stopping, but now it was turning.
“I thought he was going to land in the water,” Levent mumbled thoughtfully.
We all glanced at him, then at the rapidly approaching ship.
“Maybe he still is?” I said, hopefully.
“I don’t think you’d call that landing,” Rio said.
The ship took a sudden dip, hitting the water with enough force to create a white-tipped wave. I made a noise to express my horror, but it was covered by a curse from Kewyn.
“I knew it. He still hasn’t figured out how to land the thing properly. Stupid old fart,” she snarled before she ran down the pier toward the water and jumped in, swimming toward the ship.
At least the ship was still floating. However, Kewyn’s reaction was a little contagious.
Rio dashed after the blonde, tearing off his boots and jumping after her. I wondered for a split second whether he was more concerned about Aenlilea or the ship. The kin and I walked to the end of the dock, watching as the two figures neared the wreckage.
The balloon was deflated, and the ship floated crookedly. I picked up Rio’s discarded shoes from the pier and watched Rio and Kewyn climb up the side of the ship. They opened a through a hatch in its top and dropped inside.
By this time, the docks were full of people ogling at the sight. A few of them were soldiers. It was not every day you saw a flying ship, after all.
After a moment, there was a whirring sound and the mechanical wings began to move again, slowly pushing the ship toward shore. It was a long wait as the thing approached, and I kept glancing nervously at the soldiers waiting along the pier. I hoped they had not spotted Levent. The last thing we needed was to have to explain his presence as well. I tried my best to look inconspicuous as the ship neared.
Once the boat was near enough to the dock, Rio reappeared on the deck, waving to us. “Heey! Everything’s alright. We need a hand getting docked, though. This thing doesn’t exactly have an anchor.”
“What do we need to do?” I yelled.
“Catch.” Rio pointed at the kin and tossed him the end of a rope.
With a little help from Rio, Levent pulled the boat up next to the dock. By this