Chapter 86 - Flight

The few hours went by quickly as Zell continued to practice his gravity and breeze magics. Sunea returned to him with his cloak in hand. Zell was sitting above the ground with his legs crossed and eyes shut.

"You have greatly improved, young man." Sunea said as she watched him float.

Zell opened his eyes to look at her and maintained his hovering. "Thanks." He replied. "It took a while to get used to the feeling of weightlessness but after you get over that it isn't so bad." He looked in her hands and saw the new cloak. It was long and midnight black with a navy-blue inseam. "Is that my new cloak?"

"Yes, it is." She answered opening it up so that he could get a better look at it. "If you wear this cloak you will be in little danger if you lose focus while you fly. Just channel some mana into it and it will stiffen into a glider."

"Thanks for that." Zell said, while putting his feet down back on solid ground. He walked over and took it from the dragon and put it on. He admired himself the best he could without a mirror. "I think it looks good on me."

"The important thing is that it is functional." Sunea said. "Run some mana through it and see if it works as intended. It is better to test it now with your feet planted on the ground, than up in the sky falling to your doom. Although honestly I am not sure falling at terminal velocity would even injure you at your level."

"Let's not find out." Zell said as he started to pour his mana into the cloak. The fabric straightened out as he did so and became as a triangular wing upon his back. "Looks like it is working."

"Okay stop feeding it mana and see if it returns to normal." Sunea said.

Zell lifted his hand from the cloak, and it fell back into place with a bounce as it had become a soft fabric once more. "This cloak is really incredible." He said, impressed by the gift. "I really cannot thank you enough."

"There is but one thing we elders ask in return." Sunea said. "When you return from the land of the white dragons, wherever they are. Tell us their location. The war was so long ago, we only wish that all dragons live together in peace on this isle and not interfere with the lives of mortals."

"Isn't that exactly why they left?" Zell questioned. "They wanted to live as mortals and not as dragons. I mean I will tell you because I owe you for this gift, but I hope you will do the right thing and leave them in peace."

"We will think on what you said." Sunea said. "Now go and fly East and find our long-lost kin."

"Thanks." Zell said as he started to lift off from the ground. He looked to the Eastern sky and began to move towards it. As he left the safety of the isle the raging ocean below him filled him with a bit of dread. Even if he would glide down an ocean landing would be less than ideal. Also, he remembered he had to go through that storm once more.

He hovered over the ocean for a moment with the isle to his back while he thought about what to do. He decided the best course of action would be to fly at a high speed so that the storm did not distract him. He rolled his head to crack his neck and flew off at high speed. The excessive g-forces from his acceleration would have killed someone not of his level. Four loud booms could be heard as soon as he departed at high speed.

He made it through the storm faster than he could blink and the ocean was a blur beneath him. Realizing he got through his worry he slowed his speed to a stop by forcing the wind the opposite direction. As he came to a stop over a hundred miles East of his starting location, he looked down at the ocean below him.

He saw a small archipelago that looked like it had cities throughout it. "How interesting." He said as he looked down at the different cities. He was trying to decide which would be the best candidate for the white dragons. He picked the one that looked the largest and flew down to it.

He found a grand city with buildings made of coral and busy streets paved with shells and sand. The people were dressed in colorful togas. As he landed the people panicked and ran screaming.

"Hey it's okay!" He said as he made contact with the ground. "You don't have anything to fear from me."

They ignored his words. A human who could fly through the sky and appeared from nowhere was unknown to these people. Men rushed down the street wearing armor made of the scales of various sea creatures and wielding tridents.

"Why is it always guards." Zell said, sighing. "I should really work on my entrances."

"You there!" One of the guards yelled. "Who are you?! What do you want with our small peaceful home?!"

"As I said I mean you no harm." Zell said, putting his hands up. "I am only searching for someone, and my search brought me to your island."

"Who are you looking for?!" the guard yelled, still very suspicious of Zell.

"Well, I don't know who they are exactly." Zell said. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about dragons, would you?"

The guards looked at each other as they considered Zell's question. "So, you have come to challenge our emperor who is said to be descended from the divine heavenly dragons? I am afraid we cannot allow that. We swore an oath to our emperor and our kingdom, we will never let anything harm him!"

They all started to rush towards Zell with their tridents drawn.