Marcus tossed and turned all night. Every twig snap and gust of wind jostled him from the brink of slumber, worried over a nighttime ambush. As morning rays pierced the canopy, exhausted relief washed over him. But what few moments he got of peaceful rest was not enough. Morning brought hustle and he needed to be up to prepare.

  Arminius huddled everyone together and drew a map with leaves and dirt using a stick. "We're here." The knight pointed at a small 'X' etched into the soil. "Here's Arcadia City." He motioned northeast. Then he started dragging a line in the opposite direction. "We're going to follow the contour of the plateau as far as we can."

  "On the low side, right?" Marcus pointed at the line.

  The knight glanced at him and nodded. "Correct. Otherwise, we'll be sending everyone within eyeshot smoke signals telling them where we are. Against the terrain our exhaust will diffuse at least enough to throw off distant trackers." Then he drew another line that led away from the X perpendicular and curved down to meet the first path farther south. "The baggage train will wait for an outgoing merchant convoy departing from Arcadia toward Kourion City and trail it via the Lion's Mane highway. It's unlikely to take a direct route due to conflict, so once you hit Barrier Island here—"

  Arminius placed a small circle at the midpoint of the second line's path. "You'll break away from the outgoing convoy and take the direct path to Kourion. If you follow them all the way but run into trouble, the uprights won't be able to respond in time." He looked at Ekkehard. "Do you know how to use the flare gun I gave you?"

  Ekkehard nodded. "Pull the lock, light the match, point it upward and pull the trigger."

  The knight hummed. "Good. That's the only way for us to know if you're in trouble, so if you can't get it in the air, you're on your own." Then he drew a segment that connected the two paths. "This is the hard part. Once you're on the island, you'll be able to see us hugging the terrain. You'll need to cross the second bridge that will get you back into the Kourion Marshlands. At the same time, the uprights need to cross the tidal river. We have thirty minutes during low tide before it starts coming back in."

  "If everything goes perfect, how long should it take us to cross?" Marcus stared at the stick hovering over the crossing point.

  "Thirty minutes." The knight spoke plainly.

  "And if we're late?" Layne followed up.

  "Total loss." Arminius swept his hand across his body.

  Marcus sighed and stared.

  Arminius looked at Marcus. "Every main crossing is secured by either the Arcadians or the invaders. There's no feasible route for us to just cruise to Kourion City." He cleared his throat. "If it makes you feel any better, this is how I got behind the line before."

  Marcus pursed his lips and nodded. "But that was you doing it alone."

  The knight smiled. "One or two will make little difference."

  "Should we just cross the bridge if we get there first?" Simon piped up.

  Arminius shook his head. "No, Barrier Island is an effective stopping point for the baggage train. It lives up to its name by having natural barriers against incoming large caliber fire and is suicide for an upright to directly assault because of the rapidly rising and retreating tidal flow."

  He tapped the ground with the stick closer toward their starting point. "It’s firmly held by the Arcadians. My men will take care of the credentials to make sure no questions are asked and ensure a smooth crossing for the baggage train. They will meet you on approach to the first bridge." He swept his attention across the group. "Once we're on the other side, we're back in the hot zone and would be best served by staying close together. Until we reunite, we're all vulnerable. Don't forget that."

  The group nodded.

  The knight then drew more of the map southwest. "The Kourion Marshlands you should be intimately familiar with, so I don't need to repeat how treacherous this part of the trip will be for us. Less than a quarter of the land is passable. Anywhere along our route there could be a trap waiting and there will be little we can do but walk into it." He motioned toward the carts. "We only get one or two tries at picking the right route. After that, we're walking back to Kourion City."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  He took stock of the group. "If we're lucky, that is. Most likely if we run out of fuel, we'll all end up in shallow graves." Then Arminius drew a ring in a new portion of the map. "Kourion City is neutral ground, enforced by local law with very big guns. If we make it into range, we're home-free." He tapped just inside the circle.

  Ekkehard crossed his arms. "So, if I understand our plan: we have to get lucky enough to find a baggage train to follow and hide along with. You both have to get lucky enough to time the changing of a tidal river flow when it's low enough to cross, and we have to hope that absolutely nobody that's hunting us catches wind of our plan, with no turning back once it's set into motion." He looked up at the knight. "Are you sure you're on our side?"

  Arminius smiled. "Your other option is to wait here until either the Arcadians or mercenaries inevitably stumble upon you, which they will, given everything that's going on around us right now. And that's not to mention the dragon that's prowling around the forest. There's no other way to go but in this direction, and if we don't act now, we may never get the chance to do so again."

  Ekkehard grumbled, pouring over the map once again with a frown. A silence descended upon the group.

  "Any other questions?" The knight held the stick in both hands.

  "When would we leave?" Marcus stared at the ring etched into the dirt.

  "The next low tide will be tomorrow, just before dusk. It should take us both just shy of a half day to get back to Barrier Island, assuming the baggage train has to wait a long while for the next outgoing merchant convoy." Arminius replied. "We'll spend the rest of today preparing and then depart first thing in the morning." The knight tapped his pauldron with the stick. "But it's your upright, and ultimately your decision if you want to go with this plan."

  Marcus stared at the ring. He'd never been to Kourion City, but it seemed like a place of light amid a vast ocean of darkness.

  A blast of air and sharp whir came overhead as airships once again raced close above the forest's canopy, rustling the tree tops and dazzling the forest floor with blast from the huge propellers. The map was scoured by the rush of leaves; only faint traces of the plan remained once the cacophony above eased.

  Marcus took a deep breath and stared at the remnants. "Let's do it."

  Arminius nodded. "It's a long shot, but it's the only one we can take right now."

  Marcus turned and looked up at the Firestorm. "We took a few hits when crossing into the highlands. I want to make sure there wasn't anything knocked loose."

  "I can help you with that." Simon patted the wrench in his overalls pocket.

  "Do we have any more ammunition in all that?" Layne pointed at the carts.

  Ekkehard shook his head. "Just food and fuel."

  Layne scratched his head and sighed.

  Ekkehard shrugged.

  "We can sulk while we work, let's get things ready for tomorrow." Marcus started walking over toward the jumpbox to get it set up.

  While it was mainly used to start upright engines, the same mechanism used to pump fuel into the engine could get fuel into the tank, in a pinch.

  After he got the electrical system squared away, Marcus climbed up on the bent leg of the Firestorm and started checking each individual armor plate by pounding on it with the side of his balled fist. The curved metal segments were about as high and wide as they were tall.

  He then climbed up onto the section between the arm actuator and the main torso and slid his way between the armor plating and the hull. There was enough of a gap for him to shimmy deeper in with a little effort. Letting an armor piece bend and deform would mitigate more of a projectile's energy rather than directly transferring all of it into the frame at the moment of impact if the armor were directly mounted onto the hull.

  "I think we got hit somewhere around here. Let me know if you see anything move funny." Marcus started banging on the backside of the plates with what little room he had, using his knees, elbows, feet, and hands.

  "Nothing, keep going." Simon shouted.

  As Marcus got deeper in, it got darker. Despite not being able to see, he used the supports as a guide, crawling and worming his way through the predictable grid of gussets and beams. "Anything?" He poked and prodded at the plates around him.

  "Nope, looks good so far." Simon called out.

  In the darkest place, directly in the middle of the torso of the Firestorm, Marcus felt like there were dozens of eyes suddenly on him. Like the empty void he stood in suddenly grew to see. The small bits of light on his periphery faded and he found himself in pure nothingness.

  Then the darkness shifted like a broad robe splayed on an infinite floor. In front of Marcus, just out of arm's reach, a man's form grew from the endless void. The shape extended, stretching beyond that of a normal human. Like a strand of glue unwilling to snap away from the bulk, the form's torso elongated and stretched down to meet face-to-face with Marcus.

  The mechanic froze, panicked.

  From the very tip of the strand, a face emerged from the robe of darkness, a hood pulled back. Marcus immediately recognized him as the stranger that suddenly appeared in Amurad's tent.

  "Finally, we have a chance to talk alone." The stranger's voice boomed and echoed endlessly as it faded into the vast distance.