The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC) BOOK 1

The Sky Raiders: 18

"They're all yours." Durny said before walking away.
"Not a lot of girls are here." I said.
"We have more than you see topside." Mira said. "Most of the girls stay below."
"In the basement?" Cole asked.
"In the caves." Mira corrected. "This whole section of the caves is honeycombed with them. That's why they built here. We're right above them."
"Cool." I said.
"It's a big building." Cole observed.
"Big enough for almost everyone to have a room topside. But some prefer the caves. When a storm comes, everyone prefers the caves." Mira said.
"You get bad storms?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "It's doesn't get much worse than a castle landing on you."
"Has that happened?" Cole asked.
"We had some close calls. Some damage. No direct hits."
"Huh." Said Cole
"Have you been here long?" I asked her.
"A couple years." She said.
"You must have been young when you came here." I said.
"I'm about eleven." Mira said.
"About?"
"I'm an orphan, no one knows when my birthday is." She said, but she didn't seem to be asking for pity, so I tried not to give it.
"Are you going to help us survive tomorrow?" I asked her, slightly smiling.
"Survival is up to you," she said. "I have a feeling you'll be a good scout."
"That's the second time someone has said that to her." Cole complained.
Mira smiled. "Come on, let's get you some gear."
A boy, maybe thirteen, clapped Mira on the back. "Did you finally find a boyfriend?" He asked.
She shrugged off his hand. "No, but I already have a boy enemy."
The boy was really cute. He was a few inches taller than me and Cole with tan skin and an athletic build. His dark tousled hair was the perfect mix of messy and wavy. He had really pretty brown eyes, and a cute lopsided smirk.
"I'm Jace." He said.
"I'm Cole."
"Kendal."
"You guys are my new best friends." He said.
"How come?" Cole asked.
"With Fiddler gone, it was my turn to scout tomorrow."
"Glad we could help you out." I said sarcastically, but I was smiling.
He smirked at me. I felt my face getting warm, and butterfly's in my stomach swirled around. Suddenly I felt self conscious. I was still in my gray shirt and spandex.
"If you get an easy one, we aren't friends anymore. If you get killed, I'll love you forever." He said jokingly.
"Buzz off," Mira said. "I need to show them the place."
"Listen to everything she says," Jace said. "Then do the opposite." I smiled slightly at that.
Mira punched at him. But he dodged away, laughing. God, his laugh was adorable.
Snap out of it! I told myself. Focus on surviving tomorrow.
"Come on." Mira said.
Jace winked at me as we walked out of the room, I felt my face getting warm, and I looked at the floor.
What is wrong with me! Boys have never made me nervous before. I thought. But, this boy was different. He was super cute and funny. Snap out of it Kendal!
I followed Mira and Cole out of the come on room. They turned a corner and went down a flight of stairs.
"Where are you guys from?" Mira asked.
"Earth." Cole said.
"You're from outside? How long have you been here?" Mira asked us.
"About a week." I said.
She stopped walking, and her eyes flashed with sympathy. "A week?"
"Our friends got kidnapped by slavers. We followed them through and thought we could help them." Cole said.
"You came followed them through?" She sounded impressed.
"We had no idea what we were doing. We got caught. Then Durny bought us." I said.
She gave a little nod. "Do you know what the Sky Raiders do?" She asked us.
"They raid the castles," I said. "But that's all we know."
"This is a salvage operation." Mira said. "There's nothing alive in those castles. Not truly. Just semblances. Some are big and dangerous. Some seem like people. But none are really living. Most semblances disintegrate if you bring them back here. Everything else stays together just fine. It's all ownerless, and headed for the Eastern Cloudwall, never to be seen again. So the Sky Raiders take what we can. We keep certain valuables, but most of it goes to the salvage yard. People come from all over the outskirts to buy our finds."
"Are the semblances dangerous?" Cole asked.
Mira huffed. "Up in the castles, they seem plenty real. Some castles are empty. Some are deadly. If nothing gets taken, it doesn't count as a mission. So make sure something gets taken back to the ship everytime, even if it just a floatstone."
Floatstones were the shaped stones that let the castles float.
"Got it." I said.
"Don't want to end up doing more than fifty missions." Cole said.
"So," I said. "We're the bait?"
"More or less." Mira said. "No one wants to see you fail. They'll scope out the castle before sending you down. They'll be ready to help if possible. And we'll equip you."
Mira opened another door. "Your outfits is about functionality not fashion. You want clothes that let you move freely, have enough pockets, and give a little protection. Put tough material over your elbows and knees."
They room had a bizarre variety of clothing- tunics, long underwear, embroidered capes, a medieval breastplate, a trench coat, grass skirts, a football helmet, togas, and more.
"Where did you get all this?" Cole asked Mira.
"Take one guess." She said.
"The castles." I said. "Cole, you should wear the football helmet." I said jokingly.
"No way." Said Cole, laughing. "Do you guys even play football here?"
"Is that a game?" Mira asked.
He nodded and set it down. "Do the castles come from our world?"
"Do you have floating castles on Earth?" Mira asked.
"No," Cole said. "But we have a lot of this stuff."
"Nothing belongs in the castles," Mira said. "It's why they're worth raiding. You never know what you'll find in them. It might be valuable. It might be garbage. But it's there for taking."
"If you don't get killed." I said.
Mira nodded. "Your catching on."
Cole picked up the breastplate.
"First and last, worry about speed." Mira said. "If things go wrong, you'll survive by escaping."
Cole ended up in a a tee shirt and pants, and a buckskin jacket.
"Cole, you can wait outside while I help Kendal."
Mira asked.
"Sure." Cole said, and left the room.
"Hm," Mira said. "Try these on."
She turned around while I tried on the black leggings and blue compression jacket she gave me.
"It's . . . tight" I said.
"You look really good Kendal." Mira said. "Jace is going to freak."
"Jace?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah," Mira said laughing. "I saw the way you blushed when he smirked at you."
My face flushed. "He's cute." Mira laughed.
"Hey," I said. "Do I have a hair brush I can use?"
"Yeah, here."
"Thanks."
As I was brushing my hair, Mira opened the door for Cole to come in the room. I turned around to face him.
"You look . . . Wow." Cole said. Mira laughed.
"Thanks."
"Come on, this room is more important."
She led them to a room across the hall. "You get to pick one special item crafted by our shapers. Durny leads them these days. Don't try to take more than one. If you get caught sneaking more, you'll get in a lot of trouble. These items are hard to make, and usually get lost when a scout . . . doesn't survive. So they can't afford more than one per scout. Same rule applies to most in a raiding party."
Arranged on racks and shelves, weapons and gear filled the room. I saw swords, axes, spears, javelins, bows, arrows, slings, maces, war hammers, throwing stars and knives. I also saw ropes, shields, packs, bottles, compasses, spyglasses, and all sorts of knickknacks.
"What do we pick?" I asked.
"You want something shaped," she replied. "Take the ropes for example. A Winding rope will wrap itself around things. A Climbing rope can stand straight up like a pole without any support. And a Slithering rope will with track and bind a target."
"No way." I said.
"Get used to the unbelievable," Mira said. "You'll find plenty of it in the castles."