Hara'agul

Present Day

The Soar-Craft jerked violently, sending crates and weapons along with bedding and provisions flying about. Jessop and Falco gripped one another tighter. There was a deafening sound of wind blowing through the vessel. They were under attack.

"Falco — we're crashing!"

They fell faster and faster, and all she could think of was their son. They couldn't die in a Soar-Craft crash, not when they still needed to rescue Jeco from Hanson Knell and Hydo Jesuin. Jessop looked around the vessel, her eyes darting over panicked faces. She knew what she needed to do. "I need you to let go, Falco!"

"Never!"

Jessop gripped Falco tightly. "Do you trust me?"

The way he looked at her, amidst chaos, was with a perfect stillness. "Of course."

She kissed him, deeply, with all of her love. As their kiss ended he rested his forehead against hers. She slowly pulled away. "Then let go."

Falco stared at her with his concerned gray eyes, ignoring the surrounding panic, and finally let her go. She nearly fell, but her superior balance helped her regain her footing quickly. She turned, facing the control panel at the front of the Soar-Craft. She crouched low down in the aisle, and allowed for the force of the fall to move her down the vessel. She used her Sentio to throw items and falling men out of her path. She braced herself as she fell against the control seat. The vessel was falling nose-first. With a quick tumble, she leapt over the seat and fell against the glass window.

She could not deny that the sight of the desert ground, nearing so quickly, didn't concern her. She already disliked flying. She couldn't focus on the danger, though. She took a deep breath and laid both her hands against the glass, closing her eyes, and focusing with all her might. She knew they fell still. She breathed more deeply, and thought of Urdo and all he had shown her during their siege on Aranthol. She envisioned her abilities like a wave of light, traveling through her body, out her fingertips. She imagined the light clearly, and this time, it was a crimson red. It trailed from her hands, through the vessel, snaking around the Soar-Craft.

She thought perhaps the vessel was slowing, when the sensation of blood trickling from her nose distracted her. It wasn't working. She pushed the light further from her, focusing with all her might on catching the falling ship, yet it still fell. She didn't have much longer. She tried to regain her focus when his face appeared in her mind: Jeco. A perfect son, the exact image of his father with the same dark hair and gray eyes. He needed her. He needed her more than ever.

And if she were going to save him from Hanson and Hydo, she would need to survive this crash. She would need help.

"Falco!"

Instantly, she felt him at her side. He tumbled over the control seat and, realizing her plan, thrust his hands against the glass. "Urdo — push the plan to the others!" He shouted over his shoulder. Jessop couldn't think about the two other Soar-Craft traveling alongside them — crashing alongside them. She couldn't think about Urdo using Sentio to tell the Hunters on board the other vessels to attempt to copy her plan, to use their abilities to slow the vessels to a safe landing.

She couldn't think about anything other than — crash!

Jessop didn't need to open her eyes to know what had happened. The explosion, the instant smell of smoke. One vessel had already hit the ground. Suddenly, she felt Falco's fingers lock around hers. He held her hand and she could see his face when they were children, she could feel his kiss when they were youth, she could hear his vows the day they married, and with an unexplainable, violent jolt, their vessel froze in the air. The sound of men falling, yelling, boxes breaking, and weapons clashing into the metal walls in a cacophony of noise surrounded her. And then everything was silent.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, fearful that if she broke concentration for just one second, the vessel would smash into the ground below.

Jessop's stomach turned at the sight of the sandy ground not twenty paces below the glass she and Falco leaned against. There were thick, billowing clouds of black smoke racing across the window from the Soar-Craft that had crashed. She thought of Falco and Dezane's soldiers and felt more than sorrow. She felt rage. "Let's bring it down slowly," Falco whispered to her.

He held her stare and together, with their combined Sentio, they brought the vessel parallel to the sandy terrain, before focusing on lowering it slowly. She was thankful that whoever had shot them in the first place had ceased their attack, even if it were only temporary. Jessop could feel the blood drying on her face, the sweat dripping down her temple as she pushed herself, forcing all her attention onto the vessel. A deafening nearby thud distracted her, and instantly the Soar- Craft fell several feet.

"Easy! Easy!" Urdo's voice filled the cabin, calming those around him. Jessop kept her eyes on Falco. He nodded at her slowly. A bead of sweat hung on his brow. His fingers locked tighter around hers. She envisioned the red light gently lowering the vessel to the ground, and just like that, the Soar-Craft found a place on the soft sand. They had landed.

Jessop slowly released Falco's hand, turning to see the ransacked cabin, the eyes of all the men on her and Falco. Urdo nodded to her approvingly, "Hode Avay managed to land his vessel — though somewhat less slowly." She thought of the young Hunter Urdo had introduced her to back in the Blade and was instantly impressed. "Teck was with him," he added, and Jessop nodded slowly, knowing the Oren had many remarkable abilities.

She let her gaze move from Urdo, to Dezane, over the stunned faces of the many warriors they traveled with, to Kohl. He had a cut on his face, and Jessop knew he must have been struck during the fall, but otherwise he seemed fine.

Their vessel shuddered violently as they were struck again. The metal rung all around them, aching her ears. She grabbed Falco to steady herself. The Hara'agul assailants were shooting at them. Jessop thought of the fallen vessel, of Hanson traveling through these lands with her son. And she felt the fire burning inside her — the rage coming forth. She leapt over the control seat, moving around fallen items and men, making her way for the door.

Kohl immediately leapt in her way, and she could feel Falco following her. "Jessop — these aren't raiders, they are Soren — desert brigands — and they have a Bakunawa!" He referred to the giant canon they were using to shoot scrap metal at the Soar-Craft.

She didn't care if they were mercenaries or Soren or anything else. She didn't care what weapons they possessed. She side-stepped Kohl with ease. "Not for much longer they don't." With a heavy slam of the release button, the door began to open, lowering down to the sand.

"Jessop — Jessop! You need to recuperate," Falco urged, appearing at her side.

"I'm fine."

She shrugged off his concern and ignored Kohl as he came up on her other side. She did feel fine. She had exerted herself greatly, but she did not feel faint or weakened by her feat.

As soon as the door was low enough, thick black smoke filled the cabin. The smell of burning flesh settled in her...