“The final match of the Spring Tournament has arrived! I hope you’ve placed your bets, because now’s the time to see who will win: Timeless or Power Armor! Any words?”

“Let’s do our best, shall we?” Rai said.

“Let’s,” the man of the gnomish pair replied.

The instant the battle started, Rai turned invisible and sprouted wings, leaping high and getting out of the way of the expected glitter burst attack that would otherwise reveal his position.

“Paralyzing Roar!” Isa roared, freezing the woman gnome in place.

“Glitter Burst!”

Sparkles exploded over the spot where Rai had been standing, but he was already out of reach. Isa charged toward the temporarily incapacitated gnome.

“Silver Savage Rush! Bloodspell Blow!”

Three quick, powerful swings at the end of her charge (one accompanied by acidic liquid converted from mana) were enough to heavily damage the frame armor and knock the female gnome out. From there, Rai took over the attack while Isa locked down the other gnome. She took a few good hits, but in the end, the battle was fairly anticlimactic, with Team Timeless taking the victory.

Afterward, Power Armor, Nameless, and Timeless were all presented with their monetary prizes and asked what they wanted for the non-monetary portion. When that was over, Rai and Isa were taken to the Ruler’s Tower for an interrogation.

“Time-travelers from a distant future after our civilization had been destroyed.” The Ruler shook his head. “I… don’t think I want to know more about that. But the power of this ‘star fragment’ seems like something that, in sufficient quantities, even the gods might fight over. It would be for the best if you kept it and kept the knowledge of it secret.”

“You don’t want to force the knowhow for harnessing it out of us to compete with Plentira?” Isa said, raising an eye ridge.

“I’m strongly tempted to do just that,” the Ruler admitted. “You have no idea how alluring the thought of it is. But from what you’ve told me, Plentira has no plans to weaponize it, just to use it for technological innovation. I’d rather not get in an arms race that, if we handle it wrong, could poison the very world itself, when I can wash my hands of the whole affair instead. I’m not getting any younger, and I don’t trust that whoever my successor is will handle something so volatile with sufficient caution. We dwarves are not exactly known for our cautious behavior.”

Isa nodded, satisfied with that response.

“Well, now that we’ve cleared that up, it’s time for the other half of your reward. Come with me to the forge and pick out what you wish to have.”

As they walked, the Ruler asked, “Which of you is the smith?”

“I am,” Isa said. “And Rai is the enchanter.”

“I see.”

“You don’t seem to hate me for being a saurian.”

“Why should I? You’re not a dragon, despite your poor choice of arena names.”

In the smithy, Isa chose exclusively orichalcum and silversteel in order to maximize the amount of the former metal she could acquire. When asked why, she said, “Because I plan to make my draconid-sized halberd out of orichalcum… the blade, anyway. If I can’t find a suitable wood for the haft, I’ll just make the haft of silversteel.”

“You really think you’ll evolve into a draconid?” the Ruler asked.

“Of course. And by then, I’ll be an even more skilled weaponsmith. Maybe I’ll end up with a nine-star weapon!”

“The only way you’d do that is if you had access to a Ruler’s Tower smithy.”

“Eh. We can always reclaim the one in the Dragonia ruins in our era.”

“I… see.”

“What is the highest star possible?” Rai wondered.

“The record, I believe, is thirteen-star.”

“I… what?”

“It’s only a legend, though. If it ever existed, it’s been lost for ages. The practical limit is ten-star, and even that is extremely rare and only for items made of orichalcum made by the most skilled champion smiths in history.”

“And to think I once thought that six-star was the pinnacle of what was possible,” Rai said with a shake of his head. “And that only with orichalcum.”

“Hm.”

Once the receipt of metal was complete, Rai and Isa were escorted out with the advice that unless they planned to stay in the city for a while yet, they should leave immediately to avoid robbery attempts. Isa was incredulous that people would attempt to rob the winners of a combat tournament, but Rai pointed out that the viewers had also seen them nearly defeated and so knew they weren’t invincible. And so, as evening approached they finally left the city, sending out the summons to their drakes’ magical collars.

It took until nightfall – several hours – before the drakes arrived.

“Been a whole month without you, Skycloud,” Isa said when the light blue drake enthusiastically greeted, nearly knocking her over by pressing his snout up against her torso. She hugged his head and stroked his neck. “I missed you, too.”

“Hey, Paxta,” Rai said softly, stroking the side of the purple-scaled drake’s face as she nuzzled him. “Sorry to leave you for so long. Did you get along okay?”

“Mi-meep?”

Braveheart had a short conversation with the drakes, her side sounding like her normal “meeps” and their side sounding like soft grunts, snorts, and snarls. Then she turned to Rai.

“…Oh. Uh, so Isa… apparently they mated while we were away and Paxta will lay eggs sometime soon. I… didn’t think about the possibility of that happening, but I guess we did leave a young male and female drake alone for a long time.”

“Hm. That could be a problem for us, couldn’t it?”

“Yeah. We should head back to Plentira, or at least to the Imperator’s mountain, and see what we can do about it.”

“I agree. But tonight, we’ll sleep out here.”

“Of course.”

-x-

Imperator stretched and spread his wings wide, his massive wingspan of over a hundred and fifty feet casting a huge shadow over the drakes and their handlers below. He looked outward toward the east. He squinted slightly, his vision zooming in the pair of drakes and their riders racing toward the mountain.

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

“Well, well. So soon those children return. I wonder what the rush is?”

He waited patiently, folding his wings onto his back. Several minutes later, they arrived, spiraling down to land in his shadow.

“O Great Imperator,” Isa began, “we beg your knowledge! We, uh, spent too long in the city of Ferrigen, which doesn’t allow drakes, and our companions grew lonely, and they mated. I think Paxta is about to lay her eggs.”

The mighty dragon let out a snort of laughter.

“Well, as intelligent as they are, drakes are still just beasts, after all. It was foolish of you to leave them unattended for so long. Now, you have a choice. You can put your journeys on hold and serve as a caretaker to the eggs while your drakes watch over them… or you can give the eggs to my attendants, the drake handlers. If you do the later, you will not be able to retrieve them later. I will allow my attendants to explain.”

An aging but surprisingly strong-looking human woman approached Rai and Isa.

“Drakes do not always care for their eggs and young,” she said. “Sometimes, they give them over to other drakes – or to handlers. When they do care for them, they are fiercely protective and loyal, raising them until near adulthood. When they do not, they treat the hatched offspring as strangers. Their choice is not something that can be made for them, but they will follow the instructions of the Imperator on the matter, which amounts to the same thing.”

“Unfortunately, our quest is not one that can be delayed for years,” Rai said. “Maybe when we actually have a home base again, things will be different, but for now, giving up the eggs is really the only option.”

Isa nodded. “Hate to do this to you guys,” she said to the drakes, “but we can’t stop and raise little drakelings.”

“Very well.”

The dragon rumbled at the drakes, who listened silently. The two of them then lay side by side and waited. In less than two hours, Paxta had laid three eggs. Unlike most reptile eggs, they weren’t soft, but rather hard like bird eggs – almost rocklike, in fact. They were about nine inches long and bright blue. Paxta and Skycloud nosed the eggs, then rolled them over to the waiting handlers. Isa and Rai patted their mounts’ shoulders affectionately, thanked everyone, then got in the saddle and took off.

“Hm… I wonder what their ‘quest’ is. Perhaps I should ask the Ruler next time she visits. Isa Bloodscale and Rai Flamme. What a curious pair.”

-x-

Two weeks passed.

“The city of Waterrush…” Rai said in awe as they flew toward their destination. “It’s beautiful.”

Waterrush was a large city, built on – and inside – a lake with pale blue waters, waters so clear that they were almost (but not quite) invisible. Artificial rivers formed of the lake’s waters traversed the city, guided through the air in defiance of gravity by magical designs Rai knew he’d never even begin to comprehend. Waterfalls cascaded from various buildings in magnificent fashion. Instead of flying or driving on roads, people used boats, submersibles, and water beasts and giant fish to get around the city, both above and below the surface of the lake. Great stone arches and buildings made of colored crystal gave the place an exotic appearance, but the tower itself was the most exotic of all: instead of being constructed of stone or metal, it was a several hundred foot tall giant shell of some primordial beast long gone. It was the same iridescent rainbow hue as the mother of pearl of an abalone.

According to what they had been told, the city was shared between humans and merfolk, the former dwelling primarily above the lake’s surface and the latter below it. Rai had heard of merfolk before, but he’d never known there was a freshwater variety; tales of merfolk living in the sea near island chains was the extent of his knowledge. In the modern era, they were seen as one of the monstrous races, but like the dragon-blooded races, in the Tower Era they were just another race of people.

Unlike the Plentira or Ferrigen, Waterrush had no walls surrounding it; it was instead protected by a magically-generated current that circled its borders at high speed, deterring the creatures that lived further out from entering. The city was difficult to reach from land, requiring special ships that could generate arches of water over the current, but approaching from the air was easy, and there were several specially-designed docks for airships and flying beasts. They had only seen a couple airships over the last year, both of them when traveling via drake between cities. They were curious vehicles that used giant gas-filled ballons to reduce their weight but otherwise greatly resembled seafaring vessels controlled by magic. They were a great deal slower than “flyers,” having a speed closer to that of drakes, but didn’t have any limitations on how far from cities they could venture.

Here, each of the docks had at least two galleon-sized airships and several smaller ones stationed. They steered themselves to the closest dock and spiraled down to land in an open space.

A human woman in garb he had never seen before, an odd style of beige shirt and trousers with a circular cap, greeted them.

“Ahoy there, mates! Welcome to Waterrush, yeah? Docking fee for beasts is two gold a head per day. Includes us feeding ‘em and taking care of their waste for you, but naught else. How long you being here for?”

“Not sure,” Rai said. “A couple days, maybe? We’re mostly here to get the latest flight path predictions for the Thunder Isles.”

“Ah, that shouldn’t take you to long. Say two days, then?”

“Sure. Here you go.”

Rai handed over nine gold.”

“Ah, but you gave me one too many, you did.”

“That’s your tip.”

“Why thank you kindly, mate! Shall I tell you where you can buy a map?”

“That’d be great.”

Half an hour later, they had a map of the city with the location of the “weather-readers” marked on it, and two hours after that they were walking into a building made of pink crystal that had a waterfall flowing directly through the middle of it. They passed through the waterfall, protected from getting wet by an application of the Tricks spell – the same application that Rai used to shield himself from the rain. An old man with a long white beard stood in the middle of a three-dimensional illusory map of the lake and its surrounding area, looking at things and muttering to himself.

“Excuse us,” Rai said as he approached.

“You’re excused,” the old man said absently.

“Are you one of the weather-readers? We were hoping to buy the information on the Thunder Isles flight path.”

“Hm? You’re still here? Yes, yes, I’m a weather-reader, and I’m very busy. Thunder Isles? Planning a stormy vacation?”

“Something like that. We have business there.”

“I think you underestimate how dangerous the Thunder Isles are. I know a lot of adventure-seekers try to go there as part of a get-rich-quick scheme or whatever, but most of them end up dead, on account of the beasts – especially the thunderbirds. They’ll blast you right outta the sky.”

“We’re aware of the risks, but thank you for the warning.”

“We’re keenly aware that we’re not invincible,” Isa added, thinking back to how close to death she had come in the tournament – if the Ruler hadn’t stepped in, she might have been killed by Flamefrost. “But sometimes, taking risks is necessary.”

“Well, if you’re sure. You have a map of the continent?”

“No…”

“Well, you’ll have to buy that, too. Continental maps aren’t very detailed unless you shell out the real money, but it’ll still cost you a significant amount, you know?”

Well, we have a detailed map from over two hundred years in the future of the current date, so I guess we don’t really need a detailed one, Rai thought. “Cheapest you have is fine, as long as it’s good enough for the Thunder Isles flight path.”

“Of course it is! But cheapest is still not cheap! Fifty gold for one with the flight path on it.”

Is he ripping us off or not? If this were the modern era, that would be insane, but at Ferrigen prices, that’s not too bad. So far, though, this place has seemed closer to Plentira for gold value.

“Deal.”

“…What, really? Not going to haggle? Too late to change your mind! You said deal!”

The old man walked over to a drawer, opened it, and took out a map device – the same cylindrical thing that all of the good three-dimensional city maps had been. He tossed it at Rai, who caught it, then pointed at a table.

“Money goes there.”

Rai deposited fifty gold coins, then exited the building with Isa following.

“Shall we go sightseeing for the rest of today?” he said with an excited smile. “This place is just… marvelous.”

“Yi-meep!”

Riding one a boat pulled by a giant fish swimming through aerial rivers, exploring the underwater city as passengers in a submersible on a guided tour, swimming through the water under their own power while using magical chokers that enabled them to breathe water, and more took up the entirety of the afternoon. That evening, they dined at an open-air restaurant, eating various fish and water-plant dishes while watching the stars come out. Rai sighed, lost in thought.

Oh, Mizeiya. You would love this city. Its beauty, its exotic wonder, its friendly people – that weather-reader notwithstanding – its food… I wish you were here. This would make the perfect romantic date location for us. He stroked Braveheart, staring up at the stars. Mizeiya… I swear I’ll make it back to our time, and I swear I’ll reunite with you. There may be no way to bring you here, to the past… but one day, I’ll show you its magical splendor, even if only in the form of an illusion.

“I recognize that look,” Isa said. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

“Yes. She would have loved this place.”

“We will get back home, and then we’ll use the resurrection ritual. And who knows, maybe we’ll figure out a way to go back and forth between times.”

“That I doubt. Playing with time like that… seems dangerous. When you go beyond the powers of even the gods, the consequences are unknowable.”

“And yet that won’t stop us from returning home to our own era.”

“No, it won’t.”

Braveheart yawned cutely.

“I think it’s time we get to an inn. We can continue our brief vacation tomorrow and head out for the Thunder Isles the next day.”

“Meep.”