"Honestly, who puts gargoyles around a giant sky pillar?" - 'Captains' player...

The airship floated through the air silently, it's crew mingling with the squadron of guards from the elven kingdom.
Gargavincious sat around a small table, tapping his spin dally fingers against the wood as he looked at the hand of cards he'd been dealt. He glanced at Jamus, the large dragonborn beside him, and then at the human crew member across from him.
"I win." He said, throwing down his hand. Four aces and a king of spades faced upwards on the table.

The pirate cursed, pushing forward a large pile of golden coins. Gargavincious scooped them into a small pouch, which he had enchanted to be bigger on the inside.

"You're gonna get caught one day you know." Jamus grunted, standing up from the table and stretching his glimmering copped coloured wings.
"Casting illusions on the cards."

The half elf made a tsk-tsk noise as he picked up his deck of cards. "Honestly Jamus. Where do you get these ideas?"

The soldier handed him his five cards. "Try the fact that I had three aces, kid."

Gargavincious swallowed. "There's no harm in putting that gold towards something other than women and booze."

"Like putting it towards booze and spellbooks?"

The two soldiers laughed as they made their way across the ships deck, Jamus having to crouch slightly so his horns didn't scrape against the bottom of the air balloon.

"What do you recon her majesty's doing right now?" Gargavincious asked, leaning against the railing. "The elf queen?"

Jamus shrugged. "I recon she's probably hanging out with the captain. Don't particularly trust him myself."

"Captain Kyle? He defiantly seems... Dodgy. I recon he's staged this whole expedition."

"Or maybe." Rumbled a reptilian voice. "He's standing right behind you."

The pair turned around to see the Captain, his green slices glimmering in the sunrise. His long leather coat flapped around his clawed feet, and his short horn spoked out from underneath his tri-corn hat.

Gargavincious saluted. "Captain sir!"

The dragonborn nodded. "General Jamus, her majesty wishes for you to join us in the war room." He glared at Gargavincious.
"This one can stay here."

***

Gargavincious looked out at the empty nothingness around around them. A large shape began to form on the horizon, growing ever larger as they approached.

"Land ho!" One of the Pirates called from a viewing deck above the ballon. The airship veered sideways heading straight for the large pillar of rock reaching high into the sky. After a few moments, the crew began to notice small shapes darting around the island.

Gargavincious raised an eyebrow. The flying patterns looked familiar somehow. A memory of a textbook surfaced. Before he could call out, a large, stone gargoyle crashed into the side of the ship, sending wooden planks through the air.

Shapes crashed into the ship from every direction, sending it spiralling out of control. Pirates and soldiers raced towards the small magical life rafts tethered to the side of the boat. Gargavincious sprinted towards the last one- before a gargoyle slammed into his side, sending him flying off the side of the ship.

The half elf screamed as he plummeted downwards towards the distant ground.
Well.
The thought.
This has been great life so far, I suppose...

Two clawed feet dug into his shoulders. He looked up to see Jamus flying him towards the landmass.
"Come on G." He grumbled. "I'm not letting you die that easily."
Gargavincious nodded, catching his breath as Jamus deposited him on the giant stone pillar.

A few of the queens wizards were casting barriers around a small area, where soldiers and pirates were beginning to set up tents.

A woman cleared her throat. "General?"

Jamus and Gargavincious turned around to see a tall, slender woman, with startling golden eyes and blonde hair stood before them.
Gargavincious dropped to his knees. "Your majesty."

The elf queen rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Stand up already. General please follow me. And bring this one."
She nodded at Gargavincious, who was wiping dust off of his armoured knees.
The two friends followed the queen to the edge of the magical barrier, where the captain stood waiting.

"We need to find a way off of this pillar." The queen said pacing around the room. "And we think we might have found a way."
She nodded to the captain.

"See that temple over there?" He pointed into the distance, where a building loomed out of the clouds.
The soldiers nodded.
"We believe that inside there is a stone that keeps the gargoyles around. Any ideas how we get over there?"

Gargavincious squinted over to the building. "Well, someone would have to go over there. But if they leave the barrier, they can't get back in, correct?"
The queen nodded.

The captain grinned. "So we need a willing volunteer?"

"Absolutely." Gargavincious nodded.

The captains clawed fingers wrapped around the thin half elf's shoulder. "So glad you volunteered."
He shoved Gargavincious out into the open.

There was a faint -pop- as Gargavincious passed through the barrier. He wheeled around.
"Why would-"
A gargoyle crashed into the side of his chest, sending him sprawling across the ground. He rolled over, wrestling the large chunk of stone, it's carved teeth snapping at his neck. Gargavincious' eyes glowed a beep blue as a burst of lightning flew from his chest and struck the gargoyle, which crumpled to dust and blew away in the wind.

The half elf jumped to his feet and took of running as dozens of gargoyles swooped down at him. He was getting closer and closer to the temple. One hundred meters. Fifty meters. Ten metres.
Gargavincious leapt forward between a set of columns, rolling across he temple floor.

The five gargoyles casing him stopped dead at the temple entrance, before turning around and continuing to circle the queens camp...