They took a bit of time recuperating, cleaning up Roll’s emptied sack on the ground. And it wasn’t long before they went off the clear the rest of the fortress. The middle section of the fortress had been long hallways that led into old cells, rooms, and open training grounds—and like the first areas of Stone Vigil—had been completely overrun with scalekin. Even with eight people fighting, it was tough to keep them spread out and evenly distributed. Each loud movement, each screech of death brought more hordes of scalekin and monsters upon them.

They battled through the waves, drinking potions when able and eradicating any nests with eggs they could see. They must have been in that fortress for at least two hours by this point, as the snow started to sprinkle in from the broken roof. 

“Still no sign of this airship.” N’thuzu Tia kicked the corpse of a dead Aevis away from him.

Azlyn heavily exhaled from exhaustion. “There should be a bigger training ground… that should be the last place to check.”

Mjnt led the group round the winding path, seeing a pair of metal doors barred by a huge door barricade. She turned to the men with a smile. “Can you handle that, or shall I?”

N’thuzu Tia ignored her jovial tease, walking over to the door and removing the metal bar with ease. His muscles reflexed under the heavy weight of the thick alloy before he tossed it in the corner. “Done.”

The Viera chuckled. “Thank you.”

Ozwin reached out to push the doors open, and there before their eyes had been something they hadn’t expected.

“The airship!” Kida exclaimed excitedly, pointing to an older ship buried under years of snow and frost. Roll had been quick in her movements, however, and placed her hand to cover Kida’s mouth.

“Shhhh. There.” The Au Ra pointed to a sleeping pale blue dragon in the large courtyard.

“…Well shit.” Kida mumbled under her hand.

Azlyn tapped her linkpearl. “Alphinaud.”

“Speaking. Did you find the airship?” The lad sounded hopeful over the line.

“Yeah—but we have a complication. There’s a sleeping blue dragon.”

The silence over the line had been an answer in and of itself. Before long he replied. “Cid and I are past the Barbican. We should be finding you shortly.”

“Alright—it should be clear. Be safe.”

“Understood.”

The call ended, and Azlyn sheathed her sword. “Alphinaud and Cid are heading over.”

Mjnt leaned against the walls of the fortress, her spear resting at her side. “The dragon may pose a problem.”

Ozwin agreed with her. “I don’t know if that ship could handle a fight with a dragon. Especially if it’s been battered by the elements.”

“Should we terminate the dragon before the ship leaves?” Richiro nervously looked between them.

Koroko Koko crossed her arms over her chest, staring into the courtyard. “Azlyn, how do you propose to fight without your shield?”

The Au Ra shrugged to them, unable to come up with a decent answer. “I’ll think of something. I’ll probably have to switch weapons if push comes to shove.”

N’thuzu Tia shook his head. “I’ll run vanguard then. There’s no reason for two of us to run the front with one threat.”

Roll busily shuffled her arcana deck, checking the signs from the universe. She drew a card and stared at the face. “Hmmm.”

Kida peered over her shoulder. “What is it?”

The Au Ra revealed the card to them. “Balance. I think we’re going to need to split up to make this work.”

Azlyn bobbed her head. “Okay—when Alphinaud and Cid arrive, why don’t we have part of the group escort them to the airship.” She looked to her cousin. “I propose Roll, Ozwin, Kida, and Koroko Koko to get to the airship first.”

“Reason?” Ozwin asked curiously.

“Roll has been tinkering with things for as long as I can remember. She can help Cid get things running on the ship, same with Ozwin. Those two can take care of Cid’s needs around the airship. Koroko Koko should head to the ship first because she’s a spell caster with slow casting. If we need to leave in a hurry, she should already be in the ship. Kida only has a certain number of arrows left and won’t have enough for this battle.”

N’thuzu Tia looked between him, Richiro, and Mjnt. “We will stay on the ground then and keep an eye on the dragon.”

Azlyn nodded. “Yes. Out of the eight of us, Mjnt can easily jump high grounds. She’s also mobile. Her and Kida are probably the fastest ones in this group. We’ll need Richiro down here with us to help with healing, and Thuzu will be the vanguard. I’ll be helping by applying damage where I can.” The girl let her sword disappear into the aetheric power pocket she possessed and watched as a pair of wraps decorated around her hands and wrists. “I’ll try to go after the dragon’s weak points—their bodies aren’t that much different than any other creature.”

“Excellent points!” a younger voice popped up by her side. He was quiet as the whole group jumped at his arrival.

Cid waved to them in greeting, he let his eyes trail on all of them. “You’re… very bloody.”

The eight looked to their garments and sadly agreed. Azlyn hoped this wouldn’t come back to haunt them later, but like all things, she’d have to wait to find out.

Alphinaud ignored the gore as he peered into the courtyard beyond the metal doors. “That must be the Enterprise.”

Cid didn’t ignore the dragon. “Yes. Just beyond that enormous sleeping dragon.”

The young Elezen wagged his finger. “But Azlyn came up with an exceptional plan. However, I will say that the dragon is not our concern. We have come for the airship, and only the airship. If we, the first group can sneak onto the ship and start the preparations for launch, then we can leave without a fight.”

Ozwin sighed, shaking his head to the lad. “Man, I wish I could as optimistic as you.”

“Let’s hope things will go in our favor.” Azlyn compromised.

Kida pouted to the group. “Next time I’ll have arrows for days. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Roll smiled. “Kida was distraught that she forgot quite a few things back at home. Normally she’s the one who is prepared.”

Kida gaped in silent horror. “I know. This trip has been a disaster!”

N’thuzu Tia smirked. “But we did find Azlyn.”

“True!” The Au Ra with blue hair perked. “Okay, operation Fly Away shall now commence!” She whispered enthusiastically.

“We four will remain down here, just in case the beast decides to rouse.” Mjnt went to check her spear. She would need to do some maintenance on it later. “I believe we’ll be enough distraction for the dragon. Right?” She posed her question to the group.

They nodded.

Alphinaud smiled. “That settles that. Come along Team A.”

“As you command.” Cid said.

Roll looked to the Sharlayan. “We’re not Team A anymore.”

Kida chuckled. “Team Airship would be appropriate.”

Ozwin shushed them. “Come on.” He gestured for them to follow him, as they quietly filed through the courtyard and slipped past the beast.

The remaining four watched as the first group managed to get to the ship with ease—and after they boarded they finally released the breaths they held.

Azlyn rubbed her hands to warm them, as the snow started to fall. After several minutes of waiting, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of… something. She couldn’t shake the feeling even after more time went by. She turned her attention to the western wall and widened her eyes in silent shock. “…what?”

“So this is where you went… and you mean to slay Garuda next? Interesting. Most interesting.”

The Au Ra grimaced at the familiar glow of the red mask as the Ascian proved to be a continuous thorn in their side. From his appearance in The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak, to his lackeys appearing in Haukke Manor… now he appeared once more. She clenched her fists, as she entered a stance. “Guys… prepare yourselves.”

The three with her stared up to where she directed and noted the man in black robes disappearing in a black portal—and appeared right in front of them. Azlyn shifted back a step as he materialized, greeting her with a wry grin. He reached an arm back, his palm outstretched to the slumbering dragon behind him.

All of them winced, snapping into an offensive stance as they held their breath. 

“And you are aware that her strength greatly exceeds that of your previous primal conquests?” He chuckled, as the party silently grimaced. It didn’t matter to him if he woke the dragon, as he did not hold back on his volume. “A testament to the fanatical devotion of her followers. The Ixal are nothing if not zealous.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Azlyn spoke, her voice a touch quieter. She hoped that Lahabrea would just leave, but who did she think it was she was dealing with. She knew this would wind up in a fight—just like all the other times.

Lahabrea deviously grinned, as a dark power enveloped in his hand. “In spite of your past achievements, I labor to believe that you will best this foe. With friends or without—it makes no difference. Yet only a fool would underestimate the great Bringer of Light, slayer of Ifrit, bane of Titan. If any mortal is capable of defeating the Lady of the Vortex, it is you.” He paused, gathering more energy into the palm of his hand. “Win or lose, the battle should at least make for an entertaining spectacle. Assuming, of course, you live that long.”

All the dark energy he had created in his palm released backwards—and slowly dissolved into the slumbering dragon. Azlyn gritted her teeth as the energy continued to spew forth, enveloping the whole area and blocking out the airship from the encased aether pocket. This pocket not only locked their second party out of the zone…and also locked them inside it with a seriously pissed off dragon picking itself off the ground. It’s eyes, the prettiest blue Azlyn had ever seen milked over in a glossy purple haze as the dark magic corrupted it.

“Let us see how well your blasphemous gifts serve you this time, Crystal bearer!” Lahabrea chuckled before disappearing into a dark portal and out of sight.

“That’s one of the same masked people from Haukke Manor!” Richiro shouted, now that he didn’t need to keep quiet. “Oh no! That dragon looks really mad!”

Mjnt snapped her spear out to the threat. “No matter. We shall kill it.”

N’thuzu Tia readied his axe. “Come on Azlyn, let’s take this dragon down.”

The girl stepped forward, gathering her kinetic energy to her fists and narrowed her eyes. “Together then!”

The dragon had been ferocious in its attacks—blasting the ground with ice and lashing out at any who were near it. Azlyn hand to backflip away numerous times to avoid the tail that it swung to knock her over. N’thuzu Tia had been leading the dragon away, while their dragoon used her lancing skills in repetitious stabs. 

When it seemed like they were about to win, the dragon began to change it’s tactics. It sprayed long strips of frozen icicles onto the ground which caused most of them to run into the corner. 

“This dragon has to be on it’s last leg.” Richiro commented, spreading a mass heal between them. “It can’t take too much more.” 

Azlyn could barely see out from the dark purple cage that still enclosed them in. “I hope they got the airship going at the very least.” 

Mjnt grabbed her cowl from behind to pull her backward. A thick blue tail slammed into the ground where she had been moments prior. “Pay attention.” 

“Sorry.” 

N’thuzu Tia’s axe continued to fend off the dragon’s claws—pushing the dragon away from them to give them room. Mjnt took the opportunity to jump high, diving down to stab the creature with her spear. 

When the spear impacted, the darkness that surrounded the area began to slowly dissipate. The purple haze that clouded over the dragon’s eyes began to fade away, and then the dragon collapsed. Its movement ceased as Mjnt removed her spear and N’thuzu Tia put away his axe. 

Azlyn shook her hands, as the slow ache of punching hard scales over the last five minutes set in. Only that she felt a strange pulling sensation—she stopped in her self treatment as her attention returned upward. A bright blue crystal stone shimmering in the sunlight and white drizzling snow started to float down to her. 

Caught in a trance, she reached her hands up to catch the stone and felt herself get taken away. The vision of the six sided star, where the bright blue stone in her hands floated to one of the empty slots remaining. The cracks on the ground, where bits of particles floated up slowed in their release. There was something that caught her attention, how the ground looked less cracked than before. Maybe it correlated to her well being? 

She was brought out from the vision, as Mjnt had been kneeling in the snow holding her against her side. N’thuzu Tia had pressed his hand upon her forehead. 

“Azlyn! Wake up!” 

Mjnt felt her stir, “She’s awake.” 

“—Fine. I’m fine.” She weakly replied, and looked between the three members. In the distance on the wall she could see the rest running over to them. 

“Azlyn!” 

“Is she alright?!” Kida sprinted over, skidding in the snow to stop in front of their group. 

Alphinaud stopped shy of them, his blue eyes wide with worry. “Twelve be praised. I feared the beast had injured you.” 

Ozwin let out a huge sigh of relief. “This has happened before. Thankfully she woke up quickly enough.” 

Roll brought out her astrologian globe, casting a mass heal out to the whole group. “When the aetheric bubble happened, Alphinaud was panicking about finding a new champion.” 

Kida grabbed Azlyn’s hands. The Au Ra felt weak in her grasp. “There’s no way you’d be put out of commission by this. You’re okay though, right?” 

Azlyn weakly smiled. “I’m okay. I just feel hot.” 

“She is burning up.” N’thuzu Tia mentioned, before looking to Mjnt. “I’ll carry her.”

“I can walk just fine.” She argued. 

N’thuzu Tia let her be, but remained concerned. 

“You shouldn’t push yourself.” Koroko Koko reminded the girl. 

“Thank you for the concern—but it’s okay. I promise.” 

Alphinaud chuckled at their interaction. “I see now why the others rated you so highly Azlyn. You push through everything despite the pain you go through. Thank the gods Roll that I don’t have to look for someone new. I have quite enough to do already. Cid’s working on the last preparations of the Enterprise. Let us go and see what he has left to finish.”

Roll stood up, looking to the group. “I leave my cousin in your hands. I’ll help Cid.” She ran back to the airship leaving them. Kida and Mjnt helped Azlyn to her feet, but the girl moved unsteadily.  

Ozwin shook his head. “Azlyn your stubbornness is quite commendable.” He walked over and lifted her off the ground. The white haired girl had been surprised by the sudden grab. “But I’m not one to be convinced by it.” 

“Ozwin, I swear to the Twelve I will beat you up!” She argued as he carried her with ease.

“You couldn’t even fight a fly like that.” He replied as he walked toward the airship. The whole group followed, heading up the wall to the ship. Roll had been working on a panel grid that was left open, while Cid worked on the navigations. 

“What say you, Cid? Will she fly?” Alphinaud asked to the head engineer ignoring the bickering pair.

He grumbled in his work. “Yes—though it will not be a pleasant ride. Roll, can you check the calibration once more?” 

The girl moved through the ship and laid out her toolkit. “Heh. This is pretty nice.” 

Azlyn reluctantly hung in Ozwin’s arms and decided to use his shoulder as a pillow. She looked to Kida standing behind him. 

Kida smirked. “You doing okay?” 

“Mmhm.” She had given up her fight and just slumped. She felt the Midlander Hyur shuffle her to hold her better. 

Mjnt sat upon one of the snow filled benches of the ship and peered to the sky. “We should fly soon before the weather worsens.” 

Alphinaud snapped his fingers. “Well I dare say it will be no more unpleasant than staying here. ‘Tis a pity the Enterprise is not in a better state. But if she will allow us to quit this place, I shall not complain.” 

N’thuzu Tia took off one of his furs, draping it over Azlyn and found a seat next to Mjnt. “This will be the second voyage on an airship.” He admitted. 

“If all are in agreement, let us return to Gridania.” 

Azlyn peered over to Mjnt. “Mjnt, will you be alright? You live here in Coerthas, don’t you?” 

“I think I shall enjoy the ride.” Mjnt chuckled. “It shall be my first trip away for quite some time.” 

“Though I would like nothing more than to set course for the Howling Eye, it is plain the Enterprise is in no condition to weather the storm.” The young Sharlayan admitted. 

“Nor this one.” Ozwin gestured to Azlyn. She in turn reached over to pinch his face. 

“You haven’t shaved.” She noted, and he ignored her, turning his head away from her touch. He sat next to N’thuzu Tia leaning up against the wooden side. 

Koroko Koko and Richiro Wichiro sat on the opposite side of the airship watching the exchanges with curious looks. 

“We should let Azlyn rest back home. I’m worried that black robed man will keep coming after her.” Richiro admitted. “Everyone’s been through quite the ordeal.” 

Alphinaud agreed. “Yes. I have taken her illness into consideration. Which means while she’s resting—you all will help with the reparations.”

Ozwin rolled his eyes. “Greeeeat.” 

Koroko Koko nodded. “I will do what I can to help our leader.” 

Cid walked over to the front of the ship, activating the driver. The engine hummed to life, as the ship shuttered. Roll ran over to the back of the ship to make some last minute adjustments. “This is all so familiar. I—I know this airship. If I could just... Bah. It’s no use.” He clenched his fist.

Roll called over her shoulder. “Cid, I finished the last minute calibrations.”

“Good job.” The engineer spoke confidently and then he turned to the wheel. “Then let’s go.” Cid brought the ship slowly up, the ship shuttered as it moved—the snow that had piled slipped off the tops and wings of the ship. Everyone who hadn’t moved to sit shuffled to the sides of the ship, as Cid lifted off the foundation of Stone Vigil’s wall. As the snow continued to fall off, the less weight could be felt as it floated up higher and higher. 

As they were about to fly over Coerthas, Mjnt reached up to her ear. She peered over the side to the vast white blanket of snow and encampments below. She could see Camp Dragonhead approaching. “Good afternoon My Lord—pray look up in the skies when you have a chance.” 

There was a moment before she turned around, leaning over the edge to wave. Azlyn looked over Ozwin’s shoulder to peer over the side. She could see Camp Dragonhead, and a figure waving to them. His pale blue hair was the only thing she could distinguish. 

“If that is what you wish, I shall do as you recommend.” She ended the call before smiling to the group. Mjnt spoke calmly. “I’d like to offer you all my services. As a show of good faith from Lord Haurchefant.” She turned to them with a slight bow of her head. “And I’d also like to help vanquish the Lady of the Vortex.” 

Kida gave her a thumbs up. “I’m all for more people.” 

Alphinaud nodded. 

N’thuzu Tia reached over to adjust the furs on Azlyn, who closed her eyes. She didn’t know why she felt so exhausted—but maybe those endless days of not being able to sleep were catching up. 

“We’ll be in Gridania before you know it.” Roll replied, looking back to the white capped mountains. “It’d be good to get some rest while we fly.” 

Cid held the steering wheel with ease. It seemed to be coming back to him with each subtle touch he gave. “Rest at ease. The Enterprise will see you safely there. I promise you that.”