"So you're basically saying I'm the prototype of what she's turning into? May I remind you that some of the stories surrounding me aren't lies? I don't have any aspirations to gain political power and I did and still do work against every immortal that tries to form the multiverse as they see fit. On a related note: I can't even remember the last time I felt truly hungry and what I sensed from Delilah was… starvation."
"Semantics, I already told you, I think your immunities saved you from the worst parts, you only experience the benefits… like access to a form of energy that bypasses all known defences. Come on, Cassandra, you can't be that blind…" what had he just called me?
"Cassandra! Cassandra, wake up!"
Groggily I blinked the sleep from my eyes, still half engaged in my dream I needed a moment to understand why I was staring into a clear, blue sky, a beautiful face with ram like horns merely centimetres from my nose. When everything snapped into place I couldn't suppress a curse. Damned useless hints! Had Chaleb told me more and I had missed it because Erya had to wake me? Was any of what I had seen even the truth or the reason why I had died in the first place? I was really starting to hate mysteries. A handy box of text with all the essential information from a source I could trust would be a nice change, once in a while.
"My, you're a deep sleeper, aren't you?" Erya's voice was brimming with barely contained laughter and when I realised why I had to fight down my embarrassment. My head was still resting in her lap and I had drooled all over my cheek and the bottom part of her dress. A bit of liquid was still stuck on my face. I hastily raised my head and wiped it away, my ears twitching in agitation. I had probably also snored. Great, just great. To keep the last of my dignity intact I chose to ignore the whole scene and squinted my eyes at the sun. I had been asleep for a good hour, maybe a little more, and from the looks of it we were headed East by now, a stiff breeze carrying us along. Curiously I turned around and searched for a sign of ships on the horizon and even tasted the air but there was nothing there. Maybe the faintest trace of smoke but that was probably us.
A little miffed I focused on Erya who was still smiling brightly: "No, not really, quite the opposite actually." I didn't want to talk about what I had seen, nor did I want to lie so I decided to distract her. "I usually can't sleep very well with others around. Doesn't seem to be the case with you, though. Thanks by the way, you make for quite the comfy pillow."
"A compliment, or rather two at that?" This time she laughed openly, it sounded like wind chimes. "Don't worry, I won't ask about your dreams but I'd prefer a little honesty. Just tell me that it's none of my business and I won't pry. No need for games," she winked at me, "which you incidentally wouldn't win anyways. But if you insist, you'll always be welcome to try." Before I could reply Viyara's mind brushed against mine:
"Enough with the flirting already. I'm sorry we had to wake you, Cassandra but I smelled the pirates a couple of minutes ago. They're not too far behind us and the wind carries their scent farther than we could possibly see. I think I am a bit faster and could probably gain about an hour or more on them before we reach your friends. Do you still want to fight them midair or should we push on as fast as possible?" I took a second to mull things over and shove away the last, lingering traces of my dream. My eyes roamed along Viyara's back and I had to smile when I spotted Pete, his drying shirt bound around his head. His back was turned to us and he gazed through a retractable brass telescope with his makeshift cape fluttering behind him. Erya followed my line of sight and answered my unspoken question:
"He's trying to get a glimpse of the ships. He asked me to enchant the lenses so he has a decent shot. The shirt staves off the midday heat and prevents sunburn but I have to admit he's looking ridiculous."
"If it works… if I didn't have a form of regeneration I'd probably be sitting right next to him. I can't tell you how often I stayed out in the sun for too long as a… child," I chuckled. "I spent a lot of time indoors so when I got outside… Lobster red isn't my colour, let me tell you that much. But I think he's got the right idea anyways. Air ships are basically pushed along by air currents, correct? They can't change their speed without magic or a change of directions. If we're faster there's no reason why we can't just have a look. It's a pity there's no cloud coverage but if we stay far enough away they wont be able to catch us, even if they spot us. Depending on what we see, we can still decide to make a run for it. I'm pretty sure they aren't that well equipped either with how little time they had to prepare. Why don't we turn around?" They both quickly agreed, an air ship that could catch a dragon in flight had yet to be built, after all.
Pete got up when he saw Viyara's changed course and trotted towards us with surety and balance born from climbing ropes and masts in every weather. I quickly send a tendril of awareness towards my tattoo to check on Ahri. Her emotions were still surging and she was very much alive. That would have to suffice for now, she'd contact me if anything important changed at their end, at least that was what I told myself.
"I take it we're on our way to a little aerial ballet. Or is there something else I should know, your ladyships?" Pete inquired.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a viewing party," I replied. "If the venue is to our liking we can still join the dance. Jokes aside, I'd like to know a little more about the ships, exactly how many there are for instance. When we have seen them we'll be much better able to make a decision."
"True enough, but I'm not sure that's wise. How likely is it that they won't spot a gargantuan, glittering, flying, golden serpent? If we can see them, they'll probably see us. Right now they're not expecting an attack, at least I hope so. You killed the acolytes at the volcano and with Galathon dead they shouldn't have been able to communicate. If the dragon lady shows herself, though, even the dumbest of the bunch will know what's up. In case you sincerely want to bring them down, I wouldn't freely risk discovery."
"I think I can help with that," Erya chimed in. "I can't hide a dragon the same way I hid us back on the island, not without the enchantments I had access to, but I'll surely manage if Viyara changes into her human form. Incidentally, can you fly as a human?" Viyara sent us an image of her dragon body shaking out its wings, which I took as a shrug. "I can levitate, but I'm not fast."
"That's enough, we can carry Cassandra and Pete with a spell so her wings won't attract any attention for the time being. They won't see us."
A few minutes later I was again holding hands with Erya, her magic keeping me afloat and hidden. I had tried to argue that I'd be perfectly fine on my own but to no avail. Apparently any magic Erya tried to cast on my wings was torn to piece despite the focus and so I was reduced to playing the part of an oversized hand bag. At least I wasn't alone in my predicament, Pete dangled helplessly on her other side, while Viyara kept him afloat. We formed a living chain in the sky, slowly drifting westwards. To me the scene seemed like the beginning of an awful joke: a dragon, a fey, a human and a kitsune are floating through the air… thankfully I didn't have to endure for long.
I had channeled quite a bit of energy into my eyes and consequentially spotted the dark shapes on the horizon almost the same moment as Pete, even though he was still gazing through his telescope. One of the advantages of Erya's magic was, that we could still see one another for as long as we remained connected physically. Both of us pointed at the same time and the echo of his thoughts reached me through Viyara an instant after I had already sent an image of the moving, blurry shadows, their outlines hazy across the distance. With a thought I sent even more energy into my eyes until I could feel them protest under the onslaught but it had been enough.
With a headache inducing tremor my vision focused on the dark spots and the ships came into view. There were three of them, each of them approximately the same size, deigned for a crew of about 30 people. They appeared to be in good shape, no patches marred the colours of their sails and the hull was spotless. Polished metal blinked in the sunlight where it had been used to reinforce the wood in some places. I couldn't see a single flag atop the masts but the constructions on both sides of their sterns which sported a sizeable ballista each, made it obvious that we weren't dealing with random traders. Try as I might I couldn't get a look at the crew, all I saw were moving silhouettes, darker spots against the gleaming deck or in the rigging. They could be chock full of acolytes and I wouldn't be able to tell, unless we got much closer.
I shared everything I could discern with my friends and Pete. A callow idea was ghosting through the back of my mind when I relaid the images and Viyara picked up on it, even though I hadn't consciously projected it. Either she was getting better at reading me or she had a little more access to my thoughts than she wanted me to believe. Maybe I should ask when we had the time.
"So you basically think each of us should go for one ship and sabotage it, make it crash into the ocean?"
"More or less. If we get there unnoticed, I think each one of us will be more than able to destroy the flying stone before they could stop us. But honestly, I think we can do better. Unless we want to literally stack people we'll need another ship to get everyone off the island once we reach my family. I think this is our chance to get one. If we can blow two ships up, the acolytes on the last one shouldn't be a match for the three of us, even if they go for sacrifices. With a little persuasion I'm sure the survivors can be talked into helping us afterwards and a little information wouldn't go amiss either. Something along the lines of: you either help and spill the beans or you'll have to learn how to fly on your own. Erya, do you think you can get us close enough?"
"Easily, I tricked the wards of an ancient dragon for a good while, may I remind you. Whatever those amateurs put into place won't stand a chance to pierce my spells. So, what are you thinking?"
"Viyara has already proven that she can light up a ship in seconds and, unless I'm gravely mistaken, I should be able to simply walk through whatever protection they put into place and overload the flying stone. I've done it before. We could blow up two of them and if you snuck on board of the third beforehand with Pete, it shouldn't be too hard to get rid of the acolytes while they're distracted. They'll be all over the place once they realise a dragon has attacked. Maybe you can even get them all with one good spell. If push comes to shove we'll be there quick enough to help out. It won't take us more than a couple of seconds to reach you." Something about what I had said had struck Erya the wrong way. She glared at me:
"I'll be fine, thank you very much. I think I'm capable enough to deal with a couple of human sorcerers without either of you holding my hand." Ah, wounded pride. "No need to baby me."
"That's not what I meant. I know how powerful you are, you simply have the hardest task. I fully believe that you're capable of bringing one of them down on your own. Keeping it intact is another matter. I know I can't do it and I highly suspect Viyara's magic isn't developed enough, either." My words coaxed a smile out of her. She was quite touchy on the subject, but then again, so would I have been if my last defeat had earned me a couple of decades bound to a gem.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Viyara whispered into my mind. "You'd manage easily enough."
"Probably, but I meant what I said. Her magic is much more versatile than anything I can do and she has the best chances to prevent something from going wrong. Plus, neither of us could take Pete and keep him safe. If I can pat her ego along the way, why won't I?" Including everyone I said: "but if any of you have a better idea, I'm all ears." Surprisingly Pete backed me up:
"Sounds plausible enough if you can really do as you said. Two questions, though: why do I have to come? Can't you just make me float here in peace and pick me up once you're done? I don't want to sound ungrateful but I really doubt I could be of much use. Second, why don't you try to seize all three ships? I'm fairly certain that once the acolytes and maybe some of the officers are dead, the crews won't give you much grief. Most of them are just like me, in over their heads and eager for an out. Just a thought, but you could start your own fleet." Tempting but unfortunately impractical.
"I'd love to and not only to get the ships but I don't think we can. We'd have to split up and try to clear each vassal simultaneously. While I'm decently sure I can destroy an artefact before they have time to react I won't be able to kill all of the acolytes, they'll at least be able to communicate, maybe even work some spells before I could get to the last one. Worst case, they'll manage to focus most of their energy into a single caster who could then become a big problem, a problem one of us would have to face alone. I'm not willing to risk that, unless we could somehow make sure that they can't reach each other or at least can't send power to one another. Can we?"
"Afraid not," Erya explained. "Form everything we have heard and seen it seems like they use tattooed glyphs or runes for most of their magic. I don't think the connection between them can be broken unless the sigils are destroyed and for that we'd most likely have to kill them anyways."
"She's right," Viyara added. "And we have to bring you along, Pete, since none of us could sustain a spell over that distance and we can't enchant an artefact to make you fly on your own midair, at least I can't. I'm afraid you're stuck with us for better or for worse. But I think our chances are much better than with everything else we have already survived today. Let's get closer to the ships, we'll adapt if something seems amiss once we're there."
Half an hour later we were floating about 20 metres below the ship in the middle. Without my wings my second sight was as good as useless and I had to rely on Erya's and Viyara's description concerning everything magical that might be hidden. From what I could see in Viyara's mind, a fracture of each crew carried an enchanted item or the other but nothing major. The interesting part was a complete lack of auras in some of the cabins and a part of the hull where I assumed the stone chamber to be. To completely suppress any form of leakage the wards had to be finely crafted and decently powerful, the work of the acolytes, no doubt. On the plus side, these dark spots told us exactly where we would have to go. Viyara and I would directly head for the stone chambers while Erya would sneak into the cabins. Protected by a bunch of spells Pete would do the same, his connection to Erya would allow her to pull him out of any danger with but a thought if anything went wrong. As far as plans went, what we had was more of a crayon painting than a DaVinci but in reality I didn't expect much resistance, I had a fey and a golden, or rather soon to be crystalline, dragon with me. If anything I felt sorry for the poor blokes who would probably experience their last few minutes in utter terror. At least I'd be sufficiently terrified if an immense, fire breathing snake suddenly materialised on my ship and torched everything in range.