The Last Silver

The man inside the crystal chamber continued staring at Dinraal and Isolde.

"You need to get them out."

Dinraal looked around.

"Who are these people?"

The man struggled to breathe.

"Colonists. Survivors. People taken from worlds the Ashen consumed."

Isolde stepped toward another crystal.

"Consumed?"

The man's expression became haunted.

"Not immediately."

He pointed toward the crystalline chambers.

"The Ashen discovered that living beings could be preserved."

Dinraal's eyes narrowed.

"Preserved for what?"

"Transport."

Asha's voice came through the communicator.

"Transport where?"

The man looked toward the ceiling.

"The Hive."

The word seemed to make the entire room colder.

"What Hive?" Dinraal asked.

"The Ashen's."

Tiamat's voice came through the communication channel.

"Dinraal, what is happening?"

He looked toward the thousands of crystals.

"We found the missing people."

"Are they alive?"

"Yes."

Tiamat breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the man spoke again.

"Not for long."

Dinraal looked at him.

"Explain."

"The doorway."

The man pointed toward the chamber they had entered through.

"It's not a doorway."

Isolde turned.

"Then what is it?"

"A pocket dimension."

Asha immediately began scanning.

"He's right."

Her voice became increasingly urgent.

"The chamber isn't physically connected to the colony."

Dinraal stared at the doorway.

"It's somewhere else."

"Yes," Asha said. "A temporary dimensional space."

The man nodded.

"The Ashen use them as holding chambers."

Dinraal's expression hardened.

"For prisoners."

"For food."

Isolde's face went pale.

The man continued.

"They capture living populations. Place them in stasis. Then transport the pocket dimension to the Hive."

"Why keep them alive?" Julius asked over the communicator.

The man looked at him.

"Because the Ashen don't simply consume flesh."

Silence.

"They consume what makes something alive."

Tiamat's voice became quiet.

"Their memories."

"Their experiences."

"Their knowledge."

"Their identity."

Dinraal looked at the countless people suspended around him.

"And then?"

The man's eyes filled with fear.

"They convert what remains."

Asha understood.

"Into Ashen."

The man nodded.

"Yes."

Dinraal's silver eyes burned.

"Then we're not leaving anyone here."

Isolde stepped beside him.

"No."

She raised her hands.

The Silver armor immediately responded.

"How do we release them?"

The man pointed toward the central structure.

"The crystals are connected to the pocket dimension."

"Can we disconnect them?"

"You can."

"How?"

The man looked directly at Dinraal.

"The Silver."

Dinraal nodded.

"Then let's do it."

The two of them moved through the chamber.

Dinraal placed his right hand against the first crystal.

Silver energy flowed from his gauntlet.

The crystal cracked.

A moment later, it shattered.

The person inside collapsed forward.

Isolde caught them.

"Easy."

The woman gasped.

"Where..."

"You're safe."

Isolde lowered her gently to the floor.

The woman looked at Isolde's armor.

"Who are you?"

"Someone getting you home."

Dinraal moved to the next crystal.

Then another.

Then another.

The process accelerated.

His armor began changing automatically.

Instead of using a single beam of energy, it split into hundreds of tiny strands.

Each strand reached a different crystal.

Isolde did the same.

Silver light spread through the chamber.

Crystals began breaking apart by the hundreds.

Then thousands.

People fell from the stasis chambers.

Dinraal and Isolde's armor automatically caught them.

Some were unconscious.

Some woke screaming.

Some simply stared in confusion.

Isolde moved among them.

"You're safe."

"You're safe."

"We're getting you out."

Dinraal heard a child crying.

He turned.

A little boy was lying beside a broken crystal.

His eyes opened.

He looked at Dinraal.

"Are you an Ashen?"

Dinraal knelt.

"No."

The boy looked at his horns.

"Are you a dragon?"

"Partly."

The boy looked at the armor.

"Are you a good dragon?"

Dinraal smiled.

"I'm trying to be."

The boy reached toward him.

Dinraal picked him up.

"What's your name?"

"Samuel."

"Nice to meet you, Samuel."

Dinraal looked toward Isolde.

She was helping a group of elderly colonists.

"Isolde."

She looked up.

"Yes?"

"I've got one."

She smiled.

"So do I."

They continued.

For hours.

The pocket dimension began destabilizing.

Asha's voice suddenly came through.

"Dinraal!"

He looked toward the communicator.

"What's wrong?"

"The dimension is collapsing."

"How long?"

"Twenty minutes."

Isolde looked around.

"How many people remain?"

Asha checked.

"Approximately twelve thousand."

Dinraal looked at the remaining crystals.

"Then we have twenty minutes."

He raised both hands.

"Let's get them out."

Silver energy exploded through the chamber.

Dinraal's armor transformed.

His wings expanded until they filled half the room.

Every remaining crystal became surrounded by silver light.

Isolde raised her arms.

Her armor created hundreds of protective fields.

The crystals began opening simultaneously.

People emerged.

Hundreds.

Then thousands.

The Silver carried them.

It didn't simply break the crystals.

It understood what Dinraal and Isolde wanted.

Protect them.

The armor obeyed.

A massive portal opened.

Beyond it was the evacuation ship.

Aurelius's voice came through.

"We're ready."

Dinraal looked toward Isolde.

"Send them."

The survivors began moving through the portal.

Some walked.

Some were carried.

Some were unconscious.

The Silver transported them safely.

The final crystal shattered.

A little girl stumbled out.

Isolde caught her.

"You're okay."

The girl looked around.

"Where's my mother?"

Isolde's expression softened.

"Do you know her name?"

The girl nodded.

"Elena."

Isolde looked at the evacuation manifest.

"Asha?"

"I'll search."

Seconds passed.

Then Asha answered.

"Found her."

The little girl's eyes widened.

"She's on transport three."

Isolde smiled.

"Then let's get you to her."

The girl hugged Isolde.

"Thank you."

Isolde closed her eyes.

"You're welcome."

The portal began collapsing.

Dinraal looked around.

"Everyone through!"

The final survivors crossed.

Isolde stepped through.

Dinraal followed.

The moment they entered the ship, the pocket dimension collapsed behind them.

The gateway vanished.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then the ship erupted in cheers.

Aurelius stood at the front of the command deck.

He looked at the thousands of survivors.

Then at Dinraal and Isolde.

"You did it."

Dinraal looked around.

"We got them out."

Aurelius smiled.

"No."

He looked toward the survivors.

"You brought them home."

The ship had become crowded.

Very crowded.

But nobody complained.

People who had spent days—or in some cases years—inside stasis were finally reunited with friends and family.

Medical teams worked constantly.

Food was distributed.

Children were given blankets.

And everywhere Dinraal looked, people were embracing one another.

Eventually, he and Isolde returned to the command deck.

Everyone stared at them.

Their armor still covered them completely.

Gilgamesh grinned.

"I suppose you're going to keep wearing that."

Dinraal looked down.

"I hadn't thought about it."

Asha approached.

"The armor is reacting to your thoughts."

Dinraal concentrated.

The armor immediately changed.

The plates dissolved into silver light.

They flowed upward.

Around his head, the Silver condensed into a crown.

It was simple but magnificent, formed from luminous silver metal with a small central crest resembling a dragon's wing.

The rest of the armor disappeared.

Only the crown remained.

The mithril gauntlet on Dinraal's right hand remained as well.

Isolde looked at him.

"That suits you."

Dinraal smiled.

"Really?"

"Yes."

She looked at her own armor.

It began responding.

The armor dissolved.

Silver light flowed toward her wrists.

Two elegant bracelets formed around them.

Isolde raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently mine likes jewelry."

Rhiannon laughed.

"Of course it does."

Tiamat smiled.

"The weapon is expressing itself differently through each of you."

Dinraal looked at the gauntlet.

"And it can come back whenever I need it."

"Yes," Asha said.

"Then we're going to have to learn exactly what it can do."

Gilgamesh smiled.

"I volunteer to help."

Alexander laughed.

"Naturally."

Several hours later, the survivors had been stabilized.

The senior members of the expedition gathered again.

This time, there was no emergency.

No Ashen attack.

No collapsing dimension.

They had something else to discuss.

Aurelius activated a holographic map.

The galaxy appeared above the table.

Hundreds of points illuminated the projection.

"These are the Imperial colonies."

Then other points appeared.

"Independent human colonies."

More appeared.

"Succubus settlements."

Tiamat added another group.

"Dragon territories."

The map became crowded.

Aurelius looked around the table.

"We have spent centuries spreading civilization across the galaxy."

Aramaeis nodded.

"And now that has become our weakness."

Aurelius nodded.

"Exactly."

Julius studied the map.

"Too many isolated populations."

"Too many worlds to defend."

Alexander pointed toward the map.

"And too many individual targets."

Aurelius enlarged a section of the galaxy.

"We need to change that."

Rhiannon crossed her arms.

"What are you proposing?"

"A new home world."

Silence.

Isolde looked at him.

"For everyone?"

"Not necessarily one government."

Aurelius shook his head.

"One system."

Tiamat understood immediately.

"A common refuge."

"A shared defensive center," Aurelius said.

Arcturus activated another display.

"We could establish a new capital world in a system with multiple habitable planets."

Asha added:

"Several colonies could be relocated there."

"Not just relocated," Aramaeis said.

"Connected."

Aurelius nodded.

"Exactly."

Dinraal looked at the map.

"How many people could the system support?"

"Billions," Arcturus answered.

"With sufficient infrastructure."

Gilgamesh leaned over the table.

"And the colonies that refuse?"

Aurelius shook his head.

"We don't force them."

Tiamat nodded.

"They should have a choice."

Rhiannon added, "But they should know they're welcome."

Aurelius looked around the table.

"The goal isn't to erase the cultures that have developed independently."

He pointed toward the map.

"It's to give them somewhere they can survive."

Julius nodded.

"One system."

Alexander smiled.

"Many peoples."

Aramaeis added:

"One defense."

Dinraal looked toward Isolde.

She smiled.

"And hopefully one future."

Dinraal took her hand.

"That sounds like something worth fighting for."

Aurelius looked around the table.

"Then we'll begin."

Arcturus brought up the preliminary requirements.

"First, we need to find the system."

"Second, determine how many worlds can support settlement."

"Third, establish transportation routes."

"Fourth, construct defensive infrastructure."

Asha raised a hand.

"Fifth."

Everyone looked at her.

"We need to figure out how to prevent the Ashen from finding it."

The room went quiet.

Dinraal's expression became serious.

"The weapon might be able to help."

Tiamat shook her head.

"Perhaps."

She looked at the Silver crown resting on her son's head.

"But the Ashen already knows about the Silver."

Isolde looked at her bracelets.

"Then we can't rely on hiding."

Dinraal nodded.

"We need to understand them."

Aurelius looked at the ancient records.

"And we need to find the Ashen Hive."

Gilgamesh smiled.

"Now we're talking."

Aurelius looked at him.

"Not yet."

Gilgamesh frowned.

"We have an ancient weapon."

"Yes."

"The Last Silver."

"Yes."

"A new fleet."

"Yes."

"Thousands of warriors."

"Yes."

Gilgamesh grinned.

"And we're still waiting?"

Aurelius smiled.

"We need a home first."

Gilgamesh sighed.

"Fine."

The First Weapon barked from beneath the table.

Everyone looked down.

Aurelius smiled.

"Apparently the dog agrees."

The First Weapon wagged its tail.

For the first time since the Ashen threat emerged, the council wasn't discussing how to survive the next attack.

They were discussing what they wanted civilization to become afterward.

A new world.

A new system.

A place where humans, dragons, succubi, and other peoples could stand together without abandoning the histories that made them who they were.

And somewhere far away, beyond every known colony, the Ashen Hive waited.

But this time, the galaxy was preparing for it.

Not by scattering.

By coming together.

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