“... and here are the keys to your two rooms,” the innkeeper, a bald middle-aged man with a well-trimmed beard, informed Maeryn, handing them both to her with an obviously-fake smile. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

  Maeryn had no idea what happened or how, but somehow Terrance had convinced the man to treat her halfway decently. He’d been alone with the man for less than three minutes! Just… how? Had he threatened him? Blackmailed him? The questions swirled in her mind, but she swallowed them down, reminding herself that she didn’t need to know. Not now, at least.

  Maeryn very carefully did not look at Terrance, instead choosing to smile thinly at the innkeeper. “I’m sure I will,” she replied, her words just as equally fake as the man’s.

  The innkeeper’s cheek twitched, but that was the only sign of his distemper. He turned away and excused himself, leaving Maeryn and Terrance alone in the dimly lit lobby.

  The inn seemed well-maintained, with clean, sturdy wooden furniture. The air carried a myriad of scents, some familiar, some foreign, but it was hardly unpleasant. The faint smell of cedar, soaked in alcohol often enough that it would never fully come out, was combated by various herbs and spices in key places, creating a homey, pleasant kind of feel to the place.

  “Well, that’s one thing done,” Terrance remarked cheerfully. “But, ah, I wouldn’t leave anything you’re particularly attached to in your room without someone there. Just in case.”

  “... Right. I suppose you’d like the whole story now?”

  “If it’s not too much trouble, of course.”

  Maeryn repressed a sigh. “Then let’s see the room so we can have that talk in private.”

  They headed upstairs, and Maeryn unlocked one of the indicated rooms, closing and locking it behind her after Terrance came inside. The room was simple and plain, with a bed big enough for two adults and a chest at the foot of the bed for storage. There was also a window out to the main street, which was kind of nice, but Maeryn paid it no mind as she turned to face Terrance.

  When she was quite through telling the tale, Terrance’s perpetual cheerful expression had faded into a thoughtful respect. “You’re a strange one,” he commented, but it didn’t sound like he was insulting her, just… thinking. “Wish I’d met you before. We might’ve actually gotten somewhere sooner.”

  Maeryn’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that unlike most of the birdbrains up here, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and a halfway decent plan.” Terrance shook his head. “I tried for years to get people to listen to me when I was telling them the same things you just told me, but nobody seems interested in actually solving the wind-forsaken problem.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. “Listen. It’s a dirty little secret that nobody talks about, but all flying cities used to have to land periodically. Not often, just every few years or so. But they needed to, in order to stock up on things that we just don’t have access to while up in the air. Fresh soil for our farms, metals for our steamworks, plants and herbs for medicines, things like that. Trading with Geovans solved a lot of those problems, but with relations the way they are…”

  “Nobody’s trading anymore, which means you have to start landing again,” Maeryn finished, connecting the dots. “Which means that the Mist isn’t just a problem for us Geovans, it’s a problem for everyone.”

  Terrance snapped his fingers and pointed at Maeryn triumphantly. “Exactly! But nobody listens! It’s like everyone’s convinced that as soon as Critical Mana Depletion happens - and I like the name, by the way - then the Mist will kill all the Geovans and then just disappear like gas on the wind.”

  Maeryn’s jaw dropped. She knew that there was a lot of friction and, well, racist thoughts in both Geovan and Zephyrian societies, but she hadn’t realized that it went so far as to be callously apathetic to the idea of Geovan extinction. Maeryn could feel a rock form deep in her gut; this was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

  Maybe somehow reading the emotions on her face, Terrance reached out and patted Maeryn on the shoulder empathetically. “Yeah. It’s sickening. It’s one of the reasons I desperately want off this rock; there’s got to be another flying city out there that’s doing something. I have to believe that.”

  “About that.” Maeryn leaned in. “Why haven’t you left Cloudreach yet? It should be dead simple for someone like you to stow away somewhere. And where the heck are all the other airships?”

  Terrance let out a long sigh. “By the time I was ready to try stowing away on an airship, it wasn’t an option anymore. The other airships… well, I don’t mind telling you the story, but it’s not really relevant to your situation at the moment. Let’s focus on the here and now, and if there’s time later, I’ll fill you in.”

  The Geovan made a face but nodded. “Listen. It sounds like you and I are on the same page. Something’s got to be done, and like you said, I’ve got a halfway decent plan. Instead of just being ferried to the next city, why don’t you join the crew? We have the same goal. Surely we’ll work better together than not.”

  Terrance stilled, eyeing her carefully. “There are reasons why that might not be the greatest idea, Maeryn,” he said evasively, a flicker of something unreadable passing across his face. “Tell you what. Let’s finish up here on Cloudreach, and we’ll have all the time in the world to figure that out on your airship after.”

  Maeryn wanted very much to question him further, but bit back the impulse. Terrance didn’t owe her anything at the moment, and she still needed his help. It’d be better not to accidentally alienate the only help she’d found so far. “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “I look forward to it,” Terrance said, a shadow of his previous cheerful grin on his face. “For now, though, I’m going to go look up those supply patterns. I’ll meet you back here at midnight.”

  “Got it.” A burst of inspiration hit her, and Maeryn smirked. “Should I watch the door or the window when the time comes?”

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  Terrance brought his finger to his lips, a coy grin playing at his lips. “Now that’d be telling.” With that, he gave Maeryn a two-fingered salute, then spun on his heel and exited the room in a way that could only be described as dramatic.

  Maeryn shook her head at his antics. She’d never met someone like him before, and she had to admit, it was new and kind of fun. She watched the door close behind him, a mix of amusement and curiosity lingering. “I wonder how well he’d get along with Frankie and Dan…? I guess we’ll find out eventually.”

  Thinking of her friends brought her back to the task at hand. Maeryn took a deep breath and refocused; there were things to do before it got too much later. She glanced out the window, abruptly noticing that it was getting pretty close to sunset. She’d spent longer than anticipated getting rooms at the inn, and if she didn’t get moving she would be late meeting everyone at the fountain.

  Maeryn hurried to the designated meeting spot, relieved to see that both of her friends were waiting for her. “Hey! Sorry I’m late!”

  Frankie pointedly glanced at the sun, which was only about halfway through dipping below the horizon. “You’re right on time, Rin. Don’t worry about it.”

  “More importantly, there’s a lot to talk about,” Dan interjected. “We should get out of the open, though, before we discuss it. Do we have anything urgent that we need to take care of beforehand?”

  Maeryn consulted her notebook, quickly skimming the to-do list, before shaking her head. “We should look into getting Zephyrian clothes, but that can probably wait until tomorrow morning. Come on, I’ll show you where we’re staying for the night.”

  As Maeryn led the way, Frankie filled them both in on her activities that afternoon. “I’ve finished stocking up what we need for the next trip, and arranged for delivery tomorrow morning to Stonewing. It didn’t take too long, so I spent the rest of the day exploring a bit.” She shook her head, lowering her voice. “It’s kinda amazing how much you can overhear when people think you’re just an eager kid.”

  Dan groaned softly, matching Frankie’s low volume. “I wish I’d thought of that. I must’ve spent half the time convincing the other researchers that I wasn’t some kid with more dreams than actual ability. I got there in the end, I think, but maybe I would’ve gotten more information doing things your way.”

  “No, I think you made the right decision,” Maeryn told him firmly. “Research and alchemy are serious subjects, and anyone who might join the team needs to be able to take us seriously. To take you seriously.”

  Dan didn’t respond for several seconds, digesting that. “Right. You’re right. Thanks.”

  Maeryn simply nodded at him, then gestured in front of them at the inn she’d procured rooms at. “Here we are. The Tipsy Seagull.”

  “What’s a seagull?” Frankie muttered.

  “And why would anyone give it alcohol?” Dan continued, equally bewildered.

  “I have no idea,” Maeryn answered, just as lost as her friends. “Anyway, we have two rooms upstairs. Come on.”

  Entering and locking one of their rooms, Maeryn quickly explained everything that had happened, starting from her problems trying to rent a room for them and detailing the enigmatic encounter with Terrance. “... and he’ll be back at midnight tonight to discuss what he’s found,” she finished. “With any luck, we’ll have a direction for tomorrow.”

  Dan let out a low whistle. “I didn’t expect the racism to go quite that deep, but it makes sense in retrospect, I guess. It’s nice to know that there are Zephyrians who think the same way we do, though. How much do you think we can trust him?”

  Maeryn tapped at her leg as she thought about it briefly. “He hasn’t told us everything,” she admitted slowly. “He’s keeping us at arm’s length, but then again, Terrance only just met me, so that’s hardly anything to be suspicious about.” She shook her head. “What he said makes sense. The Mist is a problem for everyone. He has a clear motive to help us. It’s just not the only motive. As long as we remember that, I think we won’t have any problems.”

  Both of her friends nodded solemnly.

  “My turn,” Frankie said after a moment to let Maeryn’s words sink in. “So, apparently Cloudreach is having some problems with supplies. Which makes sense, what with the lack of trade with Geova. It’s not critical yet, though. Apparently Cloudreach has been receiving aid packages from the capital, Zephyr, but the old lady running a hair salon has a sister in Airspire, and the sister told her that a lot of flying cities are needing aid packages these days.”

  Dan and Maeryn exchanged looks. That wasn’t good news for anyone. “That sort of thing isn’t meant to be a long-term solution,” Dan observed.

  “Nope,” Frankie agreed. “According to the noblewoman who was having her hair done, though, there’s pressure on the decision-makers in Zephyr to approve of ‘the old ways of restocking’. I had no idea what they meant, but if the cities can land to get resources from the surface, then that explains it.”

  “That might not be so bad?” Maeryn suggested hopefully. “I mean, the Mist hasn’t gotten everywhere yet, has it?”

  Dan frowned. “It’s hard to say for sure - it’s not like I had a bird’s eye view of the continent while I was in Greenstone - but from what I could gather, most of the places that haven’t been inundated with Mist are pretty lifeless. Deserts and mountains. Depending on what the Zephyrians need to restock, that might be enough? But if they’re looking for wood, plants, medicinal herbs and moss…” He shook his head. “Not many places left that might support it. They’d be mostly limited to the above-ground Geovan farms.”

  A chill ran through Maeryn’s spine. “And if they tried that, with the current tensions on both sides…”

  “It’d start a war,” Frankie finished, horror in her voice.

  Maeryn took a deep breath and swallowed down the taste of bile that had crept up at the idea of Zephyrians and Geovans fighting over limited resources, all while the Mist slunk ever closer to overtaking them all. “Right. We can’t let that happen. Looks like our time limit is smaller than we thought. Dan, what’ve you got to report?”

  “Our new friend Terrance struck his pick bang on the vein,” Dan admitted. “The researchers I spoke to - after I finally convinced them that I was the real deal - told me that the mana researchers have been secluded for years. They did have some interesting findings on the effects of Mistwarping, though, which opens up a few avenues of research. If I can understand the mechanics of Mistwarping, it would let me better grasp the properties of the Mist itself. If I can isolate what makes Mist different from mana, I might be able to find a method to convert it.”

  “Make that a priority,” Maeryn ordered, her insides cold as the weight of what awaited them if they failed settled in her mind. If the Geovans and Zephyrians started warring over surface resources, then neither side would focus on the Mist, the real enemy. Both civilizations hung in the balance. “Will the researchers here help you?”

  Dan nodded briskly. “I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

  Maeryn turned to Frankie. “Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep gathering information, and keep an ear out for potential allies. You and I are going to get some Zephyrian clothes tomorrow to help blend in, which should help.”

  “Got it, Captain,” Frankie replied, her usual cheer tempered by the gravity of the situation. “What are you going to do?”

  Maeryn didn’t reply immediately, her mind whirling with half-baked ideas and impulses as she looked out the window. What was the best thing she could do right now? “What I’m going to do…” she murmured softly, then looked at her friends again. “There’s an avenue I haven’t tried yet. I doubt it’ll get anywhere, but I have to try.”

  “What’s that?” Dan asked curiously.

  Maeryn swallowed and took a deep breath. “I’m going to seek an audience with the leaders of Cloudreach. The Council of Winds.”