Chapter Six Hundred and Eight 

I barely had time to wave to the other Avatar ships as they took off in the distance. It didn’t help that we didn’t have time to sit around and linger either.

“How are we looking, fuel-wise?” I asked.

I had gotten Awen and Amaryllis together on the rearmost deck. Clive was still at the help, guiding us ahead, but I needed advice from my two oldest friends. 

“Ah, we’re doing alright,” Awen said. “The main bunker is down to nearly half. We have enough fuel to get pretty far, if the wind isn’t bad. We’re alright on other supplies too. At least, mechanical ones? We used a lot of the pre-made patches I had the Scallywags make a bit ago to pass the time, and we’re low on pitch? Um, but that’s not too bad, unless we plan on getting into another fight?”

“We’re definitely not planning that,” I said. “What about repairs, and what do you mean by mechanical supplies?”

“I mean... stuff that isn’t food and that kind of thing,” Awen said. 

“Oh. Right.” We did pack enough to keep the crew fed and watered for a good while, but yeah, we now had extra mouths to feed. “I don’t even know what the dust bunnies eat.”

“We can ask later,” Amaryllis said. “Hopefully it’s something we can provide.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “So, were you able to chart our location?” 

Amaryllis hummed. “More or less. I’ll have a far more accurate idea once night falls.” She held a map out, it was folded over a thin wooden board so that we could all read off the top. “We should be around here, by the eastern end of the Moonstuck Sea. We’re currently aimed east, maybe a little south. If we continue straight we’ll slip into the Silver Salt Bay, right next to the Ostri desert.”

“Aren’t we aiming for Elkensteel?”

“We are. Once I have better bearings I’ll have us aim straight for the city.”

I nodded along. “How long do you think it’ll be before we arrive?”

“We’re not flying with the wind to our backs, so we’re likely going to have to fight our way there. A day and a half, two days. Maybe a little more. Ideally we’ll be arriving the morning after tomorrow, a few hours after sun-up. Most ships depart at around that time, so we might be lucky enough to get an empty berth for cheap.”

“Actually... how are we, money-wise?” I asked.

Amaryllis narrowed her eyes. “You’re not thinking of doing anything with our money, are you?”

“No?”

“Better not. In any case, we’re fine. We could have more, but we don’t have so little that we’ll feel the pinch. Once we make it to Elkensteel we can afford repairs. Though I don’t know if they have good facilities for that. Ideally we stop in the Harpy Mountains on our way east.”

“We’d have to know where we intend to go,” I said. “Other than making it to the next city, I don’t know if we have any great plans.”

“That’s something we can discuss later,” Amaryllis said. “For now, I’ve put this together.” She pulled out a little booklet, just a simple notebook with a leather cover and crisp pages. It looked new, and when I leafed through it, I discovered that only the first pages were used up, and that with the start of a log and... spell casting instructions? 

“What’s this?” I asked.

“We’re already too near to the core. My mana has been topped up even though I’ve cast a few spells. This is a logbook that every member of the crew will have to sign three times a day. It’s unfortunate... or not, I suppose, but this is my overall plan.”

I lanced at the list. It had some spell suggestions that I wasn’t familiar with. “I don’t see fireball on here.”

“That’s because I’m not a fool. Training a spell that creates fire, unsupervised, on an airship, is asking for trouble,” Amaryllis said. “These are all respectable, low-threat spells that have a high mana cost on successful casting.”

I pursed my lips and read through the list, there were only three spells on there: Light, Mana Barrier, and Condense Water. 

“These seem nice,” I said. “I can cast something like Light already.”

“I’ve set aside some time in my busy schedule to give lessons,” Amaryllis said. “But Light is simple enough that even a fool ought to learn it. The spell’s mana shape is practically one-dimensional. Honestly, it’s mostly there to teach some of the others the very basics of mana manipulation. It’s not so inefficient a spell that I expect people to burn through their mana with it.”

“And the other two?” I asked.

“Mana Barrier is a costly spell. It’s not exactly complex but holding it requires pouring constant mana into the construct. There’s a reason that most fights between mages aren’t just wizards casting into each other’s shields. Dodging and movement are still important. Even a well-cast shield can only stop so much, and the moment you use an anti-shield spell, it’s over.” She shrugged her wings. “But that doesn’t matter. It would be a good spell to know regardless. If the entire crew knows it well, we can have members not actively fighting something cast it to protect others or the ship. It won’t stop every projectile, but it will slow them down and could deflect some.”

“No, I agree, it’s a good spell to know,” I said with a nod. “And the water one... I think you’ve used this before, right? To fill the Beaver’s water tanks?”

“It’s a simple one. It pulls water from the humidity in the air. The spell has a component that lets you draw from a wider area at a greater cost. Honestly, this is a great spell to burn lots of mana with. And the consequences of failure can usually be repaired with a mop.”

“Everyone tries Light first,” Amaryllis said. She flicked her hand to the side and cast the spell herself, creating a little bobbing ball of light. “Anyone who manages it consistently moves onto Mana Barrier, then Create Water. People who already know one of these can practice it until they’re exhausting mana faster than the core replenishes it. I don’t especially care how they do it, so long as they aren’t sitting around at full capacity.”

“And the signing-in thing?” I asked, flipping the booklet back to the first page.

“Morning, afternoon, evening. Name, current mana, what they practised, and approximately how much they spent. I want to know if anyone is having difficulty emptying their reserves.” Amaryllis crossed her arms. “Mana poisoning isn’t something I want to experiment with. Especially not while we’re so far from any medical assistance. Fortunately, we do have three capable casters onboard.”

“Oh, Guinevere and Mathew,” I said.

“And myself,” she added.

“Right, of course.”

Amaryllis stared at me with narrowed eyes. Then she reached over and pinched my cheek. “Rude,” she said.

“Ow ow!”

“In any case. That ought to keep us busy. Awen, you’ve looked over the repairs?”

“Ah, I have,” Awen said. She was focused mostly on on Amarylli’s hand and the way she was still pinching my cheek. “Awa! Um... yes. The patches are good? We lost some gasses, but we had some to spare. I wouldn’t want to get into another fight, but as long as the port in Elkensteel had, ah, good facilities, we should be alright?”

“If it doesn’t, we can move down to Rosenbell,” Amaryllis said. “Or Smoulderglen, Walker’s Rest, or Greenshade.”

“G-Greenshade?” Awen asked. Ah, right, that was her home city, wasn’t it? It had been a long time since I’d been. Since Awen had been there too. She was a very different girl than when she left.

I finally managed to free myself and rubbed at my cheek. “Let’s get to Elkensteel first,” I said. “We can worry about the rest once we get there, right?”

“The rest, like what to do next?” Amaryllis asked. “We’re carrying something that, I don’t think I need to explain, would be considered contraband by just about any government anywhere. I might be able to get that into the Harpy Mountains if we fly straight for one of my family's facilities, but that’s it.”

“You’re talking about the dungeon core, right?”

“Yes. The dust bunnies probably count too, but I can’t imagine people making as much of a fuss about those. A dungeon core is something governments would... maybe not start wars over, but it would get political.”

Awen rubbed her fingers together. “Would anyone know?” 

“It’s rather hard to hide the amount of mana we’re leaking,” Amaryllis said. “We might even want to consider parking outside of the city. To make it less obvious.”

“That’d be annoying, though,” I said.

“Yes. But annoying is cheaper than being in trouble,” she said. “You’re the captain. Think about it, would you?”

I nodded. “I promise, I will!”

***