"Damn!" Ghaleon swore loudly as the pieces of the ziggurat crashed to either side of him.
Solon raised his hand and the ring from the white dragon flashed. He erected a shield around them in time to redirect well over half of the structure's roof. The Magician of Water squinted through the dust and grit to look at the ruined peak of the ziggurat.
Around them the Maker's creatures shrieked in fear and surprise. Many of them fled to the surrounding ginkgo jungle. Those that didn't were quickly hurled on their way by Ghaleon's magic.
"Do you see them?" Ghaleon asked. He kept his own eyes riveted on the mess of trees being flattened beneath the weight of the fighting dragons.
Solon shook his head. "I'm sorry. They must be trapped under there somewhere. I think they did it though. That explosion couldn't have been from fire alone."
"Let's hope so. They'd better be all right under there."
A triumph roar shook the air. The red dragon threw his head back, screaming his victory. Jeal backed off of the twitching dragon beneath him. The red's flanks heaved, revealing fur stained a darker color by the drying blood of both him and his enemy. Jeal dragged himself over to the remains of the ziggurat. Behind him the golden dragon shuddered, still living, but unable to move or fly from the extend of its injuries.
Ghaleon shouted up to the red, "Are you feeling all right, Jeal?"
Jeal nodded slowly. His breath stank of sulfur as he lowered his head to get a better look at Ghaleon and Solon. Unheeding flames flickered around his muzzle. "It was easier than fighting the Star Dragon at any rate." He turned his head towards the ruined ziggurat. "Sadoul and Kazyr in there?"
"Unless they've managed to blow themselves to bits they are."
Jeal's rumbling laugh vibrated deeply in his throat. "I doubt either of them would do that."
The red dragon raised himself on his hind legs and propped his forelimbs against the highest surviving tier of the ziggurat. He used one clawed hand to support his weight and the other to paw through the rubble. He sniffed through the rocks, using his muzzle to knock aside the smaller bits of shale. Something stirred beneath him and he lifted aside a large slab of a former wall. Jeal sniffed again and sneezed, spraying fire over the dust-covered mound beneath him.
"Aw, as if getting flattened wasn't bad enough! Now I'm getting dragon boogers." The mound moved, shaking itself and standing up. Sadoul looked down at himself, the dust now charred and blackened around him. He brushed himself off and uttered a few words of magic to heal the cuts and bruises he had sustained.
"You're lucky you were merely flattened, not crushed," said Jeal.
"Yeah, whatever." Sadoul meticulously removed most of the char from his armor. Surprisingly, or perhaps less so, the pink cape of the goddess was relatively untarnished. "Find Kazyr yet?"
"I was just going to do that." Jeal began shoving aside more of the debris. "By the way, did you two manage to destroy the beacon?"
Sadoul nodded. "Yeah, I think we did. The thing suddenly shot out a lot of light. Before I knew it I was plastered against the wall and the ceiling rained down on us. Kazyr must've been thrown in the opposite direction." He paused a moment. "I hope he's all right."
"He will be," rumbled Jeal. The dragon tumbled a few more rocks aside at the end of the rubble opposite Sadoul. He reached into a niche and withdrew a pale, coughing figure.
Kazyr had reverted to human form and the fire around him had gone out. Sadoul clambered over to where Jeal lay him down. The Magician of Fire knelt by his friend and lifted his hands over Kazyr's chest. The goddess given armor glowed. Sadoul murmured a prayer as the heat passed from his hands and into Kazyr's body, healing the wounds and effects of suffocation.
"C'mon, Kazyr, wake up," Sadoul muttered.
The white-haired mage breathed deeply. His eyes opened slowly and he managed a grin. "You look so funny, Sadoul."
Sadoul growled, not entirely unkindly. "All right, if you can have a sense of humor then you can get up!" He yanked Kazyr to his feet and hauled the white-haired mage after him as he descended the shattered steps of the ziggurat.
Kazyr yelped a couple times, half-pleading half-laughing for Sadoul to let go of him. "Ouch! Nearly took my arm off that time! First you patch me up then you try taking me apart again!"
Jeal managed a toothy grin as he settled back on to all fours at the base of the ziggurat to watch. He couldn't get over how well Sadoul had taken to Kazyr. The white-haired mage probably brought out the best in everyone, he mused.
Kazyr finally pulled his wrist free of Sadoul when they reached Ghaleon and Solon. The white-haired mage shook it as though to get the circulation running again. "Okay, the beacon's gone. Now what do we do?"
Jeal lifted his head skyward. "We get the other dragons. Once we are together Lucia will give us her final orders before we attack the Maker."
"How will we get to him?" asked Solon.
The red dragon's eyes sparkled. "You'll see. Dragons are good for more than mere aerial flight. Now come, climb on my back. The first order of business is to destroy the mecha we came here in. We can't leave a mess here, can we? Then I'll teleport us back to Lucia's tower."
Everyone assembled within the chamber that Lucia first greeted the four wizards. Each of the dragons occupied their bowls in the four corners of the room while the rest stood by the dais. Jeal had chosen to remain in his dragon form.
"You fought a good battle," said Lucia. "I am grateful that no one was severely hurt."
Sadoul smirked. "Nothing the Goddess Crest couldn't handle. I had to patch up almost everyone by the time we left though. There were still quite a few buggers trying to get away with our mecha. Those guys were even more persistent than the ones at the ziggurat."
"We got them though," Jeal rumbled. "The Maker will have learned nothing of the nature of mecha. Even if we lose this one, he won't be able to use it against anyone else."
"Hush, Jeal," said the blue dragon. "We do not need to borrow trouble. We may think it, guard against it, but by Althena, do not name it. The Maker has proven to be strong enough already."
"How bad is it?" asked Solon.
Lucia shook her head. Her voice came out in a chilling tone. "All of the Mashasa Continent to the south is gone. Of your own land to the west, Marwick has been destroyed. The isles of Danek and Ossyk died before the dawn. Penan should perish by the end of this afternoon. The Maker is moving so fast I can't keep up. The Blue Star is becoming as black and barren as Lunar before Althena. I could have tried slowing him, but that would only delay the inevitable and drain my power as well." She looked closely at each of the four wizards. "You see, if we are to have any chance at all, I must have enough strength to aid you in the final battle."
"Lucia," --Kazyr nodded slightly to get her attention-- "is there any way to regain what we've lost? Maybe after we defeat him?"
She sighed. "I'm afraid not. Once you defeat him the energy he captured should be set free. I would then be able to retrieve it for use in rebuilding the Blue Star. But it will be like the time after Zophar first wrecked it. The rebuilding will be long and slow."
"You'll have help this time though," said Jeal. "And not all of the Blue Star has been destroyed yet."
Grim lines formed along Ghaleon's face. "Jeal is right. Tell us what we have to do. If we can't rescue the lives that have been lost then we must prevent any more from being sacrificed to the Maker."
Lucia nodded. "The Maker is in space right now, beyond the atmosphere of this world. He is still beyond Lunar's orbit, but approaching quickly. You must fight him there because he will not be able to use the elements of the planet against you. He will be too dangerous once he arrives and can use the full range of his manipulation."
"My ship is still ruined though," said Kazyr. "We can't survive out there without air."
"I know." Lucia's eyes reflected the light from the crystal on the dais. "The dragons shall carry you. Their magic is such that they can hold a pocket of air around them if necessary. And these," --she held up a quartet of wristlets-- "will allow you to communicate with each other without riding the same dragon."
She turned look at Solon. "I have a special request of you, Magician of Water. Though I am stronger than I was before, I will need a focus through which to send my magic to help the others. If you would remain just outside Lunar's orbit on one of the dragons, I could channel my magic through you to them."
Solon blinked, taken aback.
"Your magic allows you to do such things, right?"
"Yes, it does." Solon bowed deeply to Lucia. "But I never thought it could serve one such as you. I hope I will be capable of holding it."
"I believe you can," she said quietly.
"Is there anything else to be said?" asked Ghaleon.
"I have told all I can," said Lucia with a slow shake of her head. "The rest is up to you. Through Solon I will weaken the Maker's strength and defenses. But the actual defeat must come through you three. Ghaleon, Kazyr, Sadoul, I hope that Althena's will watches over you in our darkest hour."
"I am no priest," said Ghaleon, "but I believe she is. We'd better go now."
Lucia nodded. "Mount up. All of you, dragon and rider, take care."
The four wizards took the wristlets from Lucia and slid them on. Onyx bowed his head to Ghaleon and offered the former Magic Emperor a leg up to his back. Crystan singled out Solon and Jia called for Kazyr.
"I guess you ride with me," said Jeal, looking down at Sadoul.
"Yeah, funny," said the blond wizard. "I never thought I'd be glad to be with you, but I am. Just don't sneeze on me while we're flying."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Jeal crouched low to allow Sadoul a foothold on his forelimb and waited until the magician was suitably seated before bringing himself back up to an upright position. The red dragon turned around to where the outside of his bowl opened to the sky. "Hold tight, magic will let you breathe, but it won't keep you on my back. Don't yank the fur though."
"Sure, sure. I'll abide by your comforts so that the world can lose the benefit of my wisdom as I plunge to my doom."
"It wouldn't be much of a loss."
Sadoul tried getting the last word in, but Jeal leaped from the bowl and dove several hundred feet before peeling off in a graceful curve above the ocean. After he leveled himself along the horizontal plane and began his skyward climb, the other three dragons joined him, becoming a small formation with Jeal and Jia in the lead and Crystan and Onyx trailing.
The sky dimmed the further they went, and after a while the riders realized that the dragons' wings no longer beat, nor did the air grow any thinner. The cloud dwindled into patterns of storm and shelter over the land and sea below them. Above, more than a millions stars shone with a light that had lasted longer than their gods. An unusually large brightness loomed beyond the sphere that was Lunar. Though of uncertain distance, it seemed the same thimble-sized light that the sun would appear to be from the ground on Vay.
"Do you think he knows we're coming?" Kazyr asked softly.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he does," said Ghaleon. "We should count on it."
The dragons angled further from each other. They retracted their wings, pulling them in close to their bodies and relying on their magic to maneuver them. The great orb of Lunar came closer to them than Sadoul thought possible. The dragons' speed had increased tenfold since leaving the security of the atmosphere.
"I thought Lunar was small compared to Vay, but even though it is, it isn't small by any means!" said Sadoul as the dragons neared the moon.
Jia lifted her head to look at Sadoul. "Lunar is as great a world as any other. Nothing can be judged solely on size alone." The blue dragon relaxed her neck, stretching it forward again. "Still, it is a beautiful view. Dragons do not often fly beyond the sky, typically because there is no reason to. We protect Althena's creation, and that does not exist in space."
Kazyr picked at his sleeves, removing bits of dirt and lint. "I hope we can do this--the protection thing. Has anyone given any thought as to exactly how we're going to fight a creator of gods? We're not exactly gods ourselves."
Ghaleon's mouth pulled into a frown. "No."
"Trust in Althena," said Onyx. "Lucia would not summon you three if there was no hope at all. She had nothing else to tell you, and she has had much time to think about this. I do not think she has left anything out."
"Nothing she wants us to know at any rate," mused Sadoul.
The green-blue sphere of Lunar swung past the soaring dragons. The four slowed their magical flight, circling round to form a cross with each dragon's head pointing inward.
"It's time. We'll leave you now," said Crystan. The white dragon looked to each of her friends and their riders. "Best of luck to all of you. I'll do my best to take care of Solon. I expect to see you returning victorious before Lucia's tower is hidden by nightfall."
Solon nodded. "The Immortals willing, I'll give you all the support I can." The Magician of Water raised his arms above his head, bringing his palms together. Crystan's ring sparkled, reflecting the light of the distant sun. A white aura began to surround him. "Lucia's power comes. Let her strength bless you."
The others murmured their thanks and Jeal, Onyx, and Jia wheeled themselves back into formation. Jeal surged into the lead as Jia and Onyx flanked him. The brightness loomed before them. Though now clearly smaller than a sun, it proved no less brilliant. Kazyr uttered the words to a spell to shield their eyes from the overwhelming light.
The men felt the first tendrils of fear reach out to them as the force of an indomitable will pressed against their hearts. Strong, molding, it sought to guide with the flexibility of mountains.
"Can you feel him?" Ghaleon hissed through laboring breaths.
Sadoul and Kazyr echoed their assent.
"His power is strong, given even greater life with the energy bought through Vay's desecration." Jeal's voice rumbled deep with pain. "We must retrieve as much of that stolen life as possible."
Kazyr shook his head sadly at the great light in front of them. He remembered the fight in the tavern when Jeal captured him. He remembered the battle against the Star Dragon when Jeal realized the need to fight against the Maker. He remembered the light coming from Danek as the Maker stole that nation's life. "Rest easy, Jeal. I don't know how we'll defeat the Maker, but I believe we will. There is nothing else to hope for. And if hope can heal, then we'll avenge them."
Jeal let out a flame tinged sigh before steeling his heart against the massive ball of light approaching less than a hundred dragon lengths away.