The Iron Wraith roared to life the moment Vexa slammed her hand on the controls and suddenly, the docking platform felt impossibly small.
I can’t believe it took stealing an airship for me to realize how much I’ve missed flying.
But somehow Vexa always manages to make things interesting with armed guards firing at our backs.
"Everyone aboard!" Vexa shouted.
Nyx grabbed my coat and shoved me toward the ramp.
"Move!"
"I am moving!"
"You’re walking!"
"I have never stolen an airship before!"
Cyra shot past me, her cloak whipping violently in the wind of the engines. "You don’t need experience to run!"
"That’s what someone experienced would say!"
We reached the ramp as the first City Watchman fired at us.
The shot went wide, but the bullet still sparked against the metal floor at my boots.
Nyx spun and fired a warning shot that sent the guards diving behind the docking bays.
"Inside!"
I barely had time to see the look on her face before flying through the doorway.
It took until I landed in the ship for me to realize that the Iron Wraith wasn’t some noble airship fit for merchants.
There was nothing gold or fancy about the ship.
Dark metallic corridors, reinforced bulkheads, and glowing Aether conduits ran throughout the ship.
Vexa was already running toward the cockpit.
"Strap yourselves in!"
"Why?"
"Because we’re taking off!"
I didn’t like the sound of that.
We stumbled through the hold until we reached the main cabin.
I couldn’t believe how big it was. Strange controls ran along the curved corners of the room.
Hundreds of switches, dials, and levers littered the wall in front of us while three mechanical chairs waited at the front.
They overlooked a set of panoramic windows that showed the city skyline in absolute detail.
It reminded me of how the world looked when we were children.
"Aren’t airships supposed to be complicated?" I asked.
Vexa tossed herself into the front seat. "They are."
She grabbed two levers before smirking at me. "I’m just better at complicated."
The engines on the Iron Wraith screamed to life before shooting forward.
My stomach stayed behind.
I grit my teeth and grabbed the nearest rail.
"Vexa!"
She laughed. "Welcome to the ship!"
The Iron Wraith shot out from the dock.
All the while, the city fell away beneath us.
Aetheria looked so different from up here.
The skyscrapers didn’t seem as impossibly tall and the strange, billowing smoke from the city’s towers barely reached the airships above the city.
I could see everything; the roads, railroads, bridges, and hundreds of glowing lights that dotted the landscape like stars.
However, there was something else.
Beyond the city, Aetheria had walls that protected the skyline.
Beyond them, there was something darker on the horizon.
I stared at it through the window. "What is out there?"
Vexa didn’t look at me. "Nothing you want to see."
"That’s not an answer."
"It is in Aetheria." Cyra said.
She stood next to me and crossed her arms. "Wastelands."
"Wastelands?" I echoed.
She nodded. "The stormlands. Outside of the city, the land is littered with unstable Aether storms, monsters, old ruins, and broken machines. Places where the old world couldn’t survive."
I looked back at the horizon.
The skyline didn’t seem quite as impressive now.
If anything, it looked more like a fortress than a thriving city.
Nyx slid into the cockpit and shut the door. "We’re clear."
Vexa chuckled. "Not yet."
"What?"
She pointed behind us.
There three ships were rising from the Skyport.
Each was larger than our own and reinforced with metal plating and turrets.
They looked like City Watch ships.
"They followed us," I muttered.
"Obviously." Nyx said.
"Can we outrun them?"
Vexa smirked. "That’s what we’re about to find out."
She yanked a lever and the Iron Wraith’s engines changed pitch.
A blue light bathed the back of the ship.
[Aether Glide activated.]
The System appeared before me. "You can see that?"
Vexa raised an eyebrow. "See what?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
The ship sped forward.
The city blurred by.
The ships behind us grew smaller.
Vexa let out a laugh.
"Come on!" She shouted.
I barely had time to grab the front of the ship before Vexa pushed the controls forward.
The Iron Wraith shot between two towers.
My heart pounded in my chest.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!"
Vexa laughed. "Probably!"
Nyx slapped her belt. "Can you fly normally?"
"This is normal!" Vexa said.
"For who?" I asked.
"For me!" Cyra said as she perched in the seat beside Nyx.
She looked almost serene. "You’re frightened."
I stared at her. "We’re flying between buildings at impossible speeds."
"Yes." She smiled.
"That makes me feel better."
It occurred to me that Cyra was having some kind of fun.
The woman I met in the mansion was distant and careful.
Almost afraid that she’d hurt someone.
But Cyra was also smiling now.
Watching the city fall away with an almost fond expression.
Perhaps the freedom was already getting to her.
Suddenly, the ship jolted.
The lights flickered. Vexa swore. "One of them fired!"
A shell tore past the viewing panel, sending off sparks.
The explosion rocked the ship from behind. I grabbed the dashboard.
"Can this thing take another hit?"
"One or two." Vexa growled. "What about three?"
Nyx stood. "Give me a weapon."
Vexa pointed to a side panel. "Turret controls."
Nyx opened the panel and a mechanical seat spun upward.
She lowered herself into it as the turret automatically powered on. "Which one?"
"The leftmost ship." Nyx grinned. "Finally."
The side cannons rotated until a red targeting circle hovered over the ship.
Nyx pulled the trigger.
The Iron Wraith’s gun roared to life.
The shell struck the ship’s engine, sending showers of sparks into the sky. The ship immediately started to plummet.
I stared at the wreck in surprise. "Nice shot."
Nyx looked over her shoulder. "I’ve been shooting longer than you’ve been alive."
"That’s unsettling." I muttered.
The other two ships split up.
One climbed higher while the other dropped lower. Vexa frowned. "They’re trying to flank us."
I checked the targeting scope.
Three red dots hovered over the landscape.
One was already behind us.
Two remained ahead. "Can we get out of the city?"
Vexa nodded. "But we need to break through the northern gate."
"What happens if we can’t?" I asked.
She gestured toward the front.
I looked out the window.
There was a gate ahead with a reinforced barrier on the other side.
Beyond it, the wastelands stretched on forever.
The Iron Wraith shot toward it at full speed.
"Vexa." I said.
"Ya?" Vexa replied.
"The gate is closing."
"I know."
"That’s bad."
"I know."
"Can we stop?"
"No."
I stared at her. "Why not?"
"Because if I slow down now, the City Watch catches us."
"Then keep going and maybe we’ll make it." I said with a shrug.
"Maybe."
I looked at Nyx.
She was already reloading.
Then I turned to Cyra.
She stood beside the front window, her fingers crackling with blue electricity. "Can you open the gate?"
Cyra looked at it for a moment. "Not from here."
She hesitated. "Yes."
Vexa immediately shouted. "DON’T!"
Cyra looked at her. "Why?"
"Because it’s an Imperial gate." Vexa said.
"So?"
"So if you destroy it, every military ship in the region will know exactly where we are."
I groaned. "Then we need another plan."
The System appeared.
[Environmental Analysis.]
[Northern Gate: Reinforced Aether Barrier.]
[Structural Weakness: Central locking mechanism.]
[Recommended Action: Disable mechanism.]
I smiled. "Cyra."
"Yes?" She asked.
"Think you can hit one specific spot?"
She looked at the gate, then smiled. "I can try."
I pointed at the barrier. "There."
A glow of blue electricity danced at her fingertips.
Vexa accelerated toward the opening gate.
The City Watch ships followed closely behind.
The distance between the ships grew smaller with every passing second.
Ten seconds. Five. Three.
Cyra fired a beam of electricity at the locking mechanism.
The gate stopped closing and slowly opened.
Vexa let out a cry of delight. "Yes!"
The Iron Wraith shot through the opening.
The City Watch ships had to slow down as well.
We were free.
For once, there was nothing but darkness beneath the sky.
No city.
No lights.
No glowing signs.
Just the wastelands and the distant storms beyond the horizon.
I looked out the window. "This is the outside world."
Cyra stood next to me. "Yes."
Vexa leaned back in her chair. "Welcome to freedom."
The System appeared.
[Main Objective Complete.]
[Crew Member: Vexa Rynn - Recruitment Condition Fulfilled.]
[New Crew Member Acquired.]
[Reward: 10 Upgrade Energy.]
I smiled at the message. Ten more upgrade points. There was another message right after it.
[Warning.]
[Hostile signal detected.]
I frowned. "What’s that mean?"
Vexa’s grin vanished. "What?"
I pointed at the radar.
There was only one ship far behind us. It wasn’t one of the City Watch.
It was too big.
Too fast.
The System practically screamed in annoyance.
[Unknown Airship Detected.]
[Threat Level: Extreme.]
The Iron Wraith gave another jolt.
Vexa stared at the radar in shock. "That’s impossible."
Nyx stood. "What is it?"
She swallowed hard before pulling another lever.
Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Something followed us."