The Magicians' Daughter by S. C. Butler

Author:S. C. Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: High Fantasy, Wizards, Dwarves, Epic Fantasy, Magic
Publisher: Mutable Books
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Thirty-one Years

Hubley’s hair fluttered at her shoulders as the airship picked up speed.

“Who’s Prince Merannon?” she asked.

Avender gasped for breath, his legs pumping furiously at the pedals of the engine. Gears clicked as he worked the levers on the handlebar. Beneath the blumet decking, the driveshaft whirred.

“Tell you later....Let’s get out of here first.”

Pressing herself flat against the canvas hull, Hubley looked to see what was happening astern. The propeller whirred a couple of fathoms from her face, but, the faster it moved, the less it obscured her view. They’d already moved far enough away from the Lamp that the only thing visible in the darkness was the prince’s light, a tiny spark above the beacon’s brilliance.

The broad fins set lengthwise along the propeller tilted, causing the ship to nose downward. Small, and still too bright to look at directly, the Lamp sent Hubley’s and Avender’s long shadows stretching across the canvas to melt into the darkness ahead. Out of sight above their heads hung the bottom of the world.

Rubbing her arms against the breeze, she turned back to the cockpit. Avender’s chest swelled as he prepared for another burst of conversation. “If you’re cold, Mims packed some warmer clothes.”

Opening the knapsack, Hubley found socks and a pair of boots, a brown wool dress, and a warm cloak, all plainer than anything she’d ever worn. But her beautiful red gown was already torn in several places, and the wind was whipping right through it, so she took it off and shoved it into the pack. Perhaps her mother could mend it later on. Pulling the woolen dress over her head, she found it itched terribly against her bare skin, but the scratching was much better than the cold.

Avender was still pedaling hard when she finished; her cloak snapped in the galloping breeze as she stood beside him. Eager to know where they were going, she peppered him with questions, but he only panted and shook his head. Though she’d never flown one herself, Hubley knew the hard part about airships was getting them started. Once you reached the speed you wanted, the pedaling got a lot easier. Then only the air slowed you down. Which was why no one had ever tried using airships on the surface, where even a medium breeze would blow you off course. The Abyss, vast and deep though it was, never felt a breath of wind. Unless you were riding in an airship.

When the Malmoret Lamp had dimmed to the glow of a distant town, Avender finally stopped pedaling. Huffing and puffing, he stripped the goggles from his face and slid down from the engine’s saddle. The airship coasted along, barely losing speed.

“Are we going to find my mother?” Hubley demanded.

Avender held up a tired hand. “Hold on a minute, will you?”

Despite the cold and wind, his forehead glistened with sweat as he reached beneath the hull and pulled out a small cask wedged in among the gasbags. Grabbing a small cup from his pack, he unstopped the cask and poured himself several gulping drinks.

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