Beyond the Endless Sky

Chapter 10

Clarissa was uncomfortable.

The wool scarf safety-pinned to her monastery cloak itched. The hat left her head feeling like a piece of rigging that someone had tied a mass of rope to. Her gloves were so stiff her hands were already tired from gripping the stair rails, and the safety harness dug into her legs as she walked.

She did like the goggles, however.

Clarissa's trek up the stairs had already started to make her sweat, mostly from how hot she felt beneath her extra gear. But Anita had personally approved every choice just a few minutes ago, and had inspected the harness thoroughly before she let Clarissa wear it.

"Hopefully it's comfortable," Anita had said while adjusting the harness straps on Clarissa's legs. "Because wearing clips is mandatory about a day after we pass Volante. Once you get too far from one of the big isles, there ain't a lot of rock to pull you one way or another. We'll get you fitted for a pair of clingy boyfriends this evening."

"Clingy boyfriends?" Clarissa had laughed, when Anita had first named them. She still found the name funny.

But as Clarissa reached the door, she began to wonder what exactly Anita had meant. She shoved the latch up and pushed at the door until it begrudgingly began to swing.

The wind pushed at her hard, and the bitter chill that accompanied it seemed determined to rip the warmth of her body straight out through her breath. Clarissa shivered, grit her teeth, and forced herself out the doorway.

To her immediate relief, as soon as she was outside the wind died off, though the chill didn't entirely dissipate. Clarissa pushed the door shut, set the goggles over her eyes, and took a look around.

And for the first time since the journey began, really got to see the forests of Volante.

This high up, the forest seemed to stretch out forever, as if like the endless blue, she could follow that green horizon and never reach the end. The trees themselves, Clarissa realized breathlessly as she stared, were astonishingly tall. Hundreds of feet tall, some must stretch to a quarter mile. And all of them bowed in the direction the Ravens' Child flew, as if pointing the way.

She tore her eyes away from the sight and looked for Leslie. He wasn't hard to find, the big man was the only thing moving on the deck. He was standing next to a gargantuan metal contraption, with a tube nearly thirty feet long.

"Leslie!" Clarissa shouted. The ship's gunnery officer turned his head and gave Clarissa a short wave. She took a step towards him, and his relaxed greeting changed to a dire warning, as he shouted at her to stop.

"Clip-in!" Leslie bellowed.

Clarissa stopped, stared at him in confusion, and waved her arms. Leslie shook his head and reached for a clip attached to one of the bars protruding from the nearby machine. He took one off, showed that it was attached to his belt, and then pointed at a piece of railing on his other side.

Clarissa looked around, and saw for the first time that there were a series of long rails along the deck. It surprised her, since she didn't remember seeing these rails when the ship had been docked at the Monastery. But she put away her surprise and took one of the clips off her belt and attached it to the rail.

Once she did, she walked towards Leslie, who was once again waving her over. As she approached, Leslie returned to oiling a massive iron wheel, dipping a rag into a bucket and then rubbing the metal down thoroughly.

"Clarissa," Leslie said. "Were you sent up here to keep me company?"

"Captain said another set of ears would be a good thing," Clarissa said.