(Snow’s View)

Snow felt her magical energy-draining, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Most of the magical force was converted from the world and into the ships itself. It used her as a conduit without terribly affecting her.

Snow eyes blurred red. A burst of energy zipped through the ship. Her mind quickly kicked up into gear as the magical power went through the ship and back at her. It was quite an exhilarating feeling as the energy doubled and even tripled the force.

The thrusters on the left burst into full throttle, turning towards the right. Moving out of harm's way from hitting against the other airship that came rushing towards them to impale them.

She wasn’t going to have that as she knew that this ship was her lifeline and the Player’s. It was her job to make sure that they all stayed alive. Her emotional turmoil took hold of her mind, she smashed into the control drive of the ship’s A.I, taking it into her own hand as she took it upon herself to get the airship ready.

The navigators were alarmed at the sudden hijack of their system. They vigorously tapped their keyboards, trying to shut Snow out, but for some reason, they couldn’t do anything as Snow kept driving further and further into the ship’s mainframe. She blew past the blaring red tapes and screens that stopped her from going any further, knowing full well the danger ahead, she still faced on.

Finally, she stopped in front of the heart of the mainframe, where she found a small blue orb, which Snow assumed was the core of the ship itself.

“Work with me.” Snow demanded. She had no time to play or get to really know who or what it was. “I just need you to work with me until I leave this dungeon.” She reassured it as she could tell that the a.i was quickly computing for answers that it didn’t really have.

She didn’t have time to wait.

Quickly, summoning up magical power that she had in herself, she pushed it towards the small blue orb that turned red in alarm.

Warning signs flitted across the screens, startling everyone into a panic.

“What is going on?!” Captain Gilmore shouted.

“Sir, it seems we are being hacked!”The navigator had said in alarm.

“By who?!”

“I don’t know, sir.” They searched viciously, but so far, everything checked out fine. They didn’t understand what was going on.

Just as quickly as the red alarms blared off with warning, the signs suddenly stopped, leaving them with an eerie silence.

“What now?” Captain Gilmore had said with concern as he leaned forward on his seat, looking at them for an answer.

“I think it’s gone, sir.”

With a relief, Captain Gilmore flopped back, but before he got too comfortable, the airship yanked hard to the right, dodging away from colliding.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Suddenly, the light beam cannons on the side of the airship went off, slicing and a part of the pirate's airship with vigor. The cannons on the side of the pirates fired while blowing up the side where the magical barrier could not protect.

The ship shook, throwing everyone inside like jumping jelly beans. Some were unfortunate enough to get slightly injured as they weren’t able to hold on.

Snow was finally able to completely direct the ship’s mainframe, taking over most of the

functions which the A.I and magic worked together hand-to-hand. She gave a part of her energy while directing the flow of magic that was needed the most. While the mainframe of the ship calculated the risk and supported her decision as well as warned her of the consequences of taking such risk.

She was no genius when it came to technology. Snow was honestly just a fish floundering around in it, but when it came to magic, she was confident that she would make the best decision that she could offer.

Snow let the mainframe and the people who knew how to use it to take back a certain amount of control. She didn’t have the mental capacity to take over every detail of the ship's internal structure.

Instead, she drove the airship and cycled the magical power that she could give and take at the same time. Her magic being recycled around the ship stressed her own magical reservoir, but in a sense, she could also feel the control and the expanding of her magical influence slowly but surely growing.

Both ships were in a tango, They were trying to either outpace one another or destroy the other in the attempt to board.

The airship swiveled, barely missing a few collisions, but the pirate ships were a lot faster than the airship that she was in because of its size. The pirate ship was three times smaller than the airship itself. It outperformed the airship, making it a bit more difficult to aim, but the pirate ships' firepower was low on the downside. It only scratched the exterior of the ship that she regularly used magic to coat it with.

Working together hand-in-hand, the barrier held true.

Snow was proud of the mighty barrier that they were able to keep afloat, but what worried her the most was how the raging storms were coming in too fast.

She had no control over how the wind blew, or the thunderstorms thundered along the sky like a deranged animal. It buffeted the airships, throwing people around like a ragdoll. While the pirate ship still seemed to hoover through the air like it was nothing.

How was it possible? She didn’t quite know.

All she could do was guess, but it didn’t take long for her to see that the magical force that not many would have caught without having a strong affinity to magic. An almost invisible magical force was connected to the top of the pirates ship. She zoomed closely, finally able to see something moving around.

In the middle of the ship, three goblin mages were chanting together as they danced around a red orb. The three goblin mages raised up their hands, while their eyes burned eerily green. Their dangerous magic chanting became stronger and stronger, making the storm around them a bit more chaotic than before.

Thunderclaps went off as thunder grumbled as its entrance. Even the lightning splattered around them, becoming an ugly light show.

Instantly, Snow knew that the cause of the storm rested in the object itself. Her mind whirled into action on how to get close enough to destroy the orb without harming the ship or even possibly steal it.

 It didn’t take long for the pirate ship to come close to the airship, frustrating Snow as she couldn’t get a good aim.

 Finally, with a grunt, she shook off her frustration and allowed the pirate ship to come even closer than before.

 Both ships connected. Ropes were thrown across one another, screams of green goblin pirates half the size of an adult human, chattered with excitement. They roared and chanted, squabbling among each other and bared their teeth. Some had foams spitting out of their mouths, giving them a feral look.

 Snow went back and searched through the live feeds, looking for an answer. Hoping to find a way to start a mission that could push the Players too.

She stopped as a smile erupted on her lips. Excitement course through her veins, realizing who she had found to help.

 Dairen was surfing through the mainframe, looking for a map. She was glad that she had found him snooping around as she wasn’t sure how to communicate with them until now.

Thrilled at her chance to speak, she quickly wrote up a message.

Dairen, I need your help. Take Mike, and Angie and invade the pirate ship. Get to the middle of the ship and destroy or capture the orb.

Snow

Pleased with what she wrote. On Dairen’s screen, it blinked a few times as a message streamed across.

Watching Dairen’s reactions, she listened in on them.

“What’s wrong-” Mike went silent, “Did you guys just get a quest message?”

“Yea,” Dairen affirmed Mike’s question.

Even Angie nodded her head furiously with a huge silly smile on her face.

“Well then, it seems our Saintess wants us to go steal some orb.” Mike chuckled. He unbuckled himself, standing up with his hand on his sword.

“Or destroy,” Dairen replied, he got up at the same time as Mike.

“Yea, but think about it. What extra power could you gain from the orb itself?” Mike said with a bit of gusto. “I would say it could help us out later down the line.”

“Possibly.”

“It will. I’ll bet on it.”

“Let’s just first get there.”

“I know. I know.” Mike grunted. Waving his hand to stop him from chastising him even more.

Dairen and the rest of the gang left the hectic command deck as they hurriedly headed to fight against the pirates.

Snow was thrilled with their choices as she knew that she could count on them. Empowered by their dedication, words bubbled out of her lips as she felt the pull of magic from her core. Her eyes lit up, realizing what she wanted to do.

“Holy Redemption,” said Snow as the word and the magical energy spilled out of her and traveled to the three players who she had given a task too.