It had been a week since the departure of Cole and Vaul. It had taken the combined efforts of all of the Dragon Knights and Carla to keep everyone else's moral up. Ruby and Carmen had left several days ago with Leeta's body. The Red Dragon said she was taking the Princess to a safer place. If there was a chance that Cole would find her missing soul, the dormant body would need to be physically well. So Ruby had taken the body away, and Carmen had gone along to keep watch over Leeta in this secret sanctuary.
It was early morning, and Carla and the Dragon Knights were gathered in the Premier's private study. The walls were lined with books, and those gathered sat around a table in the center of the room. "So now what?" asked Connery while tapping his hands impatiently on the table.
All the Knights had removed their armor and were wearing the clothing of their trades. Connery wore a simple pair of grease stained coveralls with an equally stained white tunic. Mirage had done his favorite V neck silk, white shirt and tailored sky blue pants. Argile was wearing a pair of black pants and a sleeveless gray shirt. The large warrior's metallic arm glinted in the sunlight coming through the window. Fox had returned to his old brown pants, green shirt, and hide vest. Carla, herself, had on a light lavender dress with a thin rune laden, white robe which signified her as the Premier of the Magic Guild.
"We take the war to those bastards," answered Mirage.
"No," said Carla. "We can't do that. The sheer numbers of the Hades Army would be too much. The only way we can beat them is with a plan. To out think the Hades Army is the only way to beat it."
Argile was shaking his head. "That will be a difficult feat, Carla. The Demon Dragonmaster is a cunning foe. He has outsmarted us before, and he could do so again."
"It's only Cole," she replied as if that made the whole thing easier.
"No it is not," said Fox. "This evil double of our friend is much more. He has surrendered himself to the emotion of Hate. With Hate comes a new awareness. You would begin to see avenues whose results would cause mass destruction and pain." Fox loosed a long sigh. "No. His evil nature makes him much more dangerous than Cole."
"Then what should we do now?" asked Connery for a second time.
Before anyone could answer, the ground shuddered as if something large had landed. Moments later the door opened, and Ruby, in human form, entered the room. "Perhaps I can help you there."
"About time you got back," snapped Carla.
"Stow it, shrimp," returned Ruby. "I've got some things I need to tell you five, and we don't have much time."
"We're listening," said Mirage quickly to cut off any reply Carla may have had.
Ruby cleared her breath and took a seat on a blue cushioned couch near a window. "While Carmen and I were taking Leeta to a safer place, I was doing some thinking."
"Where did you take her?" questioned Fox.
"Better you don't know," was Ruby's only response to that question. "Like I said, I've been doing some thinking. I've come to the conclusion that there is one distinct advantage that the Demon Dragonmaster and his Demon Knights have over us. They have four fully grown Demon Dragons."
The room was silent as Ruby continued. "The only way we can match that power is if we bring the Dragons of Althena back to full strength."
Carla looked puzzled. "How? We have no Blue or Black Dragon, and Alleia is too young to gain her aura."
Ruby shook her head. "First of all, age means nothing in the acquiring of an aura. Also, I know how to find the heirs to the Black and Blue Dragon auras."
The shock was evident on each of the humans' faces. Carla's mouth was even hanging open. "Why haven't you said anything until now?"
The Red Dragon shrugged. "It wasn't important yet," she said simply.
Carla would have strangled the Dragon on the spot if Mirage hadn't grabbed her by the arm. "So where are they?," said Carla through clenched teeth.
"That I don't know," said Ruby truthfully. "I only know that Shan and Briss gave their young to foster parents to raise. Neither of the two young dragons know who or what they are."
"That's not much help," said Connery.
Ruby glared at the thief. "What I can tell you is how to find them." She turned to Mirage and Argile. "By using the Dragon Crests, you can track them as long as they are on Lunar. Once you find them, I want you to open this scroll and read the instructions inside. I don't want you reading it until you have found both heirs."
She handed the scroll to Mirage. "I'm sure we'll all find them with no problems," said the Pirate Lord.
"I'm sorry, but only you and Argile will be going," she said flatly.
"Then what are we going to do?" asked Fox.
"Connery is going to take Alleia to the Northern Iceberg to claim her aura from the White Dragon's cave. And I have a special mission for you, my Red Knight."
Ruby rose from the couch and started to pace the room. "Before we left the Blue Star, Cole and myself had a conversation about the Demon Dragonmaster's true purposes. Cole mentioned that when you were all inside of Xobelisk, he had seen several maps of the Blue Star lain out across a table. There were certain areas circled on each map. Cole believed that his double was searching for something." She stopped pacing and stared at Fox. "I need you to find out what the Demon Dragonmaster is looking for."
"How?" was all the plainsman said.
"I want you and Narin to go in search of Damon's Spire."
There was a slight gasp from Carla. "The Spire hasn't been seen for almost two thousand years. The last Keeper of Wisdom saw that there was still the potential for evil in the world, so he cast a spell to hide it from the eyes of all except those with pure purpose."
"That's nice," said Connery with a smile. "Did you get that from a book?"
The thief easily evaded the angered Premier's wild punches. When Carla was finally calmed down, Ruby continued. "Our enraged little friend here is right, though. Not just anyone can find the Spire. In fact, it has been said that the Keeper of Wisdom will find you if your need is great enough."
"So what should I do?" asked Fox.
"Like I said," began Ruby. "I want you and Narin to go and search for it. My advice is to start your search at the last known whereabouts of the Spire."
"And where would that be?" said Fox.
Ruby shrugged. "Originally it was located in a region east of my cave in Stamaria. But that was before it disappeared, so I would visit towns and villages in the nearby area to get some clues." Fox nodded and said nothing more on the matter.
Seeing that the plains man understood, Ruby went on. "Once we have all four of the Dragons of Althena, and the truth of what the Demon Dragonmaster is doing, we can mount a true counter offensive and retake Lunar and the Blue Star."
Carla nodded, but her face betrayed her unease. "This is all planned nicely, but what am I supposed to do?"
Ruby smiled down at the Premier. "You, my dear, will be keeping the Hades Army busy while the others run all over the globe."
Carla slammed both hands on the table and screamed, "WHAT!?"
"Don't worry, mighty mouse. I'll be hear to help you," answered the Dragon in a soothing voice.
Suddenly, Carla saw a spider scurry across the table. Seeing the perfect target for her rising anger, the small Premier brought her hand down and crushed the arachnid. Having performed an act of violence, she smiled to herself.
Somewhere inside the evacuated ruins of Meribia, the center of the evil plaguing the land stood watching a meditating figure covered in tattered rags. Kole watched as Scorn suddenly jumped up from his crouching position. "What?" asked the Demon Dragonmaster calmly.
"My spy was just crushed by that small mage woman," came a voice from within the rags of the Demon Dragon.
"Did they know we were spying on them?"
The Pestilence Dragon shook his hooded head. "I think it was just a coincidence."
"Good," said Kole. "What were they saying before we lost contact?"
Scorn quickly related the instructions Ruby had given to the Dragon Knights and Carla. The dark warrior listened silently. After a few moments, he spoke. "We can't let them find the other Dragons." He started to pace as he spoke. "Attack Vane now. I don't want any of them to leave that broken down city alive."
Ruby finished giving out her orders, and the heroes left Carla's study to prepare to leave. Carla and the Knights were just leaving the Guild mansion, when the attack started. Out of nowhere, hundreds of monsters appeared inside the city. Cries of alarm went up everywhere, but it was too late. The remaining Meribian/Lucitanian soldiers that were inside the city tried to fight off the beasts, but the numbers were just too great.
There were four flashes of color and the Dragon Knights charged into the fight with Carla right beside them. With a thought, the Premier released a ball of hot magma from her hands at a pair of demon wolves. The demonic beasts cried out in horror as they were incinerated. Argile had just leveled a roardusa, and Mirage was dealing out blows to several arch-fiends. Connery was icing over roaming floating flames, while Fox was picking off harpies by the bunch.
Carla bombarded a nergol with ice pillars as she made her way over to Connery. "Connery!" she yelled.
The White Knight froze the lower half of a hydra and proceeded to play a game of tag with its heads. His Spear tore open one neck as he answered the Premier. "What?"
"We need to get out of here!" she shouted. She joined three other mages in hurling spells against a band of over sized beetles. "The city can't handle a battle like this! It'll fall apart!"
The hydra's remaining heads were snapping wildly at the little thief, but he easily succeeded in silencing another one. "And what am I supposed to do about that?"
"Make that stupid magic transfer engine work!" roared Carla as giant scorpion blind sided her with a slash from its pinchers. The giant arachnid's claws ripped through her robes and bit into her flesh drawing blood. Carla roared again and launched a spear of crystal from her left hand. The shimmering spear drove itself into the scorpions head. Carla kicked the beast once for good measure and headed towards Connery.
The thief had killed the hydra with a thrust to its side. He pulled his Spear free and looked at Carla. "But the magic we have here isn't strong enough. We need the power of Althena."
Carla grabbed the back of his white trench coat and started to push him in the direction of his lab in Vane. "I don't care! Just try and get us off of the ground!"
The Knight relented and started to weave his way towards his lab. Carla sprayed an advancing death knight with a wave of fire before stopping to call to the other Dragon Knights. "We have to follow Connery!"
"Why?" called back Mirage as he cut down a hell hound.
"I told him to try and get Vane off of the ground," she answered. "It's our only chance. We have to cover him while he works." Without another word she ran in the direction of Connery's lab. The other three Knights continued to fight as they followed.
Carla finally made it to the lab, or as it was behind the building that was the lab. Connery was already there laboring over a giant mass of mettle, wire, and crystals of transfer. All of the machinery was built over an intricate network of runes calling for the power of flight. If the right kind of magic was run through Connery's invention, the magic essence would flow into Vane itself and return the magic city to the skies over Lunar. There was only one problem... they couldn't find the right magic.
Carla ran up the the side of the machine and watched as Connery scrambled all over it making adjustments here and there. Suddenly, Mirage, Argile, and Fox burst into the yard followed by a pack of monsters. In an effort to protect Connery while he worked, the others formed a protective circle around the thief and his invention.
A giant sand worm rose from the ground and tried to crush the heroes. Argile charged it and thrust a large shoulder into its underside. Catching the worm with apparent ease, the Black Knight heaved it to the left onto several wolfens. Fox laid out a barrage of fire arrows to keep several hovering rocs at bay. An asmodeus caught Mirage off guard and tackled him to the ground. The three dark nagas he had been fighting were able to slip by, but Carla was there to meet them. The Premier swept one away with a gust of wind, and split another in half with a lightning bolt. The third snapped at her side, but she dodged to the left and brought her fist down right between its two human eyes. The dark naga went cross eyed and fell to the ground dead.
Carla turned her attention to another creature and forgot about the naga. While her back was turned, the naga's skin melted away, and a bone naga rose to attack the Premier from behind. It lashed out with its sickle tail and left a gash in Carla's back. She cried out in pain and turned on the undead creature with a vengeance. A stream of fire shot forth from her outstretched hands and decimated the bone naga.
All of her energy spent, Carla fell back against one of the large crystals protruding from Connery's machine. She gasped in pain when the gash on her back hit the crystal. Carla was starting to curse her misfortune when the ground suddenly lurched. "What was that?" she breathed.
The ground shook again, this time more visibly. The fighting stopped as the earth's shaking increased. Disbelief registering on her face, Carla forced herself to her feet and started running for the edge of the city. A cry of joy flew from her lips. Slowly but surely, Vane was lifting off from the ground. As the magic which kept the city afloat was reactivated, so was the ancient defensive spells cast to protect the city from unwanted guests. All of the monsters who had invaded the city not ten minutes ago were being thrown from the magic city by unseen hands. And those who were not thrown off the edges were incinerated by bolts of magical lightning.
Shouts of victory erupted through out Vane as it rose higher and higher into the sky. Soon all the monsters were gone, and Vane was soaring above the clouds once more. Carla moved away from the edge of the city to rejoin her friends. She found Mirage and fell into his arms. She sighed happily but gasped as the pain from her wounds shook her entire body. "I'm tired and in pain. Take me home, lover."
The Blue Knight kissed his love's forehead and carried her back to the Guild mansion. As the two of them walked off, Carla could hear Connery saying, "How did we do that?"