Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2026
Bishop, a seasoned book collector, and Bright, a sixteen-year-old orphan archivist-in-training, are sent on a retrieval mission into the stronghold of the Falmians — mechanical beings, originally created by a wizard to perform chores, who overthrew their master and became compulsive, unstoppable collectors. Their goal is to recover the rust-red third volume of The Book of Lost Chances from the Falmians’ vast plunder-hall, a cathedral-sized space crammed with the looted fragments of a dozen realms.
The two infiltrate the stronghold through underground tunnels — crossing above a glowing, boiling reservoir of blood — and crawl through ventilation shafts to observe the plunder-hall below. Bishop and Bright deduce that the Falmians blindly hoard without ever sorting or valuing their spoils, acting on an endlessly extrapolated final instruction from their creator. Using spyglasses, they trace materials back to the grand library of Akh Ulmun and spot the target book tucked beneath a claw-footed bathtub. Bishop descends on a wire pulley to retrieve it, but is discovered by a Falmian. Cornered, he damages the book by impaling it with a improvised hook — violating his own cardinal rule — to wrench it free before being hauled back up into the shaft.
The pair escape through the vents and take the stronghold’s freight elevator toward the roof, hiding under chameleon fabric that renders them invisible. When the fabric is snagged and their cover is blown, Bright — previously seeming nervous and unsteady — stuns Bishop by fighting off a Falmian with swift, skilled martial moves, revealing a capability and toughness Bishop had underestimated all along.
On the rooftop, they activate a beacon for their airship, the Interstice, but are surrounded by Falmians who fly up on propulsive jets. Bishop discovers the creatures are powered by blood magic — the glowing reservoir below was their fuel supply. The two realize the Falmians’ gathering instinct can be exploited: throwing objects triggers a collecting response that momentarily pacifies them. They empty their pockets of everything — boots, belts, coat, knife — to hold the Falmians at bay. When all else runs out, Bright reluctantly sacrifices his most prized possession: a playing card given to him by a girl named Blue, a fellow orphan who had looked after him and taught him to fight before disappearing one day.
The Interstice arrives and extracts them under covering fire. Safely aboard, Bright tells Bishop the story of the card — worn, lucky, his only keepsake of the closest thing he’d had to a protector. Moved, Bishop tears a final page from the damaged book and gives it to Bright as a memento of his first assignment. The story closes with Bright folding the page to the size of a playing card — and Bishop quietly resolving to bring him along again next time, on purpose.
J.W. Halicks is a construct of coffee and words on the loose in Washington, D.C., where he lives with his wife and two young kids. His work has previously appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Find him on the web at jwhalicks.wordpress.com.