Five hours wouldn't be enough seeing the situation had escalated faster than they could imagine. So far they had been lucky that they were only dealing with one of the three primordial dragons–but now they were attempting to invade each others' territory. As an apex predator, there was a reason why most dragons lived in solitude unless it was for mating. And the bigger the predator, the less willing they'd be to share the same space. When Chrys felt a chill come over her, she initially thought it was the fear kicking in. The world exploded, sending her to the ground with her ears ringing. She had been running after the azure-haired woman earlier, but Etanu was now laying waste to what was left of the temple. The one who prodded the beast into a fury was nowhere to be seen, and she was wondering what that person had even tried to do. They needed to get out now or they'd all be dead waiting for the next group to come and reclaim them…if that group ever arrived. The bellow of a new beast on the horizon took the feathered dragon's attention away from frying them with lightning, but then hailstones the size of boulders began to fall.

"Raorik." Chrys gasped as she fought off the incoming cold. While it didn't make things any better, at least it wasn't Zao. Fire and lightning were downright lethal together. If it was ice, at least she could use the earth to shield them from being hit. From what she had heard, Raorik was a cunning and cruel dragon–preferring to toy with its prey before crushing it. Strategy-wise, Raorik could definitely out-maneuver Etanu as the lightning dragon didn't really act with any sort of planning. Finally reaching Ciara, she quickly raised up a wall of earth to act as a barrier from the elemental strikes being thrown around the floating prison. Most of their cover was gone, so this was the best she could do at this moment. Peering out she looked to see if she could spot the dark-haired young man nearby. The person who started this mess might be too far away, but they had to try to escape with as many people in tow before they were buried alive. 

Raorik was a a sleek drake with fin like protrusions all along its body. Its wings were more like large jointed fins and its body was suited for deep water. A howling shriek from the primordial ice dragon coated the entire temple in a layer of rime, making running difficult. Etanu was having difficulty getting traction and Raorik took advantage of that to dive onto the rainbow feathered serpent from above. Etanu retaliated by giving its opponent a face-full of lightning, dragging its enemy onto the ruined temple grounds. The smell of something being singed made the Rosenite gag due to how strong it was. The sheer cold was making her fingers numb; using her Terrene crossbow would be impossible now. "Are you still able to cast? We don't have much time!" She said to the lady. The woman was hurt badly, but she was their only means of leaving this island prison before they would have to jump as a last resort. 

The foolish masked mage claimed that his powers would be able to hold the dragon for the next five hours. His magic was strong, that much was certain, but Etanu was stronger. If the gods themselves struggled to take down these dragons, then their group couldn't hold a candle to them. These were the dragons who made empires crumbled and slayed old powerful mages as easily as swatting flies. A few magical spells from them wouldn't do much. Ciara couldn't feel the full strength of the dragon but she had enough common sense to recognize they weren't enough. 

Streaks of lightning pierced the sky and electricity danced in the air. The temple shook then shattered into a million pieces. Ciara moved quickly, able to dodge the larger pieces and avoiding certain death. Pain spread through her body as she looked at herself to find bleeding cuts from smaller stones covering her body. Dust filled the air, causing her to tighten her throat to prevent a coughing fit. She glanced towards her portal only to find that it closed up when she stopped focusing on it. The fae woman muttered a thousand curses only to stop when she felt the presence of another creature, something of equal strength to Etanu. Her eyes widened in terror when she realized who was coming. 

"Roarik." She said quietly, barely above a whisper. 

The blonde girl from earlier ran over to Ciara and held up a wall of earth, successfully blocking shards of ice that would have killed her. Magic danced in the air as the two dragons attacked each other relentlessly. The clouds in the sky blocked out all the light of the sun while the winds began to pick up. Before, Etanu was just messing around. Now this was becoming serious. Ciara had witnessed the damage in other parts of Revaliir caused by these monstrosities. She had no intention of getting caught up in the fire between the fights. 

"Yes. But I'll be unable to defend myself. I'll be relying on you two entirely." 

Her shaky voice said those words but an uncertainty laid in her eyes. A fear of the monsters and the death that they would bring. Pressing her hands on the stone ground, she began humming as a way to calm herself down. The circle of magic began to reopen on the ground, a small circle the size of a pea. If her hands hadn't been injured, this would have been a fast spell. Her humming stopped as she let out a small screech of pain the portal was forced to open faster and wider before. Blood dripped from her fingertips and she felt the pain spread from her hands to her entire body. Rushing a spell was dangerous but it was the only thing she could do to speed up the process. 

A loud howling roar silenced the other two dragons as another massive presence was felt. Ciara shut her eyes, choosing to pretend there was nothing else in the world, trying to separate herself in concentration. She knew who this was. That legendary lava dragon soared above them and landed, a few inches away from where they were standing. They were so small in comparison to the elder dragons that they were the size of ants. Zao had a coating thick black scales with a few red cracks, showing the flames and lava underneath the scales. His strength was slower than the others but what he lacked in speed he made up with raw unbridled strength. 

A sharp sound pierced the air when Zao landed on the island. With the massive amounts of magic, elemental attacks, and the weight of three elder dragons, the floating island was cracking. Panic struck her mind at every movement but all she allowed herself focus on was the portal. With a final shove of magic through her body, the portal opened once more revealing the ground near the floating island. It was enough of a distance where they could run away on solid ground. Tears fell from her face as she gasped for air. The pain was suffocating. 

"GET IN THE PORTAL!" She screamed at the top of her lungs to the others. 

The wind was as fierce as a thousand daggers, carrying the flames and ice attacks like some horrible elemental storm. Lava erupted from Zao's mouth, directed towards the other two. They both dodged out of the way and attacked Zao with their ice and lightning, all which struck his incredibly thick scales. Etanu attacked randomly while Roarik tactically and Zao was just spewing as much lava and fire as possible. 

Etanu’s bindings withdrew as the serpent sensed the presence of its draconic brothers, it snapped out of its state of sloth and arose to the skies.

The serpent’s brethren arrived, bringing with them destruction as they encroached on Etanu’s territory. Electricity filled the air. Hot winds blew as Zao’s flames engulfed the sky, tinting it a burning orange that bounced off the ice that coated the temple’s stone floors. The primordial beings displayed their might against one another, their attacks against the other leaving deep, large wounds.

 Hermennia prepared to extract himself from the location, but before he did so, he glanced at his group and saw the distress and desperation in the others. He felt hesitant to leave on his own and acknowledged the fact that what he had done endangered everyone, and even caused harm to another, and usually he would not care, but for the first time, he felt a bit of remorse for his actions. He reeled away from the darkness and swiftly approached the group. His body tired, but willing to aid.

The cloaked figure approached the Fae spellcaster and put his cold gloved hand on her shoulder. “You’re bleeding. Rest.” He spoke as tendrils rose from the portal and began to force it to open wider. “You could consider this an apology of sorts.” The tentacles slowly tore the portal open, revealing more and more of the ground below. Sparkling lights surrounded them and any injuries they may have sustained would be slowly healed, if at the very least, the pain would be eased.

“You go first” Hermennia said to Ciara, attempting to hide the strain in his voice. “Then you two will be able to jump in together.” He turned to the blonde girl and the healer. “I will keep this portal open, it’s the least I can do, after all” The battle above raged on, as one dragon did not outmatch the other, the ice and frost Raorik commanded would struggle for dominance with Zao’s flames, and Etanu’s behavior became more and more unpredictable.

Lightning struck and the island’s balance shifted and lava slowly crept towards their position, they don’t have much time left.

It was complete and utter madness what was happening. Xeik could barely follow all of the chaos that was happening. Whether it was sheer luck, or a twist of fate, he managed to gather with the others who were desperately trying to open a portal to escape. The gathering of mana had become impossible here.

At least two of them are here. Maybe others can gather mana safely. It was one silver lining to it all, if one could even call it that. With the two dragons fighting for supremacy, this was the perfect chance to escape. Sure, there was a high probability they would all die a horrible death, but at least they would die for the greater good of the world.

Xeik readied the sands he had to reinforce the barrier that the blond woman put up. “Just hurry! We’ll do what we can!” Not that their magic was really enough to stop the dragons rampage. But then, against all odds, things hit a new bottom. The Divine Mender felt it before he saw it, the intense presence of the third primordial dragon off in the distance. The heat alone was enough to start melting the rime that had formed at the edge of the temple where Zao approached.

“This can’t be happening,” Xeik said in complete shock. As Zao landed, he felt the temple base beneath him shudder. It wasn’t going to hold at this rate. He turned to the fae woman, his eyes wide. “How far are you along with that!? Hurry!” It was rare for him to panic, but this was a rare event indeed.

The dragons began to fight each other as each one landed onto the floating platform. It was an all out free for all. Zao raged, roaring as lava spewed forth from it’s great maw, trying to coat Roarik. The serpentine dragon coiled around the attack, and wrapped itself around the lava dragon, attempting to subdue it by crushing him. Taking advantage of this, if not infuriated by the lack of interaction, launched a bolt of lighting directly at them both, which crashed against their scales and shook the platform. Chunks started to fall. The magic keeping the place floating was failing.

Xeik heard the fae scream, and he turned to see the portal open. The other man, who had enraged Etanu earlier, was here now, forcing the portal to stay open. Good. At least you’re useful for something now. He turned his attention back to the dragons. “Oh shi-”

Raorik was still wrapped around Zao, but the lava dragon was already pushing against the coil, tearing the other dragon off of it. Etanu launched himself at the pair, and the three dragons collided. At once, all of them let loose an elemental blast from their mouths, a furious beam of pure mana forming as it came crashing down, slamming into the platform. That was all it took for the ground beneath them all to shatter, and the spell that kept the temple floating broke.

There wasn't much time. The floating island was starting to break with the dragons thrashing about. Zao being the largest dragon out of the three was causing most of the destruction as he slammed into and against the others. Explosions and roars rang in her ears as tremors quaked throughout the shattered prison. It was one thing to experience an earthquake, but feeling it in your bones–that was something else. When the portal was finally open, Chrys cast one final spell. Vines reached out to grasp those closest to her as she made the charge to solid ground. The first was Ciara, then the dark-haired young man who had been trying to keep them covered as the sky island was listing, and last was the masked figure. As the vines half-dragged everyone else through, the Rosenite tripped forward, welcomed by the sweet smell of the earth. The portal didn't last long once the caster was on the other side, and the chaotic elemental energies were finally silenced as the gateway flickered out of existence. 

Lying on her back and breathing hard, Chrys covered her eyes with her arm as her ears got used to the new surroundings. The vines she had used as a last-ditch tether receded, and the adrenaline shock wore off. Far in the distance there was the sound of something great crashing into the earth with a rumbling echo. The screeches and bellows of the dragons were audible but faint, like the nightmare they had narrowly escaped from was far away. But now they were faced with a new problem: one of the ancient temples was now completely destroyed. Gathering of mana here was now impossible unless a similar set up like the Prison of Howling Gales was recreated. Now divine intervention could not be avoided. As she caught her breath, she wondered if the same thing had happened millennia ago–when Onnen's gods still walked the earth. The ancient magic that had kept the land aloft for ages would have to be used again, unless the dragons were killed. 

But was that truly possible? Seeing each one up close made any courage a person had evaporate. Not even the dragons of the world wanted to get involved with the elder drakes. Sitting up, she wearily looked up at the temporarily calm skies. "We should start spreading the word that one of the temples has fallen." Once that was done, the next thing would be to find a solution to the current turn of events. "How's everybody?" She asked hesitantly. In the pandemonium she had grabbed whoever was nearby, but she didn't have the time to check on their condition. 

Just as she was about to reach her limit, the masked stranger helped keep the portal open and gave a bit of health assistance. Ciara had half a mind to give him a good beating after this was all over for causing this mess in the first place. But since he was the only thing keeping the portal open, that would simply have to wait. Before she had the chance to move towards the portal, her attention was caught by the three dragons who had collided. Each one of them released a powerful elemental blast and sent a powerful beam of pure mana forming that came crashing down, slamming onto the platform. A crack pierced the air as the land underneath them gave way. Eyes wide with shock, she couldn't even say a word as she began to fall when suddenly vines created by Chrys wrapped around her and pulled into the portal, far and safe away from the falling island. 

When she touched the ground, she clung to it for a few moments. Eventually the fae woman pushed herself to her feet and watched as the prison in the distance fell apart. If they had stayed for one more second… The woman pushed the thought out of her mind and looked down towards her hands. They were still fairly damaged, as even magic couldn't rush the healing process but were still functional. It helped when she wasn't forcing magic through them. Her injuries would heal in time, it was the destroyed prison she was more concerned about. 

"I'm fine." She responded to Chrys, "I don't suppose either of you two are in contact with a godly architect?" 

The three dragons were still fighting each other, but the pace of the battle seemed to slow down, as though even the dragons were getting tired of fighting. They still kept the battle going but they were using considerably less magic and causing less damage than before. Ciara realized that when others got word of what happened, she and the rest of them would probably get the brunt of the blame. 

"We came here to save the world." She said with a small frown, "It seems we might have just helped end it." 

Large twisting vines sprang up with the intent to drag Hermennia and the others to safety. The masked man watched as the others were brought to immediate safety and the organic tendrils swiftly crept up to Hermennia and made an attempt to grab hold of him, but they phased through him as if he was a phantom. He entered the portal himself before allowing the portal to collapse onto itself in a bright flash of blue light. Hermennia looked off into the distance, spotting the floating island in flames and falling from the sky. The titan dragons looking nothing more than silhouettes at their distance, but their destructive power could still be felt.

The temple prison finally met the earth, sending a large shockwave, enough to destroy parts of buildings, and at their distance, knock someone off their feet, the crash site was near a small but prosperous fishing village, and the dragons rose into the air, and took their battle airborne.

 “What we did up there wouldn’t have mattered in the long run, the dragon’s brethren would have arrived either way. We can be thankful that we departed alive, and mostly in one piece.” He reassured the others with a confidence in his voice, attempting to squash any guilt the others might have for something they had no control over.

As he spoke, a doorway, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared behind him and began to knock. Hermennia knew exactly what was going to happen. He sighed and bid farewell as he approached the door. He turned the handle, and was met with a dark hall, which he entered. The doorway remained, and if it were to be opened, one would find that it would lead to nowhere.

Xeik was not prepared to die, and as luck would have it, the companions that had been there in the end weren’t going to let him. He was surprised when a tendril wrapped around him, and when it pulled him through the portal, he hit the ground hard. He laid there for a time, counting his blessings as the sounds of the temple crashing resonated around them, echoing for a moment before falling silent.

He slowly roused himself, checking himself over. Other than some minor cuts and bruises, he had made out quite well for what had just occurred. “Thank the gods,” he muttered, looking around. The blonde haired woman had asked how everyone was, signaling that she herself seemed not to need emergency aid.

One good thing, he thought to himself. The fae woman looked to be in worse shape, and from what Xeik could see using his gifted powers from Angela, her hands were quite badly damaged. His temporary fix must have worn off by now, and she was probably feeling the pain, though her face gave nothing away if she was.

“Fine here,” he said, glancing back at where the great temple once was. He could still hear the dragons fighting, having taken their battle to the skies. “I can contact Lady Angela, but I’m not sure if her power will reach here. It’s worth a shot, though…but I don’t think I can reach her in time. It may be a lost cause…”

As the third and last companion said his goodbyes, he promptly walked into a doorway, and vanished. At this point, Xeik just rolled his eyes, and sighed. “Sure…just cause a bunch of problems and then ditch us…” The Divine Mender huffed, and crossed his arms. “Let’s see…best way to get a hold of her…I wonder if she’s watching now…”

He slammed his foot into the ground, and pointed to the sky, “Hey Angela!? Are you listening!? Can you fix the Prison of Howling Gales? And quick!? If we don’t, I doubt we can help any more!” His voice echoed in the sky.

“Well…hope she’s listening…”

At once, there was a powerful gust of wind, and mana flooded the air. The powerful energies flowed through the wilds and towards the remains of the temple, and a voice echoed around Xeik.

“Fine. But if I’m doing this, you’re taking Raine to the market once this is over,” Angela’s voice resonated. Xeik groaned as the prison started to reconstruct itself, spiraling back into the heavens.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I…”