NOVPUBRaegar finished his story only to see three excited eyes staring at him. Selene was the first to speak, and she jumped up excitedly. ''Your mother sounds like a badass, she can fly using fire magic! Not many can do that.''
''She is,'' he replied, chuckling. ''They call her the Fire Witch, thanks to being a Tier Eight Mage like my father.''
Just then, Dominique looked at him with a cheeky grin. ''Would you carry us three if this Carrier were attacked?''
Raegar glanced at the Vampire girl, nodding. ''Yes, it would damage my body even more, but I could use Fire Aether to get us to safety.''
When the trio heard this, their smiles grew wide as Selene went to jump at him, but Zahara quickly cast a Light Shield around his body. The Demoness slammed against the barrier with a thud.
Everyone started laughing as the red-skinned girl giggled. ''Sorry, I forgot your body is weak thanks to the assassins.''
Raegar waved her apology away. ''That's fine, once I'm healed, you can do it,'' he commented.
As the girl's lively conversation about Brightwater City filled the room with tales of its bustling markets and shimmering canals, he turned his attention to the window, his eyes tracing the world beyond.
Outside, the landscape lay cloaked in a delicate veil of frost glistening under the pale morning light. Spring had yet to fully loosen winter's stubborn grip, and the scene in front of him seemed caught in a timeless dance between seasons.
He found himself captivated by the beauty of it all, the way the frost sparkled like scattered diamonds and the distant hills stood resolute against the soft blush of dawn. While zoning out, the Carrier shook.
Raegar's head jerked upright, his senses sharpening as the girl's chatter fell silent. The heavy thud of boots echoed closer, guards shoving against the door with urgent force. Zahara's wide grey eyes met his, her face etched with worry.
Seeing her expression, he flashed a steady, confident smile to ease her fears. ''No monsters,'' he said, his voice calm yet firm. ''I'd feel their Aether if they were near. This is something else.''
As the trio heard this, they sighed in relief, but an alarm started blaring just as a knock rang out. Dominique jumped up and opened the door, only to see one of the Dawnfirian guards snap to attention.
''Lady D'Ambrose,'' the man said sternly. ''The captain asked me to tell you that we'll experience rough weather thanks to a storm coming from the north.''
Everyone relaxed just as the Vampire girl nodded. ''Thanks for the heads up, we'll buckle in and I'll inform the others.''
The soldiers nodded and left to tell the other passengers. Once the door closed, Dominique turned to them. ''Things are about to get bad, you may get sick but the Carrier was built to handle this weather,'' she warned.
Following her words, the craft started shaking, causing the girls to panic. Selene quickly buckled in as Zahara did the same thing. He didn't know what was happening when a loud tearing noise was heard.
'Did the ship get damaged?' he thought while glancing out and seeing nothing.
His face paled, but Dominique commented. ''That's the Aether Shield protecting the Carrier from debris.''
Raegar's fingers tightened around the armrest, his knuckles whitening as the airship hummed beneath them. The Vampire girl beside him gently placed her hand over his, her cool touch grounding.
She offered a warm, reassuring smile that softened the tension.
''No need to worry, Rae,'' she said softly. ''These crafts have come a long way since your last flight. They're sturdier now, built to glide through even the wildest storms.''
Just then, the Carrier shuddered violently, it groaned as the storm's fury intensified. Outside, the sky had turned into a maelstrom of black clouds, lashed by jagged streaks of lightning that illuminated the chaos in fleeting, blinding flashes.
The wind howled, a relentless beast clawing at the hull, as rain hammered the reinforced windows like a thousand tiny fists. ''Hold fast!'' the captain's voice crackled over the intercom. ''We're diving to slip beneath the storm's heart!''
Raegar felt the craft lurched as they pitched downward, its nose cutting through the roiling clouds. His stomach twisted, the sudden descent pressing him into his seat. Dominique's grip tightened, her nails grazing his skin, though her warm smile never wavered.
''Just a bit of turbulence,'' she murmured, her voice a lifeline amid the chaos. ''We'll punch through.''
Through the window, the world was a blur of gray and shadow, the clouds swirling like a living thing. Thunder roared, so close it rattled his bones, and for a moment, the Carrier seemed to hang in the void, caught in the storm's merciless grasp.
Moments later, the lights in the cabin flickered, casting eerie shadows across Zahara's and Selene's worried faces. The airship plunged deeper, the engines screaming in protest as they fought the tempest's pull.
Raegar caught glimpses of the landscape below, jagged peaks and frost-dusted valleys emerging faintly through thinning wisps of cloud. The storm's core still loomed above, a dark, writhing mass, but the Carrier was breaking free, clawing its way toward calmer skies.
Following that, the craft dipped below and became more stable as they avoided the storm, causing the girls to sigh in relief. He turned to Selene, who looked like she was going to be sick, and commented. ''Are you okay, Red?''
''Yes!'' she mumbled while trying not to throw up.
The Demoness shook her head and replied properly. ''I didn't expect a storm to be that horrible; it's worse than being on the Siren's Sea.''
Everyone laughed as Dominique revealed. ''It should be the last one until Autumn when it gets worse again.''
As he processed her words about the storm, his mind drifted to a weathered book he'd once pored over in a dimly lit Blackwood library when he was much younger, its pages yellowed with age.
The Chronicles of Kaldorra, in one section it detailed the weather patterns of this vast continent, that bore a striking resemblance to Earth's climates, surprising him considering he was in a fantasy world.
Raegar remembered how the book described how it changed the farther south one ventured, the more the chill of the northern frost gave way to sweltering heat and tropical landscapes.
The book had painted vivid pictures of Kaldorra's amazing landscapes he found fascinating, from the icy tundras of the far north to the temperate valleys where spring and winter waged their endless tug-of-war.
His thoughts lingered on a certain chapter, which spoke of the southern region of Kaldorra, shrouded in mystery. Rumors, passed down through generations of sailors, told of a dense, steaming jungle that sprawled across the continent's tip.
Its canopy was so thick it choked out sunlight, leaving the forest floor in constant darkness. This untamed wilderness, the book claimed, was home to ferocious cannibal tribes, their names whispered in fear by explorers and colonists alike.
These people were said to stalk the jungle, head-hunting any who dared encroach on their land, be it treasure-seekers, mapmakers, or foolhardy settlers. The author recounted chilling tales of expeditions vanishing without a trace.
Raegar read that the rescuers would find their camps overgrown and eerily silent, save for the rustle of leaves and the distant, guttural chants of unseen watchers. The memory sent a shiver down his spine, not from fear but from a strange fascination.
He wondered what truths lay behind those stories, whether the jungle's dangers were as real as the storm now battering the Carrier, or if they were merely stories spun to keep the curious at bay.
As the airship continued its descent, the howling winds outside seemed to echo the wild, untamed spirit of that distant southern frontier, calling to the part of him that yearned to uncover Kaldorra's secrets.
Following that, Selene's cheery voice brought him back to reality. ''Rae! After an hour, we're close and the shaking has stopped!'' she exclaimed.
Raegar shook his head, smiling. ''Yes, the captain managed to get us out of it, for a moment I thought monsters were going to attack,'' he added.
The girls agreed with a round of nods just before the Carrier bucked and started slowing down as the intercom echoed. ''We're landing at the Brightwater station, you'll know when to leave the craft.''
Just then, Dominique commented. ''The ride back should be smoother as the storm would've passed by the time we finish in the city.''
Raegar smiled as the group left the Carrier behind and stepped onto the wet grass, only to spot the clock towers and walls that defended Brightwater from the roaming monster waves that plagued the Northern Lands.
''Will you take us to the auction house, Domi? Seeing as you know this place better than any of us,'' he asked the Vampire girl.
She nodded before pointing in the distance. ''Let's get some breakfast first, then we'll head there.''
Following that, the group headed for the city entrance and was quickly let through when they saw Raegar's adventurer's card, shocking the girls.
