With the sylvani tech installed, the Sparrowhawk lived up to her name, fast and nimble. Which was saying something! We were already faster than any imperial airship in existence, and now we’d gotten even faster than that!

My preference was to run, so this suited me fine. Now if only the world would cooperate, and let me run away and not fall apart on me. I smiled wryly.

A heroine’s work is never done, until the credits roll. I reminded myself. That being so, project “stop Lily from dying” moved into its next phase.

We arrived over the Canyon of Stars just as the sun was setting. The land surrounding the canyon was a vast grassland, flat and open with waving fields of yellow-green spread out in every direction.

Below us, the canyon opened up, a vast crack in the ground, spiderweb crevasses radiating away from it, like some god had cracked the ground with a titanic blow. I bit my lower lip pensively.

For all I know that could have happened? Maybe? This is that kind of world, though we haven’t seen much super mythical events… I mean, I think the goddess of this world is a computer system! Or… I suppose that would be System? I thought wryly.

The directions we’d been given proved accurate, though following them proved to be quite a bit of a chore. What did “seventh crevasse from the start of the sun’s mark” even mean?!

It turned out, it meant that the seventh radial crack radiating from the central hub, along a spike. But we only really figured this out, when Lakshmi excitedly said

“A city! I see a city!” pointing out the cockpit window at a settlement, clearly visible in the sea of waving grasses, and descending into the earth in a zig zag pattern, with a crazy quilt of houses and ramshackle buildings on stilts.

What was more concerning is that stretched over the abyss of the canyon were clearly airship docks, though I drew a breath of relief that there were no sylvani airships docked at them.

It brought an uncomfortable fact to mind and I felt obliged to voice it.

“So, uhm… this Arcanum was also stolen by the Sylvani.” I said. “And… shouldn’t that mean there will be sylvani guards or… something?”

Daniyel frowned. Camaxtli looked up sharply. “The queen mentioned nothing of this, but did draw attention to the northern Arcanum? Would it not follow logically that there is no such guard detail here?”

“Well… yes, but we were explicitly going north first to retrieve components to repair their defense grid. Components which I have to assume their armada was going to use chasing us as double duty. She might not have mentioned it because we were supposed to have an escort.”

“I don’t see what the problem is.” Eshaan said cheerfully. “What does your Seer sight tell us?”

I squirmed and looked down at the deck. “Nothing. I don’t… recognize this route.”

I looked over at Soriya beseechingly, hoping she would have some idea. She met my eyes and shook her head. I felt my heart sink.

We’re off the plot line. Suddenly I feel horrifically lost! I thought with a sick feeling in my stomach.

The others looked at each other and then back at me. Eshaan stepped over and patted my shoulder gently. “It’s ok.” He said. “You can’t know everything, right? You’ve been pretty clear about that.”

I gave him a fragile smile and nodded.

“Besides, we’re heroes!” He went on. “What’s the worst that could happen?!”

I felt my heart seize up at that.

The worst that could happen would be we all die horribly! I thought angrily.

I pressed my lips together to bite back the comment I wanted to make.

“Eshaan, thank you, but… we can’t just assume.”

Lakshmi cleared her throat. “Well, assuming that we don’t have any prophecy to guide us… I think the most reasonable course of action would be to dock, and ask around. Right?”

I nodded.

Soriya spoke up. “I think, actually what we can expect… you already all know! We can expect a dungeon. Arcanum have themes, and are often surrounded by effects related to them. We can expect to walk around town for a bit, trying to find out where we’re going and who might be opposing us. You already know this.” She said.

The others murmured in surprise and then Daniyel nodded slowly. “You are correct. The Arcanum have been hidden in dungeons or forgotten caverns. And we do tend to ask directions, and look for bargains in new towns, as anyone would. Perhaps we are not so very lost, after all.” He smiled kindly at me, then patted my head.

I glared at him, slightly offended. Since when was I a kid that he was reassuring?! Counting my old life, I was easily twice his age!

The Sparrowhawk circled the town once to find the landing pad, the flares of colored light shot into the sky guiding us to one of the smaller docks jutting over the edge of the canyon. I was relieved to note there were not shacks or houses below us, but… well, perhaps that was a sign that this wasn’t a ‘bad’ town? I could hope, anyway! I’d been doing a lot of that lately, I reflected wryly.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The Sparrowhawk slid into dock with the smooth control and grace that was coming to define Lakshmi’s touch at the helm. She’d come a long way since she splattered us and her first ship across the face of the Tol Jaegren mountains.

The surprise on the faces of the dock workers was both welcoming and worrying. There wasn’t a single sylvani in sight, only deep tanned humans with light hair and eyes. The man holding the clipboard full of paperwork stared at us in surprise and then hesitantly approached, the clipboard extended. I presumed that he was the port master.

“Ah… welcome to Akionantes. You were… not quite who we’re used to receiving?” He said uncertainly. “May I ask the purpose of your visit?”

Lakshmi swept forward, her red trench coat swirling in the wind, and swept her hat off with a flourish of a bow.

“We are travelers from across the ocean, on a voyage of discovery and adventure!” She said grandly. “So we come to discover things of wonder and marvel at the sights, including this incredible crevasse! What do you call it?” She asked grandly.

I smothered a smile with my hand. That’s Lakshmi to a T. I thought. In her element once more, whenever there’s scenery to chew or ham to be acted upon.

There were surprised murmurs of interest from the small crowd of people gathered nearby, and the port master eyes widened. “Across the ocean!” He looked down at his clipboard and then wrote some notes. “Well that’s a first for sure.” He said to himself then looked up. “Will you be staying long, or trading?”

Lakshmi looked back at the Sparrowhawk then forward again. “We may very well be buying odds and ends, curios and nicknacks from the markets, but that is not our primary purpose. I assume there’s a docking fee? Is it different for trading vessels?”

The port master relaxed, clearly much more at ease with questions that he answered on a daily basis. “No, docking fees are set, and your ship is small enough that the fees are minimal. Only 50 zeni per day.”

Lakshmi nodded and peeled several bills off the wad of cash she pulled from her pocket. I could see the eyes of the port master and the civilians widen in surprise, even as the port master took the bills and stamped a sheet of paper, handing it to Lakshmi by reflex.

I felt a bit of surprise myself, had it really only been a few months ago that two hundred zeni seemed like a fortune to me? Lakshmi must be carrying tens of thousands in her hand.

“So, what does this fine city offer?” Lakshmi said curiously.

“Well, this is primarily a religious center.” The port master answered. “The Shrine of the Gods’ War holds one of the relics of the ancient ones who broke the world. The sylvani hold a minor…” he paused “You do know of the sylvani?”

Lakshmi smiled and said “Tall, pretty, pointed ears? We’ve met.”

The port master relaxed and nodded. “Yep, that’s them alright. They guard the holy temple, which is located in the canyon. A god of the winds and sky has been sealed there. I doubt we have had a pilgrimage from such a distance before!”

Lakshmi kept that bright cheerful smile on her face despite the sinking feeling she must have been feeling in her stomach.

“We cannot say we follow the local religion, but I and my crew are a broad minded folk, and new experiences are to be savored! Could you provide us with directions?”

The port master nodded agreeably and then pointed us to the local markets, as well as a few directions to ‘Downstreet’, the crisscrossing highway that wended its way down the side of the canyon.

With that, the port master bid us good day, and headed back to his office, leaving a crowd of curious onlookers. Lakshmi turned and gave us the smile I was growing used to that meant she was about to do something incredibly dangerous and reckless.

“So! Holy temple of the sylvani? Sounds like the place to go, crew!”

Soriya smiled with a matching shark’s grin. “It does indeed sound the most interesting location. Shall we?” She offered her arm to Daniyel, and we headed into the city.

I moved over to Soriya and murmured sotto voce. “So… what do you think? Heist?”

Soriya nodded casually. “Sure seems like it. You’re going to have to let your pretty boy thief off the leash.”

I groaned loudly enough that Eshaan looked up, glancing around alertly. “What is it? What’s wrong, Lily?”

I slapped my palm on my face, and muttered. “I am so going to regret this. Eshaan… we’re going to steal an Arcanum from the sylvani temple.”

Eshaan’s eyes got wide, and then he started to grin like a demon. “For real? For really real?!” He said, his voice giddy.

Lakshmi turned back and said “A little less loud, crew?”

Daniyel nodded gravely. “That would indeed be wise. But the smile on your face is bright enough to crack your face, captain. You should be less enthusiastic about a proper air pirate’s heist.”

Lakshmi lost all semblance of calm and waved her arms frantically.

“Are you kidding me?! Finally! Finally! I get to do-“ She cut herself off, and looked around, before finally lowering her voice. “I finally get to do what I’ve said I wanted to do… it’s a real proper air pirate adventure!”

“I would have thought that air pirates stole things from cargo ships?” said Camaxtli.

Lakshmi flipped her hands dismissively. “Pfft, amateur ones, maybe!”

Soriya raised a single eyebrow and then said “And which novel are you basing this ‘fact’ on?” she said dryly.

Lakshmi turned almost as red as her coat, and shook her head. “N-no! It’s not like that at all!”

“The Theft of the Ruby Eyes of the Kurlak Desert God” said Daniyel impassively.

Lakshmi glared at him, and hissed “Traitor.” At him angrily.

Soriya threw her head back and laughed. “Bit of advice, ‘captain’. If you’re going to lie, go big. Either pretend that he had gotten it wrong, or better yet, that the story was based on you own adventures, rather than you copying it.”

Lakshmi’s eyes grew wide and she said “You can do that?! Wait, no, of course, I mean of course the Ruby Eyes was based on my adventures!”

Soriya grinned at her. “Much better.” She turned to Daniyel and patted his arm fondly. “Now, does the novel have any practical advice for this?”

Daniyel shook his head. “It does not. Not unless Lakshmi has decided that seducing the barmaid to drop the secret of the desert prince will be the most logical course of action.”

Lakshmi rolled her eyes. “Ok, I’ll admit, that part was really dumb. Anybody could see that the tavern wench had no reason to just fling herself at him like that!”

Eshaan tapped his chin and then shrugged. “So the captain was a guy? Sounds pretty normal then. Everybody knows it’s mostly men who read those stories.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically. “And how many of them have you read?”

Eshaan coughed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well you know, it’s boring on guard duty, and there’s never anything really going on at a dig sight, and it’s not like they let us look at the artifacts…”

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, staring at him.

He turned red, and then says “Ok, maybe a few of them.”

I continued to glare and he wilted visibly. “Not more than fifty or so!”

“Wow, really?!” Lakshmi said. “You’ve got to tell me who you read! Ms. Amala only has seven out!”

“Eight, she just published “The Sky Over the Thundering Clouds.”

“Oh dragon bless, that’s out?!” Lakshmi squealed in excitement. “I’ve been wanting to read that forever!”

I cleared my throat. “Adventuring tends to be more difficult to keep up on your reading materials. And speaking of which, perhaps right now we could focus on this adventure?”