The Cloudrider

I smiled as I felt the sun’s warmth on my face as we broke through another cloud. The wind blew through my hair and I took a deep breath. 

“Nothing like riding the clouds,” a gruff voice said behind me. I opened my eyes and turned. Drex, a Phantid midshipman, had been taken with me since I had come aboard. I was surprised that he had managed to approach without me noticing. I would have assumed his large, stocky legs would announce him across the ship. 

“It’s been an incredible journey,” I replied. 

“You have taken to the sky well, miss,” he said with a grin. 

“Thank you Drex, and thank you for all the advice when I first came aboard. You helped me find my skylegs.” His grin widened, showing a missing tusk in his mouth. “Well, I don’t want to keep you from your duties,” I quickly continued, causing his grin to drop. Drex coughed awkwardly and nodded, before trudging aft, leaving me alone on the forecastle. 

I turned back towards the sun, letting its glow warm me before the ship passed through another cloud. My arms broke out in goosebumps as the sun’s warmth left as quickly as it came. 

Drex was right, I had taken well to the sky. Unlike some of the other passengers. One of whom was currently being violently sick over the edge. I looked back and saw a young man, pompously dressed with an ornate-handled rapier hanging from his belt. 

With what was left of my tranquillity following his breakfast over the side, I decided to offer my help. “Count Rekorlig, are you not feeling well?” I asked cheerily as I approached him.

He spat over the edge before wiping his mouth and straightening up. He groaned as he recognised me. “Miss Sabine, I didn’t realise you were on deck.”

“I was just taking in some air,” I replied with a smile. “You should try it, it may help with the sky-sickness.”

The ship lurched as a strong wind struck the side, causing the Count to clutch the taffrail and turn a shade of green. “Thank you for your advice,” he said. “Perhaps you would care to join me?”

Count Rekorlig had also taken a liking to me. However, he had been more forceful in expressing his interest than Drex, and I found myself taking some satisfaction in his current discomfort. “I’m afraid I was just heading below to get some lunch.” As I expected, the mention of food turned the young Count’s stomach even more. 

As I made my way through the cramped space below deck, my mind wandered. I had grown up in a house like this, small and cramped. My siblings and I running around and getting underfoot as our parents worked. But then the war started, Father left and it wasn’t long before Mother took us and boarded an airship just like this one. 

A pang of remorse ran through me as I tried to shake off my daydream as I reached the galley. I had lost my appetite. I smiled at the cook, a small bald man who was frantically chopping vegetables, and quickly turned to leave. 

In my haste, I collided with someone. I looked up and made eye contact with Captain Kastian. He was an imposing figure with warm black hair that reached the collar of his blue coat, detailed with gold embellishments. A tidy beard matched his hair and the stern look on his face was completed with a black leather eyepatch over one eye.

“I’m sorry Captain, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” I said while dropping my gaze. 

“Not at all Miss Sabine, the fault is mine,” he replied. His voice was deep and authoritative, but his face relaxed. “I understand that we are returning you to Ventria?” 

I nodded, “I’m returning home.” 

The Captain gently pulled me aside as the cook bustled out of the galley carrying a heavy-looking pot. “Perhaps we can discuss your journey in my cabin?” Many of the other passengers had dined with the Captain or joined him for a drink and I decided it was only fair that I benefit from his hospitality. 

“I would be honoured,” I replied with a smile. 

“Wonderful,” he said and returned with a smile of his own before leading me back to the main deck and to the Captain’s cabin. 

“I tried to go back to Ventria after the war,” the captain said while pouring a golden liquid into two glasses. I noticed that his expression hardened. “But it wasn’t the same.” He picked up the two glasses and handed one to me, before taking a sip from the other. I followed his lead and allowed the sweet taste to fill my mouth and warm my throat. “You may find that it is not the place that you remember.” 

“With all due respect Captain, I’m going home. Back where I belong,” I said while looking up at his face. The cabin was better lit than below deck and I noticed a scar that ran across his mouth diagonally, adding to his dangerous look.

His expression softened as he sat down behind his desk. “Of course. I’m not trying to tell you what to do.” 

I relaxed into my chair. “I know things will be different,” I replied. “I haven’t been back in years, and the war of course-” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him, or myself. But before I could continue a bell rang out from the deck, followed by shouting voices. 

The booming voice of the First Mate echoed. “Be to quarters.” The Captain was halfway to the door when the ship was rocked violently, sending us both sprawling across the room. 

I hit my head hard and was trying to clear my vision as the Captain pulled me to my feet. “Are you alright?” he asked. My vision focused and I saw how worried he was behind the hard look on his face. 

I nodded as I rubbed my head. “I’m fine, go.”

“Stay here, it’s safer,” he said as he flung open the door and stepped out onto the deck, barking orders. 

The ship rocked again and I steadied myself on the desk. Multiple voices bellowed ‘fire’, cutting through the indistinguishable shouting, before the ship’s guns erupted, rocking the ship again. A shadow fell over the room as something passed the window before I was thrown to the ground again by something striking the ship. 

The sounds coming from the deck intensified and I could feel my heart beating in my chest as I tried to repress the panic. Instinctively, I moved behind the Captain’s desk. 

The cabin’s door flung open as the cook fell through it, followed by a thundering sound. A Felaxian holding a pistol stepped over the Cook’s body. His large ears were scarred. He grinned at me, revealing pointed teeth, as he pulled a curved dagger from his belt. “Oh aren’t you pretty,” he said through the grin. My heart froze in terror as I stared at the vicious-looking dagger. 

I struggled to pull my gaze away and noticed a heavy-looking pistol atop the desk. I grabbed it desperately and pulled the hammer back before pointing it at the Felaxian with both hands. The grin dropped from his face. He stared down the barrel before looking at his own spent pistol. “Hold on pretty-.” I pulled the trigger before he could finish. I was temporarily blinded by the flash.

I blinked my vision clear and saw the Felaxian standing there, clutching the growing red mess on his chest, before collapsing over the cook. I realised I had been holding my breath and gasped for air. 

With the door propped open by the two bodies, the sound of battle filled the cabin. The clashing of swords, the blast of pistols and the shouts of the crew. I rushed to the door, taking care to avoid looking at the two bodies on the floor. 

My efforts were wasted as I stepped out onto the deck. I was taken aback by the level of carnage. The ship was a whirlwind of chaos. Several crewmembers were desperately fighting the pirates while many more lay dead or dying. I gasped as I recognised Drex slopped over a cannon, his leathery skin slick with blood.  

A flash of red cloth caught my eyes as Count Rekorlig dashed over a fallen body while parrying a thrust from one of the pirates. The Count was grinning ear to ear as he plunged his rapier into one of his opponents, his sky-sickness forgotten. The Count turned to face another, bringing his sword up, as the pirate pulled a pistol from his belt. 

The Count’s rapid footwork had left the pirate between us. I quickly took the heavy pistol in my hand and brought it down on the pirate’s head. “Good show Miss Sabine,” Rekorlig shouted over the chaos. “But this isn’t the place for a lady.”

Before he could finish I had bent to pick up the pirate’s pistol. It was much smaller than the Captain’s giant weapon. I pulled the hammer back with my left hand and fired it at a pirate bearing down on the Count. “I think you should worry about yourself,” I shouted back before the Count turned to find a new opponent. 

I stood there, holding the pistol, as my heart continued to pound in my chest. But, it was no longer from fear, but excitement. I looked out over the deck as I revelled in the carnage.

I heard the sound of splintering wood and turned as the First Mate and a Felaxian spilt over the quarterdeck, falling with a crash. A large sabre clattered across the deck as the Felaxian stood over the First Mate, sword in hand. 

Before he could bring it down, I grabbed the sabre from the deck and charged, putting all my weight behind it. I plunged the sabre into the Felaxian’s back. He swayed on his feet before falling to the side, almost dragging me with him. 

“Much obliged,” the First Mate said while pulling himself up. He retrieved his sabre and looked at me. “This might be a little big for you.” He picked up the Felaxian’s sword from the deck and handed it to me. “This should be more your size.” The sword felt good in my hand. Powerful. “Come on, the Captain needs help,” he said before leaping up the stairs towards the quarterdeck. 

The First Mate charged across the quarterdeck and collided shoulder-first with one of the pirates, throwing him across the deck. The Captain used the distraction to quickly dispatch one of his opponents. 

A muscled pirate holding a serrated sword high above his head turned to face me. I quickly parried the blow before pivoting on one foot and driving the other into the back of his knee as he hurtled past me, bellowing at the top of his lungs. He fell to one knee, cursing, and lashed out with his sword. I dived backwards, hitting the deck hard, but quickly rolled back out of reach of his wild flails. I rose to one knee and lashed out with my sword, catching him in the chest. A long red mark formed across his muscled torso, giving him pause. 

I seized the initiative and pushed off from the deck, driving my shoulder into his chest. At first, I worried that I had underestimated my opponent’s bulk, but he fell backwards through the gap in the taffrail left by the First Mate and fell to the main deck with a yell. 

I picked myself up and turned back to the ongoing combat. The Captain and First Mate were holding their own against the borders, but I knew the numbers would soon turn the tide. I raised my sword and prepared to join them, but the Captain yelled “The swivel gun,” while gesturing at the small black cannon at the rear of the ship while parrying the blows from the pirates. Thankfully, their numbers were working against them, and they were getting in each other’s way.

I rushed over to where the gun was mounted on the taffrail and turned back to the captain, waiting for more instructions. “It’s loaded,” he yelled while parrying a thrust from a Phantid’s harpoon. I nodded and aimed the gun at the quarterdeck of the enemy ship. “No,” he yelled. “The Caelum Vessel.” 

I looked up at the metallic sphere mounted above the main deck of the enemy ship. It looked nearly identical to the one on the Cloudrider. Blue fluorescent light danced across the glass viewports. Drex had told me that these were what kept the skyships airborne. I understood what the Captain meant and aimed for one of the viewing ports. 

I braced myself and pulled the lock. The flash from the barrel temporarily blinded me and the thundering sound echoed in my ears. As I blinked my eyes clear a second flash, this one brilliantly blue, erupted. The Caelum Vessel had been ruptured. The Cloudrider lurched to the side. The pirate ship was quickly losing altitude, dragging the Cloudrider with it. 

The pirates panicked as they realised what was happening. Some rushed to board the Cloudrider before their ship dropped away beneath them. Others rushed to the Caelum Vessel. Some of the boarders threw their weapons to the deck to surrender, while others doubled their efforts to overpower the Cloudrider’s crew. 

The ship continued to tilt. The Captain gripped the ship’s wheel before kicking the Phantid square in the chest, causing him to tumble backwards over the taffrail. 

The grapples snapped and the pirate ship dropped abruptly, no longer being kept afloat by the Cloudrider. With their ship and any reinforcements gone, the remaining pirates quickly surrendered.

The Captain returned his battered sword to its scabbard. “Good work, you saved the ship.” 

“Just doing my part,” I said as I picked up my sword and smiled. 

“You were pretty handy with that sword too.” I nodded and looked at it, catching sight of my reflection on the blade. My hair was a mess and there was blood on my face. “If you ever get bored of Ventria I could use a woman like you on my crew.” 

I looked back at my reflection and smiled. “I might take you up on that.”

“Really?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to go home.”

I stepped over to the taffrail and looked out over the clouds. The wind caught in my hair and the sun shone in my face. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly before exhaling. 

“I wanted to be where I felt like I belonged,” I said with a smile. “And for the first time, I feel that way.” I opened my eyes and turned to face the Captain. “I feel like I belong here. On the Cloudrider.”