"Fire four degrees off the starboard bow. And a city!"
A lookout atop the gas-bag had climbed down to yell from the ratlines. He pointed up ahead. Lina looked to the others and stood. The fires were mysterious, but nothing special. They'd been following them for most of a day now. But a city?
She grabbed Runt by its coils and slung it over her shoulder like a rope. The scryn chirped in indignation. Lina waited a moment for her friends and then made her way up to the bow. A mob had formed out of other crew just as curious as she. Lina pushed her way through them using Runt to surprise and dismay the bigger crewmates.
The jungle stretched out below them, a carpet of broad leaves and reaching branches that occluded any vision of the forest floor. Only the little dips and rises in the canopy hinted at differences in the terrain, hidden ravines or covered hills. Distantly she spied a thin column of smoke, maybe half an hour away at their current rate.
Lina knew what to expect. When they'd reached that first fire the night before, the captain had ordered a team down. Lina hadn't gone along, but from the deck of the airship she could see the site. It was empty, whoever had lit the fire long since gone, leaving not even tracks into the forest. Every fire since had resulted in the same, and she didn't expect this one to be any different.
There was something else, though. Past the fire and a little to its left stood a pyramid. It wasn't large. The structure just barely broke the canopy. Thick vines and foliage covered it. But in the light of the setting sun, the pale, golden stone and the cut of its stair-step shape was obvious.
Captain Fengel pushed his way through to the bow. Henry Smalls, Sarah Lome, and Lucian Thorne followed. The first mate glanced down at Lina and then jerked away with a curse. The captain produced a spyglass and extended it. He raised it up to peer at the jungle below for a long while before saying anything.
"Another fire, all right. And what looks like a ruined pyramid. More than that, there are other structures past it on the horizon. Lower to the ground. They're either smaller, or built lower than the surrounding landscape. Beneath a cliff, perhaps."
Fengel lowered the glass and tapped it against the bow rail. Lucian leaned over to get his attention. "Sir," he said. "This is obviously a trap. Whoever's lighting those fires is leading us straight to this place. We're not going to find anything at all worthwhile at that fire."
"Of course we're not," said Fengel with a smile. "But, unless I miss my guess, that's where the Lantern is." He turned back to the ship and the crew. "All hands to stations. Prepare for a fight. Miss Lome, prepare a shore party, myself included. Aah!"
Captain Fengel jerked back upon noticing Lina. And her pet. Runt uncurled and rose up to peer drunkenly at the pirate captain. "Chirr?" it asked, wavering a little.
Fengel regained his composure and glared at the scryn. "Miss Stone. I think that you shall accompany us too. Perhaps that creature of yours might be of help in an ambush."
He moved brusquely past. Lina's heart sank in her chest. Runt was not popular with the crew, and Captain Fengel had behaved oddly toward her since letting her keep it.
All hands meant everyone. Lina rolled Runt over her shoulders and took up her station beside the starboard rail. The crew bustled to find their own places. Equipment and arms lockers were thrown open. Muskets and pistols were passed to the best shots. Lina didn't get one, but that was just as well; she had only the barest idea of how to fire a gun.
Then came the waiting. The Dawnhawk floated through the air, quiet but for the creak of the ship and the whir of its propellers. The crew was watchful at first, taut with expectation. As minutes passed their tension faded. Hissed queries and suppositions went up and down the deck, quiet conversations about what they'd find, who built the ruins, and how they'd react to the pirates' presence. Lina joined in a little, but mostly kept a wary eye to the jungle down below, especially when the first mate stalked past her up the deck. He checked the stanchions and boarding-ropes, then ordered the idle chatter quiet. Lucian seemed on edge lately, frustrated about something. Lina kept her peace.
The smoke plume grew closer, a white, streaming beacon spiraling up through the canopy of the jungle. With each passing minute it thickened until, finally, they were almost over it. The airship slowed to a halt as terse orders rang out to the crew. Sarah Lome moved up the deck toward the bow. She paused by Lina and gestured for her to follow. Lina stood and followed obediently to where Captain Fengel, Henry Smalls, and several others waited.
This wasn't the first time they'd investigated one of the fires. The officers conferred and apparently saw nothing immediately alarming. Lina watched as Sarah hefted a sky-anchor and threw it down to catch the canopy below. Maxim came forward, along with Lucian. The aetherite was going ashore as well, though Lucian, as first mate, would likely stay behind, watching and ready to get them all aloft again in a hurry.