Up in the Clouds
She gasped with excitement and shouted over the noise of the propeller: "The islands in the clouds are real!".Helena leaned over the basket of the hot air balloon too see the bottom of the floating mass. The magical sensation running through her body made her feet begin to lift off the floor. Captain YoloSwag began landing the balloon on one of the levitating monoliths. This proved to be extraordinarily difficult as the islands were swaying as if caught in a wave. The setting of the basket echoed with a hollow thump throughout the rock heap. Helena, Captain YoloSwag, and Pippy the dog all exited the woven sack. Pippy sniffed the ground furiously, curious with the strange smells, completely foreign to any Earth examined before by the pup. His ears perked up as he caught the reverberations emanating from the core of the island. The Captain noticed his companions behavior, and took a note of the dull noise: "Helena, do you hear that? It sounds like a vibration, it's pulsating. It gets louder if you stand over here."
She moved closer to YoloSwag to get a better listen to the tone. She became aware that the noise did become louder, so she led the Captain and Pippy farther on until the echo was heard louder than a drum. The noise could be heard out of a large hole in the ground. The crew made its way to take a look down the hole, but moments before the captain's head was over the opening, a 50-foot torrent of fire was released from the pits below. The immense heat felt from the blast cause Yoloswag's left side the get mildly burned, removing any hair that was visible before.
Just as the flames went out on the captain's clothes, a bellowing roar was heard from the pits below. It reminded Helena of an elephants and lion roar heard simultaneously. Just as the noise ceased, a fracture appeared in the ground. Slam after slam shook the island as the great beast below heaved its body against the surface. Cracks and splinters erupted from the crevice, revealing the shiny skin of the beast. One final heave ejected the intruder out of the belly of the island.
The crew looked upon the writhing body appearing in front of them. Helena knew exactly what she was looking at. She could tell by the green and red scales. A real life dragon just showed itself to the island explorers. The monster gazed knowingly into the eyes of each person standing there. His black pupils burned with the fire of age, and the party seemed to age faster as they stood before its presence.
*TO BE CONTINUED...
