by RG Long
Teresa saw the hanger drawer closer and could tell that some damage had been done there as well. Whatever explosion had happened in the Tower of magic had apparently happened here too. But what had done it? Or who?
Perhaps it was an attack by the Court of Three? There was no way she could be sure at this moment, but after she spoke to Lauren Evan, she would know more. She was certain the Commodore was aware of whatever it was that was going on. He was probably involved in fixing it somewhere.
The ground-level entrance to the hanger was much less impressive than entering it by airship. It looked like all that separated them from the entrance was a man-sized wall that went around the perimeter of the hanger and two wooden doors.
“I guess they’re more worried about people coming in from above,” Teresa muttered to herself.
“The coast is clear,” Urt said as he surveyed over Teresa’s head. She double-checked and saw that the only thing in between them and the wall to the hanger was an open stretch of a courtyard.
There were some Rimstone lamps that illuminated the space between, but with no guards or lookouts insight, it was possible they could close the gap without being seen.
“Why are there no guards?” Teresa asked just as she was getting prepared to sprint from the alley to the wall. “Do you think it’s a trap? Some type of magical security that we don’t know about?”
Urt took a deep breath and squinted his eyes at the space. He scanned back and forth along the wall. Teresa wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but she trusted his instinct and judgment.
“Even if there is some trap, there’s no way else that we can go in,” Urt said after a moment of looking. “This door is the only entrance.”
They couldn’t see the other side of the tower from here, but what Teresa was guessing Urt meant was that he saw no other way into the wall and the hanger from this point. They could spend an hour going around and trying to find a different entrance. But then they might get caught by guards who did not know who they were.
“Okay then,” Teresa said. “Let’s go.”
At the same moment, they both began to run as quickly and quietly as they could across the space.
Teresa could tell that something was wrong as soon as she had stepped into the dim light of the rimstone.
They were being watched. An overwhelming sense of dread filled her as her feet pounded against the stone ground.
It became clear that they weren’t being watched by any real guards or soldiers.
But the great scaled beast that had escaped the underground pit with them stepped into the light and bared its teeth at them.
Teresa realized at this point that they had made a vast error in not scrounging up a blade or sword of any type as they had sulked through the city. They had been lucky before; she did not know how fate would treat them this time.
Both she and Urt had turned around to face the beast as it came growling in their direction. She was very aware that if they sprinted away from it, it would likely pounce on top of them.
“I would’ve thought you had filled your belly filled this point,” Teresa said. She didn’t like the idea of the great beast eating whatever it wanted in the city, but she also didn’t want it eating them.
The monstrous lizard hissed a reply as Urt stepped in front of Teresa.
“Get to the hanger,” he said without looking at her direction.
She stepped up right beside him.
“You will not throw your life away for me,” she said stubbornly. “More than enough Skrilx blood has been shed on this continent. I’m not going to add to what I can prevent.”
The pair of them were ready to face whatever this monstrous creature was going to give to them.
It swished just long tail once just before it dove right in between them.
Teresa spun to the left as Urt dived to the right.
As she moved, Teresa grabbed a heavy rock and attempted to throw it at the beast. She managed to hit it in the head. Something she only celebrated for a breath being struck only seemed to make it madder. Saliva poured down its tongue as it opened its mouth and crept towards Teresa.
Urt jumped and wrapped his massive arms around the creature’s head, infuriating it more.
Teresa bent down and was beginning to pick up another stone when a howling sound filled the air, and an airship lunged down at them. Urt let go of the creature’s head just as the airship rammed into it with its metallic front. The beast wailed in pain and scrambled to get away from the battering ram that had just dealt it a horrific blow.
It let out a horrible screech before scampering off into the darkness.
Teresa had jumped out of the way to avoid being hit with the airship as well. Now that she was getting back to her feet, she realized that it looked strangely familiar.
A pilot wearing goggles lifted up his head from the cockpit as a greased covered woman jumped down from the side, caring a very large metal rod.
“What the devil was that?” she shouted as she looked into the shadows where the beast had gone.
“Oh! I know you!” the pilot said as he took off his goggles.
Teresa recognized him as the one who had taken them from the hangar to the Magic Academy.
“Where are your short little friend and the young speaker? I told my wife I had spoken to you and she said she had already met the little halfling! Imagine that!”
“Jaxon is always telling me about people he meets,” the woman said, hefting the metal rod onto her shoulder and looking over Urt and Teresa with a satisfied expression. “It isn’t very often we meet the same ones!”
“That’s right, Jill! Are used to look like they’re in a bind.”
Jill nodded her head.
“What can we do for you two?”
18: Halflings and Princesses
“Did so much flying the other day that I almost wore out the old airship. Had to have my wife look at it. She’s a real mechanical genius, as you know!”
“Can’t fly the thing to save my life,” Jill said, as she patted her husband on the shoulder in a rather rough way. “That’s why I keep ole’ sky brain around. Gotta make sure what I fix works!”
Teresa sat in the small apartment in the hangar where Jaxon and Jill Cloudrunner lived. It was a cramped space with only one room. A table and chairs set in one corner while their bed was in the other.
A small place for cooking food lined one wall as well as a dresser and an armoire. Any available space that had been left to the walls was absolutely plastered with maps of Redact and airship designs. Teresa took another sip of her tea and marveled at the place. These two were quite the pair.
“So, Jurrin helped you with some of your repairs?” Teresa asked Jill.
The young mechanic nodded her head enthusiastically.
“A right helpful little fella. He told me all about the place he grew up in, and I told him everything I could about the insides of our ships. Kept asking questions, and I kept answerin’. Nice little fella.”
“Now I come to find out he’s friends with Commodores and Skrilx and speakers!” an enthusiastic Jaxon said. “Great surprises fill up the world, don’t you think?”
Urt stood uncomfortably behind Teresa. She knew that he didn’t quite feel at home in any dwelling in Rerial seeing how prejudiced they had been.
Jaxon seemed to pick up on this as his face fell when he looked at Urt.
“Don’t think less of me, sir,” he said to Urt. “There have been some pretty awful things done to your kind in the name of peace. I won’t go repeating them here or trying to copy them either. I’d much rather fly an airship then figure out ways to hate creatures I don’t know much about.”
“Never got to hear why you had to come to Redact and what’s been going on. It’s a crazy land that’s for sure. What with the war happening all over again and all.”
“War?” Teresa asked, bringing the mug down from her lips.
“You didn’t hear?” Jill asked if she smacked her lips from
her own dark drink. “Court of Three marched over the border yesterday. Took most of the airships out of the hanger this morning to go and fight the invaders. We’re back at war with the Court it looks like. Only a few airships left. A few for me to fix up and some like my husband fly. Most of the mechanics went too. Got to make sure the fleet stays up.”
“Well, after those explosions, could you blame them? The Royal Palace, the magic tower, and the hanger as well? No small wonder they took just about the whole fleet!”
Teresa looked it Urt who was looking back at her with the same kind of concern she had on her face.
“They took all the airships? What about the commodore? Did he go as well? Do you know if the Commodore’s son went with him? And the young speaker you had met with me??”
“Well there missy,” Jill asked. “Not sure what all is on your mind but it sounds like a lot. Yes, the Commodore went with the fleet. That much is true.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about the Commodore’s son,” Jaxon said. “Or that speaker.”
“You’ve been flying all week!” Jill said. “It’s big talk. We thought Ealrin Belouve was lost. Dead even. Came back a week or two ago.”
“We know him,” Teresa said. “He’s a friend of ours. Do you know if you went with the Commodore?”
Jill shrugged her shoulders.
“Don’t know for sure, but I suppose it’d be easy enough to check. If you know the Commodore as you say, then you can just head up to his place at the top of the hanger. Though I imagine it’ll have a few extra guards. What’s going to be hard is finding a ride if do you want to reconnect with him. All the ships in the hanger meant for battle were taken. My husband‘s little skimmer couldn’t take that long of a journey. I don’t think there any ship left the good.”
“I bet there’s one,” Teresa said. “If Ealrin did go, he probably went on the Commodore's ship and not his own. Ours was pretty beat up when we got here. But I don’t know how to fly it or how to fix it.”
Jill and Jaxon exchange looks.
“Looks like you ran into the right people there,” Jaxon said. “There’s not an airship my wife can’t fix nor one I can’t fly. I got trained on all of them but really prefer the little ones for their quick handling.”
“Quick handling, hmm?” Theresa grabbed her stomach, just remembering her own experience in his airship. Then she realized what they were offering.
“I couldn’t possibly ask you to take us to the battle if he went. It could be dangerous.”
Both Jaxon and Jill laughed.
“Dangerous? Of course, it’s dangerous! I fly a magic ship through the air every day while my wife beats on them. It’s a small wonder neither of us has blown up yet!”
Teresa looked between them, feeling appreciative but also worried they didn’t understand the risks their group normally took. They weren’t the safest companions.
“Maybe he hasn’t left,” she offered up.
Jaxon shrugged his shoulders.
“And there will be no need for us to fly you there. But if he has, well get you to the front and back. You got to reconnect with your friend. Who knows how long the fighting will last.”
“It was horrible last time,” Jill said. “Though we were a bit young for it for sure.”
“We’re going to do a check of the hanger first thing in the morning,” Jill said as she stretched out her arms. “For tonight, you’re welcome to sleep on the floor here. If the Commodore’s gone, you might have a hard time getting into his place what with the increased security and all.”
“Thank you,” Teresa said. She meant it.
Jaxon looked at the two of them. Before we go off to sleep then, what’s your story in all this? There’s a pilot and a speaker and a halfling involved. You’re both from Thoran, right? In Ruyn? What did you do there?”
Teresa looked it Urt. The Skrilx shrugged as if giving her permission to start what they both knew was going to be a very long tale.
“Actually,” Teresa began. “I’m a princess.”
19: Coin and Drink
“Two of something strong!” Gorplin said as he sat down his on the stool in front of the bar. Felicia took a seat next to him. The dwarf was glad for her. He had needed a drink since all the wild journey from over the Court of Three down to the Skrilx islands, but the journey had been extremely dry in that way.
He was looking forward to something other than tea or water.
His drinking partner was not someone he had expected, however. The dwarf knew Felicia, but not well. They had only been companions of essentials the journey from Ruyn, and even through some of that, Felecia had sailed away, leaving them to their own devices at one point. Mostly she spent time with the cat.
“How’s it been without Urt”? Gorplin asked as the barkeep came and sat down two mugs in front of them. Gorplin grabbed one and quickly drank a fourth of its contents.
Gorplin was sad to learn that this ale was actually rather good. He would have to ask if Felecia had any coins on her as well. He certainly didn’t have enough on him to drink what he wanted.
He was smacking his lips and appreciating the cool feeling in his gut when he realized Felecia hadn’t yet touched her mug. The drink had been her idea.
“I haven’t been this long without him in several years,” Felicia said, looking down at her mug. “It’s been strange, that’s for sure.”
Gorplin wasn’t sure what he had been expecting when he asked the captain a question. But a deep, reflective answer was definitely not it.
“You two met in a bar fight, right?” Gorplin asked as he took another drink. He was fairly certain he remembered that detail.
Felicia finally took up her mug, took a gulp of it, and then set it down.
“That’s right. Found a group of men who didn’t like female captains or anything covered in fur. Show them how tough we were. Been partners ever since.”
Gorplin nodded.
“Aye,” he said. “It’s good to have a partner.”
Tory has been the closest thing Gorplin had felt like to a companion when the two had come on this trip. He had wanted to see the world. And he had seen a fair bit of it.
He wondered how little Jurrin was doing. The two were friends. So far as Gorplin knew.
“What do you suppose Holve is up to?” Felicia asked, catching Gorplin off guard.
“Come again?” he asked, wiping some of the ale off his mustache.
“Do you ever get the feeling Holve knows more than he lets on?” Felicia asked. She was still staring down into her mug, having only taken the one gulp.
“Course he does,” Gorplin said, unconcerned. “That’s why he’s the leader. Gotta trust him. He hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”
“Hasn’t steered us wrong yet,” Felecia repeated.
Gorplin was about to ask what had gotten her in such a sour mood when the barstool next to him scooted out, and a familiar face sat down next to the pair.”
“I thought you were supposed to be with Serinde and Alma?” Gorplin asked as Silverwolf put down her own coins and ordered an ale. The barkeep looked at her twice before going off to fill a mug.
“I don’t want to babysit,” she said as the barkeep put down a tall mug for her as well. “I’d rather drink with the adults.”
“Find out anything about Darc?” Felicia asked as she took a gulp of her drink.
Silverwolf shook her head.
“Nothing you can’t tell just from looking at the place. It’s a human country with human cities that have human interests. I don’t think they want to get involved with any of the stuff going on in the west. If they can stay out of it, they probably think they can weather the storm.”
“What about trade?” Gorplin asked. “Relations with other countries?”
“Mountains to the west and oceans to the east,” Silverwolf said. “Darc seems pretty self-contained.”
“So we’re not going to convince them to get involved and help sounds like,” Felicia said.
<
br /> “The most we might be able to do is get a ride out of here,” the assassin said. “But even that doesn’t look likely. There aren’t a lot of ships at the dock.”
“What do you think about Holve?” Felicia asked. “I knew you, and he did a lot of talking in Ladis. From the way Ealrin tells it, the two of you kept your secrets. What do you think he’s up to?”
Silverwolf set down her mug.
“Peace I guess,” she said. “If he had contacts in Redact we would’ve connected with them by now. I wonder why he doesn’t know anyone here? Those people all over the world except for the one country we could really use some help in.”
Gorplin turned his head at this.
“You’re right about that,” he said. “Holve does know people over all over the world. Why not Redact?”
“Does it seem strange that he doesn’t know someone on an entire continent?” Felicia asked. I didn’t know anyone from Ladis or Irradan until we went there.”
“Holve travels,” Silverwolf said simply.
“But when?” Felicia asked. “I knew him the whole time he was in Thoran and from what I could tell, he had spent twenty or thirty years as a general. He’s got to be in the fifties? Sixties?”
Silverwolf considered as she took another drink.
“His ears aren’t too pointy. But maybe he’s got some elf in him.”
“Bah,” Gorplin said. “Elf or no elf, Holve knows what he’s doing.”
“We all hope so,” Felecia said.
The door flipped around to look at the tavern and saw that it was mostly empty save for them and one other table where a few men set huddled together talking quietly. When he had turned around to look at them, he had the impression that they quickly returned their conversation after they had been looking over their way.