The night before they were set to leave, Lyra found Kaelen on the deck of his ship, checking the rigging one last time. The city around them was quiet, but the sky above was alive with flickering lights and strange, silent flashes of energy.
"Are you scared?" she asked him.
Kaelen didn't look up from his work. "I'm an engineer, Lyra. I'm scared of things I can't calculate. And this… this is the biggest unknown we've ever faced."
"Then why are you going?"
"Because if Ironclad is right, and we just fight this thing, we might break the sky forever. And if you're right… then we're about to see something amazing. Something that changes everything." He looked at her then, his eyes bright with excitement. "I'd rather be part of the change than watch it happen from the ground."
Lyra smiled and handed him a small, carved stone. "From the archives. It's a navigation charm, older than the city itself. It's supposed to point toward truth, not just north."
Kaelen took it and tied it to the ship's wheel. "Thank you."
At dawn, with only a few trusted friends and allies watching, the Zephyr's Blade cast off its moorings. The wind caught their sails, and for a moment, the ship hovered there, between the world they knew and the mystery above.
Below them, Zephyr Hold grew smaller. Commander Ironclad watched from his tower, his face set in a frown of disapproval. But he didn't stop them.
"Full sail!" Reeve shouted, taking the helm. "Let's see what the sky has to say!"
The ship shot upward, piercing through the layer of clouds and into the brilliant blue above. They were leaving the safety of their home behind, heading into the Ocean of Air, toward the very Eye of the World.