The shockwave that removed the roof was almost enough to slam Apex into the other wall of his cell, but he managed to dig his claws in just enough to keep that from happening. Based on the grunt across the hallway, Nero hadn't been so lucky.
He could only tell the ceiling was gone thanks to his wind-sense. The salty sea air flowing in, tinged with the smell of burnt wood and burning flesh accenting the scent. Apex stood, panting in the middle of his cell with his eyes closed. His eyes burned, but now he had a new thought to preoccupy his mind: escape.
"Apex, hold on. I'm on my way." There was the sound of splintering wood, and one of the bars of Apex's cell fell over. He heard Nero getting closer, felt his presence approach with wind-sense. Felt a hand on his shouler-
Don't touch me!
Apex flinched at the contact, but didn't lash out. He extended one wing as far as it could go, tapping it against Nero's upper arm.
"This way, we'll find the lifeboats," Nero said. He began leading Apex down the hall, his tail occasionally bumping against Apex's hind legs.
Apex moved slowly, hobbling on three legs. He held the statuette Ch'Tara had carved for him in his fourth paw, keeping it close to his chest as he moved.
We're slowing him down, he would be better without us.
No. He's choosing to stay with me. If he felt endangered he could go.
He'd better not leave us to die here!
The conflicting thoughts bounced around in Apex's mind, causing him to stop and wince at the sudden headache. He didn't want to slow Nero down, but he didn't want to die here. He felt guilty and terrified.
"Apex, are you okay?" Nero's voice felt like it was coming from far away, even though the naga was right next to him. "We need to keep moving."
"Sorry," Apex gasped, taking a deep breath to try and steady his breathing. Something was burning nearby, the smoke clouding his nostrils and the heat uncomfortable on his flank. He let out a sharp breath, shielding himself from the smoke for a few moments. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Nero soothed, "We'll get out of here."
Something big moved nearby, and Apex stopped moving for a moment to try and figure out what it could be. It loomed above him, moving slowly around corners. It was light on its feet, leaving no vibrations through the floor, but it disturbed the air enough for his wind-sense to pick it up.
Run! Hide! Don't let it eat me!
"Tiny one. Serpent. You are in danger."
Apex's breath hitched. He recognized the voice. Soft, surprisingly coherent, and altogether terrifying.
"Back off, Arachne!" Nero put himself between Apex and the giant spider. Unarmed, he would stand no chance. "You'll not eat either of us today!"
"Though I am hungry, I am not here to harm you. The ship is descending, and you are not moving fast enough." A four-fingered hand wrapped around Apex's torso, gently lifting him into the air. He thrashed for a moment, trying and failing to escape her grip. "Shhh… I will protect you, tiny gift-giver. Your kindness is remembered and appreciated."
Apex stilled, remembering his first day on the skyship. "You remembered?"
"I do not forget." With that ominous statement, he felt Arachne begin moving. "Serpent, follow. We must ascend in order to escape."
"Why, what are you planning?" Nero asked.
"If no small-ships can carry me, I will create a balloon. The ocean has enough updrafts to carry me to shore. I can bring you, if you would like."
"...I'll try my luck with a ravage."
"Nonetheless, we must ascend."
Apex felt himself rising, and wood splintered elsewhere. The mindless gibbering of grublins let him know that the horrible creatures were rapidly approaching, and Nero swore.
"Let me get my…" Nero swore again. "No time. This will do."
"What's happening?" Apex asked nervously.
"Just arming myself with what's on hand. Grublins hate fire." Nero moved away. "You keep going. I'll catch up."
"Wait, Nero!" Apex protested. The naga didn't stop moving. "Nero don't!"
"Get out of here, Apex! Get to your friend and get to Warfang!" Nero's voice got quieter. "Win your battles, and I will win mine!"
"We must move, tiny one. I am sorry." Arachne pulled Apex away. "The ship descends ever faster. He is aquatic, he will survive."
And Arachne lifted him up and away from the cells. He felt the full breeze on his face now, mixed with the heat of raging fires. There was shouting and chaos, and several bipedal forms approached Arachne at speed. She swept them aside, continuing to climb. She must have been going up a mast, because everything else dropped away beyond his wind-sense.
As Arachne reached the top, she began to weave something together. Apex couldn't tell what it was without his eyes, his wind-sense wasn't precise enough to pick up spider silk. But based on her earlier explanations, it must have been a balloon. But… wait. That wasn't normal.
Stop her!
"Wait!" Apex shouted, "Don't balloon yet! There's something wrong with the air currents!"
Arachne stopped moving, holding still at the top of the mast. "What do you see with your wind-eyes?"
"Some kind of… disturbance." Apex furrowed his brow, focusing. He hadn't had to use his wind-sense much in the arena, and it wasn't as keen as he was used to it being. "It's… a tunnel?"
"I see. There are two more winged ones approaching."
"Dragons?"
"Yes."
As if from nowhere, moving faster than air friction should have allowed, two huge shapes entered the range of Apex's wind-sense. They were undeniably dragons, and adults based on the size of their forms. One was bulky, muscular, while the other was sleek and lithe. It was the latter that bent the wind around their form, creating the wind-tunnel that had allowed them to approach at such impossible speeds.
"I told you there was something here," A female voice said.
"And I believed you," Her companion replied, a deep but soft-voiced male, "It was the council that wanted proof."
"Well it's a good thing we didn't wait on them, isn't it?" The female said. The two dragons were circling for the moment, but now they stopped to hover.
"Large dragons!" Arachne called out. Apex felt himself being lifted upwards. "This small one is badly injured."
"Oh!" The male dragon came closer. "Oh no. What happened here?"
"Scorpions," Apex mumbled to himself.
"I do not know," Arachne answered, "But the ship is sinking and something has ignited its wooden structures. This one needs help, and quickly."
Large claws extended towards Apex, and he was passed from one set of hands to another. It was humiliating, being passed around like a baby, but he couldn't see and couldn't fly, and it hurt to walk.
"I got him," The male dragon rumbled, "Is there anyone else who needs immediate attention?"
"Who set off the beacon?" The female dragon asked, "It was still going for a while but it turned off when we got closer."
"Null," Apex croaked, his throat dry, "Where's Null?"
"Who's Null?" The dragon carrying him asked.
I love him.
"My best friend," Apex said, biting back the instinctual response he wanted to say, "Where is he? He's not strong enough to go alone. I need to protect him."
There was a moment of silence between the adult dragons, then the female spoke. "He's delirious, probably from pain. You, spider. Where would another dragon be?"
"I do not know. I have seen a small winged one, smaller than this one, in the corridors. But it has not been there in recent days."
"The beacon," Apex gasped, "Null's so smart. So smart. He made the beacon."
"...Well, it's our best bet," The male dragon said, "I think the beacon was over there?"
"Let's go."
"I must retrieve a serpent from below, then I will take all thinking creatures from this ship. Take care of the tiny one. He has a beautiful heart."
Arachne moved down, and at the same time the two adult dragons started flying in a different direction. Apex was only aware of the rushing wind, too far from anything else to get a good sense of the world around him. They came to a stop shortly after, descending as well.
"Oh, it's some kind of office," The female dragon said, "Or, it was. This looks like the epicenter of the explosion."
"There's a bug in the corner here. Barely alive, by the looks of it. Absolutely burnt out on magic, though. Whatever that explosion was, it was nasty on multiple levels," The male added.
"Null," Apex mumbled, "Where's Null?"
"I'm not seeing anything else over here. Just mangled metal and scorched wood." Something fell over. "Oh, and a taxidermied dragon. Wonderful."
"Found him." The female's form dipped for a moment, then rose back up. There was a familiar nothingness in her claws, dangling limply. Null. "He was in a corner, unconscious."
"I didn't even sense him. He must have felt the brunt of the explosion to have absolutely no magic like that."
"You remember what Cyril said, right? Just because you've learned a new skill -,"
"- Doesn't mean I should neglect my old ones. Right. Still, even the bug over here has a little bit… Whatever. The ship's getting too close to the ocean, we should get out of here."
"Wish we could do more…"
"We've saved two lives that would have died otherwise. That's a lot."
"... You're right. Let's go."
The adult dragons rose up, and wind magic whirled around them. Apex could feel the wind tunnel form, a blast of air clearing the way before a slipstream formed and immediately pulled both adult dragons into it.
There was nothing but the whistling of wind in his ears for a while, but eventually he heard the female speak.
"Something's wrong."
"What is it?"
"He's getting heavier."
"Heavier? That's not possible."
"That's why I said something's wrong."
"Do we need to stop?"
"No, we need to get to Warfang as quickly as we can."
"...Are you sure? You look exhausted."
"Just… winded."
There was a snort from the male dragon, followed by a groan from the female.
"Not what I meant."
"We can stop if you're not feeling well," The male assured, "We can still get there quickly if you take a few moments to make sure you don't collapse."
"I'm fine."
Apex could hear her heavy breathing now. The edges of the wind tunnel were getting tighter. He felt it tug at his clawtips, and he tucked his legs in. Something was wrong.
"...I'm not fine."
"Should we-"
"Slipping!"
"No no no no-"
Bits and pieces of sound were eaten by the wind as the tunnel began to constrict. Tucking in his legs wasn't enough now, they felt like they were being pulled from their sockets. The male dragon's grip was loosening, Apex being pulled from his grasp by the failing wind tunnel.
"Can't - drop!"
"Hold - !"
"Help!"
A tiny, almost imperceptible form dropped from the wind tunnel.
Catch him.
Apex forced himself from the claws holding him aloft, to the sound of two screams. He didn't hear anything else, dropping through the air as he was. He couldn't hear anything but the rushing of the wind and his heartbeat in his ears.
Catch him!
His wings were still bound. He needed his wings to catch Null. He couldn't let Null hit the ground. He couldn't.
Catch him!
Apex wasn't sure when he snapped the braces, his wings screaming in pain. The figurine in his paw snapped, two tiny wings dropping from his grasp. Apex accelerated, descending faster and faster and faster.
CATCH HIM
Claws outstretched, Apex's forelimbs wrapped around a small shape. Scales met scales as he pulled Null to his chest. Then he stretched out his wings -
They didn't work. There were enormous tears in his wing membranes, from the braces bolted to his wings. They wouldn't slow him down.
SAVE NULL
He held Null to his chest, using his torn wings to orient the smaller dragon above him. He plummeted back-first towards the earth. He had no more magic, all of it exhausted from his descent and now his contact with Null. He had no wings, the holes too large to provide resistance. All he had was himself. He fell towards the green -
SURVIVE