Part 6

Tai walked along the deck of the airship. He considered them lucky to have gotten away. But now, it seemed they would be lucky if they managed to get home. The airship had worked well for a while. They were halfway across the ocean. Grudgingly, Tai had to accept that Meru appeared to know what he was doing. He paced across the airship again and gazed out over the water. A continent was steadily growing closer. He was almost certain he could see the outline of the infamous Iifa Tree, the cause of so much trouble so long ago. He glanced around, grinning to himself. Crysta sat in a corner, scribbling notes on a sphere pad. A sphere pad was something like a notepad combined with a computer. It stored all the notes written on it and filed it away for later use. It was a handy device, and popular with students throughout Gaia. Tai knew Crysta was writing notes about their journey so far. He walked over to her.

“Writing about anything in particular?” Crysta grinned.

“Just imagine if this turned into a real adventure. We could write all about it and years from now, students like us will be studying how we saved Gaia.” Tai looked up at a skeptical laugh. Meru was standing nearby.

“That may be true, but would you really enjoy knowing that the fate of Gaia rested on your shoulders?” He shook his head “I sure as hell wouldn’t. All we’re doing is finding out about the mages. Its nothing major” Crysta smiled.

“I know that. But I was just imaging how good it would feel to be remembered throughout history.” Meru grinned then turned. He pointed,

“That’s Conde Petie ahead. We should be there within the hour” Tai and Crysta turned to look. Sure enough, the rough outline of a city could be seen on the continent now approaching. Tai narrowed his eyes.

“What’s that?” Crysta looked harder at the horizon.

“What’s what?” Tai pointed.

“I think there’s something flying up ahead.” Meru frowned and ran to get some binoculars. He raised them to his eyes, before swearing loudly.

“What is it?” Crysta asked. Tai noticed the fringe of panic on her voice

“Red Dragons.” Crysta gasped. “My guess is they are acting as Guardians of Conde Petie. And we’re heading straight for them!” Tai turned

“Can’t you do anything?”

“I can try to avoid them, but this ship isn’t very manoeuvrable.” He ran back to the cabin. After a few moments he called back “It’s no good. We’ll be too near the dragons before anything happens.” Tai gazed ahead.

“Head downwards. Then, at least if the ship is damaged we may not have as far to fall.” Crysta gazed ahead too.

“We’re going to have to fight aren’t we?” Tai nodded grimly. The dragons had seen the airship and were now heading towards them. Tai could see that there were two now. It was going to be a tough battle. Meru ran back out on deck. He glanced at Tai.

“You ok, kid?” Tai swallowed.

“Fire isn’t very good against dragons.” Meru glanced sideways.

“I found this artefact among some of the junk in the cargo hold.” He handed a small disc over to Tai. It was a glittering blue, and Tai knew immediately that it was a blizzard artefact. Meru grinned.

“Maybe we should have trained a bit before heading out.” Tai was pale. He knew how powerful red dragons were. Did they really stand a chance? He looked at Crysta. She nodded.

“I know, cure you two.” Tai swallowed and readied himself for battle.

Crysta stood a little way back from the other two. She watched dubiously as the two dragons drew nearer. Then one of them was on top of them. It breathed a jet of flame towards Meru, who dodged swiftly. She watched as Tai opened his eyes, shouting the word “blizzard” The dragon recoiled a little as the ice spell hit it. While it was distracted, Meru shot three arrows in quick succession. The dragon’s attention was on Tai now. Crysta saw it sweep at him with its claws. It missed him by a hairs breadth as he leapt backwards. She glanced at Meru. He was muttering something. She heard a gasp and her attention flicked back to Tai. He had just been hit. She immediately prepared and cast the cure spell, breathing in relief as his wounds healed. She glanced at Meru again. He had now jumped onto the rails of the airship/ he shot two arrows, one to either side of the dragon, and then stated one phrase: “Tri Arrow” He shot the third arrow into the air. She gasped as the dragon was enveloped in Fire, then Ice, then finally Thunder flashed down, causing a small explosion. The dragon looked really angry. It took a last swipe at Tai, who once again dodged, then flew upwards. Crysta followed it. It flew into the air, did a turn and dived….right past the ship. Crysta stared at the other two.

“Does that mean we’ve won?” Meru opened his mouth to answer but suddenly the airship gave a shudder.

“It’s attacking from below!” Tai shouted. Crysta screamed as the airship now rapidly lost height. They were going to crash!

END OF PART 6