CAVEMAN ALIEN’SFATE

CALISTA SKYE

CONTENTS

Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Epilogue

1

- Beatrice -

“This is not as bad as it looks, right?”

My question hangs in the air while the other girls look down and away.

Yeah. My strong suspicion that this is in fact every bit as bad as it looks is immediatelyconfirmed.

Delyah adjusts her grip on her baby, an adorable and loud mix of human and caveman.“It’s not great, Beatrice. But we’ve had bad times before. You dragon girls especially. Iactually think you’re right. This is not as bad as it looks. We just have to find a way out ofit.”

To a random onlooker, it wouldn’t look bad at all. We’re inside Bune, the ancientspaceship that is too broken to ever fly again. The upper level is where we live now,mostly. It’s a lush, artificial garden with endless fruit trees and bushes with edible leavesand nuts. As far as we can tell, everything in here can be eaten. Even the grass, but ittastes the way one would expect. The plants never run out of fruit, and the fake streamsnever run out of clean, cool water.

From above, an artificial sun beats down on us from an alien sky. It’s a projection, but avery convincing one, where blueish clouds drift lazily past.

On the levels below us are various other landscapes, including a city, a fun fair, a winteryforest, and so on. By all means, we should be feeling great. It’s not much different from aparadise.

It’s just that the spaceship is on pre-historic planet Xren, and it’s looking a lot like wecan’t leave to go home to Earth. The escape ship lower down that we thought could takeus home is now deemed too unsafe to entrust with our lives.

And there’s the small matter of the combined army of cavemen and dragons that arekeeping us under siege, led by the dragon Crown Prince Yranox. Our own cavemennumber maybe thirty, and we have three dragons on our side. Including Yranox’s brother,Caronerax.

Added to the mix is the chilling presence of the Plood somewhere out in the jungle, theicy and evil aliens that put us Earth girls here on Xren in the first place. They definitelyhave nothing good in mind for us.

All the girls are here now, sitting on the grass, most of them holding a baby or two.Toddlers are crawling or stomping around. It’s moderately quiet.

“All right,” I say, wanting to sound upbeat. “Should we do a brainstorming, or not yet?”

“I think we all have done a fair amount of thinking,” Aurora says, looking so much likeXena, Warrior Princess that she could slide into that role on the show and nobody wouldknow. “And we always come up to the same barriers. They are thousands, and we areabout fifty. We have three dragons, but only one at full strength. So do they, but theyhave a thousand dragons in their human form and a whole lot of cavemen. Hundreds. Allour plans so far hinged on the escape ship working. But it appears that the Plood havebroken it.”

“How long can we hold out here?” Sophia asks. “I mean, this ship can obviously keep usalive indefinitely. But those guys outside look like they really want to get in. If they startattacking the ship for real and hacking at it with swords and blowing dragonfire on it —how long?”

Delyah, our leader, just shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

She and twelve of the other girls are all married, ten to cavemen and three to dragons.They’re all either mothers already or pregnant. To them, staying on Xren is probably theonly option, anyway. If they were to return to Earth with alien husbands and half-alienchildren in tow, they’d probably never get out of quarantine, and they would definitely beused as lab rats by any scientist with even the slightest connections in the government.

Me, I’m not going to have that happen to me. When I return to Earth, I will be just as un-sexed and untouched by aliens as before I was abducted.

Jennifer takes my hand and squeezes it. “We’ll get out of her, Bea. Don’t worry.”

“I know.” I give her a little smile, showing that I appreciate her concern.

I glance over at the group of four girls that are like me, still not married to any cavemanor dragon and with absolutely no plans to change that. There’s Natalie, Ling, Maria, andAmy. All four college girls, like everyone else here.

Except me. I never went to college. Worked at one, sure. But you don’t need a degree towash dishes in the faculty cafeteria. Although I’m sure that’s just a matter of time.

All the other girls are experts and at least half-geniuses. They have transformed our oncepitiful, terrified group of girls into an industrial-age society, the most powerful tribe on theplanet. And while I have read every book I have ever come across, I never focused onanything in particular. I don’t have their knowledge of physics and chemistry andlanguages, so I just do what I do best: smile and keep my head down while everyoneelse does their thing. When you grow up on the wrong side of the tracks and then spendyears being shuffled from one foster home to the next, being noticed for being differentwas never a good idea. I guess that’s the kind of thing that sticks with you.

Ling raises a hand. “I am actually fine with trusting the escape ship. Mia says it looksokay, and the other dragons said it’s fine, way back. Only the new dragon is saying thatit’s broken. Do we trust him that much? Hell, that’s his brother flying around outside,blowing fire at this ship. Can we be sure he’s not in on it? That he’s not trying to keep ushere?”

It’s my turn to squeeze Jennifer’s hand. That’s her husband they’re talking about.

“We can be sure,” Jennifer says calmly. “Caronerax is totally on our side. He had a chanceto go back to his own planet and become king of the dragons. He picked us instead. Andit just about killed him.”

“He picked you,” Heidi says with a knowing smile. “I think that’s why he’s here. But thepoint stands. Our three dragons are definitely on our side. I want there to be no doubtabout it. They’re doing what they can to keep our enemies away. Caronerax is out thereright now, patrolling.”

“The thing about a spaceship,” Delyah says, “is that it works perfectly or not at all. Anytiny little fault can kill everyone inside in a split second. If Caronerax says it doesn’t work,then I strongly suggest not using it.”

Ling scowls at the world in general. “All you married girls want to stay here anyway,right? So the five of us who want to go home to Earth can decide for ourselves.”

“That’s fair,” Mia says. “But give me a couple of days? I’m still examining that ship to

check for things that could be wrong with it. If I find nothing wrong, say, three days fromnow, then I think it’s not completely crazy to try it. I mean, it’s still nuts. Because Iseriously don’t understand everything about that craft. But in an absolutely desperatesituation, well...”

“Desperate as in, our enemies have broken into this ship and are about to kill us all, andwe have no defense,” Emilia says. “That’s how desperate I would need to be. And in thatcase, if the choice is between certain death by dragon or maybe death by spaceship,followed by a few years of quarantine on arrival on Earth, then I know what I pick. Onegives us a small chance, the other just doesn’t.”

We all go quiet, imagining what a nightmare that would be. The soft mewling from thebabies and the cute self-talk from the toddlers only works to stress how bad this couldget.

Suddenly the overhead sun doesn’t warm me up, and I shudder involuntarily. I think Iknow what has to happen here. And it concerns me.

I draw breath to speak, but Caroline starts before me.

“How about the spidermonkeys? The gray ghosts? They’re not our enemies. Could wesend someone to beg for their help? If the dragons and cavemen kill us all, then thatcan’t be good for them either, can it?”

“They have their own society,” Eleanor says thoughtfully. “It’s separate from everyoneelse’s. We already know they think we should take care of the dragon problem withouttheir help. At least one tribe feels that way. No, I don’t think they would help us. But itcould be worth a try. I mean, things are looking dark.”

Aurora absentmindedly shifts the grip on her ever-present crossbow. “We should alsoremember that the enemy army consists of only the dragons and a few hundredcavemen. There must be thousands of other cavemen in the various tribes, men who areas decent as our own and who would join our side. After all, these guys were bredespecially to be dragon slayers. It’s totally unnatural for them to fight alongside dragons.Their alliance can’t last.”

I pull a hand through my hair, always unruly despite me constantly cutting it short. “Theonly reason they’re allies in the first place is that other dragon. Yranox. He has some kindof power.”

“Totally,” Caroline agrees. “He messes with their minds, no doubt about it. I suppose we

could ask him to stop it? No, that’s not a serious suggestion. I’ve seen him. He’s the worstdragon we’ve had. Like Caronerax, but bigger and more menacing. No offense, Jen. Yourhusband is still menacing, but I know he’s not dangerous. To you, anyway.”

Jen manages a tight smile. “Not to me, maybe. But to other dragons, he’s a real hazard.Yeah, Yranox may be his brother, but they’re totally different except from the way theylook. They have different mothers, Caronerax says. I guess that explains it.”

I glance over at the little heap of cocoa bean-like seeds that Jen found on her adventure.It doesn’t look as if we’ll be making Twix bars anytime soon. But we have pretty close toa good life here on Xren.

The group goes silent again. The other unmarried girls never contribute much to theconversation, sticking mostly to each other. Well, good for them. I was never anythingother than a group of one, and I don’t see that changing.

I hide a smile as little Jaxia Aurelia stumbles over her own feet and falls headlong into abush with soft leaves. The toddler takes a couple of seconds to decide if she’s going tocry or not, decides against it, and gets back on her feet, clutching a handful of squished,red berries.

A plan is slowly taking shape in my mind. Not because I want it to. I really, really don’twant it. But it forces its way and uses all my weaknesses against me.

I clench my eyes shut. The other girls… too many of them are mothers or pregnant. Theyshould not have to fight a war. The unmarried ones should not have to risk that much forthe rest of us. They can still have hope of going home in one piece and becoming rich andfamous on Earth, and everyone wants that for them.

And I’m sure everyone wants that for me, too.

But I’m not like the other unmarried girls. They all had bright futures on Earth before theywere abducted. They had college educations and families and stuff. Siblings. Pets. Acouple of them even had a love life. I never had any of those things, and I doubt gettingback to Earth will change life that much for me. I don’t even particularly want to go onthe Ellen show. I was never that funny, never that extroverted, never that pretty. Neverthat popular.

I may be the only one among us who has actually really enjoyed her time on Xren. Atleast after Caroline saved us from Troga. I’ve never belonged before. Now I belong to atribe, and not just for show, either. It’s real. The girls really care about me like nobody

else ever has. And they are the most bangin’ girls anyone could ever wish to meet.

Sure, the jungle is deadly. The dragons are lethal. The cavemen are dangerous. The not-dinosaurs are murderous. But the tribe is… friendly. Warm. Caring. Loving, even. OnEarth, I knew that the worst danger came from those close to you, not from the outside.Here on Xren, it’s the other way around, and I don’t want that to go away.

But this is it. One way or the other, that whole world is getting close to the end.

It’s time for me to do the right thing. Because while I’m the only professional dishwasherin the tribe, there is something else only I know. And that means there are certain thingsonly I should try.

Hey, the girls want to go home. And maybe I can help them do that. It’s the least theycan expect after all this time together. Of course, they would never ask me to do it. Notin a million years. But that in itself makes it more like a duty. They’re so good, I have todo this for them. If they were crappy people, I’d just shrug and forget it. But they’re not.

The conversation ebbs out.

Aurora stands up. “Everyone come and see me over at the not-orange grove later. Wehave some stuff to distribute to you all.”

One by one the girls get up and slink away, holding babies and toddlers. The alien sunabove is still bright, but the mood is dark.

Delyah gets to her feet, giving me a tired smile. “Well, I guess we’re adjourned.”

I get up and brush loose grass off my butt. Delyah is our chief, and it’ll be super tough totalk her into this. “So I have thought about something. We could turn everything aroundpretty easily.”

She fixes her deep brown eyes on me. “Could we, now?”

I grimace at my own choice of words. “Okay, ‘easily’ is not the right word. But there’s achance. Fine, a slim chance. Almost none at all. But it’s not zero. There’s a chance. Imean, it’s more than a chance. It’s a plan. A real game changer. It’s not a game, I don’tmean that. I’m not saying it is.” Damn, I’m babbling. I’m always so nervous when talkingto people with authority.

Delyah’s blindingly white teeth shine in her caramel face when she comes in andembraces me tightly with her free arm. “It’s cool, girl. Take your time. What do you havein mind?”

Her warmth and her voice close to my ear calms me down right away.

I take a deep breath and tell her.

2

- Beatrice -

“Here is yours, Bea.” Aurora hands it to me

The gun is cold and heavy in my hand.

“Just what I always wanted. Or was it never? Yeah, that.”

“None of us wanted this,” she says gruffly. “ None of this is our choice. We’re doing whatwe have to do. Here is the other one. They’re both loaded and ready to fire. You cock itlike this, then aim and pull the trigger like on any gun. Carry them uncocked until you’resure you’ll use them. There’s one shot in each. You’re loaded for dragon, not forcaveman. But it should work on them, too, just aim for the face. Don’t get these thingswet. Ling, here’s yours...”

I hold both the guns awkwardly, trying not to aim at anyone. They’re much smaller thanthe blunderbusses, but they still have a good heft to them. They’re like the old-timeypistols that Johnny Depp had in those Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so still pretty big.But it should be possible to shoot them with one hand, Aurora says.

Some of the cavemen have set up forges on the lower levels of the ship, and they havereally improved their techniques to make these things. The trigger is new, too, and it hasa piece of flint that is supposed to make sparks and ignite the gunpowder inside. It’s allvery pirate-y. I’m almost surprised they’re not issuing us eye patches and those tricornehats.

But no, I should be grateful for this. Defending yourself is important on Xren. It’s just thatguns were never my thing.

“‘Loaded for dragon’, huh,” Ling says next to me, gingerly aiming both her guns away.“That has to mean there’s a piece of gold in here.”

“It has to,” I reply. “Very convenient. Saves the cost for the rings when you get engagedto the dude you shot.”

“That’s what usually happens here,” Ling chuckles. “Got a crush? Just shoot him right inthe chest and you’ll be married a week later. Saves time, too. Dammit, are we expectedto carry these things around with us?”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to be too far away from them at any one time,” I tell her.“But carrying them around would be a little much.”

“It really would,” Ling agrees and tries to stuff them into a sack. “They’re unwieldy.”

I get an idea and saunter over to the well-ordered storage area that contains all thethings we have brought from the village. There are large heaps of food and juice andsteel and clay and pots, gunpowder and soap and so on, enough to fill a majorwarehouse. And there are furs and leather.

I rummage through the tall bunch of dinosaur skins until I find a good, stiff one and cut afew suitable pieces from it. Then I sit down right there and start sewing, using a carefullyprepared tooth from a not-dactyl and a thin leather thread.

Of course, Delyah told me ‘no’ to my plan. She did it kindly, because that’s her way. Butmost other people would have asked me if I’d lost my mind.

Well, her reply was what I was secretly hoping for. Now I’m off the hook. I told her nearlyeverything, and she made her decision right away. Too dangerous, too risky, almostcertain death with no clear or even hidden path to success.

She’s right, of course. The only responsible thing is to not even try.

Except I’m going to, anyway. And I’m as surprised about that as anyone.

Of course Delyah could never agree to a proposal like that. This is the kind of thing youdo without permission. Asking puts too much responsibility on the person you ask, toomuch of a burden. If it goes wrong, they will blame themselves. That’s unfair.

I should never have asked. But now, if it does go wrong, at least the girls have some clueabout what happened to me. And it’s not like I told Delyah absolutely everything.

I’ll finish this, take a nap, and wait until nightfall. Then I’ll start.

It won’t take long. This time tomorrow I’m either dead or on the way to Earth.

“L

- - -

ooks like it’ll be a calm night,” Heidi says and pulls her head back inside. “It’s quietout there, but not too quiet, if you know what I mean.”

The main entrance to spaceship Bune is closely guarded, but there are other doors thatwe don’t think the dragons know about. Those are only lightly guarded, with onecaveman or maybe a couple of girls at any one time. We have rigged a system of stringsand small pulleys from here to an iron bell in the main area, so if anyone tries to break inhere, we’ll spot them about a hundred feet away and we can sound the alarm by pullingon the string. Then we’ll have backup maybe a minute later.

This door is way down on ground level, and it’s only a tiny little hatch that a cavemanwould struggle to get through. It was a coincidence that we discovered it. Mia andAshlynn think it was used during construction of the ship and then never again. But it isan entrance, and it should be guarded. At least at night, until Delyah can design somekind of automatic alarm down here. So we girls take turns on it.

“A calm night sounds good,” I agree. “When was the last time you had one? Before thebaby was born, I would guess. I heard those things aren’t always completely whisperquiet?”

“Oh, I’ve had a good night’s sleep since then,” Heidi says. “As in, one. I remember itwell.”

We chuckle.

Heidi squints at me. “If I had my glasses, I’d say you look like you’re loaded for bison, notfor dragon.”

I adjust the gun belt I made. “Yeah. It’s just more practical, with the new guns and all.The holsters fit pretty well, actually. I can keep my hands free. Now all I need is for thebelt to not keep sliding down my hips.”

Heidi grins. “Like a regular Annie Oakley.”

I pretend to adjust an imaginary cowboy hat. “Howdy, pardner. Yeah, I should get amatching hat, I guess. And a horse. Actually, these holsters work better than I hoped.You can keep the guns right by you, but they don’t get in the way. You know, if we’regoing to be here all night just being quiet, we should make some more of them. It would

A

help pass the time. You want to go and pick up some leather you like and bring it backhere? We’ll make you a sweet rig, now that I know how. Doesn’t have to be cowboystyle! It can be a cool FBI holster or something. More military, maybe. Or somethingpirate-y.”

Heidi looks me over again. “Nah, I like the Calamity Jane style you got going on there.We’ll be twins. Okay, sheriff, I’ll be right back. If there’s a dragon, tell him to come backlater.”

She walks off, and the smile dies on my lips the moment she turns her back. I hate to dothis to her.

I take out the little sliver of light gray dino skin and put it carefully on the floor where shecan’t miss it. It just says ‘Sorry, Heidi. I had to trick you. Don’t blame yourself!’

Opening the hatch, I drop down three feet to the soft, swampy ground underneath Bune.Then I walk straight for the jungle.

- - -

ccording to Caronerax, Yranox has set up shop in our old village. He has turned ourcave into his lair, apparently. Both Caronerax and Jennifer seemed really puzzled

and even worried about that, but they probably have their own reasons. To me, it makesall kinds of sense that a dragon wants a great cave like that. And I don’t know of any thatare closer.

The dinosaurs are mostly gone from this part of the jungle, scared by both cavemen andall the dragon activity lately. So I don’t have to worry too much about them. Dragons areanother thing altogether. But my theory is that if I walk in an arc to get to the village,and not in a straight line, I’ll avoid most of the sentries there may be.

The night is balmy and pleasant, but I barely notice it. I walk with quick but silent steps,keeping alert for dangers and feeling my hands tremble as I use them to steady theholsters so the guns don’t rattle.

The moon isn’t up, so it’s very dark and I can’t see any dragons anywhere. That doesn’tmean they’re not here, of course. They definitely are. The cavemen have lit a couple ofcampfires a mile away, but I don’t think the dragons are keeping them company.

After a half hour of tense walking, I’m under the trees, throwing one last glance back atBune. The old spaceship looks totally out of place here, like the egg of some moon-sizedcreature, towering over everything around it. The girls are all in there, scared and gettingready to fight for their lives. I don’t think Heidi has discovered that I’m gone yet.Hopefully, they won’t send out a search party. No, they know that’s senseless. I clearlyleft on my own.

I hope they don’t think that I abandoned them and ran away from the final confrontationfrom cowardice. But I think Delyah at least will understand.

I slink into the jungle, regretting this idea more and more with every step. The varioussmells of the jungle assault my nose — rotting leaves, fragrant flowers, wet dirt, livinganimals, and dying plants. All intense, all organic, all absolutely vibrating with alien lifethat rustles in the bushes and the foliage and under the ground. If one of those hugeinsects attacks me now, I’m dead. From shock, if nothing else.

The jungle is never completely dark. Even when it’s cloudy, like it is now, the sky gives offenough light to see by after the eyes have adjusted to it.

I make my way past the huge trees, just dark shadows enclosing me and forcing mychoice of path. The jungle is always threatening, but in this darkness it’s worse than ever.

On an impulse, I reach down and cock one gun while still in the holster, aiming it awayfrom my thigh. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

I have done quite a lot of walking in the jungle outside the village over the past couple ofyears, hunting and gathering resources. Never alone, of course, but I was able to gain apretty good idea of the terrain and the landscape around our home. I even added somedetails to the map we kept. Even in the dark I recognize some distinctive trees and rocks,and I know I’m on the right course. If I now turn to the right, I’ll circle around andapproach the village from the opposite direction.

Every fifty steps I stop and listen and just observe the jungle. Dragons have no disciplineand will chat and whine among themselves, especially when standing guard, which theyapparently never do anyway. They should be easy to discover from a distance. Cavemenwill be completely silent and alert to any tiny movement or sound that’s out of place. Butthey have no particular reason to stand guard in the middle of the jungle if they thinkwe’re all confined to Bune. They may have roaming patrols, though, guarding for attackfrom other caveman tribes. Tribes that have not been charmed by Yranox to betray us—

I freeze, one foot in the air. The trees end about a hundred yards ahead, and beyond is

only darkness. Yeah, that’s not supposed to be there.

Sneaking closer, it takes me a minute to realize that it is absolutely supposed to be there.That’s the clearing we’ve made. It’s our village, with the football stadium-size clearingwith the fruit trees, the fields, the razed houses, and the empty corrals after our attemptsat animal husbandry. I have become totally disoriented in the jungle, and I am not at allapproaching from the direction I had planned. But it should be okay.

At the edge of the clearing is our cave, the center of the village with the main campfireright outside. There’s no fire burning anywhere now, of course. Except I think there maybe a lot of potential fire inside the cave. As in, genuine dragon fire.

I stand still for several minutes, looking for guards and putting off the thing I’m going todo.

Reaching down, I slowly cock the other gun, too. The sharp click is not a natural sound inthe jungle, but I absolutely want two loaded barrels right now.

Huh. I never knew the presence of guns to make me feel safer.

The village looks dead and abandoned. The old brick houses are just heaps of rubblenow, after the earthquake shook everything apart. There’s no movement anywhere. Theonly sounds are the ever-present, subdued hiss of the living jungle and the clucking fromour creek.

I could turn around and walk right back to Bune, reporting that the village is empty. Thatcould be important information. The cavemen and dragons didn’t set up a camp here.

But it’s no good. I know I will do this. There’s too much at stake, and this is a possibleway out for the girls.

Sticking to the darkest parts of the clearing, I walk through fruit groves and past bushesand rocks, making my way to the side of the rock, thirty feet from the cave opening.

There’s no sound from inside, but that means nothing.

I bite my lip. I can still leave.

No, I can’t. Let’s just get this over with.

Moving slowly so there are no noises, I draw both guns from the holsters, gingerly aimingthem away from me. No, they don’t make me feel safe after all. Nothing could.

I move along the rock face towards the cave, wishing this was still our village and our

cave and that some of the girls were still sleeping in there, that the cavemen from thearmy were still patrolling the jungle, and we could feel safe and together.

Right outside the opening, I stand still, heart beating hard in my ears and making meunsure if I can actually hear movement from in there. Isn’t there a slithering noise? Or isthat the creek?

Taking a deep breath, I very slowly lean to the side so I can look inside with one eye.

It’s dark in there. It doesn’t smell any different from before, just dirt and dinosaur skin.

But the cave is deep, and some of the partitions between each girl’s sleeping place arestill hanging from their rudimentary wooden frames. So I can’t tell much yet.

I take one short step in front of the opening, lifting both guns and aiming them inside,arms shaking.

It’s all dark shadows. But I see the rear wall.

Empty.

I lower the heavy guns, letting them hang down. I’m both relieved and strangelydisappointed. I was so sure he would be in there.

“Then where the heck is he?” I mutter.

Where indeed.

It’s more like a deep vibration in the rock itself than actual words. It fills my mindcompletely.

I spin around, my veins suddenly running with ice.

And look right into a shining mass of blue and yellow.

“Oh fuck!”

Losing my balance, I drop one gun and fall on my butt while sudden panic fills me, and Ireflexively scurry further into the cave.

He fills the opening and has to bend down to look inside.

“That’s certainly a possibility,” he growls in a smooth, deep voice. In English, I can’t helpbut notice.

Yeah, he’s related to Caronerax, all right. But this one has more menace in his tone.

He’s in his human form. Or human-ish, anyway. Even in the dark, the yellow stripes lightup his torso like lightning bolts across a midnight blue sky.

The face… unspeakably beautiful, of course. Nobody on Earth could possess this degreeof perfection. And still there is character, something that sets him apart from all otherdragons. I can’t identify it, but it’s there. His eyes are different from his brother’s — it’slike looking at two stars in the sky, each twinkling in yellow and blue, shifting too fast tofollow so that they sometimes look bright green.

“You’re not going to kill me,” I wheeze, still crawling backwards. It’s the most pressingthing on my mind.

He tilts his head to the side. “Really? Are you sure, little lesser creature?”

I overpower the panic and find a position on the ground where I can point the gun in hisdirection without it being obvious. “You would have killed me already if you were goingto.”

“Do you think you know me?” There is amusement in his voice, but it’s of the most lethalkind.

“I saw you,” I tell him, voice squeaky. “Before the earthquake. And I think… you saw me.”Yeah, I wasn’t going to spill the beans about that. But I have to say something.

“Do you, now.” He takes a short step closer.

Again, my own body takes over and has me crawl a few feet back. “You were… in thejungle. Close to the village. And you were… aieeeee!” I squeal as the dragon is on top ofme, grabs me by the shoulders, and lifts me up to his face as if I were a rag.

“Whatever you thought you saw,” he snarls, “I would recommend never finishing thatsentence. If you enjoy having your head attached to your body, anyway.”

I’m frozen with fear, staring into his eyes, hard as diamonds. Hard and alien and deadly.There’s not a shred of humanity in there. How the hell could I ever think this would work?

“But you have a point. A creature like you is too far beneath me to even kill. Now leave.”

He shifts his grip on me and grabs me by the neck and the gun belt.

“No, no,” I whimper, realizing what he has in mind.

He draws back and tosses me out of the cave. All the way out.

I scream as I fly through the air at immense speed, head first until my chunky behindcatches up with it and I tumble. I land in the dirt hip and mouth first, then roll to anuncontrolled stop on my back.

The landing has knocked the wind out of me, and I spend a couple of frantic secondsgasping uselessly before things start to work again and I can gulp some air in.

Spending a moment to take stock, I decide that I’ve not been badly injured.

As I laboriously get to my feet on shaking knees, I notice that the cave opening is dark.He didn’t even check if I landed okay.

“Well, he is a dragon,” I mutter as I brush dirt from my butt and pick sand, dry leaves,and various sticks and other disgusting things out of my mouth.

Then I just stand there in the darkness, hands on hips. This actually went much betterthan I had any reason to think. I’m alive, only slightly bruised, and not even a captive. Asfirst meetings with a dragon go, this was the friendliest I’ve ever heard of. He only kind ofthreatened to tear my head off, too.

I don’t think he’s a total softie, but as long as I’m in one piece, I should be encouraged.

And after all, I did maybe somewhat intrude on his lair. It’s only fair that he tossed meout, like a drunk from a bar in the Old West.

I pat my flat, empty holsters. I don’t think Annie Oakley would lose her guns like this, butat least they didn’t go off when they hit the ground.

There’s no movement anywhere.

A sensible person would now make her quiet way home, having tried her best and failed,but escaped with her life.

What I do is walk a small arc around the cave to the creek, drink a little, and wash theworst of the dirt off my hands and the sand out of my mouth.

Then I sit down by the circle of stones that was our campfire and wait for daylight ordeath, whichever comes first.

3

- Yranox -

Curling up on his hoard is a great pleasure for any dragon. The greatest, with nothingelse coming close. Of course, I haven’t brought my entire hoard to this goldforsakenplanet. But the small part of it that I have buried right under the surface of the dirt floorin this cave calms me down and gives me strength. Especially when in my dragon form,as now. The power of the gold right beneath me seeps into me, all sweetness andwarmth and comfort. It fills me with heat and power.

And yet I am unsettled.

A lesser being, indeed much lesser, intruded on my lair when I was not in here. And Ididn’t rip her to tiny shreds or reduce her to ash. I didn’t even burn off one of her limbs asa warning, which in itself would be a shockingly mild response.

Am I getting weak? Or was she indeed too small and insignificant to deal with? If so, whyam I still thinking about her?

I let her get alarmingly close to my gold, which she was undoubtedly looking for.Everyone knows a dragon keeps a hoard in his lair. And this cave is my lair on this planetnow, until I can kill Caronerax and become the sole heir of the dragon kingdom.

The small, round intruder was part of his pitiful gang, of course. She was sent to spy onme. I should have taken her in my claws and flown over the enemy spaceship, thendropped her in front of the door. In small pieces dripping with blood.

But I let her live.

I writhe in discomfort at the thought. I let a spy escape!

She was so weak, so vulnerable. It would have been so easy to end her in some

entertaining way.

And she must have known that it could happen. Still she knowingly entered a dragon’slair, thinking he was there. Offhand, I can’t think of that happening before. Not to me, notto any other dragon. Any lesser being would rather die than get close to a dragon’s den,for fear of the dragon killing them in a horrible way. Which is always the most probableoutcome. And yet, in she walked.

What were those things she was holding? Weapons of some sort? They would not havedone her much good. No weapon can kill me. Weapons that small, most certainly not.

My tail slaps against the cold rock. I can get no peace of mind. Even lying on my gold, Ican’t take my mind off her.

She walked into my lair.

That little female from Caronerax’s gang of lackeys walked right in here. And then shetold me I wouldn’t kill her. Correctly, even, and that is what is giving me no rest.

Even the gold I’ve buried in the dirt floor right under me gives me little comfort. I haverarely been this shaken.

Me, Yranox, crown prince of the dragon kingdom, shaken and unsettled!

No, it’s too much.

I uncoil, Change back to human form, and walk out of my lair, the frustrated energymaking it impossible to enjoy my buried hoard.

The night is dark and humid and warm. I consider Changing back to fly and soar, to blowfire into the darkness just because I can, to let anyone below me know that Yranox ishere.

But I sense that even that wouldn’t help. No, this human form is better right now. Itmight make it easier understand what has happened. It is true that I have seen that littlefemale before. Not long ago. But back then, I had no—

“Hi.”

I spin around, ready to pounce.

And there she is again! Sitting down right outside the cave as if on a pleasant campingtrip.

No, this is becoming a straight insult.

In two paces I’m on her, lifting the little female by her thin neck. “I can’t seem to get ridof you.”

4

- Beatrice -

I groan from pain. He’s lifting me clean off the ground with one hand, hard and cold undermy jawbone. My legs kick and writhe uselessly.

His eyes bore into me like two stars I’m staring at from much too close. “You are atenacious little spy, aren’t you?”

“Not… a spy,” I manage, having trouble both breathing and moving my jaw to speak.

“One wonders what Caronerax thought he might gain by sending you here, little female.He was never the cleanest egg in the nest, of course. Still, he must think there was somesense in it.”

I can only respond with gargling noises, genuine fear for my life starting to rise in me.

The dragon in human form tilts his head a fraction. “I could, of course, try to figure outwhat your mission is. On the other hand, it would save time for me if you were to simplytell me. What do you think?”

“Hhhccchhh…” My hands are clawing at his, but even in human form his fingers are hardlike talons and it makes no impression on him. My frantic kicks can’t connect.

Yranox taps his lips with one blue finger. “Hmm. I see. Yes, agreed. You better just tellme. I will loosen my grip, and you can tell me. Then I will end you painlessly.” He staresinto my eyes for three seconds then sets me down.

I bend over and breathe hard, but the dragon grabs my hair and pulls my face up. Hegives me a chilling smile. “Well?”

“Caronerax did not send me,” I wheeze, not in any shape to think up some elaborate lie.“It was my own idea to come here. I wanted to ask you to not attack us.”

Yranox’s eyes bore into me for another few heartbeats before he lets go of my hair.“Strange behavior for a peace envoy to bring weapons to the other party’s home.”

“I had to walk through the jungle,” I explain, breathing easier. “It’s dangerous.”

“You wanted to talk to a dragon,” he says with clear disbelief. “Some would say that wasthe dangerous part. Did you think it was possible?”

A spark of defiance shoots through me, and I send him a scowl. “I’m talking to you rightnow.”

“And you’re insolent,” he marvels. “Are you not absolutely mortified about what I could doto you?”

“Never said I was not.” I glance over at the closest gun. It’s out of reach for now. “But itwas worth a shot.”

“Or two shots,” the dragon says easily, following my gaze. “A simple projectile weaponwith a chemical charge, I presume. It would not have worked on me.” He walks over andpicks up both my guns, then comes back and aims both of them right at my face.

“It was not meant for you,” I repeat, trying to keep my voice steady. This would actuallynot be the worst he could do to me. Not by a long shot. “The jungle is full of dangers, andit’s a long way.”

“One wonders,” Yranox says, voice as smooth as oiled glass, “why you thought I mightagree to not attack your little group of rabble. You can’t possibly have expected me notto do it from kindness.”

I have to tread carefully, but also be truthful. It’s surprisingly easy when staring into twogun barrels. “Not expecting. But I was hoping it. I already know dragons. Two of myfriends are married to Kyandros and Aragadon. They have kindness in them… Well, notkindness, exactly. But they haven’t killed everyone around them yet, and it is possible totalk to them like normal people. Sometimes. Or so I heard. I’m Beatrice, by the way. Iknow you’re Yranox.”

The dragon looks at me with those flickering stars while the blue moon Yrf comes outfrom behind the clouds and lights him up perfectly. Sweet Earth, he’s completelybreathtaking. As if he’s unreal, just a mirage, a dream. Because nothing this beautiful andcompletely perfect can exist for real. I’m used to feeling inferior, but this is ridiculous.

Yranox tosses both guns spinning into the air and catches them by the barrels, then holds

them out to me, grip first. “None of this can harm me. Go on, take them.”

I hesitantly accept the guns, having to take a step closer because they’re too heavy tohold at arm’s length.

The dragon turns fully towards me, scales and white teeth glittering in the moonlight.“Shoot. See how useless they are.”

The guns are weighing down my arms as thoughts race through my mind. This is mychance. If I kill him right now, the alliance between the cavemen and the dragons willdissolve and they will not have a full dragon on their side.

I just need to pull the triggers and shoot this glorious being in cold blood. Well, tepidblood, anyway. It’s fully justified, the way things are.

“They are not meant for you,” I tell him, voice steady. “It’s not my way. I’m asking you tonot attack us. You don’t agree, I’ll be on my way back. You agree, things could get reallygood for all of us. And it might save your life. You want to get home, right?” I lower theguns and place them both back in their holsters.

“You are a puzzle,” Yranox tells me. “You are not trembling before me. Are you insane? Acrazy person? Be truthful!”

I’m actually puzzled about that, myself. “I’m no more crazy than most people. And I amscared. But I can’t run, because you have not yet replied to my request.”

He chuckles, and it’s the most chilling sound I have ever heard. “I think I know a goodway to respond to your suggestion.”

Right in front of my eyes, he changes to dragon form in the most unreal display ofimpossibilities I have ever seen. It only takes a moment, but when he’s done, I’m on theground. I must have lost control of my body for a split second from the sight, and I didn’teven notice my knees going weak because my mind was turned inside-out.

Yranox is in his full dragon form, blue and yellow and terrible and perfect.

I will simply drop you on your friends from a great height, he says into mythoughts. Possibly they will understand the message, yes?

I can’t reply before I’m twenty feet in the air, held in big talons under the soaring dragonas he beats his powerful wings. He doesn’t pierce my skin, but I’m being held as firmly asin a vise.

The moonlit trees pass underneath my feet and the wind howls past my ears.

I’m having flashbacks to the first day on Xren, when I was carried just like this by a not-dactyl. Except this is more terrifying because the dragon knows exactly what he’s doing.

Tears burn in my eyes. This mission of mine looks like it will have a bad outcome.

Yranox soars higher and higher, headed for the egg-shape that is Bune. It’s coming closervery fast, lit up by the moon in a ghostly blue. Already it’s far below my feet. If he dropsme from this height, I’ll fall for a good few seconds before I hit the ground, with plenty oftime to reflect on my imminent death.

His talons are gripping my upper arms so I can’t move them.

“You’re not going to drop me,” I whimper, because I know nothing else to do. “You’re notgoing to drop me!”

We must be three thousand feet up. Bune is a pale blue oval under me, and the jungle isjust a black shadow around it.

Yranox banks in a lazy circle as if setting up for the final run so he can get the aim right.

“You’re not going to drop me,” I sob helplessly, knowing I’m wrong.

The dragon floats on the air in perfect balance.

Then he beats his wings once, banks hard to the left, and rises even higher. Bunevanishes behind my dangling feet, and soon the only thing under me is the dark jungle.

The wind howls louder around my head as we travel through the air at a tremendousspeed that makes it hard for me to breathe. It’s as if the air is sucked out of my lungsfaster than I can breathe in.

Higher and higher we rise, until I can sense the curvature of the moonlit planet against ahorizon where the sun is about to rise, straight ahead. Shit, I wonder if there is enoughair pressure up here to keep me alive…

- - -

I blink against the sharp light. Yeah, I’ve overslept until long into the day again. I reallyhope it’s Sunday and not a work morning—

I’m not in my bed. I’m on the ground, surrounded by soft sand. The sun is just climbingover the horizon, and its rays already feel hot.

Pressing my hand to my head because of a bad headache, I manage to keep my eyesopen. Nobody here. This is not my crappy studio apartment. And also not the cool littlehouse in the village.

It all comes back to me. Yranox, flying, him wanting to drop me.

And since I’m on the ground, I guess he did.

I take stock of the situation. My spine might be shattered. All my bones could be broken.At the very least, judging from the pain, my skull must be cracked.

Well, I can move my hands and fingers and toes. And when I run my hand all over myhead, it comes back with no blood on it and having discovered no tender parts.

I laboriously sit up.

I’m on a sand dune in a desert. All around is light brown sand and small rocks and gravel.The sky is the same unearthly color as back in the village, so it is still Xren. But there’s nojungle here. No trees, no bushes, no little herbs. No animals. No dinos.

Just sand and sky and sun.

I stand up, feeling the coolness of the sand on my bare feet when I dig my toes into it.

Shielding my eyes with one hand, I realize the dune is pretty high up and I can see formiles in every direction. There’s nothing to be seen. Just desert.

Hey, it’s better than being dropped. At least I’m still alive, more or less. And my throbbingheadache confirms it. If it’s the afterlife, it’s a really low-rent one. Which I guess wouldnot be that unexpected for me.

The low sun creates long shadows and shows the desert in a sharp relief. That’s why Idiscover the tracks.

There’s the indented outline of a fluffy girl on the sand, as well as her stumblingfootsteps, ending up right at my feet. And there are several imprints of big, clawed talonsaround me.

I guess he must have been here, too. He didn’t drop me from the air and then I survived.The sand isn’t actually that soft. If I hit it from twenty feet up, it would be like hittingconcrete and I would not be standing here now.

Scanning the horizon, I see no sign of him. I guess he dumped me here and flew back tohis cave. Well, if he has put me down in the middle of a desert like the Sahara, then thatis just another way of killing me. One that will take longer while I die of thirst. Alreadythe sun has a good bite to it.

Okay, there has to be some positive sides to this. I’m still wearing my dress, and to mymild surprise the guns are still in their holsters at my sides. I take each one out, bring itto my face, gently blow the sand off the mechanism, and then even gentler uncock them.It won’t matter, but I want to push ahead of me the decision of what the hell I do now.

Brushing the sand off myself, I can’t help but notice that I’m hungry. I don’t know how farYranox flew with me, but I suspect I’ve been underway for hours. My memory is hazy, butI seem to recall that we flew into the sunrise. Which would be east, like on Earth. So if Iwalk west, that should bring me closer to the jungle.

Of course, just getting closer to the jungle may not help me much if there’s a thousandmiles of desert between me and it. The horizon in every direction is smooth andfeatureless, except that it’s getting harder to tell because the air is heating up andbecoming shimmery. At any moment I’m sure I’ll start to see mirages of rivers and lakes.

Well, if I’m going somewhere, I should get started. At least my skin is not as light assome of the girls back at the village. Caroline would really have struggled with sunburn, Ithink. I probably won’t. But if I could find any shelter or shade, that might make itpossible to walk during the night and avoid the strong sunlight which will totally dry meout, no matter how fetchingly tanned I am.

And of course, finding water would be even better.

I stand still for a minute, just listening. But there’s no liquid clucking anywhere, and theair feels really dry.

“Because a nearby stream running with ice-cold Coors would just be too much to ask,” Imutter as I turn my back to the sun and start walking.

- - -

The desert is flat, and whenever I encounter a dune I walk around it instead of overit. The sand is heating up, but my feet are tough from years in the jungle with no

Famous Footwear anywhere, and I barely notice it.

I thankfully don’t sink that far into the sand with each step, and I know that I can actuallykeep this up for a good while. Still I pace myself to not burn too much energy and to notget too sweaty. I make sure to adjust my course based on where the sun is. If I keep it atmy back always, I’ll walk in a circle. So as the day wears on, I think I should keep it at myleft around noon, and then straight ahead when it sets. That approach can’t lead me toofar astray, anyway.

Damn that dragon. He just straight dumped me here, in a desert where he has to know Ican’t survive for long. I’m not even sure it is that much better than dying from beingdropped from a great height. Sure, the fall would be horrific while it lasted, but at least itwould be over in seconds. This could turn out to be a bad way to go, not to mention—

Boom.

I freeze. There was a deep, hollow sound coming from the sand itself.

Standing still for several seconds, I hold my breath. Sand is not supposed to give offnoises.

Nothing happens, so I take another careful step.

Boom.

It’s as if it comes from the depths, making the ground tremble slightly as it dies down. Isthere something alive down there, creating that noise? It’s not like Xren is short of blood-curdling monsters.

My skin creeps, and I take several quick steps.

Boom boom boom boom, the sand trembles under my feet.

Exactly in time with my steps. I guess I’m making the sound.

Now that I look, I’m in a slight hollow in the desert, maybe a hundred feet wide. Thesand is unusually smooth and flat, which is why I subconsciously chose this path.

Boom boom boom boom boom. I walk on, moderately relieved. It’s just a quirk of thedesert, I guess. If I knew anything at all about deserts, it might be useful information.Maybe sand that goes boom has a river right under it, and if I only dig a couple of feet

down, there will be a nice underground creek with fresh water. And maybe not. I justdon’t know. I’ve read a lot of books, but most of them were definitely not from the desert.

Boom boom boom goes the sand as I reach the other end of the hollow and step ontoregular desert ground that gives off no sound. Looking back at the hollow, it looksvaguely like one of those steel drums that they use in the Caribbean, with a gentledipping curve to it and nearly perfectly round.

Beyond are my tracks, barely visible as they continue into the glare. It looks straightenough.

Well, now I know about weird drumsand. I turn my back to the hollow, check the sun, anddecide to stay on the same course towards the featureless horizon. At least my headacheis gone.

Each step is a little bit of a chore. It just takes a little more effort than I expect.

God, it’s so dry here. I have been ignoring it for an hour or so, but now it gets tooimportant: I’m thirsty.

I can’t stop sweating, and I’m walking slower than before, my back less straight. Thiscould get bad much sooner than I had thought. With every breath, I breathe out preciousmoisture, replacing it with hot and dry desert air. I’m pretty sure it’s not even noon, andthe heat is getting oppressive. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, and I can tell it’s only goingto get worse. I’ll end up a sun-bleached skeleton in the sand. Very soon.

There’s a stinging sensation in the corners of my eyes, and my throat constricts. But ifthere’s one thing I’m not going to do now, it’s shed tears. Still, I’m starting to realize thatthis can only have one outcome. That dragon knew what he was doing.

Well, I’m not going to lie down and give up. I should be able to make it through this day,at least. Maybe at nightfall it will get cooler and I will think of something.

I lift my gaze to check I’m walking straight.

And there… that’s a lake. Right in front of me, maybe a mile distant. It’s big. I can see thedesert beyond reflected from its silvery surface.

Except of course, it’s not a lake at all. I’ve seen mirages before, on hot summer days on astraight piece of highway where it looks like there are puddles in the road a few hundredfeet ahead. And this looks a lot like that.

I lower my head and keep walking, keeping a steady pace that’s now becoming shuffling

because lifting my feet off the ground seems like a waste of energy.

I pass another patch of drumsand, this time stepping back at the first boom and walkingaround the circular patch. I have no idea how it works, but it gives me the creeps. Itdoesn’t seem like a natural thing, more like an alarm system set by some giant monsterto alert it when someone is walking here.

The sand surrounding the drum hollow is unusually fine and easy to walk on, likeconfectioner’s sugar. It sticks to the bottom of my feet, but it doesn’t bother me much.

Halfway around the drum hollow, the fine sand gives way under me and I sink in to myhips before I can register what’s going on.

And I keep sinking, despite desperately trying to drag myself up. My hands find nothing topush against. The sand gives way. Each movement just makes me sink deeper, and I canfind no purchase or support anywhere.

I’m up to my armpits in fine, whitish sand, sinking further. My legs are held firmly by theheavy sand, but at the same time they are not supported from beneath.

I’m drowning in sand.

Damn that dragon!

5

- Yranox -

The sand is featureless, and that makes it much harder to figure out where I was before.

In the scorching midday sun, nothing casts a shadow of any length, and nothing moves.The air is unpleasantly dry, and the heat is making the air rise, helping me soareffortlessly higher and forcing me to concentrate on going lower.

I still can’t see her.

Possibly, I should not have left her there on the sand. But she seemed safe enough.Nothing could kill her if there was no movement to be seen within hours of flight. No saferplace should exist on the planet, with the possible exception of the poles. So leaving herthere for a day or so should preserve her fine, while I was busy with more importantthings.

And now I can’t find her.

I’m not worried, of course. Why would I worry about a small lesser being, no matter howbravely she stood up to me?

I was going to drop her on the terrible spaceship that contains both her friends and mybrother, but then I changed my mind at the last moment. It felt wrong, for reasons that Ican’t quite grasp. But it will all become clear. My instincts are always right.

The desert below looks the same everywhere. I have, of course, seen similar features oncountless other planets, but never before have they meant anything to me. Now, I’meager to find that little female, for reasons that are somewhat confusing.

It’s even confusing that I remember her at all. She fainted in my claws as I flew acrossthe planet in the most efficient way, which is always very high up because of the helpful

jet streams there.

I set her down, noticed that her eyes were demonstratively closed, chided her for that,and then took off, impatient and knowing that my absence from the jungle can’t go on fortoo long at a time. And of course, she is absolutely safe here. The desert is dead anddeserted, except for one possible place, which I saw earlier—

There she is. A tiny shadow against the yellow and white of the sand.

She’s upright and appears to be walking. Her tracks are a wobbly line in a gentle curvetowards the horizon.

Some strange kind of elation wakes in me, and I dive down, inexplicably excited aboutthis. Well, of course it’s nice to find what one is looking for, so that’s only natural. But thisexcited? Certainly it was extremely unlikely that I should find her in this immense desert,and certainly I seem to have flown straight to her, but...

She’s gone.

I land on the sand where she was, talons splaying out and keeping me up although thesand here is treacherously loose. Her small, unclawed tracks just stop as if she has takento her wings and flown. Or become invisible.

I glance up, but nothing is flying away. So she must have gone invisible. Of all aliencapabilities, that one is extremely rare and is usually not real invisibility, only very skillfulcamouflage. I suppose her species could have that gift.

There is another possibility, of course.

I lower my dragon body and plunge one taloned leg into the sand as deep as it will go,right where the tracks end.

It hits something down there. I grab it and pull it up.

A lot of static electricity is created when Beatrice comes out of the sand, her whole bodyrubbing against the dry particles. It discharges as a sudden flash and a zap from one ofher toes.

I lie her down a few paces away from the loose sand, sure she’s dead. She is much palerthan before, but maybe that’s just the white dust that’s clinging to her.

I’m not even sure how to check. Dragons never study medicine and are usually neversick. But I happen to be quite knowledgeable.

If she trembles, then she’s a lesser alien who’s alive. I have noticed that the dead onesare not as scared of me as the living ones. The dead ones rarely tremble.

I Change back to human form and place one hand on her quite pleasantly full chest.

Hmm. No particular trembling can be detected. But then, she never shook that much, thisfemale.

There is some movement, anyway. A soft wheeze and a rapid beating, which I could calla heartbeat if it were slower and harder. Perhaps she—

On pure instinct, I grab her by the ankles, turn her upside down, and give her back amighty slap.

A cloud of white dust shoots out of her mouth as the air is pushed out of her.

I slap her again, but the effect is less, so I put her down on the ground.

No movement. I may have to try something else and hope her mind can handle it. And Imust make sure she forgets.

She starts coughing and wheezing, curling up and rolling around on the sand until she’sface down. The dry coughing stops, but she’s still heaving with her whole body, cramping.

She rolls her head around, staring up at me with bulging eyes, wheezing and pointing ather throat.

“Yes, very nice,” I assure her. “Your neck, while ridiculously thin, is indeed somewhatproportional to the rest of you.”

She wheezes more, then puts her hands around her neck as if strangling herself, staringat me as if she’s trying to tell me something.

Ah.

I lift her up, then slap her back several more times with some force. More clouds of dustshoot out of her before I turn her upside down again, hold her ankles, and shake her. Aheap of the white sand collects under her as it falls off her body and comes out of hernose and throat. Her clothing flops down over her head, and I am able to study someextremely female attributes from up close.

I turn her right way up again and hold her out from me as she takes some shallow,strained breaths.

“Water,” she croaks, trails of moisture from her eyes creating dark lines in the white dustthat covers her face.

I look around the desert. It looks remarkably dry, and I can’t recall having seen any majorrivers or even lakes from the air. Not that I have been looking for such things, but thefeaturelessness of this landscape did cause me some frustration when I tried to locatethis female just now.

I scratch my chin. There must be water outside the desert. Certainly, in that damnedjungle, one can hardly break off the trunk of a tree without being drenched with moistureof all kinds.

But I sense that Beatrice’s need of water is not just for fun. She might really need some,to rinse off that ridiculous layer of dust that covers her like she bathed in flour.

Putting her down, I Change back to dragon form, take her in my talons, and beat mywings twice to gain height fast.

Only twenty wingbeats later, I spot the place I was looking for.

6

- Beatrice -

It’s easier to breathe when we’re flying — the air is forced into my lungs by the speed.But still it’s obvious I will die from this, because I still have to gasp for breath.

I’m vaguely aware that Yranox dives hard, and then there’s firm ground under me again.

It’s not sand. Opening my burning eyes, it looks green.

Someone grabs me by the ankles, turns me upside-down, and then liquid explodesaround my head. I’m being dunked head first into water so deep I’m sure my feet are theonly parts of me above the surface.

I’m pulled straight back up again, and Yranox sets me down on the ground while Isplutter and cough and gasp and wheeze, curling up on the soft ground.

“Much better,” I’m barely aware of the dragon saying. “That powder looked strange onyou.”

There’s still a lot of the fine sand in my mouth, but I involuntarily drew in some waterthrough my nose, and once my sinuses clear somewhat I’m able to get almost enoughair.

I get up on all fours, panting and wheezing and dripping and coughing, then take asecond to see where I am.

Trees. Grass. A small pond that’s just about invisible in the sunlight because the water isso clear.

I crawl over to it and lower my mouth to the surface, having to take a chance on this notbeing a pool of arsenic or gasoline. But if it is, then I should have been dead the momentI was dunked into it.

I scoop some into my hand and sip it, then cough out most of it along with another cloudof white dust. I sip more and rinse my mouth and throat. Immediately I feel better, and Istart to furiously drink as my body tells me “get all this damn water inside you.”

It takes me a while to feel full and no longer thirsty. Standing up on trembling legs, I lookover at Yranox. He’s just standing there, idly studying is claw-like fingernails.

A patch of the ground is white with the sand that’s fallen off me, mixed with water. Itlooks weird, and when I step on it, it crackles and breaks like potato chips. Yeah, that’snot good.

I walk three steps away, kneel down, ram two fingers down my throat, and throw up asmuch as I can. There is a lot of water, and there’s sand mixed in to create a disgustingand probably deadly sludge.

Yranox looks on with mild interest. “First water in, then water out. You should make yourmind up.”

“Yeah, so,” I begin, then cough for a good minute before I wipe my mouth and eyes andglance over at him. “If you look at that spot on— cough— the ground, you’ll see.”

He bends down to examine it. “Ah. Indeed. Yes, I see. Now explain.”

“That’s concrete,” I tell him, my throat so raw I can barely speak. “Fine sand and watermix and become hard. I don’t want that happening inside me.”

I stagger over, kneel down, and drink more. Getting a mix of cement inside me is not agood idea, least of all if it sets in there. It’s not a common thing, but that white sandreminds me so much of cement powder that I will take no chances. A guy I once knewtold me horror stories about construction workers doing a variety of the cinnamonchallenge, using dry hydraulic cement, and then ending up in the ER with their stomachsfull of what is pretty much small, jagged rocks. And this sand here sure set really fast.The little lumps I threw up are already hardening.

I sit down and just breathe. Now that I’m not dying of thirst, I can think.

This is obviously an oasis. When I lift my head, I can see the desert on all sides, beyondtrees with tall, slender trunks that remind me of some of the ones around the village.That’s lucky. Because I think the jungle is hours away, even flying at Yranox’s speed. AndI definitely would not have lived that long just now.

I get back on my feet and brush down my dress. Yeah, I’m not wearing a whole lot

underneath it, so that dragon saw all there is when he was holding me upside down andeven shaking me. One gun is gone, but the other has caught on my belt and is still in itsholster. But it has been dipped in water along with me, so the gunpowder will be ruined.

I walk up to the dragon, not feeling the least bit scared after the ordeal I’ve just beenthrough. I’m feeling weak, but not dying anymore.

Setting my hands on my hips, I give a little shrug. “Well, here we are.” My voice ishoarse.

Yranox looks me up and down. “Are you done with the water?”

“For now. I will need more later, I’m sure. Why did you leave me in the desert?”

He strokes some invisible piece of dust off one scale. “I haven’t left you. Yet.”

“I meant before. Back there. I was unconscious, and you just dumped me.”

He sends me another of those dazzling smiles, and despite my state, I feel the chill of it.“I can dump you again.”

It might be that he just doesn’t know.

“Humans like me are fragile. We can’t take that much sunshine and sand and no water. Itkills us.”

“Yes? Fragile indeed.”

“But thanks for pulling me out of the sand. Did you know I would sink?”

He looks around. “Of all the desert, this place is less disagreeable than most I’ve seen.”

Right. I guess he’s not about to answer questions.

“I notice you didn’t drop me on my friends, after all.”

“I notice that, too.”

“Told you you wouldn’t kill me.” Not the wisest thing to say, but right now I just don’tgive a fuck.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not too late.” His eyes glitter like stars.

“Then do it.” I have pretty much been close to death three times by now, and I guess Ishould be relieved to still be breathing. But I’m physically exhausted and mentally, too.

“You wish me to? It can easily be arranged.”

I put my hands on my hips. “If you’re going to kill me, do it. What’s your problem?”

He looks away. “There is gold nearby.”

I turn my back and walk over to the water, peering into the rocky depths. “It’s alwaysabout gold with you dragons. Such a useless thing.”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Gold? Maybe.”

“You can?”

I walk some steps along the shore of the pond. There’s no stream, so there has to be anunderground source for it. It’s crystal clear, and now I know that it tastes clean, too. “Notreally.”

There are very few bushes, but the trees seem to bear fruit that it would be just aboutimpossible to get because they are thirty feet up the slender trunks, much like palm treeson Earth. On the other hand, some of us can fly.

I point up to a tree crown where there is a cluster of red, either flowers or fruits. “Couldyou get me one of those? It’s very high up.”

Yranox doesn’t even look. “It doesn’t feel like gold or I would have gotten it already.”

“It’s not gold, it’s something actually useful. It might keep me alive for a little longer.”Mia and Eleanor have told us about how so many things about regular humans are weirdto the dragons, like our need to eat and drink and not be left alone in a deadly desertwith no shade anywhere. They have just never thought of those things because theythemselves rarely face any danger, except from other dragons.

Yranox gives the fruit a quick glance. “I see.”

“Lesser beings like me need to eat and drink. Every day, several times. We also needshelter from the sun and from cold and from rain and just about everything. We’re veryfragile, like I told you. If you’re not going to kill me, you can take me back to my friends.Or can’t you change to your dragon form anymore?”

Yranox comes over to me in two long steps, and despite myself, I have to back upbecause this guy is intimidating.

“You are remarkably tedious company.”

He changes again, and I avert my eyes, not wanting to have my mind turned inside-outjust now.

His yellow stripes shine with a metallic glare in the sunlight as he beats his wings, risesinto the air, circles the oasis once, and swoops down towards me.

I throw myself down as he swooshes overhead, his razor-sharp talons barely missing myhead.

When I pick myself back up, he’s only a speck in the sky, and there’s an untidy pile offruits on the ground.

“Thanks, I guess,” I mutter as I bend to pick one up.

I think I recognize it and bite into it. It’s like an orange, except not. So typical of planetXren.

“Such a weirdo,” I munch as I stare at the sky and the tiny speck that’s going away. Mymind is filled with him, because he has that quality even when he’s not here.

What the hell is his deal?

The fresh taste of the fruit picks me up right away. Things are looking better than just alittle while ago. An oasis is much better than the bare desert, and absolutely better thanbeing buried in fine dust.

I shudder at the thought. I sank straight down, slower than in water, but impossible tostop. And then he dragged me back up, like he had been waiting for it to happen.

He must have been keeping watch, or he came at the exact right moment to save me.

I sit down in the shadow of the biggest tree and spit out more pieces of the white dust. Ithas a softness to it, like chalk, and I’m sure I will be chewing on it for months.

Having the dragon leave is maybe not ideal for my life expectancy, because I’m still inthe middle of the desert. But not having his sheer presence claim most of my attention atleast makes it easier to think.

I must be miles and miles from the jungle. When Yranox flew us here just now, my mindwas focused on something other than geography, but I saw no sign of anything otherthan flat desert from up there. He took me far away from my friends.

I’m not even sure what to think about this. Sure, I knew it was risky to go and try to talkto him. But I’m still alive, so my judgement can’t have been all bad.

Hey, three of the dragons have fallen for and married Earth girls. They can’t be all bad,either. And while this one hasn’t fallen for me, and very probably never will, there mustbe something in them that can be reasoned with.

I lost one gun and a good amount of dignity. And I was taken maybe very far away fromBune and the girls, completely isolated on all sides.

“It’s not an ideal situation,” I mutter to myself.

Anyway, I now know which way the jungle is, because I’m sure that’s where Yranox wasgoing. It’s pretty much straight west, if that alien sun can be trusted to be in the westabout now.

There’s a lot of water in this oasis. There’s a lot of fruit, mostly impossible to get to.There is some grass that looks healthy and green and might contain water. And I havespent the last several years in a prehistoric village, learning to make primitive containersand suchlike. There’s wood and there are rocks in the pond. The bark of those tall treeslooks tough. It shouldn’t be impossible for a Stone Age chick like me to make somethingout of this.

I should be able to fashion a backpack, at least. I can carry fruit in it, after I figure out away to get the fruit down from the treetops. Maybe I’ll be able to make a parasol againstthe sun, so I can walk in the shade. That fine, powdered sand that almost killed meseems to turn into cement on contact with water, so it should be possible to make nicepots from it. If I can find more of that stuff, of course.

I should be able to carry a few gallons of water in pots in a backpack. Along with a fewpounds of fruit and maybe grass if it’s not toxic. If cows can eat that stuff, then I can, too.Aren’t leafy greens supposed to be really good for you?

I peer between the trees, out at the desert that surrounds me. It’s quite beautiful in thesetting sun. At the same time, it is a deadly landscape. But now I have experience with it,and I can identify and avoid the powdered sand.

I gaze up at the huge palm fronds overhead. Would it be possible to make a tent toshield me during the daytime, so I can spend that time sleeping and then walk at night,when it’s hopefully cooler? But at night, would I be able to spot powdered sand before it’stoo late?

I pick a strand of grass and thoughtfully chew on it. Yes, it has a little bit of juice, and ittastes just like Earth grass smells. Not something I would get addicted to, but not as badas it could have been.

If I started walking in the desert, how long could I keep it going? Three days? A week?Two weeks? I don’t know how much water I would need each day or each night. A quartwould seem to be the absolute least I would need, because I would be sweating. Howmany quarts could I carry in a backpack? Twenty? Five gallons, so about forty pounds.Plus fruit and tent and parasol. And the weight of the pots and backpack.

I sigh. It’s much too early to think about those things. I don’t even know if any of theitems I need will be possible to make. And anyway, I also don’t know what exactly thedragon is planning. He might be back to fly me somewhere else at any moment. But atthe same time, I get the feeling he doesn’t really have much of a plan. About me,anyway. About other things, sure.

I eat my fill of fruits, reasoning that I need the energy and there is a lot of it. The treesgive a pleasant shade, and the air itself isn’t really all that scorching hot — it’s when thesunshine hits me from above and the heat slowly cooks me from the sand below that itstarts to feel deadly.

The trees are throwing long shadows, and the sun is setting really fast now.

I get up and spend the rest of the daylight time exploring the oasis. It’s about the size ofa baseball stadium, I decide. The pond in the middle is the only sign of water, but it isquite a big body of water and could easily support a village ten times the size of ours.The grass is short but fresh, the trees all appear healthy and far too tall to climb. Theyare heavy with fruits, but it’s all gathered up in their crowns and I see no way to get tothem.

As the sun drops below the horizon, I draw a compass rose on the ground, marking W inthe direction where it sets. The jungle should be that way.

I stand there with my hands on my hips, not sure what to feel. I guess it’s progress?Instead of being trapped in Bune with the other girls, I’m trapped in an oasis with a smallchance to maybe talk the baddest dragon on the planet into joining our—

There’s some movement out in the sand.

7

- Beatrice -

Squinting, I shield my eyes with my hand. A couple hundred yards away, it’s like there arewaves in the sand. As if it undulates, like an ocean. But it’s only in one spot — around it,the sand lies calmly like it’s supposed to.

I follow the spot with my eyes as it slowly moves to the left, looking like a fifteen-footwhirlpool moving across the calm surface of a lake. But it’s not a lake, it’s a desert, andit’s not supposed to do that.

“With my luck, that’s an underground monster and it lives in the oasis,” I mutter,uselessly checking that I still have my gun. I can’t help thinking about Marshie, theswamp monster that lived under an island. I would not put it past this insane planet tohave monsters who live under oases, too.

At that moment, the patch of waves and swirling sand changes direction and comes rightat me, faster than I thought possible.

I yelp and run back to the pond, which is in the middle of the oasis and as far away fromthe waves as I can get.

It’s very quiet and peaceful, which is obviously a bad sign. I stand there for severalminutes, crouched and looking around me, certain to see a tentacle or a mouth or athorny tail coming in my direction.

One of the palm trees drops a dead frond, making me jump about six feet into the air.But that’s all that happens.

I’m still standing there, barely breathing, when it gets really dark and the stars come out.A little breeze picks up, further cooling the air and making the treetops sway.

I finally relax, remembering that deserts on Earth can get really cold in the night time,despite being super hot during the day. I’m wearing my dinosaur skin dress, one gun belt,and not much else, and I can’t handle freezing temperatures. I will obviously be spendingthe night here, so I should see what I can do to not freeze to death, if at all possible.

A slow, careful walk around the trees and the pond doesn’t reveal a stack of furs or asleeping bag dispenser. But I’m not panicking yet. The air is balmy, and if there is anactual danger of getting cold, I’m sure a couple of minutes of brisk running should do thetrick.

Even so, I dare walk about five inches into the desert and bury my feet in still-hot sand,just to check that it does actually retain some heat. Which it does, so I guess as a lastresort I can bury myself— no. Not a chance. I was very nearly buried for good in thatpowdery sand.

I walk back to the pond and gaze up at the treetops. Even with the stars out, it’s gettingtoo dark to actually do anything useful. So I might as well sit down and worry, which isone of the things I do the most on this planet, anyway.

There’s no shortage of things to worry about. For one thing, the dragon-slash-cavemanarmy could attack the girls at any time, and when that happens my side will probablylose. For another, I’m stranded here, completely at the mercy of the dragon that will beleading the attack on the girls. And third, that desert is straight-up deadly and my onlychance may be to try to walk through it. At least that will be doing something, asopposed to just sitting here and waiting with baited breath for our worst enemy to deigncome back, grab me in his claws, and fly me somewhere else.

That decision taken, I immediately feel better, but the smile dies on my lips as a freezinggust of wind blows my hair into my face and makes the tree trunks creak as they sway.

I get up again and gather fallen palm fronds, break them up into suitable pieces, andbuild a small heap. Then, using the flint and steel on the now useless gun, I manage tomake sparks and then flames in a ball of dry grass in my hand. I gently place thesmoldering grass inside the heap of dry fronds, then blow on it until I have a decent littlefire going. Whatever this planet may have done to me, at least it taught me how to makefire if I absolutely have to.

The cold gusts calm down to a steady, chilling breeze that makes my teeth clatter. Igather more fallen palm fronds so that I have enough to fuel a little fire through thenight. But only for one night, I conclude. The palms just haven’t dropped that many dry

fronds.

Covering my feet with the leafy stack of fuel for the fire, I lean back on a tree and look upas the flames crackle. I’ve never seen the starry sky clearer than this, and the sight isspectacular. I’m sure Phoebe would have loved to see it, since she is our astronomer. Oneof those stars could be our own Sun, but Earth would be too distant and too small to seefrom here. Still, being kind of able to see home makes me feel better.

The night passes slowly, but I am able to get some sleep, curled up on the ground withonly the dwindling amount of fronds for cover. When the horizon gets just a tiny gleam ofpale light above it, I extinguish the embers that are left of the fire and carefully gatherthe unburned fronds in a small heap. Nope, not enough for another night. But maybethere won’t be an icy wind every night in the desert.

I scratch my chin. Okay, one night survived with no major problems except for bit ofshivering. Not bad!

I drink from the pond and eat more of the fruit that Yranox picked faster than the eyecould see.

As usual, I think about him as I munch on a kiwi-like fruit that tastes of mango. He didsave me from the powdery sand, exerted some effort to help me get the sand off me, andhe got fruit for me. My theory that he has a soft spot wasn’t all wrong. And that’s good,because it was that theory that got me into this mess in the first place, thinking he couldbe reasoned with.

Dawn is still just a pale band of slightly brighter sky when I start the day’s work. I have alot to do, and that’s the best case scenario. It means I can actually make use of whatlittle material I can find in this oasis.

And it’s not easy. I sweat and swear and kick the ground and lean my head on a tree indespair, punching its coarse bark, before I have fashioned the first item — a wide-brimmed hat to shield me from the now risen sun. It’s more a sombrero than a cowboyhat, if a sombrero was ever this frilly and saggy, but it goes equally well with my gunbelt. It took all the rest of the dead fronds to make, so there will be no fire tonight.

I put it on and then walk a full circuit around the edge of the oasis, looking for morematerials now that I have light to see by. And I do find a good amount of sticks andleaves and a bush with thin, supple twigs. All useful stuff for a Stone Age cowgirl, butnothing revolutionary like a sheet of leather or a pile of clay or a bush that bears aselection of velcro straps.

I gather all the material in my arms, turn around, and then drop it all in a crashing heap.

“Shit!”

There’s a spidermonkey looking at me, just casually eating a fruit and scratching its rearend with one of its multiple arms.

These creatures are a mystery to us girls. One of them is called Alice and was a friend ofours, but then she turned out to have been spying on us and the tone has been coolersince then. The spidermonkeys are smart and sophisticated, and they do help us onoccasion. We think they are some kind of proto-sentient being, similar to the ape-likealmost-humans that evolved to become modern humans. But maybe these creaturesdon’t need to evolve much further — they seem extremely well-adapted to planet Xren.We don’t actually know much about them.

I stand still. This guy is bigger than Alice, but they all look both adorable and deadly atthe same time, what with the fur, the huge eyes, the claws, the fangs, and their ability tojump thirty feet into the air and bite the throats out of passing not-dactyls. I will betaking no risks with this one. And since they live in communities, I doubt he’s all aloneout here in the desert.

Some of the girls can partly communicate with them, but I don’t know how, and Iwouldn’t know what to say. Nothing worth translating, anyway.

I take a slow step back from the wild alien animal. “Hello, I won’t disturb you. Justgathering these… all this trash. Yeah. I’m trash-gathering. Pay me no attention.”

The spidermonkey keeps peacefully munching on his fruit, not very interested. He looksmuch the same as the ones in the jungle, except his fur is maybe lighter in tone and hislimbs thicker.

I back off more, checking if there are more of them. But no other creatures are around, asfar as I can tell. Of course, these guys can climb the fruit trees with no trouble at all, sothere may be a full tribe of them up there in the crowns, and then—

I freeze as the spidermonkey suddenly snarls at me, fangs glittering in the bright desertsun.

“Ah. Tidying up the desert?” comes a deep, smooth voice from right behind me, makingme jump and spin around.

I want to punch him, but I don’t think my fist can reach that high. “If so, I know what I

would remove first,” I seethe, not happy with this ordeal he’s placed me in and himstartling me like that.

“And you’ve made a friend,” Yranox observes, looking past me. “A native lesser being.”

“Not really as much lesser as you think,” I tell him. “They’re smart.”

The dragon looks me up and down. “Don’t look now, but there’s something strange onyour head. It looks alive.”

I adjust my palm frond not-sombrero. “Just something I made. What have you madelately?” I feel the terror he radiates into me, but some low-level anger is making mebrave.

Yranox strolls over to the pond, and as these things are with dragons, I can’t look away.His movements are perfect, supernatural. And yet he is real, as dangerous as nothingelse, a total master of everything around him. There’s a sucking feeling in the pit of mystomach as my ancient, most primitive genes are telling me ‘You have to breed withthat. Do whatever you must do, just have that male’s baby!’

“I don’t think so,” I mutter, but despite myself I wipe some grime off my face andstraighten my dress.

The spidermonkey is gone, and I don’t know where. They can move fast and far. There isactually the remote possibility that he was sent by the girls, specifically to look for me.We did that with Jennifer, sending out spidermonkeys in every direction to try to track herdown. If they’ve done that, then maybe the little guy who was here is right now bouncingback through the desert to tell them where I am. And then maybe they can send a girland her dragon to pick me up. Or maybe not — the married dragons are really finickyabout carrying anyone other than their wife. But anyway, I might soon have friends onthe way here.

I immediately feel better. If someone is coming, then I should try to finish my mission.

Yranox is admiring his reflection in the surface of the pond, which is fully understandable.If I looked like that, I’d live inside a room made entirely of mirrors and I’d never leave it.

I sit down and cross my legs, sorting through the various leaves and twigs and strands ofgrass. When I told the spidermonkey it was trash, it wasn’t that wrong. “Any particularreason you keep coming to see me, or is it just a hobby?”

He slowly tears his attention away from the pond and looks out at the desert. “Did you

find gold for me?”

8

- Beatrice -

“I don’t think there’s any gold here,” I tell him, thinking it’s better if he doesn’t knowabout the little pellet among all the scrap iron that the gun is loaded with. “And if thereis, I don’t know how to find any. Can’t you find your own gold?”

“I will find gold on your planet,” he informs me, not looking in my direction. “I will bringmy dragon army there and plunder it, building a greater hoard than any dragon king inhistory. Your people will be my slaves. I will then kill my father and be king forever.Rightfully, too. I am the crown prince.”

His matter-of-fact tone sends a chill down my back. “What makes you think my planethas any gold on it?”

“Every planet has gold. But it takes sentients to collect. Gold is everywhere in tiny littlespecks, but it is the finding of it and cleansing of it and gathering of it that is important.Then, dragons can take it, as is our right. It is believed that your planet is untouched bydragons. There will be gold in great amounts. And many other things that dragons like.Things that have been carefully made, things that have a perfection to them. All will bemine. My hoard will be beyond imagination.”

Well, we knew it could come to this. The Plood know where Earth is, and they are thedragon’s servants or at least helpers. Once they knew, the cat was out of the bag. Wehad hoped something would prevent dragons from looting Earth, because they will notjust steal, but murder and destroy, leaving our home planet a burned-out husk withmillions or billions of people dead.

“Then what’s stopping you?” I manage, the horror too much for me to keep my voicesteady.

Yranox gives me a quick, penetrating glance. “Nothing can stop me.”

“Then go and do it and leave me alone.”

In two long steps he’s beside me. He picks me up with one iron hand around my neck andthe other around my ankles, pulling me straight while effortlessly holding my face close tohis, staring into my soul. I’m sure he’s about to snap my spine.

“Your tone is not appropriate for a lesser when talking to a superior,” he calmly tells me.“I have spared your life repeatedly, but you make it harder and harder to let you go onliving.”

I grab his arms to get them off my throat, but it’s like grabbing onto steel cables. Myspine is stretched, and any moment now he’ll apply more force until there’s a loud crack,and then he will look into my eyes as I die in his hands.

“Go to hell,” I wheeze.

For a split second I swear the light in his eyes intensifies and stops twinkling. Then hedrops me to the ground.

“I can only assume your habit of discourtesy comes from spending too much time withother dragons who are not as exacting as I am. One last time I will excuse yourbehavior.”

Sudden anger flares in me. I draw my gun, cock it, aim at his chest from a lying position,and pull the trigger.

The little piece of flint snaps into the steel mechanism. There are sparks, but no bang.

Yranox snorts. “Is that supposed to scare me? Many guns have been fired at me, littlefemale, most of them much bigger than that. Do you see me standing here still? Yes? Youcan’t kill me or even inconvenience me. But you may be useful. That’s your best hope.”

I lower the gun. “I’ll never help you with anything.”

“Oh, I think you will. It has been my experience that mortals are easily persuaded. Thechoice between continuing to be alive or not seems to be an easy one for them. Now,when I find your planet, I may want guidance. A planet is a big place, and while the Ploodhave many terrible qualities, their ability to locate gold is among the most pitiful I haveseen. You can respectfully assist in doing what they can’t. Yes? Seeing your planet again?Just helping a little? Maybe we can set you up in a position of power over your own kind.I mean, the survivors. Hmm? A queen of sorts? You can make decisions about the daily

lives of others. Nice, yes? Ruling others? In detail, telling them what they may and maynot do, on a whim? Mortals can’t resist that.”

I pick myself up, brush the sand and debris off my dress, and replace the useless gun inits holster. It was worth a shot, but the shot never came. The gunpowder in there hasbeen subjected to both water and the fine white dust that almost suffocated me, so itmust be thoroughly ruined. And yet I enjoy having it at my hip. It might be useless, buton this deadly planet it helps me feel just a tiny bit less vulnerable.

I wipe sand from my lips. “I think I can resist it just fine.”

Yranox changes to dragon form. And as a dragon he’s beyond terrifying. Even if he wereto peacefully smell a flower, I would be convinced that my last minute alive had arrived.And he’s definitely not smelling a flower right now, so I wince from the knowledge thathe’s about to burn me to a crisp.

The horrific and stunningly perfect being comes close, spreading his wings as he towersover me, looking more divine and unspeakably powerful than should be possible. Nofighter jet on Earth was ever more scary.

Do not reject this offer. It will only be made once. For now, I will leave youhere for safekeeping.

He beats his wings once, and then he lifts off, barbed tail streaming after him as he risesand is gone.

My hand goes to my chest, trying to calm down my wild heart rate. Relief washes throughme, but also a strange longing for his beauty and power, despite the incredible danger.

“Calm down, girl,” I tell myself as I take several deep breaths. “He’s intense, but let’s notstart missing him.”

With a hand that’s still trembling, I scoop some water into my mouth, then sit down andcontinue sorting the material and planning what to do with it. It’s not a lot.

The adrenaline in my blood slowly returns to normal levels.

Getting back up, I examine the rough bark on a nearby tree and manage to pull a sheetoff the lower part of the trunk. It comes off with a tearing noise, and I have to use a lot offorce. The piece feels like burlap. It seems tough and could maybe form the basis for aprimitive backpack.

The leaves from the bush are very juicy and don’t taste too bitter. I suppose I could tie

some long twigs together and carry a whole bush of them over my head as a way tomake shade. If I end up actually walking in the desert again. But I have no idea whatthat damn dragon is planning, and it doesn’t feel like I have a say in anything he decides.Except that crazy ‘power over others’ idea of his. Hell no. That’s not for me.

I work on the backpack for a couple of hours, muttering to myself, just getting up nowand then for a drink of water and a piece of fruit. The small heap is dwindling fast, andit’s looking like I might have to walk in the desert with no source of real energy.

“If that’s even what ends up happening— oh, hi.”

The spidermonkey is here again, climbing down from a nearby treetop as calmly andeasily as I would walk down a set of stairs. He has yellow fruits in two of his hands as heslowly comes closer.

He holds one out to me in a thin, clawed hand.

“For me?” I slowly reach out and take it. “Thank you.”

He looks at me with his deep-set, soulful eyes, then brings his own fruit to his mouth inan exaggerated movement, opens unnecessarily wide, and takes a big, noisy bite.

I smile when I realize that he’s showing me what to do. So I bite into the fruit and chewhappily.

“Mmm, very delicious,” I say softly. “I like these yellow ones.”

The spidermonkey immediately runs up the tree again and comes down with twentyyellow fruits, carefully placing them on the ground in front of me.

“Thank you,” I say again, genuinely moved, because this solves at least one problem forme. “That’s very kind of you.”

The little creature sits down next to me, and then we spend some time munching on thefruits. In all honesty these yellow ones are not my favorites, but they will do just fine andI want him to see that I appreciate it.

“So do you come from our village? Do you know Alice?” I have to say something, even if Iknow he can’t respond.

He makes some fast moves with his arms, because according to Eleanor, his kindcommunicates with their own form of sign language. With all those arms, they must beable to keep several conversations going at the same time, all while sewing a shirt and

doing their taxes. Not that they have any of those things, as far as we know.

I just smile apologetically. “I don’t have enough arms to know what you’re saying.” Ishow him my puny two hands.

He comes closer and makes the same gestures, much slower and with more emphasis. Iconcentrate, trying to decipher the movements. It’s no use, except for a gesture thatreminds of flapping wings.

“The dragon?” I hazard, trying to repeat the move with both arms. “I think he’ll be back.But you know, I’d love not to be here when he arrives. So I’m making this.” I indicate thehalf-finished backpack and show him what I’m doing. “This stuff here is like fabric, andwhen this pack is done I’ll make some pots for water.” I point at the pond.

The spidermonkey reaches out and touches the burlap-like bark from the tree, thenglances over at the nearby trunk that’s missing about a yard of bark from its lower part.In one bounce, he’s halfway up the trunk, furiously ripping and pulling at it so it rainspieces of wood.

Then he comes back down again, and in his arms he has a roll of some kind of inner bark,much lighter in color than the black bark I got from the bottom.

I rub it between two fingers, then test the strength. It’s like a strong cotton weave. “Thisis much smoother! And look, I can’t even rip it. It will come in very handy, thank you.”

My mood brightens. This roll will be enough for a bigger and better backpack, and it’seasily strong enough to form the straps of the pack, especially if doubled up.

The spidermonkey climbs up another tree, as easily as I move on even ground. I decideto call him Albert, because he seems pretty smart to me, like a spidermonkey Einstein.

Using the first burlap bark for thread and string, I quickly make a new backpack, muchbigger and stronger than the first.

Long before I’m done, Albert gives me another thick roll of bark fabric, leaving the treetrunk raw and green halfway up.

“This is even better than the first,” I gush. And it’s true — this is a really fine bark, strongand supple and a yellowish white. It’s stiffer than woven cotton and very dense. It givesme an idea that could solve at least a couple of problems.

I spend the rest of the day working, while Albert gets me various items and materialsfrom the oasis. They’re all things I would never have found on my own, such as a small

kind of nut that tastes sweet, a sticky substance that may well be the rubber that Dollyhas been looking for in the jungle, and rocks from the pond that he splits to create stonetools with razor-sharp edges.

When the sun sets, I have finished the backpack and a couple of other items. All that’sleft to do is make pots for the water, but that is the most difficult task. Not only do I haveto risk my life finding the fine, white sand that nearly killed me, so I can mix it with waterand turn it into cement-like clay. I also have to shape the pots and then fire them sothey’ll become waterproof. Just drying them in the sun won’t be enough for that. So I’llhave to make a kiln and then find enough firewood to get it really hot…

I walk over to the pond, and Albert comes with me, our shadows infinitely long in theorange, horizontal sunlight.

“How would you do it?” I ask him, not expecting an answer. I kneel down and scoopsome water into my mouth, contemplating taking a bath. Maybe tomorrow.

I glance up at the fruits in the treetops. I can probably get Albert to bring down a lot ofthose, and they are all very juicy. They will be just as good as water, with the addedbonus that they also contain sugar and nutrients. But there is something about walking inthe desert without water that scares me. Won’t the fruits dry out in the heat, all theirmoisture evaporating day by day?

I scoop the clear water into both hands and let it run through my fingers. It may well becrazy to leave this spring to walk into the desert for days and weeks.

Albert looks up at me with those thoughtful eyes, then bounces in among the trees.

I walk back to the campfire site. The air is still stiflingly hot, but I’ll ask him to get morefirewood for tonight. If I can get him to understand what I mean.

I sit down, and immediately my thoughts go to Yranox, because that’s the way he is —totally dominating everything, leaving deep marks in my mind that will always be there.

Will he end up killing me? Or was my instinct right?

I force myself to ponder Albert instead. He seems to know a lot about the trees andbushes and plants and rocks. I would assume that he lives here, but is he alone? Is hesome kind of outcast?

Or are all these things common knowledge for his kind, and he just happened to be here.Or he was sent by the girls and is now doing his best to help me get back.

No, I don’t think that’s possible. He would have had no time to get here, even ifspidermonkeys can travel really fast with those crazy bounces of theirs. Yranox flies muchfaster. He’s as fast as an airplane, all huge and totally in control—

“Stop it,” I admonish myself. “Don’t obsess over that evil thing.”

Yeah, he’s clearly evil. But I think there’s a little bit of good in him, too. That meannessdoesn’t come naturally to him. There’s something forced about it, something learned.

Albert returns with two eggs, dirty white and perfectly round, the size of tennis balls. Heholds them out to me and tilts his head to the side.

I gingerly take one and turn it over in my hands. It’s surprisingly heavy and must be reallydense. “Something we can boil? Or maybe fry?”

Albert makes a sign that even I can interpret, and which I realize he has been using a lot:‘no, not like that’.

He holds out his own egg, then pierces the shell with one sharp claw, drilling it into theegg and making a small hole. Then he tilts his head back, holds the egg over his mouth,and squeezes it. A thin stream of clear fluid runs out and into his mouth. It looks a lot likewater.

He licks his lips, long fangs glinting, then hands me the open egg.

I gingerly accept it and sniff the opening.

Nothing. And now that I look, it’s not an egg at all. The shell is far too thick, so it’s morelike an alien coconut.

I let some of the fluid drip into my palm, then smell it and lick it. It’s sweet, but it’s prettymuch just sugared water.

“That’s nice,” I tell Albert softly. “Are there more?” I put both nuts down on the groundand then make gestures in the air above them, like I’m outlining a whole heap of not-coconuts.

He gently takes my hand and leads me in among the trees, then points down.

He has dug a hole in the ground at the root of one tree, revealing a cluster of at leasttwenty not-nuts. There may be more — it’s getting dark and hard to see.

“Oh my, Albert! If these go all around the tree, there must be hundreds of them! Andthere’s another tree of the same type. This is too great. Thank you.”

I gently embrace his skinny body, because this solves all my pottery problems: I willsimply carry as many not-nuts as I can, because they’re all full of water and morewaterproof than any pot I could make.

“Let’s leave them there until tomorrow,” I suggest as I walk back to the campfire place.“They will stay fresh until then.”

I’m feeling a lot better than this morning. Albert and his help have perked me up andhelped solidify my decision to try to walk home to Bune. I’ll have a good backpack, I’llhave as much fruit and water as I can carry. And if I’m really lucky, maybe Albert willkeep me company on the way.

The stars are out, and the cold breeze is back. I decide against lighting the fire andinstead pack the remainder of the fine, cotton-like bark around me like a blanket as I leanback on a tree.

Albert comes bouncing and looks at me with luminous eyes. No wonder the cavemen callhis species ‘gray ghosts’ — it looks scary in the dark.

“I’ll get some sleep,” I tell him softly. “Tomorrow I’ll start walking into the desert.” I pointto the west, where the sun set a while ago. “I don’t want to wait for that dragon todecide my fate. I’ll decide it myself.”

Albert’s gaze follows my finger, and when he looks at me again I swear he’s frowning.He’s making some slow and obvious signs with one hand.

“It’s crazy,” I agree. “But this whole idea was nuts from the beginning. Why stop now?”

9

- Yranox -

“Changing counterparty to an already established contract in the middle of a delivery ordeliveries is against the terms of said contract and the implied single-counterparty policyas enacted by our side of the agreement and established by precedent in all similarcircumstances,” the Plood creaks.

I groan. These deplorable little creatures have more ways of saying ‘no’ than any virgin Ihave met.

“I represent the king,” I try again. “No change is taking place. I am simply asking formore of your services, against more payment. It’s very simple.”

I can’t even listen to the new ‘no’ they’re giving me. It’s a long one.

I sigh, desperate to get out of this ridiculous Plood craft and out into the fresh air where Ican soar, where I don’t bump into walls and ceilings whenever I move. But the Plood areafraid of leaving their ship after the encounter with Caronerax, and if I want to talk tothem, it has to be inside their saucer.

“... thus invalidating the terms,” the chief Plood concludes.

There are four of them, and I think the task of being leader rotates among them. Theyare a hive species and have no particular leader, but one of them must do the speaking.

Nobody knows much about the Plood, mostly because they’re pitiful and you don’t wantto know more than you have to. My father, King Garunzigur, and I know more about themthan any other dragons. We sometimes have to deal with them, and they will only talk toroyalty. Certainly they are useful, but sometimes they misunderstand our wishes andsometimes they act on their own. Always, they are hard to deal with. Our ability toinfluence the minds of other sentients has no effect on Plood, which adds to the

frustration.

“It’s very simple,” I try one last time, suppressing the rage that’s bubbling in me. “Simplytransport a few hundred dragons, in their human form, to this Earth planet of which youspeak. Along with some of the slayers from this planet. Once there, let them out of yoursaucers.” I suddenly have a flash of inspiration. “In return, I will give you that which youwant most of all.”

The Plood are silent, and I suspect they talk to each other telepathically. The offer Imade is making them think.

“We will need all our craft for such an operation. One is not enough.”

Ah, that’s progress. “Yes, get them all,” I agree. “How many do you have now? Is it four?”

“We have five craft in total. All five would be needed.”

“And all your people,” I muse. “How many are there left of your kind?”

“We are thirty-eight,” the leader informs me.

“Ah. Were you not thirty-nine some years ago?”

“One of us died of old age,” the leader says. “We don’t know which one of us it was.”

The Plood keep dwindling in number because they have either forgotten how to procreateor they can no longer do it. They appear to be a species that has tried to improve itselfby changing the very essence of what makes their bodies up, and it has all gone badlywrong. And now I think I have figured out how to get them to take on my task.

“I see. Will you consider my offer?”

There is a short, quiet conference. “You offer that which we want most of all. You willreveal the ultimate secret in exchange for this passage of several hundred dragons andan unknown quantity of dragon slayers?”

I long to get out, to be able to stand upright.

“As I said,” I growl, losing interest.

“It is the first time any such offer has been made by a dragon. Is this the secretknowledge that might help us in prolonging our species?”

The Plood have given up on procreating. And so they are desperate to find ways for thefew that’s left of them to stay alive. They take all kinds of jobs for us to save up funds for

the day when they find a solution. They’re sure it will be expensive. And they’re sure wedragons will be the key, because we live very long lives. My offer has just given them ashort-cut.

“Certainly.”

I can almost hear the excitement in the telepathic discussion they’re having. “We need toknow the secret, Crown Prince Yranox. The secret to the dragon’s long lives. We want tolive as long as dragons. Longer.”

I pick a grain of sand off one scale. A tiny, white grain. It’s from the desert. What’s shedoing now? “Very well.”

“You will give it? The secret?” the leader persists.

“After this task is done, you will know everything we dragons know about everlasting life.I agree to pay that… umm… heavy price.”

“It will take some time to call all our craft and all our hivemates here.”

Turning, I walk to the exit of the stuffy little saucer. “Just let me know when it’s all ready.I have some things to take care of before then.”

The warm and sticky jungle air feels like the breath of life after the tiny inside of thesaucer. Well, that should take care of the transport of my pitiful subjects to Earth, whichthey will plunder and so become full dragons again. Full dragons who now owe meeverything they are. A dragon army, mine to command and to use for murdering myfather, the king. Meaning that I will be king of the dragons.

The only danger is my brother Caronerax and his lesser allies. But I will deal with them,too. Partly to get rid of him as a threat, partly to strengthen my own power over thedragons before we reach Earth.

I stand outside the Plood ship for a while, just breathing and enjoying my imminentsuccess. Caronerax had a similar plan to this, but he failed at the last moment. It takes agreater mind than his to pull it off.

“Crown Prince?”

We will plunder the home planet of the females here. Possibly the richest planet in space.I will arrive there before the other dragons so I can plunder the richest places and turnmy hoard from respectable to epic. For that I will need a guide, someone who knowswhere the richest pickings are to be found.

“Crown Prince Yranox?”

My guide will be Beatrice, of course. I will convince her to help me, in any way I can. AndI have many ways. Some of them highly pleasant for both of us—

“Your Highness?”

I sigh. “Why do you disturb me, Valarius?”

The other dragon comes tiptoeing closer, out of the darkness. He’s in human form, unableto Change because he has no hoard here, nothing to give him strength. Just like the otherdragons I will turn into an army. His gray skin has lost some of its luster, but the silverystreak across his face is still mirror shiny. And yet too uneven for me to see my reflectionin it.

“Highness, the slayers…”

“What about them?” I growl.

“They behave strangely when you’re gone for long at a time, Yranox. They becomedifficult and aggressive.”

“They are dragonslayers in an alliance with dragons,” I point out. “Of course, there mustbe tension.”

“Yes, but I think you are needed to calm them down. They keep asking where you are.Can’t we just kill them?”

The idea to create an army with both the local slayers and my own dragons in it made alot of sense at some time. It was the best way to keep them from trying to kill eachother, which would have ended with the death of all the dragons because there are somany slayers. I have to use my persuasive skills and a good amount of the mysteriousmind-control talent that all dragons have to some extent, but which I can control betterthan most. In some circumstances, anyway.

“The slayers are necessary for now,” I tell the other dragon. “Soon we will leave them allbehind and forget them forever.”

“Yes, Yranox. But can you at least calm them down?”

Valarius was always a pitiful dragon, servile and scheming. But he has often had his uses,much like the Plood.

“Of course I can, Valarius. In my own time. Where are the others?”

“The dragons are strolling around the woods, restlessly waiting for something to happen,Crown Prince. Some are sitting by the alien ship, because they think that anything thathappens will happen there. They want to attack it, but it’s well guarded. Caronerax oftenflies patrols around it in his dragon form. So do Kyandros and Aragadon. They blow veryhot fires, and we are all afraid to approach.”

“Afraid?” I scoff. “You have all been too long without hoards. You have forgotten howmighty we are. That ridiculous little ship containing the females and their broods is not amatch for us at all. Do you waver in your determination, Valarius?”

I fix the other dragon with a stare, and he quickly backs off two paces. “No, Yranox, YourRoyal Highness. Of course, I don’t waver. I’m your most loyal follower! It’s just, some ofthe others…”

His slimy manner makes me want to rip him apart on the spot. But he might have apoint.

I sigh again. I would most of all like to go back to the silence of that desert, where thereare no slayers and no other dragons, where there’s only Beatrice. “Where are the slayersnow?”

“They have a camp. Not far from the spaceship. Come, I will show you.”

I chuckle coldly. “Perhaps later, Valarius. For now, begone.”

He bows and walks backwards into the woods he came from. “Yes, Yranox. Of course.Indeed. Your Highness.”

Sure that he’s gone, I Change into dragon form, take to the skies, and fly around for awhile, enjoying the cool night air up here and just being superior to everything else.

Then I dive down at the cave, walk in, and curl up in the spot where the small portion ofmy hoard has been buried. The other dragons certainly suspect that there is gold in here,but they will not come looking for it. The risk of me suddenly diving out of the sky andburning them to ashes is too great. And now they must suspect that my true lair issomewhere else. I would have no other reason to stay away from the jungle, as far asthey know.

The gold beneath the ground warms me up, but still not as much as I would expect andprefer. My mind is elsewhere, and it’s hard to tear it back and have it focus on theimportant things.

Is it night in the desert, too? Is she asleep?

‘You’re not going to kill me,’ she said. And so far, she’s been right. Indeed I havepreserved her life, when with anyone else, I would have incinerated them on the spotwithout a second thought. Such an insolent female! She’s either quite mad orastonishingly brave. I never expected to find that kind of defiance in a creature that smalland defenseless. She must know I can extinguish her as easily as breathe.

And yet she goes on, not cowering, not desperately pleading. Not jumping at the offer Igave her to rule her home planet. That’s more mysterious than anything.

She’s a puzzle, that one.

At least she’ll be safe in that wooded spot in the middle of the sandy wastes where noliving thing can be seen. Nothing can happen to her there.

10

- Beatrice -

I unpack my stiff limbs at the first sign of light at the horizon. I slept more than last night,but not well.

The air is still cold, but I should get going as soon as possible.

As I’m getting ready, Albert comes over from wherever he’s been during the night andhands me a new kind of green-skinned fruit shaped like a doughnut, which turns out totaste a lot like a pear. I eat it quickly, and he brings me more fruits. I eat as much as Ican. This is the time to gorge myself, to gather energy and water that I don’t have tocarry.

I hold up a juice-filled not-coconut. “Shall we get more of these?”

He bounds off, returning with at least thirty of them. I brush the dirt off them and use aknife-edged shard from one of Albert’s rock tools to open a small hole. As I put it to mylips, the clear and sweet juice runs down my chin while I drink.

“Let’s try to fill it with water and bottle it up,” I suggest and walk over to the pond.

It’s not a complete success — it’s hard to cut little twigs into corks that fit right. But bythe end I have six not-nuts filled with water and five times as many that are unopened. Ifill the backpack and two pouches I have made that hang down my front so the load ismore balanced.

When everything is ready, the sun is maybe ten minutes from rising, but the air is stillcold.

I test the water in the pond. It’s cold and must come from some underground source.

“Look away,” I admonish Albert as I strip off and climb in. Not only do I want to be clean,

I also should try to cool myself down as much as possible before I start the strenuouswalk through the hot sands.

As I soak and my teeth clatter, I keep an eye out for dragons passing overhead. He has atendency to sneak up on me.

Closing my eyes, I let my legs float to the surface and lay my head back, pretending it’s aluxurious bubble bath in a fancy pool.

The water does cool me down, just as I thought. It also makes me clean, but that won’tlast long with what I have in mind.

I step back up on land, not bothering to dry myself off. On the contrary, I want to be aswet as possible when I start walking.

I hold the bedouin-style white robe up in front of me. It was easy to make — it’s just atent-like poncho that opens down the front, pretty much. There’s no need to reinvent thewheel — desert dwellers on Earth seem to prefer these things, so it should be more thangood enough for me. Loose and long clothing will hopefully keep me comfortable.

Before I put on the robe and the similar dress I made, I dip them into the pond. Theybecome heavy and cold, but it just makes sense to me to do it like this. There will be noneed for me to sweat for hours now, and that will preserve water.

I discard the old dress and keep the gun belt with its one gun in it. It’s useless and willjust slow me down, but it’s not totally impossible that the gunpowder in there will dry outand it will become a real weapon again. And anyway, it just feels wrong to leave itbehind, for some reason that I can’t even begin to grasp. I guess living in the Stone Agefor years makes one less wasteful.

I manage to swing the backpack onto my back, but the two front bags don’t feel like theyhelp my balance at all. On my feet, I’m wearing the rest of the soft bark wound aroundthem as an inner layer, then the rougher bark on the outside. It’s like walking with thicksocks on. Which is fine, because the sand gets hot and I want to be isolated against it.

I look at my reflection in the pond surface. “A drenched, fluffy bedouin cowgirl with skiboots, a backpack, and the crappiest sombrero ever made,” I mutter. I doubt that fashionwill catch on. But now, everything is about conserving water and keeping as cool aspossible.

Walking to the edge of the oasis, I gaze westward. It’s a flat, desolate expanse of sandand dunes.

T

Albert looks up at me, and I think he understands what I have in mind.

“Yeah, I’m walking into that,” I tell him. “This place is fine, but there are too manydragons, and I don’t want to leave my friends behind. I don’t recommend following me,Albert. Stay here. And hide if that silly dragon comes again.”

Of course, I don’t think I can hide from Yranox out in the desert, either. But this way I’mdoing something. I’m not just sitting here, waiting for someone else to casually decide myfate. My peace offer clearly didn’t go anywhere. But it was absolutely worth a try. If I haddone things differently, maybe there could have been a better outcome. I’m just not atrained diplomat.

The sun is above the horizon behind me, and the desert in front of me looks like a sea ofgold. The light stings my eyes, but making Ray-Bans is beyond me right now.

I give Albert a smile and a shrug. “Here I go. Goodbye. Thank you for everything.”

Then I walk into the sand.

- - -

his time I take more care about where I place my feet. The backpack weighs medown, but I have been living in the jungle for years, and I’m much stronger than I

was on Earth. As long as the straps don’t dig into my shoulders, I’ll be fine. And I madethe straps especially wide and thick to prevent that.

My new dress and robe are cool and moist against my skin, and the thick bark boots arestill tight when I stop for a piece of fruit after about four hours of walking.

Looking back, I can barely see the oasis behind me, and my tracks are a straight line. I’mdoing fine so far, feeling strong. No sign of the powdery sand, but I spotted a patch of theresonant drum sand that I passed.

Now my only worries are that mysterious whirlwind that might or might not be a sign ofan underground monster, any other danger that I haven’t spotted yet, and of course thedistance to a more hospitable landscape than this.

I drink the juice from the not-coconut, savor the sweetness, and carefully replace theempty shell in the backpack. If I come across a water source, I want to have empty

vessels to fill up.

I walk on, and unless I deliberately think of something else, my mind fills up with thedragon. He’s so sure, so confident. The world always shapes itself after him, not the otherway around.

The girls say about their caveman husbands that they have a bubble of safety aroundthem, which is one reason they are so attractive. With Yranox it’s the other way around— in his bubble there is more danger than outside it. But that danger is incrediblyattractive, too. It’s like he can do anything, and he probably will hurt me, but if hedoesn’t, it could get really, really good.

Huh? Now I’m confusing myself. He will definitely not do anything good to me.

But if he does? He’s practically a god. A demigod, certainly. With powers beyond anythingever seen on Earth.

No, crazy girl, he’s not a demigod or anything like that. He’s an alien, and all his ‘powers’can be explained just fine using science. Also, he’s a total jerk, grabbing me by the throatseveral times now and always threatening to kill me.

He’s different, of course. He never deals with humans — he has no knowledge about howto deal with me in a decent way. He just needs some instruction, and he’ll be fine.

Instruction? A damn genocidal jerk who wants to lay waste to Earth and leave it aburned-out husk in space? I think you’re getting sunstroke.

Hey, I like a determined guy.

No, actually, that is a major concern, and I must try to stop him. Ideally by soon reachingBune, letting everyone know what he’s planning, and then… well, I’ll think of something.

The hours pass under the burning sun. But the sombrero casts a good amount of shadeon the rest of me, and the water hasn’t yet evaporated completely from my front. It’sdefinitely helping to keep me cool, and I don’t even think I’m sweating on my back yet. Ina stroke of inspiration, I take off my backpack and front pouches, then twist the robearound my neck so the former front is now at my back. Better to always keep the wetpart to the sun. Maybe.

It’s way past noon when the first little gust of wind blows my hat off. I lift my gaze andspot the sandstorm right ahead.

It’s a wall of brown and black and gray, reaching from the ground all the way up to the

sky.

I halt and watch it. If it’s coming this way, then I have to make a quick decision aboutwhat to do. Except I don’t have many options. There’s no way I’ll make it back to theoasis before that storm gets here. I’ll just have to sit down, drape the bedouin robearound me, and hope it won’t be so bad.

Looking back where I came from, the oasis is hidden behind gentle hills in the sand. It’smiles away by now.

More gusts make the robe billow out behind me, and I have to hold the sombrero inplace. Yeah, that dirty brown tower of clouds is definitely coming closer. I can see thesand whirling wildly inside it, being pulled up from the ground and thrown miles into theair. Dry lightning flashes in the hellish stormfront several times a minute.

It gives off a noise, like someone sliding a piece of rusty iron across the strings of theworld biggest out-of-tune violin. The sound is hellish, constantly resonating, rising andfalling. And there’s an unearthly howl that gets stronger and stronger.

It’s closing in on me at breakneck speed, hundreds of miles an hour. I start realizing thatthis is just as dangerous as the fine sand I almost drowned in. Because if the sand in thatstorm doesn’t scrape the meat from my bones when passing, it will definitely bury meagain.

But there’s not much I can do to stop it. It’s a force of nature, almost as powerful aYranox.

Coldness goes down my spine. It’s as deadly as him, too. That’s not the sound from anyordinary twister.

I dump my load, kneel down, and hurriedly dig a hollow in the sand, intuitively sensingthat I want to get as far down as possible, away from the storm.

Movement at the corner of my eye causes me to stop for a moment. Back where I camefrom, a weird wavy patch in the sand is coming closer. Just like I saw that first evening,the strange wind-less whirlwind that I thought was a monster under the sand. It may stillbe. And the storm traps me right in its path.

I throw myself down in the hollow, sideways in a fetal position with the backpack close tomy face. I roll the robe tightly around me and drape some loose fabric around my head,placing it on top of the sombrero for support.

I

The unholy howl comes closer, mixed with thunderous noises and hard cracks from thelightning.

Acid tears burn in my eyes, because this is going to get really bad, and I can’t possiblysurvive it. The storm is so strong it makes the ground shake.

Then it’s on top of me and the loose fabric whips around the exposed side of my body.I’m surprised at the fury of it, apart from the hellish noise. I swear the first gust lifts me ahalf foot into the air before dropping me again.

Clenching my teeth together and tightening the fabric around my head, I keep a goodgrip on the backpack and the pouches as the storm rages around me.

It gets really dark, and the whole world is in the storm’s power. The hollow is saving mylife right now. If I weren’t down here, I would be getting sandblasted with immense force.

But it might be just postponing the inevitable. There’s weight on me, and if I try to movean arm, it’s heavy. The sand must be settling on top of me. I can only hope that after thestorm has passed, I will be able to lift it at all.

Something touches my hand, and I reflexively clench it closed, wanting to stay in place. Irealize I’m gripping something, and I don’t know what it is. It’s not sand, I know that.

The howl keeps increasing, the lightning flashes and the hard thunderclaps keep comingcloser.

When I try to lift my head, I just can’t. It’s too heavy.

Everything is getting gradually darker as the clouds descend and the sand settles on topof me.

I’m being slowly buried alive.

- - -

t feels like years have passed. It’s dark and hot and I’m having more and moretrouble breathing. A great weight is pressing down on me, and there isn’t much air

left. Sand is pushing in on me from every angle, and I’m afraid to breathe too hard incase I cause the small hollow in front of my face to collapse. A dry, flinty smell fills mynose.

But there’s no noise anymore. Either the storm has passed or I’m buried too deep to hearthe cacophony. If it’s the latter, then I’m dead. It’s as simple as that.

I try to lift one arm. I can get it to wiggle a quarter inch, and that’s it.

My feet are held firmly in place by the weight of the sand. I can move my knees a tinylittle bit.

My head has the most freedom of movement, because the backpack is helping hold thesand away from it.

I can’t stop the panic washing over me, so I wildly kick and punch the coarse sand and doeverything to move as my throat goes raw and my eyes leak. It only lasts a few seconds,but it doesn’t help and it only tires me out.

This is it for me. There must be tons of sand above me.

I force myself to calm down.

What can I do?

I can move my knees and my fingers and my head. Maybe if I just take it a little at atime, I can create a bigger hollow. Each movement causes more sand to fill any void thathas been made. I have trouble deciding which way is up.

Using all my strength, I can just about wiggle my body a couple of degrees in eachdirection. I might actually not be that far below the surface — if I were, there would beno movement at all.

And anyway, I have to assume that there is still hope. Nothing ever came from losinghope.

Hot sand collapses on top of me and around me, filling every hollow and pinning mecompletely in place. My chest takes the full weight of the sand above me, and breathingbecomes close to impossible.

“No,” I whimper.

I come to as a swishing noise suddenly comes from what I think is above me, and thensome of the weight is off my chest. I’m able to roll around, still curled up, instinctivelywanting to arch my back so I can press upwards.

Suddenly, daylight blinds me and there’s air in my lungs again. Kicking my feet free of thesand, I breathe in deep, wheezing gulps. Damn, I must have been closer to suffocating

than I thought.

Halfway recovered, I roll onto my back and see blue-red sky and hot sunlight through thebark fabric I placed over my face.

Then a shadow darkens everything.

11

- Beatrice -

“I can tell you’re alive, don’t pretend otherwise,” says the deep, smooth voice.

There’s a moment of tension and calm. It’s very long, but only lasts a heartbeat.

Then the shadow is gone and I stay down, just breathing and recovering.

I pull the fabric off my face.

There he is, my rescuer. Kneeling down, attending to something.

My eyes are still getting adjusted to the bright light, so I can’t be sure. But a dragonkneeling down? That has to be the first time in the history of the world.

No, I remind myself, finally letting relief flow through me. The second time.

Finally feeling strong enough, I sit up and lean over to see what it is he’s doing.

My face feels crusty as I crack a smile.

Ah. So I wasn’t all that wrong about him.

Only now do I notice that I’m holding the end of a rope in one hand. It’s white and thinand vanishes under the sand.

Huh. I didn’t have a rope before. I guess now I do.

With shaking fingers, I get an alien fruit out of the backpack and bite into it, not caringthat there’s grains of sand in my mouth as the fresh juice runs down my chin, bringing meback to life.

The sandstorm has passed, and the dirty back of it is many miles away. The desert looksthe same as before, just a featureless, endless flat of sand.

I get up on trembling knees and stagger over to Yranox. “Will he be okay?”

The dragon gives me a sour glance as he stands up. “Aren’t you playing dead?”

“It got boring.”

Albert is awake, but not too happy. He’s full of sand all over, as if his fur attracts it andkeeps it stuck to him. He’s on the ground, watching the dragon like a hawk.

“Was he buried, too?” I ask.

The dragon’s eyes glitter. “Unlike some I could mention, he had the sense to stay abovethe sand. But he did not escape injury.”

That’s true — Albert’s fur is matted by blood, especially on one side. Two of his arms aredripping still.

I shudder. “It must have been like being rubbed hard by sandpaper if it could do that tohim. Sorry, Albert! If not for me, I don’t think you would have been out in that superabrasive storm getting sandblasted.” I gently stroke one of his uninjured arms.

“It was a strong storm,” Yranox agrees, looking me up and down. “The force of the sandmust have been extreme. You look ridiculous. But that’s nothing new.”

“Thanks. Can you tell me what happened, or is that beneath you, like everything else?”

He gazes into the distance. “It is indeed beneath me. Still, I will humble myself. I went tothe wooded patch where I had kindly left you, saw many signs of insolent female but noactual insolent female. Tiny, female tracks led straight into a distant sandstorm. I cursedcertain females who simply cannot stay put where their superiors have placed them forsafekeeping, then flew over to check. Right where the storm had passed, I saw this smallmale native on the surface, seemingly in poor condition. I also saw him holding a ropethat vanished into the sand. I thought it would be worth it to remove the sand and thenfind what was at the other end of the rope, because the native male was clinging to oneend like it was a lifeline. Which it was, but not for him, as I discovered when I used mywings to blow the sand away. And behold, there was the female that I had put in thewooden patch expressly so she would be safe. Here she was, walking around in thedesert on her own and then buried in sand, which I’m starting to suspect that she enjoysa great deal. She then demanded I explain myself, which I have now done, and whichdemeans me more than you can comprehend.”

I get another piece of fruit out of the backpack, pinch off a piece, and feed it to Albert. “It

doesn’t demean you at all. It’s just a nice thing to do, letting me know what happened.”

Albert reaches out with four hands, and I let him have the fruit. He goes on to devour it inone bite, then looks at me like he wants another one.

“Thanks for rescuing me, you two,” I offer, handing Albert a not-coconut. “I could nothave gotten out of the sand by myself.” I glance behind me. The bottom of that hole iseasily ten feet under the surface. “Albert somehow put the lifeline in my hand before thesand got too deep, then stayed up on top, being blasted by the abrasive sand until hebled. He must have come after me fast when he saw the storm coming. And you, Yranox,dug me out using just the air pressure from flapping your wings. You must be extremelystrong,” I add for good measure. He may be a dragon, but he’s also a guy, and theysometimes enjoy a little flattery.

“What shall I do with you,” Yranox mutters, looking out towards the sandstorm. “Evenwhen perfectly safe you insist on seeking mortal danger.”

I brush sand off Albert’s fur, then myself. “I wasn’t safe back at the oasis. There was adragon who kept threatening me and abusing me. I had to escape.”

“You didn’t escape,” he points out. “You just got into a worse position.”

“Maybe,” I concede. “But I had the right idea. If I had waited until tomorrow with startingthe journey, or if I had brought something to shield me from the storm, I could have beenfine. Anyway. You want me safe, how about you take me back to Bune and call off yourarmy? Be friends with us? I’ll be totally safe then.”

The dragon ignores me. “I will not go out of my way to save you again, insolent littlefemale. My kindness has been exhausted, and I’m genuinely surprised I had so much of it.Exhausting the kindness feels good, I must admit. Kindness is weakness. It was abouttime I got rid of it.”

I want to pick the sand out of Alberts wounds where the fur has been scraped off, but tomy surprise they’re all clean. Not a single grain anywhere.

I glance up at the dragon, who still has his back to me, and smile tightly. He can use hispowers for good, clearly. He was kneeling down.

“Where I come from, we usually think of kindness as a strength,” I tell him. “I do believeyou are stronger than you ever suspected.”

“Really,” he growls.

“But I suspected it,” I continue, taking stock of my robe and dress. They’re in good shape.“I saw you. Before.”

Yranox slowly turns and fixes a hard stare at me.

I flinch, but I don’t stop. “Yes, I know you don’t want to hear it. But there’s only the threeof us here, and I don’t think Albert understands. Anyway, it was in the woods. You werekneeling then too, tending to another spidermonkey that had been injured. I mean, oneof these creatures. That’s what we call them. Some cavemen set cruel traps for them,and you rescued one from a tightening wire loop. That’s when I knew you were thestrongest of dragons. Not only are you the most dragon-like and the shrewdest and themost feared, you also have a capacity for kindness. That must make you invincible. Sowhen I later learned that you were the Crown Prince Yranox, I was not surprised. You’revery special.“

Daring a short glance up at his twinkling eyes, I notice he’s just frowning.

I think I may have confused a dragon.

“Indeed, I am invincible,” he agrees with great dignity after a pause. “And I think you’llfind that just walking around being invincible has no value if one doesn’t use thatinvincibility to conquer. I will conquer your planet, then the dragon kingdom, and then Iwill be king. Now tell me, how will kindness be of any help in that campaign?”

“Oh,” I think fast, “in any number of ways. Everyone will be surprised to see kindness inyou and they will think, which other hidden strengths does he have? Pure cruelty andpower may be useful, but coupled with kindness, you will confuse and strike awe into thehearts of your enemies, winning without even having to do battle. Because everyoneknows that only the truly powerful can be truly kind.”

I’m very happy with that speech, and I almost start to believe it myself.

Yranox chuckles. “You should be a councillor or courtier in the palace of some vain king.You have a silver tongue.”

So I didn’t really confuse him. But it’s cool. “Feels like I’m your councillor right now.”

“That is the offer I made you,” he agrees. “Be my guide at the conquest and looting ofyour home planet, and I will see to it that you’re well off after. Very well off.”

I pick my sombrero up from the sand, slap it against my thigh to shake the sand off, andplace it on my head at a playful angle. “Uh-huh. I think my first answer stands.

Meanwhile, the sun is setting. You’ll be taking off soon, I’m sure, but do you want me tospend the night here in the desert? I mean, I can. I’m not hurt, and my stuff isn’t toobadly broken. I’ll keep walking tomorrow, probably without a sandstorm stopping me.”

Yranox looks down at Albert. “This creature will not be able to save you next time.Another sandstorm, and he’ll be done for.”

Albert is tense, but not nearly as hostile towards the dragon as before. Perhaps he sensesthe same thing I do — Yranox has a good side to him, one that’s not as well hidden as inthe other dragons I’ve met.

“If there is another storm, I’ll just turn my back to it and stay up so the sand can’t buryme,” I tell him. “My robe is really strong. It can take the abrasion. May I ask a question,oh grand dragon?”

“Now you’re almost using the right words to talk to me,” Yranox growls, “but I sensesarcasm behind it. Are you sure you want to be sarcastic to a dragon?”

I think about it. “Just this once.”

He sighs. “The only reason I’m not leaving you as a vague burn mark on the sand rightthis moment is that I just saved your life, and it would make me look like I couldn’t makeup my mind. Ask your question.”

My idea is half-baked, but I don’t have the time or brains to develop it. “Are you sure youneed to go to Earth? There is probably gold right here on Xren. Find just enough for theother dragons to regain their dragon forms. It might help, right?”

“I am sure,” Yranox grunts. “There is certainly gold on this planet. But it’s all spread out,not gathered, refined, melted, shaped.”

“But what if we could find some? In some places on Earth, when people first arrived,there was so much natural gold in places you could scoop it up by the pound. Mounds ofgold dust. Large nuggets lying on the ground. It would be such a pity to just leave ithere.” I don’t think it’s true, but it seems like the kind of thing that might be. Anyway,there’s nobody here who can argue.

“It’s a big planet,” Yranox points out.

“And you are a big dragon with the most powerful wings in the universe,” I counter. “Wecould check this whole planet in a short time. Maybe just… um... months.”

Yranox smiles, and a smiling dragon is one of the more chilling sights in the world. “One

month from now I will have long since conquered your planet and killed our dragon king,taking his place.”

“Okay, a week,” I suggest. “One week to search this planet for gold to increase yourhoard by a lot and help the other dragons leave. That has to be worth it.”

“Only if there actually is gold to be found.” His smile is blindingly bright, but his voice isdripping with deadly threat.

I point out to the quickly darkening desert all around us. “We’re surrounded by gold dustright now. I’m sure one in ten thousand sand grains is pure gold. Can’t you feel it?”

He frowns. “Can you?”

I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, giving him a show. This is insane. I should be insome kind of asylum. “I can feel it. Barely. Yes, there is gold in the sands. Lots. But it’sdispersed. Hard to find. It would take a long time to pick out even ten tiny grains. Therewill be more in other places. The planet is pretty much completely unexplored.”

His eyes glitter like the stars that are becoming visible above us. “Mounds of gold dust?”

“Heaps,” I assure him. “Nuggets. Seams in the mountainside that you can… um, that Ican scoop out with my fingernails.”

It’s ridiculous. But it’s becoming clear that dragons have the same reaction to gold assome of us have to sex — their brains are overruled by other parts of them, and commonsense takes a backseat.

“A week, you say,” the dragon ponders.

On an impulse I put my backpack on, as well as the pouches. “We should start now.”

“Like I said, you have a silver tongue,” Yranox says and then Changes to dragon form.

Albert hisses and puts himself between me and the glorious, deadly creature.

I gather the spidermonkey up in my arms and whisper into his ears. “I think this couldbecome a real adventure. Just play along, okay? It’s crazy, but it’s working so far.”

I can hear you, Yranox says into my mind. And yes, it will be an adventure. Noticethat most adventures end in death and destruction.

He grabs me in his talons, beats his wings once, and then we’re flying fast through thenight.

“Don't go as high up as the first time,” I plead. “I think I passed out because there’s notenough air up there.”

That would explain it.

The dragon doesn’t soar much higher, and I’m grateful for that. And he holds me sosecurely that falling from here seems impossible. But I’m not going to provoke him toomuch right now.

It’s not a comfortable flight — he’s holding me under my arms, and the rest of me is justdangling in the breeze, of which there is a whole lot. And I’m carrying Albert, too.

I’ll just pretend this is a ride at Disneyland. Dragonland? Xren-land? Sure to be a hit whenI get back to Earth and found an amusement park company. There will be dragon ridesand bumper dragons and a haunted lair and a Ferris dragon and tilt-a-dragons. Anddragonfireworks every night. Free treatment at the burn ward next door.

How crazy is this whole idea with looking for gold on Xren? I can’t sense gold, of course.But if I can postpone Yranox’s attack on Bune by a week, and maybe spend some timewith him, always talking about peace and being friends and so on… well, anything mighthappen. And I just plain want to spend time with him. He may be kind of a jerk, but Ihave met worse. Much worse. And they were nowhere near as fascinating as this guy.

There’s something else that puzzles me. Other dragons can sense gold dust at a hundredpaces. But I can’t help but notice that Yranox has been really close to more gold than justgrains several times how. The gun contains a small amount of it, and he has even beenholding the guns in his hands. But he has shown no sign that he can sense it.

“Yranox,” I try, “are you able to find my other gun? The one I lost before?”

He doesn’t reply, but after a while he banks over in a lazy turn. I more feel than hear theheavy sigh.

A few minutes later he puts me down, and when my feet hit the ground they hit the gunfirst. I guess the sandstorm didn’t come this way.

I pick it up, blow the sand off, and replace it in the holster. That gun has not seen waterand should be able to fire, if necessary.

I look up at the full dragon’s small, perfect head with the spikes and the luminous eyes.“Thank you. Shall we go?”

He grabs me again, and then we’re on the way to I don’t know where.

But, I assure myself, it can’t be any worse than that damn desert.

12

- Yranox -

It’s a long way. When I set down, Beatrice has been asleep for a good while. At least Ithink she has, because there’s been no whining or silly little attempts at commands, andshe’s not needed me to save her life for several hours. Of course, I’m not an expert onsleep; no dragon needs that period of insanely vulnerable unconsciousness. But I’maware that most lesser beings do.

She comes awake when I deposit her on the ground, then rubs her eyes and hugs herselfwith both hands. “Oh. Okay. Where are we, Yranox?”

I sweep one arm around to indicate our surroundings. “We’re here.”

She squints at the bright white and flat landscape around us. “And where is here?”

“Does it matter? Now find gold.”

Beatrice looks around and shudders. “Is it the North Pole? Or the south one? Don’t walktoo far, Albert.”

The silly, many-armed creatures she’s cradled all the way here waddles around us,scraping at the snow and scratching itself all over.

“It’s not a pole at all,” I state. “Merely a colder region. I thought you might need it afteryour desert madness. Heat appears to do strange things to your intelligence. And itseems to me that the gold here will be easy to spot against all this white.” I smile, happywith my impeccable reasoning.

Beatrice is less impressed. “It’s very cold. I can’t survive this any longer than the desert.Shorter, probably. Both too much heat and too little heat can kill me really fast.”

“Then possibly you should get started?”

She shields her eyes with one hand in a gesture that’s somehow endearing. “If there’sgold here, it’ll be under this snow.”

“You said the gold would be lying on the ground,” I kindly remind her. “This is theground.”

She kicks a small foot into the surface and looks down. “I think the ground is beneath thesnow. Actually, beneath the ice. Is this a glacier? The ice is all green under here.”

“Perhaps,” I say airily. “Some kind of frozen ocean, anyway. And I notice there is still nogold dust piling up at my feet.”

“And right here, there won’t be,” Beatrice says. “If it’s a frozen ocean, any gold will be atthe bottom of the sea, under the ice and the water. I think what we need to find gold isdry land with no snow. Just maybe a river and some mountains. And a temperature that’snot very hot or very cold. If it’s right next to a coffee shop, so much the better.”

I frown. Is she delirious? “Coffee shop?”

She sends me a little smile. “Just joking, Yranox. I’m just saying, this place is n-n-not thebest place to search for gold. It’s too c-c-cold. But I appreciate the thought! I did need tocool down, and now that my teeth are c-c-clattering like this, it’s a sign it worked. NowI’m ready for w-w-warmer places again.” She draws her ridiculous robe closer around herand pulls the huge, flimsy hat down over her ears.

She’s incredibly alluring, even wearing that shapeless sheet of fabric. Everything she doesis plainly designed to charm me. And I fear it might be working. I haven’t killed her yet,the way I should have. I’m wasting my time with this idiotic lesser female when I shouldbe preparing and plotting my great coup!

My crotch throbs with lust, as it keeps doing whenever Beatrice is near. That roundness istoo feminine for words. The smoothness of the skin, with no trace of scales. How entirelydefenseless she is! I can have her any time I want. And at the same time, her obviousvulnerability is the best defense she can have. Now how in Gold’s name does that work?

In a flash I see what might be — blood spread in a fine spray in the middle of all thiswhite. A splash of vivid red on this perfect canvas. With Beatrice in the middle, frozenforever in her beauty. A true work of art, because it would be all passion. A dragon’spassion. And yet, there she stands, unharmed.

She meets my gaze and gasps, taking a stumbling step backwards. “Oh! Did I say

something wrong? I’m sorry!”

“Oh, Caronerax chose you well as his envoy,” I snarl. “He could never make me this weakon his own!”

Beatrice steps on her robe and falls backwards. “He d-d-didn’t choose me. Nobody sentme. It’s t-t-rue!”

The other creature puts himself between her and me, looking up at me with menace inhis indecipherable eyes. I can’t read his mind or even begin to fathom his purpose. Andyet he’s plainly sentient. His thoughts are a black wall to me, a complete mystery. He’s asindecipherable as the Plood. Certainly, I could kill him as easily as brush a piece of dustoff a scale. And with about as much satisfaction.

I collect myself. “There is no gold here, is that it?”

Beatrice gets back on her feet and brushes snow off her behind in the most adorable way.“N-n-not right here. Dry land would be better. B-b-by a lake, maybe.”

I Change back to dragon form, and the many-armed creature hisses at the sight.

Then I take Beatrice in my talons, beat my wings, and soar again.

Yes, she might be exploiting all my weaknesses. But she could be the key to my ultimatevictory. One of the keys, anyway.

13

- Beatrice -

I pull Albert as close to me as I can, drawing heat from his soft fur. Still I shiveruncontrollably for a while, but the air is gradually getting warmer. Albert seems not tomind the low temperature. At least he’s not trembling.

Yranox calmly beats his huge wings, majestically soaring on the air currents and notrising too high.

I can’t help grinning. He thought I must be hot after the desert, so he took me to a reallycold place. His kindness is clumsy, but that just makes it more real because he doesn’tknow how to deal with it. I don’t think he could actually believe that there would be goldjust lying on top of a glacier. I’m not even sure he’ll admit it to himself, but that detourwas all for me.

We’re over an ocean, endlessly blue in every direction and not that different from Earth. Ifthe sky were more blue and less red, that is.

What will the Earth be like if the dragons invade? We girls don’t think that there was aninvasion back when we were abducted. The Plood just wanted us girls to dump us hereon Xren so we would mess up the cavemen and ruin the plan to breed dragon slayershere. I think it worked, too. But maybe not in the way the Plood thought.

Dragons on Earth. It’s chilling. they will burn and destroy, pulling everything apart to findgold and other precious objects. When they find Fort Knox I’m sure they’ll have a greattime. There’s no doubt that lots of people will die. Not just the armies that will try todefend the planet, but also all those who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Somedragons are plain murderous, wanting to just massacre and murder and genocide asmuch as they can. The word “nightmarish” doesn’t even describe what it would be like.Even the young Troga was beyond terrible.

And Yranox is the one who will make it happen. Because he obviously will. I don’t seewhat could possibly stand in his way. He’s incredibly powerful and determined.

My left hand goes to the holster on that side. The gun in there still has dry powder in it. Ifit becomes necessary, will I aim at Yranox’s chest and pull the trigger, fully intending forthe small piece of gold to break through the scales and kill him? If the fate of mankindwere at stake?

I don’t even know. Probably not. In cold blood… I almost hope I won’t.

“It may come down to you,” I whisper into Albert’s mouse-like ear.

He turns his head and looks at me with those deep-set eyes, not betraying any opinion.No, of course it won’t come down to him or to any other spidermonkey. It’s not theirresponsibility to save Earth.

And strictly speaking, it may not really be mine, either. I went to Yranox to maybeimprove things for the girls, not to save my home planet from destruction. It’s quite atask for a simple college dishwasher. A million to one chance. And so far, it hasn’tworked.

We pass above islands that become larger and larger until we’re above a big landmass.There’s forest and mountains and irregular meadows, the way it would on a planet wherethe most advanced beings are Albert and his friends. There are no fields and nosettlements.

It feels… pristine. Untouched. Ready. A whole Earth-like planet just there for the taking.The possibilities must be endless. For humans, of course. For dragons like Yranox, it justseems boring and poor. To me it seems exciting and rich. Maybe here, we could do itright.

In the distance I spot dark specks that are moving, clearly dinosaurs that are trying toescape the flying menace that is Yranox and maybe also me. We have wondered if thedinosaurs are everywhere or just in the jungle, and this seems to answer that. That forestbelow is definitely not the jungle, and those animals are definitely too big to be anythingother than dinos.

Still Yranox flies on. I laboriously get a couple of not-nuts out of the backpack and offerone to Albert, taking one myself.

A little while later Yranox starts circling, and I can see why. There’s a lake below, a very

pretty thing with a calm, mirror-like surface. All around are leafy trees on gentle hills.

Yranox sets me down but stays in dragon form.

I see no dangers nearby. Will you walk into obvious deathtraps the moment Ileave?

I straighten my dress, ignoring his question. “Will you be back?”

His mental snort resonates through my skull. It’s not your place to interrogate me,little female.

I take one step closer, reach up, and put my arms around his long, spiked neck. Then Ihurriedly place a kiss on his warm snout before he can incinerate me. “Thank you forrescuing me again and again.”

My arms slide off him as he recoils, looking at me from above with eyes so penetratingit’s a wonder the air between us doesn’t catch fire.

I get the feeling he wants to say something, but then he flaps his wings and rises into theair. He gains height and aims away, and then to my surprise and delight he turns hishead back to me, a very dragonish frown on his beautiful monster face.

You are the strangest creature in the universe. And I have met most of them.

He beats his wings hard and disappears into a violet sky with pink clouds.

Albert is just standing there.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I tell him. “Sure, he’s the whole reason I got into thosedangers in the first place. But he did save me each time. He didn’t have to! Do you knowhow weird that is? It’s like a rock falling upwards. Like an earthquake helping you do thelaundry. Like an armchair buying a cheeseburger. Totally out of his character. Hey, Iknew I was meddling with a force of nature and that it would almost certainly kill me. Hedeserved some recognition. And I got him off balance, too. It was just a kiss. It’s not likeI blew him. Although… nah, never mind.”

Albert calmly listens to my rambling, then bounces up into a tree.

It’s a nice place, I realize when I’m able to wrestle my thoughts away from the dragon.The air is warm, but not too hot. The trees remind me of California and films fromsouthern Europe. And the lake is beautiful, a bright turquoise with gentle white cliffssurrounding it and rolling hills beyond. Nearby bushes full of pink flowers spread a sweet

scent, and a gentle breeze is blowing.

“Not a bad pla—”

A terrible ruckus suddenly breaks out in the treetop where Albert climbed up. It soundslike he’s trying to chop it down, with a flurry of hard resonant bangs on the trunk.

I walk over and look up. “You okay there?”

I can’t see him in the foliage, but the banging goes on for a minute or so with noparticular rhyme or reason to it.

Then Albert comes down and hands me three handfuls of small nuts as if nothing hadhappened.

I accept them. “Did you fight with someone up there?”

He just places a nut between two fingers and cracks the shell, showing me how to openit.

The nuts are bitter, but satisfying. “We need some of these back at the village,” I muse,before I remember that the village doesn’t really exist anymore.

What are the girls doing now? I want to face the direction of the jungle and Bune, butnow I have no idea which way it is.

For all I know, Yranox could be on the way to attack them with all his other dragons andthe caveman army he has somehow assembled. The girls might be about to bemurdered. By him.

I ponder it, but the feeling of dread, loneliness, and guilt doesn’t overwhelm me. No, itdoesn’t ring true. Whatever that dragon is planning for today, it’s not killing my friends. Istill have time to talk him into not doing it.

“It would help if I could find some gold,” I mutter. There are no heaps of gold dustanywhere, or nuggets just laying around. I know Mia panned for gold and came up with agood amount of it. I may have to do something similar. As far as I know, gold is usuallydug out of mountains. Like Car’rakz’s tribe did when they suffered from gold fever.They’ve stopped now, and their gold has been spread out and buried in deep holes allover the jungle.

“You guys don’t like gold, do you?” I ask Albert. “You just collect gems and such todecorate with.”

He just tilts his head and looks up at me, munching on nuts.

No, the spidermonkeys are not prone to gold fever. They’re less materialistic and moreconcerned about the tribe and their offspring. A complete opposite from the dragons.

Taking my robe and hat off, I hang them on a convenient bush and walk over to the edgeof the lake. There’s no beach as such, just gravel that vanishes into the water. I dip mytoe in, finding it cool, but not overly so.

“Isn’t it weird, Albert? After the dry desert, this lake seems unnatural.” It’s a big lake, andit reminds me of pictures of a famous lake in Italy, where George Clooney has a house.“Maybe we should build a house here. It’ll be much more exclusive because nobody elsehas one.”

I plop down on the sweet-smelling grass and lean back on straight arms. The serenity ofthe place is impossible to ignore, and it inches itself into my mind and makes me relax.

“You know, if things were different, this would be a good place to be,” I tell Albert. “Doyou like it, too?”

He just scratches one leg and keeps on eating nuts, plainly not impressed.

“I wonder what type of dinosaurs live here,” I continue. “I mean, there must be not-dactyls, at least. Maybe the biggest ones don’t like it here. The air isn’t nearly as humidand stifling as in the jungle.”

I take off my sock-like shoes that I made at the oasis, then lie down with the fullbackpack as a pillow. The scent from the flowers wafts over me, and the afternoon sun ismaking me drowsy.

“The first thing to do is get Yranox talking about important things,” I think out loud. “Like,not attacking Bune and such. Coming over to our side. Being nice. But I think that to dothat, we’ll need to settle him down. Keep him here, not always flying around or saving mylife. So I should make this place inviting. Build a cozy fire, maybe. Make somearchitectural plans for a house just like Clooney’s…” I close my eyes.

When I wake up, Albert is gone.

And there’s a dinosaur staring at me from six feet away.

14

- Yranox -

I observe my cave for a while before I walk out of the jungle and enter the clearingwhere Beatrice’s village used to be. There’s nobody near. Possibly the other dragons thinkthat my hoard can’t be in that cave if I’m not constantly watching over it. Because I reallyshould be doing that. It’s the height of insanity to be as careless about one’s hoard as Iam, and that’s at the best of times. At a time like this, when there are hundreds of hoard-less dragons roaming this very jungle, there are no words to describe how ludicrouslyirresponsible I’m being.

Which probably works — I was never careless before, and the other dragons must think Ican’t have changed, so my hoard must be elsewhere, because leaving it like this wouldbe… well, unheard of.

Have I changed that much? Why, for all that is golden, am I spending all my time faraway, with a silly little female? Certainly, my plan will work better with her assisting meon Earth, but is that all?

I walk into the cave, considering Changing and then lying on the ground and feeling theheat from the gold beneath.

But I have to save my plan while there still is a plan to save. So I walk out again, checkthat I’m not being spied on, and then make my way to the place where I think my slayerarmy may be located.

I saunter into the clearing where their tents have been erected and look around. It’s notmuch of an army, perhaps a couple of hundred slayers in all. Most are former members ofthe army that Beatrice’s village founded to fight dragons, but these ones deserted whenthey gradually realized that their struggle would not be rewarded by females of theirown.

They are disgruntled, but increasingly unsure about this new purpose I’m offering them. Imust use all my mindpower to keep them docile. That is easier when I am in dragonform, but when they see me like that they get agitated and it takes a while to calm themdown.

“Gather around,” I call, having the satisfaction of hearing my own voice resonating fromthe trees.

The slayers come out of their tents and surround me, hands on their gigantic swords.There’s a sour atmosphere and slow movements. They hesitate, but they don’t resist.

It crosses my mind that if they really wanted to kill me right now, their chances ofsuccess would be maybe one in twenty. It’s the worst odds I have ever faced.

“The day when you all have your pick of females in great numbers is approaching fast,” Iannounce. “And yet I have heard that some of you are not certain. That there is doubt.Uncertainty. Fear, even. Who here is afraid?”

They look at each other, nobody stepping forward.

“We are not fearful men, Yranox the dragon,” one says. “But there have been manypromises and little delivered on.”

I smile tightly and focus extra mindpower on him. “It is the nature of the greatestrewards that they are worth waiting for, slayer Bruti’ax. You will soon be called on toshow what you can do. You will slay dragons and conquer your former masters. Then Iwill take you to your paradise, where you can have a new female every day if you sochoose. Or just one female to bear you heirs. Or two females. Or a thousand.”

The slayer mellows and lets go of his sword. “Will they be as attractive as the women inthere?” He points to the spaceship in the distance.

I laugh. “No, slayer. In there are around ten females. There are thousands and thousandsof women where they came from. You can pick any one of them to be yours. Any fifty ofthem. Any hundred. All much more attractive than the women you have seen so far inyour life.”

The mood brightens considerably.

I have found the key to the slayers — they have this immense weakness for females andfor mating with them. The prospect of having a female of his own reduces each slayer, allpowerful men, to quite pliable objects of my persuasion.

I will deliver, too. The Plood will transport these slayers and the dragons to Earth and letthem loose. The dragons will get the gold, and the slayers will take maybe a few hundredfemales for themselves. After that, the dragons will be my followers and the slayers willbe my guards, protecting me from the dragons. It is the perfect balance. A dragon kingwith an army of dragon slayers at his command — the idea is preposterous andwonderful. I’ll be safe forever.

But first I need to get both forces to commit to me for good, for the persuasion to takehold in their inner beings. That is what the attack on Bune is for. After that, there will beno going back for either the dragons or the slayers. And of course, it will removeCaronerax and his pitiful followers as any sort of threat to me.

“Slayers!” I call. “Stay calm and keep your blades sharp. The final hour of your female-less life is coming. The price you will be asked to pay is small, compared to theimmensity of the reward. Meanwhile, stay away from the dragons and keep watch on thespaceship. Be strong.”

I send them all a jolt of mindpower, giving them enthusiasm and excitement.

Then I turn and walk back into the woods.

I’m drained. The mind power is a fine talent which only a few dragons have, but it takes alot of energy to use on more minds than one at the same time. Especially when I’m not inmy full-dragon form. I need my gold to recover.

Heading straight for the cave, I walk slowly to check if I’m being followed.

After a hundred steps I stop, turn briskly around, walk two steps, and then grab a pursuerby the throat.

“It’s so hard to spy on me, Valarius. My senses are sharp because I am still a full dragon.Whereas you are… not.”

Valarius squirms and writhes in my hand. “I wasn’t spying! Simply watching you, CrownPrince. Perhaps hoping for an audience with you, Your Highness.”

His lickspittle fakery sickens me. It’s not dragon-like. But he has been somewhat useful.

I let him go. “Why?”

He massages his throat with one pale hand. “The others are impatient, Crown Prince.Asking when we can— when they can expect hoards.”

I laugh without mirth. “Impatient? That gang of absolute nothings? What exactly wouldthey do if they didn’t want to wait any longer? They have nothing here. My plan is theonly hope and only chance any of you have for gold.”

“As I have told them again and again,” Valarius lies. “Where do they have to go that’s sourgent? Haha, no, they are being ridiculous. And yet there is some sense in it. We havebeen here for too long, Highness. Too long without the warm glow of gold anywherenear. Some are getting very weak now. So weak I don’t know if they will be able to domuch when the time comes for battle or even plunder.”

I fix him with a gaze, starting to realize where this is going. “I see.”

“And so they have asked me to check with you, honored Crown Prince Yranox, ifperhaps…”

I raise my eyebrows. “Yes?”

“If perhaps there was some little bit of hoard to spare? For now? Just the tiniest scrap ofgold would go a long way towards making us all stronger, to ensuring success when thetime comes. A weak dragon is no better than a lesser being, as of course you wouldn’tknow, Highness, having always been the strongest of us. But we have tasted weaknessnow.”

“You want me to give you gold from my hoard.” The suggestion is obvious.

Valarius gives me a smile that is both sly and innocent at the same time. “It was not myidea, of course, Crown Prince. It would never cross my mind to ask for something asserious as that. But the others, they… well, you know them. They are desperate. Just onelittle nugget to warm them?”

“And nothing for yourself, I’m sure, Valarius. You would simply accept a nugget of goldfrom me and then give it to these mysterious ‘others’. Yes?”

“Of course, Highness. I would maybe warm myself first, as is only natural. Then I wouldimmediately give it to the others, that they may warm themselves as well and regainsome of their strength.”

I turn on my heel and continue walking, Valarius’s purpose now clear. “Unfortunately, thetiny portion of a hoard that I brought to this bare planet is too far away. Perhaps when Ireturn from it in a few days I might bring a gram of dust. One grain for each of you. Somuch easier than a nugget, you see. And less chance of anyone stealing the whole thing.Right, Valarius?”

He hesitates before his smarmy voice is behind me again. “Of course, Highness.Whatever you think is best. Of course, a nugget would warm them more than just a grainof gold dust. Would it perhaps be possible, Highness, to find gold here on this planet?After all, your own gold sense is legendary. If there is some, surely you could find it.You’d spot it from the other side of the planet!“

“Your belief in me is touching, Valarius.”

“And if you found some, I would make perfectly sure that nobody stole it.”

Right now, I like the dragon slayers more than I like this fellow dragon. “Ah, but whowould make sure you didn’t steal it?”

His nervous laugh makes me want to pinch the head off his worthless body.

“Ha ha, Your Highness deigns to joke about his humble servant. Very well then, CrownPrince, I shall keep you no further. I will simply tell the others that their noble chief andprince will return and then maybe bring a tiny grain of gold for each of them.”

“Tell them nothing,” I command. “If there is gold, then the surprise will be pleasant. Ifnot, they will not be disappointed. Now leave, or I will rip your scales off you.”

Valarius’s footsteps abruptly stop behind me. “Of course, Highness. Thank you. Thankyou.”

I walk briskly on. Hopefully, that further convinces them that the part of my hoard I’vebrought is not at all in the cave, but in that mysterious place to which I often fly.

Making sure I’m not being followed or seen, I walk into the cave and Change to dragonform. I’m exhausted from the encounter with the slayers. Being in the minds of hundredsat a time really takes it out of me, and my legs are unsteady.

I curl up and prepare to receive the warmth from the gold buried beneath. But it’s notforthcoming. Certainly, it’s less than I expected. It must be because I can’t concentrate.My mind keeps going to her. What is she doing now? Is she asleep? Is she eating? Is thejust standing there, looking unspeakably alluring the way she always does?

I set her down in that unknown area. Which dangers may lurk around that lake? Or in it?

I have been gone for hours. Anything may have happened!

No, this is no good. I have to check on her.

Briefly considering digging the hoard up and taking it with me, I decide not to. This place

right here is at the hub of the future events. The battle and the Plood will all center onthis jungle and that terrible spaceship not so far from here. No, I better leave my goldright here. It’ll be safe now that everyone thinks it’s miles away, far from other dragons.

Everything is done for now. The Plood will soon be here with all their saucers fortransport, my dragons are as ready as ever, and the slayers have been pacified for a fewdays.

I flap my wings, chuckling to myself as I rise. Those silly slayers. Their lust for femalesmakes them ridiculously easy to control. It’s a serious weakness. Thank Gold I don’t sufferfrom anything like that. I would not be able to stand being made that weak oversomething as simple as females.

I set course for Beatrice and rise to the higher air layers where I can put on some realspeed.

15

- Beatrice -

“Hi,” I try, raising one hand in greeting.

The dinosaur doesn’t respond, its unblinking eyes not wavering.

It’s thick. And long. But it doesn’t have any visible fangs or claws, so that has to be good.There are spikes, but they’re not as long as they could be.

Its four eyes are red, and the skin is a uniform gray. It has a row of tiny limbs along bothsides, like three-fingered arms, and two very sturdy legs under the middle.

A massive tongue suddenly comes out of a crack above the eyes and swings towards me.I duck and roll away, and the three-feet-long tongue ends up giving the backpack amighty lick that leaves it dripping with slime.

“Okay,” I say, quickly getting onto my feet. “Nice to meet you. You just wanted to tasteme, right? See if I could be your dinner?”

The dino brings its tongue in for close inspection with one eye. It focuses the other threeon me.

“Yeah, I think I prefer to remain a mystery to you,” I say, tiptoeing slowly backwards. Thedino hasn’t hurt me and doesn’t seem to plan it, but I would feel much better with acouple of sturdy trees between me and it.

It takes a slow step closer and tries to lick me again, but I sidestep and get to the otherside of a bush. The huge, bright green tongue hangs in empty air for a moment, thenshoots out towards the bush and slides against the dense twigs, back and forth, whileslime comes out of a hole in it. It’s a very strange-looking tongue…

“Ah,” I exclaim as the truth starts to dawn on me. “That’s not really a tongue at all, is it?

I don’t think that will work. You need someone of your own kind.”

I keep pulling back until I finally find a tree trunk to run behind. The dino slides it’s not-tongue against the side of it, and I quickly dance around it and back to the shore.

As I watch, the dino makes its slow way into the forest, leaving dollops of slime on everytree, rock, and bush it passes. And a sweet scent that isn’t the really bad one that mostdinos reek of.

I scratch my head as it vanishes in among the trees. “Ooo-kay. The idea is that sooner orlater you have to come across a female of your own type and she will just stand therewhile you pretend to lick her? I guess it might work. If you have the time for it.” I take atwig and scrape the very suspicious-looking slime off my backpack.

The sun is about to set, and the beauty of the lake is breathtaking. All the colors of therainbow are represented in the sky and in the hills and the woods beyond. It’s anincredibly warm light that’s still perfectly clear. I could look at that for hours withoutbeing bored, just letting the calm of the surroundings flow through me.

And I probably will. Because walking back to the village is clearly not happening now. Idon’t know if I’m even on the same continent. I could be thousands of miles from Bune.

In a way, that makes things easier. I can just stay here, because there is no alternative. Idepend entirely on that dragon to bring me back to my friends. Perhaps that addedpressure will make me really give my all when I try to convince him to not kill them all.

He wants me to become ruler of Earth after he’s plundered it with his compatriots. And hewants me to be his guide there. I don’t want any of those things. But I suppose that as alast resort, I can use that as a bargaining chip. I will agree if he leaves my friends alone.

It’s not ideal. But at least the girls will be fine here. Most of them aren’t going home toEarth, anyway, and with the dragons gone, they can have good lives on this alien planet.

It will mean the end of my life here, though. Being some kind of ruler of a ruined Earthcan’t be anywhere near as nice as just being plain old Beatrice here on Xren.

I need to make Yranox spend more time with me and less time back in the jungle orwherever it is he goes. Only with him here and with some calm and peace can I convincehim. I mean, of course I probably can’t. But it will improve my odds. And thesesurroundings — even a dragon can’t remain untouched by this beauty and serenity.

If I intend to stay, then I should make it more comfortable. A small hut to sleep in would

be nice. And maybe a storage place for food. Water will not be a problem at all, with thelake right there.

Back at the village I have helped build houses from bricks, and I have made a fewhundred bricks from clay myself. So I know how to do that. If I find clay, of course, I’llbuild a kiln and fire pots and such.

But there won’t be time for that. I don’t get the feeling that Yranox is the patient type,and if I can’t find gold for him here, he will either take me somewhere else or just murderme.

At any rate, I may spend a few days here. The air is balmy, but there’s no guarantee itwon’t get freezing when the sun sets. It sure did in that desert. Still, this is definitely nota desert. It’s more like what someone who’d never been there would imagine Italy to be,if they’d only seen the most idyllic pictures of the best parts of it.

Say, someone like me.

Albert comes bouncing, drops a load of fruits and berries on the ground, and stands theremunching on one.

I pick one myself and bite into it. “Hey you. Been looking around the place? Nice, huh?It’s not Italy, but I think it’s close. I mean, not close. But similar.”

He makes some gestures with his arms, but I have no idea what they mean.

I dip my toes in the water again. “Anyway, the view is good, and I don’t think I’ll bedrowning in any loose sand. Which is a plus. Did you see that dinosaur? Pretty gross.”

As I ponder taking a bath, a rock attracts my attention and I pick it up out of the water.“Don’t tell me it can be this easy.”

I turn it over in my hands. As the water drips off, I realize it’s not gold. It looks like it, butit’s nowhere near heavy enough.

“Fool’s gold,” I mutter and toss it away.

But it reminds me of Mia’s adventures in gold panning. She’s told us that we need somekind of stream, a sandy bottom and a pan of some kind. Tomorrow I should see if I canseparate some gold dust from the sand at the bottom of this lake.

The surface is no longer as smooth as a mirror, because the mild evening breeze createsdelicate waves. Some of the lakes on Xren have monsters living in them, and I should not

take a bath before I know more about the depths.

Lifting my gaze, I see the sun lighting up distant, snow-tipped peaks beyond the othershore. If this is not-Italy, then I guess those must be the not-Alps.

About a mile away there’s a delicate little waterfall that I can only barely hear, but whichcreates a long, ethereal rainbow that I think is permanent as long as the sun is up. It’sheartbreakingly beautiful, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a unicorn came out of the woodsand offered me a Coke.

“Why couldn’t the Plood have dumped us here, instead of that insane jungle?” I mutter.But of course there aren’t any cavemen here, so that would have made little sense totheir plan.

It gets darker fast, but the air is still warm and fragrant. Albert and I eat the rest of thefruit from the oasis, then wash it down with juice from the not-coconuts. I don’t think I’llhave to save those, because Albert has collected a heap of berries from the bushesaround us.

Sitting down with my back leaned up against a tree, I take the still functional gun out ofits holster and put it on the ground right by my hand. That one dinosaur was not apredator, at least not in the original sense. But I have no idea which other monsters lurkin these paradisiacal surroundings, so I’m taking no chances.

Albert bounces here and there, climbs trees, and is gone for long stretches. But thankfullyhe doesn’t bang on any trees like before.

Taking a deep breath, I try to banish the thought of what the girls might be goingthrough right now. I should never have left them, that’s for sure. They must think Ideserted them when things got rough.

It’s the quietest, most pleasant night I’ve had since I came to Xren. The breeze is barelynoticeable, the air stays warm and pleasant, there are no insects buzzing anywhere, andthe soft tinkling from the distant waterfall has a hypnotic effect like in those relaxationrecordings. I even feel safe because Albert is somewhere close, and he did what he couldto save me from that sandstorm. He’ll alert me if there is a real danger.

Above, the stars shine calmly and the moon Yrf slowly travels across the sky, revealingthe occasional cloud. It’s all so fairy-tale idyllic that it’s almost an insult. This was here allalong, while some of us were struggling to stay alive as prisoners of the dragon Troga?

“Thanks a lot, planet Xren,” I yawn. “But better late than never, I guess.”

I

Nothing moves in the bushes, the treetops stay still, and the lake reflects the moon andthe stars like glass. It’s the most peaceful place I’ve ever been.

So of course, I don’t sleep a wink.

- - -

see him before he lands, for a change. He moves fast across the morning sky,metallic scales glinting bright in the sunlight, leaving a blue streak that slowly fades.

“Still here,” he mock-marvels as he’s done shapeshifting to human form. “ Not trying todrown yourself in the lake? Not walking miles straight into deadly storms?”

“Ha ha,” I mutter. “Now I want to do both those things. And yourself? Not curling up in acave? Not attacking innocent people who never harmed you in any way?”

Yranox saunters over to the water’s edge and studies his own reflection. “I will do boththose, too. With great glee.”

You wouldn’t think this landscape could be improved. But then he comes along and juststands there, being himself. And it’s all I can look at. Sky blue with yellow stripes thatsomehow goes perfectly with everything around us. Giant muscles that flex with theslightest movements. A hint of scales everywhere, especially over the massive shoulders.Long, tight pants that fit perfectly over his round, powerful behind. Hair that’s a chaoticmix of black and gold.

I have to constantly remind myself that he is an alien, not a real dragon from out of themyths. There’s nothing supernatural about him, he’s just using natural forces that wedon’t know about yet.

Still, a big part of me wants to see him as a demigod. And still my inner female being isscreaming at me to be bred by him. I can’t blame that female being. Not only would theexperience be incredible, it would also produce some crazy-attractive kids. Because all hisoffspring will be sensational, even mixed with my more humble genetic material. And hehas kindness in him. Like a seam of bright gold through black granite. I can feel it allthrough me, especially in some places that are now tingling hard.

“Maybe you should not,” I suggest with a mouth that’s suddenly gone dry. “Maybe youshould just join the winning side.”

He doesn’t reply, just looks out at the lake. There’s something different about him now,something dejected.

I get up and slowly walk over to him. “There’s no need for all the fighting and killing,” Itell him in a soothing voice. “You can be perfectly happy without those things.” It soundsweak, even to me. The problem is that I have nothing to offer him in return for hissupport. He’d have to give up his plan of becoming king of the dragons, and I think that’sa hard sell at the best of times.

“I am the winning side,” he grumbles.

“Anything can go wrong with your plan,” I try again. “Your dragons are weak. Thecavemen hate them, and they hate the cavemen. Your army is made up of both. It willsplit apart. Also, you think Earth will just stand back and let you plunder it? It’s a war-likeplanet, Yranox. You may never have seen weapons like we have on Earth. Some of themcan lay waste to entire cities in a split second. The people will rather destroy everythingthan let you have it. You are mighty, Yranox. I’m sure your fire is the hottest in all theworld. But Earth is always prepared for war with each other, and their weapons arehorrific.”

Yranox slowly half-turns his head. “In a split-second?”

“A blinding flash of light, and then the city is completely gone and millions of peopledead. Imagine a small star suddenly coming into being on a planet. That is what thoseweapons are.”

He scoffs. “Weapons like that would never be used. Who wants to destroy a city? Youwant to take it, to plunder it, to rule it!”

I stand beside him. “We don’t. When Earthlings go to war, the plunder means nothing.Only the number of people you kill matters. The absolute destruction of your enemy. Andthose weapons have already been used on Earth. Twice.”

Even his deep frown doesn’t make him look any less attractive.

“That sounds too strange to be true. But I sense no falsehood in you.”

I slowly reach over and touch his scaled forearm, warm and hard against my fingertips.“There is no falsehood. It is true. Once Earth realizes what you are doing, they will stopat nothing to get you. Even their less powerful weapons could be the end of you.”

We girls have talked about these things in our darkest times. Some of them are military

brats and know a lot about weapons. Like armor-piercing shells with depleted uraniumthat can go straight through inches of steel plate. Like missiles with shaped explosivesthat can punch holes the size of pineapples in those plates. Dragon scales are tough, buta dragon wouldn’t have a chance against a tank-busting jet with a moderately skilledpilot. And, I suddenly realize, we know that something as simple as a piece of gold shotat a dragon will penetrate the scales and kill the dragon. If I somehow agree to comewith Yranox on his raid on Earth, my first duty will be to tell all the armies on Earth to usegold-plated bullets to shoot at dragons. If they do, the dragon raid will last for all of halfan hour before they’re dead.

The only part of the theory that falls down is that the girls don’t think today’s leaders aretough and determined enough to actually use those weapons in defense. They think thatnuclear bombs will not be used against the dragons. But Yranox doesn’t know that. And inall honesty, I personally think they would.

He turns and walks towards the trees. “Where is the gold you promised?”

“I didn’t have time to look yet,” I tell him. “It’s still early morning. I need light to look forthat. And I need breakfast before I get started. Why don’t you sit down?”

I expect a sarcastic remark, but to my surprise the huge dragon thinks for a moment,then sits down by my tree and leans his back against it, making it creak dangerously.

“Now get gold,” he commands.

At any other time, I would have scrambled to obey. But his menace is less intense now.He doesn’t get as far into my mind as before, and that helps me relax. Still, I should notforget that he is a dragon.

I pick up a fruit and bite into it. “Let me just eat a little.” On an impulse, I sit down rightnext to him and put my hand on one powerful knee. “Food gives us energy. I can look forgold much better if I have energy.”

He just grunts but doesn’t seem to mind the hand on his knee.

I’ve never seen him this... human. If not for his otherworldly beauty and size, he could bea normal guy, almost.

Actually, no. No normal guy could have a bulge like that. I have noticed it before, too. Itsometimes twitches and it makes me yearn to touch it, see if it’s as hard as it looks.

“This is such a nice place,” I say. “So calm. Right?”

He doesn’t reply, and when I look at him, he’s leaning back on the tree and his eyes areclosed.

I squeeze his massive knee. “Are you okay?”

“Ask fewer questions,” he growls. “Find more gold.”

“What’s it like to always think about gold”? I ask. “Is it the only thing on your mind at alltimes?”

He doesn’t open his eyes. “It’s the only thing that matters. It should be on everyone’smind.”

“Other things matter, too,” I suggest. “Like this moment right now. It’s nice. A memory totreasure.”

“The only treasure is gold,” he grunts. “And I notice there isn’t any of it just lying around.Nuggets on the ground, someone said. Heaps of gold dust. Where? Not here, certainly.”

“It’s not everywhere,” I protest. “You have to look for it and be lucky, too. You picked thisplace, I didn’t.”

“Any place I pick is the right place,” Yranox drawls, eyes still closed.

I take my hand off his knee, but like a flash he grabs my wrist and puts it right back.

“Oh,” I gasp, feeling my eyes widen.

He opens his eyes to sparkling slits. “Just stay where you are.”

16

- Yranox -

I’m gradually recovering and recharging. The exhaustion is slowly draining from me,replaced by my usual power.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was lying on a hoard.

But it’s not gold. It’s something else that heats and soothes me. It seems to come fromBeatrice’s hand on my knee.

That can’t be, of course. It’s something else, or I’m just imagining it. There might be alarge pile of gold right under where I’m sitting.

Then why does her hand feel so warm?

She looks at me with a half-open mouth and big, dark eyes. I can see my own reflectionin them. What does she think about me?

And why in space do I care?

I close my eyes again, leaning back, trying to forget where I am. But it’s impossible. Herscent is on the air, her rapid heartbeat resonates through the ground, her quick breathingdrowns out all other sounds.

She keeps her tiny hand on my knee, and I draw heat from it as if she were made of gold.

Well, it’s not quite like that. The heat from her hand is gentler, with more substance andmore flavor. Gold is hard and smooth and hot, this is soft and textured and the effect isslightly different. Certainly, the gold never made the crotch of my pants creak with thestrain of keeping the swelling contained. But like gold, this touch makes me want to stayhere forever.

“Witchcraft,” I growl, feeling the energy return and my crotch swelling more.

Beatrice adjusts her position without taking her hand off me, coming closer. “Did you gettired flying so much?” she purrs, gently touching my arm. “It’s okay, you can rest for aslong as you want.”

Many sarcastic replies fly through my mind, but I’m too comfortable to give her theresponse she deserves, and in the end I only grunt.

She becomes braver and puts her whole hand on my forearm. I should rip her head off forthe liberties she’s taking. But that other hand also sends heat into me. Soothing heat fullof energy and power. No, it can’t really be witchcraft if it makes me feel this good.

My pants creak more, and I open my eyes to see just how obvious it is.

Ah. It is very obvious. Dear Gold, this lesser female has me feeling more excited than…than ever.

Is this what Caronerax felt with his female? In that case, I may have to reassess him.

I look at the round face. So close, so soft. So vulnerable. I could rip her into small piecesat any time. And she knows it. Still, she’s not cowering. She’s touching me. A lessertouching a dragon, and I smell no fear on her.

I take my hand off hers and bring it behind her head, pulling her close.

Her eyes widen and her lips open, just like I expected. “Did I—”

I let my own lips graze hers, then feel the breath catch in my throat. Such softness!

She responds with a feminine reluctance which I find marvelously attractive. Her sweet,fresh scent is in my nose and her soft, curly hair surrounds my fingers.

Beatrice dares not take her hand off my knee, so I reach down and place her hand righton top of my scandalous bulge.

She gasps in the most satisfactory way. “That’s huge. And so hard!”

I kiss her again, harder now, tasting her sweet moisture. Her helpless moan tells meshe’s enjoying this, too. Which somehow… makes it better?

I’m really getting into it when she pushes me away and screams into my face.

17

- Beatrice -

I just see a shadow moving very fast behind Yranox, and I reflexively let out a piercingsqueal.

Yranox pushes me away and is on his feet in the same moment that the dinosaurpounces. It’s big, sleek, and completely black, bulging with muscle. It’s head is similar toa hammerhead shark, with eyes on the tips of blade-like protrusions.

Yrarnox moves faster than I can even see to get out of its way, then grabs it with bothhands while it’s in mid-air, breaks its spine, and rips it in half with a terrifying noise ofsplintered bones and ruptured meat.

He tosses the blood-pouring pieces of the dino aside and looks down himself. “Red onblue was never the best combination.”

Trying to calm down my frantically beating heart, I get up on trembling knees, grab afistful of leaves from a bush, and wipe some of the cold dino blood off him.

“It’s too unfashionable for not-Italy,” I agree. “The police would give you a sternwarning.”

He lets me wipe him down, just peering down at me with narrow eyes. I try to avoid thatobvious bulge halfway down his front, but it’s not easy. It attracts my eyes, for one thing.And it sticks out so far it keeps getting in the way.

I toss the leaves away. “All right, that should do it. More or less. You should take a bathwhile the blood is still fresh to wash it off you properly.”

Yranox turns and looks across the lake, towards the distant mountains that are prettilyilluminated by the morning sun, making their snowy peaks glow. “Those look like they

contain gold.”

“They do,” I say, rinsing my hand in the water. “Maybe. Right now, they look like they’remade of it. Give it ten minutes, and they won’t. It’s just the sunlight.”

“But surely a sign”, he ponders. “Surely, mountains that contain gold must give a signthat they do. There’s the sign.”

“Yeah… I’m not sure that’s the way it works. Look!”

A dino like the other one is slowly prowling towards us, silent and tense.

Yranox shrugs. “It’s you they’re after. You attract them. I don’t blame them much. Youlook like a morsel of the sweetest meat just dangling in front of them.”

He’s right — the newcomer is staring right at me with its hammerhead-shark eyes,throwing occasional wary glances at the dragon.

“Yeah. Umm… could we scare it away before it gets any closer?”

A very male sigh escapes Yranox. He takes two fast steps towards the dino and grabs itlike he did the other one, before it can move. Using one hand, he throws the two-thousand pound predator back into the forest, spinning in a high arc that takes it so faraway I can’t even hear the crash when it lands among the trees.

“That works, too, I guess,” I concede. “It won’t soil your scales.”

He looks down himself. “Not that it would make things that much worse.”

“Probably not,” I agree, looking at him, too. The bulge is still there, and that was aninteresting moment we had before the dinos arrived. But I think it has passed.

“It’s time for you to find the gold you promised,” Yranox decides. “And there plainly isn’tany right here. We will start at the golden mountains.”

“Actually,” I hurry to invent, “rainbows are often a sign of gold. That one right there couldbe a good place to look. Let me just prepare.” I point at the waterfall across the lake.

I’m not looking forward to being carried in his talons all the way to those distant not-Alps,which look snowy and cold. This not-Italian landscape suits me much better.

The dragon just raises his perfect eyebrows, so I empty the backpack of most of the not-nuts and stack them in a pyramid. I want to bring maybe five of the nuts. I have a feelingI might need both the backpack and a packed lunch for this expedition.

I put the backpack on and glance over at the dragon. “You know, I can ride on your backinstead of you carrying me in your claws. It’s not the most pleasant thing.”

Yranox snorts then Changes again without a word, and I look away because my braindoesn’t enjoy being turned inside out by impossible things happening.

And of course, he grabs me by his talons again, having me dangling in the air as he gainsheight and my stomach feels like it’s being left behind on the ground.

It takes us maybe five seconds of flight before he sets me down on the cliff right wherethe waterfall starts to plummet into the lake. It’s the final leg of a little stream that windsits way through a colorful meadow with flowers in all colors of the rainbow before itgathers in a round bowl in the rock. It swirls and overflows, the water falls like a fine veilwhich becomes the rainbow.

The view from up here is crazy, too. There’s the lake and the huge forest that vanishesinto the distance. I think I can see the glimmer of an ocean beyond, but it could really beanything. It’s maybe even more idyllic scenery than down by the lake, and it could besafer from dinos, too. Maybe.

Yranox changes back to human-ish form. “I can’t see any nuggets or gold dust. There’snothing here. We’ll go to the mountains.”

“Wait. We have to search first.” I kneel down by the bowl in the rock. The sides arepolished perfectly smooth, and it’s fully circular. The water must have dug it out andshaped it over millennia. It would make a good jacuzzi, with room for a dozen people.

There’s even a sandy bottom. Which makes sense, because the water from the streamwill be bringing small particles of sand with it and dropping them here as it swirls aroundin the bowl before splashing over the edge and falling down to the lake in fine drops,creating that permanent rainbow.

I dip my hand into it. The current isn’t strong, just gentle enough to cause the water toswirl. “Do you mind if I take a dip? I don’t feel too clean.”

Yranox shrugs. “Be quick.”

Feeling his intense gaze on me, I loosen the simple drawstring in the oasis-bark dress. “Ithink it’s common for men to turn their backs when a lady is taking a bath.”

He doesn’t move an inch. “Is it really.”

“Really,” I confirm. “Well, suit yourself.” I know he’s seen everything already, back when

he dipped me into the pond to rinse the sand off me. But the circumstances weredifferent then.

Anyway, I want this bath.

I slide the dress off and deposit it on the rocks. I don’t have much under it, as is commonwith us girls. Because fabric soft enough that you want it that close to your most delicateparts? Not very easy to find on Xren.

So I’m showing the dragon just about everything, but I can’t hurry to get in the bowl. Thesides are quite slippery, but the bottom is soft sand. Right around the edges the sand isdeep enough that it reaches pretty high up, so I can sit down with my shoulders an inchabove the surface.

I give the dragon a quick glance. He’s an interested spectator. That bulge is now castinga shadow all of its own, so I think he may have enjoyed the view when I got in.

“You can get in, too,” I suggest. “Wash that blood off you.”

“Be quick,” he says, voice a little hoarse.

But I don’t think I want to be that quick. The rays from the sun are strong enough nowthat the coolness of the water doesn’t bother me much. And the view from up here isbeyond spectacular. I think I can even see Albert down there, having returned fromwhichever errand he was on. I wave, but I can’t expect him to see me way up here.

I take a not-nut out of my backpack, open it, and enjoy the sweet juice. It’s not much,but if it’s something I’ve learned on this crazy planet, it’s to take my pleasure whenever Ican, however small. I might not get another chance for a long time.

I don’t have soap, so I dig my hands into the bottom and use the sand to scrub my feetand arms. It’s not too effective. But at least it’s—

I freeze and stare down into the water.. That looks a lot like…

Digging one hand as deep into the sand as I can, I bring it back up under the surface andstudy it.

Yeah. I was right.

I throw a quick glance up at Yranox. He’s half-turned and gazes out at the not-Alps, whichno longer have a golden hue to them, but sparkle with white snow.

Drinking the rest of the juice in the not-nut, I drain one more and then proceed to slowly

fill them with wet sand from the bottom.

It makes sense, I guess. This bowl is shaped vaguely like the kind of pan one would useto pan for gold in a stream. The water from the stream rushes in, carrying all kinds ofparticles, and the heaviest ones will sink to the bottom and stay there because thecurrent is too weak to carry them along over the edge. But there’s enough current tokeep the sand grains down at the bottom always shifting so that the heavier particleskeep sinking past the lighter ones. The upper inch is definitely just common sand.

I make my fingers stiff and plunge my hand as far down into the sand as it will go,wiggling its way down until I have to duck my head under the surface to go deeper.

I get down to the middle of my forearm, and still no hard bottom.

Just soft, heavy gold dust all the way, sparkling in the sun.

Possibly for feet and yards down. I have no idea how deep this bowl goes. If it follows thenatural curve, it must be ten feet deep in the middle. Four feet of water and then six feetof gold dust.

Pulling my hand back up, I notice that the ordinary sand swirls easily up with the water,while the gold stays down there. I’m pretty much bathing in gold, with my butt dug intoit. I guess this time, a rainbow really did end at a pot of gold.

Yranox studies his fingernails, clearly impatient.

I ponder the scene. That dragon is standing five yards from several tons of gold dust, andhe doesn’t even know it. I would have thought he’d be electrified by it.

Well, I can’t tell him. The point of this whole expedition is not to actually find gold. It’s tospend time with the dragon, get him to mellow down, and maybe listen to reason.

Topping up the two not-nuts with gold dust, I plug them with small pieces of wood andput them back in the backpack, now suspiciously heavy. I’ll keep them as a last resort.

I carefully brush the mixture of sand and gold off my skin under the water, then carefullystand up so as to not disturb the sand any more than necessary and reveal the sparklingriches beneath.

“You know,” I say, checking my butt for suspiciously shiny grains, “those mountains havesnow on them. Remember the glacier? It will be the same story. Ice and snow will covereverything. If there’s gold, we can’t find it.”

He fixes his gaze on me, focusing on my chest. The stare is absolutely invasive. And itfeels… good. It feels like approval. And somehow being approved by a dragon is a lotmore valuable than any other male.

“I think I can find a way,” he says drily. “Are you about ready?”

I step out of the bowl, water splashing off me. I quickly rinse my dust-covered feet in thewater and see the grains of gold dropping to the bottom, flashing yellow as they rotate.“Just let me get dry.”

“M-hm.” His bulge is definitely back and bigger than before. That almost looks painful.

His eyes still on me, I pull my dress back on. It will have to dry me. “You really shouldhave taken a bath, Yranox. You would have found it really…umm... invigorating.”

“I am in perfect vigor as it is.”

He Changes, and in his dragon form there is no bulge. There is just something giganticand scary that I don’t even want to think about. But at the same time I really do.

Sigh. Why must he be so confusing?

It takes a good while to fly over to the not-Alps, and as we get closer it’s obvious that thismountain range is at least as large as the real Alps back on Earth. There must behundreds of huge, sharp peaks, stretching far into the distance.

Yranox picks one snowy peak and hovers a small distance from the absolute top of it.

In a flash I understand what he’s going to do.

“No, wait!” I holler, but it’s too late.

18

- Yranox -

I blow a long, satisfying flame at the snowy side of the mountain, high up so I can coverthe peak with my fire. It’s blue with yellow streaks, just like me.

Beatrice yells something, but it vanishes in the deep whoosh of my majestic fire. Ireadjust myself and Beatrice so that I shield her from the searingly hot backwash fromthe flame.

“Never mind,” she says from somewhere under me. “I’m fine. Not turned into charcoal.False alarm.”

A huge plume of steam rises. The snow is gone from a large area of the peak, revealingbare rock.

Now find the gold.

I set down in a suitable place and try to let go of the sweet-smelling female, but sheclings to my talons with eager little hands.

“Are you kidding me?” she squeaks. “I can’t even stand upright. The ground is red-hot!And that’s a sheer drop of a million feet!”

I peer down the side of the mountain. It might in fact be too steep to stand on for a smallfemale with claws as thin and pitiful as hers. I never normally consider things like that.

I grab her again and fly up to the very peak, where the snow is completely gone. Tryhere.

“Oh shit.” She holds on to my talon with both hands and tries to find her balance. “Thewind is going to blow me off this top and I’ll fall all the way down there. It will kill me,and then who will find gold for you?”

So you should get started.

“Fine.”

She picks up a loose rock, pretends to study it, and then drops it. “Nope. There’s no goldhere. Let’s go back to the woods. It’s much more promising.”

This peak shone like gold earlier. It must be a sign.

“Sure, sure. It’s a sign that in a certain light, snow can look orange. Oh my God, thewind’s picking up.” She clings to my talon.

Craning my neck to look under me, I notice that Beatrice’s eyes are squeezed shut.

Keep looking.

She blindly picks up small rocks from the gravel and then tosses them away, one by one.“No… no… no… Nothing. Let’s go somewhere else.”

I ponder it. Indeed, the peak up here looks nothing at all like the glittering, solid gold Iwas expecting after the sunlight this morning. This is just gray and dull and wet, steamstill rising from it after I applied my fire. It looked different before.

“With the snow, it looked different,” Beatrice agrees, clinging to me like grim death. “Nowyou see that it’s just plain old rock. Can we go, please?”

She’s not being very useful, and I don’t think scaring her will work. And besides, I find itpleasant the way she clings to me. That’s certainly never happened before. Indeed, theidea that a small female like this would cling to a dragon is quite unreal.

This scares you? I ask. The heights?

“Yes,” she replies, voice small.

And I don’t scare you?

“I told you before. You’re not going to kill me.”

That’s true, she did say that. And so far she’s been right.

“Anyway,” she continues, “down there between the mountains there’s no snow. I thinkthat’s a much better place to look. Not quite as high up.” She points.

There better be gold there.

“I’m sure there is. Okay, I’ll just grab onto you…”

I grasp her and descend to a hilly landscape with rivers and lakes everywhere.

This time Beatrice lets go of my claws and walks a few steps. “This is much better. Noneed to risk anyone’s life just looking for gold.”

“There’s no ‘just’ about it,” I tell her after I Change. “It should be the most importantthing in your life at this time. Indeed, at any time.”

“Oh, it is,” she assures me as she picks a speck of dust off her dress and flicks it away.“It’s absolutely consuming me.”

I should be grabbing her by the neck and forcing her to dig into the ground as a reactionto her sarcasm, but for some reason the gold doesn’t seem so important to me right now.After all, I have a good amount of it safely buried.

The mere thought of my gold should make me yearn to go there and check on it, see thatit’s still there, feel the heat from it. And I feel a small pang of concern for it. But it’s notoverwhelming, like I would expect after an absence this long.

Beatrice strolls around the flat and gravelly area, sometimes kicking at the ground andsometimes squatting down to pick up a rock and examine it. “This is not a bad area. Allthe rock is uncovered. Just a matter of time before I find a nugget.”

It’s enjoyable to watch her search. Her moves are so… honest. There’s no exaggeratedswaying of hips, no long glances that are meant to be discovered. When I catch Beatricestaring at me, like everyone does when a dragon is close, she simply gives me a shy littlesmile and looks down.

Oh, those hips… and those sweet, round cheeks, the big eyes with the inscrutabledarkness where I can see my own reflection sometimes, made better because she seesme at the same time… what would it be like to see them from close up and right above?

My pants creak again.

She’s not afraid of me. There’s been no fear on her scent for days now. How is thatpossible? How could she know I wouldn’t kill her?

I am supposed to be the most fearsome and terrible of dragons. And here I am,peacefully watching a female pretend to look for gold. I don’t even care if she finds any.I’m just enjoying watching her.

Right now I could take her in my claws, rip her silly garment off, and have my way withher for as long as I’d like. And I’m not doing it. Indeed, I don’t think it would even begood.

Is this what Caronerax felt? Is this what my brother went through? Kyandros andAragadon, both highly feared? If so, Gold help me.

What’s happening to me?

No, I can’t take this.

Changing to dragon form, I take off and circle the mountain, looking for that yellowsparkle somewhere. But my heart isn’t in it. It’s as if it has other things that are moreimportant.

19

- Beatrice -

I can feel Yranox’s gaze on me as I walk in little circles, staring at the ground andpretending to look for gold and hoping there isn’t any. A little gold might be okay, like asmall nugget. Just to keep his hopes up about this planet being rich, after all, so he won’thave to conquer and pillage Earth.

It’s a fine line — I don’t want him to leave because there’s no gold, but I also don’t wanthim to leave because there is a lot of it. At some time I may have to salt an area with apinch of gold dust from the bowl, just so I can show him some.

It’s hard to concentrate with the dragon this close. He still radiates menace, but it’sdirected outwards and not towards me. I’m in his bubble of not-safety, I’m sure. And it’san intoxicating place to be. Nothing can happen to me here unless he does it to me.

Sweet stars, I have never seen anyone more male than him. Totally powerful, totallyrelaxed, totally focused. Focused on the wrong thing, maybe, but I think that can befixed. All I know is that I’ve never met anyone even remotely like him. He’s a violent andprobably evil dragon who is plotting to attack and kill my friends. At the same time, he’ssaved my life about sixteen times by now. A couple of them from himself, that’s true. Buthey, he didn’t have to tear the dino in half. It wasn’t after him at all, it was pouncing onme. And the way he tended to Albert after he’d rescued both of us from the sand… hewas gruff, but effective. He even kept me shielded from his fire when he melted all thesnow on that peak. There is definitely some caring in him. I don’t even know if he knowsit.

“Maybe you can search, too?” I suggest.

“I am searching,” he tells me. “I search by finding the places for you to search in finerdetail. You have always been bound to the ground. I have not. It’s your area, plodding

around here.”

I pick up a piece of quartz and turn it over in my hand. “I guess that’s a contribution, too.Yranox, if we find some gold here on Xren — will you stay and not try to conquer Earth?”

“Gold is important,” he replies airily. “It affects many things.”

I toss the rock away. “You don’t know, is what you’re saying.”

His eyes shoot hard arrows that hit me a little further south than he realizes. “You are tooinsolent for your own good.”

I clap my hands together to get rid of the dust and sand. There’s certainly no nuggets tobe found on this little plateau surrounded by snowy peaks. And one peak with no snow onit at all. “You know, I tried being deferential and respectful at all times. I mean, before Imet you. That sure didn’t do me much good, either.”

“I see. Perhaps reconsider that. Now, try not to drown in sand.” He changes to dragonform and takes off, powerful wings blowing my hair all around my head.

Shit, he’ll be gone for hours again. “Wait, you can’t leave me here!”

I’m quite sure that I can.

“No, I mean, please don’t! Take me back to the lake, at least!”

He doesn’t respond, just soars higher in lazy circles, the sunlight glinting off his sleek,metallic body. He’s the most beautiful thing in the sky, or anywhere else.

“I guess I can survive a night here, too,” I mutter, looking around the barren rocks.

Nothing grows here, which seems weird. Xren is such a hysterically fertile planetotherwise. I get the feeling this place can get rough in the winter. If there is such a thingas a normal winter on this crazy planet.

My stomach growls, and I totally sympathize. I’ve had no real food for days, just fruit andjuice and water. It gives me energy, but not all the nutrients I need.

I don’t want to stay in this craggy place. I’m still high up, with huge mountains on twosides and deep valleys on the others. I can’t see the lake in not-Italy. I have a vague ideaof which direction it is, but I also know it’s far.

Still, I’m not going to wait here for the dragon’s convenience. “I’ve been in worse places,”I tell myself as I adjust the backpack, check my guns, and start the trek.

I get about six paces when a strange humming sound catches my attention and I lookaround. Down in the valley below me there’s a black cloud that seems to be flowingupwards. It goes fast and looks most of all like a flood wave or a tsunami.

Except that… is not water. Not at all.

My face goes cold, and ice settles in the pit of my stomach. Trust planet Xren to alwayshave wonderful surprises like this up its sleeve. No wonder nothing grows right here. Itcan’t be the first time this has happened.

I reflexively start walking backwards, away from the cloud.

The dark wavefront comes closer fast, just like the sandstorm in the desert. But this isn’tsomething as harmless and pleasant as that storm.

I turn and run. I have to find shelter! But there is none. This plateau is flat andfeatureless. There aren’t even decent-sized boulders I can hide behind. Digging here isout of the question. The gravel is packed hard.

The humming gets louder. It’s really millions of little click-click noises, I notice. Thatwould fit with what I think this is.

The first one passes me as I run, then a hundred more in a second before I throw myselfdown on the gravel. It’s like a sudden sunset — it goes dark all around me, and the eeriehum drowns out all other sounds.

I can only hope they will just wash over me and not do any harm.

But, I think to myself as I put the backpack on top of my head to shield me, that wouldnot be Xren-like.

It starts as a gentle tug at the fabric of my dress. Then the click-click noises intensify to anightmarish level and the weight of hundreds of creatures is on top of me, snapping theirinsect jaws and eating the dress right off my body. The backpack disintegrates in myhands, eaten by the swarm.

After twenty seconds I’m naked, with the cold gravel beneath me and the swarm on topof me. My mind too numb and overwhelmed to think, I grab frantically onto the two not-nuts that are full of gold dust.

God, I hope they won’t eat me as well.

There’s a sting at my back. Then at my naked butt, and then at both legs.

They’re nibbling on me.

I fill my lungs and scream, getting to my feet and frantically dancing around, kicking andpunching at the entire swarm of locusts the size of seagulls.

But it makes no difference — it’s like punching air. Some of the horrendous creatures bitehold of my hair, and I’m bleeding in several places as they chew their way through myskin with small needle-like beaks.

My panicked scream is drowned out by their insane clicking. All around it’s as dark asnight — even the sun can’t penetrate this horrific flood wave of giant locusts.

The weight of all the locusts hanging off me forces me to my knees. “No…”

I’m being eaten alive, and I can’t even hear myself sob.

There’s a sudden explosion of blue light, and searingly hot air washes over me. A greatweight falls off me, and I collapse crouching on the ground, sobbing with the horror of itall.

The clicking noise is still all around me, but now it’s more distant. The stench of burninglocust shell pierces my senses.

I open my eyes. It’s still dark, and there are still locusts on me. With skin creeping, I grabeach one and toss them away.

There’s a gust of wind and the sound of big wings flapping. Huge talons grip me — notunder my arms like before, but gently under my hips and shoulders and knees, makingme feel secure as I’m lifted into the air.

They’re gone now, says the deep voice in my head, soothing my fears.

He flies slowly, taking me in among the mountains and away from the gigantic locustswarm.

Then the lake is below and we land in the old spot on the shore, across from thewaterfall.

Yranox lays me down and then curls up around me, still in dragon form.

I had no idea his scales and skin could be this warm and comfortable. I also had no ideahis touch could be this gentle.

I look down myself. I’m completely naked. The locusts ate the dress and the gun belt,

then pierced my skin in many places. Dark little pearls of blood are seeping out.

Lie still.

The voice brooks no protest, so I do as commanded.

His long, powerful neck snakes around me, and the dragon eyes pierce my very beingfrom up close, making the breath catch in my throat.

Then the beautiful head comes in and kisses my shoulder very tenderly with the snout,then my rib cage, then my stomach and my hips and all over me, sharp claws somehowmanaging to gently turn me over to get to my back.

I let him do it, as the bad memory of the locusts is already fading fast. The reality of adragon fills my mind and senses and allows room for nothing else. Now it feels like theswarm happened years ago.

It’s the most incredible feeling. I am invulnerable and invincible. I’m rich, I’m fulfilled, I’mperfect. Everything I encounter is easily dealt with. Nobody can harm me. And the onlything I have a need for is…

“Is this what it’s like to be a dragon?” I whisper.

There’s no reply, but I didn’t expect any. It’s the most insane bliss I could ever imagine,and I simply let it continue for as long as it wants to. It comes from outside me. Not faroutside, but enough that I know I won’t remember this when it’s over. Because it wouldbe impossible to go on living like Beatrice after this experience. This is beyond life. This issuper-life. And right now, he’s sharing it with me. A fleeting gift that’s just for now,because the memory of it couldn’t do it justice. Tears come to my eyes, I’m so moved.

Now the thought of the locusts just makes me want to laugh. And have pity on them. It’sjust the way they are. They have a right to live, too. They no longer scare me, becauseI’m infinitely powerful.

This, I suddenly know, is not the first time.

“You should be a trauma therapist,” I sigh after a while. I don’t even know if it has beenhours or minutes.

“No,” Yranox says, back in his human-ish form. “I should be Yranox, because nothing isbetter.”

All the stinging punctures from the locust beaks are reduced to tiny little marks where no

blood seeps out. They don’t even itch.

Only now do I realize that I’m still clutching the two not-nuts full of gold dust. I guess Ineeded something to hold on to back there. I discreetly place them on the ground besideme.

“I think I agree,” I tell Yranox. “Tell me the truth: do you have healing powers?”

He sits down and cradles my head in his lap. “I suppose I do. All dragons are different.”

I barely dare move. This is a new side of him, one that I only suspected he must have. “Ilike that.”

“One of the less useful talents for a dragon.”

“It’s not useless for me. This is how you healed Albert back in the desert, right? And thatother spidermonkey before.”

“Perhaps.”

I look up at his twinkling eyes. “Thank you for healing me. And for saving me from thosethings. Did you see them coming?”

“Not until they had arrived. My concern was to not burn you, as well. It’s hard to regulatethe fire and limit it. But it looks like it worked fine.”

His touch and the warm sun and the idyllic scenery is making me mellow. And being thisclose to him is making me tingle all over. “Why didn’t you drop me on Bune, like you saidyou would?”

His eyes go narrow. “We may never know.”

I put one hand on his knee, the way he liked before. “Was it because you like me? Just alittle bit?”

“Are you interrogating a dragon, small female?”

20

- Beatrice -

I give him a mischievous little smile. “Maybe.”

Yranox’s eyes shoot sparks. “That’s highly inadvisable. Dragons are unpredictable. Theymay suddenly do this.”

I yelp as he scoops me up with strong hands under my naked butt, then turns me aroundand places me sitting on his lap.

His eyes pierce me as he brings his lips to mine and grazes them.

A sigh escapes me, one that says finally.

Yranox puts one big hand behind my neck and kisses me properly, and I receive hisattention eagerly, laying both my arms around his thick, scaled neck.

“So soft,” he marvels as his other hand slowly slides down my bare back.

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just pull him closer. The craziness with the giantlocusts is only a vague memory. This dragon’s presence and magnetism makeseverything else seem unimportant. I have wanted this for days. I’m not afraid of thisdragon. He has some really good sides to him, and the contrast between his lethalpowers and his gruff tenderness towards me is hard to ignore. He’s saved my life howmany times? Each time the relief of being alive both makes me grateful and turns me on.

Also there is one more thing that’s tugging at my mind. Something that brought us close,something super nice he did… no, it won’t come to me.

Anyway, he’s a dragon.

His hand slides down to my butt, and he gently cups the part of it that he can reach. It’s

my favorite feature of myself, because it’s got some size to it. But no guy has ever beenas close to it as he is now. I’ve not had that much experience, despite the environmentwhere I grew up. I just never met a guy I liked that much, and I rejected a lot ofinterested parties. I’m not sure if that says more about me than about the guys. Whereasthis dragon guy is a freaking force of nature. And about as easy to resist.

I slide one hand down his back, feeling the scales and the silky skin that covers them.The muscles underneath make waves under my touch. The power contained in thisdragon is incredible. But he limits it for me. And that is so damn cool, I want to give himsomething in return. Something nice. So far I’ve mostly been trouble for him. Which isfair, because he did fly away with me. But I think he’s atoned for that nonsense by now.If I’d stayed put in that oasis, nothing too bad would have happened to me. I think hejust needed time to think. And to be honest, I’m happy to not be in that jungle anymore.It was getting a little old, what with all the dangers and the desperation.

His kisses are getting passionate, and I see no reason to hold back, so I respond in thesame way. His tongue explores my lips and bites them, just on the right side of painful.Each bite sends a nice little tingle to my nipples, for some reason.

Yranox holds me very securely, but I’m sitting on something hard and warm thattwitches. Only the fabric of his pants separates it from all my secrets.

I reach down between us and stroke the hardness down there, and the fabric creaksdangerously as it twitches again.

“Maybe let that thing out,” I whisper hoarsely. “Or is it too dangerous?”

Yranox’s eyes glint. “Not to me.”

He reaches down and loosens his pants, lifts his hips, and slides his pants down.

And then there’s a third presence between us, insistent and eager, just as blue andyellow as its owner.

I can’t contain a gasp. “That’s… impressive.”

“Yes,” Yranox modestly agrees. “Most things about me are.”

It’s big, of course. And while I don’t have a lot of personal experience with these things, Iknow that they’re normally supposed to be smooth. This one is definitely not. I don’t thinkI’ve ever seen any object with this many features. There are rings and bulges andintricate patterns, as well as veins that stand out. Some of these things appear to be

slowly rotating, too.

It makes me both afraid and incredibly turned on. If it doesn’t kill me, it’ll probably feelgood. Maybe. I have no experience to draw on— “Oh!”

Yranox repositions me and starts kissing my neck, each dry peck with his remarkably softlips becoming a delightful spark of pleasure. Of course, dragon kisses are special, but thisspecial?

He works his way down my front, lifting me and holding me in a steady, perfectlysupportive grip as he kisses down my front, back again up to each nipple, and then backdown, closer to the main event down there.

A low growling fills the air and makes me tremble, and this time it’s not my stomach.Yeah, he’s really enjoying this.

A shiver of sheer pleasure goes down my back as I relax completely in his big, stronghands and let him feast on my body. It makes me feel unbelievably attractive andexceedingly girly, like pure female. I don’t want to think ahead or analyze this too much. Iwant it, and he’s making it really good.

I need this. I need something good.

His kisses are making their way down my front, lower and lower. The tingling down therereaches insane levels. His strong arms spread me just the slightest amount, and then hisdragon tongue is circling my sensitive center and dipping into it in small, wet shots ofdelight.

“Be careful. It’s my first time,” I whimper.

He doesn’t even pause. “I know that.”

“You know?”

“Dragons can sense virgins from a long distance. I sensed you well before you came tomy cave.” He readjusts me again, turning me upright and holding me in the air in front ofhim, supporting my full weight as I hover right above the alien hardness between us.

I whimper again as he lowers me a fraction and slides my pelvis right across the tip of hiscock, teasing it against the most sensitive parts. My body reflexively spasms at the touch,as if there were actual sparks flying.

I grab onto his strong neck with one hand and place the other on his chest to push away

if needed. “Just slowly, please.”

“You may be a virgin,” he growls into my ear. “But I’m not.”

In other words, be quiet and let me handle it. I get it.

I swear I can smell my own excitement in the air. If I were to check, I would find myselfdrenched and maybe dripping.

Yranox lowers me another fraction, and his eager cock settles at my entrance, teasingout more tingles and sparks.

I tense up and lower my hand, ready to hold myself up if he were to suddenly drop meonto that thing. I want to relax and let him do this his way, but I need to be sure.

“You can relax,” he growls with a soft edge to his voice. “It will take the time it has to.”

I take a deep breath and manage to relax. He obviously knows what I’m concernedabout, and that helps a lot.

He lowers me another tenth of an inch, and I jerk again as the dragon manhood slidesagainst my opening.

“Lower,” I tell him, wanting to rub myself against it.

He slowly lowers me another fraction of an inch.

“Lower.”

Now he slowly slides me back and forth, spreading my wetness on the hard tip andmaking crazy tingles shoot all over my pelvic area up to my stomach. My breath comes inshort gasps as I reflexively join the movement and try to rub my electrified center on thedragon’s rod. If this continues, then I might go over the edge before he’s inside.

I swear he chuckles when he lowers me further, settling his cock into me until there’sresistance.

For a split second I become aware of my surroundings. The lake, the sky, the sun, thewaterfall, the spicy scent in the air, the colorful flowers, the balmy air. I couldn’t imaginea better place for this, and I want to burn it into my memory. I feel raw and vulnerable,but also perfectly safe and ready.

“More,” I plead. “Breach me, dragon.”

He fixes me with his twinkling eyes and penetrates my very soul as he slowly lowers me

until there’s the tiniest of pops and he’s in. There’s a small pinch of pain, but it’s forgottenin the same instant as there’s a soft but steady vibration at my clit, and his cock sinksdeeper into me.

I whimper as I’m all the way down on him. His cock inside feels totally smooth, and whilethe size means that my womanly flesh must submit and yield and stretch, it’s nowherenear as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. It’s just smooth and gentle and perfect,but with the promise of much more to come.

He stays inside me, letting me get used to it. I want to cry from gratitude for his care, Iwant to scream for joy, and I want to laugh at the insanity that I had to be taken lightyears away from Earth to find a guy I’d accept doing this with. But the sensationsoverwhelm my random thoughts and force me back to the present, where all I can do iswhimper with delight as my whole lower body is only focused on the dragon cock insideme.

Yranox slowly lifts me, pulling out.

“More,” I demand, pushing up on his chest to stop that movement, not wanting thatpresence out of me.

But he doesn’t slip out. He lets me sink back onto him, and the squelching sound shouldmake me blush. I’m incredibly wet for him.

My eyes widen. Now his cock is no longer smooth. It’s definitely bigger, and it slowlypulsates and moves inside me. He’s waking up parts of me that have been slumberingforever, but that are now coming to life in a big way, and I can hardly believe what’sgoing on.

The dragon lifts me again, strong hands supporting me perfectly so I can just enjoy theride. He’s being gentle but insistent and totally confident. He knows exactly what he’sdoing.

I hang onto his neck with both arms and lean into his hard, scaled chest that stillmanages to be both warm and soft. He’s got this.

Lifting me slowly up and then lowering me, he increases the speed, and I whimper withecstasy each time his sensational cock bottoms out in me, squeezing him and trying tokeep it there.

The vibrations around my clit are getting stronger, and I don’t even wonder about howit’s possible. He’s a dragon, he can do anything.

It all becomes too much, I can’t keep track of the sensations. I just know that my wholelower body is on fire in the most wonderful way, as if he’s sending a milder version of hisblue and yellow flame into my sex and making me his forever.

I’m being fucked by Yranox the dragon.

In my current state, that thought is enough to send me over the edge. More fire takeshold, and I tremble and whimper louder, clinging to the dragon as the wave of sheerdelight washes over me and the flame in my pussy is stoked into a white-hot blaze.

I lose track of time and place. All that exists is the hard, magnificent cock inside me andthe hard, immensely strong dragon under me.

A deep growl is starting somewhere in the center of my world. And then Yranox’sthrusting goes erratic, his growl becomes urgent, and then his huge cock twitches hardinside me and his juice sprays into me in spurts that I swear I can feel as hot littlepunches.

A dragon is coming inside me.

The thought sends me even higher, and a hoarse little scream makes its way out of meas I cling frantically to the dragon’s powerful body.

The sounds become even wetter than before as he slows down the fucking and thenstops with his still hard dragoncock deep inside me.

I spend some time just breathing and recovering. Tiny shivers go through me each time Isqueeze his hardness inside me.

He holds me close. “That should help you forget about the swarm.”

“The swarm?” I breathe, not following and not ready to think of anything at all.

He chuckles. “Exactly.”

I’m vaguely aware that he lies down on his back and places me on top of him, securelyheld by his immense arms.

I lie there with my head on the dragon’s chest and hear his slow, hard heartbeat. A happygrin spreads on my face. My first time was with a dragon. That’s incredibly cool.

I gradually rejoin the world of the fully conscious. “What was that you said about aswarm?”

“Never mind,” comes the bassy reply that makes me tremble. “You can safely forget it.”

I force myself to remember, but it seems so long ago and so distant that it might as wellbe a movie I saw years ago. “The locusts?”

“Disgusting creatures,” he scoffs. “Cowardly attacking in a swarm.”

“Dragons don’t attack in swarms?” I ask innocently and unthinkingly.

He chuckles. “Dragons hate each other. A swarm of dragons would be more dangerous tothe swarm than to the target of their attack.”

“Oh. Aren’t you preparing to attack Bune with a swarm of dragons, pretty much? And thenEarth?” I’m feeling so mellow that I don’t guard my thoughts and questions too closely.Well, it was an obvious thing to say.

He grunts. “Not only dragons. The slayers in that army will keep the dragons from goinginto a mass brawl. Everyone will be too busy watching each other. An army of slayers anddragons has never been tried, but it will work.”

“M-hm.” This is far too heavy a topic for me right now. I could just stay here forever,relaxing from fantastic sex on top of a dragon.

“We have a spectator,” Yranox rumbles. “I wonder if he enjoyed the show.”

I turn my head, not bothering to lift it. “Oh hi, Albert. Where’ve you been?”

The spidermonkey casually climbs into a tree and hangs there with one arm, munching ona piece of fruit with another. There’s a stack of other fruits neatly piled up on the ground.

With perfect timing, my stomach growls again.

“Yranox?”

In one smooth motion, he sits up and places me sideways on his lap. “Little Beatrice?”

Him using my name for the first time kind of melts me, and I put one hand on his chest.“I think I told you about how humans need food to live.”

“At great length,” he agrees. “I could not shut you up about it.”

I gently slap his scales. “Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. What I want to say is, I needfood now. Maybe something other than fruit? Now, I don’t know if there are turkeypigs inthese woods. I mean, probably not, right? It’s too far from the jungle. Not-sheep, too. Butsome meat would really be good for me about now, I think.”

He looks at me levelly. “You want me to hunt for you.”

21

- Beatrice -

I gesture to my very naked body. “What I’m wearing right now is all the stuff I own. If Ihad a spear or a crossbow, I’d go hunting myself. I only need a small animal. One thatcan be eaten. Not insects or such.”

Yranox looks past me, and I follow his gaze.

“Oh, and not spidermonkeys like him, either.”

The dragon sighs then deposits me on the ground and gets up, pulling up his pants. “Isee.”

I get to my feet, too, brushing grass off my naked butt. “And if that animal has fur ofsome kind, or something that can be turned into leather, then even better. Creaturescovered in nicely woven, cotton-like fabric are also acceptable. Fully acceptable.”

Yranox gazes off at the mountains. Now that the sun is about to set, some of them againhave a golden glow to them. “A small, furry animal that can be eaten and is ideallywearing clothes that fit you.”

“Um… yeah, I guess. You don’t have to,” I tell him. “I can survive on fruits.”

He abruptly turns his back and walks into the woods.

“Ooo-kay,” I say to myself. “That works, too.”

Albert drops down on the ground, picks up a fruit from the pile, and hands it to me.

I grab it and bite into it. “Thank you. You’re taking good care of me, Albert. Meanwhile,you’re gone a lot. And I know you can go far in a short time. Were you back at Bune,maybe? I don’t know how far it is.”

He just looks at me with those soulful eyes, then jumps up to hang from the branchagain, swaying back and forth. Right now he looks like a cuddly animal in a zoo. But allthose arms end in long, cruel claws. The feet, too. Whenever he comes close, those longfangs make me keep a bit of distance. His kind is dangerous. And his constant presence isunsettling, but I can’t explain why.

Why did he decide to follow me? It’s not like I gave him any help with anything. Alice onlybonded with Emilia because she got her out of a trap. But with Albert it’s the other wayaround — he’s helped and saved me a lot. Now I wonder if I maybe understand moreabout him. His presence at the oasis may not have been a complete coincidence.

“You’re a clever thing, aren’t you?” I say softly.

He just looks at me with his deep eyes.

I’m still naked, and I doubt animals wearing cotton garments actually exist. But a StoneAge cowgirl like me has no problem making simple clothing out of leaves and plants, so Iget to work with collecting and weaving. A half hour later I’m somewhat covered infoliage and a skirt made from long straws, similar to Hawaiian grass skirts. It makes mefeel more secure.

To my surprise, Yranox didn’t just rescue me from the locusts — he also brought both theguns. The swarm didn’t eat those, but I can tell they tried — the wooden grips have littlemarks from their needle beaks.

“No more useful now than before,” I mutter to myself, “but at least I can start a fire withthem.”

A shadow passes across the sun, and then Yranox is back, dumping a dead animal on theground with a wet thud.

I hope this meets with your approval.

He lands, and I walk over to examine the carcass. I’m not nearly as squeamish aboutthese things as I was back on Earth, so dead prey doesn’t bother me that much.

“Nice,” I tell him. “It’s a not-sheep, except bigger than the ones in the jungle. Fur andeverything. Yep, this is both food and clothing.”

Yranox gives the not-sheep a little kick, back in his human-ish form. “It looks like neitherof those things.”

“Yeah, I have to prepare it first. Which would be easier if I had a knife. Could I ask you to

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skin it? You just need to cut around here and then pull— okay. Sure, that’s fine, too.”

He rips the head off the not-sheep, and with a ripping noise pulls the fur off it, prettymuch whole.

He holds the pelt up in front of him. “You can wear this?”

I scratch my chin. The size is good, but the shape is all not-sheep. “Not without somework. I’d need a knife and thread and scissors, ideally. A sewing needle. Another girl tochat with while I work. All necessary things.”

The dragon frowns. “Another girl?”

“Yeah, no,” I hurry to say, so he doesn’t start pondering how to abduct another of myfriends. “That’s the least important part. I can hum to myself instead. But a knife isnecessary. Unless your claws are sharp enough?”

He inspects his dragon claws, glinting in the sunlight. “They usually are.”

“They look sharp,” I agree. “I guess we can do it the easy way. I need two sheets of thefur. I’m thinking, make a cut here and here…”

- - -

he sun has long since set when my new outfit is ready, and I’ve had to light a fire tosee by and to grill the meat. It’s a skirt and a tubetop, pretty much. Just like I’d see

in cartoons about the Stone Age, all furry and not too clean, one strap going over myshoulder. The top gives me no support, but it’s pleasant enough as long as it doesn’t gettoo cold. It’s all held together with strong pieces of bark that I pulled off a bush and thenbraided into a jurassic twine.

“I’m not so much a Stone Age chick as a plant-age one,” I mumble as I finish myadjustments and put on the ridiculous garment and stand up. “But that’s the same thing,now I think about it. Here. What do you think?”

“Very fetching,” Yranox says with infinite dryness. “It certainly looks much better on youthan on its original owner.” The bulge in his pants is ready to burst, so I think he enjoyedwatching me work.

“I think your compliment is sincere,” I tell him, happy I don’t have a mirror. “But next

time, see if you can work in the words ‘stunning’ or ‘gorgeous’. Just suggesting.”

He saunters over, making butterflies take off in my stomach and all kinds of other thingshappen further down.

Wrapping his huge arms around me from behind, he nuzzles my ear. “Your fur is stunningand gorgeous.”

“Uh-huh,” I reply, flattening the fur against my hips. “And what do you think about me?”

“Insolent,” he says after a short pause. “Mysterious. Sarcastic. Alluring. Resilient. Small.Soft. And stunning and gorgeous, since you insist. But mostly irresistible.”

His bulge is poking me in the back, and immediately the new furry garments are lessinteresting.

I turn around and look up at him. “You’re not easy to resist, yourself.”

His eyes twinkle, just like the real stars in the sky above us. “Of course. But I am usuallyable to resist anything except gold. That’s just one thing that makes you so mysterious.”

The fire crackles and sends its flickering light over both of us. The air is balmy and sweet-smelling, and I suspect the first and unusually amorous dino I met right here left somepheromones behind. Because this spot by the lake makes me so horny I have troublestanding up. Or maybe it’s him.

Yeah. It just might be this hyper-sexy dragon in front of me that does it.

My hand goes to his bulge all by itself, cupping it. I draw in breath when I feel the barelycontained hardness and power in there, the ridges and bulges and exotic features thatmake any adult toy I’ve seen seem unimaginative.

“This is mysterious, too,” I tell him, my throat dry.

He looks down at me, a small smirk playing on his mouth. “Perhaps you want to make itless so.”

I stroke the hardness inside the smooth, alien fabric. “Perhaps.”

Fumbling with his pants, I manage to pull them down a fraction, but only when Yranoxhelps does his magnificent dragon cock escape. It stands proudly straight up, pulsatingand glistening and looking more like a weapon from a scifi movie than anything else.

“I think you’re in violation of a bunch of intergalactic treaties, just standing here,” I tell

him.

He shuts up my nonsense by putting a big hand behind my head and kissing me deeply,taking over my mouth and leaving me breathless.

“Oh, you have no idea,” he says when he disengages and lifts my furry top completely off.

He cups my breasts with a soft touch that feels infinitely gentle because I know theimmense strength he could use. My nipples go hard immediately, while my knees go softand I have to hold onto his cock to not collapse.

It doesn’t help much, it just slows it down, and then I’m on my knees at a good height.

His hot hardness twitches in my hands.

I haven’t done this before. I have actually done very little of all these things before. But Ihave seen some porn, and I have maybe practiced on an innocent hairbrush, a lifetimeago.

“Let me just check,” I tell him, looking up to see if he approves as I give the tip of hiscock a little kiss.

He growls deep in his throat, eyes twinkling.

Encouraged, I lean in and take the whole head into my mouth, trying to keep my teethout of the way and not succeeded completely. Because this thing is big. And hard andunbending.

Making the whole upper inch wet, I slobber all over it to make it easier for myself. Notthat this will ever be easy, of course. It’s too big for that.

I bob my head up and down a few times, trying get the hang of it. If it were a smoothshaft, it might be easier. But all the exotic stuff on here increases the challenge. My handexplores the root of the dragon cock, and there is the bulb that rubbed so pleasantlyagainst my clit earlier. If that thing can really vibrate, which I think it can— oh yeah.There it is. It definitely can.

Yranox emits more growls and even sighs, so unless he tells me to stop I’ll keep going.

Then one big hand is at the back of my head, gently pushing my mouth down on the cockand then lifting. I’m grateful for the help, but I also don’t want to be too good, becausethe more I blow him, the more I need this marvelous thing inside me before he gets toomuch into it.

I let it slide out of my mouth and look up at my dragon.

“Claim me,” I whisper, because I don’t think my voice can carry right now.

Yranox sits down on the ground, rips the skirt off me, and pulls me close, into his lap likelast time.

“Let me try,” I whisper, ready for his hardness to penetrate me but wanting to be more incontrol now.

He just gives me gentle support when I straddle him and impatiently slide the wet tip ofhis manhood up and down on my slit. I want that sensation as a preparation of what is tocome. And of course, I want his cock as wet and slippery as possible. I’m providing amplejuice right now, so that will not be a problem.

I cling to him with one arm and slide down just an inch. One part of me wants to justimpale myself on him, and that part is my whole lower body, which is simmering withheat and will be brought to a boil very soon. Another part of me thinks I should do itgradually, because that is a very big cock, and my body has to accommodate it.

I moan as the alien hardness slides past the former barrier, where now there’s just anarrow part. I’m distantly aware that Yranox is still supporting me with his giant strength,taking most of my weight in his hand but letting me decide the speed. I want to weepwith gratitude for his sweet consideration, but other urges are even stronger. Such as theurge to have this entire, iron-hard dragoncock deep inside me.

I lift myself, lubricating the shaft again before I determinedly lower myself all the way inone controlled stroke. It’s only controlled because of him — without his support, mymoves would not be anything near this smooth.

Another moan escapes me when I bottom out and it feels like he fills absolutely all of mewith his hardness and heat and sheer pulsating power. I’m sitting in his lap and I’mtotally safe from everything but him, and I know he will only bring me to ecstasy.

The thought makes me brave. “Fuck me,” I plead, looking into his twinkling eyes.

Before I know it, I’m on my back on the soft fur garments, feeling weightless because hehandles me with a gentleness that I realize can only exist when backed by infinitestrength.

He’s still inside me, not even a fraction of an inch having slid out. I lie back and relax,spreading, barely noticing the starry sky above and the warm flicker from the fire.

Then the dragon is on top me me, pulling out slightly before thrusting his thick,mysterious cock into my sex and waking up all the little nerve endings in there, tellingthem that it’s okay to warm up and be excited. My sex responds with wet noises likesplashing water each time he thrusts.

I can’t keep track of all the delighted little spots inside me. All I know is that he’schurning my womanhood into a boil and that his eyes are doing the same to my soul.

Instinctively curling my legs behind his back, I open myself totally to him and feel the firsttwitches right at my clit. Only then do I sense the vibrations down there. He’s timing thiswith utmost delicacy, wanting me to get the most pleasure from the hard fucking he’sgiving me. I wanted the dragon to claim me, and that’s what he’s doing. In the best waypossible.

He lowers his head to stare right into my eyes and pin me in place.

“My female,” he growls. “My Beatrice.”

He’s right. I am his.

The climax boils over, and heat flows through me. I jerk and twitch and whimperincoherently as he increases the speed of the fucking, and then I lose track of time andjust ride the waves of heat that wash over me from my sex.

Yranox speeds up more, and the sounds from my welcoming pussy get louder and wetter.He lifts my hips, pulls me close to him, and bottoms out, then sprays his heat inside mein hard spurts, grunting and twitching as we climax together.

He lifts me, still impaled on his cock, back on his lap as he changes position. His embraceis warm and strong, and I melt into him.

“My dragon,” I sigh.

22

- Yranox -

Her words resonate through me.

They’re absurd. Nobody can own a dragon. He can’t belong like a piece of property.

And yet it rings true. I do feel that Beatrice and I belong together. Or rather, that shebelongs to me.

It’s very confusing. But then, everything about her is.

Especially the effect she has on me. Here I am, hours’ flight from the place where Ishould be spending all my time, planning my final and resounding victory. Spending timewith a small female who can only give me quite dubious help in any conquest. Far fromthe little bit of a hoard that I brought. Not even checking on it every day. Indeed, myconstant hunger for gold seems less sharp now than I can ever remember.

Is there gold on the planet? I should be able to feel gold if there were any. Beatriceassures me that there is, all around us. But since she came to my cave, even my hoardgold has not warmed me like it used to. Not at all, truth be told.

Only she warms me.

Am I sick? Is there something about the air that makes me this weak? Caronerax musthave had the same thing happen to him.

Beatrice squeezes me with her small arms. “Never leave me,” she purrs, sitting on my laphalf asleep.

And I feel a strong urge to tell her that I won’t.

Absurd! I would never say that to anyone. And to a small, weak, round alien female like

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this?

Lunacy.

But here we are.

It has to end. It’s relaxing, and her body is giving me great pleasure, but it’s not properand not dragon-like. It’s not powerful.

I will give her the week that we agreed on, and then I will collect what little gold she hasfound and continue with my mission of conquest. Hopefully, she has by that time foundenough to give each of the other dragons a small grain of gold dust to strengthen thembefore the battle. I don’t want them in dragon form — I just want them stronger thanthey are now.

How good she smells! How warm the touch of her naked skin, how full of life.

I groan in frustration. I no longer care about the important things! She has found no goldfor me, and still she’s alive and well. Sitting on my lap, for Gold’s sake!

No, this can’t continue.

Tomorrow I’ll fix it. I will shake myself out of this nonsensical weakness and focus on thegold. That is, after all, why I want to conquer Earth and to become king: the gold willflow into my hoard in infinite amounts.

I clench my fists in determination.

Gold.

Nothing else matters.

Beatrice whimpers in her sleep, and I gently stroke long, pitch black hair out of her face.

- - -

he next day I fly Beatrice to a region of big, flat islands in a blue ocean. Before I setdown on one of them, I check the ground. It’s sand, like the desert that proved so

deadly to her, but it’s being kept together by plants that grow in it. Beaches surround theisland, and waves wash in from every direction in a constant roar. The smell of the oceanis pleasant, too.

“Oooh,” Beatrice chirps when her feet touch the ground and she lets go of the creatureshe calls Albert. “A paradise island!”

“Stay off the sand,” I grunt. “It might eat you.”

“I don’t think so,” she says, walking closer to the surf. “This sand isn’t as loose as in thedesert.”

I walk a quick patrol around the island, checking for dangers and finding none. Albert hasclimbed a tree and is knocking hard on the trunk with a rock, creating a terrible ruckusthat must carry for miles across the ocean.

“No monsters?” Beatrice inquires, her feet wet and covered in white sand. “That’s a nicechange.”

“Don’t go into the water,” I growl. “It could hide all kinds of predators. And you coulddrown easier in water than in sand.”

She grabs my upper arm and gives me a radiant smile. “I’ll be careful. But you’ll watchme, right?”

I hesitate. Leaving her here while I go to check on my hoard is a remarkably repulsiveidea. While this sands won’t kill her, just about anything else could. I have never worriedabout predators before, but now I peer suspiciously into the crystal-clear water. Anythingcould come crawling up from the depths. Even a swarm.

“You can watch yourself,” I hear myself say.

Then I Change to dragon form and take off.

I was hoping that as pure dragon, the urge for gold would overrule everything else andmake my decision easier. But as I spiral higher on the winds, I feel nothing pulling metowards the cave in the jungle. Even the dragon in me cares less about it now.

Below me on the island Beatrice is shedding her furry clothing and wading naked into thewater.

It’s too much. I can’t stand it.

I land, Change, and walk after her. “So eager to drown yourself.”

She throws herself around my neck. “You came back! How far did you get?”

“Not far,” I growl, not eager to explore why and how. “Now get back on land before I

throw you back.”

“It’s okay;” she says as the waves lick up at her brown thighs. “I’ll get ashore the momentI see anything dangerous. I just wanted a bath. Don’t you ever take baths? I mean, youdon’t need to. You’re clearly very clean. But just for fun? For enjoyment?”

“I enjoy bathing in gold dust,” I tell her. “Not in this brine.”

“Just try,” she says and turns her sweet, round behind to me as she bends down andshakes her hands under the surface. “It’s nice and warm. Super clean. I’ll show you.”

Suddenly turning, she splashes water all over me and backs off, laughing so her whiteteeth sparkle in the sun. “Don’t worry, it’s just water!”

My mind is paralyzed as I look down at my suddenly wet chest and wipe salt water off myface. A small female has just disrespected me. Me, a male dragon!

In two long steps I’m right at her and grab her, lift her up, and turn her around as shesqueals, possibly from delight.

I give her luxurious behind two slaps, not too hard, then hold her out in front of me. “Yousplashed me.”

“What are you gonna do about it? Just spank?” Her dark eyes glitter.

Why is there no fear in her?

“I will… do something else.” I rack my brain to think of a proper reaction. But the onlyone that comes to mind involves her sweet slit and my now very erect manhood, and Ithink that would be more of a reward for her.

I drop her with her rear first. But the water is too shallow for her to make a satisfyingsplash. So I grab her again and toss her a little further out, where it gets deeper. Shesqueals all the way through the air, and the splash is indeed quite impressive. She has abit of mass to her, especially that delectable and unusually round behind.

I quickly make my way over there so she’s not unguarded. When she emerges from thewater, she’s spluttering and her stubborn hair is plastered to her head, not standing outin a silky, black cloud around her head like usual.

“Yeah,” she coughs, “that works. I accept your revenge. No need for any more.” Herheavy chest jiggles, and my pants creak with tension at the sight.

“Very gratifying,” I tell her. “And now that we’ve established that, and you have had your

bath, let’s get back on land where it’s less wet.”

She gives me a sweet smile. “Oh, you think it’s less wet on land? I think you might besurprised.”

I unceremoniously grab her and put her over my shoulder, then walk up on the beach.“Nothing surprises Yranox the dragon,” I inform her. “Even the complete lack of gold onthis island doesn’t.”

She writhes uselessly on my shoulder. “Hey, I didn’t even start looking!”

I deposit her on the warm sand, rear end first. “Then maybe get started?”

“But I wanted to take a bath,” she whines. “I wasn’t done.”

“You can take a bath when the gold is piling up.”

She does a double take and gasps. “Oh! What’s that?” She leans over to stare at a spot inthe sand.

I squint. “What?”

“You have to see this. Something in the sand.” She points with one thin finger.

Curious, I get down on my knees and lean over, trying to find anything unusual withthose grains.

At the same moment, Beatrice grabs my neck with both hands and kisses my cheek. “Seeit now?”

I lower my head more, studying the sand from up close. “What is it?”

She kisses me again, still hanging on. “A girl! In the sand! I wanted you closer. You’realways so far away! Always above. Sometimes I want you down here with me.”

I should be disappointed that what she wanted to show me wasn’t a nugget of purestgold, but nothing like that registers. Instead, I grab her shoulders and lay her down,enjoying her surprised gasp and the look of sheer expectation in her face.

“You enjoy tricking me, do you? Let’s see if you enjoy this.”

It’s impossible to explain. I should be furious. She should be a scorch mark on the sand.Nobody has ever done anything like this to me.

But she doesn’t enrage me. She delights me.

I roughly seek her lips with mine, and she receives me eagerly. I want to devour her, tosample all her attractions. I kiss her neck, her breasts, and her nipples, biting each oneuntil she groans. Her skin is smooth, soft, dark, sweet and salty, and I go into a frenzy,hunting for the source of the scent that’s now playing delicately in my nose: arousedfemale.

I lick down her front, and she buries her hands in my hair, bright peals of delightedlaughter telling me that she is enjoying it. Right now I don’t really care. I want to enjoymyself with this newfound curiosity and mystery.

My tongue gets closer and closer to her steaming sex, and her noises go from chuckle tomoan as I circle her center, enjoying the tickling of the coarse, black hair she has there. Itmust be some type of protection or camouflage. Some camouflage — it just makes thesecrets behind it more alluring.

I greedily lick all the way up the slit, filling my senses with her intimate scent and hersoftest parts on my tongue. She’s so female it knocks me out as I bury my nose in hersweetness and lap at the juices that drip out of her.

She trembles under me, and I reposition her with legs spread as wide as they will go,bent back to allow me total access to her womanly charms. I growl into her slit, feelingwild and making her jerk and spasm with the vibrations. Her flavor and her raw scentintoxicate me, and her delirious groans enhance it all. She’s totally female now, and Ihave never been more male.

I rip the pants off me, bend her back more, and lift her hips as I position myself at herentrance.

She whimpers. She will plead now, I’m sure, beg for gentleness, for understanding thatshe was very recently a virgin.

Her eyes are glassy and her mouth half open. “Yes!” she breathes. “Fuck me. Fuckmeeeee!”

Ah. She’s as ready for this as I am. As if the flowing juices in her slit wasn’t confirmationenough.

She’s more than wet enough, and I waste no time. I want her around my cock. I want tofeel her rapid heartbeat resonate through my manly steel as I ravage her.

She bucks when I enter her fully in one deliberate stroke, laying her head back andoffering her throat in total, primitive surrender. “Yaaa…”

I lay my mouth at her throat and bite, feeling my sharp teeth sink in just the tiniestfraction. My cock swells inside her sex, filling it up entirely, the skin ridged and cross-hatched for her maximum sensation.

Her noises become guttural and uncontrolled as I fuck her hard and fast as her juiceskeep flowing and aiding me in my ruthless invasion. Her body cooperates fully with me,opening itself and smoothing my repeated penetration, as if each thrust is a freshintrusion.

Beatrice trembles under me, knees pulled as far back as they can go. I lay more weighton her as I thrust. She’s about to climax, and I want her to feel fully taken and restrained.

One second of silence from her, and then she lets loose with a scream of surrender andecstasy that pushes me over the edge, too. I slow down, barely in time to prolong eachspray of my juice inside this sex, the most welcoming slit I’ve ever had.

I hold her down as I spray into her, her thin throat between my jaws, her body tremblingand jerking under me, her scream turns hoarse and groaning, with a clear tone ofdisbelief.

Relaxing, I slow down the thrusting but stay inside her, because this invasion I want tolast.

Beatrice’s breathing is shallow, and she keeps trembling in little waves for a long, longtime as the sun beats down on us and the waves roar.

Did gold ever make me feel this way?

T

23

- Beatrice -

We fly back to the forest lake in not-Italy, me held securely in his claws and Albert heldmaybe a little less securely in my arms.

Back at the lake we make love again as the sun sets. The climax comes very easily thistime, almost too soon — a sore pussy is also a very sensitive and horny pussy.

I curl up in the dragon’s arms and sleep the most peaceful sleep since I came to Xren.

- - -

he next day is a repeat of the previous one, except this time Yranox finds a pleasantlandscape of rolling hills that reminds me of pictures from Ireland, all green and

gentle. I jump him the moment he’s ascertained that there are no monsters present, andhe takes me standing up. As usual Albert makes his presence known with an unholyracket up in a tree, and then he disappears for a good while. Well, he has his habits, Iguess.

I dig around for gold in several places on the planet over the next four or five days, butwe bring no yellow metal back to the lake in the evenings. I have long since forgottenabout my vague plans to build shelter — it’s so warm during the night that it won’t benecessary until there’s a rainy day. Even in the mornings I don’t wake up soaked withdew. Of course, that could have something to do with the dragon I sleep on — he seemsto not have a particular affinity to water, and I can only assume that water also doesn’thave any particular affinity for him.

I do, though. I have never been happier than spending these weird days with him,actually looking for gold all over the planet and not really caring much about whether Ifind any or not. He also doesn’t seem to care that much about it, and that’s surprising. Hewas so intense about the gold in the beginning.

“You were so intense about the gold before,” I tell him as I relax on his chest afteranother roll in the grass by the lake after sunset. “Now you don’t care that much?”

“Gold is the only good,” he mutters, but it sounds mechanical.

“I’m not good, you mean?” I challenge him. “Or didn’t you notice I’m not made fromgold?”

“You are good, Beatrice.”

“But not as good as gold.”

We lie in silence for a while. Then he speaks, slowly and clearly with great difficulty.

“Gold is the whole reason for everything. For dragons. Getting it and, most of all, keepingit. It gives us energy and strength. It feeds us, to the exclusion of everything else. Therichest dragon is the most powerful dragon. He’s the only dragon who can be sure thathe’ll be alive tomorrow. We need gold to live. Like you need food and water.”

“I need food and water,” I say softly, stroking one massive, scaled forearm, “but we don’tobsess over it. We don’t spend all our time finding and keeping those things.”

There is another silence, but he’s staring up into the stars, and I can tell he’s thinking.

“Being a dragon is magnificent,” he finally says. “You are on top of everything. But theprice is the urge for gold. And the urge for gold is rooted in… in fear. The fear of nothaving enough. The fear that someone wants to steal your hoard. The fear of a richerdragon taking it all. I felt it when I was young. Certainly, other beings are afraid whenfaced with a dragon. But they are not always afraid, like we are. We enjoy making othersafraid because it reassures us that our own fear is not that bad.”

I keep stroking him. “Maybe it’s not necessary. Maybe other things can give you strength,too. Apart from gold.”

He chuckles. “I would never have thought it, just a few days ago. But now… I haven’t feltthe urge for gold for a good while. I haven’t even checked on the part of my hoard that Ibrought to this goldforsaken planet.”

“Why?”

He looks at me. “You know why.”

I bite my lip. “I’m actually not completely sure.”

“Kyandros and Aragadon and Caronerax must have discovered it, too,” he says softly, asif to himself. “Gold is still necessary. But it doesn’t need to be everything. It doesn’t evenneed to be the most important thing.”

“I think you’re right.”

He puts one massive hand on top of mine. “When you touch me, warmth flows into me. Itis like gold, but different. The heat is less hard, less pure. But it’s more colorful. Theflavor is richer. The energy is more varied, and it dissipates the fear. It’s... addictive.”

I kiss his chest. “The three dragons who are married to my friends say that their wivesare their hoards. They have gold still, but the gold has lost some of its importance. Nowit’s more like a necessary evil to them. Is that what you’re feeling?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then, Yranox the dragon crown prince, I just want to say that I love you. You don’t haveto reply.”

“Crown prince,” he ponders out loud. “It’s a meaningless term for dragons. KingGarunzigur will stay on the throne until he’s murdered. And the murderer will take hisplace. Hopefully that will be me, but there is no way to know.”

The mild evening breeze brings the sweet scent of a flowering bush past my nose. “Haveyou thought about some of the things I said? That you don’t need to conquer anything.You can choose a better way. Like Caronerax and Kyandros and Aragadon. They had achoice, and they chose right.”

“I have thought about the weapons on your planet. Those that can flatten a city in a splitsecond.”

“You are a mighty dragon,” I tell him softly. “But even a small tactical nuclear warheadwill turn you and all your compatriots into steam. I don’t want that for you. I want youhere. With me. Always.”

He looks at me again. “Always?”

I shrug. “Well, practically always. I’m not immortal, like someone else I could mention.

But for a long time, anyway. Doesn’t that sound good?”

He takes a long time to answer. “It does.”

I turn around and lie on his chest, face down, my forehead an inch from his. “And I can dosome things that gold can’t.”

His teeth glitter in the starlight. “Really? What?”

“A couple of things, actually.”

Something hard about halfway down his length twitches and early tosses me off him.

I reach down and cup the hardness in my hand, then open his pants and grab the shaftthat can do so many marvelous things to my insides. “I think you know. But I’ll show you,just to make sure.”

The next day, we’re in a desert that has a different color than the first. It’s redder andmore rocky. It reminds me less of the Sahara and more of Arizona. There are evencactuses, and Albert wastes no time in finding an ancient, hollow log that he proceeds tobang on like his life depends on it.

“Such a strange creature,” Yranox muses. “One wonders what goes on inside that furryhead.”

“We wouldn’t understand it, anyway,” I state and start walking around, checking rocks fortraces of gold.

There’s a tall cliff nearby, and I walk over to it, partly to be in its shadow. I’ve hadenough desert sun for a lifetime. I keep my eyes peeled for gold. I actually want to findsome, now that Yranox seems to have come to his senses about what’s really importantin life. Later I will show him the bowl that’s full of gold dust, but something about thisplace tells me it’s promising. As I recall, quite a lot of gold was found in Arizona. And inAustralia, in landscapes that look a lot like this.

I pick up a rock and hold it up to the sun. “Yranox?”

He comes sauntering in that way he has that says he only does it because he was goingto anyway. He’s nobody’s servant, and I like that.

“Beatrice?”

“If you were really close to gold… could you feel it?”

He looks at the rock in my hand. “Of course. Even if I wasn’t really close, only somewhatclose. My gold sense is legendary.”

I give him the rock. “And do you feel anything right now?”

He turns the rock over in his hand. “No.”

I sit down on a boulder. “So that rock is definitely not gold?”

He holds it up to the sun. “It doesn’t glitter.”

“And the weight? Here, sit beside me.”

He sits down on the boulder. “No, too light. And it gives me no warmth.”

I take the rock back and weigh it in my hand. “What if a dragon lost the ability to sensegold? What would that mean?”

“It would mean that he was dead.”

“But what if he wasn’t dead?” I persist. “What if he was alive and strong and perfect, butfor some reason he lost the gold sense?”

He squirms beside me on the uneven boulder. “This is a strange riddle.”

“I think that if a dragon lost the ability to sense gold, it would mean that gold was nolonger important to him because something else had taken over. You sense no gold now,right?”

Yranox stands up, annoyed. “That’s ridiculous. I sense no gold in that rock because itcontains no gold. Now let’s talk no more about it. This planet is devoid of the mostimportant thing in the universe. And your week is up. Where is the gold you promised?Nowhere to be seen.”

I slap my hand on the boulder. “Actually—”

“This has taken up too much of my time. Not sensing gold? Impossible! Such a dragonwould die in hours.”

I stand up and toss the worthless rock away. “I don’t know about that. You seem prettyalive to me.”

In one long step he’s in front of me, one strong hand gripping my chin. “You are talkingabout things you don’t understand. If other dragons thought that my gold-sensing abilitywas gone, they’d laugh themselves half to death. I would be a disrespected, pitiful

I

creature! A reject, a clown. And rightly so!”

“Or,” I suggest mildly, “you would be the strongest dragon there had ever been, one whowas able to rid himself of his gold addiction.”

Albert comes bouncing, fangs bared, sensing the tension. I gather him up in my arms.

“It’s not addiction,” Yranox seethes. “It’s life, it’s necessity!”

He Changes into a full dragon, and for a moment I’m worried he’ll either blow fire at meor leave Albert and me behind in this new desert.

“I’m just saying,” I try, “that gold isn’t that necessary for you anymore. And that’s a majorstrength.”

Yranox grabs me in his talons, none too gently. You said kindness was a strength. Iwas kind to you. And see what it got me. Insults and insinuations.

He beats his wings once and we’re airborne, rising fast.

I hold on to Albert and look down at the desert. The afternoon sun lights everything up,and it’s beautiful.

The boulder we sat on is casting a long, irregular shadow. Of course, ‘boulder’ is not theright word. While I’m not a geologist, even I can tell when I’m seeing a gold nugget thesize of a coffee table. It must weigh tons. Yranox sat directly on it and didn’t even know.

“Well, I think it got you some nice things out of it,” I say softly. “And I think it’scompletely natural for you to be kind. You’re a new type of dragon.”

His angry snarl resonates through my mind.

- - -

t’s a long flight, and when we get to not-Italy, the sun has set. Standing on the softgrass, I’m not sure if I’ll be sleeping on top of Yranox tonight.

Albert jumps out of my arms and vanishes in among the trees, while Yranox Changes tohis human form and stands peering out over the lake towards the distant mountains. Hehasn’t said a word, and that worries me.

I walk over to him and place one hand on his forearm. He doesn’t shake it off, which Itake as a good sign.

“I don’t care if you can sense gold or not,” I tell him. “I like you the way you are. Don’tworry about it.”

“A dragon who doesn’t like gold and can’t sense it,” he mutters. “It’s unheard of.”

I squeeze his arm. “I’m pretty sure you still like it. But it just doesn’t have the power overyou that it once did. You hold all the power now. That makes you the most powerfuldragon there has ever been, doesn’t it?”

He gives me a glance. “Then what has taken over that power?”

I shrug. “Maybe nothing. You’re not ruled by anything anymore.”

“Except you?”

I can’t hold back a grin. “I have to say it doesn’t feel like I have any influence over you. Atall.”

He turns to face me. “Nobody has ever influenced me like you do. Believe me.”

I shrug. “You still make every decision for yourself. Being influenced is not the same asbeing forced, the way gold used to. I think you’re a free dragon now. For the first timeever.”

He takes my hand and squeezes it. “It does feel like I’m freer than before.”

I squeeze him right back. “Exactly. You have a bit of gold here on Xren, right? You musthave brought a part of your hoard to stay this strong.”

“Perhaps.”

“And instead of always seeking it out, like a compulsion, you have stayed away from it fordays. That must mean you’re free.”

He eyes me suspiciously “I have stayed with you instead.”

“Okay, but have I told you to do crazy things? Given you silent commands and sent youall over the place to gather more of me?”

“Gather more of you? Is there more?”

I pat my not-quite-flat stomach. “I almost hope not. Fine, the comparison doesn’t work.

“Y

What I’m saying is that I’m not like gold, and if I have any power over you at all, which Idoubt very much, I’m not aware of it. If you stayed with me, it’s because you wanted to.Hmm. I don’t know where I’m going with this.”

“You’re very confusing,” he agrees. “But I agree that if you are my new addiction, thenyou appear more benevolent. Much more,” he adds, eyeing my chest.

I shoot my hip out. “See? You could never make love to gold, could you?”

He scratches his chin. “I could not. But I know some dragons have tried.”

“Huh. Did they enjoy it?”

“Apparently so. Though they complain about soreness after.”

“That’s kind of weird. Even for a dragon.”

“Most dragons would agree. We prefer living mates.” His bulge is growing again.

Tingling all over, I look up at my dragon. “Really?”

He reaches out with one long, clawed finger and smoothly unhooks my furry tubetop,making it fall. “Really.”

- - -

ranox.”

“Mmm?” The vibrations through his massive chest make me tremble.

I adjust my position on top of him. “This place here. This lake. Is it far from the jungle?From Bune?”

“Homesick?”

“No, but the girls… I want them to know that I’m okay.”

“It’s far,” he says. “But it’s the same continent. There’s really only one. The others aremuch smaller, just islands.”

“Oh. I wonder, should we go back? I mean, I don’t want this to end. I want to stay withyou here. But there’s so much going on back there.” It may not be the right thing to say.

Maybe I should try to keep Yranox away from his army. But at some point, he has tomake a choice. He knows his choices now. And I am genuinely worried about the girls. Imiss them, too.

He takes a long time thinking. I just lie on top of him, feeling his slow, hard heartbeat inmy whole body.

“Perhaps,” he finally rumbles. “Perhaps it’s time to go back—”

He suddenly goes stiff under me, then bounces to his feet and drops me to the ground.

I crouch down, ready for an attack. “What is it?”

Yranox is staring up at the starry sky, tense as a bowstring. “Four. Five. Six.”

I look up, too. “What… oh.”

I immediately see the shooting stars, very bright and long streaks across the whole sky.

”Are those…”

“Twelve. Thirteen,” Yranox counts out loud, cutting me off. “Fourteen. Was that it?”

The streaks slowly fade and there are only normal stars in the sky again.

I grab his hand. “Were those more dragons arriving, Yranox?”

He keeps staring up. “If there were nineteen, it would be bad news. But it was only— ah.Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen.”

More meteors streak across the sky, even brighter than the first ones. I squeeze Yranox’shand with both of mine.

“Eighteen,” he counts, holding his breath.

Three seconds later there’s another streak, this one a clear blue with yellow sparks, sobright I have to look away. It shoots all the way across the sky and vanishes behind thetrees in the horizon.

“Nineteen,” Yranox sighs. “That was him. Always making an entrance. Unmistakable.”

“Who was that, Yranox?”

He lets air out through his teeth, his concern obvious. “The first eighteen were the RoyalGuard. And the last one was Garunzigur himself, my father. King of the Dragons.”

24

- Beatrice -

Yranox goes quiet and won’t answer any of my questions. He stares at the sky as ifwilling there to be more shooting stars. But those nineteen were all of them.

The king of the dragons arriving on Xren can’t be good news. This is now the center of amajor interplanetary crisis, involving dragons, the Plood, and the cavemen. And a handfulof Earth girls. I have a feeling we will not be the winners.

Yranox finally moves. “That settles it. I have to go back. In a way, this makes everythingeasier.”

I don’t like the chilly tone he uses. “Back to Bune? What happens now, Yranox? Is thisbad?”

“It will be tough,” he says as if to himself. “The others are weak. The king is strong, andhe brought his bodyguards. All in full dragon form. And yet, why not? This could make iteasier.”

I grab his forearm. “You will join us, right? Help us against the dragons?”

He looks down at me. “Dragons against dragons. I need stronger allies. The dragons inthe army should be stronger. I have to give them gold. Just a grain of dust for each one.For strength. Then they will follow me and reject the king.”

I’m not quite sure what he means, but it sounds like he’s accepted my suggestion at last.And anyway, I don’t have much of a choice here. “I have gold.”

Yranox stares into space. “I can defeat the king here. He has his bodyguards, but they’renotoriously disloyal and only follow him because he gives them gold. What? What did yousay?” His eyes pierce me.

“I said, I have gold.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You have gold?”

“Just a little,” I tell him, running over to the place where I’ve buried the two not-nuts fullof gold dust. “But maybe enough for now.”

I wipe the dirt off the two tennis ball-sized orbs and take the cork out of one of them,then pour some of the grains into my palm. “Look.”

He grabs my wrist and stares at it. “That looks like gold.”

“It is. You can’t sense it like before, but it is gold.”

His grip tightens. “You had gold all this time?”

“No, just a few days,” I tell him. “I was going to show you. But then I decided to waitbecause you didn’t seem to need any more of it, and-.”

His hand is like a vise, and his eyes shoot sparks. “You had gold. All this time. And youdidn’t tell me?!”

“You’re hurting me!”

He takes the not-nuts out of my hand but still holds on to me. “This is gold. It’s life forme. Do you understand? Life!”

“It’s not!” I protest. “You don’t need it anymore! It has no power over you! You can’t evenfeel the gold inside those nuts!”

Yranox ignores me and squeezes one nut in his hand until the shell breaks and a smallmound of dust sparkles in his palm. He stares at it as if mesmerized. “Gold. Gold for myhoard.”

I collect myself. “I’m telling you, you don’t need it. You can give it to your allies, like yousaid. Maybe they will all be your allies, and you can command them to leave Xren. Orbribe them. No fighting necessary. They all desperately want to leave, anyway. Givethem just enough gold to go away.”

He focuses his twinkling eyes on me. They’re hard as diamonds. “But at least you haveshown that you can be useful in finding treasure. I will leave you here. Then I will returnfor you when the conquest of your planet is at hand. You will guide me and assist me infinding all the gold there. In return, I will let you rule whatever’s left. If you behave.”

Tears spring to my eyes. “You don’t have to do that, Yranox. Help us against the otherdragons, and you will be free forever! Free from the gold!”

He Changes to dragon form. I will find you. Be smart, and this can end well foryou. There will be real power. Power over your own kind.

I wipe an angry tear from my face. “You can’t conquer Earth. They will kill you with theirbombs.”

He beats his wings and takes to the air. Then preventing that will be your firstduty.

“I can’t. And I won’t.”

He spirals higher, a magnificent metallic creature, more like a demigod than ever before.We’ll see, he chuckles. Perhaps I can persuade you.

“You don’t need gold,” I whisper. “You just need me.”

The mighty beat of Yranox’s wings falters for a second. Then he catches himself and flieson.

The blue dragon vanishes against the dark sky, moving fast.

And I’m left alone.

The tinkling sound from the waterfall does nothing to improve my dark mood now.

Fuck. I thought he was coming around to my point of view. And I really thought he feltsomething for me.

I wipe more bitter tears off my face. “I guess I was wrong.”

A raindrop hits my nose, and ten minutes later it’s merrily drizzling. Already drenched, Istand under a tree and hear the rain intensify and come closer. Distant lightning flashes,and thunder rolls far away.

“Yeah, sure,” I sniffle. “Why not, planet Xren. Why not. Just take it all from me and makeme miserable.”

25

- Yranox -

My determination dwindles the more distance I put between me and Beatrice. It’s insane.Beyond insane. Now she feels the way my main hoard does when I leave it to go gathermore gold. Like an invisible rubber string that exerts a pull on me, harder the furtheraway I go.

What witchery is this?

The gold dust she gathered leaves me cold. I clutch it in two of my talons, but I derive nopleasure from it. No heat at all, no strength. And yet it is clearly gold. The weight alonebetrays it.

’Free from gold,’ she said. It makes no sense. No dragon wants to be free from gold. Wewant as much as possible, we want it all.

And yet, I feel no urge for it.

I must be sick. That’s it. Some type of terrible illness.

Nonsense. Dragons never get sick. It’s the planet. This goldforsaken planet makes us allcrazy.

I fly through the night. The king is here. Garunzigur himself. With his bodyguards.

What could possibly drag him away from his hoard? Only the threat of losing the crownentirely. He must be extremely worried about what is going on here on Xren. So worriedthat sending me to check wasn’t even enough. So worried that he came here himself.Leaving his hoard in his secret lair.

The night gives way to morning, and then the jungle is below me, dense and red andgreen. There’s an ever-present layer of steam and mist above it, and diving into it I feel

the humidity engulf me.

The Inferior spaceship that Beatrice calls Bune is clearly visible, looking like the egg ofsome alien giant.

Beatrice. What is she doing now? Something adorable, no doubt-

Where are you going, Yranox?

I look behind me. Two dragons are catching up fast. Two Royal Guards.

That is my own business, I snap. It is not your place to question a royal. Andyou will address me as Your Royal Highness, Crown Prince Yranox.

The force of my statement hits them both, and they lag behind for a moment. Then theycatch up. Your Highness, we are acting on the orders of your father, His MajestyKing Garunzigur. He is here, taking command of the situation.

I snort. Which situation would that be?

They draw up, one on each side of me, just a whisker behind. That is beingdetermined. We are now giving you an honorary escort to see your father.

You two hatchlings escorting me? I scoff. That makes me feel ever so safe. Ofcourse, I know it’s not an honorary escort. They have arrested me, for all intents andpurposes, making sure I don’t do anything before I see the king.

I can feel their anger, but they manage to subdue it.

That is the point of an escort, Your Highness.

I briefly consider burning them both to a crisp. I am certainly more powerful than them,and combat between me and any one of them would be very brief and end with my totalvictory. Against both of them, the outcome is less certain. They are young but large. Theking is being very cautious to have his guards patrolling the area in the air. That is both agood sign and a bad one.

The king must be afraid, I suggest. Letting you two geniuses defend him. Itsmacks of desperation. He only trusts one of you, you know. The other willnever return to his hoard.

They look at each other, confused. Just as I had intended. I want them off balance,suspicious of each other.

Which one of us does he trust? one of them asks.

I laugh. You should ask him, not me.

The rest of the flight happens in silence, while my two escorts keep eyeing each other. Tomy increasing alarm, we are flying straight towards Beatrice’s village and my temporarylair.

Then we land, and my fear is confirmed as King Garunzigur himself walks out of my caveand stands in front of it.

My escorts circle while I land and Change to my weaker form, which is protocol forapproaching the king. He Changes, too, as a courtesy to me. That’s a good sign. He’s notat all feeling secure. Behind him are sixteen of the Royal Guard, half of them in dragonform.

“Greetings, Crown Prince Yranox!” the king booms as I approach. “My dear son. Comecloser.”

His scales have faded over the years, but they’re still blue and yellow, like mine. Hisconsiderable age is only obvious to another dragon. He’s gained weight since last I sawhim. His hoard must be considerably bigger now.

I feel a pang of envy. But there’s no cause for that. Soon his hoard will be mine, and I willshow it to Beatrice, and she will put her round behind up for me to—

No, no. The hoard is enough. It must be.

I give him a small nod as I approach to ten paces distance. “Your Majesty. Dear father. Iam surprised and delighted to see you here.”

He sends me a cold grin. “I am surprised, too, Yranox. But certainly not delighted. Myhoard calls to me, even now.”

I return his grin. “Then return to it, dear father. I will see to any matters that might arisehere.”

“Of course you will, Crown Prince. I know that. But I heard rumors, you see. Rumors thatnot only had my younger son, the magnificent Caronerax, defected to some new enemiesof mine. But that also my oldest, my pride and joy, my Crown Prince Yranox, was plottingagainst me. Can you imagine why I’m not delighted to be here?”

I force the smile to remain on my lips while I mentally groan. The Plood must have gone

straight back to him and told him all about my plan. My promise to tell them the secret toeternal life must not have been enough for them. This is not a good situation. I don’thave time to Change to dragon form and kill the king before his guards in dragon formreact and stop me.

“Majesty, if I believed every rumor of treachery I heard,” I state mildly, “I would neverhave the time to do anything other than hunt down plotters. Imagined or otherwise. I amthe crown prince, the heir apparent to the throne. Who would have less reason to plotagainst the king?”

Garunzigur chuckles, but there’s no mirth in it. “Indeed, any normal crown prince wouldbe at the bottom of my list of possible plotters. But you were never normal, Yranox.Always ambitious, always the first on the spot, always the most willing to fight over anyscrap of gold. You even hacked your way out of the egg to steal a small piece of yourmother’s hoard. An earring that she was wearing, I believe. Oh, how you fought with herover it! A tiny hatchling against the most fearsome of female dragons. You blew fire ather, the tiniest little flame, barely more than a candle. She nearly killed you then, but yougave her a real battle and even drew her ichor. No, Yranox, I don’t trust you to have thepatience to wait for the crown.”

I shrug. “Gold attracts me. I am a dragon.”

“You are a dragon,” the king agrees. “The strongest and fiercest I’ve seen in all my time.You are a source of pride, my son. But also a source of unending worry. And let me tellyou that worrying about one’s offspring is the most intense of worries.”

I measure the distance to the nearest of the guards. Can I take him in this pitiful humanform, hold him in front of me as a shield against the fire from the others? “Have no worryabout me, father. Simply let me know what I can do to set your mind at rest.”

“Ah. Of course you understand, as I well knew.” Garunzigur gives a sign with one claw.

A dragon in human form slinks out of my cave, looking pale. Even the mirrored streak ofsilver in his face has gone dull.

“Your close friend, Valarius!” Garunzigur says. “How wonderful to see old friends meet.Valarius tells me interesting tales, Yranox. What was it, Valarius? The Crown Prince wasseen with a female of a lesser kind?”

Valarius gives me a sly scowl, knowing that his situation is precarious. “I saw it, Majesty.But I was keeping Yranox under surveillance. From a distance, of course. A great

distance. Only to make sure that he wasn’t plotting against Your Majesty. The crownprince is a very ambitious royal, perhaps the fiercest—”

“Yes yes,” the king cuts him off. “We know that. Get to the point.”

“There was a round little female here,” Valarius continues. “Dark of hue and black of hair.Here, right by this cave, one early morning. There was some conversation between herand the crown prince. He then took her in his talons and carried her away. When hereturned, he was strange. And since then, he has stayed mostly away.”

“He was strange,” the king repeats and looks at me. “Why were you strange, Yranox?”

“Any dragon of any worth whatsoever will seem strange to Valarius,” I snort.

Garunzigur laughs. “Indeed, indeed. How true. And yet, I gather he now found youstranger than usual. Is that not so, Valarius?”

Valarius glowers at me. “He was distant. He stopped caring about the army and theattack and the plans.”

The king gives me a friendly smile, always alarming to receive. “Which plans are these,Valarius?”

“Yranox plans to attack the alien spaceship and kill everyone inside, to then go to theplanet that the alien females come from and attack it, and to then go to your royal lairand sack it, killing you so that the crown prince would be king. I tried to discourage him,but he was most forceful—”

“Yes, yes.” the king cuts him off. “We will certainly discuss your part of this treachery atsome later time. In great detail. But my dear son and trusted heir, my precious Yranox…is any of this true? Surely not?”

“It’s true that I stopped caring about the army,” I admit. I will not lie about my intentions.Lying like that is weak, not dragon-like. “And perhaps I became distant.”

“And did you have plans such as these?”

I pick a small grain of gold off one of my fingers, dropping it to the ground without asecond thought, without the slightest pang of loss. She may be right about me. “So youtell me, Majesty.”

His smile fades. “That was a ‘yes’, I think. Oh, Yranox. Have you fallen to the sameaffliction as Caronerax? Has an alien female sunk her sweet fangs into you and turned

you weak?”

I look him straight in the eye. “Majesty, I think you’ll find that I have never been stronger.I ask again: how may I set your mind at ease?”

The king taps one claw to his lips, pretending to think. “Ah. How, indeed. Oh yes. There isone thing, Yranox. One simple act would restore my faith in you and take you back in myconfidence.”

Those damn bodyguards aren’t relaxing for as much as a split second. There simply willbe no time to Change and kill before their combined fires burn me.

“Yes? Which act is that?”

“Bring me the female, my son. I wish to see this spectacular creature that has broughtmy oldest son to his knees. I will see her and marvel at her undoubted beauty andunprecedented grace. And then…”

I hide a wince, knowing what’s coming. “Yes, Majesty?”

His smile is gone. “And then you will kill her. Here. In front of me. Not by fire, but byclaw, so that I can see her blood flow. Will you do that for your father and your king?”

My jaw clenches all by itself. “And in return?”

He opens his arms. “In return I will let you live! We will start afresh, as if your treacheryhadn’t happened. You will tell me all about your new ideas about using a mixed army ofdragons and slayers to conquer the planet in question. We will conquer it. Together, butwith you as my crown prince and subject. And I may even give you back part of yourhoard.” He opens his fist and reveals a thin, golden ring, little more than two thin threadstwisted together.

Ice runs down my back. It’s part of my hoard. I know it intimately. It is the first gold itemI added to my hoard, and it gave me years of sheer pleasure just to lie on it and own it. Ibrought it to this planet with the other items that would give me strength while here.Then I buried it with the rest of it inside that cave.

“You can give it back now,” I demand with force, my mouth suddenly dry with fear andloss.

The Royal Guards draw closer to the king, staring me down.

“After you kill your female, I will give it back to you,” the king says. “Along with some of

the other items you buried in there. But some I will keep as tribute. And some I will useto strengthen the other dragons for the attack. One little grain each, I think. Just to makethem stronger. Not too strong, of course. But I don’t need to explain that to you. Youhave thought about all that, I’m sure.”

For the first time since I hatched from the egg and my mother succeeded in keeping herearring from me, I have to admit to myself: I’ve lost. They’ve found the part of my hoardthat I brought here, and they’ve dug it up. I didn’t care about it. I didn’t guard it. All mytime and my thoughts were consumed with her.

I’ve lost. I never knew defeat would taste so sour.

The king must see my anguish. “It’s an easy choice, my dear son. No female is wortheven a fraction of this ring. Not a fraction of the tiny grain of gold dust that you carelesslydropped to the ground just a moment ago. Not a fraction of the trust of your king, surelythe most valuable commodity in the universe. And so I know you will do what is right.You don’t have much time. At sundown, I will expect you. If you’re not here by then, mymain mission in life will be to kill you. Which should be easy enough. After all, you haveno hoard. No strength. No power. You can’t leave here. How would you travel through theVoid without gold to give you strength?”

I clench my eyes shut, wishing this wasn’t happening.

When I open them again, all is the same. The king is holding my ring in his fat fingers,toying with it as if it were only a worthless bauble.

“I’ll do it,” I hear myself say.

Then I Change to dragon form and fly to get her.

26

- Beatrice -

The hill is steep, but just as I thought, the reward for the climb is a nice view from thetop. Behind me is the lake and the waterfall, and ahead is an endless forest with rollinghills and bright white cliffs. It vanishes into the haze, and I don’t think any of it is thejungle. But that’s the direction Yranox flew, so if I keep walking long enough, I’ll getthere.

“Get there or die trying,” I say to myself. Right now I’m kind of hoping for the latter,because living won’t be much fun without a heart in my chest. Mine is shattered andwithered.

I loved him. I really did. And the way he looked at me, the way he forgot about the goldand the hoard — was there really nothing there?

I can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it.

No, he felt something, too. And for a dragon to forget gold — it had to be pretty intense.

I should understand him. It all happened too fast, too abruptly. He had no time toprocess any of it.

But do you need to process love? Isn’t that one of the good things about it — it justhappens and you know it without having to think deeply?

I’ve made another bag to carry my guns in. It’s just a sack over my shoulder, and it’smostly a nuisance, but it feels wrong to just leave those things behind. A lot of work wentinto making them.

I keep looking around, hoping to see Albert hanging from a branch as if nothing hadhappened. Even he wouldn’t cheer me up much, but at least I wouldn’t be totally alone.

This is still Xren, still a dinosaur planet. This forest seems to be not as absolutely teemingwith deadly lifeforms as the jungle is, but at any moment there might be a predator onmy tail.

Or a swarm of them.

I scratch my thigh. Wasn’t there a swarm at some point? Recently? I’m not even sure.Anything that happened around that time is almost totally drowned out from my memoryby Yranox making love to me.

No, I must not think about that because… fine, too late. Tears are flowing already. Fine,fine. This is not the desert, there is a lot of water in this forest. I spent the night gettingsoaked under that tree in the rain, and my fur is still moist. I have water to spare.

His touch, his eyes that would soften when he looked at me, the soft growls when Itouched him, the way he would take my hand and place it on him somewhere. And theway he would place one hand on me, a huge, scaled hand, with the strength to pull adinosaur in half without even exerting himself, but so gentle against my skin... I willnever have anything like that ever again.

“Damn it,” I wheeze. “Why did he have to show me what it would be like?”

I walk on, down from the hill, each step taking a little bit of will power, because I reallyjust want to sit down and give up. Everything is uncertain. The girls, the cavemen, thedragons. It feels like the future is dark. Even Albert has left me. Well, he has business ofhis own to attend to.

I have walked for about six hours when the first not-dactyl passes above me. I see it firstand duck in under a bush, hoping it didn’t see me.

Heartbeat pounding in my ears and the musky smell of wet forest floor in my nose, I staydown, hoping there will be no screech from above that means I have been seen by theflying horror.

I can’t see the sky from here, so I wait a good few minutes before I stick my head outand look up. At the same time, another dactyl flies by, much lower, barely above thetreetops.

The screech follows immediately, even before I can pull back under the bush. I’m sure Ican detect both surprise and triumph in that horrific noise, like a hundred nails on achalkboard.

More screeches come from further away.

Shit. It’s a pack of them.

The leaves above me rustle as one not-dactyl drags its talons along the treetops, tryingto find a way down to the ground. Its screech goes through my bones, making me pressmy hands to my ears. They’ve definitely seen me.

What can I do?

With trembling hands, I open the primitive sack and take out the guns. Which one ofthem will fire? One of them was drenched in water. It should be dried out now, but for allI know the gunpowder in it may be ruined forever. The two guns look very similar, and Idon’t know which is which.

But even if both will fire, that’s only enough to maybe rid me of two not-dactyls. If I evenhit them.

Expectant screeches pierce the air. There may be ten or more of them. This bush will giveme no protection at all.

Leaves above rustle hard, and broken branches come falling, landing by my head.

No, I can’t take it anymore.

Grabbing one gun in each hand, I bounce to my feet and then run in a random direction,sprinting as fast as I can.

More screeches tell me they’ve seen that, too. But I can’t stop now. How have some ofthe other girls escaped these things? Caves, holes in the ground. Something to hideunder, something sturdy and solid.

The trees are leafy and tall, but to protect me from flying dinosaur predators I need solidrock. I rack my brain while I run, intermittent screeching from above spurring me on.Have I passed caves or rocks or even cliffs lately?

I can’t remember. I’ve had other things on my mind. But I think there was just gentlehills, no exposed rocks.

A loud swish comes from above, then the sound of something big crashing through thefoliage right behind me. I throw myself down, and the not-dactyl misses me by a hair. Itscreeches in anger as it beats its bat-like wings and crashes back up through the treecrowns.

I abruptly change directions and run to the left. Immediately, a dark shadow passesoverhead, and talons come towards me from the side as another not-dactyl swoopsdown.

A thick tree trunk rescues me as I’m able to pounce and put it between me and thepredator.

Many not-dactyls crash down through the foliage on all sides, their toothed beakssnapping at me and talons scraping the tree trunks around me. The chaos is total, andthe cacophony of their screeching is paralyzing my mind. All I see are dirty gray beaksand talons and wings.

Backed up against a tree, I fumble with the guns and manage to cock one of them just asa big not-dactyl crashes down through the trees and comes right for me, its long beakbristling with row after row of brown teeth.

I can’t aim properly because my arm is shaking and my eyes are full of scared tears, butthe bang and the flash are very impressive. The jolt makes me drop the gun.

The chaos that ensues is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced, and I’m sure the worldis about to end as the not-dactyl thrashes and screeches and kicks and goes amok.

I close my eyes and clench my jaws, expecting the impact and the sharp, messy teeth atany moment.

But all I hear is silence.

I open one eye.

And there he is, wings splayed out in glorious blue and yellow, the sunlight playing onhim because the rays love him and they just can’t resist. He is beyond magnificent.

“Yranox,” I rasp, getting to my feet and failing because my knees have no power.

Beatrice.

The screeches are gone, and there’s no trace of the not-dactyls except for the badlygouged tree trunks all around me. And there’s a puff of smoke rising in the sunlight,which I think may have been the one that attacked me.

Yranox folds his wings in but doesn’t Change. He looks at me with big, sparkling eyes thathave a hardness to them I’ve not seen before. His beauty is stunning and his powerincredible. I have an urge to throw myself at his feet and worship.

“You came back,” I manage, my voice not carrying at all.

Did I?

The smell of spent gunpowder makes my nose twitch. “I don’t know. Did you?”

He comes over to me, towering above and becoming all that exists is in the wholeuniverse.

All that comes now is for the best.

His words and coldness alarm me. I take a step back, but my butt only hits the tree.“What do you mean?”

You will see. In a split second he’s airborne, and a moment later I am too, held in histalons like prey.

“What’s going on?” I ask, still clutching the last gun.

You will see, he repeats, breaking through the leafy canopy and taking me high up tothe alien sky.

Then he says nothing.

27

- Beatrice -

It takes hours to reach the jungle. From above I see Bune as a blueish spot miles andmiles away. I should be happy it’s still there and not razed or burned or destroyed by thedragons.

We’re not going there. We’re going to the village, and that makes me worry a great deal.

“Take me to Bune,” I plead. “I don’t want to go to the old village. I want to see myfriends.”

Yranox says nothing.

He circles the clearing, spiraling down. What I see makes ice run down my spine.

All the dragons are there, shining with metallic scales. Most are in human form, but to myhorror I see a handful that are plainly full dragons. About two hundred cavemen arethere, too, lined up in two neat squares, swords flashing in the sunlight.

And when I look behind me, there are two dragons following us, above and behind.

They look very ready. The attack on Bune is plainly about to take place.

I cringe. This looks like a force it will be impossible to defeat. About a thousand dragonsand two hundred of their caveman allies.

Yranox circles and lands by our cave, carelessly dropping me down on the dirt in front ofhim.

“Take me away from here,” I try again, but he ignores me.

King Garunzigur!

The telepathic call almost makes my head burst.

A man comes out of the cave, fat and huge, blue and yellow like Yranox. But obviouslymuch older. On his head is a crown of the shiniest gold I’ve ever seen. It sparkles somuch it hurts to look at it. It’s obviously the king. And, I remember, Yranox’s father. Thesimilarity is not obvious, apart from the color.

“My son,” the king says, grinning widely.

I’m not surprised to understand it — their telepathic ability clearly helps.

“Majesty,” Yranox responds, having Changed to human form. “I have brought her, ascommanded.”

The king comes closer, followed by a number of younger dragons. They look likebodyguards or soldiers of some kind.

“Is that her?” he asks, frowning theatrically. “I expected this female to be more…interesting.”

“Did you, father?”

The king looks me up and down. “She looks like she was burned already. The skin andthe hair have a scorched look to them. Ah, have you burned her, perhaps? To prepare herfor what is to come now?”

“That is her natural appearance,” Yranox calmly says. “Do you not find her beautiful,Majesty? The shine of the hair? The roundness of the cheeks? The inscrutable darkness ofthe eyes? Have you ever seen a more female creature? Her name is Beatrice. It means‘bringer of joy’ in her own language. How well chosen it is!”

Garunzigur tilts his head. “They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I havenever agreed. Beauty is beauty, I say, and immediately obvious to everyone. And thisfemale does not fit that description. There is no golden sheen in her. She reminds memore of a base substance, like copper. She has a pleasant roundness to her, I suppose. Isshe at least good at mating? Does she accept you well and without complaint wheneveryou take her?”

Yranox chuckles. “Her beauty is too great for a dragon king to see. We all have ourlimitations, Majesty. True beauty must be discovered — it will not force itself on you. Asfor the mating, you will never know.”

The atmosphere tenses, and the other dragons draw closer to the king.

“Ah,” Garunzigur says. “It will remain your secret forever, then, and that suits me well.Dear son, is this really the female who bewitched you? I don’t mind saying I’mdisappointed. I expected golden skin, a cascade of golden hair, eyes with thatunmistakable sheen in it. She has none. But we all have our own preferences. Yes, I cansee that you are taken with her. Now do what we are here to see. And make it last awhile. It’s been some time since I saw a lesser being bleed itself empty.”

Alarmed, I look up at Yranox, but he doesn’t look at me. He just shoots one hand out tograb my upper arm in a hard grip. “Permit me to do this my way, Your Majesty. I broughtBeatrice here for a purpose.”

“The purpose is known to me, dear son. Indeed, it was I who gave it to you. Get on withit. I have two planetary conquests to complete.”

Yranox drags me in front of him and places one sharp claw under my chin. “I just wantyou all to look at her properly,” he booms so his voice echoes from the trees around theclearing. “And to reflect on the powers she has. Be warned — she’s much more dangerousthan she looks. And much more bewitching.”

Hundreds or dragons are staring at me with obvious menace.

This can’t be good. I shift my grip on the gun. My hand is sweaty, and I don’t know whoI’ll try to shoot. Probably that king. I know I can’t try to kill Yranox. Even now when he’splainly preparing to do something really nasty.

“For this, I must be in my proper form. With your permission, Majesty.” Yranox Changesto full dragon, still holding me firmly with one long, pointy talon at my throat. He beatshis wings once, and we’re hovering twenty feet above the ground.

Two full dragons come in closer from above, looking tense.

You wanted me to make a choice, Majesty. I want everyone to see the choice Imade.

Below, the king is smiling and nodding. “Very good, dear son. It should be visible for all.”

It really should. See my choice!

I feel the tell-tale movement in him right before the soft whooosh as he blows a blue andyellow flame at the two other flying dragons. They screech and fall, both on fire.

Yranox beats his wings hard, and then we’re zooming above the treetops, the rushing airmaking my eyes water.

“Traitor!” the king screams. “Get him! Kill him! Burn him!”

All hell breaks loose on the ground behind us. A furious roar from hundreds of dragonsmakes the trees sway. “Treason! The crown prince has betrayed us!”

In case it’s not obvious, I choose you, Beatrice.

Lots of things pass through my mind. But all I can say is “okay.”

It takes us maybe five minutes to reach Bune. No other dragon is patrolling the area, andYranox sets me down right by the main door.

The battle will start at any time. My army is now under the king’s control, andhe has several Royal Guards in dragon form. It’s hopeless. But without you, myfuture would be just like any pile of gold: lifeless. You were right about me, mylove. I am free at last. Let’s fight together and die if necessary.

Several dragons are coming closer, and from the way they flap their wings, their anger isobvious.

“Yes,” I manage, knocking on the door. “As long as we’re together.”

In a flash the door opens, strong hands grab me and pull me in, and the door is slammedclosed again.

I struggle to get free from the two cavemen’s strong grip. “No, wait! He’s on our side!”

“See, we’re not sure about that,” Aurora says, her eyes hard. “You can let her go now,men.”

The two cavemen let go of me.

I take a couple of seconds to compose myself and catch my bearings. It’s just Aurora anda couple of the cavemen that didn’t desert us for Yranox’s army.

“He really is,” I assure her.

“That’s Crown Prince Yranox. Who has organized an army to attack us. How did youhappen to come here with him?” Aurora is wearing her usual Xena outfit, but now she’salso drawn black shadows underneath each eye. She’s obviously ready for battle. She’scradling her crossbow in one arm, and I can’t help noticing that it’s aimed vaguely in mydirection.

I charge at the door to open it, but the cavemen easily keep me back.

I whirl around. “He can’t be alone out there, Aurora! They’ll kill him!”

“Before we’ll let him in, we have to know what’s going on,” she tells me coldly. “He’s toodeceptive. He may have tricked you, too. His dragons are marching fast in this directionright now. It looks like their attack is finally happening.” She turns her back and walks tothe main area of the ship.

“No!” I exclaim, scrambling after her. “He chose me! Those other ones want to kill him!”

She shrugs. “Maybe. If so, we must make damn sure. And there’s not much chance we’lllet him in, anyway. It’s a siege, and we’re on the inside. That door doesn’t let anyone infrom now on.”

A squad of caveman come jogging towards us, and we flatten ourselves against the wallas they pass, their faces grim and their swords drawn.

Right behind them is Delyah, walking fast towards us. “Beatrice, is that dragon really onour side?”

“Yes!” I exclaim. “Of course he is! I wouldn’t want him in here if he wasn’t. Is he okay?”

“He’s circling Bune, and the other dragons are goading him, trying to hit him with theirfire. They don’t dare go too close. Honestly, girl: could it be a ruse, or is he sincere?”

“He’s sincere,” I tell her, trying to calm my voice and give it some depth. “He just killedtwo other dragons back there. His father is here, the king. He’s taken over the army andwill attack us at any moment. Yranox will help us.”

Delyah comes in and hugs me. “Okay. Welcome back, by the way. You have no idea howglad I am to see you. But this is an intense time, because it looks like—”

Heidi comes running, gun holsters slapping against her hips. “They’re coming! All of them.The enemy cavemen are getting ready, and the dragons are on the way. A lot of themare here already, preparing to attack. And— oh. Hi.”

I give her a shy little wave. She’s the one I tricked when I snuck out. “Hi, Heidi. Sorryabout before.”

She smiles. “Hey, you left a note and everything. No hard feelings. What happened to thecowgirl outfit?”

I shrug. “I realized there aren’t any cows on this planet. And I didn’t want to be adinogirl.”

“If Yranox will fight with us,” Delyah says urgently, “then of course we’ll have him. Buthe’s on the outside, and that’s where the dragons do the most good. Being inside thisship is not their thing at all. They can’t fight here. I’ll tell Caronerax about it.” She andHeidi run back into the ship.

Aurora looks me up and down. “That’s a new look for you. Very cavegirl-ish. Still have agun? Is it loaded?”

I lift the gun that I’ve clutched hard, but somehow forgotten that I have. “Should be.Don’t know if it will fire, though. It was dipped in water a few days ago.”

“We’ll reload it. God, Beatrice! You’ve been gone for days!”

“I was going to talk Yranox into not attacking us. It worked better than expected. But Iwanted him to persuade his whole army, too. That may not have worked quite as well.”

She leans in and hugs me awkwardly, her crossbow getting in the way between us. “Youdid great. We need all the allies we can get. And if we could pick just one dragon to joinour side, it would be him. Shit!”

The whole spaceship rocks, and a piercing screech goes through the walls. We have tosteady ourselves to not fall over.

“They’re trying to break through,” Aurora says tightly. “We know it’s possible. The hullisn’t armored, and it can’t withstand dragon talons over time, but we’re kind of hopingthey don’t know that. Let’s get you reloaded. And then I think we’ll be going to war.”

28

- Beatrice -

The whole ship is in uproar. Cavemen are running past, swords drawn, and here andthere I see one or two of the girls preparing for their defensive duty. Still, they have thepresence to greet me with smiles and little waves. It’s touching, and I want to hug themall.

But Aurora drags me along. “The plan is to fight them level by level. All the way downinto the bottom of the ship. Our dragons will fight outside, and most of the cavemen will,too. Only the married cavemen and us girls will stay inside the ship. We’re hoping theenemy won’t break in at all. If they do, don’t lose hope. We have some surprises for thedragons and their lackeys. Well, one surprise. But it’s a good one. If it works.”

We reach the garden level and keep running. There’s nobody here — all the girls and thekids are gone. It’s eerie to see such a big and inviting room deserted.

Aurora stops by the alien elevator. “Go down to the next level to get reloaded. That’s ourfirst defensive line. Dolly is in charge there.”

Caroline comes out of the elevator from the control room above us, one gun in eachhand. “Shit. They’re all coming and attacking at the same time. We can see them on thescreen up there. They’ve broken through on level six and seven. They’re crawling on theoutside of the ship like flies on a rotten pineapple. About twenty of them as full dragons.Our defensive plan is shot to hell.”

A loud booom goes through the ship.

“Not quite,” Aurora says. “That was the surprise, a gunpowder booby-trap. I hope it killeda bunch of them.”

“Is Yranox still outside?” I ask urgently, fearing the answer.

“We have to take a look,” Aurora says. “So much is happening so fast. Let’s go upinstead.”

We get up to the control room level. Most of the screens are still working, but some areblack, and some are showing some kind of alien static.

I point. “That’s him!”

“Yranox? He’s the reason they’re not in here already,” Emilia says. “He’s keeping themback as well as he can. God, I never saw a more intense flame. They really fear him.Caronerax, Kyandros, and Aragadon are helping, too. They joined him just now.”

“He’s really on our side,” Aurora says. “Sorry I doubted it, Beatrice.”

We can hear the dragons on the outside now, claws ripping at the alien material. Aroundthe ship, the dragons in their human forms are coming closer fast, ready to run inside assoon as the outer hull is breached.

One by one, all the girls come up to us from their various defensive posts below. I guessthey realize the defensive plans are meaningless now that the dragons will not be comingthrough the doors, but are ripping the outer hull off all over the ship.

They’re carrying the babies and toddlers. They’re all quiet, as if they understand theseriousness of the situation.

We all just stand there, not knowing what to say. Outside, the clawing noises are gettinglouder. It’s like sheets of fabric being ripped apart. Another screen goes black.

Finally, Sophia looks around the circle. “Hey, we had a good run. Nobody could have doneit better. I’m proud of us. As in, really fucking proud. I’ve spent the past three years withthe best and toughest ladies there has ever been. We all held up. None of us broke down.Despite the insanely tough times we had. Not one of us caved.”

“Damn right,” Delyah says with feeling, cradling her baby. “We have handled everythingthis stupid planet has thrown at us. If this is it, then I just want to say that we’ve lostnothing. We’re young, but we’ve packed entire lifetimes on Earth into these past threeyears on Xren. I’ve never been more alive than I am here. Thank you all for theexperience.”

We all murmur agreement and squeeze each other’s shoulders.

I look around the circle. “Yeah, but… the children. All you moms should escape. Fly on our

own dragons. I’m sure Yranox will carry you. He can handle two or three of you, with thekids. Or we will all try the escape ship! We have nothing to lose now.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Delyah says. “You haven’t been here lately, Beatrice, so you couldn’tknow. The escape ship is definitely broken. It had power before, but now nothing in itworks. Even the lights won’t turn on. We think the Plood broke it from a distance sometime ago and inserted some kind of virus that gradually broke down all the machinery. Sothat’s not an option. We will signal Caronerax, Aragadon, and Kyandros to come and pickus up in here. If they can, which is not looking great right now. They will fly all us girls tosafety with the kids. It’s the last resort, and we were hoping not to have to do it. Partlybecause it’s dangerous. But mostly because some of us will be leaving some prettyamazing husbands... behind...”

Her voice cracks at the last word. Seeing the ever-cool Delyah this distraught shocks memore than I had ever thought possible.

But it’s that bad. Even I can see that on the screens. The few cavemen that we have onour side are extremely busy, trying to keep the dragons at a distance. Nobody thought wewould be facing this many enemies in their full dragon forms. Swords flash, battle criestear through the air, and hard blades strike harder scales. It’s a real battle down on theground, and higher up our four dragons are still desperately trying to chase the enemiesaway from the ship.

“They’re cooperating,” I whisper. “Look!”

Everyone turns to stare at the screens. The enemy dragons fight like they’re all alone,swooping at our dragons and at the cavemen and at the ship. It only somewhat worksbecause there are so many of them.

But our own dragons are starting to coordinate their attacks. As we watch, Kyandros andCaronerax bite into each wing of one hapless purple dragon, holding it firmly for onesecond. That’s enough time for Yranox to dive in and aim his fire. The purple dragonplummets to the ground in a fireball, desperately beating wings that are just skeletons.The furious scream penetrates the walls of the spaceship.

“That’s wild,” Ashlynn marvels. “I never saw them cooperate before.”

“It’s Yranox,” Jennifer says. “Look. He’s totally in charge. He commands, and the threeothers have no choice but to obey.”

That’s the way it looks to me, too. Yranox seeks out a target, then appears to yell a

command to the other three, and when they see that he’s taking the greatest riskhimself, they help him.

“Go, my love,” I whisper. “You’re winning.”

“It’s not enough,” Aurora calmly tells us. “There are too many enemies.”

She’s right. All the dragons on foot have reached Bune, a thousand of them. They all lookstronger than before, even in their human form. That king may have given them strength.

In between are the cavemen that switched sides, but there’s not many of them. Maybefifty or so still traitors. But it’s obvious that they’re important to keep the dragons in line— the dragons scowl at them and expend all their suspicion on the slayers.

On the screens, it’s obvious that the outer layer of Bune is about to collapse. Already,several smaller holes are visible. As we all watch in stunned horror, one dragon is able torip off a huge area of the dirty-white material. At the same time, twenty lights startflashing on the instrument panels around us and alarms start blaring.

“They’ve broken through on every level,” Sophia says tightly. “And we have no way to getout. Or for our dragons to get to us and get us out.”

Two more screens go dark, and we’re left with only two that show the view in variousdirections. One points away from where the dragons are attacking and only shows thejungle and the flying dragons. As well as something else.

I point. “What’s that?”

On the screen, the trees of the jungle are swaying, and their crowns are being blownviolently this way and that.

“Storm,” Delyah says. “Coming closer fast. But the sky is clear. Not a cloud anywhere.”

Two pieces of a puzzle click together in my mind. “I’ve seen that before. Ladies, I justwant to say that I love you all and that being with you on Xren has been the best time ofmy life. Make sure you don’t leave this room. If you see dragons, shoot to kill. I think thiscould work out, after all. Excuse me.”

I run to the elevator.

The girls call after me. “Beatrice! Don’t leave! They’re inside the ship now!”

I wave and smile, then zoom down in the alien elevator that just deposits me at the nextfloor immediately.

As I pass down through the ship, I spot dark, threatening shadows moving around, and Iget more than one glimpse of dragons, both with wings and in human form, suspiciouslyexploring the ship.

I zoom all the way down, to the same place that I tricked Heidi and left Bune. It seemslike years ago, but it can’t have been more than eight days.

The opening is still there, but unguarded. Strong iron bars have been fastened across thedoor to keep it shut, but that’s to keep outsiders out. Not to keep insiders in. With onehard pull and a well-placed kick, the bars drop rattling to the floor. I open the doorwithout hesitation and jump out, briefly checking that I’m not landing on top of a dragon.

I walk slowly out from under Bune, clutching the gun. The gun that very likely won’tshoot, I remind myself. The other one fired just fine, so it was probably the one that wasnever dipped in water.

I stop short. The masses of dragons are still coming, attracted by Bune. Nobody expectsany of us to be outside it, so I’m gambling on not being seen. They’re climbing up on theoutside of the spaceship, then ducking through the holes that have been ripped by theirflying compatriots.

They will find nothing of value in there, except the girls. So I better hurry.

Still up there, I can see the blue and yellow blurs that are Yranox and Caronerax, thesilver one that’s Kyandros, and the metallic green one that’s Aragadon. They’re doingtheir best, but they are also being pinned down, unable to get away for as much assecond. Getting inside Bune to help evacuate the girls is plainly not happening.

I run away from the dragons, towards the approaching storm. Now it’s reached some ofthe closest trees. The closer it gets, the more obvious it becomes that this is not onesingle storm, but thousands of small ones. Very small whirlwinds in the treetops, movingslower than a twister would because these aren’t whirlwinds at all, they just look like it.Say, when moving fast across sand in the desert.

Or across swampy grass, like now.

I stop and stand still. Behind me is Bune, looking like a huge broken egg with antscrawling into it. In front of me is the leading edge of the storm.

My skin creeps. If I’m wrong about this…

A small whirlwind stops six feet from me. Then it slows down and becomes someone I

know.

“Albert?” I try, because it looks a lot like him.

He comes closer and makes those slow arm movements I remember. I still can’tunderstand them, but it’s clearly him.

“The girls,” I tell him very slowly. “They’re on the top level. You can get in there from theunderside of Bune. There’s a door. I left it open.” I point.

The other small whirlwinds break around us like water around rocks. Cautious joy rises inme. They keep coming.

Albert looks up at me with an expression I can’t understand. He makes someexaggerated moves with his many hands.

“There are babies, too,” I tell him, making a rocking movement with my arms andpointing at the top of Bune. With slow hand gestures, I try to make him understand thatthey can enter from below and that it’s urgent, because the dragons have broken in andthe girls have no way to get out without risking their lives, like I just did.

It’s not easy to convey all this with hand gestures, and I see no sign of understandingfrom Albert.

I put the gun down on the ground to make it easier for myself, then start again.

“There are babies,” I say slowly. “And girls. Like me.” I point to myself and my hair,stroking it. “They are defenseless. Umm. You can enter from below.” I gesture to Buneand point up, as if from underneath. It’s not an easy idea to bring across.

Albert tilts his head.

“Okay, I’ll try again. So—”

Albert calmly reaches out with two hands and gently grabs mine before I can make moreof a fool of myself. He picks up the gun and hands it to me, grip first. Then he simplypoints at Bune.

The leading edge of the immense spidermonkey army that now fills half the swamp hasreached the old spaceship, and it looks like some of them are indeed going underneath it,right where I came from. They’re bound to see the open door.

The spidermonkey pats my forearm as if telling me ‘good job!’, then bounces off towardsBune.

I’m left in the middle of the spidermonkey army.

Only the first hundred thousand of them are whirlwinds. They must have some kind ofinvisibility going on, and it must have something do to with the way they spin. When theyslow down, they become visible as spidermonkeys, just like Albert. But there are manyother types. One giant group are as white as polar bears. Another is shiny and silvery. Avery large group are as big as humans, thin and dark red. Another consists of smallerones with bulging muscles. Then there is a group of spidermonkeys like Alice, the oneswe’re used to seeing. They’re smaller and thinner, but stringy and plainly strong.

None of them have weapons. But they have their fangs and their claws and theirorganization. The dragons don’t stand a chance.

They keep coming. It must be millions, moving silently, but with great determination.

They’re obviously here to clean up their planet once and for all, to get rid of the dragonmenace.

A chill goes through me. Maybe they want to get rid of all the aliens. Including thecavemen and the little group of girls that have been nothing but trouble.

I stand there until the whole spidermonkey army has passed me. They have all kept theirdistance, and that gives me some hope.

The final battle of Bune is over before it has even begun. The dragons in human form arefleeing wildly from the new threat, which is so clearly overwhelming that they’re all luckyto escape alive.

The flying dragons are harder to keep track of. I haven’t seen Yranox for a while, but Ican’t make t out from this distance. There are still flames and lots of movement aroundthe top of Bune, but now that the spidermonkeys are claiming the insides of thespaceship, the enemy dragons appear to be gradually becoming fewer, one by one.

It’s looking good so far. Only one of our enemies hasn’t showed up—

“Stay where you are, alien female,” creaks a thin voice behind me.

I whirl around, and ice settles in the pit of my stomach.

There are five Plood saucers on the ground, and a whole bunch of the despicably littlealiens in front of me.

I back off, my skin creeping, waving the gun at them. “Stay the hell away from me!”

“The female must come with us,” they creak, coming towards me.

“No fucking way,” I tell them, voice trembling, because these creepy little guys scare memore than just about anything else.

They stop, and I keep moving backwards. “Stay where you are,” I manage. “I’ll shoot—ooof!”

It’s like hitting a brick wall.

I spin around and fall on my side, away from the obstacle.

“Ah. I would never have thought that my worst nemesis would be so small,” KingGarunzigur says, looking down at me. “You have caused great troubles for me. Now I willhave some degree of revenge.”

He reaches out one hand, grabs me and lifts me up. He lets one finger run down myfront, all the way down to the edge of my furry skirt, where he hooks it under the leatherand pulls me to him. “But before then, let’s have some fun.”

29

- Yranox -

Watch out, Kyandros! I yell. Behind you!

The silver dragon barely has time to dive to the left before a young, red Royal Guardcomes from below and behind, blowing his fire. It hits Kyandros’s left wingtip andscorches it.

I roll to the side, making sure I don’t have a pursuer in the same way.

I’ve never been this exhausted in my life.

The king’s Royal Guard keeps attacking, one by one, and occasionally my three allies andI manage to kill or injure one. But then another comes at me, and I must duck andscramble out of the way of its fire. They get time to rest between attacks. We don’t.

I can’t always get away in time, either. I have claw marks across my chest and back, mywings are scorched through in several places, and two talons have been burned clean off.

At any other time, I would have left the battle and gone home to my lair and my hoard.But this battle is not about fighting over a piece of gold or an abandoned hoard, like Ihave done before. This is about protecting Beatrice from harm.

She’s inside this ridiculous and ugly spaceship, and I have to do my best to defend it. ButI have failed, Already the enemy dragons have torn huge pieces off its hull, and manyothers have made their way inside. I itch to follow them in, to burn them all to a crisp,and to take my beloved into my arms.

But if I relax for as much as a split second, I’ll be burned to death, myself. And so willKyandros, Aragadon, and Caronerax. We are making our way to the nearest place wherean opening has been torn, and all four of us want to get inside. But here we’re even more

overloaded, because now even the dragons in human form are clawing at us.

This will be very hard, Caronerax says as he barely manages to duck out of the way oftwo Royal Guards that breathe fire at the same time. But I must protect my wife. Ican sense her terror, and I hate it. Oh, look. What do they want?

Only now do I see the army of small creatures of the same type as Beatrice’s Albert. Theyare too many to count, or even to estimate. It looks like every one of them on the planethas come to-

They’re fighting! Kyandros calls. They’re fighting our enemies! Whatever we do,we must not attack those newcomers. They are friends of ours!

The ground-bound dragons flee when they spot the new, quiet army, some in a panic.The noise of their angry seething and snarling fills me with joy, but I hardly have time tothink about it. There are still dragons inside this ship, and my Beatrice is there, too.

I sense a strong pull away from the spaceship. As if there’s gold somewhere, not too faraway. It calls to me with great urgency and force.

No, that’s not it. I can’t sense gold anymore. Beatrice was right.

Then it must be…

My head snaps around. Off in the distance, almost by the edge of the jungle, I spot asmall speck that I would recognize anywhere. That’s what pulls me.

And behind…

I drop off the side of the spaceship and beat my wings as hard as I can. But that onemoment of distraction has allowed a Royal Guard to sneak up on me from below. The firstI know about his attack is when his fire hits my underside. One whole leg goes up insmoke immediately, and my scales are burned to a crisp.

I roll over in pain and intense anger, breathing my own fire at the attacker. He has beteverything on a perfect attack that sends me tumbling, but his aim was slightly off, andthe fire didn’t hit my head or my tail. He banks hard, helplessly trying to get away. Buthis momentum brings him directly in front of me. And my aim is better than his. I burnhalf his neck away, and he plummets to his death.

I’m in indescribable pain. The burned-off leg has me dripping ichor for the first time in mylife.

But I force myself to gain height and speed up towards the spot where I saw Beatriceright in front of five landed Plood craft.

I can’t go as fast as I want. Not nearly as fast as I want. And as I beat my burned andflapping wings, more frantically than I ever have before, I see a familiar shape comingtowards Beatrice from another side.

King Garunzigur is in perfect health. I spotted him keeping his distance from the battle,ready to swoop in and claim his share of the loot, wanting to be in perfect strength forthat most important of moments to a dragon: the plunder.

Beatrice backs away from the Plood, but then she backs right into my father, who hasChanged to human form. And I think I can guess why he has done that.

The Plood discover me before Garunzigur does, and I can see that they warn him. In mystate, I can’t breathe fire for fear of hitting Beatrice. Before I can swoop and pull theking’s head off with my claws, he takes a step to the side and then grabs Beatrice,holding her close.

His evil laugh resonates in my mind.

I land, but with one leg gone, my balance is disturbed and I fall over in a disgracefulbelly-landing that ends with me looking humiliatingly up at the king from down on theswampy ground.

I Change to human form because the dragon form is just about helpless now, then getonto my feet. My left arm is gone from the shoulder down, with only a smoking, ichor-dripping socket left.

“Elegant as always,” the king mocks me. “If I couldn’t see your color myself, I wouldnever think you were my son.”

“Are you all right, my love?” I ask Beatrice, ignoring the king.

She looks at me with horror in her dark eyes. “I’m unharmed. But love, you’re badlyburned!”

“He will be more badly burned soon,” the king chuckles. “You know, Yranox, my offer wassincere. All you had to do was kill this lesser female, and you would be my crown princeagain. In full, with honors and as much trust as I could spare. I’m not a stupid dragon, buteven I can’t quite wrap my mind around the choice you made. You chose this over whatwould have been the grandest hoard in the universe?”

“She’s my hoard,” I wheeze. “And she gives me more pleasure than all the gold in all thehoards that dragons have collected.”

Garunzigur glances at Beatrice. “That’s remarkable. If she had been made from solidgold, I would perhaps understand parts of what you say. But she’s not. Oh, my son. Youare insane as well as a traitor. Or is there some witchery in this? Did she bewitch you? Ifso, surely the curse can be broken.”

“There’s no curse,” I tell him, my throat sore from all the fire I’ve breathed. “It’s theopposite. She’s a blessing to me. My light, my meaning, my hoard. You will neverunderstand, father. In order to see what we could be, we must first die and be reborn.”

Garunzigur shakes his head. “This is all crazy talk. This planet did something to you, son.And to Caronerax, too. I will spend no more time here than necessary. But let me trysomething. Surely this is a curse, and surely the curse can be broken. It’s worth trying,anyway. Let us kill the caster of the curse and so free you, perhaps!” He grabs Beatricewith both hands and lifts her from the ground, ready to pull her in half.

“Stop!” I yell and throw myself at them.

My father is older than me, but he’s still a powerful dragon with a great hoard. He’s heavyand strong. Under normal circumstances, I would win a fight with him. Now that I’mexhausted and missing one arm, he has all the advantages.

“Traitor!” Garunzigur screams as I hit him, glancing off one of his massive shoulders.“How dare you attack! I am your king!”

I attack again, using my one remaining hand and both feet, as well as my head. I attackfiercely, knowing I can’t knock him out, but that’s not my purpose. I have more recentpractice being in this human form, but I’m sure the king has spent all his time as a dragonfor centuries.

My fierce and quick attack sends Garunzigur reeling, and as he gets ready tocounterattack, he lets go of Beatrice. That was exactly what I wanted.

“Run, my love!” I urge her. “I will handle this. Run back!” I emphasize my words bypushing her hard towards the remains of the spaceship before I have to defend myselfagainst the king.

His attack is better than I expected — in his anger, he charges at me with just as muchfierceness as I used against him, with arms and with feet, talons and fangs. I struggle todefend myself with only one arm, and I end up on the ground, more ichor dripping from

where my arm used to be.

I have to take a moment before I can attack again. I’m seeing double, and my breath isgoing fast and shallow.

Before I can charge the king again, he Changes to dragon form and towers over me,wings splayed out, being a magnificent royal in his blue and yellow that catch the sun justright.

When someone turns against you, you must kill him, he says. It pains me to killmy own son. But there is no way around it now. Look at you! Pitiful and weak,you crawl on the ground like a worm. You chose wrong, so wrong. And I fearthat choice was made forever. You are broken and must be killed. Don’t worry,son. It will not last long.

I get up on trembling knees, having never known such pain or exhaustion. I can’t Changeto dragon form anymore — I don’t have the strength. But I will stand up when my fatherblows the hard, blue flame that will kill me.

He raises his magnificent head, golden crown shining bright, drawing his breath.

“I love you, Beatrice,” I wheeze. The last thing I say alive should be the deepest truth Iknow.

There’s a muffled bang, and the king’s breath seeps out of him as only hot gas, not a realflame.

His eyes bulge in surprise when he whirls around to confront the attacker behind him.

In his back, there is a small hole, golden ichor spraying out with great force.

I marvel at it. Which alien wonder could possibly cause that kind of harm to a dragonking?

Garunzigor stands there frozen for three beats of his heart, three mighty sprays of ichorthat cover the ground in a radius of twenty paces. Then the sprays stop, and he slowlyand stiffly falls over on his side without another sound or word.

And there is Beatrice, small and round, black smoke rising from the mouth of her strangeweapon. “I guess it dried out, after all,” she says enigmatically.

I stagger over to her and look her up and down. “My love. Are you… are you…?”

She comes in close and embraces me, careful to get nowhere near my empty arm socket.

“I’m actually fine, Yranox. I’m just glad this thing worked. I think I hit his heart.”

“You did,” I confirm. “And I wonder how anything could penetrate his scales.”

“Gold,” she tells me simply. “A small piece of gold will penetrate a dragon’s scales. Wediscovered that not long ago.”

“I see,” I say, not understanding at all.

The corpse of King Garunzigur disintegrates and only leaves a handful lf scales, as well ashis crown and one other object.

I pick them up. As crown prince, I am now king of the dragons.

The thought should make me ecstatic, deliriously happy. But it leaves me cold.

Still, I put the crown on my head, mostly to not have to carry it in my one remaininghand.

“Stay here, my love,” I say and kiss Beatrice’s black hair.

Then I walk over to the Plood.

30

- Beatrice -

I’m horrified by the state Yranox is in. Missing one arm, golden blood leaking, burnseverywhere… it’s all I can do not to break out in worried tears. But that wouldn’t helpmatters.

He walks over to the Plood, back straight, crown on his head, looking in control. And theyplainly respect him.

I can’t hear what they’re talking about, and I doubt I’d understand the language, anyway.

It doesn’t take long, and soon the Plood draw back, walking backwards and bowing theirlittle heads as they enter their saucers.

“Are they leaving?” I ask as Yranox returns and takes my hand with his only one.

“In one sense they are. In another, they are not. Look.” He points over at Bune. Thespidermonkey army are leaving the spaceship and gathering outside in a giganticassembly. “They must have cleared all their enemies out of the ship.”

“Yeah,” I reply. “I just wonder who exactly they consider to be their enemies.”

“We will find out, I’m sure,” Yranox says as we walk back there. “Isn’t that your friends?”

Some of the girls are out on the ground, too, embracing their husbands.

“Looks like it,” I say, allowing myself to feel relief. “Could be promising.” I look up at him.“You chose me, huh? Over your king and over the gold?”

“The choice was made long before. I made it the moment I decided not to drop you froma great height, after all. I just didn’t realize until much later. I love you, Beatrice.”

“I love you too, Yranox.”

He suddenly stops.

I squeeze his hand. “What’s wrong?”

He looks down at me. “It’s just... No, it’s ridiculous. And yet… I mean, Caronerax did… butof course, that was different… but was it that different? No, forget it. Except…”

I’ve never seen him like this. He’s boyishly embarrassed. It’s so cute I have to hide asmile. “Just tell me, my love.”

“I just… now, this will seem unusual. Crazy. And you must, of course, use your bestjudgment. Very well, I’ll just say it. Beatrice. Will you marry me?”

“That’s not unusual,” I tell him, trying not to grin. “It’s common for people to get marriedwhen they love each other.”

He blinks. “It is. I gather that it is. I mean, so I hear. Well?”

I put my hand on his chest. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Yranox. Of course, I will.”

He bends down to kiss me on the lips. He smells badly of burning flesh. “That makes mevery happy, my sweet love.”

I take his hand again. “Me too. But I should remind you that I just killed your father.”

“You killed my father and saved my life,” he says and keeps walking. “I think that’sromantic?”

“Probably a little,” I agree. “Not usually something you see a lot in Meg Ryan movies, butsure. It works for us.”

The mass of spidermonkeys splits and makes way for us as we approach Bune. The oldspaceship looks very different now. The outer hull has been torn away and burned, andthe inner skeleton is exposed as an intricate latticework of alien design.

The other girls receive me with tears and hugs and joy, while their husband receiveYranox with cold reservation.

They’re all there, with their kids and husbands. Alice is there, too, standing right besideEmilia. I even spot Albert in the middle of a nearby group of spidermonkeys.

“We won,” I sum up for them all. “Or rather, Alice’s people won.”

“Oh my God, Beatrice,” Heidi says. “You should have seen it! They cleaned all the

dragons out. Using just their fangs and claws and strength. You know the dragons hateenclosed spaces, and this spaceship is nothing but enclosed spaces. I think they were justhappy to be chased out, by the end. There was nothing for them in there.”

“Most of them escaped into the woods,” Delyah says. “Those who survived. But we thinkonly about fifty died here.”

“Including the old dragon king,” I tell them.

They all go quiet.

“The king is dead?” Sophia asks carefully.

“Long live the king,” I reply and point at Yranox’s head and the crown. “But this new kingis much better than the old one. He has other priorities than gold. Some would say betterpriorities, but I want to stay humble. Sorry, girls. I’m just very happy, because I’mengaged to the best man ever. This one.” I point at Yranox to make sure theyunderstand.

“The dragon king is dead?” Caroline asks. “I mean, I believe you. It just seems like ourvictory was incredibly total.”

“Total victory,” I agree. “Except of course, that we can never return to Earth because theescape ship is broken. But I’d say we won, even so.”

Caronerax steps forwards. “Your Majesty, Aragadon and Kyandros and I have asuggestion.”

“Yes, Prince Caronerax?” Yranox says regally. “Of course, I would like to hear what youand the two Grand Dukes have to suggest.”

Kyandros and Aragadon exchange puzzled glances. “Majesty, we two do not, in fact, holdGrand Ducal titles.”

Yranox arches his eyebrows in a way that is very regal. “Does the king no longer have theprivilege to create Grand Dukes whenever he decides? I think he does. And I think I can.What is your suggestion, my friends?”

“Ah. Very well,” Caronerax says. “Congratulations are in order, sirs. Majesty, oursuggestion is this: You are plainly grievously injured. We recommend getting gold to lieon, curled up with your beloved fiancee on top of you. In our experiences, that shouldcure you in short order.”

“I intend to do that,” Yranox says. “As soon as this victory meeting is over. Are theremore suggestions?”

“There are,” Caronerax says. “We are now the four most powerful dragons in existenceanywhere. We believe it’s now safe to offer the other dragons small hoards of gold. Thatwill give them the strength to leave this planet and return to their real hoards. Which iswhat they all want. We believe we have enough gold from my own hoard and from thetribes to distribute it well. And if we might use part of your hoard, Majesty, then we canget rid of all the other dragons very easily.”

“Actually,” I break in, “there will be no need to spend a grain of gold from any of yourhoards.”

Everyone looks at me.

“Really?” Yranox inquires, squeezing my hand very gently. “Are you keeping secrets fromyour fiance, my love?”

“Not for much longer, love. So, we went all over the planet looking for gold. Thing is, Ifound gold just about everywhere we went. There’s tons of gold dust, gigantic nuggetsthe size of boulders. There are shining seams in the sides of cliffs, sparkling particles injust about every stream and creek we saw. It’s lying out in the open in many places. Thejungle and the desert are the only places it’s harder to find. The jungle is too overgrownand the desert has too much sand to sift through. The not-Alps and the islands are notrich. But the rest of Xren is pretty much gold central. I didn’t tell you, my love because...well, you can figure it out.”

“Probably, that’s what Earth was like, too,” Eleanor pipes up. “Before humans showed upand started to find it. It’s a theory, anyway. Except for the boulder-sized nuggets. Neverheard of that.”

“Very well,” Yranox booms. “I accept the suggestion. By all means, let’s give ourcompatriots the option to leave this planet. A few grains of gold dust each, and off theycan go.”

“And the cavemen that joined Yranox’s army?” I ask. “What do we do with them?”

“Nothing,” Delyah says. “They’re disgraced, anyway. Most of them deserted that dragonarmy when the dragon king arrived. And Yranox recruited them in the first place. If he’snow in our good graces, then we can’t punish his army for following him. The way I knowcavemen, they’ll punish themselves worse than we ever could.”

“I’m just glad the spidermonkeys arrived when they did,” Aurora says. “If they hadn’t, wewould have lost. This is mostly their victory.”

“It is,” I agree. “And did you know that their king is here, too?”

They all look at me. “Huh?”

I gesture to Albert. “It’s okay to tell them, right?”

He comes over, the little group of strong-looking spidermonkeys following close behind.

I hold out my hand, and he takes it.

“Guys, I would like to introduce King Albert of the spidermonkeys. I actually don’t thinkhe’s a king, because they’re not really the kind to have those. But right now, he’s theirleader, no doubt about it. He came with us all over the planet and signaled hiscompatriots to come here and fight the dragons. I wondered why he would always bangon the trees and vanish for hours. He was gathering forces from all over Xren. That’s whythere are so many of them here. He comes from the desert and happened to see Yranoxand me in an oasis. Then he decided to see where it was going. As it turned out, we weregoing all over the planet, and Albert made sure he always came along.”

The girls are picking their jaws up from the ground.

“That’s insane,” Mia says. “He built this army in a week?”

I squeeze Albert with one hand and Yranox with the other. “Actually, I think most of themwere pretty much ready. There’s only one continent on Xren, Yranox says. And we knowhow fast the spidermonkeys can travel. I think they’d been building up to this for a goodwhile, but the arrival of Yranox and his obvious power was the last straw. Albert saw hischance. I don’t think he was their leader before. He’s just a regular guy who sawsomething that had to be done.” I let go of Albert, but he doesn’t move away.

“We had a feeling something was going on with those guys,” Emilia says. “I’m glad theyonly wanted to defeat the dragons, not all of us.”

Aurora takes in the immense mass of spidermonkeys around us and hefts her crossbow.“Are we absolutely sure about that?”

Emilia looks down at Alice. “I suppose we can just ask.”

There is a lot of waving of arms and interpretation and slow inter-species communication.I kind of lose track.

A

I look up at Yranox. He’s being uncharacteristically quiet, and the lack of one arm ismaking me worry about him. “Let’s go and heal you, my love.”

He gazes down at me, swaying a little. “It might be a good time for that, yes.”

“You need gold for that, right?”

“I need you for that, my love. And a safe place.”

He settles for the garden level in Bune, which happens to be the least damaged one. Theother levels are mostly ruined, with burns everywhere and huge holes where daylightbeams in.

We find a calm corner, well out of the way of everything. Yranox uses his last strength toChange to dragon form, and I sit down on the grass.

He curls up tightly around me.

I may be quiet for a while, he informs me. There’s no need for alarm. I amhealing right now, I can feel it. Keep this for me.

He takes the crown off his head and hands it over.

I accept it, having to use both hands because it’s crazy heavy. I place it beside me on thegrass, making sure it touches his scales. “Rest now, my love.”

He puts his head in my lap and closes his huge dragon eyes.

I settle down to wait. For as long as necessary.

- - -

bright, metallic jingling wakes me up.

I tense up and put one hand protectively on Yranox’s head.

“Heidi! Hi.”

She smiles. “Sorry to wake you up. It’s just, the girls wanted Yranox to have this to helphim heal.” She opens a big pouch with glittering objects in it. It’s mostly the small goldpieces that the guns were loaded with. “But he might not need it. That crown mustcontain enough gold for a whole hoard.”

I rub my eyes. “Oh. That’s super nice of them. And of you. Thank you, I’m sure it will helpa lot. And Heidi, I’m so sorry I tricked you! But I just had to try talking some sense intothis big lug. You would not have let me leave the ship.”

She grins. “It’s cool. Looks like you and Yranox were crucial in mobilizing thespidermonkeys and winning the battle. If he hadn’t been busy with you, he might havelaunched the attack earlier, and Albert’s army would have been too late. God, Bea!You’ve changed so much. Before you were like a gray mouse, just being quiet and hopingwe wouldn’t notice you. Now you’re recruiting allies and winning battles and marryingkings! We all love that, just so you know. Speaking of kings... um. Is he asleep?”

I glance down. His eyes are still closed. “I’m not sure.”

Dragons don’t need sleep.

“Shit!” Heidi takes three quick steps back. “I mean, sorry. It’s just, the way dragons talkinside your head... I’m not used to it.”

I will try to turn down the power. Was there something?

Heidi takes one step closer. “Oh, that’s better. Yeah. We wonder, those Plood. Theirsaucers are still there. On the ground. What do we do with them? What are they waitingfor? You talked to them, right?”

I don’t think they’re waiting for anything anymore. Open their craft and check.

I stroke his perfect head. “Is that safe, Yranox?”

It’s safe for me. I would do it myself, but I’m not fully healed. Wait for anotherday, and I will do it. Or have Caronerax do it now. He’s in sensationally goodshape.

Heidi nods. “Okay, thank you. I’ll ask them. Beatrice, I’d hug you, but I don’t want to stepon your fiance. It doesn’t seem polite, him being a king and all. Just don’t worry moreabout it, okay? You leaving the ship that day may have saved us.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, too moved to speak.

Heidi grins and waves, then hurries away.

I stroke Yranox’s smooth head, never wanting to be anywhere else than right here. “Mylove, when they open the Plood saucers, what will they find?”

Of course, I can’t be sure. But I gave the Plood the secret they always wanted,

and I suspect they took it more literally than it might have sounded.

“And what was that?”

‘To truly live, you must first die.’ Make of it what you will. I’m sure the Plooddid.

31

- Yranox -

“Word spreads fast,” Caronerax comments as we watch the other dragons slink in fromthe jungle, one by one, sour scowls on their faces.

“Very fast,” I agree and open the wooden chest in front of us. “But then, rumors of goldalways attracted our kind. It would have attracted us two, as well. Not so long ago.”

“But not anymore. Here we are, preparing to give gold away. Voluntarily. And I feel nosense of loss, no dread. I would never have believed it.”

I chuckle. “Nor would I, brother. And then you meet your mate, and boom. Gold loses itsmeaning. Most of it, anyway.”

Caronerax looks up at Kyandros and Aragadon, both in dragon form, circling the swamp.“Boom, indeed. My Jennifer is now the only important thing in the world. It’s very strange.But also very wonderful. It feels good to love something that’s alive. Something that canlove you back. Say what you will about gold, it never did that.”

“There are many things gold never did.” I straighten. “Ah, I think we have our firstcustomer. Greetings, subject! Who are you?”

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” the old dragon says. He’s in human form, with a reddish sheento his scales. “I am Barennik. I have come for gold. If it is indeed true that you are givingit away.”

“Prince Caronerax and I are giving away gold dust,” I confirm. “There is no trick. Butthere is one condition: upon receipt of your gold, you must immediately Change todragon form and leave this planet, going into the void. You can go anywhere you want.But we recommend you make straight for your own hoard. Wherever it may be. You maynot attempt any kind of hostile act before you leave this planet. Our good friends, the

I

Grand Dukes Kyandros and Aragadon, are patrolling above us, as you can see. They willburn you to a crisp on the spot if you break this condition. Do you understand all this,subject Barennik?” I dip my hand into the chest and let the gold dust run through myfingers.

Barennik stares at the sparkling gold dust. “I understand and accept.”

“Then hold out your hand.”

The old dragon holds out both, and with my now fully regrown arm I drop grains of golddust into them.

“Eight. Nine. Aaannnd… ten. That will be enough, subject Barennik. Remember that yourking gave you this. One day I will require your loyalty.”

The old dragon stares at the chest, overflowing with sparkly dust. “Yes, of course. Yes,Majesty. I wonder, just to be on the safe side…”

“That is all,” I tell him firmly, “Now Change, fly, and begone.”

He gives the gold a long, final look. Then he Changes into a full dragon, flaps his wings asif trying them for the first time, and takes off, unsteadily rising above us.

I glance up at Kyandros and Aragadon. They’re watching carefully, ready to dive and kill ifthe newly Changed has other ideas as a full dragon than he did in human form.

But Varennik is wise enough to see that he has nothing to gain by such mischief. He riseshigher and higher until he can no longer be seen.

“Good riddance,” Caronerax whispers. Then he looks at the closest dragon. “Next!”

- - -

t takes all day to give the dragons their gold and then see them leave Xren for good.

“I’m impressed,” I state as I close the lid of the now almost empty chest. “Only four ofthem tried to kill me. And only one tried to kill you. Our subjects must love us more thanwe thought.”

Caronarex laughs. “Is it love or fear? Perhaps both. It’s a very lovable act, giving themgold dust. But I think they also feared the flames. Rightly so, as it turned out.” He points

to the heap of scales that is all that remains of the five dragons that tried to attack us assoon as they were in dragon form.

I take the chest under my arm, and we start walking back to the ruined spaceship. “Imsurprised Valarius died in the battle. Perhaps he finally found his backbone. At least I stillhave a good number of subjects. Almost nine hundred. Now widely dispersed in space,but perhaps that’s the best place for them.”

“For now, certainly. They all need to lie on their hoards for months and years to regaintheir old strength. Do you think they will learn from this, Yranox?”

“Did you learn anything about yourself before you met your love?” I ask.

Caronerax chuckles. “Not before I met Jennifer, no. But after, there has been nothing butdiscovery. And a few other things, I suppose.”

“A few other things,” I agree. “Anyway, this turned out better than it had any right to. Ididn’t realize until today that the four of us actually killed all the Royal Guards. If wehadn’t, today could have been difficult.”

“Royal Guards still flying around us in full dragon form would have been more thandifficult,” Caronerax says. “But I imagine they would have had the sense to accept you astheir new king. There would be no alternative.”

We walk fast, both of us eager to see our women again. Above us, Kyandros andAragadon have the same idea, racing back to the spaceship. Side by side, I notice.

I point up at them. “Does anything strike you as strange about that, Caronerax?”

“That? Yes, of course. Two powerful dragons flying alongside each other, not trying to killone another. Not trying to tear each other’s heads off. Not locked in mortal combat. It’sstrange. But it’s also the reason we won against the Royal Guards. We fought together,not singly. With gold addiction, that was impossible. With Jennifer, well… it’s as if she fillsall the voids and all the needs, and I have no need to fear other dragons. Because noneof them can take her from me. She will love only me. And I will love only her. The fear isgone. When is your wedding, brother Majesty?”

I can see her already, waiting for me in the setting sun along with her friends. Her unrulyblack hair shines, and I can’t wait to bury my nose in it.

I speed up. “They say tomorrow. So I will have to wait for hour after endless hour beforeshe’ll be my wife.”

“Remain calm,” Caronerax advices me. “Once you have Beatrice, she’s yours and yourold, gold-addicted life will only be a gray, unpleasant memory. You will know happinessfor the first time.”

She smiles at me as I approach, white teeth shining against her contrasting skin.

That sight always brings a grin to my face, too. “Oh, I don’t know. I feel pretty happyalready.”

32

- Beatrice -

“Yes, yes. I do. I do!” Yranox barks with trademark impatience.

“I do,” I say more softly when it’s my turn.

Caroline smiles and says some final words, and I wipe a tear or six from my face.

Then, to my astonishment, Yranox takes my hand and slides a slim ring onto my finger.

“It’s his first hoard,” Caroline says, clearly in on it. “Because now you are all he needs.”

I have to wipe my face again, wishing I had a veil.

We walk back among our assembled friends and tribespeople until we stand alone in themiddle of the clearing where our village used to be. And will be again.

“That was it,” I tell Caronerax. “I just want you to know. Some of the newly mintedhusbands are confused about how short the ceremony is. It is over, and we are actuallymarried now.”

He squeezes my hand in his new-grown one. “It’s proper. A short ceremony, because themarriage will last forever. Yes. The asymmetry is perfect.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” I tell him. “You know what a sucker I am for asymmetry.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You are?”

I give his chest a loose slap. “Don’t listen to me. I’m so happy I’ll say anything.”

He takes me in his arms and lifts me so my face is level with his. “Whereas I will only sayone thing: I love you. See, there’s the asymmetry again.”

“Will you really say only that?”

He thinks about it. “No, I will say more things, too. Sooner or later. Give me time, mylove. Soon I will say other things than ‘I love you’.”

“Nah, it’s fine. You can say just that. Always.”

“I love you.”

I stroke his golden hair out of his face. “Hm? What was that?”

“I love you.”

“Oh. Say it one more time, just to practice.”

His eyes twinkle. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

I place a kiss on his mouth. “And I love you. There should be no asymmetry about that.How long have you loved me?”

He frowns, thinking back. “Since the first time you kissed me. In my dragon form, even. Itwas an act of either pure insanity or sheer love. Either way, I realized then I wanted youmore than I wanted gold.”

“And I had no idea. I thought you were going to leave me and never return.”

“But I didn’t. I should have known then, but… well, it was all so new and overwhelming.But I realized in time. When I saw the king arriving on the planet. I knew I had alreadychosen you over him. And over everything else.”

“You went to get me from the forest just to show me to the king?”

“My impulse was to leave you there, in safety. By the lake. But I knew that you hated it.You wanted to be with your friends, even when under attack. Especially under attack.Denying you that would be denying the great bravery in you. And that felt wrong. Yes, Ialso had a strong need to show you off.”

I kiss him again. “Thank you. You were right about me.”

He strokes my hair. “And you were right about me. My wife.”

“My husband, I think it’s a good sign that we understand each other better than weunderstand ourselves.”

“I’ll let you determine that.” He kisses me and puts me back down.

Our friends come to congratulate us.

“Fourteen married couples in our tribe,” Sophia reflects. “It’s becoming a regular middleclass society. Soon we’ll be agonizing about which school to send our kids to.”

“A middle class Stone Age society,” Mia corrects. “The schoolhouse will be a cave, andthe chalkboard will be a rock. The chalk, too. But yeah, I hear Delyah’s school is the bestone.”

Delyah laughs. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not a teacher.”

“But you can be a principal,” Mia persists. “All the teachers will be cavemen, that’sobvious. Can you imagine a quieter classroom than when the math teacher carries asword the length of a flagpole?”

“We’ll just see,” Delyah chuckles. “Anyway, talking about cavemen. Now that our enemyis defeated and has left for good, we don’t really need an army anymore. But still ourtribe has a lot of cavemen in it. Unmarried ones. We have to think about what to do withthem. I mean, we still want them. Not as soldiers, but as regular citizens. Except, theywill have no hopes of procreating. In their own tribes, that was always a possibility,because of the Lifegivers. Here, it just won’t happen. We have only four unmarried girlshere, and it’s important that they are not pressured into anything at all.”

“Easy enough,” I pipe up. “Buy Lifegivers from the other tribes. One from each, to ensurethe variety. We’ll take great care of those things.”

“Buy with what?” Eleanor asks. “They don’t understand money, and they have no need forgold. We’re not going to give them gunpowder, that’s for sure. What else do we have thatthey might want?”

“It’s just an idea,” I state, smoothing down my white wedding dress. “Meanwhile, what’snew in the world? I haven’t been paying attention.”

“The spidermonkeys have left,” Emilia informs me. “But I think you knew that. They justwanted to get rid of the bad dragons. Mission accomplished. We’re on great terms withthem now. Albert comes from the desert, right? That’s why his kind is sometimesinvisible. It’s their way of making the sun burn them less. They have a great capacity formutating into useful things. No, that’s not it. What was it, Tamara?”

Tamara laughs. “I said that they show a capacity for rapid, beneficial mutations. But Ihaven’t studied them that closely, so I don’t know for sure. That invisibility is crazy,though. It could be something similar to the chameleons on Earth. But the rotating at thesame time? No idea how that works. Again, didn’t study them.”

T

I glance over at my new husband. Of course, he’s glancing at me at the same time,standing among the other dragons. The cavemen are keeping their distance, but they’renot as suspicious as before. I think it will work out.

“And the Plood?” I ask, just wanting to go over to him.

“Yeah,” Ashlynn says thoughtfully. “The Plood…”

- - -

he fire burns high in the old stone ring outside the cave. Caronerax has dug up hiscache of gold that he had hidden under it. Now most of the gold is kept in a chest

that a team of cavemen have buried somewhere. Except Yranox’s crown, which he’sburied in a place that only he knows about. And except certain gold rings, including myown.

The village is still a ruin, but the bricks are all there and the trees and bushes we plantedare just slightly overgrown. The old creek still tinkles merrily and runs with crystal-clearwater.

We’ll rebuild this village in no time.

The sun set a long time ago, but still we’re all up. It’s the first time I can remember thata wedding party has gone on for this long and been this relaxed. Before, there’s alwaysbeen some danger or other hanging over our heads. But this time, there’s nothing. I thinkwe’re all taking this as not just a wedding celebration, but as a celebration of our finalvictory. Now we can all relax and get on with rebuilding our tribe and developing itfurther. In peace and quiet.

There’s dancing and singing and general cheering and laughter every thirty seconds.Some of the girls are drinking various types of caveman booze. In short, we’re having thebest time we’ve ever had on this planet.

Especially me.

Finally, Yranox takes my hand and leads me away. “I have something to say to you.”

He drags me to the middle of the clearing, where only the stars light us up.

I’m slightly alarmed at his seriousness. “What is it, my love?”

“I love you.”

I breathe out. “Thank God. I thought it was something bad.”

He embraces me. “Nothing bad will ever happen to us again.”

“You know, I do believe you’re right. So, my beloved husband. There is something I mustsay to you as well.”

“Is it that you love me?”

“Yes! How did you guess? Also, there is something else. Have you ever heard ofsomething called a ‘honeymoon’?”

He frowns. “A honeymoon? A moon made of honey? Surely, such a thing is impossible.But if it’s not, it would be delicious. What about it?”

I place a hand against his hard, scaled chest that’s somehow inviting and warm. “Ahoneymoon is the month after the wedding. The newlyweds are not expected to beuseful during that time. They can do whatever they want. Even spend a lot of time bythemselves. And you know, maybe that’s something that we can do? Or does that notappeal to you?”

He squeezes me hard. “Let’s just go.”

“Okay. I’ll just say goodbye — actually, they will see us leave. I seem to remember a lakeof some kind? With a waterfall? And a jacuzzi tub full of gold?”

He Changes, and now the sight is not as confusing to me. It’s just my love changingforms.

I remember that, too.

I straighten my dress and wait for him to grab me in his claws.

He lowers his neck. Climb onto my back.

I gasp. “Really?”

Really, my wife and my love and my life. Always.

I carefully climb up on my husband, using his scales to stand on. Then I’m sitting on topof him, the dragon body alive and agile under me. I lean forwards and cling to him.

Hang on if you want. I will not let you fall.

He beats his wings, and we take off. I clench my eyes shut, but a loud cheer from belowmakes me look down.

“Heeeey there they are! Have a great time, Beatrice!”

In the light form the flickering fire, I can see all their happy faces, looking up at me andsmiling and laughing. All my friends. The best friends I’ve ever had.

My tribe.

I dare to let go with one hand and wave, blowing them kisses.

Yranox turns and makes another pass.

I can guess what he has in mind. “Make it big, my love!”

Just so they don’t forget us.

The long flame that he breathes lights up the entire clearing in electric blue, and the wildcheer from below can probably be heard on the moon Yrf.

Yranox banks, rises, and sets up a decent speed into the night, but he could clearly gofaster.

I kiss his scales. “Thank you for being considerate. I’ll get used to this in time.”

You will. I enjoy traveling with you. Especially on my back.

“Oh,” I suddenly realize, “you left your crown!”

Will I need it?

“Actually, no. Except sometimes I like it if you wear it when we… you know.”

When we walk in the desert?

“No. Argh. You know. When we…”

Bathe on the beach?

“Well, sure, but what I meant was…”

When we fight enemies?

I groan in frustration. “Grr. No! Oh, fine, whatever. Yes. Yes, that’s what I meant. Whenwe fight enemies, I like it when you wear that crown.”

Or did you mean when we make sweet love?

I slap his scales. “You knew it all along!”

He chuckles. My love, there are people on other planets who knew it all along.Well, I’ll see what I can do. Maybe you’ll like me without the crown, too.

“Maybe. We’ll have to test it out. Very carefully.”

Of course. We want to be sure.

It’s night, but the stars light up the jungle a little bit. And looking down on it, like I’mdoing now, reminds me of something that I can’t quite get a grip on. Something aboutbeing powerful, about being above…

“Did you ever hypnotize me, Yranox?”

Maybe.

“Did you enter my mind and let me feel something nice?”

I did enter it, and I think it felt nice to you, but it was not your mind.

“No? Oh, you mean my… okay, just checking. I hope you will enter that again. Soon.”

I think I will. Because there is something I want you to know.

“What?”

I love you.

Unexpected tears spring to my eyes. He’s so sincere, and the huge emotion behind itechoes through my whole being. “I love you too, my love. Always be with me, okay?”

Always. The Plood may not understand about living good lives, but you will.

I hang on to his scales and hug him from behind as hard as I can. I’ve never been thishappy in my life, and the weird thing is I think it will stay like this. “We will. Together.”

Together.

33

- Beatrice -

“All set?”

Ling checks her backpack for the seventeenth time. “I think so. Oh my God, I’m sonervous!”

“Stay,” I suggest. “Find a nice caveman alien and start a family. It’s all the rage, I hear.”

“I’m not that nervous,” she says and hugs me. “Beatrice, thank you for coming back fromyour honeymoon just for this. We all really appreciate it.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I tell her, wiping a moved tear. “Be safe, okay? Andbe happy.”

She can just nod. Then she enters the Plood saucer, followed by Natalie, Maria, and Amy.All the single girls are leaving, willing to take their chances on the alien spaceships thatthe Plood left behind when they all committed suicide.

The hatch closes, and the swamp is quiet.

“If that one doesn’t work, there are four others,” Emilia says, always upbeat. “Not all ofthem can be broken.”

“I don’t think any of them are broken,” Ashlynn says. “They left them behind fully intact.That one is one we just picked at random.”

“Imagine all the Plood just killing themselves,” Emilia marvels, shaking her head. “Theymust have really believed that being dead would give them eternal life.”

“A dragon told them,” I explain. “A dragon who never lies. It is just that theymisinterpreted what Yranox meant. He says they are very literally minded. And I think

maybe he did that on purpose. They must have been desperate.”

“Way to go, King Yranox,” Aurora grimly adds. “Saved us having to deal with those nastylittle things, anyway. Now the dragons don’t know where Earth is, and they can never findit.”

“All you have to do is pull that left lever, pick the right icon on the board, and then pull it,not push,” Mia mumbles to herself, staring at the saucer. She and Delyah have spent aweek figuring out how to fly the saucer, and they think it’s really easy. So easy that theyoverthought it in the beginning, and it took them days to realize how easy it really is.

“I’ll miss those girls,” I state to nobody in particular. “But in a way it’s nice that they havethe choice. Not sure how I feel about them all immediately saying they’ll go. I mean,should we be miffed?”

Heidi laughs and grabs my wrist to squeeze it. “Oh, don’t even try that. Three weeks ago,you would have been off like a shot if you got the chance.”

“Maybe,” I concede. “But this is not about me— oh, look!”

The saucer trembles, then shoots two feet into the air and hovers.

“Come on,” Mia mutters. “Pull it harder. You know this!”

The Plood saucer rises further, and this time it doesn’t stop, just accelerates fast until it’sonly a white spot in the sky. Then it’s gone. It takes maybe a minute.

We stand there in silence for a moment, feeling alone.

“God, I hope they make it,” Sophia says, wiping a tear. “I really hope they make it.”

“They will,” Delyah says calmly. “Those saucers are the most sophisticated technologyany of us have ever seen. Even Bune is primitive and cumbersome by comparison. They’llbe on Earth in a few hours. They can’t miss it.”

Most of us have written letters and such to our families, just saying we’re okay and tellingas much about our lives as possible. The four single girls will deliver them, but try toavoid publicity as much as possible, and they will be careful about saying much aboutwhere they came from. And most of all, how. If an Earth government gets hold of aworking Plood saucer, there’s no telling what kind of nasty stuff they might want to use itfor.

But it’s a chance we had to take. The girls wanted to return to Earth, and we had the

means to make that happen. We didn’t want to hold them back. Whatever becomes ofour little tribe, nothing it does will be based on coercion.

Without a word, all of us girls come together in a huddle and a group hug.

“We won,” Sophia says. “I keep having to pinch myself. It was us against the dinos andthe cavemen and the Plood and the dragons. And against the planet, itself. For years.And we won? Seriously?”

“It’s remarkable,” Delyah agrees. “We must have done something right. Meanwhile, nowthat we’re all here, I hereby state that it’s time for a new election. New times require newleaders. I’m done as chief.”

“Yes, we knew you’d say this,” Caroline calmly informs her, takes a scroll of dino skinparchment out of her pocket, and unrolls it. “So we all have prepared a commonstatement. This is the statement. Quote: Please stay on, Delyah. We all trust you. Youhave guided us through all these insane crises with total control and incredible skill. Ifyour responsibility is too heavy, tell us. We’ll relieve you of some of it. But not of theleadership. You are our chief, and we want no other. From all of us: Please. Stay on. Ifyou want, we’ll agree to elect a vice chief. But please. Stay the fuck on as our chief.Because we love you so very, very much. End quote.” She rolls the scroll back up. “Seemspretty clear to me.”

Delyah sniffs. “Okay. Well, can’t argue with that. Proper congressional language, too.Impeccable. Fine. I’ll stay on.”

We all cheer with great sincerity.

“And I nominate Aurora as vice chief,” Delyah continues. “She’s already acting like one,so might as well make it formal. Those in favor?”

The unison “aye!” rocks the trees a mile away.

We saunter back to the village, chatting and laughing, not afraid of anything except not-dactyls. But maybe they have the tact to let us have this day, or maybe they’re tooscared of all the dragons that are suddenly living in our village, because none show up.

The jungle is humid as always, and the smell is the same. But as we make our way to thevillage, there is something more. This is our jungle. We conquered it and made it ours.

“We must make it good,” Heidi says straight into my thoughts. “This can’t be anotherEarth. This has to be better. We know the mistakes to avoid. We know what not to do.

© 2

We must do this right.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “We must. And you know what? We will.”

I see my husband in between the trees before we even enter the village. He’s huge andblue and yellow as always, impossible to conceal. And why conceal something as great ashim?

There’s no reason to hold back, so I run the last fifty yards to him, jumping over piles ofbricks and fallen trees to get to the love of my life.

Then I’m in his arms again. “Hey you.”

He squeezes me. “Decided to stay, huh?”

I laugh. “I decided that a good while back, my love. Why, were you worried I’d go, too?”

His eyes twinkle. “A little.”

I squeeze him hard. “Not on your life, dragon mine. You’re not getting rid of me.”

“Which is good, because someone said you are stunning and gorgeous. Oh, that was me,wasn’t it? Anyway,” he rumbles into my ear. “You’re home.”

I look over his shoulder. The fire is lit, and pots of food are simmering over it. Smokerises from one of the smithies. All the girls are being hugged by their husbands. Their kidsare whining and trying to get their mother’s attention. The creek clucks in thebackground.

I draw in his manly scent and squeeze him again, as hard as I can. My eyes are wellingup, and I have no intention of wiping them.

“Exactly.”

021 Calista Skye

EPILOGUE

TWO MONTHS later

- Beatrice -

“How certain are you?”

Yranox’s bright smile of joy has turned more serious, which I think is common with guyswho are told they’re about to become fathers.

“Pretty certain. All the signs are there.” I smile at him. “Don’t look so serious, it’ll beokay.”

“Yes, of course. It’s just… we’re different species. Mine lays eggs, and yours… doesn’t.”

I groan. “That about sums it up, yes.”

“Are you in pain, my love?”

“A little bit. Just right here. It’s soreness. The body is preparing for the pregnancy and thebirth. Feeling a bit nauseous, to be honest.”

“Ah. Let me see what I can do.” He Changes to dragon form, so big this small hut canbarely contain him. Curling up, he pulls me down into a leaned-back sitting position ontop of him.

“You’re a very comfortable chair.”

Relax and trust.

I’m suddenly soaring, flying high over a green landscape. I’m powerful, I’m invincible, I’msuperior. Immortal, even. And I’m the strongest creature that exists. Nobody can causeme harm.

“Is this a dream?”

Not quite.

“Are you, like, in my mind? Deeper than usual? Making me feel this way?”

You can break out of this at any time. It’s as easy as blinking.

“I don’t think I want to.” Yeah, this is a feeling I could get used to. The total, effortlesssuperiority, just knowing that I’m entirely wondrous. “I’ll just stay like this forever.”

For a short while only, my love. You weren’t born to it.

I soar and know that all I survey is mine. And everything else is mine, too. I can haveeverything. I’m deliriously happy.

No, beyond happy. Only the idea that this won’t last forever casts a tiny shadow.

A warm, bright glow is filling me, and it feels familiar.

“Oh. This is part of your healing process? I mean, when you heal someone? It’s partlylicking and partly this mental thing?”

He chuckles. You figure it out every time. Well done, my love. No, the licking isactually not part of it. This half-dream is all there is to the process. I just lickedyou that time because I wanted to.

“You’re a rascal. Wait, ‘every time’? Have we had this conversation before?”

More or less. With different words.

“How many times?”

A few times.

“Why don’t I remember that?”

It’s better if you don’t remember. This is only for now. Only for the moment. Ifyou remembered, you would want it always. But that would burn out yourmind. Like I said, you weren’t born to it.

“Can you tell me when we’ve done this before?”

In the desert when you almost drowned in the loose sand. In the desert whenyou were buried in the sandstorm. After you were attacked by the swarm oflocusts. And a couple of other times since.

“You healed me all those times, and I don’t remember it?”

It was very critical when you drowned in the loose sand. I doubted I could getyou back. It only barely worked, although I used all my mindpower.

I fly towards a palace in the distance, sparkling white and wonderful. I know I own it.“Will I remember this?”

No.

I’m in a big room, a hall made from gold and light and smiles and power. Everywhere arewonderful decorations, the finest objects and the sweetest scents. It’s my palace, and Iwant to explore all of it.

“Is this what it’s like to be you?”

In a way.

“Can every dragon do this?”

No. It’s a rare talent.

“Is this because you always had a streak of kindness in you? You like healing those whoare hurt?”

It’s the first time you ask that question. I don’t know the answer. But it wouldbe reasonable to assume.

“That streak of kindness is the thing that made me come and see you in the first place.”

I know, my love. Kindness is a strength after all, just like you said. It won meyou.

I come to a door, arched and immense. It’s locked for everyone. But because I am who Iam, I can do anything I want. And I want to enter this room. So I do.

Just a final little brightness that I want you to see and then forget.

Inside is a light. It’s warm and powerful and big, infinitely big. It’s a star, except a starwould be smaller and colder. I spread my wings and bask in the glory of it. It is herebecause it chooses to be, not because I keep it locked in. And now I want everyone tosee it, so I let it grow beyond the room and beyond the palace and beyond the planet. Itonly grows bigger and more intense.

“This,” I rasp with a sudden insight, “this is your love for me.”

A pale shadow of it, perhaps.

I burst with the sheer force of it, letting it fill me completely and basking in it.

The vision vanishes and leaves only a warm afterglow.

Yranox’s hand is resting lightly on my chest.

“Oh, did I fall asleep?” I ask, sitting up and hiding a yawn. “Sorry. Wow, I feel muchbetter now.”

“Ah, very good, my love. You just needed a bit of rest.”

I turn to kiss him on the mouth. “I actually feel really good. I always sleep so well on you.You are super comfortable to sit on, and that’s no joke. I think I had a nice dream. It wasabout… huh. Never mind. Want to go and get some food? I mean, you want to look at mewhile I eat?”

He gives me a very mischievous smirk. “I want to look at you doing everything.”

I get to my feet. “All right. Let’s do that later, father-to-be. Huh, what’s going on outthere?”

Everyone is walking towards something that’s just out of sight. The cavemen are in front,swords drawn and looking serious. The girls follow hesitantly.

Yranox walks out and helps me step down from the three-inch-tall floor in the hut, as if Iwas already eight and a half months along. “You better come and see.”

“Oh,” I exclaim when I see it. “I hope that’s good news.”

I hurry to catch up with the girls. “Could that be them?”

“It could,” Sophia says. “If it’s not, we might need those cavemen. And the dragons.”

The Plood saucer just sits there by the edge of the jungle, not doing much.

“None of the other ones are missing,” Mia tells us. “But of course, this could be one ofthem. Except we’re all here, so… yeah, let’s stand back until we know.”

All we girls stay at a decent distance, except Aurora, who keeps her crossbow ready whenshe and the cavemen walk closer to it.

Yranox keeps himself close to me, ready to get between me and the saucer.

The clearing is very quiet.

Then the hatch opens, and a human head comes out. “Hi! Room for some more membersof the tribe? We can hunt and everything. Well, some of us can.”

“Ling!” I exclaim and run over to the saucer, along with the other girls.

Ling comes out, followed by Natalie, Maria, and Amy. They look healthy, but pale.

“Welcome back,” Delyah says. “We didn’t expect you back so quickly. Or ever, to behonest. But we’re happy to see you!”

“Uh-huh,” Ling says. “Actually, there are more. Okay, girls. Come on out.”

As we watch in stunned disbelief, six more girls come out of the Plood saucer and blinkagainst the strong Xren sunlight.

Ling grins. “This is Bella, Kari, Imogen, Valeria, Keysha, and Kathleen. They hope to beaccepted as new members.”

Again the clearing is very quiet.

“We heard this is a really banging tribe,” the girl called Keysha says nervously, “and wethought, hey, let’s just go. Because Earth right now… um. We have something for youall.” She leans inside the saucer and lifts out a big cardboard box, dropping it on thegrass..

“Oh my God, I’m going to cry,” Sophia says. “Is that Green Mountain?!”

“Sweet dactyl,” Mia whispers. “Can it be?”

“It is!” Ashlynn exclaims. “It’s coffee! Sweet, heavenly coffee!”

“We have about a thousand pounds of it,” Ling tells us, grinning. “Don’t ask me how. Butat least we got our priorities straight. We got chocolate, too. Oh, and don’t worry. Wespent a month in quarantine before we got here. Just circling the Moon. All those damncraters get really fucking boring after a while, let me tell you.”

Finally, we all let out a cheer of joy, partly to see our friends and partly to see the coffee.But mostly because the plan worked and it is now possible to get to Earth. And back, itseems. Our victory is really complete.

I glance over at the unmarried cavemen in our tribe. They’re standing straight, observingeverything with great attention, especially the new girls. And sending each othercautious, little smiles that betray a certain degree of expectation. Their fates may wellturn out better than what we all thought.

D

Caroline and I exchange glances. “This certainly opens some possibilities,” she sayssoftly.

“Good ones and some maybe not so good ones,” I agree. “It will be interesting. But fornow, I’ll join the celebration.”

I walk over and give Ling a big hug. “You’re back so soon! I thought you’d stay until overChristmas, at least!”

“Yeah,” she says, scratching her chin. “I guess we could have. But the thing is, it’s nowthe year twenty twenty-one. And last year, twenty twenty, was a really weird one onEarth…”

© 2021 Calista Skye

- - -

ear reader,

Thank you so much for reading Caveman Alien’s Fate!

I hope you liked Beatrice’s story. This late in the series, I didn’t want to introduce thatmany new elements, so it was more a tying up of loose ends.

Yranox may seem evil, but he’s clearly much more reflected and in touch with his deepersides than other dragons. I suppose seeing Caronerax and the others fall for Earth girlsprepared him for something similar happening to him. Subconsciously, anyway. Andultimately, his kindness couldn’t be denied.

Beatrice may have seemed as if she accepted a lot of nonsense from him withoutcomplaint, but she knew exactly what she was doing when she went to see him in thefirst place. She knew he could be violent and dangerous, and she was mentally preparedfor it. She is the tenacious, loyal and untiring kind of person I wish I was. And I think shechanged a lot, from the unassuming girl who just keeps her head down to a prettyconfident person who happily deals with alien kings and even stands up to them.

She’s right about Albert, I think. He’s not a king, just a leader like the famous resistancefigures from history. He will now go back to his old life in the desert and be happy, likeCincinnatus back in the Roman Republic. I don’t think it’s really invisibility his race ofspidermonkey has, but I’m sure Tamara will get to the bottom of it.

T

So there turns out to be a lot of gold on Xren? I think maybe Yranox picked some reallygood locations without knowing it. His gold sense is still there, except weaker becausefinding gold is not so urgent anymore. I recall reading something about how Earth mighthave been like that too, before humans came along, with gold lying out in the open.Huge boulders of gold are probably far-fetched, but on Xren, anything seems possible.

I think the girls will be fine from now on. They made the planet their own. And now thatthey have a way to get to Earth and back, the pressure is off.

I wonder how they will deal with it. They certainly don’t want to get a lot of traffic fromEarth. Maybe they will accept the occasional Earth girl as a new member of their tribe,but I think that will have to be it. Or is there a better way to do it? What do you think?

his was the last book in the Caveman Aliens series! Fourteen parts is many morethan I ever expected to write.

Thank you so much for reading this book and for following the series. I have had theabsolute time of my life writing it, and I am very grateful to my faithful readers.Especially those tenacious souls who have plowed through all fourteen parts, even withmy erratic publishing schedule. Knowing that you were there and waiting for new booksfrom Xren inspired me to keep it going for this long.

I know that I will miss the girls, the cavemen and the dragons. They have been a big partof my life for years now.

I’m not done writing, though! The Alien Abductors series continues, and I am part of asecret project that you can read all about on my Facebook page.

Also I have plans about a new series somewhat in the same vein as Caveman Aliens.

To be completely in the loop, sign up for my newsletter here and come see us at myFacebook page right here. You'll be the first to know whenever I have a new release!That way, you can get the new books at the special launch price.

Again, thank you very much for keeping me company on planet Xren.

See you in the next part of Alien Abductors!

Calista