Forcing yourself to remain upright, you manage to slip into one of the empty cabins. The noise above is getting louder and louder, and you crouch in the corner, hoping that you'll be safe here. Surely someone else will come down here to seek shelter as well? As time passes, you see no sign of any other crew members. Before long, you cannot hear their voices anymore, drowned out by the sound of the thunder…

The walls around you are shaking, buffeted by the force of the storm on all sides. It feel as if the ship is starting to break up, and you start to wonder if maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. You don't feel safe here. Even so, you hesitate to move from your current position.

You move out of your hiding place as it's no longer safe here

You're not staying here a second longer. Quickly, you break out of cover and run out into the corridor. Cracks have appeared in the walls and ceiling, and the roof of the cabin caves in as you make it out of there. You've spent quite enough hiding from the storm. It's time to find a way off this ship, once and for all.

You proceed

Judging your chances of survival on board this ship to be diminishing by the second, you start to search the surrounding cabins for a way out of here. There has to be something that you can use. Airships are fitted with emergency safety measures for use in the worst-case scenario, such as equipment failure or a particularly vicious storm. You're not on the surface, after all. You're not in one of those strange human ships which take people over water, able to throw yourself overboard and swim away from all the pandemonium…

Inside one of the cabins near the back, you find a disused aerial vehicle which is fitted with an engine of some kind. At least, you assume that it's an engine. It looks quite similar to some of the devices you saw in the captain's room. Buttons and dials cover the inside of the vehicle, and there is only space for one person to drive it.

The craft is covered with dust and cobwebs and looks as if it hasn't been used in some time. You have no idea if it still works. If you're really unlucky, it might even blow up in your face.

From far above, you can hear the sound of the storm growing louder and louder. You can no longer hear the voices of the crew members from before. A chill goes up your spine as you realise that the airship is being dragged deeper and deeper into the storm.

You try to operate the vehicle

You step into the vehicle and strap yourself in, before realising that you have no idea how to physically turn it on. With a frown, you examine the numerous buttons and dials on the dashboard in front of you. One of these must start up the machine – if it works at all, that is. After about a minute, you manage to narrow down the correct button to just two of them. They are all labelled, but naturally the words are written in Common Tongue.

You push the button which says "Jgnjtjpn"

You press the button and the vehicle immediately roars to life. Twin engines fire up and you are thrown back in your seat as the craft blasts through the weakened hull and out the other side, breaking free of the airship completely. From here, you can see that the storm has devastated the ship almost to the point of complete destruction! You can't see a single living soul on board the upper deck, and you have a feeling that both the captain and Mother Gherad must be among the dead. The airship is covered with the bodies of mercenaries and crewmen, and you are lucky not to share in their fate.

With a shudder, you turn your vehicle around to fly away from the ship. You don't know how to drive this thing, exactly, but the controls seem to respond to your touch and you're just glad to get out of here. Gauges pop up all over the dashboard, none of which means anything to you. Fuel, altitude, energy levels...no, you haven't a clue how any of this works. You'll worry about it later.

Grimly, you accelerate away from the doomed airship and fly your craft as far away from here as possible, dodging and weaving through the last of the storm. As you depart, you can just make out the violent wrenching of wood and metal as the airship is ripped apart.

You proceed

For the next few hours, you travel through the open skies within the comfort of your flying craft, searching far and wide for your next destination. The wind blows through your hair as you accelerate forward, and you feel a kind of freedom wash over that you've never quite experienced before. Throughout your life, you've been content to remain settled upon your own island, never venturing out into the skies around you. Just a few hours in this craft is enough to tell you that there's much more to life than that.

Even so, you don't want to push the limits of this vehicle too much. In fact, you have a feeling that it's starting to run low on fuel and energy. You will have to land somewhere soon, if only to refuel, but ultimately you want to find a new island to settle upon. A new home to call your own. A place where you can start again…

You pass the remains of several islands floating in the sky, broken chains dangling uselessly into empty space. As you approach, you realise that these are parts of bigger islands which have already fallen towards earth. Nothing remains there anymore. They have all suffered the same fate as the place you used to call home.

Continuing on, you eventually do find an island which is still intact. You do not recognise it, but from here you can see that there is a fair number of inhabitants. You can see houses and huts on the ground, indicating that there is some kind of community there. Of course, you have no idea how this community will react to your presence.

You land at this island

You descend to the surface of the island, which is ringed by a protective metal fence, and land just within the perimeter. Upon first glance, the surrounding region appears to be nothing more than one of many small towns present upon this isle. There's plenty of land to build fresh houses, and more than enough grassland for animals to graze. It's quite a pleasant atmosphere. Perhaps this island could be a suitable place for you to settle upon?

As you turn your vehicle off and step out onto dry land for the first time in a long time, you notice that the people here are staring at you. Much like the captain and her mercenaries, they are not the same species as you. They appear to be Tenurs, in fact – a bipedal species of people who have inhabited the sky islands for generations before you. They are hairless and bald, with three fingers upon each hand, and two separate mouths set into their faces.

Their appearance is a little strange to those who have not encountered a Tenur before, but your home island was visited by a few Tenurs some years back, and you have some firsthand experience of interacting with their kind. They are quite an intelligent race with a flair for mechanics and engineering. It's always fascinated you how their skin colour changes with their temperament; they are people who literally carry their heart on their sleeve. Of course, the older Tenurs can control the rate of change in skin tone, but that's another story.

"You are not one of us," says a male Tenur, watching you critically.

Usually, you can tell what a person is thinking from the way they look at you, or the type of facial expression they wear, or their general body language. With a Tenur, none of that is needed. The man's skin is pulsating faintly between colours of blue and orange, suggesting that he is both suspicious and anxious about your presence here. It would not do to frighten him.

Still, you're just glad that he speaks your language, unlike the captain's entire crew on board the airship, who mouthed off in Common Tongue to no end.

"I mean you no harm," you say to him. His skin tone does not change; your words have brought him no consolation. "I am a survivor from a nameless island. One that fell out of the sky. I only seek shelter and settlement within an island which will help me."

His expression did not change, and you realise now that he staring at the sword in your hand. You'd forgotten that you were still holding it after all this time. Quickly, you lower it down to the ground.

"You carry weapons," he says sceptically. "But I sense no harm from you. Not many nameless ones come to our island. We place importance upon names, so if you stay here, you may have to take one for yourself."

You notice that his skin tone is changing to purple. That confuses you at first, until you recall that purple refers to sexual attraction. His eyes are still fixed on you. Well, this is just brilliant. Your first time on another island and the first native boy you meet is attracted to you.

"We have heard about the falling of the other islands," he says quietly. "You have my sympathy. We Tenurs are fortunate that we have not been affected by the energy drain which has destroyed the lives of so many. You need not fear such dangers here. If you wish to settle here with us, then we can offer you some protection."

"I would like that very much," you say gratefully. "Thank you."

His skin colour darkens to a deeper purple. "I...I have just one question for you before I admit you into town." You do not miss how the tone of his voice has softened. "Are you here from Gahl'vuhr Sehn?"

You tell him you are from the Gahl'vuhr Sehn

Upon hearing your answer, the Tenur's skin tone changes to a murky green.

"Agents of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn are not welcome here," he says in a low voice warily. "You have made a dire mistake in coming to this island. Leave here before anybody else sees you. My kin will not be as lenient as I."

"Who's this?" interrupts a voice from behind him. A tall, female Tenur with two wide smiles on her face turns to face you. "A nameless one. I heard you mention the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn, sister. Do you know what we do to agents of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn?" The grins on her face carry no friendliness at all. "We don't appreciate what you do here. You will not control us, sister. The other Tenurs may bow down to you, but there is no space in the skies for your kind."

"Listen, this has all just been a big misunderstanding," you blurt out, realising things are starting to escalate out of hand. Naturally, you assumed that these people would respect the word of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn, but it seems that you were dead wrong. "I'm not really with the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn. I escaped from their airship and - "

Wordlessly, the male Tenur points to where you parked your craft near the edge of the island. He is staring at the emblem painted at the front.

"Your vehicle carries the symbol of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn," he states, his skin colour becoming more hostile. "You are no friend of ours."

"I'm telling you, I'm not with them!" you say, starting to panic. "I stole it from their airship!"

To your dismay, more and more Tenurs are beginning to emerge, drawn by the commotion. You hear murmuring amongst them, and more than a few glares directed towards the emblem of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn, in full view for everyone to see. People are beginning to whisper to one another, calling for you to be thrown out from the island altogether. The atmosphere has quickly turned very toxic.

"Leave!" one woman yells. "Leave us alone! We will have nothing to do with agents of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn!"

"Get out!"

"You Gahl'Vuhr Sehn agents are always snooping around. Go back to where you came from! Try taking a trip back to the surface, there's plenty of room now that the humans have killed themselves!"

"Filth!"

The crowd of people is rapidly turning into an angry mob. Sensing that it is too dangerous to remain here anymore, you stumble back towards your vehicle as the Tenurs continue to hurl insults at you. You hadn't realised that some races actually hated the name of Gahl'Vuhr Sehn. From the look of things, the townspeople must have had very bad experiences with them indeed.

"Get out!" the Tenurs yell at you as you strap yourself into your craft and prepare to take off once more. "We don't want your kind here! Go back to Majeruk with the rest of your slime!"

Quickly, you hit the ignition and fire the engines up, flying away from the island of angry Tenurs. They seemed to be such a friendly sort of people at first, but just the mention of the Gahl'Vuhr Sehn was enough to set them all off. Perhaps you should have been honest with them, but it's too late now. Feeling rather affronted, you take your vehicle back into the skies and decide to look for an island which isn't so aggressive to visitors.

You proceed

You continue travelling for a few more hours, on the lookout for any landmarks or signs of life on various islands. After some time, however, you began to realise that something is wrong with your vehicle. Although you still have sufficient fuel to take you a fair distance…you are starting to lose altitude. You are falling lower and lower in the sky, moving down in a broad spiral which takes you closer and closer to the surface of the planet itself…

Determinedly, you try fiddling with the controls on the craft to try and fly back up to where you were. Nothing works. You are starting to fall through the clouds by now, but all is not lost. It just means it's more important than ever to find a decent place to land. For some reason, one of the components of your vessel appears to be malfunctioning.

There are numerous lightning storms in this part of the sky, and you are quick to veer away from them. Many an airship has fallen victim to the fierce and unpredictable weather conditions escalated by the deadly situation on the surface far below. As it is, you can barely control your vehicle at all. You need to stay airborne at all costs. You saw what the surface is like now: nobody can survive there anymore, and the people who remain there now have no future.

You accelerate in another downward spiral and cross through the clouds into a graveyard of broken and damaged airships, long-abandoned by their previous owners or simply left to rot. Many of these are ghost ships, whereupon the crew have run out of fuel and starved to death in their limited patch of open sky. The wind doesn't blow all the time, after all.

One of the airships, strangely enough, shows faint signs of life. It is also severely damaged and has a faint plume of smoke coming from the hull.

You approach the airship

A strong, putrid stench arises from the remains of the airship as you draw near. It's easy to see why: the deck is covered with a mass of dead bodies, many of which have rotted away completely. Some of the corpses are now nothing but skeletons. You gag on the smell, forced to cover your mouth and nose with your sleeve. It's inconceivable that anybody could be still alive out here.

What on earth happened here? Your first thought is that there must have been a ferocious battle of some kind, but many of the bodies show no signs of any physical wounds. There is some blood, yes, but not enough of it to give a concrete explanation. Mass starvation might be more likely, but this kind of airship seems big enough to carry a large number of supplies, and you don't think that any of these people died from malnutrition.

There is a crunching sound from ahead of you, and you look over to see a single man crouched in the centre of the deck. He appears to be humanoid in appearance, aside from a third eye in the centre of his forehead, indicating that he is one of the rare subspecies of the sky races. His eyes are sunken and there are black blotches covering his skin.

He is gnawing hungrily upon the severed limb of a dead comrade.

Alarmed, you glance from the man to the countless bodies surrounding him. The smell of death and decay doesn't appear to bother him. He must have been exposed to it for a very long time.

The man suddenly whirls around to face you, hearing the telltale sound of your vehicle's engines. His eyes narrow when he sees you, watching you furtively, and he slowly puts down the bloodied limb that he was eating. Three more skeletons are lying behind him. You have a feeling that he is responsible for all the bones in sight. How long has this man been feeding off the flesh of the dead?

"Good day," he calls out to you in a surprisingly jovial fashion.

You're not quite sure how to respond. This cannibal is behaving as if you have simply strolled into his house for a brief chat. Every instinct you have screams at you to get as far away from this place as you possibly can.

"I have not had visitors for some time," the man says. He beckons to you with one skinny finger, and you can see the bones through his skin. "Come aboard. Dine with me."

You come aboard as he requests

With extreme caution, you bring your vehicle up to the edge of the airship and climb aboard. This man looks dangerous, and you feel as if any moment he's going to suddenly snap and lunge at you to consume your flesh for himself. Nobody could possibly be so calm munching upon the flesh of the dead. You hold your sword out in front of you and keep your distance from him.

"You need not fear me," he says. The sight of your weapon does not appear to worry him. "I have no intention of feeding on you, girl. There is more than enough food to go on already." He nods towards the mound of rotting carcasses piled up across the ship.

You gag on the smell, trying not to breathe. "What happened here?" you demand. "Are you responsible for all this?"

He laughs shortly and takes another bite out of the severed arm at his feet, chewing slowly. "Unlikely. A third of the crew had already died before they let me out of the brig." The man gestures at the black spots covering his body. "Worked it out yet? It's a disease. I contracted it from one of the islands to the south, whilst on an exploration mission for the captain. Itches like hell."

"And yet you're still alive."

The man smiles. "That's the thing. I'm just the carrier, but I suffer no ill-effects apart from...what you see here, but...it's very, very contagious. The rest of the crew received a fatal dose of the infection as soon as I returned to the ship. It attacks the vital organs, you see. Shuts them down, one by one. Body stops working. You hardly know it's happening to you at all until the starvation starts settling in. You live a long time, but you're...not really living anymore..."

He licks his cracked lips. "You asked me if I was responsible. Take a wild guess."

You stare at him for a few moments, sitting here surrounded by bodies. The bodies of people who died as a result of the disease he brought on board. Slowly, the real horror of his words washes over you, and you start to back away. Have you been infected, too, just by coming on board this ship?

"Oh, don't worry," the man says reassuringly. "I haven't infected you. Actually, I can't. The virus itself isn't active anymore. I think it's to do with the amount of dead tissue that I've taken into my body lately...but it's fine now. I can feel it. Doesn't get rid of the black spots though." He rubs at his cheeks self-consciously. "Still itches."

You don't want to trust a single thing he says. Your life could be in danger, just by standing here talking to him. Is the virus spread through the air? You shuffle back towards your vehicle, not wanting to have anything more to do with this...this cannibal.

"Why did you invite me on board?" you ask quietly. "Did you really think I wanted to hear your life story?"

"No," he said simply. "I want you to do something for me." The man gets to his feet, and you tense unconsciously. "I've been here for so long, feeding off the dead. Too long. I want you to get me out of here. That vehicle of yours can support another passenger, so long as you don't go too fast."

He takes another step towards you, eyes burning into yours. "I don't weigh much. Not anymore. I want you...to take me with you. You're a wanderer too, girl. You're trying to survive. I...can help you."

You allow him to ride on the back of your vehicle

You must be crazy to even consider allowing this disease-ridden, filthy cannibal on the back of your vehicle, but part of you is curious about his offer of help. How could he possibly help you? You watch him very closely as he climbs onto the back of the craft, but the man shows no aggression to you at all. It's difficult to tell what his motivations are, but you know that he must have a reason.

"One wrong move," you tell him, "and I'm throwing you off into open sky."

He doesn't seem to be worried by that. "You're looking for somewhere to go," he says. Slowly, the man lifts his arm up and points in a specific direction above you, roughly to the northwest. "You...should go that way, I think..."

You stare at him in disbelief for a moment, wondering what he's playing at. He surely didn't come along just to give you directions. Besides, you've been driving for hours and haven't seen any signs of inhabitable islands at all. It's worth a short, though, and might be better than just drifting through the skies without knowing where you're going.

Your vessel is still losing altitude steadily, and that worries you. You don't want to find yourself getting too close to the surface. Nevertheless, you manage to gain some height by pushing the levers on the dashboard as far as they can go, adding an extra boost to the engines and burning more fuel than usual. This had better work. The craft shifts upwards at a steep angle, and you lean back on your seat; the cannibal behind you lets out a cry of alarm as he is almost jolted off the vessel into the void.

"What was that for?" he demands, clutching onto the back of the vehicle with both hands and holding on for dear life. "You almost threw me off!"

"This craft is nearly out of energy," you say. "There's something with the altitude on this thing..."

You climb steadily for about fifteen minutes, breaking through a new layer of clouds. At once, you spy a small fragment of an island, almost invisible to the naked eye from this distance. It seems to have broken off from a greater land mass, possibly the victim of the chaos on the surface. You almost missed it from here.

The island looks to be too small to offer you many favourable options, but you're in no position to pass up the opportunity. Your vehicle is in dire need of maintenance, since you don't know how much longer you can keep it airborne. Only skill and luck have managed to keep it going for so long up to now. As far as provisions go, you've had limited food to keep you going, and you're extremely tired. As things stand, you'll just have to take a chance on this.

Hoping that you won't regret your decision, you disembark upon this small patch of island. Hopefully there's some kind of intelligent life here, and if you're really fortunate you might be able to find someone who can fix your vessel. Perhaps…

There is a roar of engines behind you.

You whirl around to see that the man who guided you here has seized control of the aerial vehicle and is driving away from the island, almost straight down. With a yell, you dart forward to confront the cannibal, but he has already disappeared below. You're never going to see it again. He has effectively stranded you here in the middle of nowhere.

With little choice left to you, you decide to investigate the tiny island around you. Perhaps you can make the best of a bad situation.