The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC) BOOK 1

The Sky Raiders: 21

The next morning, I got out of bed and brushed my teeth. Then brushed my hair and put on the blue compression jacket and leggings from the day before. I met up with Cole and we walked outside to meet up with Jace. We found him in the common room, talking to another boy who looked about sixteen. And he looked good. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of black joggers and he was wearing a grey t-shirt that showed off his broad shoulders.
When he saw me, he froze. "Wow . . . You look . . . wow." I blushed at his statement.
"Come on," Cole said, clapping Jace on the back, who was still staring at me. "We have a mission to do."
"Uh, right." Jace said, clearing his throat, his face flushed. "This way."
He led us to a vast cavern in the side of the cliff that served as a landing bay for the big skycraft. Made out of dark wood, they vaguely looked like an old pirate ships, though broader and flatter, with a pair of modest masts and no sails. Each had three lifeboats—one on each side and one at the rear.
He led us to the one called Domingo, where several men were gathering. Morning light streamed through the open side of the cavern, and we could see many castles hovering.
"Lots of castles." Said Cole.
"We usually have a busy day after a quiet one." Jace said. "That's good news. Two other companies compete with us—the Cloud Skimmers and the Airmen. On a busy day like today, we won't have much competition."
At the gangplank to the Domingo, a middle aged man with unruly curly brown hair greeted us.
"Your the new scouts," he said extending a hand. We both shook it. "I'm Captain Post," the man continued. "Jumping sword, savvy choice." He handed us two little cords with a little cylindrical bottle hanging from it.
"What's this?" Cole asked.
"A poison capsule." The captain said. "Have they discussed falling?" We shook our heads.
He jerked a thumb at the sky. "We don't know if you'd ever land. Could be you'd fall until you starved. As a courtesy, we provide the capsule."
"Top unscrews from the bottom," Jace explained. "It's airtight. The poison reeks, which wrecks any chance to use it as a weapon. They trust slaves here more than most places, but not enough to arm us for an assassination."
"Put it on." The captain said. "We all wear one."
I looked at Jace uncertainty. He pulled out an identical bottle from under his grey t-shirt. "It's alright, chances are if you fall, the sky craft will be able to catch you."
It didn't exactly reassure me, but it coming from Jace made me feel a little bit better, so I slipped the cord over my head, and tucked it into my jacket.
"This way," the captain said, leading us to a battered bin beside the gangplank. He selected two medium sized backpacks from the bins. "If you fall, this parachute is your best friend. Give the cord a sharp tug, and we'll try to get a craft under you. The skycraft can only descend so far, but if you pull the cord quickly, you'll have a chance."
"Good to know." Cole said, slipping his backpack on. I put mine on next. Jace helped me adjust my straps, and the captain helped Cole.
When he was done helping me adjust the straps, Jace leaned down and whispered in my ear "You'll do great, I know it." He said, flashing a smile.
Butterfly's swirled around in my stomach as I replied. "Thanks. So if I live, I get to be your new best friend?" I said, smiling back at him.
"I'll save the spot for you." He said and he winked.
"Looking forward to it." I said, still smiling.
The captain finished adjusting Cole's straps. "Jace is here to coach you." The captain said. "Listen to him, he's a survivor." He walked away, shouting orders to a group of men.
"Some scouts skip the parachute." Jace said to us. "They don't want the extra weight slowing them down."
"Do you use one?" I asked him.
"Always, the risk of a fall is real." He said.
"How many missions have you done?" Cole asked.
"The next will be my thirtieth." Jace replied.
"More than halfway there." Cole said.
Jace gave him a rough, but playful shove. "You trying to jinx me? Never talk about how many you have left. Only how many you've done."
"Sorry." Cole said.
"You've got fifty left," Jace said. "All fifty. Now we're even. Apologie accepted. Looks like there ready for you guys."
About twenty men had lined up along the gangplank. The captain signaled for us to come aboard. As we walked up the gangplank, every man shook our hand and thanked us for our service. There were no grins or jeers. Al were serious. It made my stomach knot. They were paying their respects.
Jace led us to a bench at the front of the skycraft. I sat down, Jace on my left, Cole on my right.
"Freaked out yet?" Jace said, nudging me.
"A little." I said. Cole nodded, agreeing with me.
"It's all you'll get. If you die, they'll either leave your body on the castle, and it'll drift into the Cloudwall, or you get buried in the air. A bottomless grave. There's never a body to bring back."
"You sir, are a ray of sunshine." I said to Jace.
He cracked a smile. "You get used to it. If you live long enough."
"Wow. You should be a motivational speaker." I said. He smirked at me, that cute, lopsided smirk. I felt my face getting warm and turned my attention to the sky.
The Domingo drifted upward and forward. It was pretty smooth for a flying ship.
As the Domingo coasted out into the glare of the rising sun, I shielded my eyes. The day was clear and cool, and they floated along serenely.
I got up and walked over to the railing and leaned against it. Once my hands were in the railing, I felt completely secure. Though, I felt even better when Jace and Cole came up and stood beside me.
Scanning from on side to another, I counted at least thirty castles. Some higher, some lower, some smaller, some larger, they all drifted towards the Cloudwall.
"So, what do we do?" Cole asked.
"They'll take you down in a life boat," Jace said. "You'll climb down a ladder. Usually nothing happens until you set foot in castle grounds. Sometimes that alerts the semblances and they come running. Other times nothing happens until you enter a building, or trigger a response in some other way.  Sometimes the castle is empty, easy pickings. Your job is to scout and see it there's anything worth taking and to check for threats."
"If we get attacked?" I asked him.
"Run for it." Jace said. "Get back to a lifeboat. They'll try to help, but they won't set down. Once your safe, they'll assess whether the threat is worth challenging. The guys in the life boat will bring weapons. The main ship has two ballistae- see over there?"
I saw what looked like a giant crossbow on deck near the railing.
"They'll mount that up and get it ready before you go down." Jace said. "People will be covering you. We all want you to make it. And you have your jumping swords."
"Do you have your rope?" I asked.
"Did Mira tell you about that?" When we nodded, he produced a golden string, maybe a foot long. He noticed our perplexed stares. "It gets bigger."
"She said it can do all sorts of things." Cole said.
"It can." Jace replied. "It was a lucky find. But a jumping sword has its advantages too. I know some guys who did all fifty missions with a jumping sword, including some dicey ones."
"How often does it get dicey?" Cole asked.
"Roughly? I'd guess one in three missions amount to nothing. The rest are at least annoying. Maybe one in eight will give you nightmares. But that's not accurate. It depends on your luck."
"Define 'annoying'." I said.
"Am I a dictionary?" He said, cracking a smile. "You know, you'll eventually have to run for it, but you know you'll probably make it." Jace said.
"That's just annoying?" Cole said.
"Yeah, at least compared to the worst days."
"What kind of stuff can happen?" Cole asked.
Jace ran a hand through his hair, somehow making him look even better. "I've done this a lot. You just have to be ready for anything. Once, a whole castle exploded, took out an entire skycraft. That was before my time, but no one made it back. Some guys at Skyport saw it through their telescopes. The semblances might want to talk. Some will seem friendly, or at least reasonable. Sometimes they'll treat you like a guest. They might act nice, then try to backstab you. There can be monsters, traps, bees, poisonous gas, archers, fireballs-you name it. Anything."
"Piece of cake." I said.
Jace grinned.
Cole had totally zoned out. I hoped Jace didn't notice how tight I was squeezing the railing.
But he did, because he leaned down slightly and whispered. "It'll be okay."
I looked up at him, silently thanking him. He gave a small smile.
"Where are we going?" Cole spoke up suddenly.
"Not even the captain knows yet." Jace said. "The spotters are checking our prospects. Badly ruined castles are almost always empty and have nothing worth taking, so we try to stay away from those. We've had too many bad experiences with the dark and scary ones, so we stay away from those too. Same with any metal ones. It isn't an exact science. The just look for something promising- not to menacing, in decent shape, maybe with hints of wealth."
I zoned out for the rest of the conversation. I didn't exactly like the idea of knowing a million ways I could die. I was beyond nervous.