Of course we almost died a couple of times trying to fly the impossible warship. I instructed Druk a bunch of tasks to do with the controls on his side.
Together, we somehow managed to start flying. Although not like Xavier, we did fly. In fact for quite a distance nothing terrible happened which was new to me. But then the controlling became more difficult as we flew higher in the sky. Our plan was to fly as high as possible, exceeding the height of the ravens. Like that, no monsters will spot us or hear the noise of the vehicle. We can also get a top view of the Palace and decide how far we need to go to be out of sight while landing.
We talked about various tactics of using the magical flower to break the Palace barrier in the meantime. "As the Legend goes, Anderclar when crushed gives out a certain kind of liquid in very small quantities. Like your zartinum liquid which can be used as energy to power machines, this liquid when poured over a weapon or for that matter anything, will increase its strength for a certain period. So we'll use it on something already strong like your battle-axe and it will gain the power of a hundred axes combined." Druk explained. I nodded, thinking over the matter.
Powering my battle-axe is always a great thing to do but I had to keep in mind that it wouldn't have the same power forever. For a few minutes, the increased power in it has to be used to strike the barrier and hopefully break it. "Let's save just a few flowers just in case we need to power weapons during the war." Druk suggested. I agreed.
Our journey was smooth, this time not half way, but throughout. We encountered no monsters. I did spot some ravens patrolling a few areas but they couldn't glance back at us. From top, we couldn't see the land but due to the map in the center of our two controls, we were able to find out how far we had reached. The map also provided the height at which we were flying and named the regions we crossed.
The journey was short but we had managed to cross Mount Drake which, because of its enormity, was visible even from that height. The warship was a wise choice. Because of it, we avoided many obstacles, monsters and unnecessary waste of time observed while travelling by foot. I hadn't known the time but looking at the Mathrop slowly falling to the horizon, I figured that it was well past midnight. Slowly, we drew the warship lower in order to see the land. The map showed that we were getting close to where I had told Sounge to stay. Fortunately, no monsters were in the sky and we could freely gaze at the ground without getting tensed.
We soon came across River Aster and continued flying above the grass field. It took us only a few minutes after that to finally reach where we had been with Sounge. Before reaching the exact spot, Druk and I noticed a few areas with fire. We were bewildered at this sight. Why was there fire around? Worried for Sounge, I sped up and searched to find the hermit. We descended on the ground and I immediately exited the ship. The warship was parked near the river bank. Druk followed as I ran to the tree where I had left Sounge.
The hermit was nowhere to be seen. Before, I could lament and think of something bad that would have happened I heard his voice. I wandered around the area, trying to spot Sounge. The voice grew louder as I reached another groups of trees. Behind one of them, I saw the scared lonely hermit. I shouted "Sounge!" to catch his attention and I did. The hermit immediately felt safe and protected and rushed to me. He made panicked noises which I obviously couldn't understand.
Druk then called me and I turned around. I followed his gaze and saw at a distance, fire burning a tree. It spread fast and nothing could be done by us to stop it. I tried cutting the tree that was on fire to keep the branches away from the other trees. But the spread was fast and soon we were outnumbered.
"Who caused this?" I asked Druk for any idea. From far off but still audible, I heard, "I did." You would think that after so many incidents like this, I wouldn't be shocked. But we were taken aback by this mysterious voice. I scanned the area to meet someone. No one was in sight but the voice was real and clear.
Sounge made attempts to convince me to leave the area but by the time I understood his meaning, it was too late. Just a few meters away, I saw a figure approaching. When it came closer, I noticed that it was not much of a figure. All I saw was floating fire with eyes – deadly eyes! After a while, the hands stretched out and legs popped up. The monster became more alive. By that I mean he got proper shape and mass. The creature had small flames as his claws. He had fire instead of hair on top. The red monster with occasional yellow blisters on the body seemed to be fuming with heat.
Though I met him for the first time, I couldn't mistake him to be any other. "The Ruler of flames!" I exclaimed. Showing off his pyroclastic teeth which seemed to be made of solid magma, he finished the phrase. "Inferno!" He announced. Druk kept on glancing at me and Inferno. He knew who the monster was due to my narration but meeting him face-to-face was nerve-racking. Same goes for me.
From a long time, I had been worrying when this moment would arrive. I had defeated Cryopter with Amanda's help. Tempest though threatening was also defeated. But it was Inferno I was worried about all along. I didn't know how to defeat someone with the same abilities as mine. Magnum was specialized in fiery attacks. But of what use would those hits be in front of the Ruler of flames himself? Another ability I could rely on is the Zantai power. But being a Xorain, Inferno too has the power. He possibly is much more focused and experienced in using it. And to top it all, he's also a brother of King Jalaar. His loyalty towards the King would certainly act in killing me. If not that, his thirst to take revenge of his dead brothers would certainly kill me.
"It's been a long time since I saw you, eh nephew?" The monster chuckled. "But it's none of our fault. You were sleeping for so long and I was sealed and trapped. But now we can do our duties. So let's get right into it." His words came so hard that I was having trouble standing straight. "I was the one given the task to find you and kill you when Rock Flames, that idiot had taken you and escaped. Your role was to kill my dear brother, mine was to kill you. So before you even get to the Palace, face me. I have been waiting for two thousand years to fulfill my task!" Inferno declared.
I unsheathed Magnum. No back-answer came into my mind so I just looked at him with stern eyes. He glided towards me as I told Druk to get aside. He already knew from my narration that only a Xorain could kill the brother of King Jalaar. He moved away with Sounge spectated the fight. Nothing much happened. I got hit pretty badly, that's all.
Though I had a weapon which used fiery moves, didn't mean that I was fire immune. The first contact with Inferno made me realized that he was no cooler than hot food in a hot pan during hot summer. I accidentally touched a part of his stomach with my hand while trying to strike. The strike didn't work so well; also, my hand produced serious smoke due to the heat I had just hit. Inferno didn't find it worthy of sympathy and punched me with his flame fist.
Not only was I sent flying, my stomach felt fumes of heat which wasn't pleasant. Inferno glided slowly towards me, knowing that it would take time for me to get up from that impact. I decided to use Magnum's magic. Still on the ground, I threw the battle-axe to hopefully hit the target. Inferno was well aware of my blade's strength and he did not mess around either. He blocked it by both hands. The intensity of Magnum still backed him up a bit but could not do any more than that. Inferno grabbed Magnum and I saw the battle-axe heating with his grasp. It started fuming intensely. Druk and Sounge gasped in fear and Inferno was certain that the blade was at its end.