The bustle of hurrying footsteps and shouting was only a muted background noise for the pulsating drum of blood in my ears. My breathing was quick and short, lungs burning as my throat was cold enough to hurt. Only numbness came from my skin, as my muscles kept twitching with a free will of their own, refusing to listen to my orders. I tried to calm myself but failed as a part of my mind acted like a paranoid critter, unmaking any effort of organizing my thoughts while shouting incoherent things in my head.

'You're panicking. It's okay. Breath. Breath.' I rationalized.

But it was useless. It was a war against myself and the ennemy knew all of my tricks. Whatever comforting lies I made, it wouldn't fool that stupid critter.

"Hey! Wake up!" A voice said, fingers snapping in front of my face. "I'm not protecting deadweight, orders or not."

I answered with as much confidence as I could, which amounted to a fumbling whisper. "Slap me."

I cursed inside. I didn't want her to think I was panicking like a rookie. My body was, but not me! I knew my state and-

-SLAP!

...

It felt like waking up from a nightmare, getting me out of the torrent of thoughts I was drowning in.

I was aware of more than my body again. The sweet and intoxicating smell of dragonfly oil, the rugged planks scraping my palms and attacking my pants at the knees. The taste of blood and the numbness of my burning cheek, contrasting with the rest of my crisped face, cold and drenched in sweat.

A weight was still in my guts, keeping a certain tension in my body. But the silence... My head was clear. I told my arms to push me off the ground and they listened.

"Second one?" My molestor asked.

"No! Ngo-..." I had to gulp the blood pooling in my mouth. "Sigh, I mean, no. Thank you Helia."

"Sure, I needed it too."

I hurried toward the captain, we should have less than a minute before the first spells were cast and I was supposed to give her council. Not crying on the floor like a kid seeing death for the first time. I spat on the uneven wood, saving myself from stupidly gorging on nauseating blood and adding a new unpleasant feeling in my guts.

"Get to your post, I'm fine now." I said, more curtly than intended.

"You are my post for today, it didn't change." She answered.

Right. I felt dumb now. The highest emergency procedure came back to my mind, reminding me how unprofessional I acted. I caught myself chewing at my opened cheek, drawing even more blood that I had to spit.

"Cadel! Can we count you?" The captain asked as I approached her.

I shouted to be heard over the noise, and to hide my lingering uneasiness. "Aye sir! We got 4 rocks coming, usage of magic is fleshbound! Aim for the place were the wings connect with the body, unless we have artillery! Prevent the 2 adults from getting closer, they'll crush us in no time! The fledglings should be around 270 kilos, close contact is possible but should be avoided!"

After receiving a simple nod, I hurried near the mast as she began shouting orders. Only a dozen of seconds passed before the first salvo almost deafened me. I protected my squinting eyes from the lights of the many spells with one of my hands, noticing only now how much they were trembling. Helia gripped my shoulder, helping me stay stable through the rumbling of the vessel.

"The fuck fleshbound means?!" She shouted.

I had to take a second to make sense of her word through the ringing in my hears, and another to spit again. "They only use magic for helping their body hold their masse and for flying! They can't cast!"

I suddenly regretted not having a fleshweaver on board for that damned cut flooding my mouth, but I pushed that thought in the back of my head, where I put the how I'll explain this mess problem too. I couldn't afford to be distracted as a fledgling already managed to get through the barrage of spells. It's body was mangled in many places, yet it made no cries and no attempts to protect itself.

I heard Helia shout again. "You a wizard?"

"Only a linguist!" I answered, turning to her grimaced face, worsening at my words.

"Fuckin useless!"

I did not have time to respond as she gripped my collar and threw me behind her. I rolled a few times before hitting a crate, my head fuzzy from the impact. The rough landing of the enfant rock shook the vessel despite its enchantments, forcing me to stay on the ground, crawling. My protector was now a few meters to my left, the beast taking the space we where a second ago as its own. It barely lifted its taloned limb when fire, rocks and blades of wind hit its side. I knew it would not hurt it, yet the power of the assault was too much when standing on a single leg, making the monster crash against the mast. A hand suddenly gripped the front of my coat and pulled me to my feet, face to face with my guardian.

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"Stay behind me!" She shouted before facing the recovering monstrosity.

I took a few hesitant step back, forcing myself to not do something stupid under the frustration of my uselessness. I was still trying to organize my thoughts when a sudden, powerful tremor erupted from behind me, bringing with it a powerful gust of wind in a place supposed to be devoid of it. I struggled, focusing on keeping myself standing on shaky legs. Helia shouted my name, the urgency of her voice bringing back the awareness of my surroundings. I barely turned around when something hit me with such force that the air was ripped from my lungs.

My body moved through the air, but there was no feeling of weightlessness from a fall, and the impact never came. My torso refused to rise despite how much I craved to breath, the ravings of the damn critter seeping again into my head. I forced myself to stop trying to breath, I just needed to convince that crying voice in me that the shock will pass. When my arms failed to move no matter what I tried, I understood that something gripped me. Despite my eyes never closing, I only now registered what they showed me. Dark, glistening feathers, partially hidden by sickening murky miasma, with a broken beak growing closer.

A chain, seemingly of limestone, was wrapped around the limb which held me in its talons, helplessly tugging at it.

I struggled with all my meager might, air returning to me in shallow breaths, as hollow eyes peered at me through the brown fumes. The sound of battle and shouting was muffled through the beat of blood rushing in my head.

I couldn't die here, I knew it. I wanted to know it. Something had to happen! Anything! Someone will- damn it! Why did we have to ride in this scrap if everyone was so useless!? You're all so smug about your powers so back it up now! Gods, angels, fallen, guardians, anyo-

Something suddenly flew hurriedly between us, my executioner stopping to follow it with its empty gaze as it went away. My mind froze, hoping for a chance, dreading the return of its eyes on me. The abomination raised its sinister wings, preparing its only standing legs to what I hoped was a deranged pursuit of whatever crossed us.

I was beginning to become elated when it took flight... until I realized it dragged me along. I didn't have time to listen to the many dooming scenarios my mind created as the strong winds of the sky slammed into me when we left the wards of our vessel. My breath was cut again and this time I also choked on the blood and saliva that pooled in my mouth.

I was rocked for a moment that felt like hours and just a second at the same time, refusing to look down, not trusting me to keep the crumbs of rationality I had left if I did. Instead, I focused on the thing, the person, flying in front of me. I couldn't see his face as he was escaping, but I knew it was Kendrick. We had 3 wind elementalists, yet only one bastard would run away by himself. Thankfully, I knew he was as doomed as I was, he will soon be unable to continue his escape, much less land. His demise was the only solace I could find here, taking satisfaction from it like a madman, just to distract me from the rest.

Something moved in my vision, stopping my thoughts from the shock. A hand suddenly gripped the limbs of my jailer, encroaching itself to it with claws of rock. Despite the wind freezing and drying my eyes, I was unable to stop myself from opening them wider in front of this absurdity. Helia was remodeling the chain, one end tied to her strange clothes while she threw the other at me. The object wrapped tightly around my body, slithering like a snake to find the gaps in the hold of the abomination.

She used it to come closer, crushing me every time she pulled on the chain to steady herself. When she was just next to me, I saw her shouting while pointing at the beast. The roaring of the wind made me unable to hear even the sound of her voice, much less understanding it. How did she even expect me to listen to anything in this situation.

"Why in the gods did you come!?" I shouted back, feeling how dry my mouth was, my tongue smooth against my palate.

She only looked at me with confusion sketched on her face.

"You're gonna die you idiot!" I shouted again, more of frustration than to communicate something.

She frowned for a moment then came even closer, checking and tightening the chains around me. How useless, it won't matter once we fall, or if this thing decide to finish us. Yet she continued her fruitless endeavor, some of her armor thinning as the chains grew more complex and numerous.

I didn't know how much time passed, as I looked at her face without seeing it.

My father will be devastated for sure, I don't even have siblings to help him once I will be gone. I couldn't even give him grandchildrens. Being a mixed was so unfair... The lab will probably be absorbed by another for military purposes. 9 years of work just for it to end up making things go boom better. How sad that it took me this much time to find out I didn't care so much. Will Prosperity miss me? Or even notice my death among countless mortals? Did I even matter...

My mind was becoming empty, my body cold...maybe... I didn't even feel it anymore. I was tired. Too weak to even react when a booming crack erupted, for just a second. Or maybe more, I couldn't tell, I couldn't hear anything after that. Then a white light bloomed from the horizon, eclipsing the glow of the setting sun. Something might have hit us. The claws let go of my body, and I begun to fall, the world spinning around me. I could faintly sense the chains tightening, then something holding me. Did the beast catch me again? I guess It didn't matter anyway. I couldn't think deeper about it before light engulfed me...