Overboard!

by Michael White

  She was saying something, but he could only see her lips moving, the explosion in the chamber having deafened him. He shook his head and heard Daisy yell to move further along the tunnel and she began to crawl in that direction, away from the bridge that they had just crossed.

  Which, Neep realised as the ground settled once more and he stared into the chamber, was not there anymore. Neep stared down into the lava and saw the remains of the fallen bridge jamming up against the lip of the lava fall off to the edge of the chamber, blocking the flow. As he watched further rocks plummeted down from above and jammed in the lip, blocking the fall. Slowly the lava began to rise and the ground began to shake. a slowly rising deep rumbling of stone and fire and death.

  Sticking his fingers in his ears to clear them Neep raced into the tunnel where Daisy and the last two remaining pirates were waiting.

  “The bridge has gone!” shouted Neep, his apparent deafness making his voice a little louder than he meant it to be. Yet obviously his hearing was improving, for when Daisy responded he heard her perfectly.

  “Damn it!” Spat Daisy, “That was our only way of escape.” She looked around as if for assistance but realised Bones was gone and so she stood motionless, staring at the new stretch of tunnel from which light blazed at the far end.

  “That’s not all.” shouted Neep, and Daisy rolled her eyes. “The bridge dropped into the chasm and is blocking the lava fall. It looked to me as if the lava level was rising.”

  “If that pressure continues to build it’s going to get pretty bad around here.” Said Daisy, looking down the tunnel as if in anticipation of disaster and ruin. As she did so the floor shook violently again, and Neep found himself back on the floor again, surrounded by Daisy and the other two pirates.

  Daisy rose, dusting herself off. The floor shook again but Daisy steadied herself on the wall despite the fact that the wall was shaking too.

  “Well there is no way back that way.” Said Neep, pointing to where the bridge used to be, “We may as well continue down the tunnel.” Daisy nodded and they set off downwards towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Tremors continued to rock the ground and shortly after a grinding, crunching noise began to make itself heard, slowly increasing in volume. They hurried on.

  This tunnel however was not very long, and was considerably steeper than any of those they had travelled along so far, as if the passage was dropping a considerable height in a short distance. The ground cracked and jumped once more and Daisy, Neep and the two remaining pirates skidded from the tunnel into a cavern that was enormous in size, dwarfing even the chamber above they had just crossed.

  The first thing Neep noticed on the far wall was what used to be a fall of lava was now just a heat pocked stretch of rock, no lava flowing from it at all. At the apex of the cliff however where presumably the lava usually flowed down, a thin red line glowered like a scar where the fall was blocked by the rock fall following the explosion caused by the gunpowder. As Neep watched the entire wall shook but his attention was distracted by Daisy grabbing his shoulder to get him to face in the opposite direction

  “Neep. By the stars, Neep. Look.” Whispered Daisy and as he heard the two remaining pirates gasp also he turned to where they were all staring.

  Neep gasped as he took in the sight before him. The cavern was enormous, stretching high above their heads until the cave roof disappeared into darkness above them. The roof was so high that even the glow from the lava could I only partially illuminate it. The now dammed lava fall creaked and groaned to his left, and lava filled the floor of the cavern, hissing and flowing about the small stone path on which they now found themselves. The heat was tremendous, and Neep recoiled as he saw the thick folds of lava pushing against the stone pier, ash and smoke erupting seemingly at random into the air.

  Yet that was not all. At the end of the stone pier stood Bones, his arms outstretched at his sides, his head tilted back as if he was staring at the ceiling or if he was experiencing some strange feeling of ecstasy. Neep gulped as he realised that Bones’ feet seemed to be at least three feet off the ground, his skeletal form floating in the air as if being held there by some strange, unusual force.

  Around him, swooping down through the air from high above before swirling about the vast cavern and fading in and out of view flew sprite like shapes, like creatures of the air itself, devoid of feature of form; more a disturbance in the air than anything. Bones completely ignored them as they flew around him before racing off into the heights of the cavern and then plunging down again in endless circles. Their passage was completely silent, or if it was not the sound of the lava bubbling and rolling across the cavern floor masked it out.

  Yet the flying shapes, Bones floating in the air and the sheer scale and alien nature of the cavern was purely incidental to what he was actually looking at.

  “What is it?” gasped Neep, grabbing hold of Daisy’s shoulder, “What in the name of the seven is it?”

  “It is a ship.” shouted Daisy, keen to be heard over the increasing grinding sound of the blocked lava fall to their left.

  “A ship?” said Neep dreamily.

  “Yes.”

  “It is made from gold.”

  “It appears to be Neep, yes.” Daisy paused slightly as the ground began to tremble and shake.

  “It is in a bottle, isn’t it?” asked Neep.

  “Yes.”

  “A very big bottle.”

  “Very big.”

  “The cork must be a good six feet thick.”

  “At least.”

  “It looks to be a bigger ship than the Magpie.”

  “I would say so.” said Daisy, running her eyes over the sleek golden masts and hull of the ship in a bottle. The ship was a good ninety feet long she reckoned, the masts rising high above the deck, the golden sails unfurled. It was resting on a long stone plinth on which an enormous bottle was placed around the ship, the bright flames from the lava reflecting across the surface of the glass. The plinth faced upwards at an angle of forty five degrees, pointing the ship at the wall of the volcano, the huge cork in the bottle preventing any access to the contents of the giant bottle at all. Nevertheless a thin stone path ran across the lava flow and approached the ship, stopping at the surface of the bottle itself. There appeared to be no way to reach the ship inside the bottle at all.

  The ground lurched suddenly beneath their feet, the dammed lava fall across the cavern filling the chamber with the sound of grinding rocks under pressure. The tremor increased in power as Daisy and Neep clung together in a vain attempt to remain standing. Yet it was impossible. They both fell to the ground along with the two last pirates as the volcano groaned and the cavern seemed almost to shake itself as if grasped by some unseen giant hand. As they lay on the ground desperately trying not to bounce off into the lava nearby a boulder the size of a small house shook itself free from the side of the cavern and fell down directly onto the bottle surrounding the ship.

  Neep grimaced as the enormous boulder hit the glass bottle, but to his great surprise the rock simply bounced off the bottle, shattering into fragments that flew into the air before spinning into the lava. The bottle itself was completely untouched. Neep could not even see a scratch on it.

  “Tough bottle.” said Daisy as they all helped each other to their feet.

  “Very. I don’t like the look of that dammed lava fall over there.” shouted Neep, for that seemed to be where the tremors were emanating from.

  Oblivious to all of this Bones continued to float outstretched in the air, the strange ghost like shapes flying around him as he did so, swooping about the cavern faster and faster.

  Daisy staggered towards the ship, reaching the end of the stone pier and pressing herself up against the glass.

  “No entrance.” she shouted as Neep and the crew gathered about her, “it looks as if the bottle is sealed around the ship itself.

  Neep looked across to the blocked lava fall and saw a bright straight line at the top of the
cliff where the lava was blocked by the remnants of the fallen bridge. The cliff was trembling ominously.

  “There’s no way out!” yelled Neep, rubbing the sweat and ash from his forehead, “that cliff is going to blow any minute now and all of that lava is going to come plummeting down when it does!”

  Daisy began tapping at the glass, grabbing a rock from the ground and throwing it at the bottle. It bounced off the glass as if it was invulnerable, flying off into the pools of lava nearby. From the cliff to their left a low deep rumble began to shake the entire cavern.

  “I wonder where that lava flows down from?” Asked the pirate beside Daisy.

  “Wherever it’s coming from it looks like the blockage is backing up a little further than we thought.” said the other pirate as Daisy and Neep stared at the cliff which now looked as if it was bulging outwards under the pressure.

  “Trapped.” sighed Daisy, “No way out and it looks like that entire cliff is about to explode!”

  “We could try removing the cork from the bottle that the golden ship rests inside.” said Neep and Daisy raised an eyebrow.

  “We would never budge it even if we could reach it.” she sighed, glancing up to the prow of the ship that was pointing steeply at the wall of the volcano. “Have you seen how big the cork is? It would take ten men to move it.”

  “True.” Conceded Neep. Why in the name of everything did Jones build a ship down here?” he asked incredulously.

  “Why did he do anything?” Laughed Daisy, “Though I suspect he got rather more than he bargained for with those flying things.” They stood watched Bones floating above the ground, the whirling shapes continuing their mad dance around the cavern.

  “Yet it really is a great treasure.” She finished, glancing at the ship enclosed in the bottle.

  “Do you think it is real gold?” asked Neep, placing his face up against the glass.

  “Yes.” said Daisy, “It is. I have enough experience of the stuff to know real gold when I see it.”

  “How much is it worth?” gasped Neep, wonder in his voice.

  “Beyond dreams…” whispered Daisy so that Neep could hardly hear her, “If only we could get into it. Get it out of here.”

  Neep was about to answer when the ground began to rock violently. Neep, Daisy and the two pirates crouched down on the floor to prevent being thrown from their feet as a loud rumbling began to rise in volume. The very air itself seemed to tremble, but Neep noticed the flying dancers of air hardly paused in their dance, spinning around Bones who still floated before them as if in supplication.

  “Keep low!” screamed Daisy; somewhat unnecessarily, thought Neep as the floor of the volcano began to buck and groan, rocks falling from the roof and bouncing harmlessly off the giant glass bottle into the lava pools. Neep looked across to the cliff where the lava fall should have been and saw it was now bulging outward as if the dam was about to burst.

  “Daisy, I…” began Neep and then the air itself seemed to detonate, the ground rising and falling as if a wave had hit them. The cliff that was once a fall of lava flew outwards, crushing everything in its path, the rock behind it falling into the chasm created as the weight of the accumulated lava from above pressed on it. There was a rush of air and the rock hit the far wall of the volcano followed by a tidal wave of lava. After a pause of no more than a second the molten rock flew upwards, hitting the volcano wall which exploded in a deafening maelstrom of heat, flame and flying rock, shale and ash falling around them. The tunnel behind them disappeared in a ruin of flying rock, fire and smoke rising above the crushed remains of stone, rubble and ash.

  The volcano seemed to groan aloud as the tsunami of molten rock poured down upon the mountain wall and then the wall exploded as the outer shell of the volcano crumbled and flew out into the island outside.

  Neep clung to the stone pier that so far had escaped the explosions and as the wall collapsed Neep thought he briefly saw stars overhead before smoke and ash and further explosions destroyed the volcano outer wall, the volcano now resembling a broken tooth with one side collapsed but the others still remaining.

  Neep clung to the floor as it continued to shake, looking to see if the glass bottle was intact, which it was. Daisy raised her head to see that although the explosion had missed them, already the lava level in the volcano was rising, threatening to engulf from every side what was now an island of stone on which they lay.

  “Lava’s rising.” shouted Neep, struggling to get to his feet. He looked as the wave of fire and flame rose all around them, the circle of stone now slowing decreasing in size. Explosions continued to shake around them but Bones still stood outstretched, the strange creatures made of light and air flowing about him.

  Daisy looked around desperately, trying to find a way off the rock, but the only direction which was not covered in lava was the bottle which was closed to them. She looked up at the golden masts and sails of the ship, and Neep thought he saw a tear fall upon her face, though it may have been the ash.

  Neep cursed under his breath. His first adventure as a pirate was about to be his last. He looked up at the ship of gold and that bottle that encased it. There was no way out. Across the field of lava Bones floated in the air, still unmoving, the spirits flying about what remained of the cavern completely oblivious to all that was happening.

  “God damn it, Bones!” he shouted to the skeleton floating nearby. “Do something!” Bones did not move however and all four of them on the rock took another pace back as the lava rose even more.

  “The bottle.” Neep suddenly heard echo around the ruined volcano as if the winds were borne on the wind, echoing, echoing. The voice belonged to Bones though he still had not moved.

  “What bottle…?” began Neep, but realising what Bones had said he reached inside his scorched tunic and pulled out the bottle of lightning.

  The lightning inside it raged, the blue light emitted by the bottle seeming to light the air itself around it.

  “Smash it on the hull.” came Bones’ voice from the air again and they all watched as Neep took the bottle and threw it high into the air towards the ship. Almost in slow motion the bottle of lightning arced through the air, leaving a trail of blue light in its wake before hitting the glass bottle that surrounded the ship of gold and releasing the lightning.

  Blue flickering flame ran across the bottle, flowing in long lines of crackling blue electricity. The shapes flowing around the cavern came to a stop as they seemed to be watching as the lightning flowed around the glass of the bottle that surrounded the ship.

  Which rapidly began to dissolve. Neep watched eyes wide as the bottle began to melt. He was amazed. The glass did not crack or shatter as the lightning hit it; it just simply dissolved until seconds later it was gone altogether.

  “All aboard!” screamed Daisy, leaping for the ship as the lava began to flow towards it. Neep paused however, watching the still unmoving shape of Bones slowly float towards the ship, crossing the field of lava in the air before finally he came to a stop above the bow, floating a good ten feet above it. The strange shapes flying around the cavern continued their dance now, flitting amongst the sails and masts of the ship before racing down to shoot around Bones and then back into the air again.

  “Neep!” screamed Daisy from the deck of the golden ship which was now trembling on the stone plinth on which it was settled, still pointing at where the wall of the volcano used to be. “Get aboard!”

  Neep did not need telling twice. He raced across what was left of the circle of stone and clambered up onto the deck of the golden ship, gasping at just how beautiful it was. Everything on it seemed to be made of gold.

  “Grab hold of something, Neep!” he heard Daisy yell as the ground shook and the long stone plinth that the ship was resting on began to be eaten away by the lava, the prow of the ship beginning to dip downwards as the plinth collapsed. Neep noticed Bones moved with the angle of the ship, still floating over the prow of the ship, still arms held out straight at
his side, his head tilted back as if looking for something above him.

  The ship rocked and the rock beneath it collapsed, the prow dipping forward and beginning to slide down. One of the two remaining members of Daisy’s party crawled to the side of the ship and looked over the side.

  “We’re sliding down a pile of rubble. The lava flow is directly below us.”

  Daisy crawled forward, making for the quarterdeck and the ship’s wheel.

  “Neep!” she yelled, “With me! We may be able to steer the ship away from the lava. If we don’t than the golden hull will melt!”

  “The rudder will smash against the rocks!” shouted Neep, “If it doesn’t break altogether!”

  “It may be enough to deflect us from the lava!” Screamed Daisy

  Neep nodded and began to crawl up what was now the steep incline of the deck as the ship began to lurch down the remains of the long stone plinth. Daisy was already ahead of him, having reached the quarterdeck as the angle of the ship increased its downwards tilt. The two remaining pirates tumbled to the prow, clinging on to the golden ropes that ran up to the sails in an attempt not to tumble overboard.

  As Neep continued to make his way up the sloping deck to the quarterdeck hand over hand he saw Bones float overhead, now hovering above the wheel of the ship, a good ten feet in the air. The strange shapes continued to cavort and spin around him. Dragging himself along the rail of the ship Neep saw the side of the volcano that had exploded led out to the island, but between outside and the ship of gold was a sea of crushing rock and lava that was very quickly spilling out onto the island itself. There was another deafening explosion and the whole volcano shook, nearly prising Neep’s grip of the handrail off completely. Yet somehow he clung on, mounting the now nearly vertical steps to the quarterdeck before crossing to where Daisy was heaving uselessly on the ship’s wheel.