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Ok folks, here it is, the mostly completed first chapter to "The Ilot". There are 6 more chapters already writen that are going through the editing process right now so check back regulary to read new chapters as I finish them. Also still looking for an artist to help do some pictures for the book.

Chapter 1

The Long Train Ride

It looks like it's going to be a long day.

Aurik, thought to himself. He sat silently in his seat, paws pressed together as if in prayer over his nose. He tried to marshal his thoughts for the upcoming meeting with the king but all that came to mind was images of destruction that the recent attacks on the outlying city's had brought. He was glad there was no one around, he had asked his security to clear his train car of everyone else because he was in no mood to be bothered. Of course his son and his head of security were the exceptions.

Aurik was a tall, white husky with black markings along his sides. His broad shoulders and generous build gave him an imposing appearance which he used to great success against his political opponents. He had a strong yet care-worn face with low-cut, well-groomed hair. Today, he was wearing his favorite suit. He was particularity fond of this one, it was the one he wore when he first received the news that he had been successfully elected Prime Minister. Despite this he still wasn't in good mood, meetings of this nature inevitably made him irritable.

Aurik sat next to his son, whose face was pressed hard against the window. The scenery crawled by slowly as the train was gathering speed. Aurik never liked his son leave the capital city of Meridias ever since his mother died 8 years ago. He himself had left the city many times on political assignments but cared too much for his son to put him in any danger that was to be expected to come with being the son of the Prime minister.

There was another release of steam and a powerful blast of the horn as the train began to accelerate to its cruising speed. The six car passenger train that Aurik and his entourage were currently occupying was pulled by a massive Black and Gold steam Locomotive. It was equipped with 6 sets of drive wheels, dual boilers and had a sleek wedge shape.

Again a torrent of sound ushered from the horn putting a small grin on Auriks sons face. The young boy tried repositioning his head to get a better view of the locomotive as it steamed around a slight corner. He had never been on a train before and was loving every bit of the experience. He himself was a white husky with blue markings. His 12th birthday only a month away, yet it wasn't concerning him at the moment. The current trip was proving to be much more interesting. He glanced back to his father who had now begun to read his daily newspaper.

"How much longer?" asked the young husky, fidgeting with his hands. He knew the question was bound to annoy his father but couldn't resist asking.

His father hesitated then responded in a slowly dreary tone, never taking his eyes off of his newspaper. "About two more hours."

Aurik then briefly looked down at his son. " And when we get to the dragon city, you are to stay by my side at all times."

"Oh, Yes sir," responded the young husky, a slight downfall in his voice. It was challenging to contain his excitement. He couldn't wait to see the Sky Kingdom. He had heard so much about it, read about its riches and seen artist renditions of its skyline. A city on top of a mountain he thought to himself. The idea of building a city on top of a mountain sounded rather daunting to him but of course like his instructor always told him, dragons were the masters of the eccentric. He leaned forward, looking past his father at the well-dressed wolf sitting across from him. It was his friend and head of security Alamar. He sat upright in a seat by himself looking grumpy. Alamar caught the young husky's gaze, briefly returned the smile, then returned his suspicious look on the door. The husky assumed his mind was still preoccupied with the argument him and his father had before departing.

"I don't understand your need to take public transport prime minister, we have a perfectly good government train that is much safer and quicker." pleaded Alamar trying his best to keep his composure.

-

" I won't be seen cowering around in an armored train with my tail between my legs, I wont give them that satisfaction. Besides. I don't want to get in a contest with the Sky'var, you know how they are when it comes to anythings to do with machines and showing up in an armored Republic train will give them tons of reasons to cause trouble." said Aurik ending the argument while boarding the public train car that had been cleared previously of occupants by his guard. Alamar was right but Aurik felt if would be more unpredictable for him to take the public transport and he did not want any distractions at the summit.

-

The words still echoing through his head, the husky looked down at the large leather wrapped book resting on his lap, caressing his fingers along the dragon shaped etching and words across the cover.

The words read, "History and Atlas of the Draconian Empire of modern Times." The words encircled the seal that were clearly the royal families. He opened the book remembering how his father had given him it a week before their departure and turned to the chapter he had left off at that was entitled, "The Dragon Race" and he began to read.

The sentient Dragon species, also known as the "Sky'var" or more commonly just called "Dragons" have existed as far back as recorded history. As all Species on the known planet, they were an evolved form of a feral species. They share many of their characteristics with the Var'yern (A Feral Semi intelligent species of large flight capable Lizards with an affinity for aggressive and protective behavior). Nearly all Species of Var'yern are found in the Brabus mountains although some species have adapted to the extreme cold of the north.

For as long as history has been recorded, the Dragon race has call the Brabus mountains their home. Documents written before the establishment of the Modern Empire indicate that the early Sky'var lived in separated clans, leagues apart, hidden deep in the mountains and often waged war against their brethren over precious metal, stone and crystal deposits. After a few centuries and many wars, the clans eventually settled and formed a central governing empire. The richest family, as money is often use to determine status in their society, was eventually raised to the status of royal family.

He turned the page yawning while skipped through a few chapter before choosing a random page with a picture of a locomotive printed across the top. The young boy loved anything to do with trains so he decided to read on.

Steam powered transportation is a new invention that allows travelers to cross large distances quickly and efficiently. One example of which, the track that traverses the long and dangerous road to the Sky'var capital of Atoma was laid only but a few years ago with the advent of steam powered locomotives. The project took 16 years, and cost the empire nearly 1,000,000 in gold to complete. Most of the expense came from the vast amount of bridges that were needed to span the sheer vertical drops of the Brabus mountains. When the tracks were completed 1678 (6 years ago), it was heralded as the 3rd wonder of the world following the great Statue of Sarin in Baratona and the Sky Kingdom itself. It was christened the Rails to Fail when the project was first purposed by the general newspapers. That of course being a play on its originally suggested name, Rails to Sky. but was later renamed the Skyway Rail Line or SRL for short. On any normal day, there is only one train that runs regular serves on SRL, the powerful RRW-Bladetail. An extremely powerful steam locomotive that runs in speeds upwards of 80 mph, the fastest dragon made vehicle ever built in fact. Operated by Skyway Rail Lines Transportation Service base out of Atoma, the train makes 4 trips daily and Twice on weekends for only 5 Silvers a passenger.

The young boys attention was brought suddenly back to the real world by something whizzing by the window. He was startle briefly as the train was passing out of a tunnel and onto a long bridge that spanned across a large deep valley, they had began their accent into the Brabus mountains. His eyes grew wide as more of the scenery revealed itself to the window. The mountains that lined the vally seem to run on for miles. They appeared to be comprised of over grown stones shooting out of the ground like giant waves on a sea, frozen in time. He looked down, then wished he hadent. There was tracks, then nothing. This portion of the railways was mostly bridged and was lifted high above sea level bridging the massive valleys below. He decided then that he would return to the comforts of his book so he did not have to see how high they were. He was not known for his likings of heights.

The Brabus mountain ranges is the largest mountain range on the western side of the continent. it spans hundreds of miles stretching from the snow covered lands far north to the sand dunes of the south. if one was to climb high enough to the sky, the Brabus mountains would look like massive waves on land, the highest of these being in the center, Toma mountain. this also is where the Sky'varian Sky Kingdom capital of Atoma located.

The train steamed on through a narrow pass between two massive mountains, the husky could see deposits of raw material that were left exposed to the surface when this section was carved out. the train climbed on, black smoke billowing out of the locomotive. The young husky sighed and pressed his face against the window. He watched his breath fog the window. " it must be getting cold outside" he thought. feeling the train begin to climb upwards into the mountains.

There were few curves at this point in the journey, The route was nearly straight to Atoma on purpose so the train could maintain the highest speed possible to climb the mountain passes. On and on it went, crossing more huge valleys via massive wooden truss bridges occasionally skirting along the tops of some of the mountain tops giving the passengers a spectacular view of the surrounding area.

The husky's neck beginning to get sore from straining it at the window in an awkward angle for the last 3 hours. He sat back in his seat as the train entered a dark tunnel. There were many of these long tunnels along the path so the husky did not pay any attention, but as the train curved slightly south, his gaze was immediately drawn off to the distance, he could see their final destination.

On top of a massive mountain was an impressive city, an unbelievable city. The visible skyline was littered with tall narrow towers, taller than any he had ever seen in the republic. He could see artistically carved walkways that bridged some of buildings. All of which were surrounded by a massive wall of solid marble adorned with wide walkways with large outwards facing sculpted figures that had their arms reaching high into the sky. The entirety of the city was circular in shape and had little or no ground of which to stand on just beyond the walls. It was a drop straight down to the base of the mountain which curved gently away to form a massive base. He took a moment to glance down at the mountains surrounding.

The mountain that the city sat upon belonged to a long ridge of mountains with a vast lush green valley far below nestled between two ridges. A slow flowing river winded its way down the valley, disappearing into the curves of other far off mountains. The tracks they were on curved slowly, skipping from mountain top to mountain top till it slipped into a large entrance tunnel under the perimeter wall. There was a sudden squeal of breaks followed by a blast of the horn from the locomotive as they approached the city. They began to slow and a moment later, they were passing thought the dark tunnel the ran under the city walls.