Chapter Two: Departure
"We must leave today, Argana." Said Vylon impatiently.
"Why? We still must finish packing." She replied.
"I am already packed. I moved the steel into the saddle last night. The tools are also ready. I even prepared gems for the trip." Vylon retorted flatly. He picked up the saddle, which, by the way he handled it, seemed rather heavy. He strapped it around Argana's neck, around the area where her spikes formed a gap at is base.
"What about the queen? She must be informed." Argana commented.
"I took care of that last night as well. She believes it is for the best. By the way, I also took out the scrolls that we will need and copied their contents. We will need the spells." Vylon commented as he climbed up onto the saddle.
"I wonder how Ajihad will handle the news of our departure." Argana said. She spread her massive wings, which were many times her body length. She thrust the massive wings down, and she took off. She quickly ascended above the trees. With each beat of her wings, the trees seemed to sway. She then angled herself south, and towards the Hadarac Desert.
"Now we take flight. Our destination, Beirland!" exclaimed Vylon with excitement. Argana shared his excitement, and began moving towards the edge of the forest. The trees seemed to rush past as she flew. Her speed was incredible. Within two hours, they were nearing the edge of the forest. At the edge, they saw the desert. It seemed to fuse with the sky when the dragon reached the edge of the desert. Instead of flying straight through the desert, they angled west, towards the western edge of the vast desert. It would be suicide to fly through the desert. They would stay near the edge, where the weather is more bearable.
The hours slowly melded into days as Argana and Vylon crossed leagues upon leagues towards the Beor Mountains. The behemoths came in view very soon, and when the foothills of the mountains were reached, they angled west towards Surda. They crossed Surda without any alarm. They landed at the first town they encountered and told them to send messengers to other towns in Argana's path not to panic when Argana passes over. They gave the messengers a week before they took off again, in order to make sure that the messages reached the towns ahead.
They reached the sea in three days, after resting at Aberon, Surda's capital. King Orrin was very generous, and gave Vylon and Argana the supplies that they needed in order to make it to Beirland without much discomfort. When they landed, the people in the town of Eoam began to panic, as though the king had come to obliterate the island. When the villagers were calmed, Vylon advanced to the cave where the Floating Crystals rested. As he entered the cave, he sensed magic that was far stronger than his.
Argana entered the cave soon afterward. Vylon rushed over to her and he took out the five eggs, a thick scroll, and a set of candles. He aligned the candles to form a pentagon around Argana and himself, then he lit the candle simultaneously with magic. He then opened the scroll, and began reading the spell. It was a long and complicated spell, and it took an hour to recite the entire spell. Vylon had then reached for the crystal's magic while simultaneously pulling another into the pentagon. As the crystal entered the pentagon, the flames from each candle then shot above the pentagon and collided right above the center of the pentagon. Then the flame descended onto the entire group, without burning anything. As the final flames went out, Vylon and Argana began feeling a weird sensation, as though they were being pulled through solid rock that had suddenly become liquid.
The sensation lasted for a long time, and then, when it stopped, they found themselves with one of the crystals standing on a large stone tower that overlooked the entrance to a large valley.
"We are here. We shall now have to plan on how to introduce ourselves." Vylon said, with a wicked grin on his face and a brilliant idea going through his mind.