“I have theories,” Dragon said, and we stopped in the hallway outside of the elevator. “I was similar to you. The scientist found me as a human and thought that I would benefit from his experiments.”
“So you didn’t know you were one of these, uhhh, dragon race people?” I asked.
“I knew that I was different than most other humans,” he said. “The ones I knew were weak and docile. I had created a small empire on my homeworld, but then the scientist captured me and began his experiments. I soon realized my powers.”
“How did you escape?” I asked.
“He could not find any more of my race,” Dragon said. “He got bored with me, and I told him that he had two options: he could keep me a prisoner, and I’d eventually figure out how to escape and murder him. Or he could let me go, and I would forgive him.”
“I’m guessing he took the second option,” I said.
“Yes, but he whined and moaned about it for weeks as he debated with me,” Dragon said.
“Did he give you a ship, money or anything when he let you go?” I asked.
“Of course not,” Dragon laughed. “He said ‘if you want to come back, I could use a partner with my mission.’ I stole a ship, left the station where he had dropped me off at, and then journeyed back to my homeworld. A few years later I had conquered it and began to build my empire.”
“But your intention was to stop the Draugr?” I asked.
“The forces of light need strong leaders,” Dragon said. “That is the problem with heroes, they do not have the stomach to do the horrific deeds that need to be done, so darkness often wins. The Draugr are a threat we know of, but they might not be the greatest. My intent was to defeat them and then prepare our galaxy for the next challenge.”
“Next challenge?” I asked. “Is there something else out there?”
“There always is,” Dragon growled. “It may not know of us yet, but our galaxy is impossibly large, it is just one grain of sand in a desert of galaxies. We must fight and then prepare to fight again. Your Nordar people understand this. So it is fitting that you are their leader and that I am your friend.”
“So about the mass versus time question?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said as he ran his fingers over his mustache. “We are present. Here. Solid. We are manifestations of emotions. We pull the universe where we want with our might. The Grays and Draugr are thoughts and ideas. They can take various forms and act through others. You and I view the universe as galaxies made of suns, planets, and moons. They think of the universe as yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
“What you said doesn’t make any sense to me,” I laughed.
“Perhaps it doesn’t need to,” Dragon said as he shrugged. “I have had hundreds of years to meditate on the matter, and I am not at a place where I can distill it down to you in a few words. This is not to mean that you are not intelligent enough to understand, Tiger. It means that I have not come to understand it well enough to communicate the concepts to you easily enough. I will try another way. What is between a shadow and the object that casts the shadow?”
“Uhhh, fuck. I don’t know.”
“Are they both real?” he asked.
“Yeah, but the shadow is the derivative of the object that casts it.”
“Ahhh! Perfect.” He laughed.
“Are you saying that the Draugr and Grays are derivative of us?” I asked.
“No,” Dragon said with a shrug, “the example is somewhat poor. Think of it more like the shadow can change and shift given the movement of the object that casts it, and the way the light responds. It is easy to see, but you can’t touch it or feel it. The shadows are of another nature than our physical world. The Grays and Draugr can exist there. So can we, but we are closer to the physical world.”
“I think I get it,” I said as I juggled his words in my mind. “Or at least, I’ll think about it some more. I need to go meet Aasne now.”
“Yes,” he said. “Go enjoy your woman. You have earned her, Tiger. When you are ready, I will introduce you again to Rin, Yui, Kalan, and Vikana. They are most eager to serve you, and they will give you more power.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” I said, and then I gave him a final nod before I stepped into the elevator and took it up a floor to where the galley was.
I didn’t know for sure that I’d find Aasne in the kitchen, but I ended up being correct. The beautiful green-eyed woman was mixing something in a large bowl with one hand and carefully sipping wine with the other. As soon as she saw me, she set down the wine and gave me a wide smile as her freckled cheeks turned red.
“Greetings, Husband.”
“Hey Aasne. I finished my business at the station. You’ve got me for the rest of the night.”
“The entire night?” she asked as she raised a dark reddish-brown eyebrow.
“Yeah,” I said as our eyes met.
“Good,” she said quickly as she looked down at her outfit. She was still wearing her Vaish uniform, but white powder was splattered a bit on the front. “I can begin cooking now, I was just finishing up my prepwork, but would you mind if I changed first? I have a dress I would prefer to wear.”
“Sure,” I said. “I can go take a shower again or some--”
“No!” she blurted out, and then her cheeks blushed a deeper shade of red. “I have a suspicion that if you leave the room, someone will grab your attention, and I’ll lose you for the rest of the night.”
“I said that you had me for--”
“I understand,” Aasne said as she waved her hand. “I know what you swear and what your intentions are. I have seven other women to wrestle with for your time. Now that I have you right now, I will not let you out of my grasp easily. I can just wear this uniform. There is no need to change.”
“Fair enough,” I laughed.
“Wine?” she offered as she raised the bottle.
“Sure,” I said, and then I sat at the counter while she poured me a glass and went about cooking the meal.
Aasne’s movements were efficient as she bounced from counter, to refrigerator, to pantry, and I watched her expertly wield a knife and trim some of the fat off two thick cuts of steak before she laid them over a grilling pan.
“What are you making?” I asked as I saw her dive back into the fridge again. “Besides steak that is.”
“This will go with the steaks,” she said as she pulled a bowl from the shelf. “It is a cream dill sauce. As soon as the meat is seared, I’ll pour this over and let it marinate while it slowly cooks.”
She danced back to the grilling pan, flipped the steaks, set down the bowl and then moved over to another pot that was heating over low heat. “This will be the potatoes for kroppkakor.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“It is a… hmmm…” she wiggled her cute mouth for a few moments as she considered her next words. “They are small meat pies, but with potatoes instead of bread. Inside will be shredded pork, dill, onions, pickles, and berries. All covered with butter. It is one of my favorite dishes to make.”
“Do you like cooking?” I asked as she whirled to the fridge again and pulled out a few more bowls.
“All Nordar women like cooking,” Aasne laughed. “Especially for our husbands. Young girls often plan the first meal they will cook for their husband way before they have even started dating boys, and I am cooking for a king. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“You are welcome,” I said as I laughed. I raised my wine glass. She mirrored my movement after she set down her bowls, and we took sips of the wine. It had left a bit of spice on my tongue at the end of the tasting, and I felt my stomach start to warm a bit.
“No Aquavit?” I asked.
“We will have some later,” she said as she went to work with her back to me. “It is normally served with fish. That will be our second course. I am just doing a simple cracker and herring plate. Some women prefer more exotic creations, but pickled herring is my favorite snack.”
“I like it too,” I said, and she smiled over her shoulder at me before going back to work.