CHAPTER 29
“I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Stone. So many more lives would have been lost if you hadn’t taken action,” the Captain of the Skyflyer articulated.
I shook my head. “I wish I would have acted sooner. I could have saved everyone.”
Koshiro rubbed my back in a circular motion. “Don’t you dare say that, Chad. You went above and beyond. Which is more than what this captain did?”
The captain raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
“Where were you when all this was happening?” Koshiro growled.
“I was at my post. Policy states that I cannot leave the bridge in this sort of event.”
Koshiro rolled her eyes. “That’s certainly a convenient policy, Captain.”
“Ma’am?”
“Where is security? There has to be some sort of security on this thing.”
“There are three security officers on staff on each Skyflyer in the fleet.”
Koshiro shrugged and looked around. “Where the fuck were they? Where the fuck are they now?”
The captain cleared his throat and straightened his coat. “They are detained and will be questioned immediately as to their whereabouts. I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Does your security team consist of three little bunny girls? So they just hid during this hijacking? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“The security team is under investigation. That’s all that I can tell you. As a matter of fact, I am on my way to take part in the questioning now. When the new Skyflyer arrives, the staff will take you to an identical room. Once again, I thank you for what you did. Now, if you’ll excuse.”
I nodded and shook the man’s hand. “Take care.” The captain marched off quickly toward the bridge.
Koshiro stomped her foot on the deck. “Can you believe that guy? What a cowardly douche man!”
“It’s alright. Let’s get to the other Skyflyer and try to put this all behind us.”
Koshiro grunted. “Well, you better believe we fly for free from now on. That’s the least they can do—free lifetime passes.”
******
The new Skyflyer was almost identical to the one that we were on. The room they gave us matched our previous one except for the comforter color. We ordered room service and split a bottle of red wine before falling asleep in each other’s arms. I was exhausted physically and emotionally from the massacre. I kept replaying in my head over and over, the little boy being tossed overboard. The screams from his mother and father haunted me.
After a night of tossing and turning, we were told through the intercom that we were making our descent into the city of Broadburn. From above, the city looked to be about three times the size of Summerstar. A jagged mountain range surrounded the city. I scanned the area for something that looked like a mage’s tower, but I saw nothing that resembled the picture I had in my head.
I held my hand over my eyes to block out the sun. “Where’s the mage’s tower? It shouldn’t be something that’s easy to miss. Muni said that it was huge.”
“Muni said blah, blah, blah,” Koshiro mocked.
I snorted. “Well, she did say it.”
“It’s supposed to be a couple of miles outside of town. Chances are we could see from the other side of the Skyflyer,” Koshiro shrugged.
“Well, let’s grab our stuff and head up top. Let’s go,” I replied, followed by a loud slap to the kitsune’s butt cheek.
“Ow, fuck. You’re lucky my ass didn’t explode. You need to remember all that strength you have or I’ll be sitting weird for the rest of my life with only one ass cheek.”
******
We darted to the other side of the descending Skyflyer and saw the tower immediately. The tower was enormous. I would have bet that it was the same width and height of the Empire State Building. They constructed the tower of smooth stone. There were all kinds of engravings and sculpting along the side, but I was too far away to make out anything specifically. There looked to be no windows. A large iron spire stood at the top of the tower. This thing definitely looked like it could serve as some kind of mana antenna. Maybe Muni was right and these mages could help me send a message to my parents.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Koshiro asked with the sun reflecting off her pupils.
“It’s amazing. Hopefully, they can help. If they can’t, then they can’t. I’m fine either way. I just thought this was worth a shot.”
Koshiro wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my chest. “I’m so happy to be here with you. Thank you for taking me.”
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“Are you sure about that? I recall a pirate attack and a deck full of blood and body parts.”
“Being with you is all I care about. I don’t care what happens as long as I’m with you.”
I kissed the top of her head. My nose tickled when the tip of her fluffy kitsune ear flicked it.
We felt the Skyflyer touch down outside of Broadburn. I grabbed Koshiro’s hand and led her to the exit of the giant vessel. The exit faced the tower, and it monopolized our vision as we walked out of the Skyflyer.
“We going there now?” Koshiro asked.
“Sure, why not?”
Just as our feet hit the dirt, we were bombarded with shouts from vendors vying for our attention. These were temporary booths that were set up to take advantage of the travellers of the Skyflyer. Men, women, and different species of beastkin shouted for our attention.
“Anything you want to shop for?” I asked.
“Nah, you’re all that I need. Let’s get going.”
A skinny elf jumped in our path with a satchel. “Oooh, a kitsune. You don’t see many kitsune girls around these parts. You’re beautiful. You wouldn’t happen to be a whore, would you? I would pay any price to lie with you for a night.”
My face turned red with anger and I grabbed the elf’s shirt collar. “What did you just say?”
“I asked if she was a whore. Alot of beastkin women work in the brothel’s downtown. Let go of my shirt or you’ll regret it.”
I laughed and patted him on the head with my other hand and let him go. “Don’t say another world to my lady here. Got it?”
“You ripped my collar,” the elf replied.
“Hold out your hand,” I demanded.
“What on Earth for?” the elf asked.
“Just do it,” I demanded.
The elf hesitantly complied, slowly opening his hand. I dropped one hundred credits in his palm, then I manually closed his hand and patted it. “Go buy you a new shirt. It’s on me.”
“Chad, why did you give him money for a shirt? He’s an asshole.”
“He is an asshole, but I’m giving him the money, anyway.”
“Don’t call me an asshole, you blue-haired jerk!”
Koshiro’s eyes widened, and jaw dropped. “What did you call him?”
“He’s a jerk! He doesn’t know me and he’s calling me an asshole. He’s the asshole actually,” the elf spat.
Koshiro pulled her trusty butcher knife from behind her back and plunged the blade into the elf’s thigh muscle. The man screamed in agony and fell to the dirt. Koshiro knelt and slapped him in the face, then pointed her finger at him. “Never call my Chad a name. You disrespect Chad, you get fucking stabbed in the leg.” Koshiro smiled, then jerked the knife from his flesh in one quick, smooth motion. The man screamed, then fell flat on his back. The kitsune hit an artery because blood spurted from the stab wound like a geyser.
“Koshiro, what the fuck? You can’t just stab someone for calling me a jerk.”
“He called you a jerk and an asshole. He crossed the line into the stabby stab zone.”
“You need to heal him. You cut through one of his arteries and he’s going to bleed out if you do nothing. Heal him.”
“Blah, I don’t want to heal him. He’s a douche.”
“Koshiro, do it now… please.”
Koshiro patted me on the cheek and smiled. “Anything for you, my love.” She knelt beside the bleeding man and held her hands over the wound. Within seconds, the kitsune’s hands turned into radiant balls of light. The wound mended itself back together immediately.
“Thank you, kind lady. I’m sorry about everything. I mean no disrespect. Please let me go. I won’t bother you again. Thank you so much for healing me.”
“Psh, if it was up to me, you’d be a corpse in a pool of blood,” the kitsune scoffed.