From the tiny bone shards in Wight’s wrists—as his neck snapped back into place—grew long scythe blades extending past his shoulders. His back hunched over and his blank eyes fixated on Halvor.
“Cut to ribbons, [Lacerate] X [Dash].” Wight blitzed toward Halvor. Halvor petrified as much of his body as he could, but the storm of slashes that rained down on him managed to find every bit of flesh that remained on his body.
“Halvor, you alright?” Galina asked. Before Halvor could respond, Galina felt a warm splatter across her back. She turned around to see a member of Revenant with Riven’s dagger embedded in their head and their blood all over her back.
As the figure dropped to the ground they gave way to Riven, whose arm was still outstretched after throwing her dagger. “Keep your head in the game Galina.”
“Sorry.”
“Look down!” Riven shouted.
The figure sprung back to life, attempting to thrust their bone rapier up into Galina’s chest, but she managed to step back just in time to avoid the strike.
“Rip free, [Pull].” Galina slammed her staff into the ground and raised her hand into the air.
The floorboards the fallen member of Revenant lay upon started to creak and splinter as they became engulfed by Galina’s essence, then burst into the air.
With a flick of her wrist, Galina tossed the floorboards and the pale figure lying on them off the side of the skyship.
“Ah!”
Galina immediately shifted her gaze toward the scream. Another cloaked figure raised a massive bone ax over the head, ready to bring it down on the screaming woman in front of them.
“Rip free, [Pull] X [Barrier].”
Galina’s essence flooded into the floorboards in front of the cloaked figure. Just as they brought down their ax with all their might, the floorboards in front of them sprung up, intercepting their attack. The ax crushed the wood into a hail of splinters but caught halfway.
The floorboards pulled free from the deck and shot upward, carrying the ax and the figure holding it into the sky. The member of Revenant let go, but Galina instantly lowered the floorboard and spun them, so the handle of the ax would catch against their stomach.
“Begone, [Push].”
The floorboards were launched off the ship, carrying the pale figure with them.
Balanced on the railing that surrounded the deck, Draxl ducked down to avoid being clipped by the floorboards as they flew overhead.
A cloaked figure charged toward Draxl as he waited with bated breath.
“[Flash Step].”
The instant the figure struck out at Draxl with their bone sword, he vanished in a burst of light. The figure stumbled forward slamming into the railing. Before they could turn around, Draxl pierced through their heart with his sword.
Although killing the assailants seemed impossible, Draxl realized that mortal wounds, though they quickly healed, did stun them briefly. The figure’s body limped over the edge; all it took was a little shove from Draxl and they tumbled off the skyship.
Draxl scanned the surrounding area for anybody in need of help; his eyes fell upon a man who had fallen to the floor, a cloaked figure with bone knuckle dusters on their hands casting their shadow over them. However, before Draxl could say a single skill, a black dagger flew through the attacker’s throat.
The figure stumbled forward, their body briefly going limp. Riven recalled her dagger from their throat as they turned to face her.
“Obscure my form, mirror my image, [Mirage] X [Multiply].”
Two identical copies of Riven split out from her, one on her left, the other on her right. Each of the three Riven’s movements appeared identical to the member of Revenant. As all the Riven’s brandished their dagger and charged toward them, the pale figure assumed a fighting stance.
“Take them all down, [Flurry].”
The figure’s hand became a blur of white. With swift strikes they stepped forward, striking the first Riven in the chest. Their hand phased through. Carrying their momentum, they spun into a backhand aimed at the second Riven’s jaw. Again, their hand phased through. Confident they had found their target, they pivoted into an uppercut on the third and final Riven. Again, their hand phased through.
Something pushed against the figure’s chest. It felt warm. They looked down at a black dagger impaled through their stomach, dripping with their blood.
Fading out of invisibility, dropping her [Mirage] skill, Riven twisted her dagger. “Blast away, [Sacrifice].”
An enormous amount of concussive force thundered out from Riven’s dagger, jettisoning the figure off the skyship, their cloak fluttering in the wind.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Riven glanced down at her hand to see her ring finger missing. “Oh, that’s not so bad. [Regenerate].”
A cloaked figure pointed at Riven’s hand as her finger rapidly grew back. “Are you the same as us?”
“No.” Riven flourished her dagger. “Odds are I’m better.”
The cloaked figure drew a bone whip constructed out of a spine from their cloak. “Allow me to prove you wrong.”
“Before you prove it to me,” Riven said, pointing upward, “prove it to her.”
Flying above the skyship, patiently waiting for her moment to strike, Cili realized now was the best opportunity for her to take center stage.
“Wind assumes control, take to the sky, [Whirlwind] X [Wind’s Grace].”
Cili divebombed to the deck. A massive gust of wind swirled around her as she rapidly picked up speed, then the instant she touched the ground, exploded out in a powerful upward draft, launching nearly everybody on the deck of the ship into the air.
“Gone with the wind, [Volley] X [Whirlwind].”
Cili spun around, launching an arrow at each member of Revenant in the air. As the arrows’ spun, Cili’s essence gathered surrounding wind that upon impact burst into a galeforce, launching the target off the airship, leaving Wight the only attacker aboard.
Halvor’s skin was riddled with shallow cuts. Despite his best efforts, Halvor failed to keep up with Wight’s overwhelming agility. He fell to one knee, his stone skin fading away to soft flesh. Halvor raised his head, extending his neck, as he looked toward Wight.
Blood dripped from Wight’s blades along his arms. His blank eyes fixated on Halvor’s exposed neck. “You fought admirably. Though died pointlessly. [Cleave] X [Dash].”
A blur of white, like a cloud passing by the skyship, Wight blitzed toward Halvor.
Bait them in.
As the blade was just inches from his neck, Halvor recalled Draxl’s advice.
Then turn your skin to stone.
Wight’s eyes widened as Halvor’s neck petrified. He had made a mistake. He had overestimated Halvor’s exhaustion.
Block their attack.
The bone blade fruitlessly scraped against Halvor’s neck.
And take them down now that they’re up close.
Halvor lunged toward the defenseless Wight, shifting his arms and legs back to stone. Halvor tackled Wight who barely managed to stay on his feet, until Halvor dropped lower and pressed his full weight against Wight’s knee dropping him to the floor. Instantly, Halvor wrapped his arms around Wight’s right leg and hand, restricting his movements.
Wight tumbled and turned, slashing with blades, but no matter what he did, Halvor's grip only grew stronger.
“Let go of me!” Wight shouted.
“I will.” Halvor nodded upward. “Just got to wait for her to finish first.”
Wight looked up to see Riven standing over him. She immediately slashed across his eyes with her dagger. Wight twisted away and closed his eyes, preserving his sight. At least for the moment.
“Reopen the wound, [Ignite].”
The wound across Wight’s eyes burst in flames, scorching his eyelids black and robbing him of his sight. He reached with a free arm to slash his throat, but Halvor mantled on top of him and pinned both his wrists to the ground.
Halvor stood up and walked toward the edge of the deck, dragging Wight by his wrists. Once he reached the edge, he hurled Wight over the edge, sending him plummeting to ground below.
Once Wight disappeared from view, Halvor breathed a huge sigh of relief. Draxl placed a hand on his back. “On your feet, [Second Wind].” As Draxl’s essence poured into Halvor, a few of the cuts started to vanish and heal.
“It seems everything’s safe for now!” Galina announced to the passengers. “Please remain calm, and let us know if anybody else with white skin pops into existence.”
Everybody on the skyship nodded, the craziness of the whole situation still not having washed over them.
“Glad that’s all done,” Riven said, rejoining the rest of the group at the railing.
“And just in time too!” Cili exclaimed. She pointed toward the city of Aethereon as it came into view.
Aethereon was a mountain of civilization and shared the silhouette of one as well. Massive metal towers lined the city, increasing in height the closer they were to its center. Hundreds of silhouettes flew up and around the city.
However, nobody aboard had time to take in anything more than these vague silhouettes as the skyship started to descend rapidly toward the ground. The skyship approached a long black runway set out for their landing, yet it didn’t slow down at all. If anything, it seemed to be accelerating.
“Shouldn’t the captain be slowing down now?” Riven asked.
“Oh the captain isn’t flying,” Cili said.
“What?!” Halvor exclaimed.
“Could please elaborate,” Galina requested.
“Zarell got knocked out by one of those Revenant guys,” Cili said.
“Then who's flying the ship?” Halvor asked.
“Kai is,” Cili replied.
“Oh fuck.” Draxl glanced over the railing at the rapidly approaching ground. “EVERYBODY BRACE FOR IMPACT!”
The skyship suddenly turned on its side and slammed into the runway like a meteor at a 45-degree angle. It skipped along the ground, rattling everybody aboard as they clutched to the railings for dear life. The smell of smoke billowed up from the hull below as the skyship ground against the runway. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the skyship came to a halt.
Everybody on the deck let go of the breath they were holding in.
“What the fuck happened to my ship?!”
The sound of flapping wings accompanied the enraged voice. A tall female avian hybrid—parrot specifically—with colorful feathers for skin, talons for feet, and a dark beak for a mouth, flew above the crashed skyship. She wore a navy blue vest accented with gold and matching pants that puffed slightly.
The woman’s most notable feature was the black eyepatch she had over one of her eyes. Her second most notable feature was the two tomahawk axes she had clipped to her belt.
Kai crawled out of the captain’s quarters. “Another happy landing,” he muttered to himself.
The woman’s gaze shifted to Kai. The ire in her eyes turned to excitement.
Kai cheerfully waved to the woman with a bright-eyed smile on his face. “Hey Auntie!”