Dying of Extreme Thirst For Centuries Alien Dragon Begged HUMAN Girl For a Drink
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The Last Thirst of Vex
The Exaththeran drifted across the endless red desert, its massive body leaving deep tracks in the crimson sand. Three hundred years had passed since the ancient dragon first felt the burning in its throat. Three centuries of agony, searching, and dying slowly under two distant suns. Its wings, once magnificent and glowing with colors that could hypnotize entire star systems, now hung limp and colorless. The crystalline scales that covered its body had lost their shine, turning dull gray like ash from a dead fire.
Every breath felt like swallowing knives. Every movement sent waves of pain through its ancient body.
Once a warrior, a protector, a guardian of worlds, the dragon had fought during the Great Stellar Convergence War alongside thousands of beings to defend innocent lives across the galaxy. But then came the order that changed everything.
Military commanders had ordered it to destroy a moon colony. Two million refugees lived there—families, children, elders barely able to walk. The dragon refused.
The tribunal came swiftly after that. Elder species from across the galaxy sat in judgment. They called the dragon a traitor, a coward. Mercy during wartime was treason, they said.
The dragon tried to explain that the refugees were innocent, that destroying them would make the war meaningless. But the tribunal would not listen.
So, they sent the dragon here—to Kepler 442b, a prison planet designed specifically to torture the Exaththeran species.
Quantum shackles wrapped around its very essence, preventing any escape through dimensional travel. No teleportation, no shifting between realities, no messages to its people.
And the water—the cruelest irony of all.
The planet had oceans, rivers, underground lakes, ice caps stretching for hundreds of miles. Water was everywhere, but every drop was poisoned.
Tribunal scientists had engineered a compound bonded to water molecules. For any other species, the water was harmless. But for an Exaththeran, drinking meant immediate organ failure and agonizing death.
So the dragon suffered.
It watched rain fall from the sky, desperate with thirst, knowing one sip would kill it faster than dehydration.
It stood at the edge of crystal-clear lakes, its reflection mocking it.
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
The dragon had tried to escape many times during those first years. It threw itself against the quantum shackles until its essence nearly shattered.
It searched every corner of the planet for something, anything that might help.
But the tribunal was thorough. They wanted the dragon to suffer for centuries before death finally came.
Now, after 300 years, the dragon barely remembered what it felt like to be whole. It moved through the desert on instinct alone—one massive clawed foot in front of the other. Its thoughts had become simple: find water. Clean water. Just one drop of clean water.
Then the sky lit up with fire.
The dragon’s head lifted weakly. Something was falling through the atmosphere, burning bright as it descended.
Not one of the automated supply drones that occasionally came to maintain the planet’s monitoring systems.
This was different. This was a crash.
The vessel hit the ground twenty meters away, sending a massive cloud of red dust.
The dragon felt something stir in its chest, something it hadn’t felt in decades.
A crash meant survivors.
Survivors meant supplies.
And supplies might mean water. Real water. Clean water from another world.
The dragon began to move faster, dragging its massive body across the sand dunes.
Every step was torture, but the possibility of relief pushed it forward.
Its mind reached out, searching for life signs near the crash site.
Yes. One life form. Weak, but alive.
And then the dragon felt it.
Through its telepathic senses, it detected the biological signature.
Human.
The survivor was human—from Earth.
The dragon had encountered humans centuries ago during the war.
They were a young species, barely noticed by the galactic community.
Soft bodies, short lives, limited technology.
But they had something the dragon desperately needed right now.
They drank water.
Simple H2O water from their home planet.
Water not poisoned by the tribunal’s curse.
The dragon crested the final dune and saw her.
A young female in a torn uniform, pulling herself from the smoking wreckage.
She was injured, moving slowly.
Her emergency beacon lay broken beside her.
The dragon tried to approach carefully, but its size made stealth impossible.
The human turned and froze.
The dragon could feel her terror through their weak telepathic connection.
She was reaching for a weapon at her side.
The ancient warrior—the being that had once commanded fleets and shattered moons—lowered its massive head to the sand.
It made itself as small as possible, trying not to frighten her further.
Then, using every bit of remaining strength, it pushed a single thought into her mind.
Please, human, your water. Just one drop.
The dragon’s mental voice cracked with desperation.
Three hundred years of pride, of dignity, of holding onto its warrior spirit—all collapsed in that moment.
It was begging.
A being that had lived for thousands of years, that had seen civilizations rise and fall, was begging a creature that would live maybe a hundred years at most.
But the dragon didn’t care anymore.
It just wanted one taste of clean water before the thirst finally killed it.
Just one drop of mercy from this stranger who had fallen from the stars.
Lieutenant Kate Murphy had survived three combat deployments, two ship malfunctions, and one near-fatal spacewalk accident.
She trained for hostile aliens, equipment failures, and isolated survival situations.
But nothing in her twelve years of military service had prepared her for a dying dragon begging for water.
Her hand remained on her sidearm, but she didn’t draw it.
The weapon would be useless anyway against something this massive.
The creature’s head alone was bigger than her entire crashed ship.
One sweep of those claws could end her instantly.
But the dragon wasn’t attacking.
It was trembling.
Kate’s survival training kicked in automatically.
Assess the threat.
Evaluate resources.
Calculate options.
The dragon was clearly weak—possibly dying.
Its scales looked brittle and faded.
The way it held itself spoke of exhaustion beyond anything she’d ever seen.
“You can understand me?” she asked aloud, voice steady despite the fear coursing through her veins.
The dragon’s response came not as sound, but as thoughts directly in her mind.
It was the strangest sensation Kate had ever experienced.
Like hearing words without ears, feeling meaning without language.
Yes, I understand. Please. So thirsty.
Kate’s tactical mind raced.
A talking alien dragon that could read minds.
Wonderful.
But the desperation in that mental voice sounded genuine.
She’d heard that same tone from wounded soldiers calling for medics.
“Why don’t you drink from the lakes?” Kate asked, scanning the horizon.
She’d seen water sources from orbit before the crash.
“This planet has plenty of water.”
The dragon’s massive head lifted slightly, and Kate felt a wave of such profound sadness it nearly knocked her backwards.
Images flooded her mind.
Not words this time, but pure memory.
She saw the dragon dragged in chains.
Saw a courtroom filled with strange beings.
Saw scientists working with glowing vials.
Saw the dragon trying to drink from a stream and collapsing in agony.
“They poisoned it,” Kate whispered, understanding flooding through her.
“They poisoned all the water specifically for you.
Three hundred years.
Dying of thirst for three hundred years.”
Kate felt sick.
Whatever this creature had done to deserve imprisonment, this kind of torture was beyond cruel.
It was sadistic.
She looked down at her own water supply.
The emergency pack from her ship held maybe ten liters.
In this heat, she’d need at least two liters per day to survive.
That gave her five days, maybe six if she was careful.
“Why do you think my water would be different?” she asked, still trying to understand.
The dragon’s thoughts became clearer, more focused.
It showed her molecular structures, chemical compositions.
Kate wasn’t a scientist, but she got the basic idea.
The poison was designed specifically for the dragon’s biology.
It bonded to water molecules in a way that made them lethal to its species.
But human water filtered through human biology, processed by human metabolism—that water would be different.
Unmarked by the poison.
“You want me to give you my water?” Kate said slowly.
“The water I need to survive.
Just a little, please.
I can help you.
I can teach you to find water here.
Safe water for you, just not for me.”
Kate laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“That’s one hell of a negotiation.
I give you my survival supplies,
and you teach me how to find more.
What if you’re lying?
What if you drink my water and leave me to die?”
The dragon made a sound, then a low rumble that might have been a laugh or a sob.
“I could kill you now.
Take all your water.
Drink from your body itself.
But I won’t.
I refuse to kill innocents.
That’s why I’m here.”
More images flooded Kate’s mind.
The moon.
Families evacuating.
Military orders to fire.
The dragon refusing the trial.
The punishment.
“You saved two million people,” Kate said softly.
“And they locked you up for it.”
“Mercy is weakness in wartime.
That’s what they said.”
Kate looked at the dragon, really looked at it.
This wasn’t a monster.
This was a soldier who’d made the hardest choice possible and paid for it with centuries of torture.
She thought about her own military career.
About the time she’d questioned orders.
About the innocent faces she’d seen in war zones.
She made her decision.
“Okay,” Kate said, unscrewing her water canteen.
“But we do this my way.
I’m trained in field medicine.
I’ll give you small amounts and monitor your reaction.
If you have an allergic response or if this doesn’t work, I’m not wasting my entire supply.”
The dragon’s eyes widened and Kate felt a surge of hope so powerful it almost knocked her down.
“You’ll help me?”
“I’ll try,” Kate said, stepping closer despite every instinct screaming at her to run.
“But here’s the deal.
You teach me how to survive on this rock.
You help me signal for rescue.
And when we both get off this planet,
you testify about what they did to you.
This kind of punishment isn’t justice.
It’s torture.
They’ll never believe a prisoner over the tribunal.
They’ll believe a human witness,” Kate said firmly.
“We’re new to the galactic community.
We’re not part of your politics or your ancient grudges.
My testimony will be unbiased.”
The dragon lowered its head closer, and Kate could see her reflection in its massive eye.
“You would do this?
Risk your life for a stranger?
For a convicted criminal?”
Kate poured a small amount of water into her palm.
“You refused to kill innocents.
That doesn’t make you a criminal in my book.
That makes you someone with a conscience.
Now, let’s see if this works.”
She held out her hand, water pooling in her palm.
The dragon’s long tongue, rough and hot, lapped at the water carefully.
Kate watched closely for any signs of distress.
The dragon froze, its entire body going rigid.
For a moment, Kate thought she’d made a terrible mistake.
Then she felt it through their connection.
Not pain.
Not distress.
Relief.
Pure overwhelming relief.
The dragon’s scales flickered just for a second with the faintest hint of color.
It works. It actually works.
Clean water.
After three hundred years, tears—real tears—fell from the dragon’s enormous eyes.
Kate stood there in the alien desert, her crashed ship smoking behind her, holding a water canteen and watching an ancient dragon cry with relief.
“Well,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady, “looks like we’re in this together now.
So, start teaching.
How do I find water that won’t kill me?”
The dragon’s mental voice, still weak but now carrying a thread of something Kate hadn’t heard before—something that might have been hope—whispered in her mind.
“Thank you, human.
I am called Vex, and I will see you survive.
I swear it.”
Kate nodded.
“Kate, my name is Kate.
And Vex, we’re both getting off this planet alive.
That’s not a hope.
That’s a mission objective.”
The first full day of their partnership nearly killed Kate twice.
Vex had warned her that the crystal formations jutting from the desert floor contained moisture, but extracting it required precise technique.
Kate spent four hours in the blazing heat, carefully breaking open the crystals and collecting the liquid inside.
Her hands were cut and bleeding by the time she gathered half a liter.
“This water will kill you if you drink it straight,” Vex’s mental voice cautioned.
The dragon was stronger now, able to maintain their telepathic connection without as much effort.
“You need to filter it three times.
Use the cloth from your uniform, the carbon filters from your ship’s air recycler, and then let it sit in sunlight for exactly two hours.”
Kate followed the instructions exactly.
The processed water tasted awful—like metal and dust—but it didn’t make her sick.
She drank carefully, rationing every drop.
Her body’s natural filtration system did the rest, breaking down trace toxins that would have been deadly to Vex.
The exchange system they developed was strange and inefficient, but it worked.
Kate would drink the processed water, wait several hours, then give Vex small amounts of her sweat, tears, or saliva.
Sometimes she’d breathe into a collection device salvaged from her ship’s medical kit, letting condensation gather.
Every drop of moisture that passed through her human biology became safe for the dragon to consume.
“This is the weirdest survival situation I’ve ever been in,” Kate muttered on the second day, wringing sweat from her uniform into a container.
“And I once survived three weeks eating nothing but emergency ration paste and my own recycled urine.”
Vex made a sound that might have been a chuckle.
“I have lived three thousand years.
I have seen stars born and civilizations fall.
And never did I imagine my life would depend on a human’s perspiration.”
“Yeah, well, adaptability is kind of our thing,” Kate said.
She was learning to speak aloud while Vex responded mentally.
It felt more natural than thinking at each other.
“Humans aren’t the strongest or the smartest or the fastest, but we’re really good at figuring things out when everything goes wrong.”
As the days passed, Kate learned more about the dragon and its people.
Vex shared memories during the long, hot afternoons when it was too dangerous to search for water.
Kate saw a world she’d never imagined.
Cities built from living crystal that sang in harmony.
Ships that could fold space like paper.
Battles fought across dimensions she couldn’t even comprehend.
“You were a commander,” Kate said, piecing together the images.
“You led fleets.”
“I was for eight hundred years.
I served my people with honor until the day I chose conscience over orders.”
Vex showed her that day in detail.
The moon colony had been designated a military target, but dragon scouts had revealed the truth.
It was refugees—civilians from three different species who’d fled the war.
No weapons, no defenses, just families trying to survive.
The order came directly from the war council.
Destroy the moon.
Leave no witnesses.
Eliminate the potential enemy stronghold before it could be fortified.
“You refused,” Kate said softly.
“I gave them time to evacuate.
Warn them.
Help them escape to neutral space.
Two million souls saved.
And for that mercy, the tribunal called me a traitor.”
Kate felt anger burning in her chest.
She’d seen enough war to know that sometimes the hardest choice was the right one.
“They were wrong.
You know that, right?
You did the right thing.”
“The law said otherwise.”
“Then the law was wrong,” Kate said firmly.
“Sometimes laws are made by people who’ve forgotten what they’re supposed to protect.
You remembered.
That takes more courage than following orders ever could.”
On the fourth day, Kate’s hands shook as she worked.
The constant dehydration was taking its toll.
She was processing water as fast as she could, but maintaining two lives on this hellish planet was pushing her body to its limits.
Vex noticed immediately.
“You’re weakening.
You’re giving me too much.”
“I’m fine,” Kate lied, nearly dropping the collection container.
“You’re not fine.
You’re risking your life for me again.”
Kate sat down heavily in the dragon’s shadow, grateful for the break from the sun.
“Look, I’m not going to let you die of thirst after three hundred years just because I’m a little tired.
We’re partners now.
Partners don’t quit on each other.”
Vex was quiet for a long moment.
Then Kate felt something she hadn’t expected.
The dragon was teaching her something new, sharing knowledge directly through their mental link.
She saw techniques for meditation, for controlling her body’s metabolism, for reducing water loss through sheer will.
“Are you teaching me alien meditation?” Kate asked incredulously.
“Your species has strong will but weak control.
I’m showing you how to bridge that gap.
If you’re going to keep me alive, I need to keep you alive first.”
Kate practiced the techniques, and to her surprise, they worked.
She could feel her body responding, her breathing slowing, her perspiration reducing.
It wasn’t magic.
It was just biology controlled through focused intention.
“You know,” Kate said that evening, watching the twin suns set over the red desert, “when I joined the Space Force, I thought I’d explore new worlds and meet interesting aliens.
I didn’t expect to become a living water filter for a dragon.
When I refused those orders, I thought I’d die with honor intact.
I didn’t expect to survive through the compassion of a species I barely knew existed.”
Kate smiled.
“Life’s funny that way—full of surprises.”
By the fifth day, something remarkable was happening.
Vex’s scales were starting to show hints of their original color.
Not the full bioluminescent glory they once held, but flickers of blue and silver in certain lights.
The dragon could move more easily now, and its mental voice was growing stronger.
But Kate was declining.
The constant work in the heat, the careful rationing, the stress of survival—it was all catching up.
She knew she had maybe three more days before her body started shutting down.
“We need a new plan,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
“This system works, but it’s not sustainable.
We need rescue or we need to find a way off this rock ourselves.”
Vex’s massive head turned toward her, and Kate saw something in those ancient eyes.
Determination.
“I have an idea.
Dangerous, but possible.”
“I’m listening.”
“The quantum shackles prevent me from dimensional travel, but they assume I’m weak.
If I can absorb enough clean water quickly, I might generate enough power to tear a small hole in dimensional space.
Not enough to escape, but enough to send a signal.”
Kate understood immediately.
“You’re talking about using me as a water processing plant on overdrive.
That could kill me.”
“Yes, it could.
That’s why I’m asking, not demanding.
You’ve already given me more than I had any right to expect.”
Kate thought about her crashed ship, her dead beacon, her dwindling supplies.
She thought about the dragon who’d chosen mercy over orders.
She thought about going home with an incredible story or dying alone in the desert.
“How much water are we talking about?” she asked.
“Enough to risk everything.
Enough to either save us both or kill us trying.”
Kate stood up, her legs shaky but her resolve firm.
“Then let’s get to work.
Because I didn’t survive twelve years in the Space Force to die on a prison planet.
And you didn’t survive three hundred years of torture to give up now.”
Vex’s scales flickered with color, and Kate felt determination flowing through their bond.
They had a plan.
It was crazy, dangerous, and probably impossible.
In other words, it was exactly the kind of plan a human would make.
Kate spent the entire night preparing.
She stripped every useful component from her crashed ship.
Building what was essentially a water processing factory.
The emergency medical bay became a filtration center.
The ship’s remaining power cells would drive pumps she jury-rigged from the cooling system.
Every piece of fabric, every filter, every container was repurposed for one goal: process as much water as humanly possible.
“This is insane,” she muttered, connecting the last wire.
“I’m literally turning myself into a human water purifier for a dragon.”
Vex watched from nearby.
Its improved strength allowing it to help where possible.
“Your species has a saying, I believe.
Go big or go home.”
“It’s go hard or go home,” Kate corrected.
“But yeah, same idea.
If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”
The plan was straightforward but brutal.
Kate would spend six hours in extreme physical activity, processing gallons of the poison water through her system.
Running, exercises, anything to make her body work overtime.
Every drop of sweat, every bit of moisture she produced would be captured and given to Vex.
The dragon would drink continuously, building up power reserves it hadn’t felt in three centuries.
Then Vex would attempt to tear open dimensional space, just for a moment, just enough to send a distress signal into the void.
The quantum shackles would fight back, but if the dragon was strong enough, fast enough, it might work.
The risks were enormous.
Kate could die from dehydration.
The shackles could kill Vex.
Or the attempt could fail completely, leaving them both worse off than before.
“Last chance to back out,” Kate said, checking her makeshift collection system one final time.
“I should be saying that to you.
This will hurt.
Your body wasn’t designed for this kind of stress.
My body wasn’t designed to breathe recycled air in space either, but here we are,” Kate said.
“Humans are good at doing things we weren’t designed for.
It’s kind of our specialty.”
She started running in place, her legs pumping, her heart rate climbing.
Within minutes, sweat was pouring down her face.
The collection tube she’d attached to her body caught every drop.
It was uncomfortable, exhausting, and absolutely necessary.
Vex positioned itself nearby, ready to drink immediately.
The fresher the water, the better it would work.
Kate pushed herself harder, doing burpees, jumping jacks, anything to keep her body producing moisture.
The twin suns climbed higher, turning the desert into an oven.
Perfect.
Two hours in, Kate’s legs were shaking.
Her vision blurred at the edges, but the system was working.
Vex was drinking steadily, and she could see the dragon’s scales beginning to glow.
Faint at first, then brighter.
Colors she’d never seen before danced across its body.
“How much more?” Kate gasped between exercises.
“Three more hours, maybe four.
I need to be absolutely saturated with power.”
Kate wanted to collapse.
Every muscle screamed.
Her mouth felt like sandpaper, but she kept moving.
She thought about her family back on Earth.
Her sister who told her she was crazy for joining the Space Force.
Her dad who’d been so proud when she made lieutenant.
She thought about all the soldiers she’d served with.
The ones who’d pushed past their limits when it mattered.
“Come on, Murphy,” she told herself.
“You’ve got this.
Just a few more hours.”
By hour four, Kate was running on pure willpower.
She’d stopped thinking, stopped planning.
Her body moved automatically, mechanical.
Vex kept drinking, and the dragon’s power was building visibly now.
The air around them crackled with energy.
The sand beneath their feet began to vibrate.
“Kate, that’s enough.
Anymore, and you’ll die.”
“Not done yet,” Kate forced out between gasps.
“You’re done.
I have enough.
More than enough.
Stop before you kill yourself.”
Kate collapsed to her knees, then to her side.
The world spun.
Vex moved quickly, positioning its body to shade her from the suns.
Cool shadow fell over Kate’s burning skin.
“Did we get enough?” she whispered.
“Yes, now rest.
I need you alive to see this work.”
Kate managed a weak laugh.
“No pressure or anything.”
Vex gave her water from their carefully hoarded supply.
Kate drank greedily, her body desperate to replace what she’d lost.
The dragon waited until she’d finished before speaking again.
“Thank you for everything.
If this doesn’t work, I want you to know these few days have meant more to me than you can imagine.
You gave me hope when I had none.”
“Save the speeches,” Kate said, her strength slowly returning.
“We’re both getting out of here.
That’s not optional.”
Vex’s eyes glowed with power and something else.
Affection, maybe.
Respect.
“Stubborn human.
Very well.
Hold on to something.
This is going to be violent.”
Kate wedged herself between two rocks, bracing against what was coming.
She watched as Vex stood to full height for the first time since they’d met.
The dragon was magnificent.
Its scales blazed with bioluminescent glory, casting rainbow shadows across the red desert.
Wings spread wide, catching the light.
For a moment, Kate saw what Vex must have looked like in its prime.
A being of terrible beauty and awesome power.
Then Vex roared.
The sound wasn’t just noise.
It was power given voice.
Reality itself seemed to shudder.
The dragon’s body glowed so bright Kate had to shield her eyes.
She felt the dimensional fabric starting to tear.
Felt the quantum shackles activating in response.
Lightning erupted from nowhere.
Bolts of pure energy arced across the sky, striking the ground around them.
The quantum shackles materialized, visible now as chains of twisted light wrapped around Vex’s body.
They pulsed, fighting back, trying to contain the dragon’s power.
But Vex was stronger than it had been in three hundred years.
Fueled by clean water, by hope, by the desperate determination to save them both.
The dragon pushed harder.
The fabric of space screamed.
Kate felt it in her bones.
A sensation like the universe was being torn apart.
A crack appeared in the air.
Small at first, then wider.
Through it, Kate glimpsed something impossible.
Other dimensions, other realities, swirling chaos that hurt to look at.
Vex focused all its power on that crack, forcing it open just enough.
The dragon’s mental voice amplified a thousand times, screamed into that dimensional rift.
A call for help that echoed across space and time.
Coordinates, identity codes, a desperate plea from an imprisoned elder.
Then the quantum shackle struck back with full force.
Lightning converged on Vex from every direction.
The dragon’s roar turned to a scream of agony.
The dimensional crack slammed shut.
Vex collapsed.
Its body hitting the ground so hard the impact created a crater.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Kate pulled herself free from the rocks and ran to Vex.
The dragon’s scales were dark again, dull.
Its eyes were closed.
For a terrible moment, Kate thought it was dead.
Then she felt it.
The faintest mental whisper.
Signal sent.
Message delivered.
Now we wait.
Kate collapsed against Vex’s side, exhausted beyond words.
The dragon’s body was still warm, still breathing.
They’d done it.
Probably.
Maybe.
If anyone received the signal.
If anyone cared enough to respond.
If they could survive long enough for rescue to arrive.
“We did it,” Kate whispered.
“We actually did it.”
“You did it.
This was your plan.
Your sacrifice.
Your stubborn human refusal to accept defeat.”
Kate closed her eyes, letting exhaustion take her.
“Partners,” she mumbled.
“We did it together.”
Above them, the twin suns continued their march across the sky.
And somewhere in the vast emptiness of space, a signal traveled.
A call for help from the most unlikely partnership in the galaxy.
A dying dragon and a stubborn human refusing to give up, refusing to accept their fate, choosing hope over despair.
The Last Thirst of Vex (Part Three)
Kate woke to the sound of engines screaming overhead.
For a moment, she thought she was dreaming.
The dehydration, the exhaustion—maybe her mind was playing tricks.
But then Vex’s mental voice cut through the fog in her head.
“Ships. Multiple vessels. They came.
They actually came.”
Kate forced her eyes open and immediately had to shield them from a blinding spotlight.
Three massive ships hovered above the desert, their engines kicking up storms of red sand.
They weren’t human designs.
The hulls were organic-looking, scaled like Vex’s body, shimmering with the same bioluminescent patterns.
“Your people,” Kate whispered, her throat raw.
“My people,” Vex confirmed, and Kate felt overwhelming emotion flooding through their connection.
“Relief, joy, disbelief.”
Three hundred years of imprisonment and rescue had finally come.
The ships landed with surprising grace for their size.
Ramps extended and dozens of dragons emerged.
Smaller than Vex, younger probably, but still impressive.
They moved with military precision, spreading out to secure the area.
Several rushed immediately to Vex, their mental voices creating a chorus Kate could feel but not understand.
Then one of them turned to Kate.
She thought Vex was intimidating when they first met.
This dragon was clearly a commander, its scales marked with patterns that suggested rank.
It approached Kate with purpose, and she instinctively reached for her sidearm before remembering it was empty.
“You are the human, the one who sent the distress call with Elder Vex.”
Kate stood on shaky legs, trying to maintain some dignity despite looking like she’d been dragged through hell.
“Lieutenant Kate Murphy, Earth Space Force.
And yeah, that was us.”
The commander’s massive head tilted, studying her.
“Elder Vex was imprisoned by Galactic Law.
You understand this makes you complicit in aiding a criminal.”
Kate shot back, too tired to be diplomatic.
“If that makes them a criminal, then your legal system is broken.
And if helping them makes me complicit, then I’ll wear that badge proudly.”
Several dragons shifted at her tone.
Vex made a warning rumble.
But the commander’s eyes seemed to gleam with something that might have been approval.
“Spoken like a warrior.
Elder Vex chose well.”
Medical teams swarmed over both of them.
Kate was lifted onto some kind of floating stretcher.
Despite her protests, the dragon medics worked with efficient precision, hooking her up to IVs filled with fluids she couldn’t identify.
One of them communicated through broken mental images, showing her that the fluids were compatible with human biology.
They’d studied Earth species, prepared for this moment.
Vex was receiving treatment too, surrounded by medical personnel.
Kate watched as the elder dragon was carefully moved onto a larger transport platform.
Even in their weakened state, Vex’s presence commanded respect.
Every younger dragon that passed offered a gesture that looked like a bow.
“Wait,” Kate called out.
“Where are you taking us?”
“To our medical facility,” the commander responded.
“You both require extensive treatment.
The human body was not designed for what you endured.
An Elder Vex is barely alive after three centuries of torture.”
Kate wanted to argue, but her body had other ideas.
The four fluids were working fast, and with them came the inevitable crash.
Every muscle ached, her vision blurred.
The last thing she saw before unconsciousness took her was Vex’s massive eye watching her, making sure she was safe.
When Kate woke again, she was in a room that looked like it belonged in a science fiction movie.
The walls pulsed with soft light.
Medical equipment surrounded her bed, some of it recognizable, most of it completely alien.
Sitting beside her in a chair clearly not designed for his species was a human man in a military uniform.
About time you woke up, Murphy.
Colonel James Harrison said with a grin.
“You’ve been out for three days.”
Kate’s brain struggled to process this.
“Sir, what are you doing here?
What am I doing here?
What are you doing here?”
Harrison leaned forward.
“Your distress beacon died weeks ago.
We thought you were dead.
Then suddenly we get contacted by the Exa Collective saying they have one of our people and requesting immediate diplomatic presence.
You caused quite the stir, Lieutenant.”
“The dragon,” Kate said immediately, trying to sit up.
“Vex, are they okay? Recovering like you?”
“The Exaththeran medical technology is apparently very advanced.
They say you’ll both make full recoveries.”
Harrison’s expression turned serious.
“Kate, do you understand what you’ve done?
You didn’t just save one dragon.
You’ve reopened a 300-year-old war crimes case.
The Exa Collective is demanding a full tribunal review.
They’re claiming you’re an unbiased witness from a neutral species.”
Kate processed this slowly.
“They want me to testify.”
“They want more than that.
The galactic community is in an uproar.
A human—a species most of them barely acknowledge—providing evidence that one of their most sacred tribunals might have been wrong.
It’s chaos out there.”
“Good,” Kate said firmly.
“It should be chaos.
What they did to Vex was torture.
Three hundred years of torture for showing mercy.
If my testimony can fix that, then I’ll testify a thousand times.”
Harrison smiled.
“That’s what I told the brass you’d say.
You’ve always been stubborn.”
His expression softened.
“Your family’s been notified you’re alive.
They’re waiting to talk to you once you’re cleared.”
Tears pricked Kate’s eyes.
“My dad cried when he heard.
Your sister said she always knew you were too mean to die on some alien rock.”
Harrison stood.
“Rest up, Murphy.
You’ve got a lot of people who want to talk to you.
Politicians, scientists, journalists.
You’re a hero.”
“I’m not a hero,” Kate said quietly.
“I just did what anyone would do.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Harrison said.
“Most people wouldn’t have helped.
Most people would have taken the water and run, left the dragon to die.
You chose differently.
That matters.”
After Harrison left, Kate lay in the strange bed, processing everything.
Through the wall, she could feel Vex’s presence.
Their mental connection was weaker now, muted by distance and medical intervention, but still there—a comfort.
Days passed.
Kate recovered quickly under Exa medical care.
They brought her real food, accommodating human dietary needs with surprising attention to detail.
She learned that news of her rescue had spread across human space.
Earth wanted her home.
The military wanted debriefings.
Scientists wanted to study the human-Exaththeran mental connection.
But Kate refused to leave until she could see Vex.
It took a week before the medical staff agreed.
They led her through crystalline corridors to a massive chamber.
And there, standing at full height for the first time since she’d met them, was Vex.
The transformation was stunning.
The dragon’s scales gleamed with full bioluminescent glory.
Patterns of blue and silver and gold danced across its body.
Its wings stretched wide, each one larger than Kate’s crashed ship had been.
This was Vex as they were meant to be.
Not a dying, desperate creature in the desert, but an elder of incredible power and presence.
Kate felt suddenly very small.
Then Vex lowered their massive head, and Kate felt the familiar mental touch.
“Hello, my friend.”
All the formality, all the worry melted away.
Kate walked forward and placed her hand on Vex’s scaled snout.
“Hey, you’re looking better.
Thanks to you.
They tell me the tribunal is being reconvened, that you agreed to testify.”
“Of course I did.
Someone needs to tell them they were wrong.”
Vex’s mental voice carried warmth and something deeper.
Gratitude that went beyond words.
The Exa Collective wishes to honor you.
They’re offering you anything within their power.
Technology, knowledge, wealth beyond measure.”
Kate thought about it.
About everything she could ask for.
Then she smiled.
“I just want one thing,” she said.
“A friend who appreciates a good thirst-quenching story.
Think you could manage that for the next ninety-seven years?”
The ancient dragon, freed after three centuries by a stubborn human’s refusal to give up, laughed.
The sound echoed through the chamber like music, like thunder, like hope made audible.
“I think that can be arranged.”
Three months later, the tribunal reconvened.
Kate testified for six hours, presenting evidence, sharing her experiences, speaking truth to the most powerful beings in the galaxy.
The verdict took three days to reach.
Elder Vex was exonerated.
The imprisonment was declared unjust.
The Moon Colony survivors, now elderly, testified that the dragon had saved their lives.
The original orders were revealed to have been based on false intelligence.
The dragon who had chosen mercy over orders was finally vindicated.
Kate stood beside Vex as the tribunal adjourned.
The galaxy had witnessed the strength of compassion and the power of truth.
And in the quiet moments afterward, Kate and Vex knew their journey was only beginning.
Together, they would face whatever came next.
Because sometimes, the most unlikely partnerships change the course of history.
