Rex Ventorum glided quietly through the clouds when suddenly a sharp bang rent the air. Eva, who was at the wheel, turned around in a flash and saw a projectile hit the stern. Wood splintered and a few rigging lines tore, causing the rear sail to flutter freely in the air on one side. The whole airship trembled and a piercing alarm sounded through the air. ‘Pirates!’ she heard Nora call and saw Leander struggling to his feet. The jolt had swept him off his feet. On the spur of the moment, she tore her sock off her foot and turned the wheel with all her might.
Now the cause of the attack loomed like a dark shadow before them. A shiver ran down Eva’s spine as a familiar voice screeched through the haze: ‘Hello, my darlings – Black Mara’s back!’ The memory of the dangerous encounter in the clouds was still fresh in Eva’s mind. ‘Damn, they’ve found us!’ Nora screamed as she caught sight of the dark silhouette of the pirate ship. It was the same one that had been pursuing them in the storm zones – but now it had come much closer to them. ‘Quick, turn around!’ commanded Eva. But the crosswinds were so strong that she could hardly fight against them. The ship with the dark sails was getting closer and closer, and on its deck you could already see the outlines of the pirates as they prepared to throw the grappling hooks. ‘Hold on!’ Eva shouted as she felt another hit to the ship. The hull of the Rex Ventorum creaked under the force of the impact, but it held. The pirate ship was now right next to her and up close, Eva could finally see Mara with her own eyes. The captain was at the helm, her long black hair blowing in the wind and a mocking smile on her lips.
Something had caught fire and through the smoke, Eva could no longer see her navigator. ‘Damn it!’ she cursed, trying to manoeuvre the ship away from the attackers on her own, but Mara was faster. A shot crashed near the rudder and the entire Rex Ventorum lurched as the ballistic impact almost threw her off course. The shock caused Eva to go to her knees, but she picked herself up and pulled the rudder all the harder as the wind pushed the ships into a lurching course.
Then a shrill whistle sounded. Finn! Without thinking twice, she followed his course and ordered the Rex to descend at a steep angle. The pirates tried to follow, but suddenly they were pulled into a downdraught. Eva tried desperately to countersteer, but the ship had turned unstoppably onto its nose and was racing almost vertically downwards. The force of gravity hurled Nora and Leander against the back wall of the wheelhouse; they hadn’t held on in time, while Eva clung to the wheel. They drifted through the clouds, and for a brief moment it actually felt as if they were weightless.
Then the haze lifted and two islands emerged. From the outlines, Eva recognised them as Sorrowton and Duskencliff – and they were heading straight for them. At the last moment, she managed to turn the main rudder and the Rex shot into the horizontal. With all her strength, Eva pulled up, up, up – but it didn’t help. They brushed a hilltop and the shock made the ship lurch. Finally, they touched down, dragging over the rocky land covered with small, gnarled trees, rocks and ruins, before they came to a halt with a terrible crunch.
Yes, my dear reader, I’m sure you’d like to know how Eva and her friends fare. Is the ship destroyed and are all the passengers safe? Don’t worry, I’ll continue in a moment. But first, let me say a few words about the island where the crew has just had a literal crash landing. If you have ever set foot on the barren soil of Sorrowton, then you know this place of decay, which still reflects the catastrophe that once broke out here. If you haven’t – thank fate, lucky one, that it never takes you there!
But Sorrowton was not always a desolate spot on this cloudy island. No, it was once a lively, vibrant village used as a trading post by the inhabitants of the night city. The fog flowers thrive here particularly well due to the fog banks that surround the island, making the city a coveted source of fog milk. Opposite Sorrowton, on a crescent-shaped island called Duskencliff, lies the city Nightshade. I don’t want to give too much away yet, but as you may know, it was once a place of beauty and knowledge. Nightshade’s universities – there were actually four of them! – were full to bursting with students every year, and the library in the Great Tower was second to none. Today, all these buildings are in ruins and hardly anything remains of the once magnificent city. Where the voices of great researchers once echoed, there is now an eerie silence. The mighty towers that once proudly rose into the sky have collapsed, and only overgrown scrub remains of the once lush gardens. But the decay didn’t happen overnight. It began many years ago, when the Meteorological Academy started to study the secret forces of the weather.
They sought ways to tame the sky, to control the winds and to direct the rain as they wished. They experimented with low-pressure chambers, electrical currents, heat and cold stores, and tried to force the weather to serve them. It is difficult to say exactly what caused the situation to boil over. Perhaps it was an electrical impulse, perhaps an excessive manipulation of the forces of nature – but the consequences were devastating. The surviving reports speak of strange phenomena, flickering lights and sudden discharges in the air. Several sources consistently report severe headaches spreading among the population, coupled with hearing voices that seemed to come from the walls. In my personal opinion, these hallucinations are due to the sudden pressure changes in the air. But as if it wasn’t enough that the whole city was collectively falling prey to madness, sudden storms were breaking over it. Storms that tore the sky to shreds, blew away buildings and left the inhabitants with no alternative but to flee. Soon there was no one left who wanted to mention Nightshade’s name. Its terrible legacy on Duskencliff remained: a devastated land and a ruined settlement, where the shadows stalk the living.
And what has become of Sorrowton? The survivors fled to the neighbouring village, hoping to find peace there. But even here, in the supposedly safe refuge, the effects of the disaster were felt. The fields were barren and the inhabitants were distraught. Today, only the descendants of those who fled the ruins of the night city live there. And so Sorrowton lives on – or I should probably say it vegetates. It is a village that will never truly return to itself – and for the crew now stranded there, it should become a place of horror and revelation at the same time.