“Seeaan? You okay?” Rachel asked me. It was Friday morning, and I had mechanically sat down at my desk after we had retrieved our books for morning classes. I blinked, and then let out a little smile.

“Yeah. Just, a bit...” I returned, quietly laughing as I trailed off. She smiled back at me.

“I can get that.” she nodded back. After we had finished the dungeon in Bretony, Melody, the Blade had shown up to greet us.

“How did you find us?” Lizzy demanded at once.

“Please,” Melody returned sarcastically, “Don't think you go anywhere unnoticed in this game at the moment. People screenshot you girls all the time; and some of your boy friends, too... or boyfriends, for some of you.” she added with a snarky twinkle in her eye.

“What do you want?” I asked her.

“Just checking in on you.” she shrugged. “I assume that's the new orb?”

“Don't even try it,” Maryn said as she and Lizzy stepped in front of me, the two of them pointing their weapon towards Melody as she took one step forward.

“Hm, hm,” the leader of Venomheart grinned. “I see they're as devoted to you as they are in real life, Rachel,” she smirked at me. Ariana kept quiet, but I could sense she was agitated.

“What can I say?” I replied with a short laugh. “It's nice to have friends, and I'm still getting the hang of being a leader here, so it's nice to have support,” I said. It wasn't a lie, though I could sense some confusion from Maryn and Lizzy, let alone the others. But they refrained from comment.

“I take it he doesn't play, then? Or is he one of the ones behind you?” Melody prodded, her snarky grin almost frozen in place. I giggled, and then returned the look.

“Wouldn't you like to know,” I teased. She held her hands up, advancing towards me.

“Rachel, Rachel... don't tell me you're playing here without your precious Sean? That'd make our bet all the more sweeter, you know,” she said in a soft, alluring whisper.

“I told you.” I said in a more solemn tone, “I'll never let you win.”

“So you did.” she replied evenly. She looked around at the rest of us, and then idly turned her nose to the air as she lightly spun about to move away. “I could care less about taking that orb. I'll just have to make sure you don't get the next four... Rachel.”

“Did no one ever tell you it's bad manners to refer to people by their names here, Joanna?” I quipped back, and she halted.

“I like the red hair. Really I do,” she remarked, “But you're cuter as a brunette. Remember that when I win our bet.” Joanna sniffed, and then resumed walking away.

“Tch, not even flustered...” I quietly grumbled.

“What was that about?” Maryn said as she turned back to me.

“She thinks you're Rachel?” Lizzy wondered.

“I only thought she did at first, but I guess she really does,” I shrugged, and Ariana gave me a helpless grin.

“And what was that 'Sean' thing about? A boyfriend? Isn't Ariana a--” Cloveroak began, but Cylodel raised a hand to cut him off.

“Clover.” the reserved mage said to him softly.

“Ah--right. Der said that topic's off-limits. Gotta follow the senior officer in the group!” the changeling grinned.

“Hmm,” Lizzy scratched her head. “Anyway; thanks again, you guys. This was a great run!” she beamed happily.

“Yeah! You'll have to invite us for the next few orbs as well!” Cloveroak replied.

“I'll... be around, if you need me,” Cylodel bowed. “Der?”

“I'm going with them, as usual.” the druid replied.

“Of course you are. Lucky bastard.” Clover nodded.

“Clover.” Cylodel sighed, grabbing the other guy's ear.

“Whoa, whoa, okay, Cy! We're going! Cheers, girls! Take care!” he waved as the two of them headed for a wayport.

“See you! Thanks for the fun!” Healina called after them.

“Byee!” Belle waved, and then came to sit on my shoulder. “So is that scary chick at your school or what?”

***

“I think Mandy was the most upbeat about it,” Ellie remarked at lunch. Morning classes had been a bear, but at least there was no homework from any of them.

“She's too positive to see a negative.” Mary agreed. “And I don't think we'll lose anyway, to be honest. Not to them at least.”

“More importantly, that wasn't a bad impersonation on Wednesday,” Andrea said with a faint surprise.

“Y-you're still on about that?” I remarked, and Rachel giggled.

“She's been talking about it non-stop at home!” she told me.

“But anyway; we didn't get together at all last night, huh?” Ellie sighed. “I got some of those crafting orders done, and they'll have to be delivered tonight.”

“You could take Dracuoatlax,” I suggested. “I'm sure you can pander to his ego a bit so he'd take you.”

“Nahh, let's save him for Saturday after our work-tour. He'll get a real work-out then.” Ellie said. “I'll just get Fyu and the waggon, and Anhe can come with me for support if she wants to?”

“I would enjoy that,” the younger girl smiled back. “Where are they going again?”

“We're taking them to... pfft, what was it? That place in Ur-Pom...” the other girl frowned as she tried to recall.

“Napaeia?” Andrea wondered.

“That's it, the one on the coasts,” Ellie nodded back.

“Hmm... we should take the ship, then,” Anhe remarked.

“I'm worried about the Guardians' fleet still on that side of the map.” Ellie shook her head. “But I got a deal with some of the Horselords guys; they're gonna help us get there from Bretony.”

“Oh, okay!” Anhe replied.

“And that'll leave you just enough time to scramble back to help Lana and the others on that ship raid -- speaking of which, weren't you taking Dracuoatlax for that? To like, burn the other ships?” Ellie turned to me.

“Ahh... did we ever decide that?” I wondered blankly. “Though that's a good idea, come to think of it...”

“Of course it is! It totally wrecks them, like, for real!” the blonde girl said adamantly.

“And we could destroy the shipyards as well.” Thomas nodded.

“But first we have to get through rehearsals, homework, and dinner. And afternoon classes.” Rachel reminded us, pointing to the clock.

“Gyeck!? Five minutes left?!” I nearly jumped, wolfing down the rest of my lunch.

“Careful, boy!” Mary remarked with concern as she looked over.

“He's right though,” Ellie remarked, tipping her bowl over to slurp up the rest of her soup like a vacuum.

“I swear, the more time I spend around these two the more I think they're related.” Andrea sighed, a wry smile on her face. Ellie finished with an audible gulp, beaming back cheekily at her friend.

“How rude! He's yours too, remember? Our adorkable little brother!” she said. I looked up from my sandwich, an uncertain expression on my face as I blinked a couple times, and the others laughed.

“All-right! Good progress today, everybody! We'll get this second act down by next week, and then we'll be piecing together the third!” Miss Andrews said as she clapped her hands for us to finish, and we applauded her words as we began heading out for the night.

“Vile villain; vile villain; vile villain...” I repeated to myself as Rachel and I headed out the door.

“You'll get it.” she patted me on the shoulder.

“Definitely!” Herby agreed as he and Matthew passed us.

“You gonna be at the park tomorrow, Sean, Rachel?” the taller boy asked us.

“Huh?” we both wondered at the same time.

“We're gonna get the whole band of us together to run through the first two acts!” Matthew said with a grin.

“Ahh -- we have a thing for our club tomorrow; but we might be free in the afternoon,” I said.

“That's perfect! We're starting at three!” Herby gave us a thumbs-up.

“We'll see you there!” Rachel smiled back as the two of them went to catch their ride home. “There goes our afternoon...” she said wistfully.

“N-not that we were gonna do much but play in-game...” I said with a faint grin.

“True. And since we have to turn up...” she said with a soft smirk.

“Joanna will have to turn up as well.” I nodded back.

“Welp, you're giving the Guardians a huge blow tonight,” Thomas remarked as he joined us, “So that'll be one big guild down for the count. Or at least the weekend.”

“Let's hope,” Rachel agreed as we set off for his car.

“I'll do this in reverse order tonight; Sean's getting off first, and you next. That'll give me a straighter shot home.” he said.

“Gotcha.” she nodded.

“Whatever works.” I agreed.

“Hahh, what'll work is when we all get our apartment or house together,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“Ahh...”

“We'll definitely plan that out this summer.” Rachel remarked.

“Hah?!” Thomas and I both looked at her. Her expression was decidedly confident.

“W-well,” I grinned over at him.

“Y-yeah,” he softly laughed back in agreement. “Anyway -- to Panarena!”

***

When I loaded up in Queen's Haven, I was by myself. Most of the others were probably at Cloverbell or just getting ready to log in, most likely. I continued repeating to myself that two-word phrase I had been hung up on all night at rehearsal, settling into a chair with a sigh as I did so.

“Ville villain--nope, vile villain, vile villain, vile villain...”

“Are you still on about that?” Ariana teased as she playfully squeezed my shoulder.

“Hm? Did you just get in now?” I asked her.

“Yup! Heali will be on in a minute; we just got rid of the brats.”

“Yikes.” I softly smiled back.

“Right??” she agreed. “Anyway; tonight's the night, huh?” she then said, snuggling up with me in the chair.

“They'll hang in there for sure if we succeed, but they won't even be top twenty. Even with their numbers, it'd take them until the end of the competition to recuperate all the materials and resources to get that many ships.”

“And their land caravans?”

“We have a dragon and a guild full of riders on our side for those issues; I only hope Eothane isn't so noble that he would consider raiding caravans 'stooping' or something like that.” I said with a shrug.

“Hmm... he does seem like the type who would say that,” Ari nodded in agreement. “And you, Belle, and Myanihia managed to get all of those guild-crests from that ambush last time we were on, so we're good there.”

“Definitely.”

On the night before, Myanihia had slipped me an IM about a Guardians' storehouse in the Phoenix Domain, imploring me to come at once. Belle, who had just gotten on, volunteered to come with me since Ariana had been tied up with Heali and Lizzy on another activity. Between the three of us we managed to take down the NPCs guarding the storehouse, and inside it we found several uniforms and insignias for our rival guild. We took them all, scurrying back to a neutral meet-up point to divvy them out between ourselves, Heavenly Dragons, and Jade Lotus. Hua Ling had been particularly impressed by our second theft, offering to perform some feints on the Guardians so that they did not suspect our true goals. Qi Lin and I agreed, the former volunteering to do some as well until we were ready for the big show.

“Now all we have to do is manage to slip onto the island, commandeer the ships we want, and have Dracky torch the rest,” I mused.

“Pfft! Dracky!” Ari laughed.

“Don't think I'll be calling him that to his face, though,” I grinned back.

“Oh no, definitely not,” she giggled in reply. “More importantly, Cylodel is going to be in the Wildlands helping his guild, so we can't use his portal magic to get Dracky to the island.” Ari continued, and I nodded back.

“Which is why I talked Jannie and Wildeye into helping me and Anhe craft a very special ship.” I returned, and she blinked.

“Okay. That sounds tame compared to a lot of stuff we've done in this game, but a dragon on a ship...” she said with a bemused look.

“Yeah... the hard part might not be getting him on it, but talking him into it,” I said with a wry half-grin.

“I'm sure you can pad his ego enough to convince him.” she replied, patting my head. I then snapped my fingers, and nodded back to her.

“Wanna come with?” I asked.

“Sure!” she beamed, and we headed out to wayport to the Torching Mount.

“Lady Lana; it is truly a delight to see you again. What mischief have you in mind for the night's entertainment?” the dragon grinned as we arrived.

“How does burning up most of a fleet sound?” I asked him, and his eyes glinted with approval.

“I am only too eager from merely the suggestion of it; where is this fleet, O Queen of the Shadows?” he replied.

“Okay. So it's on an island way out in the Wild Blue Expanse; Lantisha.” I began. He blinked in recognition of the name. “It's a long way to get there, and I don't want to tire you out by flying so that you'll be at your best when we do get there, so I had a ship built specially to ferry you and our friends to the island.”

“Hm!” the dragon's brow furrowed as he gazed at me studiously. “I understand your reasoning; that island is many leagues away. But surely I alone am enough to destroy a whole fleet? Or is there some other purpose in bringing allies with us on this bold attack?” Dracuoatlax asked me.

“Actually, we want to steal some of those ships. Don't worry about destroying the wrong ones; we only want the big ones. Everything else you can blow away and burn up.” I replied.

“I see...” the dragon mused. “These large ships you are wanting to seize for yourselves, they are different, then?”

“They look like the castles of Xuanpu and they have a lot of oars.”

“Hmm! That does make it simple to single them out.” the dragon nodded. “Very well! I accept this offer; where is this, ship, that you would have me rest myself upon?”

“It should be arriving at a spot east of Weishoni soon,” I returned.

“Then let us make haste.” Dracuoatlax said, getting into a position so we could get up on his back. He swiftly rose from the Torching Mount, and we began heading southeast to our rendezvous with our raiding partners.

***

“As expected of the Silvernight Queens,” Qi Lin said with an amazed whistle as we landed.

“Honestly now.” Hua Ling grinned. “We are all ready here, and your friends Wildeye and Jannie have gotten the boat here,” she gestured towards the beaches, where the vessel in question was waiting.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

It was designed sort of like an aircraft carrier. Except we were ferrying a dragon with it. The wide vessel had six masts, three to a side, all of them angled at a horizontal incline of twenty-five degrees and outfitted with triangular sails, two on each mast. It almost looked like a bizarre, six-winged duck with no head. Dracuoatlax observed the ship with curiosity.

“You are certain I will not sink it, Lady Lana?” the dragon asked. “If I should fall into water it would weaken me considerably.”

“That's why we scrounged for the best and strongest timber we could find, as well as some super-tough ore to craft some super-tough reinforcements for it.” I replied.

“Then let us see how well your handiwork holds up!” he said, and we headed over towards the ship. Wildeye, Tyman, Jannie, Winnie, and Anhe, who had been with them, waved to us as we headed over to them.

“Whew! Live testing, eh?” the Mountain Tigers' guild leader quipped. “Dracuoatlax,” he addressed the dragon, who turned to him, “I would suggest you gently fly over to the ship and set down upon it as lightly as you can.”

“Have you then had experience with dragons and ships, friend of Lana?” the other asked.

“I have had very similar experiences in the other world, yes.” Wildeye nodded back. “We have flying machines that can set themselves down upon vessels very similar to this in the method I just described.”

“Then I shall defer to your wisdom,” the dragon returned with only a vague hint of sardonism.

He set off into the air, and then gently flapped over towards the ship, setting himself down upon it as gently as he could. The boat rocked for a moment, but then settled. Dracuoatlax then slowly settled himself into a curled up position, like a cat on a pillow, and the rest of us heaved sighs of relief.

“This plan would have literally been 'blown out of water' if that failed, huh?” Qi Lin grinned.

“You're telling me,” I agreed.

“All right!” Wildeye said. “Operation: Dragonfire is a go!”

The rest of us headed onto the ship from the nearby piers, and after ten minutes we had set off from Panarena proper, sailing into the Wild Blue Expanse towards our goal.

“This is a well-made craft,” Dracuoatlax remarked after a few in-game hours. “I did have my doubts, but as long as I maintain myself in this position it seems all is well.”

“And we lucked out, too, getting smooth seas like this tonight.” Ariana said.

“Indeed.” the other softly nodded.

“We're gonna have a heck of a reprisal tomorrow,” Wildeye said, and we all nodded.

“We are prepared for that.” Hua Ling told him.

“Courtesy of down-payment!” Qi Lin beamed, and we all shared a laugh. “So you are really going to disassemble all of these big ships, huh?”

“They're too much for anyone but the Guardians to maintain properly, so we're just gonna use their components for other things.” Jannie nodded back.

“It does seem a waste, but it is a solid plan.” Li Zha Feng remarked. “And this will hurt their plans badly, from what Moon and Yun were saying at the bar the other day.”

“They're definitely counting on this little armada, huh?” I said.

“To dominate the southern seas.” the other replied.

“Who knew they would get spied out by the guild with a dragon? Such a shame, really!” Happy quipped, shaking his head in a mocking fashion as we laughed again.

“Right??” Jannie remarked. The laughter subsided after a moment, and we took in the quiet for a few moments as the ship headed on its way unerringly.

“Friend of Lana; your guild name is Heavenly Dragons, is it not?” Dracuoatlax then said.

“Of course!” Happy grinned.

“Then perhaps you may find your own dragon; I happen to know of an old rival of mine who makes his home in Kunlun, should you dare his abode.”

“Ohhh, the secret dungeon quest? Qi Lin, he confirmed it!” Happy said to his guild leader, who bowed his head towards our dragon friend.

“I will remember your words, noble one.” he said.

“Now we will definitely have to go and get that quest for Shuĭyŭ,” Hua Ling remarked with a sigh.

“And by the end of the competition, every guild will have a dragon as their friend!” Happy grinned.

“Well, hopefully not all of them,” Jannie smirked, and we laughed.

I looked up towards the sky; it was now almost midnight. A quiet sigh escaped my lips. Anhe gently nudged me.

“Lana?” she whispered.

“It's so peaceful right now, you know?” I quietly replied.

“Mm, true.” she smiled back. There was a soft thud on the deck as Tyman came down from the lookout post.

“Probably two more hours to our destination; I'm glad this thing works, but it's damn slow,” he said as he sat down with us.

“Everyone else should be livening things up in the Wildlands right now.” Jannie said as she gazed towards the northeast.

“We will be 'livening things up' in the Phoenix Domain after this.” Hua Ling remarked.

“We will have to! The Guardians will be totally mad at us, you know,” Qi Lin said.

“At all of us,” Wildeye faintly grinned. “But I bet even Fènghuáng will freeze for a few minutes after learning that a dragon destroyed most of her ships.”

“Kiana and Reginleif have probably intercepted that shipment of cannons by now, too,” I said.

“Ooh, forgot about those.” Winnie frowned. “Those girls better have those things locked up tight when we get back. Would be nice to adapt them for our own fleets.”

“I think that's doable,” Wildeye agreed.

“You can have all the cannons; but I would like to keep at least one of the ships we steal for ourselves.” Hua Ling remarked.

“I think that's fair, all things considered,” Jannie nodded.

“Of course, we will break it down and recycle it for smaller ships, or maybe use it as a sea-fortress,” the other girl pondered.

“Oh, nice idea,” I said, suddenly wondering if we could do something similar.

“So since we have a couple hours, anyone want to play a game of cards again?” Jannie then asked, bringing out a couple of decks.

“Yes, please!” Happy beamed at once.

“All right, here we go!” Tyman grinned.

“You're on!” Ari smiled, and we started into a rousing card game for the final hours of our sea voyage.

***

“Master.” Dracuoatlax said to me as I frowned disappointedly at the cards in my hand. I looked up at him, and saw his gaze fixated on the horizon. Turning to look, I gently thumped the deck with a hand, and the others looked up as well.

“There it is,” Wildeye said softly, and we began putting the cards away. Qi Lin and Hua Ling began issuing orders to their guildmates to get ready for our infiltration and theft.

“How long to get to the harbor from this side?” Hua Ling asked me.

“With our numbers, maybe two hours at most.” I replied.

“I shall not wait much longer than that, Lady Lana, for my own attack.” Dracuoatlax remarked. “Though I will recall my targets for certain.”

“Gotcha.” I nodded towards him.

“Do not be surprised when we have the Sea Dragon on our side to rival him!” Hua Ling said to me with a bright smile, and I grinned back wryly.

“Oh-ho,” my own dragon ally quipped with a mirthful look in his eyes. “I shall look forward to contesting my strength once again with the one called Shuĭyŭ in the days to come,” he said, and Hua Ling bowed before him.

A few minutes later we had made our landing, and the dragon stepped carefully onto the shore to stretch himself out before curling up again to await the time limit specified. The rest of us, except for the Mountain Tigers and Lightbrook Brigade members who crewed the ship, readied ourselves to head stealthily for the harbor on the other side, suiting up in our disguises. I allowed Hua Ling to take the lead on the actual operation, keeping myself and Ariana as guides only. When she was satisfied with her inspection (and with the headgear that Ari and I were using to help obfuscate our appearances), she gave a nod to Wildeye and Dracuoatlax, and we set off to the west.

“Good fortune, Lady Lana.” I heard the dragon say. I turned back and held up my hand in a victory-sign, which we had taught him over the course of our interactions. He nodded, and I resumed my attention to guiding our literal raiding party across the island.

“If I were Fènghuáng, I might be suspicious that we were all up to something; we cannot have gone unseen in all of our dealings, and she will definitely be concerned about the tome you stole for us,” Hua Ling said as we got closer to the harbor. “But all that I have heard today implies that she is more concerned about the land war. Still, it cannot hurt to pretend that we have been out on patrol looking for possible interlopers,” she continued.

“Especially since the big ships are most likely finished by now,” I agreed. As we got to an overlook she had us halt, and while the others knelt down in place the two of us crawled to the ledge to take a look.

There below us was the massive harbor; about half of the smaller ships were somewhat unfinished, but as I had thought, the Guardians had put their main efforts into the largest of their ships, and sixteen tekkousen-vessels sat ready for their adventures.

“I guess that one-week estimate from a couple days ago was meant to spur them on,” I remarked to myself.

“Time?” Hua Ling said to me. I checked the in-world clock.

“Dracuoatlax will be attacking in half an hour.”

“Good.” she nodded, still taking note of the harbor. “They are at minimum defense tonight. Your friends in the Wildlands are doing excellent. I want to time this precisely; when the dragon attacks, we will be in position, and rush to the ships under the pretext of saving them.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “No one will think twice under the panic of dragon-fire.”

“Yes.” she nodded back. “So we should split up into groups here; I will take five, you take your group, Qi Lin will take his, and Li Zha will take the rest of mine. Remember to act as if we are coming in from patrol.”

“Let's tell the others,” I said, and we scurried back to issue the orders.

“Is Kirin there?” Qi Lin wondered after we had laid out the plan.

“I did not see,” Hua Ling shook her head. I frowned, trying to recall if I had seen any officer uniforms just now.

“Is it a problem if they are?” I asked.

“Ah-ha, he and I have fought a few times, so I hope not to run into him here... he will see through my disguise, at least.” the plucky leader of Heavenly Dragons smiled sheepishly.

“Uhh...” my face crinkled into a bemused smile.

“Then let Happy pretend to be your patrol leader.” Hua Ling sniffed.

“Ah! Good point,” the other returned.

“Anyway, we have maybe twenty-five minutes before the dragon comes. Remember your groups, and do everything you can to stay low until it is time.” Hua Ling instructed, and we nodded in reply, heading down in four separate groups to the beach.

We were definitely questioned as we arrived, but our explanations were accepted. There was no Kirin this time, but an officer called Windwalker was here in the command center. Judging from the name, I estimated them to be someone who had a play-style similar to Anhe and Sun WuKong. I suddenly wondered how the man who played as the Monkey King was doing, and if we was part of a guild involved in this competition. Anhe, Ariana, and myself then sat down near a torch by the piers. I could see Qi Lin and his group actively engaging with the group led by Li Zha Feng, and further in the distance Hua Ling was with her group around a fire. I then got a message.

Maryn: The raiding party got the cannons--they're being taken to a neutral point in the Marshes of the Wyrd. It's rough here. We're heading out with Reginleif to engage Venomheart. The King-Priests are about to show up. This might be a stalemate if they pull out that demon again.

I softly clenched my teeth. If the King-Priests brought out Djaziim now... oh, snap, put it away, I thought as a member of the Guardians approached us and I put out my IM panel. She set down a tray with three bowls, thanking us for our hard work of patrolling the island, and then moved on to another group.

“Hahh...” I sighed when she was out of range.

“Lana, what was that message?” Anhe asked me in Mandarin.

“Ah? Maryn.” I returned in the same.

“Are they having a hard time?” she wondered.

“It sounds like it,” I frowned. Quickly I looked around, and checked the time. We had fifteen minutes until dragon-fire happened. There was no way I could communicate with anyone outside our little group without raising suspicion until after we had gotten away. Then I'd have to act fast. Another IM then reached me.

Sky Belle: Lana, Maryn sent me off to send you a message; they have Djaziim out after all. Cylodel is with us. He's waiting for your word to open a portal back so Dracuoatlax can help us.

I gazed at the message, rereading it frantically. Hrrrnnnggh! But really, it's good they anticipated I might try to portal back. Wait!! Portal back... I mused to myself quickly. Once more I looked around. The ships we were planning to steal were not as big as Dracuoatlax. That honor went to Jannie and Wildeye's boat, which by necessity had to be larger. If they're not as big *as*, then they'd fit through that portal, too, I reasoned as I pondered it out quickly. I heard Ariana let out a sigh, and then she spoke in Mandarin as well.

“I know that face. It means something crazy is about to happen.” she remarked, and Anhe giggled softly.

Lana: Belle, where exactly are you guys fighting?

Sky Belle: We're defending a fortress in the northwest owned by Northern Warriors, near the coasts.

I almost jumped in excitement at the news.

Lana: Hold on for at least twenty minutes. Trust me.

Sky Belle: You got it, hon!

“What's the plan?” Ariana whispered almost soundlessly in my ear.

“Something crazy.” I whispered back, and she shook her head at me, grinning.

“Oh, you.”

Then we heard it. The flapping of large wings. It seemed Dracuoatlax had sped up his time-table. With a roar, the red dragon emerged over the horizon, and with unfailing accuracy he first torched the command center. That was probably the best first step we hadn't thought of for this little plan. At once we dashed for the boat we planned to seize, and the other guilds with us did the same while the members of Guardians rushed around trying to get to their defenses. If any of them turned up on the ships we were commandeering, we quickly put them out of action and sent them back to whatever respawn-point they had.

With the shore in chaos from multiple intense fires and the enemy leaders temporarily gone, Dracuoatlax began disintegrating the ships we were not sailing off with. Oh, he had also set fire to their supply depots and portable crafting stations; I couldn't even imagine how much time and effort had gone into stockpiling those. Meanwhile, our plan was succeeding; just as we had thought, the ships could be commandeered by the simple trick of wearing a uniform and insignia. Oh, and Mandarin commands, as well. Sixteen large ships sailed off from the shore; at first the Guardians had been under the impression we were helping to save them, but a few of the more astute among them had now deduced we had brought the dragon, observing his selective destruction and our specifically going after the large ships instead of the smaller ones.

“Dracuoatlax!” I called out; the harbor was ablaze, and the other ships were about gone. “We have an emergency; we're gonna open a portal!” I shouted back, and the dragon, after ensuring that not a single one of the enemy vessels left behind could be used or repaired, soared after us.

“Understood, Lady Lana!” he called back.

Then I saw her. Fènghuáng, the leader of Guardians of the Eternal Citadel. She emerged from an emergency teleport spell, a tall, dazzling beauty with a subtle flame color in her dark hair. She wore a red hanfu dress with golden embroidery upon it, patterned with phoenix designs. In her hand was a khakkhara-staff with red-gems set into it. She looked at me with an expression of respect and anger.

“So this was your plan?” she called to me in Mandarin. “I commend you, but it stops here!”

“Ari! Tell Cylodel to get that portal ready! Tell him to open it out at sea! I'll have a beacon ready for him!” I said, and she nodded, hurriedly relaying the message as I got out one of the portal-beacons that the mage in question had given me a while ago for emergencies. Anhe sent signals to the other ships in the meantime, urging them to follow us. They did so, and I activated the beacon and hurled it as far as I could out to sea, where it hovered, awaiting the portal spell from Cylodel.

“He'll be ready in five minutes!” Ariana said to me.

“Good!” I said, anxiously gazing back. Dracuoatlax hovered nearby, looking back as well.

“Lady Lana!” he said with urgency. I then noticed Fènghuáng was chanting, most likely for a summons.

“Oh snap, snap snap snap!” I swore. “Urgh! Looks like she's activated a ward-skill to keep herself from being interrupted; it's probably got reflective damage, too...”

“I concur,” Dracuoatlax nodded. “We can only wait for the portal!”

“Lana!” Hua Ling called from another ship. “I hope your friends hurry! That is her ultimate summoning skill!”

“Ultimate?!” I all but yelped.

“What is her name?” the other guild leader said to me.

“Fènghuáng?”

“No, Lana, what does it mean?” Hua Ling pressed me. I drew a blank for a moment, and then gasped.

“Phoenix...!”

That's why Dracuoatlax is concerned; he knows about this phoenix spell, or maybe about the phoenix it summons... if he's agitated, it's definitely on par with him, and not in a good way, either, I hurriedly thought.

“She is almost done!” Hua Ling cried out.

“Come on, Cy...!!” I said, gazing anxiously ahead. My heart almost exploded in relief as I saw the gigantic portal form ahead of us. “Go!! Hurry!!” I cried at the top of my lungs. One by one, the ships sailed through the portal, held open by the incredible mage at the other end.

“Master!” Dracuoatlax said as a vortex of flame appeared.

“Go through! They need you! Djaziim is there!” I implored as I pointed desperately at the portal. He nodded reluctantly, and headed through to engage the demon on the other side. Hua Ling's ship then went through, and we began approaching the portal ourselves a second later. I then heard the sound of a bell, and an ear-piercing shriek like a firework going up.

“L-Lana,” Ari said as we looked back. Up from the fiery summons it rose, a terrifyingly beautiful bird of flames. It gazed at us coldly, spreading its wings to take flight and follow us.

“Anhe! Use your empowerment auras for physical and magical damage! Ari! Get a freeze spell ready!” I said, drawing out my bow and queuing up Piercing Breaker.

“Unison attack?” Ariana asked, regaining her calm. I nodded, and she began enchanting my arrow with her spell. Anhe powered us up with her auras, and nodded. The phoenix launched itself into the air. I let the arrow go.

It did not kill the phoenix, but it did knock it back just long enough for our ship to get through the portal. I heard Ariana yell for Cylodel to close the portal just as we did. Just in time, he released it, and the spiteful gaze of the phoenix and its master was the last thing we saw before the portal shut. At that exact moment, I belatedly wondered what had happened to Wildeye and the others.

***

As usual, Dracuoatlax pushed back Djaziim; it was getting easier now on account of the fact that we now had several orbs to help us out. With anger they retreated, and Venomheart, those of them who had show up, dissipated from the battlefield as well. After the fighting was over and the enemy guilds had retreated, we held a celebration around the beach to commemorate our several victories this night. Eothane reported that Sybel, who had led the raid party to seize the cannons, was now returning this way with her prizes in tow.

I left the main events of festivity somewhat early, changing into a simple beach-dress and heading along the beach. The sensation of the water and sand upon my feet felt good; it made me long for summer vacation to start. I sat down on a rock that was on the border of shores and waves, gazing out past the ships we had taken. The stars looked amazing, their lights sparkling over the Jade Sea like radiant diamonds.

“Sure is an amazing sight; I should get a screen-grab of it,” I remarked, doing just that.

“Hey, chica.” a voice called up to me. I turned, and saw Lysandra coming up to join me.

“Sandra,” I said in surprise. She was wearing a dark colored beach-dress like mine that nearly matched her hair; with a relaxed sigh she sat next to me, a bottle in her hand.

“Ari noticed you vanished, so she asked me to find you.” the older girl said.

“Ah-heh, I did skip out a bit,” I softly grinned.

“You okay?” she asked me.

“Yeah, just a bit... I dunno, rattled.”

“Hmm...?” Sandra remarked, putting her arm around me.

“I mean, that phoenix even had Dracky spooked, and I didn't even damage it with Ari and Anhe helping me...” I softly grumbled as I leaned onto her.

“Dr-Dracky?” she wondered for a moment. “Ohh,” she then realized, giggling. “Yeah. That phoenix they have does still make them one of the more formidable guilds on land, but we've wrecked their navy for sure. You did good, kiddo. They'll definitely be behind for a while after these losses.”

“Hmm.” I nodded back.

“Sandra, Lana.” another familiar voice said. It was Myanihia.

“Hey.” her half-twin smiled back.

“You're here,” I smiled in surprise.

“For Sandra, I was, yes.” she returned, her cheeks reddening as she came to join us. “Lana... I saw it. The phoenix.” Myanihia said to me.

“Yeah.” I nodded back with a faint glumness.

“It... is not the same. Not exactly.” the Snow Elf told me, and we both looked at her. “From what I know, the phoenix; you can summon it like Djaziim, but, you must first win its respect, like Dracuoatlax. There is no bond, to break.”

“So Djaziim is the only trump card we can take out.” I noted.

“Yes.” she said in reply.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, the bottle passing between the three of us several times over before it was practically empty. Myanihia tousled my hair, a grin on her face.

“What's that about?” I asked with a laugh.

“I'm... I think, I'm almost ready. Your friends...” she shook her head, “No, our friends; we are all here chasing the same thing. Connections. Adventures. I am not Myanihia Black... I am just, Myanihia.” she said, gazing peacefully out at the sea.

“Then--”

“But, I will wait, at least to meet you, in person.” she then looked over at me with a soft smile.

“Ahh--if that's how you want to do it, then okay.” I smiled back, inwardly freezing up. I could almost feel Lysandra cracking a grin next to me.

“You're gonna love Lana in real life.” the werewolf-girl said teasingly, squeezing my shoulder. The other girl laughed gently.

Ohh boy.

“Is this the moment, when you use that word, you love for her?” Myanihia asked, smiling.

“Sure is!” her twin beamed back.

“Huh?” I wondered, and then rolling my eyes as I heard them say it.

“Adorkable!” they chimed together, and then giggled.

“Hahh...”

They'll never let me hear the end of that word as long as we're all alive, huh?