The ship’s engines roar to life. It feels good to be back in control of my ship. It feels even better knowing that we completed our mission. We discovered the weapons and loaded them on board, ready to secure them at Lunis Station.

I look back at Willow, strapped securely in her seat at the back of the bridge. I could have taken her to her quarters but I wasn’t ready to let her out of my sight again. She returns my look and smiles at me, and I’m not ready for the unexpected wave of pure joy that washes over me. I never knew what it was like to care this deeply for someone. With everything that has happened on Gaia, I never thought I’d have the chance.

“Raydn, what the hell is that?” Kayne asks. The urgency in his voice snaps me out of my daze. We’ve just left the ground and are hovering right above the Dydrak’s castle, and my eyes focus on the very top of the keep. Something that looks as large as a cannon slowly inches from the top window, directed right at our ship.

“Pull up, quickly!” I yell. The Nightfall jerks upward and the engines roar with anger at the sudden movement. We accelerate quickly but I continue to watch in horror as the end of the weapon begins to spin, growing from a dull orange to a bright yellow color within seconds. “They’re firing at us!” I yell it but to no one in particular. We’re moving as quickly as we can and my heart sinks as the realization hits that we’re just not moving out of range fast enough. “Brace for impact.”

There’s a loud, deafening explosion as the weapon fires. We watch in horror as an object that looks like a bright ball of fire launches toward the Nightfall. There’s a lurch as we shift suddenly to the left but it isn’t quick enough to avoid the impact. Everything happens so quickly. The ball of fire hits the wing, throwing us against our restraints. There’s a sickening rip of metal as the impact rips the wing from the main ship. The warning lights flash as the alarms blare through the ship. The panels light up with all of the things in the ship that just went to shit.

“Can we get outside of the walls?” I yell. If we’re going to crash, I don’t want to be stuck within the walls.

“No, we have no control,” Kayne says.

The ship is spinning out of control from the blast in the wing. We spin around and I get another view of the castle. I see the weapon lighting up yellow again, ready to fire another round. We’re helpless to avoid it.

“Brace for another impact,” I yell over the sound of the alarms and noise. As soon as the words leave my mouth, we’re hit with another round. My stomach lurches as the ship dives toward the ground. The restraints on the seat dig into my shoulders but hold me in place. When we finally stop, we have taken a nosedive into the dirt. The lights on the bridge flicker for a few moments before they go out completely, leaving us stunned and in the dark.

Without thinking of myself, I reach for the release on my restraints and click them. As soon as they release, I fall forward out of my seat, landing on the front console. I look at the chaos around us and search for Willow. Thankfully she’s still strapped in her seat but I can’t tell if she’s conscious or not. I pull myself up and crawl toward her. The way the ship is slanted makes it like climbing a hill. I move quickly, fueled by my adrenaline and the knowledge that we aren’t safe right now. It’s a precarious position we find ourselves in, we aren’t safe inside of the ship and we aren’t safe outside either.

I reach Willow and tip her head back, examining her to see if she’s wounded. There aren’t any visible cuts or bruises but she moans softly when I move her head. From the beginning she has seemed so fragile to me. She’s small compared to Gaian women and there’s always the worry in the back of my mind that I could break her if I’m not careful. I get close enough to break her fall and press her restraints, releasing them. She falls over my shoulder and I’m careful not to grip her too tightly in case she has broken bones or internal bruising from the crash.

“This way,” Kayne yells. I look over in the direction of his voice and see where he was able to get out.

A whimper draws my attention.

“Bear,” I say. She’s lying down, not far from where I fell when I hit the console. She wasn’t strapped in, so the force of the fall impacted her more than the rest of us.

“Let’s move,” Kayne says. “We need to get everyone off of the ship.”

I nod, knowing he’s right. Depending on what area was hit by the weapon, a fire could break out at any moment. We need to get out of here, and fast. The only problem is if the Dydrak are waiting for us outside. I wouldn’t put it past them to be lying in wait, ready to ambush us as we vacate the ship.

“Keep cover behind the ship,” I say. “And we need to carry Bear out of here.”

“I’ve got her,” he says. He carefully lifts Bear and awkwardly makes his way back to where he knows we can get out.

“Did we land outside of the walls at least? I ask while we walk.

“Yes, ” he says. “The ship hit the side of the wall when it came down. There’s no way we’ll get her in the air again.”

I crawl through the opening, following Kayne. There is already a scattering of crew members outside of the ship. I lay Willow gently down on the ground, Kayne lies Bear next to her. I crouch down, unwilling to leave her side. Despite the confusion, we take up a defensive position, keeping watch for another attack by the Dydrak.

“Do we make a stand here, or try to get to the village?” I ask. I look around at the injured and don’t know if we’d be able to make it.

“I say we make for the weapons. See if we can arm ourselves.”

I just shake my head. “They outplayed us. I thought we were thorough when we confiscated the weapons. I didn’t think that they would have separated them. I was so wrong.”

I look down at Willow. She still hasn’t regained consciousness. I make a promise to myself here and now that if we get out of this mess, I will never put her in danger again. I will do everything I can for the rest of my days to keep her safe and provide for her.

“Honestly,” Kayne says, “It could have been much worse. For the time being, we’re still alive. Let’s do what we can to keep it that way.”

“Okay,” I say, ready to do whatever it takes to stay alive. “Let’s do an inventory and see what we have for weapons. I’ll stay with the men out here and set up a perimeter. You figure out if there’s anyone still on board. Let’s get our men together and armed.”

“Yes, I’m on it,” Kayne says. He motions to another Force member and they take off back toward the ship. I gather what weapons we have and scan the area to see how vulnerable we are out here. We are very close to the wall but our fallen ship does provide cover. I’m looking at our position in the field in comparison to the huge entry gates in the wall. It wasn’t that long ago that Willow and I snuck through those gates and made our way to the villagers. The ones that offered us help if we ever needed it.

An eerie silence falls over us. Aside from the sounds of wires shorting out and metal bending and creaking before settling at odd angles, there aren’t any other sounds. Not that I expect to hear battle drums coming our way, but I did think the Dydrak would want to finish what they started. Who knows, maybe they’re on their way right now.

“The ship is clear,” Kayne says, returning to my side. “That’s the good news.”

“Okay, what’s the bad news?”

“The Dydrak are coming.”