Megan and Jace almost ran into the crowd that had gathered in the mess hall.

Adam Jones stood on his throne to be seen over above everyone. He raised his voice. "Sky Raiders!" He waited for everyone to look at him. "Only a few moments ago, one of the largest Skycastles we've ever seen emerged from the Western Cloudwall." He let his words sink in. "We must take advantage of this opportunity."

The other Sky Raiders muttered their agreement.

"For this mission," Jones continued, "we will need everyone. So, to the ships."

The crowd cheered as they filed through the halls into the docking bay and onto the several Skycrafts.

Megan followed Jace onto the Vulture and rushed to the side of the ship to try and see the great fortress that had excited everyone.

The Skycraft took off and before long a gargantuan castle came into view. Actually, it looked more like a small city than a castle. It had wide soaring towers and sprawling courtyards. Several outbuildings surrounded the massive main building.

"Woah." Jace was leaning so far over the side that Megan was afraid that he would fall. "Now that's impressive."

"No wonder they went after it." Megan gasped at the intricate architecture and flourishing gardens.

"Looks like it just came out of the cloudwall." Jace observed. "That's good. It'll take us a while to search the whole place; and we may not even get to."

"Jace! Megan!" Someone beckoned them.

The two whirled to find Adam Jones standing at the ship's wheel.

Jace's eyes widened. "He never comes on missions." He whispered to Megan.

Jones waved them over. They shared a look and walked over to join Adam at the hull.

He leaned on a short wall. "We'll need more than one scout for this." He explained. "Each Skycraft will send out two of its best." He met each of their gazes. "For us, that would be you two."

"What?!" Megan gasped. "I just got here."

"Yes." Adam acknowledged. "And you've already proven yourself." He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "There also aren't many options on this craft." He pulled back and smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes and walked away with Jace to get ready. "This should be interesting." Megan pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

"No kidding." Jace agreed. "We've never seen a Skycastle even close to this size."

Megan gave a nervous chuckle. "I meant because I don't have a special item anymore, but yeah, that too."

"Wait," Jace held up a hand. "You lost your item."

Megan sighed. "It's not my fault it vanished."

"Vanished?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Megan crossed her arms and leaned against the side of the ship. "How else would you describe it? I couldn't find it after my fight with the wolf-dragon-thing and there was no way it fell off the edge."

"Hmm..." Jace fiddled with his golden rope. "I guess there isn't a better way to describe it." He strapped the rope to his belt. "Well, I'd be surprised if you didn't find a new item on this mission."

"Same." Megan chuckled.

"To the lifeboats!" Adam's voice carried over the ship and Jace and Megan ran to the nearest craft. Megan sat next to Jace. Time to have some fun.

A/N
I am SO sorry about the wait. I kind of hit a wall and couldn't find a way over it for a while. Again, my apologies for making you all wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'll try to update soon.
-Cheshire