i.
The Deck of the Edgesaver

The situation aboard the Edgesaver was critical, and everyone on board knew it.

The mighty flagship of the Pirates Academic may have been out of range of the glisterbeams, but the Phraxguardians' ships were now swarming it, pounding the vessel with wave after wave of glisterbombs and phraxfire. Flames were spreading all over the deck, but every time some of the crew mobilized to extinguish the conflagrations, the defenses were weakened by that many people.

Masts splintered and burned, sails flew everywhere, explosions blasted burning wounds in the hull. And with every hit, a handful of Omniphrax academics fell. At the helm, Tesener Burlix and Philbus Venvax struggled to keep the Edgesaver under control, but this task became more difficult with every passing second. The ship bucked and lurched, shuddered and dipped, as the circling glisterships continued to pound it from all sides.

The only area of the ship that had so far resisted any damage was the flight-rock cage. The "escort" fleet was valiantly holding off the glisterships, but their numbers were dwindling too. Here and there, sky ships plummeted to earth or hurtled as the Phraxguardians rained destruction on them, leaving gaps in the swarm. These gaps were filled again almost instantly as the remaining ships moved around, but this technique was becoming less and less effective as the battle wore on.

"Detach the eighth jib!" Philbus Venvax's voice boomed out across the flaming deck. "Cut the fourth medium starboard hull-weight! We must keep balanced! We cannot…"

All of a sudden, the Edgesaver began to shiver and convulse more alarmingly than ever. The "escort" fleet had at last succumbed, and the glisterships were opening fire on the temperature-regulating phraxchambers.

"Take to the skiffs!" roared Tesener Burlix. "The Edgesaver is doomed! Abandon ship!"

Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion. The phraxchambers had detonated, and white-hot flames poured from the underside of the hull. Absorbing the heat, the flight-rock plummeted, dragging the Edgesaver with it. Burning pieces of mast and hull rained down like shooting stars.

The rushing wind abruptly extinguished the flames, and the flight-rock grew stable once more. The Edgesaver hung suspended at a jaunty angle, completely stationary, as the circling glisterships continued to launch their terrible volleys.

Tesener Burlix and Philbus Venvax burst through the lower doors of the aftcastle, dodging piles of flaming debris and skirting holes in the deck, heading for the place where the surviving crewmembers were hastily leaping onto skiffs mounted along the sides of the deck. Only half of the small craft remained, the other half having been obliterated in the attack, but an even smaller fraction of the original army was still alive, and there were more than enough skiffs to transport everyone to safety.

The High Senator and the Pirate General sprung forwards, assisting the others as they climbed into the skiffs. "You must hurry." said Philbus Venvax urgently to the crowd. "The Edgesaver will not remain steady for long, without anything warming the flight-rock. It could hurtle at any moment."

"Come with us!" shouted several of the fighters, shifting around to make room in their skiffs, but the two of them shook their heads gravely.

"We will stay with the Edgesaver to the end," said Tesener Burlix. "Earth and Sky willing, this will not have been in vain. Fair fortune be with all of you."

And with that, the two of them turned and disappeared inside the blazing aftcastle.

As each of the skiffs were cut loose and sped away, their occupants looked back. The eyes of thousands of trogs, trolls, elves, goblins, fettleleggers, slaughterers, and fourthlings stared on, unblinking, wide, and swimming with tears, as the Edgesaver creaked, juddered, rose, shot upwards, and was swallowed by the blackness.

ii.
The top of the Great Phraxtower

Vartolius Xax, Glorious Leader of the Deepwoods and Most High Phraxguardian of Riverrise, collapsed onto one of his many sofas, staring up at the ceiling.

It was all going perfectly, he thought to himself. Things could not have played out better.

That ridiculous sky ship, the Edgesaver, had never stood a chance. His minions down below had just informed him that it had hurtled, taking two of the leaders of Omniphrax with it. Many of the crew had escaped on skiffs, but they would be easy to deal with. They had no weapons to speak of; they would not be a threat.

The spectacular, humiliating defeat of Omniphrax was nearly finished. And then he would never have to be concerned with troublesome revolutionaries again.

Suddenly, Vartolius Xax jerked upright. He had heard something. Something that sounded like…like a sky ship…

At that moment, a shadow passed over the magnificent chamber. The view beyond the balcony was being obscured by a hull.

"What is this?" he snarled under his breath as he rose to his feet and strode towards the balcony.

And then, three fourthlings landed on the balcony. A girl with brown plaits, a black-haired boy with a hollow face, and an elderly woman dressed in the blue greatcoat of a Pirate Academic. The boy and girl were pointing phraxpistols directly at the dictator, and the woman was unsheathing a cutlass.

"Assassins," Vartolius Xax hissed. He leapt sideways and pulled out a large, menacing glistergun. "You'll have to do far better than that!"

The glistergun sprayed a continuous deluge of energy charges. Leris flung herself to the right, dragging Durix and Celestia out of harm's way before leaping towards Vartolius Xax, cutlass slicing downwards. The dictator sidestepped the blow and took aim with his glistergun once more.

Durix leapt forwards, raising his phraxpistol, and Vartolius Xax wheeled to face him. Durix cried out as Vartolius Xax's boot made contact with his stomach, and he fell backwards, winded.

Celestia, meanwhile, was firing her phraxpistol again and again, crouched on the other side of the room. Vartolius Xax dodged the leadwood bullets and turned his glistergun on her. At that moment, Leris sprang to her feet and seized the dictator from behind. Vartolius Xax turned and punched her in the face, and she collapsed.

"I can hold you off as long as you like," sneered Vartolius Xax, blocking Durix again and dancing away from Celestia's line of fire. "Let me know when you're ready for me to end it."

iii.
The Support Tunnel

Bron, Nate, and Raziel crept furtively along the pitch-black tunnel, torches held aloft. They were unsure exactly what they would find down here, or how much caution was required to avoid attracting the Phraxguardians. To be on the safe side, they were making as little noise as possible, and were ready to extinguish their torches at the slightest sign of movement.

The sides of the tunnel were damp and rocky, but the floor was paved with large stone blocks. Despite their efforts to remain silent, their footsteps echoed loudly. Bron's heart was pounding, and his ears were alert for any other noise. He heard none.

Suddenly, a shaft of faint golden light became visible, spilling from beyond a corner.

"Phraxlamps," whispered Nate softly. "Perfectly calibrated to twilight glow. I'd recognize them anywhere…spent most of my youth around them."

"It'll be the stormphrax lining of the Great Phraxtower," muttered Raziel. "The Phraxguardians must place those lamps all along the interior of the lining to keep it stable. If there are open phraxlamps, the base of the stormphrax wall must be in here."

They turned the corner, and stopped in their tracks, looking in awe at the chamber in front of them. "Earth and Sky," whispered Bron.

The chamber they found themselves in was the size of the ancient Great Library of Sanctaphrax. Rows and rows of tremendous pillars stood about the room, thick and solid. The upper half of the walls of the chamber, meanwhile, consisted of a solid sheet of phraxcrystals, sparkling and gleaming so brilliantly they were almost painful to look at. Spaced every few strides around the wall were glowing phraxlamps, bathing the room in the dim twilight glow that they had seen from the tunnel.

As they stepped into the room and wandered amongst the Bracing Pillars, the clomp-clomp-clomp noise of their footsteps bouncing off every surface, Bron's heart sank. He gazed around hopelessly at the mighty columns.

"How are we ever going to destroy these?" he said desperately. "They're just too big and sturdy."

"There is only one way to do it," said Raziel grimly. She reached into her belt and pulled out a familiar object.

"The skyflare!" said Bron in amazement. "You were holding onto it the whole time?"

"It was my plan all along," Raziel answered with a smile.

"But I don't understand," said Bron, still confused. "Even if we fired it at one of the pillars, there would still be dozens and dozens more."

"It will work as long as we fire it in precisely the right way," answered Raziel. "If we walk along the far side of the chamber to one of the outermost rows, and fire it straight ahead. If all goes well, the first pillar will fall into the second, which will fall into the third, starting a chain reaction until the entire row is gone. Then, with the entire outer row gone, the structure of the room will be thrown off balance. The row next to it will collapse, and then the row after it, and in that way, all the pillars will end up destroyed. But…"

Suddenly, Raziel frowned.

"What's wrong?" said Bron anxiously.

"We…we won't have time to get out." she said softly.

Nate and Bron stared at her, horrified.

"Once the first row collapses, the room will start to buckle," Raziel muttered. "The pressure on the walls will make the phraxlamps explode, and the temporary burst of light will render the stormphrax lining volatile. Then, it will release its energy as the walls continue to fracture. The moment we light that skyflare, this chamber will turn into a ticking time bomb. The stormphrax will detonate long before we can reach the exit."

The three of them stared around at each other, all thinking the same thing. Each of them was prepared to sacrifice their lives if it meant saving the Edge. As one, they solemnly nodded their heads. But then, all of a sudden, something happened that rendered the choice of martyrdom much more difficult.

The phrax transmitter in Bron's pocket sprang to life.

"We're in trouble!" shouted Celestia's panicked voice from the speaker. "Vartolius Xax has shot Leris!"

Bron stiffened. "The others need help," he said. "We can't die. We're the only ones who can save them."

"We need to make a decision fast," said Raziel, running towards the end of the chamber and beckoning to Bron and Nate to follow her. "The Mother Storm is almost here, remember. And even if we survive, it might be too late for us to save the others. Plus, remember that the Phraxguardians can pick up our signals. If they didn't know we were here before, they definitely do now."

iv.
The Omniphrax Fleet

The skiffs remained motionless in midair as their passengers continued to stare up at the place where the Edgesaver had disappeared. Sobs filled the air, only just audible over the massive explosions.

Abruptly, albeit with great difficulty, the surviving academics tore their gaze away and leapt back into action. The Edgesaver may have been destroyed, but the Phraxguardians weren't finished. The fearsome fleet of glisterships now turned their weapons on the skiffs, ready to pick off the survivors one at a time.

The skiffs had no way of defending themselves. There were no weapons on board. All they could do was to flee, weaving and swerving in a desperate attempt to avoid the blasts and bangs and fiery bursts of the Phraxguardians' weapons. Here and there, skiffs burst into flame, their occupants screaming and tumbling over the side.

The remaining Pirates Academic were now retreating too, flying away from Riverrise as fast as they could. The Omniphrax academics were finished. They had done all they could do. It was time to flee with as many survivors as they could. The odds of battling through the swirling turbulence of the skies above the Thorn Forests seemed slim indeed without the Edgesaver, but it probably didn't matter in any case, if the end of the world was upon them.

The skiffs began to meet up with the ships, the Pirates helping the shaking, sobbing fighters onto the deck and steering them into the holds. A few ships were blasted out of the sky as the Pirates were distracted, but most of the ships smartly sent only one crew member to assist the others, the remaining Pirates continuing to sail the sky ships.

All around, the sky was beginning to swirl menacingly. The Mother Storm was almost upon them, and though it was far too high up to see, the winds were agitating the cloud layers below, conjuring up rain and lightning and hail. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were now being drowned by the deafening cacophony of the weather.

"This is it," said one of the Pirates, looking up at the sky from his position at the helm. "We're doomed. All is lost."

"It appears that way, cap'n," said a member of his crew, untangling a knotted mass of ropes, "but remember, we always knew this part of the battle would play out this way. So long as the party down in the Support Tunnel succeeds, we'll snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

"There's precious little time, Skett," replied the captain. "If that tower doesn't fall in a few minutes…"

"Look!" bellowed a cloddertrog on another nearby vessel, pointing towards the east. "What's that?"

As one, the academics of Omniphrax turned to see a massive fleet of glisterships heading for Riverrise, propulsion ducts screaming and glisterjets throbbing. Frantically, the Pirates Academic made to fly faster. But as they drew nearer, it suddenly became clear that these glisterships were not being sailed by Phraxguardians. The bellowing, chanting individuals piloting these vessels wore the tattered rags of the Great Glade slums, the stained uniforms of Hive prisoners, and trailed the broken shackles of factory slaves.

A gray trog standing on the deck of one of these glisterships bellowed, "Omniphrax shall not perish! In the name of liberty and justice, attack!"

At his words, the glisterships unleashed a wave of fury upon the astonished Phraxguardians. Glisterbombs, phraxfire, rapid-fire catapults, and blazing harpoons tore into the Riverrise fleet, which was crumpling under this sudden deluge.

"Wh-what's happening?" stammered an astonished Pirate.

"Who are you?" called out another.

"We are the dregs of society, the downtrodden, the have-nots condemned to a life of suffering by the Empire!" shouted back the gray trog. "We have risen against the Phraxguardians to send the message that we will not live by their rules any longer. We shall see to it that you are victorious!"

The glisterships trembled as their occupants responded with a deafening cheer.

"It's the effect of the mind storms!" shouted a Sanctaphrax academic to a colleague over the howl of the wind and rain and the sounds of battle, the two of them poking their heads above deck to witness the mayhem. "They must have triggered the uprisings in Great Glade and Hive!"

"And that's not all the mind storms are inspiring!" exclaimed the other, pointing behind them. "Look!"

Like a fleet of angry woodwasps, a swarm of skycraft was swooping down over the towers of Riverrise, each one piloted by a waif. Leading the swarm was Kilfitresse, shaking her tiny fist in the air, her screeching war cry echoing through the minds of the onlookers. "TAKE THEM OUT!"

The waifs flew directly at the Phraxguardians manning the weapon towers. Some of them clutched at their necks and toppled over the side, succumbing to the volley of blackroot-oil darts. A few others stood frozen, apparently unable to move, as the waifs projected their underthoughts. Exactly what the waifs were planting in the minds of the Phraxguardians, none of the academics could tell. But whatever thoughts they were, they had a devastating effect. The Phraxguardians screamed, clutching their heads, eyes rolling. Some of them staggered backwards and fell off the towers, while others simply collapsed, twitching horribly.

Within a minute, the tide of the battle had turned. Emboldened by the crippling blows their enemies were being dealt, the Pirates Academic advanced again, blasting towers and glisterships.

Nevertheless, the Phraxguardians still had superior numbers, and before long, some of the newcomers were suffering casualties. Glisterships and skycraft exploded here and there, plummeting into the darkness below. And unlike the fresh fighters, the Pirates Academic knew that even if they could win the battle, they wouldn't win the war. That would only happen if the agents down in the Support Tunnel took out the Bracing Pillars. And as the Mother Storm drew closer and closer, gaining in energy and power, the situation was looking bleaker.

v.
The top of the Great Phraxtower

As Celestia tossed the phrax transmitter aside, Vartolius Xax slowly turned to face her. A second before, Leris had collapsed with a gaping hole in her leg. One of the energy charges from Vartolius Xax's glistergun had passed through it, and the dictator had been moving in for the kill. However, the moment he had heard Celestia scream "We're in trouble! Vartolius Xax has shot Leris!" he had frozen in his tracks.

"Who did you just contact?" he growled, advancing on Celestia. Celestia backed away.

"I asked you a question!" screamed Vartolius Xax, lunging forward, seizing Celestia, and shaking her. "Answer me, Omniphrax scum, before I splatter your worthless head across my wall!"

Celestia said nothing, keeping her mouth tightly shut. Then, slowly, she gave the dictator a triumphant grin.

Vartolius Xax's eyes widened. He wrenched Celestia away from him as though she was diseased, and backed away, looking shocked.

Apparently forgetting all about his quarry, he leaped over an armchair and punched the button for a transmitter in the wall. "Trace the foreign signal, NOW!"

A garbled, crackly voice responded through the speaker, and Vartolius Xax turned around to face the others, his face stark white.

"The Support Tunnel," he breathed. "You…you've been playing us all along."

Leris attempted to sit up, grimacing in agony, and said in a triumphant whisper, "So they made it. They succeeded."

"Not yet they haven't," snarled Vartolius Xax in a deadly voice. "They won't get the chance. Nor will you live long enough to see me tear them to pieces."

"You deluded fool," said Leris, as blood continued to seep onto the fluffy white carpet. "Can't you see that you've doomed the Edge?"

"What madness is this?" snapped the dictator.

"Your foul glister technology," replied Leris. "It has drained the world of its life energy. It caused the Blight. The Mother Storm hasn't returned to reward you. She has returned to punish you."

Vartolius Xax stared down at the wounded woman with the utmost contempt.

"When she strikes, the force of all your stormphrax exploding will be multiplied a thousandfold by her energy. Riverrise will be destroyed. The glisters will flee into open sky. Life on the Edge will end, and it will be entirely your fault."

Vartolius Xax took a step closer. "When the Mother Storm strikes," he said, "it will mean the end of all impure life on the Edge. The work begun by the great Orbix Xaxis shall end tonight. I feel no shred of pity for those who will not live to see the spectacular new age the Phraxguardians shall forge…because their disappearance is the reason why the new age we forge shall be spectacular."

vi.
The Support Tunnel

"Freeze!" bellowed a voice from the other side of the chamber. Bron, Nate, and Raziel wheeled around to see a group of Phraxguardians bursting out of a door and dashing towards them, glisterguns drawn.

"What are we going to do?" exclaimed Bron, dashing behind a pillar to avoid several bursts of energy.

"There is only one thing we can do," said Nate softly.

Bron and Raziel turned to him uneasily.

"Give me the skyflare," said Nate, holding out his hand. "Then you two can get out of here. I will see to it that the plan succeeds."

"We can't leave you!" said Bron desperately. "I'll stay behind. You have more experience…you can rescue the others!"

"No…I shall do it," insisted Raziel, clutching the skyflare. "It is my duty as a Pirate Academic Captain."

"You are kind," said Nate, tugging the skyflare from Raziel's grip, "But I am over five hundred years old. Like the Immortals before me, the story of my life must end. I shall return to Open Sky as a glister, as all things eventually must. My final task will be to ensure that that cycle will not end here. You still have things you need to do."

There was a silence, apart from the approaching footsteps of the Phraxguardians and the blasts from the glisterguns. Then, Bron and Raziel nodded together, and before they could think about what they were doing any more, turned and dashed for the exit. "Earth and Sky protect you, Nate Quarter," muttered Bron, tears forming in his eyes. "I am honored to have known you."

As they turned the corner, they heard a crash. Then another crash, followed by another, and another. "He's done it," said Raziel, in a choked voice. "He's succeeded."

Continuing down the tunnel, Bron continued to listen. The chamber they had left was cracking and groaning. Suddenly, there was a shattering noise and a series of sharp cracks. Then…

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The tunnel trembled violently, rocks falling everywhere, as the tens of thousands of volatile phraxcrystals released their energy. Bron felt a searing heat on his back as he tore down the passage. The torches had gone out, but they were no longer necessary; the glare from the explosion was illuminating the whole tunnel.

Finally, they burst out of the mouth of the tunnel into the squalling wind on the western flank of the Riverrise Mountain. The Nimbuscleaver was right where it had been before.

"This is going to be tricky," said Raziel. "You'll have to be our stone pilot as well as your other roles. But this will be a short trip; the winds will get less violent once we reach the other side of the mountain."

As they leapt into the air, Bron frantically dashed back and forth between the flight-rock platform and the sail ropes. Even in spite of his best efforts, the Nimbuscleaver was almost impossible to control, threatening at any time to turn turvey. Guided by the light of the explosions still taking place on the other side of the mountain, they managed slowly and painfully reach calmer air. Now, Bron's job became far easier. He didn't need to constantly cool the flight-rock, as the air was much warmer now.

Upon reaching the other side of the Riverrise Mountain, Bron's heart suddenly leapt. It was beginning to sink in. They had taken out the Bracing Pillars! The Great Phraxtower was doomed! What was more, the battle seemed, incredibly, to be turning in favor of the academics. Bron soon realized that they had been joined up by some other forces. He didn't stop to think who they were or why they were there, battling with the academics, but instead turned to look at the Great Phraxtower, which was even now beginning to sway gently.

"Wait a minute…" said Raziel. She turned pale. "This…this isn't good."

"What's wrong?" said Bron.

"We're too late," replied Raziel, pointing at the sky. "Look."

Sure enough, the Mother Storm was already above the Great Phraxtower, judging from the patterns and swirls disturbing the lower cloud layers. She had not yet released her burst of energy, but seemed to be preparing to do so.

Bron's blood went cold. Their efforts had been for nothing. The Great Phraxtower was going to topple, but not before the Mother Storm struck. The Edge was still doomed. After all their suffering, all the pain and the loss of life, they had failed. Bron looked up at Raziel, whose face was clouded with the same frustration and anger that Bron felt.

And then, the weather changed. Shimmering, icy raindrops began to fall from the sky, and Bron suddenly experienced a leaping, giddy invigoration that was battling with his dread and despair. And as these emotions fought with each other, Bron experienced a moment of blinding clarity.

"There's still a chance," he said. "If we fly the Nimbuscleaver to the top of the Great Phraxtower before the Mother Storm strikes, we can ram the ship into the side of the structure, and make it topple faster. And…and the others are up there, too! We can destroy the Great Phraxtower and rescue Durix, Celestia, and Leris at the same time!"

Raziel froze, apparently thinking. Then, she said, with a touch of her usual self, "That's just crazy enough to work! But we have to act now…the clock is ticking. Come on!"