“And remember, it lands in the water. There’s the Jainsun River that runs under Ealphamir, that should be the safest place.” The Shipwright finished. “We’ll try to get the docks cleaned up before you return.”
“Wait…” I noted. “How do we land on the clouds?”
“Clouds are nothing but water. Even if the Cloud elves have worked their magic on them, it should be fine.” The shipwright dismissed.
I really didn’t like that ‘should’, but at this point, it was a little too late to protest. I just had to hope to God that they knew what they were talking about.
The final thing to do was distribute the rings that would ensure we had enough air to breathe, even at cloud-level elevation. The ring was a simple silvery band. I was nervous since the rings seemed to fit the slim fingers of my matrons and my fingers were incredibly thick in comparison. As I fed the tip of my finger into the band, it seemed to stretch and expand, until I nestled it at the base of my finger, where it tightened comfortably.
It was as though I had been breathing through a dusty pillow, and now my airway was clear. Even here the ring made breathing easy.
Man, athletes would have paid out the nose for something like this. Every breath gave you perfect oxygenation, it was almost funny to me how something like this was seemingly so simple here.
“Now, master,” Diamiutar noted, pulling me aside. “Take good care of the rings. We can only afford to pay for these rings for a short time. You will have to give them back once you return.”
“Wait… we’re paying for all this?” I demanded quietly. “The ship…? My guns…? Why haven’t I been included in these discussions?”
Diamiutar had nodded with each question. “As your Head Matron, maintaining your finances is my obligation. You were given significant vestiture of funds as a reward for your combat performances, and our home was awarded to us after your first victory. Additionally, the stipends of your battle matrons have been added to our funds. The traditional remunerations for conception and birthing of children will strengthen our financial situation significantly, but the greater part of these funds will only be made available as your progeny are born. We are satisfactorily able to meet our needs and provide you all you require, in addition to the promise of support from the Council of Elders. As such, I didn’t feel it necessary to take your time with discussions of household finances.”
I shrugged, ” I guess that works… I had thought that maybe the Elven cities just didn’t have money and currency.”
“Oh, yes. We have our currencies. It is just… generally considered poor taste to discuss finances in front of your master, unless it is to beg forgiveness for failing to adequately manage the house’s funds.” Diamiutar admitted.
Well, that was one misconception cleared up.
I assured Diamiutar we’d be sure to take care of the rings, and we prepared for takeoff.
For takeoff, I didn’t exactly want my matrons hanging over the edges so I sent most of them underdeck. The only ones to stay on deck with me were Mavrin, Sevrina, and Tavorwen. Mavrin and Sevrina, because they were my other potential pilots for this strange airship, and Tavorwen because I trusted her judgment and I wanted her support.
“Open the bay doors!” The Shipwright called, and the great doors in front of the ship swung open. “The skies are yours!”
The steering mechanism was a small pedestal with a crystal mounted on top, and levers spread around it to control the rest of the ship. I put my hand on the crystal to hopefully attune and get things started, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.
[[I am so ready for this! They made it so I can see!]] The Elemental greeted me.
[[Glad you are so excited.]] I replied. [[Do you know how this works?]]
[[This thing has wings. Simplest thing ever. The wind goes around the wings to lift things. Like helping a bird fly.]] The elemental sounded confident.
There was a lever to extend or retract the wings, and I pulled it to the first ‘click’, watching the wings extend from their ‘Rested Landing’ position to their ‘Descent’ position. The next click extended them to the “Slowing” position. This was the farthest the Shipwright had said we could extend them before we left the hanger.
[[They said this is the hardest part, they said.]] I told the Elemental. [[We have to get liftoff and out of the dock here with minimal wingspan.]]
[[Ha! Nothing a little wind can’t help us with!]] The Elemental declared.
I could feel more than hear the ring behind us begin to hum with energy. Looking at the wings, you could see the beginnings of wind that didn’t seem to touch the rest of the ship, or the onlookers as the ship began to shift.
“Come on,” I whispered.
[[Doubter.]] Taunted the Elemental. [[See the power of the WIND!!!]]
With that, the wind around the wings increased, and with a groan, the ship began to lift. Upward and forward, and the bow rose over the edge of the basin.
The onlookers began to cheer and with a lurch, the ship began to pick up speed. The bay door opened towards a gap between trees and as we moved into the gap, the nose of the ship rose a degree or two.
[[Oh, this! This is FUN!]] The elemental cackled. [[Just wait until everyone back home hears about this. They’re all gonna be so jealous.]]
I had to admit, it was exhilarating. The wind was starting to rush around us as we picked up speed and elevation. It was like a roller coaster, except with only minimal safety measures. I couldn’t imagine the rails would be too safe if anything happened.
As we cleared the elevation of the tallest of the trees, I pulled the lever to fully extend the wings. The nose of the ship leveled off, but the wings caught the wind and lifted us, more like a helicopter than an airplane. I could see the wind energy of the elemental surrounding the wings, lifting us, and pushing out the back of the ring, to give us thrust.
Without thinking, I let my hand drop from the crystal. Sevrina, Mavrin, and Tavorwen had moved to the upper deck, and I stepped up to join them. The ship continued to rise, and while it was hard to tell speed, we seemed to level off.
“This is amazing!” Sevrina celebrated.
“Truly, this is amazing.” Tavorwen agreed.
“Oh, they said that our Hiersver partners should be able to join us,” Mavrin noted, pointing to a few perches at the front. “If we circle back… we should be able to… call them. Master, who is steering the ship?”
I blinked and looked back at the unmanned helm. “Um…”
I rushed back and put my hand on the crystal.
[[What’s the big deal?]] The elemental asked.
[[Don’t we have to… you know, stay here and steer?]] I replied.
[[I mean, you can. But… I can see where I’m going.]] The elemental replied. [[I don’t exactly want to hit anything.]]
“Um, it says it can handle it,” I explained.
“WHAT can handle it?” Mavrin demanded.
“The Elemental,” I repeated.
[[My name is ‘Dust Cloud’.]] The elemental declared.
“Dust cloud?” I asked.
[[… close enough.]] Dust Cloud accepted.
“Dust Cloud?” Tavorwen pressed.
“That’s what the elemental said its name was,” I explained.
“It can… hear us?”
I nodded. “It can see too.”
“Could you turn around so we can get our partners?” Mavrin asked.
[[What did the Pointy one say?]] Dust Cloud asked.
“Oh, right. Dust Cloud can’t understand you.” I realized. “Mavrin asked you to turn around so they could call their bird partners to join us.
[[They have birds? I like birds.]] Dust Cloud accepted, and the ship began to turn.
We circled back over Ealphamir, and the two mages made a series of gestures and spoke a word, and moments later their Hiersver partners rose from the trees and quickly gained elevation. When the Hiersver reached the ship, they seemed to see their perches with ease.
[[Which way do we go?]] Dust Cloud asked.
After consulting with Tavorwen and a map, we set course to the North-West.
As we reached a cruising altitude, we realized one slight problem. With altitude came a drop in temperature, and quickly it became evident that clothing designed for the surface was not particularly set to deal with the temperature difference in the elevation. Cloaks were pulled tight around them, and being underdeck was much warmer. I created a little fire in my hands to keep me warm and that worked pretty well for me, so I managed the helm.
Because Dust Cloud was fine keeping our course, I was able to walk to the edge and look over. Down below, we were far from reaching the edge of the forest, and I could see us approaching the western end of the mountains that Tavorwen and I had been forced to hike over to get to Ealphamir from the Temple of Ages, though, if I had my mental map right, the place we had crossed was far to the east.
It felt as though we had gotten to quite the cruising speed but looking at the ground beneath us, it seemed the wind in our face made it feel like we were moving far faster than we were. I would guess we were only moving at around 30 mph, but if we could keep that up, that wasn’t bad for overland travel. It was faster than I could walk.
“Are you alright up… Oh, that’s warm!” Mavrin moaned and huddled next to the handful of flames I had, Sevrina was right behind her.
“Master, if we are to fly through the night, we should take turns watching the helm,” Sevrina interjected.
“I’ll take the first round of duty at the helm.” Marvin volunteered.
“Will you be warm enough?” I worried.
Mavrin gave me an exasperated look, then gave a whistle. Her hiersver flew down from its perch at the prow and, with some guidance, it nestled down where Mavrin could sink into its lightly glowing warm feathers. The contented look on her face as she sunk from the frigid, high-altitude air, into the warmth of her hiersver’s feathers was nearly orgasmic.
“I’ll be fine, Master,” Mavrin declared, resting a hand on the crystal to take control of the vessel.
“And I just purged,” Sevrina whispered in my ear. “It will be far easier for me to rest, once I have been blessed by your seed.”