A dull orange eclipse, cold and distant, appeared in the center of his vision, surrounded on all sides by colorful nebulae. The night sky was filled with stars, as if he had been transported far away from the light pollution of the city to some distant hiking trail. He stood on the surface of a dark pool in a forest of glowing pink trees, though the water did not seep into his socks. Pale green aurora danced on the horizon. Just ahead, a mountain of pure darkness rose above the forest, blotting out the night sky.

Then the mountain moved.

A silhouette began to take shape against the stars. A long serpentine neck and two outstretched wings. Out of the darkness it moved with a predatory speed and grace, took flight briefly, and then crashed down into the forest, crushing the trees. A huge wave of churning water surged through Locus. While it did not soak into his clothing, it was still cold and wet against his skin, and he was knocked flat on his back.

It took a few moments for his mind to accept what he was seeing. Shining purple scales armored the creature's body. Each wing was larger than a military cargo aircraft. The monstrous beast lurched forward, and one eye opened to regard him. The pupil was a vertical slit and the iris seemed to glow with purple light.

"Hello mortal," the Dragon growled. The voice was both feminine and ancient.

Locus panicked. "Grace? Grace, where are you?"

"Calm down mortal, you are safe here, I promise."

He remembered feeling tired so he fell back onto that nice soft comforter and fell asleep. Why did I feel so tired so fast? And what was that huge glowing woman? Suddenly suspicious that he had been kidnapped, his fear was momentarily replaced by anger.

"Where am I?" Locus demanded.

"You are dreaming," the Dragon replied. "This is the shared dream. Anyone with a Dream Elemental can come to this place. I have asked the woman known as Selucia Grace to bring you here."

A second, smaller Dragon, very similar in appearance to the first, trotted forward on all fours, a bit like a dog. Unlike the first Dragon, the second one did not have glowing purple eyes. In fact, there were simply empty sockets where the eyes should have been. It appeared as if the scales immediately surrounding those empty sockets had been ravaged. Deep lightning-shaped gashes revealed the Dragon's pale flesh. An inky substance oozed out of the empty sockets, poured down the Dragon's cheeks, and seemed to evaporate into dark mist.

"Reinforcements?"

"Peace mortal," the first Dragon said. "You need fear no violence from us."

"Who are you?"

"A reasonable question, mortal."

"Do not answer him!" the second Dragon insisted. The voice was also feminine, but much younger, almost childlike. "It is unfashionable to announce ourselves. We should send for a herald!"

"Time is of the essence, daughter," the first Dragon growled. "I shall indulge the mortal's question. Mortal, you stand in the presence of Princess Lucrezia of House Anna-Rhea, firstborn daughter of Exalted Princess Astrid. You also stand in the presence of my firstborn daughter, Exalted Princess Greta of House Anna-Rhea, Right Honorable Lady Mayor of the City of Skygarden. Like her grandmother Astrid, she is a Fate Binder."

"You must command him to kneel, mother!" Greta protested.

Lucrezia did not respond to this comment. "Tell me, daughter, can you see this mortal?"

"Yes. I can see him. His soul glows with Titania's light."

"Are you certain?" Lucrezia asked.

"I am certain," Greta replied. "His soul belongs to Titania. Titania, and no other."

"Thank you, daughter," Lucrezia said, in a tone that even Locus recognized as a dismissal.

The younger Purple Dragon dissolved into glowing cyan mist, then vanished.

Lucrezia continued: "You, mortal, are known to me. Selucia Grace told me that you have named yourself 'Locus.' I have personally investigated your background. I know that your legal name is Vincent Einar."

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"How?" he hissed.

"Like you, I soar through cyberspace, hunting for data. Unlike you, I have wings. Please, remain silent and allow me to continue. I know that you studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Taisia. I know that you dropped out a few semesters before graduating. I know that you maxed out several credit cards paying for flight school training outside of Taisia City. I know that you are saddled with crippling debt."

"And what of it?" Locus asked.

"And now," the Dragon continued, "I know that your soul has been marked for special treatment by Titania the Luck Elemental. I observed you unseen when you modified the hospital records. I decided that your performance was acceptable, and so I would like to negotiate terms with you at present."

"Woodsman told me that you always get what you want," Locus said. "Do I have a choice in any of this? Are you going to send a hitman after me if I refuse to work with you?"

"I do always get what I want," Lucrezia agreed, "as is proper for a princess. Before we begin, you must know that your student loans have been purchased by one of my financial holdings companies."

"Do you think you can control me like that?"

"Your debts are going to be forgiven, as a gift from me, to show my good faith. Now that that is out of the way, we can begin negotiating."

"I'll believe it when I have the final invoice in my hands," Locus said.

"Please be patient, mortal, a physical copy of the invoice will be delivered soon. For now, I have a question. Do you have a dream?"

"A dream?"

"A purpose, something important that can give your life meaning."

"That's a strange question," he observed. "I had a dream when I was a child, but I have since abandoned it. Because of my medical history, it is physically impossible for me to accomplish that dream."

"Tell me about your dream," Lucrezia said.

Locus rolled his eyes. "As you wish. When I was a child I dreamed of being a fighter pilot, like in those old Captain Taisia films. I went to school for aeronautical engineering hoping that I could go into the military as an officer, with my own fighter jet and my own maintenance crew. But it was never going to work out. You see, I've got this autoimmune disorder. My body cannot interface with military-grade biotech cybernetics."

"That is unfortunate," Lucrezia said. "It is my understanding that, in your world, childhood dreams are rarely fulfilled. In my world, a Fate Binder can give you whatever life you desire. My mother and my daughter are both Fate Binders. Transportation to my world can be arranged at a later time. If you join my team, Locus, and if you succeed in your tasks, then I will fulfill your childhood dreams. That is my offer."

"You can't be serious," he said.

"You will accept my offer. No soul marked by Titania should be able to refuse."

"This can't be real. None of this can be real. This is all just some elaborate simulation in cyberspace."

"You have it backwards. When you perceive cyberspace, you visit the Elemental Plane of Dreams. Your master should have taught you this fact."

"What do you know about my master?"

"I was the one who trained him!" Lucrezia snapped. "I trained the first hackers to visit my world, to fly in fighter jets and take advantage of Titania's outrageous luck. That was hundreds of years ago, but as generations passed, the traditional methods became corrupted by the efforts of the Elemental Queen of Darkness. Your master called himself Nexus, but his true name was Adrian Casper Eduard. He was born in Ayaru. You were living in southern Taisia at the time. You would have needed to cross an international border every day to visit his cabin."

Locus was completely stunned. Nexus never revealed his real name, but one time he overheard a relative address him by the name Adrian. And how could she possibly know about the border? Hacking those damn border cameras twice a day was obnoxious, especially at the end of a long day training.

He felt trapped.

What is the probability that she is telling the truth? he wondered. What is the probability that this is real?

But no, probabilities were meaningless for pilots. Pilots don't calculate the probability of icing conditions inside a cloud. They just stay away from the fucking cloud. His master, and his flight instructors, both drilled the same concept into him. Crashing the airplane is an infinite cost, and even when multiplied by very small probabilities, the cost is still infinite.

The dream of flight is an infinite good. If you multiply the probability...

"I'll do it," he said.

"Excellent," the Dragon said. "There is one more thing. Fourth High Daughter of the Queen of Dreams! Show yourself!"

A ghostly woman appeared, made entirely out of misty cyan light. She looked very similar to the strange creature that Grace summoned in her hotel room, except that this one was twenty feet tall. She towered over Locus, but in spite of her immense size, she still seemed tiny when compared to the Purple Dragon.

"High Daughter, summon one Dream Elemental for this mortal."

A second, smaller flash of cyan light revealed yet another one of the things. The second creature was about the size of an average human, slightly shorter than Locus himself. Then, he heard a feminine voice echoing in his mind.

Greetings mortal.

"Command her to bond with this mortal," Lucrezia said. "Locus, your first task is to accept the bond."

I am a Daughter of the Elemental Queen of Dreams. By the command of the Fourth High Daughter, I offer now to bond with you. I will consume your spiritual energy, and in exchange you will have access to my powers. Do you accept?

Locus was suspicious at first, but he did accept the Dragon's offer, and he saw no upside in protesting. He said: "Very well, I accept."

The bond is established, as commanded. Now, mortal, what will you Wish for?

"No!" Lucrezia said. "High Daughter, command her. Wish is banned. Locus, be weary, Dream Elementals are fickle things. It takes a great deal of intent to formulate deliberate commands that they understand. Grace will teach you how to use your new Elemental. Moving forward, we will be able to communicate through this shared dream. For now, report to Woodsman and prepare for your next job. You are free to go."

And then he woke up.