Synopsis

After a climate disaster resets the world to a pre-electronic age, a thick, impenetrable cloud layer renders the surface inaccessible. Alex, his Uncle James and their elderly cat Gaspode, live in peaceful isolation atop a hill in an observatory turned farmstead, their days marked only by tending livestock and avoiding the sun’s harsh glare. With no way to know if anything remains beyond the sea of clouds, they have long accepted that they might be the last people left alive.

But everything changes the day an airship emerges from the mist. The Enchantress, captained by the enigmatic Gabriela Del Rio, brings news of a sanctuary above the clouds—a network of survivors rebuilding civilization in the highland peaks. More than that, they bring a mission: a daring search for the key to restoring the world’s ecosystems, buried within the ruins of the old world.

Eager for adventure, Alex and Uncle James join the airship’s crew, setting off on a journey that will take them across the sky, through lost cities swallowed by the clouds, and into the heart of a mystery that predates the fall of civilization itself. But they are not the only ones seeking the secret of the world’s renewal.

Edward Von Mortus, the ruthless leader of a skyborne pirate fleet, has his own plans for the broken world—plans that rely on keeping it in ruin. As The Enchantress races to uncover the past, Von Mortus and his mercenaries lurk at every turn, determined to seize control of the future. But who is the Pirate General, and why does he fear a world reborn?

With only the sky as their map and danger at every horizon, Alex and his newfound allies must play cat and mouse with their pirate foes to unlock the truth before the last embers of hope are lost to the clouds forever.

Chapter Nine: Ava

We stood and watched as Uncle James and Captain Del Rio walked off together towards the house, continuing to talk as they did so. I would imagine Uncle James was rather enjoying having someone other than me or Gaspode to talk to, someone he could have an “intellectual” conversation with for once. I suddenly felt anxious, my heart started to beat faster and a panic rose in my chest. I wanted to run back to Uncle James and stay with him, not be left standing here with a stranger that I had only just met and, until a short time ago, didn’t even know existed! It was then I heard Ava Maria Molyneux speak for the first time, and a sudden calm came over me.

“Is Alex short for Alexander?” she asked.

Her voice was less raspy than the Captain’s and very slightly higher, and although her English was just as good, she had this interesting way of rolling her r’s and making her a’s sound more like “on”. Just hearing her say my name made me feel happy and light headed.

“It is! Yes!” I replied, “But Uncle James just always calls me Alex”

“Well” she said smiling, “I shall call you Alexander if you are okay with that? It sounds more grown up wouldn’t you say?”

I had to admit, the way she said my full name, I did quite like it.

“I would like that very much.”

“That’s settled then. So Alexander. If you’d like to accompany me I would be delighted to show you our home, The Enchantress.”

With that, careful not to disturb the now sleeping Gaspode, she gently lifted my arm and, looping her own through it, started to steer us towards the airship.

Ava was shorter than Captain Del Rio, but still just as elegant. Although dressed in a similar style, confirming my suspicions that it was indeed some kind of uniform, Ava wore her clothes in a slightly more relaxed look than the more form-fitting ones of her companion. Her work shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, her black scarf tied loosely like a neck tie, and just like Uncle James, she was clearly fond of a cardigan, although hers was long and patterned. 

As we reached the edge of the shadow being cast by the airship I was struck by its immense size. It was easily as big as our cow shed, and that was just the main body, let alone the strange ribbed airbags that sat to either side, keeping it afloat. We reached the bottom of the rope ladder and Ava looked at me. It was a little windier here than closer to the house and she had to clutch the soft wide brimmed straw hat she was wearing to keep it on her head, her reddish-brown hair blowing gently in the breeze underneath.

“You are not afraid of heights are you Alexander?” she asked, smiling.

“Oh gosh no!” I replied “I live in a house with a glass domed roof”

Even as I said it I knew how silly it sounded, and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks in embarrassment.  

“Then you will be fine. You may go up first…”