Me, My Spirit, And I [Book 1 Complete]

B2-Ch3 (58) Wandering Wyverns



Laborers hauled supplies and traded goods up the tongue-like ramp of the SCSS Shadow Beast in preparation for the trip to Ahras, the capital of the Queendom. It was the last stop and final ceremony before they would travel to the Eastern Imperial Academy. Luca was overseeing the skyship while Shada was making last minute preparations to be absent from the Shadow Company for long periods of time.

Luca and the ship's crew all wore a black and silver uniform that would eventually be recognized as the default uniform for the Shadow Company's sky navy. Shinobin, Westlin, and Mina stood around the bridge watching the various view screens Shada had created using scrying spells linked to curved sheets of diamond. Through these screens, everywhere in the ship and the area around it could be observed.

"Does Shada have plans to sell these scrying screens?" Shinobin asked curiously as she watched the crew work. Unlike normal, she was dressed in an elaborate green gold embossed dress that gave her a regal air.

"Not at the moment, no. We are still worried about releasing various forms of EssTech too quickly. The potential for misuse and abuse are rather high." Luca ran his fingers through his wavy copper brown hair nervously. "It is the same for most of the higher end stuff that Shada has developed, like the motors. If we release this technology too quickly, it would be extremely disruptive."

"Things are already chaotic enough with the System being fixed." Shinobin looked off in the distance. "Reestablishing portal based trade routes, reactivation of the worldgates, people coping with the Guide talking directly to them, and don't get me started on the Skill shop that is now accessible at the Temples and Shrines." Shinobin shook her head. "It has been centuries since we had to deal with these things."

"I know; Shada has been worried about security at the Shadow Company now that everyone has access to Inventories again. He paid for his security teams to purchase Skills to search Inventories for dangerous items and contraband." Luca was checking off boxes on a clipboard as various reports came in about what had and had not been loaded on board while talking to his mother.

"I wonder how the city Guard is handling that?" Mina mused. Security was one of her primary functions for the family, after all.

Luca looked up from their list and turned to face Mina. "Actually, Shada worked out a deal with the City Lord. The city took out a loan to purchase various Skills that have become necessary, and in return the Shadow Company is getting reduced taxes. Honestly, Westlin may end up being better prepared than most places." A look of concern crossed Luca's face. "I am more worried about the smaller communities that can't afford to purchase new Skills. I imagine there will be border disputes soon until power levels even out."

Shinobin and Mina both nodded in agreement. Westlin was in a corner of the bridge reading poetry, which they had an odd fondness for while ignoring the more serious conversations.

Several hours later preparations were complete. Since this was a longer, more serious flight, the bridge had been cleared. Only Luca, Shada, and the crew remained. It would only take a few hours at top speed to reach Ahras, but they planned a slightly longer trip to fully test out some new enchantments Shada had added to the ship.

Luca was in his favorite seat, the captain's chair, with Shada's manifestation looming silently behind him when the final pre-flight checks were completed. "Master Luca, Master Shada, we are ready to depart whenever you are ready. Cargo is secure. Guests are in their quarters and engineering reports all systems stable."

"Take us up and over. Let's circle the city and give everyone a good view before we head north. I had a few criers sent out so people could see us off, after all. Let's give them a show," Shada said as he gestured to a few screens showing gathered crowds and a few entrepreneurial vendors.

The captain nodded carefully before speaking into a funnel-like tube that would carry his voice throughout the ship. "Everyone, please prepare for take off. We will be doing some fancy maneuvers over the city before heading North."

As the captain's words carried throughout the ship, people stopped what they were doing to grip conveniently placed handholds or sit in comfortable chairs. While the ship had self leveling enchantments linked to gyroscopes and other features to smooth out the ride, maneuvers and acceleration could still be problematic for the underprepared.

The hovering skyship rose slowly and serenely skyward. It was a bright, clear day with only sparse clouds in a bright blue skin. The iridescent silver Shadow Beast shimmered in a rainbow of colors as the light hit the scale-like patterns on the hull. Decorative red and black fin-like sails made of shiny, silken material were unfurled for dramatic flare.

"Prepare for acceleration and maneuvering," the captain announced calmly into the communications funnel. With that, the entire ship seemed to vibrate as the EssTech motors hummed to life and the propellers began spinning rapidly.

SCSS Shadow Beast surged forward. Once it reached the walls of Westlin, it turned gracefully to circle the city in a series of ever growing spirals. On the screens, the crowds could be seen waving their arms and tiny flags with the Shadow Companies' latest symbol on them. Shada was no stranger to the idea of marketing and branding, so he had a few items made up with images of the Shadow Beast casting a shadow while soaring through the air.

As they passed over the Trunk and the City Lord's palace, they saw the City Lord himself wave at them as they passed. The impact the Shadow Company had on the local economy could not be understated; it wasn't surprising to see so many turn out to wish their benefactor, the mysterious Mr. Shadow, off on a new adventure. Shada was hoping to also drum up good publicity for when the Shadow Company started manufacturing skyships in earnest, but that was still a few years off. The facilities, staff, and EssTech just weren't ready yet. Despite how smoothly the Shadow Beast flew, it was still technically just a prototype. The Essence Resonance Motors could be finicky and required constant monitoring for example, and it took a lot of Essence to move such a large mass through the air.

Soon, the mini tour of the city was over and the Shadow Beast rose higher and sped north towards the forest target of the trip. There was a known nest of Wyverns north of the city; everyone was curious to see how they would react to the Shadow Beast and how well Shada's defenses would hold up.

It took only about 15 minutes to reach the area their maps said held a nest of wyverns. Everyone nervously watched out the fish eye windows at the front of the bridge, or at various view screens, as they waited to see if their presence would disturb the nest. At first, it seemed like the wyverns wouldn't even notice them and that this test would be a failure, but then wyverns began boiling from the massive trees below like hornets from a kicked nest. Something about the ship had definitely set them off.

The captain looked somewhat pale. "Sirs? That is a lot of wyverns, maybe we should just try to outrun them. I know for a fact they can't match our speed."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Luca, acting as the mouthpiece for the duo, looked at the screen before shaking their head calmly. "No, captain, we came here to see how Beasts and Monsters would react to the Shadow Beast and how well our defenses work." He pointed to a screen showing the largest number of wyverns. "Seems they don't like us being up here much."

The captain looked resigned. "No, it doesn't look like they do at all, sir." With a nervous glance at Shada, the captain spoke again. "Sir? Are you truly confident in your defenses holding up to a wyvern swarm?"

"Even if my enchantments somehow failed, the hull of this ship is strong enough that I doubt those creatures can do more than scratch it, let alone do enough damage to endanger us." Shada's manifestation gave what he hoped was a confident and reassuring smile as he watched the approaching swarm.

Wyverns were about what one would expect from a magical world. To Shada's eyes, they resembled a mix of pterosaur and dragon. They were two legged flying reptiles with strong jaws, sharp teeth, and long claws. The tapered heads and wings were more pterosaur-like, while their scaly skin and bulky builds were more dragon-like.

At first, the wyverns only circled the skyship, screeching at it so loudly that everyone on the ship could hear them. A swarm of screeching wyverns was practically a sonic attack, but the screeching only lasted a moment before a silencing ward enveloped the ship and protected the passengers and crew.

"Looks like the sonic ward triggered properly. Though, it could have been faster, I think?" Luca said while checking his clipboard and making a few notes.

Some of the crew were still holding their hands over their ears even after the ward was triggered. Shada noted this mentally and relayed the observation to Luca. "Yes, the automatic trigger is too slow. I think having that active before any aerial confrontation would be wise. Don't you agree, captain?" Shada asked. The captain was high enough level that the sound hadn't bothered them as much as it did the younger crew members.

"Yes sir, I must ask forgiveness. I knew how harsh a wyvern scream could be and didn't warn anyone." The captain looked annoyed and apologetic all at once.

"We are all still new to this, captain. Only the Dwarves know the ins and outs of skyship travel, but we shall learn," Shada said encouragingly.

"As you say, sir."

It didn't take long for the wyverns to realize that they were having no impact with their sonic attacks, so the first brave Beast decided a direct attack on one of the eyes of the skyship would be a good idea. In most creatures, eyes were vulnerable spots, so it was entirely logical for a non-sapient Beast to attack that location. Unfortunately for the poor wyvern, the eyes of the Shadow Beast were hardened, clear, scratch resistant, and thick sapphire glass. The creature hit the eye so hard that it stunned itself. It was like running into a wall made of stone, and the wyvern didn't leave a scratch as it tumbled away.

The crew of course had various terrified reactions. The eye was the bridge's window, so everyone got a very clear up close look at the creature before it bounced off and fell away.

The captain began shouting loudly at those few crew members that tried to run off the bridge. More than a few had to be helped back to their feet and stations.

Luca was calmly taking notes, but there was an excited grin on his face and a glint in his eye. Shada was inside the eye examining it for damage. It had held up even better than expected. The rune work around it gave the sapphire glass enough strength that he briefly considered making a few crystalline swords just because he could, but dismissed the idea as rather impractical.

"Look captain, not even a scratch!" Shada pointed out cheerfully.

The pale faced captain only nodded in response before turning to the view screen where a few more wyverns looked like they were willing to take a chance and try a direct attack. "Sir, I know that the eyes there are obviously strong enough, but wouldn't it be better to raise the wards before one hits the hull?"

Shada rubbed the chin of his manifestation thoughtfully. "No, not yet. I need to see at least one good impact on the hull. Might as well dangle a bit of bait." With that said, Shada phased through the hull. The wyverns noticed him right away, and as expected couldn't resist trying to grab at the visible spirit. Sadly, they weren't bright enough to realize they couldn't harm a spirit without direct magical attacks, so several slammed into one of the reinforced sections of the hull. Like their predecessor, these bounced off and fell towards the ground stunned, before gathering themselves and recovering.

Looking at the hull with Spells and senses, Shada noted that it held up remarkably well. The strengthening enchantments had definitely helped, but being aluminum based, there were minor scratches where the wyvern claws had scraped against the hull. He fixed that with a quick cast of a mending Spell before returning to the bridge, which spooked one of the crew enough that they let out a small squeak of surprise.

"The hull is fine, just a few scratches, but no sense letting them mar the finish. Trigger the primary ward please," Shada told the crew member that was tasked with monitoring the ship's defenses.

"Yes sir!" the young man shouted before flipping a switch. The Essence throughout the ship seemed to buzz momentarily as an invisible ward surrounded the vessel.

It was just in time, as the wyverns seemed to decide that if a few weren't enough, they should attack as a swarm instead. The entire flock seemed to hit the ward at once. The lights on the ship, which were all linked to a central supply system, dimmed briefly before backups kicked on and things stabilized.

"How are the energy readings?" Luca asked as he looked up from his notes.

"Sir! Holding steady, but the drain is significant. If my math is right, we could only sustain this level of defense for 10, maybe 15 minutes before the wards fail," answered a sweaty and nervous looking crew member.

"Understood crewman. Shada, shall we test active defenses?" Luca asked excitedly, already knowing the answer his other self would give.

Shada smiled and nodded unnecessarily, and Luca set their clipboard aside. He felt Shada merge with him, and where there were two, there was now one. Lusha's mind reached out to enchantments in the Ship only they could access for security reasons.

The scrying screens could all be linked to a master feed, which Lusha tapped into. The ship's hidden Essence Resonance Generators kicked on, drawing enough Essence that the lights once more dimmed as the ward flickered; but Lusha only smiled widely as a series of small, complex spell circles appeared at precise locations around the ship. Those watching on the screens were temporarily blinded as a series of white hot spears of light shot outward from the ship. Where these spears intersected with a wyverns body, several inch deep holes appeared. In areas like the limbs, these holes pieced all the way through. Lusha managed this feat three times, and three times the viewers suffered temporary blindness from the strobing laser beams Lusha had conjured from the Ether.

The surviving wyverns scattered in all directions, screeching in fear and confusion. Many sported deep burns where they had been struck, while many unlucky individuals suffered fatal wounds and were already falling from the sky.

The traumatized crew looked with eyes tearing from the repeated strobe effect at the grinning teenager sitting in the chair, vibrating with excitement. They were already reaching for their clipboard and muttering to themselves.

"Targeting was horrible, but that isn't surprising; there was no targeting, just laser scatter shot! I wonder if I can add self-targeting components to the enchantments?" Lusha glanced up at the crew that looked to be in a state of shock, awe, or fear and noted their teary eyes. "I need to add something to the screens and windows to avoid blinding people." They turned their still grinning face to the captain, who was looking at one the screens showing the trees littered with wyvern corpses with a look of awe on his face. "Captain, have someone send word to my mother to check on the crew's eyes. After that, let's head down and collect our new trade goods. I hear wyvern leather makes excellent armor, and the Essence crystals will help supplement the ones I just burned through." Their voice was confident, cheerful, and excited.

Some of the crew looked at Lusha like they were mad, but the captain began issuing orders as instructed. This gave the crew something else to focus on other than the scary teen that somehow took on a whole flock of wyvern while smiling.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.