She was right, of course. His strength had not been enough to defeat Flay or Goronwy, nor retrieve the Tear from them. “If he’s willing.”
He was willing, as was Hiro. The three of them departed from the monastery walls within the hour.
“Do you know their last location?” Takeda made room for Hiro between them as they lifted into the air.
Gareth wore Greyfriar’s costume again, although he only looped his long scarf around his neck. “Close enough.”
Takeda said nothing more as they flew through the towering mountains of black granite. Keeping their bodies flat and actually increasing their density to fight against the crushing gusts, they tore along a valley to the east. Gareth pointed down and they descended toward a distant plateau where the Edinburgh should have been moored. The ship was nowhere to be seen. Gareth caught the faintest hint of blood and smoke in the gusting winds. That did not bode well.
They veered north, trying to follow the scent. It wasn’t long before they saw wreckage strewn across the plateau. Bodies lay partially buried under a fine dusting of snow. A cold sweat gripped Gareth as they followed the trail of debris from high above.
Finally he saw the airship far below. It lay almost on its side, the masts digging into the ground. A deep furrow cut almost a hundred feet behind it. The dirigible was still intact. Suddenly there was a volley of gunfire. Takeda veered off, as did Gareth. Hiro dove down to the ground and they followed him, dropping out of sight from the sharpshooters. Hiro stuck his finger through a bullet hole in his tunic.
Gareth wrapped his face and pulled up his hood. He was completely Greyfriar once again. Even the timbre of his voice was quite different. “I’ll walk in so as not to alarm anyone with a large gun. Stay behind me. Far behind me.”
They trod over the frozen ground for more than a mile until the zeppelin came into view through a narrow crevice. Greyfriar studied the area around them to make sure there weren’t snipers positioned. He slipped up to the last outcropping before the open plateau where the airship lay.
“Put down your guns! It’s Greyfriar! I’m coming in.” Despite the faint sound of rifle bolts clicking, he stepped into the clearing. He had his hands up. “There are two with me!”
The figure of Major Shirazi climbed onto the rail. Light flared off his spyglass. “Come ahead!”
Greyfriar muttered to Takeda and Hiro, “Be so good as to not mention I’m a vampire, would you? These fellows don’t know.”
The two vampires exchanged looks of incredulity and Greyfriar strode forward to the beached airship. He climbed up onto the tilting deck, followed by the more cautious Takeda and Hiro. He shook Shirazi’s hand and accepted comradely greetings from the Harmattan, while the major stared past him at the two vampires with undisguised hatred.
Captain Hariri emerged from the causeway and limped toward them. He was greatly relieved to see Greyfriar, but he too looked at the vampires with nervous suspicion. He didn’t wait for Greyfriar’s obvious question. “A pack came at us. We were lucky to spot them before they hit. Managed to get airborne to run for it. It was no good. They crippled us. We lost maybe a third of the men.” He glanced angrily at Takeda and then back to Greyfriar. “Friends of yours, eh?”
“Yes, from the monastery.” Greyfriar took in the rust-colored bandage on the captain’s leg. “How bad is the ship?”
“They slashed sails, cut rigging, and smashed a good number of the yards. And crashing didn’t do us much good either. The poor girl is a mess.”
Greyfriar slammed his hand against the rail. “Can she fly at all?” If not, they were trapped here in Tibet while Goronwy roamed free.
Hariri scanned the chaotic deck and the huge dirigible overhead with its dented aluminum cage. He took a deep breath. “She’ll float, aye, but I don’t know how she’ll sail. She won’t get far without major repairs, I can tell you that.”
“As far as the monastery?”
The captain laughed and wiped his brow. “Up those slopes? It would be a feat worthy of a wizard.” Then he realized the swordsman was serious.
Greyfriar met his stunned gaze with mirrored glasses. “You have demonstrated magical flight before.”
“In gales as strong as these? And settling this ship on the precipice that monastery sits on?” Hariri shrugged with a sardonic frown. “Maybe.”
Greyfriar moved his gaze slowly over the soldiers and the ship’s captain. In a low voice, he said, “Make ready then. Your empress needs you.”
A grueling six hours later, the Edinburgh struggled to lift off the ground. As it cleared the dirt, the ship listed dangerously. Thick cables and metal stays groaned, threatening to part and leave the hull of the ship dangling helplessly from the dirigible. Men scurried with heavy bars to pry several cannons from their carriages and manhandle them over the side. Hariri ordered venting gas to balance her out.
The wind gusted. The entire crew held their breath and watched the canvas fill. The spars held, and the Edinburgh swept about the mountain’s waist. Every draft of wind threatened to force the ship to careen into the rocks. Still, the little vessel put her shoulder down and got to work, her destination the monastery.
Greyfriar made his way forward, following the pitch of the ship as it was buffeted by the wind. Takeda followed, and they stood at the bow looking down the length of the deck. The armed soldiers stared at the vampires, while fingering their rifles. Takeda and Hiro ignored that and followed the concert of airmen in motion with unique fascination.
“Exhilarating, isn’t it?” Greyfriar grinned at Takeda’s overawed expression.
“I have never seen its like. Yidak would be astounded.”
There was a cracking sound behind them. Greyfriar spun around to see the jib boom splintering back over the bowsprit. Cables parted one by one. Spritsails tore loose in the wind. The ship came about wildly to starboard. The deck shifted beneath their feet as Captain Hariri and the bosun competed to shout profane orders that would hopefully bring the Edinburgh into the wind. A phalanx of airmen scrambled out along the bowsprit, unmindful that nothing was between them and the Earth far below but a few frayed cables. Shouts echoed as men struggled to make fast the shaking jib boom before it took the entire bowsprit with it.
Hiro surged forward onto the gunwale, desperate to help. A heavy mainstay snapped loose with the sound of a cathedral bell. The metal buckle flailed through the air and bashed Hiro in the head causing a gush of blood. He staggered, but still fought to brace the bowsprit even while loose rigging flew wildly around him.
Greyfriar had a sudden terrifying flash of falling while entangled in the ropes, but he still pulled the last airman off the failing mast. The tangled spritsails ballooned in the wind, dragging the ship around toward the mountainside. He grabbed Hiro before the boy was dragged over the side in a mass of cables.
“Let it go!” Greyfriar shouted. “Let it go!”
“They need it!” Hiro argued.
“Cut it away!” Hariri called from the waist. “It’s pulling us over!”
Crewmen rushed forward with axes. They chopped splintered timber and cut snaking cables. The jib boom roared past, nearly decapitating the lot of them. Takeda took one of the axes and lent his formidable strength to freeing the ship from the tangled morass. When he cut through the mainstay cable that Hiro was holding, there was a crashing tumult as the bowsprit cracked off the ship. Greyfriar and the boy tumbled back onto the deck. The ship righted itself and veered away from the treacherous jagged cliffs. Hariri came forward and put his hand on Greyfriar’s shoulder, studying the damage with dismay.
Hiro stared in disappointment. A rivulet of blood flowed from the gash on his scalp, but he didn’t notice it, he was so caught up in the excitement. Crewmen rushed to clear the aftermath, but two of them stopped, and almost without thinking, clapped Hiro on the back in a gesture of gratitude. If there was one thing these men appreciated, it was shared danger and a love of their ship.
The boy weaved to the rail and leaned over.
“Can we still land without that?”
“Captain Hariri has sailed with less.” Greyfriar turned to Hariri. “Right?”
“No. Never.” Hariri made his way back to the quarterdeck, where he gave orders to furl sails except for the small topgallants. The topmen looked like spiders climbing out along the yards over the treacherous open air. Below them, a cruel death waited.
Takeda’s eyes widened. He dropped a firm hand on Hiro’s shoulder before the blood-soaked lad could dart up into the tops to join them and disrupt their work. “They cannot fly, but they risk such precarious work.”
“This coming from the man who dove into the water to save me,” noted Greyfriar.
Takeda shrugged, but then grinned. They held onto the rail as the ship labored through another tremulous tack. The monastery came into view, a vision of silver against the dark mountain. The Edinburgh slowed, but not near enough to Greyfriar’s experienced eye. They swept toward the monastery at far too swift a speed.
Hiro moved to the crushed rail and waved to the vampires on the ramparts, signaling all was well. Greyfriar saw Adele in the courtyard with Anhalt and Yidak beside her. He chuckled when Adele shouted orders and vampires raced to comply, Yidak included.
“Where do you intend to land it?” Takeda wanted to know.
Greyfriar looked almost roguish. “Right in the main courtyard, I should think.”
Small bow chaser cannons bellowed on the foredeck and grappling hooks flew out with cables snaking after. Steel hooks embedded into the mountain and the walls of a temple. More lines blasted out to create an intricate spider’s web around the little ship. The first lines frayed and tore free from their anchors. Men tossed cables down to the ramparts, and the vampires grabbed them, putting their strength to the task of slowing the Edinburgh. Takeda and Hiro leapt off and descended rapidly to the walls. They grabbed lines and heaved back on them. The ropes creaked with the strain.
The cries of hundreds struggling to bring the mighty ship to a halt before it crashed into the white slope of the monastery rose like a prayer. The ship’s forward momentum eased and the dirigible cage bumped against the pillars of the main temple with nothing more than a light bounce.
Adele let go of the rope she manned with Anhalt and Yidak. The old vampire had a broad grin on his face. His bellow of laughter rang across the square. The crew of the Edinburgh whooped with triumph and the vampires joined in, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
It was an odd sight, Greyfriar thought. Never would he have imagined vampires and humans working together. The monumental accomplishment had kept either side from thinking about their enemy. There was only the task at hand.
Adele waved vigorously up at Greyfriar, the smile on her perspiring face beaming. Yidak followed her gaze and lifted his own hand in victory. Greyfriar leapt onto one of the anchor chains and slid down with his cloak flying behind. He touched down and seized Adele around the waist.
Captain Hariri limped down the lowered gangplank with Major Shirazi and the Harmattan marching in formation behind him. Hariri looked very tired and very cold. He shared an unnerved slump of his shoulders with all the men. They watched the vampires surrounding them with barely controlled panic. Hariri bowed to Adele, trying to take some comfort in her well-being and the fact that she seemed safe among these creatures. Shirazi stood by his troopers, all their rifles ready with bayonets gleaming. One hand rested on his pistol and in the other was a small grenade called a shrieker, which emitted a high-pitched sound harmful to vampires.
Adele smiled at the grim major and then clasped Hariri’s arm with comforting familiarity. “Captain, now that was a feat worthy of a legend!”
“Thank you.” Hariri laughed cynically. “It was. And with the ground crew we had to assist us, no one will believe it. Perhaps we shouldn’t try to convince them.”
“Someday they’ll believe,” she assured him. “How long before she’s ready to sail out?”
Hariri offered his best put-upon face. “Many days, if at all, Your Majesty.” Before Adele could protest, he continued quickly, “There’s spare timber, cable, and canvas in the hold, but I have lost men, both dead and wounded.”
“We will help you,” Yidak exclaimed almost joyfully. “Show us what we need to do, Captain, and we shall do it.”
Hariri couldn’t respond. He only stared nonplussed at the old vampire. Shirazi snorted in angry derision, watching the empress for her response.
Hariri rubbed his stubbled chin. “No matter what we have for labor, repairs will be makeshift at best. It will be a difficult and slow journey home.”
“We don’t have time for slow.” Adele leveled a commanding stare at her captain. “You will make use of Yidak’s people in whatever way you can; do you understand?”
Hariri bit his lip with concern. He glanced toward Anhalt, looking for some guidance. The general offered a confident smile that urged him to trust the empress’s judgment without question. Hariri accepted the advice begrudgingly, and bowed to Adele.
She asked, “Can you get us over the mountains?”
“You mean the mountains towering all around us? The highest mountains in the world?” The captain sighed.
“We’ll make for Delhi,” Adele stated with a firm set to her jaw. “That’s the nearest imperial port. We can acquire a new ship to pursue Goronwy.”
Anhalt asked with surprise, “You’re not returning to Alexandria?”
“No, General. I intend to run down Goronwy. In the air, if I can. If not, I’m going to Paris to kill him and retrieve the Tear of Death.”
CHAPTER 35
The next few days passed slowly for Adele. All she could think about was what Goronwy could be doing while they were stuck here. She wanted to spend every second studying and re-examining the blue crystal, for all it had been worth so far. Instead, she stabbed a heavy needle fiercely and sharply through thick canvas, dragging rough cord behind. Around her hunched the shoulders of numerous vampire monks all doing the same work as she, repairing sails as best they could. They sat in the limited lighting inside the main temple with the material stretched between all of them, each laboring awkwardly over a section. With each stitch, Adele’s impatience grew, but she tried to focus on the sewing. Finally her mending was done. Her fingers stung and her back ached. She reached for another section to continue working, but the vampire beside her said, “We are almost finished here. Go outside and see the sky.”
Adele nodded gratefully, pushing herself to her feet, feeling the stiffness in her limbs from sitting for hours on end. With shuffling steps that gradually became more limber, she headed out. The light blinded her for a moment, but then she drew a deep breath of the cold air, free of the smoke of the burning candles inside. She headed down to the ship with her camera looped over her neck.
Adele climbed onto the deck of the Edinburgh, relishing the scent of freshly sawn wood and the sound of hammers, as well as singing. She marveled again watching humans and vampires working together. The crew found that their mortal enemies learned quickly for the most part. A few demonstrations of the tool or the work, and it was quickly replicated. It didn’t mean there weren’t incidents and resentment, but overall it was more than Adele could have hoped for.
Her attention fell to the new rail under her hand. Intricate carvings weaved their way around the wood, delicate geometric shapes. Stooping in amazement, her fingers traced the beautiful artwork. It held the precision of Greyfriar’s hand, but joyous wonderment as well. When she lifted her head, she understood why.
She saw General Anhalt kneeling alongside Hiro. The boy was working at the end of the rail with a narrow chisel, shaving infinitesimal bits of the plain wood to form his designs. Then Adele saw his handiwork everywhere: on the rails, gunwales, and hatches. His focus was so complete he didn’t notice her until she walked over to him.
He looked up at her, his face perspiring despite the cool temperature. “You like it?”
Adele looked wonderingly at Anhalt. “Did you teach him t
his?”
The general shook his head. “I taught him nothing. He said he wanted to help improve the ship. He’s been spending all his time doing it. I’m just looking at it in amazement.”
She said to Hiro, “It’s beautiful.”
The ship’s old carpenter approached them. His kindly face puffed with pride. He actually placed a hand on the young vampire’s shoulder. “He’s a fine apprentice. A bit artistic for my taste, but you cannot deny he makes Edinburgh fit for royalty, Your Majesty.”
Adele nodded. “It’s about time she looked like the queen she is.” She bowed to the young vampire. “You do us honor, Hiro. Thank you.”
The boy’s blue eyes shone and he bent back to his task. Adele thought he looked a bit tired, and she was about to tell him to take a break when Shirazi’s stern voice came aft as he instructed a vampire on the use of a planer. “For spit’s sake, use both hands like I showed you!”
The vampire who crouched near the major lifted her head, making no effort to hide her scowl, but still she grasped the tool with both hands as the soldier demonstrated again with irritation. Shirazi came to his feet and saluted.
“Your Majesty, the ship is nearly ready to sail.”
“Excellent, Major,” she said. “Where is Greyfriar?”
Shirazi craned his head upward. “In the tops. Shall I send for him?”
“Not at all.” Her hand reached for the shrouds stretching up to the masts high above.
Major Shirazi immediately called for a crewman to swing over a bosun’s chair. Adele waved the contraption aside, refusing to be hoisted like some dainty maiden. She wore pants under her kaftan and the same thick boots as most of the men. The crew in the rigging hardly batted an eye as the empress pulled herself up onto the ratlines alongside them. Adele found bright prayer flags tied to the shrouds and fluttering in the wind. They brought a warmth to her chest to see them on her beloved ship.
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