Valkyria by Ink Blood

just
wondering how he lost his leg.”
    Nate cowered back a little when the
young woman approached his face. Her eyes were different from any
he had ever seen. The left was green whilst the right was blue.
Those eyes pierced him and he could feel his breath fade as they
stared at him.
    “ He cut it off himself,”
she said, her face appearing to crack as she tried to smile. “Now
follow me. Irving wants you both to be comfortable, although I do
not see why. It is not as if you could be any use to
us.”
    “ What do you mean?” As he
asked the question, Nate began to follow the brother and sister out
of the hangar bay and down a tunnel-like corridor, Charles walking
very slowly behind him.
    The corridor was, however, divine at
the worst. Although rusty iron pipes made their way overhead with
the odd puff of steam escaping, the walls were covered with
mahogany panelling on the lower half and almost a burgundy coloured
paint on the top half. The ceiling had been painted clear beige
with a delightfully carved trim at the sides. It was as if they had
stepped into an entirely different world when compared to the cold
and unforgiving iron box that was the hangar bay.
    The rumbling of the massive engines
that strutted out on girders above the decks almost added to the
relaxing feeling. Candlelight lamps stretched all the way through
the airship, each one attached to the connection bolts that held
the passageways together.
    “ How do you like the
Valkyria’s design so far?”
    Irving’s sudden question made the young
man jump back to reality from the daydream the décor had put him
in.
    “ It is amazing,” he
replied, noting the sly and semi-hidden smile on Irving face which
had turned ever so slightly toward him. They turned a corner to the
right and were presented with a very peculiar sight.
    “ This stairs will take us
to the dining hall,” said Anastasia. The stairs themselves spiraled
around in a semi-circle and were carved from mahogany as well. The
ends of the rails were carved to resemble the warrior woman that
Nate had seen on the uniforms of the soldiers in the hangar bay.
The steps themselves had been covered by a maroon carpet that
stretched upward to reveal a dining hall big enough for a
feast.
    Six tables stretched out for what
seemed like infinity. One smaller table, suitable for four people
sat at the front end. On the walls the same decoration as the
corridors continued except that this time the walls were
periodically interrupted by plain glass windows with crimson
surrounds on the port side. The windows opened out to the sky,
revealing the clouds floating by. Nate even saw a small white bird
land on the outer windowsill for a few short seconds before leaving
once again.
    He could see one of the engines
attached to a triangular girder that reached out from the airship
into the open sky. Judging by the size of in and the volume of the
engine sound, he took a guess.
    “ Mr Irving, I was just
wondering. This airship of yours, the Valkyria, has six engines,
correct?”
    Irving took a seat at the smaller
table, the wooden chairs lined with cream cushions so soft to touch
that they felt like thrones rather than dining chairs. He gestured
for Nate and Charles to take a seat as well.
    “ You are correct,” he
answered as they all sat down. “Might I ask how you came to such a
decision?”
    “ Perhaps you were able to
get a detailed look at our ship before you crashed into it,” said
Anastasia. The tone of her voice would have been more befitting
some horse-faced lady of the night resentful for the lack of
business. It certainly did not suit such a refined and beautiful
young woman as she was.
    “ Not all, madam,” he said
in his most polite voice in the hope of embarrassing the lady
before him. “Rather I saw the size of your propeller system through
those windows. It has a medium sized battleship propeller which
makes a rumble of fifteen percent. Therefore, considering the
amount of engine noise never