“Let’s go somewhere more comfortable to talk about all this,” Sara said. “I have a spot in mind, but it’s going to be a bit of a hike.”

  “I will meet you there,” Bodran said. “Keyth, go with her and assist her in any way she needs.” Bodran morphed back to dragon form and launched into the air. Sara started walking toward the city.

  Keyth hummed a series of harmonized tones toward Sara and ESK1 - or Eski, as Sara had been calling her core - translated. “I should carry your things for you, little sister of my god.”

  “Um, I’m fine,” Sara said, using musical notation displayed on her HUD to hum the words. Keyth’s face changed. His eyes sort of narrowed, but from the sides instead of from the top and bottom.

  What does that expression even mean, Sara thought.

  It is an expression that conveys social confusion. Eski said.

  Ah, Sara said. Did you translate my words literally?

  Of course, Eski said.

  So you basically told him, ‘unsure, I am in acceptable condition’

  Yes, Eski said.

  I cannot believe I’m considering this, but I think I need to give you internet access somehow next time we’re on Earth. Just promise you won’t start acting like an LLM.

  What is an LLM?

  You’ll find out when I show you the internet. I think you’ll find Earthlings’ claims of having created artificial intelligence to be greatly exaggerated.

  Understood, Eski said.

  OK, Sara said, help me hum this: “I do not require your assistance. Gratitude for the offer.”

  Eski made the notation and she hummed it. The expression on Keyth’s face didn’t disappear, but it softened.

  Through her bond with the wyrmcraft, she knew Bodran was going back into the engineering section and to the ship core. It made her nervous as hell, but she wasn’t sure what she could do about it. By the time Bodran got to the core, Sara was starting to struggle with the heavy bag she’d just said she didn’t need help with, but she didn’t want to admit it. It wasn’t too heavy, but it was awkward and the strap was biting into her shoulder.

  The ship city was filled with apartment buildings and Sara had chosen one for her and Hammy. She hadn’t seen it in person yet, but she KNEW every nook and cranny of the wyrmcraft. It had a kitchen and bathroom that Sara was sure she’d be able to figure out how to use with Eski’s help, and two bedrooms, all of which were of a size to accommodate humans. It also had a large living area where most of the seating was for human sized people, but with high ceilings and some seating meant to accommodate empyrean form dragons. It was on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings and had a big patio or courtyard filled with dead plants.

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  Hey, Eski, Sara said, I know I can’t bring living things with me when I use my stealth port, but do you think I’d be able to bring this bag to our destination?

  Estimating stealth port mass limits. Affinities for synergy abilities are additive. Affinity level exceeds past observations. Extrapolating from known data. Rounding preferences of user applied. If you were to expend all currently available mana, the current limit at the required distance is 857 of the Earth unit ‘short tons’. The amount of mana required to stealth port yourself and all the inanimate objects currently in your possession to your current destination would be negligible.

  Tons, Sara thought. Holy crap.

  “Hey Hammy, keep up,” Sara said. Then she stealth ported to their new ‘space flat’ dropped the bagste. She then immediately stealth ported out about a hundred yards in front of Hammy. She slapped her hands to her knees and said, “Catch me if you can, Hamster!”

  “Hey, don’t call me that!” Hammy said. He dashed at her only for her to teleport behind a row planter and pop up.

  “Missed me!” she shouted, only to have Hammy bowl into her at high speed and knock the breath out of her. She laughed and stealth ported away again, taunting Hammy.

  The game really got fun when they got to the city. Sara stealth ported to the top of a shop and Hammy leapt at her, using his speed affinity to boost the jump distance.

  Sara tried to duck but it was too late. He turned midair at the last second and latched onto her hoodie, turning it into a perfect landing on her shoulder. He nudged his face into hers and then he was off again, the force of his push off tilted her off the building. They both panicked for a second, but Sara stealthported herself before she hit the ground. But when she reappeared, Hammy was already there.

  “How did you know where I was going?” Sara said.

  “Luck!” Hammy said, then he tore off down the street. “Now you catch me!”

  Sara stealthported into his path and he skidded past her, then spun around and leapt at her again. Sara ported to just behind him and grabbed him, but he was moving so fast it sent her into a soft tumble. She caged her arms around him so he wouldn’t get crushed and she yelled, “Now you catch me!”

  This time, she stood stock still when she appeared right next to Keyth, and went into active stealth. Hammy stalked around for a while, sniffing the air. Sara tried to stifle her laugh but her chest was shaking. Hammy’s ears perked up and he turned toward her, eyes focusing. Keyth put his arms up in terror as Hammy pounced to the spot just beside him so fast it looked like he just appeared there. Sara howled with laughter as Hammy made contact.

  For the next half hour, they were all over buildings and weird abandoned vehicles that looked like hovercraft that weren’t hovering anymore.

  By the time they got to the building the apartment was in, they were getting a good feel for their new abilities, and they were both getting hungry.

  They raced each other up the stairs and Sara was amazed to see she wasn’t even out of breath.

  Bodran watched from a perch high above. He was confident he’d win if it came to blows with them, but that wouldn’t be the case when they caught up in levels. “I can’t wait to train them to fight,” he thought.

  *

  Etta had never been to Wyyrdda, the newly discovered world her father had been given to rule after siring an Imperial clutch, but she’d heard stories.

  Tygonn the Relentless, third consort of Empress Ziedda, and Etta’s sire, was not known for his cunning. He’d won his lekking with sheer stamina, courtesy of his healing affinity. Any beating he could walk away from was a beating he’d be fully recovered from in no time. Like most Imperials, Etta had not seen her father since the day he showed up to observe the hatching of his clutch and to choose the sons that he would take with him to raise as his own.

  Wyyrdda was still new to the Empire and had not been drained of mana resources as yet. Etta could feel it around her, thick and unprocessed, as she arrived. Something about the place gave her the creeps. She made her way to her father’s throne room. She found him there, in empyrean form, towering over the androgenous witchlock inhabitants of the planet, all of them swaying back and forth with ethereal movements as if they shared some kind of hive mind. Her father swayed with them.

  When she stepped into the room, they all stopped as one and turned to stare at her. “We’ve been expecting you, child of destiny,” they whispered in unison.