Natasha and Tommen hadn’t been allowed aboard for the test flights, including the maximum altitude test. After having reached thirteen thousand feet the sailors had started to become restless, and then as they approached fourteen thousand, the youngest of the crew were short of breath, and that was agreed upon as the limit. Bad weather had blown in just as the ship made ready, causing the actual departure to be delayed. The trip down the mountain needed good visibility to avoid outcroppings and to keep contact with the Iron Run. When they arrived at the Iron Falls, they would bypass the Iron Escarpment’s docks and rendezvous with the Gilded Carp out at sea. It had been the ship for the previous expedition, and was going to transfer her old equipment and the rest of the naval goods necessary to mount a three month long voyage.

Today, the weather was clear, and the engine could be felt vibrating anywhere on the deck. Tommen and Natasha were talking at the prow, with Master Cole keeping an eye on both them and the forward Plates of Levitation. After the ship was christened, further festivities had been toned down, so now with only a little fanfare the Galefast started westward. Initially gaining altitude to clear the ridgeline, they then started the long descent down, as by hugging the ground they could catch the strongest winds from the mountain’s natural convection.

The river made a nearly straight run down to the ocean, The western side of The Ridges were not often traveled, with the dock at the base of the Iron Escarpartment being seldom used by the dwarves themselves. In ages past, the Cloven Depths had allowed one to travel from the Kingdom of Ridgewern into the Forbidden Lands, and while the dwarves did not endorse passage into them, they did not stop any who chose to ignore their warnings. Famines, droughts and wars had driven many of the early settlers, but the Conclave had entered for the express purpose of trying to stop the calamity, rather than the majority who crossed seeking unspoiled lands.

In the days before the Calamity, the Iron Escarpment had been a gentle valley, known then as the Iron Vale, and today ancient mining tunnels could still be seen dotting the massive cliffs. Many had fled back through the safety of the Cloven Kingdom and then into Ridgewern, as the tremors and extreme weather had convinced many to flee. Exact accounts of what exact form the start of the calamity had taken were mixed, most claiming it started with natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and a few others claimed it began with blights or even a plague.

It had been over a thousand years since the calamity, and despite the many attempts, the Broiling Sea had swallowed nearly every expedition. Only those who turned back had ever returned to tell their stories, and the greatest obstacle was the Broiling Sea’s ashen rainstorms. Great Broilstorms would blanket the whole horizon, leaving only thin passages between the massive storm’s cells. While there were calmer months where the storms would become significantly less intense, the routes between them would close. This meant a ship had to either try and tack between two walls of death, or endure a light drizzle of boiling pain.

Natasha’s father had been lost on the last expedition, when the Gilded Carp had been blindsided by a sudden shift in the wind. A full fourth of the crew did not have enough time to take shelter, and most of that number perished. Natasha had been raised by her grandparents, and after her grandmother died she started an apprenticeship due to her significant magical prowess. Master Cole had also been sailing with the Gilded Carp, and at the time he had been merely a journeymage, and had been safe below decks while trying to pass between the storms, only joining Archibald and the rest of the crew on deck to help after they were caught in the scalding rain.

“So, Natasha. Do you think the trip will be as easy as everyone keeps saying it will be?”

“I think we’re going to avoid most of the known risks, but we’ll have to see how dangerous flying over it all is once we’re there.”

“How tall do Broilstorms get?”

“They can be quite tall, but that’s only during the winter months. In the summer they become shorter, and that’s when you can sail between them.”

“So, are we going to be flying through, or are we just going to be able to go over the whole storm?”

“I’m not certain. Normal levitation would put us at risk of getting sucked down or lifted too high by the storm, but with Advanced Levitation, and Superior Stabilization, the winds would need to lift the entire boat.”

“How can the storms keep going for so long? Master Cole said they were fed by mana, but where could they be getting it all from?”

“Master Archibald told me, before we left, that the whole sea is suffused with fire and earth mana.”

“Shouldn’t it be wind and ice?”

“If I had to guess, It’s an after effect of the Calamity.”

“What does Master Cole think?

“He doesn’t like making assumptions without actual data, but he agrees it’s the most likely explanation.”

“Are there others?”

“Yes, some people claim it’s giant fire dragons protecting their nests, that it's a natural phenomena, some even claim the Conclave of Gormtra is using the storms to prevent whatever disaster happened there from escaping.”

“Gormtra was an Elf, right?”

“The credible records don’t specify if he was a full blooded elf or not.”

“I thought almost all of the elves left Mindyke because of the Calamity?”

“They claimed that it was God’s design that Mindyke was going to suffer the calamity, and that was because the continent was predestined to fall into sin. Or something like that.”

“What do they say today?”

“These days everyone is pretty sure it was just a prophecy to keep people from passing the western Ridges into danger.”

“So why do the dwarves still call it the Forbidden Lands then?”

“It took a while before we started calling it the Lost Continent, and that was because, ever since the continent was lost, divinations don’t return with ominous cataclysmic prophecies anymore.”

“You didn’t learn much about divination from Master Cole, right?”

“Well, before Poetrak I had never seen a competent diviner, so I hadn’t wanted to.”

“Are we not bringing one with us?”

“Master Cole said a dwarven diviner will be joining us, but Joan is also technically a seer. Just specializing in navigation.”

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“Aren’t we picking up some of the Baron’s Knight’s too?”

“The Duke supposedly sent along some of the Drake Guard as well.”

“Where is Creighton? That just made me think of something to ask him.”

“What’s that?”

“He has been growing wings, but can’t he just turn into a small wyvern?”

“He’s been staying as a human for a while now. I don’t know if he wants to turn back into other things.”

“I hope we do find that translation spell. I want to ask him about it properly.”

“What did he tell you last time?”

“When I asked him why he never turned into a dog anymore, he said ‘No pet like this’.”

“Don’t feel bad Tommen, He’s probably just embarrassed.”

“Master Cole said the same thing, but I still don’t get why he hates it so much.”

“He looks like he was a lot older than you and I expect that’s part of the reason why.”

“He looks even older than you. Do you think that was really what he looked like before he became living metal?”

“Master Cole and I did a… physical on him. He seems to be intimately familiar with the male form, and the reason we think he’s replicating his body from his previous life is because we couldn’t get him to turn into someone else.”

“Like who?”

“He wouldn’t turn into Cole, me, or any portrait we brought in.”

“I don’t think he’d want to turn into a girl, and I don’t think he looks much younger than Master Cole.”

“You’re probably right. We should have asked him to turn into you, or maybe just himself at your age.”

“He might do that.”

“We’re going to have a lot of free time on the voyage. Maybe we should try talking to him about it.”

~~~

Seeing the future was not an exact science, but out of all the magics few were as esoteric as foresight. Dwarves possessed ‘standard’ divination magic, permitting them to see versions of the future, with the vision’s accuracy declining the farther into the future you tried to peer. However, there was another foresight possessed by the dwarves, one that was perhaps the most esoteric. Speak with Ancestors was not so much a spell as a ritual, one performed after a seer’s hundredth birthday.

Deuin Forstriken was once such Voice of the Ancestors, and was generally considered to be both the most prolific of seers, and one of the hardest to understand. Most Voices are limited to receiving advice from their late family members, or from heroes of Legend. Deuin however received warnings from not just dwarves, but humans and even the occasional elf. Today he could be found fishing off of the dock protruding from the Iron Escarpment, talking to thin air.

“So, how long did you say again?”

About a month.

“Really? That’s sooner than I expected.”

You've apparently chosen a good time to leave. Just make sure there is a warning system in place for low boiler pressure.

“I’ll tell them to install something. How did you know this Creighton again?”

I was his grandfather, he was my daughter’s son.

“I see. You’re certain I shouldn’t pass any other messages along?”

So, from what the last guy told me, we could, but we shouldn’t.

“As long as you’re sure. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.”

~~~

The trip down was easy going, and the crew had taken over running the boiler and engine without me. Rodney was apparently the captain, and his second in command was the bald man, Krisjen. As we continued to follow the river, I was now completely without anything to do. Cole was on the deck observing the plates to ensure they were operating properly. Keith had not come with us, as some kind of argument between him and his father had broken out shortly after the ship’s shakedown cruise. Some other dwarf had joined the crew though, and he was spending most of his time with Eugene and Rodney.

I was just practicing my climbing, as while I didn’t have to worry about my physical strength anymore, I do have some difficulty when it comes to avoiding getting tangled up in the rigging. Tommen and Natasha had come to find me, and they wanted something from me. I could guess they were just as bored as I was, even with the awe inspiring view. Cole had talked to me a little about Earth, but apparently he had neglected to relay anything I’d said to the kids.

Initially, they wanted to know more about me from before I’d died. I told them a little about my parents and my brother, and how he’d had a daughter on the way, one that I never got to meet. Natasha then asked me if I wouldn’t turn into animals anymore, and if it was because of Tommen. It took some time to explain that I had been too busy to try coming up with any new forms, and that when I was a lizard or a dog I kept getting treated like I was a lizard or a dog by everyone, not specifically Tommen.

Their next line of questions was something I didn’t have an answer for. I felt comfortable being myself again, but that wasn’t a good enough reason for neglecting to even try turning into a dragon. I did point out that the upgraded flight spell on my wings would work just fine if I turned into one, and promised I would try it later, once the ship wasn’t moving. That was when they asked me to show them what I’d looked like when I was Tommen’s age.

I don’t exactly remember what I looked like when I was twelve, but if I let the mana guide me again, it should fill in the gaps in my memory. I was about to give in and try when I realized that my clothes wouldn’t fit anymore if I suddenly dropped ten years. However, this excuse didn’t stop them, as Natasha and Tommen promptly dragged me down a deck to borrow some of Tommen’s clothes, and despite my pleas, Cole did not come to my rescue.