Working my way through the first book doing some edits and trying to revise some things. I also needed to add some things that I want to make clear in the first book. It doesn't change the story but I want a clear image of my characters. Some of you will notice the changes and others may not, but here is the revised chapter 1 part 1.
Eletheria flew through the great blue sea of the sky, only a few tiny white fluffy islands sharing the sky with her. At least, that is the image she was trying to convince herself while she stood at the controls of the airship looking out the floor-to-ceiling window in front of her. After years of training and preparation, she was actually flying. A shiver of joy coursed through her as she held onto a copper-plated yoke in each hand. The front of the ship was designed to provide a large viewing area to the pilot and the various command staff stationed within the forecastle room. For a moment, she tried to ignore the people standing behind her talking, the wooden support between the panes of glass in front of her, the creaking of the airship as it pulsed with power.
It was still beautiful up here as she could see the coastline of somewhere down below, the open sky above, and the lack of clouds. While she knew the lack of clouds was good, her imagination about flying always involved speeding through clouds and seeing them whisk by. The wind pushing the sails while Ele helped maintain their elevation over the downslope. The feeling of freedom, flying through the air, zipping through the clouds, all of these took a hold of her heart and she knew this was not something she would ever give up. If she tried really hard, she could almost believe she was flying through the sky without the ship. If there were more clouds, at least the illusion would be a little easier. The lack of nearby clouds to provide perspective as they flew by made the self-delusion difficult to maintain.
“Sir, there is a balloon on the horizon,” a voice behind Ele said from across the room. The voice wasn’t talking to her but it had already started a little worm of disappointment that was digging into her heart. “I hope it isn’t the pirate Bonnie.” The voice whispered just loud enough that everyone at the navigation table could hear it, and Ele. She turned her head to look around for the Windmaster Erus. She knew Erus would be wanting to take control of the airship back.
“Eyes forward, Ele.” The deep calm voice of Windmaster Sal Erus came from behind her. Ele immediately looked forward to watch the horizon hoping to see the other airship someone else had spotted. Seeing nothing except clouds and blue sky, she focused on the feeling of someone standing behind her. There was a sound of a clip securing to a harness and then she felt large hands covering hers.
“Ele, I need you to let go of the power first with your right hand when I say 3. Nod if you understand,” Sal’s voice said. Ele nodded her head and then heard, “1, 2, 3.” When she heard three she dropped the power in her right hand. There was a shift in the ship’s movement but it was slight. Perhaps now I need to drop the other hand so I can move out of his way was Ele’s thought as she couldn’t remember proper trade-off procedure. She dropped her power in the left hand and the ship lurched much more this time. For a brief moment, Ele and everyone else on the ship felt it start to descend. After a second it regained stability when Sal took over power and control.
“You released too soon, next time wait for the second count of three.” Sal told her in that ever-encouraging tone that he had.
“Sorry, I thought I needed to…” Ele started to explain as she turned to look at Sal. His soft brown eyes that matched the color of his skin looked back at her. Ele’s face came up to the top of his chest. He was wearing the harness most pilots wear when they are expecting turbulence. The harness looked like a leather jacket that was tightly strapped to the pilot and had two ropes attached to the back. One going to the ceiling and the other to the floor. “Would we have crashed?” Ele quickly followed up, worried that she had almost destroyed the first ship she was allowed to fly.
“No, it takes more than your ability to keep the ship in the air. There is a backup but they aren’t as powerful as you or I,” Sal replied and motioned with his head for her to move out of his way. Ele took a small step to the left but stayed looking out the window. “Now I need you to go to your cabin and stay there. This may get bumpy and your parents would kill me if I allowed you to get hurt.”
“Wait, are we going to be attacked?” Ele asked suddenly, worried there was going to be a fight. She looked towards Sal and then back out the window. She couldn’t see anything on the horizon, though she did not have a spyglass or anything to help her vision.
“Probably just a merchant, nothing to worry about,” Sal replied, watching out the front window, looking incredibly focused.
“If there is no danger then why do I…?” Ele started to ask looking back at Sal.
“One of the things you must learn is that you obey your superiors,” Sal interrupted. His tone much more serious and one of the few times Ele had every heard it lose its softness. Ele shrank back a little from a glare she knew was there but luckily she was behind him so didn’t suffer the full effect. She backed away towards the door towards the deck.
“Yes, Windmaster Erus, thank you for allowing me to see a Windmaster in action. Your will be done.” Ele said as sarcastically as she could and even threw a swift salute with her right fist with the knuckles outward to her chest. The thump was both loud and hard enough she almost gasped but kept silent. While Sal wasn’t facing her she was certain he had at least heard the salute. Turning around she saw there were several people in the room and her childish act was witnessed probably by half the command staff. She quickly left the room through the double doors that lead to the deck before Sal could reply or apologize for his harsh tone.
