“Are you sure we have to stop here? There isn’t a single beast in sight, so we should be fine riding the velociter all the way to the top,” Sydney moaned.
After a full night in the velociter we had finally arrived at the base of the mountains. “Look, I’ve been here before. There are beasts that live in the mountains. If we don’t want any trouble we need to walk,” Mai insisted.
“What sense does that make? We’d be more vulnerable then.” Audrey sat back down. “I’m not leaving. You walk if you want to.”
Mai stopped short of stepping out. “I understand not wanting to walk. It’s a long way up, and the hike isn’t easy but—”
“Are you trying to convince me? Because it sounds like you’re just making my point.”
“Audrey, maybe we should listen to her? She’s the only one who’s been here before, so…” Sydney started but then trailed off.
Audrey started to say something and crossed both her legs and arms. She looked intense, but I couldn’t hear a word she said over the noise of an approaching velociter.
Fin’s group had caught up and stopped next to us. The door lifted open then Fin stepped out. He had changed into the blue pants from his Sky Haven uniform, but had removed the sleeves from the shirt. There was supposed to be a jacket as well, but he wasn’t wearing his.
“You guys okay? Weren’t we supposed to stop at the end of the trail?”
“Yes, but taking the velociter all the way is dangerous,” Mai sighed. “We should walk from here.”
Fin burst into laughter. “Walk? Up a mountain? I don’t think so.” He slipped back into his velociter and the other group continued on, but we were still stuck. The velociter wouldn’t move as long as Mai kept the door open.
I was half hoping she would change her mind because I didn’t want to climb a mountain, but considering how insistent she was I thought maybe it’d be best to listen to her, not that I actually had any choice. As her knight I’d have to stay with her no matter where she went.
Audrey asked, “why are you so bent on walking?”
Exasperated, Mai practically yelled, “I already told you! There are beasts living on this mountain. If we just charge up in the velociter then we might upset them!”
Hoping to speed up the discussion I put my support behind Mai.“I agree with Mai this time. There are a lot of unknowns about this mission and just because we can’t see them now doesn’t mean there are no beasts.” I still preferred taking the velociter, but considering I’d be spending a lot of time with Mai for the foreseeable future I figured it’d be best to get on her good side early. I also didn’t expect my words to sway the other girls’ opinions.
Sydney yammered, “why don’t you two just walk and we can take the velociter then everyone is happy.”
“No!” Mai and Audrey said in unison.
Sydney frowned. “All I’m saying is that by now, Fin and the others have reached the top and we’re still here argu—”
A loud bird-like shriek that sliced through the air forcing us to cover our ears. At the same time the sky became dark for several seconds. I looked up but was too late to see what sort of creature had flown by.
“Get to cover!” Mai shouted, sprinting out of the velociter. She raced toward a line of trees.
I was still trying to make sense of what was going on, but I darted after her.
Mai reached the trees first. I wasn’t far behind her. I caught up and we both turned to see if Audrey and Sydney had followed.
Both were hurrying toward us, but behind them a velociter was tumbling down the mountain trail. The vehicle smashed rocks and crashed through trees on its way down with no indication of slowing down.
I watched anxiously as the crumpled machine gained on the girls. I’d known them less than a day, but my chest grew tight at the thought of seeing them crushed. The falling machine crashed into our velociter, sending supplies flying in all directions.
Sydney was a few paces behind Audrey and the speeding velociter was sliding along the ground only a short distance behind them. The sight was quite jarring given that I had only ever seen a velociter on the ground while docked at a charging station.
The terrible screech of metal sliding on stone clawed at my ears. Sydney’s lips moved and a moment later a gust of wind pushed out behind her. The blast both slowed the velociter’s speed and pushed Sydney along faster than any human could move. She grabbed Audrey as speeding by and the two girls didn’t stop until they were far behind us. Mai and I retreated further into the grove of trees as the wreckage moved closer.
The velociter finally came to a halt, just inches before it reached the tree line. I dreaded the thought of anyone being inside. The way it had tumbled over itself, crumpling a little more with each collision, I was sure no one could’ve survived.
With the immediate threat now over, we regrouped.
“That bird that just flew by was a zephyr,” Mai said. “I’m guessing it didn’t take kindly to a velociter speeding up the mountain. Judging by those punctures, it probably tossed them back down.”
There were several large holes, more than big enough for a person to crawl through, on either side of the machine. A pungent red fluid leaked from inside the machine, it didn’t quite smell like blood, but I couldn’t be sure.
Sydney yelled, “there shouldn’t be a Zephyr in the safe zone.”
Audrey shuffled nervously. “Maybe that’s what we were sent to investigate.”
“For now we better start by seeing if the others survived.” Mai said, her expression dark as she looked grimly at the wrecked velociter.
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“Feydon.” Sydney called. She pointed towards the pile of scrap and the other two girls looked at me as well.
I reluctantly accepted the task and began trying to pry open one of the crumpled doors. As I worked I tried to prepare myself for what might be inside.
The process took several minutes but when the door flew open I was pleasantly surprised to find the velociter empty; however I was perplexed as to how they got out. Three of the four seats remained which left me skeptical of an ejection, but I couldn’t think of any other explanation.
After confirming their survival we checked the velociter for any usable supplies. Unfortunately the only thing that remained undamaged was the black box. Out of curiosity we decided to watch the last few minutes of its recording.
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“Do you really think Mai is interested in that wannabe knight?” Fin asked, but got no answer. “Oh fuck! Maybe that’s why she wants to walk. She’s probably trying to spend more time with him!”
“I thought she said it was about respecting the beasts, or something like that.” Carletta mumbled just loud enough to be heard.
Fin gave Carletta a dumb look. “What sane person respects beasts? We fucking kill them.” Then pounding a fist on the arm of his chair he demanded, “We're going back now. We have to.”
Fin and Carletta briefly fought for control of the velociter until a panicked warning from Cole refocused their attention. “There’s a zephyr spiraling above us!”
Fin flinched with momentary surprise, then regained his composure. “There’s no zephyrs in the SAFE zone,” he balked.
“Where!?” Byron shouted. He scrambled to get a look through a round glass opening on top of the machine. “There is! There’s a zephyr out there.”
Both Fin and Carletta released the control console to try and look at the zephyr then the velociter slammed into something and veered off course. The scene shook violently several times as their velociter likely collided with the mountain. The group was thrown around inside the velociter like a bunch of rag dolls; only Cole had remained strapped in his seat, but he was still jolted around by the multiple impacts.
The velociter stopped crashing and leveled out.
A computerized voice announced, “ejection in 3... 2… 1…”
Cole reached for the controls. “No, no, no—” before he could grab them the floor of the velociter fell open. Cole’s seat ejected, dropping him into the valley, and the others were sent plummeting with no protection. The floor of the velociter closed again and three seats remained in place.
Metal groaned as thick yellow talons forced their way inside, then the entire machine imploded on itself like a crushed can. The rest of the recording was hard to make out, but we already knew what happened next.
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“And that is exactly why I said we should walk.” Mai declared triumphantly.
The zephyr had yet to make another appearance so we cautiously gathered the scattered supplies from our velociter and started up the mountain path.
“Do you think we’ll find the others along the way?” Audrey asked in a hushed voice as if she was afraid someone, or something might hear her.
“If we don’t then I’m sure we’ll see them at the top,” Mai said. “And don’t start with any more negative talk or doomsday scenarios.”
Audrey nodded and our accent continued in relative silence with the only conversation being whispers shared between Audrey and Sydney.
The path up the mountain was easier than I’d expected. The incline was relatively low. The path mostly wound around the mountain in a long spiral, but at some parts the path twisted back and forth.
Along the way we didn’t see any beasts, only insects and lizards that lay out on rocks bathing in the sunlight. One side of the mountain had lots of foliage and trees, while the other side was mostly barren. I preferred the side with more vegetation, trees made for nice shade, but most of the trail was on the barren side of the mountain.
When we got about half way up, the path split. One path continued up to the peak of the mountain we were on, while the other branched off towards another mountain and led deeper into the range. We took the second path.
Annoyed by the quiet, I tried to start a conversation. “If there’s a zephyr on this mountain then why haven’t the enforcers or heroes killed it? And why would they send students here?”
“They probably don’t know about the Zephyr. It was never here before when I came with my father so maybe Audrey was right about us being sent to investigate it.” Mai replied.
“That seems reasonable… but then shouldn’t we call the enforcers? How are the four of us going to deal with a building that flies?” I asked.
“First of all, it’s not a building and secondly, don’t you start talking like Audrey. If there’s a reason to call enforcers I’ll happily do it, but I won’t fail this mission without even trying,” Mai stressed. “Besides, we only have to investigate the reason for irregularities on the mountain and retrieve a flower. No one said anything about killing the zephyr.”
Audrey sighed audibly at Mai’s words. Admittedly, I was also relieved to know Mai didn’t intend to fight the zephyr. I kept my sister's warning about Mai in the back of my mind. She looked innocent and harmless, but Mai was as closed off and difficult to read as my father.
I was starting to wonder about Audrey too. She was the only person to pass in her practical exam group, and despite being strong enough to make first class she lacked confidence where all the others seemed to have an abundance of it. She was also the only person who’s family I’d never heard of, and none of the others seemed to know anything about her either. She was a complete mystery.
We were coming to a bend in the path, there had been sparse vegetation so far, but around the bend I could see more trees.
As we got closer Mai stopped walking. “I think this is where the other group crashed,” she said, pointing at an uprooted tree. The trunk was badly split and splintered. It dangled over the side of the trail barely held up by a few roots that remained buried.
Once she pointed out the start, it was easy to follow the path of the out of control velociter. A trail of gashes in the mountain side, uprooted trees, and smashed boulders continued down into the valley below. Where the trail stopped must have been where the zephyr grabbed the machine.
Sydney and Audrey had started to move on, following the path up the mountain, but Mai was still at the edge of the bend near the dislodged tree. Her hair danced in the breeze as she looked out over the hills, silently staring into the distance.
I stood next to her and surveyed the valley. “You don’t think Fin and the others are somewhere down there do you?”
“If they are, then they’ll have to find another way up or back down the mountain.” She said gravely. “Look there.”
Following her finger, my gaze landed on what looked like a massive nest. Entire trees had been stacked in neat rows. Large boulders were set around the base to hold the tree trunks in place. The pile sat at the base of a blue mountain. It looked as if most of the valley had been cleared of trees and foliage, but I didn’t see anything else out of the ordinary.
“Someone’s been cutting trees. Think it has something to do with the mission?”
She shook her head. “Not someone, look closer.”
The purple-blue mountain shifted. Two large wings flared out a couple of times and six red eyes blinked open. The eyes rolled around scanning the area, then closed again. “That’s a nest.”
Mai nodded. “If they fell into the valley then I don’t think they’ll be able to climb back out without getting spotted.”
I agreed, but given that the entire valley had been cleared I didn’t see how else they could escape.