Star Dragons: Chapter One

When six space delegates who have lost their worlds are pulled into an ancient Star Dragon war, they must use their extra-sensory abilities to join the fight, reverse a prophecy and return home.

CHAPTER ONE: The War that Waited for One.

"There weren’t always dragons in the valley.” Says the boy over intercoms to the other four, in a calming tone, as winds of pulverized star glass from the Wormhole uncomfortably sweep over them. His specially engineered suit—made of an ethereal-glowing, frequency-tuned star metal called Belchoria, formed only in those unlucky stars, altered by the Star Dragon murderer known as The Pirate King or, Nerezza, with whom our group believes they are going to fight over control of the final frequency to reopen a portal that will return the Star Dragons to their universe, or doom our universe to suffer their fight in it, forever—allows him to withstand the headwinds effortlessly. He has flown in the open tunnel since disembarking the Island Planet, as a shield generator, and light beacon. Leading three fighters containing his companions, the Delegates, with Nerezza's stolen battleship—the Niariod Coada, 'in tow.'

However, now the sand glass winds pummel the Delegates, too, ripping around them, centimeters from their suits’ and ships’ surfaces, as an unshielded phase event in a side fold of the Wormhole, fazed the Delegates outside, pinning them flat against their ships.

As they endure, the boy knows that they are safe because the belchorian-filiment modifications he made to their ships to create Repulsion Barriers, deflect the sandglass storms adequately, wrapping around the Delegates, sealing them into separate, storm-tight bubbles.

He focuses on the surface of the Niariod, observing the sandglass web patterns created in the repulsion currents. He could have left them to fight alone, as his programming tells him, yet he seeks the artificial world his grandfather designed, and share it with them as a permanent settlement after the war to make up for the worlds they lost when the Star Dragons arrived. As the Delegates squirm, the boy reminisces how each one arrived in his life, as the Niariod’s translucent material climbs toward them.

Caspian and Nuriel partially beamed onto the bridge of another warship, where they competed with the boy and his twin for control of the helm, eventually ceding it to the twins.

Molnia was a crewmember of the Chantmun when the boy arrived, assigned to the boy by the ship's captain.

Finnea and Axton met the boy on the Island Planet, a faraway place of unsolved mysteries pertaining to the Star Dragon phase.

Kaneki, head technologist and gear designer, considered the “Sixth” Delegate. Friend, and protector since hatching on the Chantumun. He is expected to receive them upon their wormhole exit. More than one being has lived and worked through him, yet we call him the Boy. They call him “kid,” because he’s a wonder, yet aren't ready to call him his real name, yet.

“Every little thing is gonna be all right,” the boy continues over intercoms, where only moments ago, the four Delegates’ occupied their ships, and now, suddenly do not.

“Just breathe,” focusing his mind on the pirate ship's surface, as more of its material coaxes upward enveloping his team and their ships, mixing inside the repulsion barriers. As their ships pull backward, the Niariod slithers like feral fluid around them.

Long before the boy was born, Nerezza engineered a frequency to alter stars in order to harvest a pure metal called, Belchoria that could give unparalleled power to Allira Glass, weaponry and ships. When Nerezza’s frequency malfunctioned, it opened a Phase Portal in the middle of the Star Dragon home world, phasing city-sized pieces of it, as well as citizens from their universe, into ours, creating devastation on both sides.

Muting himself on intercoms, the boy makes an entry in his flight-recorder.

“The Magnetic Repulsion Barriers work as expected,” He speaks. “The Dangles are aboard the Coada, and my team will continue along Drideon's thread. It may be the last chance we have to find the sanctuary planet, but if they have captured Leathos, already, then the planet and our hope of sanctuary are lost, anyways. We must get in place to stabilize Leathos and re-open the portal. Once the two Star Dragons are with us again, we’ll win the resistance.” He turns his recorder off, his intercoms on, and his attention to his team.

Glimpses through the sheer wormhole walls show planetary bodies passing by while the high-velocity sand-wind pulls and screeches past them. The Non-Newtonian material of the Coada reaches upward and around the Delegates, as it attaches itself to their repulsion barriers, creating a hard layer over the Delegates’ persons and their ships. As the sheer-cutting material of the Coada mixes into the barrier, the form pushes itself out like a balloon, its fluid edges form into a thick, glassy magnetic film that expands into a bubble. As the bubble hardens into differently shaped and color-tinted, star-glass, they provide wind-cutting, Anti-Pulver Shields which cut through the wormhole winds.

His special suit allows him to “hear” through the wormhole, in any direction he turns his head, as he keeps a protective eye around his team and the rippling mass below. The boy offers his most heartfelt sentiment:

“In the river, you are protected,” he aligns. “Now hold on to your wafers,” as they soar through the sandwinds.

Aboard the Com of the Niariod Coada, we see groups of numerous, different-looking characters called, Dangles running it. Grown, yet shorter than the boy, head-to-toe-tech-suited, they buzz about in hive fashion. There is zero visibility at observation from white-outs of fine, clear silt-glass, glossing over the Niarod’s form in a dry glaze.

“Can you see Master Ingledeeng?” Inquires one to a lookout.

“Can you tell,” says the lookout sarcastically, gesturing to the windows. “This ship ain’t sweeping it.” Somewhere, a groovy song plays and every Dangle is wiggling and shaking a little. Plus, they appear a few ways over their heads, yet remain on task.

“Steady on the thread,” calls a third from another control panel.

As the Dangles speak, their mouths don’t move with their words, like bad lip readings over old Kung Fu movies. Crossing panels, they engage buttons that extend a mechanism outside the battleship to reach a silken, yet unmoving thread strung along the length of the wormhole. This natural fiber was last connected to the tail armor of a Star Dragon named, Drideon, who, after convincing them to let him shrink a sleeping Star Dragon named, Kelphus--their only reliable Star Dragon ally--as well as a tiny moon inside his pouch, and that they would at the entry point of the war.

Using the thread as a guide wire, the Coada holds the guide cable like a closed-eyed, deepwater diver. The velocity pounds outside their shields as they draw through the winds. Suddenly, the Dangles see the Delegates’ ships' bows pressing into the Niariod.

“What’s happening?” says a Dangle.

“The Niariod’s power cells are resetting,” says another. “Must be part of the ship.”

“Those are the sterns of the Delegate’s ships,”

“They are searching for available energy to integrate our Commanders’ ships. The Haven we re-installed must have awakened.”

“Diya!” They exclaim as the fighter ships slide involuntarily away from view.

Diya is a Haven. Living inside a geode of fused star glass, her kind is the main component of Nerezza’s black market, used as power cells and sandglass windshields. Diya periodically loses consciousness and the group doesn’t know exactly why, yet. Her sleeping is a challenge, as they need her awake to navigate them to go home.

“It’s all coming back to me now,” the boy says, outside the Niariod, to expectant looks from the rest as they watch the powdered star glass glaze over them. As the blistering winds increase, we see the Delegates’ ships sliding toward separate tubes.

The Boy is not the same as he was when he was small. He is told that before he could remember, he was kidnapped where his grandfather taught, and allegedly taken to one of Nerezza’s Star Cutter Rooms, where his body is enhanced, capable of Star Dragon close combat. While there, his mind is also expanded with the oldest known Star Dragon dialect. He is told that he is the last mediator for Star Dragons and has been chosen to convince them to return to their home world, so that he and his grandfather can repair the missing, artificial planet they want to call home.

As his companions feel the immediate release from the terrifying pressure, noting the newly formed, spacious shield bubble around them. Standing up, they look through their Anti-Pulver Shield Bubbles, into the headwinds of the wormhole, like observation windows on a clear diving bell.

“There,” says the boy, shaking his hands, as the bubbles crystalize and secure.

“Thanks, kid. How are we supposed to get back inside?” Molnia questions.

“Let me try,” The boy rises up.

“Unless we’re flying our ships from out here, yes inside!” Molnia retorts.

“We’re hanging by a thread here, without the SkyDreamers,” stresses Finnea.

“Kelphus and Drideon will be at the end of the thread,” the boy springs up. “Just like they promised,” focusing again on the Niariod’s surface.

“I’ve got other feelings than you, kid, but you’ve left me no choice, right now, help us get back inside our birds,” Nurial demands.

“Let me try,” as more layers rise toward them all, forming new openings. However, the Niarod takes a sudden, yet slight turn, jolting the group underfoot. Outside the ship, a bend in the silken thread appears, leading the Niariod toward another tensor fold in the wormhole’s narrow sidewalls, creating a new exit. As the ship veers from the central tube, they draw down a new one. Closing their eyes, the Delegates prepare to land at the coordinates where a battle they have traveled so far to face, is expected to be.

However, instead of moving through, the Coada seals the floor of each Anti-Pulver Shield before detaching the bubbles from its surface, causing the bubbles with Delegates inside, to tumble through the gate. The battleship dips its nose just inside the gate, as it breaks off the Delegates’ shield bubbles, and rebounds.

We see five silhouette bubbles and a larger, darker bubble tumble into an open area of space.

“Stabilizing thrusters,” calls Nurial. Their networked suit propulsion systems kick in together, bringing them to a synchronized stop, accelerating the involuntary merging of each bubble shield into a single one, as the Niarod Coada gently returns into the Wormhole, and comes to a stop.

They look around them through their visor shields. Terrestrial dust remnants of a planet can be seen hanging in the nearby and faraway, starry darkness.

“Is everyone all right?” The boy calls.

Mechanical sounds are heard over the intercom of Nuriel, Propulsion Booster Networks, his suit leaking pink mist.

“His Lung Recipator!” Axton says, Landing and Mech Arms, rushing to his friend’s side.

“You’ve helped enough,” Nuriel twists away.

“You’re losing gasses, it’s affecting your brain,” Axton reasons.

“I don’t care. Let me go,” Nuriel folds his arms, showing signs of pre-labored breathing.

“You’re losing Mineral Control,” The boy commands in. “In forty-seven seconds, that pink mist turns green, and you’re gonna be mad.”

“Mad? At what,” Nuriel protests.

“That we granted your dying wish,” Caspian steps in, Climate Control/Gravity Scaffolding, “of getting strained through your suit, like Saklop milk, but you’re not dying. You will if you don’t let us fix it!”

“Fine,” Nuriel presents the tear, as Caspian applies Fiber-Fusors.

“Good as new,“ Caspian states, after snipping the last fiber of the suit mesh.

“Where are we?” Molnia awes. “It looks new, yet I feel like I’ve been here.”

“These are the coordinates from the Key,” says the boy cooly.

“You mean, that glitchy Key of Harmony?” Molnia squibbles.

“What other key is there?” the Star Dragon/boy says. “Leathos’ orbital plane.”

“So, where is everyone?” Finnea asks, searching.

“We’re supposed to meet them at the rear.” the boy says.

“Not a single soul here,” Caspian notes. “Let alone just one to have a rear.”

“We’re at the wrong place,” gargles Molnia.

“We’re here,” the boy accounts. “I remember it from one of the Chantmun’s patterns.”

“Well, wherever we really are, we’ll have more Star Dragons than we can handle soon, now that they’ve seen him,” Caspian gestures to the boy.

“Him,” Nuriel clarifies, “as in, Nerezza’s Number Two, Jr., right here?”

And just like that, we see the boy through the Delegate’s visors. His appearance is the spitting image of the Pirate King’s hitman. Because of his serious deformities even for a Star Dragon, he wears a special suit to survive. The boy looks like him.

“Who is he supposed to be?” Nuriel asks.

“You know full well,” Molnia explains.

“I know it’s Barnarbus, it’s just awkward,” Nuriel confesses. “It had to be him.”

“Others see the wearer as younger versions of them,” Axton recites.

“The prophecy explains it,” Molnia slobbers.

“But nothing about looking like another wearer across a wormhole,” Axton states.

“It means that two suits of the same Haven exist,” the Barnarbus/Boy shares.

“Paired to the stretchable suit first, before the phase, and again into the expandable suit after the phase,” Axton educates. “Maybe this is what ‘The Shining Root will bless the Shimmering Leaf atop of the tree.’”

“I don’t have an explanation,” Molnia slinks back.

“Maybe our Star Dragons moving ahead was a new diversion,” Axton suggests.

“Kelphus and Drideon would find a way to tell us,” the Barnarbus/Boy ponders.

“Maybe we were being followed.”

“By whom?” Molnia garbles.

“What if, Dark Slashers,” Nurial says.

“Well, that would mean that they—” Caspian begins.

“Slashers behind us!?” Molnia cries. The group’s eyes widen at this possibility.

“—followed their intended leader,” Caspian adds.

“Maybe the glitchy Haven made it so we couldn’t see them,” Finnea suggests.

“Diya can’t stay awake long enough to sleep,” Molnia says.

“What in Cellion is she doing???” Axton, Landing-Mech-Arms Ops, baffles as he looks at the Niarod Coada behind the gate.

They turn to face the gate. The Niariod Coada idles just inside the other edge, shimmering in the still-open wormhole, their ships inside the Shatter Cannons.

“It’s not moving,” says the boy, with an edge of surprise. “It’s supposed to follow us out,” offering familiar gestures toward the ship.

“Well, why isn’t it?!” Molnia, Power Core Engineering ops, strains.

“We need our birds,” Caspian exclaims. “Thrusters to Yamajas” he commands. Their bubble propels them toward the galleon of rippling translucence, when suddenly, the rippling stops, the ship changes position, and moves to the ceiling, reversing deeper into the Worm. A Poirotaro Pitch Line appears, causing their bubble to crackle.

The Pitch is a seal mechanism built into wormhole gates designed to repel accidental crossings while the gate opens or closes. The ring focuses the heat of the wormhole gate into a paper-thin, laser-cutting dome which is fatal if caught between.

“Stopp,” the Barnarbus/Boy bellows, reinforcing a shield of his own around the crackling bubble.

“Over-ride all reverse,” Molnia booms, as all thrusters divert to reverse. The tiny shield bubble rebounds to a safer distance, as the wormhole gate completes

As their rapidly cooling bubble-shield hisses, it settles into a just as strong layer, yet with smaller interior space.

“We can’t pass through Pitch Lines,” the Barnarbus/Boy scolds, rapping the bubble walls.

Caspian shakes Nurial’s lapel, tugging him. “Until you get your brain back, go somewhere and sit down!”

“Hail the crew,” the boy calls as the hissing stops. “They’ll know what’s going on.”

Inside the Niariod’s bridge, the Dangles are hard at work, as another groovy song continues in the background, they push buttons that seem to be having a working effect, along with full-on gradual, building flash mobs, yet focused on their posts. until the ship becomes suddenly unresponsive.

“What’s going on?” Dangles ask each other from their panels.

“Reading,” Commands one Dangle.

“All power and memory link in faze,” says an engineering Dangle.

“Hull Scaffolds and Flexions normal,” containment Dangle says.

“Keep trying!” A commanding Dangle calls to the rest.

Outside the gate, the Delegates and the Barnarbus/Boy huddle as they orbit in their tiny bubble.

“This isn’t right. It’s supposed to follow us,” the Barnarbus/Boy continues in vain to coax the unmoving Niariod. As the wormhole gate stands open, the boy watches the heavy artillery they thought they’d have to win the War, stay put in the Worm.

“How come Nerezza never found the Niariod, if we found it so easy? Asks Finnea.

“Maybe he couldn’t see it,” says Caspian.

“Maybe he didn’t want to see it,” Finnea shrugs.

“Maybe it’s not the Niariod,” Axton imagines. “If cisum mimics shapes, it must have a Haven from the same star and a piece of the mimic. That piece that Drideon hid there must be the Muscle Memory Practicator of the Niarod. That’s how he did it! They occupied the same space, which gave the ship mighty power, but got separated in the phase. This Niariod is—.”

“—The soul of the ship.” The boy teaches. “The metal shell of the Coada is elsewhere.”

“Holy Aria, please no,” Molnia whimpers, bringing the others’ attention to his discovery.

They see the splayed end of the same thread they had just been following here, still attached the edge of the gate like dental floss at a corner of a monster’s mouth.

“Where’s the rest of Drideon’s thread?” Enunciates Molnia.

“This is why the Coada didn’t come through,” Barnarbus/Boy learns.

Suddenly, the Coada backs completely into the Worm, disappearing into the sand winds.

“We have to find Drideon,” says the Star Dragon/boy. “He has—“

“That's it! I'm convinced Drideon is a spy,” Nuriel shouts. “He’s the one who told us that this was the real Niariod. He should have known, as he told us he's the one who stole it from Nerezza in the first place.”

“Or Barnarbus,” the boy says.

“Barnarbus, Nuriel balks. “I hear Nerezza’s number two executes spies,” he shudders.

“Worse,” the boy hints.

“Who?” Molnia questions.

“Barnarbus,” Axton responds, to Molnia's blank stares. You really don’t know, do you.”

“Their arrival didn’t affect my world until later so, no,” Molnia dribbles.

Axton clasps her hands. “Barnarbus, burned in an electric explosion where planet Leathos was built, stole a Star Haven that brought him to be found and saved by Nerezza’s helpers, or Nerezza, depending on who you ask, who then fit him with the stretchable suit opposite of the kid's to live, and in return, make him the Pirate King’s number one hitman.”

“I can’t think of a worse villain, Caspian says. “If I could find him, I’d tell him—”

“Which one,” the boy replies. ”What would you either tell a Star Dragon who extorted others into building a frequency so powerful, it opened a portal for his black market for star parts through the tear in our universes, and then killed his helpers.

“Well, for one, I’d tell him off!” Caspian calls out.

“Then he’d tell someone to kill you and that would be that,” the boy says.

“Well, we just don’t know, any side of it at this point,” Nurial grumbles.

“Are we even on the right side of this?” Molnia asks.

“Kelphus and Drideon are on our side,” the Star Dragon/boy rallies.

“And which side is that, exactly?” Nuriel asks.

“Stopping Nerezza,” the boy commands. “The ones who promised they’d be at the end of this thread.”

“Star Dragons followed Nerezza through the phase, right? How come?” Nurial asks.

“What exactly are you asking the kid?” Axton cuts in.

The boy inhales to speak. “Not all of them followed. Those who did came knew how to find the Sahgnw—“

“—Because they’re just like every other Star Dragon,” Nuriel cuts. “Covet the highest frequency, and destroy everything to get it.”

“Most Star Dragons are good,” the boy defends. “Kelphus is helping us to find Leathos, so that she can go home, too. They said to not stray from the thread. If we can get the Star Drag—”

“—A Star Dragon crashed our ships inside a Wormhole, before casting them onto the Chantmun Setlister,” Caspian revisits.

“Kelphus gave us sanctuary,” the boy reminds.

“She almost annihilated us,” Caspian says.

“She shielded us from the Slashers,” the boy counters.

“It was the last straw, to end up underground and stasis-frozen,” Nuriel adds. “She stole our bodies, our crews, and marooned us inside plasm island.”

“Island Planet,” corrects Caspian.

“Whatever. She gave us worse than nothing, to wait in stasis while Dangles walked in and out,” Nurial complains. “They knew we were there all along.”

“Yes, and even if you were awake and had managed to exit the Cisum before the boy put on that bizarre suit of armor, you’d have exploded all on the way up and we’d have never known you were there.”

“Kid’s right,” Caspian says. “We would’ve died and disappeared in there.”

“But wait,” Axton inquires. “The Niariod has our Dangle crews on it. Where is her original crew?”

“You know where they are,” the Star Dragon/boy says knowingly.

Axton’s eyes widen. “I thought those were prisoners at the front of the Chantmun.”

Chantmun Setlister, a Star Dragon shuttle ship, lost on its way to collect Nerezza, Now captained by the boy’s grandfather.

“Dissenters of the Resistance,” Finnea points out.

“They were there to collect Nerezza,” Axton explains. “When half defected to the resistance’s side, and to join Ingledeeng, the staunchest followers of the Cleffor Prophecy mutinied, were chased into the bow, and kept ever since, under house arrest.

“If the whole Chantmun crew worked together, we’d have Portal Frequency Counts, by now,” the boy states.

“And yet, the Chantmun is nowhere, just like Ingledeeng,” Caspian snorts.

“Listen, you did right for the good of the mission,” praises the boy.

“Good of the Mis— A whole lotta’ good it did,” Nurial punctuates.

The boy assures Caspian “And you told the truth, where it had to be heard.”

“Once he taught us how to mind load, he left us when Leathos broke,” Caspian torts.  

"Leathos didn't break,” says the boy honestly. “Yet, that is for another time.”

“This kid has totally lost his nut,” Nuriel positions.

“Ease up on the kid,” Caspian lowers. “We all know who he is.”

“If I knew our target was Elsia’s son, I’d have never done it,” Nurial admits to the group.

“If I knew it was the Ingledeeng family, I’d have stayed away,” Caspian agrees.

“Save for Kaneki, no one here would have stayed after all we’ve been through,” Finnea says. “But the kid is good.”

“I hope we didn’t follow the weakest link,” Nuriel rasps.

“Leathos was controlled, I was inside,” Axton adds.

“We were all inside,” Molnia says.

“The kid took a beating, while you two were in there,” Finnea clarifies. “Ease up.”

“Neither of you ‘got inside,’ Nuriel points to Finnea, Molnia, and Axton. “Because of a Star Dragon, we barely got out.”

“She destroyed two of our birds in a wormhole, split us up at the Chantmun, after sending us to crash into on its hull,” Sznak recounts.

“She saved you from Wormhole storms,” the boy reminds.

“We got smuggled off the Setlister in burn bags,” Caspian remembers. “We’re lucky our suits weren’t removed before we fully downloaded.” Nuriel agrees.

“And what about your twin inside, who almost killed us,” Sznak laments.

"Brahm wanted to be heard,” the boy says softly.

“He wanted to burn it all,” Nuriel says soberly.

"He wanted to be seen,” says the boy, lifting his head.

“He wished for un-seeable things,” Caspian shakes her head.

"He was going to kill us,” Nuriel stomps.

The boy opens his hands. “He needed—”

“—To be dealt with,” Nuriel grits his teeth. “And you let us down on that one.”

“Freezing him in the second Motor Function Port wasn’t right, yet it did bring me back so that I could finally help,” the boy says, with some cheer. “I call this a success.”

“We were supposed to bring you back to Locria to finish the operation,” Caspian says.

Axton interjects as if speaking in controversy. “Maybe the kid didn’t need it.”

Caspian and Molnia give Axton a look, as Axton shrugs.

“Maybe the Operation needed him like this. Maybe that’s why Ingledeeng was there.”

“Maybe. It’s also because he had his own Allira Frequency,” Molnia raises, grimacing.

Allira. Star glass from a Nerezza-altered star. Holds the same frequency as its parent star, forming into protective, geode-like shells, inside which, membrane sacs of Belchoria (Nerezza’s sought-after alloy for his dangerous arsenal), filled with a translucent, non-Newtonian fluid, called Cisum, inside which, bioluminescent creatures called Star Havens sprout, floating inside their watery orbs like deep-sea fireworks. A Live Haven Geode is the most powerful wormhole and protection travel “device,” ever.

“Even with my abilities,” the boy counters. “I could not save them.”

“No, because you were still haywire over the little problem in your head,” Nurial chides.

“You mean our us?” Caspian questions.

“Whatever,” Nuriel passes.

“My abilities were built inside me against my will, long before we met. My mother rescued me from their laboratories to deliver me to grandpa. While Leathos changed, Kaneki, Amarea, and I were falling through the Light Portal he built, just hoping to survive. Wherever they were, they likely did the same.”

“Then, where are Ingledeeng and Amarea?” Molnia

“Last time I saw Granpa, he instructed Amarea, Kaneki and I to go to the Multi-Beam Room to meet him after evacuating the planet. He hadn’t returned by the time we fell into the portal,” the Star Dragon/boy says. “We lost Amarea in the portal,” he stresses. “Grandpa wouldn’t leave us.”

“We need to do something,” Molnia says.

“We need to find our Star Dragons,” says the Star Dragon/boy.

“A magical eye might help,” Nuriel says. “This thread is cut,” pointing to the end.

“The key lit the path for us here,” the boy says. “Drideon and Kelphus must be near.”

“So, where are they?” Finnea asks, searching.

“They should already be here,” Caspian says, examining the expanse.

“And yet, here we are,” points Nuriel.

“There will, however, be more Star Dragons than we can handle, now that they’ve seen…Him,” pointing to the boy.

“Him,” Nuriel injects, “as in, this look-alike, right here?”

And just like that, we finally see the boy through the eyes of his companions. He appears just like Nerezza’s number two, Barnarbus, alleged hitman for the Pirate King. He wears a suit that shines like living star metal

“Who is he supposed to be?” Nuriel asks.

“Isn’t it obvious? Look at him,” Finnea expects.

“It's the suit he’s got on. He can’t help it,” Molnia explains.

“It’s awkward,” Nuriel confesses.

“It means two suits of armor exist,” the Star Dragon/boy shares.

“Paired to the same Haven as the Coada,” Molnia adds.

“Two champions of reason and round doth square in simul of lang’uing,” The boy mutters, closing his eyes.“

“Kaneki says that ‘simul of lang’uing’ means, “To speak Lagirdahm, the oldest Star Dragon tongue.”

“So,” Molnia gurgles “whoever is wearing the other suit and this kid are gonna talk?”

“The prophecy said ‘suit,' not ‘suits,’” Axton reiterates.

“You better know your Lagirdahm, kid,” Molnia anticipates.

“Two warriors of resonated sound,” the boy speaks heavily, “will trade souls, in lives for saving.”

“I hope we’re worth laving,” Nurial says hopefully.

Everyone stares into the void beyond Drideon’s thread.

“Look,” the boy says, appearing as the one we saw before. “Sometimes, when you look at the stars, you feel like you're not the first to have used that inspiration to build something bigger, something greater than what you called home, a future beyond the battle— A future that values harmony and peace. The stars make sure we don't get lost in an endless sea of night, even if they seem small because their light seems so so far away, yet their very existence is an extremely big thing. We may be small, yet we have all the light we need to send the Star Dragons home, and together, we will," The Star Dragon boy pauses to inhale and exhale. “End this war,” he finishes.

The Delegates glimpse the eleven-year-old, Thyazor Inglendeeng under the Barnarbus they see.

“I have one more thing to say,” Nurial stamps in, as his weary-eyed companions contemplate a new plan. “In the end, Thyazor is the same kid we were sent to help, long before we knew what the mission was, long before we knew it was him. We were still sent to help him. Join the fight and reverse a prophecy. It doesn’t matter how we got here, we still got closer than we’d be had we stuck to the first-first operation. It matters how we’re going to figure this one out,” Nuriel decrees. “And I’m here for it.”

As the group cheers Nuriel, Caspian leans in. “I’d like to welcome your brain back.”

A fleck of wormhole dust floats inside their huddle. The boy spots it, right away, alarmed.

“Guys,” the boy shouts. They stop short to catch the fleck floating by the window.

Suddenly, another wormhole gate opens above them and we see a battalion of hostile-looking Star Dragons marching away from the group. We are at the rear, where a doppelgänger, an identical twin boy from the beginning, turns to face us.

“Going somewhere?” Says the twin, in a fiery voice to the group in a bubble. The Delegates look to Thyazor, who looks like Barnarbus again. The boy uses his Phase Queller device to make another Oirotaro Pitch. They bounce backward again as the second wormhole snaps shut.

“Who was that?!” The group gasps to the Star Dragon/boy.

“We really are on the wrong side of the war,” the Star Dragon/boy shockingly, discovers.

Here ends Chapter One of Star Dragons, a science-fiction fantasy searching for a planetary key to put a broken world named, Leathos, back together again, and save the universe.

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