1. BAT AND RAT

The Sable Tide swarmed across the moon. The sheer number of wings blurred out the light, the massive murmuration flickering shadows across the Hourglass’s hull. And on the ship, myst lanterns slowly flickered on until the deck and hold glowed.

To be sure, it’d reveal them to their pursuer. But that felt less dangerous than trying to sneak past the Sable Tide in the darkness.

“Bring Rosie up!” Close the portholes!” Twila shouted out orders over the whooshing Sable Tide and their beating wings. Even the engines at ‘Ahead Half’ couldn’t drown out the horrible ear-splitting shriek that went on and on endlessly.

The Hourglass accelerated through the last of the Kraken’s teeth and into the open ocean, the colossal pillar to their port side. She glanced back through the myst cloud and beating wings all around them.

The pursuers drove hard through the Kraken’s teeth. Their ship lit up like a harbor at night. Their engine’s smog glowed purple in the night from sparks and ash. They’d catch the Hourglass unless she went faster. Or unless something else changed. Twila shoved the speed dial as far as it’d go. “Jamis, Becca, Carter, Rosie, come here!”

She steered in tight around the pillar as the four ship rats assembled on the quarterdeck. A Sable Tide monster thumped against the hull. Then another. “Marianna, check those damn portholes!”

Then she turned to the ship rats. “We’re gonna try something that might not work. If it does, we’ll have some time to hide out.” She laid out the plan quickly while guiding the Hourglass through the swarming monsters.

“Can you do it? Good. Three ticks, then we go. Move! Everyone else, get all the lights in the hold except mine and theirs, and be ready to close the door.”

The pursuing airship sailed around the mountain, the Sable Tide parting before its light like curtains. Twila whipped the ship in close to a tuff outcrop as the lanterns on deck disappeared inside.

The port anchor dropped. It bit into the soft tuff. Twila cut the airship’s speed entirely and let go of the wheel. It spun behind her with a series of clunks as she grabbed the last lantern and ran for the hold. The door slammed shut behind her and the crewmates.

The ship jerked to port, knocking ship rats and lanterns into the starboard wall and the door as its speed dropped. A crunching sound filled the hold. They’d hit…something.

Then it was quiet, except for groans and curses as they untangled themselves.

The other ship’s engines roared as it sailed closer. Everyone held their breath. Twila twitched, wanting to open a porthole to see what was happening. The roar filled her ears. She could feel it in the hold’s floor and the wall she’d been slammed into by Rojir.

It faded slowly until all she could hear were ship rats breathing and starting to whine about their bruises.

“Off me, Rojir,” she whispered, pushing at the big boy. He rolled slowly off her legs and lay on the floor, hands on his wound. It had started bleeding again. She shook her head. At least they’d made it. Maybe. “Jamis, Carter, take care of Rojir. Girls and Sam, check the hold, engines, and skipper’s room for damage. Becca, you’re with me. And, uh, Will, is anything up there broken?”

“Not irreparably, Skipper,” the sad-sounding automaton replied. “The port bow is stove in, but I shut the door so the Sable Tide can’t get in. If we could fix it tomorrow, I’d appreciate it. The hole is in my room.”

“Sure, Will,” Twila said. “Everyone, stay quiet. The Tide is out there. Carter, Rosie, it’s just like the farmhouse–except this time, we have all the myst we could ask for. No one goes outside until dawn. Then we leave.”

As the crew set out to their jobs, all Twila heard were whispered conversations, an occasional squeaky step, and the hum of the ship’s two engines powering the repulsors. She grabbed Becca and pulled her close. “Let’s work on the selkie gizmo since we’re stuck here and can’t go outside.”

Something flashed across Becca’s face. A glare or a grimace–whatever it was, Twila couldn’t tell. Becca took a deep breath. Then another one. Her eyes were still narrowed when she muttered, “Fine.”

The two girls avoided the quietly-working ship rats in the hold and Rojir’s first-aid, instead retreating to Twila’s room. There, they spread out their tools. Twila plugged the [Multitool] she’d left on her floor into her myst battery. Then she set the scrap of Nola’s coat on the floor. “Could we run myst across it and see what happens?”

Becca wrinkled her eyebrows. “Yeah, but it could be messy. Let’s aim it somewhere it won’t break anything. Like…” She looked around the room, searching for a place to experiment.

Twila searched too, but the room was just so small. They couldn’t aim it at the windows or the Silver Engine, and there just wasn’t much else to point their experiment at. Then she had an idea. She grabbed the sky chest and, groaning, dumped it onto the floor. “Let’s put it in here. That way whatever happens stays inside.”

“Sure,” Becca said. She scooped up the selkie coat sleeve and dumped it into the chest. “Use the [Multitool] and make it a spray nozzle. Then spray a tick in there. And duck, just in case.”

As Becca stepped out into the engine room, Twila stared into the chest. The gray fur cloth looked tiny in the big wooden box. She shrugged and fiddled with the [Multitool] until it ticked and a small nozzle popped out.

She aimed it and pulled the funny-shaped trigger. A small burst of purple myst gushed out at the sleeve bit, and Twila threw herself to the ground.

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A bang ripped through the room, and someone screamed in the engine room. Twila blinked and breathed until the night at the Gibson Foundry went away again.

Twila picked herself up off the room’s deck. Her hair was soaked. Drenched, even. But she didn’t care about that. She listened carefully. Leftie and Rightie hummed as softly as she could make them, barely keeping the airship afloat against the rocks. But she could hear another roar growing slowly louder.

“Quiet! The ship’s coming back,” she hissed into the engine room. Other whispers carried the message forward, and the ship fell as silent as possible.

As the miniature rainstorm she’d created over the chest slowly cleared, Twila stood stock still. The hunting ship’s engine grew louder and louder. Twila gulped, hoping they hadn’t caught the Hourglass’s trail. Through the engines’ roars and hums, she could hear something else. Someone crying. No, sobbing. But she couldn’t check on the crier. Not yet.

She held her breath as the other airship’s engines crescendoed. Then, as they started to fade, she let it out and stepped toward the hall. Whoever was crying in there, it was her job as skipper to get them moving again. She wiped water from her eyes and opened the door.

“Becca?”

The former skywright’s apprentice sat against Rightie, sobbing. Her eyes wide and filled with tears, she stared at Twila for a moment. Then her gaze broke, and she looked at the floor. “I can’t push it down, Skipper. I was fine. Then the explosion happened, and I was right back on the [Puckle Gun]. I know I killed someone, Twila. I know it.”

Twila laid her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. Becca stiffened and sucked in a breath, but she kept talking. “This isn’t working.”

“Just keep trying, Becca. The ship needs you at your best. The crew needs you at your best.” Twila patted the other girl’s back.

Rosie squeezed through. “Just checking for damage–”

“What about you, Twila? Are you at your best right now?”

Twila recoiled as if slapped. She crossed her arms over her chest. Of course she was at her best. She had to be because otherwise, how could she lead the crew? She’d made the best choices she could have, and they were going to save Auntie Charlie! “I’m fine, Becca! I’m just strong enough to push it down.”

Becca popped to her feet, glaring daggers. “Are you, though? Remember Gibson? Pulling the trigger? How it felt?”

Twila froze. Her pistol ticked again as the mystshot hit the Gibson Marine. She breathed and blinked. Breathed and blinked. The nothing feeling settled down.

“And what about on the beach? How many people did you kill then?” Becca’s voice pitched high.

Rosie poked her head out of the skipper’s room. “Uh, Twi, are you okay?”

Twila breathed in shallow breaths. No. She wasn’t okay. With a scream, she launched herself at Becca. Her fist slammed into the other girl’s chest. Becca’s breath drove from her lungs, hot against Twila’s face. She pulled her hand back to punch again.

“Twila, no!” Rosie grabbed her hand, holding it back. “Shhhhh!”

The three girls froze mid-fight. Twila listened–sure enough, the other airship’s engines were growing louder again. Twila and Becca slowly…carefully untangled themselves and stood, glaring at each other, as the engine’s roar rose and faded.

As soon as the roar faded to Leftie and Rightie’s hum, the two girls moved to fight again. But Rosie jumped between them. “No, girls! Neither of you is okay right now. Twila, go to your room and calm down. Becca, find a quiet place to do the same.” She stood glaring at both of them, hands on her hips.

Twila returned the glare. How dare Rosie give her orders on her own ship? Then her gaze broke, and she looked down, face heating up and turning red. After a moment, she turned and stomped back to her soaking wet room. She could hear Becca doing the same, heading for Will’s cabins in the bow.

[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level .133 (Myst 1/12, Hit Points 1/2)]

[Head - Empty]

[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]

[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]

[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]

[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]

[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]

[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]

[Gizmo #3 - Empty]

[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]

[Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]

[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]

[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]

[Weapon/Pair - Empty]

[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]

[Skill #2 - Perception 2]

[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]

[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]

[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]