The room grew quieter after that.
Even Aldric didn't interrupt.
Draven finally answered.
"Alright."
Simple.
Flat.
But the tension in the room eased slightly anyway.
Vaelith spoke again almost immediately.
"The storm currents are worsening across the eastern sky."
A flicker of static distorted the connection briefly before stabilizing again.
"I can feel interference spreading through the mana channels below deck."
Draven's eyes narrowed slightly toward the navigation arrays.
"I noticed."
Outside the viewing screen—
the clouds moved.
Not drifting.
Shifting.
Slowly rotating around something hidden deeper within the storm mass.
The black cat lifted its head higher against Draven's shoulder.
Watching.
Silent.
Still.
The control deck remained tense.
Quiet.
The kind of quiet that only existed when everyone in the room could feel something enormous moving just beyond their understanding.
Outside the viewing screen, the storm churned across the horizon.
Violet clouds spiraled in vast rotating layers while silver lightning crawled soundlessly through the depths of the sky.
The ship groaned beneath another unstable current.
Warning glyphs flickered again.
Barrier strain increasing.
Cross-current pressure unstable.
Draven's hand moved calmly across the navigation array.
Blue mana streamed outward through the control systems in smooth, controlled pulses as the massive fortress adjusted its orientation against the storm.
The black cat remained motionless against his shoulder.
Watching.
Listening.
Then—
the control deck doors slid open with a sharp mechanical hiss.
Lyriana entered immediately.
Nia followed several quiet steps behind her.
Both stopped almost the moment they crossed the doorway.
The atmosphere inside the chamber hit them instantly.
Heavy.
Focused.
Wrong.
Lyriana's eyes swept across the room in one smooth motion.
Draven seated at the control platform.
Aldric floating nearby with alcohol still in hand.
Kaelira gripping the side railing.
The unconscious pilot sprawled across the floor.
The cultist clutching the wrapped artifact protectively.
The storm outside.
And finally—
the black cat resting calmly against Draven's shoulder.
Her gaze lingered there for half a second longer than intended.
Then shifted away.
"What happened?" she asked immediately.
Another pulse rocked the ship.
Smaller this time.
But enough for the walls to groan.
Kaelira answered first.
"The sky apparently decided it hates us."
Aldric took another slow drink before speaking.
"…You know," he said lazily while staring toward the storm beyond the viewing screen, "I'm starting to think the only reason this flying coffin hasn't exploded yet is because that bastard's the one piloting it."
Kaelira blinked.
"…That's your conclusion?"
Aldric gestured vaguely toward Draven with the bottle.
"The ship wasn't screaming five minutes ago."
Another tremor rolled through the fortress beneath them.
The hull groaned.
Warning glyphs flashed briefly across the control arrays.
Yet the ship remained steady.
Stable.
Controlled.
Aldric narrowed his eyes toward the storm outside.
"We enter whatever the hell that thing is—"
he pointed toward the spiraling violet clouds,
"—and somehow we're still flying."
His gaze shifted back toward Draven.
"That's suspicious."
Lyriana frowned immediately.
"That's stupid."
Aldric looked genuinely offended.
"No, it isn't."
"Absolutely is."
Lyriana crossed her arms.
"The ship still has functioning stabilization systems, active mana circulation, and operational barrier formations. There are obvious reasons it remains functional."
Aldric scoffed.
"Yeah? Then why wasn't it dying before he touched the controls?"
"The pilot was collapsing from exhaustion."
"The pilot's been collapsing from exhaustion for days."
"That does not support your argument."
"It supports my point perfectly."
Kaelira looked between them.
"…I feel like neither of you actually remembers what point you're arguing anymore."
"Quiet, brat."
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Watch your mouth."
Lyriana ignored both of them.
Mostly.
Her eyes shifted briefly toward Draven seated calmly at the control platform.
Blue mana currents flowed steadily around him while the navigation sigils rotated in smooth synchronized patterns beneath his hand.
The ship responded instantly to every movement he made.
Precise.
Effortless.
Even now—
while navigating unstable storm currents—
his expression remained completely unchanged.
Lyriana's eyes narrowed faintly.
"…Still," she admitted quietly.
Aldric smirked immediately.
"Ha."
"That was not agreement."
"It sounded like agreement."
"It sounded like observation."
Kaelira looked deeply unconvinced.
"…Observation," she repeated slowly, "usually doesn't sound that smug."
Lyriana ignored her.
Mostly.
Her attention remained on Draven.
On the way the control arrays moved around him.
On the unnatural smoothness of it all.
Even the mana fluctuations stabilizing across the deck now seemed to bend around his presence instead of resisting him.
Outside—
another silver flash crawled through the violet storm clouds.
This time closer.
The entire viewing screen lit up briefly in pale light.
The silver glow faded from the glass.
But the storm did not darken afterward.
If anything—
the clouds became brighter.
Not illuminated.
Glowing.
Deep within the spiraling violet mass, enormous veins of pale silver spread slowly through the storm like cracks forming beneath skin.
The entire sky pulsed once.
The ship answered with a low, strained groan.
Warning glyphs erupted across the control deck.
Barrier strain critical.
Outer mana pressure exceeding threshold.
Current collapse probability rising.
Kaelira's ears flattened instantly.
"…That feels extremely bad."
"No," Aldric muttered while staring at the sky beyond the glass.
"That feels annoying."
Silence followed that statement.
A heavy kind.
Even Lyriana's expression tightened faintly.
Outside—
the storm moved again.
Not randomly.
The clouds rotated inward now.
Toward a single point hidden somewhere beyond visibility.
The silver lightning no longer flickered aimlessly through the clouds.
It converged.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Like veins feeding a heart.