“No offense is taken. I’m called Abur. I brought the Sky Sentinels here to evacuate the Awoken of this city to the mountain. The Legion is advancing in a large-scale assault. They have constructed a new vessel that can drag in the Void behind it. They intend to take the Great Planes. They are closing in on us faster than ever before, and this city will be consumed in roughly two cycles. Our timing was merely good fortune,” Abur informed them, in a rich and authoritative voice.
“We would be glad to give you a ride out of here commander. We desire to reach the Enlightened City to preserve these soul embers we rescued,” Ohm explained humbly.
Oa passed the bag forward. Ohm took it and held the treasure out to Abur.
“Then consider your mission a success! We are grateful for your assistance. The Sky Sentinels could use the help of Awoken such as yourselves to stop this new threat. Your warship is powerful indeed,” Abur said, congratulating the crew of the ARI.
“Yeah, it appears it is,” Ohm said wryly, glancing back at Kai.
She simply shrugged and replied, “Hey, don’t give me that look. I just rebuilt what you wrecked.”
Ohm chuckled. He stepped back next to his friends and threw his arms wide. “This ship is the ARI, and we are its crew. I’m Ohm, that’s Kai, and the young fellow you met is Oa. He shall decide whether or not we take part in this fight.”
“The Traveler,” Abur said, recognizing Ohm’s name. He paused before speaking to Oa. “There is no shame in seeking the sanctuary of our city. The battle will be fierce.”
Oa stepped forward, looking back at Ohm and Kai. They nodded at him encouragingly so he turned to face Abur. “I believe our purpose is more than just delivering these embers to you. We will help you fight the Legion,” he said, determined. His voice betrayed the microscopic seed of fear he felt inside at joining such brave heroes in a fight even they were wary of.
“We will not forget this noble act, Oa. You will be among the ranks of …” Abur’s voice trailed off in dumbstruck awe as he stared over Oa’s shoulder. “Impossible, it’s a lightning varl.”
The Enlightened warriors spun around from their posts guarding the ships entrance to stare as Susan floated out of the power hub. She glided up next to Kai and nuzzled her shoulder. Kai reached over and hugged the billowing cloud beast.
“Yup, this is Susan, the last of the lightning varls. She will also be fighting with us,” Kai said happily.
“We cannot lose now. The sky itself is with us,” Abur said, still in awe of Susan.
“Haha! He called you the sky,” Kai laughed, patting Susan on the head. The varl growled softly, amused as well.
“May we take you to your fighters now?” Ohm asked.
“Yes of course we must return to the Stormfell. From there we can coordinate the evacuation. You can berth your vessel in the Stormfell’s hangar for the duration of the journey,” Abur offered. “After we deliver the refugees to the mountain, we will rendezvous with our sister ship, the Windhammer. Together we will proceed to meet the main Legion force in combat.”
“Understood. Once you are back in your fighters, we will follow you up to your command station,” Ohm replied, motioning for Oa and Kai to follow him back into the ARI.
The three warriors sat on the open deck in a circle. They meditated silently while the crew of the ARI flew them the short distance back to their Z-7s. Once the Enlightened had returned to their fighters, they guided the ARI up through the pollution of war to a massive orange and white vessel hovering above the city—the Stormfell.
“So would you say the Enlightened live up to the rumors, Ohm?” Oa asked in awe.
“Surprisingly, yes, for the most part. There must be a whole civilization living on the mountain if they could make all this. I have never even seen this class of aircraft before,” Ohm replied, equally impressed.
“Sheesh. You’d think they would’ve shown up sooner. They’re pretty late to the party that the world’s been having with the Legion. That’s okay, though. It’s not like a giant warship would have helped much,” Kai complained sarcastically.
“Well, I’m sure that flying fortress wasn’t built in one cycle; and it probably takes an army of Awoken to operate. They came when they could,” Ohm replied, amused by Kai’s protest.
Oa piloted the ARI toward the biggest ship he had ever seen. In size, it was second only to the Careening City of Artisans below, which after some debate, the crew agreed should not be considered an aircraft. The Stormfell was an impressive sight to behold, shaped like a sickle. A humongous thruster sat at the back, like a handle. From the thruster, the bow curved around in a broad arc to a lesser jet cluster that helped to stabilize the unusually shaped vessel. The forward hull narrowed into an edge, like a blade. Numerous heavy cannons protruded from the forward bow of the ship. The light of the dawning cycle glinted off of thousands of viewports set into the hull.
Oa was curious about what was going on inside, so he put on the monocle Mordecai had given him. His sight pierced through the hull, revealing the inner workings of the Stormfell. There were several spacious bays around the thruster’s engine where Awoken worked hard to maintain the machinery. Power generated from the multiple rotors, ran in intricate conduits through the ship to the cannons on the forward hull. Awoken were tuning the cannons and loading them with ammunition for the impending fight. Oa could make out storerooms for raw goods, living quarters for the crew, and several cavernous construction halls where essential vehicles were being built or repaired.
Behind the forward bow, the Stormfell had an open and exposed hangar. Torches returning from their fight landed inside to be recharged and refitted for future combat. Cargo vessels flew from one section of the floating harbor to another, ferrying supplies and workers. Refugee ships were being guided into empty safe zones set aside for them. Oa marveled at the order he saw. He took the monocle off and followed the three Torches as they circumnavigated the heavily armed forward hull. They looped back around to approach the open hangar that made up the rear of the vessel. The squadron headed for a section of the metal bay close to the engine.
“This is a nice ship, but I’m not keen on the color,” Kai complained, clearly feeling outdone by the sheer size of the structure.
“It’s big enough, but it’s not the ARI,” Ohm reassured her.
“Yeah they probably can’t maneuver this thing very well. It’s also completely vulnerable from the back,” Oa agreed, pointing out the flaws he noticed with the Stormfell.
The Enlightened crew on deck waved glowing red batons to guide the ARI into a landing zone. Oa landed next to Abur’s fighters. The circular ship took up enough space to fit a whole squadron of Z-7s. The ARI’s crew met out on the open roofed side of their vehicle. They watched Abur and his warriors depart, heading for the bridge of the Stormfell.
“We will return to join you once we have delivered the refugees to the mountain. Then we will prepare for the battle. Rest for now. Your assistance isn’t needed in the evacuation,” Abur called over his shoulder.
“Look at that. He’s calling you useless, Ohm. He must know all you can do is spray water at incoming refugees,” Kai joked.
“Don’t you have something to fix?” Ohm retorted as he sat back in his sling on the deck.
“Like what?” Kai quipped.
“The wing on my ship!? It used to be the fastest chunk of alloy in the sky because of those wing thrusters,” Ohm complained.
“Too bad. Now it’s the most walloping ship!” Kai said, sitting down on the deck. She pounded the metal with her fist. “I rebuilt that wing into a weapon. It’s basically a huge version of my pistols. I call it the Sky Blade.” She folded her arms proudly.
“Sounds ridiculous,” Ohm huffed as he laid back in the sling.
“You saw how well my cannon was working earlier. I installed it on the roof when I rebuilt this thing, but that’s just dirt compared to the Sky Blade,” Kai said, pointing up to the top of the ARI.
Oa leaned out over the railing on the deck, watching as Z-7s escorted in refugee transports from the city below. The hulls were scorched and smoking, but they contained grateful Awoken who were happy to be rescued from the danger of the Void.
“I’m sure it’ll work great Kai. We’ll need it to protect these Awoken,” Oa said sincerely.
There was a long pause on the deck of the ARI as refugees continued to pour into the Stormfell. Ohm was the first to break the silence. “Hey, Oa. That monocle you were talking about; where did you get it?”
Oa turned from the controlled chaos of the hangar. “I’m glad you brought that up. I got it from Mordecai; he had some interesting things to say about you, Ohm. First you’re a sleeper, and now it seems that you’re a defiler of the dead? Whose ember do you wear around your neck?” he questioned, slightly angered.
Kai scooted across the deck to lean back against Susan who was coiled up near Oa. “That all sounds pretty weird. What’s the deal with that, Ohm?”
The old Awoken stayed in his sling as he spoke. “It’s probably for the best you saw Mordecai. I don’t have the ember anymore. Eol destroyed it, but her name was Ari. This ship is actually named after her …” he paused, choosing his next words. “I know I have said it before, but let me reiterate. I am old, old enough to have seen the Great War. I knew the Destroyer.” He sat up to stare at Oa.
Kai perked up in shock. “Holy flork! You’re ancient!” she exclaimed.
Ohm continued, ignoring Kai’s outburst. “I used to be a lot like you, Oa. I wanted purpose. I believed that I was created to make things better. So I put all my time and energy into studying nature and researching the Great Planes history. I observed, I theorized, and I learned. The world was heading toward disaster, so I looked for any way to bring balance between the Awoken and the Great Planes. I concluded that the Destroyer was the source of imbalance. After much searching, I found him high up in the mountain. I thought ending him would be the answer, but he had already been defeated by his own failures. Instead of fighting, I learned from the Destroyer and the ice varls he lived among. He revealed to me how the Awoken had erred and why he had exiled himself. I thought this knowledge was enough.
“I returned to the Awoken with my message, but I was a fool. They did not care and things only worsened. When the dust of war settled, I helped rebuild. I became a teacher, and I tried to affect change in the embers of new generations of Awoken that emerged from the ground. The cycles dragged on, and my efforts produced no results. I was a voice no one wanted to heed. Even my best students turned aside my advice in the end. A bitterness grew inside me.
“It all changed when I woke Ari. She was different. She had such a shining ember; it gave me hope and we became great friends. Then the regime of that time began hunting me down for my knowledge of the Destroyer. Ari and I evaded their evil plans … I am sorry that your friends were not so lucky,” Ohm nodded sympathetically toward Kai before continuing. “I sought out the Destroyer once more. I had to warn him, but the others had gotten to him first. They had stolen a piece of his power. He asked us to stop his legacy, but he died before telling us exactly how. The quest sent us down a trail of clues, left before time by a being known through legend as the Creator. Eventually, we discovered a cave at the core of the world …” he stopped, pausing briefly as his hand drifted to the spot on his chest where Ari’s ember used to rest.
“We found the source of the Destroyer’s power, and we ended it together. But Ari died and I was damaged and infected with the Void,” Ohm raised his wounded arm, visually reinforcing his story with the bandaged stump. “I still don’t remember exactly how she died or how I was infected; but when I rose from my first sleep, the world had been torn apart in the aftermath of the blast at Istaar. I had failed. I longed for Ari and could not handle the decay of a world I had spent my whole life trying to help. So I tried to bring Ari back, to reignite her ember in a new body. I lost myself in the obsession to repair just one thing in this world. It took Mordecai exiling me from his shop to make me stop.
“Then Eol appeared. His Legion became just as dangerous as the Destroyer once was, and the Void began to devour the world. I took responsibility again. Fred and I journeyed far and wide, following leads Ari and I had found. Riddles and clues left in the stone. They spoke of another One. We hunted for countless cycles until Fred found the answer, a launch button …” he paused, and pointed at Oa. “I watched from atop a barren ridge as you were born, launching from the mountain top … .”
Ohm laid back into the sling, sighing, “That is my tale. I never got to be the hero I wanted to be—but perhaps you will succeed, Oa. Somehow, I believe you can change things.”
Oa listened quietly to the whole narrative. Ohm was his friend and he felt that he now understood the old wanderer better. Oa accepted Ohm’s mistakes. He too, understood what it felt like to be wrong. He had stolen something precious from the Marauders, and they had died to protect him and their friends’ embers. Oa hoped Ohm was right about him.
I want to make things better
, he thought to himself. Oa turned and looked over at Ohm.
“Do you think that’s why the Creator made me? To fix this world?” he asked.
“That goal is your own. You must fight to make it reality,” Ohm barked. He sat up again, there was fury in his voice. “There is one thing I remember from that accursed cave. I spoke with the Creator. I learned that I was merely playing puppet to a fate planned out by that cruel and treacherous being. The Creator never made me to succeed in my purpose: I was tricked! I know Ari died because I failed to realize the nature of the game. My life, my hopes, and my dreams all worked into the machinations of this being. I refuse to let the same curse fall on you, Oa. I will not let you lose the hope that I lost long ago. Do not concern yourself with our maker, he is a god of failure. The paths he conceived to build, led to ruin. Together we can forge a trail out of the broken system he built and stop Eol. You will fix this world.” The Traveler fell silent, his impassioned speech concluded. The blue light in his mask sparked slightly then fell dark.