I turn to Kuro, wondering if she has anything to add before I leave, but her face is as expressionless as it’s ever been. She’s holding her thoughts back in front of the skepticism of the others, but I know deep down she has faith in . She wouldn’t be putting herself on the line if she didn’t.
I wish I knew why Kuro felt this way about , a total stranger in her world. I appreciate her more than she realizes.
I flash a smile to her and bound over the grass until a breeze catches my back feathers. Leaping into the air a strong thermal gusts out from the interior of the continent, thrusting skyward. I rise over the trees and glance off to see the air destroyer looming ominously in the sky, its bow now pointing inland on a slow and deliberate course into the heart of Lithan territory. It seems that even without my intervention, the airship-prey has been provoked into being aggressive. Funny how that happens.
SKREEEEECH!
Hey!! It’s you’re looking for, right? Well, here I am! So leave these poor Dragons alone, okay?
Oh, yes. I understand the supre irony of what’s occurring right now — the Princess of Ellyntide, flying off to confront one of her warships and prevent it from attacking a hostile enemy of the Kingdom. There’s no shortage of surreal things about the current situation I find myself in, but acting against my own Kingdom’s instrunts of war as an enemy has to be the most insane. This is categorically against everything I’ve ever sworn to uphold as Princess. But to earn the trust of these Dragons and live to see another day, I’ll happily do it. I’ll threaten my people with violence and beco the monster they fear. Whatever consequences await when I return ho, I’ll accept them.
The winds are calr here than at Archer’s Point, but it’s still a struggle to gain altitude into the strong headwinds. I climb until I reach the height of the airship, right within the slim zone of calm I took to reach the Northern Continent. Catching my breath, I can see that the air destroyer had moved within a mile of the continent but rotated its forward propellers horizontally to hover in place. It seems they heard my cry and realized they no longer had any reason to try sothing so daring.
I bank left on a direct course to intercept, keeping a close eye on the movents of the steam cannons. Their firing order was once demonstrated to and mom on a tour of these ships, so I know the distinct visual cues to look for when they’re being ard. I can tell the turrets are in the lowered position, which ans they haven’t begun the arming sequence yet. I’m safe to approach, for now.
I inspect the airship as I approach, looking for anything unusual that could be a threat. This appears to be a typical air destroyer with thick, gray armor covering the whole of the hull from bow to stern, and the steam propellers…
…
My eyes stop and fixate on one part of the ship in particular.
Mother, did you…
I pull my wings back and stop to hover in place, examining the symbol near the ship's bow that indicates the vessel's na. It is a red rose — the symbol associated with the reign of my late grandmother. This is the Air Destroyer Beatrix.
My heart collapses knowing the significance of sending this ship in particular on a mission of subjugation. For taking the life of her daughter, mom is calling on the ship nad after her mother, the cruel victim of an assassination plot twenty years ago by agents from Sarlain. This isn’t just a mission of petty revenge for her — it’s penance.
I’ve understood for so ti that my family has to believe I’m dead. But to see it confird to with such a stark example… it’s almost too much to bear. I turn my head away from the ship, unable to take it all in. For the life of , I wish I could turn around, fly back to Varecia and tell mom I’m safe.
…
I force myself to face the ship. If I truly want a future where I return ho and tell mom what’s happened to then I can’t settle now. As painful as it is, I need to scare this ship into leaving the Northern Continent.
Slowly, I fly forward toward the bow where the pilot’s deck is located. This may seem like suicide, but I wasn’t joking when I told Kuro I know everything about the airship-prey. Besides knowing how the cannons fire, being the heir to the throne ans I also know how our ships will react if approached by an enemy… even if that enemy is a Dragon.
In the past, Lithans have attacked smaller, less armored vessels by attaching themselves to the side of the ship and using their talons and jaws to attack. They plan to lure in and wait for to try in vain to get through the thick, plated armor of the Air Destroyer. Once the cannons have accumulated enough steam, they’ll order gunners to the outside platforms and fire on . Once their bullets break off, the cannons will be ready, and… well, no more Princess Asha.
Of course, I’m not going to do any of that. Whatever they have planned, I’m certain none of their contingencies have staring down the pilot’s deck to bark orders at the vessel’s commanding officer. But that’s exactly what I intend to do. They don’t need to understand the orders I’m giving them, I just need to put on a show for the Lithans and convince the airwon that trying to fight back against is futile.
I position myself about a half-mile ahead of the air destroyer, close enough to take in the foul-slling vapors of the propellers, but far enough away that I have a good view of the two forward-facing cannons. I always thought these ships were massive as a Lemur, and even now as a Lithan I still feel small compared to them.
Hovering in place, muscled tensed and nerves high, I lock eyes with the glass windows of the pilot’s deck. I double-check sothing in my throat — I think it’s working, now — and feel confident enough to proceed.
“Air Destroyer Beatrix!! I am your Princess, Asha Lordanou!”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I pause for a mont, giving the people I swore to protect one final chance to make contact with . One last sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, they’ve beco privy to what’s happened and this is actually a mission to contact .
…But the mont soon passes, and the ship doesn’t react. Begrudgingly, I continue. “I order you, as your Princess, to turn back and return to Ellyntide airspace! Do not encroach the Northern Continent!”
Once more, there’s no response from the ship. I strain to look through the glass to the pilot’s deck, but there’s too much glare to make out anything inside. I glance at the turrets, looking for the tell-tale signs of their arming sequence, but they remain in the lowered position.
“If you do not comply, I will—“
At once, the forward turrets whir to life with a chanical chunk, interrupting my orders. They rise into the ready position, pivoting to point their barrels squarely at . The arming sequence has begun! Will I turn and flee?
Absolutely not. I’m just going to keep acting like a dumb little Lithan that knows nothing about ascendant technology.
I recall what the Lieutenant told us about the firing sequence. Right now, pressure from the steam generators is being transferred to the forward accumulators near the bow of the ship. Once there, a superheater will process the steam in preparation for firing. Once the correct temperature and pressure have been achieved, the turrets will visibly ‘lock’ in place. When that happens, I have a countdown of—
Click!
Click!
…!! They just locked!!
Four…
Three…
Two…
Now!
I tent my wings, dropping like a stone into a steep dive below the ship. A heartbeat later I sense a brilliant flash of light above and the deafening sounds of two steam cannons thrash my ear drums.
I flap hard to even out my descent before I plunge too far into the gales. Looping around to the front of the ship, I quickly regain altitude to face down the pilot’s deck once more, this ti at a much closer distance. I expected them to do this, but I’m still going to act upset.
Really upset.
Shrieking as loud as my lungs will allow, I’m shocked by the power my voice carries as the windows of the pilot’s deck shatter and explode outward. A confetti of glass and steel is suffused into the air and drawn to the back of the ship by the suction of the steam propellers, revealing the cockpit and the dazed expressions of the animals inside, the whites of their eyes plainly visible.
But I’m not done being angry just yet.
I pull my neck back and tickle the special muscle in the back of my throat. Heat begins to build and to my supre relief, this ti, fire is produced. My jaw flings open and a column of fla shoots into the wind, harmlessly sailing past the starboard bow of the ship and into the open sky where it dissipates into nothing. Feeling like I’ve made a credible threat, I extinguish the blowtorch and stare down the completely exposed pilot’s deck.
“Air Destroyer Beatrix!! This is your final warning! I order you: Stand!! Down!!”
Bedlam erupts inside the ship. A Fisher screams sothing unintelligible and the officers inside scramble. A Ringtailed woman runs past a Marten picking himself up off the floor and begins frantically punching sothing into a machine on the back wall. The Marten stumbles into the pilot’s chair and begins turning a sequence of knobs and levers which correlate to loud creaks emanating from the interior of the ship.
A Ruffy consoles a Lopear, still reeling on the ground from the force of my shriek.
Sensing they’re finally taking my threats seriously I bank to the side and rise in altitude over the ship, fighting the gales to fly around in circles and give them plenty of room to retreat. Gazing down to keep a watchful eye on their movents, I spot two curious Ruffies poking out from one of the outside decks on the side of the ship. Terror fills their faces when our eyes et, and they quickly retreat to the safety of the interior decks.
Slowly, the ship ambles itself so the bow is pointing away from the edge of the continent. The steam propellers shift vertical and throttle up to full speed, taking the ship away from . I watch it as it glides through the air, the proverbial tail tucked between its legs before slipping silently into the fog.
I’ve done what I set out to do, but it sure feels like a hollow victory. I’m relieved it didn’t co down to actual violence, but to see the abject terror I caused in those I swore to protect is… difficult to process.
I lower out of the sky and towards the edge of the continent, wondering just what type of reaction I’ll receive from the Lithans when I return. I told them I could get the airship to leave, but it ended up taking quite a bit of, erm, persuasion to get it done. I hope I didn’t co off as weak to them.
When I find myself back over the continent I lower down and glide low to the ground, trying to appear modest about what just occurred. As I approach the windswept oak I begin to make out the four Lithans I left there, all standing in a row in front of the tree. It seems they were watching the scene above with great interest. I land nearby and approach them with my head held high, their faces brimming with concern. “The airship-prey has left,” I announce. “It took so persuasion, but I convinced her to return to Ellyntide airspace. She won’t be returning.”
There was silence among the group, nobody quite sure how to respond to the news that an airship-prey had been simply told off into leaving.
“Fress…” Gima speaks slowly and with shock in her voice. “How did you do that?!”
I smile at the older drakaina. “I told you, Gima, I’m a Farlander. Airship-prey obey my orders.”
She stares at , unable to respond. A heartbeat later she exchanges a befuddled glance with Ykuvi.
“You threatened it with fire,” Enyll speaks up, his voice cool like water. “It wouldn’t listen to you otherwise?”
I shake my head. “It would not. Airship-prey are temperantal, but they understand the threat posed by fire. Fla is their weakness, and a single blast in the right spot could kill an airship-prey in seconds.”
Enyll winces, shocked by the revelation that an airship-prey could be wounded so easily. It’s true, though! One shot of fire to a row of steam propellers and the ship would list on its side until it fell out of the sky. I wonder how many Lithans have been injured in the past trying to fight airships by tearing them apart with their talons? How much destruction has been caused by airships exploding in their territory? To learn that there’s a weakness to those beasts that could stop them before they even reach the continent has got to be moon-shattering.
Enyll’s eyes narrow calmly. For the first ti there isn’t hostility staring back at , but deep-seated respect.
Finally, there’s Kuro. She’s kept her wings folded and her expression steady, but I can tell she’s trying to stay modest. Out of everyone, she believed in and put herself on the line in front of the others. Of course she’d be pleased to find that her faith was well placed. Perhaps now I’ll be able to find out why she harbored that trust in .
I flash another quick smile to her. I could swear she flashed the quickest one back.
Ykuvi’s wings rustle. “Farlander,” he asks. “What’s your na?”
A smile grows across my face hearing them address that way for the first ti. “My na is Princess Asha Eloise Lordanou, heir apparent to the Lilac Throne of Ellyntide.” I dip my head low and mantle my wings wide before my new friends. “But please, just call Asha.”
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