The return journey through Nightshade was an ordeal, and the three friends breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the dilapidated bridge. They had been constantly looking over their shoulders, spotting scurrying nightshadows in the streets, cowering in the corners for fear of them. Eva went first, followed by Nora, and finally Finn and Leander, who was able to walk again. They had gagged the nobleman with a cloth because as soon as he regained consciousness, he would have started his lecture about a better world again. After an almost endless walk, they reached their airship. ‘We’ll chain the traitor to the main mast,’ Eva decided. ‘As you command, captain,’ Finn laughed. ‘Anything else?’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘the three of us are going to drink a bottle of thunderstorm mead. These islands have completely twisted me. There’s plenty of time for the badge tomorrow.’
The next day, a pale sun rose over the Rex Ventorum, and Eva saw it through the porthole of her cabin. ‘Just a few more minutes,’ she thought, but a scream made her jump out of bed. ‘He’s gone!’ she heard Nora shriek, and she knew exactly who she meant. The chains with which they had tied Leander were lying abandoned on the deck. Nora was examining the locks when Eva approached her. ‘The creep etched them with acid,’ she exclaimed in astonishment. ‘But what kind of person carries acid with them?’ ‘A dangerous person,’ Eva replied. She scratched her head. ‘Listen,’ she said to Nora and Finn, who had joined them. ‘I have to apologise to you. I decided that Leander should travel with us. That was a big mistake.’ ‘Who could have known?’ said Finn. ‘And he wasn’t that useless: he helped us in Sorrowton.’ ‘That’s right,’ Eva conceded. ‘Nevertheless, I have put us in great danger. From now on, we have to be especially careful. I have a feeling we are getting closer and closer to the Heart.’ She pulled out the leather case she had been carrying close to her body all night. ’Shall we take a look at yesterday’s find now? To be honest, I just want to get out of this place as quickly as possible.’
The case was spread out on the table in the wheelhouse when the three of them bent over it. ‘That’s a pilot’s badge,’ explained Eva, who now clearly recognised the typical design in the light. „But I don’t know this particular order.“ She paused. “Nora, do you have your magnifying glass with you?” Her friend reached into her bag and handed her the desired object. With the glass to her eye, Eva brought the badge close enough for her nose to almost touch the metal. Then she let out an audible breath. ‘That… is the pattern!’ Her friends agreed with her: it was the pattern on the back of the card that was finely engraved on the badge. Still holding the magnifying glass, Eva turned the pin over. She noticed a small depression and her heart beat faster. ‘There’s something here,’ she exclaimed in amazement, ‘but it’s barely legible. Can you take a look?’ Finn’s eyes proved to be the best. ‘These are coordinates,’ he said.
‘How much further do we have to climb?’ Nora’s face was pale. ‘A bit late for a fear of flying, isn’t it?’ teased Eva, but her friend shook her head. ‘I just don’t like it when the air gets so thin. I always feel a bit funny then. “How much further?” Eva called in Finn’s direction. The navigator was standing at the railing and had been giving them acoustic directions for a few minutes, as they were passing through a dense layer of haze at the time. In response, there was a long whistle and three short ones in succession: land ahead. ‘Just hold on a little longer,’ said Eva, patting her friend on the shoulder. ‘We’ll be there in a minute.’
Another fog bank, then the veil opened like a theatre curtain, revealing an island in front of the Rex Ventorum that the three friends had never seen before. It was not particularly large, but it looked like a piece of paradise that someone had transported here from another world. Dense, lush green forests stretched across the hilly landscape and seemed to pulsate with life. Colourful spots could be seen from above – flowers in bright yellow, deep red and radiant blue, which displayed their exotic splendour even from this distance. In the centre of the island, a mountain range rose up above it all, its peaks covered in snow. Streams of turquoise-coloured water, glistening like liquid glass in the sunlight, plunged down from the edges of the island. But among all this beauty, there was also something unapproachable. Dark, moss-covered cliffs rose steeply out of the forest in some places, and the treetops sometimes seemed to sway strangely – as if moved by a wind that the friends on the ship could not feel.
‘It looks harmless,’ Finn said dryly, taking his miniature binoculars out of his eye and putting them in his coat pocket. ‘Harmless? I see mostly snow and ice,’ Nora replied, pointing to the white summit. ‘And a jungle in addition, probably full of animals that all want to kill us. Why am I not surprised that something like this is waiting for us?’ Eva ignored the comments of her companions and concentrated on the instruments in front of her. The wind had noticeably died down, and the Rex Ventorum glided almost silently through the air, as if carried by an invisible hand. Suddenly, she was struck by realisation. ’No wind? Up here?‘ she muttered, puzzled, and glanced at the altimeter. She felt her stomach clench. This calm felt very suspicious.
‘Eva?’ Finn asked, noticing her tense posture. ‘Something’s wrong,’ she said, more to herself. Just as she had spoken the words, the Rex suddenly began to jerk. A tremor ran through the ship, growing stronger until the entire hull vibrated. ‘What the hell?’ Nora shouted, clinging to the nearest strut. Then a violent jolt went through their vehicle. ‘Hold on!’ Eva screamed, pulling the stocking off her foot with one hand and switching off the autopilot with the other. The instruments went crazy, the displays jumped chaotically back and forth, and the wheel began to resist her grip. A strange, piercing sound filled the air – like a hum that seemed to come from all sides.
‘A storm?’ Nora shouted against the ever louder drone. “It’s not a storm!” Finn’s voice trembled and for the first time the navigator seemed unsure of himself. Eva knew she didn’t have time to panic. She was a pilot. And the Rex was her ship. “What are you doing?” Nora shouted when Eva suddenly closed her eyes.
But Eva didn’t answer. Her breathing became calmer as she applied only light pressure to the controls. She stopped fighting the invisible force that was tossing the ship back and forth. Instead, she concentrated on the feeling in her chest – and there it was, the delicate golden thread that guided her in her mind’s eye. To the left and right of it, swirling turbulence, shimmering vortices and dancing whirlwinds appeared, which she had to pass. And as if she had never done anything else, she steered the ship into impossible manoeuvres: steeply upwards, then downwards in serpentines, in a zigzag diagonally downwards and once they even flew backwards. The golden thread always showed Eva the way, and she only had to follow it.
Finally, the humming became quieter and the ship trembled less. Eva opened her eyes again and a smile spread across her face. ‘Over there!’ she called and steered the ship with a gentle jerk to the left. In front of them, a narrow gap opened up between two massive walls of clouds that looked like solid archways. Behind them was a sheltered cove with a perfect landing site – a strip of smooth rock that looked as if it had been made for the Rex.
As the ship ran gently aground, Nora took a deep breath and leaned on her knees. ‘I don’t know what that was, but I’d very much prefer never to have to make a landing approach like that again.’ Finn gave a weak grin. ‘Me too. But it was impressive, Eva. Really.’