This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Chiyoko felt the island decompress and spring up, as if a weight was lifted off its shoulders. She relented her force against the bottom side, allowing the castle to slow to a halt in the sky, levitating there as it spun in place. After a few moments, gravity quickly overtook their momentum and the island began to fall. Lev was quick to take back the reins, keeping the vessel from sinking back down into the storm.
Coughing, Chiyoko raised her head. It was sunny. Blistering bright compared to the murky storm. The two mages squinted as they gazed around, disorientated. Perplexed. Where were they? Where was the storm? The sun circled them up above, their shadows dancing around them.
Senses regaining, Chiyoko heard the roar of distant winds. As she straightened, she felt water run down her body, her soggy cloak like a heavy blanket on her shoulders.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Lev began. He stood up and put his hands on his hips. “We’re above the storm!”
Chiyoko was speechless, still tired and aching. The warm sun on her face curtailed her misery, being soaked through with her hair stuck to her scalp.
“Quite different up here, hey?” he laughed.
“Never would I have imagined…”
As the castle’s spin slowed to a halt, so too did the sun, stopping dead behind them.
She groaned as she turned and leaned back on the turret wall, spreading her legs in front of her and laying her arms limply to the sides. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
“Well…” Chiyoko panted. “I suppose you were right… Your castle can withstand a storm…”
She heard him expel and hearty laugh. “Certainly, dear! And well done to you, my dear!”
“I will take my leave here,” she sighed. “I do not suppose you need my aid anymore.”
“Right! I will take it from here!”
Chiyoko felt the world jolt as the castle began to move again. A warm breeze blew over her body, slowly drying her and her clothes. The sun sapped her strength, easing her tired muscles.
When she opened her eyes again, she realized she had fallen asleep, as the sky was now a deep orange. Lev was still standing in the center of the allure, hands crossed across his chest, looking outwards. Chiyoko stood up and walked towards him.
“Good morning, Chee-yo dear! Slept well?”
Chiyoko, rubbing her eyes, looked up, drowsily shocked. “Is it morning already?”
“No, it is sunset.” He was just jesting with her.
“Ah.”
“But I would not blame you, dear!” he laughed. “You deserve a good rest!”
“Yes, very funny,” Chiyoko quipped. “I am not a child.”
“See that in the distance, my dear?”
Looking ahead, she saw a smooth plane of clouds flowing under them, like a calm sea of clouds. However, up ahead on the horizon, the clouds rose again, above this plane, seemingly forming a massive wall of swirling winds.
Chiyoko frowned in confusion. “What’s going on over there?”
“I reckon that is our destination,” Lev declared. “The first flying castle… The legendary floating fortress.”