WILL

The city of Nighbrook was quiet in the dead of night, filled with towering buildings and a constant haze of smoke blocking the dark sky. Scattered lanterns illuminated the cramped cobblestone streets; specks of metal glimmered in the cracks between uneven stones where the flames reflected. Shadows pooled between the faint circles of light, and I shivered as my gaze searched them, stomach in knots as I tried to shake the feeling that I wasn’t alone on the empty street.

In all the realms of Aeras, I had to end up here.

My breath was fog in the cold night air as I pushed it out slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. My eyes were drawn to a gap between buildings, an alley barely large enough to squeeze into. I glanced behind me, tense with a fear that something would move in the darkness which consumed the city.

Swallowing hard, I hurried to get off the main street. Moving too quickly, I didn’t notice the scraps of metal and broken gears thrown out around the alley until I tripped over them. The sound of clanging metal echoed as I caught myself against the building.

My heart was in my throat, my wild gaze turning to the street again. A new light appeared, a lantern burning in the hand of a figure, which had cold dread crawling down my spine. The silhouette paused for a moment, before it moved toward me.

Fear jolted through me, and I abandoned the attempt at stealth as I ran down the alley.

I felt like a rat trapped in a maze as I raced through the backstreets. The roar of my pulse in my ears made it hard to tell how far I had gotten from my pursuers. All I knew was I couldn’t stop, couldn’t risk them catching up, even as my lungs and muscles screamed in protest.

I froze for a moment as I hit the edge of the city, hesitating. I knew I’d be running across open ground as I headed for the cliff with its sprawling airship port. The sharp wind coming off the precipice pulled at my leather coat, whipping its hem against my thighs; I pulled it tighter across my chest, shivering as the bite of the air cooled the sweat from my skin. My goggles had fogged from the heat of my face as I ran, and I pulled them down to hang loosely around my neck as I paused under the shadow of the buildings. I lingered, conflicted, knowing there was no going back if I stepped out of the protection of the densely gathered buildings.

A shout from behind me spurred me into motion again. My fingers were tightly clutched around the satchel tied to my belt as I left the towering city behind. I couldn’t hide in there forever, so I had to stake my survival on finding an airship that could get me away from Nighbrook.

My lungs and throat burned as the wind blew smoke from the airships and port machinery, sending it toward the city. I was grateful for the shift in the wind, as the steam provided me some cover as I headed for the harbor… just as I’d planned.

The harbor was busy even at night; lanterns every few feet illuminated the decks and walkways that spanned the edge of the cliff in spiderwebbed branches of metal and wood. The thin docks were suspended over a deep chasm by copper and gears, with nothing beneath them but a sharp drop into the smoke and steam of factories far below. They felt dangerously fragile as I noticed them sway with the gusts of wind. The vessels were anchored to the docks with lengths of heavy chain, darkened by time and smoke, and slim bridges extended with a mesh of gears that spanned the precarious distance to the airships.

Glancing back, I saw figures moving in the darkness. With my chest tight, I slipped into the crowd of workers moving across the docks, weaving between oil-stained men too focused on their jobs to pay me any attention. My gaze searched over airships hazed by the smokestacks polluting the air. There were passenger ships refueling for the morning, but they were carefully watched and secured; too much of a risk. Slipping into the hold of one of the cargo ships being loaded on the other side of the port, where there were fewer lanterns and the guards were scarce… That would be my best chance at escape.

I weaved among the bustling workers, my head down as I tried to avoid arousing suspicion. Walking down the row of cargo ships, I felt my worries grow as I doubted any of them would be fast or agile enough to evade a military attack should they find me. I didn’t plan on attracting attention, but I didn’t want to be the cause of a crash if the situation worsened. I was beginning to doubt my plan when I reached the end of the dock and paused in the midst of a milling crowd to survey the last couple of ships.

Unlike the other small cargo ships that were docked beside it, I spotted an aircraft that looked like it could outrun any government-issued vessel. It was large for a cargo ship, red and gold decorative fins were chipped away with wear and age. While most other ships were rusted with metal patchworks of repair, dirty from exhaust with large and bulky towing cables to bring in large wrecks, this ship was sleek, without any extra gear to weigh it down or make navigating through tight areas difficult. There were small copper squares along the hull, polished like brass against the dark, shining material of the ship; it was armed with cannons.

As I got closer, seeing the ramp to the cargo hold was open, I noticed that the surface of the airship had large scuffs knocked out of the side. Bulletproof, I thought to myself. Crouching to keep myself inconspicuous, I saw a glint of dark red on the underbelly of the ship, piquing my curiosity. Though I was entranced by the elegant, dark grandeur of the ship, I didn't have time to consider it for long. There was a swell of raised voices behind me, too far to understand words, but close enough to have panic rising in my chest.

Taking advantage of people looking towards the disturbance that was drawing attention, I slipped through the crowd to the bridge which extended to the airship’s hold. I paused, watching the men carrying a heavy cargo box up the ramp, waiting for them to enter the ship so they wouldn’t feel my footsteps on the ramp when I hurried behind them. Keeping myself low as I darted up the metal walkway, I was grateful the darkness would mask me from any watchful eyes.

My throat was tight with fear as I snuck onto the ship behind the men; their groaning over the heavy box as they shifted it onto the floor, covered the sound of my footsteps. With their backs turned, I was able to hide among the stacks of crates, roped together and tied down with large loops of metal bolted to the floor. I held my breath as I risked looking around the edge of the crate; they had already turned to leave, the cargo ramp retracting before the door sealed closed with a hiss of steam. Their steps were heavy as they crossed the hold and I sighed with relief as I heard the door into the rest of the ship slam shut behind them, locking into place.

I slumped back against the rough wood of the crates, eyes closing as I tried to catch my breath. There wasn’t time to rest. As the ship shifted, preparing for departure, I knew I had to find a better place to hide if I didn’t want to be caught and thrown off the ship midair. Pushing myself to my feet, I headed deeper into the cargo hold.

The quality of the crates changed after the first few stacks of boxes, and a cold feeling of dread settled in my chest as I approached one of the fine wooden containers. My fingers touched the polished wood, tracing over the shipping codes burned into the planks. They were military codes, a chain of letters and numbers which I knew marked the contents of those crates as newly designed weaponry. Convinced I had to be mistaken, I paced around to the other side of the crate, and stared with dismayed disbelief at the military insignia stamped onto the wood, the edges gilded with bronze.

Somehow, despite all my efforts to evade them, I’d ended up on a military ship.