Skybound: The Atlas War

The sky was no longer quiet.

As the Cloudreaper soared through the lower stratum of the skybelt, the air around them pulsed with a strange energy. The clouds here didn't drift—they circled like predators, coiling and twisting as if alive. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but there was no lightning—just that constant, low growl.

Kairo stood at the railing, gripping the cold metal. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them.

Velka stepped up beside him, her eyes scanning the horizon. "Storm's following us."

"It's been hours. Storms don't chase like that," Kairo said.

"This one remembers."

He turned. "What do you mean?"

Velka's voice dropped. "There are ancient storms in the sky. Old weather, tied to old magic. When they pass over a grave, or a battlefield, they take pieces of memory with them. Names, voices… sometimes whole souls."

Kairo swallowed. "So this storm… it knows us?"

Velka didn't answer.

From the helm, Cinder shouted, "We've got movement! Off our starboard side!"

Kairo rushed over. Through the swirling mist, shapes began to form—at first just shadows, but then clearer. Wings. Blades. Ships.

Three of them.

Dark sails. No flags.

Enemy skycraft.

"They found us," Velka growled.

Cinder's hand was already on the throttle. "We can outrun them, but not in this air. It's too thick."

Kairo looked at the Atlas. The glowing symbol was pulsing slowly, like a heartbeat. "There's a narrow pass to the east," he said. "I think the path leads through it."

Velka didn't hesitate. "Take us in."

The Cloudreaper veered sharply, heading for a crack between two massive thunderclouds. Wind screamed past the hull. The other ships followed.

Cinder gritted his teeth. "They're gaining!"

Kairo ran below deck, straight to the engine room. Sparks flew from the old coils. He adjusted the pressure valves, turned the crank—then slammed the override lever forward.

The ship jolted.

Outside, the Cloudreaper surged ahead, wings flaring with a burst of blue flame. The enemy ships began to fall behind—but the storm didn't.

Thunder cracked right above them.

A bolt of lightning split the sky—and didn't vanish.

It lingered, frozen in the air, humming with power.

Velka shouted from the crow's nest, "That's no ordinary lightning! That's a Skybrand!"

Kairo looked up at it in awe. "What does it mean?"

"It means this storm remembers something about us—and it's trying to mark us."

Suddenly, one of the enemy ships launched a chain harpoon.

It struck the Cloudreaper's tail.

Cinder yelled, "We're tethered!"

Kairo didn't hesitate. He grabbed the emergency blade and ran to the rear deck. With one swing, he sliced the chain free.

The ship bucked, but stayed airborne.

The Skybrand flashed again—this time closer.

Cinder turned the wheel hard. "We're almost through the pass!"

The last bit of sky opened up ahead like a throat of light. The Cloudreaper shot forward, breaking through just as the storm tried to close in.

Then silence.

They were through.

The storm, and the memories it carried, stayed behind.

For now.

Kairo collapsed onto the deck, chest heaving. "What was that?"

Velka knelt beside him. "That storm knew your name. And it won't forget it."

END OF CHAPTER 14