Erin sighted along the pistol barrel and drew in a deep breath as her finger tightened on the trigger.

  Then the world fell away beneath her feet.

  Just for a moment, but enough to send her falling to the grass as a deep rumble shook the island. Dogs barked and birds flew into the air, leaving their perches. Chickens ran for safety, while the goats in the nearby pasture screamed their panic.

  Luke, the soldier who had been training her, regained his footing first and rushed across to where she lay. She trembled with fear as her fingers dug deep into the soil as though trying to hold herself onto the island.

  “Hey, hey,” he called, voice low and calming as he reached for her. “It’s fine, this happens.”

  She looked up at him, eyes wide with terror as she gaped. “What!”

  “Come,” he said, turning his head to look back at the gate set into the palisade wall. “We best get back.”

  “Why? What’s happening?”

  “Head to the roost.” He pulled her, not ungently, to her feet and reached for the pistol before he hesitated. He grimaced as he glanced across at the bundle he had brought with him, and he hurried over to it and pulled free the sabre. “You best keep the weapons.”

  Erin shook her head, not understanding, but took the sabre when it was passed to her. The pouch containing the round, lead balls and the powder horn too. Luke gestured for her to follow and set off running towards the gate. Without knowing exactly why, Erin set off after him.

  In the settlement, everything seemed to be chaos. Men and women running here, there and everywhere. Many carrying bundles. Soldiers were lining up before Sergeant Hayes as he bellowed orders, and a large band of sailors were hurrying through the mud-choked streets, armed with muskets and short swords.

  She caught Old Man Uric’s eye as they passed in the street. His face was grim. He carried a long musket over his shoulder, and a bayonet in his other hand, ready to be fixed to the barrel. He gave her a nod of greeting, and then was past, marching on towards the palisade with the others.

  Erin stumbled and slipped in the mud, dropping the sword which she scooped up, cheeks blazing, and ran on, headed towards the roost.

  There, Mary and Josias were readying the gryphons while Lady Sarah busied herself with the equipment racks. The scent of oiled leather and the low, impatient croons of the gryphons filled the air. Lady Sarah glanced up as Erin stepped inside and nodded approvingly at sight of the weapons she carried.

  “Good,” Lady Sarah said. “You’re here.”

  “Why?” Erin gasped. “What’s going on?”

  The last was almost a wail and Lady Sarah paused to take stock of the girl. She smiled, not unkindly, as she realised it was the first tremor the girl had likely ever experienced, and she could well remember her own reaction the first time it happened.

  She crossed quickly to where Erin stood and prised the weapons from her arms. She patted her shoulder and guided her towards the racks where she had been working.

  “They haven’t happened often,” Lady Sarah said, setting aside the sabre and pistol. “The tremors.”

  “What are they?”

  Lady Sarah hesitated, just for a moment. There were things she could not share with the girl, things they could not have known by the settlers in the colony for it would cause panic. But there were things she could tell, and that is what she focused on.

  “We think it’s to do with them coming back,” she said. “The Shadowbeasts.”

  Erin just gaped up at her, wide-eyed.

  “Not always, but when their number increases,” she continued. “Something about those poor souls becoming those…vile creatures, affects the island, causing it to shake.”

  And fall, but the went unspoken. But the first tremor had set the island to dropping more than a dozen feet, and though the descent slowed, it continued. With each new tremor, the island would drop further, and the descent would increase in speed.

  Which is what made it so imperative that they not let the creatures take any more bodies.

  Lady Sarah saw that Erin, still shaken, was staring at her awaiting more answers she did not have, and she blew out her cheeks. “All we know is they will come tonight, once darkness falls.”

  “Oh…” Erin swallowed past the fear caught in her throat and looked over to where the gryphons were being harnessed. “What are we…”

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  “Tonight, we will watch for where they leave the forest,” she said. “There’s been too much for me to watch before now, but with both of us, we might finally see where they come from.”

  “But why?”

  “Because,” she said. “It will allow us some idea of which direction their lair lies. Now.” She lifted her chin to the rack. “Ready yourself for flight.”

  Moving automatically, Erin leapt to do her teachers bidding. For the past three days she had practiced for this moment, and she knew what to do.

  She undressed quickly, heedless of those others in the roost. Modesty was not something that time allowed for, though her cheeks burned, and she kept her face firmly away from Josias, not wanting to know if the old handler looked or not.

  Heavy woollen breeches, thicker than her usual fare, were pulled on first. They were high-waisted, and she tucked in the lightweight woollen undershirt that she pulled on next. Then came the quilted gambeson-vest. It was lightly padded and sleeveless to avoid restricting her arm movements.

  Her flight jacket came next, made of soft leather and lined with fur at the collar. The shoulders and upper chest were reinforced to offer some protection from the wind and any stray shot that might come her way. There were straps under the arms and at the waist that allowed her to tighten it against her body, to stop the fabric flapping in the wind.

  She pulled on knee-high sturdy leather riding boots. They were fleece lined inside and bore buckles instead of laces. Fingerless leather gloves for her hands, designed to keep her palms warm but her fingertips free for loading her pistol or gripping her sword.

  Finally, she wrapped a warm wool scarf around her neck and pulled on a fur-lined helmet with padded lining and a chin strap to hold it secure. It had goggled attached, leather strapping to hold thin glass lenses in place to protect her eyes from the wind.

  Lady Sarah pulled her around to face her as she finished dressing and looked her over, checking the straps and buckles. Tightening where needed and adjusting if required. When she was finished, she stood back and allowed Erin to do the same for her.

  There was little for Erin to adjust but she went through the motions nonetheless, as it was good practice for her.

  “Good,” Sarah said. She glanced up at the round hole in the centre of the ceiling that had been uncovered as soon as the tremors subsided. It allowed a clear view of the sky and the light available. “Will be dark soon, and they won’t come till then, but we need to be airborne and ready.”

  “Yes, milady.”

  “You’ve flown in the dark before,” she said, and carried on not awaiting a response. “The area before the palisade will be lit, but it will be dark by the forests edge. Stay over the island, do not cross over the Edge. The winds are fierce, and they can catch you unawares.”

  “How will we see them in the dark?” Erin asked. “The Shadowbeasts, I mean?”

  Lady Sarah pulled a leather tube from the rack. It had a cap and a thin black fuse coming from within. She handed it to Erin.

  “Flares,” she said. “We drop them along the forests edge. They will burn for an hour or more.”

  “Magic?” Erin asked, gulping as she held the leather tube like it was a venomous snake.

  “No!” Lady Sarah scoffed. “Alchemy. It uses the black powder and other substances to create a light that burns far longer than usual and is hard to douse.”

  Lady Sarah pulled several and stuffed them into a saddle bag that would go over the back of the gryphon’s saddle. They filled one side, and in the other, she put the pistol and shot, along with the powder horn and a box of long matches.

  “The wind will make them hard to light,” she continued. “Do the best you can.”

  Erin nodded, numbly. It all seemed so very real and was happening so fast that her head was spinning. She took the saddlebags, grunting at the weight as they pulled at her shoulders. Next, Lady Sarah passed her the sabre.

  “There’s a loop for it on the saddle,” she said, and Erin nodded. “Good. Keep it close.”

  Erin’s tongue darted out, licking dry lips. She desperately needed a drink to moisten her tongue and the pressure on her bladder gave rise to a pressing reminder she would need to see to.

  “Are we to fight?” she asked, and Lady Sarah looked at her, stopping stuffing her own saddlebags with flares. “If you have the chance, yes.” She paused then added, “There’s risk. They’re vicious and smart. They learn and will be ready for us to swoop down. It will be dangerous and there’s no shame if you feel fear.”

  It went unspoken, at least to Erin, that despite her words, if Erin was too cowardly to fight then there would be no place for her in the guild. Not with the lives of so many at stake.

  “I understand,” she said.

  “Good.” A nod of approval from the stern noblewoman. “Do not risk your life, or that of your mount, but if you see one of the beasts dragging away a body; do whatever you must to stop it.”

  “So, they cannot make more?”

  “Yes.” Or drop the island further, Lady Sarah thought grimly. “Now, go relieve yourself and mount up.”

  Erin looked for where to go and her cheeks flared crimson as Lady Sarah pointed to a bucket set alongside the roosts curved wall. She stomped across to it and deposited her saddle bags and sword, before pulling down her breeches and squatting over the bucket.

  The relief was immediate, and she finished quickly, before pulling her breeches back up and gathering her gear. Lady Sarah moved past her and dropped her gear before pulling down her own breeches and squatting.

  It made Erin feel better, somewhat, knowing that the noblewoman held the same nerves as she, and felt that same needs. Also, that neither Mary nor Josias were paying any attention as they finished readying the gryphons.

  Mary helped her lift the saddle bags into place, and Erin found the leather loop through which she could slot the sabre. A leather thong on the scabbard was knotted around the loop, holding it in place, and with a deep breath, sweating beneath the heavy clothes, she climbed up onto Brightcrest’s back.

  “Hello, boy,” she whispered, running her hand down his feathered neck.

  Those feathers were all black, but for a handful atop his head that shimmered iridescent green in the light of the lumina orbs, those enchanted glass balls that provided illumination for the roost. It was that splash of colour that had given him his name, and he cooed softly at her touch.

  “Are you ready to fly?” she whispered, a smile tugging at her lips.

  Her stomach was roiling and her knees felt like jelly, but not from the thought of flying. No, that was exciting. It was what would come next. There were lives at stake, and people were depending on her.

  She desperately needed to not let them down.

  She was determined not to.

  “Good, boy,” she whispered again. “Let’s fly!”