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A S R HAIF PACED the wheelhouse, he wished he had gone with the others.

Not because of the fiery heat, which stifled every breath.

Not because of the ache of the sun’s glare.

Not even because of the promise of water in that gemstone forest.

With a scowl, he returned to where Shiya was bent next to Fenn and Krysh. The two men had summoned the ta’wyn to their station, to confirm a fear, trusting her sharper eyes. She had been studying the view ahead for a full quarter-bell. Rhaif regretted not going with the others so he could have lived in blissful ignorance of what lay ahead.

Shiya finally straightened.

“Yes, you’re correct,” she said calmly. “Those are ta’wyn. Likely Roots, worker drones. I count several dozen in view.”

“Dozens,” Rhaif moaned.

“ Several dozen,” Shiya corrected, her eyes narrowed with a concern that looked far too mild. “I cannot rule out an Axis, a caste like mine, among them. Not at this distance. But at present, I could not detect any of the ta’wyn glowing with an aura of synmeld. ”

Rhaif carried a trace of bridle-song in his own blood, a gift from his mother. Even now, he could sense a slight shimmer across Shiya’s bronze. Then again, it could just be the sunlight polishing her brighter.

He crossed to the farscope. “Can I take a look?”

He doubted his gift was anywhere near strong enough to pick out a glowing Axis among the talentless Roots, but he wanted to see for himself the threat they faced. Last winter, their group had barely survived a battle against a single Root.

Not a dozen—certainly not several dozen.

Krysh waved invitingly toward his farscope.

As Rhaif bent down, Shiya spoke again, apparently not finished with her assessment. “I fear that is not the worst that I saw. We are now close enough that you should be able to discern this for yourself. Best you do.”

Rhaif closed his eyes, wondering if he had made a wrong decision again.

Do I truly want to see this?

To the side, Fenn remained bent over a neighboring scope, one focused on the same location. Darant had ordered a continual vigil on that smoky glass Dragon puffing into the sky. The captain wanted to know if there was any sign that their ship had been spotted, to watch for any stirring of that buzzing beehive.

Krysh touched Rhaif’s shoulder. “Maybe I should study this new finding first.”

Rhaif opened his eyes, irritated by the slight condescension in the alchymist’s voice. Or maybe it was merely scholarly curiosity.

Still, Rhaif kept his spot. “Those ta’wyn bastards have been posted out there for millennia. I think they can wait a few more breaths for you to peek under their skirts.”

Rhaif fitted his eyes tight to the scope, which was still warm from the heat of Shiya’s bronze. It took him a few blinks and a squint to adjust his sight to the magnified view of the mountain.

Black cliffs shattered high into the blue sky. Its crown appeared as jagged as a shark’s maw. On its eastern slopes, twin smoke columns spiraled up in a continual sooty smudge. But he focused on movement below.

In the shadow of the mountain, brightly glinting spots worked slowly across the glass sea. Others labored up the cliff faces. He returned his attention to those below. He struggled to see what else had caught Shiya’s attention.

He chewed his lower lip. As a thief, he knew attention to detail was as important as dexterous fingers. He took pride in this. He felt a competitive edge to be the first to spot whatever had sparked Shiya’s misgivings.

As his eyes adjusted to the glare, to the distance, he finally noted other shadowy movement against the glass. Huge, humped shapes, far larger than the bronze wardens, lumbered across the glass. They appeared to be some manner of creature, maybe a beast of burden enforced into labor or bridled into servitude. Rhaif could almost make out wagons or carts being pulled behind those poor creatures.

With his attention so focused, he picked out something else. Smaller shadows, barely discernible but clear enough. He winced with recognition.

“There are people down there,” he gasped out. “Laboring alongside some great beasts and wagons.”

“Maybe slaves,” Fenn said, having noted the same, which disappointed Rhaif’s rivalrous nature.

“Or broken and bridled,” Rhaif added, trying to upstage the navigator.

Shiya tutted at this last suggestion. “Not I or any Axis has such strength. A Kryst maybe.”

Rhaif heard the shrug in her words. With large gaps in her knowledge, she could not be certain about the powers of a Kryst. During the long journey here, their group had many discussions about this, which mostly involved conjecture and wild suppositions.

Darant groused from his station, “By all the gods’ arses, there had better not be a Kryst out there. An army of Roots is impossible enough.”

Rhaif straightened, glancing back. “Shiya, when it comes to a threat, while the presence of slaves and lumbering beasts is worrisome, I don’t think it compares to several dozen ta’wyn.”

“That was not my concern.” Shiya nodded to the scope. “Keep watching.”

Krysh again tried to nudge Rhaif aside, but he ignored the alchymist and returned his attention to the view outside. Through the scope, the mountain swelled again. He studied those brighter glints and hulking shadows. He squinted and searched, but he failed to spot anything else out there.

Then one of the bronze dots shot upward off the flat glass, rising against the black flank. Fenn gasped from the neighboring scope, having spotted this, too. The speed of that ascent defied any ability to climb that fast, especially over a sheer glass surface. While a ta’wyn could move swiftly, Rhaif doubted Shiya could have managed to scale so effortlessly.

As he watched, the truth revealed itself as that blip buzzed like an angry hornet over the mountain’s flank. Another ta’wyn shot off the glass, traveling swiftly, then hovered back and forth across a cliff.

Rhaif fought through his shock. “They’re… They’re flying.”

“Like birds taking wing,” Fenn added.

Shiya acknowledged this, but she could offer no insight. “I have no knowledge of such an ability among the ta’wyn. I wager it is some alchymy unique to this stranded army.”

Krysh finally shoved Rhaif aside, anxious to view this disturbing miracle himself.

Darant also overheard their outburst. “Are you saying these bastards can take to the air?” The captain scowled out the window. “How high can they go?”

Fenn answered, “Considering my assessment of the mountain’s stature, easily to the same height that we’re traveling now. Most likely higher.”

Darant cursed, then turned to his daughter. “Glace, drop us down. As close to that glaring black sea as you can manage without ripping out our keel. Then stifle the forges. I don’t want a lick of flames showing.”

Rhaif drew closer. “What about the others? At the lake?”

“They can fly back to us. If those ta’wyn can take wing, then not even the skies will protect us. I was counting on our ship’s ability to retreat straight up if there was trouble. But if those bastards can follow us…”

Rhaif swallowed hard. “Then there’ll be no refuge anywhere.”

Shiya offered the barest hope. “After studying this ability, I do not believe the ta’wyn can sustain their flight for long, not without refueling themselves.”

“Still, it wouldn’t take them long to shoot up and board my ship,” Darant warned.

Shiya did not bother to reply.

Glace’s team set about lowering the Fyredragon toward the black sea. Rhaif cringed, expecting to hear the grind of wood on glass. But the pirate’s daughter proved as adept as her father. The low roar of the engines dimmed to a rumble, then died away. The glow of their forges snuffed out. The ship soon floated under the draw of their gasbag alone.

The quiet was unnerving.

The huge ship hung above the glass sea, with nothing but the glare to hide it. While the Fyredragon lay twenty leagues off from the mountain, it was too close for Rhaif’s comfort.

Darant clearly felt the same way. “All of you. Keep an eye out for any of those bronze bastards sweeping our way.”

In this situation, Rhaif tried to place his trust on a bit of guild wisdom: a comfortable target was always the sleepiest. He doubted this ta’wyn army had entertained any uninvited guests for many millennia. As isolated as they were, he hoped their guard would be down. Unless some bronze sentinel happened to have a scope pointed this way, the Fyredragon might remain unnoticed for a bit longer.

But that can’t last forever.

For now, this was the best the crew could manage.

To hide in plain sight.

Rhaif stared to the west, feeling exposed and vulnerable.

I definitely should’ve gone off with the others.