“You made a glow light?” Silver asked.

“Spare me your sass,” Angel said. “This means the converter is working.”

“That easily?” Lilian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it actually means that the converter isn’t going to blow up immediately,” Angel admitted. “The working part might be a bit overzealous, but progress is progress.”

“Go on, then,” Silver said. “Does it do a dance for us next?”

Angel rolled his eyes and pulled the magic back, allowing the runes to fade away. He grabbed another tube from the pile and attached one end to the box and the other to the remaining port on the ship.

He went back over the runes twice more, making small adjustments and ensuring he hadn’t missed anything too important.

“Okay. This should be functional,” Angel said. “I don’t know how much time it’ll buy us, and I wouldn’t bet on the chopper ever flying again. As soon as you’re ready, I’ll activate it. Once it charges, we’ll want to be off immediately.”

Silver pulled the chopper’s door open and tossed his bags in. Lilian followed suit on the other side. The captain hopped into the pilot’s seat and peered back out at Angel. “We’re ready. Get this thing off the ground.”

Lilian and Vanessa both climbed inside as well. Angel swallowed and brought the spark of magic back to his hand. He brought it up to the box. The runes hummed to life with a delicate whine.

A faint halo of light formed around his contraption. Angel’s hair stood on end as he felt energy course through the device before him. He watched it carefully, ready to grab it with his mechanical arm and rip the power out of it before it could explode if anything went wrong.

The box settled into a rhythm, the energy around it pulsating at a steady pace. It grew warm, but in the rapidly chilling night, it was a welcome change. Minutes passed, the only sound the hum of the converter.

“It’s working,” Silver announced, sounding surprised as lights blinked to life within the chopper’s cabin. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it, but the dashboard is running again!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Angel said. He slowly moved his hand back, taking the spark of magic with it. The device didn’t stop running. “It’s self-sustaining. For now, at least. Let’s get moving.”

Angel pulled himself aboard and slid into the co-pilot’s seat. Silver pushed a lever forward and flicked several switches. The lights turned off and the rotors above them churned to life. The airship took to the sky, kicking up a small sandstorm beneath them.

“Don’t take us too high,” Angel warned. “I don’t know how long we’ll have after the converter fails. I’m pretty sure this is going to fry anything delicate, and then some.”

“Don’t you mean if the converter fails?” Silver asked, pushing the lever farther forward. The desert blurred beneath them as the chopper accelerated.

“No,” Angel said. “It’s going to give out. I don’t understand this chopper’s make enough to make something that wouldn’t damage it eventually. It’s just a matter of time, so make sure we’ve got time to abandon ship if everything goes south at once.”

“Noted,” Silver said. He pressed several buttons on the dashboard, then frowned as a screen popped up in front of him. The captain pressed another button, then two more. A map formed and he let out a grunt. “Damn old technology. I’ve got no idea why nobody’s updated these things since the Great War.”

“This map is worthless,” Angel said, squinting at it. “It’s completely outdated. I don’t think the Barren has looked like this in hundreds of years. Look at that – are those trees off to the edge?”

Silver glanced down at it. He snorted. “Would you look at that. Too bad they aren’t still there. We could have made a fortune finding wood anywhere other than the Ring.”

“The Magistrates would have already taken it if it existed,” Angel said, shrugging. “They can have their wood. I’m much more interested in stuff that actually does something.”

They fell into silence. Lilian occasionally offered up directions and Silver corrected their course as the desert passed beneath them.

Vanessa pressed her face against the window behind them. “The Barren is kind of beautiful at night when you’re this high up.”

“It looks a lot better when you don’t have to worry about monsters,” Angel said. “Not many of them can get us in the air.”

“Speaking of dealing with monsters, now would be a good time to eat the core,” Silver said. “Unless Angel thinks this ship is going down within the next few hours.”

“It probably won’t,” Angel said, his brow tightening. “We’re about as safe as we’re going to get for the next week or so.”

Vanessa nodded. She glanced back out the window before reaching into her pack and pulling out the small gray orb. She chewed her bottom lip. Her features set and she let out a determined sigh before popping it into her mouth.

She grimaced, then swallowed, gagging immediately after. “That tasted horrible.”

“You’ll live. I’d recommend you go to sleep. You can avoid most of the symptoms if you do,” Silver said. “And you might as well get some rest while you can.”

Vanessa glanced at Angel. He nodded. She leaned her pack against the wall and rested her head against it, closing her eyes.

“You can sleep as well,” Silver said. “We’re just flying in a straight line. I can wake you up if something goes wrong.”

Angel grunted. Silver had been amiable, and the man hadn’t given him any reason to doubt him. Even so, wounds were still fresh. Lilian caught his eye from the back seat and gave him a small nod.

He sighed. There was no way for him to stay awake for the rest of the trip. He’d have to trust everyone eventually. Angel leaned forward, resting his head in his arms, and let the tension ease out of his body. The warmth of his arm slowly lulled him to sleep, singing him a lullaby of faint static.

Something warm washed across Angel’s head and arm. He blinked, groaning and slowly glancing up. Sunlight streamed through the windows as it rose behind them, banishing the sharp chill of the night.

His face was a bit sore from his sleeping position. Vanessa and Lilian were both asleep in the backseat, leaning against each other. Silver had slumped back, resting his head on his hand as he steered the chopper with one hand.

“Rise and shine,” Silver said in a low tone. “Sleep like a baby?”

“It wasn’t half bad,” Angel admitted, looking out of the window. “No trouble, I take it?”

“Nothing of note,” Silver replied. “A few monsters on the desert floor that looked a bit too interested in us, but none that were fast or strong enough to catch the chopper. I would have liked to fly a bit higher, but I kept at the same height.”

“Good,” Angel said. “And the chopper is still functioning like you’d expect it to? No unexpected bumps or noises?”

“Nothing. She sails like a boat in water.”

“Have you ever been on a boat?”

“No, but I presume that this is what it would feel like,” Silver said, shrugging. “Someone else is going to have to learn how to fly this, though. I’m going to need some sleep myself.”

“I can do it,” Lilian said. “I was watching what you did. I think that, as long as we’re moving in the same direction, I can probably handle it.”

“You’re promoted to captain,” Silver said, slipping out from the captain’s chair. “Choppers practically fly themselves once you get them off the ground. Just don’t steer us into a mountain and wake me up if we need to touch down. Landing is the hard part.”

They quickly swapped spaces, Lilian jumping into the captain’s chair while Silver splayed out as much as he could in the small quarters, resting his arms over his eyes. The chopper shuddered slightly at the movement, but as soon as Lilian had her hand on the lever and nobody was moving, it returned to normal.