The flight was unlike their first in the sense that they didn't run into a storm, the only time they changed their altitude at all was when flying over mountains or whenever they came near a settlement, airships were still in their early stages and the fewer people knew about them the better.

In the meantime they had spent their time with various card games or board games that Shadow projected. As the journey went on they gradually transitioned to just looking down through the glass floor and observing the landscape below, they occasionally ate and drank from the on-board storage.

In the late afternoon Fire spoke up: "TehLulz, freeZe, how are you holding up?"

freeZe spoke first: "Aside from the pain when breathing, just fine. I'm already better than I was in Rockhaven, not much though, just a little."

TehLulz was sitting in his seat with his eyes closed, they had to strap him into it so that he wouldn't fall over. He slowly said: "As long as I don't open my eyes it's fine. Once I do everything starts spinning. Still can't muster any strength in my limbs." He then added: "About how much longer will this flight go?"

Fire looked over to the pilot's cabin, Brad caught his gaze. He stood up and left the cabin, Laura would take over the airship's controls in the meantime. Brad said: "Just two or three more hours, then we should be at the edge of the jungle. From there on you'll have to give me directions, I don't know the exact coordinates of your base." Brad then asked: "What's your next destination by the way?"

Fire said: "The stronghold under the Whitegravel Mountains, it's a bit more than a week of riding from my base, then we'll have to convince the local authorities to let us use the tunnel to get to it."

Brad scratched his beard. "We don't have a liaison over there, they don't like us drandinians much since we are in direct competition to their own mining operation."

Shadow said: "That shouldn't be a problem, for all they know we're yet another group of foolish adventurers who want to try to kill the dragon. They don't really interact with the world outside of trading, I don't think they even know who I am. They'll probably ask for a hefty fee but that'll be that."

Fire nodded. "Adventurers are their second biggest source of income."

Brad said: "What I'm getting from this is that it would probably be a bad move to roll up to their front door in an obviously drandinian airship."

Fire said: "Exactly. Though according to some very interesting things we recently learned, time isn't as big of an issue anymore."

Brad seemed to guess what Fire meant, he asked: "You really think they disengaged the safety mechanisms?"

Shadow said: "Absolutely positive. Otherwise the incident at the eye in Rockhaven wouldn't have happened."

As one of the earliest members of the server Brad knew a great deal about what the scientists did and thus he also understood the implications.

He asked: "When do you think they did it?"

Fire shrugged. "That's hard to say, all we have as a frame of reference is Rockhaven. It could have happened at any point while I was in the quarry, all that I know is that I'm still alive and will remain that way for a while, even if they only disengaged them a short time before we came to Rockhaven."

Brad said: "I suppose that's good."

Fire said: "It may lead to some problems later down the line but we can't predict those, for now it allows us to continue with our mission."

Brad didn't answer, he just nodded and returned to his seat in the cabin.

Two and a half hours later the lush green trees of the jungle were below them. Brad had stopped the engines and now took directions from Fire, a minute later he had the airship pointed the right way using the gyroscope. Brad then pushed the thrust lever forwards and brought the airship back up to speed. Another half hour later they had reached their destination, which looked just like any other patch of jungle. Of course, this specific patch of jungle was just an ethereal projection above the entrance to the base.

Shadow said: "We drop here."

Brad asked: "Should I bring us down a bit?"

Shadow shook her head: "No, I can guide the fall well enough."

Brad said: "Alright."

Fire had meanwhile opened the door of the passenger cabin, a steady wind was blowing outside but the airship stayed firmly in place.

The others got out of their seats one by one and lined up at the door, with the exception of TehLulz who was magically lifted out of his seat by Shadow.

Fire said: "Thank you for taking us here Brad, I really appreciate it."

Brad replied: "Eh, don't mention it. I needed to test the upgrades to the airship anyways and if I can do that while helping some friends out that's even better."

Laura said: "Good luck on you mission."

Without further words Fire jumped out of the airship, he fell downwards in a straight line, Shadow's magic keeping him on the right track. Behind him he saw Ambigious, freeZe and Unchosen jump out as well, though with a bit of hesitation. Shadow and TehLulz followed immediately after them.

Fire liked free falling, he liked the wind on his scales and the feeling of weightlessness. This was just like jumping down the stairs of the quarry, only that it lasted longer. The roof of the jungle was rapidly approaching, when Fire reached it he passed right through. Once through the projection he quickly slowed down and gracefully set down on the grass.

Only seconds later the others landed next to him.

"That was fun!" Ambigious shouted.

Unchosen seemed a bit shaky on his legs but hesitantly agreed.

The only one who didn't actually land was TehLulz, he was still floating a meter above the ground.

He asked: "Shadow, why didn't you do that when we left Rockhaven?"

Shadow replied: "I don't feel comfortable casting such spells on people I care about while I am in my unbound form, if I'm not careful I could tear a hole in reality. The scientists' restrictions may not entirely prevent me from using Void magic anymore but they still make it difficult."

Fire had gone ahead to the small wooden hut that was the entrance to their base, the others followed after him. Once again they descended into the depths of the world on the richly decorated elevator. After a few minutes they had reached the entrance hall.

freeZe pointed to a new engraving. "Hey, that's us!"

Shadow said: "I told you the demon would be done by the time we're back."

The engraving showed the six of them walking through the jungle, the four warriors in their armor and the two mages in their robes.

Ambigious said: "I'll have a better look later. Now I need to have a good look at the backs of my eyelids, night everyone."

With those words Ambigious went ahead, without doubt towards the living quarters, freeZe and Unchosen quickly followed.

TehLulz asked: "Shadow, mind levitating me to my bed as well?"

Shadow nodded and TehLulz floated after his friends.

Now alone with Fire, Shadow asked: "When you said that disengaging the security mechanisms would lead to some problems, you had something specific in mind, didn't you?"

Fire nodded. "Yes. Those problems might present themselves if the hackers stop their attack before we get the Ban Hammer."

Shadow asked: "What kind of problems would those be?"

Fire said: "Don't know. We never tested what would happen if the server was allowed to run without a speed limit while so many people are connected."

Shadow pointed ahead and asked: "Should we tell them?"

Fire thought for a moment, then answered: "Not yet, right now they need to recover and prepare for the fight against the dragon. We don't even know what the effects will be, if it becomes relevant at all. They'll be safe with us even if it happens, I know that much."

Shadow said: "True."

Fire said: "However, I'd like to tell someone else about it who very well could be affected by it, I have a promise to uphold. Would you mind conjuring up a communication orb? I'll dial."

"Sure."

Shadow raised her hand and in her palm appeared an iridescent ball of light. Fire took it from her and dialed using the demonic language. The orb then established a connection to the Eye-and-Claws safe house in the cold biome near the Witch's Cauldron.

It hadn't been an easy talk but Fire had said everything he needed to say. After terminating the connection he too started walking towards the living quarters, he still needed a few days to fully recover from the silver wound.