Tristan’s deck disappeared as he appeared in the middle of the air. He free-wheeled for a bit, panicking, before regaining control and stabilizing himself.

The Serenity loomed beside him, a metallic behemoth silently carving through the open sky, a slight hum reverberating through her hull. Thanks to the air-shield surrounding the ship, he didn’t feel any effects of plunging out into the air at this altitude.

He flew upwards to the fifth floor railed walkway going around the length of the ship. As he shot past, he noticed thin veins of multi-colored elemental energy running across the hull. He stayed above the walkway but didn’t land yet, not wanting to waste the precious minutes of {Flight} he had left. Instead, he carefully flew around the ship, trying to avoid detection and gather what information he could.

Down the corner where he popped out, he saw a smaller airship locked into place perpendicular to the Aerial zone of the Serenity. This vessel was sharp and sleek, a shark compared to the Serenity’s hulking whale. Wicked, bladed fins shot out from its sides and top, and a familiar image adorned the front of its pointed hull.

It’s the same image as the bandana on the invaders, Tristan realized. He recognized what it was now, a [Sky Wyrm], an Expert-rank monster and Summon. But this image, like the one on the bandana, had a snarling skull for a face.

Suddenly, Tristan remembered what the clerk at the airshop ticket station had said to him and Eila.

…covers incidents including but not limited to monster attacks, unnatural weather, and piracy…

These were pirates. Honest to god sky pirates.

A hole had been ripped through the shield of the Serenity where the other airship had docked. The pirate ship had its own shield, however, which seemed to plug the hole like some kind of magical airlock.

He checked the time left on {Flight}, saw he had enough, and flew up, wanting to check in on the dining room as it had the largest window. It stretched the length of the airship on its starboard side. He didn’t see any pirates on the outside of the ship, thankfully, but he knew it was only a matter of time before word got out of his escape.

Wings flapping, Tristan hovered below the bottom edge of the window and peeked his head over.

A horrifying sight greeted him. Blood drenched the floor of the dining room like a small lake. Headless bodies laid slump in a cascading row; one of the bodies looked like it'd been chomped in half. Passengers and employees were gathered in groups directly beneath the window with more being shoved in through the doors on the opposite wall.

He had to duck back down when pirates walked through the huddled masses, barking at them. Tristan poked up and saw people tearfully handing over [Binders].

Where are you, Eila? He had a horrifying thought that she was somehow one of the killed. A closer inspection thankfully dissuaded that, as he saw the corpses all wore the same white-and-gray Serenity uniform. He flapped his way across the edge of the window, desperately studying the panicked and frightened faces, keeping one eye on his {Flight} timer.

There. His heart leaping to his throat, he saw Eila with a group of other passengers. She still wore her dress, though it was now splattered with blood, and she looked dazed.

But she was alive. Thank God. He also saw Junner and the others in a group together; the man looked furious as a pirate approached him and gestured for him to hand over his [Binder].

Tristan quickly descended down to the walkway. He was about to land when, against all odds, he saw a familiar figure creeping along it, head furtively looking around.

Tristan landed behind the man, his wings disappearing as he thumped down.

Sir Barrihald leapt and spun about, raising a length of jagged metal in his hand. He paused, then lowered his makeshift weapon with a gasp.

“Tristan?” the older gentleman exclaimed, rushing forward. “By the gods, lad, you’re all right!”

“Sir Barrihald,” Tristan said, “what’s happening? I was asleep when the pirates came.”

Sir Barrihald growled, a strangely guttural noise coming from the otherwise prim and proper man. “We’re under siege, my good man. Shortly after you retired, those dastardly scum scuttled the shield, though I do not know how, and boarded. I was in the pool enjoying my nightly dip when they came rushing through. I managed to hide underwater when they did a cursory inspection of the pool. It was touch-and-go, my breath straining against my lungs, but finally they left. I waited until the coast was clear and then came out the dock and onto here.”

“Do you know how they’re able to use their cards?” Tristan asked, keeping an eye on the length of the walkway.

“Not a clue, my dear boy. Not a clue. Only those with certain Access Keys are able to.” He paused, then added in a smaller, more frightened voice, “Have you seen Rivingtol at all? He was still in the lounge when I went for my dip.”

Tristan shook his head. “I managed to look into the dining room window with one of my Equipment Perks. Those still work, so if you have any equipment that works independent of cards, wear them now. The pirates are gathering the passengers and employees there, forcing them to give over their [Binders]. If Rivingtol is anywhere, he’s there. But I think they murdered the flight crew.” Tristan explained what he’d seen, and Sir Barrihald’s face darkened.

Stolen novel; please report.

“This is shaping up to be a right mess,” the gentleman growled.

Tristan stepped forward and gripped the man on his shoulder. “Sir Barrihald. As far as I know, we’re the only passengers that are free. We need to somehow disable the lockdown effect so the hostages can fight back. The pirates are taking their [Binders], but with the lockdown their decks are safe. Do you know how we can do that?”

Sir Barrihald grimaced. “I was thinking the same. All of the systems that keep this fine vessel running are held in the crystal room in the aft of the ship. But the ship engineers should have already over-rode it by now. There are protocols in place for an event like this. I fear this suggests the pirates have already taken control of the crystal room.”

Tristan cursed. “We still have to try.”

“Agreed. An obstacle must only hinder a man, not halt him.” Barrihald nodded down the length of the walkway. “There’s an entrance to the employee sections of the ship down here. I was on my way there. Let us go save this ship.”

—🃁—

Captain Dennier strode down the length of the Entertainment floor, idly thumbing a shortcomm in her hand. This particular one had belonged to the fool captain of the Serenity and as such was capable of broadcasting messages throughout the entire ship. Messages came through it from those of her crew who’d killed an employee and absorbed their [Binders].

Just one more, she thought to herself. Just one more mission and I’m done. Once she successfully completed this mission and delivered the cargo to her client, she was done. No more piracy, no more danger. Just her on a beach somewhere on the Eastern Continent. Alone.

Unfortunately, this particular client was the most dangerous one she’d ever had to deal with. Denying was not an option, and failure most certainly wasn’t either. Every piece had to be executed perfectly.

“So, they’re refusing to come out?” Dennier said to Harros beside her. She’d sent the rest of her crew ahead to assist with rounding up any stray passengers. She didn’t want any surprises, not when the stakes were this high.

The dullard grunted. “Yes, Cap’n. Won’t budge an inch. Some of those security look real mean, too.”

Dennier grunted and continued on. The emporium was at the end of this obnoxiously long hallway. The exterior was a glitzy imitation of the old Imperial temples of ancient history. Two long columns painted in the eight elemental colors upheld a frieze depicting the traditional symbols of the elements.

Through the open doors, Dennier could see a line of severe-looking guards with their decks swirling about them. Clearly, they also had [Lockdown Access Keys], like she and her crew did—a gift from the client who’d contracted her to do this heist. How that crazy bastard got ahold of them, she had no idea.

Behind them, the Magic Myr employees wearing those ridiculous robed uniforms ran about, sweeping cards off the shelves and display and throwing them into a swirling, purple box. The moment the cards touched the swirl, it vanished. Warped to the matching box wherever it was.

One guard stood beside the box with a card pointed at it.

Dennier whistled in admiration as she walked up to the doors. One of the security personnel stepped forward; a tall, pale-skinned man who clearly hailed from the Province of Night judging by his steepled tattoos and jet-black hair. His name tag read: Argos Private Security, Jesalt Vyrn.

“I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there,” Jesalt said, polite but firm.

Dennier stopped right at the boundary of the doorway, Harros settling behind her. She got on her toes and peered into the room. One of the employees—a foppish looking young man with a thin mustache—made eye contact with her and paled.

“Is that a [Warpbox]?” she asked, settling back down on her feet. She whistled again. “And they say I’m crazy. You brought a chaos-engineered matrix onto a moving vessel?”

Chaos energy was the most dangerous to work with, as it was inherently volatile. One bad gust of wind and that box could rupture, creating a vortex in space that slurped the whole ship up like chunky soup through a straw.

“The box is stable,” Jesalt said. “But take one step further and I will blow it, and this ship, to pieces.”

The Magic Myr grunts behind him stopped at one at that, looking at each other with frightened eyes, before another guard barked at them to keep working.

Dennier grinned. She liked this man. She could tell he meant his threat too, which was even more appealing. A man who feared death was no man at all, Dennier’s father used to say.

‘Course, he had died squealing for his life. They all do, in the end.

“So, what are your demands?” Dennier asked, cocking her head.

“For the remainder of your occupation of the Serenity,” Jesalt said, “you will leave me, my team, and the employees of Magic Myr alone. Untouched. They will be given reign to return to their rooms and gather their belongings before returning back to the emporium. We will stay here until your business is concluded.”

Dennier nodded slowly. “You do know this ship is meeting Aquos at the bottom of the sea, right?” she lied.

A strangled croak came from one of the employees.

Jesalt simply nodded. “We will board your vessel at that time and leave with you.”

“Hmm.” Dennier tapped a thoughtful finger on her chin. “There’s what, 15, 16 of you in there?”

“Sixteen.”

“Here’s what I’ll do, and only because I’m in a good mood.” She raised four fingers. “Four of you will be allowed to board my ship. Two guards, two employees. You will leave with us when the time comes to scuttle the Serenity.”

A slight furrow fractured Jesalt’s glacial impassiveness. “This is unacceptable.”

She barked a laugh and spread her arms. “Then blow the damn ship. What do I care? We’ll all be dead then.” She dropped her arms, getting serious. “I’m giving you the opportunity to save some. You cannot save them all. Besides, what does Magic Myr care?” She nodded into the room, where the employees were tossing the last of the cards into the [Warpbox]. “The only thing that bastard cares about is already safe and gone.”

Jesalt stood there, still as a statue. Dennier smiled up at him, though her fingers were itching. Her Perks would protect her if he tried something, but she was sure this man—and some of the others in his guard—were only pretending to be Adept. It was a common tactic amongst private security; only fill enough card slots to suggest they were a lower rank to lower an enemy’s guard.

After a long, tantalizing moment of silence, Jesalt gave a curt nod of his head.

“Four.”

Dennier clapped her hands. “Consider me a happy customer.”