Aethel scratched her head as she looked at the day’s plans. Her party, The Mappers, would be trying for their seventh venture into one of the floating cities. If their efforts in the past days proved fruitful, then they might just make it into the center of the city. It was something they all hoped for.

Despite their love for adventuring and these floating cities proving to be their greatest yet, it brought with it the hardships of a long campaign. Much like a war takes its toll on the fighters, this exploration took its toll on the adventurers. Aethel tied her hair up into a ponytail and resisted the urge to brush it. She looked at her greasy fingertips and frowned. When were the new supplies going to arrive?

“Aethel,” Kazuo entered the tent, “Good morning!”

She smiled. At least someone kept in high spirits. “Good morning to you too, Kazuo. Did you receive word on the supplies?”

“Aww. No need to be so stiff with me captain. But yes, I did. They should be arriving in an hour or so. Ah, by the way, the men have finished cleaning themselves. You and the others go ahead and wash up in the river.”

She gratefully left the tent to wash up.

Once the supplies arrived, Aethel’s party and the others who accompanied them geared up. Packing the things they needed, they headed towards the city. With multiple days dedicated to exploring and mapping out the eastern side of the city, they strolled through with few issues. Their numbers had depleted since the first expedition with six dead and ten injured, including Avie who stayed behind at camp with the others, but their morale was high.

Their first venture into the city left them in awe. It looked like the capital city of the Kaldora Empire but overtaken by nature. Dragon likeness decorated every important looking building and each hub of the fallen city.

Monsters roamed the streets. Some were alone while others crawled around in packs. Seldom did they attack each other. In all their ventures they had only seen it twice, a pack versus a single monster. The pack ended up dead while the singular monster tore their flesh off their bones.

Aethel shook her head at the monsters. More than once did the adventurers lose overly arrogant members to the monsters wandering around. No matter the rank of the adventurer, their strength, intelligence, or their knowledge, overconfidence meant death. Especially to these new monsters.

“Aethel, there are more of those stone sentries up ahead,” Norman, their most agile member and scout said. “We lost two people those things last time.”

Aethel nodded. She knew how much of a threat those things posed. Magic was nearly useless against them. Basic spells like fireballs and lightning bolts were simply absorbed and higher tier magic such as tomb, did little to damage or restrict their movements. If not for Norman’s discovery of a weak spot in their neck, Alyss would have been among the losses of the adventurers, either behind in camp like Avie or underground like many others.

Leaders of other adventuring groups gathered around as Aethel recalled the plan. “The Flowing Water party will drop down over there by the old tailor shop and act as a distraction. Lyla and Tygan from the Stone Skin party will continue casting earth magic to restrict their movements. From there, Norman and Golda, from the Mappers and Instinct parties, will leap onto the two sentinels and drop their bombs into their necks. If they’re still standing the archers will unleash a volley into the crystal and Kazuo and I will finish them off if that doesn’t do it. Everyone else is to pick off monsters that come too close and provide support where they see fit.”

The plan went almost as smoothly as planned. The members of Flowing Water easily held the attention of the mindless sentinels and their leader, Ignaas, made their attacks futile with his ability. Norman and Golda landed on their shoulders and threw their bombs inside the space between their body and head. The explosions tore off their heads and a good chunk of their stone bodies. One kneeled over while the other swung its spear wildly.

The archers on the building fired into the kneeling one, destroying it. The one swinging was much harder to deal with. The opening was too small. Aethel took little time leaping on top of the golem and shoved her sword through the crystal. Lyla and Tygan helped everyone back onto the rooftops with their magic.

It was their second experience with the stone sentinels and they had taken them down without a single loss or injury despite their plan being made in haste. Given more time, the adventurers would not break a sweat on fighting the soulless defenders.

But those weren’t the only kind of stone defenders. Aethel still recalled her run-ins with the ones in the inner part of the city. They were smaller, more agile, fighters similar to the knights of the Kaldora Empire. Though not as skilled nor able to use magic, they were fast, strong, and possessed unlimited stamina.

The engraved runes and blessing she had on her sword kept it from shattering.

Knowing her sword wasn’t the right tool for the job despite it being able to cut through the smaller stone fighters, Aethel also came with one handed warhammer in case her sword did break or got stuck.

Each step deeper into the city the adventurers took, the more excited they became. Aethel herself felt her heart beat faster, her breaths a little shorter, and her hands a little twitchy. The rumors that first came about when they discovered the city were just stories she had heard when she was a child. Now, it all seemed to be coming true.

How could it not be the floating cities? Everything pointed to them.The stone guards, the dragon statues, the aging buildings which still stood on par with those in the capital city, this place was the stuff of legends. And The Mappers, along with the other adventurer parties, were going to be the first to explore it.

Once again they would be able to hold their heads up high as they walked into the guild. Their names would ring true just like the time they conquered the Icy Labyrinth in the north. This time, her family might rejoice in her victory as well.

As they passed through the largest square of the city and headed towards the main building, other monsters began to appear. Some of the weakest monsters, goblins, walked around in groups as if patrolling the area. The packs of monsters from before were still there but they were larger in size.

The two groups of monsters tended to avoid each other but neither backed down if one picked a fight. Other kinds of monsters roamed the city as well. Haloras had nests in the trees around the walls of the city but sometimes they walked the streets. Near the northeast where the dead were buried, wandered a couple of liches. They weren’t abnormally powerful like the monsters but were still dangerous foes best handled with strong medium sized groups.

Despite the danger all those monsters posed, none were quite as dangerous as the sentinels at the heart of the city. They numbered six in total. While Aethel had previously taken one down, that one was missing a hand. How much of a difference would it make? Aethel had no idea. All she knew was that casualties were guaranteed if they rushed in, even with this many people.

Aethel and the others hoped to wait out whatever monsters stood in the way of them and the final building but then came the stone sentinels. They never tired and never moved from their post unless there was a threat. The bright side, however, was that they responded to any threat.

“Okay,” Aethel signaled to another party, “Just like we planned.”

They lowered themselves to the ground and went off in the other direction. They returned moments later with a pack of monsters and a halora chasing them. They ran into the square with the stone guards. Two of the four sent to lure the monsters quickly cast a spell and launched themselves into the air. The other two sunk into the ground and shot back out onto the rooftops.

While four of the six preoccupied themselves with the monsters, two focused on the ones in the air. Matthew and Jill bolted toward Aethel and the others. As they landed, Jill was met with a spear through her back. She collapsed.

The two stone guards leapt onto the building.

“Now!” Aethel shouted.

The Adventurers laid into the stone guardians with spells. Much like the bigger ones, they absorbed magic but not fast enough. With twenty-eight people laying into the two stone guards, some spells broke through. Staggered, Aethel, Kazuo, Ignaas, and other melee fighters stepped in to finish them off.

“Go on,” the leader of another party said, “She’s our party member. We’ll take care of her.”

Aethel nodded. The situation looked grim.

The monsters had been slaughtered and the stone guardians sustained no damage. Two ran after the halora, it could barely fly higher than the buildings and two ran after the fleeing pack, skewing them one by one.

The path was clear but it would only be a matter of time before the other stone soldiers returned. Aethel looked at the other leaders of the adventurers and held a quick discussion. With many of them witnessing the power of the stone soldiers for the first time, they came to the unanimous decision to pick off the soldiers while they were separated.

The halora would most likely take longer to kill than the beasts who are stuck to the ground. So they carefully followed the path taken by the pack and eventually reached an alley where the stone soldiers had covered the floor in blood and tainted the air with the smell of the dead.

Together in an enclosed area, it was perfect for Aethel and the others. They unleashed a flurry of spells and soon enough, the stone guards were weakened to a point where they were easily eliminated. Now all that was left were the other two who chased the halora.

“Instead of wasting time,” Ignaas said, “Let us explore that building and set up a trap if they enter. If they don’t then we can get the drop on them from behind. This should be the most efficient use of our time do you not agree?”

Aethel, though an adventurous one herself, didn’t want to go through with the plan. It left far too many risks. If more of those stone sentinels were inside the building then they could be sandwiched in between and suffer more casualties. However, she couldn’t suppress the urge to explore the inside.

She forced her voice out in opposition but stood down once other leaders joined in on his side.

In her mind, Aethel fought off her conflicted feelings and convinced herself there was nothing she could do but set up a good trap in case the two stone sentinels returned. With one less adventurer in their midst and uncertain of what lay inside, they left ten people by the door, five outside, and took the others in deeper.

The halls were decorated with paintings, vases, and other luxuries for the rich. And, despite the forces of nature tearing through many of the other buildings in the city, this one was void of any green life.

Kazuo and Norman went ahead of the exploring group and cleared the rooms for entry. Their initial hopes of treasures or knowledge disappeared but their sense of wonder heightened. What was so important that it needed those stone soldiers to defend? The ruler of the city was the obvious answer.

They reached the throne room. It was empty save for the usual decorations and some statues. Their eyes wandered around the room scanning for anything unusual. Ignaas broke from the group and examined the throne.

“What are you doing?” Alyss asked.

“The stories told of a man entering the cities with his servant in tow and stealing the crystal shard that held the cities in the skies. Though the lords who ruled these cities were of similar minds and did not have the same desire as men, so the stories say, they still split up the shard into even smaller pieces and gave one to each ruler so no one had more power.”

“Yes, yes. But what are you doing?” Alyss asked again. “That shard should be somewhere in this castle.”

“You Mappers are quite impatient aren’t you? I guess people of similar kind do gather around one another.”

Aethel snorted at the quiet jab. Someone noticed after all.

“I’m a bit different from the others here,” Ignaas said, “Background is entirely different. You see, my adoptive parents were elves. The elves have a slightly different version of the story, which they can attribute to their longer lives. Their version of the story doesn’t omit as much as ours does and isn’t as wrong either. The smaller shards obviously couldn’t be used as a way to keep them from fighting for power. Care to guess?”

“Stop playing around, Ignaas.” Geken, leader of the Instinct party, said.

Ignaas sighed, “The larger shard. To keep the cities afloat, the larger shard needed to be used, to be housed. The smaller shards were not to keep the peace but rather keep the cities in the sky while the larger shard changed hands. It charged the magic in one city then moved onto the next, over and over again. To keep the shard safe, they needed to place it somewhere one lord could always watch over it.”

“Thus the throne…” Alyss said.

“Correct.” He responded. “There might be some sort of hidden compartment in the throne… Here!” he pushed against one of the stone blocks making up the bottom part of it and the ground behind it quaked. The ground seemingly disappears and a staircase takes its place. Ignaas nodded and went through first.

Inside was a small chamber with only a pedestal in the middle holding onto a purple shard. Ignaas reached for it.

“Wait!” Aethel shouted.

“Ow!” he dropped the shard and it clattered onto the floor. “It burned my hand. Halie, give me a glove.” She ran over and gave him one from her sack. He picked the shard back up and held it for everyone to see. “Look at what we found.”

Excitement spread throughout the adventurers and even Aethel found it hard to stifle her joy. This shard would put the Mappers and all the other adventuring parties here in everyone’s minds. The kingdoms and the Empire would have no other choice than to pay full attention and divert their resources to the discovery of more cities.

“Let’s go show the others,” Geken said, rushing up the steps.

“I haven’t seen that old man run like that in years,” one of his party members laughed. “Glad he’s found something to be happy about again.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing quite like seeing your leader happy, isn’t that right, Norman?” Kazuo said.

“Course, Kaz. Seeing the girlish excitement on Aethel’s face was worth more than anything the guild could pay us. How long has it been? Five years?”

“Quit making fun of boss you two,” Claire chimed in. “You jokers have the same ear to ear grins.”

“Agreed,” Alyss said.

Aethel’s overflowing joy turned into relaxed contentment. This was the only thing she wanted more than finding treasure and fame, to have laughs with her friends.

However, that was dashed when a gut-wrenching scream echoed from the throne room. Up there they saw Geken, the leader of Instinct, impaled on a spear along with Tygan of Stone Skin. Four soldiers now blocked their escape route.

The two members of instinct that came along grit their teeth as they watched their leader’s lifeless body get thrown across the room. Aethel knew the amount of restraint they had to have in order to not charge in.

Kazuo charged up the stairs and swung at one of the stone sentinels. The blade caught in its arm. He activated one of his enchantments and the sword began vibrating. The sentinel leaped away but its arm was already gone.

Another sentinel grabbed at Kazuo but he ducked out of the way. The two members of Instinct immediately blasted it with spells. It had no effect. Their magic alone wasn’t enough and it threw its spear at them.

“Keep on your feet,” Ignaas says as he deflects it. “Four is too many, we need to escape. You understand, don’t you?”

The two members nod reluctantly.

Yves and Halie of the Flowing Water party hold one back with the help of Alyss. Kazuo, Norman, and Aethel push another away with the help of the other member of the Stone Skin party. With them working in sync, they manage to destroy one sentinel but take damage in the process with Aethel’s warhammer breaking in half and Kazuo taking a blow to his ribcage.

“One the count of three we focus on the one closest to the door,” Aethel shouted, “One, two, three!”

Kazuo, Norman, Alyss, Claire, and Aethel instantly clear the way, knocking the stone guard off its feet. Ignaas and the others rushed past. The fallen stone defender grabbed at Ignaas’s feet and yanked him back. The shard fell and the other two stone guards lunged to finish off Ignaas. Kazuo and Norman jump in to help.

Kazuo blocks the attack and kicks the stone sentinel away. Norman fights off his own and Ignaas rises to his feet. They close the door and the two Stone Skin members reinforce it the best they can with their magic.

“Is everyone okay?” Aethel asked, trying to calm her heart.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Ignaas said, as Halie supported him.

“Same goes for me,” Kazuo responded.

“Norman?”

He slumped to the ground with blood soaking his shirt. Kazuo threw Norman onto his back. “We must get moving, now!”

Aethel bit her lip and looked at Ignaas, “Throw me the shard, I’ll hold onto it.”

He shifted his gaze from her to Norman and complied. “Let’s go inform the others.”