“You really have to get this thing going NOW!” Eva started slapping the dashboard as the shadow of the falling giant enveloped them.

“Got it!” Muthr sang, and the Goldfish made a burbling sound, while a holographic menu flickered onto the windshield. The craft then rose about a meter off of the rubble and began moving, dragging a loose tail fin behind it. The enormous pillar guard fell through the hovercraft’s dusty wake. It slammed into the floor at full force, causing the entire museum to shake at its foundation.

Muthr spun the craft around and headed for the back entrance. With deft precision she navigated the vehicle through the throng of royal guardsmen, who were now focused on taking down the remaining pillar guards in the chaos.

Shooting out into the royal gardens, Muthr piloted the malfunctioning Goldfish through the onlookers, trees, and shrubs, leaving a trail of fallen branches and leaves in her path.

“Fuel level low,” the craft said in a garbled voice. “Please stop and refuel immediately.”

“Are you kidding me?” Eva said, looking back over her shoulder. No one appeared to be following them.

“The vehicle runs on a water-based fuel,” Muthr said. She struggled to steer, compensating for the damaged tail rudder, and blasted the craft through a garden of tube-creatures. “Currently it is drawing its power from me. Hopefully, we can get to a secure location to refuel it shortly. Let us just hope it remains intact long enough to get us to a secure location.”

CHAPTER 33: REUNION

The citizens parted as a dilapidated hovercraft maneuvered down the bustling streets of Solas. The lanes and sidewalks were packed with all manner of city folk: coachmen driving large feathered beasts of burden through throngs of foot traffic; little ones flying about on floatscooters alongside the Goldfish, begging for change; and the occasional merchants drifting in hoverjunks overhead selling anything—and everything. Eva Nine thought it was spectacular.

Despite having just escaped an army of towering pillar guards, and having just destroyed the Royal Museum, she wanted to blend in with the locals and explore every nook and cranny of the city . . . but she knew better.

As the Goldfish raced down a winding alley, heading farther and farther from the royal grounds, Eva noticed that the abodes went from large and fantastic to simple gigantic gourds with windows and doorways carved out of them. Eva looked around the quiet neighborhood streets, disregarding the odd stares from the occasional passersby. “Nobody is following us. I think we are safe,” she said at last.

“Thank the stars,” Muthr replied, and slowed the Goldfish down. It puttered less than a meter off the ground, shaking and rattling like the old machine that it was. “This jalopy is about to drain me of my power reserves. Let us find a water source and refuel it.”