My fingers were beginning to burn from the wind. I carefully flexed them to keep feeling in them.

More of the strange creatures dropped through the cloud cover and curved toward us.

The frame of the ship shook violently, once and then again, as the cannons fired.

One of the figures closed its wings by crossing its arms over its chest and plummeted down toward us.

It closed the distance faster than I could believe. Like something out of a nightmare, claw-like fingers grabbed at me. They raked across the wet exterior of my coat but could find no purchase. The thing fell away with a snarl, leaving the impression of a clockwork gargoyle, all gears, stitches and teeth.

Down below us the thing slammed into the main deck. I fired once and missed. Cursing, I loaded the next bullet and took aim. It pulled something out of the folds of dark cloth that covered it. Suddenly it was bathed in bright green light. It was a flare!

I shot it in the chest causing it to collapse but the damage was done.

“They’ve seen us!”