Long wooden piers stretched out over empty air at the Black River Airport, at the terminus of the chasms where they opened up into the southern plateau. Dozens of airships were anchored at stations along each side. Each station featured a water wheel-like structure, powered by wind sails, with cables for mooring the airships to the pier. Two streams of people traveled in opposite directions on either side of the pier. The men wore dark suits and the women wore ornate dresses with plumed hats. The center of the pier was occupied by various shops, street food vendors, and soapboxes upon which charlatans hawked their miracle cures.

The Green Dragon stood above the rest, surrounded by his entourage. Felix and Cliona trailed beside Deorwine just ahead of Shane. They passed a man on a soap box wearing the unmistakable white uniform of the Heritage Militia.

"Do not believe the lies! The flying machine was an illusion, created using foul sorcery! The Draconic Paladins have lost their powers, and they seek to trick you into thinking they can still fly! They will not protect you from the armies of the Blue Dragon! Join the Heritage Militia today, and protect your land from outsiders!"

Oh no, Shane thought. He tried to lunge forward and grab Felix by the back of his uniform, but he missed as the hulking paladin began to march forward himself. It was Deorwine who caught Felix by one arm.

"Peace Felix!" Deorwine pleaded.

"I will put my blade through his lying mouth," Felix hissed.

"Think this through," the little green-haired advisor said as he bravely dragged Felix back into the train by his arm. "If there are any spies in this crowd they will be given the false belief that the flying machine was a trick, an illusion. They will give the Blue Dragon false reports."

Felix grunted. "Your words are true, even though I hate them."

Shane's relief did not last long. The Green Dragon led them to the checkpoint in front of an anchor station. Dozens of constabularies with crossbows were waiting for them. An older man with a mustache, wearing a gleaming captain's uniform, stood in the center with one hand resting easily on his saber. The Green Dragon stopped short of the gate.

"Felix of Quaria," the captain began, "you stand accused of three counts of murder, destruction of government property, destruction of a historic landmark, summoning unsanctioned draconic materiel, endangering the life of the Prime Minister, public nuisance, and deceiving the public with unsanctioned sorcery."

Without being asked, Shane reached out and established a connection to the Realm of Wind. As the captain drawled on, and with extreme subtlety, Shane slowly, patiently constructed a wall of wind between the two groups. The shimmer in the air was nearly imperceptible.

"Take your complaints to my direct commander and get out of my way."

"We have been authorized by the Prime Minister himself."

"Enough words," Felix snapped. "Open your mouth again and I'll put my blade through it."

"I will not..." the constabulary captain began. Shane's heart sank. If nothing else, Felix was a man of his word.

"Enough!" the King Cyneric bellowed. The Green Dragon's hand snapped out at lightning speed and caught Felix by the arm as he reached for his greatsword. The sudden outburst silenced the captain. The other constabularies froze in shock. "Felix, you need to delay disposing of this filth until after the aircraft has departed. If you slaughter them now, the airship captain may elect to cancel the flight. Would you have me and my people stranded in your land?"

"Fine," Felix replied. "Go on your way then."

"Your crossbows will not work on us," the Green Dragon continued. "We are already under the protection of powerful wind sorcery."

Foolishly, one of the constabularies saw fit to test this theory. He opened fire on Felix, but the bolt harmlessly struck the wind barrier and froze. It floated for a moment, and then fell backwards, clattering on the wooden planks of the pier. The remainder of the constabularies demonstrated more discipline, as they withheld repeating this mistake. None of the citizens walking along the pier seemed to notice the incident.

"I did not give the order to fire!" the captain protested. But he had already lost all credibility as a commander. With a defeated sigh, he rallied his constabularies to leave. They shuffled off without saying more, and vanished into the stream of citizens.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

King Cyneric released Felix from his grip. Then he took up position in front of the group and faced them, standing tall and commanding. "Felix, Shane, and Cleona. I want to thank you, and your associates, on behalf of my nation. I promise that if you ever visit my nation, you will be treated with the greatest respect and honor." King Cyneric actually bowed.

The golden gates to the loading platform opened. The workers at the gate didn't bother to check for identification or tickets. The Green Dragon passed through, followed by his entourage, completely without interference or incident. Deorwine lingered behind.

"Shane. There is something I want to give you." The advisor reached into his pack and produced a thin leather-bound book. It had shining gold paint sprayed on the visible edges of the paper, as well as gold foil stamped on the cover and the spine. The book was titled: Notes on the Construction of Flying Machines.

Shane reached out and grabbed the book. It smelled of leather. "Why?" Shane asked. "We already sent a copy of your notes to the Lord Paladin."

"This one's for you specifically," Deorwine replied. "I gathered that you are a man who appreciates books, so I penned an extra copy in secret. It was bound in genuine leather and stamped with real gold, by the best bookbinder in the city."

Shane lunged forward and gave the man a huge bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

They remained on the pier after Deorwine had boarded and the gate was sealed. Workers scrabbled to unmoor the airship, and as it slowly drifted away from the loading platform, the steam engine within the craft began to huff and hiss. The propellers began to spin, pushing the craft away from the pier. Dark green banners, bearing the royal sigils of the Green Dragon, appeared in the windows and at the stern.

"They didn't check to see if the platform was clear before they started the propellers," Felix said. "Sloppy."

"Have either of you seen Alice?" Cliona asked.

"The Purple Dragon told us that Alice is now her third servant," Shane replied. "That is all she offered to tell us. Knowing Astrid, she probably sent Alice on some frivolous errand."

The huge aircraft began to rotate. The building-sized rudder flexed side to side, and the small wings on the tail flexed up and down. The propellers accelerated and began to make a terrible whirring sound. The airship turned away and began to grow smaller. The long green banners drifted in the wind.

"I think we should leave using my storm sorcery," Shane offered. "Those constabularies may be waiting for us at the end of the pier. We can fly down to the river, and follow the chasm back into the city."

Neither Felix nor Cliona protested that it was against the law to use storm sorcery so close to the airships.

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Felix crossed square platforms made from red crystal and ascended narrow staircases without rails. All around him was empty space, and the walls were a dim maroon color. After ten stories of stairs, the way was spilt between a staircase and a gantry leading to a circular concourse. Pale light illuminated a single doorway to the north. Beyond the doorway was a half-oval crystal platform extending out over open air. It was the first and lowest of several such platforms that jutted from the Teeth of the Red Dragon. Sheer white-walled buildings lined either side of a narrow alley which ran through the center of the platform. The usual officers loitering in the alley were absent.

There was barely any room to stand at the south edge of the platform. Officers were packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Felix shoved his way through to the Lord Paladin, who was leaning against the varnished wooden railing by the other top brass of the military. A handful of soldiers were standing guard, preventing the crowd from pressing up against the leadership. Felix ignored them and walked up along side the Lord Paladin.

Beyond the escarpment was a dizzying ten thousand-foot drop into the lowland forests. They stretched out toward the borderlands, a mix of gold and green trees, toward a featureless horizon. That horizon was dotted with white blobs, dark bird-like shapes, and huge plumes of smoke. The Lord Paladin was looking through a long spyglass, pointed straight at the invading army.

"Lord Paladin, I am here."

The bald man folded his spyglass and turned to Felix. "Excellent. We can get started."

The six generals and the Lord Paladin gathered with their seconds in the war room on the ground floor of the lookout tower. Felix stood behind the Lord Paladin at the head of the table. Maps of the plateau and the lowlands covered the table, and red and blue glass beads were scattered about.

"Felix, give us your report."

"The Green Dragon must have learned about the invading army before we did," Felix said. "He has fled the city. Aircraft production has resumed using our own military engineers. Eighteen Paladins are able to fly and attack with draconic fire while flying. Two additional Paladins are able to take off and land. The rest are struggling to master draconic sorcery. We estimate two weeks will be required before they are flying."

"And how many aircraft do we have?"

"Twelve are operational, and six more are actively being produced. Our engineers estimate that they will be ready in two days."

"Thank you Felix. General Hans, what is your report?"

The youngest of the six generals spoke: "We count one-hundred and seventy airships and seventy-three Draconic Paladins. We estimate that there are about twenty-thousand ground troops marching through the forest."

"How long do we have?"

"The enemy army will reach the plateau within two days. Our analysts tell us that it will take the enemy airships four round-trip flights to haul all of those soldiers up here. It could take several days, but if the weather changes it could take longer. Four days is conservative, but it could take up to seven."

"Felix," the Lord Paladin said. "With these General Officers as witness, I name you my successor. Furthermore, I order you to prepare the Draconic Paladins to fly within four days. All of them. You are dismissed."

"As you command," Felix said. Then he left.