Beautiful Hopes

Click.

The pulley slid into place at the top of the lift. Gears meshed and locked around it, bringing the lift to a steady stop on the highest level.

Once they reached the top, the Blind Lights and Phantom Tendrils that had been patrolling were nowhere to be seen. A broad, gleaming Flint Dragon wing bone formed a winding yet solemn path to the First Bloom Cathedral, a thousand meters away.

The path led not to the cathedral's ground-floor entrance, but to one halfway up. The First Bloom Cathedral was so impossibly tall that it had entrances at several different levels.

Xia Lun stepped out of the lift onto the Flint Dragon's wing bone. The air was thin, and the slight lack of oxygen left him faintly exhilarated. He felt as though he were walking among the clouds. From this height, the vast buildings of Longeryasi City looked small, while those in the slums beyond the Iron Crown Wall were no bigger than an anthill.

It was hard to imagine what kind of being could have killed a Flint Dragon of such immense size.

"We're finally near the end." Tina lifted her chin, her violet eyes glinting in the fading light. "Xia Lun, Abby and I never could have made it here without your help. Thank you."

Perhaps because there were no enemies in sight, Tina relaxed completely. The corners of her mouth lifted without her realizing it.

"Don't celebrate yet. There's still one last stretch," Xia Lun said softly.

He followed Tina's gaze to the First Bloom Cathedral.

Even from more than a thousand meters away, he could not take in the impossibly magnificent cathedral, no matter how wide he opened his eyes. Its eastern side tower joined the end of the Flint Dragon's wing bone. Instead of tapering