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From the logs of R. Brawne, Captain of the Othello, Somewhere over Eternus:

We had heard the rumours of the fantastic wealth being found across the Vast in those wild lands we call Eternus. Unlike our homelands of Airethe, that expanse of wilderness is virtually unsettled by man or beast but is host to strange folk and their most unusual ways.

Yet there were those stories of mountains of gold and silver, unclaimed by the inhabitants. We were bound to seek out the truth of these tales, to learn what secrets were concealed in Eternus. Twas said that Captain Sesare of the Kaligar, in service to the Lords of Viktoron, had been transporting this unknown fortune over land and sea and to the treasuries, which now swelled with such splendours.

As we of the Othello are scoundrels all, who thieve what we earn but earn what we steal, we endeavoured to follow the Kaligar to discover the source of these riches. Surely they could be convinced to share should we meet them in the heavens and if they were too haughty to be generous, we would remind of the consequences of greed.

I, Captain R. Brawne, with my beloved wife and first mate Krystyna, and our ever reliable navigator Alessandra are the heart of our crew of scarcely more than sixty souls. The Othello is not the largest of ships but strong she is and fleet. No finer vessel or companions could a man have as my brave lasses and my hardy aeroners.

Through calm and storms we trailed the Kaligar, ever at a distance, and hoped us all that we would be rewarded for our persistence. The Vast is grand and deep and blue and spanned far and wide below us and where the Kaligar was bound, we knew that fortune would show us.

Then at last, after many days, there is upon the horizon, a shimmering mirage of green. To our waiting eyes, it would appear, the land we had never seen. Mountains tall stood among the veritable seas of forest and as our pursuit carried on, we saw what lay before us.

_______________________________________________________________________

The tall and strong Robert Brawne stands upon the prow of his mighty ship Othello, while overhead the dirigible swells with every great exhalation of the bellows.

His hair is black and unkempt, with goggles upon his brow, and he wears the heavy leathers of a man to whom danger is not unknown.

At his side he carries his blade and pistol at the ready, while his treasured Krystyna is at the wheel to keep the rudder steady.

With great strides across the deck, he enters the captain's cabin and there beneath the wheelhouse where he finds the stunning blonde navigator bent over the table, studying the map with her sextant and compass.

'What news, Alessandra,' he asks. 'Never before have we sailed so far from Airethean shores. I have heard the stories of Eternus but we always found enough profit in the skies. Still, if the rumours are true, then the Lords of Viktoron have learned of some treasure trove. Seven times have I heard that the Kaligar has returned to the city with its hold laden with gold.'

The blonde woman looks up from her work, her eyes as blue as the Vast itself. "You know I'm not one to chase rumours Captain, but from the looks of things we are on the right track. However how the Kaligar is charting this course is beyond me, we both know that their navigator manages on sheer luck alone".

She turns her eyes back to the map in front of her and motions for him to take a look. "If my calculations are correct, we're about a half day's travel from the edge of Eternus and mere hours behind the Kaligar. If we maintain this speed and this course, we shall arrive just in time to overrun them and liberate whatever treasures they're stocking. After all if her crew is to believed it will be like taking candy from a baby and much more satisfying".

A wicked grin spreads across her face as she speaks, thinking of the riches awaiting us all and our impending victory over the crew of the Kaligar. "Seven times is more than enough for them Captain, it's time the Othello makes her move on these riches".

'I quite agree,' Captain Brawne says with a roguish grin, his windswept hair jutting out at jagged angles. He is a handsome man, indeed, and though past his prime, there are times when Alessandra might wish that he were younger or, more to the point, unmarried. For he has always been a gentleman and never laid an unfriendly, or too friendly, hand upon her.

'I suppose now we find out if the rumours are true, if there are men here with the forms and features of beasts. They could hardly be less appealing than the faces of the Queen when discovers we have seized her treasure.' He now gazes down at the map, which displays the sprawling kingdom of Viktoron from whence they came, dozens of dots indicating where cities stood and lines drawn between them of the most expeditious air routes. On the other side, where the Captain stands, there is only an outline of the coasts of Eternus as the interior of the continent remains undefined.

'They say that the last of the Serpent Men dwell here,' Captain Brawne remarks with a sweeping gesture of his hand. 'And monstrosities even more formidable. Perhaps that is why the Queen has yet to build colonies here to harvest the trees for fuel or mines the mountains for ore.'

Looking up at Alessandra, he adds, 'Speaking of which, I hope you can chart us a course back home. We can find all the wood we need for the furnaces but I wouldn't wish to be stranded in the middle of the savage land. Who knows what horrors lurk below, hidden by the trees?'

He frowns faintly as he pulls down his goggles over his eyes. 'I suppose it is time to relieve Krystyna. She shall be exhausted and you know she is with child. If I could spare more hands to watchstand, I would but it so hard to find volunteers willing to travel across the Vast. I wonder if the Queen has indeed established settlements or outposts and simply doesn't wish to reveal it to the people. Why she would keep this opportunity from others, I can scarcely imagine, but we cannot permit such greed to go unpunished.'

The irony is not lost on Alessandra as she shares Robert's larcenous heart. Why toil to earn an honest living when the wealthy had so much coin to spare and none they cared to share?

As he departs, letting the door swing closed behind him, Alessandra knows she should rest. She would have to man the wheel this evening and the air here is far less warm and pleasant than those above Airethe. A warm coat would be required as would full wakefulness.

With the captain's words ringing in her ears Alessandra turns back to the map, she's been working this problem for days now. Following the Kaligar out was the easy part, the trek home will be tricky as they must avoid both their target and the Queen's ships. The Othello and her grew have a notorious reputation in Airethe and many know that to cross them is to tempt certain death, but with the crew shorthanded and Krystyna with child, the captain would not be taking unnecessary risks this time. Realizing the hour is late and she will soon have to relieve Robert herself she sets down her instruments. A pen is in her hand, her familiar scrawl tracing a route back to Airethe from Eternus which would keep both the ship and the crew out of danger.

She doesn't dare consider the rumours of the horrors that supposedly guard the riches of Eternus from those who wish to plunder them for if such rumours were true, surely the crew of the Kaligar would have more than just a hold full of riches for the Queen and they would certainly be returning with fewer crew than when they left.

Satisfied with the course she had charted, she packs her instruments into one of the many pockets of her cloak. She knew better than to be caught without them. With that she grabbed her own goggles, specially designed to allow her better vision in the night sky and went to relieve her friend.

Sighing, Krystyna, a woman of older years than Alessandra but no less beautiful, enters the captain's cabin. Unlike her younger counterpart, Krystyna has lost some of the wonder and wanderlust from her eyes. Though she adores sailing the skies, she worries that it shall not be the best life for her unborn children. However, she knows just as well that her husband shall never settle in one place and neither could she.

'The day grows late, Alessandra,' she chuckles, 'and yet here you are, still plotting our course. Were not the northern lands so cold and the southern lands so inhospitable, we might find a better route than westward. But my concern now is for you, Alessandra. You look like you haven't slept and have you forgotten to eat again? You will age before your time if you don't care better for yourself. There is not any need to be so neglectful.'

She favours Alessandra with a warm, almost motherly smile. 'Go below decks and have Chappy make you something to eat before you retire. That old fool is the laziest man aboard this ship and it would do him good to be put to task.'

The blonde woman laughs as she's intercepted by the captain's wife. The woman was always so protective of her and leave it to her to notice that Alessandra had once again forgotten to eat.

"Of course M'lady" she grins as she slips past her and into the hallway. It had always been a bit of a joke between the two women that Alessandra refused to refer to her by name despite both Krystyna and Robert telling her many times it was fine.

With that the younger blonde was gone, presumably heading belowdecks to get some sleep and some food, for surely Krystyna would tell Robert just what his navigator had been up to and then she would have the two of them supervising her for at least a month.

The rest of the contented is deep and untroubled but it does stay so for long. One of the crewman, a bald fellow whose face is smudged soot and who wears a heavy leather smock with brass fittings, stands over the foot of her bed, repeating her name.

'Alessa,' says Karbin, one of the engineers who works below decks to tend to the great steam engines. He is gruff but kindly and why he would be in her bedchambers, where she sleeps on a bunk among the rest of the exhausted crew, leads to only one conclusion. She knows it even before Karbin says it.

'The moon has risen and Captain Brawne bids you to take the wheel.'

Alessandra nods, jumping from her bunk and brushing the sleep from her eyes. Her blonde hair is slightly askew, but a quick brush of her fingers through it tames it enough to secure her goggles. "Thank you Karbin, I'll be on my way in a moment".

From the trunk under her bed she pulls her pistol and her rapier, sliding them into her belt. It is rare that there is need for her weapons these nights, but still the navigator is rarely seen without one or both. The sound of her footfalls on the ships deck fade into the darkness as she climbs the stairs into the starlit night.

Despite the lateness of the hour, with the skies above a deepest hue of blue to be nearly black yet dappled with a thousand upon thousand stars, there are yet men who works the decks, checking the rigging that tethers the ship to the massive air bladder above that dwarfs them all.

'Many times has the Queen sent expeditions but they have never seen any sign of habitation,' Captain Brawne comments, cutting a proud figure in the open wheelhouse where the chill night air still sweeps through his hair. He puffs thoughtfully on his pipe, the sweet reek of the burning weed wafting around his head like a smoky halo.

'Yet many times this evening, I have sworn to have seen lights in the forests below and what look to be buildings peeking above the canopy of the trees. There must be someone here who built them and surely it could not have been the Horogoth.'

He shudders at the mere mention of that civilization of vicious savages who employ dark enchantments to strengthen themselves. Once the Horogoth had ruled all of Airethe until they were overthrown, driven out by a confederation of the native nations. Though they had retreated across the seas to the East, they remained a constant threat. Yet the Horogoth had not mastered the technology employed so many centuries later by the Airetheans. Or had they?

'No, surely not,' Captain Brawne answers that unspoken question. 'The Horogoth destroy everything in their path. They would not spare a single tree or beast in their path. This land would be as desolate had they staked their claim here.'

They fly high enough to keep themselves concealed in what cover the clouds could offer.

Pulling out his spyglass, Captain Brawne gazes into the distance where the horizon is home to shadowy mountains that define the farthest limits of the land. 'The Kaligar has slowed but we still have them in our sights. You were right, Alessandra; they are now bound westward and-'

He pauses and exclaims, 'Can you see this, Alessandra?' Brawne asks, still gazing in what sounds like amazement through his spyglass.

Alessandra nods in agreement as she steps into the wheelhouse, the night wind picking up and toying with the strands of her corn silk hair in ways that Robert's own coal black locks would deny it."If the Horogoth were here captain we all know the Kaligar would never have returned from her first voyage, let alone the following six. They lacked the technology that we have and even in the best weather this crossing is troublesome if one does not know the skies". Her voice is low and even as she speaks, the sweet tones sounding strange from a pirate.

"I would act surprised but, I knew all along they were heading west" she seems sure of herself, but her abilities are something of a wonder when it comes to predicting the course of their target vessels and indeed when charting their own in ways to avoid detection. Her demeanour changes quickly as his question grabs her attention.

In response the woman pulls out her own spyglass and follows her captain's line of sight into the darkness, both aided by the goggles atop their heads. "What is that?" she mutters, more to herself than to the man beside her, trying to discern for herself the sight that holds them both rapt.

There, in the distance, is a peak that rises high above the others and, even more breathtaking, it is wreathed in what seems to be a softly glowing mist that flows down its slopes and to the forest below. It is a very vivid landmark for certain.

'Shall we steer closer to it, Alessandra? You are our navigator,' he says, still puffing on his pipe. 'Let's keep our distance for now but stay observant! This is something to be marked upon your maps! Only a day or more from the shores of Eternus and our first mysterious wonder!'

He steps back from the wheel and gestures to it with his gloved hand. 'By all means, second mate, take up your post. I intend to remain on decks for a better look at that mountain.'

She steps to replace him at the wheel, one eye monitoring the proximity of their ship to the large mountain. "As you wish captain, but I must say you're a far braver man than I risking the ire of your wife. You know how she is when it comes to matters like sleep".

Alessandra is competent at the wheel, easily maneuverings them closer to the strange landmark while still maintaining a safe distance from which to observe. She learned quickly under Robert's tutelage the art of controlling the large ship and since then had happily spent many a night relieving him of the duty of navigating through the night. She keeps an eye on the mountainside, as curious as her captain for her maps do not indicate anything like this and yet here it stands, a beautiful distraction from the open skies over the Vast.

"I shall have to amend those maps in the morning it seems" she says "there isn't supposed to be a mountain here and yet here it is". She isn't much surprised by that fact though, their maps are notoriously unreliable past a certain point because what lies out here is more the stuff of rumours and old wives tales than anything else.

Bounding down the steps from the upper deck to the main, Captain Brawne peers towards the mountain.

'It looks like that's where Sesare is bound as well! If that old fool thinks he can lose us in the fog, he's a fool, He must know we're on his trail by now and his supplies must be nearly as empty as our own!'

He laughs defiantly. 'Well played, old man. I think the game is up, Alessandra, but at least we can close the distance, raid their ship and take their maps! I would wager that the Kaligar has surveyed this region by now and, if they don't have any of that foreign gold on board, then surely they can tell us from where it came!'

Looking back at Alessandra and pointing to one of a pair of gleaming brass pipes emitting a thin stream of steam, Captain Brawne bellows, 'Tell the engine room full ahead! We can burn the last of our coal, if we must, but we must hurry so that we may be upon by dawn!'

: Alessandra can only roll her eyes, It seems their stalwart captain will not be getting any sleep tonight, she's seen him get like this enough times to know where he's going with it.

"like a child with the keys to the candy shop" she mutters playfully as she signals the engine room to keep up their speed so they may overtake the other ship. She carefully adjusts their course to bring them alongside the Kaligar when they overtake her and nods to her captain.

"Course is set captain, we'll be able to see that fool's eyes by dawn, you have my word" she knows that the slight shift in their course has given them exactly the opening they will need to overrun the Kaligar and seize everything of value "and by this time tomorrow you shall be counting the gold we've taken from her holds or at least you shall be one step closer to doing so".

After days of lagging so far behind that often the Kaligar was merely a distant speck on the horizon, the captain of the Othello is eager to finally engage his opponent.

'Westward they were bound,' Captain Brawne shouts. 'Did you call down to the engine room, Alessandra? We must have full steam!'

Turning towards one of the crewmen, all of whom were willing to ignore their captain's exuberance to continue with their duties, Brawne orders forcefully.

'Go and rouse the gunners! Tell them to prepare the grapeshot and the ballistas! We needn't bring her down in this alien land but the threat of it alone should quail that goat!'

As the crewmen hasten to obey their captain, Brawne looks expectantly up at Alessandra.

These are the moments Alessa lives for as she confirms with the engine room the captain's order to burn the last of their coal if they must but to proceed at full steam.

Her blue eyes are sparkling with the promise of adventure as the captain gives the order to rouse the gunners. She loathed the quiet nights sailing over the empty skies. It was battle she lived for and she knew her captain shared her sense of adventure.

"Full ahead captain, they know your orders" she barks, still keeping a careful eye on their target ahead. "If not we can always bring them down anyway!" she laughs wickedly "teach that old goat a thing or two about crossing us!"

'That's the spirit, Alessandra!' Captain Brawne replies merrily, pipe still between clenched teeth. He has removed his goggles long enough to resume staring through the spyglass. 'Now I see what tricks he plays! Old Sesare thought he could lead us astray, ever slightly north in hopes that we would run out of fuel before he could complete his mission! He has known we were trailing him since we hit landfall! Remember how he turned slightly north? Captain, oh, my, captain, you shall surrender your ship and all your goods to me and perhaps we shall give your crew safe passage back to Viktoron!'"

The massive stack that pumps steam into the dirigible begins to whistle with the rising pressure and, behind Alessa, the twin interlocking propellers that provide thrust for the airship begin to groan as they are prompted to turn faster.

'What is this?' Brawne asks. 'The Kaligar has turned hard to port! He has taken a southern course! Hard to port at once, Alessa, and let us cut him off! Oh, I could kiss you if only my dear, darling wife would not have me hung from the bulkhead!'

Alessandra only laughs as she grabs the wheel and follows the Kaligar with a sharp turn. "Learned from the best captain around!" she calls back to him "and if that were the case I think she'd hang me right with you just to be certain!"

The blonde pulls her goggles back to her eyes, using the added vision to keep close with the Kaligar "We'll be on her soon Captain!" she calls "she'll have nowhere to run!"

Turning about and lifting the spyglass to his eye once more, Brawne looks southerly and shakes his head.

'There is another glow on that horizon as well! Perhaps that is where he is bound! Or it may be yet another ruse!'

'Robert Brawne!' cries a sharp female voice from the woman emerging below decks. 'What is this meaning of this?'

Krystyna Brawne stands there, arms folded across her chest.

'You were wiser than I, fair Krystyna!' Brawne answers, striding with broad steps towards his wife.

'You've woken up half the ship!' she complains.

'You were right, my lovely,' the captain replies unhindered by his bride's angry gaze. 'Sesare wasn't off course and Alessandra's charts weren't wrong! He intentionally led us north! He must have a dock somewhere nearby for he must be nearly as exhausted for fuel as we are!'

Embracing his wife tightly, he whirls back around, the long tassels of his leather waistcoat flying.

'This glow is more crimson! Perhaps this is the place he had intended and now he has not any choice but to lead us there!'

Shaking her head, Krystyna suggests, 'Sesare would be just as desperate to reach his destination as we were to catch him! Why lead us off course? That would only benefit him if he had greater reserves!'

'Think on it, my love!' Brawne explains. 'The Kaligar is twice the size of Othello and thus can carry twice the coal! A slower ship she be but more suitable for longer travels!'

'Is that why you had half the crew stay behind so you could add the extra coal?' Krystyna asks angrily. 'You could've told me!'

'I told Alessandra,' Brawne says, his words almost lost in the roar of the wind. 'I thought she would have mentioned it.' He looks up at Alessandra just as his wife turns to glare at her.

'We should be upon them before sunrise at his rate!' Brawne shouts, eager to break the sudden tension as he races back to the prow of his ship. 'Full ahead! Krystyna, go and make certain that the gunners are awake and the cannons readied! Alessandra, give me back my helm! You go and rally a boarding party!'

"You got it captain!" Alessandra laughs as she surrenders the wheel .The younger blonde is already off at a dash before Krystyna can turn her rage in her direction,. "You keep this up Cap and she'll hang you anyway!" she calls over her shoulder as she races past, jumping over railings to clear the stairs where Krystyna and Robert stand.

She may be many things, but the young woman is far from slow as she gathers a boarding party from the crew slowly going about their preparations below. Satisfied she's assembled only the most trustworthy among their crew of scoundrels she darts back up the stairs and calls to the captain at the wheel. "Boarding party is awaiting your orders captain"

Clutching fiercely at the wheel, smoke pumping from his pipe, his eyes concealed behind his goggles which allow him to not only see as far by starlight as daylight but have an internal compass to ensure he remains on course, Captain Robert Brawne calls out to those assembled on the deck.

'My crew of knaves, rogues and all around scoundrels! We come swift upon the Kaligar and-'

He is thrown forward as what feel like a sudden, frigid wind rushes over the vessel, causing the ship to tilt to the side as if tossed by turbulence.

Most of the members of the boarding party are sent sprawling to the decks, a few almost sliding over the railings to what would have been a certain death below, although most had been furnished with parachutes and a lucky few with rings not unlike that of Alessandra.

'What the hell-' Captain Brawne cries as a sudden thick plume of mist has come between the Othello and the Kaligar. What is worse, the roiling cloud seems to have something moving in it.

Then a shriek rends the air, a horrible sound of shattering glass or ice, so deafening that Brawne covers his ear with one hand while the other attempts to smooth out the flaps and rudder of the flying vessel.

He can only watch as the cloud, from where the sound originated, engulfs the Kaligar. It happens in a matter of minutes, the airborne bank of mist moving far more swiftly than even a strong breeze would entail.

'What orders, sir?' asks one of the men gathered by Alessandra.

Captain Brawne simply stares in wonder before shaking his head. 'Hard to starboard! Man your stations! I don't know what that is but if it comes back this way, we give it all we have!'

Then something smashes into the side of the Othello, once more causing it to yaw violently to the side. In the darkness, there is confusion until Alessandra witnesses a sight that might make her blood go cold.

Massive claws clutch the railing as a beast, its hide a pale, wintry white hauls itself onto the deck. It easily six times the size of a man with a long, sinuous body, a serpentine neck and a pointed head crowned with jagged spikes. On its back, it unfurls its wings which span nearly twice its length. Suddenly it lifts its head to reveal rows of frost rimed teeth that resemble sabres made of glass.

It is not that she does not recognize it for what it is. Long ago, she had heard of it in stories, supposedly myths, of the most fearsome beasts ever to rule the skies, long before men had claimed them with their mastery of the air.

With eyes flashing bright blue, the beast opens its maw and releases another, less resounding shriek but this time a blast of gelid air and frozen shrapnel surges across the deck towards Alessandra and the boarding party.

That, her mind tells her against all reason, against all wishes to make the truth otherwise, is a dragon.

Alessandra is able to roll out of the way as the monstrous creature spews its shrapnel at her and the boarding party assembled around her. Her hand is on her pistol and she's looking for a clear shot. It's clear that they're under attack and she is suspicious that it might have been Sesare's plan all along to lead the Othello and her crew into this trap.

"-The fuck is that thing?!" she yells, looking for any explanation other than the one that is blazing through her mind. Dragons were just old wives tales, stories told to keep children away from the very life every man and woman on this ship had chosen....weren't they?

Like Alessandra, some of the crewmen tumble to the side; some evade the blast completely while some are not so lucky. They roll lifelessly to the deck, covered in a layer of brittle frost. They are still more fortunate that those who caught the full effect of it and are frozen even as the harsh rush of air carries them over the side of the ship.

Some of the other pirates manage to also brandish weapons, one of them boldly stabbing at its side. The blade glances off the pearlescent scales and the man screams in agony as the dragon's jaws clamp down on the man's middle, biting him neatly in half.

Even while devouring that airshipman, its tail swings about and carelessly knocks another man overboard. Still, surely this beast shall not last long in the midst of so many opponents.

Musket and pistol fire rattle off the beast's sides harmlessly as it pounces yet another victim and greedily rips him to pieces, which it then greedily gulps down.

Behind Alessandra, there is a chill wind on her back and she can turn in time to see another of these monsters, roughly of similar size, clambering over the prow. Considering their size, they shall soon cover the entire lower and middle deck. If she considers going below decks, she will find that route cut off by the first dragon, which is now freely savaging the men.

Faced with very few other options Alessandra draws her rapier and runs, sneaking her way behind the large monster that seems intent on devouring her shipmates. Her blue eyes are cold and murderous as she draws back her weapon, preparing to plunge it into the creature's scaled neck. She ensures she stands perfectly still as she pulls back and slams the weapon down point first before ripping it out, covered in the creature's blood. Her pistol is in her hand and she fires a shot at the creature that had managed to board the ship behind her. "It's a trap!" she screams, although it's certain that anyone who hasn't figured that out by this point has either been eaten or knocked overboard.

The dragon cries out with that same ear spilling sound when Alessandra jabs it with her rapier. She has clearly inflicted harm as gouts of bluish blood splatter onto the deck but the monster is far from a mortal wound. Moreover, this has gotten the creature's attention as it snaps at her, nearly catching her in its fangs while rushing forward with on its claws, which sink into the hardwood deck and leave long deep gouges. The other beast is still too busy gorging on the rest of the crew.

Then she sees him, Captain Brawne, brandishing his gleaming scimitar. He leaps over the tail of the dragon and hurries towards Alessandra.

'Alessa!' he shouts. 'Quickly, to my side!' He reaches out his hand to pull her towards him, his gloved fingertips just inches from her when she feels several icy knives plunge into her shoulder from both in front and behind her. The dragon seizes her in its jaws and flies upward, nearly colliding with the dirigible above.

Alessa reaches for Brawne's hand just as the monster grabs hold of her, her fingers slipping from his grasp as it takes off with her firmly between its teeth. As it flies off she can see the destruction it has wreaked on their ship and she has to suppress a shudder, unable to even strike at the creature as its teeth dig into her shoulder. She has no idea where it is taking her or if she will ever see her friends or her home again.. She can only wait and see what this monstrosity has in store for her.

Below her, Brawne tosses his sabre into his other hand, pulls out his wheellock pistol in one smooth, swift motion and closes one eye as he aims. The lead ball strikes the dragon along its jaw and it immediately releases Alessandra, who feels the air thicken around her as she begins to drift slowly back towards the deck.

He continues to fire his pistol at the dragon, which, after releasing Alessandra swoops up in a wide arc and plunges downward, past the side of the ship.

Turning his attention to the other dragon, Brawne holsters his pistol and pulls out his other shorter blade and advances angrily upon the beast.

'Get your scaly ass off my blasted ship!' he bellows. However, Alessa can see the second dragon flying back up, having dived under the vessel to emerge on the other side, behind Brawne.

She tries to reach for her pistol, hoping to at least get a shot off to help her captain before the giant lizard devours him but finds her luck has run out,. Unlike Brawne, her wheellock is on the side of her injured arm, she cant manage to draw it. So she does the only thing she can do and screams "behind you!" as the second dragon returns to the ship.

Her warning ringing in her ears, Brawne whirls about to face the dragon that surely would have torn his flesh. There is so much else she says in that moment that has long gone unspoken but it is conveyed in those two simple words.

Those same words cause the dragon to jerk its head upward and, with a sharp snap of its membranous wings, hurtle into the air and grasp at her with its claws. Lacking leverage, she has no way to dodge or tumble out of the way. Even her pistol fire only ricochets off its rippling muscular body as its outstretched claw grabs her around the midsection, not lacerating her flesh but holding her very firmly.

A resounding roar that causes the airship Othello to shudder splits the air and throbs in Alessandra's head. She is being dragged through the skies as both dragons suddenly abandon their attack on the airship and fly towards that same great moving cloud that Alessandra now realizes conceals a creature not unlike the beast that still holds her in its talon but many, many times larger. Again, that terrible, soul rending sound emanates from the cloud as the two dragons attacking the Othello, along with two more that were apparently aboard the Kaligar, follow behind.

Dangling from the dragon's claw, Alessandra can see both the Othello and the Kaligar, which is rapidly descending to the ground as its air bladders are shredded and great gouges rend open the sides. At least Brawne, his wife and his ship are safe as Alessandra is borne off to what shall surely be her certain death. Still, if she can get just one hand free, she can make one last attempt to free herself. Her rapier is still in her firm grip and she can slowly wriggle it free..

Her hand works frantically to free itself enough to stab the rapier into the beast once again. Normally this would be a suicidal thought as the fall would surely kill anyone who attempted it but she knows the enchantment in the ring she wears will ensure she reaches the ground without behind harmed.

Suddenly her hand is free and she slashes at the beast holding her with the rapier's razor edge, bracing herself for the familiar falling feeling that will surely accompany her actions. She's done what she can, her captain, her ship and most of the crew are safe, she must fend for herself now and she continues slashing at the dragon with her free hand. She can feel her cloak and the shirt she wears beneath it growing damp with the blood oozing from her shoulder.

Alessandra's gambit proves halfway correct; the dragon does let her go. However, with a snarl of rage as the blade lacerates the underside of its foreleg, it flings her forward, hurling her towards the treetops. Though the magic of her ring cushions the blow, she still is sent smashing through thick boughs, which scratch and tear at her even as they break her fall and slow her momentum.

Finally she drifts down to the ground, battered, bruised, bleeding but alive. Her deathly tight grip on her rapier prevented her from losing it and she still has the majority of her battle gear, having prepared for a boarding party only to suffer a similar experience herself by legendary and long thought extinct beasts of a bygone age.

Now it may be clear why Viktoron had not attempted to build settlements, not with something as abominable as dragons roaming the skies. She is not a stranger to peril, having faced numerous horrors, from the foul humanoids that dwell in the darkest hollows of Airethe to the restless dead that haunt tombs, called to unnatural life by loathsome incantations. In fact, she had stood by Robert Brawne as they had raided the notorious flying ghost ship crewed entirely by skeletal hands.

Dragons, however, are another matter and quite outside her experience.

In the near distance, there is a splintering crash that sounds like a colossal peal of thunder. It must be the wreck of the Kaligar who has likely as not lost all hands but there might still be something worth salvaging and, if there is, would not Captain Brawne make the attempt?

Alessandra is off at the closest thing she can muster to a run, if it is the wreck of the Kaligar she may be able to salvage something herself or reunite herself with Captain Brawne and get out of this gods forsaken, dragon infested nightmare of a place. Her rapier is slid back into her belt as she works her way through the forest, following the sound of the crash. She doesn't dare allow the thought to cross her mind that the wreck she may come across is the Othello, she will burn that bridge when she gets there if she must.