***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Astra***

Gaia stood in her villa's living room, facing four adults and a hyperactive boy who was running circles around her.

“This is unexpected.” The avatar tilted her head while studying the four of us. “How did you figure out you just have to sleep together to end up in the same dream? I expected it would take a lot more time for you to find out.”

“Don't make it sound like we were having a foursome!” Mark exclaimed quickly. “We are just only sleeping in close vicinity to each other.”

Thalia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Every psychic with just a smidgen of experience knows that psychic abilities are strongly reliant on distance to the target. It stood to reason that if this dream is indeed relying on psychic power, sleeping in the same room would ensure it is at its strongest.”

Gaia sighed. “Well, I told you two to talk with Astra and Magnus so you would believe me. Maybe this was inevitable.”

She mumbled to herself. “I never met someone so insistent on calling me a figment of their imagination. I mean, how often do you need to have the same dream till you at least consider the possibility of something extraordinary happening?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Aren't we four the first humans who get to talk to you directly? It's not like you have a significant sample size to conclude from. Magnus and I were doubting you for weeks after we had the first dream.”

My partner raised a hand and pretended to cough. “Months!”

“Five humans!” Gaia replied indignantly and pointed at Isaac who was running around her. “Isaac never questions me! He is such a dear boy without a speck of doubt in his heart.”

Isaac stopped running and looked up at her. “But Aunty, I am a child. Why should I distrust anyone?”

Gaia looked down at the boy and gasped, looking seriously hurt at the betrayal. Not even the child she was babysitting for eight hours a day was on her side.

Isaac turned around with a confused expression, facing Magnus. “Why did I have to say that?”

Magnus clicked his tongue in disappointment. “You weren't supposed to reveal that I instructed you to say that.”

“I wasn't?” Isaac looked confused.

Magnus shook his head. “No, Isaac. We don't share the stuff we talk about in the guys-channel! Ever!”

Blinking, I turned to my dear partner. “You made a private UI chat channel with Isaac?”

He turned to me, showing not a single sign of remorse for excluding me. “You can make your own with the girls.”

Shaking my head, I reminded myself why we were here and raised both hands in an appeasing gesture. “Okay, enough now, all of you. Gaia has a lot to explain!”

“Explain what?” Gaia looked worried as she regarded us with suspicion in her eyes.

I gestured at Thalia and Mark. “Them!?”

Gaia looked at Thalia. “I can't explain why hers are bigger than yours. Nor how they are seemingly defying gravity.” She nodded to herself, totally serious. “It's a mystery of nature. A true masterwork of mine.”

Thalia followed Gaia’s gaze to her chest and raised a fist. “If you don’t get serious, I will punch you. Consequences be damned!”

I face-palmed. She was trying to distract us – again. “How did you suddenly manage to allow them lucid dreaming too? Can you do it for more people?”

“Ooh, I see.” Gaia wet her lips, her demeanour and body posture changing as if she had to deliver bad news. “No, Magnus and you are not special, nor some sort of messiahs. I thought I told you two how I work. If I want to influence humanity, I have to subtly influence hundreds, no, thousands of individuals if I want just the smallest hope for success. Thalia and Mark found their path to my desired outcome.”

Thalia growled. “She asked whether we can make more people aware of you!”

Gaia shrugged. “Unlikely. Though I have a working example with Magnus and Astra, and I managed to replicate the mutation in you, doing it willy-nilly with everyone won't be possible. My influence on the nanotech is not sufficient to start rewriting DNA without proper samples. Thalia and Mark were a lucky exception since Thalia was already leaning heavily towards psychic powers and their most recent mutation allowed for a final... 'tuning'. I am afraid there is no way to replicate it unless you want to force-feed some of the newcomers at the old camp and have them-.”

“No!” Thalia crossed her arms in an 'X' gesture. “We won't start a matchmaking farm.”

“Though, they would have to find someone at some point anyway?” Mark interjected in a questioning tone.

“I believe we aren't quite desperate enough to stoop so low as to force someone to partner up,” I commented. “But talking to Gurney might be a good idea. If Gaia can give us a list of mutations which allow her to get us more witnesses we can give it to him. He can sell it to the people from Magnus's organisation as the preferred mutation path.”

“I could,” Gaia hedged. “The question is whether I want to.”

The four of us glared at her. There was no coordination necessary.

“Oh, come on.” Gaia gestured at her villa. “It's getting crowded in here!”

“Which is no problem if we aren't sleeping in the same room,” Thalia countered. “Or as long as you don’t use your power to hook us into the same dream.”

“Besides, it's just a question of time until a significant portion of Tirnanog's population has it,” I added on top and pointed at Isaac. “It's inheritable.”

Gaia pressed her lips together while studying Isaac, who looked up to her with big eyes. For once, it looked like the boy hadn't followed what we were talking about and was now wondering why he suddenly turned important to the discussion.

“You have a point.” She deflated. “Fine. I will make a list.”

We kept bickering with the lazy avatar throughout the night as we introduced Thalia and Mark to everything they had missed out on. In terms of Gaia's story as well as for the benefits and support she could give. Last but not least, we discussed whether revealing Gaia's existence was a possibility. After all, having four witnesses was a lot better than two.

***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***

***Mary***

Someone was insistently knocking on my door. I cracked an eye open and rolled around, pulling the blanket and the pillow with me until I was a well-muffled caterpillar.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Rescuing Gurney was tiring. I burned through a third of my energy reserves and since restocking on fissionable material wasn't easy I still had to recuperate.

The knock came again and I groaned. “Why can't the young people take care of their problems and leave the old folk alone?”

I got up and arranged my filaments into a dress. Taking my time, I went to answer the door. “Yes?”

In front of my door were Balthasar, Vanya and her entourage, and Gurney and Gunnar. I honestly had to fight the urge to shut the door in their faces and take another nap.

But... I was the one who requested Balthasar's help and we hadn't gotten the opportunity to talk in private. After the arrival of Balthasar and his people, all of his time had been taken up to organize their takeover of the Old Camp.

Nonetheless, they were the supplicants here. “Form a line.”

Gunnar dodged to the front and handed me a little bouquet. “I thought since everyone else is about doom and gloom, I would be the rising sun on the horizon! Do you want to go out with me?”

I looked at the flowers and took them before returning my attention to Gunnar.

“No. Next.” So far, I had dismissed all of his repeated advances, but this time I decided to keep the flowers.

They were pretty.

“Aw...” Gunnar stepped aside and gestured for the others to make their petitions while I placed the bouquet on the shelf next to the entrance of my quarters.

Gurney and Vanya were next – together with a worried-looking Juliana Rumen.

The matriarch looked concerned. “I know it is late, but something occurred to me once I had a few hours of sleep. Something potentially dangerous. After Gurney gave us the genetical makeup of the psyling I realized none of the creatures involved in its creation were known for psychic abilities! Normally not a great concern, but you have a lot of drakes on your ships and they are on the list. After I checked with Gurney, he assured me the unknown factors he found were too small to create a major psychic like the creature who attacked us. So, just to be sure, I would like to request access to the drake pens. We have to check whether they are a danger!”

It was probably due to my tiredness, but I managed not to show a single change in emotion. My eyes drifted over to Elder Juliana whose face looked like she was trying to turn herself into a psychic through an act of pure will. Or she suffered constipation. One of the two.

Of course, the matriarch had to get on our asses because of an inane connection such as a genetic analysis.

I returned my attention to Vanya. “And why are you coming to me with this request?”

Vanya pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Juliana. “July said you have to be informed beforehand.”

July? Did she seriously call Juliana just July?

My eyes wandered to the elder who looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

Well, I told the elders that hiding the drakes forever wasn't possible. It was a wonder it had worked for as long as it did. A circumstance which was mainly owed to Mount Aerie's isolation and the drakes’ tendency to stay put if left alone.

I considered the situation before I decided that coming clean now was best. Whatever I thought about Greta's protégé, Vanya wasn't stupid enough to be deterred at this point. Plus, her disregard for Juliana already indicated she knew something was up.

“There's no need,” I grumbled. “The drakes are on our side. We have a pact with them.”

Tianna gasped. “You broke the treaty!? You know why all the clans agreed to wipe out intelligent monsters with prejudice! You even were one of those who signed the treaty!”

“Look...” I drew in a deep breath. “Don’t complain to me about the stupid treaty. I know every word in that damned document. I wrote half of it, but it doesn't apply to the drakes. Are they smart? Yes. Can they talk? Yes. Can they plan humanity's downfall? Most likely.”

I raised a hand to stop the Hochberg before any cries of outrage came. “But are they capable of doing so? No. And the fact remains – we need the power of the drake riders or we might as well roll over and show our bellies the next time the Thich show up. Without aerial superiority and the transportation benefits the drakes provide, this war is lost.”

Vanya narrowed her eyes at me. “I would like to be the judge of that.”

Giving in to my fate, I closed the door behind me and led the way to the pens while trying to explain why the drakes were no danger.

“Clan Aerie and the drakes of Mount Aerie have a pact. We protect their colony and they protect ours. We work together. We eat no drakes and they eat no humans. Which is easy for them since they are herbivores.”

I stopped talking and waited... and waited.

“That's it!?” Vanya asked.

There it was. “Yes, because that's the extent of a deal you can have with them. They don't think on the same level as us. They don't build tools or a civilisation because they see no need. We had them around for decades and it brought us only benefits. It's certainly better than fighting with a group of creatures who can all fly as fast as fighter jets and are therefore impossible to fight for us ground-dwellers.”

“You have your airships,” Tianna pointed out.

I turned and looked at her while walking. “Seriously? You have seen how fast our airships are and how fast a drake is. Their entire colony could fly circles around our fleet and we would never catch them.”

We reached the hangar which belonged to the drakes and I gestured for one who I had known since he was a hatchling. “Loopsfast!”

One of the drakes looked up from a nest with eggs and came over to us. When Loops saw we weren't all riders he knew, he rolled onto his back and played cute drake. Which was admittedly more frightening than intended.

I sighed. “Loopsfast, you can talk to them. We no longer have to play hide. This is Vanya, by the way.”

'I can? I really can? Can?'

“Have fun,” I gestured at the matriarch, who cleared her throat.

“Uhm, hi? I would like to-”

'Do you want to fly?'

“No, I-”

'I want to go fly out, but our riders are sooo busy.'

“Your name is Loo-”

'Or do you want to look at my eggs? They are sooo pretty.'

“I-”

'Can you give me scratches? There is this spot...'

I turned away from the unfolding drama, knowing well enough that Vanya wouldn't get anything out of any of the drakes. The problem wasn't that drakes were stupid. Far from it, but they were simply incapable of considering more than the here and now. Drakes lived their entire lives in the moment, incapable of ever basing their decisions on a past or a future.

The old ones could be negotiated with, but young ones like Loops and his mates were like toddlers with the intellect of an adult.

My eyes met Juliana's who was glaring daggers at me, but I ignored her. She was an elder for Gaia's sake. Bringing this matter to me was equivalent to shirking her duties.

Which left... Balthasar.

I walked over to him. “Why don't we talk in private?”

Balthasar nodded his chin at Vanya who was beginning to get frustrated with Loops. “Won't the elders get mad at you for revealing the drakes just like that?”

I shrugged “That's why I have the elders. To deal with the shit I can't be bothered with.”

He gestured for me to lead the way. “Where do you want to talk?”

“I think we should invade Felix's private quarters and capture him for this discussion,” I said after thinking about it. “This mess concerns him too.”

A few minutes later we were sitting on one of the tree branches of a redwood which was allowing us to overlook the Old Camp and the Aerie flagship which was still in repair.

“So, can I know now why you dragged me out here?” Felix asked.

“To prevent others from overhearing this conversation, obviously,” Balthasar replied dryly. “If we talked on the ship, every sensor within a hundred metres would have known.”

“Most of them have learned to be discrete with what they overhear,” Felix replied with a raised eyebrow.

“I am afraid what we will talk about today is delicate enough to warrant additional safety measures,” I said while idly using a fingernail to carve away at a piece of wood I took from the tree. “To get straight to the point, I tried to make contact with the others, but couldn’t.”

“What do you mean, you couldn’t?” Balthasar asked.

“Exactly what I said.” I began to count on my fingers. “Last time we saw each other, there were eleven of us left. Me, Balthasar, Felix, Greta, Nisha, Zacharias, Sindri, Yun, Casimir, Dimitri and Phoebe. Greta is confirmed to be dead. Nisha and Zach are fighting for the other side, and the three of us are here. I thought I knew where Dimitri and Phoebe were hiding, but the people I sent there said the settlement was abandoned. Has been for decades.”

Felix frowned. “The last time I met Casimir, he was with the Raiders, haunting the plains. Though, that was decades ago.”

Felix and I turned our attention to Balthasar who shook his head. “I haven’t seen any of the others since our last meeting and you know Nisha paid me a visit.”

“Did she mention the others?” Felix asked.

Balthasar shrugged. “She talked big about the alliance between Thich and Vier, but didn’t mention anything of particular value to this discussion.”

“So five ancients are unaccounted for,” Felix summarized. “Are there truly no hints where the others could have gone?”

“The world is vast,” Balthasar commented. “Maybe they went to the other continents in search of the exit points of the other gateway facilities. I know I would have done so if my abilities allowed it.” He gestured at the network of roots making up his clothes. “Alas, I am useless without my plants. I could never cross the ocean and survive. Besides, I found myself with other responsibilities. You have to introduce yourselves to my daughter when there is time.”

“Them leaving would be one of the better outcomes. Let’s hope they truly decided to find their luck elsewhere,” I said solemnly. “I wouldn’t want to fight even more old friends.”

“Or enemies!” Felix countered while reaching into his robe and pulling out two thin bottles. “I never liked Zacharias. He was always an egomaniac. No wonder he created some cult around his person once left alone. Why don’t we drink on lost comrades?”

“And lost lovers,” Balthasar added, taking one of the bottles from Felix. He raised a hand and his roots formed three cups for us.

Felix smacked his lips once everyone had something to drink and he had gotten a taste of his liqueur. “So, what do we do about Gurney? There is no way we are going to leave him alone, are we?”

“What about him?” Balthasar asked. “He was punished and I seek no further quarrel with him. He can stay at the Old Camp or go where he pleases. The reason why we forced him into the role of a neutral party is no more.”

I nodded. “Balthasar is right, but we should have a few words with him. Just to make sure he understands the rules.”