The hum of countless propellers whirred smoothly through the sky far above the Sea of Calimnon. The sharp bow of an airship, forged from a chrome-like metallic alloy, glistened brightly as it cut through a large white cloud. The cloud’s shape shattered, the crystals and water droplets sucked through the airship’s propellers while the droplets unleashed a cascade of radiance and color as they were jettisoned out the other side.
The airship was a sizable enough craft, comprised of a strange medley of designs. The propellers notwithstanding, it still held certain elements of Njordic influence. It was over twice the length of a longship and maintained its relative slenderness, yet in place of a sail was a dome with a stained glass top.
The figurehead at the bow certainly embraced the hallmarks of Njordic influence far more, with a fierce sea monster akin to the notorious Jormungandr. The most notable difference was the deep hull, which was more akin to the depth of a galleon, more than sufficient to hold vast quantities of supplies and personnel, as well as enough support for the strange circle located at the bottom coated in various runic designs and surrounded by inlaid crystals, all emanating a rather potent glow.
Also, much like a galleon, the sides of the ship were dotted with gun ports containing a number of cannons. Most were kept shut, with the cannons pulled back. The few that were open were adorned instead with the faces of varied crew members looking out wistfully across the vast sea beneath them.
The helm itself did not stray far from traditional designs, however, and was located underneath a nice awning at the rear of the ship. At the very least, it was built high enough up that the central dome posed little issue for visibility. The main exception being a large board to the side of the helm adorned with a large number of levers, their numbers matching the propellers of the ship.
Dozens of crew members milled about the deck, looking out across the vast ocean with an air of excitement as a small flock of drakonids screeched their way through the sky.
These creatures were much like drakes, but with longer necks and lengthier heads, quite like a blend between a lizard and a snake. Their legs were also much shorter and underdeveloped compared to a drake or wyvern, used mainly to give themselves an extra boost when they launched themselves from their cliffside roosts. Their noses were also much stubbier and toughened, likely from their penchant for burrowing into the cliff walls, whereas a wyvern or drake would use their breath to carve out a nice little cave.
The peaceable cruising of the drakonids had quickly turned agitated, however, as their screeching changed in tone and they gathered themselves tighter together.
“Captain Cid, Captain Cid, sir! The drak-“ A soldier in a red jacket rushed towards the helm, and was cut off sharply by the tall man at the helm, whose thick accent only became thicker courtesy of the large cigar adorning his mouth.
“That’s Capítán Cid, and jes, I can use my eyes too.” Cid interrupted the soldier, as he eyed the flock of drakonids gathering perilously close to the side of the airship.
“Jou, go now, muy rapído, come back with la mujér Carmilla. Ahora!” Cid slapped the top of the hardwood half-wall for emphasis, shaking the golden tassels of his pauldron as the wind caught the elegant tail of his deep blue coat.
The soldier scrunched his face, as if confused for a moment, before responding with all due courtesy: “Yes, Captain! Moving!”
Cid’s eyebrow twitched as the soldier hurried off, to the increasingly frenzied cries of the drakonids.
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Colored streams of light flowed through the stained glass of the atrium, occasionally interrupted by shadows flitting through in ever increasing numbers. The rays of light made a small, sharp change in angle along with a metallic groan, extending the shadows cast by some stacks of boxes while cutting through others, gleaming lightly off the fine mesh strapping them down.
In the center, though, was a fair amount of open space, in which a woman danced an eloquent dance. Her fists were covered with a large, soft wrap that was shaped as a fingerless hand, tied tightly to her wrists by a rough white cloth.
Beads of sweat glistened and flew from her neck-length hair, refracting the differing rays of colored light beaming in from above as they soared through the air. A soft white vapor rose from her skintight red sweatshirt, as she continued her dance, throwing a furious, precise and eloquent set of punches in rhythm with her movements.
She stopped for a moment, tilting her head slightly to one side as she closed her eyes, listening intently.
“I guess I have time for one more set?” She half-whispered, as her lips subtly curled into a tiny, pleasant smile. Then she began her dance once more. Soon enough, the echoes of rapidly approaching footsteps rushed to the atrium door. The soldier in the red jacket came bursting forth… and promptly stumbled back and landed butt-first on the floor.
“HAP!” The woman shouted, her fist mere inches from where his nose was about to be, while a devilish grin adorned her face.
“Damnit Carmilla! That- you scared me!” The soldier gasped heartily, before reaching up and taking hold of the soft glove adorning Carmilla’s outstretched hand. With a nigh effortless pull, she practically launched the soldier back on to his feet.
“So let me guess, El Capítán wants me up on deck?” She coquettishly fluttered her eyelashes at the agitated soldier, and his face promptly blushed to a hue most similar to that of his coat.
He turned his eyes to the ground, wringing his hands. “Well, uh, y-yes ma’am… T-there is a bit of an emergency, and I-“ He stopped mid-sentence, as he glanced up to an empty room.
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“Why am I even here?” The soldier sighed, and then grimaced. “Fuck.”
If Carmilla didn’t even argue… He thought apprehensively to himself, then it’s definitely going to be trouble. So… is there something I can use against flying enemies while in the sky?
“Nets.” He exclaimed, thrusting his fist into his hand, before looking around quickly at the mountains of sealed crates just in this room. “Fuck.”
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THWOOM
The Light of the New Dawn veered to the side, buffeted with an assault of searing hot wind as a gargantuan multicolored bird blasted past the side of the ship. The flock of drakonids split quickly at its approach, one barely able to dodge away as the bird snapped its golden beak shut like a deadly trap.
“HOT DAMN, BABY! Do you feel that?” Carmilla exclaimed, her arms spread wide as she gleefully pranced backwards up the stairs. Her brown hair billowed along with the wind, entwining itself ephemerally with a steadily increasing flow of steam.
“Jes! And it’s a problem! I need you to deal with it before-“ Cid shouted through the shrieking of the drakonids, before Carmilla cut him off, a gleam of sheer determination shone through her brown eyes. “I’m gonna tame it!”
Without sparing a moment, she grabbed one of the hook-tipped spools of anchor line off a stud mounted on the bulwark and dashed back down the stairs.
“Carmilla, esperate! No!” Cid shouted emphatically after her, to no avail. “Puta loca! If it scares the drakonids into the propellers, we’ll crash! Estupida!” He continued, grumbling under his breath as he gripped the helm so tightly his knuckled turned white.
After thinking for a moment, Cid quickly pulled out a short rope and deftly anchored himself to the ship’s steering column and watched apprehensively as Carmilla dashed towards the bow of the airship.
Even through the vibrating hum of the airship, he could feel the deep drumbeat of her punches and kicks that launched any drakonids in her path off the side of the ship. He winced as more than a few were launched a little too close to the propellers for comfort, and he almost felt a hint of pity for the unfortunate creatures that were just trying to hide for their lives.
“LET’S GOOOOOO!!!” Carmilla exclaimed, grinning practically ear-to-ear as she lined herself up under the bird. The creature glared at her from the air, as a small torrent of wind and flame began to cycle and flow around its wings.
She flung the hook towards another stud on the bulwark and crouched down, mana concentrating furiously into her legs.
“Greater Reinforcement. Resilience. Strengthen. Flame Resistance. Acceleration. Haste. Step of the Clouds.” With enough force to rock the ship, she launched herself upwards into the sky, the anchor line unspooling rapidly as she passed the bird before it went taught, the hook yanked tightly into the stud, sharply stopping her ascent just as suddenly as it began.
The bird backed off slightly, trying to regain some distance from the woman. Then, with a roar, it unleashed a small torrent of swirling, flaming orbs.
“Oh no you don’t! STEP OF THE CLOUDS!” Carmilla shouted, lines of mana etching through the air from her feet. Each step launched a blast of air behind her as she weaved through the flames and struck the bird square on its belly, sending it careening into the bow of the ship and shattering its arrayed spells. The impact caused numerous things below the deck to audibly crash.
The ship listed slightly to the side with the impact, as the drakonids screeched and fled past the crewmembers. One of the red-coated soldiers came running up from the deck, a net of large, thick rope in his hands.
“C’mon, help me out here!” He shouted, his voice cracking slightly. In a moment, the other soldiers and crew rushed together. With a shout, they launched the net over the massive bird.
The creature glared at them, and unleashed a hellish screech, forcing the crew to cover their ears and stagger in pain. It reared back up onto its legs, blasting forth another searing wave of wind as it tried to shake off the net.
A couple of redcoats were launched by the sudden blast of air, sending them shrieking overboard before they were sucked into the airship’s engines and were turned into nothing more than a fine red cloud on the other side.
The sudden shock also knocked one of the fleeing drakonids off course from its attempt to escape the deck of the ship. Its large body, tough bones and thick scales collapsed with a meaty crunch and quickly clogged up another engine. The metal groaned audibly, struggling to cut through the unfortunate creature.
“GODS DAMNIT ALL, GRAB THE NET AND PULL IT DOWN!” The soldier screamed again, struggling to approach the bird as another wave of searing wind tore his red coat off and sent it flying wildly into the sky.
“Harden. Stoneskin. Steelskin. Reinforcement. Strengthen. Ghost Strike. Dual Impact.” Carmilla smiled wide, before launching herself like a rocket through the waves of wind.
The bird had made a critical error, and in its focus on the crew, it forgot about the woman who just crashed fist-first into its head. The force of the impact drove it beak-first back down into the deck, shattering and splintering the wrought iron grates.
The moment the flowing wind stopped, the remaining drakonids desperately attempted to escape in a full blown panic. Two others, trampled by their brethren, were knocked overboard and sucked into the ship’s engines.
The ship lurched sharply to the side, as Carmilla slid off the birds back and locked her eyes with those of the creature.
“Domination. Enchanting Gaze. Enthrall.” Carmilla whispered quietly, as the creature slowly struggled less and less, and its pupils dilated under her relentless stare. She smiled widely, steam billowing off her body drenched in sunlight.
“Now there’s a good girl, good girl…” Her smile began to fade slightly, as she looked forward into the rapidly increasing gale. It dropped as she had no choice but to acknowledge the rapidly approaching ocean, and then thoroughly disappeared as she noted the massive whirlpool far off to port.
“Hey soldier, I never caught you name.” Carmilla shouted over the wind at the coatless man, he had run up and began attempting to secure the net to the ship in spite of the circumstances.
“Ryan ma’am! And… HOLY SHIT! WHAT DO WE DO?!?” Ryan screamed, the wind forcing him to squint as he finally recognized their predicament.
“That’s the easy part! Hold on tight!” Carmilla smiled wide again at the soldier, before locking her arm through his and grabbing tightly onto the net with one hand. Then she stabbed her other arm through the floor. “HERE. WE. GOOOOOO!”
However, a fierce roar began to scream from the remaining propellers, and the bow of the ship lurched upward. The sheer force of the sudden change in direction slammed Carmilla and Ryan into the deck of the ship, and a huge wave of water burst alongside the ship under the force of the air pressure as the bottom of the ship cut across the top of a wave.
“WOOOOOO!!!!” Carmilla cheered, and a huge grin consumed her face. “That is how you know you’re alive!”
Carmilla looked back at Ryan, her eyes gleaming with joy. “Hey, Ryan?” She shook his limp body, the only sign of life being the subtle breathing in his chest, as a small stream of blood poured from a gash in his head. Her smile dropped, as she took in the mess on the deck of the ship and the damaged propellers. “Ahhh fuck, Cid’s gonna chew me out again…”