Dellen released his magnetic field just as his feet hit the ground. There was no outcry, no gasp, no sound of feet scurrying. As far as he could tell his leap from the window had been unobserved.

With a magnetic pulse, he pulled all of the buttons to his hands and ran.

His heart pounded, but he did not feel the same visceral fear as when he had last made the same run, hands lacerated by glass leaving an unstaunchable trail of blood in his wake. He ran under the tree cover and slowed his pace, moving at a jog that he felt that brought him to the wall quickly, but unwinded.

He dropped buttons on the ground, and pushed Electrical Aether from his Spark Core to his hands. This time the Aether came with ease, the magnetic field formed and shot up to the top of the wall. Dellen’s boots came down on the stone, and he released the magnetic field before spinning up its opposite, pulling the iron buttons to his outstretched palm.

An arm wrapped around his torso and a hand over his mouth and pulled him from atop the stone. Visceral fear shot through Dellen’s body, and he thrashed against his captor. They landed outside the compound, and amidst his struggles, he heard, “Dellen stop this nonsense.”

Miss Thornbrook peered into his eyes, “Stop being absurd, now tell me, what did you learn?”

Dellen forced himself to relax, taking deep breaths and letting his body go limp. He nodded at Miss Thornbrook and waited for her to let go of him. She put his feet on the ground and settled him down as though he was not much larger and heavier than her. Dellen reached up and took off the mask.

“Are you alright?” Asked Finnegan catching Dellen off guard, he had been so focused on Miss Thornbrook that he had not noticed either Finnegan or Eliza.

Dellen held up his still-bleeding hand, “No.”

Eliza blanched, “What happened?”

“I stuck my hand in a man’s mouth and fed him lightning,” Dellen said, feeling tired. “It was that or have him beat me into the ground.” A nagging voice at the back of his mind reminded him that after a severe enough beating, his time loop would reset, whereas Alben would not come back.

Miss Thornbook nodded and said to both Eliza and Finnegan, “Never let Electrical Aether into your body, though the same can be said for any foreign Aether, Pyro Aether would be a quick death for most, and Kinematic Aether down your throat would be similarly catastrophic.” She did not seem concerned that Dellen had killed a man. “Were you observed?”

“No, but the body was found, our fight kicked up quite a ruckus.”

“We should move. It will take them time to assemble a response, but not as long as we might like.” She looked at Dellen critically, “Let’s get that hand of yours bandaged and get you out of those robes.”

Dellen peeled off his robes and realized how rumpled his clothes were beneath, sweat had soaked into his shirt, and somewhere along the line, blood had run from his hand to stain the cuff of his shirt.

“We need to get you cleaned up,” Miss Thornbrook said, leading them away from the Order’s walls. “Now tell me, what did you learn? Did you find the unforged? How are they treating them?”

Five bodies on stone slabs, blood dripping into buckets filled Dellen’s mind’s eye. “I found them, they were already dead.” He did not say anything else and realized that Eliza and Finnegan had stopped walking.

“Already dead?” Finnegan asked, after scrambling to catch up with Dellen and Miss Thornbrook. “How?”

“Someone had put them on stone slabs and opened up the left side of their chests, removing bone and organs. I didn’t get a good look at everything, but my guess is they pulled their cores free. I don’t know what happened, I just found the bodies.”

“Were they warm?” Miss Thornbrook asked, disconcerting him.

“I… I did not get a chance to touch them.”

“Pity,” she said, “No matter, Katherine did it to five of them, this only reaffirms my belief, we need to steal away to your city as quickly as possible. Your entire populace will be looked on as little more than resources by many Aetherforged.” Miss Thornbrook shook her head, “Well, no, that’s not true, not many, most Aetherforged will see the unforged as curiosities and nothing more… but for a small group of Aetherforged, those of higher Trinities who have the right skill set, well, for them, the unforged could represent an unparalleled mountain of resources and opportunity.”

“She seems awfully clinical about this,” Gilgamesh said, “Still, I bet she’s seen a lot of atrocities. What are five more bodies that she’s just hearing about?”

Dellen nodded, “You’re right, we need to get back to Copperopolis. I’m sure we can convince Captain Tiffin to take us at first light.”

“Why?” Finnegan asked, “She’s First Trinity already. She can make a life out here. Will she care about what happens to Copperopolis?”

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“It doesn’t matter,” Miss Thornbrook said, “We’re not taking her ship. We need something faster. Even a few hours could make a difference. The sooner I am known to be protecting your city, the better,” she picked up her pace, “How much money do you have with you?” She asked all of them, “I might need some of it to convince a captain to leave without filling his hold.”

“Who are you expecting to descend on the city?” Dellen asked.

“I don’t know, but as soon as word gets out that it’s full of the unforged there will be people getting the same idea as Katherine.”

“I need to get to my parents,” Finnegan said.

“I have nieces, we can’t let anything happen to them.”

Dellen nodded, “A lot of people rely on House Northcote, I want to protect as many as I can.”

They arrived at the port, “Go to the Phoenix’s Flight, get your bags, I’ll find us a berth.”

The group rushed to the Phoenix’s Flight, disturbing a groggy Bogsmith who was on watch, but let them aboard, nodding and waving without speaking. Dellen found his bags and finished packing in time to see Finnegan walking out the door headed to the deck. There, they waited, unspeaking, for Miss Thornbrook to come back for them.

“Lord Northcote,” came Captain Tiffin’s annoyed drawl, “What are you doing, packed on my deck at four in the morning?”

Dellen stifled a yawn, “Miss Thornbrook wants to rush to Copperopolis on another vessel.”

“I see,” Aurora said, her voice a degree above glacial, “And you did not see fit to inform me of this decision?”

Dellen yawned again, “I do not see fit to police a Seventh Trinity wielder of Pyro Aether, no, however,” he handed her an envelope, “I penned this note in case we were unable to speak to you before your departure, but I’m glad to see you in person, captain.”

Aurora’s face was a touch warmer, but only a touch. “What is the presumably urgent matter taking you back to Copperopolis so quickly with a woman whom you scarcely have the acquaintance of?”

“They’re going to murder the unforged!” Finnegan burst out.

Whatever Aurora had been expecting, it was not that. The expression she turned to Finnegan bore confusion. “What? Who? Who is going to murder the unforged?”

Finnegan’s surety vanished in the face of Aurora’s expression. “Ah…” He trailed off, wilting before her.

“We don’t know,” Eliza said, taking over, “However, Lord Northcote,” she put a subtle emphasis on ‘Lord’ perhaps in an effort to make Captain Tiffin take his words more seriously, “Found five unforged that had been vivisected this morning.”

Dellen could just imagine those words printed on the pages of the Copperopolis Chronicle.

Aurora returned her attention to him, “You seem remarkably calm for a man who saw five vivisected bodies this morning.”

Memories of being sick on Alben’s body intruded on Dellen’s thoughts. “I wasn’t at the time.”

“Let’s say I believe, you, why would anyone be vivisecting unforged?”

“Our theory is that they’re performing experiments to see if they can steal their cores to grant secondary affinity.”

“Can they?”

“I don’t know, but the important thing is that we need to get to the city before higher Trinity Aetherforged run rampant.”

Aurora gave him a long measuring look, before relenting, “I’ll follow, take the faster ship.”

Dellen looked at her in surprise. His mouth opened and closed a few times without him finding words to respond.

“Don’t look so shocked, Northcote. I have people in Copperopolis too. I hope you’re wrong, but if you’re right I want you to get to the city before anyone else does.”

“So glad you agree with my reasoning,” Miss Thornbrook called up from below.

Bogsmith jumped at the sound of her voice, he had, apparently, been drawn into the exchange between Dellen and the Captain. “Bogsmith, you’re supposed to be on watch!” Aurora reprimanded him, albeit with less heat than would normally have been expected.

“What ship are we on?” Dellen asked.

“The Windward Ember.”

“Is that an inauspicious name, or am I imagining things?” Gilgamesh said, “It sounds like it might catch on fire or explode.” He paused a moment before continuing, “I cannot think of a single positive connotation to accompany that name. It seems like a bad choice.”

Dellen could not help but agree.

“Where is she?” Eliza asked, “Let’s go now.”

“Right this way,” Miss Thornbrook gestured, “We leave within the hour, and we’ll arrive in Copperopolis by nightfall tomorrow.”

“So soon?” Captain Tiffin said, stroking the hull of the Phoenix’s Flight, “We’re going to have to get you some more powerful engines. I won’t leave you slow forever, don’t you worry.”

Dellen gave both Captain Tiffin and Mr. Bogsmith nods of respect and farewell before following Eliza to the ground, Finnegan had darted ahead as soon as Miss Thornbrook had pointed the way.

“What did passage cost? Do you need assistance with the fare?” Dellen asked.

“It turns out that I found a captain who had heard that The Mercantile Guild had lost its stranglehold on the city, and was planning on taking trade goods there. Our fares are just a little bit of extra profit.”

“How fortuitous,” Eliza murmured.

They passed thirty or so ships in the early morning gloom, before Miss Thornbrook indicated they had arrived at their destination. The Windward Ember, stood tall on the docking platform. Its sleek design spoke of speed. It bore a reinforced metal hull that managed to gleam despite the low light. Windows punctuated the hull, glass flush with the metal.

The ship boasted a slender profile, Dellen imagined it cutting through the wind. Its elongated shape curved gracefully, emphasizing its agility. The exterior was adorned with engravings, depicting swirling gusts of wind and dancing flames.

“Those are fires, not embers,” Gilgamesh said.

A series of sturdy propellers lined the sides and rear of the airship. Cranes and winches lined the sides, ready to load and unload the cargo efficiently. The deck itself was lit more than their surroundings, and an alert sailor called down to them, “Welcome back, Miss Thornbrook. Are these our remaining passengers?”

Miss Thornbrook led them onto the deck, “These are my companions. We are ready to leave whenever your captain issues the command.”

From his vantage on the deck, Dellen could see crates of cargo strapped in place, with two additional crew members checking straps before departure.

“I’m first mate Dulak. Come, let’s get you below to your quarters,” the mate said to them.

They were led belowdecks to a surprisingly comfortable array of cabins. They were furnished with plush seating and elegant decor. Large windows indicated that they would have a view once they were underway in the light of day.

“What do we do now?” Finnegan asked.

“I don’t know about you,” Dellen replied, “But I’ve had a long night, filled with surprises, terror, running, walking, and hiding. I need sleep.”

“You’re not going to stay awake for our departure?” Finnegan asked.

“No, but don’t let me stop you.”

“I’ll stay up with you,” Eliza said.

Dellen nodded his thanks at her and turned into a private room.

“I’ll stay with them in case any mischief occurs,” Gilgamesh said.