‘What did you do to her?’ Peter backed away from the angry carnivore. ‘Girl, it’s me. Your best mate. We’re friends. You like me, and not as your dinner.’

Girl advanced on him.

‘It’s your doing. You did not allow us to complete the imprinting process.’

‘It would have been much the same right? You screwed with our bind, and then you wanted to what? Make her your puppet instead.’

‘It ate one of us.’

‘Serves you right,’ Peter said. Then he saw their faltering flashing auras. Somehow these ones were different to the other blackbirders he had seen. More like manisaurs. ‘Or maybe not, but you messed with things you shouldn’t.’

Peter kept on backing away, and Girl kept on after him. Stalking him almost.

‘Are you even Girl any more?’ Peter moved faster backwards, towards the center of the skyship. Behind Girl the blackbirders scuttled out of the stable hold, into the corridor. Girl turned to look at them. Perhaps she saw more to eat there. But she had a peculiar fascination for him. He paced faster backwards and Girl took a step forward, she lowered her head, and Peter almost expected a purr. Instead she screamed at him, a scream like he had never heard a mount make before.

‘But then, I’m no expert. I’ve only known you for a few weeks. Or however long. But in that time we’ve had fun haven’t we? Ran a long way, fought in some good fights. You ate a few of the blackbirders.’

At this Girl looked back and the creeping group behind her. She shrieked at them again as if to remind them she would come to them next. Peter took a bit of a run back while she had been distracted.

‘Girl. I need to stop the ship from crashing. I have to help Varuq'hat drop the anchor hooks. And I need to get the flight engine higher. If you eat me then that would be bad for the skyship. Though technically I wouldn’t much care about that.’

Peter knew he rambled. But he sensed that the more he talked, the more likely he might get through to Girl again. His tulanvarqa had worked that before. Maybe it could again.

‘Except, there’s no time now.’ Peter took a breath. Then turned and ran. The decking shook in a series of crashing thumps as Girl stepped after him. He almost imagined the hot breath of the carnivores maw hitting him as she got ready to take a bite.

Then he dived off the corridor, into the bomb bay. He flung himself as the release lever as Girl clattered her feet, regained her balance from a rushed turn and barrelled into the bomb bay.

The lever for the bomb hatch wouldn’t move. The huge mount stood directly on the downward swinging door, but her weight made it impossible for the lever to move.

‘Oh very good Girl. I cant even…’

Girl rocked to and fro, her tail slipped from side to side and she reared up on her rear legs. The subtle change in weight made the hatch doors creak. Peter threw all his weight on the lever. Just as Girl readied to launch herself at him the lever bnaged, the door rotated open, and the huge beast found the floor dropping from under her.

She jumped against the hatch, and got her forelegs onto the decking and began to haul herself back into the bomb bay.

‘You can hang around. I’m not.’

Peter sprinted to the bow where Varuq'hat struggled with the plow shaped anchor.

They heaved on the davit that held it secure, and rotated it into the anchor hole.

‘You have to tie a rope to it first.’

‘I’m no sailor.’

‘Just as well you couldn’t move it.’

Peter whipped a bowline onto the plow’s end, and made sure the other end of the rope had been would around a capstan winch.

‘Let fall,’ Peter said as he braced himself against the capstan. The Plow fell, the rope swung tight, and the capstan groaned as the weight set it slipping. The gearing made it possible for Peter to hold on to it. But he huffed as he tried to keep control.

‘Just let it drop,’ said Varuq'hat/

‘No. We need it tight, otherwise it won’t bite into the ground, it would just drop with a trailing rope. That would do no good.’

Where are those blackbirders? I could do with their help.

The faint hope of that disappeared.

Varuq'hat gasped. ‘That great beast is still loose. It’s got one of the blackbirders. She appears to be painting the floor with them.’

‘Well that’s a pretty thought.’

The plow hit the ground and the skyship shuddered. Peter let out a little more rope.

‘We need someone looking so we know what’s happening.’

‘The best thing about being at the front of the ship is that we won’t hear the screams of anyone dying. We’ll just be dead before we know it.’

‘I knew there was a reason I liked you imp. You’re as mad as anyone I know.’

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The skyship lurched, dipped, and wheeled to starboard. Peter fell from the capstan and it whirled for a moment until Varuq'hat got a hand to it. Together they stopped its turning long enough for Peter to get it locked.

He turned to look along the length of the center corridor. Girl filled the narrow end where the bow holds held goods that did not need the huge dimensions of the corridor to move gharumal and Clan mounts.

‘I think she can still get to us,’ said Peter.

‘Her head can at least. Is that why the beast is lowering it?’

Peter walked towards her. ‘I don’t like those blackbirders much either. But you shouldn’t eat people. Even your enemy.’

The mount cocked her head to one side.

‘Good work staying onboard. I felt sure I’d managed to drop you off. That would have been a nasty drop. You wouldn’t have bounced. Not even a little.’

Girl stretched towards him, her mouth wide, her breath hot, her bulky head pressed against the sides of the narrower corridor. The timbers creaked as she pressed against them. She couldn’t push further.

Peter stepped close enough that he could reach out. He touched the beast on the muzzle, just under her chin.

The carnivore snapped her jaw shut then, Her head shot forward. Right at Peter.

Peter stumbled back. Without thought he took hold of his niho taniwha pendent. The greenstone jade carving had been given to him by his aunt. A memory of his grandbam who had worn it forever. A friend of his aunt had sung karakia over it and blessed it with water from the harbour. He didn’t believe in that, except he did feel a connection to his grandfather. That the taniwha tooth that had hung on the old man’s chest now sat on his.

He felt the warmth of it. And somehow felt comforted by it.

Even now. Pressed against the anchor locker. Varuq'hat trembling against him. Girl’s hot breath.

Peter opened his eyes.

‘Girl.’

The mount purred at him. And as if a blind fold had dropped from his face she pulled back to the wider corridor and twisted her head upside down. As if to make sure her eyes matched her other senses.

‘Or something.’ Peter laughed. ‘So there are limits to the bond breaking the blackbirders can do.’

‘Fascinating,’ said Varuq'hat.

‘Yeah. You would say that. She probably would have ignored you as too small to bother with.’

Peter walked towards Girl. She lowered her head and Peter stepped up the muzzle to her head. At any moment she could toss him up and chomp him to bits like…

‘Like a blackbirder.’

Girl stopped purring them, She swung around. One blackbirder lay on the ground unmoving. The other two had disappeared.

‘Varuq'hat. We have to find them.’

The skyship bounced then as the hull completed its turn into the wind.

‘Get on deck. I’ll make sure the flight engine is secure. Then we have to see how we can get back to the Clan.’

‘I’m more concerned about the zharaqsa catalyst. It’s very volatile, and keeping so much in one location is madness. Especially fully charged crystals.’

‘Okay. I’ll go on deck. You secure the flight engine and the zharaqsa. Just keep your gun handy. Those two might not be as warlike as others we’ve met. But they’re still blackbirders. And I’ve yet to meet a blackbirder I liked.’

‘What do you mean we need two ropes on the plow to make this work?’ Varuq'hat said.

‘Just climb down the anchor rope. There’s a bridle part the way down. I can see it now the moon is rising.’

‘The moon is not rising.’

‘They want’s that?’ Peter pointed off to the east.

‘Something’s burning.’

‘What’s in the east that would burn?’

‘I do not know. But…’

‘In any case. Climb down, loop this rope through the bridle and bring it back here.’

‘And I should do it because?’ Varuq'hat stood tall, on two legs trying to stare Peter in the eye.

‘Because we’re friends, I asked nicely, and you’re as much like a monkey as anything else on this crazy planet.’

‘That’s why?’

Peter walked away hoping Varuq'hat would stop protesting. ‘Breeze would do it like a shot. But then he doesn’t have Varuq'hat snappy wit or language. For some reason.’

As Varuq'hat climbed back onto the deck and, without a word, handed him the rope, Peter looped it around a capstan and winched the rope in.

‘I would have done it if you had just told me why,’ Varuq'hat said with a huff.

‘We’re basically making a kite. You know what a kite is?’ Peter rolled his eyes when Varuq'hat just bobbled his head in the negative.

‘We need to set the hull and sails of the skyship at an angle to the anchor rope. Then we can try to sail across the wind, towards where the Clan are.

‘And you know this how?’

‘An old quevantaq sailor told me. Though that was using water, not a land plow thing, but I’m sure it will work. Maybe it will.’

I’m going to try. Nothing else to do.

As the bridle swung the skyship, the angle of the wind changed. They had set some small sails on the foremast, and side masts, light enough to manhandle.

‘We should wait until light to do this.’

‘We can try now. And if it works then good. And if we need light then we’re ready for then too.’

‘Your logic is good. But I’m getting some sleep.’

‘If you don’t want to help, you could hunt out those two blackbirders.’

‘Oh. I know where the Arthans are,’ said Varuq'hat.

‘You do?’

‘Yes. I shot them trying to open the zharaqsa store. They’re doing what I need to be doing. Sleeping.’

Peter yawned. ‘I just feel bad for the Clan. We should be there.’

‘We’ve secured the catalyst. The Arthans have been stopped.’

‘It just means they’ll come after us.’

‘Which means they’ll leave the Clan alone. Now I need sleep. Wake me when the Arthans arrive.’

‘If they do.’

‘No. Count on it. They will.’

‘Varuq'hat. You sure that’s not the moon rising. It’s getting brighter.’

The imp climbed up the mizzen mast to the first cross tree. Peter grinned. The imp could climb like a monkey when he wanted to.

Varuq'hat slipped to the deck.

‘Ah. It’s not the moon. It is a fire. And it’s coming close. Very fast.’

‘What is it?’

‘Arthan warriors on mounts running with flaming torches.’

‘Why would they do that?’

‘They’re burning the plain as they run towards us.’

‘To cut us off from the Clan. The fire will be pushed by the wind towards us.’

‘They’ll be here before long. Wake me when they arrive.’

‘What do you mean? You’re not going to sleep are you?’

But the imp had slipped into the shadows and a great weariness fell on Peter. He’d been up all night.

‘I have to get more sail up. Get us sailing.’

So he climbed the main mast to reset the sails they had cut earlier. He had no thought of falling. No sense of vertigo.

It struck him then.

‘The radio. Somehow the blackbirders must have got it on before Varuq'hat shot them. Otherwise they would not know where we are.’

As he let fall the mainsail the skyship lurched and twisted.

Then the smell of smoke hit. The blackbirders would soon be on them.

‘Come on Hope. Start sailing. Last chance now.’

The skyship seemed poised, about to tip into motion, and then with a groan a rumble started. The skyship had got under way.

‘I just can’t see where we’re going.’