others, would have been pointless.

  The passage didn’t take him far before turning back toward the main cavern, but there were other tunnels, ledges and more. A Marine could get lost in here, he thought, but he knew he needed to keep moving.

  A roar sounded, then others in reply. He cursed, realizing that his worst fears were coming true—he had suspected the caverns would be full of dragons, possibly thousands of them. But hearing them made it real.

  He turned left, and crawled into an opening, horrified at the thought of the rocks caving in on him and being stuck there, left to die in the armor that would become his casket.

  To his relief, the tunnel opened up into another cavern, and here the glow was stronger.

  Strong enough, even, that he was able to see that the floor was oddly shaped, like a series of mounds, or…. Shit, he realized as he thought it—these were eggs. Dragon eggs.

  His eyes rose to the ceiling above, a rock cave covered in stalactites. But it wasn’t only stalactites hanging up there—there were thousands of, what appeared to be, sleeping dragons. They hung like bats.

  And then, one of them opened its red, glowing eyes.

  It spread its wings and came for him.

  Triston turned and dove back the way he came. He belly crawled through the tunnel, escaping just in time to avoid the explosive flames at his back. Diving to the right, he found another passage, this one leading back out to the light, the natural, orange glowing light.

  He ran for it, entering a larger chamber in the process, and this second dragon appeared at his side, gave a roar, and dove as he leaped, thrusters on, and made it into the opening.

  Somehow, he had gone full circle it seemed, because when he landed, he landed right on the wing of Enise’s ship.

  The dragon emerged from behind him and he had just enough time to see that it was much smaller than the first—a baby, perhaps? Not that it really mattered, as it was still trying to kill him.

  So he ran along the wing of the ship, slipped over the side as the dragon nearly caught him in its teeth, and then slid under the wing and sprang down to the ground on the other side. The dragon tried to follow, but in the process hit the side of the ship and knocked it loose.

  Triston spun, gasping in shock as he watched both dragon and ship, interlocked, fall over the side of the hill. He ran to its edge and watched the two thud through trees and then come to a stop at the bottom.

  While most would have turned and run again at this point, Triston was sure, a small whimper from below drew his attention.

  It sounded nothing like a dragon. More like… a child?

  He frowned, hating himself for this decision, and made his way down the hill.

  When he reached the ship, he proceeded with caution, until he could see the dragon. She was still there, but had her wing pinned down by the ship. Her head turned to face him, and he was interested to see that, not only had the glowing red left her eyes, but he could almost see a human side to her. Those wide, comforting, yet worried, eyes stared at him, scared, yet hopeful, and she whimpered again.

  The noise had definitely come from her.

  With a glance around for the mother, Triston approached.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, not even sure why he was speaking to it. “We didn’t come to attack you. I promise.”

  The small dragon looked at him, whimpered again, then set its head down on the grass.

  “I don’t know why the hell I’m acting like you understand me,” he said, “but if I help you out of this, can you not eat me?”

  The dragon actually lifted its head, and seemed to nod.

  Very carefully, Triston approached the dragon. When he was close, he reached up and removed his helmet, to show he meant no threat. That he wasn’t scary.

  The effect was surprising.

  Immediately, the dragon seemed to calm. It lowered its head, as if bowing, and then waited for him. He approached, cautious, aware that at any moment this beast could snap out and bite his head clean off and likely swallow it in a single gulp.

  So far, so good.

  He made his way to the dragon’s side, amazed at the way its scales seemed to glimmer, almost changing colors like a rainbow in a stream. It’s back had spikes, but they were elegant, flowing as if it were all some blown glass creation, a majestic work of art.

  And then he saw the wing trapped by the edge of his ship, as he had suspected.

  “I got you,” he said, and then bent at the knees, putting all of his leverage into a giant shove—boosters and all, the exoskeleton giving him the support needed. “Hmmphh,” he groaned as he pushed, but the ship just barely budged. Again he br
aced himself, this time yelling at the top of his lungs as he pushed.

  “AHHHHHHHH!”

  And it was free, the ship moving, only… it wasn’t just him. He’d been helped, by a larger dragon. Massive wings beat as its head lowered, and then it turned its head so that it could look at him.

  Triston saw himself in those eyes, then he saw another form, shaped like a golden, glowing woman.

  He cocked his head, confused, heart thudding in his chest so that it seemed to send shockwaves through his body, blood coursing through his skull.

  The dragon nudged the smaller one and then, heads pressed together, a golden glow emanated from the larger one, that he guessed must be its mother.

  When the dragon turned back to him, a calm spread out from her along with the word Come. The word wasn’t spoken, as much as it just came over him, and he wanted to go.

  Mother dragon led the other, and they climbed, him behind them, until they had reached another of those caves.

  At this point, Triston had to pause and ask himself what the hell he was thinking. Was he really about to follow two dragons back into the caves—caves where he had just seen many more dragons sleeping?

  Glancing back over his shoulder, he looked out at the waterfall, the vast planet that spread out with large mountains and ice structures towering, and he felt at peace again.

  Perhaps he would be found if he waited out there. He could hunt, survive, stay out of the dragons’ way.

  But he would always wonder… always wonder what if.

  So he took the first step into the cave, and then another. Soon he was in darkness, but the golden glow had lit up again, bobbing ahead, and so he knew that must be where the two dragons were.

  He followed, deeper and deeper into the cave. Soon he found himself in a part of the cave that was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Purple, jagged rocks lined the walls, in places replaced by smooth, blue ones that held a gentle glow to them.

  The light cast by that gentle glow was enough to see ahead—to see that the cave opened up into a massive cavern. His heart skipped a beat and he held his breath at the sight of the dragons, or rather, where the dragons had been.

  Instead of the dragons, he now saw the faint outline of what looked like humans. He picked up the pace, trying to close the distance. Not just humans, but a mother and daughter, perhaps, the glow highlighting them.

  They were stepping into a pool of water, and as their feet touched it, their glow intensified. A warmth filled the cavern and Triston could almost hear a song coming from somewhere, though when he strained his ears to hear, he wasn’t sure it was there at all.

  He stood a few paces from the water and watched as the two entities, unmistakable now as the glowing golden forms of a woman and her daughter, emerged from the water.

  Where anything inappropriate might have been, the light glowed brightest, but on top of that the woman had golden wings that she wrapped her daughter in as they emerged from the water. Their hair flowed as if still submerged, though it was not. Their eyes were bright—not made from the light, it certainly flowed within.

  “Thank you,” she said, looking at him. As she did, the light formed around her and her daughter, then subsided to leave behind golden armor that perfectly matched his.

  He stared in confusion, then finally nodded.

  “We thought you were one of them,” she went on, and gestured to the rocks at the edge of the cavern. They walked together, and sat, the daughter staring up at him with wide eyes.

  “One of… who?” he asked, finally finding his voice.

  “Our enemy,” she replied. “They look very much like you, in their natural state, before you took off your head piece, that is.”

  “My helmet?” He blinked, trying to comprehend this. “What about… the dragons?”

  “Ah, you mean our other form.” The woman smiled, and as she did he realized the glow had mostly faded, to the extent that now she and her daughter were starting to look like humans, but with golden eyes and skin that seemed to sparkle in the light. “We are what you might call shape shifters. I take it, by your expression, that you do not have another shape?”

  He laughed at this. “No, as much as I wish sometimes. But, have you come into contact with humans before? How is that you speak my language?”

  “We simply speak, our minds translate by receiving your brain-waves to ensure we understand each other.”

  This caused a sharp pain in the back of his head, but he nodded, trying to understand. Nothing to date had set them up for anything like this. When they had set out through the gate, they had all discussed the idea of finding life on other planets, but he had always assumed it would be a fish with legs or something like gremlins. But this?

  “He’s not dangerous, mother?” the girl asked, looking between the two.

  The mom shook her head, though her eyes met his. “Though your kind might be, am I wrong?”

  He thought about this, realizing that, if she was able to somehow use his brainwaves to translate language, she could probably tell if he lied. “They can be, but if they were ever to meet you, I would do everything possible to ensure they wouldn’t be.”

  She smiled, looking him over. “You helped my daughter when she was trapped. I see a worthy warrior in you, one in need of healing.” Gesturing to the pool of water, she added, “Please.”

  He blinked, looking between the water and her. “You want me to… what? Go in there?”

  “Bathe in the healing waters. It is our gift to you.”

  “I….” He was going to argue that he didn’t need a bath, that he didn’t need healing, but neither was true. Still, the idea of going into waters that caused you to glow sent his mind racing with ideas of nuclear waste and thoughts of chemical reactions.

  “It’s safe,” she said. “You will stay with us for now, but first you must be washed of your impurities.”

  “Where I come from, we don’t just bathe in unknown places.”

  “And yet, you aren’t where you come from.”

  For a moment, he considered this, then nodded and stood. He walked over to the edge of the pool, then glanced back to see they were both watching him. Clearing his throat, he glanced down at his armor, hoping he wouldn’t have to spell it out for them.

  The mom cocked her head, then smiled as if she were amused. She nodded, averted her gaze, and turned her daughter away.

  Feeling for the release of his Space Corps issued armor, he realized how sore and in pain he really was. His ribs ached and pain shot up his side, leaving his arm numb. The chest-plate fell away with a crash, and then he commenced with removing the rest until he was wearing nothing but his boxer-briefs. All of the action since crash landing had gotten him quite worked up, so that now he caught a whiff of himself and realized how badly he really did need a bath.

  A deep breath pulled in the scent of the waters, unlike anything he had ever known. It was as if one could smell rays of sun trickling through leaves on a warm, spring day.

  He glanced back and saw that they still had their gaze averted, so he removed the boxer-briefs, shivered at a cool breeze, and then stepped into the water. Only, it didn’t feel like water. Instead, it was as if he had just stepped into a pool of warm mist, as if there were such a thing.

  With each step he took into this pool, his surroundings grew warmer and the mist-water began to glow. Soon he had golden light up to his chest and he was turning in it, running his fingers through it. He watched the golden tendrils slip over him and around him.

  A breath brought with it a sweet taste reminding him of some fruit he had tried once on a trip to Laos, but couldn’t quite put his finger on which one it had been. Light wafted up and into his mouth, sending tingling warmth through his body. The healing process had begun. Only, there was something else to it, like a strength he had never known he had, now opened up and available to him for the first time.

  He turned, looking down at his body, and smiled. This was likely the best he had ever felt. Fo
r the first time since landing he didn’t have the sense of anxiety hanging over him, the dread at being stranded on this planet.

  All was peaceful.

  When he turned and walked out of the pool, he emerged to find the woman standing there, waiting. How odd, he thought, that he wasn’t self-conscious about his nudity, but it simply didn’t seem to matter anymore.

  A glance down showed he needn’t have been, regardless, because golden light shone over him as it had on them before. With a wave of her hand, the light brightened and then faded, leaving behind a layer of clothing and new body armor, gold like her own.

  “What… is this?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t sure it would happen,” she replied. “The planet has accepted you, granted you some of her strength.”

  Every muscle in him seemed to be alive, more like his friends who would give their all to accomplish whatever he set his mind to, rather than simply part of his body. He moved his arm and observed that the armor was barely noticeable, as if he was still nude, but when he tapped his forearms together, they clanged like metal.

  Part of him felt completely at ease here, but a small voice in his head kept asking question after question. What had happened to him? Was this some sort of magic? Were all of the dragons, or whatever these people called themselves when in the form that resembled what he knew as dragons, shifters like these two?

  The daughter suddenly startled from where she sat, then darted over. “I hear them.”

  A moment of silence followed, then a distant roar, barely audible.

  “The enemy hasn’t been fought off completely,” the mom said, then turned to Triston, debating. Finally, she said, “Would you like to join us?”

  “What, you mean help in your fight?”

  She nodded. “It would mean a great deal, and would provide you with a chance to practice.”

  “Practice what?”

  “Why, your new powers, of course.”

  He considered this, along with what it would mean to have their help getting off planet. Everything he had seen from them so far had been outside of his comprehension, and he certainly could use them on his side now. Plus, putting aside when they were trying to attack him as dragons, they were being kind to him now.