I turn to Kuro, wondering if she has anything to add before I leave, but her face is as expressionless as it’s ever been. She’s holding her thoughts back in front of the skepticism of the others, but I know deep down she has faith in me. She wouldn’t be putting herself on the line if she didn’t.

I wish I knew why Kuro felt this way about me, a total stranger in her world. I appreciate her more than she realizes.

I flash a smile to her and bound over the grass until a breeze catches my back feathers. Leaping into the air a strong thermal gusts out from the interior of the continent, thrusting me skyward. I rise over the trees and glance off to see the air destroyer looming ominously in the sky, its bow now pointing inland on a slow and deliberate course into the heart of Lithan territory. It seems that even without my intervention, the airship-prey has been provoked into being aggressive. Funny how that happens.

SKREEEEECH!

Hey!! It’s me you’re looking for, right? Well, here I am! So leave these poor Dragons alone, okay?

Oh, yes. I understand the supreme irony of what’s occurring right now — the Princess of Ellyntide, flying off to confront one of her warships and prevent it from attacking a hostile enemy of the Kingdom. There’s no shortage of surreal things about the current situation I find myself in, but acting against my own Kingdom’s instruments of war as an enemy has to be the most insane. This is categorically against everything I’ve ever sworn to uphold as Princess. But to earn the trust of these Dragons and live to see another day, I’ll happily do it. I’ll threaten my people with violence and become the monster they fear. Whatever consequences await me when I return home, I’ll accept them.

The winds are calmer here than at Archer’s Point, but it’s still a struggle to gain altitude into the strong headwinds. I climb until I reach the height of the airship, right within the slim zone of calm I took to reach the Northern Continent. Catching my breath, I can see that the air destroyer had moved within a mile of the continent but rotated its forward propellers horizontally to hover in place. It seems they heard my cry and realized they no longer had any reason to try something so daring.

I bank left on a direct course to intercept, keeping a close eye on the movements of the steam cannons. Their firing order was once demonstrated to me and mom on a tour of these ships, so I know the distinct visual cues to look for when they’re being armed. I can tell the turrets are in the lowered position, which means they haven’t begun the arming sequence yet. I’m safe to approach, for now.

I inspect the airship as I approach, looking for anything unusual that could be a threat. This appears to be a typical air destroyer with thick, gray armor covering the whole of the hull from bow to stern, and the steam propellers…

…

My eyes stop and fixate on one part of the ship in particular.

Mother, did you…

I pull my wings back and stop to hover in place, examining the symbol near the ship's bow that indicates the vessel's name. It is a red rose — the symbol associated with the reign of my late grandmother. This is the Air Destroyer Beatrix.

My heart collapses knowing the significance of sending this ship in particular on a mission of subjugation. For taking the life of her daughter, mom is calling on the ship named after her mother, the cruel victim of an assassination plot twenty years ago by agents from Sarlain. This isn’t just a mission of petty revenge for her — it’s penance.

I’ve understood for some time that my family has to believe I’m dead. But to see it confirmed to me with such a stark example… it’s almost too much to bear. I turn my head away from the ship, unable to take it all in. For the life of me, I wish I could turn around, fly back to Varecia and tell mom I’m safe.

…

I force myself to face the ship. If I truly want a future where I return home and tell mom what’s happened to me then I can’t settle now. As painful as it is, I need to scare this ship into leaving the Northern Continent.

Slowly, I fly forward toward the bow where the pilot’s deck is located. This may seem like suicide, but I wasn’t joking when I told Kuro I know everything about the airship-prey. Besides knowing how the cannons fire, being the heir to the throne means I also know how our ships will react if approached by an enemy… even if that enemy is a Dragon.

In the past, Lithans have attacked smaller, less armored vessels by attaching themselves to the side of the ship and using their talons and jaws to attack. They plan to lure me in and wait for me to try in vain to get through the thick, plated armor of the Air Destroyer. Once the cannons have accumulated enough steam, they’ll order gunners to the outside platforms and fire on me. Once their bullets break me off, the cannons will be ready, and… well, no more Princess Asha.

Of course, I’m not going to do any of that. Whatever they have planned, I’m certain none of their contingencies have me staring down the pilot’s deck to bark orders at the vessel’s commanding officer. But that’s exactly what I intend to do. They don’t need to understand the orders I’m giving them, I just need to put on a show for the Lithans and convince the airwomen that trying to fight back against me is futile.

I position myself about a half-mile ahead of the air destroyer, close enough to take in the foul-smelling vapors of the propellers, but far enough away that I have a good view of the two forward-facing cannons. I always thought these ships were massive as a Lemur, and even now as a Lithan I still feel small compared to them.

Hovering in place, muscled tensed and nerves high, I lock eyes with the glass windows of the pilot’s deck. I double-check something in my throat — I think it’s working, now — and feel confident enough to proceed.

“Air Destroyer Beatrix!! I am your Princess, Asha Lordanou!”

I pause for a moment, giving the people I swore to protect one final chance to make contact with me. One last sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, they’ve become privy to what’s happened and this is actually a mission to contact me.

…But the moment soon passes, and the ship doesn’t react. Begrudgingly, I continue. “I order you, as your Princess, to turn back and return to Ellyntide airspace! Do not encroach the Northern Continent!”

Once more, there’s no response from the ship. I strain to look through the glass to the pilot’s deck, but there’s too much glare to make out anything inside. I glance at the turrets, looking for the tell-tale signs of their arming sequence, but they remain in the lowered position.

“If you do not comply, I will—“

At once, the forward turrets whir to life with a mechanical chunk, interrupting my orders. They rise into the ready position, pivoting to point their barrels squarely at me. The arming sequence has begun! Will I turn and flee?

Absolutely not. I’m just going to keep acting like a dumb little Lithan that knows nothing about ascendant technology.

I recall what the Lieutenant told us about the firing sequence. Right now, pressure from the steam generators is being transferred to the forward accumulators near the bow of the ship. Once there, a superheater will process the steam in preparation for firing. Once the correct temperature and pressure have been achieved, the turrets will visibly ‘lock’ in place. When that happens, I have a countdown of—

Click!

Click!

…!! They just locked!!

Four…

Three…

Two…

Now!

I tent my wings, dropping like a stone into a steep dive below the ship. A heartbeat later I sense a brilliant flash of light above me and the deafening sounds of two steam cannons thrash my ear drums.

I flap hard to even out my descent before I plunge too far into the gales. Looping around to the front of the ship, I quickly regain altitude to face down the pilot’s deck once more, this time at a much closer distance. I expected them to do this, but I’m still going to act upset.

Really upset.

Shrieking as loud as my lungs will allow, I’m shocked by the power my voice carries as the windows of the pilot’s deck shatter and explode outward. A confetti of glass and steel is suffused into the air and drawn to the back of the ship by the suction of the steam propellers, revealing the cockpit and the dazed expressions of the animals inside, the whites of their eyes plainly visible.

But I’m not done being angry just yet.

I pull my neck back and tickle the special muscle in the back of my throat. Heat begins to build and to my supreme relief, this time, fire is produced. My jaw flings open and a column of flame shoots into the wind, harmlessly sailing past the starboard bow of the ship and into the open sky where it dissipates into nothing. Feeling like I’ve made a credible threat, I extinguish the blowtorch and stare down the completely exposed pilot’s deck.

“Air Destroyer Beatrix!! This is your final warning! I order you: Stand!! Down!!”

Bedlam erupts inside the ship. A Fisher screams something unintelligible and the officers inside scramble. A Ringtailed woman runs past a Marten picking himself up off the floor and begins frantically punching something into a machine on the back wall. The Marten stumbles into the pilot’s chair and begins turning a sequence of knobs and levers which correlate to loud creaks emanating from the interior of the ship.

A Ruffy consoles a Lopear, still reeling on the ground from the force of my shriek.

Sensing they’re finally taking my threats seriously I bank to the side and rise in altitude over the ship, fighting the gales to fly around in circles and give them plenty of room to retreat. Gazing down to keep a watchful eye on their movements, I spot two curious Ruffies poking out from one of the outside decks on the side of the ship. Terror fills their faces when our eyes meet, and they quickly retreat to the safety of the interior decks.

Slowly, the ship ambles itself so the bow is pointing away from the edge of the continent. The steam propellers shift vertical and throttle up to full speed, taking the ship away from me. I watch it as it glides through the air, the proverbial tail tucked between its legs before slipping silently into the fog.

I’ve done what I set out to do, but it sure feels like a hollow victory. I’m relieved it didn’t come down to actual violence, but to see the abject terror I caused in those I swore to protect is… difficult to process.

I lower out of the sky and towards the edge of the continent, wondering just what type of reaction I’ll receive from the Lithans when I return. I told them I could get the airship to leave, but it ended up taking quite a bit of, erm, persuasion to get it done. I hope I didn’t come off as weak to them.

When I find myself back over the continent I lower down and glide low to the ground, trying to appear modest about what just occurred. As I approach the windswept oak I begin to make out the four Lithans I left there, all standing in a row in front of the tree. It seems they were watching the scene above with great interest. I land nearby and approach them with my head held high, their faces brimming with concern. “The airship-prey has left,” I announce. “It took some persuasion, but I convinced her to return to Ellyntide airspace. She won’t be returning.”

There was silence among the group, nobody quite sure how to respond to the news that an airship-prey had been simply told off into leaving.

“Fress…” Gima speaks slowly and with shock in her voice. “How did you do that?!”

I smile at the older drakaina. “I told you, Gima, I’m a Farlander. Airship-prey obey my orders.”

She stares at me, unable to respond. A heartbeat later she exchanges a befuddled glance with Ykuvi.

“You threatened it with fire,” Enyll speaks up, his voice cool like water. “It wouldn’t listen to you otherwise?”

I shake my head. “It would not. Airship-prey are temperamental, but they understand the threat posed by fire. Flame is their weakness, and a single blast in the right spot could kill an airship-prey in seconds.”

Enyll winces, shocked by the revelation that an airship-prey could be wounded so easily. It’s true, though! One shot of fire to a row of steam propellers and the ship would list on its side until it fell out of the sky. I wonder how many Lithans have been injured in the past trying to fight airships by tearing them apart with their talons? How much destruction has been caused by airships exploding in their territory? To learn that there’s a weakness to those beasts that could stop them before they even reach the continent has got to be moon-shattering.

Enyll’s eyes narrow calmly. For the first time there isn’t hostility staring back at me, but deep-seated respect.

Finally, there’s Kuro. She’s kept her wings folded and her expression steady, but I can tell she’s trying to stay modest. Out of everyone, she believed in me and put herself on the line in front of the others. Of course she’d be pleased to find that her faith was well placed. Perhaps now I’ll be able to find out why she harbored that trust in me.

I flash another quick smile to her. I could swear she flashed the quickest one back.

Ykuvi’s wings rustle. “Farlander,” he asks. “What’s your name?”

A smile grows across my face hearing them address me that way for the first time. “My name is Princess Asha Eloise Lordanou, heir apparent to the Lilac Throne of Ellyntide.” I dip my head low and mantle my wings wide before my new friends. “But please, just call me Asha.”