The Luna Raven soared through open sky. Fabella was long gone now—lost somewhere behind the clouds and the far horizon.

  Ahead, suspended in the clouds like a rusted crown, floated the Kestrel Resupply Station—a ring of platforms, fuel tanks, and docking arms circling a central tower. Ships drifted lazily around it, some docked, some waiting, some simply loitering.

  Rodrick slowed the engines.

  “We’ll pass by Kestrel, but we’re not stopping.”

  Imala frowned.

  “Captain… everyone stops at Kestrel. If we don’t, people will talk.”

  “They’ll talk more if we dock.”

  Before Elijah could ask why, a sharp metallic ping echoed across the deck—the unmistakable sound of a long?range scanner locking onto them.

  Aidan leaned over the railing.

  “Uh… Captain? We’ve got company.”

  Three ships peeled away from the station’s shadow, engines flaring. Sleek. Predatory. Painted with mismatched colors and scavenged armor plates. Their hulls bore no official markings—just personal sigils, kill tallies, and crude paint.

  Bounty hunters.

  Jacob’s eyes widened as he read the broadcast signal.

  “Oh no… Captain… they posted it.”

  Rodrick’s jaw tightened.

  “How much?”

  Jacob swallowed.

  “Fifty thousand mewru.”

  Aidan let out a low whistle.

  “Well. That explains the welcoming party.”

  Casey’s expression darkened.

  “That’s enough to make even amateurs stupid.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Imala slammed her hand on the console.

  “Captain, they’re arming weapons!”

  Rodrick didn’t hesitate.

  “Battle stations. Now.”

  The bounty hunters dove toward them, engines screaming.

  The sky erupted.

  Radiant bolts streaked past the Raven, exploding in bursts of blue fire. Rodrick yanked the wheel, sending the ship into a sharp roll that nearly threw Elijah off his feet.

  Aidan whooped like a child at a festival.

  “Now this is what I’m talking about!”

  Casey grabbed him by the collar.

  “Focus, idiot!”

  Jacob clung to the railing with one hand, camera in the other.

  “This is—this is incredible—terrifying—but incredible!”

  A grappling line shot toward the deck. Hokori stepped forward, blade flashing, and sliced it clean before it could latch.

  “They’re trying to board,” he rumbled.

  “Not today,” Rodrick growled.

  He spun the wheel sharply. The Raven banked hard, slipping between drifting fuel tanks and docking arms jutting from the station. One of the bounty ships clipped a metal strut and spiraled off course.

  Imala shouted over the roar of the engines.

  “Captain, if you want more speed, I need to cut stabilizers!”

  Rodrick didn’t blink.

  “Do it.”

  Casey “You’re insane!”

  “Do it anyway!”

  Imala yanked a lever. The Raven lurched, dropping several meters before catching a thermal updraft. Elijah’s stomach flipped as the ship bucked upward again.

  The bounty hunters overshot, losing formation.

  Rodrick seized the moment.

  “Jax—here we go!

  Jax braced his massive arms against the deck crank and heaved. Radiant sails snapped open, catching a burst of wind. The Raven shot skyward like a fired arrow, breaking free of the hunters’ range.

  In seconds, the Kestrel Station shrank behind them.

  Silence settled—heavy, breathless, electric.

  Elijah leaned against the railing, chest heaving.

  “I… I didn’t know the Raven could move like that.”

  Imala wiped sweat from her brow.

  “She can’t. That’s why I’m going to be yelling at the captain later.”

  Rodrick ignored her, scanning the horizon.

  “We’re clear. For now.”

  Elijah swallowed, still shaking. His gaze drifted toward the back corner of the deck—toward the three folded light?sail craft tucked behind crates and tarps.

  He hesitated, then spoke.

  “Earlier… when I first came aboard… I saw those three little light?sail ships tucked in the back corner. I didn’t know what they were.”

  Jacob brightened instantly.

  “Oh, those? Yeah—that’s kind of a hobby of ours.”

  Aidan puffed out his chest.

  “We’re kinda famous.”

  Casey flicked his ear.

  “Not famous. Popular.”

  Elijah blinked.

  “What do you mean?”

  Here’s a short, clean, light?novel–style pre?chapter note for Chapter 10 — the kind you’d see right before the final chapter of a volume:

  If you want an even shorter or more playful version, I can craft that too. “Don’t you know anything? Ever heard of Light Drifters?”

  Elijah flinched at the sudden enthusiasm.

  “S?Sorry! I just—Light Drifters?”

  Jax arrived with a tray of snacks, casual as ever.

  “Yeah. Like the sport.”

  Elijah froze.

  Because he did know.

  From the magazines he scavenged in the slums.

  The ones he read until the pages fell apart.

  The ones with glowing sails and impossible stunts and a team whose name felt like a dream.

  He whispered, barely audible:

  “…Stargaze…”

  The crew exchanged looks—then burst into laughter.

  Aidan slapped the railing.

  “No way—you actually know them?”

  Casey smirked.

  “Elijah… we are Stargaze.”

  Elijah’s breath caught.

  He remembered the magazine cover.

  The horned rider.

  The radiant sails.

  The sky split open by light.

  And now they were standing right in front of him.

  The Luna Raven drifted through open sky, the last traces of the station fading behind them.

  Elijah stared at the crew, stunned.

  He wasn’t just traveling with outlaws.

  Or scholars.

  Or fighters

  He was traveling with legends.