Wrynn slammed the creature onto the table, taking a position between the Darkal and the door. He sat in a small wooden chair offered by Chief to avoid hitting his head against the low ceiling, but he still towered over the small winged fluff ball.

“So this is a Darkal,” said Chief, bringing its face close to the black beast. “It does not look so terrible up close.”

“Back away, filthy Ufuli,” spat the creature, snapping its teeth.

“Hey,” barked Wrynn. “None of that. I’ll throw you back to the brooms if you try anything funny.” The Darkal made a sullen face, but went quiet.

“You can speak Darkal?” asked Vessa. “You have incredible talent.”

“Hush, Vessa,” said Chief. “We should let them talk.”

“All right,” Wrynn began his interrogation. “Do you have a name, little Darkal?”

“Nerboshriift ryl Xorys.” Death and Damnation.

“Nerbo, then.” The Darkal hissed in protest at the shortening of its name, which made Wrynn feel slightly more enjoyment saying it. “Do you know a way for me to get off planet, little Nerbo? Or someway I could fix my space vessel?”

“No one leaves Hell,” said the newly-dubbed Nerbo. “And why would you wish to? The bloodfruit is plentiful and the earthstriders are pleasing entertainment.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“There’s more out there, little one,” said Wrynn. “A wide open galaxy, ready for the taking. You seem to understand the joy of flight. Imagine flying so far above the clouds that this planet starts to look like a tiny Ufuli. That’s what I’m after.”

The Darkal seemed to ponder for a moment, but quickly broke from its reverence with a scoff. “Pfft. That is the silliest thing I’ve heard. There is a ceiling to the sky. Everyone knows that. The Darkal that fly up too high bonk their heads and fall back down.”

“Oh? Have you ever hit this ceiling yourself?”

“No, but other mighty Darkal have touched the sky wall. And you can see it for yourself.”

Between the language barrier and the foreign expressions on the face of the Darkal, Wrynn had trouble sensing if the creature was telling the truth. He was still uncertain what or where this planet was, but there must be a way out if he could get his Knighthawk operational again.

“I won’t argue with you on that,” said Wrynn. “Just tell me if you’ve seen something like this.” He transmitted a three-dimensional holo-image of his Knighthawk cruiser from his wristband projector. All three of the creatures jumped at the sudden display.

“Sorcery!” shouted Nerbo, shrinking back against the table.

“Eep!” shrieked Vessa, ducking to avoid the wing.

“Ooh!” said Chief, poking their hand through the light show.

“This is my ship,” explained Wrynn. “It’s just an example, but most of the birds I’m looking for are like this. Have you seen anything of this sort?”

The three furry natives settled down as Chief traced their hand over the projection a couple more times. “This thing could break through the sky ceiling?” asked Nerbo.

“It can do a whole lot more than that,” answered Wrynn. “But yes, it’ll break right through your sky ceiling.”

Nerbo was silent for a moment and then looked up at Wrynn, its red eyes shining and mouth curled upwards. “I have seen one of these before.”