Maeryn ran for everything she was worth. It wouldn’t be long until someone raised an alarm. She had seconds, maybe a minute if she was lucky. The closer she was to the airfield before that happened, the better her odds were.

  Body Enhancement did its job well, and Maeryn ran faster than she’d ever run before. While she had no way of knowing how fast she was actually going, it felt twice as fast as her best sprinting speed. Buildings whipped past her as Maeryn focused on the path before her, dodging people and crowds as necessary and ignoring every startled shout and expletive.

  Then Body Enhancement faded, and Maeryn was forced back to normal human capabilities. Her whole body felt sore, but that was to be expected. Body Enhancement wasn’t a miracle worker, and the body needed time to recover from the pressure put on it. Maeryn pressed on, however.

  A loud, droning alarm began ringing in the air, and Maeryn grimaced. If the Zephyrians were smart, that alarm would mean grounding all airships, which could make things difficult. At her current speed, Maeryn would be at the airfield in… four minutes or so.

  She’d deal with it when she got there. For now, she focused on running, and sucking in enough air to keep her legs moving. Four minutes. She could manage four minutes of running.

  Surprisingly, she wasn’t confronted by any guards along the way, and she arrived at the airfield unhassled. What was going on?

  “Captain Maeryn! Thank the skies!” Maeryn blinked as Skymaster Lyra ran up to her; Lyra had sounded… desperately grateful? That was odd; she’d been expecting Lyra to try to stop her from leaving, considering the alarm.

  “Skymaster? What’s going on?”

  “Mistwarped Rocs!” Lyra spat. “Normal Rocs are giant birds that host their nests high in the mountains, and you rarely see more than a few at a time. They’re generally not aggressive to our cities unless we disturb them.” She grit her teeth. “But the Mistwarped ones are stronger, nastier, and viciously territorial. They not only steal our livestock, they try to wreck our farming operations on the upper layer.”

  “Okay? Sounds like you know what’s going on… why are you so panicked?”

  Lyra’s face tightened. “Because there’s a flock of them. Fifteen, at least. They don’t flock normally, but for some reason they’re attacking at the same time, and they’ll be here in a matter of minutes. I don’t have the manpower to take them all down. Please. Use Stonewing and help us repel the Mistwarped Rocs. They’ll steal all of our livestock, and our farms will be devastated. We won’t have the ability to feed our people. We’ll be forced to land for repairs and to gather food in a matter of days, not months, and the Mist…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Please, help us!”

  Maeryn grit her teeth. She needed to get out of Cloudreach, but she couldn’t just turn her back on this either. The whole reason she was at odds with the Council was because she was trying to save people from the Mist. If she abandoned them now, what kind of hypocrite would she be?

  “Of course I’ll help! Tell me what you need!”

  Lyra nodded briskly. “To Stonewing! I’ll explain on the way!” As they took off once more, the Skymaster rapidly began explaining. “As I said, Mistwarped Rocs are territorial. Stonewing will offend them if you approach them, which will distract them from the farms. Essentially, they’ll see your ship as a rival. Many of us are trained in wing-combat - strapped and standing on the wings of an airship and using magic or crossbows to attack. With your permission, we’ll set a dozen on each wing, and you’ll take us to meet the bastards in the air.”

  They were almost at the ship, and Maeryn saw a throng of men and women surrounding Stonewing - some engineers, some clearly prepared to fight with flight goggles, oddly skin-tight suits, and crossbows - so Maeryn raised her voice as much as she could. “Permission granted! Get those men on the wings!”

  The roar of approval almost knocked her off her stride, and the engineers worked quickly, rapidly affixing long straps of cloth and metal hooks to lock the warriors in place so they wouldn’t fall off even if Stonewing were to tilt perilously in any direction. They worked quickly and efficiently - by the time Maeryn approached Stonewing’s entrance ramp, the engineers were already performing final checks, and the wing-combat specialists saluted her and Lyra to a one.

  Maeryn leapt aboard the airship, Lyra at her heels, and the two of them dashed towards the cockpit, where Frankie, Dan, and Terrance waited.

  “Should’ve known you’d agree to help out with the Rocs,” Terrance muttered. “Come on, then!”

  “Welcome back! Stonewing’s all warmed up and ready to go on your mark!” Frankie reported eagerly.

  “Final checks complete!” came a shout from outside. “We’re ready to go!”

  “Then get us in the air, Frankie!” Maeryn ordered. “We’ve got some Rocs to kill!”

  “Aye aye, Captain! Everyone brace for acceleration!” Frankie grabbed one of the levers in front of her and thrust it forward roughly. Taking her warning seriously, Maeryn quickly sat in her chair, and Frankie did the same.

  “What does she mean by ‘brace for…’ - Whoa!” Terrance almost fell over as the airship suddenly blasted forward, stumbling into the wall. “Nevermind! Got it!”

  Lyra, apparently a lot more experienced with rough takeoffs, was completely unfazed, having pressed herself against the wall to begin with. A quick glance out the window showed Maeryn that the wing-combat specialists had managed just fine as well.

  Frankie shifted controls, grabbing another lever and pulling it back just as Stonewing reached the edge of the Cloudreach, and the airship rose like a bird in flight, propelling itself upward. After that, Maeryn couldn’t watch Frankie work anymore - her eyes were on the giant birds on the approach. They were truly enormous, rivaling Stonewing in size, but the truly unsettling thing about them was the effect that Mistwarping had upon them.

  The Mistwarped Rocs looked like they had talons that reflected the light, not unlike metal. And their wings looked edged, almost, from this distance.

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  As if to confirm that, Lyra began speaking once more. “Rocs have powerful talons, but after they’ve been Mistwarped, they can shear through steel. Their wings are less instantly lethal, but are strong enough to leave gouges if they work at it. Don’t get caught by them.”

  “You got it, lady,” Frankie replied confidently. “Stonewing will dance right through them while your guys pick ‘em off.”

  As soon as the Rocs registered Stonewing approaching them at speed, a terrible screech echoed through the air, and their course changed slightly. “Here we go,” Frankie muttered, shrugging her shoulders as if to stretch them out before a workout. “Catch me if you can, boys.”

  What followed was at once a terrifying and thrilling chase, from Maeryn’s point of view. Frankie’s hands were steady as she made Stonewing perform, dashing right at the Rocs to give the wing-combat fighters a chance to shower them with bolts and spells, turning away only at the last moment to prevent a collision. When the Rocs tried to surround them, Stonewing dove before pulling out and rising sharply, and this time neither Terrance nor Lyra could keep their feet under the pressure put on them.

  Yet Frankie seemed completely unfazed, utterly engrossed in her piloting, her eyes laser-focused not on the controls but the skies, as though her body already knew every single one of Stonewing’s controls by heart. She was completely in her element, and no one dared to disturb her.

  Soon, the tactics bore fruit, and first one, then three Rocs succumbed to injuries and fell from the sky as crossbow bolts and what looked like launched icicles struck home in the Roc’s breasts or wing joints. They repeated the tactics, harassing the Rocs over and over until there were only three remaining… and then the Mistwarped Rocs fled, apparently realizing that they weren’t going to win this battle.

  Cheers rose from the wings, and Frankie slowly came out of her trance, breathing out slowly. “Well, that was a rush,” she said with a satisfied grin, her entire body relaxing.

  Lyra stepped forward and laid a hand on Frankie’s shoulder. “I would pay a great deal for a pilot like you. It’s very rare to get through a Roc attack without any casualties at all, and your flying… Do you have any siblings or extended family?”

  Frankie laughed. “Lady, if there was anyone else like me, they’d be on the ship already. Sorry!”

  “And there’s no chance I could hire you on?”

  “Hey! Stop trying to poach my pilot!” Maeryn protested, only for both parties to completely ignore her.

  “Nope!” Frankie denied the Skymaster easily. “I go where Maeryn goes. Ask me again when the Mist and mana problems are gone.”

  “I absolutely will,” Lyra promised. She half-turned towards Maeryn, a conciliatory smile on her face. “I had to try.”

  “Yeah, yeah…” Maeryn conceded with a sigh.

  “What I want to know,” Dan interjected, his voice serious enough that it instantly drew everyone’s attention, “is why we were the only airship up here. Frankie’s impressive flying aside, it would have been easier and faster if we’d had one or two other airships up here to help.”

  At the alchemist’s carefully worded non-accusation, Lyra grimaced, and repeated the explanation she’d given Maeryn the day before, detailing how the nobles had gutted their air fleet as they fled Cloudreach. “In doing so, they drastically reduced our ability to respond to these kinds of crises. None of our remaining airships are capable of the kind of maneuvering required to survive a Roc attack. We’ve been able to get by with ground troops, but that leads to the risk of damaging Cloudreach itself.” Lyra sighed. “Construction of new combat-capable airships are underway, but won’t be finished for another few weeks.”

  Terrance’s hands twitched. It was a subtle thing, and Maeryn wasn’t sure anyone else caught it, but… he had definitely twitched. It wasn’t the time to call him out, but she carefully noted it in her head - she’d write it down in her notebook later.

  Dan’s reaction to Lyra’s explanation was almost non-existent. He nodded once, and stated simply, “That makes sense.” And that was it. Maeryn knew from long experience, however, that he was internally cataloging the news for future reference. He tended to do that when he came across information that could impact his work in the future.

  Deciding it was time to change the subject, Maeryn stepped forward and laid a hand on Frankie’s shoulder. “Frankie, take us back to Cloudreach. I’m sure the men waiting on our wings are looking forward to getting back on the ground and warming up.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain,” the steam-obsessed girl chirped, working the controls.

  The silence in the cockpit in the wake of the heavy conversation felt exceptionally awkward, in Maeryn’s opinion. Thankfully it was over quickly, as Frankie had them landing in less than five minutes.

  The moment they touched down, the engineers rushed the wings, rapidly unstrapping the wing-combat specialists and immediately providing each of them with a steaming hot drink before guiding them to another building.

  Lyra turned to Maeryn one more time as she disembarked, looking quite uncomfortable. “Captain Maeryn. I know I have no right to ask, but is there no way I could persuade you to stay on Cloudreach, at least until the new airships are ready? I fear for our ability to repel the Rocs again should more return.”

  Dan quietly came up behind Maeryn, wordlessly offering his support. She knew the alchemist would support her, whatever she chose, but she also knew his opinion: staying was too dangerous.

  Maeryn could also feel Terrance’s eyes on her, watching her intensely. This was their chance to leave. Everything they needed to do was done, and they had a deal. Terrance had done so much to ensure they completed their mission and were able to leave, and staying would hurt their working relationship drastically.

  Everything told Maeryn that she had to turn Lyra down. Maeryn’s gut twisted, though - Lyra’s circumstances weren’t her fault, and a lot of innocent lives depended on her. Yet, the Skymaster didn’t know what had happened just that morning. And even if she did, Maeryn couldn’t wait for weeks, not when there was only a year or so before Critical Mana Depletion. She took a deep breath, and decided to tell her everything. Hopefully, the woman would understand why they had to go.

  “Skymaster Lyra… the Council of Winds arrested Frankie last night, and tried to arrest me this morning.”

  “What?” Lyra gasped.

  “I resisted arrest,” Maeryn continued, feeling a block of lead form in her gut as Lyra stared at her. She hadn’t realized how much she valued Lyra’s respect, and she had the feeling that telling her the truth was going to ruin everything. But she couldn’t lie to her either. “I was running for Stonewing when the alarms went off. I honestly thought you were running for me on the airfield to detain me.”

  “But… why would you help us, then? Why didn’t you take the chance to escape?” Lyra asked, her face a mask of shock.

  “I couldn’t let you all die. You told me what would happen if the Rocs destroyed your farms and stole your livestock. You told me that you’d be forced to land in the Mist. No one deserves what the Mist would do to them, and…” Maeryn shook her head. “I started this journey with my beloved friends to end the threat of the Mist. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I abandoned you to it. But I can’t stay. The Council would arrest me, and then it would all be for nothing. We have to go.”

  “I…” Lyra cut herself off, closed her eyes, and schooled her expression. Maeryn watched her with trepidation. Would she take the opportunity to arrest Maeryn and confiscate Stonewing to ensure they had at least one combat-capable airship against the Rocs? Or would she let them continue their journey to eradicate the threat of the Mist?

  Finally, Lyra came to a decision, and her eyes opened, meeting Maeryn’s. “I appreciate the trust you’ve given me, Captain Maeryn. I fear I must ask for a little more.”

  Maeryn took a deep, shuddering breath as her stomach twisted. “I… Alright. Alright. What do you need from me?”

  “Come with me. To the Council. You will have my protection, I swear it on World’s Breath itself.” Maeryn heard Terrance gasp in the background, but didn’t dare look away from the Skymaster. “Trust me that no harm will come to you, and that I will return you to Stonewing, and that none will hinder your departure.”

  Maeryn swallowed, fear clenching in her gut, but she jerkily nodded. “Okay… Okay. I’ll trust you.”