They were cruising over the southern jungles again, the Nostalgia drifting smoothly through the skies. Trevor particularly enjoyed the weather after traveling from the icy mountains of Bernare as he watched the dark blue waters of the sea below. Why are they so agitated today? he wondered. Whitecaps aren’t supposed to be so large right now.

He lifted his gaze which met other sky barges. In the direction of the prow were more barges and to stern even more. It was a busy time of the year for water haulers. The route the Nostalgia cruised was a major lane and Trevor preferred to keep his crew busy, always working. His favorite lanes carried the Nostalgia north from the capital to Bernare and back, then south over the jungles of Vestibar where he would load the barge up with water from the distilleries stationed on the coast.

Travel from the far north to the far south was what Trevor liked. He welcomed the drastic changes in weather where there was always something new to look forward to as well—and the changing sights broke up any monotony. Variety, he thought. That’s what I like. Evidentially he wasn’t the only one, the two routes being some of the most common among the modern world.

He gazed back out to sea again and noticed a change. The whitecaps were even larger than they’d been before and the wind was still not strong enough to warrant such agitation among the water. He licked his finger and raised it to the air to make sure. The breeze was slight. This is odd, he told himself.

Then, from behind the helm came Garth’s voice. “You alright, Captain?” he said. “You seem kind of lost.”

“What do you think of those whitecaps?” he said. Was the captain imagining things?

“Uh...” Garth said, shrugging. “They look like regular old waves to me.”

“Right, but the tide isn’t strong enough during this time of the cycle to be creating caps like that. And the wind... well there’s nearly none to speak of.”

“You sure know a lot about the sea,” Garth said.

Trevor shrugged slightly. “I enjoy nature. Why else do you think I have the Nostalgia cruise these routes when we could take more lucrative skylanes?”

Garth seemed like he was about to reply when Ben’s voice cut in. “All right, Captain,” he said, his voice coming from the companionway as he made his way up on deck. “Try this.” He held a plate of food out, a grin on his face.

“I’m not liking that little smirk on your face, Ben,” he said. “Did you booby trap it?”

The cook feigned taking umbrage at his last question. “Of course not!”

Trevor looked down at the plate. Whatever it was, it looked like something cooked in some kind of sauce. It almost looked like meat, but it had a pink tinge to it. “What is it?”

“Oh, you know...” Ben said, casually, “...a little of this, a little of that.”

“Hmm,” Trevor noised, feeling uncertain. “Alright, but if it’s anything like that goop you’ve been making then you’re done.” He smiled wryly. Since then, he had purchased a larger assortment of foods which Ben had been turning into successful meals. But the crew, including himself, still liked aiming a few jabs at the cook now and again.

Ben bowed his head and said, “Agreed.”

Trevor scooped up a spoon full of the pink meaty substance. Sauce oozed from the spoon back into the plate as he guided the food toward his mouth.

Suddenly the side of his face erupted in a stinging pain as a whirlwind of rushing air and screeching croaks filled the air. He shielded his face as he a barrage landed across his shoulders with more windy slapping.

What in the name of...?

Garth’s panicked yelps were drowned out by the insane screeching croaks. Then, as fast as it started, the windy slapping stopped as the birds overtook them. Trevor unshielded his eyes to see a large flock of the big black things flying away from the Nostalgia.

“What was that all about?” Ben asked as a long feather glided past him onto the deck.

Well that doesn’t happen every day, he thought. In fact it was the first time he’d ever heard of a flock of birds rampaging through the open air between a barge’s hull and her canopy.

“What’s going on up here?” Sorra’s voice came from the direction of the companionway. “Sounded like some kind of riot.”

“It was.” Trevor said. “Garth, you can stop cowering now. They’re gone.”

Garth removed his arm from his eyes. Looking around wildly he slowly rose back to his feet. “I’ve never seen birds fly into a barge like that before.”

“Should have tried to catch some,” Ben said. “Birds... make for good meat.”

Sorra shot the cook a sarcastic face.

“Something isn’t right,” Trevor said distantly. Then he realized the flock of panicked birds that flew past them was not the only one. Every direction he looked he could see more panicked birds.

“What do you mean?” Sorra asked curiously.

“Those whitecaps,” he said. “They’re way too big this time of year.” He pointed off the port side. “And there’s no wind.” Then he moved to the starboard railing to get a view of the jungle below. More birds, as many species as he could count, were croaking wildly, though seemingly silent, as they were too high to hear them as they swarmed out of the jungle canopy.

“Sounds like it’s not just the birds freaking out,” Garth said. “It’s berserk down there. Look, half the trees are swaying.”

“I don’t see any scrog,” Sorra said. “What could be making them act like that?”

“I don’t know,” Trevor said. It was a good question though. It couldn’t have been the horde or some other threat, because like he’d told them, the sea was also acting strange. The water certainly wasn’t alive to fear any kind of natural predator.

Then a thought occurred to him. “It could be some kind of earthquake.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sorra said, comprehension dawning on her. “I read in a book once that all sorts of animals go awry when they sense impending natural disasters.”

“You read?” Garth asked.

Sorra ignored him.

“Yeah, that’s got to be it,” Trevor said.

They kept watching the jungle as it howled and squawked. “Uh... Captain?” Ben said in a voice that sounded slightly panicked.

He turned around. “What is it, Ben?” He said. But then he saw it. Off to port, at least a mile or two out. “Sorra, binoculars.”

How is that possible? he wondered.

“Wow,” Garth said. “That’s... big.”

“I don’t understand how it could be so close to shore though,” Trevor said.

“Maybe there’s an underwater sink hole possibly?” Sorra said, handing Trevor the binoculars.

Trevor raised the binoculars to his eyes. Out about two or three leagues was what he thought looked like a massive whirlpool. It was larger than he could have imagined. The dark blue water swirled slowly—at least it looked slow since the mass was so large—sinking deep below what was normal sea level.

Now I’ve seen everything, he thought.

The anomaly looked as though it were some dark supernatural abyss able to swallow entire cities. Maybe even Daura. Then something else happened. Below the water Trevor could see something. Something... unnatural.

Then it surfaced.

Surrounding the whirlpool was an artificial edifice. It looked like a thick circular-shaped wall made of metal or cement caked with barnacles and lichen.

Trevor cocked his head back, his eyes going wide. “What in the name of the horde is that?”

The water inside the barrier had now disappeared. Only a deep black hole remained. “Captain,” Garth said, his voice slightly tremulous. “Let’s get out of here.”

Trevor wanted to tell Garth to put the props on full throttle so they could do exactly that. But something wouldn’t allow him to. Maybe it was the captain’s own curiosity that held him here.

The thing—whatever it was—couldn’t be dangerous. It was just a hole. Maybe it’s an old artifact, he thought, long lost to the Great War unearthed because of some tectonic disturbance or something?

“What’s that?” Sorra said, pointing. “What’s going on with the water?”

The waves had completely ceased and the water was... Trevor couldn’t think of a better world. The water was vibrating! It was hard to tell from here, but that was the word that came to his mind.

Nobody said a word. They were too awestruck, enraptured by what was happening now.

Suddenly a high pitched pandemonium of noise so strong it vibrated the decking as it broke the air.

He only saw it for a split second before he jumped back screaming, his arm shielding his face from the flash. He hit the deck, his eyes searing with white hot needles as he heard the others fall against the deck beside him, screaming.

The flash had only lasted a second or two before Trevor opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and flashing when he turned to the others. “Is everyone okay? Sorra? Garth...?”

“I’m okay, Captain,” Ben said getting up off the deck. “My vision’s all blurry though.”

The ringing in his ears obfuscated the sound of Ben’s voice, but he could still hear good enough to know what the other man had said. “Yeah... mine too.”

“I’m seeing a lot of bright flashes,” Sorra said, blinking rapidly.

Garth was rubbing his eyes.

“Garth, are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, Captain.

Stomping feet came rushing up the companionway. “What is it? What was that? It looked like the light of the gods or something!”

“Settle down, Cylus.”

“But what was it?” he asked more heatedly.

“We don’t know,” Sorra snapped. “All we saw was this whirlpool and then a flash of light.”

Trevor got up off the deck. He blinked a few times, his vision already a little better.

Something thudded atop the gasbag. “What was that?” Sorra asked. Then there was another wet thud, followed by dozens of them.

“It’s raining?” Trevor said, perplexed. The weather had been sunny and perfect, but now there was a thick mist in the air. “I don’t understand.”

“What is that noise?” Sorra said more fervently as she glanced upward.

“I just found it,” Ben said. Trevor turned. In the cook’s arms lay a large flapping fish.

“Fish?” Cylus asked.

“What...?” Sorra said, her eyes wide. “How do fish fall out of the sky?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said, smiling, “But I’m going to cook this beauty up tonight. That’s for sure.”

Sorra rolled her eyes.

It was raining on a perfect day and fish were falling out of the sky. Only one thing could be responsible for this, Trevor thought. “It obviously had something do with that whirlpool and that flash of light.”

“Was it magic?” Sorra asked.

“I don’t know.”

“But what about that flash of light?” Cylus said. “What was that all about? And what whirlpool are you talking about?”

Trevor shook his head. “Whatever it was, you can be sure this place will be swarming with Guardians real soon. I suppose you’ll get your answer after they tell everyone what happened here.”

Garth snorted. “If they decide not to cover it up like they do everything else.”

“That’s true,” Cylus said. “At least you guys saw what happened,” he added grudgingly.

“Trust me,” Trevor said. “You were lucky you missed it. My vision is still blurred and my eyes hurt.”

“Worth it,” Cylus said.

“Suit yourself,” Sorra said, glowering.

Trevor knew they would probably never know what really happened. The Guardian Order, like Garth said, would probably try to shove it under the deck. Hide the truth so they could get in there and reap all the rewards without sharing any of them.

It’s time to leave, Trevor thought. He didn’t want to be there when the Order showed up. They would probably detain anyone lurking nearby so they could ask them droves of questions, waste their time, and then let them on their way without any compensation whatsoever. “Alright,” he said. “We have a job to do, so let’s stop wasting time gawking at whatever that thing is. Garth... get us out of here.”

“Gladly, Captain,” the pilot said. “If you remember, it was me who said we should get out of here before any of this even happened.”

“Garth, shut up,” Sorra said irritably.

Whatever that thing is, it can’t be good, Trevor thought, still believing it could possibly be something from the Great War.

Or maybe... maybe it was something far different.