"Unidentified vessel, return to your designated mooring immediately," a voice boomed through an amplification system. "Departure has not been authorized. Repeat, return to mooring or face enforcement action."

  "So much for a quiet exit," Arlo muttered. "We've got company. Multiple lights activating around the perimeter."

  Sure enough, additional spotlights were switching on throughout the outpost, creating a web of illumination that eliminated any possibility of slipping away unobserved.

  "Maintain course," Dalia ordered, increasing power to the engines despite Tessa's warnings about stability. "Once we're clear of the plateau, we can lose them in the foothills."

  A new alarm blared to life on Finnian's console. "Incoming vessels," he reported tersely. "Three small craft approaching from the southeast. High speed, attack formation."

  Dalia's heart sank. Small fast-attack craft were the preferred vessels of pirates and mercenaries alike—agile, difficult to track, and typically armed beyond what their size would suggest.

  "Tactical display," she commanded, and a holographic projection materialized above the main console, showing the Gull's position relative to the approaching threats.

  The attacking vessels were indeed moving with purpose, their formation designed to cut off the Gull's most likely escape routes. They were still several minutes away, but closing rapidly.

  "Options?" Dalia asked, glancing between Finnian and Arlo.

  "We can't outrun them," Arlo stated bluntly. "Not in our current condition. And I wouldn't bet on outmaneuvering them either, not with the stabilizers compromised."

  "Defensive capabilities?" Dalia turned to Finnian.

  "Limited," he replied grimly. "The shields are functional but at reduced capacity. We've got no offensive armaments to speak of, just emergency flares that might temporarily blind their targeting systems."

  Dalia's mind raced through possibilities, each less promising than the last. They couldn't fight, couldn't flee, and surrender would mean losing the crystal to unknown parties with undoubtedly sinister intentions.

  The ship-wide comm system crackled to life. "Bridge, this is engineering," Tessa's voice carried a note of urgency Dalia hadn't heard before. "We've got another problem. The crystal's containment field is fluctuating. I'm reading energy spikes consistent with activation."

  "Activation?" Dalia echoed in confusion. "What do you mean, activation? It's a raw crystal, not a device."

  "Tell that to the crystal," Tessa retorted. "Something's triggering a resonance pattern—could be the stress on the ship's systems, could be an external stimulus. Either way, it's building power, and I don't like the harmonic progression."

  Another alarm joined the cacophony already filling the bridge. "They're in weapons range," Finnian announced. "Evasive action recommended."

  Dalia's hands tightened on the arms of her chair. "Tessa, what happens if the crystal fully activates?"

  "I’m not sure. Best case? A massive but controlled release of magical energy that fries every system on the ship but leaves the physical structure intact. Worst case? We become a very pretty, very brief explosion that's visible from the academy."

  Neither option sounded particularly appealing. "Can you stabilize it?"

  "Working on it," Tessa replied tersely. "But I need time, and preferably not while being shot at by pirates."

  The first attack came without further warning—a burst of concentrated magical energy that struck the Gull's port side, sending tremors through the hull. The shields absorbed most of the impact, but the already-damaged stabilizers protested the strain, causing the ship to list sharply before Dalia could compensate.

  "Shields holding at 42 percent," Finnian reported. "But they won't withstand sustained assault."

  A second blast hit them from starboard, followed quickly by a third from directly astern. The attacking vessels had surrounded them in a classic envelopment pattern, coordinating their fire to systematically degrade the Gull's defenses.

  "They're not trying to destroy us," Dalia realized aloud. "These are precise shots—they want to disable, not obliterate."

  "Small comfort if they succeed," Arlo remarked, gripping his console as another impact rocked the ship.

  The tactical display showed the attacking vessels drawing closer, tightening their net around the struggling Gull. Their coordination was impressive and suggested professional training beyond typical pirate crews.

  "Bridge, engineering," Tessa's voice cut through the chaos. "I've stabilized the crystal temporarily, but there's something else. The resonance pattern isn't random—it's responding to specific frequencies in the attackers' weapons."

  "Meaning what, exactly?" Dalia demanded, executing a desperate evasive maneuver that barely avoided another energy blast.

  "Meaning they're using the attacks to deliberately excite the crystal's magical structure. They're trying to trigger a controlled reaction from outside the ship."

  Dalia's blood ran cold. If Tessa was right, their attackers weren't merely trying to capture the crystal—they were attempting to activate it while it was still aboard the Gull, potentially harnessing its power for some unknown purpose.

  "Can you shield it? Block whatever frequencies they're using?"

  "Not completely, not with our limited resources," Tessa replied. "But there might be another option. If I can modify our defensive shields to emit a counter-frequency..."

  "Do it," Dalia ordered without hesitation. "Finn, Arlo, buy her time. Deploy emergency flares on my mark."

  The flares—normally used as distress signals—were their only offensive option. Properly timed, they might temporarily blind the attackers' targeting systems and sensors, creating a brief window of opportunity.

  "Mark!"

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Bright streaks of magnesium-white light erupted from the Gull's emergency ports, blazing across the night sky in all directions. The attacking vessels veered off momentarily, their coordinated assault pattern disrupted by the sudden visual interference.

  "Now, Tessa!" Dalia called.

  The ship's shields pulsed, shifting from their normal bluish hue to a deep violet as Tessa implemented her counter-frequency. The effect on the crystal was immediate and dramatic—a surge of power that reverberated through the ship's systems, momentarily overloading the bridge displays before they compensated and reset.

  "It's working!" Tessa reported, something like excitement breaking through her usual stoicism. "The crystal's resonance is stabilizing. But there's a side effect—the counter-frequency is amplifying certain harmonics in our own magical array. We've got more power available to the engines, at least temporarily."

  "How temporarily?" Dalia asked, already adjusting course to take advantage of this unexpected development.

  "Minutes, maybe less," Tessa cautioned. "And it'll burn out the array completely afterward. One burst of speed, then we're running on conventional engines only for the duration."

  Dalia scanned the tactical display, noting that the attacking vessels were already regrouping, adapting to the flares' disruption more quickly than she'd hoped. A decision was needed, and needed now.

  "Everyone, secure for maximum acceleration," she commanded. "Tessa, route all available power to the engines on my mark. We're going to make a run for the Shadow Halt Forest."

  "The Shadow Halt?" Arlo echoed incredulously. "Captain, with all due respect, that's suicide! The canopy's too dense for safe passage, and the magical anomalies within the forest would play havoc with our navigation."

  "Exactly," Dalia replied grimly. "Which is why they won't expect it, and why they won't follow. They want the crystal intact, which means they can't risk it being damaged in a crash."

  "Neither can we," Finnian pointed out soberly.

  "We're not going to crash," Dalia stated with more confidence than she felt. "I grew up near the Shadow Halt. I know its passages, its clearings. There's a route through if you know where to look."

  Her crew exchanged glances, a silent communication passing between them that Dalia couldn't quite interpret. Finally, Finnian nodded. "Your ship, your call, Captain."

  "Tessa, standby for maximum power." Dalia's hands found the manual flight controls, her body tensing in preparation for the maneuver she was about to attempt. "Three, two, one... mark!"

  The Crimson Gull surged forward with a velocity that belied her damaged state, the temporary power boost from the crystal's harmonics propelling her beyond her design specifications. G-forces pressed Dalia back into her seat as the ship arrowed toward the distant, dark line of the Shadow Halt Forest, leaving the attacking vessels momentarily behind.

  "They're pursuing," Finnian reported, monitoring the tactical display. "Adjusting formation to intercept before we reach the forest edge."

  "They won't make it," Dalia replied, pushing the engines harder despite the alarming vibrations now coursing through the hull. "Tessa, how's the crystal holding?"

  "Stable for now, but the counter-frequency is degrading. We've got maybe two minutes of enhanced power remaining."

  Two minutes. It would have to be enough. The Shadow Halt loomed larger in the viewports, its ancient trees forming an imposing wall of vegetation that stretched across the horizon. Few pilots would willingly fly into such terrain, especially at night—the forest canopy was notoriously treacherous, with towering trees and unexplained magical anomalies that could disrupt even the most sophisticated navigation systems.

  "One minute to the forest boundary," Arlo announced, his voice tight with tension. "Pursuing vessels closing, now at extreme weapons range."

  As if on cue, energy blasts began to streak past the Gull once more, the attackers firing at maximum distance in hopes of disabling them before they reached the relative safety of the forest.

  "Thirty seconds," Arlo continued the countdown. "Forest anomalies are already affecting peripheral systems."

  Dalia could feel it—a subtle distortion in the ship's responses, a slight drag on her thought processes as they neared Shadow Halt's influence. The forest had always had this effect, a dampening of both mechanical and magical energies that made it as much a psychological barrier as a physical one.

  "Fifteen seconds. Pursuers are still closing."

  The first trees rushed toward them with terrifying speed, their massive trunks and interlaced branches forming a barrier that seemed impenetrable. But Dalia's eyes found what others would miss—a subtle gap in the canopy, a channel through the uppermost branches visible only from certain angles. It was narrow, but it was their only chance.

  "Brace for extreme maneuvers," she warned, then threw the ship into a roll that aligned their narrowest profile with the gap she'd spotted.

  The Crimson Gull sliced through the opening with inches to spare, branches scraping along her hull with sounds like fingernails on slate. Beyond the initial barrier, the forest opened into a complex three-dimensional maze of trunks, branches, and vines, all partially shrouded in a perpetual mist that seemed to glow faintly with its own inner light.

  Dalia flew by instinct now, memories of childhood explorations guiding her where instruments began to falter. The ship responded sluggishly, the enhanced power from the crystal's harmonics fading as Tessa had predicted.

  "Pursuers have broken off," Finnian reported, his voice reflecting both relief and lingering tension. "They're maintaining position at the forest boundary."

  "As expected," Dalia replied, not taking her eyes from the treacherous path ahead. "They're not willing to risk the crystal. But they'll be waiting when we emerge."

  "If we emerge," Arlo muttered, his gaze fixed on the navigation display, which had begun to show increasingly erratic readings. "The anomalies are intensifying. We're flying blind in here."

  "Not blind," Dalia corrected, guiding the ship around a massive trunk with practiced precision. "Just not relying on instruments. There's a clearing about two miles in—a natural anchorage where we can set down and assess our situation."

  The clearing appeared ahead, just as Dalia had remembered it—a roughly circular opening in the canopy, approximately three hundred feet in diameter, its floor carpeted with strange bioluminescent fungi that cast an ethereal blue-green glow over the scene.

  "Prepare for landing," she ordered, bringing the Gull into a hover above the center of the clearing. "Standard vertical descent, minimum power."

  The damaged ship settled onto the forest floor with a series of groans and creaks that spoke of its accumulated stresses. As the engines powered down, an unnatural silence fell over the bridge, broken only by the occasional ping of cooling metal and the distant, eerie calls of Shadow Halt wildlife.

  For a long moment, no one spoke. The realization of what they had just survived—the pirate attack, the harrowing forest entry—seemed to require a moment of quiet acknowledgment.

  Finnian was the first to break the silence. "Status report?"

  "Shields completely depleted," Arlo replied, checking his displays. "Magical propulsion array burned out, as predicted. Conventional engines operate at approximately 30 percent efficiency. Navigation severely compromised by forest anomalies."

  "In other words," Dalia summarized grimly, "we're grounded, at least temporarily. Tessa, what's the status of the crystal?"

  The comm system crackled with static before Tessa's voice emerged. "Stable for now, but I don't like how it's interacting with the forest's ambient magical field. There are resonance patterns I've never seen before. We need to move it to a more shielded location within the ship."

  "I'll help you," Dalia decided, rising from her chair. "Finn, establish a security perimeter and monitor for any sign our pursuers have changed their minds about entering the forest. Arlo, see if you can filter out enough of the anomalies to give us at least basic navigational capability."

  As the crew dispersed to their tasks, Dalia took a final look at the ethereal clearing visible through the viewports. The Shadow Halt had bought them time, but it was also a trap of its own making. Without functional navigation or full engine capacity, finding their way out would be nearly impossible, let alone evading the pirates surely waiting at the forest's edge.

  Yet as she made her way to the cargo hold to assist Tessa with the crystal, Dalia felt an unexpected sense of clarity. For the first time since leaving the academy, their path forward seemed obvious, if not easy. They needed to repair their ship, protect their cargo, and understand why it was valuable enough to warrant such a coordinated attack.

  And somewhere in the process, perhaps they would discover why Ezra had been so determined to place her aboard the Crimson Gull in the first place.

  The Distinguished Mr. Rose

  by QuiteTheSlacker

  There is one thing Lucius values in life above all else, and that is beauty.

  As the humble owner of a flower boutique, one with a bloody secret hiding underneath, Lucius is surrounded by all the beauty he could ever want. Flowers, art, and even people... everything in no short supply.

  But when he's suddenly whisked away into the sky along with the rest of humanity, and forced to participate in a series of games, trials, and adventures into foreign dimensions by astral beings, Lucius discovers a new frontier full of possibility. This wide universe, these unique lands brimming with beautiful, blossoming souls—the world is endless, and so too is inspiration.

  With style, with grace, and with a gentlemanly candor, Lucius seeks to draw out the inner beauty in all.

  And he will not rest until they bloom as their truest selves.

  CONTAINS: A villainous, but gentlemanly MC, excursions into a wide variety of worlds, classes and skills, deception and manipulation, tea parties.