Sailing through skies of such beauty. Flying through the stars. Everything was so vast, so much bigger than one shard of life. Too vast.

A loud clatter rang out and Micah jumped. He had dozed against the wall.

But it felt more like a trance.

Harsh lights and harsher noises assaulted his senses. Indescribable beauty melted into industrial dreariness. Micah tensed, feeling uneasy in the large spacecraft, surrounded by soldiers, agents, scientists, and workers. If anyone didn't belong, it was Micah. It didn't help that eyes were on him.

Too many eyes watching. Too many recording devices. And Micah probably missed many of the eyes and devices.

It didn't bother him. The government watched everything. No one questioned it. Micah might read of times of no tech, times of heroes and swords, but he preferred the comfort of an ordered world. Even if an ordered world meant limited privacy and freedom.

It wasn't always that way. There was a time when Micah wanted something more. The vision still lingered within him, a vision of utter freedom.

Another clatter. Workers loaded the prototype onto the small craft. An ebony box, nearly as big as a crate. Once fused with the weapon systems, it would provide a potent boost. Nothing should survive the blast.

Micah's feet shook as he approached the craft. This wasn't what he pictured for his life. He just wanted to teach literature and mythology.

"Don't do it."

Micah faltered before turning back. A woman with short dark curls and dressed all in black. One of the finest scientific minds of their day, who now put all of her energy into creating weapons. Only twenty-three, but exhaustion made her look older.

He didn't want to think about his own looks. A small burn marred his forehead, a gift from an evacuation.

"Hannah, I didn't think you'd join my sister's misguided beliefs," Micah said.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I want to dance under the light of the moon and worship these unclassified abominations." She reached forward and smacked him. "I don't want you dying, that's all."

Micah tried to force a smile. "I'm not going to die."

Hannah gave him a dark look. "That's what Alan said when they sent him out with the last weapon."

Micah moved aside as another worker passed. "No one else can do it. They said I tested with the highest metaphysical alteration."

"They don't know what they are talking about!" Hannah threw her hands up in the air. "They are measuring something that none of us understand. I..."

She looked back and forth at the people milling around before pulling him behind more crates. It gave the illusion of privacy for people who had long ago sacrificed privacy for safety.

Except not the safety was crumbling around them as they tried to cling onto remnants of their way of life.

Hannah pushed her head back. "You're aware of the odds of survival, aren't you? Even with a pilot worth their shit, you are going to be surrounded by a horde of Class 9 creatures. If the prototype doesn't blow you to kingdom come, there's every chance one of them will take you down before the prototype can even activate. You know what that means, don't you?"

"Just because tech isn't my specialty, doesn't mean I'm an idiot." Micah rubbed his head. "It means we'll go down while the prototype goes boom."

"Then why are you doing this?" Hannah asked. "And don't give me that shit about metaphysical alteration. I've seen the files, there are dozens of other candidates."

"They showed you the files?" Micah asked.

She grimaced. "All right, I hacked the files."

"Always the anarchist," Micah teased. "Even now, working for the Second Alliance."

"I can't tear down the government if all of humanity is reduced to ash," Hannah retorted.

But the teasing tone didn't match her weariness. She looked like she hadn't slept in a week. Micah fought the urge to take her in his arms.

There was a reason he ended their relationship.

"This has to be done," Micah said. "If...if I don't make it, at least Rose will be safe."

Hannah's eyes widened. "That's not why you're doing this, is it? For Rose."

Micah stiffened. "Don't tell her. If anything happens...just don't tell her."

She smacked him again. "Rose isn't stupid. She'll probably figure it out. This is going to shatter her! She is already damaged from losing one brother, but..."

"They would've killed her," Micah said quietly. "Arden offered me a choice. Rose is ejected into space or I help them with the fight. Even if Rose has to stay imprisoned, at least she is on a craft. You can get to one of the other planets, you can find a safe haven."

Hannah narrowed her eyes. "Do you even want to be here? Do you even want to fight the Class 9?"

"I do." He nodded. "I don't want any other families to go through this kind of loss."

"You're so stupid." Hannah turned away. "You're going to put Rose through that loss. You're going to put me..."

Micah coughed. That was the reason he ended his relationship with Hannah. They hadn't spent much time together since the attacks had started, but he wasn't going to subject her to that kind of grief. Again. She had lost her entire family.

Maybe she would hurt when Micah died. But it would be worse if they had married.

Hannah, always full of energy, seized his hand and pulled him over to a viewer. They were a distance from Planet 8520, but close enough to see the astral abominations attacking the fleet. Micah trembled a little bit at the impossible beasts, destroying the best fighter crafts in the universe. They moved too fast, too fierce, for space. Micah would have sworn it was an illusion if he didn't see one of the crafts go down.

It didn't make sense how they did it. He couldn't understand.

"Do you see?" Hannah gestured to the viewer. "This shouldn't be happening."

Micah forced his feet to stay still. "We can still defeat them. We just have to get them in range of the weapon."

"Not all of them are down on the planet," Hannah said. "If you take out these bastards, you're only going to take out a few. Why are they sending you down to the planet? Why not do it here?"

"We can't risk taking out the planetary defenses," Micah said.

Hannah snorted. "The planetary defenses that didn't keep all of them off of the planet. There's another reason. Are you asking the right question?"

"Stone!" someone shouted.

"I have to go," Micah said, turning away from questions.

Hatred burned within him. For leaving things that way with Hannah. For letting Rose think he was just a heartless selfish monster.

He didn't let himself think about his coming sacrifice. He stepped into the small craft. One pilot and one person who knew how to operate the prototype. The pilot, Mercy Summers, had fought in the last two civil wars and was the best at her job. But she was older and enough digging told Micah that she had debts. A lot of debts and a family.

A monster slayer's family would likely be rewarded.

They selected an expendable tech who would operate the Dragon Slayer prototype. So Micah had no doubt that he was in a coffin.

Hopefully, his coffin would be the last side of the bloodthirsty beasts.

Micah took a seat, staring at the ominous black prototype. He was under strict order not to touch it until it was activated. They couldn't risk his metaphysical alteration causing the prototype to blow up before the dragons showed up.

His stomach twisted, fearing what it all meant. He didn't want to die. But when he looked at the black device, it evoked a sensation of staring upon his own death.

Part of him wanted to spring up and run back out. But he had limited options. The government wouldn't be happy if he refused to do their work. They might end up imprisoning him or ejecting him into space. The very act of defying their orders was treason.

Rose would die. People would die because he didn't help.

The black device seemed to stretch and grow until darkness covered everything. An eternal darkness that had no end. Little bits of light appeared. Just a few. Then a glittering explosion everywhere. Stars drenched the universe.

Flying through stars. An unreality turned into a beautiful reality. He couldn't stop. Nothing could stop him.

"Micah!"

Fingers snapped in front of him. He shook his head and looked up to find Hannah staring at him with concern.

"Hannah?" He rubbed his eyes. "Are you saying goodbye before we depart?"

"We already departed, Dreamer," Hannah said.

Her nickname for him when he was young. When he dreamed of traveling the stars for lost worlds and legends. Writing about the beauty.

One word woke him up. "Departed."

He looked at Hannah, unable to accept that she was there. She shouldn't be there. He looked past her, through the viewer. They were close to one of the beasts. Too close.

Micah waved his hands. "I..."

Stars. Only the swirling of stars taking him everywhere and nowhere. Taking him to a planet that called him.

He blinked. There was only gray sky. His vision took him past the starry battle down to the gray planet.

"Shit," he whispered. "We're here?"

Hannah was bent over the device, inputting some sort of code. "Yes. A while ago. We already entered Planet 8520."

Micah jumped up. "Then why are you here?"

Hannah folded her arms. "They need a tech expert. I guess I'll do."

"No!" He looked over at the cockpit. "We have to take you back. Now."

"No." Hannah held up her hands. "Too late."

"Why would they even...why would they send you?" Micah asked in a strangled tone. "Your intelligence is worth more than me or most people."

"Always nice to be valued for the way you can be used," Hannah muttered. Then she hugged herself. "I'm too smart, Micah. They watch me and I watch them. Do you know how many marks are on my name? Any little excuse and they would get rid of me."

"It shouldn't be that way," Micah said, hating how childish he sounded.

"You always wanted more," Hannah said. "A world of honor and the fantastic. Apparently we get one of those things."

"This is not what I wanted!" Micah snapped.

Every time he laid down and closed his eyes, he hated himself for wanting more. The illogical part of his mind feared that he brought these beasts upon everyone.

"Let's not fight." Hannah reached for his hand. "We're getting closer."

She led him to the viewer. A city, consumed by smog, once housing millions of inhabitants. The wealthy had evacuated, the lucky were secured in underground shelters.

But that wasn't everyone. Micah's stomach churned as the statistics rolled through his head. And horror filled him at the destruction of the smoggy city. Blasts of blue and black fire, buildings coming down, and one frozen blast that captured an entire city block.

"You have to do your wizard thing and call them," Hannah said.

Micah—so entranced by the phantasmagorical attack—jolted when a clicking sound filled the craft, followed by a beep. He turned as Hannah finished inputting a code and the device moved independently across the craft. It went through a small opening that shut behind it. A loud snap as it rushed through a hatch to the outside.

Screeching noises filled the craft as the Dragon Slayer attached to the exterior. A shudder went through Micah as the viewer displayed the ebony device, linking with the craft.

"Micah!" Hannah snapped her fingers. "Wizard thing!"

"You're the scientist so why are you calling it a wizard thing?" Micah asked, his fear bringing out irritability.

"Should I call it a psionic lure?" Hannah rolled her eyes. "Weren't you the one who told me once that a great writer said advanced technology can be indistinguishable from magic?"

"That's still no excuse to call it magic," Micah said. "I...and I can't do it. We have to go back."

Hannah grimaced. "Are you saying that because I'm here?"

"I...you weren't supposed to be here!" Micah erupted. "I never would have agreed."

"Well I'm here," Hannah said. "So you need to make every effort to survive. And don't even think of quitting. The Dragon Slayer is going off, whether we take out one dragon or them all."

Micah groaned in frustration. But he knew there was no choice. He didn't understand how to stop the prototype.

He would just have to make sure it counted.

Closing his eyes, he let the warmth grow inside of him. The sickening sensation that pulled him toward the creatures. Agents tried to train him on how to reverse it. Some part of him wasn't even sure if that was possible.

But he opened his eyes, many dragons surrounded their craft.

Creatures. Not dragons. Not that the name mattered.

They would all be gone in a minute.