Chapter 1: The Ocean At Dusk

The sound was somewhere between the roar of a waterfall and the crackle of a campfire. It was so loud that the windows of the bakery rattled. The murmur ceased and the handful of customers still seated in the booths began to scramble for the door. Ingrid followed the last customer toward the door so she could lock it for the night. One last customer shoved her way through, panting.

"Are you still open?" the young woman asked.

Ingrid was dumbstruck. Not by the sudden arrival of the unexpected customer, but by her astonishing physical beauty. It was the type of hourglass physique any man would fawn over. Or any woman who shared Ingrid's inclinations. The other woman wore a long white lab coat with a cacophony of shining jewels set into an ornate golden collar just above a lovely boob window. Her dark brown hair was done-up with a pair of long ebony hairpins and her dark eyes regarded Ingrid from beyond thick spectacles.

They both blushed.

"I'm open," Ingrid said. "But you'll need to be the last customer. We close early today."

The woman came inside and Ingrid locked the door. She went around the room casually wiping the tables while she waited for the woman to decide to order. But she did not order. Instead, the woman puffed out her chest and her lovely breasts pressed against the opening in her lab coat. Her cheeks were painted the color of dusk. She asked, "Will you go out with me?"

"Yes!" Ingrid said.

"Let's go to the airshow!"

"Yes! What's your name?"

"My name is Vaska."

"I'm Ingrid."

"Nice to meet you Ingrid. Oh! This is so wonderful!"

As Ingrid walked around and finished her chores at the bakery, the woman continued to ramble on.

"I've never been a good liar and everyone thinks I'm a jackass because I'm so bad at lying that I just go through life always telling the truth."

"I'm forced to tell the truth," Ingrid said.

"The Varelion curse. I know about it. I saw the gold branding on your face and I knew you were a Varelion. I've been going around Taisia asking Varelion girls to go out with me and none of them say Yes."

"I said Yes."

"You did! I don't like boys. I like girls. Do you like girls?"

"I like girls."

"Good."

The bell rang when Vaska left and again when Ingrid followed. Somewhere far away a band played military songs, the music amplified by a wind elemental. Across the street there was a beer garden where Taisian soldiers danced with women in fashionable hats under colorful umbrellas.

Vaska waited on the cobblestone street while Ingrid locked the bakery door. The woman plucked one of the jewels from her golden collar. It was a lovely indigo crystal with a hint of greenish swirls.

"Daughter of the Queen of Heaven," Vaska said. "I invoke this contract and summon you!"

There was a flash of indigo light and then a hole in reality appeared beside Vaska, a window into a night sky filled with stars and varicolored nebulae. It expanded into an unmistakably female shape, dissolving at the edges into wraiths of indigo mist.

Ingrid gasped. "Is that an elemental?"

"It is!" Vaska said. "Me and Ingrid here. Take us up."

Ingrid suddenly felt disoriented. To her astonishment the ground dropped away below her feet, the cobblestones grew smaller and smaller as she ascended above the rooftops. Instinctively she started screaming though this did nothing to help arrest their ascent.

Beyond the squat ridge of shops the next road over was lined with houses, tall and narrow and packed together, a smooth plane of roofs broken only by the occasional turret. Blue, white, and green confetti fell from the rooftops as children hurled handfuls down into the street. A trolley was navigating the dense crowds, the shrill warnings of the bells mostly ignored.

"What are we doing?" Ingrid finally managed.

"We can levitate over to the airshow grounds," Vaska said. "I have a special skybox just for me. We'll get there before the airshow starts. Probably. You'll love it!"

The banks could summon that contract at any time! Ingrid realized. "How long do you have that contract for?"

"Oh don't you worry about it being recalled. This is my contract. It's not subject to the terms and conditions of a standard lease."

"You have your own contract?" Ingrid asked, astonished. "Are those all your contracts?"

"Yes."

Ingrid could remember seeing a real contract crystal only once in her life. It was the year the city council decided to install the trolley rails. The whole town had needed to go into debt to lease, for just a few hours, the stone elemental which cut the path and the metal elemental which shaped the track. When the contract expired the banks summoned the crystals and the whole town saw them vanish in two flashes of golden light.

"Are you rich?" Ingrid asked.

"I'm the daughter of the Heylin Emperor," Vaska said. "My mother is the first concubine. That basically makes me a princess except I don't have all the annoying obligations."

Ingrid pondered this wonder in silence.

Two black storm clouds loomed high over the town with a chasm of pure blue sky between. Ingrid and Vaska rose above the rooftops and the big sky opened up on all sides. Cute little airplanes flew over the smokestacks to the north towing the blue-white-green flag of Taisia. To the west a storm was slowly rolling over the ocean toward the town. To the south, the range of snowclad mountains which separated Taisia from Ayaru shimmered a cool gold color. Directly ahead, to the east beyond the river, the farms and pastures crept up the landscape into the highlands.

Ingrid had never traveled very far from her hometown of Wave Crest, and the town had never hosted such a jubilee. Most of the farmers had apparently been evicted because the highlands had been transformed into an airfield for the Taisian Air Navy. A huge airship tottered uneasily in the light breeze, her many helium envelopes all squished together like a stack of pancakes tipped up on edge. The whole affair was adorned with whirring propellers.

They stopped ascending and began to traverse laterally across the town, roughly following the path of the trolley rails. Soldiers with white uniforms and rifles marched in lockstep through the streets. A second trolley crossed the bridge over the train tracks just as a steam engine roared by, enveloping the hapless passengers with its acrid smoke.

They were making good time and Ingrid relaxed a little. They passed over the packed station platform at the end of the trolley line, just over the river at the base of the pasturelands. People swarmed over the grassy knolls which presently rose up to hit them as they flew. People cried out in astonishment as they passed not more than a single man-height over their heads.

They kept going out beyond the ropes toward a wooden structure overlooking the grassy fields. With a few more commands to the heaven elemental, Vaska set them down on a wooden balcony, in the middle of a gaggle of burly gentlemen in black jackets. Ingrid was certain she had seen one of the men before and that man smiled at her knowingly.

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Vaska took Ingrid by the hand and they went forward to a series of cushioned benches descending stepwise, the whole space open to the sky. Just ahead and below there were six fighter jets parked in the grass. Predatory white airplanes each with graceful wings and a pointy nose. The black tail fins each featured a device with the likeness of a raven painted in white. Not far from the fighter jets there was a stout podium upon which there sat a full orchestra. A showman also stood atop the same podium with a glowing teal wind elemental at his side.

They sat on the lowest row and they were alone. Vaska scooted over so that their hips were touching. She felt warm. Ingrid wrapped one arm around Vaska and pulled her close. She smelled of lavender and lemon peel. They waited.

"Who are those men?" Ingrid asked.

"Imperial marines," Vaska said.

"I feel like I've seen one of them before."

"That must be Algot Gunn. I sent him around Taisia looking for attractive Varelion girls to add to my list."

"Your list?"

"Of girls to ask on a date."

"Wait. You scouted me out first?"

"Why not?"

"You're a creepy stalker!"

"I knew that. I've always been a creepy stalker. Is that a problem?"

"It's kind of weird."

"I'm basically a princess, remember? Everyone in my family does weird stuff. You get used to it after a while."

"That makes a little more sense."

Somewhere in town the band stopped playing, or perhaps the wind elemental stopped amplifying the sound, but either way the crowd suspected this was significant because the silence spread. Soon Ingrid could hear the swaying of the grass, the gentle whirring of the airship's propellers, the faint pattering of rain on the helium envelopes.

"Our timing was perfect!" Vaska said.

Without warning the deck of the airship exploded with flashes of blue and yellow light. This provoked a healthy "Ahh!" from the crowd behind them. Even at that distance Ingrid could see the vaguely-feminine shape of the elementals, spaced out from bow to stern. Blue water elementals and pale yellow lightning elementals. Suddenly the weather turned to chaos. Bolts of lightning lanced out from the storm clouds overhead, striking home in their hundreds on those lightning elementals. The clouds themselves seemed to lighten, shimmering with blue light, glowing less angry and then less material until finally they faded into the air and were gone.

Just a few moments later the voice of the showman boomed as he said, "The Taisian Air Navy Weather Controller Brigade has given the signal. This is the moment you have all been waiting for!"

The band began to play their triumphant song.

The announcer continued, "For the first time in the history of Wave Crest, the Taisian Air Navy is proud to present the marvelous, the stupendous, the unforgettable experience of a lifetime! Princess Natasha Maryy and the Taisian Air Navy Fighter Demonstration Squadron! The White Ravens!"

A woman walked into view from the base of the wooden tower. For an instant Ingrid saw Vaska down there in an aviator's jumpsuit. She slipped a leather cap over her dark brown hair and she turned and the white fur which lined the cap framed a face older than Vaska's and the sun flashed in reflection from the glass panes of her brass-rimmed goggles.

"That's my half-sister!" Vaska said.

"What's an imperial princess doing in the Taisian Air Navy?"

"She's just teaching the White Ravens how to perform. Once she's satisfied with the program she'll pick a new commander from the Taisian pilots."

More pilots arrived and they all climbed up into the cabins of their fighter jets at the same time. Soon the hissing sound returned. That combination of roiling ocean swells and river rapids and a forest in the throes of a wildfire. The overwhelming sound drowned out even the mythological songs of the orchestra. The first fighter jet rolled away toward the long grass field between the podium and the parked airship. In the very center of the field there was a very long stretch of perfectly-flat stone painted with white lines lengthwise.

"The White Ravens will be flying the latest model of fighter jet developed by the Heylin Society of Aeronautical Engineers, the sleek and beautiful HY-4 Spearhead!"

"I designed that airplane!" Vaska said happily.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'm in the Heylin Society of Aeronautical Engineers. I'm not as experienced as the other engineers so I was sent here to advise the Taisian Air Navy."

Soon all six fighter jets were on the move. Five of them turned heaven-ward with indigo lights blazing on the wing tips, and one of them turned life-ward with a lone green sentinel bobbing up and down as the wing tip reacted to bumps in the grass.

"Where's that one going?" Ingrid asked.

"That's Rival," Vaska said. "Those four in the lead are going to fly together. The fifth on that side is Solo."

"I don't know what that means."

"Lead. Left. Right. Slot. Solo. Rival. Six airplanes. At first only four of them are going to fly in the diamond formation and two of them will fly alone. But then they all join together in one big delta formation."

"You seem to really like fighter jets," Ingrid said.

"I love them!"

"You're so interesting."

"You're so interesting!"

The lead fighter jet stopped and then two more rolled up just behind it. A fourth fighter jet took up position slightly behind those three. All at once the sound erupted and they lurched forward as one, rolling, rolling along the too-smooth stone. Soon they barreled along with a feverish speed, the torrent and the flame obliterating all other sensations. The three fighters in the lead tipped their noses to the sky and abandoned gravity, while the fourth trailed a little behind but through clever maneuvering slotted itself in the space behind the trio. As one, the four airplanes rocketed vertically into the sky growing smaller and smaller until they were but a quartet of shimmering white stars in an otherwise empty firmament.

The fifth and sixth fighter jets faced each other, two duelists in a long-distance standoff. They began to roll toward each other, the distance closing frighteningly fast. Ingrid wanted to close her eyes because she was certain they would collide but she could not. This must be witnessed. Simultaneously the pointy noses rose and they had not gone but a few feet above the stone before they each tipped up on knife's edge and passed each other like automobiles on an airy highway. Plumes of white smoke erupted from the tail ends and these misty streams left evidence of the invisible paths the airplanes took as they ascended.

"For our first maneuver, Princess Natasha will lead the diamond formation as they perform the legendary, the ubiquitous… diamond barrel roll!"

The four airplanes had descended somewhat and looped around from the north. They had maneuvered very close together and from Ingrid's angle it looked like parts of their airplanes must be touching. The formation remained tight even as they rolled over in the sky, and while it was very visually impressive, the height and distance of the maneuver robbed the experience of some of its power.

Suddenly the sky exploded with sound. One of the other fighter jets had snuck up on the crowd and it flew so close to the ground that Ingrid could feel the unassailable power of that engine reverberating through her chest. Tilted sideways, the fighter's nose pulled up into a turn that was so sharp and violent that it caused a funny little cloud to form on the body behind the canopy.

The maneuvers continued, one after another, each one excitedly heralded by the announcer. The diamond aileron roll, the opposing aileron roll, the diamond burst… Eventually all six of the airplanes flew together as Vaska had promised. All the while Ingrid was completely transfixed, animated with Vaska and cheering when she cheered.

Finally the six airplanes lined up for one final turn, the bright lamps on the landing gears shining through the dusky air, and one by one they landed and rolled on down the strip of too-smooth stone to the far end where they gently pulled off onto the grass.

"It's over," Vaska said. She grabbed Ingrid by the hand. "Let's go!"

"What? Where?"

"To meet my half-sister!"

Vaska led her down through the wooden structure and then they waited together not far from where the fighter jets had left impressions in the grass with their tires.

Vaska then summoned a wind elemental, a distinctly feminine form constructed entirely from ghostly teal light, her dress fluttering in some unseen wind. "Create a barrier to protect our ears!" Vaska cried. The sound of the jet engines grew softer by degrees until Ingrid could hear them no more, even after they came almost to where Ingrid stood and they halted in the tall grass. Vaska dismissed the wind elemental and sound returned to the world.

One by one the canopies opened and the pilots climbed down. Vaska waved to her half-sister and the woman smiled and ran forward and the two embraced. They whispered something together and then Princess Natasha looked at Ingrid and her face lit up. She came forward.

"Vaska told me she asked you out on a date and you said Yes."

"I did!" Ingrid said.

"That's good. Vaska is always so lonely. Don't be a stranger now."

"It's not my fault most girls like boys," Vaska said.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ingrid said.

"Sure."

"What's it like to be a female fighter pilot?"

"Make sure you go pee before you leave the ground."

Vaska and Ingrid both giggled.

"If you're fighting for your life you can't afford such distractions."

"Have you ever fought somebody before?" Ingrid asked eagerly.

"Absolutely."

"She's scored five confirmed kills!" Vaska added helpfully.

"Hear ye! Hear ye!" the showman cried, his voice amplified by the wind elemental on the podium. "The Taisian Air Navy is recruiting!"

"I need to go help with the recruiting effort," Natasha said. "Please excuse me."

Ingrid and Vaska both waved to her and she waved back. Then she left.

"Hey Ingrid," Vaska said. "Do you want to see my paintings?"

"Paintings?"

"I learned oil painting from the best painters in the empire growing up. It's a hobby of mine. Come on, let's go! All my paintings are in my room up in that airship."

"Show me!" Ingrid said.