“We’ve already made it deeper into the broilstorms in four days than a week’s worth of sailing would have taken us. We aren’t equipped to kill dragons.”
“Creighton drove it off in less than a minute. We aren’t in serious danger.”
“We’ve got to be getting close. It can’t have come from the broilstorms, or the ocean.”
“Why exactly is that?”
“If it was from the broilstorm it would have possessed chaos, earth and fire mana.”
“Are you certain it wasn’t just a sky dragon or something?”
“Sky dragons are rare, and always have light, dark and wind at their disposal.”
“Aye, but that doesn’t tell us how far from land we actually are.”
“I’m not sure about that. Normally the Galefast would be easy to see for miles, by anything with manavision, but with how much ambient mana is in a broilstorm I don’t think they could pick us out from any great distance.”
“Mage Cole, if we didn’t have Creighton, could you have killed it?”
“We’re off topic, does anyone want to turn back anymore?”
“I can’t think of anything that prevents us from staying the course, and it might be bad luck to fight an ice dragon of some kind, but the Duke wouldn’t want us to turn around for that reason alone.”
“Aye, My Uncle would want us to press on as well.”
“If we didn’t have Creighton, I'd say we should turn around before we run into something nastier. We could always return with more mages on a bigger ship. Watching him run rings around that thing has convinced he can handle anything we might run into.”
Cole was facing the stairs, where Creighton had been listening to their conversation. It was only now that they had all agreed that he spoke up.
“Why not turn around?”
“Creighton? What do you mean?”
“Very danger here, should not risk lifes.”
“We’re sailing on an unproven skyship through the worst weather anywere on the face of Trezemek, a dragon doesn’t really tip the scales that much.”
“I not want you to risk. I fly the rest of way by self.”
“We would be in far more danger if you left us, even if we turned back around right now.”
“I make good progress on Wernst. No need spell.”
“Creighton, first off, you have made great progress. More progress than anyone’s made trying to learn your English, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep going.”
“There are more reasons for wanting to rediscover the Forbidden Lands than just to find a single spell.”
“Everyone here comprehends the risks involved. Well, we didn’t expect a dragon, but that’s not really relevant when you consider all the other dangers we are prepared to face.”
“Even Tommen? Natasha?”
“Natasha lost her father to the last expedition. She is quite aware of what she’s putting at stake. Tommen is young, but we’re mitigating the risks to him, the same way Archibald protected me.”
“Oh. I apologize, I think wrong reason we come.”
“No- You didn’t. The primary reason we set out so fast is that the Duke wanted to find a way to communicate effectively with you as soon as possible. The trip itself will also ensure we are the first to explore the lost continent, and to help keep you away from the political bullshit in Ridgewern.”
“We could have taken longer to leave, but the more time you spent in the dutchy, the more likely the neighboring kingdoms would have seen you as a threat. By sending you away, you drop down their list of priorities.”
“When we talk before, you said everyone want to help for me.”
“I did, and while I can’t remember the exact question I was replying to, it is true everyone here wants to help you, but you are also helping us. They aren’t exclusive. Even if you spoke perfect Wernst, we’d still want to search for Universal Translation.”
~~~
Vanessa watched as Creighton climbed the foremast. The majority of the crew was ecstatic because they’d just weathered a dragon attack with no fatalities, but not him. She went to find Tommen and Natasha, as she thought that they would both know him the best. Vanessa found them on the second deck, where Natasha was tuning the ship’s Balance.
“Hey, are you guys busy?”
“Natasha is, but I'm just sort of here to watch. Do you need something?”
“It’s about Creighton. Does he normally talk to himself, in his own language?”
“Ever since he first turned into a human, and more so since he started learning Wernst. Why do you ask?”
“He just seemed kinda down.”
“Kinda down in what way?”
“He started sulking after he had a disagreement with the Lieutenant, Mage Cole, Eugene and Fredrak.”
“Do you know what it was about, then?”
“Were they mad that he was with me when the dragon showed up?”
“No, they were not. The four of them had been discussing turning around, and just when they had agreed to keep going, Creighton tried to convince them to abandon the expedition.”
“Why would he want to turn back?”
“He seemed concerned about the ship’s safety, especially for the two of you.”
“He is the reason we are so safe. Is he mad we’re not turning around, then?”
“No, I think he’s mad at himself. Maybe. Will you come talk to him with me?”
“We should give him some time. It could just be a mana imbalance from fighting the dragon, and everyone is busy right now. I want to wait until Leona has gotten some sleep, as we got into trouble with her when we talked to Creighton about his shapeshifting.”
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“I don’t remember getting in trouble for it…”
“I will go talk to him by myself, then. Do you know if he has spare clothes on the ship?”
“Yeah, why?”
“The ones he was wearing, didn’t make it back.”
Vanessa grabbed a spare set of clothes for Creighton, but she couldn’t find him. Cole was present on the main deck, looking at the large central Plate of Levitation, one that the dragon had damaged while clinging to the topsides.
“Do you know where Creighton went?”
“He said he was gonna scout ahead. Do you need him for something?”
“Well, he looked like he could have used someone to talk to. And I brought these.”
“Oh. Creighton always likes to be doing something. Not to say that he doesn’t talk once you get a hold of him, though.”
“You know when he’ll be back?”
“He said he wasn’t going to go far from the ship. I can try to signal for him to come back down.”
“Well, what do you think?”
“I’d say he could use some time to himself. When he killed a greater wyvern, it took him a long time to integrate all of its mana. If he’s just learning to control the new mana he’ll be back when he’s ready.”
“Tommen said he talks to himself often, is that really normal?”
“He does when he’s stressed, but when we killed the wyvern he couldn’t speak, so I don’t know if he’d talk to himself while trying to maintain control over an excess of mana.”
“I'd thought he’d thrown up most of the mana he got from the dragon.”
“Well, that’s certainly news to me. How could you tell he was vomiting mana?”
“He was half vomiting, half coughing. And it came out as a shiny, blue-gray dust.”
“I don’t know, but Creighton has always tried to gather more mana, as long as doing so wouldn’t hurt someone. If he was throwing up mana, there might really be something wrong with him.”
“What about his skin? It’s supposed to be that peachy marble, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, it had been blue, before.”
“So, his skin is generally a more natural looking marble, it gets the pink highlights when he turns specifically into a human. No, I don't know why.”
“This was an icey blue. Not like marble at all.”
“If it went back to normal when he threw up, it’s sounding more and more like an excess of mana. He looked normal after he left us, was that when he was talking to himself?”
“Yeah. He seemed determined before he went to talk to the four of you, but then when he came back he seemed; I don’t know. Disappointed?”
“I don’t think Creighton actually wants to turn around. Let’s give him another half hour, and if he’s not back I’ll send something to get his attention.”
~~~
Flying wasn’t helping clear my mind. I had jumped on the first excuse I could, but I still couldn't stop thinking about how narrow minded I'd been, and it was causing me to lose good updrafts, as my focus wandered back to our conversation. I did feel my mood get a little lighter as I climbed past the dark underside of the clouds, rising above them to a sea of white fluff, awash with the orange glow of the rising sun.
It is hard to pick out paths, especially in areas of low cloud cover. It was proving even harder because the Galefast was barely lit up by a few scattered lanterns, and with how low it was flying, I couldn't veer off to get a different perspective. The one we were on continued straight west, and the clouds were now starting to descend in front of us. I expect that means we're past the halfway point, as before the clouds had generally been getting higher. The sun had risen behind us, and looking around I could see the southern rain was beginning to catch some morning light, causing rainbows. I wasn’t in the mood to take in the scenery, though.
I must have been letting the design process for the Galefast, and all the praise that came with it, go to my head. I had certainly failed to consider that all these people have been living their lives long before I got here, and that this isn't their first attempt to cross the Broiling Sea. I'm not Tommen’s guardian, and there is no reason I should be acting like I am. I haven't even been in this world for a year, I can't keep assuming I know better than people who have lived their whole lives here.
Snapping out of my overdue introspection, I noticed that there was something strange far ahead. Since I’d gotten up here, the clouds had been trending downwards, but I could now see a plateau. Most of the cloud tops were rolling hills, where either side was drifting slowly in the direction opposite of the other. After scouting a little further forward than I was comfortable with, I was certain. We were headed right for a whirlpool of dark, gray clouds.
~~~
A letter had been sent off by Cole as soon as Creighton had returned, but the distance back to the Dutchy had grown ever larger. The original letter had been short, and to the point, with the response arriving shortly after noon. This left barely an hour to spare before they were to arrive at the cyclone, and it was clear from the walls on either side of them that the storms were growing more chaotic.
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Most of the research in question is my own, so I can surmise it for you without needing to get any of the books out.
Oceans generally contain ice and wind mana, with higher concentrations of wind near the equator, and higher concentrations of ice as you approach the poles. However, that does not hold true for the Broiling Sea, as its storms are fueled by the sea’s plentiful fire and earth mana. Most of our observations are from safe waters, but nothing any previous expeditions has seen refutes the following assumptions:
The storms move in massive cells, and when they collide, they either form an area of updraft, called a run, or merge into one larger cell. Runs are rather stable, only collapsing when the broilstorms get violent, almost exclusively in the spring and the fall. What Creighton has described is likely three or more broilstorms colliding, especially if it contains so much more wind mana than the surrounding clouds. Before now, no one has been able to observe what the point of intersection between more than two would be like. You did not ask for my input on what you should do, but I would like to remind you that making sharp turns while in the air is difficult, and likely to draw more mana than my generator can provide during powered flight. You might use Creighton to store up mana to perform such a turn, but as long as the gap at the bottom persists, do not discount making the attempt while sailing on the ocean’s surface, so that you can use the screw to drive against the wind, affording to you maximum control.
I don't know how much time you have left, as it will soon be noon here, so I will be sending this letter without any further input. Good Luck.
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