By the time Gryseld's flagship took to the air, the sun was already rising. Its pale rays spilled across the snow, making it sparkle so bright Nevy's eyes ached.
So she didn't look at it, nor at Gryseld at the wheel or Kress crouched behind one of the starboard cannons. Being on this deck, so much broader than the Blue Sky's, just didn't feel right. And Nevy had to admit it bothered her a little how naturally Kress had taken her position, as if she had never left at all.
Nevy shook her head to clear it of these petty thoughts. Now was not the time, if ever. Instead, she made herself focus on the battle still raging on the clifftop ahead.
A few other pirates had joined them, but not nearly enough for a full crew complement. All the same, just having a skycraft turned the odds into their favor.
But as they approached the hill, a sudden icy gale blasted across the deck. Nevy lurched, almost losing her balance, and the wind didn't let up. It lashed like a storm of knives, tugging at her coat and blinding her with stinging flurries of snow.
A blizzard? But where it had come from? She was certain the sky had been clear beforehand, not a cloud in sight.
As the wind howled, she became aware of a new sensation that had nothing to do with the cold. A deep pressure throbbing in her bones, swelling inside her skull.
Levia, she realized. Quite a lot of it, and quite powerful.
"Captain!" she yelled, clinging to the railing for support and trying to ignore how the craft lurched and shook. "This storm – it must be someone using their elemental powers. Or perhaps multiple people."
"Is that so?" Gryseld shouted, gripping the wheel for dear life. "Well! Whether it's natural or not, a little inclement weather isn't enough to stop me."
So she said, but thanks to the blizzard, they wouldn't be able to see much of what was going on – let alone fire their cannons.
The pressure deepened, dragging down Nevy's stomach like she had swallowed a stone. If it weren't for her grip on the railing, she might have fallen to her knees.
This kind of power – she had almost never felt anything like it before. Except, except....
Just as the thought struck her, a massive beam of darkness tore through the blizzard, scattering snow in its wake and racing straight toward their craft.
Gryseld gave the wheel a tremendous spin, making the craft lurch so hard starboard it almost turned on its side. All the breath fled Nevy's body when she slammed against the railing. Still, she didn't stop gripping it until her arms went numb. It was the only thing keeping her from plummeting through the sky.
Like this, the breadth of the deck filled her vision – and above it, a wall of darkness so deep she almost forgot what light looked like altogether, thrumming with a power that made the entire craft vibrate as if it was being torn apart atom by atom. Her teeth rattled and her body slammed rhythmically against the railing, but she barely felt the pain beneath the dread seizing her entire being.
When the darkness finally vanished, dissipating into sparks that faded in the pink-streaked dawn, Nevy managed to draw a full breath for the first time. Gryseld righted the craft with a sharp yank of the wheel, and Nevy groaned when she slammed back onto the deck.
As she lifted her head, she didn't miss the smoke curling from the skycraft's port side, flooding the air with its acrid stench. Her heart slammed. That attack had only grazed them; who knew what would have happened if it had managed to strike.
She climbed back to her feet, peering at the scene below. The blizzard had stopped, revealing the fighters on the hilltop, the churned-up snow beneath them.
And beyond them, an expanse of snow glistening under the rising sun. Except if Nevy wasn't mistaken, this was where the pressure beginning to build inside her bones again must be coming from.
She might not be the best at sensing Levia, but she understood full well that another one of those beams was beginning to charge. Grave must still be aboard the invisible skycraft.
Which made sense. From there, not only could she attack with greater firepower, but she would be nearly impossible to touch.
"Shit." Gryseld shook her head. "This is quite a nuisance, not being able to see the enemy...."
More Levia swelled in the air, colder and sharper this time. Nevy saw a row of demon soldiers on the hill raising their arms, and with a jolt she realized they must be prepared to create the blizzard again.
From behind, the click of Kress hefting her crossbow. Then an arrow zipped through the air, striking the demon in the center of the line directly in the chest. She toppled into the snow, arms still raised.
Just like that, chaos erupted anew. Archers on the ground loosed a hail of arrows at Gryseld's craft, most of which clattered off the hull, but a few managed to soar over the deck. Nevy quickly hunched down low. But Gryseld responded just as fast, yanking on the wheel and hurtling into the air beyond the archers' range.
As she did so, the other pirates aboard fired arrows of their own at the casting demons. A few more fell, and the crew members on the ground must have realized what was going on because they rushed toward the remaining casters.
Peeking through the railing bars, Nevy tried to take in as much of the battlefield as possible. To her surprise, most of the zombies lay limp and useless in the snow like discarded toys. Without Grave around, could they no longer resurrect?
Nevy didn't know how much of an advantage it might be. This was no longer a ground battle, after all, but a clash between two skycraft. One of which was invisible.
Nevy focused her vision ahead, straining with all her might even though she knew she wouldn't be able to see anything. But maybe if she concentrated on sensing its Levia....
The power still throbbed in her bones, but it didn't seem to have become any stronger. Her heart stuttered. Was it no longer charging? But why?
She clenched her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, tried her hardest to concentrate. But all she felt was that ceaseless throbbing, drowning out the rapid thrum of her own heart. If anything, it seemed to be quieting down. Because she was losing her ability to sense it? Or because it was heading away from them?
But why would Grave leave if she held the advantage?
"Nevs?" Kress's worried voice scattered what remained of Nevy's concentration. "You okay?"
"I – " Nevy began, but sudden footsteps cut off her words. She blinked when she saw Cay approaching, breathing hard and his robes torn but otherwise uninjured.
When had he gotten on board? No time to wonder. "Cay," she said, running over to meet him. "The enemy craft, can you try to sense it?"
After all, he was the strongest Levia sensor of the crew. What she couldn't do, he might easily accomplish.
"That's what I was going to tell you," Cay said. "It seems their cannons are partially charged, but no longer gaining energy. And it's becoming fainter by the moment. If you ask me, they're beginning to head north."
Nevy breathed out. So she'd been right. Before she could say anything, Cay pulled a small bottle of deep purple potion out of his pouch.
"I have an idea, Nevy. This is all I've got, but do you have any tracking potions on you?"
"Ah." Nevy caught on in a heartbeat. "That's brilliant, Cay! Yes, let's see...."
She rummaged through her pockets, pulling out several bottles before finding the correct one. To her dismay, it was half empty. "Oh, dear. I don't know if this will be enough."
"We'll make it work," Cay said. "Now to get this on the craft...."
"Leave it to me." Kress marched up to them, grinning broadly. "Just tell me where to aim, okay?"
Soon they were gathered behind the nearest cannon. Cay and Nevy poured the potion inside an empty smoke bomb shell Nevy had also dug out of her pockets. To her relief, the liquid filled the shell almost completely. This Kress fit into the cannon, before crouching down with a look of intense concentration.
Cay closed his eyes and clasped his hands, and Nevy sensed his own power deepening – a kind of pleasant warmth that soothed her tense muscles.
"Eleven o'clock, approximately fifty degrees above the horizon," he said when he opened his eyes.
As Kress adjusted the cannon, Nevy twisted her fingers together and tried to ignore her racing heartbeat. It seemed to take forever, but finally Kress yanked back the lever at the base of the cannon.
Levia swelled inside Nevy's chest, deep and resounding, and she could sense it flowing from the skycraft's medusid into the cannon. With an earsplitting boom, the cannon unleashed its payload.
Nevy held her breath as she watched the shell streak across the sky. By all means, it looked like it was firing into empty air, and that sent doubts crawling through her mind. What if Cay had misjudged? What if the enemy craft had already moved on?
As her thoughts climbed to a fever pitch, a splash of purple suddenly appeared in midair. Though it quickly began to fade into the distance, it never disappeared.
Nevy breathed out, relief leaving her dizzy. The next thing she knew, a huge, heavy hand pounded her back so hard she went down to her knees. "Kress, Kress!" she squeaked, but her voice was drowned out by Kress's uproarious laughter.
In spite of herself, Nevy couldn't help a faint smile of her own. She didn't know why Grave was retreating, but it didn't matter. Now they had a way of tracking her craft – the first step to getting back their captured comrades.