Dashing across the open field, the landing site still about 2 miles away, Richard looked over at Kira and broke their otherwise total silence in his own curious way. “What do you think that creature was?” He asked, his voice showing no signs of fatigue or struggling of breath as his feet matched the rhythm of Kira’s, running step for step as she looked over at him worriedly.

“I’m not sure, but it’s never been seen before; even when we were given all that information and technology before our generation was born, they haven’t even been seen. Who knows how long they’ve been here without anyone’s knowledge? And considering how this place looks… do you think it could have once been a thriving planet? You know, and something happened to cause it to be so flat and barren?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Richard agreed. “But what do you think it could be?”

Closing her eyes a moment, Kira thought deeply about what she had seen and heard on the planet, her mind slowly returning to the dragon she saw last night, flying across the moonlight and towards the castle. It made her thoughts turn towards the only solution, the simple fact seeming to appear in front of her vision, spilling easily out for her to understand. Opening her eyes slowly, Kira slowly came to a halt, Richard stopping next to her and backing up, bringing his hand to her shoulder and looking at her face as she stared into the ground, her mind obviously somewhere not on the barren valley they stood in.

“The dragons were enslaved by those creatures. It makes perfect sense... there are no dragons other than the one near Protegra, because they’re all in captivity under their rule. And he had a pistol that he shot you with so he could control the dragons.” Her hand slowly reaching to his waist, she slowly reached for the pistol, her hands brushing his side as she brought it directly in front of her face, carefully examining it.

“And here… this gun has a function called ‘Dragon Killer’ on it; it must be that it’s there for a last resort, for when the dragons try to revolt.” Slowly turning the gun to its maximum setting, Kira’s ears filled with the sound of a high pitched whine as the battery of the pistol charged greatly, the noise slowly fading as the weapon became fully prepared for its new mode. Looking up into Richard’s eyes, she smiled weakly and held it up to him. “Just in case, right?” She said softly as Richard pulled it carefully from her grasp, as if he was handling the most delicate of glass. “After all, they probably think we’re just as bad as the rest of them.”

Richard simply stared at her a moment, surprised at her sudden nature. Never before had he seen her in such a state- gentle, afraid, almost meek; it was as if she knew that the hounds of death marched upon their heels. “Kira, what’s wrong?” Richard asked, his arms slowly finding their way around her body, pulling her to his armored chest and closing his eyes as she sighed gently into his ear.

“Maybe daddy was right,” she said quietly. “Maybe it was a bad idea to come here. If there are dragons trying to kill us Richard, what are we gonna do?”

“Don’t worry, Kira, we’re almost back to the landing site. Just a little longer, and we’ll be fine.” Slowly opening his eyes to release the hug, Richard looked back up at the mountain to his left, noticing a large black swarm above it that wasn’t there before. Slowly stepping back from Kira, Richard began to feel his hands shake as he realized that they stood under a cloudless sky. Suddenly grabbing Kira by the shoulders, he began instantly pushing her forward, dashing next to her, waving for her to move faster and faster. “Kira, run; they’re after us!”


Pulsar was the first to notice the swarm of movement above the mountain at the site, his eyes narrowing as he realized what it was that approached. “Who would have thought that the one place we go, they have more dragons, ready to kill us all?” he muttered, walking patiently towards the ship, sitting next to a large crate of heavy beam rifles, his eyes searching around him so that no solider was looking, snatching up a gun quickly and bracing it to his right shoulder, not even having to look through the scope as he pulled the trigger, proving almost no recoil in his bulky arms as the beam traveled quickly to the cloud, a small black dot in the distance falling towards the mountain.

Smiling softly to himself at his own precision, Pulsar’s joy was overcome by the buzzing charge of pistols all around him charging to max. “Put the gun down, dragon, or I won’t have any problem leaving your body here.”

“And neither will I, if you don’t look at what’s coming this way,” Pulsar said coolly, gesturing towards the horizon. “They won’t kill me, but I think they’re here to find you boys and make sure you don’t get to say hello,” he said unsympathetically as the captain raised his binoculars to the distance, immediately giving orders as Pulsar raised his rifle for another shot.


Reaching quickly up behind her, Kira closed her left eye to raise the pistol in front of her eye, pulling the trigger and watching it hit a dragon in the shoulder, watching it fall to the ground behind them. “Kira, go ahead, I’ll slow them down!” Richard said, turning fully around and backpedaling as he fired up at them, every shot a perfect hit in the center of a dragon’s chest.

“Richard, I can’t leave you behind! They’re going to come for you!” She called, her voice now being drowned out by the array of gunfire from the landing site, the energy beams passing overhead and streaming into the field of dragons, collapsing in front of Richard as he slowly came to a halt, raising his halberd in front of him and using it as a shield as he fired at them.

“And that’s the idea! I’m trained for this, remember? Now get going before they get any closer!” he shouted, looking up just as the first dragons closed in, noticing out of the corner of his eye as Kira began to run for the landing site as some soldiers ran out to aid him; however, they were but a faint glimmer in the distance, and it would take minutes for them to get to him; he had no choice but to hold his own.

Ducking under a heavy claw, Richard lifted his halberd to get at the creatures stomach, the sharp steel simply brushing past its scales and making the creature somersault over its head as Richard’s halberd was knocked against the ground.

Looking down in sudden surprise at the ineffectiveness of it, Richard spun it around his back and towards his front, hitting a crimson red dragon away before dropping down onto one hand, holding himself up as he shot an emerald dragon that was making a beeline for him, letting the dragon tumble towards him, kicking his feet up and landing on the dragon’s back in an instant to avoid a low claw to his side, firing directly between the eyes of a pale white dragon, sending him flying backwards as Richard watched the crimson dragon rush him again, his eyes full of indescribable fury.

Lowering his legs to the ground, Richard used all his might to leap into the air, using his halberd to pull himself onto its back, letting the dragon fly towards the landing site as far as he could before he noticed the cat on his back, feeling only a moment’s surprise before he too was shot, tumbling into the ground.

As Richard leaped back into the air as the dragon’s shoulders bounced off the solid rock, he was launched into the air, firing twice behind him to slow his enemies down, landing in front of the ships as a heavy mounted turret on the flagship’s top fired at the still numerous dragons, now facing away from the site as they gave into retreat, seeming to fly directly over the mountainside from where they came, as if they were trying to return to somewhere.

Frowning softly to himself, Pulsar stood up quickly, tossing the rifle to his side, lightly hitting Richard’s shin, making his eyes dart over to the dragon as he started into a run. “I know where they’re going. Follow me, and maybe they won’t kill you next time!” he shouted, leaping into the air and spreading his heavy wings to easily take off into the light air, chasing them into the distance as Richard looked for some way to follow him across the ground.

His eyes turning to a small cycle that hovered low to the ground nearby, he dashed over to it amongst the bustling people, some still firing into the distance; Richard could just barely hear Tetra screaming for them to hold their fire, his mind not focusing on the world around him as he put his leg over the bike, straddling the seat and examining the controls; though he had used a basic one when he was just a kitten, the controls on this bike seemed much more difficult. As his mind tossed over the decision to use it or not, he finally decided it was nothing he couldn’t learn, jamming on the ignition and hearing the engine come to life, growling in preparation, making Richard smile at its power.

“Just what are you doing?!” Richard heard from next to him, looking up to see a rather cross Kira standing over him. “You don’t expect to go alone, do you?” Pushing gently on his shoulder, she hopped onto the bike behind him, settling into a small seat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “All right, now you can get going!” she said, tapping his stomach to signify her approval, assuming she couldn’t hear him over the engine that surrounded them and smothered them in its cry.

Smiling brightly to himself, Richard jammed on the throttle, feeling the bike suddenly kick with power, sending them forward at almost unbearable speeds, making both passengers lower their heads to the wind at the same time, a small windshield blocking the heavy gusts from their faces. Looking up at Pulsar in the distance, Richard pulled the throttle as far as he could down, the bike speeding up quickly as the world around them blurred with speed.


“Where is that son of a bitch going with her?” Tetra muttered, narrowing her eyes as she watched the bike scream away, looking around at the soldiers, all of them seeming to stop and look at her for orders, confusion and doubt in their eyes. Sighing gently to herself and putting her fingers to her forehead, she shouted across the site. “What are you all waiting for? Pack up your things, and let’s get going after the Princess!”


It wasn’t long before the tall buildings of the Dragon’s ancient city appeared to climb up from the distance towards Richard, making him narrow his eyes and search the ancient rock formations for signs of life. The buildings were superbly made, the sun breaking through the dense atmosphere and making the marble glitter in his eyes, becoming astonished by its incredible craftsmanship. “I guess they were headed back here to meet with the rest of them, don’t you think?” Richard called back to Kira, who leaned closer to him to listen over the wind which whipped across her face and shoulders.

“Well, here’s hoping that dragon knows what he’s doing, instead of out to get us both killed,” she said cautiously, gripping her pistol at her side and looking up at the swarms of dragons that surrounded Pulsar, following him as he seemed to approach the great tower that loomed above. “Richard, stop here,” she warned, feeling the bike slow to a crawl as Richard switched the bike into hover, feeling Kira’s weight shift as she got off the bike, standing next to Richard and helping him off as she watched the movement within the city.
“What is it, Kira?” He asked quietly, stretching the tense muscles of his back from leaning so low to the ground on the bike. “What are we stopping here for?”

“Two reasons: One, I want to give that dragon some time to get his little plan to work; whatever it is he’s doing, I’m sure it’s not gonna be easy. He isn’t even carrying a weapon. It makes me think that he’s trying to be diplomatic or something…”

“I guess that’s true; here’s hoping that he has some way to figure something out,” Richard said, popping his knuckles as he watched the last of the movement in the city die out as all the forms in the sky crowded into the giant tower. “What’s the other reason?”

“I get the feeling that if we go blazing into the city on this bike, they’ll think we came after them for more fighting. We need to be extremely careful, to make sure they know we come in peace; I just hope that they’re not too angry with the amount of people they’ve already lost in fighting.”

“All I know for sure is that they came after us, looking for a fight. If we’re looking to mend relations, it’s on their hands to explain why they came to attack you, me, the landing ships, the soldiers across the world, and whatever that other creature was that shot me,” he growled, rubbing his side as it still burned with pain. “In that case, we better get going, before they think we’re hiding from them,” Richard joked, walking away from Kira for a moment and spinning his pistol on his finger for a moment before it fired off into the sky, making him leap backwards in surprise, blushing in complete embarrassment and tossing the pistol towards the bike, letting it come to a rest before looking at Kira, whose look of shock turned to a playful smile, catching up to him and walking next to him a moment before taking his hand in hers, feeling Richard squeeze her hand as they walked together towards the towers on the horizon.


“Is this really the king?” a dragon whelp asked to their mother, who looked down at him and hushed him quickly as the council leader adjusted the glasses on his face, preparing to speak from a makeshift podium set up in the small room at the top of the tower.

“To everyone here today, I ask that you show the due respect and honor to the man standing here today. For he is none other than the one we have been waiting for since before some of us were born.” As murmurs spread across the crowd, Pulsar simply sighed and folded his arms impatiently, frowning and looking at the council leader.

“Honestly, I don’t need an entire procession and banners and flags to signify that I’m here; I just need to tell everyone a very important message. I know you’re the one that would help, so let’s get on with it.”
Looking up at him with a surprised look, the elder simply shook his head in surprise at the spunk of their prince; such a leader wouldn’t inspire hope among his follows. “Very well; I shall open a communication field across our planet for you. Speak at your leisure, sir.”

Stretching a moment as a small field of energy opened in front of him, Pulsar saw an image of himself reflected clearly, a mirror projection starting back at him intensely. Smiling for a moment at his own likeness before him, he spoke and watched the image’s lips move directly with his.

“All right, to those of you that can hear me out there, listen to me, it’s important; I’m sure most of you have seen me before in some book or something, or heard how important I am from your parents. I’m Pulsar, your new king, and I’m here to calm you down. You know those people that you’re seeing with weapons? It’s time to stop killing them. Just disarm them and bring them here,” he said, looking deeply into the distance in thought, trying to grasp what needed to be said.

As he spoke, Richard and Kira looked up as they walked, a great image of Pulsar hovering over the tower, his voice booming over the flatlands, leaving no echo as it only projected outward, having nothing to reflect off of. “Who would have thought that such a jerk could be a king?” Richard asked, tossing his pistol away behind him. “Well, if they want us unarmed, I say let’s go for it; we can at least ask Pulsar for a favor for bringing him here, right?”

“Let’s hope so,” Kira said cautiously, letting the pistol slide from her fingers to the rock below her. “I don’t want to have any trouble now that we can’t fight back.”

“As for the ones with no fur and pink skin,” Pulsar said, turning his head as to look out across the world, “I understand that they were oppressing us all, and hurt and killed many people; for that, I demand them to throw down their weapons, or no one will have any choice but to destroy them, just as they were destroying us. All in all, don’t kill anyone you find; try and capture them first.”

As a pause filled the chamber, Pulsar turned to the leader, giving a silent nod to signify his completion. Waving his hands slowly across the sphere, Pulsar’s image faded into nothingness, making him cross his arms and turn to the people in the chamber, looking at him with frightened expressions of confusion and unknown; they were expecting him to lead as soon as he returned.

“In all honesty, the best thing we can do now is try to rebuild this city for the dragons in the dig site, and to try and move on as best as we can. If we’re gonna need anything right now, it’s people that are gonna stand up for us, and give us a hand in these times.” Smiling softly to himself, Pulsar’s mind echoed with an idea that seemed to ring out for infinity. “And nobody needs to worry, because I’ll bet that just the person that wants to help is headed this way.”

Stepping out to the window once again, Pulsar grabbed onto the stone edges of the castle spire with his hands, peering out into the distance and three figures walking towards them, a large group of ships still far behind them, scrambling to prepare for flight the some 50 miles to the new landing zone. Examining the newcomers carefully, unable to help but smile breaking through his almost permanently cold expression, overcome with the prospect that the chips were finally falling into place.


“Who is that up there?” Richard pointed, seeing a dragon peer at them through the highest window. “It looks like he knows we’re here; could it be the man himself?”

“If it is,” Kira replied, walking with her shoulders a little closer to Richard’s, “Then I hope he has some answers as to why he suddenly took off like that. Couldn’t he have explained before he bolted away without so much as an announcement?”

“He seems too rash for that to me,” Richard said softly, trying to make sure the figure endless heights above them couldn’t hear his whispering voice. “I think he couldn’t wait for anything unless he thought there would be something he would enjoy out of it.”

Smiling gently and looking over at him, Kira softly squeezed his hand as the city came up around them, surrounded by buildings as they approached the lowest part of the tower. “I guess this is the place, huh?” She asked quietly as giant dragons stared them down from within the entrance.

“Here’s hoping they listen well,” he muttered as he crossed the threshold inside, the soft purples and blues mixed together on the walls, a large set of stairs leading up to the next grand floor above them. Stepping carefully onto the tile below them, Richard’s eyes darted among the dragons around them. His heart starting beating quickly as they all stepped away from him, scared of his new presence among them.

Reaching the stairs and walking slowly up, he could hear soft sighs of relief behind him. Baring his teeth at the thought that he had been labeled a killer, he continued up the steps with Kira by his side, his eyes moving quickly around to make sure that no one hurt her; they were too close to success to have her hurt now; he would give his life if saw one ready for a fight.