The Map Maker's Choice

by Matthew J. Krengel

  “What are they shipping in, anyway?” Jane shouted down to Actur and Eriunia, who were among the group investigating the supplies.

  Around her the ship hummed with activity as the rebels worked frantically to make ready to sail once more.

  “Mostly foodstuffs and construction supplies,” Actur shouted up from the center hold. “We found a few crates of weapons in the first hold.”

  He left the barrels and pushed open the door separating them from the last cargo section. Only about a dozen crates were in this hold, but they were massive. Actur grabbed a section of wood from one of the crates and pulled it loose. The light from the lanterns poured into the hole, and his eyes widened at when he saw. “You guys might want to come see this!” Actur shouted up to Jane and Carvin.

  “What is it?” Carvin asked.

  “Beats me,” Eriunia responded. She looked tiny next to the ­minotaur.

  “I’ll be right down,” Carvin turned and motioned to the others on deck. “Get the ship moving. We don’t want to get off schedule and cause suspicion when we arrive.”

  With those orders being carried out, Jane, Jackie, Carvin, and Jacob headed down the iron ladder into the belly of the ship. By the time they all got into the hold, Actur had finished tearing the crate apart. Rough-cut planks lay in a pile at the edge of the hold. The crate’s removal had revealed a metal monster.

  “Oh, my,” Jane muttered. Her eyes went wide as she stopped and looked at the construct before them. The best way she could describe it was a great iron suit that a man could stand inside. Huge gears and heavy pistons were built into the legs and arms. She guessed they would allow the user of the suit to lift huge loads and fire massive weapons.

  “A war machine designed to crush our rebellion, I think,” Eriunia muttered. She tapped the armor protecting the area where the driver would stand. “That would stop almost anything, and since it’s made from cold iron, it might even absorb the blast from one of their rifles.” The only way she would be able to stop one of these was with a well-placed shot from her bow. The rebel forces had some good archers, but not nearly enough for a battlefield full of these.

  “Well, I hope they don’t have these things in place already on Isle Royale. If they do, we could be walking into a trap,” Jacob said. He tinkered with the front plate until he got the thing to open and climbed up inside the metal suit. It took some trial and error, but they finally figured out how to strap him in. But no matter what they tried, the machine would not power up. Jacob had found two levers inside that he assumed could operate the movement of the machine, several buttons, and wheels that turned, but no matter what he did, nothing turned the machine on.

  “It’s got to be missing something,” Jacob said. He had turned every dial and pushed on every lever and button he could find. Finally he climbed down out of the suit and shrugged. He walked around back to where Eriunia was replacing a plate she had moved at the back of the suit, but she’d found nothing and just shrugged back at his questioning look.

  “There is a place back here that’s empty, but what goes in it is beyond my understanding,” Eriunia explained. She tapped on the metal plate as she turned to face the others. “They may protect against most weapons from the front and back, but the sides are open enough that an arrow will still penetrate through to the person inside. You may leave them to me and my archers. We can’t stop them all, but we could slow a few down.”

  “You can have them,” Jacob and Carvin said at the same time. The idea of facing one of these things in battle did not sound appealing to any of them. Even Actur scratched his hairy head, trying to decide how his infantry would fare against the metal abominations.

  “How long ’til we reach the island?” Jane asked finally. There was nothing they could do now to change their plans. The amount of cold iron on this ship was dampening her abilities, and she doubted even Jacob could manage an accurate jump to the other ships. They would have to hope the Adherents had not gotten too many of the metal suits in place and ready for battle or this could be a very one-sided fight.

  “Couple hours at most,” Carvin replied. “They’ve made some modifications to the engines that we’ll have to study. Even this vessel will outrun ours for short sprints. That’s probably why it wasn’t escorted, even so close to our base of power. They figured they’d be able to outrun any ship we could send after them.”

  They spent the next hour and a half getting all signs of the battle removed from the deck and making sure their disguises were perfect. Weapons were hidden under cloaks and inside sashes. They didn’t need anyone with sharp eyes spotting the shiny steel and sounding an alarm as they were docking. Utilizing a stash of black robes located in one of the cabins, soon Jane and Jackie were dressed in matching outfits. Jane groaned as she slipped into the rough black material. She tucked her hands into the sleeves and assumed a solemn look. Jackie laughed at her, despite the tense atmosphere.

  “You look horrible,” Jackie snickered, pointing at Jane. “Black does not look good on you.” She was nervous and a bit scared despite all they had been through. She hoped a little humor might help all of them relax while they waited. Slowly, the dark smudge on the horizon grew larger.

  “You don’t look great, either,” Jane shot back. “When you decided on bridesmaid dresses, I didn’t think they’d be Adherent black.”

  “Oh, there’s an idea,” Jackie laughed. “Thanks.” She smiled and then pulled the hood of her robe forward, hiding most of her features.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Jane groaned. “I’ll refuse to wear it.”

  Jacob laughed at them, but he was having his own problems. Few Adherents carried a sword and a dragon-scale shield. He was trying to hide these under his robe, ending up looking like a hunchback in the process.

  Thankfully, night was coming on, and they would have the advantage of darkness as they infiltrated the city. Another hour passed, and finally the harbor opened up before them.

  “I think they’ve added to the defenses,” Jacob said softly. They were sliding into the harbor under the watchful eyes of dozens of cannons and scores of soldiers. This was not a city still rebuilding after the devastating fires caused by Yerdarva, but a city ready for war and filled with troops. They had badly underestimated the Adherents’ will to push back. Surprise was the advantage they held now, but that could be short lived.

  “They rebuilt more quickly then I imagined they would,” Jane commented. She stood next to Jacob as they slid up next to an Ironship with the name Black Wing stenciled on the side. It was a massive, brooding ship the equal to any of the ships they controlled. Rank after rank of silent cannons filled the decks, and two rows of cold iron hatches hid what Jane assumed were more cannon.

  “I only count four ships here, though,” Jacob pointed out. “Nothing like the dozen they had before.”

  “So, preparing for something big, but it hasn’t arrived yet?” Jackie asked. She was standing a couple steps to the right. Maybe the concentration of troops on the island was not as high as they thought it might be.

  “Possibly,” Jacob replied. “I see three ships in the dry docks.” Jacob nodded toward where the ships were taking shape. They were barely visible through the gathering gloom. He was amazed they had managed to get back into shipbuilding this fast. According to reports, the fires stoked by Yardarva had burned for weeks.

  The sun was setting as they tied the ship off at the pier, and Jane groaned inwardly as a dozen soldiers started up the plank to the ship. Questions were asked, and Carvin took the lead answering them. He seemed to pass whatever tests the black robes were giving and the disguised rebels were finally allowed to disembark. Jane and the others made their way up one of the nearby streets but stopped within sight of the docks to watch as the ship was unloaded. The crates containing the machine warriors were hauled into several wagons and taken northwest toward the fortress.

/>   “All right,” Carvin said quietly. The others were gathered around, standing off to the side of the road in the shadow of a nearby house. Fourteen soldiers in one group led by Eriunia and Bella were tasked with clearing the southern watchtowers. The smaller group of eight, which included Jane, Jackie, Jacob, and Carvin, were going to break into the castle and barricade themselves into the jails. There they thought they would find Tasker and maybe a few more allies to aid them in the coming fight.

  “You know what needs to be done,” Carvin said quietly. He shook Eriunia’s hand and nodded to her. “Good luck and godspeed.” He knew the elf would not fail in her task and that what his team faced was much more difficult. The inner fortress would be well guarded and much harder to break into.

  “You also,” Eriunia replied.

  She turned and motioned to her group to follow her. She led them south along an avenue wide enough for them to spread out and avoid looking suspicious. Her force was composed of elves and humans—the best fighters and archers the rebellion could find. Under their robes each had two quivers and at least a pair of short swords designed for close combat. Daggers and knives would win this day, not cannons and massed troops. With the feelings that most Adherents displayed toward the less numerous races, Carvin and Eriunia had chosen the strike team carefully. They needed to blend in and be able to avoid notice while moving from tower to tower.

  The island city was big, and it took them almost an hour to arrive at the southern edge of the island and get to work. The city blocks on this side were composed of only a few houses. In places, only a single dwelling sat in the middle of each plot of land. Most of these houses were elaborate and surrounded by decorative walls. Directly along the shore, Eriunia counted eight stone watchtowers connected by a thick wall high enough to shield a person standing behind it but low enough to still fire over it. Attacking the city with the barrier defended by Adherents would be difficult and cost hundreds of lives. That was something to be avoided at all costs.

  “That one there,” Eriunia pointed to the first tower. “Be quiet and careful. I need each of you alive at the end of the night.”

  Grim faces nodded. Each shed the Adherent robes, revealing warriors ready to fight. Eriunia led the way up to the first stone-arched door and carefully slid it open. Inside, at the base of the tower, was a room fifteen feet across and the same deep. She saw bunks on one wall and a table with a few provisions on the other. On the far side of the room, a wooden stair led to the second floor. Two Adherents were sleeping in the bunks. They were unconscious and tied to their bunks before the knew what happened.

  “Let’s go,” Eriunia whispered.

  The second floor was an armory, containing a dozen muskets and two repeaters. Since no one was there, Eriunia ignored the weapons for the time being and went to the small set of stairs that led to the third floor. Carefully, she raised the trap door leading to the top floor and looked around. Two soldiers lounged against the wall, neither one looking south. Eriunia tossed a pebble across the floor. The skittering rock drew their attention for a split second.

  “Go!” Eriunia hissed. She threw the trapdoor wide and launched a throwing knife across the room. It caught the first guard as he turned toward the entrance and silenced him immediately. Then two of her soldiers were over the top and overtook the second man.

  “One of you keep watch while the other brings the weapons up here,” she directed them. “If you can’t hold the tower, destroy the weapons and get out.” They nodded. She led the rest of her force back to the main floor. The next tower was two hundred yards to the east, and she knew it would fall as quickly as the first.

  Eriunia and her force took seven towers in rapid succession. The night sky was beginning to brighten when she left the last one with its doors locked behind her. Despite the protests of her last two soldiers, she meant to make it to the castle. They had secured their area, and already she spotted the rebel ships steaming toward them, riding low in the water. She needed to know if the Adherents had managed to get any of those massive machines operating. They could make a horrible difference in the coming battle, and she wanted them out of commission if possible. Eriunia jogged north through a maze of streets and stone houses. She knew a massive copper mine lay north of her position, so she made for it. From there she hoped to get a better grasp on what was happening in the Adherent base.

  When she arrived at the edge of the open pit, she skidded to a halt and stared in amazement. Arranged in orderly rows throughout the pit were at least a hundred of the mechanical suits. Over half of them were operational and going through drills as soldiers learned to use them. A scattering of Adherent officers shouted commands and pointed out obstacles for the soldiers to go around or targets for them to shoot. She had to do something. When word spread that the rebels were attacking, they would be driven back into Lake Superior by these machines and killed. She hid behind a small rocky outcropping, watching and trying to decide what to do.

  Eriunia searched her mind for a way to take the mechanical suits out of commission, but it seemed hopeless. She was about to turn and run for the south, where she knew the rebel ships were probably already hitting the shores, when she spotted the power source for the suits. It was something her people had used before, a type of generator that drew its power from the interaction of a certain copper compound inside a cold iron case. She knew one way to disable them, but the release of power would be tremendous. Unless she could find a way to contain the blast, it would level this part of the city.

  Her sharp eyes scanned the mine, searching for a way to make her hastily conceived plan work. Then she spotted the shaft leading down into the ground. Where the copper veins became too thin on the surface, the Adherents had drilled a shaft into the ground. If she could lure the suited warriors into that place, the island might survive what was about to happen.

  Throwing caution to the wind, Eriunia slipped over the side of the copper mine and slid down to the bottom. An officer stood about ten feet from her, but his attention was on the recruit in front of him. Eriunia darted to the side and slid to the ground behind a stack of crates.

  5: Power Overload

  Jane and Jacob stood at the corner of the castle wall and looked up. One of the soldiers with them scrambled up the side and dropped a rope for them. One at a time, they scurried up the walls and over the top., where a short and silent attack neutralized the lookouts in the two towers overlooking the gatehouse. Then Jane left the gate slightly propped open. She hoped no one would notice until the rebels arrived to take the place.

  “Here, let me help,” Jacob said. He used his sword to cut the ropes used in opening and closing the big gate. Then they smashed the gears in the small stone hut. No one would be operating the gate from there anytime soon. Despite all they had done so far, the area remained silent, and it seemed to Jacob that everyone must have gathered somewhere else. The courtyard was deserted, but they stuck to the shadows until they reached the building that housed the entrance to the prison cells. Carvin and Jackie ignored the spot where Carvin’s father had died. The memories of the horrors they both suffered in this place were too dark and neither wanted to remember them.

  “Looks clear,” Jacob reported.

  The door was closed and locked, but Bella fluttered up to an open window and wormed her way inside. She carefully dropped shimmering nets of fairy magic over the few guards and strengthened the hold sleep already had on them. Then she fluttered over and slowly unlocked the door. It creaked a little as she turned the lock but finally clicked open.

  “Tie them up for now,” Jacob said.

  The couple of soldiers with them grabbed lengths of rope from a nearby pile and cut it into sections, which they tied the guards with while Bella focused on enhancing their sleep so none of them awoke.

  “All right, let’s check the cells,” Jackie said when the last Adherent was roped to his bed. “Keep an eye on things h
ere.” Three of the soldiers nodded and took up positions inside the door. One of them turned the lock back to secure it.

  “And I’d brace that door shut,” Jackie told the soldier. “This could be our home for a while.” She hoped she was wrong, but they had to prepare for a long siege if the battle to take the island stretched out.

  Jacob led the way into the depths of the building with his shield ready. Almost immediately, they walked into trouble. Jane slid a door open and Jacob stepped into it just as a pair of Adherent officers came into the far side of the hallway. They stared at each other in shock until Carvin pushed his arm past Jacob and dropped one of the men with a blast from his pistol.

  “Get down!” Jackie shouted.

  Thankfully, Jacob dropped instantly. Her shot whizzed through the space his head had just been. The blast caught the second Adherent as he dove for cover and sent him rolling into the far wall, where he lay groaning. A second blast from Jackie’s musket silenced him, and they jogged to the door leading to the long prison halls.

  “What happened?” someone shouted from inside.

  “Charge them,” Jacob said. “I’ll lead the way. The blasts won’t get through my shield. Just be ready to drop them.” He motioned to the door and gripped the strap on his shield tightly. “Man, I hope they don’t hit me in the legs with those stupid things. They hurt.” He hunched his body behind the shield and glanced back to make sure everyone was ready.

  “Wimp,” Jane taunted. She snickered as she rearmed the musket.

  “Do you want to lead the way?” Jacob asked. He half turned, as if to offer her his shield and the lead spot.

  “No, I’m good. Go ahead.” Jane waved him ahead of her.

  “Let’s do it,” Carvin replied.

  He had picked up a second pistol from the Adherent officer, reminding Jane of a cowboy wielding two guns. Jacob charged through the door. Two glowing balls of energy crackled off his shield, and he felt the impacts as the blasts struck. The hair on his arms and legs stood on end. Suddenly the wild thought that the hair on his head also stood straight out struck him, and he cringed.