Chapter 5
It wasn’t long before lightning flashes illuminated a mountain in the distance. In the spaces in between lightning bolts, the mountain was indistinguishable from the surrounding sky in the inky blackness, but the space between lightning bolts was getting smaller and smaller. The sky was lit up with bolts snaking across the sky, looking for all Grugni’s mercy like a net being cast to reel in the Wind’s Oath.
Of course, Camron could once again sense where he was now that they were in Chamon again. This was the mountain with the khazak.
And they were heading straight for it.
Camron’s eyes widened in alarm. The entrance to the khazak was on the other side of the mountain. They would smash against the side of the mountain at this rate.
Captain Bondson stood on the flightdeck, his legs wide to support his powerful frame as he leaned against the wheel. Navigator Firebelly had the other side of the wheel, the two were wrestling it. And losing. The ship was still heading straight for the mountain.
As Camron glanced back and forth between the mountain and the wheel, it became clear that the two duardin had managed to change the ship’s bearing. It would be close, but the ship would miss the mountain.
“Grungni’s beard,” Cam said. He went to tug on his beard but thought better of it before he let go of the railing.
Mountain crisis averted, Camron glanced over the rail and behind the ship. Even in the flashes of lightning, he couldn’t see anything behind him. Camron secured his rifle to his flight suit. No beasts would catch them at this speed and his ancestors would never forgive him if he dropped the rifle. Now with the other hand gripping the railing too, he felt a little safer. Like he wouldn’t somehow go over the rail and into the void.
Although Cam wore an airtight flight suit like everyone else, it felt as if the wind pierced the suit like it wasn’t there. The storm’s cold settled into his bones.
All of a sudden, almost as if the storm had a malign sentience, several gusts of wind converged together and slammed into the portside of the ship, sliding it laterally in the air. It was as if the storm itself had sensed the ship and decided to deal with the ongoing insult of a craft flying during the storm.
“It’s not alive, is it?” Camron muttered to himself.
Wait.
Grungni’s unwashed underpants!
They were in between lightning strikes and the mountain was invisible in the blackness, but Camron could feel it. Knew it was there the same way he knew his hands were in his gloves and his feet in his boots.
The wind had shifted the Wind’s Oath. They were heading right for the mountain again!
“Captain!” Camron yelled, knowing that he couldn’t be heard over the storm but unable to stop himself. He pointed towards where the mountain was, invisible. What a time for the lightning to disappear. But the captain wasn’t looking at him anyway.
The captain and the navigator were straining against the wheel again. Camron felt instant relief as he realized that the captain and the navigator knew the mountain was there.
That relief froze to ice in his veins as he realized the ship wasn’t turning. It just continued to race against the mountain at a breakneck pace.
But the wheel fought their movements. Two duardin weren’t enough. They just couldn’t maneuver at this speed.
Camron looked back in front of them at where he knew the mountain was. It was close. Could he be mistaken? He was for sure mistaken. The captain would pull through.
Lightning flashed. The mountain was exactly where he thought it was. Close enough for him to pick out individual boulders and stunted trees. At this rate, they’d smash on the rocks, the aether endrins would explode, and the storm’s cold would be the last of his worries.
Camron swore to himself as he made up his mind. “Grungni’s wet ass!” He unhooked himself from the safety harness and started to plod towards the flight deck. His magnetized boots making the going slow.
Yerdun’s hand pawed uselessly at him as he trudged away. “What are you doing?! You’ll go overboard!”
They were bearing down on the mountain. Camron looked back and forth between the flight deck and the mountain. The wheel was too far, the mountain too close. At this rate he wouldn’t make it in time to make a difference.
He unmagnetized his boots and started sprinting for the flight deck.
Camron was going to make it. He …
The wind chose that moment to gust, and the deck of the ship bucked and lurched. Camron launched into the air.
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