A short time later, Edge saw the village he had been told of by Raul. He was pretty sure it was a mirage, but when he got closer and closer, he realised that it was not. He had made it! He had reached the village. He looked at Spirit, and he was happy too, although he was probably only happy because Edge was.

“So, what do we do first, Spirit?” Edge asked, as if he expected an answer. He was amazed to see Spirit raise a wing and point in a particular direction. He looked along the road Spirit had pointed at, and saw a tavern. “Nice one. Let’s go and get something to eat.”

The tavern was busy when Edge entered. Busy wasn’t the word, it was mobbed. There were all sorts of people sitting at different tables: hunters, tradesmen, and some people in robes that Edge supposed were some sort of priests. He went up to a table and sat down, with Spirit lying down underneath the table.

Edge was wondering what to get when a waiter appeared behind him.

“What would you like to eat, sir?”

No one had ever called Edge “sir” before.

“What do you have?”

“We have all sorts, sir. We have some fruit, a good selection of meat, and a good deal of bread. The prices are cheap too.”

“What sorts of meat do you have?”

“Well, sir, our speciality today is Coolia meat.”

A squeak was heard from under the table, but Edge pretended he didn’t hear and the waiter followed suit.

“I’ll just have some bread, please, and a few chocas.” A choca was a small fruit that was quite common in the area. It was brown, and looked like a miniature banana, but it tasted somewhat like raw cocoa. Raw cocoa is very sour, so chocas are grown in special soil, which removes the chemicals in them that induce the sourness. Edge liked them, because they were tasty, and they were cheap.

“Yes, sir. Your food will be only a few minutes.”

The waiter walked off. Edge looked under the table at Spirit, who was shaking ever since the waiter had mentioned Coolia meat.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him get you. Besides, you’re too much like skin and bones to eat!” said Edge in a jokey fashion, but Spirit jumped up and ran away as he said it. Edge thought that he’d be safe wherever he ran, so decided to wait for his food, which, unbelievably, was on the table when he looked up.

“Your bread and chocas, sir. That will be 25 dynes.”

Only then did Edge realise that he didn’t have any money on him. All of the dynes he had on him when he went to Sestren were lost in the Astral Plain. How was he going to pay for the food without any money? Taverns out here don’t just let you wash dishes, they have been known to take a body part in exchange for food…Then, Edge realised something. He DID have some money on him, but….

“Do you accept Imperial currency?”

“Depends on the coin, sir. Lets have a look.”

Edge took out his lucky Impenia coin that Rhua had given him when he first started guarding the Excavation site all those years ago. It was a simple design: a circle design, steel, a battle cruiser design on one side, the old Emperor’s face on the other. Around it, on it’s rim was some unreadable language, probably something that had been copied from an ancient ruin. Edge gave the coin to the waiter, whose eyes lit up as he saw it.

“By the dragon… this coin is over 15 years old! It’s even got the old Emperor’s face on it! It’s worth a good bit more than 25 dynes young sir!”

“How much is it worth then?”

The waiter ran off behind a curtain, which was obviously the way to the kitchen. There was a good deal of muttering, then a great deal of shouting, then a cheer. Finally, the waiter came out with a rather large bag, which chinked as he walked with it.

“We did a little authenticity test on your coin, sir, and it’s genuine! Here’s some dynes in exchange for it, minus the 25 dynes for your food. Have a good day sir, and enjoy your meal!” The waiter walked back through the curtain.

Edge put the bag down underneath the table, trapping it between his feet in case someone tried to steal it. He bit into the bread with zest, relishing the taste, and did the same with the chocas. He wolfed down the food in a matter of minutes, and sat back in his chair with a happy look on his face. He closed his eyes, but didn’t get a minutes peace before Spirit was hugging his leg, encouraging him to get up.

“What is it, boy? I was relaxed. I haven’t been relaxed in months! It had better be important!”

“Hey kid!” someone called out from the other end of the tavern, “I think there was something in your chocas! You’re talking to a Coolia pup! They don’t speak English, kid!”

“This one does.” Edge said, mostly to himself. Spirit was pointing in a direction out of the tavern, with eagerness on his face. Edge sighed, picked up his dynes, and walked after Spirit, who had already taken off.

He didn’t look behind him. It’s a pity, because the people who were wearing robes got up and walked after him.

---

Edge had to practically chase Spirit through the streets of Tadcaster, for that was where they were, according to a sign he saw as he ran past what looked like a school. When Spirit finally stopped, Edge was a bit irritated by the fact that he couldn’t see anything worthwhile. But then, he heard a voice:

“Information! Everyone needs information! Be it on directions, machines, or taverns, just ask me! I give cheap rates!”

Edge smiled. He realised Spirit wanted to get to Zoah fast, so he led Edge to him, eager to get information about Zoah. Edge tossed the dynes in his hand, and then approached the man, who was hidden behind a crowd of people.

He was amazed at what he saw.

“Paet!? Is that you!?”

The crowd all looked at Edge, as if to ask what the hell he was talking about. Edge glared back, his look defending his intelligence.

“Don’t be dumb, kid! That’s not Pea-eet. That’s Yu! He’s the smartest guy in the town. He knows so much stuff it’s scary. He knows about the ancient machines! He knows about the monsters! He knows about dragons! He even knows about Zoah before it got blown up!”

“Of course he does!” Edge screamed, “He came from Zoah before it got blown up! I know this guy. His voice is different, but that’s it! His name is Paet!”

“ENOUGH!!!”

The man who Edge had called Paet, and the townsfolk called Yu, stood up. He walked over to Edge, and smiled.

“So you know me, kid. Who are you anyway? A seeker? One of Gash’s little spies? Or are you one of the Brotherhood? Maybe you’re even a zwei-imperialist! How am I to know? Tell me, lad, who are you?”

“You don’t remember me? I’m Edge, Paet. I’m Edge.”

“Pah! You can’t be Edge. Edge vanished 10 years ago, after he went on some fool’s errand to destroy something called Sestren. He was a brave kid, but he was foolish. You can’t be him. Even if Edge was still alive, he would have aged, and you might look pretty similar to him when I knew him, but you haven’t aged. You could be his son though…”

“I’m not his son! I’m him!”

“Prove it.”

“Why should I have to prove it to you? I know what happened in your life! You used to live in Zoah. Your father was Vaiman. He wanted to be the high priest, and you didn’t have time for church because you thought they were all fools. I got parts from Georgius for your airship. I destroyed the missile that was going to destroy Zoah. I would have saved it from the Imperial Flagship as well, but I was away, investigating Mel-Kava. I still have YOUR report in my pocket. Here!” Edge took out the 6 page report on Mel-Kava and threw it at Paet/Yu. He picked it up, and laughed.

“So you have something I wrote, all those years ago. How do I know you didn’t find it in the desert?”

“And kid,” someone in the crowd cried out,” how did you destroy a huge missile all by yourself?”

“Because I wasn’t by myself. I had my partner with me. Him!” Edge pointed to the Coolia pup, and was greeted with howls of laughter from people who had a mental picture of a Coolia pup pawing at a Deathmaker missile. “Of course,” Edge continued, “He was grown up back then! He was a dragon!” The laughter just got louder and louder, as everyone thought Edge a dreamer and a madman.

“You seem to know a lot about dragons, kid. It seems I’m not the only one who knows about them anymore.”

“You did ride him, Paet, like I promised you after you gave me the information about the Tower. You told me to go through Uru. I had to destroy Mel-Kava to get to it, but I got there. Paet! I…am…Edge! Are you not convinced yet!?”

There was deathly silence. Then a giggle started. Then it got louder, turning into a chuckle. Finally, a laugh came from Paet’s direction.

“That’s it then! You have to be Edge! I never told anyone else about me riding that dragon, because I figured they’d never believe me! At last, we meet again! Here, come into my parlour! I’ll give you your information, and a good drink I invented.” Then he got closer to Edge, and whispered in his ear: “I won’t give away the recipe to these weasels.”

---

A short distance away, on the edge of the city, a peculiar smell was emanating from a particular house. The smell was revolting, pretty similar to that of monster bodies after they have lain out in the sun for a few hours. But the people inside the house were used to it; they had caused the smell in the first place.

It was the people in robes that Edge had saw in the tavern. They had taken out a piece of signal rock after they had heard him talk about his dragon (they had followed him to the spot where he was now, before returning to their house) and had started to burn it. Why was it called signal rock? Because it was a signal to someone who knew the scent well.

The robed figures stood around the rock, waiting for the noise that they knew would mean that the signal had been received.

They heard it. They didn’t smile when they heard it, but they snarled. They knew that it was also the signal to extinguish the fire around the signal rock, and to hide all trace of it. After all, one of them thought, the Brotherhood of Sestren is built on it’s secrecy.

---

Edge froze. He had also heard a sound. And he didn’t like it.

“What’s wrong Edge?” Paet asked. “You seem tense.”

“Paet. Look. Up in the sky.”

“Isn’t that your dragon?”

“No, Paet. My dragon is down here, this pup. That dragon is Tyrune.”

Edge was right. The three headed demon dragon was hovering right over their heads, and he was losing altitude.

He was about to land. Correction, he had landed.

“Well, well, well humans.” Tyrune roared as he set down in the middle of Tadcaster Square. “You’ve been skimping on your living tax. That’s a crime, oh yes, and it’s punishable by death. In fact, every crime against the law of Sestren is punishable by death. Heh heh.”