Broken Sky

But alongside his trepidation, Dorian felt frantic, desperate hope, so ephemeral that it tried to dart away the second he tried to reach for it. A chance, albeit razor-slim, at a better life. A chance at any life at all.

“This is the one,” Dorian said, confirming the dock number on his note from Lord Bradford. “Skyship Phoenix.” Dorian took several more breaths and said, “Right. Okay. We can do this.”

With forced confidence he did not truly feel, Dorian ascended the gangplank, and took his first steps into an unknown future.

***

It took every ounce of Tai Lunstrum’s willpower not to throw her crew-mates off the docking platform.

Murder, she reminded herself. Throwing them overboard would be murder. They, unlike she, would not survive a fall from the platform. Humans were so fragile.

“Seven crystals.” Her voice came out in a low, steady growl. “Scarcely half a moon since we left Pazarae, and you’ve burned through seven crystals.”

“Come off it, Tai.” Zachary Falgar leaned lazily against the skyship’s railing, the slight breeze tousling his sandy hair. “You know what it’s been like. Three wraithstorms in as many weeks! Weather like that, we’re bloody lucky it was only seven. No need to ruffle your feathers.”

Tai did ruffle her feathers, impatiently twitching the raven-dark wings on her back. “A wraithstorm’s no excuse to push the engines past the shatter point!”

Falgar sneered. “And you’d prefer, what, exactly? Just let the stormwinds knock us out of the sky?”

Jakob Sullivan, the other aeronaut, quickly stepped in and spread his burly arms. “It’s my fault,” he said. “We had that shipment of Toreenish porcelain, and I thought it prudent that we prioritize a smooth ride, even at the expense --”

“I don’t care whose fault it is,” Tai said, hands balled into fists. “If a shattered crystal blows in the Linking, it’s everyone’s problem. We coud all get sacked for this! Void, we’re lucky we didn’t get killed!”

Falgar rolled his eyes in a long, slow, exaggerated fashion. “But we didn’t get killed, and if we’re sacked, we’ll find different jobs. If Xander lets us go over something so trivial as one lousy blown crystal, he doesn’t deserve to call himself Captain.”

Tai glowered. “It wasn’t one crystal, it was seven. And anyway, that’s easy for you to say! Maybe every captain in Aeris is lining up to hire you, but me, I…” She took several breaths, trying to quell the panic. When Captain Xander found out about their burn rate, he was going to kill her. He was absolutely going to kill her.

At that moment, the heavy sound of footfall echoed up the gangplank.

“Captain!” Tai spun around, raising her hand into a hasty salute.

Falgar snorted a laugh, while Sullivan, clearing his throat, said, “I, um, don’t think that’s the captain.”

Tai stopped. A round-faced young man, perhaps within a year or two of her own twenty years, stood at the top of the gangplank. He tugged nervously at the fine silk ruffles at the ends of his sleeves. An aura of pale blue flame flickered in her peripheral vision. Demonfire. Strong demonfire, if she wasn’t mistaken.

No, she thought. That was definitely not the captain.

“Ah, hello.” The newcomer ran a nervous hand through his crop of reddish brown hair, gazing up in awe at the hovering skyship. “Is, ah, is this the skyship Phoenix?”

Falgar tried and failed to stifle a laugh. “Get a load of this creampuff. Get lost on the way to the ball, rich boy?”

“Falgar,” Sullivan said reproachfully.

Tai fixed Falgar with a level gaze. “Kindly refrain from scaring away the customers.” She forced what she hoped was a welcoming smile onto her face, and continued, “Apologies, Sir. Some aeronauts don’t think their job extends to common politeness or decency. But you’ll find no ship faster or more reliable than the Phoenix. How much cargo space were you needing today?”

The boy appeared well-dressed, well-fed, and, most incredibly, demon-possessed. Shrewdly, Tai thought that if she landed a lucrative contract, that might be enough to make Captain Xander forget about the aether crystals. Maybe.

The boy gaped at her with with an open-mouthed, wide-eyed expression reminiscent of a skypuffer. Tai cocked her eyebrows, and the newcomer must have realized he was staring, because he reddened and quickly averted his gaze. “Sorry.”

Rich contract, remember, rich contract. Biting back her annoyance, Tai continued, “If you’d like to have a look at our cargo hold, you’ll see we have several options--”

The boy shook his head. “Sorry,” he said again. “I … that is … I’m not here to transport cargo.”

“Oh.” Tai felt her wings droop of their own accord. “Well then, um, what can I help you with?”

Blue demonfire intensified for a moment, and the boy nervously thumbed a gold chain around his neck. Tai noted a dragon pendant clutching some kind of round, red stone.
The boy shuffled his feet awkwardly, his flushed round face resembling his necklace . “I … that is to say … I, ah, the thing is … I’m supposed to join the crew.” He exhaled the last bit in one nervous breath.

This time Falgar didn’t bother to hide his laughter. “Join the crew? You? Void Eternal, boy, shouldn't you, I don’t know, be off ordering some peasants to bake you a fancy cake?”

“Falgar!” Sullivan’s admonition came out like a hiss.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” Falgar sighed. “But really. An aeronaut? Him?”

Tai scowled at Falgar, then turned her attention to the boy.
This soft young man with his smooth hands and silk shirt didn’t look like he’d done an hour’s hard labor in his life. But, well, looks could be deceiving. Tai herself was proof enough of that.

“Have you ever flown a ship before?” she asked in what she hoped was a polite tone.

The boy clutched his leather rucksack like a child’s toy and stared resolutely at the ground. Tai supposed this was better than staring at her wings. "No, ma'am."

“Then I’m afraid--” she began.

“Please!” the boy looked up, imploring. “Please, I’ve got a letter from Lord Bradford, I’m to … I have to …”

Tai felt her frown deepening. “If it’s a career in aeronautics you desire, perhaps you can apply for an apprenticeship with the Shipping Authority in Tremaine.”

The boy shook his head. “No, no, that’s not … that is … I’m sorry. Is Captain Xander Kane here?”

“The Captain is busy,” Tai responded.

“That’s right,” came the gruff voice of Captain Xander as he ascended the gangplank behind the newcomer. “Busy captain, coming through. What’s all this about?”

“Captain!” For all that Tai feared him a moment ago, she was glad to see him now. “It’s this boy, Sir, he says he wants to join the crew, I don’t know what to tell him."

“Captain,” the boy said. Shaking with nerves, he almost dropped his rucksack. He fumbled, caught it, and procured a small sealed envelope. The paper was white, and crisp. It looked expensive.

Xander grunted as he took the letter. His eyes scanned it, then looked at the new boy, then back at the letter, then the new boy again. For a brief moment something like dismay crossed the Captain’s face, but he hid it quickly.

“So,” Xander finally said. “You're Cyrus Valmont’s boy, then, are you?”

“Ah!” the nervous boy replied. “Yes. That’s right, Sir. I’m Dorian Valmont, Sir.”

Tai drew in a sharp breath. Even she’d heard of Cyrus Valmont. This boy was his son?

“And the demon?” Xander asked.

“Hematite, Sir.” For a moment, the blue light intensified, and a large lizard-like creature joined them on the dock, mane of blue fire cloaking the burnished silver-black hide that gave the creature his name. Tai had seen wild demons fluttering around the forests of her homeland, for all that the border guards tried to keep them out. But those were small, flickering things. This creature was enormous. Powerful. Solid. More than a little intimidating, if she was honest.

“Hematite,” Xander repeated, for a moment taken aback. “A pleasure.”

The demon twitched his tail back and forth, and although Tai was no expert on demonic body language, she got the impression the feeling was not mutual.

Xander coughed and ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “Well, all right, then,. Let’s show you around, shall we?”

Tai blinked. “Wait. He’s … hired? Just like that?”

“Everything looks in order,” Xander shrugged.

“But sir!” Tai protested. “He says he’s never flown before. Surely, we should give him some kind of test, or an interview, or…” Or the myriad of trials you put me through to get my own position on the ship.

Xander, however, shook his head and gestured at the newcomer. “He’s Cyrus Valmont’s boy.”

So. That was how it was, was it? This boy, this rich, spoiled, inexperienced youth, was to be hired on the strength of his family name alone?

Xander, however, gestured for the Valmont boy to follow him belowdecks, leaving Tai to stare at their retreating backs in disbelief.