A meteor suddenly appeared in Melita's line of sight, trailing a bright tail and blazing fire as it carved a striking path through the dim twilight, as though a sharp blade had abruptly split open Tarlonnd's sky—then it quickly vanished from everyone's view, falling at an angle toward the distant land.
Only after a while did Melita see a hazy glow of fire and dust rising near the horizon.
"Did you see that!?" Melita finally reacted, staring wide-eyed at Carador and the others. "Was that... a meteor just now!?"
"A meteor?" Carador murmured instinctively, raising his head. Many dragons nearby did the same, but more than half of them abruptly lowered their gaze from the sky as if by reflex, as though fearing the punishment that would follow. Yet that punishment never came—looking up at the stars was no longer forbidden on the Tarlonnd Continent.
Carador only managed to catch the last fading glimmer at the edge of the sky.
"That was strange... I don't know if it was a meteor," Melita said uncertainly, still gazing into the distance. "I've only accidentally seen meteors a few times, but that one... seemed slower than the meteors I've seen. And it had a long trail of fire and smoke..."
Carador drew his eyes back from the horizon, returning his attention to the container before Noreta. Before concerning himself with the fading starlight in the distance, he continued their earlier discussion. "We need to rescue those dragon eggs. Those with lighter injuries, those who still have strength, those who can still fly, step forward."
Melita looked around, but before her gaze could sweep over the crowd, one figure after another had already stepped out from the Dragon Flock.
"I still don't think digging through those fused polymer heaps and alloy barriers with our