The yellow pterodactyl hobbled towards Drew, gait unsteady. It’s left wing missing. The creature used it's right wing like a crutch then shuffled it's smaller feet to propel it forward. The creature was massive easily 8 feet tall and undeniably intimidating. Two hard-faced men flanked it, pistols resting casually on their hips and in a chest straps.

  “Friar Hernando,” the Skyborne said, a soft tch punctuating the words. “Many seasons have passed.”

  Drew turned towards the Friar and wondering why everyone knew the large man.

  “Thren, pleasure seeing you still grace us.” Hernando said “What sin cost you your wing?”

  Thren responded with a series of deep clicks shaking it’s head “ Accident in a skyheave, sins after the wing was lost… tsk I sin to fly among flocks of men now.”

  “I did notice the yellow wing painted on your sails” said Hernando.

  Three’s eye narrowed slightly “The more sins, the more ships Friar”

  Hernando sighed, the sound heavy but controlled. “That may be,” Hernando said, “but I will not pretend to bless your work.”

  A pause. Then, quieter.

  “I will ask your protection.”

  Thren clicked once, slow and thoughtful.

  “The island bound priest asks passage?”

  “I ask safety for those you freed,” Hernando said, placing a hand lightly on Drew’s shoulder.

  Another series of clicks, softer this time. Thren inclined his head a fraction. “Then come. I do not fly clean skies, but I keep my word once given.”

  Hernando nodded. “That will suffice.”

  The pterodactyl shuffled towards Drew and lowered its head an eye the size of Drew’ fist scrutinized him.

  Uncomfortably Drew took a step back.

  “My kind are traders and scholars,” Thren said, a faint tsk threading the words. “We bind the sky through commerce. Your companion watches much… considers too much.”

  The eye blinked slowly. “Dangerous cargo.”

  Thren straightened and issued commands to the armed men at its side. Looking back at Hernado gestured “Come, then”.

  Hernando and Drew were led beneath the shadow of the vessel. A privateer fastened harnesses around their chests, cinched them tight, and clipped the straps to ropes dangling from above. With a shouted command the ropes attached to the duo went taught, the men hoisted skyward.

  As he ascended Drew was entranced by the ship he was pulled up towards.

  The privateer ship had the outline of a brigantine only in silhouette. Up close it was something else entirely, a flying frame dressed in the language of a sea-going vessel.

  A narrow wooden spine ran the length of the craft, a trussed keel of interlocked beams and diagonal braces that carried the real loads. From it hung a shallow deck and open bulwarks woven from windvine wicker, the basketwork patched and re patched.

  Two masts rose from reinforced hardpoints on the spine, not from the deck. From each mast extended paired yards one set above the deck, one below it rigged with broad rectangular sails that were visibly curved even at rest.

  These were not flat cloths but shallow wings, their camber held by tensioned windvine strands that flexed subtly as air flowed over them. The upper sails carried most of the lift and drive. The lower sails were smaller, flatter, used to steady the ship and trim its attitude rather than push it forward.

  The entire craft looked light because it had to be. Nothing was ornamental. Every line led to a load path, every patch marked a repair, every design choice balanced against the limited lift the rockbuds and windvine could provide.

  Drew recognized it instantly for what it was.Not a boat adapted to the sky, but an airframe pretending to be a ship.

  Strong hands lifted Drew over the decks railing and removed his chest harness. A short squat women with a large scar across her face took charge and led Drew and Hernando down into the belly of the craft.

  “Use these hammocks,” she said, gesturing sharply. “Tie yourselves to the beam.”

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  “What?” Drew asked.

  The stout women threw a coil of rope at Drew and left.

  Hernando cleared his throat “You see the sides are wicker,” he said mildly. “In turbulence, if you are thrown against them… they will not hold.”

  Drew paled and looped the rope around his waist and tied the end of the rope to an iron ring in the post that held his hammock.

  Drew climbed in and fell into a deep slumber before his body was fully settled, the strain of the last hours finally dragging him under.

  Drew was awakened by Hernando and they exited the ship via a gangplank. As Drew’s feet touched the rock of the island a new system message appeared.

  [SYSTEM LOCATION UPDATE]

  You are currently in: Skyborne Private Anchorage – “Thren’s Reach”

  Faction Authority: Three’s Talons (Privateer Charter)Controlling Entity: Aeralis Thren (Wingbroken Skyborne)

  Territory Type: Mobile Island / Anchorage

  Status: Restricted Access (Guest Under Protection)

  Environmental Notes:

  Artificial lift stabilization detectedWindvine structures integratedLimited civilian presence

  Drew dismissed the message and looked around.

  The new island was only a few acres and was covered in small buildings, shops and narrow paths. An attendant lead Friar Hernando and Drew down a set of stairs along a cliff on the side of the island to a dwelling carved from the rock.

  The entrance had no door only a large arched entrance, inside the ceilings were high and Thren reclined in the middle of the reception area on an oversized bean bag.

  The two guards from the rescue operation rose their pillows in-front of Thren and left.

  Thren gestured at the cushions “Come, sit”.

  Drew and Hernando sat on the cushions cross legged.

  Hernando spoke “Thank you for gracing us with your time old friend.”

  Thren chuckled producing a series of deep clicks “I have missed your company krr. Looks like your old protégés warriors do not share the sentiment.”

  Hernando bristled “I have not spoken with them since the day they were forced from Nueva Trujillo.”

  Thren in reply merely gave Fray Hernando a long look. “And your newest companion originates from?”

  “Drew there is no honor among pirates, however skyborn are honorable. Thren was a very respected scholar of the Aether currents. Tell him the truth.” Hernando said.

  Drew winced but no neon text appeared in his vision. He supposed that was a good sign.

  “I am from Denver, Colorado,” Drew said “From Earth.”

  Thren chuckled again a very creepy, disturbing sound. “More flotsam from Terra de Origen, Hernando?”

  Hernando nonplussed just sat on his cushion looking cross.

  “What was your profession Drew?” Thren inquired.

  “I was an aerospace engineer, I worked on designing long endurance unmanned arial vehicles. And before that I interned at a company that manufactured rockets via 3d printing.” Drew responded.

  Thren quivered in excitement “I have heard rumors of the craft that your Terra de Origen has. You said design not craft unless you made the flying machines using 3d printing? I am unfamiliar with the concept.”

  Fray Hernando pipped in “an engineer that explains your lustful looks at the canoes and brigantines.”

  Drew answered both inquires “I designed systems, 3d printing is additive manufacturing process done by machines not with human hands. And yes, I am fascinated by how you fly here with the magic and materials you have.”

  “I will shelter you both klik” Thren said “but you must earn your protection. Hernando you must implant vines for me and teach an apprentice. The cost of paying for it are… prohibitive.”

  “Only Arawinaya vines” Hernando demanded.

  “Yes. Only Arawinaya vines. We are churchless and we are not Tzoma Kai.” Thren agreed.

  Thren turned back to Drew.

  “You will apprentice with the shore carpenters here,” he said. “After that, you will be sent to Deadwake to study under Maestro de Ribera. You will also meet with me regularly and speak of your world.”

  Drew didn’t answer at once.

  Deadwake. Study. The words carried weight, the same cold gravity as the lab back home. He thought of the professor. Of careful justifications. Of lines crossed slowly, each one defended as necessary.

  “I’ll learn,” Drew said at last. “And I’ll teach what I know about structures. About how things fly, how they hold together.”

  He met Thren’s gaze.

  “But I decide what that knowledge becomes. I won’t build something just because I can.”

  Thren’s eye blinked once, slow and deliberate.

  “Of course,” he said. “Knowledge forced is brittle.”

  A faint clicking sound followed, almost amused.

  “You will give what you choose. When you choose.”

  He leaned back into the cushions, wing stump shifting.

  “Just understand this, Drew Wilson. Every day you remain under my protection, the sky will show you new problems.”

  His gaze sharpened.

  “And when you decide which solutions are necessary… I will be listening.”

  The air felt tighter after that.

  Drew exhaled slowly. He didn’t know if the line he’d drawn would protect him or doom him. But he knew one thing with unsettling clarity.

  If he was going to be trapped here, he wouldn’t start by lying to himself.

  He saw no real alternative. And despite the knot in his stomach, the promise of learning of understanding how these ships flew, still pulled at him.

  That, more than anything, frightened him.

  Drew agreed.

  A neon aquamarine message popped into Drew’s vision.

  [SYSTEM QUEST ASSIGNED]

  Quest Title: Apprentice of Wind and Keel

  Quest Type: Long-Term Progression (Learning Path)

  Patron: Aeralis Thren (Skyborne Privateer)

  Objectives:

  Apprentice with the Carpinteros de Ribera (shore carpenters) at Thren’s ReachLearn fundamentals of hull structure, materials, and repairTravel to Deadwake and study under a Maestro de RiberaProvide regular technical and cultural briefings to Aeralis Thren

  Conditions:

  Advancement requires peer acknowledgment and mentor approvalFailure may result in reassignment or loss of patronage

  Rewards (Deferred):

  Engineering Skill Progression (Locked)Crafting Specializations (Conditional Unlock)Faction Reputation: Skyborne (Incremental)

  Status: ACTIVE

  Drew excitedly dismissed the message, pulse quickening.

  “Tsk be careful who you share your knowledge with… The previous arrivals used their knowledge to create the hybrid vines you witnessed the Tzoma Kai use. They abused their knowledge where for Nueva Trujillo 1 in 12 people are grafted the Tzoma Kai graft every single male adult tsk… many do not survive.” Thren warned.

  Hernando folded his hands in his lap. “Knowledge is only a tool,” he said quietly. “It cuts according to the hand that holds it.”

  He looked up then, eyes steady.

  “The professor and his assistants did not discover evil. They chose it. Again and again.”

  Then, turning to Drew more gently.

  “Until now you have only been the lords witness. Use what you know not to carve, but to shepherd.”