The Dragon Rider
- Thread starter Skul
- Start date
Skul
Active member
Prologue
IT HAD OFTEN been said among the peoples of the Americas that there existed a stone. This stone would bring the one who held it such fortune that nature itself would give him good luck to the end of his days.
The ancient dragon Lacifer forged this stone at the dawn of time. The stone was molded together with volcanic fire from Mars, at Mount Olympus itself. The stone, bluish in color and about as big as a football, was named the Stone of Kuldathor. For centuries afterward, Lacifer possessed it and, under his stone’s power, brought peace to the world.
When Man first appeared in the Americas, they found all the creatures that you and I have only dreamed of: dragons, unicorns, griffins, and phoenixes. Wrongly assuming these creatures would bring harm to them, the men of the Americas started killing them, one by one. Even the Stone of Kuldathor would not save them, so Lacifer created out of the creatures an army. For over five years, the race of Man fought the races of the mythical creatures, and in one of the final battles, fought in the middle of the Rocky Mountains themselves, the Men defeated the creatures.
Only Lacifer managed to escape, taking with him the Stone of Kuldathor. It would take many more years for the Men to kill the rest of the creatures, but they did so nonetheless.
Yet, every now and then, a farmer or slave in the United States would look up into the sky one night and see a huge silhouette in the sky, and a shining blue object in the silhouette’s hands. They could always swear that the huge shadow was a dragon.
“Until the time is right—until Man is ready to see my face—I will disappear, as if I had never been.” –Lacifer
IT HAD OFTEN been said among the peoples of the Americas that there existed a stone. This stone would bring the one who held it such fortune that nature itself would give him good luck to the end of his days.
The ancient dragon Lacifer forged this stone at the dawn of time. The stone was molded together with volcanic fire from Mars, at Mount Olympus itself. The stone, bluish in color and about as big as a football, was named the Stone of Kuldathor. For centuries afterward, Lacifer possessed it and, under his stone’s power, brought peace to the world.
When Man first appeared in the Americas, they found all the creatures that you and I have only dreamed of: dragons, unicorns, griffins, and phoenixes. Wrongly assuming these creatures would bring harm to them, the men of the Americas started killing them, one by one. Even the Stone of Kuldathor would not save them, so Lacifer created out of the creatures an army. For over five years, the race of Man fought the races of the mythical creatures, and in one of the final battles, fought in the middle of the Rocky Mountains themselves, the Men defeated the creatures.
Only Lacifer managed to escape, taking with him the Stone of Kuldathor. It would take many more years for the Men to kill the rest of the creatures, but they did so nonetheless.
Yet, every now and then, a farmer or slave in the United States would look up into the sky one night and see a huge silhouette in the sky, and a shining blue object in the silhouette’s hands. They could always swear that the huge shadow was a dragon.
“Until the time is right—until Man is ready to see my face—I will disappear, as if I had never been.” –Lacifer
oxford girl
New member
I like it. Post more soon
Skul
Active member
Chapter 1
DAVID ANTHONY TAYLOR took a break from the computer to rub his eyes. He had been working for hours on end, and has just now gotten somewhere. As the principle editor for the Coloradoville Courier, he was responsible for putting the paper together in just the right fashion, not to compressed and not too light. As well as editing the works of other people’s work, he also had to write an article himself, never less than half a page long.
He found himself looking down at his watch. Twenty-six past two, it read. He sighed. Okay, he exhaled. I can do this. Just two and a half more hours.
In the seat next to him, his assistant John Welkins took a sip from a cup of coffee. David leaned over to whisper to his colleague. “So,” he said, “how close are you to being done?”
Welkins set the cup down and exhaled. “I’d give it another half-hour, probably a full one,” he said, and then continued his typing, occasionally moving his right hand to the computer mouse.
David turned back to his own computer and continued writing. Every once in a while, he would load up the Internet to take a look at the latest NASA news, from interviews with astronauts and their wives to cameras orbiting the Moon.
David Sanders was seventeen years old, the youngest senior editor ever for the Coloradoville Courier. He took his job very seriously, though he compromised his schoolwork through it. There was nothing entirely special about him; his parents died two years ago, and as his father was editor for the Courier, this position was his inheritance.
After a while he looked back at his watch. Two till five, it said. Satisfied, he made a few changes to his work, emailed it to the paper publisher, and shut down the computer.
He looked back at Welkins. “I’m done for the day,” he said. “I’ve got to get home and start getting ready for the party. You’re still coming, right?”
Welkins smiled, not looking away from his computer screen. “I wouldn’t miss it,” he said. “Mary and I will be there.” Indicating the screen, he added, “I’m looking up the NASA site right now.”
David looked over his friend’s shoulder. A real-time video showed both of them an astronaut on the Moon, saluting an American flag. Beside him, a cosmonaut saluted it with him. “We both salute this flag,” one of them—likely the cosmonaut, David thought—said, filtered through static and radio waves, “to show the unity of our nations. The world needs to be united in order to survive.” Yep, definitely the cosmonaut.
The other man looked up into the sky, and the camera panned up, revealing a blue-white globe in the sky. Another voice, speaking better English but also filtered, said, “Looking up at that fragile planet, it reminds us of how vulnerable we really are. As we end this TV special, we have only one thing to ask of all you Earthlings: Take care of Spaceship Earth.” With that, the globe disappeared.
DAVID ANTHONY TAYLOR took a break from the computer to rub his eyes. He had been working for hours on end, and has just now gotten somewhere. As the principle editor for the Coloradoville Courier, he was responsible for putting the paper together in just the right fashion, not to compressed and not too light. As well as editing the works of other people’s work, he also had to write an article himself, never less than half a page long.
He found himself looking down at his watch. Twenty-six past two, it read. He sighed. Okay, he exhaled. I can do this. Just two and a half more hours.
In the seat next to him, his assistant John Welkins took a sip from a cup of coffee. David leaned over to whisper to his colleague. “So,” he said, “how close are you to being done?”
Welkins set the cup down and exhaled. “I’d give it another half-hour, probably a full one,” he said, and then continued his typing, occasionally moving his right hand to the computer mouse.
David turned back to his own computer and continued writing. Every once in a while, he would load up the Internet to take a look at the latest NASA news, from interviews with astronauts and their wives to cameras orbiting the Moon.
David Sanders was seventeen years old, the youngest senior editor ever for the Coloradoville Courier. He took his job very seriously, though he compromised his schoolwork through it. There was nothing entirely special about him; his parents died two years ago, and as his father was editor for the Courier, this position was his inheritance.
After a while he looked back at his watch. Two till five, it said. Satisfied, he made a few changes to his work, emailed it to the paper publisher, and shut down the computer.
He looked back at Welkins. “I’m done for the day,” he said. “I’ve got to get home and start getting ready for the party. You’re still coming, right?”
Welkins smiled, not looking away from his computer screen. “I wouldn’t miss it,” he said. “Mary and I will be there.” Indicating the screen, he added, “I’m looking up the NASA site right now.”
David looked over his friend’s shoulder. A real-time video showed both of them an astronaut on the Moon, saluting an American flag. Beside him, a cosmonaut saluted it with him. “We both salute this flag,” one of them—likely the cosmonaut, David thought—said, filtered through static and radio waves, “to show the unity of our nations. The world needs to be united in order to survive.” Yep, definitely the cosmonaut.
The other man looked up into the sky, and the camera panned up, revealing a blue-white globe in the sky. Another voice, speaking better English but also filtered, said, “Looking up at that fragile planet, it reminds us of how vulnerable we really are. As we end this TV special, we have only one thing to ask of all you Earthlings: Take care of Spaceship Earth.” With that, the globe disappeared.
oxford girl
New member
Good. But at the beging you call him David Anthony Taylor, and farther down you call him David Sanders.
oxford girl
New member
Oh. Thanks for pointing that out. I meant Anthony Taylor, for a cousin of mine. Dno't know where "Sanders" came in.
lol. ok, you're welcome
Copperfox
Well-known member
I don't know to what extent characters in your story are speaking for you; but how deeply have you thought over the implications of calling for "world unity"? Have you thought about who would be in charge--and what inducement the one-world system could possibly offer to national dictators to persuade them to give up even a little bit of the power they hold over their enslaved populations? The only inducements I can think of that they would listen to would be (1) threaten to kill them if they resist, or (2) offer them comfortable positions in a new global regime which will itself be another totalitarian dictatorship.
Sir Benjamin the Lion
New member
THis is really good. Sounds just like men to do that. 
Copperfox
Well-known member
Understand that I am not pretending to know anything at all about the motives of the present author. I just can't stop remembering the fact that the most vicious, merciless tyrants almost invariably call for "unity"--meaning all the peasants must remain unified in slavish obedience to the tyrants. And considering how MANY voting members of the United Nations General Assembly ARE socialist or fascist dictatorships, I don't foresee that organization EVER giving us any global system that doesn't cater to the preferences of those dictatorships.
Skul
Active member
If you keep reading, you'll see who is the enemy in this story. This first chapter is really to show you what time in history this would have taken place in: the future.
David found his breath caught. For the first time in history, five men were on the Moon at the same time: two Americans, one Russian, one Briton, and one Australian. And another twenty men and women were in space at that very moment, as well. Three of them were about to rewrite history.
Already, this was the first Moon landing in almost fifty years. The space suits that replaced the suits worn in the Apollo missions were now able to sustain life for up to two days if absolutely necessary, and the crafts—some of them over five hundred feet big—could keep five men alive for over a year.
“Earth to David,” a voice said. David jumped and found himself back in the editor’s office.
“Sorry, John,” he said, gathering his things. “I was thinking of how far the space exploration has gone.”
Welkins smiled as he picked up his coat and cowboy hat. “If I were you,” he said, “I’d get myself back below the clouds.”
David chuckled. He put a few papers into his briefcase, grabbed his coat and keys, and followed Welkins out the door, locking it shut behind them.
David found his breath caught. For the first time in history, five men were on the Moon at the same time: two Americans, one Russian, one Briton, and one Australian. And another twenty men and women were in space at that very moment, as well. Three of them were about to rewrite history.
Already, this was the first Moon landing in almost fifty years. The space suits that replaced the suits worn in the Apollo missions were now able to sustain life for up to two days if absolutely necessary, and the crafts—some of them over five hundred feet big—could keep five men alive for over a year.
“Earth to David,” a voice said. David jumped and found himself back in the editor’s office.
“Sorry, John,” he said, gathering his things. “I was thinking of how far the space exploration has gone.”
Welkins smiled as he picked up his coat and cowboy hat. “If I were you,” he said, “I’d get myself back below the clouds.”
David chuckled. He put a few papers into his briefcase, grabbed his coat and keys, and followed Welkins out the door, locking it shut behind them.
Sir Benjamin the Lion
New member
lol. 
The moon....colonization?
The moon....colonization? 
Frodosgurl
Well-known member
Nice Story.
Skul
Active member
Yes: colonization. It seems that, sometime in the future (far future, not near future), NASA is expecting to send some architect up there to start building a structure that can keep people alive for up to five months. I've seen the plans myslef, nad I based this off of those plans. The next part of the story is even more exciting.
Skul
Active member
At Taylor’s house, David spent a full part of the afternoon and evening greeting guests. Since he had the biggest television in the city—as well as the loudest and highest-definition—he had invited a full one hundred guests to his home.
David himself provided the coke and soda; he wasn’t a drinker. But somebody else has taken the liberty in bringing champagne and brandy, which he helped himself to. Not too much, he would have said, because I don’t want to be drunk during the big moment.
Before the appropriate time, somebody switched on the TV to Fox News. An astronaut on the Moon, looking very much—and very convincingly—like a reporter, said in a hard Australian accent, “It’s that big night, Earthlings. As we five men are on the Moon, we have a television of our own, and I’m watching myself announce to me that I’m saying this piece of news to myself.” A chuckle came from somewhere in the background. “Look at that: I can year your laughs all the way out here in the literal middle of nowhere.”
The camera turned to another man, who said in an American accent—much easier for David to understand—, “In just a few hours, the Earth will take another huge step in the Space Age. It’s been talked about for the past ten thousand years, and even more so in the past fifty, ever since Neil Armstrong stepped foot right were we’re standing right now: in Mare Tranquilitatus, or the Sea of Tranquility. But only in recent years has it been made possible. Our three men are out there right now, somewhere in this solar system I’m sure. No need to tell you what they’re doing, so I’ll let you guess.”
David himself provided the coke and soda; he wasn’t a drinker. But somebody else has taken the liberty in bringing champagne and brandy, which he helped himself to. Not too much, he would have said, because I don’t want to be drunk during the big moment.
Before the appropriate time, somebody switched on the TV to Fox News. An astronaut on the Moon, looking very much—and very convincingly—like a reporter, said in a hard Australian accent, “It’s that big night, Earthlings. As we five men are on the Moon, we have a television of our own, and I’m watching myself announce to me that I’m saying this piece of news to myself.” A chuckle came from somewhere in the background. “Look at that: I can year your laughs all the way out here in the literal middle of nowhere.”
The camera turned to another man, who said in an American accent—much easier for David to understand—, “In just a few hours, the Earth will take another huge step in the Space Age. It’s been talked about for the past ten thousand years, and even more so in the past fifty, ever since Neil Armstrong stepped foot right were we’re standing right now: in Mare Tranquilitatus, or the Sea of Tranquility. But only in recent years has it been made possible. Our three men are out there right now, somewhere in this solar system I’m sure. No need to tell you what they’re doing, so I’ll let you guess.”
Elendil
New member
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Skul
Active member
David poured a mix of champagne and brandy, took a sip, and turned back to the television screen. The people he had invited had all come by now, and had all seated themselves in the one hundred chairs and sofas that made a semicircle around the TV.
The camera once again panned up, revealing an artificial satellite up in the air, floating. A different voice came, this one from the Briton. “Up there, as you can all see, is our first artificial satellite to orbit the Moon. It’s technical name is Moonshine, but we’ve nicknamed it, as the Americans call it, ‘Dizzy’.”
A NASA voice broke in. “That’s because they stood there staring at it for over an hour. It moved a full eighty degrees.”
The other American chuckled. “That’s right, Alec.” The camera panned back down, and revealed four astronauts walking in one-sixth gravity away from the camera, and the camera hopping after them. “Our life supports are running low, Houston,” the first American said. “I think it’s time we get some more oxygen in our systems. We’re taking the TV, though. Keep that in mind.”
“Roger that,” the NASA man said. “Landing should be in two hours. Walkout in two ten. Over.”
“Over,” the Russian said, and the screen went from the astronauts to a reporter in the Fox studio.
“That was the first five men on the Moon in fifty years,” he said very professionally. “While we’re waiting for what could very well be the biggest event of the century, we’d like to show you pictures and live video of the New Horizons, which just approached Pluto five minutes ago. This is the first spacecraft to ever get this close to Pluto—at about five hundred miles—and is the first to get any close-up pictures. Before, the most detailed pictures we had of Pluto was from the Hubble Telescope, which only got a few resolution pictures of less than ten per pixel.”
The camera once again panned up, revealing an artificial satellite up in the air, floating. A different voice came, this one from the Briton. “Up there, as you can all see, is our first artificial satellite to orbit the Moon. It’s technical name is Moonshine, but we’ve nicknamed it, as the Americans call it, ‘Dizzy’.”
A NASA voice broke in. “That’s because they stood there staring at it for over an hour. It moved a full eighty degrees.”
The other American chuckled. “That’s right, Alec.” The camera panned back down, and revealed four astronauts walking in one-sixth gravity away from the camera, and the camera hopping after them. “Our life supports are running low, Houston,” the first American said. “I think it’s time we get some more oxygen in our systems. We’re taking the TV, though. Keep that in mind.”
“Roger that,” the NASA man said. “Landing should be in two hours. Walkout in two ten. Over.”
“Over,” the Russian said, and the screen went from the astronauts to a reporter in the Fox studio.
“That was the first five men on the Moon in fifty years,” he said very professionally. “While we’re waiting for what could very well be the biggest event of the century, we’d like to show you pictures and live video of the New Horizons, which just approached Pluto five minutes ago. This is the first spacecraft to ever get this close to Pluto—at about five hundred miles—and is the first to get any close-up pictures. Before, the most detailed pictures we had of Pluto was from the Hubble Telescope, which only got a few resolution pictures of less than ten per pixel.”
Skul
Active member
David heard the telephone ring, and went to answer it. He only needed to hear it for three seconds before realizing it was a recording of some company wanting to sell him extended insurance on his truck, and he didn’t even own a truck. He waited till the part when he was supposed to hit “1” to accept the insurance or “2” to reject it, hit “2”, and walked back to the TV room, where there was only a few whispers.
The television had on it a picture of an object against a black background, looking somewhat like the Moon. It was dark pink-purple, some parts gray. It looked like a frozen, round ice cube. Another photograph filled the screen next second, this one a little closer, showing what looked like pink clouds.
“This more recent picture of Pluto,” the announcer said in the background, “was taken a mere two minutes ago, and in a few minutes we’ll receive real-time video from the New Horizons, which will land on Pluto after a few days, after it explores it’s moons. Ah, here’s the video now.”
The picture disappeared, and a dark silhouette came into view. After a light came on from behind the camera, the shadow lit up, and showed a crescent shape of a planet. This looked exactly like the pictures, but now David could see it for what it really was: a dead, dark planet. I wouldn’t want to live there, he shuddered.
The camera panned around, to show a similarly frozen moon, dark blue and blocking the sunlight. Even after the moon moved away from the sun, David could barely tell the sun was the same sun that fueled Earth’s energy.
There’s more to the universe than just this Earth, he found himself thinking. At least now we’ve explored all eleven planets.
The television had on it a picture of an object against a black background, looking somewhat like the Moon. It was dark pink-purple, some parts gray. It looked like a frozen, round ice cube. Another photograph filled the screen next second, this one a little closer, showing what looked like pink clouds.
“This more recent picture of Pluto,” the announcer said in the background, “was taken a mere two minutes ago, and in a few minutes we’ll receive real-time video from the New Horizons, which will land on Pluto after a few days, after it explores it’s moons. Ah, here’s the video now.”
The picture disappeared, and a dark silhouette came into view. After a light came on from behind the camera, the shadow lit up, and showed a crescent shape of a planet. This looked exactly like the pictures, but now David could see it for what it really was: a dead, dark planet. I wouldn’t want to live there, he shuddered.
The camera panned around, to show a similarly frozen moon, dark blue and blocking the sunlight. Even after the moon moved away from the sun, David could barely tell the sun was the same sun that fueled Earth’s energy.
There’s more to the universe than just this Earth, he found himself thinking. At least now we’ve explored all eleven planets.
Skul
Active member
For about two hours, the television flashed images and video clips of Pluto’s surface to Earth, revealing to Man for the first time what the unexplored surface of this other planet held.
For the first time that evening—for that matter, in his whole life—it dawned of David that this was really happening. He had grown up knowing that sometime in the past, twelve men happened to walk on the Moon, but after Armstrong and Aldrin, nobody was interested anymore.
Now all the Earth was interested. Almost unanimously, Congress had voted only a year ago to go ahead and start building a permanent settlement on the Moon, and eventually travel on to Mars.
Boy, if I got the chance to go up there…
The screen changed, and showed a desert-like place, with red rocks/sand and an equally red sky. Suddenly, everybody in the room hushed down to barely more than breathing; this was what they had been waiting for, and what Man in general had been waiting for, for over fifty years.
Even as they watched, the view of the desert tilted up, revealing a whole sky full of red clouds. A soft white glow came from among the clouds, steadily growing bigger. Soon the white disappeared, revealing a spacecraft that looked like a vertical version of the Space Shuttle.
A voice crackled from the TV, likely from a Cap Com at NASA. “Okay, Falcon, we see you coming into the atmosphere right now.”
A somewhat clearer voice responded, “We can see the camera from up here. I’ll tell you, Houston, it’s a fine day out here, so far from home. I just hope this thing works.”
Slowly the craft came to the surface, the camera catching every movement it made. The instant the craft landed, three figures inside of it started walking around. Another voice said, “We’re making sure nothing was damaged during landing…and nothing was.”
For about five minutes, David could make out the shapes of the three astronauts getting ready to step out of the module and onto the Martian surface. Soon, the first voice said, “Okay, Houston, we’ve got our suits on. We’re all for go on releasing the air.”
“Roger that. Whenever you’re ready, Falcon.”
A door opened in the side of the vehicle, and a gas of some sort—likely oxygen—seemed to explode from the Centurion Falcon. Then the main hatch door opened, showing an astronaut about to walk down a ladder to the surface.
“Okay, Jack, we see you in the main hatchway right now,” Houston said.
Jack slowly sank down to the ladder; it was only about one-third gravity up there, David reminded himself. Then Jack slowly descended the ladder and onto the pad under it.
Another camera, probably mounted on the outside of the module, got a close-up of Jack’s foot. He slowly raised it from the pad…and pressed it deeply into the Martian soil.
Jack’s crackled voice came from the television. “Earth, I’d like to welcome you to Mars,” he said.
Around the room, shouts and yelling of delight broke out. David joined in, with a feeling he couldn’t express in his heart. I can’t believe it, he thought. We’ve really gone to Mars!
For the first time that evening—for that matter, in his whole life—it dawned of David that this was really happening. He had grown up knowing that sometime in the past, twelve men happened to walk on the Moon, but after Armstrong and Aldrin, nobody was interested anymore.
Now all the Earth was interested. Almost unanimously, Congress had voted only a year ago to go ahead and start building a permanent settlement on the Moon, and eventually travel on to Mars.
Boy, if I got the chance to go up there…
The screen changed, and showed a desert-like place, with red rocks/sand and an equally red sky. Suddenly, everybody in the room hushed down to barely more than breathing; this was what they had been waiting for, and what Man in general had been waiting for, for over fifty years.
Even as they watched, the view of the desert tilted up, revealing a whole sky full of red clouds. A soft white glow came from among the clouds, steadily growing bigger. Soon the white disappeared, revealing a spacecraft that looked like a vertical version of the Space Shuttle.
A voice crackled from the TV, likely from a Cap Com at NASA. “Okay, Falcon, we see you coming into the atmosphere right now.”
A somewhat clearer voice responded, “We can see the camera from up here. I’ll tell you, Houston, it’s a fine day out here, so far from home. I just hope this thing works.”
Slowly the craft came to the surface, the camera catching every movement it made. The instant the craft landed, three figures inside of it started walking around. Another voice said, “We’re making sure nothing was damaged during landing…and nothing was.”
For about five minutes, David could make out the shapes of the three astronauts getting ready to step out of the module and onto the Martian surface. Soon, the first voice said, “Okay, Houston, we’ve got our suits on. We’re all for go on releasing the air.”
“Roger that. Whenever you’re ready, Falcon.”
A door opened in the side of the vehicle, and a gas of some sort—likely oxygen—seemed to explode from the Centurion Falcon. Then the main hatch door opened, showing an astronaut about to walk down a ladder to the surface.
“Okay, Jack, we see you in the main hatchway right now,” Houston said.
Jack slowly sank down to the ladder; it was only about one-third gravity up there, David reminded himself. Then Jack slowly descended the ladder and onto the pad under it.
Another camera, probably mounted on the outside of the module, got a close-up of Jack’s foot. He slowly raised it from the pad…and pressed it deeply into the Martian soil.
Jack’s crackled voice came from the television. “Earth, I’d like to welcome you to Mars,” he said.
Around the room, shouts and yelling of delight broke out. David joined in, with a feeling he couldn’t express in his heart. I can’t believe it, he thought. We’ve really gone to Mars!