Chapter 1.
Charmer and the Beast
In the Eltanar system. Active thinking in italics. “Mindspeak in italics within quotes.”
For the hundredth time, Yanus called his son. Dinner time was approaching, and he wanted to ensure the boy was dry and warmly dressed, or he would hear it again from Taako, his wife. Ako had entrusted Tarun’s care to Yanus while she joined the cooking crew that day, their second on the welcoming shores of the planet Phe’lak in the Eltanar system, their journey’s final destination.
The voyage had been tumultuous, filled with strange space anomalies, treacherous wormholes, and an attack by their old enemy, the K’tul. However, the travelers’ weariness quickly transformed into elation as they gazed upon this magnificent coastline. They eagerly immersed themselves in settling this camp, their temporary foothold on the planet.
“Tar!” he called again.
His friend Darryl Senior, a prominent member of the expedition’s science team, came to join him. Janus hadn’t seen Darryl since they left their homes on Yand. It felt like a hundred years ago, but in reality, it had only been a little over a week. They had traveled in three wormholes, mainly organized by craft, and they still kept to that structure to accommodate the need to settle their professions.
“Should we let them play a little longer?” Darryl asked.
“Nah, Ako will have my head if he goes to dinner wet or catches a cold,” Yanus replied.
“My wife, too,” Darryl agreed, chuckling lightly.
“I haven’t seen Lori around the camp. Is she well?” Yanus asked his friend. “Taako was looking for her earlier for the cooking crew.”
“She’s fine,” Darryl replied. “A little rattled, like the rest of us. She’s helping her team settle into the new digs—temporarily,” he hastened to add.
This beach was immensely popular with all, but they expected to stay here for only a month or two until they found a more suitable site for their first settlement and began construction. However, Yanus, the head fisher, had already earmarked a prime location in this area that would support a fishing community.
“And how goes the settling?” Yanus asked. “You guys transferred alright? Lori…”
He let the question hang, not wanting to pry too much. Darryl’s wife, Loriana, was a member of the agro team and Taako’s good friend. She was a renowned chef, and Ako had hoped to coax her into joining Chef Pierre’s crew. But Lori had been a little scarce, and Ako had commented on it.
“We did,” Darryl replied. “The entire science group didn’t lose a single piece of equipment, and the medical team fared as well. Dr. Drew has his crew setting up beside us. But we were in the Pathfinder’s group and didn’t get stuck in the anomaly, nor did we see any hostilities. He transferred us directly—and smoothly—to Altais to wait for you. How did you guys fare with all those difficulties?”
“Hmm,” Yanus responded, reluctant to recall the ordeal. “You saw. By the skin of our teeth. The temporal anomaly stranded us on the rogue planet, and the Pathfinder had to come back to free us. Then, even he nearly lost us under that K’tul attack. I can’t even fathom how he managed that save.”
“Ah, you were in Group 3!” Darryl exclaimed.
“Indeed we were,” Yanus replied, nodding for emphasis.
“I heard our new queen bent the K’tul to save you. Did she?”
“She did,” Yanus confirmed. “It was spectacular. I hadn’t realized she possessed that level of power. But something happened to her that we can’t fathom. The Pathfinder had to leave her and King Snowfox behind and return to collect them later. But speaking of collecting, shall we gather this bunch?”
He didn’t wait for a response. He rolled his trousers up to his knees and went into the water, not expecting Darryl to follow him. He knew his friend had a phobia of water since that childhood incident.
He had to wade in the shallows for a while before the water came up to his calves, so the rascal Tarun saw him approaching.
“Please, Da, just a few more minutes. See? Everyone else is still here!” he yelped, moving further into the ocean.
Yanus’ legs were longer, and his wings mightier. With a powerful downstroke, he lunged forward and grabbed his wayward son by the wrist.
“You rascal!” he shouted. “You come when your dad calls you. Your mom bade me mind you. And look at you! You’re soaking wet!”
“Please, Da, look! Daryl Junior is still here, too. His dad isn’t having a—”
Darryl Sr. was still at the edge of the water, waving his arms and calling to Yanus to gather up his son as well. Yanus tucked Tarun under one arm, grabbed Junior with the other, and pulled the boys along.
“The rest of you better follow me,” he called behind him to the other children. “A little birdie told me there will be a sweet treat tonight if you finish all your dinner.”
The little birdie was his wife. The foraging team had discovered nuts and sweet berries, so the bakers were making pies. ‘For the kids,’ Taako said, but Yanus’ mouth watered just to think of it. They hadn’t had a properly cooked meal, let alone confections, since they left their home nearly two weeks ago.
Suddenly, Darryl Sr. began waving his arms frantically and pointing past Yanus. At the same moment, a tall wave crested over Yanus, carrying him several feet forward.
“The kids!” Senior yelled while launching himself into flight.
Yanus whirled around and looked behind him. Wave after wave rolled furiously toward the children. Just like that! Totally out of the blue.
“Fly!” he bellowed to the kids, but the first wave crashed into them, and only two managed to find their wings. The wave swept over the other three, dragging them backward and down. They went under.
Darryl Sr. flew past him and dived into the waves that had claimed the three kids by then. He reemerged with two boys. The third was missing. On pure adrenaline, Yanus launched himself toward the shore, dropped Tarun and Junior, and shoved them up the slope to the camp.
“To the marquee!” he yelled to them as he relaunched. “Summon the kings!”
He didn’t wait to see what they did but could hear their screams as he banked on a left wingtip, flying back into the now-lashing waves.
“My lords, Your Majesty, come quick,” the boys cried behind him, alerting the entire camp.
A large commotion and many beating wings followed Yanus as he flew frantically. He sketched a hasty low arc at the last location where he had seen the kids. There was no sign of the third boy. He dived, aware that another adult dived right after him, then one more, and another.
In the mountains, miles away, Hele’ne abruptly opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in the beast’s coils.
‘Where am I?’ she wondered, panic rising in her throat. ‘The children! I must save them!’
Disorientation hit her hard. She looked around her frantically.
‘Am I not at the beach? I’m in a cave!?'
“NO!” she whimpered aloud.
“Terrors again?” Beast inquired. “You dreamed of a beach? And people like you?! You know that’s impossible. You are the only one of your kind in my world.”
Reality hit Hele’ne as plain as the beast’s coils binding her body. There had been a time when she liked to think of these bonds as a display of affection, that her companion liked her and maybe even loved her. But she knew better now. It was only possession the beast felt towards her. The dragon even constrained Hele’ne’s wings to prevent her from flying away. Not that Hele’ne would attempt to escape now. The consequences were too severe. The beast always caught her and returned her to more misery in this cave that stank of her fear and the beast’s decay.
“Can we go past the valley today?” she asked timidly.
“You want to go to the shore? To see the people from your dream?” Beast replied.
Hele’ne hesitated, too fearful to answer. What if she said the wrong thing and angered the dragon?
“I’m an empath,” she finally said. “The people on the beach may be real and might need help. Maybe we could assist them.”
She swallowed hard, stealing a glance at the beast, who glared at her, smirking and sneering. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and braced for violence—a talon down her back or a toss into a corner. When nothing like that happened, she opened her eyes and looked up at the white dragon in surprise.
“Was it not night in your dream?” Beast asked. “They probably all drowned by now.”
“No, it was evening. There was plenty of light,” Hele’ne replied.
“It’s now the next morning, a long time later,” Beast insisted. “They’re probably all dead. But I will take you; I want to see your people, too. Maybe the man is with them.”
“What man?” Hele’ne asked, perplexed.
“Do you not remember him? He was bright.” the dragon answered.
Hele’ne didn’t remember any such man. The two men she saw in her ‘dream’ were dark.
“Didn’t you say I was the only one of my kind in your world?” she asked.
“You are now, but not always. There was another, but he escaped me.”
A cold fear clenched Hele’ne’s heart. Did Beast agree to take her to the shore because she intended to harm the people there? Hele’ne desperately longed to see them again and learn if they had survived the waves. There was nothing she could do to change the beast’s mind, anyway, once it was made up.
Their lair was high in the mountains that the natives called Phe’laki Heights. The surrounding area was rocky yet forested. Hele’ne loved this landscape. It vaguely reminded her of another cave in a different mountain range in another world. She liked to think that she had once lived there.
Her current abode was different in many ways. For one, the dragontree was missing, with its succulent blossoms that had intoxicated her every spring in that other world. And although this lair also wafted of dragon, the scent was different. It smelled far from the sweet, benevolent scent of the other. This was more like the stench of centuries of rot.
Hele’ne was unsure of how long she lived here with the beast. She had been too broken when the beast found her, devoid of all her powers and physically dying. She may have actually died, and the beast brought her back. But what creature could bring you back from the dead?
She vaguely recalled crawling from an ocean onto a shore and lying there for eternity. She had become part of the landscape by the time the beast discovered her. Maybe it was the beast’s curiosity that saved Hele’ne rather than devouring whatever morsels of flesh still remained on her tattered body. Perhaps she liked my wings, Hele’ne mused.
At first, when Hele’ne began to regain consciousness, she didn’t fear the beast. She did now. The beast may have spared Hele’ne, but she was savage to the rest of the world. It wasn’t enough to kill lesser creatures and eat their flesh. She delighted in savaging them first, hunting them, drinking their fear. She enjoyed terrorizing the native people who shared her mountains, at times razing their villages with her fires. Or, more often, she stole folks, tormenting and tearing them to shreds before devouring them.
The beast’s terrors and torments toward Hele’ne were more subtle, yet also more profound. The worst came in the form of restrictions and dominance. The beast did not allow Hele’ne the use of her wings or the mere thought of her powers. The moment Hele’ne conjured coordinates to teleport somewhere, the beast’s consciousness suppressed her.
Hele’ne had begun to think about teleporting to the beach where she had washed ashore. She wanted to find clues of her origins. The bits of memory that came to her were tantalizing. This other world… this other dragon… this man… Was it the same man the Beast had spoken of?
“Shall we go now?” she asked.
“Are you awake enough?” the beast replied.
“Shall I teleport us?” Hele’ne inquired timidly.
“No. I will fly us,” the beast retorted. “Ride on my back.”
“Please, just this once,” Hele’ne begged. “My wings will fall off from the misuse.”
Chuckling in Hele’ne’s brain, the beast allowed it. She uncoiled from Hele’ne and dragged her outside the cave. Hele’ne launched herself to the sky.
“Not so high,” the beast rebuked her. “Fly here at the front where I can see you.”
Even with the restriction, flying was so exhilarating that Hele’ne’s heart nearly burst with joy. She beat her wings eagerly, without fear. The beast could easily outfly her, so she shouldn’t consider Hele’ne’s vigorous flying a threat.
The shore was far, so they flew for quite a while. Hele’ne’s long-unused wing muscles had begun to ache when they took a right bank, and the shore came into view in the distance. There was motion, so much movement, as if the sands lived. The entire beach was animated. The people were here! In truth!
But there were no lashing waves. The ocean was calm and gentle, rolling onto the sands. That was last night, Hele’ne reminded herself. Did Yanus survive? Did he find that child? And what of that silver girl who dived after him?
Hele’ne had only a glimpse of that girl in her ‘dream,’ but her heart skipped a beat just to think of her.
Redoubling the beating of her wings, she swooped and banked before the beast could react to catch her. As she approached, as far as she could see from the air, the beach bustled with people, winged folk, like her! It was just like in her ‘dream.’
Hele’ne dived to land, completely forgetting her companion. The beast, however, did not forget her. She grabbed her by the waist in her clawed paw and yanked her back.
“Ah!” Hele’ne cried, winded from the sudden violence.
One of the beast’s claws had raked her side, and blood ran down her dress. But she ignored it. With eyes like saucers, she watched the people as they busied themselves, pitching tents, stowing supplies, and many other tasks. Many children ran on the sands and splashed in the water. There was no sign of danger!
The beast landed behind a large boulder and shifted, assuming the rock’s coloration. She pulled Hele’ne to kneel beside her and coiled her tail around her waist. Hele’ne assumed the color of the rock as well.
“Do you hurt?” the dragon asked. “I didn’t mean it.”
“I’m fine,” Hele’ne replied, although her side burned like the blazes. “Why did you agree to bring me here if you won’t allow me to talk to the people?”
“No!” Beast snapped. “You will only watch. I brought us to see if your people were real. And they are! I can catch us a few, maybe the man.”
“No!” Hele’ne snapped back quickly.
“I need no company. I have you,” she added hastily, attempting to mask her horror at what the beast would do to anyone she caught—torture, slow and excruciating.
But did Beast mean to capture a companion for Hele’ne? Or did she desire another companion for herself?
“I’m your companion,” Hele’ne asserted possessively, surprising herself. “You need no other.”
“But they’re amusing,” the beast said, chuckling in Hele’ne’s mind again. “Let’s watch them for a while.”
And so they did. A young man caught Hele’ne’s attention. He silvered like herself. He was the youth who had dived after Yanus to save the missing child in Hele’ne’s ‘dream.’ He couldn’t be much more than a teen in years, but carried himself like a king. He commanded the people with authority, and they obeyed his orders without the slightest hesitation.
Another young man, a golden one, meandered among the tent pitchers, exuding the air of royalty. Another king? He was friendly and jovial, patting peoples’ shoulders and offering encouragement as he helped with the work.
“Luc, a bit higher ground. The tide might reach this far,” the silver teen called out to the golden one.
“Ah, it’s fine, here,” Golden replied, “Wolfpack said so, and Simi confirmed the tide patterns from the earth’s core.”
“She should be resting, man,” Silver rebuked.
“I know,” Golden replied, shrugging his shoulder. “Check on her?”
With a nod, Silver ducked inside the largest tent. Was this the marquee? Hele’ne held her breath for several moments. She wanted to see this youth again before the beast dragged her away. He reemerged, carrying a woman in his arms. She, too, was a silver teen, like the young man who carried her.
It was the girl who also dived after the missing boy in Helene’s ‘dream!’
But a look at her, and Hele’ne began to gasp. Something familiar, a memory or a feeling, suddenly enveloped Hele’ne. There had been another girl, Hele’ne remembered with a sudden spark—an eternity ago—who had also made her feel this weakness: her limbs and wings turning to liquid, her breath catching in her throat, her heart slowing to near stillness.
Who is this girl? Why does she make me feel this strange, this weak?
Hele’ne squeezed her stomach and began to vomit. The beast doubled her hold around her waist and launched them both into the air. She beat her mighty wings in anger, creating violent gusts of wind that sent dust clouds swirling all around them. The people below cried out and turned their eyes to the unusual spectacle. But Hele’ne and the beast were still shifted, invisible.
Beast flew them away, but not before making a close sweep onto the beach, dislodging waves of water and drenching the folks.
“There’s your dream,” the dragon boomed, “I made it come true.”
