Close encounter

All of the friends of Rufus were on the deck to see as they lifted off. The winds of divinity started to pull the ship higher and higher.

The higher they got, the stronger the wind pressure came at them as the ship started to go faster and faster.

Amala, Pema, Gwon and the Ghersengs were starting to feel terrified as they started to fly faster and pass through the clouds.

"Nope...NOOOOPPE. GREY SKINS ARE NOT MEANT TO FLY," Amala yelled.

Pema was himself holding down his puke as the ship rocked against the strong winds.

Rufus and Haley instead started to run to the front of the ship. They both were excited to finally be on board a gravity ship and wanted to experience the whole flight. They reached the bow of the ship and on it, they started to see the blue sky turn darker as they were leaving the atmosphere.

They soon flew through the clouds and when they got through it, they saw the bright sun. They were then high enough to see the curvature of the Aesis world.

They looked down and saw the nations of Aesis below them. No cities could be spotted but the coastline and high mountain ranges could still be seen.

Soon the sky turned from blue to many different colors. Not long from their takeoff had they reached the universe.

They all looked amazed at the universe, with its stars and nebulas. Bright colorful clouds could be seen in the distance. They looked like they were close, but in fact, were just enormous and were millions of kilometers away.

As Haley was observing the beauty of the universe, a fish with wings flew past her. Soon, more flying fish swarmed through the universe past their gravity ship.

"What are these?" Haley asked.

"They are flying fishes of the universe. They are not that rare and are frequently fished," Udo explained.

"How are they able to live in the empty universe?" Edward asked.

"There are many things that live in the universe. Small fishes like them, along with divine planktons that feed on the wild divine winds, and of course the leviathans," he explained.

They soon were able to see the solo green moon world ahead of them. It looked light brown with some green spots here and there.

"Doesn't seem so green as its name says it is," Amala said as she looked at it.

"It will be probably around six hours to reach it. This is a short flight, but I suggest you guys go and take a rest now while you can," Udo explained.

Rufus yawned and realized that even though he was full of excitement, he hadn't slept in days as they hurried to get to the city of Aachen.

~~

The envoy of Rufus was getting close to their destination. All of them were below the deck, taking some good rest as for them, it was currently nighttime.

Their rest though was cut short as they felt something bumping into their ship. As they wondered what was that, another hit was felt that rocked the ship.

"What the hell is going on?" Edward yelled.

"You said there wouldn't be any trouble?!" Amala yelled at Yosef.

"I told you, the chances were slim but not zero. The chances of meeting pirates in this space are low and even lower is to encounter a levia....."

"ROOOOOOOAAAARR!"

A large roar was then heard.

They all ran to the deck and what they saw left them speechless.

A giant monster with long and humongous wings had attacked the ship. It had a long neck and was even bigger than a black earth serpent.

"What the hell is that?!" Edward yelled.

"It's a dragon!"

Everyone knew what a dragon was. They were known as apex predators of the entire universe that could swoop down to an unknown country and level it down. Only a great being could stop one, but sometimes it would even take a god to slay one.

They hunted for other leviathans and creatures that lived in the universe and were known as banes of all merchant gravity ships.

"Luckily this one is a small one and not the nastiest of its specimen. They still are dangerous," Kassim explained.

The dragon roared and flames came from its mouth. The ship was able to dodge the large flames, but soon the dragon started to follow it. It was persistent and was not ready to let go of its prey.

"I am sorry, but I think your trip is going to have to end a bit earlier," Kassim said to them.

They looked confused.

Kassim ordered his men to ready a smaller gravity ship that was to be used only in emergencies. It was not big, but it was enough for at least thirty people to fit in it.

"Alright... let's get you on board," Kassim said and started to push them on to the small ship.

"It seems that we would be safer on this ship," Amala said who was holding on to the mast.

The dragon then again roared, with flames hitting the mast. Small parts of the mast fell, forcing Amala to dodge them, almost falling off the ship.

"Yeah...I am good to leave now," Amala said and was the first one to jump on the boat.

They got on board and soon it was released. It flayed around for a moment before it stabilized and started to dive into the moon world below.

A small sail was let loose that carried them toward the green solo moon world. Luckily for them, they were close to it and almost already in its atmosphere.

They looked back as the ship turned around and started to fight against the dragon. It started to shoot at the monster with its cannons and even Kassim joined in, using his divine power to control gold.

"Hey, just wanted to point out, but does anyone know how to fly this thing," Yosef said as the small ship started to flay around as it started to enter the atmosphere of the green solo moon world.

Amala yelled as they started falling to the moon world faster and faster with no control. Soon they were falling like a meteor.