Once again, Twila swung back and forth below the Hourglass’s rats’ nest. This time, as she whipped around, she stayed quiet. She reached out to catch the copper coils. Her fingers grazed them, and she cursed under her breath.
Another pass and she clung to the mast with arms and legs. She’d forgotten her strap, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting the new condenser sphere installed.
In the midmorning light, Twila could see the cavern floor–and the wooden hatch above, where Skywright Toll’s new fisher was to be launched. She reached into her pouches and grabbed the small brass sphere. It screwed into place, and she [Tinkered] the last few turns with her spanner.
“Old Bitch, you’d better work,” she whispered to the condenser mast. Then she let go, swinging out into the void again. Rosie saw her and started to crank the winch.
One of the villagers stepped into the harbor, followed by a second one. They carried worn brass muskets, which they leaned against the wall. “This gives me the creeps. Now they’re saying they found the body, but there’s no starter on it. They’re double-checking the ship rats’ bodies, and looking for the two girls.”
“All you have to do is not let anyone in the harbor, Walsh. Just stand there and watch the waves. Don’t worry about the starter. Just keep the harbor covered. This ship’s the biggest windfall to hit Iswixel in decades.”
“Alright, I’ll just stand here.” Hanging from her rope, Twila could see that the man was indeed just standing there, staring out at the village. She clambered onto the rats’ nest. Could she get away with repairing the flow line?
Best not risk it, she thought. She scaled the rigging and pulled herself carefully into the ship’s hold. “Old Bitch is fixed. How’re the engines?”
“The runes are hot. She needs a tick or two to fill the boilers, though,” Rosie said mechanically. Her eyes were glazed over, and from how she wobbled back and forth, she was about to pass out from exhaustion. Twila didn’t blame her–she was tired too.
“Good. Tell Becca we leave soon. Double-check the boilers. I’m gonna go watch the guard.”
The seconds crept by as Twila, hidden behind a crate, watched the gate guard pick his nose and look around. Twice, other villagers came to talk to him in whispered tones, and the second time, he stepped out of the crevice for a moment. Twila tensed. Was this their chance?
No. “Boilers need more time, Twi,” Rosie yawned.
The man stepped back in and leaned against the wall, facing out into the village. Twila yawned too. “Gonna be a while. We leave, drop anchor, and get some sleep.”
“Yeah, sleep would be good,” Rosie said. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. “Someone’s on the gangplank, Twi!”
Sure enough, Carter was creeping up the board, trying to stay low. “Rosie, Twila, are you here?”
“Shhhh,” Twila said, popping her head out from behind the crate.
Walsh looked over. His eyes widened, and he started yelling. “The rats! The rats are on the ship!” Then he turned and aimed his musket. “Come down, ship rats! She’s ours now, but you’ll be safe here!”
Twila thought for a moment. “Hourglass won’t be a fisher, ever!” She grabbed [Anton’s First Pistol], leveled it in his direction, and fired. Her [Marksman] skill activated.
Her green-runed pistol ticked at the same time it jumped in her hand. A ray of purple myst, so bright it lit up the cave, jumped toward Walsh. The line connected the pistol’s barrel to the cave wall a foot from his head.
The stone shattered. Stone shrapnel slammed into the man’s head, knocking him off balance just as he pulled his musket’s trigger with a tick. His ray went wide, too. It punched a hole in the Hourglass’s hull.
Twila pulled her trigger again. Nothing happened–she hadn’t loaded a cartridge! She didn’t even have another one! She jumped to the gangplank and shoved it. It clattered to the cavern floor.
More beams of myst zipped over her head. They punched holes in the wooden hull as she dashed to the ship’s wheel. “We’re leaving now! Carter, get below!” Twila screamed.
“No, I can’t leave! Beth and Grace need me! Mum needs me!” Carter ran to the side of the ship.
“No time! Rosie, bonk him again!”
Whether Rosie was wrenching Carter or not, Twila couldn’t tell. She shoved the starting key into the ship’s wheel mount and yanked a lever. The monstrous engines roared, filling the crevice with putrid purple smog.
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She’d seen the skipper pilot. All the control levers for altitude and speed lay to the wheel’s left. The levers to the right were never used. She’d tried to move one once, but they’d been locked in place.
More shots ticked out as Twila counted down from twenty. Then she pushed a switch, and the brass repulsor vents opened along the ship’s sides. It lifted slowly, grinding against the wooden beams that had supported it.
One beam fell, crashing into the cavern’s floor.
She activated her new [Piloting] skill and spun a brass dial from ‘Full Stop’ to ‘Ahead Slow,’ The Hourglass started to move.
Twila felt the wind start to push her hair back. She smiled, feeling light and happy. Her dreams were happening. The Hourglass was pulling out of a harbor with her at the helm!
The sudden sound of splintering wood interrupted her reverie.
She slammed into the ship’s wheel as the Hourglass’s prow crashed into the fisher’s side. Rosie and Carter, tussling on deck, fell forward into a crate, and Will screamed belowdecks. The feeling vanished, replaced by twisting in her gut.
She spun the wheel. The Hourglass tore free from the fisher, leaving part of its bowsprit lodged in the smaller ship, and continued lumbering out into the open sky.
Loud ticks rang out. A trio of villagers aboard the fisher shouldered muskets. Lines of myst punched into the starboard engine. It coughed, sputtering, and the Hourglass dipped toward the village.
Twila pulled the wheel all the way to port with one hand. Her other hand grabbed the speed dial and pushed it to ‘Flank Speed.’
Gears that hadn’t turned in Twila’s memory ground against each other. The port engine roared while the starboard one screeched in torment. A cloud of acrid smoke engulfed the Hourglass from stern to bow. “Becca! Check for fires!” she shouted.
Then the screeching stopped, and she burst from the cloud and into the open air again.
If the fisher had survived the impact, it’d be trying to catch up.
She looked at the ship’s wheel mount. A gauge was plunging rapidly–the boilers were emptying.
She switched the dial from ‘Flank Speed’ to ‘Ahead Full’, and the gauge stabilized but didn’t refill. Another gauge marked ‘Temperature’ did, though, dropping from red to orange.
Becca burst out of the hold. “Everything’s holding, I think! I’ve never worked with these engines, and there’s holes in everything! But nothing looks too bad!”
“Good enough! Watch the stern!” Twila said.
“The fisher’s coming around, but she’s limping!” Becca shouted. “They’re not built for speed.”
A ray of myst zipped over Becca’s head, blooming, its energy dissipating as it scorched through the air. She ducked.
Twila held the wheel’s use-smoothed handles, watching through the stinking smog as the fisher slowly fell behind. A few musket shots zipped by the Hourglass, but they were far too bloomed out to be a danger, and the fisher turned. Smoke poured from its shattered hull as it limped back toward Iswixel.
They’d escaped! The Hourglass was free!
Twila locked the wheel in place with her course straight, made sure the altimeter read flat, and ran to help Rosie with the much bigger Carter. She ran forward, lowered her shoulder, and slammed into the back of his legs. He bounced off a barrel and hit the ground.
Rosie dove toward Carter. His hand went to the knife at his waist. Then it froze.
His eyes crossed on a pistol barrel. Its runes glowed pale green as Twila pointed it at his face.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.0 (Myst 1/10, Hit Points 1/1)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Ship Rat’s Harness (lvl. 0)]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Basic Myst Tools (lvl 1) Skill - Tinkering]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Unknown Effect; Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Firestarter (lvl. 1) Mystfire (active, 50% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - produce a small flame; Skill - None]
[Gizmo (Belt) - [Myst Lantern] (lvl. 1) Lesser Light Aura (sustained, 1 myst/tick) - light a small area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Basic Myst Battery (lvl. 1) Small Storage (passive) - 10 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s First Pistol (lvl. 1) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Tinkering 1]
[Skill #2 - Perception 1]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 1]
[Skill #5 - Empty]