Storms of Truth (HIATUS)

17 (REVISED)

FALORA

"We should be getting in view of the temple!" Alex called from the wheel and coasted along the clouds. Falora kept her sketchbook in hand and traced the movements of the sky. Mist thinned around her and the sails reflected off the bright, sunlit sky when they pushed through one, thick tuft of cloud. Falora tried to catch the angles and lines, but huge, piercing shadows tore out of the columns of white. Massive spires came into view. Grey archways of stone which connected an archipelago of sky islands. Cascades fell over them, creating veils within the entrance ways. The temple stretched from island to island with huge lightning towers at the different peaks. In the middle, the sigil of a hurricane to create pathways, where a giant skycore floated between them, cracked. Mountains created a protective barrier around some of the islands, and she drew them to her memory.

"Alex?" Zyle asked from one of the upper levels, a pair of binoculars against his face.

"Yes?" Alex lifted his head.

Zyle twisted one of the dials on its side. "I can see an airship through some of the clouds."

"Oh?" Alex shifted one of the sails from the wheel. "What standard are they flying?"

"None."

"If they have no standard, I'd have to guess pirates." Alexavier tugged on the levers closest to him. The Vortex took a steep incline into the floating peninsula through massive, cracked circles which led the way deeper into the temple. Turbulence hit the airship with a taste for vengeance and a gale of a barrier smacked against the airship's. Her ears popped, but they broke through to the second gateway. Celestial Draconic looped around the circumference of grey marble and Alex made another push. Cloud Sails stretched further out of the mast. At the railing, Orilion stood in eerie silence as they cracked the next gate, but he drew his attention over the broken pieces of history. Undisturbed by the turbulence, he twisted his head around, a flash of beaded pupils expanding the cyan of his irides.

It was recognition on his face.

Into a wide maw of marble and a giant landing strip meant for dragons, the Vortex landed with ease. "We're going to have to hide out here until they pass. I don't think they're bold enough to enter this place." Alexavier withdrew the cloudsails back into the mast and the aethergine's hum died in her ears.

"And what if they don't leave?" Falora asked.

"You wound me, Miss Falora. You speak as if I don't come prepared for any eventuality," Alexavier said with a steep bow. "They may be armed — but so are we." He unlatched a gun from his belt and handed it to her grip first. "Aim it right and this little thing will give them the punch of their life." He shimmied past her to drop the gangplank. "We're going to take a couple days to do some repairs after that storm as well, so, hope you like some temple diving adventures."

Wouldn't be my first time. Falora tread onto the moss-covered skystone. A cold breeze swept through the temple, a breath of the world. Her sketchbook slid into her hand, and she readied herself to draw out her memories, but stopped when someone called out to her from the deck of the airship.

"Oh, before I forget!" Alexavier called down to her. "There might be spooky sky ghosts haunting this place! Be careful." He giggled and disappeared over the edge as Orilion crawled down the gangplank in what appeared to be a trance. Falora reached out to stop him, but he drew himself to the edge of the opening instead to stare out into the cloudlands.

So much history, left beauty untouched in the sky. Pillars reached dizzying heights. Mosaics scattered across the inner roof and against the cliff face which led to the main heart of Asen'Orilion's temple. Falora shuffled over to one of the smaller pillars which held a familiar, storm core conduit. Her fingers brushed it, but unlike the previous, it did not respond with images. Jolts of electricity swept up her skin instead, and she committed it to memory and put pencil to paper. Until Orilion's shape moved past her to stare at the massive crack across the island which made its way through the cliff and straight through the uppermost levels of the temple.