Ashermoran brushed off the question. "I don't see why I should tell you."

"I heard it!" Ailysia blurted out, unable to contain the secret anymore. "I heard the bell just before I came here—before I met you, the other you. And you told me that all this happened two million years before my time, that it is part of my genetic memory."

The dragon fell silent. Her wings stopped beating and hung still in the rushing air, like a pair of full sails. She still glided through the sky, her momentum showing no sign of slowing, but for the first time, Ailysia sensed hesitation.

In the absence of movement, she could feel the dragon's heartbeat, a powerful rhythm that vibrated through her body, up to the tip of her scales. The pulse was fast, agitated by stress, and perhaps even fear? She tried to imagine what Ashermoran was feeling. What must it be like to meet yourself from the distant future? It must be overwhelming.

Then Ashermoran spoke. "If you are from the future, then tell me. How would this war end?"

Ailysia was taken aback by the question. She remembered the ominous words the dragon had spoken, when they had first met in the water. You are ready to bear witness to our demise.

Should she tell Ashermoran that? She bit her lips nervously. How could she even start? Her silence, however, said it all.

The dragon heaved a heavy sigh. "I see. It's as I feared then." There was a resigned serenity to her voice, and she seemed ready to disengage from the conversation. She started beating her wings again, making steady, powerful flaps that propelled her forward with a single-minded purpose.

"It doesn't have to be this way!" Ailysia cried out, raising her voice above the rushing air. "I'm here. I can help!"

"I'm afraid not, dear sister," said Ashermoran candidly. "I'm sorry I messed up. I made too many mistakes, and now our world is beyond saving. But there is one mistake I can still fix. Those eggs will ensure that you are reborn on another world, get a second chance." She cracked a laugh. "And since you are here, that means I will succeed. I will have done one thing right in my life. Would that redeem me, dear sister?"

Ailysia blinked in surprise. Sister? She had not expected that. "You have a sister?"

"Not one, but four," said the dragon. "And I can't figure out who you might be. From your stubbornness, you seem like Wynneandry. The impulsiveness fits Telemak exactly. The bothersome curiosity is channeling Mutashet. You can't be Pennigram though, because you don't have one tenth of her tact."

"Thank you for the compliments," said Ailysia sarcastically. "You'd be happy to know that I inherited all of these fine qualities from you."

"From me?" Ashermoran sounded genuinely confused.

Ailysia sighed. She had detested the idea, but it seemed to be the only explanation for the memory resurgence she experienced. "I'm not your sister. I am your descendant, your genetic copy, however that works."

In response, the dragon let out a raucous cackle. "And here I thought you could count, dear sister. There are four eggs packed into the capsule. Mine won't be among them."

"Wait, what?" Ailysia sat up straight, and the sudden movement almost caused her to slip off her perch. She scrambled to secure her grip, while Ashermoran explained.

"Even I have a limit to my ego, sister. After so many failings, I don't think I should be born among you again. I'm the last guardian remaining, so I should go down with the planet, don't you think?"

Ailysia felt her head spin with the new revelation. She was so sure that she was descended from Ashermoran. How could that be possible without the egg?

The dragon apparently took her silence as disapproval. "I shouldn't expect forgiveness from you. After all, I let you die. I put my people first, even though you should have come first, always. You should have been the only ones I loved." She sounded contrite, not at all like the arrogant, uncaring Ashermoran Ailysia knew. "Well, they don't matter to me now. There is only one thing left for me to do."

They had arrived at the floating island. Ashermoran descended over the crystal palace, circling the white octagonal tower. The top level of the tower had no walls, only eight pillars that stood at each corner, braving the high winds. Between the pillars, Ailysia caught glimpses of the golden bell, an enormous artifact almost as tall as herself. There were inscriptions on the bell, a beautifully interwoven script, which seemed to pulse to life when she gazed directly at it.

A shock of recognition seized Ailysia, and she realized she could read the alien words. A thousand lifetimes...inseparable by neither time nor space...when the bell tolls, we'll unite, my eternal sisters.

And she finally understood. "The bell—it brings us together?"

"That's right, dear sister. No matter where we are, when we are, when the bell tolls, we become immediately aware of each other's presence." Ashermoran's voice filled with longing. "And it brought you here, when I need you the most. I'm sorry I didn't do better, but thank you for being here. It brings me great comfort in these last moments."

Ailysia didn't respond, because deep down, she didn't feel the sense of kinship that Ashermoran spoke of so reverently. It may be a glitch in the memory, that she didn't remember that far back yet. But what could she say now that wouldn't sound fake?

Ashermoran didn't seem to expect a response either. The dragon was concentrating on freeing the bell from the structure. She blew an icy blast at the roof of the tower, freezing it, and pried it loose brick by brick. With her power, she could have wrenched the roof away all together, but she was being extra careful, trying to avoid damaging it.

Half an hour later, they returned to the dome. The bell was encased in ice and clutched safely in Ashermoran's claws. The dragon raced through the enemy ships, deftly avoiding their attacks but making no counterattacks of her own. The bell in her possession seemed to make her much more prudent. She made straight for the dome, where the roof had partially collapsed. And then, to Ailysia's dismay, she smashed a giant hole in it by dropping a block of ice through.

"There are still people down there!" Ailysia protested, but Ashermoran seemed to be beyond caring.

The dragon dived into the dome through the hole, and dumped Ailysia on the ground with a swish of her tail. She transformed, shrinking into her humanoid form, and all the while kept the bell afloat in the air.

"I'm doing this for your survival, sister!" Ashermoran said, indignant, as if Ailysia had attacked her unfairly.

"I know," said Ailysia, realizing that maybe she had judged Ashermoran a little too harshly. But still. "That doesn't mean you just let your people die! And what about Gisa?"

The mention of that name seemed to pain Ashermoran. She opened her mouth to speak, her face tormented by indecision, only to swallow her words and stalk off, not looking back.

Ailysia followed, wondering if she had crossed a line. Ashermoran strode to the side corridor, and dashed the ice blockade into vapors with a flick of her hand. She walked in, only to immediately bump into an alien.

The alien staggered back and fell heavily onto the floor. Blood was gushing from a hole in her chest, pooling on the floor. She glanced up at the dragon, whispering weakly. "My Lady...the High Priestess...we tried to stop her, but she..."

Ailysia rushed to the alien, the same falcon-headed creature she had briefly interacted with earlier. She pressed her palms to the alien's chest to try and staunch the blood flow. But the hole was too deep, and the bleeding wouldn't stop. In desperation, she summoned ice to her fingertips, and froze the wound.

The alien took a few ragged breaths, and gazed at Ailysia in gratitude. "Thank you...I went down to the basement, but the High Priestess..."

"Please, don't talk," said Ailysia, her mind reeling. The High Priestess had to be Gisa, right? What did she do? She examined the alien's injury more closely. The wound was penetrating, like a bullet hole. Panicked, she looked for Ashermoran, but the dragon had disappeared, most likely down to the basement.

She set the alien back gently, propped up against the wall, and went further down the corridor. She passed a dozen bodies, bled out on the floor, and tears stung her eyes at the absolute absurdity of it all. Why? Why would Gisa do this?

Heart thumping in trepidation, she climbed down the stairs, almost tripping over another body on the steps. She burst into the basement, to find Gisa and Ashermoran standing before the transporter.

The larger ring of the transporter hung limp over the pedestal, no longer sparking, while the smaller ring was broken in pieces on the floor. The capsule had been overturned, and the eggs spilled out. Three eggs lay in a heap on the floor, the shells crushed, and the content pooling into a clear puddle. The fourth egg was smashed on the wall, and the yolk ran down in a slow drip.

"How could you?" Ashermoran's voice was soft, breathless, but even from across the room, Ailysia could feel the dragon's seething rage.

"How could I not?" Answered Gisa coldly. She held a gun in her hand, pointed at the dragon. It was the same type of firearm that the guards had used. "You didn't spare a thought for what would happen to me. I could die here today, and it would be a fair price to pay just so you can send your sisters away."

"I loved you, Gisa!" Ashermoran cried out, her face contorted in agony, and her eyes glowed white-hot, like two tiny suns.

The room was so cold, and getting only colder by the second. Ailysia shuddered, and her exhaled breath crystalized instantly into a puff of mist. She knew she had to do something, to intervene, but she couldn't move a muscle. The shock and dismay at the destroyed eggs were overwhelming. She saw Ashermoran's desperation, and felt her own heart break.

"And I loved you too, My Lady," said Gisa, with a contemptuous emphasis. "Only you could never put me first. Believe me, I didn't want to do this, but it wasn't a hard decision. You made it easy."

And then, something glowed on Gisa's forehead. A symbol that looked like two interlocked triangles inside a golden circle. Seeing this, Ashermoran gasped.

"You—you are one of them!"

Ailysia wasn't sure what that meant. Was Gisa an enemy? But she had no time to think it through, because Gisa tapped the gun's trigger, ready to fire, and at the same time Ashermoran raised her hand, ice crystals spiraling out in a flurry.

"Stop!" Ailysia screamed, finally springing to action. She ran toward Gisa, intending to knock her down, but before she could get there, Ashermoran's ice froze the blast from the gun in midair.

The ice raged on, rolling over Gisa, and encased her completely. Gisa's last expression, an odd look of content, was frozen on her face, but only for a second. Then the ice shattered, breaking Gisa's body in pieces.

Ailysia stopped abruptly in her tracks, staring at the scene in horror. Tears ran down her face, hot and furious. "You didn't have to kill her!" She shouted at Ashermoran.

But the dragon was not listening. Ashemoran stooped over Gisa's body for a long, silent moment, reaching out a hand as though to touch her, but never quite getting there. When she finally stood up, the dragon looked gaunt and helpless, no longer the figure of a powerful ruler. The light had gone out in her eyes, and her face was marked by tears. She looked up, opened her mouth, and uttered a piercing cry.

The sound was so powerful that it made the walls rumble in echo. The transporter ring tumbled off the pedestal, and the instruments on the table clattered to the floor. Ailysia covered her ears and staggered to the door, trying to escape the sound. And when the last note faded, the dragon transformed.

This time, the transformation seemed agonizing. Ashermoran's body stretched, her bones and muscles deforming, and the wings tore out of her back. She took off, smashing her way through the roof, and disappeared into the sky.

Ailysia ducked into the hallway as the roof came crashing down. She stared briefly into the rubble, at the eggshells and Gisa's broken body, and forced herself to turn away.

She was ready for this to end. There had been so much pain, so much despair, that she wasn't sure she could take another second. But an almost maniacal desire to see it through possessed her, drove her onward. She ran up the stairs, into the main hall, and finally out of the dome. The sky opened up, revealing the last scene of the battle.

Ashemoran charged at the enemy ships, her body a single-minded arrow. Just as before, the ships' cannons whirled, and the plasma beams spewed forth, converging into a blazing firestorm. But unlike before, the dragon used neither tactics nor maneuvers. She raced straight into the firestorm, which instantly devoured her.

The brilliant flash stung Ailysia's eyes, and she choked out a sob, feeling as though her heart was cleaved in two. "Farewell, my eternal sister." She whispered.

And then, blissfully, came oblivion.

A/N

What do you think of the chapter? Finally, the second dream has ended. It's been a long trip. This dream will have very serious implications in Ailysia's real life, which you will see starting in the next chapter.

I want to play a little game here called "predict the story" ^^ Basically, I will reveal the title of the next chapter, and you can comment with your best guess what the plot will be about. You can continue playing the game even after I post the next chapter. Whoever comes up with the most creative guess will win a dedication.

The next chapter title is "Premonition". What is your guess?