Zach Brenner's Arc

Chapter 34 of 86

The airship hung silent at the dock. Glass domes rose behind it, waterfalls spilling down the city's shining towers. Zach climbed the ramp with the group behind him. Up close the hull was beautiful, all polished plates and brass fittings and long fins swept back like wings. But the deck was still. No hum, no lights. Talon stepped to the wheel and tried a lever. Nothing moved. "She's been sitting five years," he said. "The engine's dead. I need to wake it." Talon knelt at a hatch below the wheel and pried it open. Copper pipes and cold gears filled the space. He ran a gloved hand across them and frowned. "Fouled lines. Cracked seals. I can fix it, but not fast." He looked up at Zach. "Give me a day. Take the others into the city. There's nothing you can do standing over me." Zach hated waiting. Every hour let Malachar move closer to the next seal. But the engine wouldn't turn faster with him watching. "One day," he said. "Then we fly." He signaled to Raven and Ayla. The three of them started down the ramp toward the glass towers. Lyra did not follow. Lyra stayed by the wheel. She watched Talon work, her hands tight at her sides. She had traveled far with him now, but she had known him before, five years back, before everyone thought he was dead. When word had come that he was gone, something in her had broken and never mended. The day before he vanished, she had meant to tell him how she felt. She never got the chance. Now he knelt three feet away, alive. "Talon," she said. Her voice cracked. "When they said you died, it tore a hole in me. I was going to tell you something. The day before you left." She stopped. "I loved you. I still do." Talon set down his tools. For a long moment he said nothing. Then he reached up and pulled the mask from his face. Underneath he looked younger, tired, human. He rose and stepped to her. "I know," he said. "I saw it in your eyes back then. That's part of why I ran." He took her hands. "I faked my death because Malachar's men were hunting my family. If they thought I was dead, they'd stop looking. I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell Raven. One slip and you'd all be targets." His voice dropped. "Five years I watched the north alone. I never stopped thinking of you." Lyra pressed her forehead to his. Then she kissed him, and he held her against the cold engine, and neither pulled away. When they finally stepped back, Talon wiped his eyes and picked up his tools. By dusk the pipes were sealed. He struck the ignition. The engine coughed, then roared. Lights bloomed across the deck. The wings unfolded. Talon grinned, mask still down at his throat. "She flies. Get the others. We leave at first light for Geneva."