As fast as Stonewing was, it still took nearly two days to catch sight of Cloudreach. In that time, Frankie gave both Maeryn and Dan a crash course in the basics of flying their airship, so she could sleep when necessary. When not taking her turn flying the ship - and what a rush that was! - Maeryn finished putting together the kitchen and delivered her friends’ favorite foods as promised.

  As for Dan… Dan spent almost all of his time holed up in his lab. It was at the very back of the airship, and he’d laid out dire warnings about its use. “When I’m in there, if the door is closed, you absolutely cannot come in, for any reason.” His voice was stern, hard, leaving no room for argument. “Alchemy is dangerous. And we’re already playing with fire, setting up a lab on a moving vehicle. I can’t overstate how dangerous it could be if you interrupt me at the wrong moment. Fumbling an explosive compound that I’m neutralizing, or dropping something incredibly acidic, or… or somehow multiplying the Mist instead of erasing it.”

  Maeryn and Frankie had both taken a half-step back at that last example. Maeryn had seen firsthand in her hunting days what kind of horrors the Mist could do to a living thing. In her time defending the farmers, she’d had to kill many mutated animals, driven mad by pain and a body that refused to die even as it slowly rotted away. She had absolutely zero desire to see that happen to herself or her friends.

  Dan nodded, satisfied that his message had gotten through. “Glad that got through to you. So yeah. Stay out if the door’s closed. And knock if the door’s open. Just, in general, don’t go back there if it’s not urgent, okay?”

  Maeryn had gotten that message loud and clear. Every time she passed by the closed lab door, she felt a shiver of apprehension. It was a stark reminder of reality and the scope of their mission, and what awaited all of Geova if they failed.

  Still, the sight of Cloudreach lifted Maeryn’s spirits. They were another step closer to - hopefully - saving everyone.

  As Stonewing approached the flying city, Maeryn studied it in more detail. It was shaped quite oddly, in her opinion, nothing like any flying machine Maeryn had ever seen, even in her old history lessons. Cloudreach seemed to be composed of three distinct layers. The topmost looked like the farms that she used to guard, though the outer rim was lined with something metallic-looking. There was a large rod squarely in the center of that layer whose purpose completely baffled Maeryn, though.

  The middle layer was easily identifiable as where most of the Zephyrians had to live and work - various-sized buildings, streets and all. It was significantly larger than the topmost layer, and Maeryn could see even from the distance that there were gigantic propellers attached to the underside of the layer, creating the lift necessary to keep the landmass aloft.

  The bottommost layer, however, was a complete mystery. It looked like a flat, thick, circular hunk of metal, connected to the middle layer by obviously-thick support pillars. The best Maeryn could think of was that it was a resting platform for any air machines it might have, but that didn’t make sense, considering she could see the port for airships in the middle layer.

  “Any idea what that bottom layer is for?” Maeryn asked, turning to Frankie who was at the controls.

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  Frankie shook her head. “Not a clue. The Zephyrians are rather secretive, especially about their method of flying cities. There are tons of rumors about what it might be, anything from massive storage areas to mana accumulators. As for me?” Frankie narrowed her eyes in contemplation. “It doesn’t look thick enough to be storage, in my opinion. And mana accumulators would work better with crystals, not metal. Might be something to do with heat - metal heats up real fast compared to anything else - but my money’s on something utilitarian. Something to do with the ground, I think.”

  “Whatever it is, it’s definitely something important,” Maeryn muttered. “But that’s a mystery that’ll have to wait. We’ve got more important things to look into.”

  As they drew closer, Frankie expertly guided Stonewing to the port. She looked carefully at the men waving flags as she made her approach, and - following directions that Maeryn had no understanding of - made a few adjustments. “We’ve been approved for landing,” Frankie announced, her voice tinged with anxious excitement. “Go make sure that Dan’s got all the fragile stuff put away, we’ll be on the ground in a couple of minutes.”

  Maeryn nodded, rushing over to the door of Dan’s workshop. It was - predictably - closed. She rapped on it twice, calling out “We’re about to land!”

  “Got it!” Dan’s muffled voice answered. Thirty seconds later, Dan opened the door, and the two of them rushed back to the cockpit to strap themselves in.

  With practiced precision, Frankie guided Stonewing towards the designated landing area. As they touched down, Stonewing was rapidly slowed via the use of cords and ropes, until it came to a complete stop. The city’s port workers moved quickly, securing the airship with ropes to ensure that it would stay right where it belonged.

  Maeryn watched, her heart fluttering with excitement, as a few official-looking people exited from a nearby office, making a beeline for Stonewing. They’d made it. They’d made it to Cloudreach. Now came the hard part: learning what they could and revising the plan from there.

  “Well, let’s go see the welcoming committee.”

  The team disembarked, and walked down to where the officials - led by a tall, regal-looking woman with a hard expression - waited for them. “I would say welcome to Cloudreach, but that is yet to be seen,” the woman pronounced. “I am Skymaster Lyra, and I am in charge of Cloudreach’s ports. State your names and your business.”

  Maeryn swallowed. “I.. I am Maeryn d’Vert. Captain of the airship Stonewing. My companions are Daniel d’Greenstone, who prefers to go by Dan, and Francine d’Vert, who prefers to go by Frankie. We’ve come on… on a research mission. The mana depletion issue is getting worse; there isn’t much time before the ambient mana is insufficient to power our Mist-repelling barriers. We were hoping to speak to anyone who has done any research at all on the Mist, or why the ambient mana levels have been dropping like a stone.”

  Lyra’s eyes hardened further as she inspected Maeryn carefully. “Just the three of you? Where is the rest of your research team?”

  “The rest of my team is still performing experiments back in Greenstone,” Dan cut in smoothly, crossing his arms. “The Elders were unsure how much research Zephyria has performed on the Mist - given that your flying cities aren’t exposed to it regularly - and sent me to make the request.”

  “And given that Cloudreach has historically had decent trade relations with Geova in the past, we figured this was the place to start,” Maeryn finished. She took a deep breath and met Lyra’s eyes, despite how fast her heart was beating. She was about to do the most daring thing in her life: order a clearly high-ranking adult around. “Tell us where to find your researchers so we can get this over with.”

  Lyra’s gaze didn’t move from Maeryn’s, and the girl struggled not to let her rising anxiety reflect on her face. “... Very well. Follow me. There is some paperwork to fill out, but once it is complete, I will direct you to Tempest Terrace, our research and development district.”