Maddox Mystwood, one of the Archons of Aternia and master sorcerer, absent-mindedly hums to himself, tugging at his midnight blue and gold travel robes while staring out the immense windows at the sprawling city below. It had been a long trip from his home province of Moonset to Iona City but it had given him time to think about everything he had to discuss with the Queen. For the past four months, Moonset had been beset by what could only be described as terrorist attacks; a crashed freight train one day, then the Vitae Stones that fueled a cargo airship were damaged the next. The attacks were crippling their industry and preventing the rest of the kingdom from receiving resources that only Moonset could provide. A fact which angered the Archon to no end but also made him very concerned; often such actions were preludes to war but as far as Maddox knew they were on good terms with all of their allies so he couldn't think of anyone who could possibly...
"Lord Mystwood, we'll be arriving at Iona Palace in half an hour."
The unexpected voice jolts Maddox out of his thoughts, causing him to jump slightly before turning to the speaker, the young captain of his personal guard. He let's out a tired sigh, his fair face paler than usual, and runs a hand through his raven black locks but he's smiling as he replies, "Yes, thank you Captain Hinton." He reaches for the steaming cup of tea on the small side table to his right and takes a sip, steel gray eyes locking onto the steady stream of people and cars below them. Maddox felt on edge, a tension that was just beneath his skin like an itch you couldn't scratch, a terrible feeling that something awful was about to happen.
Unfortunately, his intuition was soon proven correct as the airship was rocked by a massive explosion from the engines. Maddox and several of his contingent were thrown forward by the blast, the rugs doing little the cushion their falls, the teacup fly from his fingers and breaking against the nearby wall. There's a multitude of groans as they all get to their feet, Maddox himself being pulled up by a now irate Hinton. "That came from the engines!"
The airships turbines sputtered and stalled for a brief moment before the klaxons began to sound and the warning lights began to flash. Maddox groaned and rubbed his forehead before giving the order to evacuate the ship.
Meanwhile, the city below was in panic mode, watching thick black smoke billowed from the rear of the ships gondola and pieces of metal knocked loose by the explosion fell to the ground to below causing everyone to scatter.
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In the midst of his run, the sudden arrival of a mystery man halted Gleeon in his tracks, left only to gaze upon whoever this was. From what little could be seen, nothing about him looked natural, not even his eye color or face. A few ideas ran through his head, not exactly aware that this was what the newcomer really looked like, and assumed it was some bizarre disguise.
“Implying /you/ started the fire? That’s just low.” A brow was raised. Yet for whatever reason, the Aeromancer had been eyeing his clothing, seemingly admiring it before getting way off-topic about their brief banter.
“Now THAT is an awesome uniform… Did you make your cosplay from scratch or got it pre-made? Really dig the mask. And are those sclera lenses you’re wearing for the eye color? I wear those too so people don’t get worried when they see mine, only downside is they have to come off every 15 minutes so the eyes can get oxygen again. A friend of mine has gotten me into cosplay recently, a pretty expensive hobby.” Instead of attempting bickering, he- complimented the Demon’s appearance in admiration, thinking it was all an elaborate costume, aware that it wasn’t really a mask he was wearing. The Hybrid even rose the corners of his lips into a light-hearted smile.
More smoke and flames had risen close by, reminding him that this was not a safe place to be and time was running short.
“Well, you’re the guy who set this lovely piece of machinery ablaze and tried murdering all those people, you’re not getting rescued. But if you survive and that outfit doesn’t get ruined, I’m calling dibs on your hat!” With that said, Gleeon slipped a hand under his right pocket, pulled out his smartphone, and quickly snagged a digital picture of the Demon. He made a swift turn and shot dual jet streams of air from his palms, hastily launching himself into the air.
Once off the airship’s roof, he transformed again, becoming the enormous, onyx-scaled leviathan he truly was. A beeline was made away from the burning airship, soaring down towards the same location where passengers and crew had been previously ferried to. The Hybrid thought the stranger had little chance of surviving this catastrophe and simply left him there to die. Little did he know this would not be the last encounter.
. . .
Within moments, the black dragon descended on a certain parking lot to make his return, which may or may not startle a few onlookers not involved with this aviating disaster. All four talons spread out their digits to land on the asphalt, not far from the crowd of people that had been rescued earlier. A large amount of wind had been kicked up due to his sheer size unsurprisingly.
If a certain Archon was still present, Gleeon would directly approach him from up front. His snout was lowered awfully close to his ear.
“Can I talk to you for a minute? In private- I want to make this quick before authorities show up to make me a lab experiment.” The large male muttered quietly, using his own head to motion him over away from any people within earshot.
Should the Archon agree and walk a few feet away out of earshot from others, the beast spoke again, this time with a more serious expression. “Your ride was set on fire. I found a random guy on the roof who looked like a Genshin Impact villain. I didn’t want to risk it and left him there. Do you remember seeing anybody like that when boarding earlier?”
While everyone scrambled about to shepherd all the passengers to Archon's office something, or rather someone, watched the action from the shadows. A Stranger, lips pulled back into a snarl of displeasure as his plans were foiled by some meddling little do-gooder. His hand tightens over the snake-headed cane in his right hand before turning on his heel and teleporting into the engine room.
There he watches as the pitiful Archon attempts to repair the severely fractured Vitae Stone. It's a fruitless endeavor of course, he would know after all being the one that cracked it in the first place, and Maddox's feeble attempts to fix it bring a smile to his face. His grin doesn't last long as he remembers Gleeon and his interference. Oh he plans to have a word with the little wretch, just not yet; he couldn't risk getting Mystwood's attention.
◇◇◇
Maddox groaned, a handkerchief over his nose to prevent him from inhaling the smoke, as he poured more of his power into the Vitae Stone. He's taking a huge risk; pouring too much magic into an unstable stone could cause it to explode and thus make the ship fall faster. The stone is beyond repair, the fracture too great as he'd quickly discovered, and he only imbues it with enough power to keep the airship aloft.
Having done all he could do he darts out of the engine room and back to his office where he sees Gleeon hovering outside the door waiting for him. Maddox needs no prompting to climb on, his hands gripping a set of thin but sturdy ropes that the guards had placed upon the draconian male for the passengers to grab ahold of.
The journey down to the open parking lot is swift and Maddox wastes no time sliding off. He looks up at Gleeon as he speaks, fixing the young man with a warm smile. "Very well. Have a care, the ship grows more unstable by the minute!" The smile widens at the thanks, "And you are welcome." The Archon watched for a moment as Gleeon flew back up to check that no stragglers had been left behind before turning to the passengers and checking to see how they were doing.
◇◇◇
The Stranger watches from the office door as the Archon was transported to city below. The airship violently lurches, the groan of metal filling the space. He should leave, the ship no longer safe but he doesn't move, tapping his cane upon the floor in anger. The plan he had spent weeks putting into effect! RUINED!
Oh he'll show that little interloper a thing or two. Just you wait!
His frothing rage is stalled by a shadow passing over the windows. The Stranger, while still furious, is now also curious; there is no one else aboard beside himself so why was the boy back? He pulls the shadows about him to cloak himself and just in time too, as Gleeon was looking inside the gondola. After a moment the Draconian flew upward toward the top of the gondola disappearing out of the Stranger's line of sight.
Hmm, perhaps this was just the opportunity he needed.
Blood still boiling, he teleports to the roof where he finds the boy back in his human visage. Yes, yes, this was just what he needed! The shadows fall away from his form and he steps out onto the roof. The tap of the cane and his polished black dress shoes the only noise besides the rumble of the ship.
The Stranger is indeed strange. He's deathly pale and thin of frame ,and dressed in a finely tailored black and green three piece suit. A large coat with green lining overlayed the suit and a black silk tophat sat atop his head with the brim tugged low over his eyes to mask them. His mouth is stretched in a too wide grin, far wider than any human's could possibly be, and filled with rows of razor sharp teeth.
"Do you often make a habit of sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?" The Stranger's voice is mockingly playful as he calls out to Gleeon but inside he's seething.
“I’m the only chance you got!” As much as Gleeon understood their concerns, he made a crude attempt at ensuring everyone to trust him with evacuation. Luckily for him, the Archon somehow convinced everyone to go along with this plan, this would ultimately save him the hassle of having to drag people out by their feet.
Now that everyone was agreement, the Aeromancer wasn’t far behind in sprinting down the corridor after Maddox. From there, he would assist with gathering every possible soul they physically find, ushering any and all passengers to the office upon announcing their intentions. Due to how few people there were, it didn’t require so much effort to herd everyone in one location.
Shortly after returning to the office room, no time was wasted in forcefully opening the emergency doors, swinging them wide open, regardless if anyone helped. Once completely, a long huff escaped his nostrils when gazing over the edge, down at the vast city below.
“Here goes nothing-”
As ominous as the next scene would be… he jumped, instantly falling out in front of EVERYBODY. Below, there was a brief flash of yellow, but no sounds.
Seconds later- that very same behemoth of a black serpent came levitating back up in all of his glory, ascending carefully. With the upmost care, said onyx-scaled Dragon hovered up close with the emergency exit, attempting to position his upper back right next to it so someone could easily step on. It was tricky, and he had to feel his way around to get himself in just the right spot so people could climb on.
“If you have ropes, tie them around any scales!” Upon turning his head back for a moment, some instructions were given. This was so everyone could have a means of holding onto him during flight to avoid the risk of anybody falling off, which he wanted to prevent. If none were available, they’d just have to grab the feathers and hair on his spine.
. . .
As time went on, Gleeon ferried passengers and crew alike from their burning vehicle to the ground directly, having to set them down in a open parking lot. He continuously flew back and forth as fast as possible without crashing, time was of the essence to get everybody off before it would come crashing down. Each time the beast landed, more bystanders set down, same spot as before.
During his last trip, the black eastern dragon returned to grab the last occupant: Maddox. Hovering in the exact same spot by the door, he’d wait for said Achon to climb onto him and get a tight grip. Once settled in, the massive reptile disengaged from his spot and began descending with Maddox, closing in on the same location where others were previously dropped off.
Once there on the asphalt, he waited for the man to slide off, turning his head back to gaze down at him for a short-lived period. “I’m heading back up for one last check to make sure no-one got left behind, I’ll be right back. And… thank you for trusting me earlier.” The Asian reptile stated, slowly but surely hovering off the pavement.
Soon enough, he rapidly ascended and soared his way back to the burning airship, staring upon it as the massive plume of smoke got larger as time went on.
After checking the gondola, nothing was found. In case anyone had vacated to the exterior, Gleeon flew over to land upon the roof of the airship, quickly morphing back into his human facade. Once in mortal flesh again, said Draconic male ran closer towards the center of the roof, having to shield his face from the intense heat coming from a raging inferno not too far away. Little did he know… a brief encounter was to be had.
Unfortunately for Gleeon no one could have missed his feral form, especially not the great shadow he cast through the gondolas windows. Maddox was the first inside to see Gleeon, watching first in shock at seeing a dragon and then in fascination as the young man shifted into his regular form and propelled himself to the windows with some form of wind magic.
Gleeon breaking the glass and climbing inside has Captain Hinton positioning herself between him and Maddox. Several others also immediately fall into defensive stances but Maddox is the only one not frightened, watching as Gleeon began speaking in an effort to help them all escape and the mage feels a burst of gratefulness to this stranger.
"Stand down, all of you." Maddox yells over the blaring alarms, moving around Hinton (but not before giving her a reassuring expression) and taking a few steps toward Gleeon before stopping a few feet away. Even if he was grateful, this boy was still an unknown factor and he wasn't about to trust him completely. The golden irises and pitch black sclera was indeed noticed but it didn't give him pause as he called out, "We don't have many people aboard so it shouldn't take you long to transport everyone!"
"Master Mystwood! We don't know this boy!" Comes Hinton's protests, her mistrust clear in her tone but Maddox turns back to her with a frown.
"Captain we have no choice! Would you prefer we all perish?" His voice turns pleading. "Isla we don't have time to be picky, everyone needs to be off the ship now! I need everyone to be brought here to the office, we'll be using the emergency doors in here! And I need you to tell Captain Greenwill to turn the ship around toward the empty fields outside the city and set it to autopilot! I won't have it go down on a city full of people!"
Hinton looks hesitate but after a moment she nods and begins shouting orders to everyone in the vicinity. Satisfied, Maddox turns back to their rescuer with grim but determined expression, "I will be the last to leave! This ship is fueled by magic and I can buy time if I keep it aloft long enough! I will be back!"
And with that the Archon turns and dashes out the office's double doors and into the hallways.
For a couple of months now, Gleeon and the boys were struggling to find a safer home, away from persecution and experimentation in what felt like a very unforgiving world. Some proposed going off the grid while everybody else was flat out against it, too much of a hassle. At this rate, they were running out of ideas, and the clock was ticking.
At that time of day, the group founder himself decided to venture out and retrieve some herbs from a location that was /very/ close to Aternia for certain potions. In order to traverse all that distance and avoid obstacles, he took to the skies- in feral form.
For the past hour or so, the long, serpentine, onyx-scaled beast had been soaring through the air, keeping all four limbs tucked for less wind resistance. The eastern dragon kept his enormous body straightened out, both gold and black hues fixated on the flight path ahead of him. Nothing unusual was ever seen on this route, minus the occasional aircraft that he avoided to elude being seen since the territory was largely unknown to him.
Spotting the large settlement below, said ginormous reptile decreased altitude and closed in on his intended destination, eager to pick a few specialized flowers, get a quick lunch from town, and take off again, nothing more.
Yet the closer he got, the more visible an airship became. What caught his attention though was the rising plume of smoke, and that meant one thing: A fire. After having watched so many documentaries on aviation accidents back home, he was well aware on just how awful of a situation this could be. And so… the Warlocked made a decision: Try rescuing as many possible, if such a feat was doable.
‘Probably going to have a swat team hounding me after this, but screw it.’ He thought, altering course and quickly ascending toward the massive airship further ahead. There wasn’t much of a plan except for simply getting there and coming up with one on the fly.
Upon reaching the gondola below, Gleeon hovered beside it, regardless if people saw him or not. Once close enough, he quickly morphed back into his human facade and used a jetstream of air to launch himself forward. Both hands grabbed onto the exterior, with one reaching down to grab a dagger. Soon, it’d be jabbed hard into a window, shattering glass so he could make an entrance.
Now that there was a way in, the Aeromancer climbed inside the interior as winds howled. Having just entered the same room Maddox and his staff were in, the man spoke aloud, addressing the entire crowd in his immediate vicinity.
“Listen up people! I have a way to get everyone off this balloon before it comes crashing down! I want everyone to gather around the exterior door and ‘climb aboard’ when you see me transform, you’ll know what I mean! Any children get priority! I’ll be taking groups of people at a time to the ground and coming back up!”
Regardless if anyone saw his feral form just a moment ago, the black scleras in his eyes would definitely stick out like a swore thumb.