The underside of the massive flying city that Zoey and her crew were on was generally a peaceful place. Occasionally there would be some buildings or machinery that broke off after centuries of corrosion and disrepair, tumbling down into the storm below and from there crashing to the ground, but most of the time it was oddly peaceful. But today, it was not so peaceful.

In one of the city’s outer sections, there was a rumble that came from deep inside one of the vertical cooling shafts that went clear through the entire structure from the surface to the underside. Shortly after the rumble, small pieces of debris started falling out from the bottom of the shaft, followed moments later by an explosion that shook the structure of that section of the city. The explosion had occurred somewhere inside the cooling shaft, and the resulting tremors were enough to break loose several of the older structures hanging from the underside of the city, sending them tumbling into the churning, lightning perforated storm far below.

Needless to say, the explosion also did some damage to the inside of the cooling shaft, and wasn’t long before more and more debris came falling out of the shaft. Pieces of debris large and small came tumbling out, some parts of a shredded engine here, some wall panels there, all manner of metal machinery and occasionally a few androids, some of which were in several pieces due to various circumstances.

Eventually, the effects of the explosion in the shaft became more apparent with a sudden expulsion of smoke from the top of the shaft, while the lower end started to spit out chunks of flaming debris that fell like meteors trailing smoke. The damage caused by the explosion was mostly contained inside the cooling shaft, and aside from the obvious, the damage could be said to be fairly minor considering the sheer size of the city in its entirety.

Below the city, the falling mess of flaming debris was spreading in the city’s wake, no doubt leaving behind a trail of metal structures and mechanical systems for miles. In the debris that was falling out of the cooling shaft, there was however one thing that was a little out of place. Had an observer seen the sight, they would not have known what they were looking at, but it all became clear in just a few moments.

Falling out of the bottom of the shaft surrounded by a storm of flaming debris was what looked like a sizable chunk of ice at first glance. It was clearly out of place, and nothing could really explain where a chunk of ice had come from, and why it was falling out of the shaft along with the rest of the flaming mess.

Seconds after it had appeared, the chunk of ice suddenly shattered from the inside, the ice crystals bursting and spreading out in a shower of ice and water as a creature emerged from within. This creature was Viridi in all of her draconic magnificence, and she swiftly used her powerful wings to carry Zoey and Max on her back to safety, out and away from the cloud of falling debris.

To survive the deadly fireball of metal and oil that had descended upon them inside the shaft, Zoey and Viridi had once again pooled their magic power and abilities to cocoon themselves in a protective layer of ice, courtesy of Zoey’s Ice Armor Control Rune. Using this method and by repairing the protective cocoon as they fell, they had been able to avoid being crushed by the debris, or burned alive by the flames before escaping unharmed. The only side effect was that Zoey and Viridi had used a large portion of their magic power to do so, and Max had become a little chilly when they had been inside the ice! Thankfully though, Zoey was willing to lend him her coat till he warmed up.

Now, Viridi was gently sailing with wings outstretched as the three of them looked up and marveled in disbelief at the massive city in the sky above them. To Zoey especially, this was the single most impressive feat of engineering she had witnessed in her life. On Gaia, the engineering feats of Zoey’s people had been numerous and grand, but not nearly to this scale, and certainly not this excessive in nature.

Viridi changed their course after a while, angling up and using a combination of gravity manipulation and her wings to gain some altitude. They had flown out from under the city, and were now steadily rising up over the city’s horizon, and the marvelous sight had them all speechless with awe.

How was it even possible to send into the sky a city this massive, and with an active volcano directly in its center?! Not only that, the volcano seemed to be what was generating the storm that surrounded the city like a bubble, hiding and protecting it from anyone outside. Zoey could barely comprehend the engineering expertise required to even design and implement it all. In the end, she decided to forget about it and simply take in the sight as they rose above the city on Viridi’s back.

The storm that encapsulated the flying city was strange. On the outside it looked like a normal thunderstorm, albeit a little larger than most. On the inside however, it was a different thing altogether. The inner layer of the storm was constantly spinning in a manner similar to the surface of a gas giant, the roiling and swirling currents all stemming directly from the spewing volcano in the city’s center. Flashes of lightning arced up from the volcano, and up through the clouds and along the currents, flashing with brilliance as the bolts dances inside the storm.

The visuals were made even more breathtaking by the colors and lights that lit up the stunning scene. The lightning was mostly flashes of blue and white, while the surrounding storm was the color of the sunset, glowing with vibrant shades of deep orange and yellow, bathing the city in a perpetual sunset glow. The colors and lights made the copper metals that the city was made of come alive with reflections and dancing shadows that melded the scene into a rather stunning picture that Zoey, Max and Viridi were completely enamored with for several long moments as they soared quietly above the magnificent spectacle.

Then, Zoey’s comm-link beeped.