The heavy silence, the sort that only occurs under thousands of tonnes of overlying rock, of the deep caves was broken only by the occasional drip of water. Then there was another sound, strangely distorted as it bounced off uneven surfaces, down narrow passageways and through open caverns. Moving closer to the source the soft glow of phosphorescent fungi and molds was replaced by the guttering light of a torch. Painting the passageway in dancing red and black the flames, picking out the detail of the walls. They were not natural rock surfaces. Instead every inch of stone had been intricately carved or painted with symbols, sigils, pictures and writing in more languages than could be counted. In fact, the entire cave system was like this - the Caverns of Prophecy, as they were called.

It was said that, since time began, every moment was captured in stone here, and every event of the future lay hidden within this magical complex. In order to foretell events, all you had to do was find what you were looking for upon these walls - provided you knew where to look, for the depths of these caverns had never been measured and, due to their nature, it was possible that they were growing all the time. Then you had to translate what you found.

Close up the distorted sound was recognisable as a male voice with a harsh accent, and also slightly irritated, " 'and so it came to pass that the'," a pause as he ran a black ivory claw - like the spikes on his wings, tail and elbows, and the retractable spines running down his back - along the passage he had just read and then on a few runes more, " '' *why* is Ancient Elven so bloody poetic?!!" he snarled.

Blackjack sat back, massaging his temples, bat-like wings hunched forward (though he was thankful it wasn't Chaos Sanscript that he was reading). The dragon (though currently in his more humanoid 'altered' form, save for the wings, tail and head - looking somewhere between canine and draconic with a furless flesh-coloured muzzle with a deep triple scar running down the right side of his face) had been here for hours having been drawn to this place for some unknown reason. He'd been to the Caverns before, if only out of interest to see what fortunes he could read, but this time he had come with an inexplicable sense of urgency in mind.

Brushing strands of his black mane out of his face, he looked at the Elven writ again, closing his transparent inner eyelids to cut out the infra-red light from the torch which was beginning to annoy him. A few of the words suddenly made themselves clear, " 'they who fall from the stars' " the next few lines muttered beneath his breath, and then " 'on the fourth advent of the thousandth age since the houses of Ilkuyu and Morpesh conjoined.' " A quick mental calculation. "****! That's tonight!"

It was a good hour's journey to reach the surface from this part of the caverns, but Blackjack managed it in half the time. Even in his haste though, he didn't neglect to pay his respects to the Keeper - and the demi-god she was a representative of - her due respects in the form of a gold and sapphire necklace. Priceless and exquisite in its handiwork, it was still a mere drop in the ocean compared with the rest of the dragon's vast hoard.

Blackjack waited a moment, the slight cool breeze that had managed to filter into the gorge from the valley and through the dense trees, reaching even to the mouth of the Caverns of Prophecy, blowing the tattered ends of his red denim waistcoat. A barely discernible inclination of the White Sphinx's head told the dragon that his token offering had been accepted, and he wasted not a second more in leaping into the air, powerful downsweeps of his wings carrying him skyward out of the gorge and its narrow, steep-sided valley.

Now circling ever higher on thermals through open sky above the Atar Forest at the foot of the Witch Mountains, Blackjack focused his attention on the remembrance of himself in his true form - the black dragon Syrax Bloodbane - as he was before the DemonQueen Shine had transformed him into Blackjack. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh as his body reformed itself, building muscle, altering skeletal structure and forming glittering ebon scales and leathery skin from light gray fur and then, having assumed dragon form, growing at an incredible rate until from head to tail he measured well over six hundred feet. Completing one final circle over the fast diminishing forest Bloodbane then banked gracefully to the left. Using his heat-sensitive vision to find the best thermals he caught the desired air currents beneath vast midnight wings and began the long journey back to his lair in the Evermoors.

Hundreds of metres below, on her blue-veined marble podium, the Keeper returned her visionless gaze from watching the dread wyrm to the setting twin suns. One of the Brothers had already passed the horizon, but the rays of the larger, golden star still drifted through the forest mists. A faint smile touched her impassive features. She had always enjoyed a good bit of intrigue as far as fate was concerned.

*************

The stars, embedded in the silent heavens, held vigil over the night shrouded continent of Caevalonia. The twin suns - one huge and yellow, the other small and red - bathed the other half of Tymaera with their life-giving warmth whilst the three Sister-moons glided from horizon to horizon. But they were not alone in their stately journey across the alien sky.

Like a falling star, a comet on a collision course with destiny, a brilliant red-glowing object tore through the planet's atmosphere, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as it split the sky.

"Everyone get ready for a crash!" yelled the pilot - a humanoid tiger of powerful build. Another cat, this one female with dusky gray fur, pulling the safety harness down over her head and shoulders spoke,

"What's that human saying, Sabre? 'Out of the frying pan...' " but she was cut off as a jet of steam and fumes filled the cabin of the tiny escape craft.

Sabre gritted his teeth and pulled with all his might at the unresponsive flight stick. Seeing that he had brought the small craft's nose up enough to slow their descent to a crash landing he and his companions might walk away from (which was more than he had expected to be able to do) he adopted crash position himself, praying to any deity that cared to listen that they would make it.

The ship rattled and shuddered alarmingly as it passed through storm clouds and, before they passed into another cloud bank, the second feline on board - the Prrshan cat known as Wild Kat - was rather surprised to see a huge floating city, its crystal domed cover glittering in the moonlight, blur past as they continued their crazy descent.

Minutes later there was a tremendous shock and then blackness as the ship first of all skimmed across treetops and then crashed onto the surface.

Consciousness returned reluctantly, and with it a rush of memories. Wild Kat recalled how she, Sabre, the wolf Fang and the elemental Ferric had been cornered in a trap by their enemies, the human Metallics, whilst on a solo mission away from the rest of their group of ten outlaw bounty hunters known as the Galactic Hunters. They had been captured and imprisoned on the Metallics' ship, but had escaped in a tiny scout ship. Out-gunned and out-equipped their only hope to lose their pursuers had been to jump blind into hyperspace without fixing arrival coordinates - hoping only that they didn't end up dropping out of hyperspace into the heart of a star somewhere.

Fortunately this hadn't been the case and they had found themselves in an uncharted, previously unknown, galaxy.

Unfortunately they had dropped out into the planet's atmosphere. The chase with the Metallics and the long hyperspace jump had been more than their craft could handle, and so began their wild ride to this new world's surface.

Wild Kat briefly wondered if she were dead until the sounds and scent of the swamp drifted in through a rent in the hull. Wrinkling her nose at the smell of decay she started to release herself from the safety harness and then heard her friend Fang saying something unrepeatable upon his return to reality.

"Is everyone all right?" asked Sabre. Several grunts and groans responded, recognising each voice he was satisfied that all had made it.

The weak emergency lights, barely illuminating the wreckage, were suddenly outshone as Ferric, the elemental being, sliced free of the debris using his light swords. "Oh yeah, we're fine." He snapped, telling himself he should have stayed with Deth-ray's group where his sister was.

As the four Galactic Hunters got over the disbelief at having actually survived, a new threat posed itself. The scoutship lurched suddenly, sending the four flying as it sank deeper into the myre, warning that it was time to seek more solid ground. Cold dank water was already flooding the lower part of the wreak.

Taking charge, Wild ordered everyone to salvage what little they could, including an emergency beacon, and then picked their way through the murky water, marsh vegetation and boggy ground to a higher patch where some twisted, leafless trees were.

All around as far as was visible was swampland and marsh. A thin mist, seeming to glow in the light of the three moons, - one gibbous and silver, the second yellowish and half-full and the last reddish and crescent - hung sullenly above the waters, occasionally illuminated by flickering marshlights caused by methane gas.

"We have to find higher ground if we're going to get this beacon working to contact Deth-ray and the others," established Wild.

"The ground will be safer if we stick near the trees, though," advised Fang. The wolf looked round and added, "I suppose one direction's as good as another. How 'bout that way?"

As the four set off, a small reptilian form, about three foot long, detached itself from a tree above where they had stood. The small two-legged red dragon called Garth circled unseen above the bounty hunters, making sure of the direction in which they traveled, and then flew off into the night.

Hours passed as they trudged onward through the mud and brackish water. Occasionally they had drawn up short, weapons at the ready as some unseen being moved through the darkness close by. Once they had even seen something huge and slimy surface briefly and then re-submerge in the unknown depths of a lagoon they passed. But nothing happened until the red and yellow moons had set, leaving the silver's glow and starlight to guide them.

Fang, used to surviving alone and relying on instinct, sensed the presence first and signaled for the others to stop, fur standing on the back of his neck.

"There's something there," said Ferric quietly, light swords drawn, "Up ahead in the mist." Whatever it was, all four felt their skins crawl.

Softly mist knotted together, coalescing into wispy ethereal form. Head, arms and shoulders could be seen, the rest tapered and faded to nothing. The glowing apparition silently turned its skeletal head, topped with a crown, to face them.

"What the f--" began Fang but, despite himself, fell silent as it raised a bony finger to where lips once were. An insane cackle filled the silence and the specter flew at them. Wild reacted first, fuser cannon aimed straight and true. Yet the white hot blast passed straight through, exploding in the dark far behind.

The spirit circled them at dizzying speed and suddenly spoke, it's hollow voice laced with tones of madness,

"Heed ye now my prophecy:

Three of the four free shall be,

And as for the last," it paused, and then cackled again, "... wait and see!" With a shrieking laugh it sped off into the mists from whence it came, echoes of its horrid mirth dying on the lifeless wind.

"I didn't see what you didn't just see, did I?" said Sabre quietly to Wild.

Not responding, Wild Kat felt a chill run up her spine, despite the balmy atmosphere of the swamp.

Angry at himself for being unsettled by the metaphysical nasty, Fang growled "I wonder what *that* was all about." trying to ignore the fact that that had been a ghost. And ghosts *didn't* exist. Right?

Ferric said nothing about it. Instead he pointed out impatiently that perhaps they should get moving instead of standing here waiting for something else to come along.

Night passed uneventfully and still no suitable ground could be found. Brilliant red and gold light flooded the sky, turning rapidly gathering clouds pastel reds and pinks as the twin suns rose, driving night away. Yet darkness still somehow lingered on here, unwilling to leave.

"Is this world some giant marsh or what?" said Ferric. The novelty of labouring through a swamp on an alien planet where you were quite possibly stranded didn't take very long to wear off.

"Maybe that's why they have flying cities," mused Wild.

"You saw it too?" Sabre was glad - he thought he may have been hallucinating.

"So this place is inhabited. But by what?" Ferric, hands lingering near weapons.

"We should rest and regroup," said Wild, seeing how everyone was tired and tempers wearing thin.

Dumping the load he'd been carrying, Sabre stretched out taught muscles and readjusted his chest plate armour. Looking back in the direction from which they'd come, his emerald eyes strayed towards the sunrise, to the trees and quickly back again. *There!* Silhouetted against the small red star were five dark shapes, one about thrice the size of the others, all closing in fast. "Company" even as he spoke he could make out the shapes more clearly. The smaller ones were huge eagles. The larger ... he squinted, not knowing to believe or not ... he recognised it as a creature from children's tales he'd heard. The lion's roar accompanied by tones of a bird of prey dispelled any doubt. A griffin! All five had riders. Closer now they looked very much like tall, thin -

"HUMANS!" snarled Fang, hatred of the race that had killed his parents boiling in his veins.

"Those scum get everywhere!" Wild changed into her armour, using its wings to take her into the air as, with a piercing scream, the first of the great eagles swooped at them, claws outstretched. The riders - who were definitely more graceful than any other humans the Galactic Hunters had ever seen - were tall and slender with finely featured faces and slanted almond-shaped eyes. Had any of them been able to see under their helmets, they would have found these 'humans' to have pointed ears too. They called to one another in a beautiful, almost musical language as they pointed down at the 'Hunters. But this wasn't really the time to appreciate such finer details.

Ducking another set of grasping talons, Sabre stood up and got a clear shot between the eagle's wings. A brief cry of pain from the pilot satisfied him his shot had hit home. The bird wheeled upwards and away. "One down, four to go," he murmured grimly.

The plasma rifle appeared to flummox their attackers - as if they literally didn't know what had hit them. Using their surprise to his advantage, Ferric managed to jump onto the back of another swooping eagle. The rider already had knife in hand, but a shot from the ground knocked the blade from his slender hand. Ferric grappled briefly with the 'human', and although he was fast and put up a good fight, could not save himself from the bounty hunter's lethal light swords. Jumping off the great bird, wiping blood from glowing blades, Ferric glared at Fang who had fired the shot. "I can take care of myself."

Fang just shrugged, and then dove sideways suddenly as several crossbow bolts thunked into the earth where he'd stood. Their adversaries had apparently chosen another attack method - having seen two of their number fall, they now circled cautiously up above them where they would have time to manoeuvre should any of the 'Hunters use their cannons.

"The guy on the griffin looks like their leader I'll have to get closer to take him out!" Wild flew upwards, pulling down her helmet's visor against the wind.

"Be careful!" shouted Sabre after her. Fang also watched his friend with concern.

The remaining two eagles screamed and flew in the way to protect their leader and for a moment all Wild could see was a mass of feathers and beating wings. A few slashes with her claws and they backed off. When she flew out of reach the griffin was out of sight and she hung in mid-air for a second, finally looking to the distant ground for any clues from the others. They were gesticulating wildly at her and it took a second to translate the wild gestures into 'Behind you!'.

Too late she turned in time to be greeted by the monster's roar and its grasping taloned forepaws. They caught her in an iron grasp, hitting with so much force that she was unconscious before she really knew what was going on.

Down on the ground Sabre, Ferric and Fang watched Wild's capture in horror. Especially Sabre.

"Wild! NOOoo!!" he yelled, running forwards and blasting wildly at the fast retreating griffin. The two eagle-riders hung on behind, keeping the Galactic Hunters occupied whilst their leader made a getaway. Then they too retreated.

The three ran behind, crashing through gnarled trees and splashing through water, even after the attackers were far beyond sight. Finally, unable to go any further and bleeding from a crossbow bolt wound he had received, Sabre stumbled over a protruding root and fell to his knees, closing his eyes, and digging his golden claws into the ground, "Oh, Wild "

End of Part 1!

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Disclaimer:

The Galactic Hunters and related concepts belong to the Goddesses! (that's Isis, Sierra, Bastet and Sekhmet).
And the Daemonslayers etc. belong to me!! Feedback more than welcome, (gives me a reason to carry on).

All characters, places and anything else portrayed in this story is copyright 2004 to the author, Isabelle Davis (Drakhenliche), and may not be used without express permission. Meccha/Soul (c) Elsa Lai 2004

Comments, questions, whatever, can be addressed to me at the www.NecroDragon.com forum.