Chapter 301: 37: So Close, And Yet

Danika zipped across the city to the market square at top speed. She waited impatiently for the merchant to finish talking with his current customer. At the moment it was extremely annoying that he wouldn't stop what he was doing to speak to her.

When it was finally her turn she demanded impatiently, "Is there any kind of device that can measure altitude?"

The traveling merchant smiled at her and replied with amusement, "I do not know of such a device." Danika's immediate disappointment transformed to surprise when he added cheerfully, "But if you seek such a thing in order to aid Kit Tay, you can tell her that a dragon's scales will shine brighter the higher it ascends, and gleam with rainbow colors when she has reached the height of her destination." 

The traveling merchant rarely offered information so freely, but Danika didn't have time to question it. She pulled up her menus to send the information to Kit, and then hesitated. A message would be one more thing for Kit to juggle.

Instead she shouted quickly, before vanishing, "Thanks!"

Danika used the assassin's teleportation she'd learned from Aishin to return to Shrubbery's tree. She didn't stop to recover her health, she just zipped over to hover above Ryullusion's shoulder again, and repeated what the merchant had said into the earring that was transmitting to Kit. 

Kit replied with surprise, "It's true, my scales are shining brighter. I hadn't really looked at myself."

"No rainbow gleams?" Danika asked worriedly.

"No, but I've only used four of the nine carpet flights," Kit reported. "It's really difficult, since if I used the map function it would take me to the ground, but there's not much in the sky above me to target. Dragons get really grumpy about carpets landing on them, even if it's another dragon."

--

Kit triggered the next flying carpet jump just as the carpet started to descend. She had given up on trying to stay aligned with the thread of light that came from her ring and just aimed at what seemed like the highest cloud in the sky above. She hoped that if she got high enough, she could glide over to where she wanted to be.

She glanced behind her as the carpet carried her upward. The enormous dragon that she'd targeted the first time didn't appear to be following her anymore, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at her own scales again, and they really did shine brighter as she rose higher. 

The carpet carried her into the cloud she'd aimed it at, and the vapors obscured her vision. She bit her lip, and then shrugged. She'd used up this carpet's three flights for the day, and it was terribly wasteful, but she couldn't think of a better idea. 

"I'm going to abandon this flying carpet, do you think there's any chance one of you can collect it?" she asked. 

Ryullusion repeated the question to everyone waiting in the garden, but she could hear ZipZing answer doubtfully, "I can't think of a way to track it."

"Oh," Kit replied with disappointment.

The mists of the cloud swirled around her. She looked at the thread of light her ring emitted, and realized suddenly that she could actually see an angle to it. She was close enough that it wasn't just pointing straight up. She shifted into her cat form and leapt upward with all her might.  

At the peak of her jump she could see the sky above the cloud, although she fell back into the cloud somewhat, as she pulled out the next carpet and landed on it. When she shifted back into her new dragon form and stood as tall as she could, she could still make out cloud formations above her through the remaining mist.

She targeted the one that she hoped was the highest, and not just the smallest, and the carpet carried her up.

--

Kit's clawed hands were shaking a little as she got ready to set the target for the last carpet flight. The thread of light still lead upward, but also toward the clouds that reflected the blindingly bright light of the setting sun, and she still couldn't see what it was leading her to. 

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She gazed upward again, searching for some higher target, and saw the belly of the largest dragon that she'd ever seen. Despite the threats that the big dragon she'd landed on before had made, she targeted the dragon. The carpet flew upward steadily, and the dragon grew bigger and bigger in her vision.

Kit held her breath as the carpet arched over the dragon, brushed across the scales of its back, and came to a halt. The head that seemed as big as a house turned toward her, and the eyes narrowed.

"Hello," Kit said nervously.

The dragon huffed an enormous breath that caught the carpet and lifted it off the dragon's back. Kit gasped as the carpet tumbled through the air before righting itself. This dragon didn't make any other hostile move or speak to her, and Kit forgot about it a moment later as she caught sight of the tiny islands in the sky.

A glance at her ring verified that they were her destination. But they were still above her, though only a little, and distant. She quickly renewed the featherweight on herself and stowed the carpet as she tried to fly forward.  

"No!" she protested as she could see that she was descending as she moved forward. She snatched one of the two remaining carpets back out of her inventory and landed on it. 

"What's wrong?" Ryullusion asked worriedly from the earring's connection.

"I can see it!" Kit cried. "There are islands in the sky! And I can see them now, but I can't get to them! I've already used everything!" 

She got ready to pull out the other carpet. For a wild moment, she wondered if she could just keep laying out the second carpet, storing the first, and slowly walk to the islands from here. But as she set out the other carpet she saw it settle in the air a handspan lower than the one she stood on.

Tears of frustration sprang up in her eyes and blurred her vision.

--

Danika was frantic as she looked around at the helpless and worried expressions of her guildmates. It was obvious that they didn't have any idea how to help Kit either. She felt like she could think of a thousand other things they could have gotten to assist Kit, but hadn't, but nothing to help right now.

"Can you see any creatures or anything?!" she demanded in Ryullusion's ear, loud enough that the dark haired elven bard flinched. 

"Only the dragon that… No, I can't see it anymore either," Kit replied anxiously.

"Why?" MatchlessMinion asked curiously.

"I just thought that I could have teleported to Kit and set a Mark on one, and then we could have all teleported to it later," Danika explained quickly. She waved her little clawed hands and the shape of the jade dragon that banded her wrist caught her eyes, and she gasped and shouted, "Hold on Kit!" 

Danika activated the Dragon's gift, and a blue green mist slithered around the garden, before it coalesced into the tall figure of a woman. The Goddess looked around and then narrowed her eyes at ZipZing.

Danika spoke quickly, "You said that I could call upon you when our party could go no further! Please carry Kit Tay the rest of the way! We've gotten her as close as we can!"

The Dragon huffed a breath that might have been laughter, but her voice sounded deadly serious as she said, "Very well."

The cuff that had clasped ZipZing's wrist for so long dissolved, and the Dragon vanished.

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