Excerpt from the eighth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe

General Notes

There are many in the universe that are more powerful than you are; there probably always will be, even if you’re the most powerful being on the planet. Don’t let that discourage you; instead, look at what you actually want. Power isn’t the only goal; most people have other things they want and power is only a tool to get them there (though many forget that).

I’ve mentioned deities, but many of the powerful are not so easy to categorize. The one thing to remember about them is that regardless of their power, they are people. Some may choose to help and others to kill, but there’s always a reason behind it.

More than that, if they ask for your help, there’s a reason. Sometimes you should run as far and as fast as you can; other times you should accept immediately. The difficulty lies in knowing which is which.

Serenity was feeling better, now that he’d had the shield off of Jacob for two days. He hadn’t realized just how much feedback he was getting from it until he took it off and started looking. It had to be because it was designed as a personal shield; the protections weren’t working well enough against things from the inside. Serenity was going to have to investigate that before he ever did this again, but for now he could relax.

Doyle was on his way, but wouldn’t arrive til the next day at the earliest.

It was time to do something else he’d been putting off: returning Althyr’s book on the Void. It would also be a good time to ask about the Lost. Serenity didn’t like having a Quest sitting at “Find out more” when he could just ask.

Serenity opened his eyes in Althyr’s study. He had a book to return; he’d gotten as much as he could out of it.

Althyr’s warm, resonant voice greeted him as he turned a corner around some bookshelves and entered the area warmed by the fire. “Welcome back. I see you’ve been practicing your shapeshifting; that looks much better.” Althyr was sprawled in front of the fire, a dragon only slightly larger than Serenity.

With Althyr’s comment, Serenity realized he was in his human shape instead of his chimera. Well, dreams, even lucid dreams, could be like that. “I’m still not as good as I’d like, but it’ll do.” Serenity set the book down on an end table, then settled into the chair next to it.

“Finished the book already? What did you learn?” Althyr shifted smoothly to a human shape as he stood.

Serenity glanced down at the book, then back at Althyr. “Void isn’t one thing. It’s a sort of a catch-all that’s used for a number of esoteric concepts. Some of them resonate with me, some of them don’t.”

“That’s a good start,” Althyr agreed as he settled into a seat across from Serenity but closer to the fire. “I’m not particularly in tune with Void myself, and it’s an area I prefer to avoid.” There was a small pause. “Pun not intended.”

Serenity smiled anyway. He might not have noticed it if Althyr hadn’t pointed it out.

“So, other than returning my book, why are you here? I’m certain you have to be busy with your own life.” Althey smiled gently as he spoke.

“Not as much as you’d think,” Serenity disagreed. “There’s a lot I should be doing, but I don’t really know what the best way to approach it is. Earth is still in the Tutorial phase, and there are tons of invasions; there are also problems with people using magic who never had it before. The new magic I think we can handle, but the invasions - there are so many.”

Serenity found himself describing Earth’s situation to Althyr, who simply listened without commenting until Serenity was done.

“So, you’ve closed one portal, started negotiations on a second, and think you should be doing more? Shouldn’t others be taking care of them? By all means, continue working on it, but the first wave is a planetary challenge, not an individual one.” Althyr looked as serious as he had at the Conclave. “Your task is to be ready once the portals are closed. The Voice-”

Althyr stopped and looked away from Serenity. “The Voice will allow individual challenges once the first wave is over. No more than five per planet, and they’re issued to the top five groups or individuals. It’s a complex choice and not always predictable, just like the challengers aren’t always the same, but it sounds like you will likely be one. They are usually fatal if no preparation is done, but like the initial invasions, they are meant to be something you have a chance to deal with.”

Serenity hadn’t heard about that, but the first time around he definitely wasn’t one of the “top five”. He’d have had trouble placing himself, but he doubted he was even in the top hundred. This time, though, Althyr was right; it was very likely he was going to be in the top five.

Althyr was acting almost like he felt guilty about it, but that didn’t make sense immediately. There was only one possibility Serenity could think of. “You’ve been one of those challengers in the past, haven’t you?”

Althyr nodded. “Not recently, but killing someone I’d trained only a few months before … it’s an experience I’ll never forget. I’ve turned it down every time it’s been offered since then, but there’s no shortage of people who’ll accept. The rewards are impressive, even if you don’t choose to stay and take territory.”

Althyr seemed to shake himself. “Remember that, though; it’s not your duty to save the world; other people have to do that. You probably don’t have time to close - how many invasions did your world have? A few dozen?”

A few dozen wasn’t even close. Serenity frowned. “Five hundred and twelve.” Serenity pulled up his quest list and did a little quick math. “There are four hundred and ninety-three left. I doubt the Traa invasion counts yet.”

“Not until they have a deal,” Althyr agreed. “How big is your planet? That many dragons … I’d think I’d know about that.”

Serenity blinked. Hadn’t he mentioned it? “Most of my planet’s population is human. More or less, at least.”

“But for humans, that many portals would mean billions of humans. That’s too many for a single planet, even a large one.”

Serenity let Althyr’s statement hang in the air. There were billions of humans.

“Well, that does explain your fondness for the form. You feel responsible for them, don’t you?” Althyr shook his head, but a slight smile appeared on his face. “Foolishness, but youth often are. Fine. In that case, what you need to work on next is figuring out how to find portals. It’s closely related to closing them; I believe you should have good enough Affinities to get there.” He handed a book to Serenity. “I doubt you’ll finish it in time, but you were fast with the Void, maybe you’ll be fast with this. You do have some background with performing divinations, don’t you?”

Serenity nodded. “Some. It’s not my specialty.”

Althyr shrugged. “It might reward you to find a teacher, then. Is that all?”

Serenity noticed that Althyr didn’t offer to teach divinations. “No … I wanted to ask. Who are the Lost?”

The smile vanished and Althyr stared hard at Serenity. “Where did you hear of them?”

What?

“From you. You said I was your best chance to restore them. You even sent me a quest.”

The intensity went out of Althyr and he sank back into the chair. “I’d forgotten about that. Let that be a lesson for you; beware growing old. You’re right; you are my best chance.”

Althyr looked at Serenity intently; Serenity didn’t interrupt his thoughts. If he was going to say anything, he’d make up his own mind. It was Althyr’s quest, after all.

Several minutes seemed to pass before Althyr spoke again. “The Lost are dragons, but I’m sure you guessed that.”

Althyr waited for Serenity to nod before he continued. “You were born as a Tier Zero, or maybe Tier One, so you wouldn’t know. That’s extremely unusual for a dragon, and why you’re the best hope I’ve had in a very long time. Dragons, like anything born at a higher Tier, have to mature to meet their Tier, without being fully …”

Althyr stopped, then tried again. “Until a dragon’s knowledge and mental ability match their physical Tier, there’s a chance that they can split. They become two separate beings, a spirit-dragon and a beast. There’s never been a way to rejoin them. It was something that happened before the Voice, but no one knew why; the Voice made it very clear what was happening, but did not let us stop it. It also made it more common.”

Serenity started to ask a question, but Althyr kept talking. It was like he couldn’t bear to stop. “We’ve tried all sorts of things. Artificially reducing the Tier of our children was one. It … well, it worked, sort of. Fewer were insane, and some eventually became dragons. Most, though. Well, you know of wyverns and drakes and draykin and kobolds; they come from that time. After the first generation, they stabilized as their own species. Fewer and fewer advance to being dragons, and even those who do have lost their heritage.”

Althyr was looking away from Serenity again. “We do not call them Lost. They are our children, in a sense, though they know it not. Many dragons avoid them, avoid the reminder of what we did. Some kill them in anger, but others will not permit that. Most dragons will help them when they see them, but few go out of their way to do so anymore. There are far more of them than there are dragons, these days.”

Althyr’s hands clenched, then he forced them to relax, pressing them against the chair’s armrests. “Even with as few as rise from our distant children, they are quite common among dragons; we are not so numerous as most other species. We had hopes that their children would not show the same issues, but they do. Their children are either dragons with all the issues we have or they are the species they came from and must work to rise to being a dragon. As with the first generation, that’s more common in direct descendants, for a while, but it doesn’t solve the problem.”

Althyr finally stopped for a moment; Serenity took the chance to ask his question. “Why does that make me different? Why do you think I can matter?”

Althyr pushed his chin out towards Serenity in a sort of reverse nod. “You’re what, Tier Two now? What Tier were you when you hatched?”

Serenity thought back. That was all the way back in the Tutorial, when he’d had to save Rissa. He hadn’t Tiered up yet then; he’d hit Tier 1 on Tzintkra, almost immediately after he reached the planet. “Zero.”

Althyr nodded, smiling. “Which means you never had the disconnect. No, I don’t want you to breed with all of the female dragons. Even if your children inherited a lower Tier starting point, that wouldn’t solve the problem. What I want is for you to figure out how that can happen to others, how we can have Tier Zero eggs. That doesn’t solve the past, but it would help for the future. No more lost wyrmlings.”

“Where do the spirits of the Lost end up?” There was no point in asking about the bodies; Serenity already had a good idea of that. They were likely killed by others, even if the dragons themselves didn’t want to do it. No one wanted a powerful mindless beast wandering around.

“It varies. Some manage to gain Paths; others fade away quickly. There isn’t one place they go. A spirit usually doesn’t do well without a body.”

Serenity nodded. He had no idea where to begin, unless someone else had already found a working solution and he could modify it for dragons. Or perhaps reverse it? It wouldn’t be that surprising if someone had tried to increase the starting Tier of their children. He’d have to keep an eye out, once he left Earth.

If there were other groups with the problem, that might help a lot. “Do others have this issue? Other high-Tier species?”

Althyr nodded. “Some do. Some simply accept it as part of weeding out the weak, but others think of the same way we do.”

That was enough information to start from, at least.

The Voice seemed to agree.

[Quest Updated]

[Mentor Quest: Restore the Lost]

[Goal: Find out a way for dragons to have lower-Tier dragon eggs and hatchlings to allow their minds and bodies to grow together and prevent them from becoming Lost]

[Optional Goal: Find a way to restore those who have been Lost from their spirit form, physical form, or both]

[Optional Goal: Learn about other species with this issue. Generalize the solution]

[Reward: Unknown]

[Failure Consequences: None]