Dark Crow Rising

Minding the airship's descent into gentler winds, I loosen my grip on the fuselage. Taking the moment of relative quiet, I look back towards the giant. It's running straight for us and we only have the time we do because it keeps getting rammed. Warship, warship, warship, they keep going for it with suicidal fervour.

Even from up here, I can see how each footfall quakes the earth, and it's only getting clearer. I doubt any of us will have a simple time walking in this desert. Unlike all those years ago, when I was trying to return to Tobaballe, we do not have time to acclimate. We have to rush onwards to Segaansallis, board and pilot it to victory.

My gaze snaps to the front of the airship as magical fires start to break out. The plating holds, but the front side is seemingly burning up. The engines, in particular, are quite explosive. As is my magic.

Clicking my tongue, I release the grip my spell has on the airship and drop off into the air. Meeting the wall of wind with no fear within, I try to guide myself to the highest looking dune. All the magic in this place is gone. It's all gone. It won't hurt, it shouldn't hurt.

Yet, my body does not agree. I know what heights I can handle and this is not one of them!

"I GUESS THERE IS SOME FEAR!" I let out loud enough to hear against the howling wind. My mind gets to work thinking of the spell I will need to survive this drop. I need to hold on, just a little longer. No spell yet, wait... Wait...

I almost strike the peak of a dune, my growing velocity bringing me all too close. The ground. Moving my claws out, I fire off the spell. Flipping back the other way, I orient my feet to face the dune and fire off again.

All this lack of naturally occurring magic sends me flying around. I crash through the sands, picking up speed once again in the vicious rolling. A moment presents itself. Thrusting my left claw forward, I crater the ground just enough to slam right into it.

Laying still for the moment, I grumble at the erupting grains slipping into my bandages. Carefully minding my strength, I watch the airship make its own rough landing a fair distance away. The ground makes me bounce, and then again. Snapping my eyes to the cause while in motion, I see a sword rising into the air.

Popping my foot where it needs to go, I leap. The arcane fireballs trail after me, marking each jump. I keep going with all I have and spot the final distance. Taking the last leap, I roll to a stop and wobble up. Just in time to watch the utter mess of everyone clenching their ability to use magic shut.

Almost toddler-like, I wobble up to them and note the soldiers already here. These must be the troops Inerish mentioned in her briefing. They take one look at me and wade their way over. In the hands of one, a small device.

"Dark Crow?" he asks, coming to a nervous stop against Segaansallis' leg. I nod in response and he hands the device over. It's a communicator, the headset kind. I watch him carefully, unsure what to do with it.

Another man steps up, "Grandguard Inerish wants you to put it on. She wants you in what we believe to be the pilot's seat."

His fellows bounce too high and fall about, as do most of the students. I manage to keep myself and him on our feet. He nods in thanks. I gesture for him to help me put this thing on.

"This isn't designed for me!" I point out, turning my gaze a bit towards the giant. Its sword drives into the ground, parting the earth so much as to reform the lost mountain ranges. Like a spade, it forces it back up, sending a wave towards us.

"EVERYONE, GET INSIDE NOW!" Seigunfrei roars, gesturing all inside. Moving as quick as I can, I heave the soldiers back up and linger as people approach. My claws shove them in one after another until the last one is in. An oppressive shadow overtakes us.

The airship's engines fire up desperately, and I shake my head. Slipping into Segaansallis, the view blots out with all that sand and it rushes to fill the open space. People cry out over the sound of the crashing wave and an explosion rips through towards us. What sounds like an aircraft grows distant.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, TAKE THE FIRST SEAT YOU CAN AND REMAIN THERE! GO! GO! GO!" one soldier calls out, his weapon firing off to put some haste into them. Oddly, despite the lack of magic within this machine, it does not react like the outside. Anvil-Peak passes my mind. The magic in that mountain never interacted like the arcane normally does either.

Grabbing a soldier and holding him back, I gesture to my headpiece, "How do I work this?"

"There's a switch on this side, flick it up and it'll open the line to the Grandguard." he explains. His lungs do not even have time to refill before he's running off to where he needs to go.

Muttering to myself, I carefully do as instructed to activate the delicate-looking thing. Climbing the impossibly ancient stairway, my mind goes wayward at how familiar this all is. Was this machine designed with humans in mind or was it an attempt at humour? The gods can be all sizes, so why not facilitate the idea of piloting something this large?

"Ni-" the device goes.

It cuts out.

"Ni-NI... NIN- Ni-" it goes again.

Groaning, I give it a gentle knock, and that seems to sort it.

"I'm here, on my way up to the bit you want me at." I tell Inerish and I hear her sigh in relief, as clear as if we were sharing a room.

"Good, good, hurry up! Atarifuge is closing in on your position and we do not have any time to spare," she urges, the noise of the men and women behind her breaking through.

"Well, pardon me for not knowing how to navigate a giant's insides with a massive clog up of people ahead!" I snap, waiting for the first opportunity I have to slip up and above. Like how muscles expand more at certain points, this giant's halls do too.

"Please, Nin... Hurry." Inerish begs quietly and I nod slowly. Will do. Have too.