Sega leaned against the rail, watching the dark shape of a landmass as it grew closer through the clouds. She couldn’t really remember the last time they docked in Aeros, they’d spent most of the winter sailing the southern skies. They’d wandered farther north than normal in pursuit of the Sky-Maurader. Now, Aeros was the closest landfall. 

She would have liked to land anywhere else. Startled faces gazed up at the Valravn as she listed into port. While the engines and sails kept her afloat, she was be no means aerodynamic, and sidled easily in rogue buffets of wind. Sega stared down through the thinning clouds and far below, the ground came into view. A frozen expanse of icy mountains, so far down that the peaks looked like the sharp serrated edges of a blade. A memory welled in the back of her mind, something inside a frozen cavern. But her attention snapped back as Lux appeared beside her. 

The crew hollered down to the men on the docks as a crowd began to gather. 

“It’s not often this ships shows it face here," He muttered. Sega glanced over, Lux stood with his arms crossed. He hadn’t been much use on deck with his injuries, but she knew he’d been keeping a close eye on everyone on board. She hadn’t quite figured out why he was being so observant, but part of her felt comforted by it. The pirate side of her felt unsettled by it. 

She watched the men on the docks. Many ran forward to help, gawking and nudging each other. She also saw that many faded back, scowling from the shadows in huddled groups. Unlike most of the ships that docked here, theirs did not have its name painted on its hull. But there weren’t many that were this style of warship, and fewer that were painted pitch black. It wasn’t hard to figure out what ship it was, and even less difficult to figure once you saw its captain.

Sega glanced past Lux to the Captain as he emerged from his quarters. Lord Tekla’s eye found hers with a glint of mirth, then turned cold as it flickered over Lux. Vigo followed as Lord Tekla strode over to them, coming to a halt next to Sega, opposite of Lux. He propped one elbow on the wooden rail and leaned close to Sega. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I want you to enjoy your stay here as much as everyone else. But please, do keep an eye on the men, won’t you?” The Captain motioned towards their crew as they lowered the gangplank to the dock below. 

“As always, Captain.” Sega nodded. She could feel Lux’s eyes shift between them as she gazed out over the docks. Hairs raised on her neck as the Captain’s eye locked onto Lux. 

“Hmm. This one still doesn’t seem very useful.” The Captain looked Lux up and down with a grimace. “Perhaps he can work at the inn as a master of the night.” He flashed a devilish grin at Lux.  

Lux turned his head slowly, his mouth opening to retort. Sega nudged him with her boot, and he shut his mouth. Instead he cleared his throat, and looked back to the dock workers. The Captain chuckled and straightened, wandering off while Vigo turned to head to the helm. Sega pushed herself away from the rail. 

“Help if you can, otherwise stay out of trouble.” She didn’t look back before marching off to direct the offload of goods. 

Lux watched her walk off, he shook his head at the frequency of this particular view. He cast a glance around the deck at the crew started to pass goods from the hold. His gaze landed on a portly old man who marched towards him with a small chest. He tossed it to Lux, who fumbled with his bandaged hands to try to catch it. It bounced off of him and tumbled across the deck, spilling gold coins over the planks. Lux knelt down to shovel the coins back into the chest.

“Get the bloody hell out of here, useless ass! Who —“ The old man croaked with a gravelly voice, swinging a leg back to kick at Lux.

“Godard." Sega appeared over Lux. "They need help hauling the pig out.” Godard clamped his mouth shut with a scowl and trundled towards the massive boar carcass dangling above the hold. 

Sega stooped down and deftly scooped a handful off coins into a small leather purse. She shoved the purse under Lux’s hand, out of sight. 

“Find Anya and Rego. Give this to them and get them off unnoticed.” She muttered under her breath. Lux cleared his throat with a curious side glance. He dumped the last handful of coins into the chest. Sega grabbed hold of it as she stood and marched off. Lux turned toward the hold, feeling the heavy weight of eyes on him. He turned to see Vigo watching like a hawk from the helm. He smirked and saluted the massive man, whose face twitched angrily. 

Sega peered through the throng of men as Vigo watched Lux vanish into the steerage. She glanced down at the dock, where the Captain overlooked the offload. But he wasn’t watching the men, his eye was fixed on Vigo. Though his face showed very little, Sega felt a hollow pit in her stomach. She had seen that look, and she had seen the emotions that welled behind it. 

The crew made quick work of the offload, and several were left in charge of watching over the goods as the rest of the men wandered into town. They knew well that being in a town of this size held many implications, but the most pressing matter to them was refreshing themselves at the nearest inn. Sega walked through the crowded streets, taking in the long chains of colored lanterns hanging from the peaked roofs of the buildings, casting a warm orange and blue glow over the street. They glistened in the reflection on the wet cobbles of the streets. Ornately dressed women covered their mouths as they giggled in small groups, men elbowed their compadres as they leered past. A few children ran through the crowd, laughing as they chased each other. Working folk marched past carrying loads of goods. Vendors hollered about steamed buns or candies, some waved handfuls of veggies or held out silks. Although it was a large town, it was a place of trade. Behind every vendor was the shadow of where their goods had come, and the children here were always up to the bidding of some boss. Blood money was often the currency here. Sega watched as one of the running children deftly snatched a coin purse from a young merchant. She shook her head as the man continued awares.  

The village she had grown up in was small, and their streets were wide and made of dirt. The only lanterns were the ones that lit the doorways of the small scattered huts of the village people. She hadn’t ever seen the splendor of markets until Tekla had shown her his hometown. That memory, one of the few she held, was still just as vivid as the street before her. 

Only there was a young man with golden eyes laughing over his shoulder as he led her through the brilliant swirl of light and sounds. It was the dragon festival, and the lanterns were all bright red, the street a tangle of streamers and banners and music and shimmering metallic confetti. The prince was dressed in an ornate black and gold robe. His mother had given Sega a deep green gown that flowed around her like smoke, the only time she had worn that glamorous of an outfit. She had swirled through the halls of the manor in awe of it, and Madame Tekla had laughed as she watched. Although Sega was an odd and aloof child, Madame Tekla had taken an immediate liking to her, and treated her like her own daughter from the start.

But the grandeur of the festival eclipsed the gown. She had noticed a moment too late that the street had cleared and people cheered loudly from the sides, drums beating through the marrow of her bones. Sega turned, to face the massive paper likeness of a dragon. Dark sheets of paper fluttered as it moved, eyes glistening with glitter and jewels, bells jingling from the ankles of the dancers beneath the giant puppet. It opened and closed its mouth at her mechanically, shaking its head in annoyance. A hiss of colored smoke tumbled from it’s jaws, surrounding her with a cloud of royal blue. It tilted its head and swooped to the side, it’s long body following as it swirled around her. Laughter bubbled from her as the people hollered. She spun with the dragon, her gown fanning out around her like petals on an orchid. A hand grasped hers and pulled her from the ring as the dragon peeled off and carried on its dance down the avenue. 

“And to think not long ago, you were a wild creature that lived in the trees.” Tekla smirked down at her as they watched the dragon go, and the street filled with people again.

Sega had arrived at the inn before she realized it. She stopped just outside and glanced around. This part of the street was much quieter, a block or so in from the main avenue. The lanterns here were all pale yellow, and did very little to fill in the shadows of the street. She could hear the roars of laughter from men inside. She took a long breath and walked in. 

The front pavilion was a massive hall, with a large fire burning in an ornate iron basin hung by chains from the second story. Open rooms encircled the center pavilion, some with sheer red curtains drawn for privacy while most were opened to the clusters of patrons. All around, in the dim light, were merchants, vendors, sailors and women of the night. She could pick out many of her men, raising large bowls of liquor to others in joyous uproars. A different kind of mirth than that of the market, but mirth no less. 

She wandered through the rooms, past tables where men threw down cards or chips.  Others filled with messes of food and drink. The innkeepers hustle about, hunched as they bolted from table to table. 

A movement caught her attention, someone moving urgently through the crowd across the pavilion. She turned to see Lux, searching the rooms. A hand reached out from the bustle and landed on Lux’s shoulder, before shoving him down into a chair at a small round table. The owner of the hand placed a jar of liquor and two cups on the table before plopping into a chair across from Lux. 

Lux stilled, eyes boring into the large man across the table. Godard nodded to the cup in front of Lux, who hesitantly raised it. “A peace offering, from before.”

Sega leaned against a beam across the pavilion from them, watching from the shadows. 

Lux sniffed the contents of the cup .“Poison is a woman’s weapon, kid. Besides, I know better than to kill the guy who saved the Captain.” Godard drained his cup in one gulp. Lux lifted his to his lips and took a slow sip.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the stories.” Godard lowered his voice slightly. Lux eyed him.

“Sure. Every man in those skies knows The Valravn.” Lux went back to scanning the crowds.

“Not the Valravn.” Lux raised a brow, his attention drawn back to Godard. “The Captain and his Quarter Master. They didn’t just show up one day and prance around until they got enough men to call a crew.”

Lux snorted. “ I can’t imagine either of them as the prancing type…” He had to force down the image of the Captain prancing across the deck of his ship. “ Listen I need to —“ He leaned forward to stand, but Godard cleared his throat harshly.

“Then you’ll have heard of Ash Chasm.” Lux froze. His jaw clamped closed as he willed his face to stay blank. He lowered himself stiffly back into the chair. 

“I’ve heard of it. What does it have to do with anything?” He stared into the cup of liquor as Godard poured them both another. 

“Half a solar cycle ago, it was the end of summer. The Captain was the prince of his region, and he found a wild little girl roaming the hills near his manor.” 

Lux fidgeted, struggling to keep his composure. 

“Humor me kid.” Godard emptied a second cup before continuing. Lux took another sip of his.

“The child was the lone survivor of an attack on her small village of Caverners. Lord Tekla couldn’t get her to talk about what happened, so they all assumed it was raiders. It wasn’t until the darkness began to lurk that some raiders did find the scorched remains of the village, and the caverns they tended had filled in.”

Lux took another sip. He stared blankly at the table.

“By then, winter was setting in and the people of Lord Tekla’s town were packing to move into the caverns. When the news came, the town was in chaos. There wasn’t enough time to clear the caverns before the darkness engulfed the world. Lord Tekla’s father worked tirelessly to come up with a solution to save his people, but their destiny was already decided. Darkflame arrived not long after.”

“Somehow, The Captain and that girl survived. The only ones in the whole of Ash Chasm to escape the carnage. Some say the girl wagered with the beast, to spare them so that one day she could face the monster in a far greater duel.”

Lux shook his head. “A strange rendition of the prophecy.”

“Others say it was just dumb luck.” Godard added gruffly.

“Let me ask this, old man. If someone walked into your home and started smashing holes in everything, calling it their own domain, you’d have a punch to pack, no?”

Godard furrowed his brow at the man. “What are you blabbering about?”

“Where do you think Darkflame lives during the summer?” Lux leaned forward, tapping the table with a finger. 

Godard stared suspiciously at him.

“And what sort of unnatural caverns did those ground dwellers discover so long ago?” 

Godard narrowed his eyes.

“He’s absolutely right, Godard.” A voice over his shoulder scared the daylights out of the old man, who coughed and sputtered before turning to see the Quarter Master standing behind him. She smirked slightly, but there was no amusement in her eyes. 

She stared at Lux. “The Caverners were not just in charge of clearing tunnels for the rest of you to live in.” Sega looked at Godard. “They were hunters. Masters of killing giants.” The smile faded. "Why do you think there are so few dragons?"

Godard sputtered and swallowed, unable to find words. Lux pushed back from his chair and started walking towards the door, he grabbed onto Sega’s arm to steer her with him.

She stared down at his hand, but followed, gently shaking his grip loose as other crewmen turned to watch with murderous expressions. 

“I can’t find them.” Lux muttered as they walked toward the door. 

The door swung open. The Captain stepped in and the room fell still. Lux stopped in his tracks, Sega stepped slowly up beside him. The Captain eyed them before heading toward a room filled with gambling men. 

“Have you seen Vigo?” Sega leaned slightly to whisper at Lux. He shook his head. Sega watched Tekla pat a small dark haired man on the shoulder. The man smiled brightly at Tekla, and nodded vigorously.

“Find Vigo. Whenever he is not with the Captain, he is up to something.” 

Tekla turned his head and found Sega’s gaze. 

“Meet me at the docks." She murmured. Lux nodded and marched off. Tekla turned his body, clearly exposing himself handing a bag of coins to the small man. A soft smile flickered at the corners of Tekla’s lips as the small man bowed and vanished in the crowd. Tekla grabbed a jar of liquor from a table and turned back towards where Sega stood, only to find her gone. He frowned, his grip tightening on the jar.