Nightsea Outlaw

Death's Yard was not something that just appeared in the distance, like the distant light of an island. Bits and pieces of it began long before a ship knew it was caught inside its bounds. Death's Yard was a massive cloud of floating rocks and dust out in the nightsea, with a cloud of light streaming off it in many colors. A thin film of ultraviolet light worked like a ribbon around the phenomenon, and Erin gulped as she pulled back on a lever on the ship's panel.

The ship slowed down a far distance away from the larger rocks that would rival the size of mountains.

"We're here," Erin whispered, stepping from her duty station and out on the deck.

She needn't have bothered. From their vantage point on the railing, the three men looked up at the various floating bits of dust and debris above and below the ship. There was a reason one came to Death's Yard, and occasionally, a blue light would flicker just a little away from the ship's railing as bits of dust and debris were destroyed on the ship's shielding.

Boom. Crack.

Above them, the different rocks floated like they were suspended but weren't unmoving. Occasionally, they would crash against each other and shatter into smaller rocks and dust. With all of them in motion, they would need to track each one to make sure they weren't crushed. Navigating the space would be a nightmare.

"This looks fun," Alex said, shaking his head.

"We could be crushed at any moment. Think of the thrills!" Sayed added.

"Our fates will see us through. Just wait and see," Jean finished.

"We'll need more than that," Erin said, walking over and taking a map out of her cloak's pocket.

She unfurled it, showing a gridded chart of vague particles, dust, and dirt contained within Death's Yard. A few of the larger rocks were mapped out, and there was little reason to suspect they would have crumbled in the few years since a survey of the area had been attempted, but the closer to the center the map was, the less detailed it was.

"No one has ever been able to get into the center," Erin said, putting the chart down on the ground. "And this chart is purely two-dimensional. The ship's system will have a way to help us navigate, but you all can see the problem above us already."

"Let me guess," Alex said, looking down at the chart. "The coordinates are right in the center."

Erin looked up at him and nodded. Whatever was hiding in the center of Death's Yard was at the center of rock, dust, and dirt. If they went slow, they might have a chance of making it in, but she had never heard of any ship that returned from Death's Yard intact.

"Roald sure picked one hell of a place to hide it," Alex whistled. "An asteroid field by itself is enough of a deterrent."

Erin raised an eyebrow. She didn't know what an asteroid was, but she assumed it wasn't different from a big rock. This wasn't the first time Alex had used words that didn't make sense, and she assumed they were related to his old world.

Boom.

Another set of rocks collided above them to demonstrate the point.

"So, we need a way to keep track of them," Alex said. "I can probably do that."

"And we also need a way to keep larger ones away from the ship," Erin said, pointing over the railings. "While we have shielding, it won't stop any of the larger rocks from crushing us. We'll need eyes all around us, and we'll have to adjust our course quickly."

"You can handle steering the ship, correct?" Jean asked.

"I can," Erin said. "If we have Alex keeping track of objects, the question is what you two will do."

"I can beat back any of the rocks," Sayed said, kneeling beside the chart. "If I tie myself to the ship, and Alex can pull my sword back, we will be able to make quick work of any obstacles."

"True," Alex said. "We've done it before, and I assume we'll go slower this time."

"That leaves Jean," Erin said.

"I think I have an idea," Jean said, a smile lighting his face that Erin didn't like at all.

After about ten minutes of explanations, they were set. Erin looked out over the deck from the helm's cabin. Alex stood at the ship's center, his eyes closed and his hands outstretched. His job would be to control both Sayed and any rocks that came too close. Jean stood at the back of the deck, and he would watch behind them. Erin would watch the front from the helm. Sayed was just finishing tying a rope around his chest in a looping harness. He would be their last line of defense from anything too large for Alex to handle.

"Are we ready?" Erin yelled back.

"Aye!" the three of them yelled in unison.

Erin shook her head as she entered the cabin and started the engines again. The entire ship vibrated and hummed beneath her fingertips as she pulled up on the helm and brought the ship into the outskirts of Death's Yard.

Purple light glowed around her feet as the final part of their plan rose around her. Eliza's skeletal form spiraled up around her body to rest on her shoulders, and the two bony arms lay down around her neck.

A pleasure to work with you.

It wasn't speech as much as intent that filtered between them. The ghostly skeleton could not speak, nor did it open its mouth. However, Erin understood the creature's intent at that moment.

Erin suppressed a shudder but focused on her job. Eliza was the last part of the plan because the spirit would communicate anything that happened on the deck to her. Erin wasn't happy with the plan, but Jean convinced her it was necessary. She just had to remind herself that the mission came first as she entered the first rock's shadows.

The world was alight in Alex's senses as his newly expanded bubble of magnetism lit up around himself and the ship. The bubble's limit was about double the entire length of the ship around him. Before, he might have been able to move something about ten meters away. Now, he felt like he could sense and affect metal up to maybe a hundred meters away.

Sayed and his swords were a tiny blip in comparison. Just a few weeks ago, he struggled to pull Sayed back on the ship with his magnetism. Now, he was sure he could do a lot more.

His bubble moved with the ship as it rose toward Death's Yard.

Boom.

In his senses, he saw the two asteroids collide on the port side. They cracked apart on each other and floated in opposite directions as one mass but in hundreds of tiny pieces. Each one was the size of a table or smaller, and the ship maneuvered out of the way of the collision.

"The calm before the storm," Sayed said beside him.

"It's going to get worse the deeper we go in." Alex kept his eyes closed as he focused on his sphere.

A rock the size of a refrigerator came down from above the deck, hurtling through space like an American football. Alex threw one hand up and pushed against it, directing the rock off to the side. He didn't have the strength just to hold it back, but he could redirect it. He made sure the trajectory would send it to the side of the ship and away from the shields.

"This upgrade is something else," he said. "If I had been this strong back on Tombstone, I would have taken out Goldfist the first time we met."

"The island before we met, right brother?"

"Yeah."

A long pause passed between them.

"How do you think you would fare now against Lucien?"

Alex had to pause to think about that one. His magnetism might have been stronger, and he would have had access to more metal thanks to his ability to manifest it; however, that gap was just too large. With a second-grade curse and mastery of all five paths, Lucien was a walking army in one person. Alex wasn't sure what it would take to beat Lucien, but what he had wasn't enough.

"I might have lasted a little longer," Alex said. "I also know he isn't going to stop. He'll keep getting stronger, so we have to keep moving. If we don't, he'll make sure we don't get lucky the next time we meet."

"I will keep that in mind, brother," Sayed said. "My blade will be ready to face him. I practice nightly, knowing that we will meet again so that I can avenge my friends."

The Robin pushed further and further into Death's Yard. On occasion, Alex would need to push debris out of their path. More often, Erin would turn the ship to avoid the crashing rocks. As they went deeper, they would have to act more often. It wasn't until they were well inside with a cloud of dust and debris behind them that the real problems started.

"That's a big one," Alex said.

"I see it." Sayed moved in his senses, his sword in his hand.

Sizzle.

The air around it burned as Sayed activated his curse. Alex focused his senses on the side of the ship. The asteroid in question was almost as long as the ship itself and spheroid in shape. Like a soccer ball, it rolled through the nightsea toward them.

"Be ready to catch me!"

Sayed stood on the ship's railing as the asteroid barreled toward them. Alex had an inkling that it wouldn't be enough. Even if Sayed cut the ball-shaped asteroid, the two halves would still hit the ship. They would need more.

"Demon's Divide!" Sayed jumped out as the asteroid came within sixty meters.

"Hard turn!" Jean yelled out, presumably to communicate it to Erin.

Tshing!

Alex saw the asteroid split in half in the blue light of his magnetic senses as the tiny blue dot of Sayed's sword reached the tip. The ship's oblong shape also turned his senses, turning to face the asteroid head-on. Alex thrust his hands forward together, willing a magnetic push against the rocks they bore down on the ship. It would be tight.

A line of pain shot through his mind, and blood dribbled down Alex's nose. Something the size of the ship was pushing it when it came to mass. However, he at least had the satisfaction that Goldfist's mechanical arm would be doable now when it came to his magnetic manipulation.

Bzzt.

Alex opened his eyes and saw the shield's light burning a bright blue around the ship. Like they were flying through a canyon, the two halves of the asteroid slid across the ship's shields, both pieces twisting as they cut through the nightsea around the ship. In seconds, they shot past and out into the rest of the debris fields around them.

"We're in the clear," Jean said.

"I'll pull back Sayed."

Alex walked over to the railing and tugged on Sayed while he wiped away the blood from his nose. The sword on Sayed's back came at his call, and Sayed flew back through the nightsea to catch himself on the railing.

"Did you see?" Sayed smiled as he climbed over the rail and back on the deck. "I cut that mountain in half with only one blow!"

"That was an excellent maneuver." Jean nodded as he walked back to his post at the back of the ship.

"Just be ready for the next one," Alex said, walking back to the ship's center and closing his eyes.

"The next one better be twice as large." Sayed began to laugh before suddenly stopping. "What is that?"

"What?"

Alex opened his eyes to see Sayed looking out over the railing and up from the decks. His sword was at his side, and his other hand bridged his brow. Alex followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Something large and glowing green floated between the asteroids above them.

"Is it a ship?" Alex squinted to see, but it was too far away.

"It is not a rock," Sayed said. "Maybe it is an island, though I have never heard of one that glows green.

"That's a Flying Dutchman!" Jean yelled as he joined them.