CHAPTER 4 – UNEXPECTED HELP

“How much longer Albert.” Johnny was getting frustrated as he continued to fire off the cannon at incoming rounds from the airship.

“The repairs for 100% thirty minutes. Minimum repairs to escape for another day should take ten.” Albert relayed the message to Johnny. He just groaned from the response. Johhny had to make a choice he told Albert to do the minimal. They needed to get out of there.

Julia and the others were now facing off against the mantis again. It had managed to use two winged rift eaters to get over the fallen tree. The opponent was tough even for their standards. Even though his guards had been finished, the man kept up the fight with no signs of stopping. They kept him at bay while Albert was desperately working with repairs. The group was getting worn down. The group was also wounded. Johnny knew they couldn’t keep this up. Their best bet was to continue into the forest.

At this point Johnny was getting very frustrated. Instead of watching on the airship he took aim at a new target. He locked onto the mantis with the 30mm cannon. He blasted the man with cannon fire. The beast was taken out by Julia and the others. Unfortunately, the distraction was all he needed. The mantis smiled with a savage grin before expiring. Everyone had a puzzled look. Until they all noticed a big projectile coming in too late to stop.

The airship fired a shot that rocketed through the air. It slammed beneath the transport blowing the vehicle off the ground. Johnny was thrown from the mounted cannon. He was thrown 30 feet into the air as he slammed into a tree with his back upside down. He fell to the forest floor on his face with a thud.

The transport suffered worse. It was tossed into the air and barrel rolled two times before slamming into a few trees. The vehicle rested upside down. With the entire undercarriage destroyed the only thing that was intact was the frame.

Julia and the others watched in horror as the dust settled. Her elite guard made a run for the transport. When they arrived the portal mage and her guards were climbing out of the wreck. Aside from a few cuts and bruises they seemed unharmed.

Johnny on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. Julia ran for Johnny whose body was a broken heap and bleeding. She began working her healing magic on him. She ranted in frustration telling him how stupid he was for what he did.

The group was now exposed to the airship. Qin and Julia stayed with Johnny. While everyone else took refuge in the forest. Julia Had to block every attack from the airship with her shield magic. It was taxing on Julia as she kept having to stop healing Johnny to put up a barrier. Qin assisted when she could as well.

Albert appeared next to Julia telling her he could repair the prototype transport, but it would take at least half a day to complete. She sighed in frustration as she looked at Johnny’s broken body. She had stopped the bleeding and mended his broken bones. He was still in bad shape with open wounds though.

Qin assisted her with healing before her magic began to run low. She had plenty in the tank. Unfortunately, she needed it to keep her summons going and use magic attacks. They all watched as the airship prepared to launch another volley of void busters. The airship never got the chance as it was hit by a jet of flame. Which was followed by a deafening roar. Many roars came after the first one. The airship was repeatedly hit over and over. The ship decided to retreat as it had taken too much damage. The group watched tensely as the ship pulled away burning as it lost altitude. They could see flames coming from something, but the top of the trees kept them from seeing what had driven it off.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Everyone was now worried if there was a new enemy to deal with. Unsure what they were dealing with. Qin had one of her dragons fly just above the tree line to hide out of view. What she got back from her dragon was a big problem. Throw her mental connection with her summoned. It had informed her there were a bunch of dragons heading their way. With people riding on them. It really couldn’t get anymore details of descriptions currently. The dragons and their riders had to be about two miles away. Her summon had counted at least twelve pairs in total. The lead dragon was the biggest by about half the others size.

Her summon next looked at the ongoing attack on the airship. It had managed to flee, but was now heading far off into the swamps. The dragons continued to fire at it until it finally went up in a big fireball as it plummeted into the swampy marsh. Nine of the dragons broke off in a formation. Four dragons stayed in the sky while the other five dive bombed the remains of the airship.

The three remaining dragons. Including the biggest one, headed their way. As they got closer Qin’s summon was able to give her more details. The dragons shined like polished silver. Their bodies had rigid spines sticking out from their head all the way back to the tails. Like raiser sharp needles. They had eyes that glowed red from the fire of lava. As they got even closer. The dragons looked as if they were made from mechanical parts. The riders could be seen more easily as well. Their riders were reptilian with different colors. They all wore armor that was radiant white.

The three dragons soon approached the others. They descended and landed onto the fallen tree. The dragons then softly landed on the ground after using it for a landing spot. Everyone looked up at the dragons In awe with a bit of caution. No one dared to make a move. The rider of the big dragon was the first to act. He dismounted off his dragon. Now that the dragons and their riders had landed everyone was able to get a better look. The reptilian turned out to look exactly like Orion with its red colored features. The other two dragoniods stayed mounted and on guard. The two had blue scales.

“Never expected to see other dragoniods of all things.” Qin muttered under her breath as she was thinking into the distant past. The lead figure approached the group Qin took up position in front of Julia and a badly injured and unconscious Johnny.

“Who are you and what do you want?” She demanded. The dragoniod was five feet in front of her as he raised his brow.

“That voice…, Qinny is that you sister? It is you?” Replied the dragoniod. I thought I had lost you when the world fell.

Qin just stood there in a blank stare before her eyes widened. “Yin. How is this possible. I thought you had died.” Qin collapsed as she was overwhelmed. Yin ran to catch her.

“Easy there. We have a lot to discuss later. Right now looking around at things. It seems you need help.” As on cue four other dragons came landing in.

“Report.” Yin said to the new arrivals.

One of them jumped off their dragons. “We were able to mostly destroy all the survivors of the airship. A few managed to get away using void crystals. The other five have stayed behind to destroy anything else and capture any survivors.”

“Damn Palasco faction. They keep turning our fertile lands into corrupted aether.” Yin continued to fuss.

“I need a full report when we get back. Right now, it seems our guests need help. We will be heading in the direction of the furnace peaks.” Yin began to bark out orders only to be interrupted by Qin.

Qin was quick to tell her brother what they needed to do. One of the riders assisted in healing Johnny. She had the group strap the damaged transport vehicle under beneath the big dragon. She had to order the portal mage and her guards out and to mount up on the dragons that had arrived. After everything was done. Qin had her summons carry the rest of them including a knocked-out Johnny. With everyone ready the order was given to fly for the furnace peaks.