Touch of Fate

Chapter 133: Fall and Chase

Mike was in free fall.

The ship had evidently gotten quite high while he was fighting, and he found himself falling towards the distant ground, the entirety of the capitol spread out beneath him. He quickly spotted the screaming princess, who was spinning uncontrollably.

Straightening himself, with arms against his sides and legs together, he pushed forward with his Air Magic. He needed to catch up before they hit the ground. However, he was starting to become concerned about his dwindling mana reserves. Assuming he managed to catch up, there might not be enough left to kill their momentum before they hit the ground.

"Red!" He called once he had gotten into arm's reach of Andrea. "A little help?"

Of course the wind prevented his voice from traveling very far, so he included a mental message as well. Stretching, he eventually succeeded in catching the woman, and stabilizing her fall. A look of surprised relief appeared on her face, as her scream finally petered out.

He redirected his Air Magic towards the ground, drawing on every last scrap of mana to kill their momentum. They were slowing down, but it had taken too long to catch up, and they were only a few dozen meters above the ground.

When his consciousness was starting to grow faint, he saw a familiar red blur speeding in from the corner of his vision.

[About time. You certainly know how to make a dramatic entrance.] He was rewarded with a slightly smug feeling transmitted over the summoners bond. Red was apparently quite pleased with himself.

Mike and Andrea slammed onto the dragon's back painfully. Although Red had done his best to soften the blow, they were still falling rather quickly when they hit.

[Oof. That hurt. I don't know how they make this look easy in the movies.]

He looked over at the princess, who appeared to have had the wind knocked out of her. "You alright?" He asked with a cough.

Nodding, she coughed a few times as well before gasping for air.

"That was unpleasant."

Chuckling, he untied her, while using Appraise on the rope.

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Rope of Arcane Binding

Magic Item (Tier 2, Rank 2)

A length of rope designed to bind and incapacitate a mage. Will prevent the usage of any form of magic at the level of mid-Tier 2 or lower. More powerful mages are able to break through this restriction.

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[That could come in handy.] He thought to himself, as he stored it in the extradimensional sack.

Andrea was absentmindedly rubbing her wrists while staring at the scenery in wonder. "I had always dreamed...." She began before trailing off. Hesitantly, she placed one hand against the dragon's neck, a childish smile forming on her lips.

Red was flying in a lazy circle around the outskirts of the city. It seemed he wanted to give them time to catch their breath. With a mental command, Mike had him start chasing after the now distant airship.

The sudden wind pressure nearly flattened Andrea, but Mike was able to hold her in place. Spending a small amount of his almost extinguished mana, he formed a small barrier against the wind.

"Where are we going?" The princess yelled, a slight flush on her cheeks from the sudden physical contact, well intentioned though it might have been.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not one to let the bad guy get away unscathed." He said with a grin behind his mask. Wendel had thoroughly pissed him off, and Mike wouldn't feel satisfied until he'd destroyed the noble's plans.

Her features warped into an expression of savage anger. "Oh, I can't wait to get a hold of that traitorous bastard. I have a lot to pay him back for."

She blinked for a moment, in sudden realization. "Matthew, my brother. Is he..." She couldn't finish the question.

"He's alive and well, although it may be a little while before he wakes up."

Several questions seemed to form on her lips, but in the end Andrea simply gave a heartfelt smile of relief. "Thank you." She whispered in a quiet voice that was nearly overcome by the wind.

Mike nodded, "Now, lets go catch the bad guy."

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Watching the approaching dragon, Viscount Wendel knew that he wouldn't be able to escape this way. Although the naval airship was one of the fastest things in Ea, it simply couldn't compete with the true rulers of the sky.

Sighing, he backed away from the railing and walked over to the door leading to the captain's cabin. With a wince, Tanya followed after, still injured from the previous battle.

The small handful of surviving Tennundian soldiers were milling around, confused. With the exception of the four in charge of the bridge, virtually the entire command staff had been on deck when the supposed Dragonknight arrived. As a result, they were leaderless and directionless.

"Um...Viscount, sir? What do we do now?" A skinny young man dressed in the uniform of a messenger asked.

"We just need to keep heading towards the border. Once we cross, our pursuers will be forced to break off." He replied with a reassuring smile, not bothering to check to see what sort of response his words had garnered.

[It seems this mission has been a colossal failure.]

Entering the cabin with Tanya in tow, he went to the magically locked chest that rested at the foot of his bed, and opened it with a key he carried around his neck on a chain. Inside was a pile of coins, gems, and jewelry. Enough concentrated wealth to be called a fortune, even to one of Wendel's resources. However, he paid no mind to the money.

Dumping the chest's contents onto the floor, he removed the false bottom, revealing two blue crystal orbs, roughly 50 cm in diameter. The one on the right had a large crack running down the middle of it, but was still holding together. He moved to grab both, but hesitated, before selecting the one on the left.

Even though these things had cost him dearly, he wasn't sure what would happen if he tried to bring the second along with him. From what little he understood about the mechanics behind he item, doing so might cause unfortunate side effects.

With a sigh, he straightened. He tried not to think about all the time, effort, and money that had gone into acquiring the one on the right, damaged though it might have been.

Tanya coughed once, before speaking quietly. "I'm sorry, my lord. I wasn't strong enough."

"No, don't blame yourself, my dear. No one could have predicted the intervention of a Dragonknight Battlemage. Especially one as skilled as that masked fellow."

Wendel shivered slightly, thinking back to the lethal strength and speed the knight had used to butcher his way though every obstacle. It was almost inhuman.

The airship rocked violently, and he could hear the screaming of the Tennundian soldiers in other parts of the vessel.

"It appears its time to make our escape." Grabbing onto Tanya's shoulder, he poured his mana into the orb, activating it.

A blue, spherical field of energy surrounded the two of them, gyrating intensely as it scythed into the floor with a hiss. A low pitched hum could be heard, growing louder as the energy rotated more violently. With a flash, the pair of them disappeared, leaving nothing besides a smoking, hemispherical hole in the decking.

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Mike was surprised to see that the airship was able to support Red's bulk. He'd halfway expected the vessel to break into pieces under the force of their impact. Instead it simply dipped in the air for a few moments, before righting itself and resuming its course. Although, Red was forced to cling to the side of the ship, since he couldn't fit his entire body onto the deck itself.

He'd initially thought about simply having Red incinerate troublesome thing, but judging from the crest emblazoned on its side, it belonged to the Almiran Navy, and he suspected that they'd be rather upset if he ruined it. So, he decided that if it survived the initial impact, he would try to salvage it to the best of his ability.

Besides, he figured the government would give a much better reward for recapturing it.

As soon as the ship had stabilized, he hopped onto the deck, sword ready. He'd halfway expected Wendel to still be there, but it was currently deserted.

He heard the sounds of Andrea descending behind him, so he turned to look at her. "I'm not sure what to expect here, so its probably better for you to stay with Red."

"Hmph, while I'm grateful to you for saving me, you aren't my father. I'm going to go deal with that traitor, and you can't stop me." She replied angrily, a haze of flame dancing along her arms.

"You do remember that you were captured not too long ago, right?" He asked incredulously.

She flushed slightly, and shot him a dirty look. "They caught me by surprise, alright? This time, I will be ready."

Mike scratched the back of his head.

[Why can't I ever rescue normal people?] He thought for a second, before drawing his sword and facing the open doorway leading below decks.

"Come out! I know you are there!" He yelled.

A young soldier hesitantly walked up onto deck. As soon as he laid eyes on the dragon holding onto the ship, he froze, mouth moving soundlessly.

Noticing that the soldier wasn't carrying any weapons, Mike called over to the man. "Surrender, and bring me the one called Wendel, and I will spare your lives.

The soldier gulped, nervously flicking his gaze down to Mike before looking back up at Red. "My-my-my lord. W-w-w-we surrender, b-but I c-can't bring you Viscount Wendel."

"Why not?" Mike asked, starting to lose his patience.

"H-he's not here anymore." The soldier stammered apologetically.

Mike had the man bring everyone but the ship's pilot back onto deck, and disarmed them. With a great deal of effort he was able to convince Andrea to stay there with them, in order to be their 'guard.'

After making the pilot turn around and set a course for the University, Mike searched the captain's quarters, the last place Wendel and his armored servant were seen.

The smell of burnt wood filled the small room. He was surprised by the strange, circular markings in the floor, which nearly extended to the next deck.

A small fortune was scattered around the room, which he quickly moved to secure. After all, he'd been through the ringer today. It was about time he received a reward for his efforts.

Picking up a coin near the circle, he noticed that it had been cleanly carved in half. The cut was so smooth, he suspected something like a laser was responsible.

Working his way towards an overturned chest, he spotted something unusual in it. A cracked blue orb was sitting in a specially made packaging in the chest's false bottom. A similar depression to its left suggested that it was one of a pair.

Curious, he picked it up and used Appraise.

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Orb of Translocation (Cracked)

Magic Item (Tier 4, Rank 2)

One of the legendary orbs said to date back to Second Age. Created by the High Elves through a method now lost, these orbs formed the keystones of their portals. Although meant to be one small part of something larger, they can be used individually to momentarily translocate two points in space. The effective range is determined by the amount of mana given to the orb as part of its activation. It is possible to travel to other realms with a sufficient amount of mana.

Note: This particular item is damaged, lowering its Rank from 5 to 2. Due to the damage, the destination cannot be set, and will instead be random.

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Mike blinked.

He looked down at the burned section of decking, then to the empty space in the bottom of the chest, and finally back at the cracked orb in his hand.

"Shit...."