The airship, Horizon's Dawn did not dock, it was received.
A cradle of glowing mana constructs rose from the landing spire to embrace its silver birch hull, guiding it with a whisper against the docking ring. The sound was not a clangor of metal, but a soft, resonant chime that vibrated through the deck plates and up into Kael's bones. It was a sound of precision, of absolute control. After the chaotic roar of the dragon reactor and the gritty echoes of the undercity, this quiet authority was somehow more unnerving.
"Remember," Seris said quietly beside him, her voice barely carrying over the hum of dissipating engines. "You're an aspirant. Curious, overwhelmed, harmless. Not a fugitive who talks to gods."
Kael nodded, his jaw tight. His new clothes dark, functional, subtly reinforced felt like a costume. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. His eyes scanned the docking bay, taking in the orderly lines of passengers, the efficient ground crews in blue-grey coveralls, and the pervasive, sanitized scent of ozone and lemon-cleanser.
This was Everglade. Not a single dragon-chain in sight. Just crystal, light, and quiet power.
They disembarked into a flow of people. Kael moved with the current, Seris a shadow at his shoulder. He felt exposed under the bright, shadow less light of the terminal. His senses, stretched thin by the constant, low-grade awareness of Vaelthryx, picked up nothing but a blank, humming neutrality. It was like standing in a silent, sterile hall after years in a thunderstorm.
"They have walled out the chaos", Vaelthryx observed, the dragon's voice a familiar, grounding rumble in the quiet of Kael's mind. "They call it peace. I call it deafness".
A man stepped smoothly from the crowd, intercepting their path without seeming to hurry. He wore the sharp, tailored uniform of an Everglade Civic Officer, deep blue with grey piping, a silver badge of interlocking rings on his chest. He had a neatly trimmed beard, sharp eyes the color of slate, and a smile that was both welcoming and impenetrable.
"First time on an Everglade vessel?" he asked, his tone congenial. His gaze swept over Kael, missing nothing but the quality of his clothes, the lack of luggage, the tense set of his shoulders.
"First airship journey," Kael replied, sticking to the truth where he could.
"The Horizon's Dawn is one of our gentler ladies," the officer said, falling into step beside them as the crowd flowed toward the exit arches. "Mana-crystal stability matrix. You could balance a full wine glass on the railing in a storm. I'm Officer Ren. Passenger liaison." He extended a hand.
Kael shook it. The grip was firm, dry, and brief. "Kael."
"Just Kael?" Ren's eyebrow lifted a fraction, his smile still in place.
"Osborn. Kael Osborn."
There it was. The flicker. A microscopic shift in the man's eyes the recognition of a name without a house, a prefix, or a title. A commoner. The smile didn't waver, but it cooled from the warmth of welcome to the pleasant chill of professional assessment.
"A merit applicant, then. Bound for the Arch, I assume? Most on this route are."
"Yes."
"Admirable. The Trials are a proving ground for the truly determined." Ren's gaze slid past Kael to Seris. "And your companion? Also an applicant?"
"Just seeing him off," Seris said, her voice flat, her pale grey eyes meeting Ren's without blinking. "I have business in the city."
"Of course." Ren made a note on a thin crystal slate that appeared in his hand. "The Provisional Quarter for applicants is in the Lower Ring. Transportation can be arranged. Though," he added, looking back at Kael, "the walk is quite educational. Shows the scale of what you're aiming for."
His words were helpful. His tone was a test.
"I'll walk," Kael said.
Ren's smile gained a hint of genuine approval. "Good. The city rewards those who meet it head-on." He gave a slight, formal nod. "A safe stay in Brightgold to you both. Officer Ren, at your service should you need… orientation."
He melted back into the crowd as smoothly as he'd appeared.
"He wasn't just being friendly," Kael muttered as they passed through a grand archway and out into the open air of the transit spire's observation deck.
"No," Seris agreed. "He was cataloging you. Filing a report. 'Anomalous passenger from the Concord, common-born, traveling with an unidentified escort of potentially League affiliation.'" She nodded toward a well-dressed elven woman sitting on a bench, a crystal tablet in her hands. The woman wasn't reading; her eyes were tracking the flow of passengers. "See her? Likely a freelance information broker. Sells passenger manifests and behavioral notes to interested parties." Her chin moved slightly, indicating two beastfolk siblings leaning against a railing, their posture too still for tourists. "And them? Private security. Probably hired by a noble house to scout for promising or threatening talent among the applicants."
Kael's skin prickled. He'd felt watched since leaving the reactor chamber, but this was different. This was systemic, professional, and cold. He was a specimen under glass.
He walked to the edge of the observation deck, needing space, and looked out.
The world fell away in a breathtaking, terrifying panorama. They were hundreds of feet in the air, atop one of the lesser spires of the transit complex. Below, the ground was a patchwork of green and orderly stone, rivers like silver threads. But it was ahead that the true sight lay.
Brightgold.
It was not a city that had grown. It was a city that had been composed.
Towers of white stone and gold-veined crystal rose in perfect, concentric rings, each tier a masterpiece of architecture. Connecting them were the Arches vast, graceful spans of stone and magic that seemed to defy weight, hosting entire ecosystems of smaller buildings, hanging gardens, and promenades. And at the center, rising above all, piercing the high clouds, was the Central Spire a needle of pure, luminous crystal that captured the late afternoon sun and cast it back across the city in a diffuse, golden glow. It was magnificent, awe-inspiring, and utterly impersonal.
"The heart of the Empire," Seris said, coming to stand beside him. Her sharp features were lit by the reflected gold. "The Central Spire is administration. The Great Arches hold the Academy's divisions. The lower rings are the city proper markets, forges, residences. Everything has its place."
"Including people," Kael said softly.
"Especially people."
The journey to the passenger berths was a silent elevator ride down the spine of the spire. The Horizon's Dawn was not the only ship; the berth was a long, vaulted chamber holding a dozen vessels of various designs, from sleek Everglade couriers to bulky, rune-covered merchant freighters. Their own ship gleamed under soft light, its graceful lines looking more like a living thing compared to the utilitarian craft around it.
A steward in a crisp uniform directed them to their cabin a small, but impeccably clean room with two narrow bunks, a crystal porthole, and walls inlaid with sound dampening runes.
"We'll depart at nightfall," the steward informed them. "The journey to Brightgold takes thirty-six hours. We will be passing through the Shattered Tempest Corridor, a region of high magical turbulence. The captain will activate the stabilizer shields. It is perfectly safe, but you may wish to remain in your cabin during the passage. Dinner is served in the central salon in one hour."
When the steward left, Seris immediately began inspecting the room, running her fingers along the seams of the walls and the frame of the porthole. "No obvious scrying runes," she concluded. "The dampeners are standard. We can speak, but quietly."
Kael sat on the edge of a bunk. "Everyone's watching."
"You're an unknown variable entering a calculated equation," Seris said, sitting opposite him. "They're trying to solve for you. Your best defense right now is to be boring. Go to dinner. Eat. Listen. Don't draw attention."
Dinner was an exercise in subdued tension. The central salon was a long room with tables arranged around a central crystal column that glowed with soft light. About forty passengers were present, a mix of merchants, minor nobles, and a handful of other academy applicants. Kael could pick the latter out by their tense excitement and the way they sized each other up.
He kept his head down, eating the surprisingly good roasted fowl and steamed grains. He listened to snatches of conversation: trade disputes, noble gossip, anxious questions about the Trials. Officer Ren was there, moving between tables, exchanging pleasantries, his eyes constantly moving.
Kael felt a gentle, probing touch at the edge of his senses. Not hostile. Curious. He looked up and met the gaze of a girl sitting alone two tables over. She had mousy brown hair tied back, a plain face, and intelligent, dark eyes. She looked away quickly, a faint blush on her cheeks. A fellow commoner applicant, just as nervous as he was pretending to be.
"She has a subtle water affinity," Vaelthryx noted. "Her control is poor. She leaks awareness like a cracked cup".
Kael gave her a small, brief nod before returning to his meal. A fleeting moment of solidarity.
After dinner, he and Seris returned to their cabin. Night had fallen, and through the porthole, the world was a tapestry of darkness punctuated by the distant lights of lone homesteads and small towns. The airship's hum was a constant, soothing presence.
Seris took the first watch, sitting cross-legged on her bunk, her eyes closed but her posture alert. Kael lay down, staring at the ceiling.
'Do you think we can do this? 'he thought, not directing it strongly, just letting the question hang in his mind.
"We have no other path, Vaelthryx replied. "The cage of order and the cage of chains are still cages. You have chosen to walk the edge between them. It is a dangerous road". A pause. "But you are not walking it alone".
A chime echoed through the ship, followed by the captain's voice, calm and amplified by a vocal rune. "Honored passengers, this is your captain. We are now approaching the Shattered Tempest Corridor. This region experiences naturally occurring magical turbulence and is home to aerial wildlife. As a precaution, we will be activating the full mana-dispersion shields. You may observe a slight amber glow along the hull and feel a mild vibrational hum. There is no cause for alarm. For your comfort, we recommend you remain in your cabins until we clear the corridor in approximately six hours. Thank you."
Through the porthole, Kael saw a shimmering, honey-colored film of light crawl over the glass, distorting the view outside. The ship's gentle hum deepened in pitch.
Seris opened her eyes. "Standard procedure. The corridor is like a mountain pass in the sky the fastest route, but rocky."
Kael sat up, peering out. The darkness was now absolute, the ground lights gone. Only the ship's own running lights reflected off strange, swirling vapors outside. The mana here felt different not clean and ordered like Everglade's, but wild, fractured, and hungry.
An hour passed in silence. Then another.
Kael was beginning to drift into a doze when Vaelthryx's voice cut through his mind, sharp as a blade.
"Kael."
He was instantly awake. "What?"
Seris was on her feet, hand on her pistol. "What is it?"
"Listen."
Kael strained his senses, pushing past the ship's shield. At first, there was only the chaotic swirl of wild magic. Then he heard it, a high, chittering cry, multiplied a hundredfold. It was a sound of razor-edged hunger. And beneath it, something else. A grinding, metallic roar that had no place in nature.
"That's not turbulence," Seris hissed, moving to the porthole.
Outside, in the chaotic gloom, shapes darted. They were sleek and fast, with wings that sparked with disruptive energy. And behind them, emerging from a bank of deep cloud like a predator from a cave, was a darker, jagged shape. A ship, but unlike the graceful Horizon's Dawn. This one was all sharp angles, rusted iron plates, and sputtering, stolen magi-tech. Gaping gun ports glowed with malevolent light.
The captain's voice came again, tight with controlled alarm. "All passengers, brace! We have contacts. Wild magic swarm and… unidentified vessel on intercept course. This is not a drill. Shield integrity at ninety percent and holding. Defense crews to stations."
The chittering cries grew louder, becoming a physical assault on the ears. The first impacts began sharp, rapid pings against the shield like hail, each one causing the amber light to flare.
"Gale Shrikes", Vaelthryx identified. "Their feathers disrupt mana. They are a plague. And the iron beast behind them… that is a predator of a different kind."
The ship shuddered as a larger shadow the Alpha Shrike slammed into the shield with a concussive thud.
Seris looked at Kael, her face grim in the pulsating emergency light. "Forget about being boring. They've found us."
The Horizon's Dawn, for all its elegance, was now a lone beacon in a hungry, shattered sky.