Dreams and Visions

	Peridian 6th Degree / Dragon Breeder Noy
	Pelatih / Dragon Master S'bhu
	Pelatih / Dragon Master Ojyr
	Budak Omid
	Budak Sedoi
	Budak Ushai

Though she hardly looked to be the elder, Ojyr commissioned the younger Noy to help her build a bit of an empire on an island near the coast of H'lap, the southernmost stretch of Zuca. When the dragons were needed, many Peridian, the genetic engineers of the world, started working on not just dragon genes, but on those who would be most suitable to command them. The Dragon Masters were born of Pelatih and Budak, slaves and animal-lords, all around the world, in a very short time indeed.

Within only a few decades, not only had the world's genetic outlook broadened again with the new powers and mutations, but their legal system had gone through an overhaul as well. Dragon Masters needed help to start out, but they also got plenty of praise and could retire on their bounties. Dragon Breeders took up space in the oddest of locations, in order to maintain privacy for their works and keep themselves out of harms way when the aliens invaded.

On a regular basis, Dragon Breeders would be destroyed when the city they were in fell under attack. So, after a while, they simply stopped breeding dragons there. Undesirable locations otherwise - the tops of mountains, caves deep within the earth, soggy swampland, true desert scrub or even dune, and smallish islands - all became hot commodities in the eyes of those who would create the great beasts commanded into battle against the space-born enemies they faced.

One such island became the home for dozens of people - three Holders, and their Budak and Bayaran servants and experiments. Ojyr put down stakes on the island first, inviting Noy along, and later S'bhu to complete their ownership of the place. Though the maps officially showed the trio's Holds in separate locations, the entire isle was their whole haunt, they would never think of forbidding each other from any part of it.

It was not their only holding, of course, they still traveled around the world to their other locations. Business as usual most of the time with animal trades, hunting, wildlife preservation and the like.

Noy, always a bit girly, relished his time on the isle, because it gave him the chance to just let loose and be girly. And, gave him the chance to organize some truly spectacular offspring in his breeding vats. Of course, he was still apt to switch forms at random, something that S'bhu tried to help him with, but it just never worked. It was like a nervous tic for him. One moment he was normal, the next he'd sprouted wings and a line of feathers down his spine, and the next he had no legs but instead a thick stumpy perch. Rather odd, the others thought.

But then again, S'bhu had very little room to call anyone odd. She after all was hardly 'she' all the time. Moment by moment S'bhu could change from female to male, something the Peridian thought was even more impressive than her true shapeshifting. Samples from both male and female were taken - and were different from one another. Fully formed, S'bhu truly was a spectacular shapeshifter.

And normally, Ojyr would have been out of place, or even outclassed by this odd pair. But she had a few secrets of her own - the fact that she was essentially immortal one of them. She concentrated on getting the right dragons for their terrain - the rugged Mountain dragons as well as Swamp - but she knew there was something more to be had on this little island. Something odd. Her other secret ... Well, S'bhu claimed it wasn't really possible.

S'bhu didn't grasp that when they went on 'vacation' one year, they weren't even on Zekira. Her mind just stopped thinking on it: all the people there in the little cluster of huts on a lush green jungle isle had the same features, long ears and greyish-blue skin, with bright yellow hair. Every one of them. And there were hundreds, populating that place.

Ojyr knew it, because she'd been there several times before. S'bhu steadfastly refused to accept that they were anything other than a finely crafted illusion, or perhaps some grand Peridian experiment of homogeny.

So this trio and their collection of servants built up a very nice, sprawling homestead where each had a wing. Soon enough they were calling their island Dream Isle, seemingly inspired by their constant dreams and visions of life elsewhere. Or perhaps it was there on Zekira, but who knew.

As time passed, Noy grew bolder with his experiments. But also, grew bolder in his dreaming. Repeating the same ritual many times over, he could reach the mainland and walk through other people's minds as they slept. He practiced several days and rested several more, for years. S'bhu inspired him: he created several four-footed splices from her, they tended toward being four-footed in the genetic mix, so rather than fight it and making them bipedal, Noy pretty much said screw it, we could use some more 'taurs, and there they were.

The trio of children grew up as Budak, owned by the group at large, and knowing that they would one day become something much more than merely slaves. They were hardly shown off outside the isle, though, but they never seemed to miss that. Zekira after all was but one world. They could see and touch so many more.

It was rare to have any contact with the aliens here in the middle of nowhere, so life was rather idyllic for anyone living on the Isle. Yet, sometimes the childrens dreams were filled with oddly dark images. Places of wild beauty and danger, worlds whose skies were filled with stardust and comet tails, or vast underwater stretches of peaceful yet forbidding forests.

When the eldest among them was twenty years old, Omid his name, discovered a place of such dark mood he didn't shrink from it. Even though he was the least courageous of the trio, he informed his sisters and they together delved back into that strange half-world he'd found.

It was Sedoi who led them into the dark cavern, even though she was hardly what anyone would call a leader. Her lack of communication skill verbally didn't hinder her here, though, safe with the minds and spirits of her siblings close to her dusty blue self.

"Could this place be real?" Ushai asked, tiniest of the three and youngest as well. Though 'tiny' she was curious still. "We came here through your mind, brother," she said to Omid, "but I sense that we've traveled with your power, Sedoi."

Though they were all hardly out of childhood, their powers had developed well and strongly - Omid's dream walking ability was aided tremendously by Noy, who also had the power, and could transfer important skills along as well. Ojyr had taught Sedoi the skills needed to move seamlessly through one dimension and another, though it seemed the strength of their power was given by their true genetic donor S'bhu. She however never admitted she knew what they were talking about. Ushai knew that their mother-father was deluded, fooling herself to think that other places like this grand dark cavern didn't really exist. Ushai herself didn't have the ability to walk through dreamscapes or to actually force herself into another dimension, but she could see them perfectly well, and among the trio she was the most intelligent: able to understand if not act upon such things.

"Then I think you're right, it is real," Sedoi said, with words and not merely mental energy. That proved it, Ushai thought to herself, if she's not using that power to communicate they were no longer even really dreaming.

They clopped along rough-hewn dark stone, embraced on all sides by the strangely oppressing gloom. They wanted to know what had drawn them there, though it was a fearful experience. And after all, they were still young. Perhaps young and foolish?

Omid was the first to see a shape, he beckoned his sisters near. "Look at those," he whispered. The scenery had changed little since they arrived, though now it seemed while they could not see the cavern walls, they knew the place was filled with pitted holes and crags. Dark, moving mist crept around their ankles, chilling them through their hard hooves and fur. Omid unconsciously kept lifting his feet as though he could prevent the mist from clinging.

The sisters peered into another portion of this sinister cavern, seeing globes of dark mass, evenly shaped, egg-shaped.

"Eggs?" Ushai whispered, and her sister nodded.

"It looks like many of them," she said, "but what is that crawling on them? I don't want to know if it's oil or bugs or what..."

"Just shadows," Omid said, more to reassure himself than convince his sisters. "Like they're alive, though," he muttered, "they seem alive."

"Half this place seems dead, the other half should be," Sedoi proclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Ushai had delicately moved into the greater cavern, her knees swallowed up by the churning mist and leaving a trail behind her that the other two were loathe to follow. She made her way through unseen footing, and came to stand beside one of the larger egg shapes. "I want to take one," she said, her voice echoing once and then being dampened by whatever forces clung to the walls.

"Take one?" Omid yelped, his own echoing voice bounced many times, causing his heart to rush. "Take one, sister are you mad?"

"Hardly," Sedoi said, "perhaps it would be saving them from a terrible fate, after all what might have laid them and would they come back to care for what comes out?"

"What if they don't need caring for," Omid said, nervously. But he too followed Sedoi as she stalked toward their sister. He then noticed that there were a myriad number of small, fist-sized eggs as well as the bigger ones, and he knelt to pick one up.

As he did so he got a very queer sensation, crawling up his rump and into his spine, past his haunches and up to his more human shoulders.

"I think we should get out of here," he whispered. But he still picked up several more of the small eggs, as his sisters lumbered about with the larger type. They could hardly hold one each, he chuckled to himself, and if he'd been better at dreaming he might have tried to command them to have baskets on their sides, in order to better harvest the weird dark orbs.

As they did so though, both sisters seemed to have the same odd quivver of fright as their brother did moments before. They all glanced toward each other, and then turned tail the way they'd come, out of the dim mist filled cavern with the feeling that there were dangers just behind them the whole way.

They didn't so much 'wake up' as 'arrive home', and that made it even more obvious that among the trio they had indeed dreamed their way through another dimension. Since they, and most of the other numerous servants on the Isle, had their own whole set of suites to themselves, it would not be difficult to set aside space for these odd egg things.

Sedoi noticed with a bit of a tightness in her gut, that the shadows they'd seen crossing the eggs in that dank cavern were still there, somehow, even though it was nearing dawn. At her suggestion they placed the large eggs in the quiet 'wet room', for the time being anyway, where clothing and boots (for bipedal visitors anyway) were stored. There would certainly be a better location for the eggs, which they'd find later on.

The trio remained together that morning, sleeping off their adventure.

It was troubled sleep, but they muddled through. Each of them attributed their tossed slumber as an aftereffect of having 'hopped' or dreamwalked around.

Later in the day, after checking in with their parent-Holders if there were chores to be done (there usually were, but this day everyone was actually gearing up for a party on mainland H'lap, and the kids were to remain here), they set about locating a better hiding place for their eggs.

Not so much 'hiding', Omid said, as he put the smaller eggs onto their shared central room's firepit mantlepiece, but more for safe keeping. Who knew what might emerge - thus they took the bigger eggs to one of Ojyr's older buildings.

It had been a stable, then an aviary, and was now merely used for the occasional shelter from the frequent rainstorms over the Isle. In it there were plenty of barrels, sack cloth, tools and such. Useful things - the barrells mostly, because they stacked nicely and prevented viewing of the pair of eggs. It was dim inside: after the aviary idea failed to take off (but plenty of the birds did, thus it was decided not to try keeping birds any longer) the roof was re-covered and the windows let to collect grime. It wasn't exactly filthy inside, but it certainly wasn't spotless. The trio spent some hours that day cleaning.

Once more their sleep was restless, leaving them each a bit on edge. Sedoi and Ushai especially - and with them Omid, dragged along as though he could hardly control his own dreams.

And, with them too, Noy.

Distantly, since Noy and his companions were over two hundred miles away, as he slept it was apparent that something had changed at the Isle. Their partying done, the adults arrived home and only Noy was really affected at all.

Finally he could stand it no longer, and confronted the trio. "I know that something is wrong," he said, his voice was still high and lilting but stern. "What have you done that makes your dreams invade mine?"

With a very guilty start, Omid glanced downward, but didn't admit to where they'd been.

"You know that my power to transfer knowledge works both ways, Omid," he warned. "I do not want to have to take what information you should be freely giving me." With that, however, Sedoi and Ushai clopped into the wide, airy arboretum in the center of the wheel-shaped mansion they all lived in, and Noy took his gaze from one to the other of them.

"All of you are involved?" He asked, and they nodded, sullen. It looked to Noy that they hadn't slept much if at all over the last few days. So whatever it was that had affected him distantly, must be surely worrying at them far more.

"Is it so secret you must keep it from me?" Noy finally asked, softening his gaze and watching how they responded. They shuffled their hooved feet around but it was clear that whatever they found, it was both their responsibility and their pride. "I see."

"We can show you but..." Ushai said.

"We'll make sure that it turns out for the best," Omid completed for his sister.

Noy, returning to his normal heavy-lidded gaze, nodded once. "You may ... keep whatever you've got, but the moment it becomes a danger to anyone else, you will be rid of it, is that clear?"

"Yes, Breed Lord," they intoned together, as they had done many times in the past.

Thus over the course of the next half-season (five weeks) the trio took care of the eggs. Omid was more attentive to his little ones, though he'd made sure that the girls each would have one to call their own. He left the care of the bigger eggs to them - for whatever reason, just looking at them seemed to creep him out.

And all the while, they lost sleep. One or another would wake loudly in the middle of the night, comforted by their siblings. It was especially hard on Omid, though he didn't have as much direct contact with the larger eggs he knew that's where this feeling of unease and distress was coming from. He dared not use his power to sense through an animal, on those eggs. What might be in them?

Their parents and Holders had two good nests of their own dragons to attend, one of each of the types suitable for the Isle - the Swamp dragons had laid five eggs, while the Stone group had put down four. They would be distributed only after hatching to those who were best tuned to working that breed. So numerous visitors had come to the Isle, and the young Budak took care that their eggs weren't seen by anyone else.

Even though they were obviously the source of their night time terrors, the girls were still compelled to take care of their big black eggs. Sedoi wasn't sure whether they 'heard' her, but she began reciting what she knew of Zekiran history to the eggs, maths, social issues. Ushai thought it was weird of her, and for her own part would smuggle books of geology, natural events, and meteorological interests. Some dragons flew - and she was now sure that they were dragons in these eggs - so perhaps there would be interest in knowing the wind patterns and weather.

And still... The dreams came. Unbidden, cold, hard things, like Zucan steel.

When would it end? If it ended? Sedoi got weirder, hardly opening her mouth but to eat, and to scream herself awake in the middle of the night. Ushai withdrew but still performed all her duties at home with reasonable ease. Omid... Clung to his eggs as though they were calling out to him in fear as well.

Some day soon, they all hoped, the eggs would hatch. And then they would finally have ... what, one less mystery but certainly far more confusion and work! Who could tell what they'd need to do... Provide food? What if these odd creatures fed upon dreams? It seemed half likely, but they didn't dwell on that. Many Zekirans of odd powers were also afflicted thus, they had very strange diets. Blood, sunlight, mental anguish, joy.

Whatever they ate, the trio would have to be ready for it. Soon.