The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2

Part 14

In that moment she looked as scared and vulnerable as a young dragon could look, and he lay down beside her and cuddled up to her again. "I think you do know, and I think you're right." He assured her. "We'll take it slow, and do our best, and keep it secret. And that's all there is to it. It's a wonderful thing, and it's no one's business but ours."

They were silent for a while, and simply enjoyed the sun reflecting off the ocean and the beauty of the day.

"I bet no one knows every single living dragon, except maybe the gods." Karzog suddenly stated. "And once we're out in the world, no one will be able to keep track of us. You seem so perfectly real this way, if you did it in a different color there's no way anyone would guess it was you, especially if you did a bit of disguise on your psionics and aura. Everyone would assume you were just one of the millions of young dragons from Serminak that they don't know."

"True." she agreed. "And if you also disguised yourself as another young dragon, we'd really throw them off the scent. And when I learn how to do the increased-size Shape-Shifting, I might even be able to fool your family. Then we could just be a normal couple of dragons, and no one would ever know. It'd be pretty damn hard to fool my family like that, but I might be able to pull it off. Except Six of course, but he's the only other person that already knows that you're my destined love anyway, and we can trust him to keep our secret. I might even be able to find a way to be in two places at the same time, as a dragon and as a girl, by casting a Simulacrum of whichever one of me that I'm not being at the time. Though if I have to be two people in the same place at the same time, it might get a little strenuous."

They both got a laugh at that thought, then fell silent for another few moments.

"Hm. If you're going to do such a great thing for me, I'll have to find a way to make it even." he mused.

"Oh? How so?"

"I'll have to find a way to turn myself into a humanoid." he chuckled. "Or at least cast a very good Simulacrum of one."

"Ah. The reverse of the increased-size Shape-Shifting should work for that, once I learn it." she speculated. "You could Shape-Shift and the use the Shrink spell, but you'd be so dense that anyone would know as soon as they touched you. But as for the Simulacrum idea, I can show you how to do that right now."

"I see." he smiled, and cuddled her a little closer. "Maybe later. I'm enjoying this too much to want to be distracted from it by more than pleasant conversation."

"Mmm. You're right. This does feel very... comfortable."

Another half hour passed before she spoke again. "Link with me, Karz. Link with me real deep. We're too young to share our bodies, but we can share our minds, and we should get to know each other better." And so they did.

After that day they continued to spend as much time together as they always had, most of that with Reggie and Valentia, and they only chose to steal away together for private time about once per month. They knew that Hiliani was a small community, populated by very intelligent and perceptive people, and they knew that keeping their liaisons rare was a necessity if they wanted to avoid having anyone realize what was going on.

If any did realize, they never spoke of it.

With three months to go before the call to the gods, Kragorram and Six led their team in conducting the first tests of their newly-completed void-craft, and everyone gathered to watch. Over the previous years they'd made the components of steel, stone, glass, and wood in Kragorram and Povon's front room, then assembled them in an isolated valley on the island to the west of Homestead. The great gleaming sphere rose almost twenty-five meters above the grass of the valley floor. Theramin's team had filled much of the space within with plants, and installed the water supply and recycling system, all of it grown from plants and tree species. Weeks had been spent on casting spells on various components of the craft, and on the hull as a whole, and in charging the spells to their maximum.

Now Yazadril touched the tip of his sword to the hull and proclaimed; "I hereby christen this The Just Alliance Warcraft; The Void Hunter!" as the huge thing rose slowly and majestically from its cradle for a few crucial centimeters, and hovered there amid the triumphant cheers of those assembled.

"Structural integrity is good." Kragorram proclaimed a few moments later from his place on the grass beside the hull.

"Confirmed." Six psionicly declared from inside the craft. "Proceed with the pressure test."

"Silence please, everyone." Kragorram called. "Silence for the pressure test please." He waited until all were quiet before he cast a Force Shield around the craft and tight against the hull, marked it with blue light, then slowly expanded it three meters beyond the hull, leaving an air-free space around the craft. They waited, silent and listening closely. Kragorram checked for air leaking out of the craft into his Shield, while Six checked for decreasing pressure inside the craft. A short creak was heard from deep inside the craft, and before the sound ceased, Six had pinpointed the location of its source and Translocated to it. "Just a sealed door rubbing a bit as its frame expands." he reported. "Not a problem. The whole hull has stretched six millimeters wider as it took the pressure, but all the seals are holding."

"Excellent. My tests show the same." Kragorram told him. "Ninety-seven more seconds."

After that time he called; "Pressure test completed. Seal integrity is good. Proceed with the airlock and void-exposure tests."

"Seal integrity is confirmed. Beginning airlock and void-exposure spells tests."

A minute later a round door on the exterior of the craft opened, and Valentia floated out and Levitated in the vacuum just outside the hull as she closed the door.

A minute later Six reported; "Function and seals integrity of the airlock are confirmed."

"Void-exposure protective spells are operating as expected." Valentia reported.

"Beginning void energy and void-grade sunlight tests." Kragorram stated, and a maelstrom of light and energy erupted from the inside surface of the Force Shield, blasting onto Valentia and the outside of the craft.

A minute later that was done, Valentia went back into the airlock, and they tested the craft's resistance to lightning. Then they tested its resistance to puncture and impact by slamming the pointed end of a boulder against it in various places, which left no more than a few minor scuffs in the surface.

Finally the whole thing was flight tested. Kragorram and all the spectators flew along and kept pace as it rose to an altitude of a hundred and twenty meters, then headed west. six brought it to a halt over the ocean a hundred and fifty meters from the shore, just outside the reefs, then lowered it into the water until it was submerged.

"Commencing reverse-pressure test." he announced as the top of the sphere was covered by the waves.

"Why test it for pressure from outside?" Bezedil asked.

"It's another good test of structural integrity, and it gives an indication of how well it would withstand Force used against it in an attack." Kragorram told him absentmindedly, most of his attention on his monitoring spells.

After the craft emerged from the water it underwent high-speed flight tests with complex and sudden maneuvers.

Finally the entire craft was Translocated to the north coast of Hiliani, then to the south coast, then back to its cradle.

All the test results revealed that the craft had performed perfectly.

All-in-all, it was such a magnificent accomplishment that the entire population of Homestead and many of the Sylvan stayed there to celebrate long into the night. Hundreds of them were given a quick tour of the craft, and crews began training in it first thing the next morning.

A few minor changes were made to the craft, and a few more changes were made to the design that weren't practical to make in the first craft.00000