Hummingbird

"I'd expected to see an ordinary longboat, so I was surprised at the little craft I saw bobbing alongside the Volkvolny. It was like no boat I'd ever seen. Its two hulls looked like a pair of hollowed-out shoes, and they were held together by a deck with a giant hole in its center." — Description, Siege and Storm

The Hummingbird was a small, light craft, meant to be able to sail and fly—being the predecessor of the Kingfisher. The Hummingbird was originally created by Nikolai Lantsov. It could be used to fly through winds created by Squallers.

History

Nikolai built and crashed multiple prototypes of the Hummingbird before finally creating one that flew smoothly. He takes Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev through the Shadow Fold, where they fight the volcra. Alina sights the Darkling on the deck of the ship and collapses, unintentionally withdrawing the only light keeping the volcra at bay. The Hummingbird starts to fall and crashes into a lake outside the Fold.

There, Nikolai is forced to reveal his identity in front of Alina and Mal. In its memory, and due to his need of a new ship, Nikolai Lantsov later creates the lighter and more graceful Kingfisher.

Description

The Hummingbird was a small craft with two curved hulls resembling hollowed-out shoes, connected by a deck with a hole in the center. The cockpit was nestled between two masts on the central deck, and its double sails were large and rectangular, requiring two crewmen each to control.