I make a surprised face.

  An airship? Wow. Can't say that Sammy hadn't been busy in the time he was living thinking that I was dead. But what have I done? I haven't saved anybody.

  One of us is definitively more useful than the other.

  Sammy leans to look behind me. "You're the ones that built a robot? You two? Seriously?"

  I turn around to see their reactions. Eli and Orion both draw their weapons up again, and make expressions like yes, they built a robot, and they can do so much more. They look sexy, and I glance towards Bella. She's making a face like she might be considering actually smacking one of their butts as they pass. 

   The thought makes my stomach do flips. And I'm not sure what kind. 

   Sammy tries to pick up his spear, but Orion lands an arrow in the wood of the handle. It narrowly misses Sammy's hand.

   "Nobody that I don't trust will be armed, dear." Orion says.

   Bella glances down at her guns. She slowly moves them by her sides, trying to sneak them in the belt of her shorts. Eli acts quicker. He takes two knives from his thigh, throwing them at the pistols in such quick succession it makes Bella jerk.

  She makes a startled sound, making a face at the guns that have fallen into the green.

   "Okay." Bella puts her arms into the air. She grabs Sammy's wrist to make him do the same. "We get it. Months since we last spoke. 'War makes monsters of us all' kind of thing. But we do have an airship. And it's waiting for us. Tea, cakes, the whole shebang--we can talk this over?"

   I glance at Eli and Orion for their reactions.

   They glance at me.

   We know exactly what we're all thinking.

   And we all decide that, oh, hell yes, we want to see an airship.

* * *

 I honestly don't know what I expected.

  Maybe a hovercraft, with rocket boosters and some sort of turbo engine that isn't to be invented for a few more years. Maybe meet somebody called Jim on board with a metal arm and an eyepatch. But, no. This is no star ship.

  This is an air ship.

  A boat, steel plates melted and bolted together, hovers above the canopy of the trees, whirring so quietly I think it's just the purr from Mellow. The ship looks older than its' years; grime and dirt that's built up from whatever previous machines the metal on which it stays was welded used to be. To make the entire ship up, it must have taken countless old cars.

   I wonder how it doesn't creak with every footfall.

  It's too high for me to see anybody on deck, and when I look up, I can only see the top of some sails and a mast.

   The sun from between grey clouds stops me from looking any closer.

   Bella pulls something out from behind her back, and it's a walkie-talkie. Thinner than any old ones I've seen on TV, and almost transparent. I can see the wiresand gears inside that make it work, and the display screen is flat from behind.

   She presses a button, and speaks into it. "We're here. We've found Aaran."

   The reply sounds like an old man, and his voice crackles through the transmitter as he says, "aye, Captain. I'm sending down the platform now."

    Eli and Orion glance at each other of the use of 'aye' so ironically by an old man. They both close one eye, pretending to be pirates in such a childish way it makes me smile.

  I almost miss the bottom on the air ship falling down on us.

  I call out as I run from it, just clearing it. The metal platform lands evenly on the clearing where we are, and it doesn't crash as loudly as I feared. It's almost silent. I think about any ladybugs that are underneath the metal plate, and I hope they're okay.

  The others all step onto the platform, but I'm hesitant. Eli and Orion pull me by my arms to get me to move, and when the platform starts to lift, I cling onto both of their shoulders for support.

   The platform rises, pulled by chains attached to each corner that look like they're the only things on this entire ship that aren't rusted. As we lift through the air, the ash isn't blocked up here. It blows past my face in the wind, and I make a conscious effort to keep my breathes shallow.

   The ships' docking bay is dark, and smells of fuel.

  "Not very eco-friendly," I announce through the echoing metal bay, and my voice bounces around.

  "It's organic. It's all we could find up-top that wasn't used in the factories." Bella says, and she must tap a barrel of the stuff, because I hear the sound echo. "But I told them all that I had a friend that could help with that..." Her voice is suggestive.

  Orion speaks from behind me. "You can turn the engines off. I'll carry it, dear, it's fine."

   I hear the sound of Sammy's footsteps stopping. It must be because he's using all of his brain power trying to to figure out how the hell Orion could carry a thing like this. Of course, he doesn't know that Orion is a man born from magic and powers that would make anybody faint. Even, maybe, a doctor.

   "How...?" Sammy wonders aloud, and I pass him as I walk, going by the change in his voice.

   Multi-coloured sand lights the bay.

   I turn, and Orion's face is lit up from his magic. It spirals into the air, changing from red to white to purple to green as it spreads around the room, lighting everything. With the changes so rapid, I can't make out anything beyond outlines.

  And there would be no point with bright lights, anyway.

   We walk along a metal path, and I realize that I'm tantalizingly close to an edge, and I back away. Over the edge, on both sides, are platforms. The one that we were risen up in, and another. They're sunken, probably for storage of goods on top of them, and I realize that if I fell from the path, I'd just fall no more than my full height.

   Around the edges, near the metal walls, are barrels of fuel. I almost crash into one on the path as I walk backwards, at it must be the one Bella tapped. I'm not really paying attention, though, and I don't think anybody is.

   Orion's magic has us all hooked.

    Sammy blinks at the dust. "Cool." Is all he says. My twenty-six-year-old brother is a doctor for factories that pump smoke everyday, and knows how to throw a spear since our dad and brother died, and all he can say about this, is that it's cool.

   I think of Barron then.

   He would probably say something sarcastic should he be witnessing Orion's powers for the first time, in this scenario.

   It dawns on me that he's not lost, and I make a mental note to ask about him later. And the Finnish fighters. And Fellis and Finn. Maybe Salt. But he's a robot. I'm sure he's fine.

   A whining noise comes from what sounds like a mechanism on a door, and Bella grunts. "Sam, help me with this."

   "It's Sammy." He corrects, and it's pitch black without Orion's magic, but I just know that Bella shrugs, uncaring.

   "I prefer Sam, really. Used to have a dog called Sammy. Imagine having made out with a dog. No, just imagine it, for a second." Bella makes a puking sound after a pause. "Ugh, God, now I feel sick."

  "Open the damn door, Bella." Sammy says. She clicks her tongue at his language, but they both push, and the first slice of light seeps in.

  When it opens the full way, I don't look at the door as I pass it. I'm too fixated on the deck. It's made from wood.

  Wood. Not metal, as the outside of the ship appears it would be. Wood making up a floor, stairs leading to the helm, the things that hold the black sails in place. But the sails aren't only black. They change between the colour of their background and the dark sky, and there's a lag, but only slightly. I don't know how, maybe it's made from chameleon scales, but it's just great to watch.

   "Cool." I say aloud, marveling at it.

   I hear muffled words, and it brings my attention back to the deck.

  Tied against the bottom of the mast by rope and a gag, stand Barron and Salt. Well, Barron is standing. Salt is slumped, and his metal structure must be the only thing keeping him upright. I wonder who took out his hard drive for the split second before Barron notices me.

   His words are muffled behind a gag, but it's something incredibly rude.

   "I know those two!" I run towards them. "Why the hell are they tied up? What did they do?" I ask anybody that knows, and I drag the gag down Barron's chin.

   He glares at me, and swears while conveying that me leaving was one thing he will never ever forget or forgive.

  Barron's blades are still at his back, and I'm willing to bet that they tied them up because he was waving them around trying to get away.

 "We found them unconscious in the clearing." Bella answers, and I remember that she's the Captain of this vessel. "The Finnish one was bleeding from his abdomen, and it took days to get him to wake. The other one hasn't cooperated enough for us to treat him for any injuries he might have, no matter what we do. God knows how he's standing like that."

   I glance towards Salt briefly. "Is he unconscious?" I know that she isn't aware that he's a robot, or she wouldn't want to treat injuries, and I try to phrase it the best way I can.

  "No." She says. Bella stands in front of him. "He just..stays like that. Staring. He's alive. He flinches sometimes when we try and check him out, but the rest of the time it's--" she gestures to Salt as the finishing of the sentence.

  Orion, Eli and all share a look.

  His hard drive is in, then. He's working. Or he should be. I remember what the robot we killed to rescue Eli said. That room, Salt's room, was the castle's renowned hooker room and library. It must've have been a joke, but it all fits together. 

   That's why there was a bed. I think before I realize that robot was speaking only to agrivate.

  "There were others." Eli says to Bella. "Finnish, masked, chipper dispositions and good with hand-to-hand combat. Seen them?"

  Bella shakes her head.

  "They were the ones that stabbed me!" Barron shouts, so much louder than necessary. "After everything they said, they stabbed me because I tried to fix Salt--"

   I quickly pull the rag back over his mouth before he says something like 'reboot', 'hard drive' or anything of the like.

  Barron screams at me through the gag, and there's so much aggression and anger in everything about him that I take a step back. I stumble as I do it.

  What have I done? What have I done? What the hell have I done?

  An extra person coming to rescue Eli would have helped anyway. Why did I leave him behind? I'm spiteful. I've broken his trust for me. Nah, screw that, he hates me. I got him stabbed. I left him alone. He was going to bleed out on a field next to a robot if it weren't for good luck.

  I start to tear up, and I can't stop it. I turn around to head into another door that isn't the bay.

  At that point, I realize that there a couple of dirty-looking factory workers stood near the helm. They're all in their forties or above, and they watch a bunch of kids burdened with so much with sad expressions.

   I just stand there, and I put my head in my hands, rubbing my face.

   Barron is still screaming at me behind his gag, and I manage to hear some Finnish words behind it.

  He's so angry that he slipped back into his native tongue. Fantastic.

  I want to ask Bella and Sammy things. I want to know why the hell they blew up the castle. How they got an airship in the first place. Exactly how dad and Jarvis were killed. How long they've been on the surface.

  But I don't ask anything.

  One part because I'm afraid my voice with break, ninety nine parts because I know it will.

  "You've upset her." I hear Sammy say matter-of-fact towards Barron. He must have dragged his gag down, because Barron isn't muffled.

  He's swearing at everybody in Finnish.

   Sammy uses the head of his spear to swipe across Barron's face, and I regret turning back around when I can see the sharpness tearing through flesh. Slowly, making beads of blood at first but the deeper it goes, a thick line starts to fall down his cheek.

   Barron barely reacts.

   Sammy finishes the swipe with almost a flourish. "You really shouldn't have upset her."

   "What happened with the fighters?" Eli asks Barron, facing the glare head-on. "Exactly."

   Barron turns to glare at me. "After you and Mr. Magic over there left, they didn't much like it when I tried to revive Salt." He pauses then, staring at me, I know that he's smart enough to have figured out that we don't want anybody to know that there's a robot on board. "One of them stabbed me when I went to do it after a few weeks anyway. Just like that. I bled out and fell unconscious after that, and I'm waking up on an airship that would have been helpful months ago."

   Bella rolls her eyes. "It takes a lot to build this thing, honey."

  Barron shakes his head. He glances towards Salt. "He's a little bit broken in the head place, some sort of screw loose...or something."

   I think that worked. Nobody suspects anything. I hope.

  "Yeah, okay, but why are you tied up?" Eli asks, and makes a face like Barron completely missed the point.

  "Kept taking my knives to my throat. This is as close to a straight jacket as they could get."

  I look to Sammy to confirm it, and he and Bella both nod.

  "Why's Salt tied up, too?" Orion tries to gesture to the robot, but with Mellow in his arms, she scrambles without the support. He nods with his head.

  Barron makes a face. "Why the hell do you think?"

   I share a look with Orion, Eli and Barron. Salt must have seen Barron trying to top himself, and thought that it must work like that for robots. Veins and wires are the same thing. I'm glad he didn't, because he wouldn't have bled, and everybody would just see the metal and get mad at us for lying.

   And I've had enough of people being mad at me today.

  "There are more to watch them now." I reason with Bella. "I think we can lose the ropes."

  Bella shrugs in defeat. "Alright. But if the Finnish one stabs us while our backs are turned, I'm throwing you overboard." I know that she means it. She turns around to the factory workers at the helm. "Smee! Take us away--head as far away from the city as possible."

   The oldest of the workers, who sounds like he was the one talking over the walkie-talkie, gives a signal to another worker, who pulls a lever. "Aye, Captain, but my name's not Smee."

   "Nope, I'm pretty sure it is!" Is all Bella says, before she signals to another worker. "Turn on the timer for the engines. We'll use magic after thirty minutes." She turns to another worker, and points behind her at the mast and the two tied to it. "Untie them. Hide the rope. Put their weapons in my room."

  I'm glad that she trusts me enough, somebody that she's only met once, to let me keep my gun. I've gotten used to the weight of it against my hip and hanging on my shoulder, I think I'd miss it if it was taken away.

   The engines start up, roaring to life with a low thunder of beginnings of a journey. It must have been in some sort of parking mode to suspend it above the ground of the clearing, but now, it's rearing itself up to go higher, and fly.

   "Ready?" Bella turns around to ask the rest of us, and her face makes me scared. I cling to Orion and Eli, just as there's an almighty jolt as the airship launches itself to move.

  The three of us swear in unison from the shock, but we manage to stay upright, mostly.

   The breeze is cool and wonderful. I go to stand near the stern of the ship, and I watch us fly through the air. The ash is thin at the height we reach and stay, and I can see the heaviness below us in another wind stream. I feel safe up in the clouds.

   Yes, the boat could drop at any moment. But Orion has his magic to carry us, and Eli has the calmness in times when it's needed that would put me at ease at any given moment. I wonder what they'd think I bring to them in times of need. Spite-fullness? Speed? A gun?

  That about sums me up.