Ah, a nice entry to the sci-fantasy challenge. It really sets up a whole adventure for the reader to imagine…Star Trek with magic wands!

I like it. A lot. However, if I may give a constructive opinion, it’s this: assume your reader is a bit smarter than you think they are. I think there are small parts of your story you could have omitted to improve flow while not losing any essence of your story. For example, I believe, “…they had constructed,” and “…mage, and acolyte,” and, “…to make sure there were no mistakes in the casting,” were not absolutely necessary. The point, that wizards are using magic to fly a ship, became very clear in the second paragraph. The reason I like the story stems from its deviation from focusing so much on the magic/tech and onto the doubt and excitement. Hope that helps!

This has enticed me enough to want to know what happens next. I truly like the concept.