The Eternal Wanderer raced through the darkness, faster than ever before. Hall-ee-mor Dargass' face showed the signs of stress and exhaustion he faced in making the massive ship move, but did not let up. Above him, Blaise Pascal was looking at the crystal, showing the expanding field of fire far behind them. Using an abacus, making a few calculation, the arcane just shook his head silently.
"What did you find, Blaise," Onestar said from the captain's chair.
"The wave is expanding exponentially," Pascal replied. "At it's current rate of consumption, we will not be able to outrun it."
Onestar shook his head. "Options?"
"What about trying to use a planar gate to escape?" Phantom asked.
"Too risky," Blaise replied. "Given the dimensional inconsistency, there is no guarantee a gate would work, let alone get us away from here safely."
"Is there nothing like the Sisters of Greyspace in Omnispace?" Ville asked.
"None." Meridian replied.
[Onestar,] Hall said, his voice coming from the ceiling of the ship, [another portal has appeared behind us. It's large. Something has just passed through it into Wildspace.]
"The Tana'ri?" Illeria commented. Taraq looked down at the double-headed axe he held in his hands.
"Right about now, it looks like the only thing that can save us is a miracle," Crystal commented, then took Onestar's hand. "At least we'll face this together." She smiled at him, and the samurai returned her love. Belieth stood next to Hall on the helm, placing one hand on his shoulder. Illeria looked over at Phantom, while Phantom looked over to Tabatha. The tabaxi just looked up at the crystal.
[Whatever that was that passed through the portal,] Hall commented, [it's headed this way. It looks like a ship, but I'm not really...oh, my god.]
"What is it?" Onestar commented. He touched a control on the armrest of the captain's chair, and the image on the viewer changed to the rapidly-approaching ship behind them. It was larger than any ever seen, shaped much like a sea going manta ray. It had a large, upswept tail and many shining buildings, made from golds, silvers and bronzes, resting on its back.
The crew just stood and stared at the viewer as the great ship approached them. Estress looked into the viewer, his tendrils not moving whatsoever. When he spoke, all around him could hear.
*Teldin!*
The great ship passed them at a speed faster than any ship ever known. As it did, the magical wake it created pulled the Eternal Wanderer along behind. Everyone on the dreadnought was thrown around as the ship lurched forward. Stars went flying past at an incredible rate of speed. Within a few minutes, they were passing Maclear. A half-hour later, they passed Duranus. Before another hour had passed, the ships passed Karnak and were closing in on the spherewall. The great ship slowed, and the Eternal Wanderer slowed as well.
Hall sat on the helm, looking at the Spelljammer with his helm-enhanced senses. It was more magnificent than he ever knew it to be. Suddenly, he thought he heard a voice in his mind, telling him to come closer. Hall couldn't fight the voice, and began to move the Wanderer closer to the Spelljammer.
"Hall, what are you doing?"
Onestar's words were lost on the bard. He was mesmerized by the voice telling him to come closer. Belieth shook her husband, but he didn't notice. He heard the call of the Spelljammer, and he had to answer it. Kath was the closest to Hall. He tried to physically remove the bard from the helm, but Hall was stuck fast. The Spelljammer loomed closer, closer. Finally, the Wanderer landed softly on the fore of the Spelljammer.
Hall slumped over on the helm, exhausted. Armas came over to check him over, as Belieth tried to wake Hall up. Onestar ran down the stairs, checking on his friend. Armas looked up at the samurai, smiling slightly.
"He'll be all right," Armas said. "He's just sleeping."
A crowd began to form on the muster deck. Onestar pushed past them, making toward the front of the ship. Outside, there were several people gathered. Some were dressed in Omniversal Defense Force uniforms, a pair were clerics, and a dwarf. Standing in front of them was a young man, light brown hair forming a widow's peak, wearing a glowing cloak. Onestar stepped down from the muster deck, down to the great Spelljammer herself. The cloak-bearing man walked over to the samurai, extending his hand.
"Captain Onestar, I presume?"
Onestar took his hand and shook it. He bowed slightly.
"It's a pleasure, captain. I've heard many things about you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Teldin Moore. Welcome aboard the Spelljammer."
