The day was cloudy, so they did not see them coming until they were quite close at hand, unluckily for them. It was midmorning with Bast at the helm when Silver cried out in alarm, pointing to one side. “Dragons!” He cried.

Lei and Jing had both been below deck when they heard Silver’s cry and they both ran up on deck. “Where?!” Jing said, going over beside Silver and looking around in panic. This was not good! Last time a dragon showed up when they were flying Leria and Bast had gotten rid of it!

Soon everyone was on deck, and they could all see what Silver had spotted first. Yes, dragons. Not one or two, but ten red dragons were flying towards them, obviously having spotteed the airship. Bast cursed fluently in draconian.

Jing paled as she saw the dragons coming towards them. Lei shook his head in disbelif at the sight of the huge creatures. “How… How the heck are we going to get out of this…?” He muttered, and in the back of his mind wished he had never left the mountian now.

Bast swore more, twisting the helm the ship lurched sideways, and began turning away from the dragons, in an attempt to fly away from them. “We’ll have to try to out-fly them!” He said grimly, though he knew it was useless. “Lei, grab Dalit and Rena and fly to the forest with them, if you hide while I drive the ship off…”

Lei nodded “Alright…” He said, going down below deck quick to grab his sword, just incase. When he came back on deck he went over to Rena and Dalit. “If I see you guys in trouble and the two kids are safe I’ll come back to help.” Jing just continued to look at the dragons, fear growing inside her. It was sueless trying to out-fly dragons!

Bast nodded, already the dragons were closer, two branching off from the main group to pursue the ship as the others flew towards a fortress in the distance. Dalit looked terrified, and he clung to Lei, Rena palye but serious as she looked to Lei.

Lei picked up Dalit and Rena, holding them close. “Hang on tight.” He told them before flying off with them, heading behind the ship before going down towards the forest, using the flyer as cover for as long as possible. Jing bit her lip hard, looking over at Bast “What are we going to do…?”

Bast looked to Jing, then to Iris. “You two are going to take the disks and jump.” He said, “Jing, you can use your magic to soften the fall right?” He said, steering the ship over the forest.

Jing nodded a little “Yes I can… But wait Bast… What about you?!” She asked in shock.

Bast smirked, “A captain must go down with his ship.” He said, “Now get moving!”

“Hell no!” Jing said, moving over to grab him and pulling him over towards Iris and Silver. “Lets go. I don’t want to deal with some idiot trying to play hero!”

Bast forcefully let go of Jing. “Jing, it’ll be too much strain and there’d be a chance of those dragons following to burn the forest down.” He said frowning, “Look for me in the wrekage tomorrow morning.” He smiled faintly, “It’s not like I’ll be dead for long.” He looked over at the two dragons, growing quite near. “Now GO!”

Rena clung to Lei in fear and worry, glancing back at the ship. “What of the others?” She asked in a whimper.

Jing looked at Bast angerly, she didn’t want him to stay behind! Even if he did come back… she knew now he went through all the pain until he woke up again!  She looked over at the dragons once more before nodding finally. “I’m going to beat you up when this is all over for you playing the hero.” She told the kankiru before going over to Iris and Silver quickly to grab their hands so they could jump off the ship. “Come on!”

“They will be fine. Don’t worry alright?” Lei said, continuing to fly to the forest, finally reaching the tips of the trees and looking back up at the ship and dragons.

Silver hesitated, and Iris looked to Bast in alarm, but slowly nodded, and the two moved to the side of the ship, and jumped with Jing. As soon as they had, one of the dragons, seeing them, swerved towards them, but Bast was ready. He fired one of the cannons, and the ball hit it’s mark. Enraged, the dragon turned back tot he ship, that had turned again and was heading straight for the dragons.

Jing looked back up once more at the ship before down at the ground that was quickly growing close, ready to sofen their fall when they got closer.

Silver was watching their fall with inmense interest, chatting about how awesome it was and how he wanted to try this again some time. Above the dragons finally unleashed their fire on the ship, as it tried to crash into one of the dragons, but missed the more agile creature, deck engulfed in flames.

Jing wanted to look back up at the ship but she needed to consentrate on keeping the fall from killing the three of them. When they got close to the trees she altered the gravity around them, making the pull suddenly go above them enough to let them land in the treetops safely.

Lei looked up at the fire in shock, still holding onto Dalit and Rena. He had seen Jing, Iris and Silver, but not Bast!

Dalit and Rena had also been watching and now Rena was sniffling as the ship sank, first slowly, then quickly to the ground, crashing into the forest. The dragons circled, trying to find the ones who had jumped, but the trees now hid them.

Lei looked towards theburning wreck of the ship in shock, then up at the two dragons worried. He wanted to get over to the ship and search for Bast… but he had to wait till it was safe.

Jing winced as she saw the ship crash, hands going into tight fists. “B…Bast…” She muttered quietly, trembling a little.

Iris and Silver looked pale, but were quiet, well, Silver wasn’t quiet for too long. “Come on! Let’s go find Lei and the others!” He said, tugging at Jing’s hand.

Jing looked over at Silver, nodding “We might as well head towards the ship, thats probably where they are heading…”

Silver frowned, “But… the dragons might fry us all if we go towards the ship!” He pointed up at the dragons circling the wreckage.

Jing looked towards the wreck and the dragons, nodding a little. “Your right… Did either of you see the relitive area Lei landed in with Dalit and Rena?” She asked, part of her just worried that they might be close to the ship.

Lei sighed quietly, looking at the two kids with him. “Coem on… Lets find the others.”

Rena nodded, trying to hold back her tears. Dalit looked grim and scared, uncertain as to what had happened and frightened of the dragons circling above.

Silver nodded, “This way!” He tugged on Jing’s hand again, leading her off through the woods.

Lei looked at the two kids sadly, not sure what to say that would help their mood. So insted he just started to lead the two off in silence.

Jing nodded, letting Silver lead the way. She still wanted to head to the wreck and look for Bast though…

Iris followed along them, her staff in one hand, the disks in a pack on her back, with a few provisions she’d hastily thrust inside. It took the two groups ten minutes to locate each other, but they were finally reunited, as darkness descended, and the dragons finally left.

Jing was glad to have found the others, but she still obviously wanted to go find Bast.

Once they had found a safe spot to rest for the night Lei got to work building a shelter, collecting branches and other supplies he could find. Obviously he had done this kind of thing before.

Silver was an enthusiastic help, though he more often got in the way than not, until Iris asked him to gather wood for the fire. Rena just huddled under a tree, glancing to where the forest was illuminated with the smoldering remains of their ship.

Lei was glad when Isir was able to distract Silver, and was much quicker now that he didn’t have the small jerboa around.

Jing sighed quietly, looking at the others “I’m going to find Bast… I’ll be back soon.”

Iris nodded, “Good luck Jing.” She said quietly.

“Thanks.” Jing muttered before heading off towards the wreak quickly and quietly.

Lei watched her leave before sighing quietly. “Hopefully she finds Bast…”

Iris nodded, wondering how badly he’d suffered before dying, or if he had survived…

Jing was soon enough at the burning wreak, checking around once while still hidden in the trees, just incase a dragon was around. Once things seemed safe she then headed towards the wreak, looking around nervously. “Bast?” She called out, part of her hoping she didn’t hear a responce.

The only sound she could hear was the crackling of small fires.

The ship was badly damaged, it’s mid-section broken in two and fire had consumed most of it.

Jing sighed, getting to work searching for Bast. She wanted to find him as soon as possible. She desided to look around the area as well, maybe Bast had jumped off before the ship his the ground… She really didn’t know.

It took a while, and some blisters to find him. He was pinned beneath a section of the ship, badly burned and a pool of blood under him. His hat lay away from the ship, mostly undamaged. He had a large gash down his forehead and almost to one eye and the blood below him came from another wound in his side.

Jing winced as she saw the condition Bast was in, moving to get him out of the wreak as carefully as possible. “Idiot always having to play hero…” She muttered quietly.

As she began moving the ship from on top of Bast, he gave a low soft moan of pain.

Jing blinked in shock as she heard Bast. “Whoa! Your still alive?!” She asked, working faster but still being as careful as she could. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here and back to the others. Iris will heal you.”

Bast’s eyes fluttered fainly at her words, and as the weight lifted he opened them halfway. “Is… is every…one safe?” He asked.

“Yes everyone is safe. Besides you mister always has to play the hero! Seriously! You could have jumped down with us!” Jing argued as she got the last of the wreak off him and went over to grab his hat before back over to Bast. “Lets get you healed.”

Bast smiled faintly. He looked up at her, “Had to… save the others… and you, kiddo.” He said, voice fading.

“Don’t call me a kid. And saving everyone includes yourself. Remember that Bast.” Jing told him, picking him up easly with the help of her powers and heading back to the others as fast as possible.

He flinched as he was lifted off the ground, but managed a small smle. “Yeah… I’ll… try… to…” His eyes closed, and he grew limp in Jing’s grasp.

Jing went as fast as she could “Damn it Bast… I don’t care if you do come back. Don’t die today.” She said angerly and was soon back with the others.

Iris stood as she saw Jing approaching with Bast’s limp body, Silver biting his lip as he saw the bloodied, burnt body.

“He was alive when I found him…” Jing muttered, putting Bast down. “I’m not sure if he still is… Can you try healing him Iris?”

Iris nodded, kneeling beside Bast, nad praying to her goddess. Bast was still, and everyone held their breaths as Iris attempted to heal him. But while the wounds healed, Bast did not wake up. Iris siged, shaking her head. “He’s… he’s dead.” She said quietly.

Jing sighed quietly as she heard that. “Guess we wait till morning then.” She said, streaching a little then noticing the blood on her shirt. “Great… Thats going to be a pain to clean off…” She muttered quietly to herself. Lei watched everything quietly, having finished making the shelter for them all.

Dalit blinked, “What do you mean…? He… he’s dead!” The dragon looked at them in sadness and confusion.

Jing looked over Dalit, sighing quietly. “Right you don’t know… Bast and I are cursed. Death isn’t permanent. It only lasts until the sun rises.” She said before shrugging. “Sorry I forgot you and lei are new. Though you don’t seem surprised…” She said, looking at the draik. “Bast told me about it a few days ago…” Lei explained.

Iris nodded, but though they knew he’d be okay, Silver and Rena looked very upset. Silver moreso, reminded of his people. He crawled into the shelter quietly.

Lei watched Silver, sighing quietly. “We should all get some rest… since we will be traveling by foot now.” He suggested. Jing nodded “I’ll stay up on watch for now.” She offered.

The others nodded and soon all but Jing were asleep, exhausted.

Jing sat by the shelter in silence, once in a while looking at Bast’s body. She just wanted to see him wake up again, and wished the sun would rise sooner.