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.