Kolur grinned as they came out of the ever-present trees into a large clearing. Rising before him was a huge outcrop of weathered waxy stone a full hundred feet or more in height. About ten feet off the ground was a jagged opening at least twenty feet across.

Glancing around, he noticed Morning Dove drifting over the trees as it lazily caught up to them. Balasi waved cheerfully from the peak of the foredeck.

"Ha! Looks like we found one," he said boisterously to his wife. "Big one too! Bet they could mine that for years."

"You are not wrong," Jia nodded. "The treatise said luxite outcrops are usually small, less than a dozen feet across. I should check and make sure this is actually luxite."

She moved to a convenient spot and struck sharply with her rock hammer. It split off a chunk the size of her fist, which emitted a bright white glow from the fragment as well as the scar on the outcrop.

"So we hit the mother lode on our first find?" Kolur grinned widely. "Is that the Luck of Fu Xing or what?"

"Fu Xing is generous to our family, my husband. It must be said, however, that his blessings are not always apparent. Sometimes they first appear as great misfortune, only revealing the truth in the fullness of time—my arrival on Aloth being one such blessing in disguise. For if my ship had not been attacked by the Neogi we would never have met—and our children would never have been born."

She smiled at him, not seeing the great scaled head that slowly slid out of the large cave above her head. It watched her with interest.

Kolur's eyes widened.

"Jia, move!" he bellowed, frantically clawing at the crossbow across his back.

ooOoo

Jia didn't hesitate, casting a quick spell. She vanished in a burst of mist, instantly appearing next to her husband. Spinning around she concentrated, crystalline runes appearing above her head. She reached into herself, grabbing nearly half of the mystical warmth inside her chest, forcing it into the runes above her. Then she slapped one hand against herself and the other against her husband, feeling a chill rush into the space the warmth had been.

"May Fu Xing bless us both!" she called, the runes shattering, bathing both of them in a deluge of golden light.

It was only then that she actually paid attention to the scaled beast that leaped out of the opening to land hissing, spreading its wings and lowering its head threateningly.

Kolur bellowed a screeching roar that made the huge creature hesitate for a moment, drawing its head back to reevaluate the pair facing it. Jia tensed, waiting to see if it thought itself outmatched or not.

There was a loud thump as one of the ballistae on Dove fired, the huge bolt burying itself underneath the beast's chest, barely grazing it. Startled, the beast's head jerked up to look at the hovering ship. It screeched, opening its mouth wide and a blinding beam of light emerged, striking the Dove amidships.

Enraged, Jia screamed the words of a spell, pointing at the monster that dared strike at her children. Crystal runes spiraled down her arm from her shoulder to her fingertips. They exploded in a cascade that raced down her arm. Lightning sprang from her fingers to strike the beast in the chest.

With a shriek of pain it convulsed, collapsing as a second ballista bolt buried itself in the creature's back, pinning it to the ground. The monster spat a second blinding beam at the ship, only this time the beam burst through the ship's hull, eliciting a childish scream as the ship staggered in the air and fell, crashing into the trees, one wing ripping free. Tree limbs caught the hull, cushioning the fall so it came to rest ten feet above the ground, canted so that the remaining wingtip touched the ground.

"No!" Kolur howled, staring at the wreckage. He turned and loosed his crossbow at the beast now gasping for breath, blood dribbling from its mouth. The steel-tipped quarrel sank up to its fletching. Jia launched another lightning bolt that struck the creature's open mouth and continued down its throat.

The creature convulsed, tearing itself free of the impaling ballista bolt, managing two staggering steps away from its attackers before collapsing in the stillness of death.

"Balasi! Eleniel!" Jia screamed, racing for the wreck as soon as she confirmed the monster was dead. She hit the remaining wing in a mad dash, her feet aided by a spell. Leaping upward she barely managed to grab the rail of the upper deck, vaulting over the rail while ignoring the sudden burning in her shoulders.

Balasi was lying behind the port ballista, groaning and clutching his arm. Jia could see the unnatural angle and the jagged end of a bloody bone sticking out. Cursing she quickly cast a healing spell, deliberately over powering it as hard as she could. The arm immediately straightened as the bone slipped back inside, the ragged hole it left closing and leaving only bloodstains.

The boy quit moaning and blinked.

"Mama?"

"Are you all right?" She asked urgently.

"What happened?" he asked muzzily.

"Are you all right?" she demanded fiercely.

"I—I think so," he replied, eyes widening.

Jia turned and sprinted toward the companionway in a panic, rushing to the helm, only to find her daughter sprawled on the floor in front of it, unmoving.

"No, no, no!" she moaned, checking to see if there was a pulse. It was there, but faint and unsteady, like a guttering flame.

She placed her palm against her daughter's neck and pushed magic into her with a whispered prayer.

"Fu Xing, spare the dying," she said. "Save my precious angel, please."

Under her fingers Eleniel's pulse steadied and grew stronger. With a sob Jia collapsed.

"This one thanks you for her daughter's life, blessed ancestor, she murmured in her native language. Taking a deep breath she cast another overpowered healing spell, gathering her daughter into her arms.

Eleniel stirred fitfully.

"Mama? My head hurts."

"Yes, my angel, I'm sure it does." Jia cradled her daughter gently. "The helm was up when the ship took a massive blow. You felt the damage as if it happened to your own body."

"Is the Dove ok?" Eleniel asked, staring at her mother, eyes widening.

Jia hesitated, arms tightening. "You crashed," she finally said. "It was only by the grace of Fu Xing the trees cushioned your fall enough that it didn't kill the two of you."

"What about the Dove?" the girl insisted.

"I—do not know," Jia admitted. "There is a lot of damage, my angel, she fell hard when the shock knocked you unconscious and shut down the helm."

"Is that why everything's tilted?" the girl asked, finally coming back to herself. "I need to get back on the helm, Mama. Set her down properly.

"No, Eleniel," Jia said forcefully. "I healed you, but you still need time to rest. If I hadn't you'd be in a coma for days, my angel. Trying to power up the helm now would be dangerous for you."

"Then you do it," the girl said stubbornly. "Sitting twisted like this is bad for her, Mama. You told me that."

"I need to keep the rest of my magic, Eleniel," Jia said gently. "We had to fight a monster. There may be more. Once your father makes sure we're safe he can move her."

The ship suddenly lurched, settling with creaking timbers. The two of them froze until the ship steadied.

"Better get Balasi to do it right now, Mama," Eleniel said, tense and afraid to move.

"He was hurt in the crash," Jia said without thinking. "I healed him too but I don't believe he's experienced enough to safely extract us from the trees."

"Dove is hurting, Mama!" Eleniel insisted. "She's already broken, waiting is making things worse!"

"Can you walk?" Jia said, changing the subject.

"I think so," the girl replied, cautiously moving to stand up. "I'm ok, except my head is killing me."

Jia steadied her until she was sure the girl was able to stand on the slanted deck, and then stood herself. She helped her daughter move back to the stairs.

Morning Dove's final settling had lessened her heel a little, making the climb up the stairs easier than Jia's mad descent had been but the woman made sure Eleniel gripped the handrail with both hands, just in case.

Once on deck Eleniel looked around, her face stricken.

"Poor Dove." She sobbed. Before Jia could grab her she dashed to the portside rail and gazed up at the wing still caught in the treetops then at the ragged stub that was all that remained attached to the hull.

Her sobs got louder and she collapsed behind the railing.

Balasi was looking at the remains of the starboard ballista, its left bow stave snapped off and dangling by the cord. His face was expressionless.

Jia hovered, not knowing which of three places she absolutely had to be at the moment. She finally moved to her daughter and called out to her son.

"Balasi, come guard your sister!"

Balasi blinked at her voice, and then woodenly moved toward them.

"I'm sorry, mama," He said, closing his eyes. "This is all my fault."

"What?" Jia asked in bewilderment.

"I missed," he said miserably. "If I hadn't missed the first time that thing wouldn't have wrecked the ship."

"Balasi," Jia snapped, "look at me!"

Her barked command broke through his misery long enough to make him meet her eyes.

"This is not your fault," She said harshly. "Anyone can miss! I've done it; your father has done it! No matter how good you are, you are not Hou Yi, god of archery! You missed the first time, yes, but you did not miss the second! That second shot pinned the beast long enough for my lightning to slay it!"

"But—" he gestured around them helplessly.

"Fights leave scars, my son," she said softly. "This is why I have warned both of you to avoid fighting if you can. There is always a cost, often higher than one would wish. Today, by the grace of Fu Xing, we all lived. Let us be thankful for that."

"Can you and Pabbi fix Dove, mama?" Eleniel asked, trying unsuccessfully to hold back her tears.

"I don't know, my angel," Jia said after a moment. "We will have to try, we can't stay here. The monster's corpse will draw scavengers that I do not want to meet. We are so far from the settlements there is no telling what could appear."

"Yeah, me either." Balasi said glumly. "We lost both front ballistae, they're completely busted. Dunno about the one in back yet. I don't think we're flying anywhere with just one wing though."

"We shall have to see what can be done. Guard your sister, Balasi," Jia ordered. "I have to help Kolur check for more monsters."

The boy nodded grimly, hand clutching the hilt of the cutlass at his waist. Jia hesitated, then pulled the dagger from her waist and held it out to Eleniel.

"Be careful with this," her mother told her. "Only use it as a last resort. But if you have to use it, my angel, do not hold back. Go for the eyes, the nose, or the throat. Most creatures will run away if you can hit one of those. Balasi, remember your father's training. Guard your sister."

"Yes mama," Balasi nodded, face grim.

Eleniel took the dagger carefully, trying to remember her few lessons in how to use it.

"Stay safe," Jia said, before running to the rope ladder and tossing it over the side before vanishing down it.