The Odyssey trundled across the sky, its propellers rattling like tin cans in a blustery alley. Barnaby whistled a jaunty tune from his seat up at the front, as behind him, down in the belly of the airship, amongst the mess of thermometers, barometers, dials, gauges, handwritten charts and dangling jars of tea, Aelgren and Izzario were engaged in the latest round of the very one-sided card game that Izzario called Shimshu`.

　　Elizabeth was listening carefully as Luella tried to describe their position.

　　"The Free Lands should be coming to an end shortly . . . Over there is the river Oon . . . If you follow it all the way it`ll take you out to the Endless Sea . . . Everything in that direction belongs to the Dominion . . . And up there, ahead of us, is where the Caradeen forest begins".

　　Izzario scooped up a pile of cards from the upturned crate that was being used as a table. "Is everything set?" he asked, as Barnaby came into the gondola.

　　"As much as it can be. The automagic pilot should take us to Caranthis. All we need to do then is find a way of getting into the Darkstone Tower, work out where the Omnaria is, steal it back and escape without being caught".

　　Aelgren, who was evidently miffed to have lost at Shimshu for what was now approximately the zillionth time in a row, grumbled under his breath.

　　Elizabeth peered through a gap in the blobs of cloud. A rolling foam of treetops stretched on for miles and miles ahead of them. It was almost as vast as the heap of questions that had been growing ever since she arrived. "What`s the Dominion?" she asked, reducing the pile by the tiniest possible fraction.

　　Izzario began to reshuffle the pack. "The Holy Empire", he explained, making a flurry of cards jump from one hand to another. "It`s been around for centuries, but for a long time it was the only way to hold Orrica together. Ever since the days of the Little Kingdoms the Grand Houses have been fighting amongst themselves. The Dominion was designed to put an end to war and suspicion, and for all its faults it worked. There was even a peace with the Western Realm".

　　"None of this included the Vols, you understand?" interjected Aelgren. "We dinnae have much to do with anyone. Like to keep ourselves to ourselves".

　　"For which the rest of Orrica is no doubt very grateful", mused Izzario, dealing out a new hand to the fur-clad, wild-haired scruffbag beside him.

　　"Right", Elizabeth said. "Well that doesn`t sound so bad".

　　"Perhaps. But almost fifteen years ago the last of the Ostrovans, the boy-emperor Arran, was killed - assassinated, or so it was said, by Western agents trying to create chaos on our side of the Bony Mountains".

　　"And anyone who believes that is a fool", Luella hissed. "Arran was killed by Penelope Frostheart!"

　　Elizabeth sensed a sudden shift in the tone of the conversation.

　　And Aelgren, in a hushed voice, said: "The Holy Empress herself".

　　Izzario fanned out his cards, studied them briefly, and pressed ahead with the story. "The Emperor`s death led to the Fourth Great War. The Grand Houses turned on each other again. And Penelope used it all to her advantage, seizing the Imperial crown. Anyone opposing her was thrown in jail or killed. Until, in the end, there was hardly anyone left who would even dare to try".If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it`s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

　　"She didn`t scare my uncle!" flashed Luella.

　　"Ah, now then", said Barnaby, straightening up his glasses, "it wasn`t just me. Arraflax played his part as well, whatever you think of him now".

　　Luella snorted in disgust. "You`re the only reason the Free Lands are rid of the Dominion. Arraflax tried to pretend that it was him, but everyone knows our victory was all down to your Echo Blaster".

　　Barnaby folded his arms and went misty-eyed at the memory. "Aaaaah, now that was a blooming marvellous invention - a self-magnifying sound wave capable of stopping an armoured train. It was one of my earliest breakthroughs!"

　　Elizabeth was doing her best to try and keep up with all this, but there was an awful lot to take in, especially for a girl of twelve who had only fallen into the place several days ago and hadn`t even known before then that inter-dimensional rifts existed.

　　"And is that why Arraflax hates you?" she asked.

　　"I`m afraid so". Barnaby slumped like a worn-out beanbag. "But I still can`t believe that he could have anything to do with what happened at the North Star. Deep down Arraflax only wants what`s best for the Free Lands".

　　Luella snorted angrily again. "How can you stick up for him? Arraflax is a weasel and a sneak!"

　　"Aye, that`s as maybe, but at least he`s nae involved in the Arts of Shadow", remarked Aelgren, depositing a card face down, swapping it for four or five others and stopping in mid-flow when he realised that Izzario was looking at him in an intensely unsettling way.

　　Aelgren leaned close to Elizabeth. "They say that Penelope has a black soul and keeps control of the Dominion with dark, mysterious sorcery".

　　Izzario sighed. "And yet, according to the prophecy . . . "

　　"Which we agreed not to talk about", loud-whispered Barnaby, gritting his teeth while rolling his eyes in Elizabeth`s direction. "And there`s no way that the Omnaria could have possibly brought - "

　　"HAZZAAAAR!"

　　Everybody in the airship jumped at the rambunctious hollering foghorn that was Aelgren celebrating the miracle of a winning hand at Shimshu. He snatched up the remainder of the cards and stared at them adoringly.

　　"Strange and unusual things do occasionally happen", Izzario remarked, as if some deep, meaningful purpose of the universe had just revealed itself to them. "And I have a very strong feeling that - "

　　A loud metallic CRUNCH, and then a clank-clank-clank-clank-clank, came crashing through the gondola like a herd of wild devil cats.

　　The Odyssey started to wobble as a piercing whine significantly shortened the odds on something quite important having just gone wrong.

　　"Oh scollerpots!" gulped Barnaby, scrambling for the pilot`s seat.

　　"What`s going on?" Elizabeth cried.

　　"I don`t know. Just hang on to whatever you can!"

　　The banging grew louder, the swaying of the airship more erratic by the second.

　　Barnaby began wrestling with the controls, yammering like a monkey trying to race a broken tractor up a hill. "I`ve lost the starboard motors - they`re completely out of control!"

　　The whine rose to a piercing crescendo. And with a terrifyingly thunderous BANG! an engine burst apart, peppering the gondola with nuts and bolts and screws. Elizabeth grabbed hold of Luella`s arm, both girls staring horrified at the propeller flying into the sky.

　　Elizabeth`s stomach became a washing machine as the gondola rolled over onto its side, hung there for one everlasting moment and swung back down like a pirate ship at a fairground.

　　The propeller, which was now diving towards them, caught the airbag as it began to rock the other way, the blades slicing through the material with a nerve-shredding rrrrrrrip!

　　Everybody held their breath . . .

　　Slowly at first, and then with gathering speed, the Odyssey began to fall right out of the sky, the spinning world of the forest filling the windows as they broke through the cover of the clouds.

　　Elizabeth`s heart flapped like a small and frightened bird at the sight of the trees getting nearer.

　　"There`s nothing I can do", yelled Barnaby. "I`m afraid we`re going to crash!"