It was a day like any other, there had been barely a handful of customers during the first half of the sunbeam occasion. So the exhausted child idly toiled away upon the floor, close to the archway that led to the gleaming rail which surrounded the terrace and its subsequent balconies. The sky was gray, not an angry gray but a gray nonetheless, and the clouds slowly churned above and below the platforms, wisping past their mountain peak perch, illuminated in low blue light. The swirling ocean of clouds choked the peak and obscured the very horizon and sun from one’s view. 

Slowly, the child worked, chains raking slabs as she washed in circles, rag in hand, bucket at her side. The two had not been busy, the master Konnie had left to run some errands, mostly to distract herself from the customer deficit that had plagued them over the last few days. The cafe was eerily empty and dark, with only the dull sapphire light illuminating the dining area through thrown open windows and doors. The air smelled slightly damp and the wind blew softly and slowly like a caress from cold dead hands swimming and grasping for purchase against one’s skin. The girl's ocean eyes peered out the way as she washed, tracking the steady stream of small skyships and skiffs that were progressively trickling into docks located on one of the high overhead terraces. Everyone, even the most engrossed could feel the storm that was approaching, not a violent storm but a storm that could knock a small sail-skiff out of the sky at a moments notice.

The air was electric in a way, the wind steadily picked up, pulling trees and rousing signs as it carried its weight through the alleys and constructs of the lower terrace. The unnamed child stood, gathering her tools as she shuffled across the dull freshly washed floor. Everything was neat, the seats, the tables, all aligned with military precision. She weaved, making her way past the counter, down a dark hall, to her room within the storage cabinet, where she deposited the wares. Sealing the little cell's door closed as the child made her way, shuffling and clanking back to the cafe’s stomach. A pang of curiosity flowed through the little one as she hobbled to the grand entrance doors, which hung heavy, rattling in the hefty wind. 

Cautiously she peered out, gripping the cold metal of the not so glittering doors, as she surveyed the courtyard of the terrace square. The other shops, markets, and various other constructs were all shut tight. Locked down like some sort of prison for the fabulous, the master’s little cafe was the only who dared to keep its features open during a seemingly rough up-and-coming storm. There was not a single soul on the roads, the crystal cobble had not been shined today, and the whole disk seemed eerie, a long-dead ghost town. 

She had never been allowed to gaze upon the central way for this long before, and so, all the girl’s senses drank up the sight before her. A light at the corner of the child’s eye caught her attention, a steady blinking red crystal, set into a massive mirror at the very end of the central town circle. She could barely make it out but knew from prior experience that the lift from the upper terraces was in operation, and someone was arriving and would step out of the silvery mirror mounted on the terraces’ cog powered lightning lift. Although she pondered to herself, who would want to visit a lower terrace on a day like this, the question did not seem all that important.

Her head twisted to the left, a skittering noise followed by the hefting of leathery boots on smooth chalky slate, followed again by the sound of a soul rounding the nearest dome. The child ducked back in, at unseen speeds, with an “eek” which had been the first semblance of words she had uttered that day. 

As the sound of boots became louder, the girl pretended to occupy herself, tending to immaculate table legs, while feigning busy work. Konnie entered the doorway, imposing a shadow over the dim cave. Her insect-like eyes spun for a second as the statue scanned the room, before jerking back into motion, as she began to slam all the windows shut, systematically. 

“Did anyone arrive while I was gone, child?” The master's voice was labored as she growled out the words, not even facing the child. 

The woman’s neck spun, right as the girl shook her head tossing a subtle “no” with eyes downcast mirroring the sky above. Konnie grunted, letting out an expressionless sigh, which could almost be construed as relieved. The woman stepped past the child with thundering footfalls, the whirring of machines and clicking of servos could be heard muffled by thick flesh. Stepping to the counter the master gathered up her ravenous whip, winding the blades around scarred hands. Just as she was about to turn and address the child, a tin scream of distant alarm racked through the terrace and the ones above.

The girl's eyes went wide, locking with the master's which stood still in their sockets, more still than they had ever been in her life, the ground beneath the two dueling figures lurched like a slithering beast. Windows burst all at once, sending a snowstorm of shattering crystal shards and glass into a whipped flurry. Muffled noises pleaded from every direction as the wave pierced the drums of all that were within, the child could only hear a dull ringing as her head spun and the earth swam. Crawling trying to regain her balance, blistering heat spread from siren-filled ears. From the corner of her eye, she watched the master sprint with strong planted boots, past the doorway and out into the unknown chaos. 

The mountain shook, as if the root thousands of miles below the lower-clouds, had been rammed by some massive beast. It shook and swayed, but despite this momentous movement, the unnamed girl was able to regain her balance, lithe limbs swaying as she dizzily planted her wobbling feet. Another shock hit the terrace, and the child's mind cleared up, the ringing faded fast from her bleeding ears, intense wafting smells of chemicals and fire began to shock through her now scrunched nose. Hastily, steadily, and wobbly all at the same time, the child made her way to the front door. Bare feet crunching, sliding on broken glass and crystal dust, her chains dragged paths in the dangerous glittering snow. The girl used tables and chairs to support herself as the tremors continued to spike through the stone spire. Shuffling, she emerged from the cracked entrance of the building, the wind whipped her body, racing through the patchwork rags and bandages that clad her form. Grasping the metal door frame, she ascended her gaze to the dark swirling sky, fragments of fire rained, and red clouds permeated the gray sky, as explosions racked the upper levels. 

The air became stagnant and still, shimmering reds streaked burning from the sky, falling like hateful snow, while everything stood still, even as the wind and ash swirled. Suddenly the child's jaw dropped, her eyes went wide, as from the darkened sky above pierced a most legendary of sights. The shape sliced through the clouds like a jagged saw, a sky-galleon of monstrous proportions, like none she had ever seen, barreling out through the thick, darkened cloud layer, wisps of black sky and air still clinging to the hull as it hauntingly emerged from the darkness. Its majestic form pierced through the purple sky, as the night hung upon it, ozone, and light crackling over the hull as its mass overtook the sky. The ship, which was more a floating castle or town than a sky vessel, remarkably brilliant in every way. 

An alabaster figurehead of a chiseled mustang was the ringleader at the forefront of the awesome precession of air bound power. The mighty sailed sky fortress, hull clad in marble-like metal, shone out in the dim blue light of evening chaos, riddled with orange halo after orange halo, as its overwhelmingly complex shape cascaded the terraces in a gradual rain of fire and brimstone. The devilish horse-headed up the floating army, one eye dead, with the other visibly shining a demonic red, piercing through the heavens as the threat marched on.

The child stood steady and still, in awe at the mighty sight before her, all while quake after quake racked through her marred body she stood firm, gazing at the malevolent chariot betrothed to the heavens.  Just then as the sound of skittering alongside emulsions of power and fire came to a halt, the child noticed a most terrible sight. Swarms of ships, like insects to a rotting corpse, began to pour from the opening belly of the horse, they plummeted down in a darkening cloud. Shivering, the child started to run, making her way to the center of the once beautiful terrace streets, all buildings, fixtures, and roads now waiting alone and abandoned. 

A thought wormed into the child’s mind, she had to make it to the lift, and the docks above to hopefully hide, and then find the master before the mysterious invaders came to slice her up. She ran as fast as she could with that thought sewn into her mind, chains dragging, skin burning, cloth ripping, and feet bruising, her gradual skilled stumbling inhibited by her heavy shackles, and the state of her small frame. Rounding a corner, while stumbling over a pearlescent step, she made it to the straight alley, leading to the lift, crude salvation a distance away, the light she spied earlier steadily blinking as doubt crept into her heart.