The tribes and races of man believe the god Kuiper created the cosmos and the stars. The material left behind became the belt that surrounded the solar system of Trine, protecting it from the fiends of the dark. The god Kuiper supposedly created the Belt, the wall of moving glittering rock seen as a line of white in the Dark. He created dragons, immortal guardians of the belt to protect Trine, cradle and home to the races. It was the dragons who were there to destroy any of the outer dark that found its way through Kuiper’s belt. Dragons are immortal, but immortal doesn’t mean unkillable.

* * * * *

“How long until we get there?” Anvresus growled irritably. “And don’t say soon. I’m tired to death of ‘soon’.” General Anvresus was the overall leader of the expedition, but he knew that their very lives were in the hands of the wizards that kept them safe from the emptiness of the dark. Dressed in a peacock display of aqua, yellow, red, and black, Wizard Secundus Perrin Nott smiled irritatingly at the General.

“We’ll get there … soon enough …”, he said with quiet superiority. “Nordaadan knows her way. We’ve seen it and she knows her destination. She can’t do anything else.”

Nordaadan soared through the Void oblivious to the frayed tempers within her. Her huge ivory wings beat against the aether, their tireless movement propelling her towards the Kuiper belt. The faint light of the stars gave her scales an iridescence at odds with her tattered skin that barely covered her oddly sprung ribs and stomach. In this distorted portion of her body protruded a clear crystal tube rounded on each end. The tube occupied the entire space from her ribs to to her pelvis.

All internal organs were removed excepting the brain and the heart to hold the spells required to animate her corpse. Inside the crystal cylinder were spheres of darker glass where her ‘passengers’ survived safe from the cold of the Void. They rustled about in their crystal pressure hull walking from one greenish sphere to another. All told there were forty men and women who maintained the spells to the brain to coordinate the body and the heart to recycle the air in the crystal and spread magic through the body to allow animation. Also on board were one hundred of the Banoor Empire’s best soldiers. Their destination was the Kuiper’s belt – the rumored protection of the world and Nordaadan’s original lair.

General Anvresus’ scowl deepened.

“How. Long. Willuk.”

The Wizardus sighed dramatically, irritated by the deliberate omission of his title.. He turned with a swirl of his robe and then turned back to face Anvresus. “I don’t know. The dragon’s memories do not count exact bits of time. Those who are keeping the brain know we are close, but how close is measured in draconian considerations, not human.” He paused and presented a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “So, please, stop asking.”