by B G Mitchell
Gary smiled and replied with a grateful sounding, “Thanks.” He then took the sword and unsheathed it. It felt light in his hands and flexible as well but did not have the same metal marks as the Japanese sword but was in the same shape. He heard the smaller gate open, and appearing before him was what he assumed an officer who did not wear a breast plate but a double breasted jack and no helmet, a couple more guards. The officer himself was a tall elf with black hair which had a blond streak in it. He gave them a sizing up before saying in a rather gruff tone, “I am Derickeer, commander of the ship you will be using, the black glory. Please follow me.” With that, he turned and pushed the gate open, allowing Bloodhammer and Gary into the base
Once inside, Gary was treated to a typical dock seen with the odd boat floating in the harbour, a couple of cranes about, and a few brick warehouses, and of course soldiers going about their business. Eventually they came to another dock which contained a ship. He assumed it should have had sails on it, but did not. As he climbed up the gang plank, he was able to make out the details of the ship more clearly. It seemed to be in the shape of a rectangle, about sixty meters long and twenty meters wide. On each side were nine sets of large cannons grouped into threes, and on the front and back there were just four cannons, which seemed to be longer and slightly smaller. About ten meters from the front were two large paddle wheels. There also happened to be two large paddle wheels at the back, and they happened to be next to two chimney stacks, which gave Gary the suspicion that the boat must be steam powered. Also on the deck were about four smaller boats next to cranes which looked like they could be swung out so the boats could be lowered. At the front was a small tower that he assumed was the control centre of the boat.
Gary was impressed but wondered what such a large ship was doing in a lake until he actually caught a view of the lake itself. It seemed to be a huge expanse of water that seemed to stretch on and on. He could not see land anywhere on the horizon. He heard Derickeer shouting out some orders as Bloodhammer motioned him towards stairs that led below deck.
Once below, Gary found the interior to be mostly wood based. He was led to a cabin which contained a bunk bed a simple wooden table and a chair. He also noticed the only light was coming from a lantern as there were no windows in the hull. Bloodhammer had already claimed the bottom bunk, leaving Gary the top one. As he lay down, Bloodhammer let out a long sigh.
“As a dwarf, I never much liked the water, and now we are surrounded by it.”
Before Gary could reply, there sounded like and felt like the ship was about to move, leaving Bloodhammer looking slightly pale as the steamer wheels started splashing. Gary decided to leave him to his gloom. “Well, now that they are on the move, I think I better set up the tome upstairs.” He had now started using that phrase as everyone had started to look at him weirdly whenever he mentioned laptop. Bloodhammer waved him on as he took the chance to bolt and rushed up stairs to avoid the dwarf that had started to look rather green at the gills.
When on the deck, he went towards the tower he saw in front of the boat where he passed the odd elf sailor. Instead of being dressed with the amour breast plate, they seemed to be wearing light blue pants and a light blue shirt. Derickeer stepped out of his control tower where he turned to Gary who noticed he was dressed a bit more like an officer with the addition of a double breasted jacket.
“Well, we are on our way. Luckily this little voyage is part of our standard patrol, so it looks like to the Morkains nothing is out of the ordinary.” He then pointed towards the laptop. “Is that the tome orders are talking about?”
“Yes, I was planning to set it up on the bridge to see how far we have to go.”
Derickeer looked over the horizon. “Strange magic you have there. I have heard of tracking spells but not one that works more than twenty leagues.” He turned around and headed back in, followed by Gary. The bridge itself had a horn which he assumed was used to pass information to the engine room. It also had a couple of levers with brakes on them and no steering wheel. He found a table in front of the main window where the map of the lake was pinned and already had a drink stain on it (as per the rule of maps).
Gary then powered on the laptop and waited for it to load up. Once it finally did, he easily found the signal which was now up to two bars. Not a good sign as he would of thought they would be a lot closer. He tried to connect on the off chance he could quench his twenty-first century brain’s need to check his email, but the network he was trying to connect to required a password. He would have had the tools to break in, but of course needed a connection to the internet before he could get the tools, and he was rather out of practice.
He turned to Derickeer, who was looking over his shoulder. “Well, not much more we can do but wait till we get closer to the signal.” Derickeer nodded before Gary continued, keen to find out more about the ship. “So is this ship coal powered then?”
Derickeer smiled. “Yes, we use the special magical created coal blocks,” he continued in a tone that indicated his love of the vessel he was commanding. “The Black Glory is one of the most up to date war ships built for this lake and can do eight leagues in an hour if there are no heavy waves about, so she is fast for her size and agile too.” He then pointed to the levers. “And we have the ability to disconnect the either left hand or right hand paddles, enabling us to turn this ship in about a quarter of a league. Ccome, I will show you the heart of the ship: the engine rooms.”
He then went down another flight of stairs in the cabin, down about four stories, and walked down a long, narrow corridor passing crew quarters, storage rooms, and the mess until he reached a large, braced door which Derickeer pushed open with a heavy motion. Inside was a large room that was quite hot, and the cause of the heat was soon discovered as two massive round steel boilers, and in between them was a collection of pistons that seemed to be attached to what he assumed was the drive shaft that he guessed went to the paddle wheels. The place also seemed to have a lot of black blocks which one sailor picked up with a pair of tongs and put it into a furnace, leaving a huge flare and a wave of warmth in the room.
He turned to Derickeer and had to almost shout to be heard above the sound of the pistons. “Why is the coal in that shape? Surely it would be easier to cast a spell on normal coa.l” Derickeer nodded as they hit the end of the ship and turned a corner to be greeted by another two boilers and a collection of pistons attached to another drive shaft. Derickeer opened another door and allowed Gary through, then closed the door, allowing his voice to be heard at last.
“Well, what happens is we take the coal ore and magically melt it first to make it denser, and then reform it into blocks. We find it is cleaner, easier to store, and generates a lot more heat. We have just approved this process now. It was developed by our military. They are also developing steam engines that can work on land. Personally, I will believe it when I see it.”
Gary smiled with his insider knowledge and replied, “Well, it sounds interesting, and I am amazed what you have managed to accomplish. Has this ship been in any battles yet?”
Derickeer led up one flight of stairs and then replied on the second floor, “Not many. A few skirmishes mostly, it seems the Morkaingin prefer to use warships taken straight from their sea fleet. The problem with that is they need to operate at a certain depth, and given the flatness of our hull, we have more than once managed to win a battle buy hit and runs from the shoreline.” He then stopped next to Gary’s cabin when they heard the sound of the dwarf asleep, which sounded like a pair of lumberjacks with a rusty blade trying to cut a redwood.
Gary thought of the options and came up with a plan. “I think I better head to deck to check the signal on the laptop, and you can tell me about some of your battles.”
Derickeer nodded, eager to talk about his ship and relive past glories like any sailor, and they climbed up the stairs to the deck.
Lathenia sat behind the library desk. She was in the reference part of the grand library,
which contained a copy of the entire ancient scrolls from the library across the sea in the Elven homeland, most of which where thousands of years old, including one that she had managed to read. It contained a reference about a lost tribe of Desert Elves that she suspected might be the ancestor of the dark elves. How they managed to cross the sea and arrive here before even, according to some reports, the human population, is still up for debate. She then heard footsteps coming towards her, which was a bit odd as normally this reference section was only used by students in the university who had chosen to study elven history (the problem with elven history is if you go back six to seven hundred years, you’re bound to find someone who was around back then and it ends up being an exercise in taking witness statements). She felt a shadow fall on her desk and, feeling slightly annoyed, looked up to see the face of her father, Arderan. The look on his face concerned her. It was rather like someone telling a child that their dog had to be put down.
He cleared his throat and spoke rather softly. “It is about the dark elf."
“Sylviania.” Lathenia quickly interjected. The look on her father’s face got slightly darker at the mention of her name. The thought popped into her head that the council had decided to put the elf to death, but she let her father continue.
“The council has decided to integrate Sylviania using a strengthened elixir of truth and a burning cross.”
Lathenia put down her scroll. That form of integration was one of the most extreme and the use of which required unanimous council approval, which was a worry because not even she would go against the council without at least one ally.
Her father, seeking to fill the shocked silence, spoke up again. “I did try and talk them down a more lenient path, but they felt, given our past history with the Dark Elves, that we should be on our guard. It is the only way to be sure that she is not being psychically controlled or is a scout of an army.”
Lathenia had a chance to put her thoughts in order. The council was right. Her cousins were well known for their tricks. Even she could not sense the intentions of one protected by a powerful goddess. Lathenia nodded simply and replied, “Of course. Given our history with the elves, it is the only logical choice. I assume the council w me to prepare the elixir?”
Her father nodded and then left. She told herself while reading it was the right choice, the dark elves had used many forms of attack against their cousins. Still, there was part of her that felt like this elf was different. She was not the terror that struck under the blackness of light. She did not seem like a Dark Elf priestess drunk on power. She looked at the book again and told that part of her to keep quiet.
So far the ship had made good speed, and Gary was rather enjoying the journey even thought his bunk mate, Bloodhammer, had spent most of it hiding in his room, groaning loudly. They were halfway across the lake now and passed one or two islands, but the signal strength had just increased to one bar. He looked at the laptop and sighed. They would soon be across the border into Morkangin. Derickeer turned up beside him, followed by the ever elusive Bloodhammer.
He then interrupted Gary thoughts. “How does it look?”
Gary looked as his laptop and shook his head. “Not good. It looks like the signal is across the border. It may even possibly be on land.”
Derickeer looked thoughtful for a second (really, he should have been smoking a pipe and stroking a white beard to complete his sea dog look) then spoke up. “Well, I can go in another five leagues in close enough so you can reach the shore with a boat.”
For some reason an excursion into enemy territory made Bloodhammer’s face light up, and he replied, “Sounds like a plan. Will we be close to any form of civilization?”
Derickeer turned to a map on a table, followed by Bloodhammer and a rather reluctant Gary. He then pointed towards a spot on the opposing shore. “Sepends if you want to be or not. I can get you as far away as four leagues or as close as half a league.”
Bloodhammer looked at the map quickly then pointed towards a symbol that marked a town on a map. “How large is Gyrith?”
Derickeer scratched his chin. “Well, quite large. It was a fishing village but now handles any trade on the lake, so about four to five thousand people.”
“Perfect,” replied Bloodhammer. “Large enough so that no one will notice a dwarf and a human adventurer, freshly arrived in town.”
Gary looked at the map. It was a plan, and it was close to the straight line he had been following. He did want to find the source of the signal but was glad he had a sword with him, given the state of pockets of humanity in his realm he dreaded to think what pockets of humanity were like in this realm.
Nataylia awoke with a blink of her eyes. In the last couple of days she had found it a great comfort that Lucinda had allowed her to stay over at her house. At least she would be close by if she heard a message from her sister. Her relationship with Lucinda struck her as a bit strange. She had provided her with a shoulder to cry on and had been more then helpful when her sister went missing, something she was grateful for as she could see that Lucinda had a lot on her plate as she was trying to keep the city together and actually succeeding, but it seemed she spent most of her time in the office, and Nataylia strongly suspected that on the odd night she ended up spending the night in there. But if she was tired, Lucinda hid it well.
She then moved from her bed and headed to the bathroom where she had a bowl of warm water set up. She washed her face and did a quick sponge bath before slipping into a more formal and suitable dress, and she headed out of her room. She then went to the kitchen where there was just one servant left, an elderly Dark Elf known as Douren who had taken the liberty of preparing the breakfast for both her and Lucinda, which consisted of slices of mushroom based bread, a jug of water, and a dried fish, as well as some berries imported from the dwarves, a luxury unheard of before. She grabbed a tray as Douren walked in. She was an elderly lady dark elf whose streak of black hair was starting to match the rest of her silver hair. She also had the odd wrinkle starting to appear here and there. She smiled when she saw Nataylia and almost bowed, but stopped herself. It was one of the changes Lucinda had made. No longer did the nobles expect a bow, and it had been an easy law to pass as there had been a lack of nobles in the first place.
She grabbed the two food trays and turned to Douren and said, “Not to worry, I will take breakfast up to Lucinda.”
She rushed out of the door as she heard Douren reply back with, “Thank you.”
The first place that she checked was Lucinda’s room, only to find her bed still made. She then moved on to her office where she found Lucinda still behind the desk looking at papers and drawing up plans that no doubt helped the city to feed itself. Nataylie popped the food tray down next to her.
Lucinda looked up briefly and smiled at Nataylia. “Thanks for that.”
“I just wanted to thank you for your help with my sister. Tt means a lot to me.”
Lucinda smiled and replied, “No problem.” Shethen looked back at her paperwork.
Nataylia then decided she needed to speak up. “When was the last time you relaxed and took a day off?”
Lucinda looked up from her papers again then seemed to be stuck in thought for a moment and shrugged her shoulders in the universal gesture of “not entirely too sure.” She then decided this was not enough and replied, “To be honest, not since Zateria’s followers left us, but I have a city to run.” She then looked like she was going to pick up another set of papers before changing her mind and standing up. She then turned to the window to look over the city. She said in a voice that seemed to hold a lot of emotions back, “I know I am not the easiest person to talk to or get along with as I spend so much time in my little office, but I do appreciate your efforts and what you have done for the city.”
Nataylia got up next to Lucinda. Lucindaput her hand on Nataylia’s shoulder, She responded by crossing her arm and putting her hand on Nataylia’s.
The silence in the boat was sti
fling as they got closer and closer to the shore. Gary could almost hear Bloodhamer’s hands grip his axe tighter. They had waited until very early in the morning before sending their small team to shore, which consisted of him, Bloodhammer, and about four elven marines, should anything go wrong. They had spent a good hour watching the shoreline, making sure there were no man made lights before approaching the shore in the pitch darkness at a snail’s pace. Once they hit the shore, almost everyone jumped at the sound when the boat slowly grinded into the stony beach. One of the marines had to check to make sure they were in contact with solid land as it had been decided that Bloodhammer and Gary needed to remain dry, as wet pants would be a sure sign they had just waded in from the lake. Once the boat had breached, another marine jumped off and gave Gary and Bloodhammer a hand as they disembarked. He then helped the second marine silently push the boat out to water as the dwarf and human silently jogged towards the tree line. Once there, they ducked behind a tree, and Bloodhammer looked around, making sure no one was about, as Gary checked he had the ruck sack with the laptop and a supply of food and some coinage not from the elven realm. He also checked he had his sword. Then he nodded to Bloodhammer, who got up, which was swiftly followed by Gary, who pulled up a the cowl of his cloak around his head, and they walked until they found the main road which they then proceeded to follow.
By then, the sun was starting to rise, and soon traffic would be flowing. It also enabled Gary to see a couple of papers tucked up on the side of trees, one of which contained what looked like a wanted poster. Intrigued, he got close to one and saw the face. It looked familiar and, even if he did so, rather handsome. Bloodhammer came over to him and said in a whispered and slightly frustrated tone, “What is it? We got to get moving.” He then took a look at that picture as Gary’s mind finally clicked. At that moment they rushed towards the forest and jumped behind a conveniently place bush. Bloodhammer then whispered in an even more frustrated tone, “I thought you said you were from another dimension.”