In an instant, Vesper was plunged back into the fire and blood.
On the worst day of her life, she had already been here—surrounded by screams, as her group and the evil pirates struggled for survival. Yet she had fought then like her life depended on it, because it had.
She still saw that dagger in her nightmares, and the griffon bleeding and gasping before he died. She still saw the spectral outline of the captain before his feathers and flesh turned to ash, and blackened bones crumbled to the deck.
Yet as bad as that was, watching Blake now was worse. Then they'd been fighting together, against an evil enemy. But what enemy did Blake fight against now? As his fury built, the circle of destruction grew larger. Soon it would swallow all of them.
Such terror made whether she could fly or not a secondary concern—of course Vesper could fly, hovering in the air as close as she could without stepping directly into the flames. But her wings were sensitive, even more than the rest of her. Without flesh behind them, such delicate skin would heat quickly, and burn soon after. She would fall in agony.
Unless she stopped this. "Blake!" she yelled, as loud as she could. It wasn't very loud, not compared to the roaring Blake and Ryan were doing. But it was enough to make him stop.
Blake looked up, fixing her with a sudden, intense glare. Would he blast her next? She'd only have a second to find out.
"You're hurting your friends," she said. "You could kill me. Is that what you want?"
Flames licked from around Blake, bright blue and ghostly. Maybe this was the last thing Vesper would see.
Then they went out. A single burst of bright blue light surrounded Blake, and when it was gone the fire went with it.
Well, his flames. The wilderness was still on fire.
Vesper dropped slowly to the ground, settling only when she found a patch of earth that wasn't smoldering. It was a little warm to the touch—despite her previous assumptions, there was sensitive skin tucked away in the center of her hooves. But it was tough enough for a little warmth.
"I don't..." Blake shook himself off, dislodging pale ash from his body. He looked entirely unburned. Even the skin was somehow immune to the flames. Ryan too, though he was backing away now, frightened. "I feel so strange, Vesper. Anger like that—I don’t even know where it came from. What's wrong with me?"
Vesper didn't retreat. Blake wasn't burning with heat anymore, but the heat didn't dissipate immediately. Vesper felt it with every step, like walking closer to an oven left open.
She faced it anyway. "Might be nothing's wrong, Blake. We know less about you than any of us. But we won't find out if you burn up the place."
He nodded, head slumping forward. Whatever the source of his strange anger, it was gone now.
They walked through the blackened underbrush, passing a few patches thick enough that they were still burning. Yet aside from the thick brush directly around this stone pillar, there wasn't actually that much to burn. Did the buffalo know this was going to happen? They ran for ten minutes, trampling everything into the dirt.
Ryan followed close behind them, but Vesper barely paid him a backward glance. She had other worries just now, and the changeling clearly knew what he was doing. He hadn't been burned, anyway.
Her darker fears—that they would find a member of their expedition here, burned away to nothing like Captain Callahan, didn't come to pass. They made it all the way to the former campsite, passing the edge of where the flames had anything to burn.
The buffalo camp was gone, tents ripped up and entirely abandoned. Jordan hadn't even noticed them fleeing—but she had other things on her mind at the time. Guess we're lucky they didn't come in to trample everything.
Thanks to all their running, the fire hadn't made it to the Bright Hawk either. She climbed up the ramp, occasionally nudging Blake to follow when he slowed.
Kaelynn waited just inside, with the others not far behind. They stared as the three of them made their way in, all eyes on Blake. That's no fair at all. Like throwing fire is his fault.
Galena blocked the way up, puffing her chest and spreading her wings. "Sure you're ready to come aboard, Blake? If we burn..."
"I'm sure," he grunted. He sounded so tired, like he'd just been hiking for weeks. It hurt just to hear him talk like that. "Galena, you're in charge. Get us into the air and away from here. We need to get further north. There are other Worldgates that way."
"I will," she said. "The hippogriff and I will get us moving again. Try to remain calm."
And when the murderous pirate tells you that you need to chill out, you should probably listen.
She walked with Blake the rest of the trip, winding between empty cabins all the way to his room. Right beside hers, but not attached. They were still apart.
"We deserve better," Blake said. "How much further do we have to go? How many more Worldgates do we have to try? We didn't ask to be put here."
She followed him through the doorway, though she didn't go further. Blake's room was everything hers wasn't—pristine, perfectly organized. A bulletin board against the far wall had a recreation of their map, marked with the places they'd already tried. He'd even drawn a little path moving up and down to the other worldgates though she couldn't see specifically where the path led.
"I know," she said. "But if you feel like you're the one who has to carry the weight of that responsibility, stop. We're going together. Hopefully that means we claw our way out of this together. If not—then we can crash and burn together."
He winced there at the end, and she looked hastily away. "Well maybe not burn. But find a way to live here. The more it sounds like Janet doesn't want to be here, the more I want to stay. Does that make any sense?"
Blake rolled his eyes. "Don't start talking like that, Jordan. Vesper. Sorry, I'm... I think I just need some rest. All those flames... we should get moving, before the buffalo are following us too. Probably won't be able to come back to this place for help. Not that we could get much use out of this Worldgate. Still horses..."
Could she follow him? Maybe. But that utter exhaustion, weighing on him like a growing pile of bricks—somehow, she doubted he'd be too happy about anything he did tonight.
"You're going to sleep," she said instead. "And I'm gonna make sure I see you doing it. I'll know if you aren't dreaming. It's magic."
"Like flying," he repeated, slumping into bed. "And bringing objects out of nowhere. You're becoming more magical than anyone. You should be... careful with that."
She retreated through the doorway, though she didn't turn away from him. Not yet. "I can't do enough to hurt myself," she countered. "Janet's been here for almost a year. We won't even be here three months. Unless there's no way back, then being careful is pointless."
She rested one hoof on the door, but couldn't quite bring herself to close it. Blake lay on his side, their fearless leader deflated by the force of his own anger. Or more likely, by the magical energy he had used to spray fire everywhere.
"And if you want to talk, bang on something, I'll be awake." She shut the door, glaring down at the floor. Couldn't she think of something smarter to say? What would make him actually want to call her in the middle of the night?
But she said nothing. A few seconds passed, and neither did Blake. He probably did need the actual sleep.
As Vesper made her way up to the deck, she found the ship lurching out from under her hooves. She wobbled for a second, opened her wings, then caught herself. She was used to this by now.
She found Galena and Janet up on the top deck, both at the controls. Kaelynn lingered near the bow, staring off the ship. She couldn't see Ryan anywhere, but the bug was probably lurking close by.
"Hey, bat," Janet said, as she passed. "How'd you calm the kirin down?"
She shrugged. "The truth, I guess. Any sign we're being followed?"
"No," Galena called. "Maybe the ponies are keeping them busy. Maybe they're lurking somewhere I can't see. We share the same strengths in this darkness, and the same weaknesses. Actually... come here, bat. You should search."
Vesper did. Whatever annoyance she might've felt at being called "bat" didn't slow her pace. Besides, she liked being a bat. Even if some of the other stuff had taken time to adjust. Her body wasn't so bad anymore.
"What?" she said, reaching the helm. "If you're asking me to make things on command, forget it. I still don't know why I can do it sometimes and not others. I think it might be a response to danger."
The griffon had a far easier time using it than Blake did. She drove the same way as any experienced driver, barely even paying attention to what she did. Her claws moved, and the ship responded.
"Not that." Galena gestured over the railing. "Your kind cannot see as far as mine by day. But I've heard stories of the night-guard fighting by moonlight. They see as well in total darkness as in sunlight. If we are being followed, you will see what I don't."
She was right about one thing. Vesper could see everything beyond the edge of the railing. Mostly she saw the stars—thousands and thousands of them, with subtle variations of hue and luminance that she'd never noticed on Earth.
Being out here now was a bit like carrying a hobbyist telescope with her at all times. She couldn't see them that much better, but she appreciated what she saw. She recognized familiar constellations, placed where she expected them. Maybe that should terrify her most of all.
She circled all the way around. "I don't see any other ships," she admitted. "But there are... some shadows I can't identify, in the clouds above us. Very small, hard to be sure about them."
Galena gestured with one claw. When Vesper did nothing, she continued. "So identify them. Don't you have that power? That... sound you make? That's how you see in darkness, isn't it?"
"I don't do anything like that," Vesper snapped. "Sounds I make. Come ooooooooon. No way. I have no idea what you're talking ‘bout and I wouldn't know where to start."
Lies, all of it. She did know where to start, because she could already hear its other aspects. When there were only a few sounds around her, she could hear their subtle differences. The way they echoed off soft objects differently from hard ones. The way sounds were modulated in different ways depending on the distance.
"They're above us, but we're getting closer. Not very many, maybe two. Dark blobs in the clouds, almost like they're sitting in them."
"Ah." Galena’s expression hardened, and she made a few adjustments to the helm. "Janet, I need speed. We'll make them work for us."
"Make... who?" But Vesper had to retreat, as Galena began working so intently that she could barely even see what she was doing.
"Scouts," Galena answered. She was no longer distracted, but focused on the sky ahead of them. "It makes sense. If the Eagle’s Talon is harried by a pony vessel, they would want to know where we went. Scouts would sit in the clouds and watch for us, reporting back to the Talon when it comes. We could kill them, prevent the message from reaching the Talon.
Vesper whistled under her breath. "We don't talk like that. And we don't really have the strength. Unless you think you can win."
"Yes. But let's see if I have to. First, we make them fly."
The ground lurched again, and Jordan was floating in the air. Only for a moment, before her hooves smacked back into the deck. At least it didn't hurt.
"Help me, Jordan!" Janet yelled. "These sails are... hard, even with hands."
She twitched once at the name—but the annoyance was mild. The hippogriff wasn't party to any of their official conversations. She only knew the name as disguise. Until she got the courage to tell her otherwise...
"Sure!" Vesper called, hopping down off the deck railing and landing beside her. "Let's lose these bastards!"