Chapter 1. Diving Challenge

220 ACI (After the creation of the Sky Isles)

The wait was pure torture to Aiden. Standing in line in the flatboat was like standing in a line to go to the Red Districts Brothel. But instead of regular lustful people behind and in front of her, it's rather a bunch of oversized men who reek of alcohol, sweat, and cigars. A flatboat crowded with men sipping the last drops of whiskey and breathing in their—might be—last smoke. So yeah, it was pure torture to her.

The mission wasn't supposed to be dangerous, but it was risky. Take out a whole guild in a private low isle very near the underground. Their objective is to find the Guild Master and take him under custody. If any guild members try to fight back after being arrested. She and many of the other officers must kill them off.

"How long," she asks, to the big fella in front of her.

The big fella, Thompson, eyed her down through his goggles. He was half-ogre and half-human. The man was gigantic, all weight and bulk, about three times Aiden's size. He had ginger hair and horrible sun spots and freckles that covered his face. He stood tall in the comfort of their heavy gear.

"Couple of minutes," he said, rubbing the sweat off his face. "Patience is the key to a fortune."

He would know. He'd been an officer for decades, diving into the unknown isles, close to the underground regions, far from the higher atmosphere. He was close to retirement, but Aiden knew deep down that Thompson would never let go of diving. It was his life.

Aiden scoffs. "Patience will be the key to misfortune if we don't get this shit going."

The horns blew, and everyone in the flatboat looked up towards the dome-like window, eyeing the upper flatboats' wings. "Guess seconds instead of minutes," Thompson smiled.

Aiden smiled right back. "I'm going up front."

Thompsons' eyes widened. "No Aiden don't—"

Aiden was already gone. Running up the line. She passed by officers and rookies who were lined up single-file, waiting for the flatboats' wide back door to open.

They were all in officer gear of purple, gray, and rusted blue, green goggles, and black squared bags on their backs. All officers were from different sizes, backgrounds, and species. Ogres, Lagjairts, Bibas, Humans, Elves, Lisas, Rebas, Halfbloods, Clorkcoals, Manvoks, and Stehlens.

Aiden stood next to the Biba man in front of the line. He was shorter than her, had beaver legs and a beaver face, his green eyes, and hairy features were visible under his goggles.

"Skipping the line I see," he asks, looking up at her.

I smirk. "Don't be surprised when I'm the first lander, rookie."

The Biba shakes his hand. "Don't worry, even if you were in the back, no doubt you'd be the first lander."

She elbows him lightly. "Let's race then."

He raises an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge officer?"

"It is if you're willing to oblige."

He nodded. "Alright then, officer, challenge accepted."

The doors slowly started widening, and the whole room was greeted with high altitudes of wind, it made Aiden step back a few steps. Feeling the hard breeze hitting her, she felt a rush of adrenaline speed through her blood. She felt excited, ready to dive.

She turned to the Biba who was already in the starting position. All the officers behind her were. She turned back at the widening door. She caught a glimpse of the white clouds that covered the sky all the way towards the horizon.

The moment the second horn blew, she ran, and the next thing she knew, she was greeted with gravity.

She was falling down, diving into the sky like a piercing knife. She felt a splash of water as she fell into the clouds. The moist drops stuck to her thin cotton shirt and hair.

She caught a glimpse of the other officers diving, but she lost sight of them through the clouds. The first stage of the dive was done. The only thing left insight was distant land.

A tiny rocky land, with no greenery or water, came in sight, just sand and hard rock. The Cannon Sky Isle. Home to the Airbien Guild. Illegal smugglers and bandits.

Aiden spotted the Biba a few lengths from her, diving at full speed in the sky. She placed her hands at her side and folded her legs together to gain more speed. She smiled to feel the rush of air but bent her head down to feel the pressure of the wind, just to gain momentum.

The sandy land felt closer and closer, the visual of the cottages becoming clearer. Aiden ducked her head one more time, before touching the strap to her bag.

The Biba had already loosened his parachute. The canopy spreads wide, attached to the small vent with the bridle loop.

Aiden was still diving. Her hand is still on the strap. She wasn't ready to pull out her skirts, so her hand stayed on the strap that was attached to the links.

About a few feet up in the air, she loosened her straps, and the skirts of the parachute pulled her up a few inches. She was so close to the ground that it only took a few seconds until she rolled down on the sandy floor, high oxygen filling her nose.

She unbuckled her bag, the parachute landing on the floor. She spotted Biba and his parachute. He rolled on the ground just a few seconds after her.

He started walking towards her, dragging his canopy along with him.

He took off his goggles. His eyes look bluer than green. "At first I thought your bag broke and you were about to crash," he smirked, showing his four yellow teeth. "Your timing is impeccable."

Aiden smiles. "I'm Aiden Hugo, a second-year officer in the special Divers sector."

He chuckles. "I know who you are. You were very famous in my old sector."

Aiden felt a rush of pride fill her. "Is that so?"

He nodded. "I'm Biro. Biro Komda."

Three more Divers had come to the ground, one of them was Thompson. He ran towards Aiden, unbuckling his bag on the ground. "Hey dimwit, have you lost your mind, you were positioned in the back!"

Aiden rolled her eyes. "I had a race with one of the rookies."

Thompson turned to Biro, who simply grinned at him. The big fella shook his head. "Let's go, we have a mission to complete."

Aiden nodded.

Many of the Divers were already on the ground, walking towards the small ghost town down east of the isle. There was a huge manor at the top of a cannon.

Aiden turned to Biro. "You got your dagger?"

The Airbiens were weasels. It didn't take long until the officers were able to find their hiding spots and completely annihilate them. It was a bloodbath. An absolute massacre.

Aiden and Thompson, the top officers in their sector searched the top floors of the manor for the Guild Master while the other officers fought the guild members downstairs. Aiden had Biro tag along.

Biro was a Biba. Biba's had very keen noses, a very sensitive sense of smell. It took him minutes to sniff out the guild master that was hiding in his office closet.

Thompson tied the Guild Master to his chair and started interrogating him. As well as torturing him.

"Where are the other guild masters?" Thompson demanded.

The Guild Master was coughing blood, most likely choking on his own body fluids. His ribs were crushed from the number of times Thompson had beat him with a stick. Aiden had stabbed him in the leg and ankles just so he could think twice about escaping.

"H-how would—how the h-hell would I know," he gasped.

Aiden narrowed her eyes, rubbing the blood off her dagger. "We know that you and a couple of other guild masters from lower isles were planning an attack on Nervania just a couple of months ago. But you paused the attack just a few months back. What was the reason?"

The Airbien Guild Master huffed under his breath, sniffing blood back into his swollen nose. "O-one or two of the lower isles that the guilds lodged in were destroyed," he said.

"Destroyed?" Thompson asked.

"It was the Cyclone."

Both Aiden and Thompson stiffened, they glanced at each other before leaning closer into the Guild Master. Biro was still guarding the door.

There hadn't been a Cyclone spotting in years. And when there was, it was just small sightings in the underground from a spyglass.

"You're saying the Cyclone was at the lower isles?" Aiden asked.

The Guild Master nodded. "About two or three months ago, I got a letter from a member who survived the event. He told me about how the Cyclone ate the isle whole. He barely survived. Ran down the bridge to a different isle with one working leg. It was horrific."

Thompson shook his head, grabbing the Guild Master by the collar. He yelped, pure fear in his eyes. "Lies," Thompson growled. "This would have been reported to the Council or the King."

The Guild Master scoffs. "No one cares about the lower sky isles. All you higher brikits don't know what it's like for people like us," he spats.

Thompson scorns, pulling away from him. "You're right. And I'm glad, I'd rather be a brikit than some lowly criminal." He turns to Aiden, walking back to the door. "Kill him."

Aiden's eyes widened. "Shouldn't we take him into custody?"

"We completed our mission, and it seems this man isn't of much use."

Aiden turned to the Guild Master who was paralyzed with fear. He was murmuring something in a different language. Praying, she thought.

Thompson walked out of the office, leaving Aiden and the Guild Master alone.

"P-please I beg of you," the Guild Master pleaded, as snot and blood came out of his nose. "I have a family, they live in Custal, they don't know about this—about my job, please you must let me see them before you take me away."

"We aren't taking you away," Aiden ridiculed. "We're getting rid of you."

She sleeked her dagger clean with her gloves. Playing with the steel in her hands. "Close your eyes, I'll make it quick."

The Guild Master was on the floor kneeling, begging. "Please you can't do this, my daughter turns five in just a few more days, please I need to see her and my wife one more time," he said, looking back up to her.

Aiden saw something human in his eyes. She imagined his hard life and the struggles he had to go through to get where he was.

An orphan child from the lowest sky isles, far from the atmosphere and close to the underground. Forced to live in poverty and rags. Got into some terrible business in order to survive. Messed with the wrong people just to put food on his table, resulting in a life of crime. Just when he found some type of happiness, it was quickly taken away from him.

The story felt familiar to Aiden. Too familiar.

"I'll send them my regards," she said, before taking the dagger and slitting his throat in a swift quick move.

His eyes widened, he clutched to his throat before leaning forward and falling face front.

Aiden had glimpsed at his eyes, as the green orbs slowly were swallowed by its pupil. The life being pulled away from him.

The Guild Master died in a pool of blood that surrounded the office and Aiden's feet. Aiden stared at the lifeless body she killed. Not feeling an ounce of guilt for what she's done.