Dusk Hound, Canis lupus caligos; a canine beast of the Nox affinity. Its size rivals that of the domesticated wolf hound but as far as features go, that is where things end. Sporting a rusty brown coat that gradually turns darker later in age, this canine is nocturnal pack hunter mostly seen during dusk hence its name. Because of its affinity that allows it short range shadow steps or hops however, it is a fearsome predator. It is also highly intelligent perhaps as much as its cousins of the tundra, the blizzard wolf which has been known to take down beasts several times its size like the wooly yak and alpine goats. From Philiarz Warnerskemander’s Bestiary for Adventurers: ‘Exotic Beasties and Where To Find Them.’

There was no fanfare to precede the Stormbreaker’s landing on the backyard of the Lalilabs; at least there were flowers though. The backyard , surrounded by trees, had an open glade large enough to field a decent gypsy camp.

Not that anyone was of the mind to appreciate the view when a gun-metal grey bulk of a craft cut through the mists, with light beaming from four Lux crystals and the glow of arcane fire . Vortices wisped around its sharp edges, as precipitation shied away from the four points of ventral nozzles churning out turquoise flames.

It was a thing of beauty, the way rivulets of water seemed to trickle down the curves, while steam vented from beneath the landing gear wells, as the skid-bottomed struts extended. If it had taxi and navigation lights it would have been an even more enamoring sight. However Arthur supposed some things could always be added later.

Finally, the landing struts came to rest on the lawn, groaning as the leaf springs compensated for the weight. The ventral thrusters petered out and the lights did too. The three observers stood there, words hanging in the air as their breath was utterly taken away by what they’d witnessed.

Only the staccato of water gurgling through the downspouts stole the silence of the moment. Each one of them was almost afraid that the spell would break as they each burned the memory into their minds. Even if the Butler tried to hide it, there was no mistaking the surprise carved onto his stony face.

Then the entrancement broke with the opening of a hatch door on the main deck. With the gunwale higher than the balustrades, the three men watched as one by one, the occupants stepped out of the aership.

Some of them looked shaken as if they'd been on a rollercoaster of a ride. That said, it was not hard to miss the awe perhaps because they were standing right in front of the man who made it possible. But Arthur noticed one person was missing.

“Where's Arcis?” Arthur inquired, as his gaze passed over Nora,Elena and stopped at Nevine where he frowned. Nevine shied away from the older man's gaze and pretended to have suddenly gotten interested with the planters on the balcony.

“She's inside,” Nora said, tucking her hair back into the hood of her rain gear. She was shifting from foot to foot as if she wanted to come forward—Arthur sighed in relief; if there was anyone who'd been able to get them this far it had to have been Arcis.

“Elena, Nevine…you're going to have to sit this one out,” Arthur said, His face was serious. The wind picked up, rustling the wet vines and large creepers with leaves reminiscent of the elephant-ear plant.

The sylvani and the boy shared a look of acceptance and trudged towards the balcony. Both muttered salutations to the Alchemist with admiration before they stood off to the side.

“Don't worry Elena, we're not leaving you behind,” Nora said, calling out reassuringly. Elena nodded with a weak smile.

“And you young mister Nevine, we're going to have words,” Arthur said, startling the boy out of his reverie. The boy too nodded profusely.

With one last acknowledgement of the Alchemist and his Butler, Arthur levered himself against the gunwale rail before he hoisted himself up onto the Stormbreaker.

Elena looked like she wanted to say something but she hesitated. With no more words to be had, Arthur and Nora entered the main deck, securing the hatch door behind them.

Despite the sparse furnishings, and haphazard arrangement of luggage around the living compartment Arthur felt proud of how far his dream had come.

However, the bulkheads still needed insulation to hide the criss-crossing mana conduits. Arthur thought some chip boards would make a good one to keep the heat in and make for easy installation of fixtures later; he added that to his to-do list.

There were mana conduits pulsing along the walls, connected to Lux crystals most of all. The mana conduits were silver dust, painstakingly inscribed into chiseled channels using an improvised caulking gun. Industrial scale enchanting had such tools. The amber from a crystal pine tree served as the bonding solution.

The overhead had its illumination recessed to produce a dreamy glow as it bled out from the cornice where the bulkheads met the overheads. To his immediate left, the living compartment had a couple of barred portholes; it had been so expensive to get the obsiderite cut into a round shape but elder Volemhir delivered.

The compartment terminated at a bulkhead, where a single hatch door led into the berth deck where the sleeping quarters were. The two sections were on two different elevations; just two or so feet apart.

Nonetheless, the living compartment had the higher overhead where a curved viewing screen opened to the outside. That too was barred with grills. It was too large a vulnerability to leave exposed unless they overlaid diamond glass over it. That was going to make a big dent on his pockets for sure.

It was like furnishing a new house all over again. Arthur shook his head ruefully as they cut across the living compartment. Across from them umbra was lounging in the recessed seating area, ears flicking too and fro as she purred.

Arthur stopped, crouching down to ruffle the grimalkin's fur with fondness. The little bit of catharsis such a mundane thing brought him seemed to bring him down to earth. Of all he'd had that day, that was the only thing close to normal.

‘Life stopped being normal when I arrived on Eryth,’ Arthur mused. The grimalkin nuzzled his leg, intuiting at his state of mind; she was simply too intelligent. Arthur regarded her as the group's mascot and probably the most dangerous of them if she put out her claws. How could one being be so cuddlesome and fearsome at the same time?

Then he was resolved. Arthur shared a look with Nora as he gazed towards the other end of the living compartment. On the aft bulkhead of the living compartment, was the drop-down ladder stairs that would convey him to the flight deck through a hatch. Arthur made for it, his mind full of conflicting emotions.

The sole occupant of the cockpit had a subdued demeanor. She had her hands at the front of her worn dress, clenched tight as if waiting for a verdict from one who held sway over her. Yet, they did not tremble, she did not shy away even as he stepped onto the cockpit.

Cerulean irises, flecked with swimming gold gazed back at him from beneath silver eyebrows, same as the day he first laid his eyes on her. Her expression was placid, even as she dimpled at the cheeks.

In two months, she'd grown a little, but her innocence was still there. Perhaps a little naivety too; Most of all though, Arthur could not deny that she looked as if she'd been casting about for a purpose.

“Arcis,” Arthur said.

“Ar—,Pa—” the synth girl mumbled, unsure of the address. She seemed to falter. Hastily, she blurted out, “Your ship is ready. Just a couple of scratches here and there but we managed to—”

Two arms engulfed her and cut off her ramblings. Her eyes went wide, as the rest of her words were drowned out by a shriek of surprise and fluster. Arcis face flushed blue. Nora gasped in astonishment as well.

“Thank you,” Arthur said. “For keeping her in one piece. I'm grateful my trust in you was not misplaced…”

For the first time, the synth girl shed a tear; her body might have been synthetic but her spirit was true to itself.

Arthur held her at arms length, by her shoulders and said,“ Look... we'll talk about this if we make out of this mess okay?”

Arcis bobbed her head, blinking back what Arthur thought were tears. Nora looked on, a hand to her lips, expression inscrutable. Arthur stood up to regard the two.

‘My People…’ ”Arcis, Nora” Arthur said. ”Somehow, I thought that making a break for it while leaving a mess of things did not sit well with me. ” He said. ” Will you two help me?” he asked in earnest.

“How are we doing this? ” Arcis asked, rubbing her tear lines with the back of her palm. She had a determined expression.

“You needn't ask,” Nora said with a smile.

“Well…” Arthur hesitated. “ We have an unguided missile,” he said. “I have it in my storage, can't dump it out here because I think it's fragile.” He then went on to tell them how he'd made it and how it was the only shot they had, so they had to make it count.

“I think the best chances of killing it are to make sure it goes inside its body.” Arthur explained. “ Since it seems that a strong mana signature attracted it, Arcis, do you think you can power up the tellusphere? Make it bright and hard to miss?

Arcis nodded with grim resolve,” I can try...I think”

“Nora, you'll be with me,” Arthur said, regarding the dhampir who'd been in contemplation. “I have to make sure it reaches its target...then you'll port us out.”

“So that means—” Arcis murmured looking towards the windscreen where the mana storm seemed to have reached that part of the town.

“Yes, you have the conn,” Arthur nodded to her.

“Aye aye,” she chirped.

“Right then,” Arthur turned to face the wind screen. “Take us out,” he added,with a mirthful tone. Arcis giggled at the reference as she clambered onto the helmsperson's seat.

A flick of levers and switches roused the Lux crystals. Gauges and meters came alive and the Stormbreaker lurched, the whine of the Mark Three making itself heard.

“Landing struts retracted, mana throughput nominal, cooling enchantments holding,” Arcis fired one reading after the other.

The synth girl lifted the aership clear of the Lalilab's mansion, deftly maneuvering its lithe body between the tree branches and the roof overhang. Arthur watched the balcony from the side port as it ascended but the people there seemed to have already left. He turned his attention to the instrument panel instead; everything was as it should have been.

”Heading identified…” Arcis said, using her magical spatial awareness to find direction. The compass on the instrument panel had gone haywire and visibility had dropped to almost nothing. The Stormbreaker's bow was also wreathed in the fog and cloudburst formed a sheet of torrents too heavy to see though. Yet they trusted their pilot.

The pilot was herself drawing upon every thaum of mana she could find to fuel her [Scan] matrices. The feedback from the storm was noisy yet the inert structures that were adjacent buildings stood out. Trees too were visibly distinguished by their colorful outlines of whichever affinity represented the mana in them.

When Arcis ascertained the aership was well clear of the tallest structures she pushed the throttle and watched the fog peel away and the aership climbed into the sky.

“ I doubt the dwarves will stop to parlay,” Nora remarked, disturbing the audience. There was no turbulence this time as they put the winds behind them. Mana storms had one uniform flow of air; far removed from their hot and cold mundane counterparts. However the Arthur and Nora were well secure, holding onto the grab bars from the overhang for stability.

”We'll warn them to steer clear or get caught up in the explosion,” Arthur put across. “I'm sure they'll try to reach out first, tell us to identify ourselves or meet some consequences and so forth and so forth. In fact I'm counting on it,” he added, grinning at the end.

“What if they fire at us?” Arcis said. “I know we can outrun them but, it'll be hard to stay away from their barrage if they have the equivalent of heat seekers.”

”I think we should do one fly-by, just bluff.” Arthur suggested. ” We don't have exposed armaments, that means they don't know what the Stormbreaker is capable of. ” Arthur grinned.

“Using the tellusphere to draw the deep wurm's attention should make them hesitate I think,” Nora also pointed out.

“Right, so...one fly by,” Arthur gestured using his hands. They would fly parallel but not close to the Ikaros to get their attention. Assuming they did send a [Message] which they would, Arthur, through Arcis, would send them the ultimatum before flying right above the deep wurm.

There, the synth girl would activate the tellusphere to draw the monster's attention. Once they had it, Arthur and Nora would dive in, orienting the hoverboard-turned missile into the thing's mouth from a steep drop.

They would then port back into the Stormbreaker which would be streaking after them and pull away at the last moment. It was an all feet in kind of execution and there would be no room for mistakes.

“Also, try to draw it towards the hole it came out of, we might want to keep the collateral to a minimum”

”Exiting the mana storm—” Arcis chirped. “In three...two...one,”

Something was coming and Dasnoir knew it. The dragon kin standing besides him knew it too; a different kind of whirlwind. By then, the storm had covered most of Aldmoor and as for him, he could count on his armor to blunt some of the mana sickness. The dragonkin sure could stand up to it with his constitution.

Then it came; a [Message] from someone young. It was broadcasted, nay, it was sent directly to the Ikaros and immediately routed to him. He felt the tell-tale pressure on his psyche that told him someone was sending him a message.

How did he know? You couldn't live as long as he did without picking a thing or two about the magical signature of a person. Every communication mage left a bit of it on every [Message] they sent. Unless they obfuscated it ,you could always track it back to them. In Eryth, mana was a biometric marker.

Unfortunately, he was not an expert in retracing a message to its sender. He never had the aptitude for such magic and as such he used the message casting aid; an armacus with preloaded spell matrices. That too cost him a pretty crown.

“[Message]: Hail, this is the Stormbreaker. We're responding to the deep wurm encounter and would like to give the first and only warning. Stay clear of the creature, we have a magical ordnance we will deploy in the next 30 casions. I repeat, this is your first and only warning,”

’Hoh, big words... some upstart?' Dasnoir thought as he frowned. He turned to the dragonkin wanting to ask if he'd sought employment from the services of another dwarven company. Some aership monikers translated into their Common equivalent just as the message's originator .

That would put the ship as the Sturmbrecher. However the name barely rang any bells. Maybe they were some air pirates masquerading as a dwarven company? The penalty for that would be a punitive bombardment out of the sky; a boarding was too merciful.

As he was going to tell the Ikaros to keep an eye out for opportunistic air pirates, he saw it and cursed—it had to have been the unknown flier that Lezbahn had talked about.

The lad was always in his cups and as a result, his [Message] had been taken with a grain of salt. If that was the case then, they had to capture the flier at all costs. Eyewitness accounts from a sailor had said that it was just a black flying blur but couldn't remember how big it was.

Well, something close to black, flew out of the clouds at an impossible speed for something that did not flap its wings. He barely pulsed his [ Mark Target] skill before it was already a small blur zooming away from him. Even as he turned to regard his companion upon the battlements, he found that the dragonkin was watching with astonishment as well.

“ [Priority Message]!” Dasnoir cast, switching to the stored matrix on his armacus. “ Whatever you do, don't let that flier get away; break out the armory if you have to.” The dwarf never realized how he'd clenched his fists.

The message was sent and well, the response was expected. The dwarves would do anything to get their hands on them at the cost that would have no doubt killed the deep wurm quarts ago. The stormbreaker had zoomed past the battlements and Arthur had the barest of moments to see two people on the two walls; one of them was Orhill.

Then Arcis was able to lock onto the nearest telepsychic signature, a mobile [Message] relay; Arthur really wanted one of those for the Stormbreaker. With the rune work on the thing, it had to have cost an arm and a leg to compress the thing to a small enough construct with an independent mana source. However, through it, Arthur was able to send his bluff. [Eye of the Storm] enabled him to pull it off with a straight face.

‘Focus!’ Arthur rebutted himself as they flew past the killzone where he’d sniped monsters from the wall. There were no adventurers or guards who might have left behind, so that was good for the plan; he didn't want to have people caught up in an explosion of something that he’d barely even tested. Then they saw the deep wurm.

The Ikaros had strafed the monster one too many times. Yet all they had to show for it were shallow cauterized gouges. Whatever little of it bled through had the ichor had the color of brown sludge as he could see it splattered on the greenery.

In spite of the fact, the monster had barely slowed and the devastation caused had to miss. The forest behind it had looked like the aftermath of a hurricane passing through a rice farm. They could see the rut of upturned soil and rocks that led directly to Aldmoors dungeon, which turned out to be some old ruins. Now they were no more.

Unprompted, Arcis began the first part of the plan before the Ikaros could train its arcane weaponry on them.