Alek

Deryn's face is flushed, her eyes glittering with excitement. I think flying did her good. She stands next to me, staring out into the dark. "Enjoying the show, your princeliness?"

I am, actually. I've never been on the airship during a battle before. The patchwork of searchlights, wheeling birds, and explosions are quite lovely, if I can forget that real people are out there, fighting and dying. It is an amazing show of the Darwinist's power.

"Duck," Deryn says amiably, sitting down.

"What?" I ask, transfixed by an aeroplane exploding into flame, the Iron Cross devoured by fire.

She rolls her eyes and yanks me down, holding her metal arm in front of our faces. A stray bullet bounces off it as a hail of them pass over our heads. She winces, then yells, "That's an hour of repairs, you bum rags!"

I laugh, and she scowls and punches me lightly on the shoulder, her smile rather spoiling the effect. As I smile back, our earlier discomfort forgotten, I feel a strange warmth, almost a glow, filling me. It's an unusual sensation, but not unpleasant.

To tear my eyes away from her, I look out at the battle. I see a German plane caught in the glittering wire of the strafing hawks, and another spiraling towards the water, shredded by flechettes. Adding the plane I saw explode earlier, that makes three. But Deryn signaled down that there were four...

"What's wrong with this?" I ask.

She glances around and notices the same thing I have. Unlike me, she doesn't seem worried. "I'm sure we got the other one. We just didn't notice."

I'm sure she's right, but I can't quell my unease. It leads me towards the nose of the ship, Deryn following unwillingly. Straining, I hear the telltale buzz of an aeroplane's engine, which abruptly cuts off. I peer over the edge and see an empty plane plummeting downwards. It hits the water with a flare of white, too far down to hear the splash.

"Where's the pilot?" Deryn asks

I look and see a ragged hole in the gondola's window, which leads to the bridge, if my memory serves me.

"Inside the airship," I say "They're going to take us over!"

"They haven't gotten to the engines," Deryn objects.

I shrug. "My men don't see who's giving the orders. They just follow the signal patch."

Deryn curses as the full impact of this sets in. "They can take us anywhere."

As she says it, I feel the Leviathan tilt under my feet. By Deryn's wide eyes, I know she feels it too. The airship is steadily heading downwards, towards the cold and unforgiving sea below.