Idalia watched with {Sight} as Rhaya emerged through the hull in front of the wyvern. One hand lifted, fingers curving like she held invisible strings. Strange ripples pulsed from her skin—sharp waves of distortion that Idalia had no name for.

  Rhaya swung. The wave hit the wyvern and its rider. For a blink, nothing happened.

  Then both shattered, not into gore, but into vibrating fragments that came apart like they had been scattered from unstable glass.

  Idalia's lurched backward, her {Sight} breaking away from the scene. "That was… terrifying. And beautiful."

  Vestella clapped her hands once—sharp, loud—pulling Idalia's focus back to the glowing globe.

  "Idalia. Now. The fleet requires your guidance."

  Idalia blinked rapidly, {Sight} adjusting to the airfield. "Right! Right—there are many coming!" Before she continued, Vestella's voice softened just a fraction. "Can you open a portal? A large one? Something the size of the entire Pearl?"

  Idalia hesitated, because a portal her size? Easy. A portal big enough for a ship? A gamble. A fun gamble if she were alone—but with passengers, with allies, with fragile things?

  "I can roar a portal that fits me," she said slowly. "But for a ship… it might send us to the wrong place. Or nowhere. Or inside a mountain. Or another mountain. I don't know this sky."

  Vestella nodded once, accepting that answer without judgment. "Then we land. And we survive the descent."

  Another tremor shook the ship as wyverns slammed against the outer barrier. Idalia swung her gaze upward, her {Sight} snapping to each hidden blur. "There!" she barked. "And there—no, right of that—three in a line! Fire! Fire now!"

  Vestella didn't hesitate. "All ships: formation V-17. Prepare barrage on Idalia's marks. Descend immediately!"

  The warships shifted, engines roaring as they angled downward toward the looming continent. Cannon ports opened. Beams of light punched into the clouds exactly where Idalia pointed. Wyverns erupted from camouflage, shrieking as the blasts tore through them.

  Kelix muttered, awe creeping into his voice. "She's actually directing all of us…"

  Outside, more wyverns slipped through camouflage. Idalia's {Sight} caught them instantly turning the weak sensor shadows on the globe into sharp, clear shapes.

  "There!" she said, jabbing a claw toward the orb-map. "Four above us—one is trying to dive on the Luminous Pearl! And two behind Ship Four!" Vestella translated without hesitation. "Unit One, direct upward fire. Unit Four, break left. Unit Five, shielding pattern nine."

  The ships shifted formation on the globe, engines tilting, cannons rotating.

  Light blasted from their sides, punching through the clouds and striking exactly where Idalia had pointed. Wyverns burst from camouflage, screeching as the beams shredded their wings.

  Idalia felt a flash of pride rise warm in her chest. She was helping. She was really helping.

  A new voice broke in—Rhaya's, crackling through a speaker panel—audio only. "Idalia. I'm airborne now. Where's my next target?"

  Idalia spun, scanning through her {Sight} again. On one of the small square screens hovering beside the big orb, she saw Rhaya—floating.

  Actually floating.

  Rhaya hovered over the clouds, held up by vibrating air that shook like an invisible drum beneath her feet. Her hair whipped wildly around her as she balanced herself on pure rhythm.

  Idalia shrieked happily, "You're flying! Like a hummingbird but angry!"

  Rhaya groaned. "Target. Please."

  "Right!" Idalia pointed sharply at the globe. "There! Cluster of ten! They are hiding as sky, but I see where the shimmer bends! Hit the middle!"

  Vestella relayed it in crisp command-speak, broadcasting to all units, "Rhaya, strike Sector C-12, central target."

  Rhaya didn't hesitate. She clapped her hands together. The shockwave blasted outward in a ring. The orb-map reflected the impact in real time—ten wyverns snapping out of camouflage, riders screaming as vibrations tore their armor and bodies apart. The creatures tumbled in pieces toward the distant continent.

  The sky cleared around them.

  Idalia's grin widened, feral and thrilled. "Yes! Yes! Strike more! I see them all! Just give me the globe and I'll tell you where every bug is hiding!"

  Vestella steadied the orb with one hand and placed her other gently on Idalia's shoulder. "Then guide us. The descent begins now."

  Stolen story; please report.

  Another projection lit up, showing the other commanders staring in tense silence. The commanders straightened. They understood how dangerous the situation was. However, the gleam in their eyes suggested trust.

  Hidden in the clouds, more invisible wyverns glided closer—Idalia saw their outlines appear in the orb like shadows underwater.

  Vestella looked to her. "Begin." Idalia leaned so close her nose nearly touched the projection. Her {Sight} aligned with the orb, making every movement crisp. "On the left! Three dozen sneaking together! To the right are several more! They fly like cowards—hit them before they reach our flanks!"

  Vestella echoed immediately, voice sharp. "Left flank! Tri-point volley, now! Right flank! Initiate all quad-pulses and stun beams!"

  Beams burst from the warship's cannons. In the orb, bright lines cut through the sky and collided with the wyverns. Their camouflage shattered, exposing leathery wings before they curled inward and fell burning through clouds.

  The ships shifted into a descending wedge as Vestella commanded, engines roaring as they angled toward the continent's monster-infested ground.

  Another screen blinked on again. Rhaya.

  "Idalia." Her tone was calm but wired with adrenaline. "Where do you want the next hit?"

  Idalia's eyes snapped upward. In the orb, and in real {Sight}, she saw Rhaya suspended in open sky. "Oh! Yes! Yes!” Idalia jabbed a claw toward a cluster on the orb. "Below you! There are many wyverns hiding on the right side of the big cloud! The left one—hit that next! It hides the others!"

  Rhaya pressed her palms together. A shockwave rippled out—a ripple that was not sound, but shaped like sound, a blade of vibration slicing through the air.

  In the orb, and through her {Sight}, Idalia watched it hit the wyverns in perfect sequence. Their camouflage tore like thin cloth. Wings snapped. Riders screamed. The cluster shredded apart, bodies falling in spirals toward the storms below.

  The sky opened clearer around them, for a moment at least. Idalia giggled fiercely. "Again! Again! They are afraid now! I can smell it!"

  Vestella's eyes glinted with sharp approval. The descent began like someone had ripped the sky open. Engines roared. Clouds shredded around the hulls. The five remaining Yae-Fae warships tilted into a spear formation and plunged toward the continent below, their forcefields blazing like comet tails.

  Idalia stood beside the pink orb, claws tapping excitedly against the floor as the battlefield map swirled with motion. She felt the ship drop, felt the wind scream against the hull. Felt her blood sing.

  "This is fun! More enemies! Show me more!"

  Vestella didn't even flinch at the chaos. She relayed Idalia's rapid-fire commands with perfect clarity, her voice echoing through the entire fleet.

  "Unit Three, rotate ten degrees. Unit Five, brace shields. Fire on Idalia's mark!" And Idalia marked everything.

  "Two above! One below! That one's pretending to be a cloud—get it! Shoot that shadow! Yes—YES—good!" The ships obeyed like a flock of angry metallic birds, banking hard as energy cannons lit up the sky. Explosions burst into orange-white blooms outside the windows, illuminating shredded wyvern bodies raining downward like broken stars.

  But then the enemy changed. Idalia's {Sight} caught it first. "They are doing something—they're breathing light!"

  A wyvern dove toward them, chest expanding like a bellows. Then a beam of burning blue-yellow fire blasted from its jaws, slamming into the Pearl's barrier. The shields rippled from the impact.

  Vestella lidded her eyes. "New tactic. They are shifting from stealth to full assault."

  On the globe, dozens of wyverns followed suit, each charging a blast in its throat. And the riders were firing too.

  Idalia saw glints. Metal. Spinning. "They're shooting little balls! Fast balls! Fast-fast-fast!"

  Vestella responded immediately. "Magic pellet artillery. They're using a rotary firing mechanism like a Gatling gun, but arcane. Do not worry. Yae-Fae craftsmanship is superior. Our armor is designed to redirect projectile spells." Outside, pellets ricocheted off the hulls, lighting the shields with bursts of sparks. The ships endured but the assault thickened, forcing them into tighter maneuvers as they dropped through enemy swarms. "Rhaya," Vestella ordered, "clear us a forward path."

  A streak of vibrating light answered.

  Rhaya rocketed past the Pearl's viewport, her body shaking the air with each pulse. She weaved between wyverns like an overexcited, murderous hummingbird—blurring left, right, upside down—leaving trails of vibrating arcs that sliced through riders and mounts alike.

  "Hit that one! There! No—Rhaya, left!" Idalia shouted, pointing at the orb.

  Rhaya followed instantly, carving through the sky with a whiplash of sound that shattered several wyverns at once. She spun in a full arc, dove, and burst upward through another cluster.

  Idalia cheered like a child at a festival, tail whipping wildly. "Yes! YES! Hunt them all! Fun! Fun!"

  Then everything changed when a flash brighter than lightning tore through the clouds. Something massive barreled into Rhaya from above. The shockwave hit all five ships at once, making the hulls groan like dying beasts. The orb-map jittered before stabilizing.

  Idalia's {Sight} slammed outward.

  A creature—long, sleek, fur rippling with static—hovered in the air. Its body was serpent-like, but fluffy, like a monstrous, divine ferret stretched into a Shenlong form. Lightning crackled along its whiskers.

  A caped man stood on its back, boots planted wide, cloak snapping in the wind, a ginormous battle axe ready in his hand.

  Rhaya steadied herself midair, vibrations still holding her aloft.

  The man threw his head back and laughed.

  "Well, well! At last!" he shouted, voice booming like a living storm. "A fighter worth my time!"

  Rhaya gritted her teeth. "Vestella—this is bad! I've hit an Orun General! The Dragon Tamer himself!"

  His grin widened, feral and delighted. "I am honored you know my name! Don't disappoint me, Apexial!" Although nothing like Kelix's lightning, the General swung a chained axe charged with dark-orange electricity, sparks spiraling down its length. Rhaya swung a counterwave. The two forces met, and the sky detonated in a quake of thunder so violent every ship in the fleet shuddered.

  Inside the Pearl, sparks rained from the ceiling. Idalia jolted, but barely managed to use her body to keep Vestella steady. "Rhaya!"

  Kelix was already at Idalia's side, lightning curling along his arms. His eyes were sharp with urgency.

  "Idalia!" he barked. "Portal! Now! Drop me to her level!" Idalia whipped her head back. "A portal in mid-sky? With everything shaking? You could fall into a storm—or a wyvern—or the ground—"

  Kelix grabbed her shoulders, eyes blazing. "Rhaya needs backup. I can reach her faster than any ship. Make the portal. I'll handle the rest."

  Outside, Rhaya and the General clashed again—their impacts rippling across the clouds like thunder drums. Vestella put a steady hand on Idalia's back. Her voice was calm, determined.

  "You can do this. Open it exactly where you see Rhaya. I will stabilize the coordinates."

  Idalia swallowed. Her {Sight} locked onto the battling pair. The sky trembled. The ships descended. Rhaya struggled against a monster.

  But Kelix waited, ready to leap.

  Idalia inhaled deeply.

  "Fine," she growled. "I will make the sky open."