Elwin’s stumbling feet followed, looking around for Blue. She was already two steps ahead of her companions. The cyborg had already found her way off the remains of the wooden boat, offering Phee and Elwin a metallic hand to grab onto.

“You first!” Phee shouted, helping Elwin navigate his way up the wyrm’s teeth. He grabbed onto Blue’s hand, which promptly pulled him up and out of the leviathan’s jaws.

His vision was filled with the sight of the Shimmering Sea falling away, far, far below them as the wyrm soared into the air.

“AAAHHHHHHHHH!” Elwin screamed in terror. He could do nothing but wretchedly hold onto the priestess’ hand for dear life. His mind was a complete blur, his body pumped so full of adrenaline that it couldn’t even process curse words or prayers to say reflexively.

The jaws moved again, suddenly crushing the skiff almost completely. Phee miraculously grabbed onto a tooth, and swung herself around and up, out of danger. She flew out of the wyrm’s mouth and appeared beside Elwin, catching herself with the tip of her rapier stabbed into a gap in the leviathan’s scales.

“Oh quit screaming! It’s not that bad!” Phee chided.

Indeed, the wyrm was beginning to slow down. Already, the deafening roar of rushing wind was quieting. Elwin looked up. The floating island was right there, far larger than it had appeared just a minute ago. They were nearly at the same height.

The wyrm shifted beneath them, its body beginning to curve as it prepared to reach the apex of its flight.

“Woah Woah Woah Woah!” Elwin yelped.

Phee was already curling herself up, feet flat against the wyrm’s plate-like scales, ready to leap at a moment’s notice.

The alien feeling of weightlessness was slowly beginning to take over as the wyrm’s body slowly turned. The roar of wind gave way to relative stillness. The only sounds Elwin could hear were the tremulous beating of his heart.

“Hold on, Elwin,” Blue warned him. He somehow tightened his grip even more.

The floating island was below them now. Just a stone’s throw away. Now that they were closer, it was plain to see that the sky island was much larger than it had appeared from below. There were palm trees, shrubs, and even a lake atop it. An oasis.

The silver serpent began to plummet back towards the earth.

Nervousness gripped Elwin’s body.

Feeling the pull of gravity, Phee pounced off the serpent without hesitation, her rapier sliding out from its metal body with a trail of sparks. Her black robes spread outwards so she could glide through the air, just like she had the previous day.

“Go!” Blue commanded, leaping after Phee. Her silvery pale wings spread to their full span.

It was now or never; Elwin kicked off the wyrm, giving them the speed they needed to make it across the unfathomable gap. The elf dared not look down.

The floating island drew closer; Elwin felt the irrational fear that the island might suddenly begin to drift away from them. But, the fear was short-lived. Phee soon reached solid ground, Elwin’s own feet following shortly after. He collapsed onto all fours, wanting to feel the earth with his hands, wanting to know that he was truly, finally safe. He closed his eyes, so relieved that a tear might leak out.

“Are you alright, Elwin?” Blue asked.

Elwin nodded in reply.

“Here,” Phee said, helping him up with an outstretched hand.

The trio took a good look at their surroundings.

From this height, one could see stunningly far. All around, a mind-bogglingly large expanse of rippling wave-like dunes. Once night fell, the moon’s silver light would render the sand a sea of frozen water.

The floating island itself was about fifty meters across. Lit warmly by the sun that would soon set, there was a picturesque oasis; like one would expect matching a description found in a textbook from Sarigold’s library.

A gentle mound rose from the centre of the oasis, covered in colourful flowers and grass. And, at the crest of the mound in the lake stood a familiar-looking silver monolith. The Final Trial.

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“Rolynd. We’ve reached the Final Trial.” Phee immediately reported to Rolynd.

“Well done, Phee. Get it done as soon as you can. We’re running out…”

The conversation faded into inaudibility as Elwin left Phee and Blue behind, choosing instead to circle the edge of the oasis, seeking some way across to the island in the centre.

Far to the west glinted the faint gold of Sarigold’s gilded domes. Its low, dark slums lined its outer reaches, like a line of mould around a shiny metal faucet. Beyond that stood the black spires of Lucina’s temporary city, and a thin beige line to the west; the western road to Ellenia. Then came the wound in the earth known as Wraith’s Ravine, glowing an eerie green at this time of night. And far, far beyond it. Barely visible beyond the Ravine’s magical fog, were the green canopies of the Ellenian forest. Home. But from this distance, the largest trunks of the tallest trees were like puny matchsticks. The Prime Moontree seemed barely a sapling.

To the north, the sandy dunes gave way to an icy wasteland. Elwin squinted, looking as far as he could. What were those black shapes? Buildings? Or just tricks of the light?

To the East, stood the massive concentric walls of Al Dherjza, a crater to its southwest where an Incandestine city had stood just yesterday.

And far to the South spanned the Endless Sea. The land of the dwarves and the world’s greatest minds lay somewhere beyond it.

Elwin soon found a path of stones. They were shaped like lily pads, placed very deliberately at certain intervals. One would have to hop from stone to stone to make it to the island unless they desired a swim.

“Hey everyone! Over here!” He called, signalling his companions over before hopping dextrously from stone to stone, towards the centre of the lake. Phee began to follow, and Blue reluctantly joined them in the rather undignified activity, their steps causing the slightest ripples to propagate across the perfectly flat water.

Elwin, who was quite far ahead of the others, had just made the last hop onto the island when a voice suddenly spoke up.

“It’s a terrible eyesore, isn’t it?”

Elwin, Phee and Blue all froze in place.

The trio looked around but could find nothing.

“I’m talking about that indecent hunk of q̸̥͛ǔ̷̳a̵̦͌r̸̍͜k̸͔͠ǐ̶̟n̴̥͌ḡ̵̻ metal in the sky! It’s an eyesore, isn’t it? Blocking out the moon.”

Phee and Elwin flinched when the voice spoke. Static filled their ears, their mortal minds unable to process the language. Familiar.

“Are all fairies ventriloquists?” Blue asked aloud, having already deduced the speaker's identity.

“Ȟ̷͎a̷͕͆ ̷̅͜h̷̦̐ä̵̗ ̷͓̋h̶̛̖a̷̠͝ ̶͚̇ȟ̴̰a̵͈͝. No, but my sister and I both share an appreciation of the art. I suppose you three must be the ones who completed her trial.”

The Elder Fairy of the Oasis then revealed herself.

She stood tremendously tall, at two-and-a-half meters high. Where her sister had been a type of plant, this Elder was made completely of silvery organic metal, much like the desert leviathans. Her wingspan was twice her height, her six massive wings shaped beautifully out of colourful iridescent titanium in every hue of the rainbow. Her wings looked more similar to a dragon’s than a fairy’s, segmented by thicker, phalange-like structures. Indeed, dragon-like features were present elsewhere too; in her scaled skin, vertical blue pupils, and two twisted horns that sprouted from her hairline in place of antennae, rising gracefully up towards the back of her head. Long, silver hair complemented her shapely form. She wore a spiked tiara, studded with a cyan gemstone at the centre. Overall, the fairy had the silhouette of a powerful queen wearing a crown.

“I am V̴̳̑u̷̦͌l̶̙̈́a̶̧͛n̴͚͛a̷̠͗.” She said in introduction. Her name bore the same static as P’tira’s had back in the swamp.

“‘Vulana’?” Elwin said.

“Close enough, brave one. Come now, let me get a look at you.” Vulana said, beckoning.

Blue was mystified by Vulana’s body. It was not made from the malleable morphic metal as her own, but it flowed and bent just as morphics could.

How? Was this some kind of undiscovered alloy?

Phee and Blue joined Elwin.

Countless flowers carpeted the ground, such that Elwin was unsure where to stand, for fear of trampling the beautiful display. Yellow, pink, red, blue, purple. All the colours and more. Their petaled heads gently swayed in a weak breeze, in strong contrast to the endless, scorching high winds of the sands far below. The dream-like scene was almost beautiful enough for Elwin to forget about everything that was going on in the world.

“It has been some time since I’ve been graced with visitors. It seems that people these days aren’t as adventurous as they used to be. Your names?”

The trio introduced themselves.

“Excuse my bluntness, Elder, but time is of the essence,” Blue added.

“We want to open the Labyrinth and wish for our salvation,” Phee said.

“…Very well then. I can sense the urgency in everyone’s faces. Although ADAM’s Labyrinth was in some ways made to enable such great deeds, you must still face a test here. Only the worthy can be allowed to awaken ADAM’s slumber.”

They weren’t sure what to say to that.

“Getting here was quite a test already…” Elwin said cheekily.

Vulana laughed, but unlike her sister, it was a mortal laugh, pleasant to the ear.

“I hope not, or you may not succeed when it matters most. How about this? You answer some tough questions for me. It will be for your own good; better to fail here, than in ADAM’s arbitration, where your life may be at stake.”

Phee, Elwin and Blue exchanged a glance. They were not aware that ADAM themselves also demanded some kind of test to be passed.

“Now, sit tight for but a moment.”

The Elder manipulated the island. It grew and spread; widening, flattening. Out of the earth, a long, high, solid black table of stone and three wooden stools rose. Warm orange lights lit the scene from a tall pole that had grown from the ground like a seedling.

In fact, the light-post did have a plant-like texture to its surface…

The surreal setup reminded Phee of the smelly bars that Effie was fond of taking her to.

With the Elder’s touch, the flowers by their feet lit up, basking the entire landmass in a cheery multicoloured glow.

Blue recognised the flowers as electronically lit, but even she did not know how Vulana was accomplishing such a feat.

“Take a seat,” Vulana demanded. She began to prepare several bottles and cups. Ice, flowers, herbs and fruits. “I have some questions for you.”