Dark Sun Rising

Chapter 5

The airship moved silently through the sky like an eagle, painted in the brightest shade of white. It stood out against the dark blanket of the night, and while the pilot checked in with air traffic control, the passengers—Zari and Spike—decided to kill time by playing a card game with a pack Spike had in his coat: Magick: The Conclave. They continued to talk while they played.

There was more for Zari to hear and for Spike to say, as he was more experienced in literally every aspect from his hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years of life.

"So, if you are as old as you claim to be, why haven't you been able to get rid of this boyish attitude of yours?" Zari raised a brow. The faint smile curling at the corner of her lips told Spike how much fun she was having.

"Well, you gotta keep some aspects of yourself, right? I mean, how else am I going to remember who I once was?" he replied, playing with the black zone card.

"And this is the one thing you chose to keep?" Zari scoffed, shaking her head. When she met Spike's eyes, she noticed an uneasiness and a question that lurked right at the edge of his lips, which moved, yet no sound came out. She tried to explain herself. "I mean. You walk like you know everything and you treat everyone else as...an accessory." The last bit rolled off her tongue naturally, forcing Spike to speak up.

"Well, when you live through decades, learning skills and techniques to avoid the catastrophes that struck the planet every so often, you learn to disregard incompetence and those who exhibit it. Being immortal doesn't mean I don't have to hone my skills for survival. I do. And when I see people showing intense amounts of ineptitude, playing with their mortal lives, I do get triggered." Spike chose his words carefully, enunciating each of them. Zari knew it was a slippery slope to continue with the topic so she decided to change it.

"You know how many years I spent working hard to earn my family's respect? Being the only member with no magic was...embarrassing. And it was more embarrassing to live among a family that was known for mystic arts." She looked to her right, glancing at the cockpit, which was slightly visible through the gap in the sliding door.

"So that's why you're going to Lyndon? To tell your family that you're just like them now?" Spike guessed and then retreated, suddenly thinking about the train attack.

If Zari had bonded with E.S Mithra on the train, why was she headed to Lyndon before that? She said she had wanted to find her father and brother, but what was her real purpose in doing this? His mind was in a fix, but Zari had already answered his question with a nod. Before he could speculate, a loud beeping sound alarmed both of them. A din echoed from the cockpit following the sharp noise.

Suddenly, the airship began to stall. As Zari looked up at the ceiling, she heard clear footsteps, marching toward the back of the ship. When Zari looked toward Spike, she saw his seat was vacant. He had, with one swift motion, rushed to the pilots and was having a heated conversation with them.

Unable to make anything of it, Zari unbuckled her seatbelt and approached the small window right above Spike's seat. She could see nothing but a big mass of black, right beside their ship. Her eyes soon caught a small image painted right on the structure that was blocking her vision. The figure was hazy, but she could make it out, and terror took over her mind. Fuck!

"Zari, get away from the window!!" Spike yelled, appearing from inside the cockpit with a sharp knife he had drawn from somewhere inside his coat. There was no one in the ship beside them, and yet he held Zari behind his lean body with his blade still pointed toward something her eyes couldn't see. Yet.

As Spike held his stance, the door at the back of the ship blew apart and a group of men, dressed in raggedy clothes, swung inside. "Pirates. I knew it," Zari mumbled, stepping back and gathering her strength into her palms.