At long last, nineteen days after leaving Waterrush, they were finally closing in on the “Eternal Storm” that raged around the Thunder Isles, high in the sky. Lightning flashes lit up the dark storm clouds, and as they approached within couple miles of the edge of the storm, they began to make out the shapes of birds flying in and out of the clouds, shapes covered in flickering lightning.
The islands were smaller than Isa was expecting. There were countless smaller islands, some barely more than floating boulders, but only the largest three were more than a mile in diameter. Still, the third-largest featured a giant spire that pierced the storm clouds, while the largest had an actual mountain – a mountain around which several thunderbirds flew. Isa’s heart raced with excitement and a grin adorned her face. This… this is like being a dragon! Flying more than a mile above the ground, rising up into the elements themselves!
“You ready, Isa?!”
“Hatched ready!”
They urged their mounts forward and charged into the storm, heading for the Magic Tower. Lightning flashed around them, both dancing between clouds and surging down to the surface of the islands. They maintained an altitude that kept them from going too close to the island ground, not wanting to deal with any of the monstrous inhabitants. Isa lost herself to the thrill.
Then a thunderbird swooped down from the clouds toward them, the bird utterly dwarfing them, with a body length of around forty feet and a wingspan about a hundred feet. Its feathers were dark gray like the thunderclouds from which it came, but blue lightning danced along every inch of it. It let out a loud cry and a blast of lightning accompanied by a deafening thunder crack shot out from its wing, traveling the nearly two hundred feet between them in an instant, striking Paxta and sending her staggering off sideways.
Rai freed himself from the saddle leapt into the air, wings of flame and lightning appearing a moment before the flicker of Force Armor, and shouted, “Head down, Paxta! Down!”
The drake, still staggering through the air, obeyed.
“Hit me with Flight, Rai!” Isa shouted, touching her communication bracelet so that Rai could hear her over the storm. He swooped toward her.
The thunderbird continued to descend, shooting another thunderbolt at Skycloud. Thanks to his Bond with Isa, he faired better than Paxta, roaring angrily in response.
A lightning bolt shot down from the that followed the thunderbird down, striking at Rai. He twisted and spun, blinking out of the material plane as it passed through the spot where he had been. He reached Isa, touching her shoulder and granting her wings. She jumped out of the saddle.
“Go down to Paxta! Protect Paxta!” she commanded Skycloud. He let out another roar, then swerved and descended toward the other drake.
A thunderbolt left the bird and smashed into Isa, sending electricity surging through her and rattling her bones with the vibration of the noise, making her bleed from her earholes. Her eyes glowed as her violent aura appeared.
“Star-enhanced spell: Dragonfire!”
Imbuing her already powerful dragonfire with a dose of star energy, she breathed a long stream of rainbow fire at the bird, setting it alight until it flapped its wings, putting out the flames.
“Star-enhanced spell: Flaming Wave!”
A massive conical blast of flame struck the thunderbird, which immediately flapped its wings again, putting out the flames once more. A thunderbolt shot at Rai, while a lightning bolt hit Isa. Rai dodged around the thunderbolt.
Rai threw out a hand at the same time as Isa sent another empowered blast of dragonfire, a massive fireball exploding and completely covering all but the wingtips of the bird. It flapped its wings once, then plummeted toward the island below, landing with a crash.
The two descended to make certain the bird was dead. They landed, the drakes circling low overhead. Isa dropped out of Berserk Mode after a few seconds, Rai stabbing the bird in the head a few times.
“It seems like a waste to leave the corpse here without harvesting it,” Isa commented once she caught her breath, gesturing for the drakes to come down.
“I agree, but even if we had one of those dimensional storage rings, it wouldn’t have enough space for the body… and we don’t. Maybe we could carve out the heart? And maybe it has a Thunderheart, too.”
“What, like an Igneoheart or Frostheart?”
“Right.”
“Hm…”
The drakes landed and Rai proceeded to heal them both fully with liberal application of his healing bolt, using nearly all his available uses for the day. Isa, meanwhile, healed herself with a couple Blood Elixirs.
“I guess we could try digging into it? But it’s just so big,” Isa said. “Which, by the way, is pretty cool that we can take down something this huge without too much trouble.”
“Rai! Other side!”
Coming from the other direction was a pack of yellow wolves. Though these weren’t much larger normal wolves, they moved with lightning swiftness, accompanied by flashes of lightning every time they put on a burst of speed. There were also twice as many of them as their were lightning-elks.
“Abandon our kill or stand and fight?” Rai asked.
“Stand and fight!” Isa said emphatically. “We can take ‘em!”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll take the elk, you take the wolves. Skycloud, Paxta, to the air!”
Jumping off the thunderbird in opposite directions, the two readied themselves.
“Star-enhanced spell: Flaming Wave!” Rai cast when the entire wolf pack got in range of his massive blast of flame. Roughly half of them were burnt to blackened husks; the other half somehow completely unharmed. They have a dimension dodge ability? Rai thought in surprise as the remaining eleven wolves zipped across the distance to attack him all at once. He practically danced as he evaded attacks, snapping jaws meeting air or force armor. One lucky wolf managed to bite his left forearm, breaking through the force armor where others had failed. He winced as the lightning-charged teeth sank into his flesh – the lightning did nothing to him, resistant as he was, but the fangs still definitely hurt. He smacked the hilt of his sword into the wolf’s head, forcing it to let go before it had a chance to try to throw him to the ground.
“Whirling Slash!” he shouted, spinning in a full circle. Sword aura extended more than half a dozen feet out from the tip of his sword, lightning and fire licking along its length as it sliced through all the wolves at once, cutting them in two, mostly by beheading them.
Then the giant elk reached within about eighty feet. Four of them continued on, two charging straight for her while the other two arced around to her strike her from the sides. The other eight stopped, lowered their heads, and fired lightning bolts at her. She leaped back, one of her wooden rings flashing; she blinked out of phase with reality as six of the bolts passed through, but the other two were slightly delayed and struck her when she reappeared. She then jumped away again, then ducked under the antlers of the charging elk, which tried to impale her.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Star-enhanced spell: Dragonfire!”
Her fire breath washed over one of the elk in front of her, scorching its flesh from its bones, and continued onward, killing another several dozen feet behind it in similar fashion. The beasts were undeterred, the remaining three adjacent to her trying to stab her (only to fail to penetrate her scales – or be blocked by her halberd) and the other seven charging up the lightning on their antlers for another volley of lightning bolts. Eyes aglow and surrounded by red aura, Isa forwent arts to slash the elk in front and then stab the one on her left, dropping both of them in sprays of blood. She dodged more lightning bolts, being struck only by one. She countered the antlers of the elk to her right, then put it down with a twisting thrust to its neck that nearly tore its head off.
“Come and get me!” she roared, rising several feet into the air and surging forward.
The surviving elk made enraged noises. Several began charging up lightning, but the rest charged. While she didn’t get pierced by most, she got tangled up enough that one antler was able to get a clean hit, poking through her scales in several spots. She grunted.
“Caustic Blood!”
An explosion of red mist shot out far enough to catch the entire front end of the four elk surrounding her. They backed away with noises of pain, shaking their heads.
“Corrosive Claw!”
She chased one and slashed it across the face with her claws, injecting acidic blood along the entire length of the gash. It made a truly horrific noise and fell, skin bubbling all along its neck.
She dodged another volley of lightning. The elk closest to her eyed her warily.
“Corrosive Injection!” she cast, lunging and sinking her claws into the neck of one of them. Her newest fifth circle spell was a direct upgrade from the first circle Corrosive Claw, dealing less damage initially, but doing increasing damage over time as the corrosive magical blood spread through the target’s veins. The sounds of agony over the next ten seconds as the elk was eaten from the inside by acid were disturbing, even to Isa, and she made a mental note not to use it against anything that didn’t deserve the extra suffering.
Seeing their companion die in such a horrifying way was finally too much for the remaining elk, which turned and fled.
A little healing magic later, Isa and Rai were once more uninjured and ready to turn their attention back to the thunderbird. After a short discussion, they decided to take the time to dissect the bird enough to extract the heart and the Thunderheart, which they were able to detect the location of with Mage Sight. While they were at it, Isa also collected the antlers of the dead elk, which upon closer inspection, seemed to be made of something resembling gemstones.
They can’t actually be gems, though, can they? I mean, those racks are like a dozen feet across, Isa thought.
The Thunderheart was huge, being about as big as three fists put together. It was a translucent yellow with raging blue lightning within. However, it was tiny compared to the thunderbird’s actual heart, which was nearly three feet long and around ninety pounds. Rai was glad for the ability to cleanse himself with magic after getting soaked in blood while he and Isa extracted the heart and stored it in the dimensional pouch… after collecting several quarts of blood in reinforced glass jars with magically-sealing lids.
“Now, let’s get to that Tower.”
They flew through the storm the rest of the way to the Tower. The closer they got to the Tower, the fiercer the storm became, and by the time they reached it the howling winds, flashing lightning, and pounding rain made it hard to concentrate, let alone see. They landed at the base of the Tower; it didn’t take long for them to find the entrance, a large archway with a translucent forcefield blocking it. Rai cautiously put a hand up against it.
“Hello?” he called out.
“Eh?” an old voice responded. “Visitors? One moment.” The barrier vanished a few seconds later. “Come in, and feel free to bring the drakes in with you. There’s plenty of room.”
Walking through the archway, Rai and company found themselves stepping into a single giant room some three hundred feet across and one hundred feet tall. The far half of the circular wall was lined with bookshelves filled with books, scrolls, and other written materials, stretching all the way up to the ceiling. Kitchen, dining area, reading lounge, area for large tables (presumably to put maps and things on), a bed, and a bathroom (complete with sink, toilet, shower, and “swimming” bath) filled up most of the floor space on that half of the room, though there were several pedestals and translucent floating platforms for traversing the bookshelves as well. That half of the room was lit by several very bright watermelon-sized orbs high in the air and several smaller, mobile lights closer to the floor.
The near half of the room was divided up into an open reception area, an alchemy lab, an enchantment lab, a general research lab, a rock collection display, and a garden (complete with fruit trees). This side was lit by smaller mobile lights low down and one extra-large light near the ceiling.
In the center, there was a large teleport circle.
“How is the ceiling being held up?” Rai said in bafflement.
“A complicated magical enchantment array, obviously,” the hunched over, raisin-wrinkled, bald, floor-length-bearded, ancient elven man who suddenly appeared in front of them leaning on a cane said. “Welcome to my Tower of the Sky. My name is Mage-King Arcanius. I hear they just call us “Rulers” now, though. Bah. Hardly as illustrious. Do they even use the title of Archmage for us ninth-circle mages anymore?”
“Dragonspit, old man!” Isa swore. “Do you just sneak up on everyone?”
“It’s hardly sneaking; you’re guests in my home. But I apologize for startling you, little girl.”
“I’m a grown woman.”
“By what measure? You’re not a kobold anymore, so your years would indicate you are a child when compared to others of your current race. Besides, while your body and mind may be mature, your life experience is severely lacking compared to any of the races that live lives comparable in length to humans, let alone something like an elf. And compared to me, practically everyone is a child except a dragon – and even some adult dragons are just whippersnappers.”
“How did you know I used to be a kobold?” Isa asked in surprise.
“It’s a combination of things. The way you look, the way you hold yourself, the fact that you’re of the fifth realm.”
“You called it ‘realm,’” Rai said, raising his eyebrows. “Isa’s the only one I know who does that, and she named it that herself.”
“Well, of course. I’m reading your minds, after all. That’s the other way I know you were a kobold. It surfaced as soon as you said you were a grown woman.”
“But isn’t Read Minds only a second circle spell?” Isa said. “Low-level magic is easier to resist, and we’re pretty good at resisting magic.”
“Well, certainly… unless you’re a complete master of magic like I am, in which case all your magic is as difficult to resist as your highest circle spells. Not even all the other Archmages are capable of that. Though I’m a bit behind the times, I suppose. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten any real updates on the world below in ways other than scrying. At any rate: I am a mage who learns magic through study… I see you call us scholastic mages; how very apt. You have very little hope of resisting any of my spells. Well, mental resistance, anyway. I can tell that you, boy, are pretty agile, while you, girl, as rather sturdy. You might be able to resist spells targeting those areas.”
He cleared his throat. “So, what brings you three and your drakes here?”
“Yi-meep?”
“Of course I’m counting you, little star-being. You’re just as much a person as the rest of us. You’re no mere beast, not even an intelligent one like these drakes. I’m somewhat surprised that you agreed to be this boy’s familiar… ah, I see. Not a typical master-servant relationship. Provider and assistant. Honestly, that’s how familiar contracts should be, if you ask me. I’ve outlived all of my familiars. The soul bond extended their lifespans, but not indefinitely. I thought about getting a new one, but I have no idea how much longer I’m going to live and don’t want to abandon them by dying.”
“You called Braveheart a star-being. Is that just because you read our minds, or…?”
“Heh.” Arcanius smirked. “You’re wondering if I know about the stars and the carbuncles. Sadly, no, I was simply reading your minds. But it is fascinating that you are from the future.”
“You believe what you’ve seen?”
“Of course. It explains a lot, actually.”
“What do you mean?” Rai asked.
“The star shards and the unrest among the gods.”
“What do you…?”
“He’s talking about what I have told him.”
Rai and Isa looked up to see a giant owl descending from a floating perch. It was easily big enough for two people to ride on its back, colored white and black, and had great tufts resembling ears or horns. I landed only a dozen feet away and stared at them with big yellow eyes.
“That voice… are you a messenger of one of the gods?” Rai said in wonder.
“That is correct. I am a messenger of the God of Knowledge. Your arrival here was anticipated, Rai, Isa, Braveheart – three travelers from the future.”
“Do you regularly meet with divine messengers?” Isa asked Arcanius, eye ridges raised.
“Regularly? Of course not. But while it is relatively rare, it is also not unheard of. It happens every few decades or so. I am, after all, also what you would call a divine mage.”
“Wait, you’re a scholastic mage and a divine mage?” Rai said in surprise.
“Indeed. My patron deity is the God of Knowledge. I’m not part of the Temple of Knowledge, though. I don’t have much to do with mundanities like that. I focus on my research, primarily my research on magic. Though I did receive a gift from the Temple of Knowledge recently.”
“The star shard we recovered?” Isa said.
“The very same. Mr. Messenger himself wanted me to research it for my patron. I was even more recently informed that there is a second shard here in my domain, but alas I am too frail to go get it. You are free to do so, though. I know the God of Medicine doesn’t want the shards just lying around. I will want to compare it to the shard I have before you take off with it, though.”
“Allow me to interrupt. I have a message for the travelers from my deity. Will you listen?”
“Of course.”
“Then I shall begin.”