Vera braced herself against the quivering gondola floor as the freight zeppelin lurched skyward. The envelope sagged like a wounded beast; ropes groaned under the strain. Lucien stood beside her, one hand gripping the gondola rail, the other pressed to his wounded flank where crimson seeped through the torn edge of his coat.
“Rough ascent," Vera murmured, voice tight. “Didn't think escaping would feel this… desperate."
Lucien's crimson eyes flashed with humor and pain. “When was anything about this empire ever comfortable?" He glanced down: the Howling Spire's ruined silhouette receded beneath layers of smoky red mist.
Below, the capital's stone walls glimmered like the teeth of a slumbering dragon. Fires flickered in the slums, spotlights swept the sky, and distant skyships roared in p
