Rio

 
"Of course it's not my real name!" Rio laughed at Uzbecka as they broke open a pack of quick rations over the fire they had lit. It was fortunate, Rio mused, that the Mantas had enough storage for a few days supplies, including fire starters and a light bedroll.

"But you're not going to tell me?"

"Well, actually... no. But it's nothing personal. It's just more like a... stage name," Rio blushed.

"You're a musician?"

"Okay, yeah... I've got some secrets worth keeping. When we're not work for hire soldiers and air pirates, some of the Cloak members play some classical songs at a few of the places in the Pageant Town, on original instruments. We call ourselves 'The Reflux"... I play a thing called a guitar."

"That's... maybe you should have kept that secret," Uzbecka laughed, but she was finding it hard to stay angry at the air pirate. "Can you pass me that? Thank you, Rio."

"You're welcome, Uzi," Rio replied, handing her the last ration packet. "And you? Look, I'm not saying you're any good, because you're not, but you've flown a Manta before. How was that?"

"Well, I suppose I have secrets worth keeping too, then."

Uzbecka

A break in the dense forest ahead of the pair of battlesuits came into view. Uzbecka was relieved, as she struggled to dodge rogue branches in the shadowy canopy. A few meters above the canopy, the Swirl became too dense to see, so the safest path, other than walking, was to fly just below the canopy, where the forest branches were less dense.

"Actually," Uzbecka muttered to herself, looking at the ominously gloomy undergrowth in the clearing Rio was rapidly approaching, "maybe the canopy is safer than the ground."

Rio executed a precise tight turn, followed by a quick kick to decelerate, and then landed in the clearing with an acrobat's agility, hands on her hips. Or rather on the hip plates of the green Manta suit. Uzbecka continued muttering to herself. Dodging canopy branches as they appeared out of the gloom was one thing; landing on the ground without breaking her neck was another thing completely.

Moving in a straight line was not the hard part, because the Manta's strongest boosters were the ones located in the small of her back, and they could only propel her in a single direction: forward; even so, steering was accomplished by shifting her body weight, particularly her arms, which bore shoulder and forearm blades that were quite heavy, and by repositioning her legs, which had much more precise boosters, which she could use for more surgical adjustments in direction and velocity. At least in theory, and perhaps "surgical" was not the best word to describe Uzbecka's control over the Manta. "Flailing" might be more appropriate.

Uzbecka had been carefully observing the green Manta from behind, how Rio was able to use small adjustments to effect impressive course corrections and changes in altitude; but Uzbecka was not yet ready to emulate Rio's quick kicks and flips. Several times, she had watched Rio pull her limbs together, but not close enough together to activate the transformation to flight mode, and then crouch into a kind of hover, allowing the heel boosters to slow her motion. At the last moment, Rio would slide her legs back slightly, cutting the boosters and alighting on a tree branch. She made it look almost elegant.

This seemed easier than the rolling landing Rio had just executed, so Uzbecka muttered a quick prayer, pulled her legs and arms together, but not close enough to trigger the transformation to flight mode. The heel boosters did in fact slow her down, but the ground was approaching very quickly, and Uzbecka ended up sliding on her backside into the soft earth for about ten meters before coming to a stop, at which point, her remaining momentum rolled her forward onto her arms in a half somersault. Any landing you could walk away from...  

Teaser - Uzbecka

Faster... faster...

She was slowly getting a feel for piloting the red Manta suit. It had not come back to her immediately, and Uzbecka was keenly aware that she was piloting a battlesuit; yes, she was flying at high speeds to keep pace with the green Manta and its pilot, but she had no illusions that about how she might fare in either a dogfight or a fistfight. Hopefully, circumstances would not call for a fight, but they were in unknown enemy territory, and ambush was always a concern in the Swirl.

The other pilot, Rio, was also an unknown quantity. For now, circumstances dictated that they work together, but they could turn on each other at any moment, and Uzbecka fully expected the other pilot to fly into the Swirl and disappear at any moment, which was why she was pushing herself to keep up. Flying the Manta was exhilarating, of course. The suit formed an immediate spiritual connection with its pilot, and with time and speed, that connection was deepening. It felt like a special kind of joy, racing through the fog of the Swirl, which was an essential component in that connection, with the suit filtering the psychic energy of the crackling fog, the same way the Runagate did, converting it into fuel and operational drivers through the suit's spirit weird, which Uzbecka experienced from time to time as a chiming voice that advised her from time to time to gain or lose altitude. Primarily, however, the suit spurred her on.

Faster... faster...

Crike

 

Uzbecka felt a surge of panic, and urgency. She knew they had to act fast, or it would be too late. They grabbed the flux cores, and lifted them up. They carried them to the blasthole in the hull, and prepared to escape. They hoped to find a safe place to land, and to fix the flux cores. They hoped to save the gloomers, and the Runagate.

They looked at each other, and nodded. They were ready to go. They jumped through the blasthole, and flew out of the hold. They saw the Swirl below them, and the tepui ahead of them. They saw the Remoras and the Cloak fighting in the air, and the Runagate falling to the ground. They saw the skywhale above them, and

They saw the skywhale above them, and felt a surge of terror, and awe. It was a colossal creature, bigger than the Runagate, and more powerful than anything they had ever seen. It had a whale-like body, but with wings, scales, and teeth. It had eyes that glowed with a blue light, and a mouth that opened wide, ready to devour them. It had sensed the flux energy, and had followed them. It had waited for the right moment, and had attacked.

It swooped down on them, faster than they could react. It opened its mouth, and unleashed a blast of sound, a sonic boom that shattered the air, and their ears. It hit them with a force that knocked them off balance, and made them drop the flux cores. They saw the flux cores fall, and felt a surge of despair, and guilt. They had failed to protect them, and the gloomers. They had doomed them, and the Runagate.

They watched as the flux cores hit the ground, and cracked. They saw a flash of light, and a pulse of energy that rippled through the Swirl. They saw the gloomer spirits emerge from the flux cores, and fly into the air. They saw them as three orbs of different colors, red, blue, and green. They heard them as three voices, loud and clear, in their minds.

Crike's attention was divided between the battle in the skies, as the Remoras and the Cloak traded blows, and the skywhale above them. It was drawn in by the flux cores, of course. The dec appeared littered with downed Red and Green Mantas, as the nest crew continued to strip pieces of rigging from the Runagate, snaring any sky pirate who got too close to the nest. Most of Crike's attention remained on the Runagate, though. Keeping her aloft would be a challenge, and Crike preferred to avoid challenges whenever possible.

And then Crike watched as Uzbecka emerged from below deck, dragged one of the downed Remoras down the stairs into the hold, and disappeared again.

The skywhale swooped on the Runagate again, faster and fiercer than before. It opened its mouth, and unleashed another deafening blast of sound. It hit them with a force that knocked them out of the air, and sent them plummeting to the ground. Crike felt the impact, and pain. And then they lost consciousness, as everything went black.

They did not see what happened next, as the gloomer spirits left the flux cores to find new hosts among the unconscious crew and passengers. Crike did not see them possess the bodies of the dreamguide, Rielle; the captain, Ariette; and the engineer, Thulia. They did not see the changes that occurred, in their appearance, and their abilities.

They did not see the skywhale drive the Runagate down into the tepui, crashing her into the rocks. They did not see the destruction, and the death.

They did not see the end of their story, or the beginning of a new one.

Uzbecka

Uzbecka felt a surge of adrenaline as she unleashed a blast of wind at the two Cloak pirates who had entered the hold through a large blasthole. She had been guarding the flux cores with the engineer, Thulia, and two passengers, Darius Mann and his scribe, when the green-clad intruders burst through the hull, armed with railguns and shoulderblades. Uzbecka erected a shield of air to deflect their shots, while Thulia grabbed a wrench and tried to fight them off, but the engineer was quickly overpowered and knocked unconscious, leaving Uzbecka alone to face the enemies.

She knew she had to protect the flux cores at all costs. They were the source of the Runagate's power and they contained three gloomer spirits, born out of the magnetic fields of the Swirl. The Runagate used the flux energy to fly and navigate through the Swirl, avoiding the skywhales that lurked within, ghostly airships that fed on the flux attacking anything else they could trap.

The Cloak pirates might intend to bleed the gloomer weirds, or to sell them on the black market. Uzbecka could not let that happen. She had sworn an oath to protect the Runagate and its crew, and she felt a kinship with the gloomer spirits, who had helped her hone her weather magic, helping her learn how to channel the flux energy through her body and mind.

But now, the flux cores were damaged, and the gloomers were in danger. Uzbecka could feel their distress, as they struggled to maintain their connection to the Runagate. She could also hear the sounds of battle outside the hold, as the Remoras, in their red Mantas, attacked the Runagate from above.

Uzbecka knew they had little time left. She had to fend off the Cloak pirates and secure the flux cores, before the Runagate crashed or ran afoul of the Remoras or the skywhale looming above them. If the skywhale got a taste of the flux leaking out the cores, it would come at them, and she feared what it would do when it did.

She centered herself in the present, and the two Cloak pirates advancing on her. She had managed to wound one of them with a blow with a loose timber, but she was unprepared for this. Uzbecka wondered who they were behind their green Manta masks, and why they had chosen to become sky pirates. She wondered if they had families, friends, dreams, or regrets. She wondered if they felt any remorse for the lives they had taken, or the lives they were about to take.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She could not afford to be distracted. She had to fight, and as the Mantas moved towards the flux cores, they were also driving her towards the hole basted in the Runagate's hull. She raised her hands, ready to unleash a blast of wind, when she heard a loud noise behind her. She turned, and saw a familiar figure emerge from the blasthole. Harlaan was brandishing a peevee pole, and he looked tired, but determined.

"Uzbecka, I'm here to help!" he shouted, as swung the pole at the nearest Cloak pirates. "Are you alright?"

Uzbecka felt a surge of relief, and gratitude. She nodded and smiled. "Harlaan, you're a sight for sore eyes!" she said. "I'm fine, but the flux cores are not. We have to get them out of here, before the skywhale comes back!"

Harlaan nodded and moved closer to her. She saw him frown as he glanced at the flux cores. They knew how important they were, and how dangerous they could be, and the cracks on the sparing metal casings, the faint glow of the gloomer spirits inside, worried him.  When a flux core exploded, this was enormously destructive, and when a gloomer spirit possessed a person, this would lead to madness, and death.

Crike

"They're attacking the flux cores!" Uzbecka hollered up the comm tube from the engineering compartment in the hold. "The engineer is down, I'm not sure if they're trying to sabotage the ship, or steal the core... you need to stabilize the ship and find somewhere to land if the cores go offline."

Crike was handy at the helm, a closely kept secret, because Crike didn't want any more responsibilities around the ship. Peeling potatoes and fetching the captain meals was enough. Under ordinary circumstances, landing the ship would not be a problem.

These were not, however, ordinary circumstances.

Under desperate circumstances, a crew could pull together, but where was Harlaan now? He had been up in the lookout nest, where Crike could now see the two lookouts heaving beams and swinging ropes to foul the remaining Remora in the sky. Harlaan had dealt with at least one more with a peevee pole, before he leapt off the side of the ship. Crike knew better than to underestimate Harlaan's acrobatic prowess, but even so... this was concerning. Were there more of the sky pirates on the deck? Hard to tell. Crike's hands were full with keeping the ship from plummeting towards the ground.

The Runagate's main form of lift was the helix-shaped main skysail, which had recently been filled like a balloon with hot air from a geothermal vent on a volcanic island now far away. The sail would keep them aloft as long as it was intact. Without the flux cores, they would lack propulsion... Crike could steer the airship in a limited fashion using the four steering sails on the hull, but without propulsion, the ship would lose momentum, and steering would become difficult. In this fog, navigation was a challenge, even with the dream-navigator's guidance, and that comm tube was silent. The absense of attendanst was worrisome, and Uzbecka had said that the captain had gone down there to investigate.

Uzbecka and the engineer were in the hold, and there were sky pirates in the hold, and perhaps that was the only thing that mattered right, now, aside from trying to find somewhere to land in the fog, and without the benefit of Harlaan's keen sight, Crike had to admit that they were effectively blind, relying instead on luck to guide them to one of the plateaus or tepuis that they had previously been trying to avoid in the dense fog.

Crike could still see the shadow above and to port of the skywhale, and that was reassuring. It had not closed any distance. The skywhale were not exactly benign presences in the Swirl, but they would not intentionally run into skyships, if intention was even the right word. The Remoras may have been lying in wait for a while behind the skywhale, by the looks of it a large autonomous tanker ship, without provoking any reaction. But at the best of times, skywhales were unpredictable, and this was far from the best of times.

Crike called up through the comm tube to the nest, telling them to keep an eye on the 'whale and to look out for land. They had the Manta snarled up in the rigging, which was one less concern, perhaps, unless the Remora broke free and damaged the balloon sail, but Kimmy was still hurling loose planks and shackes at her, so that seemed less and less likely. Crike also called down the engineering comm tube and the forecabin tube, but there was no answer. 

Harlaan

Crike was yelling something about the hull at Harlaan, but Harlaan had his hands full, hanging from a peevee pole from the side of that hull, and was quite concerned about the likelihood of falling when the explosion happened. By some luck, he was able to hold on as the ship lurched to starboard, falling away beneath him, and then again as the bosun pulled the ship back on course. Taking stock of the situation, Harlaan could see two red Mantas above him on the deck of the Runagate. One had fallen after the explosion. Below, he could see a smoking hole in the side of the Runagate's hull, far back, and two green Mantas, perched on one of the steerage skysails, below the hole.

Making a quick decision, Harlaan leaped from his perch at the bow of the skyship, landing on another skysail, making his way back to the green Mantas. "They've blown the hull!" He called out to anyone who might hear him. "A rival skygang! They must be after the core! What the flux is happening?"

Through the fog, he could one of the green Mantas slip through the breach in the Runagate's hull and disappear into the darkness. The other, hearing his approach, had turned to face him, precariously poised on the aft skysail. Because Crike was still trying to keep the skyship on course, Harlaan assumed - perhaps Crike had given up on keeping the skyship headed straight, or abandoned post - in any case, the steerage sails were in motion as the two combatants faced each other.

This was going to be tricky.

Harlaan gripped the peevee pole tightly, staring down the sky pirate perched on the opposite skysail. The wind whipped his hair and clothes, making him feel exposed and vulnerable. He could see the pirate's eyes gleaming behind the faceplate of her Manta suit. For a moment he marvelled at the sleek and flexible flightsuit that allowed her to glide through the air like a giant ray. He would have to contain her ability to launch away from the skyship if he was going to gain any kind of advantage.

From behind the faceplate, the pirate taunted him. "Just you and me then? Come on, show me what you've got!"

Harlaan ignored her words and focused on his breathing. He had trained with various weapons, learning how to use them as an extension of his body. He could swing the pole, thrust it, hook it, and even throw it with deadly accuracy. This was not the first time he had to fight a sky pirate.

He knew he had to act fast, before the pirate decided to take off and attack him from above. He was also determined to protect the Runagate, and the flux core, a powerful energy source that could power a city for a year. Two gangs of sky pirates had somehow tracked them down and ambushed them, unlikely this was a coincidence. 

He had to stop them, no matter what.

He took a deep breath and leaped from his skysail, swinging his peevee pole at the pirate. She dodged the strike and countered with a slash of her wing, leaning in her shoulder and barely missing his throat. He landed on her skysail and stepped back to avoid another swipe, followed by a punch. 

They exchanged a flurry of blows, parrying and dodging each other's attacks. Harlaan was surprised by the pirate's agility and skill, but he was not intimidated. He had the advantage of reach and strength, and he used them to his favor. Keeping her back against the hull was the only way he could prevent her from becoming airborne easily. Harlaan swung the peevee pole with force, aiming for her head and chest, and then raked past her legs. He forced her to retreat and defend, looking for an opening to finish her off. 

He found it when she stumbled on a loose rope and lost her balance. He seized the opportunity and hooked her wing with his peevee pole, pulling her towards him. She gasped and tried to free herself, but it was too late. As he swung the pole against her legs, she lost her balance and fell, crashing backwards into the hull with a sickening sound, and then sliding off the skysail and disappearing down into the fog.

Harlaan looked at the hole in the hull of the Runagate, wondering what was happening inside. He hoped the captain and his crewmates were okay, and he knew he had to join them, and help them secure the ship. Perhaps now he would at least have the element of surprise.

He jumped off the skysail and ran towards the blasthole, hoping he was not too late.

Uzbecka

 "I don't have time for this," Uzbecka muttered to herself as she laid the prone second attendant beside the other attendant. The small magic that she wielded was nascent, and primarily allowed her minor manipulation of the wind and rain, which was useful enough on a skyship, but she had also learned a few techniques that could come in useful when a drunken fight broke out around the card table. In a pinch, she could cause temporary loss of bladder control, or give someone a bad case of brainfreeze, and after exercising this second option on the smaller attendant, Jaella, and then holding her face up to the air coming through one of the portals, Uzbecka was fairly sure the fugue state had passed. "And what was all that about?" Uzbecka continued to mutter to herself, as she checked on the captain and the dreamguide.

Everyone in the cabin appeared to have been affected by the rosy miasma that had filled the room, but that had now cleared. The two attendants may have got the worst of it. Their eyes had glowed pinked, and they had been unusually aggressive. Presumably they had attacked the captain, and possibly the dreamguide, but why? Probably a distraction, diverting the crew's attention.

Uzbecka felt a strong sense of duty, to the captain and the dreamguide especially, and she ministered to their needs as best she could, but there was little she could do. She was about to head above, back on deck, when she paused for a moment to better consider the situation. Harlaan would have a handle on anything that was happening above deck, but perhaps what had happened in the dreamguide's cabin was not the only distraction.

An explosion shook the Runagate. They were being shelled, or someone was setting off blasting charges.

"I really don't have time for this," Uzbecka cursed as she ran down the hallway to the much larger ship's hold, which held two passenger cabins, the ship's cargo of trade goods, and the massive flux engine core that provided the ship with additional lift when the balloon sail emptied during a long flight.

She reached the end of the narrow corridor and opened the door to the passenger cabins. There were only two rooms, one on each side. She knocked on the first one, hoping to find someone alive. She heard a deep muffled voice from inside.

"Who is it?" the voice asked.

"It's Uzbecka, the first mate. Are you okay in there?" she replied.

The door opened slightly, and a pair of eyes peered out. They belonged to Darius Mann, a wealthy merchant who had booked a passage on the runagate. He was accompanied by his scribe, a young woman with a hooded cloak and a quill in her hand. Uzbecka had seen them before, but she knew nothing about them. She had heard rumors that they were members of the Proclive, a shadowy organization that manufactured technology that was immune to the effects of the glooming. She didn't know if it was true, but she didn't care. She was just glad they were alive.

"We're fine, thank you," Darius said. "What's going on out there?"

"We're under attack, pirates I think," Uzbecka said. "They're trying to board us. We're doing our best to fight them off, but we need your help."

"Our help?" Darius asked, incredulous. "What can we do?"

"You can grab a weapon and join the fight, or you can stay here and lock the door. It's your choice," Uzbecka said.

Darius looked at his scribe, who nodded. They both stepped out of the cabin, and Uzbecka handed them each a pistol. She hoped they knew how to use them.

"Follow me," she said. "And stay close."

She led them to the other cabin, where she knocked again. This time, there was no answer. She tried the door, but it was locked. She kicked it hard, and it burst open. She entered the room, followed by Darius and his scribe.

The room was a mess. The furniture was overturned, the windows were shattered, and the floor was covered with debris from the explosion. The family had boarded the Runagate at the last minute. Uzbecka didn't know their names, or their story. She only knew that the man lying broken against the hull was dead, and the rest of his family were unaccounted for.

She felt a wave of anger and sadness wash over her. She had failed to protect him. But she would not fail to protect his family, or the Runagate. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Who did this?" Darius asked, horrified.

"Pirates," Uzbecka said. "They set charges, probably trying to blast into the hold to steal the core."

Through a door at the end of the narrow corridor was a modest lounge and galley. There was no sign of the mother and child. Moments later, Uzbecka, the Proclive artificer and his scribe opened the door that lead to the Runagate's hold and engine room.

She searched the room for any clues or signs of life. She found nothing. She turned to leave, when she heard a faint noise from the closet. She opened it, and found a woman hiding inside. She was the artificer engineer, who maintained the engines and other mechanics of the Runagate. She was a short and stout woman, with goggles and a wrench. She looked terrified.

"Thank the flux, you're alive," Uzbecka said. "Are you hurt?"

The engineer shook her head. She crawled out of the closet, and hugged Uzbecka.

"Thank you for saving me," she said. "I was working on the engine, when I heard the pirates. I ran to the nearest cabin, and locked myself in. I was so scared. I thought they would find me. I thought you were them."

"They won't hurt you anymore," Uzbecka said. "You're safe now."

She introduced the engineer to Darius and his scribe, and explained the situation.

"We need to get to the engine room," the engineer said. "The flux core is unstable. If it explodes, we're all doomed."

"Then let's go," Uzbecka said. "We don't have much time."

She led the group to the cargo hold, where the engine room was located. She hoped they would make it in time. She hoped they would survive. She hoped the Runagate would stay aloft.

Crike

Crike cursed as the Remoras emerged from the fog, their Mantas shifting from sleek jets to agile wingsuits. Too busy admiring the Skywhale, a massive metal hulk floating out of the fog above them, Crike had always wondered what it was like to fly one of those, to soar through the skies without a care in the world. But now, they had to focus on keeping the Runagate alive.

The Remoras were not here to negotiate. They were raiders, who preyed on weaker ships and stole their loot. Crike counted six Mantas, each armed with a harpoon gun and a grappling hook. They swooped down on the Runagate, firing their harpoons at the ship's hull and rigging. Crike pulled the Runagate hard to starboard, trying to avoid the projectiles, but some of them hit their mark, tearing holes in the sails and embedding themselves in the wood. Crike heard the laughter of the nearest Remora, mocking their poor flying skills.

"Is that the best you can do?" she called out. "You're no match for the Remoras, queens of the sky!"

With gritted teeth, Crike reached for a nearby flare pistol. The Runagate had a few defenses but none conveniently near Crike. Their was a sonic cannon on either side of the Runagate, but up close like this, they were less than useless. Crike let off a flare, hoping to blind the Remora, but the raider easily avoided it. The Runagate reeled as Crike fired again. 

"Damn it, this thing is useless!" Crike muttered, trying to stabilize the ship.

Crike looked around, hoping to see some sign of help from the crew. The Runagate had a dozen people on board, but most of them were busy fighting off the Remoras as they boarded the ship. Crike saw flashes of gunfire and blades, heard screams and shouts, smelled blood and smoke. The Remoras had used their grappling hooks to latch onto the ship. They were ruthless and brutal, bringing down anyone who got in their way.

The only one who seemed to have any luck against them was Harlaan. The veteran sky sailor had served in the navy before joining the Runagate, and now, armed with a peevee pole, he was slashing at the two nearest Remoras from his nest in the rigging. Their Mantas were fast, but cumbersome up close, even transformed into body armor, and they had trouble dealing with Harlaan's speed and skill. Crike watched him leap from the rigging onto one of the Mantas hooking the other with the peevee pole,causing them to collide. The Mantas spiraled down, missing the deck completely, crashing into the swirl, as Harlaan used the pole again, this time connecting with the side of the Runagate, saving himself from a similar fate.

"Way to go, Harlaan!" Crike cheered, watching the scene and pulling the Runagate hard to port.

Joy short-lived, Crike noticed something else. A small group of figures, suited up in green Manta armor, approaching the ship from below. They had used the cover of the fog and the noise of the battle to avoid detection. Crike recognized their colors as the Cloak, a rival sky gang. Apparently they had a different goal than the Remoras. They were not after the ship's cargo, but something more valuable. They were after the ship's core, the heart of the Runagate, the source of its power and life.

"Harlaan, we have a problem!" Crike shouted over the melee. "The Cloak are on the hull! If they're settings charges to blast their way in, they'll blow the core and kill us all!"

Harlaan

Harlaan climbed the last few steps to the lookout nest, where Kimmie and Sharra were scanning the horizon with their binoculars. The sky was a dull gray, filled with swirling magnetic fog that obscured everything beyond a few hundred meters. From the top of the nest, Harlaan was keenly aware of the manifold dimensions of the fog. Reaching out with an inner sense, he did a quick scan through the fog, then fired off a series of quick instructions the other two crew members in the nest.

"Anything?" Harlaan asked, hoping for some good news. "Kimmie, you thought you saw the skywhale?"

Kimmie shook her head. "Nothing but fog, sir. We've been flying blind for hours."

"Show me where you felt it's presence, and focus on that area. Sharra, you keep an eye in the other direction, behind us. I know it's hard to tell which way is fore and which way is aft in this haze, but we need to make sure we're not blindsided, even if we think there is trouble up ahead."

"Sir! The tube has been blaring at us, sir! Sounded like Uzbecka, hard to make out what she was saying."

"She's on helm, and she's probably panicking. You two keep your eyes on the skies and I'll coordinate with the rest of the ship."

Sharra pointed to a faint shape in the distance. "Wait, I think I saw something. There, do you see it? A dark spot in the fog. A sort of shadowy something above us on the port side, and I swear, I heard voices echoing through the fog."

Harlaan squinted and followed her finger. He felt a surge of dread in his chest. He knew what that shape was. A skywhale. "I don't know which I'm more concerned about, a rogue skywhale or a skyful of Remoras," Harlaan sighed.

He reached for the communication tube and routed it to the helm. "Uzbecka, this is Harlaan. We have a problem. There's a skywhale ahead of us."

The voice that responded, after a long pause, was not Uzbecka's. "A skywhale? Are you sure?" Crike called back.

"Damn it," Harlaan muttered. "That's not good. That's not good at all.

"I can see it with my own eyes. And you know what that means."

There was a pause. Harlaan could imagine the bosun's face, trying to cover fear with an outward veneer of laziness. Crike knew what skywhales were, technological ghost ships, abandoned by their original crews, with their nascent programming and algorithms taken over by malevolent spirits. They roamed the skies, wreaking havoc. No one knew where they came from or how they worked, but they were feared by all skyfarers.

Crike gulped. "We're in big trouble. How far away is it? Oh, and Uzbecka went to check on the captain and now they're both missing."

Harlaan checked his compass. "About two kilometers, sir. And closing fast. Damn it! We can't outrun it in this fog. And we can't fight it either. Those things are indestructible. We need to avoid it. Change course, now. Turn starboard, full speed. I'll check on Ariette and Uzbecka. Maybe the communication tubes are tangled again."

"Aye, sir. Turning starboard, full speed."

The skyship Runagate groaned and tilted as it changed direction. Harlaan hoped they would lose the skywhale in the fog, but he had a bad feeling about it. His second sense could not penetrate the magnetic fog very far. He leaned heavily into it now, trying to sense any danger ahead.

He gasped. He did sense something. Something big, big and metal. Moving fast and hostile.

"Port side! Incoming!" He called out to the other two in the nest, and down the communication tube.

"What? What is it?" Crike called back.

Harlaan recognized the shapes. He had seen them too many times before. 

"Remoras! Sky pirates. They're here, dropping down on us in their manta suits."

"Mantas? Those wenches!" Kimmie screamed out. "How did they find us?"

Harlaan had a theory. He thought the skywhale was a decoy, a lure, a trap. He thought the Remoras had somehow allied with the skywhale, or hacked it, or controlled it. Perhaps they were using it as cover, and to draw them in, ambushing them from the other side.

No time to explain. This would make a great case study later, but now was time for actions Harlaan saw the mantas emerge from the fog, like giant metal stingrays, with wings, engines, and projectiles. There were maybe half a dozen of them, dropping down in formation, ready to attack.

A harpoon projectile slammed down on the Runagate, hitting the nest, and then another hit the deck. Harlaan ducked and covered his head, grabbed the communication tube and shouted. "We're under fire. We need to fight back. We need to defend ourselves. We need all hands at battle stations, now!"

"Prepare for some exitement, girls. Do your best up here, and one of you keep an eye on that skywhale.I need to get to the midmast." He looked back at the skywhale, still looming in the fog. He felt a surge of anger and fear.

He swore. "Damn you, skywhale. Damn you, Remoras. Damn you, mantas. You won't get us. You won't take us down. We're the Runagate. We're the best. We'll fight you. We'll beat you. We'll make you pay."

But the reality was, the Runagate was completely outmatched by even a half dozen Remoras, and likely there were more, and Harlaan had no idea what had happened to Uzbecka and Ariette.

Uzbecka

The first thing Uzbecka saw when she reached the dreamguide's cabin was the captain, stretched out on the floor, unconscious, apparently not bleeding. The second thing she saw was the dreamguide, also unconscious on the floor. Her eyes darted around the cabin. The dreamguide's attendant. Where was the dreamguide's attendant?

She ducked as the attendant swung a fist at her, growling harshly. The burly attendant was enveloped in a rose-coloured light, as if she were emitting steam after unexpected rain on a sunny day. Or something.

Uzbecka knew something was wrong when she saw the rose-coloured miasma swirling around the attendant's eyes. She had heard stories of how a miasma like this could corrupt and control people, turning them into mindless puppets. She had to act fast, before the attendant could harm herself, the captain, the dreamguide, or anyone else.

She grabbed a glass of water from the table and threw it at the attendant, hoping to wash away the pink aura. The attendant, Liara, perhaps, dodged the water and lunged at Uzbecka, her fists clenched.

"Snap out of it, Liara!" Uzbecka shouted, as she ducked under a punch and kicked Liara in the stomach. "You're not yourself!"

Something was bothering Uzbecka about this whole situation. Ariette had come down to check on the dreamguide, and very likely had an explanation for the attendant's malicious behavior. The captain and the dreamguide both needed quick attention. But that was not the reason for Uzbecka's concern. 

Liara grunted and swung her arm, hitting Uzbecka in the face. Uzbecka stumbled back, feeling blood trickle from her nose. With a finger, she swiped the droplet from her nose. Then she whispered a word, and the droplet of blood evaporated, forming a glowing haze around her.

Was that what she was trying to recall? Was the aura around the dreamguide's attendant related to some sort of blood magic? Of course, Uzbecka's own magic was elemental. She was merely utilizing the moisture in the droplet of blood to form a shield. There was no way she could control another person with a spell like this, and the burly attendant Liara was definitely not in control of her actions. Just the other night they had been drinking and arm-wrestling together.

Liara slammed into the shield, but bounced off. She growled and tried again, pounding the shield with her fists. Uzbecka felt the shield weaken with each blow. She had to end this quickly, before Lara broke through. Liara had handily beat her when they had arm-wrestled, and was now forcibly backing her around the starboard wall of the cabin, away from the unconscious captain, sprawled on the other side of the dreamguide's bed.

She focused on the air around Liara, trying to lower its temperature. She felt a slight chill, but not enough to affect Liara. She cursed under her breath. Her elemental control was limited, and she was not used to fighting in such a confined space. She needed more room, more air, more water. 

She looked around the cabin, searching for an escape. The small portholes were open, but tiny. The door was blocked by Liara. She saw a lamp and a bowl of water, but they had both been broken when they fell from the dreamguide's bedside table, presumably when Liara had knocked out the captain, if that is how events had proceeded. Uzbecka could see very little on the other side of the small cabin room. Ariette must have entered the room, seen the unconscious dreamguide, and then the attendant had attacked her from behind as the captain had called for medical attention.

Liara threw another massive punch at Uzbecka, and then another. She was running out of options, and she needed to end this now. She dispersed the shield, hiding her actions as she stepped back towards the bed, collecting the water from the spilled bowl around her hand, and sending a swirling liquid sphere straight at the attendant's eyes.

The blow knocked Liara back against the cabin door, and she slumped down, unmoving. Avoiding the broken shards of pottery on the starboard side of the cabin floor, Uzbecka vaulted past the bunk to rush to the captain's side.

"Shit!"

During all the excitement, Uzbecka had neglected to recall the protocol that, due to her importance to ship's navigation, the dreamguide should always have two attendants. She hadn't noticed the second, much smaller attendant on the other side of the bed,  blankets frwho now rose like a wraith from the pile of blankets beside the bed.

Crike

Crike was actually better at taking the helm than Uzbecka, but Crike would never tell Uzbecka that, nor anyone else, and especially not Harlaan. As the only male member of the crew, Harlaan seemed to always want to to take on the responsibility of training new crew members, or encouraging them to improve their skills, or take on new responsibilities of. Wherever Harlaan was, he was probably explaining to someone how to do something she already knew how to do. Right now, he was probably also cursing "this is all wrong!"

Where was Harlaan?

Crike had enough responsibilities already. Lazing about in the rigging, ensuring the food was good, helping the captain select her favourite vintage... this was all time-consuming enough, without a lot of extra work. If Harlaan ever found out that Crike had been running skyships almost single-handedly back home in a small port on the far side of the Swirl, he would definitely start pushing them to improve their skills, but that was Crike's secret to keep.

As it stood, or more often than not, curled up taking a nap, Crike would have been much happier peeling potatoes, but this was no time to argue semantics, and Uzbecka was a truly terrible sailor. Hopefully Uzbecka didn't pay too much heed to the confidence with which Crike stepped up to the bridge.

"No problemo, chief. I've got the helm."

Harlaan

He was tempted to reach out and knock Crike out of the rigging as the towline up into balloon sail took him up through the rigging, around the helix mast. Harlaan was also quite convinced that one day, Crike would be the Runagate's captain, and was quite impressed by her ability to hang on to the day-to-day running of the ship like a barnacle, without ever personally taking on a lot of work. Crike displayed natural leadership and survival skills, and in a roundabout way, Harlaan wanted her to reach her full potential.

Still, in a crisis, all hands on deck meant just that. All hands. On deck.

Sighting a skywhale was not an unusual occurrence, of course, but skywhales were often accompanied by Remoras, and Remoras would be a problem.

Harlaan's own natural talents involved clarity of sight through the fog in the Swirl. He probably could have been a competent navigator, if not a dreamguide, and had considered volunteering to try his hand at the job when the previous dreamguide left, but he preferred to keep his eyes open. Ultimately, he wanted the other members of the crew to succeed and grow their own abilities. They were a young crew, barely out of dry dock a year now, and as the most experienced of the crew, Harlaan felt a strong need to keep the Runagate safe.

In a crisis, an inexperienced crew was a massive liability, but what better way to learn than through crisis?

He quickly ascended through the heat of the balloon sail to the viewing nest above. The sail was designed to serve several purposes: when it was filled, in dock at a geothermal port, as the name suggested, it could balloon up to several times its resting volume, creating a enough lift for a vertical ascent substantially higher than their cruising altitude; the Runagate could then sail down, using the helix of additional sails to spiral into the winds of the Swirl; periodically, as the balloon sail deflated, it could be rigged to create more lift from those winds.

In the event of an unplanned rapid descent, Harlaan considered, the balloon sail could be used like a parachute, to slow the descent process. Of course, the sail itself was constructed so as to be very durable, necessary in the winds of the Swirl, and could be used as a shield if the skyship came under fire, but only as a last ditch measure. Safer to make a rapid planned descent and avoid conflict. Everything happened in the Swirl in manifold dimensions.

All of these dimensions, strategies, dreams and such were in Harlaan's thoughts as he reached the viewing nest.

Uzbecka

The whole thing had been kind of a bore. A routine excursion through the Swirl to deliver a handful of passengers and a cargo hold full of grain. A new dreamguide, but she was good. Uzbecka could tell. This particular arc through the Swirl was fairly pedestrian as well, nothing Ariette and Harlaan couldn't manage. The young mage had actually been looking forward to some peace and quiet, maybe a chance to work on her own skills, her own magic, if Ariette (or more likely, Harlaan) didn't insist on trying to teach her more about how to helm the Runagate, which of course was bound to happen in a simple arc, which Uzbecka might be able to navigate.

Maybe not though, she had been musing, what with the new dreamguide. Best if Ariette and Harlaan kept the helm, Uzbecka had been thinking to herself, when first Ariette and then Harlaan had abandoned the helm, and now, here she was, in control. Maybe Crike had the right idea, disappearing into the rigging, skulking around the deck, disappearing for long periods, avoiding work. Perhaps, Uzbecka thought, she could learn a thing or two from the bosun. Another day though. For now, she had her hands full.

So okay. She could do this. It would work out, no reason to get all fussed and bothered about it. If she really had to, Uzbecka would just keep to the arc. She had no idea why Ariette was not at the helm. The captain probably just switched off with Harlaan to get some rest. And Harlaan was always running off in a panic, that's just how he was. If Uzbecka was a more suspicious person - okay, Uzbecka was actually quite a suspicious person - she might even consider that this was all another elaborate set up, tricking Uzbecka to take over the helm. He did seem legitimately alarmed when he rushed off, though, but okay, that made sense. Harlaan was not to be trusted.

That was before Uzbecka heard the captain's voice screaming through the helm speaking tube, and that was before the speaking tube when silent, after a loud crashing thump, and after that, Uzbecka could get no reply from the captain.

"Crike! I see you there. Stop hiding, okay, and come help me. There's something going on, and I need your help."

Crike

From her position in the rigging, bosun Crike watched the first mate, Harlaan, as he slashed the counterweight that pulled him up to the viewing nest atop the main balloon sail. He soared upward in a swift curve as the skyship banked, and Crike lost sight of him in the fog and rigging. Something was happening, and Crike wanted to either avoid it or run headlong into it, but first, Crike needed to understand it so as to choose wisely between those options. Crike dropped to the deck below and headed aft to the main helm. The captain wasn't at the helm, but that was not unusual. Harlaan and Ariette often traded off responsibility for steering the skyship, based on the dreamguide's augury. It was unusual, however, to see Uzbecka at the helm. As a natural healer and weather artificer, the dark-skinned mage was an important part of the Runagate crew, but she would be the first to admit that she was not a natural sailor. And Crike would be the first to add that, in fact, Uzbecka was a terrible sailor.

And yet, Uzbecka stood at the helm of the Runagate, and she appeared to be quite anxious about something. The fog was thick, but they had the dreamguide to deal with that. Harlaan was preoccupied with an urgent task, a recent sighting from the nest, most likely. Perhaps they would need Crike's help. Crike could choose to slink off down to the galley and start peeling potatoes now.

But chose not to.

What was Uzbecka doing, anyway? She did not appear to be steering the skyship at all, which banked again, losing altitude. The mage was speaking into the command tubes. Actually, she appeared to be yelling into them. This was a change from Uzbecka yelling at Crike, but it was unsettling nevertheless. As Crike got closer, the young bosun could hear what the weather mage was saying.

"Captain? Harlaan? This is Uzbecka... I... I've got the helm. Kind of a tricky situation up here. Captain?"

Harlaan

At the helm, Ariette's first mate Harlaan was struggling to stay the course. Without the dreamguide, steering the airship through the fog banks would be difficult, hazardous even, due to the magnetic interference from the jungle between their home port of Batar on the tepui known as Daor and their destination, another of the massive tepuis.

In this fog, there was no line of sight, and apparently straight lines turned out to be bent in the Swirl. If they lost their way, they could be stranded in the fog for weeks, even months, and gaining altitude above the fog would likely be unhelpful. The fog bank was simply too high.

Harlaan did not like the fog. Did not trust it. And a storm was gathering within the fog bank. He could feel it, like a migraine that was about to emerge. Harlaan was prone to migraines, something about tension, Ariette had informed him recently.

The Captain's attitude towards danger accounted for a great deal of that tension, but Harlaan did trust her, completely. When he had reported the skywhale sighting to Ariette, he had hoped for her to be more alarmed. Of course, a sighting like that was not uncommon in this region, and Ariette would be more concerned about losing the dreamguide and her ability to navigate the Runagate through the fog banks of the Swirl; but whereas Ariette was now focused on the single immediate crisis at hand, Harlaan harboured a strong disbelief in coincidence. Nothing happened in isolation, and the timing was all wrong. The Runagate was under attack, but he was hard-pressed to understand how, from which direction. He needed a better understanding of the situation. He needed a better view.

Considering his options and then making up his mind, Harlaan called over the airship's second mate, Uzbecka.

"Take the helm! I need to find out more from the top of the balloon. Captain's below with the dreamguide. One of us will be back soon, but stay on course, best you can, and stay alert!"

And with that, Harlaan broke for the main mast, grabbed the hoist, and dropped the counterweight, pulling him up through the midst of the balloon sails, to the crow's nest far above the deck. As he passed the midpoint of the main mast, he could hear the communication tube blaring, and he realized he should have filled Uzbecka in about the skywhale sighting. Too late now.  

Thulia

It would be safe to say that, more than even the Captain, Thulia loved the Runagate like a family member. This should not be surprising, as the operation of the skyship was actually only possible because of the participation of three benevolent spirits, gloomers, which coursed throughout the ships corridors, sails, and mechanical components, never traveling too far from the flux cores that regulated the flow of energy within the Runagate. And perhaps it was the Captain and her crew who were responsible for the operation of the skyship, but ultimately, it was Thulia, the ship's engineer, who was responsible for the operation of the skyship. It was, simply, part of her soul.

The Runagate was not unusual; after the glooming had taken place, and this was many, many years ago, long before Thulia had been called up to the academy where she had learned the various skills of engineering; when the glooming had taken place, many kinds of large vehicles, once operated by people, had been quite quickly and thoroughly replaced with autonomous machine minds, and the glooming invaded these minds, with benevolent walking spirits, and with malevolent running spirits.

What made the Runagate different was the flux cores, that Thulia fussed as if they were her her own child, which contained, but did not confine, the three spirits that powered the airship, and gave it vitality. It was a symbiotic relationship, the glooming weirds flitting around the ship, bringing life to the sails that provided lift and propulsion; and acting as a conduit between the dreamguide and the other members of the crew.

Thulia was by no means idle, equally handy with a spanner and with an oscilloscope, but also she was a poet, musing on the beauty of contradictions, that kept the Runagate in motion. By subtle design, the airship could only function within the magnetic fog of the Swirl, taking it's life and essence from the fog; but without the three spirit weirds, she would truly run renagade, most likely taken over by more malevolent spirits. And the spirits were, well, friendly, and they relied on the airship's crew, and that was more than could be said for the majority of the glooming spirits out there.

The Swirl was special too, of course. Most of the autonomous vehicles had turned with the glooming, crashing themselves or reaching unsafe speeds, never to be seen again. Within the Swirl, though, the spirit weirds were all in their natural element, and that made them, at least, a bit more predictable. And the Swirl was vast, stretching from the mountains to the sea. 

Ariette

"The dream's scrambled... we can't get through the fog!"
"Get down there and help the dreamguide. Now."

The skyship careened to port, losing altitude quickly. The sail crashed to the side while the crew rushed to secure it. It threatened to tear as they heaved it back into alignment. A small number of critical things were going wrong simultaneously, and the ship's captain, Ariette, cursed under her breath as her first mate turned to head for the lower decks. He turned back momentarily.

"The watch also reported sighting a skywhale... still a fair distance off the starboard bow," Harlaan called back. "We need to keep our height, but we're in danger too, if we don't descend below this storm!"
"Stay here and bring us back on course then, best you can with no nav," Ariette commanded. "I'll go down below and see what's happening."
"Sir!"

When Ariette reached the dreamguide's compartment, it was filled with a sickly sweet miasma. The dreamguide was tossing on her bunk, perspiration beading her brow. Her auburn hair was plastered to the sides of her face, and her mouth was puckered into an intense frown. Ariette was unable to determine if the miasma was responsible for the state of the dreamguide, or if the dreamguide's state was responsible for the miasma. The dreamguide had thrown all of her blankets to the floor on one side of her bunk, and her lips moved slightly, as though she were reciting a lesson. 

In any case, as she entered the compartment, Ariette also noted the two companion guards assigned to the dreamguide, unconscious on either side of the bunk. Their breathing was shallow, but they were still breathing; presumably the miasma was to blame, and Ariette pulled the sleeve of her uniform over her face, breathing through the thick white cotton weave. The windows were open on either side of the compartment, which lay at the front of the skyship. Ariette observed that since she had entered the compartment, the rose-coloured miasma had cleared somewhat, as a strong breeze blew through the portholes. 

Then Ariette noticed the small device lying on the bunk, still leaking mist.

"Through the window?" Ariette mused, throwing a heavy blanket over the smoke grenade and flipping open the speaking tube with the bridge "but where exactly did it come from? I need medical assistance!" she hollered down the tube. "Now!"

Several thoughts formed in Ariette's mind as she sized up the situation. Was the smoke grenade still emitting the red mist, or had it released its full payload? And was there only the one? Did it even matter? The dreamguide was already unconscious, and the two guards also. Should they save the device to understand it better later? And what had Harlaan said about a skywhale?

Skywhales were dangerous. Ariette didn't want to mess around with skywhales if she could help it, especially with an unconscious dreamguide, whose main role was in skyship navigation, but also in steering well clear of the local fauna.

Skywhales were not technically alive. They were gloomers, artificially intelligent machines that had fallen under the control of malevolent spirits, which tended to be unpredictable, to say the least. 

The grenade, swaddled in a heavy blanket, had apparently stopped emitting the mist. Ariette hurled the device through the open porthole anyway. Why take any chances? Ariette needed to get back up to the helm, and medical help was nowhere in sight. She would find someone on the way and send them down to provide assistance. With no dreamguide, they were effectively stranded.

Ariette quietly willed Uzbecka to come down and help. She could at least check if the guards were okay. She'd probably want to take a closer look at the miasma grenade too, but it was too late for that now. The captain flipped opened all the speaking tubes and yelled for her second and third in command.

"Harlaan... Uzbecka... we've lost the dreamguide, and we're about to be waylaid. I need one of you down here. Now!"

As she turned to leave the dreamguide's cabin, Ariette caught a movement behind her out of the corner of her eye, and as she turned back, she was thrown back hard against the bulkhead and then blacked out.

Rielle

Two leviathans are at war in the skies. One is red, the other green. The mountain is on fire, and the jungle boils over, seething with toxic miasma. From the mist, three figures emerge. There is a wizard with a cerulean aura; a warrior with an aura which is vermilion; and there is a scientist, with no aura at all.

From a broken Pandora's box, three spirits emerge, and again, one has an aura of blue, one has an aura of red, and one has no aura at all; and the three spirits merge, not with each other, as they had been, in the box, but with a wizard, with a warrior, with a scientist.

All of these things are happening at once; all of these things are happening like knots, tied in a taut elastic.

The Glooming

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic on February 1, 2024, after more than four years of global efforts to contain and eradicate the virus. The announcement came as a result of the successful vaccination campaigns, the development of effective treatments, and the cooperation of governments and communities around the world.

However, the WHO also warned that the pandemic had left behind lasting impacts on the health, economy, and society of many countries, especially the most vulnerable ones. The WHO urged the international community to continue supporting the recovery and resilience of the affected regions, and to learn from the lessons of the pandemic to prevent future outbreaks.

That was the official statement. But there was something else that the WHO did not mention. Something that only a few people knew. Something that changed the world in a subtle but profound way.

It started with a rumor. A whisper. A hint. People began to notice that some of their loved ones who had died from COVID-19 were not really gone. They were still there, in some form, in some place, waiting for them.

Some said they saw them in their dreams. Others said they heard them in their thoughts. Some said they felt them in their hearts. Others said they sensed them in their surroundings, or in the cars which drove them to their workplaces. Some said they spoke to them through signs and symbols. Others said they communicated with them through memories and emotions.

No one could explain how or why this was happening. Some thought it was a miracle. Others thought it was a curse. Some thought it was a gift. Others thought it was a burden. Some thought it was a blessing. Others thought it was a punishment.

But they all agreed on one thing: it was real. And it was not going away.

Some people tried to ignore it. Others tried to embrace it. Some people tried to hide it. Others tried to share it. Some people tried to understand it. Others tried to accept it. Some people tried to deny it. Others tried to celebrate it.

But they all realized one thing: it was changing them. And it was changing the world.

Some people became more compassionate. Others became more bitter. Some people became more hopeful. Others became more cynical. Some people became more grateful. Others became more resentful. Some people became more spiritual. Others became more skeptical.

But they all experienced one thing: it was a new reality. And it was a new way of living. And then one day came, when everything changed.

The end of the pandemic was not the end of the story. It was the beginning of a new one. A story of magic and mystery. A story of love and loss. A story of life and death.