The sky rushed around them in a blur of blue, gold, and lightning as Astryon carried Aru and the others across the vast wilderness. The world below looked completely different from above—mountains like sleeping giants, rivers like silver threads, forests like emerald oceans.
Aru clung to Astryon's feathers, ears flattened by the rushing wind.
"THIS IS AMAZING!" he shouted.
Tiko screamed, "THIS IS TERRIFYING!"
Rella groaned, "THIS IS WINDY!"
Bolo laughed like a lunatic. "THIS IS LIVING!"
Zara sat behind Aru, holding onto his shoulders. She wasn't screaming, but her claws were digging into him like sharp punctuation marks.
Aru winced. "Zara… my shoulders are not chew toys."
"I'm not chewing them," she muttered. "I'm just… preventing us from falling to our doom."
Eldros, wrapped in lightning magic, floated beside them like a very distressed blimp.
"THIS IS HIGH," Eldros bellowed. "I AM TOO LARGE FOR THIS."
"You're doing great, big guy!" Tiko cheered. "YOU LOOK LIKE A MAGICAL BALLOON!"
Eldros did not find this comforting.
Leaving Home Behind
As they flew farther, Aru looked back one more time. The Emerald Forest was now a distant green speck, fading into the horizon.
His chest tightened.
He couldn't help but whisper, "I'll come back someday."
Astryon heard him. "You will. But not until your power is awakened… and the Chain Commander is defeated."
Aru gulped. "So… no pressure."
Zara patted his arm. "It's fine. Most prophecies are exaggerated anyway."
"HEY," Tiko said, "wasn't that prophecy literally describing him?"
Zara glared. "DON'T RUIN THIS MOMENT."
The Land of Floating Stones
Hours passed. The air grew cooler. The ground below changed from lush forest to rocky plains, and then to something strange—
Massive stones floated in the air, suspended by glowing blue runes carved into their surfaces. Waterfalls flowed upward instead of down. Strange bird-like creatures with crystal wings perched on glowing cliffs.
Aru's jaw dropped. "Whoa…"
Astryon announced proudly:
"Welcome to the Outer Skyrange. Where gravity comes here to rest."
Tiko whispered, "This place looks like nature took a joyride."
Rella poked a floating pebble. "Why is this rock… disobeying physics?"
Astryon explained, "This region has ancient sky-energy. The same energy used to create the Skyrazor lineage."
Zara frowned. "Sky-energy? Like Aru's golden power?"
Astryon hesitated."…Not exactly. But both come from the Primordial Era."
Aru blinked. "You mean I have ancient… era… stuff?"
"Yes," Astryon said. "And the commander seeks to weaponize it."
Bolo cracked his knuckles. "He'll have to get through us first."
Astryon didn't say it, but Aru saw the truth in the eagle's eyes—
The commander would come again.Stronger. Prepared.And next time, they might not escape so easily.
A Sudden Storm
Without warning, clouds gathered. Black. Heavy. Crackling with red lightning.
Astryon's feathers stiffened.
"This storm… it is unnatural."
Aru's legs tingled as if warning him.
Zara squinted. "You think the commander caused it?"
"No," Astryon said. "This feels older. Much older."
Thunder boomed. The sky split open with a roar. Winds whipped them sideways, making Eldros spin like an airborne wheel of panic.
"I AM ROTATING!" Eldros cried.
Tiko flapped his tiny arms. "HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!"
Astryon fought the storm with powerful wingbeats, but the winds surged stronger and stronger.
Rella screamed, "We're losing altitude!"
Aru felt it—his legs glowing hotter, pulsing faster, reacting to the sky-energy around them.
The storm wasn't just weather.
Something was calling.
Something ancient.
Astryon shouted, "Brace yourselves!"
Lightning exploded around them.
The wind yanked them downward.
Aru felt his hooves slip—
And then everything went white.