The silence in the lab was absolute.

  Riven stood frozen. He was just a human, staring at a god.

  The Elder Radiant hung suspended in the pit. It was a being meant to represent the pinnacle of the Empire. A creature connected directly to the Resonance, touching the spiritual energy that bound the universe together. It was the subject of Riven’s entire life’s effort—to fight alongside them, to protect the Concordance.

  Now, he was looking at one chained in a basement, hundreds of feet underground, its blood being dragged through long, pulsing tubes.

  This wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible. The only way for this to happen would be if the Concordance had subdued a wild dragon and dragged it down here. But the corridors Riven had navigated were built for humans, not dragons.

  How?

  A pulse of psychic energy swept over the room like a sudden storm front. It was heavier and older than anything Riven had ever felt.

  It passed over Riven without stopping. The dragon’s eyes were locked onto him. It was searching. It could see him physically, but it couldn’t talk to him.

  Lancers were not supposed to talk to dragons they weren’t bonded to. To speak to an unregistered dragon, Riven would have to take off his helmet. The DAIR suit dampened psychic power. It was the sole reason that after Halo went down, their heads hadn’t exploded from the Queen’s screams.

  Taking it off was suicide. But despite the danger, Riven needed to know. He needed to know how and why a dragon was trapped in a Concordant lab.

  He pressed the hammer icon on his chest.

  Hiss.

  The helmet retracted into the collar of his suit. The smell hit him instantly—a physical assault of rot, ancient dust, and the metallic tang of dried blood. It was so intense his eyes watered.

  Riven closed his eyes and reached out with his mind toward the dragon. Toward the storm searching for him.

  He connected.

  Pain spiked through his head, harder and sharper than anything he had ever known. It hurt worse than the punishments at the orphanage. It hurt worse than the nobles’ “accidents” at the Academy. It made the sim feel like a tickle.

  It pulsed through his head and trailed throughout his body, tracing his nerves with a white-hot iron knife. At the same time, a tearing sensation filled his skull. It felt like when Astrix looked through his memories, but he hadn’t realized how gentle she had been until now. Now, it felt like his mind was being ripped to shreds with a cannon.

  He vaguely felt his body thrashing against the floor. He had to grab anything. He had to do something to hold on to who he was.

  Name.

  What’s my name?

  Pain.

  Name.

  Astrix?

  Pain.

  Name.

  I am Riven.

  Blood began to leak from his nose, warm and fast.

  WHY ARE YOU HERE?

  Why am I here?

  Agony.

  WHY ARE YOU HERE?

  I need... data.

  Riven’s head bashed against a piece of sharp debris on the floor. Blood began to leak from his scalp, matting his hair.

  WHY?

  WHO ARE YOU?

  Pain.

  ANSWER.

  YOU ARE NOT ME.

  Riven felt himself lift. Or rather, something lifted him. He was hovering a foot off the ground.

  WHY ARE YOU GETTING DATA?

  I don’t know.

  Riven forcefully pulled his mind back together, building a wall out of sheer stubbornness. He tried to distinguish his own thoughts from the dragon’s crushing presence.

  Detriben.

  What?

  Riven felt some semblance of self return. The agony was slowly dying away. Or maybe his brain was just burning out, getting used to the fire.

  Detriben, why do you work for those abominations?

  What in the Resonance is a Detriben?

  Riven’s stained vision slowly returned. He was floating above the ground, staring out the window at the giant dragon.

  That which lacks connection to the Resonance.

  Images forcefully inserted themselves into Riven’s mind, searing his cortex. He saw thousands of humans flashing across his vision. Some on Terra, walking beneath gleaming spires. Some in the grime of mining colonies.

  In each photo, two things caught his eye. One, there were zero people with scales—no half-breeds, no Drakeons. Two, the people in the images were looking up with awe rather than horror.

  Who are you? Riven projected, his mental voice weak and raspy.

  I am Aldertire. It is a name of my people, not one that you humans stamped on us.

  Why are you here? Riven tried to convey his confusion. The dragon in those memories didn’t feel wild. It felt like a protector.

  BECAUSE OF YOU PEOPLE!

  Agony seared through Riven again. Aldertire let out a gasping, physical roar in the pit below. The chains creaked, and the room trembled.

  I WATCHED YOU ALL GROW! I PROTECTED YOU HUMANS! I BONDED WITH ONE! AND IN RETURN, YOU PUT ME IN THIS CAGE!

  Riven’s mind whirled at the revelation. Bonded?

  You tore me to shreds! Aldertire raged. Taking my blood, my scales, my very soul! And for what? What did I do to deserve this? I helped you humans, and you imprisoned me! Because I discovered your sins!

  Riven felt his suit creak. An incredible pressure surrounded him, trying to compact his body into a small, dense ball.

  That wasn’t me! Riven pleaded, fighting the pressure. I had no idea! You read my mind. You know what I know. This is the first time I’m hearing of this. I don’t know how you got down here or why!

  An intense mix of feelings settled in Riven’s gut, but it was a familiar ache. He hadn’t felt it for the past month, but he had felt it most of his life. Complete and utter helplessness.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Please listen. I don’t know why you are here, but I’m willing to help you leave this place.

  The dragon stared at him with dulled, near-lifeless eyes. Slowly, the telekinetic grip loosened. Riven was let down until his boots touched the floor.

  Silence stretched, broken only by Riven’s desperate gasps for air. It felt like his lungs had been squeezed flat.

  It... it is too late for me, Aldertire said wearily. But I will not let this facility stand. I will not let you take this knowledge that you have so forcefully pulled from my lifeblood.

  What are you talking about? Riven responded, clutching his ribs. What happened here?

  Everything you thrive off of, Aldertire shot back, driving another spike of pain into Riven’s head. I started asking questions. Things that cannot be, and yet were. How did Drakeons come to be? You fly alongside half-breeds and are led by a True Drakeon. Have you not wondered where they came from?

  They come from the blessing of the Resonance, Riven replied weakly. But the words sounded hollow as he thought them. Or from the love between a dragon and a human.

  You imbecile. Humans and dragons cannot interbreed. We have two separate fundamental natures. And that so-called ‘Resonance blessing’ is not freely given. It was taken by your Empire from the hide of my own kin. Through experimentation that ripped out their living genetic code and mixed it with your human DNA.

  Aldertire’s voice dripped with ancient disgust.

  You have yet to spend time with the older Lancers, yes? Do you ever wonder why you are the only human? After enough missions, you will be ‘awarded’ with a serum. A serum that will transform you into a lesser Drakeon.

  That’s not possible, Riven denied it instantly. Everyone at the Academy came through as a born Drakeon.

  You fail to realize the truth that you are holding in your very hands.

  Riven looked down at the data drives hooked to his belt.

  To make a True Drakeon, your kind spliced dragon DNA and human DNA in labs to produce them, Aldertire explained. And that’s not all. Everything you possess that touches the Resonance is from dragons. Your very suit is the skin and scales of my kin mixed with your foul technology.

  Aldertire’s voice grew more savage with every word, vibrating in Riven’s teeth.

  And that is not the worst. You chain even your most loyal dragons, the ones with the highest connection to the Resonance, to the engines of the ships you travel through space with. You force upon them agony that you cannot even begin to fathom to achieve travel between the stars. Your so-called ‘Concordance’ is nothing but a human empire built on the lies of humans and the bones of my kin.

  What.

  Then the images were forced into his mind again. They were vivid, visceral. Video feeds and physical memories.

  He saw the experiments. Dragons having their scales constantly ripped off as they regrew, treated as a renewable resource. Their blood constantly drained into vats.

  He saw an image of a dragon inside a massive machine, entirely covered except for its head, trapped in the engine room of a Concordance cruiser, screaming as it was forced to fold space.

  He saw a group of Lancers discovering a hidden facility. Aldertire was there. He was their squad leader’s dragon. They reported back to a military base.

  Riven watched as all the Lancers were executed for treason. Half of their dragons were captured; the other half escaped into the Fringe. They had knowledge of what happened but were entirely unable to act on it.

  Then, Riven saw Aldertire’s own fate. He was dragged down here. Made a part of the experiment. He was used as a psychic battery and a jammer. True Drakeons would come in and try to take over his mind when he was weak, attempting to control him like a puppet.

  Aldertire had been able to resist, but not for long. The torture had a side effect, though. It pushed his mind deeper into the Resonance. He gave up his physical body to the scientists and extended his consciousness into the Resonance’s infinite depths.

  There, in the dark, he felt a strange, alien presence. The Ravagers.

  He called upon it. A Ravager pod dropped from the sky. By tapping into that specific section of the Resonance and controlling the swarm, Aldertire was able to give the bugs beyond-human intelligence, even controlling their movements. He used them to invade the facility. He used them to butcher the scientists who had tortured him.

  He had been trying to destroy the servers and all the data contained within when the Hammers arrived.

  Riven wiped his mouth with the back of his armored glove. His hand shook so violently he smeared the mess across his chin. The sterile smell of the lab mixed with his own vomit. He looked down at the data drives clipped to his belt. The small blue lights blinked cheerfully against the dark metal.

  “I must take them,” Riven croaked aloud, his voice raw and echoing off the glass. He forced himself to his feet, leaning heavily against a console. “I must go back.”

  You would deliver a whip back to your masters?

  Aldertire’s projection felt like a cold, suffocating weight pressing the air from Riven’s lungs.

  You hold the schematics of our torture. You hold the genetic codes they use to breed slaves and the blueprints for our agonizing prisons. You would hand the captors better forged chains?

  My squad is dying! Riven projected back. Vex has a hole in her stomach. Astrix and my squad cannot leave until I return. If I do not bring these drives to the extraction point, then we will return again and again to retrieve them. And the less of us there are the less people we have to fight the swarm. They will die!

  Then they die, the Elder Radiant replied. The absolute, ancient certainty in the dragon’s mind made Riven’s chest tighten. A few human lives, extinguished quickly in the dust. A mercy compared to the torment my kin endure. You would trade the eternal agony of my entire species to buy your friends a few more years of comfortable lies?

  They did not do this to you! Riven shouted, his voice cracking. He stepped up to the reinforced glass, hitting it with his armored fist. Phillean, Tora, Vex. We did not know. We are soldiers. We only kill the bugs!

  Ignorance is but a shield your Empire hides behind, and you now stripped of that must make a choice. You are no longer ignorant, Detriben. The voids of Aldertire’s eyes seemed to pierce right through the glass, right through Riven’s skull. You have now seen the truth. You have felt the engine fires burning the skin from our bones. To take those drives now is to wrap the chains around our necks yourself.

  Riven backed away from the window, his hands gripping his hair. He was hyperventilating, pulling ragged, desperate breaths into his lungs. The red emergency strobes made the room look drenched in blood.

  He thought of Vex, laughing in the mess hall, her blood now pooling black on the cavern floor. He thought of Astrix, his partner, injured but still pacing the tunnel, trusting him to return.

  He thought of Aether. Astrix’s brother. Was Aether chained to an engine block right now?

  What happens to Astrix when she is no longer useful? Aldertire asked. The question was a scalpel, cutting straight past Riven’s panic into his deepest, darkest fear. When she is too old or too slow to fight? Will your Concordance let her fly free? Or will they strip her scales and bolt her to a warp drive to get every ounce of worth out of her? You fight to save her today, only to deliver her to the butcher tomorrow.

  Stop, Riven choked out. He clenched his fists tight. You are wrong.

  I will not stop, because your machines do not stop, the ancient dragon pulsed, a deep, sorrowful ache vibrating through the Resonance. Your ‘Concordance’ is a parasite. It feeds on a dragons connection to the divine. You ask me for a way out, human. There is none leaving your hands clean.

  Riven looked down at the physical drives in his hands. He felt like a terrified kid back on Paranthax, hiding in the rubble while Vinidean tore his world apart. Only this time, the monsters wore the same uniform he did.

  What would you do, Riven begged. He projected his raw, unfiltered helplessness into the void between them. If I destroy the drives, I kill my newfound family. If I take the drives, I am a monster to your kind.

  You hold the core of their lies, the Elder Radiant whispered in his mind. You must decide what you are, Riven Holt. Are you a mindless soldier of the Empire? Or are you the saboteur bringing it down?

  Riven sat in the pulsing red light of the observation deck. The hum of the blood pumps keeping the dragon alive filled his ears, synchronizing with his own racing heartbeat.

  You seldom choose the moment your life changes forever. The moment usually chooses you.

  The clock was ticking. Vex was bleeding out.

  If he destroyed the drives, his squad died. Kaelen would leave them. Riven pictured Vex’s lifeless eyes. He pictured Astrix torn apart by the swarm. He refused to let them die. He was willing to be a monster to save them.

  He gripped the drives tightly. This specific lab was experimenting on mind control. The scientists wanted to rip a dragon’s sense of self away entirely. Who knew how much data the scientists had already uploaded to the fleet? Destroying these physical drives might accomplish nothing except killing his friends.

  They needed to extract now.

  I am sorry, Riven whispered.

  He closed his eyes and pulled back up his mental wall. He locked his mind down tight, pulling his consciousness entirely out of the Resonance. The connection severed. The voices stopped. The oppressive psychic weight vanished.

  Aldertire’s eyes widened behind the glass. The dragon was suddenly blind to him again. Riven was back to being invisible to his psychic senses.

  The dragon realized the what Riven was doing.

  A silent, telekinetic scream exploded outward. The remaining reinforced glass shattered outward in a million pieces. A wave of pure kinetic force slammed into Riven.

  He flew backward, weightless for a fraction of a second, before smashing into the solid metal wall of the observation deck. The metal buckled. A sickening crack echoed inside his suit. Fire erupted in his chest as something snapped.

  Riven dropped to the floor, coughing up blood. His vision swam with black spots. He forced himself onto his hands and knees. Every breath felt like inhaling ground glass. He ignored the pain. He dragged himself up, securing the drives.

  He turned and sprinted for the exit.

  He burst through the ruined blast doors and stumbled into the main hallway. He froze.

  The corridor was packed.

  Dozens of Scout and Warrior Ravagers choked the hall. They clicked and hissed, their scythes scraping against the pristine white tiles. Aldertire must have been drawing them down here in case he had betrayed him. He was right.

  They turned their eyeless heads toward the noise of the breaking door. They still failed to sense Riven in the Resonance. They saw him with their physical eyes.

  Riven wiped the blood from his mouth. He was cut off from the surface. He was surrounded by monsters. He had a broken rib and a dying squad waiting for him. He could no longer afford to be stuck in his head. He had made his decision, and now he had to stick with it, no regrets.

  He flicked his wrist and his baton expanded. The blue energy of the lance flared to life, casting long, dancing shadows against the horde.

  He shook off the guilt. He shook off the hesitation.

  “Come on then,” Riven snarled, raising the blade.