There’s one! And one over there!
We bounced around in the Iluk Fields for a while hunting the Fluffy Bug. Every time we thought we had it the damn thing ran away, so we ended up chasing in into the very back of the field area. And then once we caught it, we had to fight our way back out, of course. But in the end, we made a couple levels, and got what we needed to get the balloon working.
Once we brought the Bug back to the Shira the inventor, he managed to install it and get the balloon inflated. How a Bug would help inflate a balloon with lighter-than-air gas is beyond me, but if it gets us to our next destination, I can play suspension-of-disbelief. We get a semi-dark dream about Luna, during the night, but the next morning we’re up and away to the Red Dragon’s volcano.
Yay, we’re not the only flamers inside this volcano.
The inside of the volcano isn’t hot at all, so all of the volcanic activity is just an illusion that the Red Dragon keeps up. We end up crawling through the volcano, which true to form, is littered with fire-based enemies. Luckily, Mia has a number of ice spells, and we all loaded up on ice-based equipment before we came here, so it’s not too difficult to blast through the monsters. Unfortunately, Royce was waiting for us at the end of the dungeon, and sent a couple of magic guardians after us. Now that we’re in boss mode, the gloves come off, and we manage to take them down without much trouble. Royce cuts and runs after that, and we head into the Red Dragon’s chamber.
The female dragons are much nicer-looking
There’s no Red Dragon in the chamber, which means that Ghaleon must have made it here first. We’re too late, but it seems like a small part of the Dragon’s soul still exists here. He lets us know that he was awakened recently by a song of powerful magic, but Ghaleon stole his body. He gives us the Red Dragon Shield to help Alex become the Dragonmaster before fading into oblivion. We warp back to the beginning of the dungeon, and board our balloon to head back… or we would, if we had any air left in it.
We crash into Reza, and a couple of guys steal the wreak of the balloon before any of us gain consciousness. Laike finds us crashed out in the middle of town, and after filling him in on the situation, he advises us that the bridge we destroyed (accidentally!) in Maryod has been repaired, so we can cross into a new region of the world, and go after the Blue Dragon.
This is not nice music…
Once over the bridge, we headed north to the town of Lyton. This place loves music, but apparently the Songs of Wind and Earth that normally play in the background all the time are horribly out of tune. We hear from the Elder that they’ve been waiting for the Green-Eyed Boy (that’s Alex, for those of you keeping track) to come and talk to the Blue Dragon. Unfortunately, the terrible music playing has thrown everyone in the city off-key, and they can’t summon the Blue Dragon without singing. Monsters have taken over the Wind Shrine, and have messed with the song coming from the depths. Luckily, we’re pretty good at monster extermination at this point.
So many paths…
We head into the Wind Shrine, which might be the most labyrinthine dungeon we’ve faced so far. Lots of dead ends and twisty tunnels, and lots of floor traps that send us back to the beginning of the dungeon. Well, I guess it’s process of elimination time, and see if we can’t find some loot while we’re in here. The enemies have taken another bump in difficulty, but it’s not too much trouble to wipe them out. It’s more grating on the patience, since the enemies respawn every time we’re sent back to the beginning, but I guess if the grinding is built in, we don’t have to do it later. We eventually find the room that’s making the music, and after pushing some rocks around, we fix the song and head back to the Elder.
The Elder tells us that the Blue Dragon’s shrine is found in the lake at the north end of the village, and that the song of two lovers are needed to bring it to the surface. Despite Kyle and Jessica giving it their best shot, they suck, and Mia and Nash don’t do much better. Alex finally plays on his Ocarina and we’re treated to a short scene of Luna and the rest of the kidnapped girls singing along to the song. The three bitches warp in and do some dialogue about the power of the song, and Ghaleon comes in time to realize that Luna is the one he’s been looking for. Back at the lake, the Blue Dragon’s shrine rises out of the water, and we head in for another dungeon!
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