I was Sidhe but unlike many of my people I did not think less of other races. For many millennium I have traveled to other realms. Unlike my people I never forgot how to open the realm gates or where they went. I have been called many things, Dream Walker, Lost Child, Ghost and ... well many names.

My first is lost to time but I remember worlds of war and constant strife and the name I earn there. Much of it was from our own vanity or our arrogance. I remember when man was created from beasts. When orcs were made the same way by those that chose a dark path. I remember the gods bringing dwarves out of the earth and giants from the sky.

I remember the first meeting of the mages who were almost as arrogant as we were. Long I have lived and yet I was still young. Many times I have regretted the parting and leaving with the others. Those we began to call the Wild stayed in the forests while we reached for greatness only to let it fall and decay.

When I heard they had gone home I had searched for the way. I had not been born when we left home and it was lost except for the tales. Now I walked the human or alien worlds that they had not altered. Sometimes it was hard to believe they had not been altered when I found things belonging to other realms.

I learned and became many things to earn my way and now I was a hunter once more. I looked at the young Sidhe girl, well young to me. She was in her fourth century and bored. I was the only Sidhe that wished to come to this wild world I had not been to. I had read the many descriptions and carried a single large pack and made her do the same.

I wore a new Wild twelve millimeter pistol and carried a bow. I had a capture wand and pouches and ... everything they said a tree hugger needed. I glanced at Anita as I walked through the shuttle gate and into the starport lounge. I slowed when I saw the dragon and reached out to catch her. It was signing to a man wearing a uniform.

It stopped and tilted its head and turned to look straight at me. Anita shifted, “it is one of their dragons.”

Memories shifted and swirled in my mind and I began to move, “no youngling.”

The dragon turned and spread its feet and seemed to widen as it crouched and growled. I smiled slightly and brushed its seeking thoughts aside, “that is not polite drake.”

It looked around as if for a way to escape and I stopped, “enough. Face me and tell me how you got here.”

It growled and the human moved, “I do not know what you are or think you...”

I looked at him as my eyes turned grey, “my name human, is Shadow Blade. This creature is called a drake and from my homeworld.”

I looked at the drake, “speak creature.”

It shifted to lunge and I reached up to touch the sword over my shoulder, “there is a peace bond here creature but if you wish to break it...”

It froze and slowly one clawed foot came up and signed, “this is our world now bright one.”

I blinked, “now?”

I looked at the human and then back, “what are you not saying drake?”

It shifted and seemed to hesitate as its thoughts once more sought mine and slipped away. It shook its head and signed, “you do not know?”

I moved closer and it backed up and then stopped before turning. I heard its thoughts as it spun and strode away, “I must tell the others!”

I watched it and then looked back, “come youngling, we have someplace to be.”

The human moved in front of me, “you can not threaten a dragon here.”

I pushed him aside, “drake, human. You have no wish to meet a real dragon.”

When we walked outside it was like I had walked into the distant past and on a world far away. The few trees I saw rose into the sky and spread out to cover the earth. I knew those trees even if it had been many millennium since I saw one. I took a deep breath and looked at Anita, “I think you are in for more than you dreamed.”

She snorted, “I doubt it elder.”

I waved down a public hack and we took it to the port city. At first Anita had wanted to see Settlement but then she wanted something more ... remote. So I had looked and made reservations at a distant lodge at Sextus. With the recent plague the two oldest colony settlements were almost empty. At least the world and system was recovering.

We were in the southern colony which did not have the huge markets like in the north. We checked into the hostel and left the packs and weapons in the room. I took Anita out to eat and to a holo vid of the forest. That had me sitting up and staring with wide eyes in shock. This was our home! I looked at the girl but she had no idea.

When it ended she stretched, “well that was different.”

I led her back to the hostel to see a dozen drakes in the lobby. They spread out and crouched as if ready to attack but I had been thinking. One did not crouch and it was much older and slowly moved to me. It signed, “why are you here bright one?”

I was still reeling from the knowledge that this was home, “searching for what was lost.”

It did not try to send its thoughts into my mind but I could feel it speaking with the others. It shifted, “we are not the same as we once were.”

I snorted, “after this many millennium? None are what they once were. I have seen the animals on these two continents and most were not here before.”

I shook my head, “my people do not even remember this world. They have claimed another and have no desire to return.”

It tilted its head, “your people are not here?”

I blinked, “not that I know...”

I remembered the Wild going home and straightened, “why do you ask?”

It slowly relaxed and the others looked at each other, “there are ancient relics to control the weather and ... and humans have made a type of contact.”

I glanced at the young sidhe woman, “go to the room Anita. I need words with these ... beings.”

I looked back to see a dozen constables and smiled as I looked at the old drake, “and you thought it was us?”

He signed no and one of the others moved up and signed, “we thought it was one of us but still ... unchanged.”

I snorted, “wild.”

It nodded, “we searched but found nothing. Only the stories we have, told of your people and how they could shift our thoughts away.”

I rubbed my chin as I thought, “that is or was once taught to all of my people.”

Another growled as it sent thoughts, “your people hunted and killed us.”

I snorted, “and drakes hunted my people to feast on them. Perhaps you were not as you are now because we were there.”

I looked at the old one, “I must see one of these ancient relics.”

It looked passed me and signed and two constables strode in. They did not look happy as one signed and then answered the old drake. He pulled a comp and pulled up a vid and turned it. I bent my head to look and saw something I had not seen since I was young, “it does not control the weather.”

The human shifted, “our best scientist believe it does.”

I snorted, “once before your race was created there was another. They could change their bodies into whatever they wished. They to used machines but far more advanced than anything you have yet to dream. They made things like this and taught us how to use our magic to make it work.”

I looked at the drakes as my mind went back to a time when my people were young and plentiful, “these are rainmakers. The ones the builders made were smaller and made of an ebony metal that shone dark even in the sun.”

I touched the comp screen, “this is Admantum or something like it. Only in the heart of a sun could this be made, or so I was told.”

I looked at the old drake, “the contact was at Sextus?”

It nodded and I looked out at the night, “I think I know who they are.”

I turned and headed for the stairs, “we leave for Sextus tomorrow.”

I did not sleep as my thought turned to the distant past and those that had chosen the other path. Some had been friends and one even more but I had not acted in time and lost them. Even after their choice I had stayed apart to wander the realms. Of the great Sidhe lords none remained or they had faded a great deal over time.

The many tales of our world told of plains and new creatures in the seas. Now the seas and inland waters held those monsters and the world was completely covered by the great trees. Thousands of new animals filled the forests and those lost were using ancient machines. Even our gods did not answer and had faded into stories told to the young.

When the morning storm began I rose and walked to the window. I could see and feel the magic and the forces it moved to bring the rain. I turned and went to wash and dress. I woke Anita and sent her to get ready. When we walked out of the lift the drakes were back with several humans from their federation. I ignored them to check out and then headed for the door.

One of the humans grumbled as they followed, “arrogant sidhe.”

I smiled as I looked at the waiting vehicle, “think on this human. How do your elders act? Are they not grumpy and arrogant?”

He looked at me as we began to get into the vehicle and grinned, “so it is not because you are sidhe, it is because you are old.”

An hour later we boarded one of the new suborbital shuttles. It was only partially full and took off as soon as we were in and seated. I looked out when we dropped below the top of the trees while slowing. The shuttle sped past trees and then slowed and came to a stop. Looking at the forest this close sent thrills and a welcome feeling into me.

The shuttle moved to the side and shut down and I stood and looked at Anita. I led her to the open door and ignored those waiting for the drakes. I caught my pack and swung it to my shoulder and led the way down a set of stairs. The smells of the forest were a lot different than the ancient trees we had taken to other worlds.

I shifted the pack and removed and strung the bow. I took the cover off the quiver and attached it to my belt. I started walking and crossed the landing platform, “the lodge is ten kilometers to the north.”

I slowed as a large spotted cat walked onto a parking pad and a human followed. He smiled, “Anita Bright and Eric Blade?”

I watched the leopard, “yes.”

He grinned, “Katie will not hurt you.”

He looked passed me to the drakes and constables as they followed, “um ... you brought others. I am not sure how many the lodge can take.”

I pet the large leopard and began to walk, “that is their problem.”

When I reached the limbs I jumped to a branch. I stretched and looked at Anita, “follow and watch around us.”

She nodded and I strode down the branch and out a secondary one before I jumped and swung around a vine and landed on another. I kept going to the large branch and the human caught up, “you have been here before?”

I started around the trunk, “no.”

I did not tell him I had been in these types of trees many times but that was a very long time ago. I could feel the others following us and the drakes moving through the upper branches. It did not take long to reach the lodge and I followed the human in. A human female was waiting and smiled, “welcome.”

I smiled and turned to take the pack from Anita, “thank you.”

She turned and led us down to a room and gestured to the window, “there are fruit lover nests if you like watching them.”

I set our packs down, “how far to the couple that have made contact with the native species?”

She looked at us carefully, “we do not encourage people to look for those that want to be left alone.”

I nudged Anita, “I have need to see them.”

She looked at me and frowned, “why?”

The human snorted and opened her mouth and I opened my pack and removed my weapon belt and the twelve millimeter plasma pistol, “because they are sidhe.”

The human froze with a look of surprise and Anita snorted, “you do not know...”

I glanced at her, “youngling, I am older than these trees. This was once our home though it was not covered by trees then. The dragons as they name them were once called drakes. They were blood thirsty animals that hunted and ate our people. The large cats you see were only one type of predator common to the world.”

I looked at the human, “we sailed the seas and there were no monsters in them. Here in this part of the world there were long wormlike monsters they now call a blended multi ped, only they had no fur. The lizard monsters they call king lizards were not always on that continent. They were on what they call the eighth but so were many of the flying lizards.”

I fixed the belt and checked the pistol before I looked at Anita again, “the great hawks and falcons you see were called eagles and they hunted the plains and were a people. The elephant wolf was not always a predator, in fact it was a omnivore that roamed the plains in great packs.”

I turned for the door and grabbed the bow and quiver, “come youngling.”

Anita chuckled as she followed, “yes elder.”

The drakes and humans were crowded in the common room and turned to look at us. I pushed the seeking thoughts away, “do not follow drakes. We will seek those that live here and speak with them.”

The old one moved forward, “is it your people bright one?”

I looked it over before I nodded, “many many millennium ago our people split. This was before it happened a second time and those you know as the dark emerged. The first group wanted to return to the forests and finally returned through a gate to our home. That way was closed and forgotten and almost lost.”

It looked at the others and I smiled, “they have not killed your kind drake. They live in peace with the forest unless forced to act. I will find them and speak with their clan leader and then return.”

It looked at me for a long moment before it bowed its head, “your kind has changed.”

I headed for the door, “change is life.”

Out on the porch I moved to the side and followed a branch as Anita walked behind me. I leaped for a vines and started down. Three levels and I dropped onto a branch and waited for her. She landed beside me and I ignored the trunk as I walked to the end of the branch until it began to bend. I leaped and caught another vine but this time I slid down and kept going.

The vine grew larger and thicker until it was like a normal tree. I stopped and reached for a secondary branch and swung off the vine and to another. I waited and watched Anita and then started down again. Finally I dropped to the ground and moved aside and looked around. When Anita landed beside me I started walking, “now we may hunt.”