“You don’t think you could’ve told us that sooner!?” Ellen exclaid. “How many more secrets are you keeping from us!?”
You have no idea.
“I didn’t know where the quest would lead,” Adam lied. “We’ve been following the golden trail, how was I supposed to know this was the place?”
“Relax, Elle,” Lasse said. “He’s right, we’ve been following the Golden Map’s directions. There was no way for him to know this was here,” he continued, backing up Adam’s lie.
The worst part was that Adam didn’t particularly feel bad about lying. He had seen how it’d gone when Elia put all the cards on the table, and he’d decided that he’d rather be a liar than spill the beans and cause a rift to form in their party. After all, this was not the kind of group that seed receptive to him being honest about himself, judging by the reactions to his powers.
“What should we do?” Cathy asked.
“Let’s moor by the edge of one of the forest island towers,” Adam said, walking with her to the helm and taking over the wheel from Jabari, who didn’t seem very comfortable handling the parking manoeuvre.
The others followed with him and Ellen remarked, “It seems like quite a long walk to get to the middle island.”
“I should probably go alone,” Adam said. “If slugwhales are the size of minivans, then there’s no telling how big a dragon would be.”
“What if it attacks you?” Lasse asked.
“I can get out of there unscathed if it’s just ,” Adam said confidently. “It’s a different matter if we’re all there together.”
They shared so uneasy glances amongst themselves until Jabari suggested, “If you’re in trouble or sothing, then maybe you can fire off a spell into the air as a signal for us to co help you.”
“Good idea,” Adam replied.
He brought their airship over to one of the stone towers on the edge of a forest island and they worked together to tether the ship.
As Adam disembarked, leaving the others behind him on the ship, he paused, turned around, and then gestured for Julie to join him.
Without any hesitation, she jumped overboard and onto the grass-covered island, clearly eager to tag along.
Adam pulled so of the flesh from the underside of the airship and shaped it into a floating platform, and once Julie climbed on, they flew towards the central island of Mast-Chewer’s Nest.
“I know you only brought
along because you’re afraid of what I will do if you take your eyes off of ,” Julie whispered into his ear, making the hairs raise on his neck and sending a ripple of gooseflesh down his back.
He instinctively hardened his skin, unable to shake the feeling that she was monts away from backstabbing him.
“Well, you have a weapon you didn’t tell
about,” Adam said. “So, how am I supposed to trust you if you’re keeping secrets? After all, you said yourself you knew everything about , and yet I know nothing about you.”
“You just have to ask,” she said with a grin. “How did you find out about my dagger? I haven’t shown anyone yet. Does your gifted hand tell you about what secrets I’m hiding?”
She studied his face for a mont.
“No, the Archer, the one who worship’s the Seeing One’s progeny… He must’ve told you. The Lady said I should be wary of him, but I failed to understand what she ant. It must be that power of his,” she concluded.
The Flayed Lady even told her about Lasse… She’s clearly setting Julie up to betray us all, or everyone except
perhaps, though the jury is still out on that last one.
Adam drove the flesh platform down as they cleared the tree-covered island and reached the outer walls of the fortress that Mast-Chewer had taken as her nest. Julie made a sound as they passed over the dark stone walls and saw what lay within. Just like last ti, the entire place was covered in silk, and the houses and buildings were barely visible below it, with many only held together by the thick strands that pierced their walls. In the centre of the fortress island was a spot with hundreds of other eggs like the one in Adam’s backpack, only smaller.
As he steered them towards the centre, flying as low and quickly as possible, Adam pulled out the egg from his backpack. He brought them to a halt right above an available spot in the centre between all the eggs and placed the Ti-Frozen Egg there. Then he quickly flew them back towards the wall where they dismounted the flesh platform.
Julie brought out blood she’d coated onto her red armour and floated it in the air like three orbs while Adam rapidly expelled the Mana from his body, knowing what ca next.
The silken carpet of the nest started to tremble, and then a giant hand reached up from the distant edge of the fortress wall, pulling an enormous shape up with it.
The lody in Julie’s blood spiked into surprise, excitent, and a primal fear of the creature that pulled itself into view.
Mast-Chewer clawed her way up, seeming to grow endlessly in size with every bit of her that was revealed. Last ti, Adam had been airborne and quite far away, so he hadn’t fully appreciated the scale, but now he was standing on the wall and could see it clearly.
The slug dragon was absurdly big, easily the size of Morgan’s Rest minus the surrounding island. Plates like volcanic rock floating on lava covered her body, and it was as if she was a goddess born from a volcano. Still, she wasn’t quite as big as Iffen, but she definitely had him beat in the intimidation factor, thanks to two enormous wings that flapped from her back, lifting the last part of her body up onto the island. Her six arms supported the massive plate-covered body, and her long sword-tipped tail swished around below the edge of the fortress walls, occasionally popping into view.
Her eyeless and featureless head sniffed around in the air before gazing in their general direction. Julie froze, holding her breath while the lody in her veins beca entirely consud by fear. Mast-Chewer stared at them for a mont, even though she had no eyes, and Adam thought that perhaps she was wondering why they weren’t fleeing.
Then she lifted her head into the air and scread.
Up this close, it was less of a sound and more like a wall of air that slapped into them both. Julie was imdiately knocked unconscious, but Adam remained standing since he’d dismissed all his magic. It was quite fortunate that the flesh he’d manipulated inside his body could hold its shape without the constant presence of Mana.
He turned around and saw how the shockwave ford by Mast-Chewer’s scream spread out from the fortress island, bending back the trees and slicing through the golden clouds.
Once the effect had passed, Adam refilled his flesh with Mana and lifted Julie’s limp body before flying back towards the airship, leaving behind the material he’d used for the platform.
I hope Mast-Chewer won’t scream a second ti, he thought.
By the ti he landed on the main deck of the Creaking Madam, the others were halfway off the ship, clearly on their way to rescue them.
“We’re okay,” Adam said as he sat Julie down on the wooden deck. “She was just knocked out by the magic-nullifying effect of Mast-Chewer’s scream.”
“Mast-Chewer?” Ellen asked, returning to the airship and pulling out her Rosary Relic as she kneeled by Julie’s side.
“That’s what the dragon is called,” Adam explained.
“Did you finish your quest?” Lasse asked.
“I did. Now we just have to wait for the Drakes’ captain to find us,” he said.
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The rosary in Ellen’s hand glowed and Julie imdiately ca to.
Huh, it can even heal the effects of Mana Exhaustion. That’s good to know.
Julie trembled where she sat, comforted by Ellen’s magic as she slowly recovered her Mana.
So, she’s at least not suicidal, Adam thought. Her reaction to the slug dragon had been normal and understandable. Any sane person would feel fear when faced with a monster of such proportions. Part of him had been worried she’d gone beyond that point though, so it was good to see that she still held on to feelings like that.
It probably also ans that she’s bluffing a lot more than she lets on. I wonder if she’s just very good at pretending, to the point that even her blood doesn’t give away many clues.
He thought about how Tisa had been able to camouflage herself and it had made it clear that his power was not omnipotent. It was clearly possible to protect yourself against it.
And Julie isn’t foolish. She must’ve picked up on that fact. Although perhaps the lody I’m hearing can easily be fooled by a good liar too, similar to how soone can fool a polygraph by controlling their heartrate.
Still, nothing fools the Flayed Lady in her own domain, so she must’ve known whether Julie was scared or not.
Suddenly Adam could sense a group of agitated lodies breaking off from a faint orchestra of life towards the south. He had the others untether the ship and then he slowly sailed the Creaking Madam in the direction of the approaching lodies.
I wonder how far the scream travelled, he thought.
Without a doubt, the distant orchestra of life was the Drakes’ stronghold, since it seed a guarantee that it was close to Mast-Chewer’s nest. He had hoped to be able to notice other strongholds in the sa way, but at a certain distance all the disparate lodies blended together, barely allowing him to tell whether they belonged to humans or not. However, he could still sense his effigy in Morgan’s Rest, but only just barely. If they ventured any further east, it seed certain that he would be unable to teleport to its location.
I should’ve made it bigger.
Although, the flesh I left behind at Mast-Chewer’s Nest should serve as a waypoint.
Adam brought their airship to a halt as the Drakes’ small fleet of four airships ca into view. It was once again comprised of one dium class and three small, but unlike last ti, Adam’s crew were now the ones who were outmatched.
The others stared at the four red airships lined up a few hundred tres away.
“They’re friendly, right?” Jabari wondered.
“They are,” Adam said.
When it beca clear that the Creaking Madam wasn’t going anywhere and made no moves to attack, the dium airship slowly coasted towards them.
“Their ships look like the dragon,” Julie comnted.
Even though Ellen had tried to get her to talk about what she’d seen, she’d been quiet until now.
As the Drakes’ ship ca within fifty tres, everyone on Adam’s ship tensed up, but they remained stock-still on the deck so as to not make the approaching pirates suspicious.
On the tip of the bowsprit, which was shaped into the neck and head of a slug dragon, stood the captain. He wore the Drake Wing Relic, a large gauntlet on his right hand, and armour that was clearly made from Mast-Chewer’s body. His hair and luscious beard were a deep red, but based on the black roots it was clearly dyed.
As the dium ship stopped right in front of the Creaking Madam, the captain hopped off the bowsprit and glided down to their deck, landing in front of them all with a heavy thud. Cathy jumped at the sound.
“Once we heard her roar, we thought for sure y’all had co to attack!” the captain said with a booming and cheerful voice.
“Apologies,” Adam replied, stepping forward to identify himself as his crew’s captain. “We were delivering an egg that had been stolen from her nest.”
The Drakes’ captain smacked Adam on the shoulder with his gauntleted hand and laughed. Adam didn’t move a millitre from the impact and the captain paused to look at his own gauntlet for a mont. But then he recovered and went on. “I could use folks like y’all! We’ve got a feral dragon on our hands, and we don’t have the weapons to take it down ourselves. It would also be dangerous to rely on Mast-Chewer to do it.”
“A feral dragon?” Adam asked, repeating the sa question he’d asked the first ti he’d t the man alongside Elia.
“It happens sotis,” the captain said in a sombre and dark tone. “Down below, at the depths of the Floating Sea, the parasites live.”
Ellen’s lody changed at the words, as did Julie’s. They were a mix of anticipation, excitent, and fear.
The captain went on. “They thrive on whalefalls and sunken airships. Rarely, very rarely, one of those parasites finds its way up here and burrows into a slugwhale. Once inside, they force whales to evolve into dragons, but they never turn out right. They beco ravenous evil things, always on the lookout for sothing to devour and attacking everything they run across indiscriminately.”
< < Quest Unlocked > >
< Tainted Dragon >
< Aid the captain of the Drakes in defeating the feral Slug Dragon >
“We’ll help you,” Adam said.
The captain smacked him on the shoulder again, harder than before, but still Adam didn’t budge. “I knew I could count on y’all!”
“Where do we find this dragon?” Ellen asked.
“South of here, past my stronghold, there is a large forested island. It was once ho to a tribe of man-eaters who worshipped a docile slugwhale nad Rasal. One day, they ca across a parasite, though no one knows how. As they did with most things they caught, they presented it to Rasal. Before nightfall, their tribe was gone, and now the island belongs to the feral dragon that Rasal has beco.”
“Why can’t you kill it yourself?” Lasse asked.
“My fine ship here,” the captain said, gesturing to the dium airship behind him, “is the largest in our fleet. We normally rely on Mast-Chewer when it cos to taking on dangerous foes, but feral dragons are tainted, since the parasites subside within their bodies and reproduce, spreading their sickness. If one such parasite were to infect Mast-Chewer…” The captain paused for dramatic effect. “It would be apocalyptic.”
“Why hasn’t it flown from the island?” Adam asked.
“It is still young and not fully aware of what powers it possesses. The slugwhale is gone, its brain and organs supplanted by the parasite, and the parasite does not know how to control its stolen body. But it is only a matter of ti before it learns.”
“What do we get in return for helping you?” Ellen asked pragmatically.
The captain grinned. “Y’all would be welco in our ho and we would aid you in any way you need, be it in war, shelter, or repairs. But y’all are pirates too, so of course I have treasure you can have as a reward.”
“We’re actually looking for an artefact that the Golden Fortress is in possession of,” Adam said.
“They’re allies of ours. I would see no issue in introducing you to their captain, if you do this favour for us,” he replied.
Does that an that there’s a way to do the main objective without having to fight whoever possesses the chanism?
Adam nodded. “Excellent. If you wouldn’t mind, could you lead us to the island of the feral dragon?”
“Certainly!” the captain said. Then he reached out his gauntleted hand. “My na is Redbeard.”
“I’m Adam,” he replied and shook it.
Redbeard hopped back onto his own ship and barked orders at his crew. Then their dium airship turned and headed back to the three smaller vessels waiting nearby. These too slowly turned and followed their leader. They didn’t sail particularly fast, which allowed the Creaking Madam to catch up to them as they moved south.
While they sailed, Adam brought out the Navigator’s Telescope and Golden Map, but it was still showing a trail leading east. It was possibly quite far away.
“I should be able to get a parasite for my quest from the feral dragon,” Ellen comnted as they gathered on the helm next to where Adam steered the ship. Since they weren’t going very fast, the sails needed very little attention as the propellers and fins did all the work.
“He said that infecting a slug dragon would be apocalyptic,” Jabari replied.
“We could just do it after we complete the main objective,” Ellen said. “We have three days to finish the Stage, so if I did it on the last day, it would be fine.”
That’s the sa thing Maalia suggested, Adam recalled.
Julie’s lody took on a discordant note, though she said nothing.
I think she’s scared of how big the Cloud Leviathan will be.
I hope Ellen realises how insane her plan is after we encounter the feral dragon. Once they’ve all seen how much bigger a dragon is compared to a whale, it will refra this whole thing for them, surely.
But the real question is whether Ellen will give up trying to complete her quest or not.
At least it seems like Julie has been scared straight, since I don’t get the feeling she’s attempting to manipulate Ellen anymore. Hopefully it will stay that way.
On the way south, the orchestra of lodies Adam had noticed earlier passed by them on their starboard side. But other than a collection of big and small islands on the westerly horizon, there was no clear sight of the Drakes’ stronghold.
“I should have asked about my quest,” Cathy suddenly said.
“I’m sure Redbeard will help us with that too,” Jabari told her.
The ships leading them eventually ca to a halt and Adam brought the Creaking Madam up alongside them.
Redbeard leapt from the bowsprit of his airship once again, flying through the air with his Drake Wing before landing on their helm where they were all gathered.
“That right there is the island,” he told them, gesturing to a large floating landmass that took up most of the southern horizon. It was by far the biggest island that Adam had seen in the Floating Sea so far.
Although they were still a few kilotres away, activity was visible on the forested surface of the island, as trees were toppled and fell off the edge. There were also large swathes of decimated greenery and upturned soil, showing just how much destruction the feral dragon had done.
Then, just for a mont, they saw a large dark-grey slug head lift above the treetops before disappearing back down. The trees themselves looked to be fifteen or twenty tres tall, suggesting the true size of their target.
Everyone froze as they realised just how enormous it was.
It’s smaller than Mast-Chewer, but not by a lot…
“Why don’t you just bombard it from afar?” Lasse asked.
“We tried,” Redbeard admitted. “The Golden Fortress brought their weapons to bear on it, causing much of the destruction you can see. But it is clever enough to hide itself in the trees, and it possesses ranged attacks that seem capable of striking anything within a half-kilotre radius of the island.”
“This is a death trap,” Ellen remarked. “That thing is way too big for us to take on.”
“There’s gotta be a way to defeat it,” Lasse said.
Redbeard nodded while he ran the fingers of his gauntlet through his beard. “They say that feral slug dragons retain the weaknesses of slugwhales. I reckon that ans a well-placed shot should take it down.”
Everyone looked at Adam.
Goddamn it…
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