Engines of Alchemancy (The Alchemancer Book One)

Chapter 18. Amongst the Clouds

THE GRIFFIN'S ENGINE SPEWED SMOKE and heat through the deck's exhaust pipes as the airship sailed up and away from Cauldron Mountain. Once the fires of Anaktoa were a pinprick in the distance behind them, the Griffin began a steep ascent, rising higher and higher until they approached the very clouds. An unspoken signal must have been conveyed, for crewmen started breaking out an assortment of gear: heavy wool jackets, fur-lined boots and gloves, and, most striking of all, masks that had tubes extending from a mouthpiece to small, belt-mounted tanks that Shanna learned were full of air. Right away, as the Griffin ascended through the lowermost clouds, she recognized their necessity, for gradually, as if someone were stealing her very breath, it became more and more difficult to breathe. She took deep breaths to compensate, but it did no good. Her head swam, and she felt faint.

"The air is thinner here," Erlek said from next to her in a dry, monotone voice.

Shanna started. She'd neither seen nor heard his approach. Though she loathed his presence, the suddenness of his appearance at least forced her to shake off the slow grip of panic brought about by the thinning air.

"We will remain this high only as long as it takes to secure the next Element." From the ship's foredeck, he probed the way ahead as if he could see through the mistiness of the clouds. "Two of them are ours now. Soon, we shall have the third."

Shanna didn't say anything right away. At first, she hoped the man would just go away. She hated the way he always stood so close. She leaned away, taking a small step from him. The movement jostled the satchel that still hung at her side. The bowl that was the Element of Earth remained within. It was joined by a small obsidian box, where rested the Element of Fire. The obsidian box was necessary, Erlek had said, to contain the Element, lest it set the airship ablaze. Shanna thought about excusing herself and returning to her cabin, but her curiosity got the best of her. "The third. But what about the fourth?"

"The fourth has already been retrieved," Erlek said. "I only need to meet with its caretaker to exchange for it."

A shiver went through the man. Shanna saw his breath as visible puffs. It was cold, she realized, seeing many of the airmen buttoning tight their wool jackets. Strange she hadn't noticed anything herself. But for the thinning air, she felt perfectly fine.

Shanna was just about to probe for more information when the mist parted and suddenly the Griffin was above the clouds. Her question died on her lips as she was overwhelmed by a night sky she had previously only imagined. Millions of pinpricks blazed across the dark veil, twinkling, signaling, almost calling to her. They were so close, too, as if she might reach out and grab hold of them if only the Griffin would climb just a little higher. Shanna relished the sight for as long as she could, or at least until she realized that Erlek still stood too close. It was with some disappointment that she returned her attention to their discussion.

"What about the third, then?" she asked.

While Shanna had been delighting in the night sky, the Griffin had leveled off, the rush of her engine diminished, so that she now skimmed the tops of the clouds.

"The Element of Air lies ahead. Those entrusted with hiding the Four Elements thought they were clever, hiding each of the artifacts deep within the elemental sphere to which it belonged. I learned that Earth was deep underground. Water, immersed beneath the sea in a sunken city. Fire, in the bowels of a volcano. And Air. Killius Roe was the elementalist entrusted with the Element of Air. Much like ourselves, he soared aloft, searching for a place to secret away his charge. What he found, hidden amongst the clouds, was Valacia. Its name means Palace of the Skies."

A palace hidden amongst the clouds? A week ago, Shanna might not have believed it. Now, she accepted it without question.

"Valacia is an elusive place to find. Once, I knew its location. But that was before I had commissioned to have the Griffin built. The palace moved, carried along by the winds, so the knowledge of where it had been soon became useless. Valacia never remains in the same place for long, for it flows with the very air. Many years of collecting data and studying the patterns of the winds while onboard this very ship finally revealed its course to me. Now, if my calculations are correct—and, of course, they are—we follow in its wake."