"I think I'm gonna be sick, Velara," Alva said.
"Myth busted," I replied.
We were standing behind the tavern. I held his hair back as he began to vomit.
Once the mess was cleaned up and he drank some tonic, we rejoined Uri and Talos by the horses.
"Look, guys," Talos said.
A white, featherless crow was perched on the hitching post. It wore tiny glasses and a cute little hat.
There was a note in its beak: Follow me for a handsome reward.
"Alright, let's go," Alva said, immediately mounting Celestia.
"Could be a trap," Talos warned, climbing onto Gabriel, "but we're well-equipped to face it."
This day had officially taken a strange turn.
I had so many questions—but curiosity overruled caution. I mounted Juniper and we followed the crow.
Where could this possibly lead? How do they know who we are? Where we are? What are we going to have to do?
And just how handsome was this reward?
The crow led us farther and farther toward the outskirts of the city. We traveled through a stretch of forest and past the swamp, until at last we reached the cliffsides several minutes later.
After spending the journey trying to guess our destination, we finally saw it come into view — an abandoned lighthouse, repurposed into a tower. It perched on the edge of an ocean cliff, a stone stairway winding up to a wooden door, its walls draped with patches of ivy.
There's no telling how long this has been here, abandoned. The few who'd ever come out here wouldn't give it a second thought. The perfect spot for a hideout.
I said a quick goodbye to Juniper and we stowed our horses among the nearby rocks and climbed the stairway, not knowing what to expect. Talos led the way, weapon at the ready, and the others followed suit. The crow fluttered through a hole higher up in the tower as we knocked on the door.
Immediately, it swung open at once, revealing an old man with a long white beard, dressed in a blue and yellow robe with a matching worn hat. He held a wooden staff.
He stared at us in shock, as if we were the living dead.
"Wha? You came? You see this, Mr. Feathersworth? People actually came!" he shouted.
The bird squawked.
"I know, I know. I was just being whimsical. Relax, Mr. Feathersworth."
What a cruel name to give a featherless crow.
"He had feathers when I named him," the old man said quickly.
My expression must have given me away.
"Anyway, welcome! Thank you for accepting my request."
"We're the Talos Party. And you are…?" Talos asked, scanning the room.
It was a compact circular room, its walls lined with wooden shelves stacked high with books, scrolls, and all manner of curious objects I'd never seen before. A staircase curved upward along the wall, leading to the upper floor. The place was unkempt, yet clean and strangely cozy.
"Welcome, Talos Party. I'm a Great Wizard. Well, I used to be anyway.
The difference between a wizard and a Great Wizard is that a Great Wizard has earned an accolade of mastery in a sect of magic, bestowed by the king himself. It's the highest honor a wizard can achieve. I could maybe learn something from him.
"What's your name, sir? And what do you mean you 'used to be'?" I asked.
"It's a long story — a tale for another time. And my name? Eh, who knows? Who needs a name when no one's around to call you by it? Just call me Wizard. Wiz. How's that?"
With each sentence he spoke, I grew more intrigued by him. I almost forgot our reason for coming here.
"Okay, Wiz," Alva said. "We followed Mr…"
"Mr. Feathersworth," Wiz corrected.
"Right. So what do we have to do for this reward?" Alva asked.
"Straight to the point, aren't you? Well, if you must be so hasty, I'll explain. I need cloudmites. They live in the Skylands. I'm too old to fight like I used to, and I can't find a party willing to attempt my quests anymore. Haven't even had company in years," he mumbled at the end.
"The Skylands? Where… well, what is that?" Talos asked.
"The Skylands are lands in the skies. But not our skies — the skies of another realm."
"So… another dimension? You use fairy magic?" I asked.
"Eh… yeah." He chuckled, scratching his head.
We all shuddered at once. The memory of that fairy dimension still haunted us. I surmised why he'd fallen from grace.
"Alright, well, thank you for the offer, but we'll be on our way now," Alva said quickly, turning for the door. "No fairies," he whispered to himself.
"Wait!" Wiz shouted. "I assume you've dealt with fairies before?"
"Uh, yes," I said. "We saw one open several oddly shaped portals in the sky. We swore never to deal with them again," I said.
"Well, I'm no fairy," the wizard said, lowering his voice. "And between us… they're the only things in this world that scare me. But I assure you—my portals are different."
"How?" Uri asked.
"They're ovals."
We all stared at him, dumbfounded — even Mr. Feathersworth tilted his head.
"Okay, okay," the wizard said, holding up his hands. "But rest assured, cloudmites are harmless. It's the golems you need to worry about. And the wraiths."
"Hold on a second," Talos cut in. "What even are cloudmites?
"And golems and wraiths?" I added.
"Cloudmites are just these cute little cloud-blobs," he said. "Adorable things. When squeezed, they let out the tiniest, bubbly squeaks." He demonstrated with an exaggerated squeezing motion.
"Now golems, It's been quite a while but I remember they are creatures that defend the cloudmites. You'll need to destroy them first. And wraiths are more…abstract. You'll need to stay on your toes."
"So we just get these cloud-blobs and we get a reward?" Alva asked.
"Precisely! A jarfull should suffice. You all look well-equipped. I assure you, you'll be fine. So — how about it?"
I had a feeling this was as much information as he was going to give us. But it was enough. We'd figure the rest out along the way. If he was really this lonely and desperate, there had to be sincerity behind the request.
We huddled, consulted quickly, then came to an agreement.
"Excellent!" he said. He raised his staff, and a shimmering oval portal began to form. Through it, the other side was nothing but clouds.
Talos nodded and started forward.
"Wait," I said. "How will we get back?"
"Mr. Feathersworth will go with you. He'll handle it."
Whatever that meant.
I lingered, still second-guessing.
"Come on! Don't I look trustworthy?" Wiz said, smiling to reveal a couple missing teeth.
No, actually. But we've come this far and Mr Feathersworth wouldn't lead us astray
The crow entered in first, as if to reassure me. Strange as it sounds, there was comfort in knowing he'd be with us.
With that we entered the portal.
As we passed through the cloud barrier, a breathtaking sight unfolded before us. Vast, flat stone islands floated in the sky, each with pools with waterfalls pouring from their edges and vanishing into the mist below, suspended above an ocean of clouds. The atmosphere was serene yet ominous.
For this being our first time in a new realm, the feeling could not have been more fitting.
Only waterfalls broke the silence.
We stood there, speechless, still trying to take in the sight.
We were actually in another realm.
"Squawk!" cawed Mr. Feathersworth, snapping us out of our trance.
"Right," Talos said. "Let's go find these golems."
We kept walking across the stone platform while the bird stayed behind, clouds drifting through us as we searched for whatever these golems were supposed to look like.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a fiery red humanoid burst into form and swung an arm at us.
Talos took the hit off guard, stumbling back, though his armor kept him from being scorched.
The figure dissolved just as suddenly, vanishing into the air.
"What the…?" Alva muttered.
"Those must be wraiths," I said. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Talos grunted, pulling himself upright. "Wiz was right about staying alert. It came out of nowhere."
"And I can't even sense them," Uri added grimly.
Not only did we not know exactly what we were looking for, but now we also had these wraiths to contend with. This was going to be challenging.
"Let's keep going," Talos said.
We pressed on for a few more minutes, weapons ready and senses sharp. Then another wraith appeared—this one made of water—lunging at Uri. He barely dodged as it dissolved into the air.
Fire and water? Are these things elemental?
As we neared the end of the platform, we looked for a way to cross to the next one. A platform of clouds filled the gap between, but we weren't sure if they were solid enough to step on.
"So, uh… who wants to go first?" Alva asked.
"Shoot an arrow," I said.
He loosed one into the cloud. It bounced, then landed softly on top of it.
"They're bouncy?" Talos asked, surprised.
Uri didn't hesitate—he sprinted across the bridge, each step springing lightly until he landed safely on the other side with a grin. The rest of us followed, bouncing our way to the next platform.
It was surprisingly fun, but we forced ourselves back to focus.
As we began exploring, an ice wraith suddenly materialized and struck Alva. He collapsed to the ground, shivering, frost creeping up his arm. I hurried over, summoned fire, and melted the ice away before helping him to his feet.
The further we went, the worse it got. Wraiths appeared more often, forming faster and lingering longer, even striking multiple times before dissipating. Just dodging them wasn't going to cut it anymore.
That's when I devised a plan.
"Guys, we need to destroy these things. Let me see your weapons."
I enchanted Uri's daggers with fire, Alva's bowstring with water, and Talos' halberd with ice.
"Uri, you take the ice wraiths. Alva, the fire. Talos, the water."
They nodded, gripping their newly enchanted weapons, determination in their eyes.
Soon after, a fire wraith appeared. Alva loosed an arrow, and this time, instead of fading silently, it let out a soft cry and hissed as it burned away into steam.
"There we go!" Talos said.
Good thing I was skilled in elemental magic—otherwise, we wouldn't stand a chance.
More wraiths followed, each struck down by whoever had been tasked to fight them, the water wraiths froze then shattered and the ice wraiths melted then spilled to the ground.
Seriously—what would they do without me?
Minutes passed. Our strikes grew sharper and more coordinated while the wraiths' attacks thinned, until finally we came upon a cloud unlike the rest—dense and unmoving, anchored to the platform itself.
"A golem…" Uri whispered.
As we stepped closer, it began to take shape—expanding into a massive rounded square before sprouting legs, then arms.
"Don't let it finish!" Talos yelled, charging with his halberd still glowing with ice. He swung, but the strike passed through harmlessly as the golem continued assembling itself.
Alva and Uri struck as well, but nothing stopped it. The creature completed its form—two massive eyes and a wide, gaping mouth.
"Maybe it's the enchants!" Talos shouted, running back to me. I quickly stripped the magic from their weapons, but even unenchanted, their blows had no effect.
Then the golem's body swelled, its mouth widening as if to inhale.
Whatever it was preparing, we couldn't wait around to find out.
They pulled back, Talos raised his shield, and we instinctively fell in line behind him. The golem exhaled—an enormous, cool gust blasted against us. The shield caught most of it, but the force still drove us backward, inch by inch toward the platform's edge.
I glanced behind us. No cloud bridge. Just empty sky.
Talos jammed his halberd into the stone, trying to anchor himself, but it barely slowed the push.
Then an idea sparked in my mind.
We were nearly at the brink when the wind finally died.
Thank you, lady luck.
Without hesitation, I bolted toward the golem.
Weapons weren't working—so I'd try something else. I forced myself into its dense body, then channeled a surge of warm air outward through my palms.
The cloud thickened around me, heavier and heavier, pressing in until I could barely move.
Then, with a sudden rupture, the golem burst apart.
Hundreds of tiny cloud-blobs with adorable little faces immediately rained down from the sky, bouncing as they landed and releasing soft, bubbling squeaks.
So the cloud golems were cloudmites.
I suppose that technically counts as defending them. We did need to destroy it first.
As my party rushed over, scooping them up in awe, their eyes turned to me—half relief, half disbelief.
"What?" I said, brushing myself off. "You can't expect to master elemental magic without understanding basic meteorology."
I pretended not to like the attention. Were they finally recognizing my brilliance after all? Even in another realm, I couldn't escape being amazing.
As we filled a jar with cloudmites—and Uri amused himself by pocketing a few—we started heading back the way we came. That's when a squawk interrupted us.
I had almost forgotten about Mr. Feathersworth. Somehow he had managed to avoid every danger as far as I knew, yet still stayed close by. Clearly, this wasn't his first time here.
He sat on the ground, then tipped his hat off his head. It landed upside down, and from its interior a portal shimmered into view. On the other side was Wiz's house.
The crow does magic too? What else do we not know?
Without another word they stepped through.
I lingered again, taking one last look at the Skylands. Beautiful place… but odd. Cloudmites were cute, sure, but not cute enough to make me want to come back.
I also realized something else as I crossed the threshold: the wraiths had vanished once the golem appeared. Maybe they avoided golems—or maybe they were avoiding us. Whatever the reason, I was just relieved it was over.
Back in Wiz's house, the wizard was sprawled in a chair, fast asleep. Mr. Feathersworth squawked, and Wiz jerked awake with a startled "Huh—wha!"
"We got your cloudmites," Talos said, handing him the jar.
"Wow, that was fast," Wiz said, straightening himself. "You did a fine job. The Talos Party, eh?"
"So about that reward…" Alva said, rubbing his hands together.
"Oh, right!" Wiz said. "Well, now that I see how capable you are… how about one more quest for me?"
We exchanged uneasy looks.
I opened my mouth. "We just barely made it out of there alive, so I don't thin—"
"Oh, don't worry!" Wiz cut me off. "This one's more straightforward. Come back tomorrow if you need to sleep on it. The reward will be even more handsome now." His voice took on a pleading tone.
"Fine," Alva sighed. "Where do we need to go this time?"
Wiz's eyes widened. "The Land of Giants."