#almitak the space dragon

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Drawing SOS Chronicles things again

The first time Oliver meets Almitak in "person", things get a little tense. After all, you can't transfer your soul into the body of a willing victim child without some drama.

(Silas and Silvie in the background are not having fun watching their friend get possessed)

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Drew this one night and then immediately forgot about it but here's me trying to figure out the heights of the SOS Chronicles kiddos plus Almitak

why is the one time I can draw Almitak's horns when I'm doodling him for a random height chart I'm-

From left to right we have Almitak, Oliver, Silas, Silvie and Cassie. No these are not good or reference pictures except for Almitak's horns specifically. xD If you see little additional numbers along with their heights those are their ages. They are Smol children. Almitak doesn't have legs because he's basically a ghost for most of the series and also I didn't feel like drawing them. xD

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Whumptober day 2! This one’s about my space dragons, Almitak and Algol.

(if you didn’t see my character intro dump I posted it earlier today! I’ll try and remember to put it in a reblog but no promises)

Confrontation, Cornered, Caged

           “You wanted to see me, Algol?”

           Almitak smiled as he said it, but his smile faded when Algol turned around looking… cold. Cold and harsh like a winter storm, or a desert windstorm here on Aguitha. In the two thousand years he’d known his best friend, Algol had never looked like that, and it sent a cold shaft of anxiety into Almitak’s heart.

           “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking a step forward. “Has something happened?”

           Algol stared at him for a moment, then smiled. It was a dark, predatory smile, and Almitak forced himself to not take a step back from it. Algol’s talons clacked on the stone floor as he walked up to Almitak, and he stopped so close that Almitak could feel his breath.

           “I have come to a decision,” said Algol, setting a hand on Almitak’s shoulder. “It is not one I make lightly, but I need you to understand that it is necessary to help this world thrive. To help all worlds thrive, in fact.”

           The words made him shiver, but Almitak nodded, ignoring his senses telling him to sprout his wings and fly away. “I’m listening.”

           Algol’s smile widened, and he turned away, gazing at the massive stone pillars that surrounded them. Aguitha’s greatest work of art was this great building carved into the stone of the mountain. It was a space so massive that he and Algol could have transformed into their dragon forms right there and still had space to move about between the pillars. It was a place meant to shelter all of the people of Aguitha in times of trouble, and the only cathedral more wonderful that Almitak had ever seen were the stars themselves.

           “To help Aguitha progress changes must be made. The people here are strong and of great courage, and I believe they have what is necessary to help the universe at large find peace and harmony such as not been had since the Beginning.” Algol said. “You and I are the only beings capable of guiding them into this, but you,” he turned back and shrugged. “You lack the resolve to do what is needed. I do not.”

           Almitak swallowed past the lump in his throat. “What are you saying?”

           Algol watched him with a greedy glint in his eye. “I will guide them. I will lead them into an era of peace and prosperity. I will save them and all worlds from the Darkness that consumes. And you will help me, my friend, my brother. I do not have the power to do this all on my own- I need you.”

           Almitak stepped back. “You are not yourself, Algol.” He could feel it in his very bones, the dark power brewing inside his friend. It crashed into him like a broken dam, as if…

           As if Algol had suddenly let him sense it.

           Almitak threw up his defenses a second too late and Algol’s magic crashed into him like a white lightning bolt. He flew back and slammed into a pillar, gasping.

           What was happening? He didn’t have time to think. He summoned his wings and his magic and threw a magical containment field to cover Algol. Algol laughed, and flew right through it. Almitak sped up to the ceiling, trying to buy himself a moment to figure out what was going on.

           But Algol followed, and as he did he transformed into his true form, a massive red and gold dragon. Almitak hissed and quickly called up his own dragon form, and in a moment his blue and purple scales shimmered gold in the fading light.

           The two space dragons circled around each other, wings beating slowly as they floated their long sinuous bodies around the pillars.

           Algol lunged first, his huge jaw open wide as if to bite Almitak in half. Almitak swung his tail and knocked Algol’s head aside, then dove under the other dragon, slamming him upward towards the roof.

           Algol twisted and his teeth did find Almitak this time, latching onto his tail and causing Almitak to scream in pain as his dark purple blood spilled out.

           Almitak snarled and snapped at Algol’s wing, but Algol reared back, then brought himself down on top of Almitak.

           Almitak found himself slammed into the floor, and the impact shook the very mountain. He couldn’t breathe and his vision flicked black.

           ‘Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake,’ screamed a voice in his mind. ‘Fight back!’            ‘But he’s my friend,’ Almitak thought, suddenly feeling far more pressing down on him than the crushing weight of Algol’s body. Why was he doing this?

           “You are weak,” Algol snarled. “You care too much, Almitak. You care about me, you care about them,” he jerked his head towards Aguitha outside the closed doors of the fortress. “You think kindness and love can change the universe, can help it. But nothing less than an iron will can bend this universe into the shape it ought to be. And an iron will I have.”

           Almitak went as cold as if he were already dead. “Algol that is not our way! We are here to guide worlds in the way the Creator desired, not how we desire-”

           “The Creator created nothing but chaos!” said Algol. “But he gave us power. So, so much power, and I can use it to make it right. I can make peace. Under me, the universe can live in harmony.”            “He gave us the power, yes, and he can take it away if we misuse it! You know that, Algol. You can’t do this, it isn’t what we were made to do-”            “It is what I was made to do,” Algol smiled darkly. “And you are going to help me, old friend.”

           “I won’t help you,” said Almitak. “You have fallen into madness and darkness.”            “I know you won’t help me willingly, but I don’t need you to. I have learned the forbidden magic, Almitak. And with it I can use you for whatever purposes I need.”

           Almitak didn’t know what forbidden magic exactly Algol had learned, but he did know that all of it was dark and evil. “Algol you don’t have to do this. We can create peace in other ways! We can fix this together if you-”

           Algol laughed. “You’re so soft. I wish I could have counted on you to help me, but you’re too weak-hearted. Now,” he bared his teeth in a sinister smile. “Let’s finish this.”

           Algol lunged, too fast for Almitak to pull away. His jaws locked around Almitak’s neck and Almitak roared, twisting and jerking his body as he felt Algol’s teeth pierce his scales.

           But Algol did not bite down. He simply held Almitak there, blood dripping from his teeth to the floor as Almitak fought to get free.

           Suddenly Almitak froze. Something else was draining out of him that wasn’t his blood. Immediately he redoubled his efforts to escape, flailing his entire body and curling it around Algol, trying to suffocate him to make him let go.

           But Algol stayed stuck fast, and Almitak screamed in horror as he felt his soul draining out of his body.

           “Algol please!” he pleaded. “Please stop!”

           Algol gave a deep throaty chuckle that nearly stopped his heart.

           Almitak stopped fighting. He fell limp and eerily still as the last of his soul was sucked out of his body. Algol held the writhing mass of blue, purple and gold in his mouth for a moment, then blew it from his mouth, straight into an open box waiting on the fortress dais.

           The box snapped shut.

             Almitak felt darkness around him, pressing down on him and smothering him. He couldn’t breathe, or think or see or feel. Where was he? What had Algol done to him?

           ‘Algol… please…’

           A low chuckle answered him.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Alright, I said I’d try and make a character introduction post for The SOS Chronicles because I’ll be posting whumptober stuff from it so here we go:

Main characters:

Oliver- an 8-12 year old boy who in the first book escapes slavery in order to find help to rescue his best friend Silas. He becomes a member of the crew of the spaceship Catacrome and spends the rest of the series trying to free every enslaved person he meets so no one has to suffer like he did. He is gentle and kind, but also very brave and determined when he sets his mind to something. Loyal and self-sacrificing to a fault. He has light orange hair and brown eyes and is well below average height after being kept as a slave for eight years.

Silas- a 9-13 year old boy who is Oliver’s oldest and best friend. An extremely skilled natural navigator, Silas is one of the only people in the galaxy who can navigate The Net, a mass of anomalies, portals and magic that is particularly dense over one specific point... he is also one of the only people who can get through to Oliver when he is taken over by Almitak’s powers. He is anxious and often fights bouts of hopelessness and depression, but his love for his friends can bring him out of this darkness. He is taller than Oliver, but still small and skinny, with black hair and gray eyes.

Silvie- a 10-12 year old Aguithan girl that the boys find and befriend after accidentally discovering her planet (Aguitha). While not a slave, she lives in constant fear of the Enforcers who patrol her planet- but you wouldn’t know it. She has lived on her own since she was 5-6, and deals with prejudice from her own people for her strange autistic behavior. She is fierce and easily angered, slow to trust and quick to bite (literally). However it doesn’t take long before she’s willing to fight and die for her new friends, and once earned her loyalty is unyielding. She is small and slight, with brown hair and fur on her face, arms and torso, which gives way to scales on her legs, feet, and lizard-like tail which has a tuft of fur on the end of it. She has catlike yellow eyes, sharp claws and pointed teeth.

Almitak- a 3000+ year old Space Dragon who has been imprisoned and being used as a weapon on Aguitha. He does not remember who he is, only his name and that he hates the Aguithans for trapping him. After he meets Oliver and Oliver offers to help him, he transfers his soul and conciousness (and immense power) into the small boy so that they now share one mind and body. When Almitak first meets Oliver his only form is a black sphere surrounded by waving blue, gold and purple tendrils, but as he remembers who he is he recovers his humanoid form and, eventually, his dragon form. In humanoid form he has blue, scaly skin that shimmers purple, and yellow hair on his head and arms. He has also a long tail and can manifest wings if he so desires, and his eyes are purple. In dragon form he has a body like a Chinese dragon; long and sinous, but with legs and wings. He has almost limitless magical powers.

Algol- the Villain. Another Space Dragon and the current leader of Aguitha. He believes that by conquering the universe he can bring peace and order to it, as he believes he has done on Aguitha. He also happens to love and crave power, and despite already being one of the most powerful creatures in the universe he is always trying to find ways to make himself stronger. He is manipulative and analytical. His colors as a humanoid and a dragon are red, gold and black.

Other important characters:

Nancy Starfell- the 20-something captain of The Catacrome who adopts Oliver, Silas and Silvie as she finds them. She can be very fierce and determined and she is extremely capable after being raised by a former space pirate. She loves her crew and her children fiercely and she would do anything for them.

Andy James Danson- The Catacrome’s first mate and Nancy’s childhood best friend. He and Nancy are deeply in love with each other and both of them don’t know how to admit it. Friendly and easygoing unless you threaten someone he cares about.

Cassieopeia (Cassie) Storm- Oliver and Silas’ optimistic friend from the slave compound they grew up in who joins them on their adventures on The Catacrome. She’s a year younger than Oliver.

Milo- the cadet who rescues Oliver and then befriends him and either helps with or inadvertently causes several other adventures. Cheerful, carefree, and a prankster by nature. He has dark orange hair and green eyes and is four years older than Oliver.

Dora Starfell- a former space pirate and Nancy’s adoptive mother. She is 75-80 when the series begins, but you’d never know it from watching her. She is the most successful pirate of her age and was never once caught or had enough evidence gathered to convict her of piracy. She now works at the Space Academy on Earth training cadets. She is terrifying, kind, and utterly unflappable. She has long wavy brown hair streaked with gray and green eyes speckled with brown.

Esthe Storm- Cassie’s mother who raised Oliver and Silas alongsid her daughter in the slave compound. Extremely jaded and pessimistic about everything in her life.

Luna and Sirius- twin siblings who can shapeshift into kittens who Oliver meets while captured by EUNAP (the space government, think the Federation in Star Trek but infinitely sketchier). Luna is cheerful and friendly and has long white and gray fluffy hair as a human and kitten, while Sirius is shy and reserved and has sleek black hair as both a human and kitten.

I think that’s it, but if I think of more I’ll add them in!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

oh you know just some Tacky doodles

Tacky (full name Almitak) is a space dragon from my science fiction series The SOS Chronicles! This is him in his humanoid form.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Whumptober day 1

Alright, so, like last year I’ve written up some bits of my science fiction story, The SOS Chronicles, for whumptober. If I ever have time I’ll also post a story synopsis and character introductions for the series. Regardless, I hope you enjoy them!

Day One: A Little out of the Ordinary (ft. the human boy Oliver and Almitak the amnesiac space dragon sharing his mind)

           “T-Tacky?”

           Almitak groaned and pressed a hand to his head. It wasn’t fair that he could be in pain and not have a physical body. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Oliver, who sat across from him in the mindscape.

           His breath caught and panic jolted through him. The boy was covered in blood. Why was he covered in blood?! The magic they’d been trying had been so simple-

           He sprang up and rushed over, kneeling down and running his hands over Oliver. “What happened, where are you hurt?” he asked frantically.            “I-I d-don’t know,” Oliver said, his voice shaking with terror. “M-my chest h-hurts.”            Almitak pulled back the fabric of Oliver’s shirt and hissed as his eyes were met with a bloody gash. “No no no no, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

           He pressed his hand over Oliver’s chest and directed a burst of healing magic through it. Immediately, Oliver’s breathing became less labored, and Almitak felt a shudder of relief.

           When he looked up at the boy’s face, however, Oliver was very pale, with dark circles under his eyes. He looked exhausted. Almitak’s panic rose again and he started searching for more injuries.

           “Where is it, where are you hurt?!” he hissed, more to himself than the boy.            “Tacky I-I’m not hurt, y-you healed me.”            “Then why are you so pale?! You look like death is about to take you!”            “W-we were practicing.”            “That doesn’t explain this-”            “Y-you said your m-magic would drain me.”

           Almitak froze. Slowly, he lifted his head and met Oliver’s eyes. The boy smiled at him, but there was pain in his expression. “I-I’ll be okay after I sleep, Tacky,” he promised.

           Almitak slumped and pulled himself away. He was such a fool. Why had he ever done this to a child? He had known his power couldn’t be contained in such a little body, so why had he…

           “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have thought of the adverse effect it would have on you.”            “I-it’s okay. I have to learn h-how to do it,” Oliver reached out and patted his hand. Almitak caught it and held it gently. Such a little hand, such a little boy.

           He looked into Oliver’s eyes and felt a deep sadness in his heart.

           How could he have done this? To this sweet, innocent, gentle little soul.

           “I’m sorry,” he said again, knowing it would never be enough.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Behind every scared, beat up little boy there is a ghostly space dragon ready to destroy you for laying a finger on him.

... or at least behind this little boy there is.

I wanted to draw beat up little Oliver and I’ve had this image of Almitak standing behind him like a vengeful guardian angel in my head for a while so it seemed the perfect time to combine the two. Just don’t look too closely at Almitak’s horns I’m exhausted and still kind of sick and I didn’t have it in me to figure them out.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Christmas haul 2022!

Marie and Oliver earrings!

Herbie and Toothless decals for my VW bug Herbie named Toothless. :D

A cozy Chosen hat that kept my ears very warm on this very cold day.

A FIRST EDITION C.S. Lewis book about my second favorite book of the Bible- the Psalms! This was my Christmas Eve gift so I read a little of it already and it was really good! Very thought provoking.

A Yoditio! He’s an animatronic one so he moves and makes noise and interacts with props! He’s really cool!

WINGFEATHER SAGA HOODIE. This is the softest sweater I have ever owned in my life and it is so lovely- pictures do not do it justice.

Speaking of The Wingfeather Saga- my dad gave me this THAGS Journal which I was thrilled about and then my uncle, completely unrelated, gave me this quill pen and ink?! They even match?!?! So, uh, I know what I’m going to be writing in the THAGS journal with. And finally, introducing, in all his full color, dragon glory, ALMITAK!

This is the space dragon from my sci fi book series, The SOS Chronicles! I painstakingly drew a reference picture of him and gave it to my mom so she could try to custom order him for a Christmas present. It wasn’t easy, but she actually managed to work it out and I am THRILLED with the result. Pictures do not do the colors justice; the blues and purples are all swirled together in with glitter to give him a galaxy look. The gold is a little more on the wings than I drew, but it’s fine, it’s a minor thing. Also he moves and is very posable- his wings even swivel and open and close! He is super amazing and detailed and absolutely awesomeatic.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Things the kiddos in my sci-fi story The SOS Chronicles are good at:

Silas: Navigation and map-making. When they encounter a bizarre nebulous maze of anomalies Silas is the only person able to navigate them through it. At age ten. He’s good at flying shuttles and could easily learn to fly the entire ship if he wanted, but he’d rather make maps of the stars and planets they visit. He also tends to be the voice of reason in his group of friends, with minimal effectiveness.

Cassie: Technology. She loves tearing things apart to see how they work and rewiring them to do something completely different. Which is very helpful when your enemies have giant mecha droids. She’s also an eternal optimist (she learned to be one to combat her mother’s intense pessimism and morbid takes on life) and has far more energy than anyone has the right to possess.

Silvie: Fighting and sensing danger. Being an Aguithan, Silvie has incredible senses of smell and hearing which is useful for avoiding capture on her home planet. Though she’s small she is a fierce and ruthless fighter, a skill she developed to survive on her own for four years after her mother died. She will fight you first and ask questions later. She’s also incredibly good at climbing, as most Aguithans are. She is very blunt and tells things as they are- good or bad.

Oliver: Magic, hope, friendship and forgiveness. Oliver, as of book 3, is bonded to a space dragon named Almitak, and together they must learn to work together to master Almitak’s immense magical power. Oliver becomes terrifyingly proficient at this- able to stop blasts from a laser meant to destroy a planet and even travel in time. He is also incapable of holding a grudge and prefers to make friends with his former enemies/antagonists- in fact, this is how he befriends Almitak. He has a deep well of hope that allows him to keep going, and help others to, even in the darkest points of his, and his friend’s lives. His kind heart and loving nature might just save the universe.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

*spontaneously posts about her sci-fi series*

Bad habits the SOS Chronicles kiddos have as a result of their pasts: food.

Oliver, Silas and Silvie will eat anything. Literally, in Silvie’s case. Oliver and Silas are a little better but not much.

Silvie can and has, eaten garbage. Like, actual pieces of garbage. Paper bags that smelled like they might have once had food in them and such. When the boys are on Aguitha she can tell them which plants are poisonous, except she doesn’t know the word “poisonous” she just knows, “yeah, that plant is bad it made me sick for a week.” “oh yeah and that one made me lose feeling in half my body for four days.” “oh that one’s not so bad, it only made me sick for a day or two.”

Oliver and Silas are a little better, but only because they had someone to tell them the difference between edible and non-edible items. They will eat moldy food without question- they didn’t even know what mold was until they came on board the Catacrome. “Wait, that fuzzy stuff on food is bad? It was on all our food at the slave compound.”

Nancy, their adoptive mother, has a hard time correcting these behaviors because she’s had similar issues in her past. Like, obviously she tells the kids not to eat actual garbage and moldy food, but if it’s been in the fridge a week and it smells kind of weird but no fuzzy stuff? Probably fine. It’s not that she doesn’t know that this stuff is bad, she just doesn’t always think about it.

Almitak, the space dragon sharing headspace with Oliver, is no help because he doesn’t understand human food until months after he starts getting his memories back.

Andy James is the only one who knows anything about what food is healthy. And thank goodness for that because everyone else is a mess.