Franz could not believe what he saw before him. It was an actual dragon. He hoped for a rare and exciting find, but certainly did not expect to encounter a dragon. He was not even sure what to do about the dragon. Sure, he already worked on the other side of the law. He was a pirate. That came with his choice of job. A dragon was a whole other deal, though. Before Franz was even born, the Imperium hunted down the dragons and used their parts to advance their technology. They treated it as a necessity for the safety of the Imperium. According to Imperium propaganda, dragons were extremely dangerous and could cause long-term damage to their society. Franz was not entirely sure if he believed the propaganda. He thought it was more of an excuse to advance their technology at an accelerated rate. Apparently, dragons could hold power inside them that was magical in nature. The Imperium researched this power to improve its weapons and ships.

  While Franz never believed the propaganda, he felt less inclined to believe it as he encountered this dragon. The white creature looked at Franz with large blue eyes like an innocent child. Then the creature started to brush against his leg. At first, Franz was caught off guard, but then he rubbed his gloved hand down the dragon’s head. As Franz ran his hand down the head, the creature let out a soft hum like a purr.

  “Not really sure what to do with you,” Franz sighed. “I already have plenty of trouble as is.”

  The dragon cocked its head to the side as it stared up at Franz. Franz realized at that moment it probably did not understand human speech. He sighed as he thought about what to do with the dragon. Now that it was out of its egg, it definitely would not survive on this barren moon. He could take it with him, but he heard that the Imperium could detect signals from a dragon. That would make his already hard life even harder.

  As Franz was lost in thought, the dragon pushed his head up against Franz’s hand. When Franz did not immediately pet the dragon, the dragon kicked off the ground in a small jump. The dragon’s head hit Franz’s hand with more force. It was not enough to hurt him, but it made it clear the dragon really wanted to continue being petted. Franz let out a sigh and kneeled down. He ran his hand down the dragon’s head to its body. He continued to do this several times before the dragon flipped around and presented its belly. Franz smiled beneath his helmet and scratched the dragon’s belly. He definitely did like the little guy.

  “Our storage is full,” Elio called to Franz. The giant man was walking down the cave with Felice. “Did you find anything else?”

  Franz moved his free hand to rub the back of his head nervously. “Kinda, you might want to take a look for yourself.”

  Elio ran down the cave in excitement. His loud footsteps echoed throughout the cave. Felice did not share the same enthusiasm and continued at the same pace. Once Elio arrived, he looked down over Franz’s shoulder at the dragon. He quickly moved his hand behind his back to grab his halberd.

  “A monster!” Elio exclaimed.

  “Whoa, whoa!” Franz turned around with his hands up. “It’s not a monster. It’s a dragon.”

  Elio released his grip from his halberd, but still looked tense. “That doesn’t make sense. Aren’t they all gone?”

  “I guess the Imperium missed one,” Franz shrugged. “This guy was in an egg when I arrived.”

  Even though Elio ran down the cave, it did not take long for Felice to arrive, and she too looked at the dragon. “Did you say it just hatched?”

  “Yeah, I saw it, then got closer to get a better look. After I touched it, it hatched,” Franz replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “No, no, no,” Felice said as she paced back and forth. She then ran her hands across her helmet in distress. “I can’t believe this. This is so bad. It’s one thing to raid the occasional cargo ship. It’s a whole other thing to bond a dragon! That’ll move us up from criminal to actual enemy of the Imperium!”

  “Slow down, what do you mean bond a dragon?” Franz asked. “Sure, it hatched near me, and I like the guy. But you make it sound like it’s more than that.”

  “It is a whole lot more than that,” Felice sighed. “Dragons are incredibly protective of their young. So, their eggs don’t hatch naturally like other animals. They can only hatch when they are around a trusted individual. If they hatch for someone who is not a dragon, they form a magical bond. Your emotions will attach to each other, and you’ll feel each other’s pain. Basically, even if we wanted to get rid of it, we can’t.”

  “I guess that makes the decision for me,” Franz sighed. “Not sure if that is a good thing, though.”

  “It could be nice to have a ship pet,” Elio chimed in. “Dragons are strong, right? Maybe I’ll finally have a workout partner.”

  “I’m not sure this is the time for celebration,” Felice said in annoyance. “We have to figure out how we are going to deal with the Imperium.”

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  “I’m just trying to look at the upside,” Elio shrugged.

  “Well, we should probably get the rest of the crew in the loop,” Franz said as he stood up. “Let’s get back to the ship.”

  “Probably the best idea, not much more we can do here,” Felice said.

  “You coming with us?” Franz said to the dragon.

  The dragon flipped over onto its legs and nodded its head. Franz was shocked because just a moment ago, he felt like the dragon did not understand what he said. With the dragon’s acceptance, Franz and the rest of the group walked to the end of the cave. The dragon followed closely behind Franz as they walked.

  “So, what are you gonna name it?” Elio asked as they neared the exit.

  “I don’t know,” Franz shrugged. “I’m not even sure if it’s a boy or a girl. What do you even name dragons?”

  “Some say that they gain intelligence so quickly that they name themselves,” Felice said. “But who knows if that’s true. The Imperium tries to lock away most information on dragons.”

  “Of course they do,” Franz said before turning his head to look at the dragon. “Well, any idea what your name should be?”

  “Name?” A boy-like voice came from the dragon.

  “Uh, did you guys hear that?” Franz asked the group in shock.

  The two nodded in unison. For a moment, they were speechless. Then Felice spoke up. “Maybe it has something to do with the bond. Like he learned speech from you.”

  “I guess we are deciding he is a boy then,” Franz said.

  “It would seem so,” Felice nodded. “At least, it sounded like a boy to me.”

  “Alright, then he is a boy,” Franz declared. “If that’s the case, then his name is Lutz. At least, we can call him that before he decides one for himself. If that is a thing.”

  “Lutz?” The dragon repeated as he cocked his head.

  “That’s your name,” Franz nodded. “It’s like what we call you.”

  “Lutz!” Lutz responded in a cheerful tone.

  “Seems like he likes it,” Elio commented.

  “I agree. Now, let’s get out of this cave and back to the ship,” Felice said.

  The group exited the cave and prepared themselves to ride their boards back. Franz figured that he would have Lutz hold on to his back. Just as they were about to activate their boards, the ground started to violently shake. Elio was the only one who kept his footing as the rest of the group fell to the ground.

  As the ground continued to shake, red sand exploded from the ground and covered the group. From the cloud of sand, a giant beast emerged. The beast’s body was round, and its snout extended into a point. It had long, sharp claws that helped it burrow but also could easily be used as a weapon. Its entire body was covered in red and purple segmented plates. Overall, it looked like some sort of giant armored mole.

  As the rest of the group regained their balance, Elio already readied his halberd. “About time there was a monster.”

  “Here, I was hoping things would go smoothly,” Felice said as she grabbed her beam whip from her waist. With a flick of her wrist, green energy formed from the handle in the form of a whip and cracked against the ground. As the whip hit the ground, the sand grew hot and crystallized.

  “Lutz, you stay behind me.” Franz turned his head to look at Lutz as he readied his pistol and beam sword. Franz activated his sword, and orange energy shot out in the form of a curved blade.

  Lutz seemed to understand the situation and moved in the opposite direction from the giant mole. Franz was happy that it seemed to have some understanding of self-preservation. Once Lutz gained some distance, Franz turned his attention to the giant mole. Elio was already charging the beast by the time Franz looked.

  As Elio grew closer to the mole, he leaped into the air. The strength of his leap sent him flying above the beast. As he reached the apex of his jump, the plates on his back shifted, and blue energy burned from his back. The energy thrust Elio downward towards the armored back of the mole. He brought his axe blade down on the back of the mole. The force of the blade allowed it to dig into the armor, but it could not go much further.

  The mole started to violently shake back and forth to throw Elio off its back. Elio desperately tried to hold on by gripping his halberd. His body was thrown in every direction, but he managed to keep a hold. Then the mole slammed its body on the ground. The slam dislodged the halberd and sent Elio flying. Before his body slammed into the ground, boosters shot from his back and allowed him to land on his feet.

  While Elio was thrown off the mole, Felice flicked one of the fasteners on her belt open. A vial with an emerald green liquid dropped into her hand as the fastener opened. While the mole’s attention was on Elio, she threw the vial at it. Glass and liquid exploded outward around the mole’s armor. The liquid let out a green smoke as it ate away at the armor.

  In quick response to Felice’s attack, Franz ran into a clear line of sight. The armor on the mole’s side had been almost completely burned away. Franz aimed at the hole in the armor with his pistol. Then he let loose three quick shots. Orange blasts of energy shot towards the mole and burned its skin. The mole let out a loud squeak as it reeled backward from the shots.

  As the mole regained its balance, it slammed its paws on the ground in rage. Then it turned to the group and wildly swung its claws. The first swipe of its claws came after Elio. Elio’s boosters opened from his back, but he was too slow. The arm moved fast for its size and slammed against Elio. He went flying through the air and crashed on top of the sand.

  The mole turned towards Franz. It then went back on its hind legs and lifted its body upward. With a quick motion, it sent the full force of its body down on Franz. Franz watched as the body came down on him. He tried to leap backward, but the mole was too fast and too large. He could not get enough distance from the mole’s attack. He realized in that moment that there was no escape from the attack. As he prepared for the worst, he suddenly felt like his arm had grown hot.