They say the stars are suns like ours
just very far away
there are other worlds than ours
I hope to see one day

there are other worlds than this
with cyclopes, dragons, and kuchibu
angels and fairies fall from heaven
to watch the lives of me and you

I hope, one day, to find a ship
a ship to sail the stars
I hope to meet exotic things
out in those wilds where planets have rings
and I hope that all those places
have taverns and bars!

The cowboys cheered Quinn’s silly song. Their mood was celebratory, given their recent windfall. They sat around a roaring bonfire that kept the high plains cold away. Amalek sat coiled opposite Zan. The serpents sat in silence.

"That’s it!" said Quinn. "That’s all I got for tonight, boys." Most of the crowd wandered away.

Amalek whispered to Zan, Care for a flight?

Zan looked Amalek in the eyes. Why not?

Without a word, the dragons slithered away from the fire and took wing.

Jethro looked over at Zebulun. "So…​ now y’all got a dragon too."

"Seems so," said Zebulun.

"He’s great!" said Quinn. "He let me ride on his back on the way here."

"No foolin?" asked Jethro. "I can’t picture Zan giving none of us a piggyback ride."

"Well, yeah," said Quinn. "He’s kind of your boss, right? Amalek’s more like a friend."

Cal snorted. "Amalek, the friendly dragon."

Quinn grinned. "I should make that into a song." He looked at Davion. "You have got to try it, dude. Flying is amazing."

Davion grimaced. "I’m afraid of heights."

Quinn sighed. "Of course you are. What about you, Zeb? Fancy a dragon ride?"

"If necessary," said Zebulun, "but I like my horse."

The remaining cowboys laughed.

A few thousand feet up, Amalek and Zen circled in the moonlight.

Not many clouds, here out west, whispered Amalek.

Barely any, said Zan. We’re lucky your friend Zebulun made it rain, or we couldn’t have fed all the cattle we just stole.

Quinn mentioned that, said Amalek. I’m skilled in magery, and I don’t know how he does what he does.

Maybe he does speak for a god, said Zan.

Perhaps so, said Amalek.

They flew in silence for a time.

Tell me, said Amalek, how did you come to be out here, so far from civilization? How did you wind up being leader of a bandit gang?

I was born out here, said Zan. My mother was from Axolotl. She hated my father, so when she realized she was pregnant, she fled out to the wilds to raise me as her personal slave in the high mountains to the west.

You seem to have escaped her clutches, said Amalek.

She died, said Zan. Some kind of sickness. She was only three hundred eighty-three.

How old were you? asked Amalek.

Old enough, said Zan. One hundred fifty-seven. I wandered for a while, hunting, flying, enjoying my newfound freedom. I got tired of the cold and headed east. I watched from above as the local clans of men warred with each other over territory and water rights. They raided each other’s livestock constantly. That’s when I got an idea…​

To form your own clan? asked Amalek.

Exactly! said Zan. I recruited boys from thirteen to seventeen. I picked the best from every clan. With me leading them, we pretty much run the roost out here.

And you raid the kingdom as well, said Amalek.

We sure do, said Zan.

Once we take over, said Amalek, perhaps we could pay you to watch our western flank. To keep the other clans from raiding us.

I don’t want to work for you, said Zan. I like being my own boss.

Don’t think of it was working for us, said Amalek. Think of it as the kingdom paying tribute to a dangerous warlord in exchange for his forbearance.

Zan looked over at Amalek with his mouth parted in amusement. I like you.

Amalek grinned back.

So you really plan to take that kingdom for your human buddies? asked Zan.

I may, said Amalek. I’ve taken a throne before. Numerous thrones, to be fair. I can do it again.

But first, said Amalek, I want to see the things they’ve seen.