The Dark Sky Collection: The Dark Sky Collection

by Amy Braun

  My hands were getting cramped from holding the spokes of the wheel so tight.

  While Beck stayed with his soldiers, Nash and Gemma bounded up the steps and tucked themselves against the railing in front of me.

  “Wanted to show off a little, did you?” I shouted through my mask and against the wind.

  Gemma glared at me, a somewhat funny expression behind her goggles. “I was reacting.” She pointed to her lover. “He was showing off.”

  “I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss,” Nash argued.

  Gemma turned to him. “You almost blew yourself up!”

  “Almost,” he reiterated.

  Gemma huffed and shook her head. Nash chuckled, slung his arm around her, and wrapped the ropes around both of them, securing her to him.

  I was about to break their moment with a snarky response, but the Dauntless stopped shivering. I looked up.

  We had entered Hellnore.

  I had anticipated entering a wretched world, yet no matter how much wickedness I expected, it still stunned me how dark it was. How much poison was in the air. How corrupted the land was. Huge stretches of cracked flatlands, a ceiling of rippling black smoke and cloud, a towering volcano oozing lava like blood, a black spire that stabbed the sky like a stalagmite, even a powerful bonfire in a distant right corner.

  Wait...

  I looked again at the jagged tower from in between the mountains where we’d come out.

  It wasn’t a random piece of rock. It was a damned castle.

  A massive shard that hovered over the ground, over a dozen uneven levels carving up to a narrow point at the top.

  That had to be the main tower where the Vesper lived. That would be where I would find Claire.

  My heart pounded at the thought, but I quickly pushed my emotions down and concentrated on the other airships floating protectively around the tower.

  There were no raiding skiffs that I could see. The only vessel was one formidable looking warship lurking beside the tower. The ship wasn’t the size of the Behemoth, but it was big enough to cause problems.

  I frowned, having expected more raiding skiffs. My instinct told me I was staring at a trap, but I couldn’t see where or how it would spring.

  “No skiffs,” Nash murmured, his voice muffled by the cloth mask he wore.

  “Maybe they’re out looking for dinner,” Gemma offered, though it didn’t sound like she believed her words any more than we did.

  “We can’t wait around,” remarked Beck. “If it’s a trap, they’re going to stay hidden until we set it off. No way around it.”

  My frown deepened. I didn’t like this at all, but he had a point. Waiting would cost us time we didn’t have.

  “Prepare the crew to fire,” I said. “Make sure they have as much cover as possible and they check every inch of sky. The Hellions know their territory better than we ever would. We can’t let them take us off guard if we can avoid it.”

  Beck nodded and stalked toward the main deck to relay the orders. Nash and Gemma took his place beside me.

  “So what’s the real plan, since this is so obviously a trap?” Gemma asked, only half teasing.

  “We’re going to have to engage them regardless,” I said, shifting my gaze from the tower to the hull of the warship. “Once we’re close enough to that tower, we’ll have to find a way in to shut down the Palisade.”

  And save Claire.

  It went unspoken, but was at the forefront of my thoughts. I assumed Gemma and Nash were thinking about it as well.

  “What’s that?” Nash asked as he drifted closer.

  I followed his hand when he pointed to the tower, squinting to see better. A snide remark crossed my lips when all I could see was black stone against more black stone, but it halted on my tongue when I noticed what he was showing me.

  On the left side of the tower, about half way down, was a brighter spot of light. I thought it was a reflection of the morbid light coming from the atmosphere, but the longer I looked, the more I realized that I wasn’t looking at a trick of the light.

  I was looking at an open door.

  Big enough to be a docking bay.

  I left the railing and went back to the helm. I gripped the spokes and steered toward it. We would lose visual of the warship, but if we could get in through that entrance, we would have an advantage. So far, no Hellions appeared to have seen us. I couldn’t imagine our luck would last much longer, but I would make sure my crew was as ready as possible. I didn’t intend to lose anyone today.

  A wishful thought, if there ever was one.

  “Nash, give the signal for watchers on the bow. I want them keeping their eyes on that ship and to signal us if it twitches an inch.” Nash nodded and left to bark the orders. “Gemma, get a couple people in the crows nests. Make sure they have pulleys that will let them down fast if they need to get down. I want them to look for any skiffs. I know they’re here.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  As she left to command the riggers, I steered the Dauntless toward the monstrous tower. My mood darkened the closer we got. I watched the open door grow larger, trying to see what rested inside the opening door. I could have sworn I saw scorch marks on the dull grey interior, but there was no way to tell until we entered the tower.

  When Nash, Gemma, and Beck returned to my side, we’d crossed fully into the open. It would take us maybe another twenty minutes to get there.

  “Everyone’s ready as they can be,” informed Beck. “Though if you have a plan of attack once we get inside, I’d love to hear it.”

  I smirked. “I’d share if I knew,” I said. “I planned on storming the tower and cutting down any Hellion I saw.”

  Beck grunted. “Simple plan. Nice and straightforward. Not very smart, but I give you credit for honesty.”

  I meant to shoot him a glare, but my smile betrayed me.

  “She’s moving toward us, Captain!”

  I grimaced at the crewman’s abrupt shout, but he was pointing into the distance. Exactly where the heavy warship was.

  “Get the cannons ready,” I said to Beck. “Primary fire will be on that big bastard. If we encounter any skiffs, we use our other guns. Cannon fire is shit against anything small.”

  Beck nodded, understanding. We had an advantage the Hellions didn’t know about, and one I hoped would save us if things went wrong.

  When, Sawyer. When they go wrong. Your luck has never been that good.

  I gritted my teeth and silenced my thoughts. Beck all but jumped over every step of the stairs to relay the new commands.

  As he did, the Hellion warship came into view.

  I watched it roll around the tower to port side, coming up just behind us as we cruised toward the docking bay. The side of the ship I’d seen earlier didn’t look menacing. Merely a standard ship hull with twin exhaust ports spitting out smoke. Now I realized we’d been looking at the bow.

  The rest of the ship had a roughly circular design, a giant silver dome adorned with thirty foot long spikes clustered in square panels. The dome had about fifty of them that I could see. The entire ship seemed to be modeled after a mace. There wasn’t much of a deck, no masts, and no cannons that I could see. That should have made me feel better, but instead it raised my anxiety. A ship like that wouldn’t float around without some kind of weaponry.

  “What is that?” Gemma whispered hoarsely.

  “I don’t care,” I growled. “We’re almost at the docking bay.” I scanned the Dauntless’ deck until I found Beck. He must have sensed my eyes on him, because he looked at me. I nodded once.

  “Port side fire,” he shouted.

  Muzzle flashes came from the dozen cannons on the Dauntless’ port side. The shot ripped into the mace-ship, blasting away bits of the siding. Not a single shot missed. Every man and woman on the crew cheered.

  Everyone but me.

  I heard Beck shouting for the guns to be reloaded, but his orders didn’t come fast enough.

  A rattling
clunk came from mace-ship. The spikes on one of the lower panels began to rotate. Fear slammed into my stomach.

  “Get down,” I shouted.

  I barely finished my cry of warning before the spikes made a final clicking sound, and released.

  The shot wasn’t as loud as our cannons, but the effect was far more damaging.

  Thick spikes collided with the Dauntless, ripping through the metal siding and sticking out like nails. Some sailed over the deck. One impaled an unlucky man through the chest, lodging in his torso and almost ripping him in half. He struck the back of the railing and fell over the edge.

  Chaos erupted.

  Beck and the Sky Guard fired shots at the mace-ship. The recruits scrambled for places to hide. The dome on the enemy ship rotated, more shots aligning.

  “Damn it,” I cursed.

  I flipped the controls on side of the helm, setting the autopilot. Then I bolted for the stairs. Gemma and Nash followed me.

  The mace-ship sent out a second blast of spikes. This one was aimed directly at the deck.

  Clusters of spikes stabbed through the railing and skidded wildly along the deck, tearing up the floorboards and sending splinters into the air. Others obliterated crates and barrels. Two more men died from the impact of the spikes.

  I heard Beck shouting, but couldn’t see him. He shouted for cannon fire, and his order was obeyed. But the crew on the deck couldn’t calm down. They started firing their pistols in desperation, wasting precious ammunition.

  “Cannons only,” I shouted over and over. The gunfire and shouts of battle were so loud I had to grab shoulders and shout directly into the crew’s ears. Eventually, the word spread and the gunfire halted. The cannons continued to expel heavy shot that dashed the hull of the mace-ship.

  Damage was being done, but its shell was tougher than the Dauntless’. The Vesper had learned from the Discovery’s invasion, and was determined to turn the tables in his favor this time.

  I grimaced at the next set of spikes that punched through the hull, right where the cannons were. I heard metal and men scream.

  “Get the engineers working double-time,” I shouted. The men and women Deanna sent to work with us would be able to repair some of the damage, though I didn’t know if it would be enough to keep us from crashing.

  Still, my orders were followed, if frantically. I wanted to go down and check on the cannon and engineer teams myself, but I had to stay up here and make sure the crew found a coordinated way to fight.

  I sprinted for the railing at the same time another round of spikes sailed over the deck of the Dauntless. One of the spikes skidded off the main mast. The speed caused it to jump and spin in a circle, turning it into a spiraling baton. The spike was heading straight for one of the crewmen. Arthur.

  I dropped down and kicked out his legs. He landed on his back a split second before the spike rolled over his head. I stayed down with him, cringing as I felt the whoosh of the spike pass over my back. I lifted my head, slumping with relief when I saw that Nash had Gemma in his arms, far away from where the spike had spiraled. The thick piece of metal slammed into the cabin door, denting part of it.

  Aesthetic damage, and I knew it, but a part of me still cringed when I saw the breakage done to my ship. My home.

  Turning pity into anger, I grabbed Arthur by the shirt and hauled him to his feet.

  “Remember what I taught you?” I shouted in his face.

  Arthur flinched, but nodded quickly. During our flight to the Breach, I’d shown Arthur how to navigate the Dauntless. I couldn’t stay at the helm the whole time if there was a fight, and he’d shown natural talent.

  Though I made damn sure he understood who the Captain of the ship was.

  “Good,” I said. “Take her off auto and get ready to back us up.” I pointed to the side of the tower. “Align us with that docking bay.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  I growled at him, shaking him once. “Do what I say!”

  Arthur flinched, and I felt a little guilty for shouting at him. But the last thing I needed was someone questioning my orders. Especially when I didn’t really know what my plan was yet.

  I shoved Arthur toward the helm. He scampered for the stairs. I turned back to the fight, sprinting toward the railing, cannon fire blasting and vibrating the floorboards beneath me–

  “Sawyer!”

  I jerked to a stop and whirled around, following Nash’s hand as he pointed to the starboard side.

  Where six Hellion skiffs had emerged from the black mountainside.

  So far, he and Gemma were the only ones to notice them. The skiffs could barely be heard under the roar of the cannons, and with the crew engaged at taking on the mace-ship, they wouldn’t think twice about looking behind them.

  Giving the six Hellions aboard each skiff the perfect chance to sneak up onto our backs and slaughter us.

  “Man the starboard guns,” I shouted to Gemma. She nodded and sprinted to give the order. My eyes went to Nash. “Tell Beck to get half the Sky Guard over to this side and commence firing.”

  My best friend was moving before I even finished the order. I raced across the deck, shoving through the madness and stopping by the railing, where one of the weapons crates that hadn’t been destroyed lay. I yanked it open and grabbed a small black ball with a rigged fuse on the top. I snapped the safety cap. The released pressure automatically ignited the fuse behind it. The timer started. I looked up and hurled the ball at one of the skiffs.

  For once, my timing was perfect.

  The ball exploded just as it hit one of the skiffs. The front of the ship bucked as it was crushed under fire and heat. The Hellion at the wheel struggled to regain control, but the skiff was dipping too fast. I watched it rock side to side and disappear out of sight, under the belly of the Dauntless. I wasn’t sure if they would recover and return for revenge, but they weren’t my problem right now.

  The other five Hellion skiffs were on top of us.

  I reached for the flintlock on my hip. It wasn’t my usual one. No, I grudgingly left those behind with Deanna, since she offered me– and the rest of the crew– her special-Hellion obliterating guns. The weight was about the same, but I didn’t know how effective these shots were.

  No better time to find out.

  I aimed a shot at one of the Hellions on the far left. They were the closest. I squeezed the trigger. Felt the click of the hammer as the ultraviolet bullet burst from the barrel. Watched the little blue dot fly toward the Hellion’s chest.

  Watched that Hellion explode in a shower of black dust.

  I’d have to go easier on Deanna if I ever saw her again.

  “Ultraviolet guns now,” I shouted.

  Beck and fifty of the Sky Guard were already beside me. They carried rifles and quickly took position as a firing squad. One row knelt while the other row stood close behind. Beck shouted the order to fire without my permission. Not that this was the time to argue about chain of command with him. I was a pirate, not a soldier. Beck’s orders struck the Guard better than mine ever could.