‘Today I’m going to do it, I’m going to travel higher than ever before.’

Brian had never been as excited about any one thing in his life until today. For as long as he could remember, he had been using his fireball to continuously boost into the air, but always to a diminishing return. Now, however, he had finally managed to find a method of achieving virtually infinite height.

“That’s all well and good Brian, but what exactly do you hope to achieve now? You know you can only go so high before you’d choke, right?”

The umber rogue was the only one invited to this grand celebration, though more so because she was the only other person in their friend circle to appreciate the idea.

“There’s a rumor that, during the cold part of the year, a kingdom in the sky floats by in the clouds. I heard that rumor even before I knew had to gain lift, and with the cold weather being able to amplify my ability, I’ll finally see that kingdom with my own eyes!”

“Okay, but that’s just a rumor Brian. I doubt there’s some ‘sky kingdom’ up there. If there was, we would have seen someone fall to the ground or someone come down to greet us.”

The dragoon would not be dissuaded by his friend’s skepticism. “They can probably all glide. Or maybe they’re stuck in their kingdom somehow! Or maybe there are no people there at all. Or maybe-“

Adriana had begun to tune Brian out, instead glancing up at the winter clouds, a reminder that this weather, a slightly harsh breeze that was a little too much for summer wear, was the coldest the temperature got in Lumina.

“So what do you say?”

The rogue snapped out of her trance a little too late to play off the fact she was ignoring him. “What do I say to what?”

“Want to come find the kingdom with me?” The dragoon managed to remain excited, though he groaned inwardly.

“Eh, actually I’ll just sit here and wait for your report. I’ll be with you in spirit though!” She gave him a thumb up and a fake smile.

Shaking his head, Brian prepared himself for lift off. Crouching down, the dragoon soon rocketed off the ground. Once he was able to see over the walls, he felt his ascent begin to slow, his cue to begin. Forming two fireballs, he launched one under himself, returning to his natural velocity. He repeated this in rhythmic fashion, launching a fireball with his right hand while forming a new one with his left.

After a couple of rotations, Brian could see across all of Lumina, but the shapes of most buildings began to blur into the ground, becoming indistinguishable.

Another couple of rotations had the dragoon pass the cloud barrier. ‘Ugh, I hope that cloud kingdom is real, otherwise my arms are gonna fall off.’

Without thinking, Brian boosted off of a solid service, resting his arms and letting his legs do work. The condensation of the white blanket had made it impossible to see, leaving him to trust that he was flying head first into some ceiling or creature.

Water was quickly overwhelming the dragoon, his breath being stifled by a constant influx. Panicking, he began to wonder if he would find an escape. Would he risk the continued climb and hope for a break? Would he go back down and give up? Did he even have enough time to make it back? All of these questions were only augmenting the situation, but in an instant, they were dispelled.

Brian inhaled deeply, his eyelids springing up so that he could see what was happening. He had made it: in front of him was a vast field of soft white, the sun shining above him. He gently made his way to the surface, but to his surprise the surface was solid and stable. Growing content, he jumped, instantly regretting his decision until he landed, his body not sinking an inch below where it was the moment prior.

“I knew it! I knew this kingdom had to be r-“ he stopped, grabbing his head in pain. Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, he took deep breaths while letting himself adjust to the new altitude. It wasn’t unusual for high altitudes to put a damper on his excitement, but it was disconcerting as he knew not how high he ascended.

Regaining his senses, he could see the path ahead was white as could be. Walking on the clouds was surprisingly natural, until he faceplanted from a sudden drop. The fall didn’t hurt, the surface being what it was and fall being fairly small for the dragoon, but he had landed on something.

Pulling himself up, the blonde could see that under his chest was a bug, a white grasshopper, almost blending in with the cloud under it. Analyzing the bug, Brian jumped back in shock when it leapt straight up. Stretching its legs, the grasshopper bounced onward, leaving its assaulter to gaze in splendor.

“Wow, cloud grasshoppers? Hmm,” putting his brain to work, he had come up with a ‘brilliant’ name, “Cloudhoppers! Adriana will get a kick out of that. Or she might just kick me.”

A roar in the distance had knocked him out of his daze. Attempting to find the source, Brian’s eyes rested on a white, fluffy animal inflated like a balloon. As he drew closer, he could identify features belonging to a bear, yet this bear had a wide stomach and levitated above the clouds. “Hmm, how about air bear?”

Catching a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye, Brian spun around to see a grey lumpy log imitating a cloud. Able to distinguish the log from the clouds, he knew it must have been some time of alligator or crocodile. “Ah, an airigator! I’m becoming a real biologist. Er, maybe a taxonomist actually.”

Leaving the animals to their own devices, the dragoon felt the altitude get to him again. Returning to the hole he made, now far smaller and shrinking ever still, he began to consider leaving the exploration for another day.

“BWWWAAH” A roar erupted through the clouds, air bears and airigators began rising from their places of residence. It would be a sight to behold for the dragoon, but his vision was fading, and so too was his conscious, his body falling through the hole before it sealed.

“Uh, what was that?” Opening his eyes groggily, Brian was still on the cusp of consciousness as he realized he was free-falling, already having passed the bottom of the cloud collective. Fighting to remain awake, he summoned wind to slow his descent, but he could barely stop his acceleration toward the earth.

Summoning all the energy he could muster, he used both fire and wind to slow his descent even more. This idea worked briefly, long enough for the ground to become more recognizable. Without any warning, the fire and wind under him gave way.

‘Adriana, please help’ were his last thoughts before his mind faded back into the dark.

“Brian?! Brian!”

Slowly, but more energized than before, the blonde opened his eyes to see Adriana standing before him, in his home no less. “What happened?”

“You fell from the sky is what happened! Did you try to go to space?!”

“I saw it!” The dragoon sprang from his bed, ignoring his headache. “There were air bears, and airigators, and cloudhoppers!”

Adriana simply tilted her head, unable and unwilling to humor the amount of crazy leaving her friends mouth hole. “What are you talking about?”

“The clou-ow!” No longer willing to be ignore, the headache had finally gotten the dragoon to reel back in agony and quiet down. “The cloud kingdom. I managed to get there. There were white bears and grasshoppers, and grey alligators in the clouds. Oh yeah, and the clouds were solid enough to walk and jump on.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just hallucinating? Even if what you saw is real, why did you go unconscious?”

“High altitude.” He wasn’t embarrassed to admit he had fallen from natural causes, but something in his memory irked him, making him want to retract that statement. “There was also a large roar!”

“A large roar? Like, what kind? Bears are pretty loud.”

“No, this thing must have been some kind of dragon or something. The roar was deafening, and the animals went berserk.”

“A cloud dragon?”

“I don’t know. I simply heard it before I passed out. I don’t even know where it was, just that I heard it.”

“Well, unfortunately, this weather only comes once a year, so the cloud kingdom is probably bye bye for another 365 days. I guess we got a year before we fight a dragon.”

“Be honest Adriana, do you believe me?”

“Brian, we’ve fought giant boars, a ground worm-wyvern thing, killer plants, giant birds, giant scorpions, incompetent thieves, and kids who could turn into extinct devil species. A cloud kingdom is probably the most logical thing we’ve encountered.”

“I suppose you’re right. Thanks for saving me.”

“You’re welcome. But next time you think about doing something dangerous,” she paused to give him a stern glare, “take someone with you. I promise, no matter how ridiculous, I’ll go if it means you stay safe.”