chapter 18
previous chapter
The airship operators constructed and maintained a network of huge platforms all around the island, and these dotted the City like large wooden pimples. Obviously they were not just someone's idea of expensive decoration: they looked rather unsightly, jutting out of the skyline like sore thumbs. Rather, these platforms were an integral part of the public transportation system, as airships swooped downwards, picking up passengers waiting on the platforms. It was an additional (and significant) source of income for the airships, for minimal extra effort.
A long flight of rickety wooden stairs led from the street to the platform itself, and the general public has generously decorated the stairs with litter and graffiti. Seraph, Penelope and Cantrip ran up the stairs two at a time, dodging several old ladies, a couple squirming in a passionate position, several kids, and a few stray chickens.
Panting and out of breath, they finally came to the ticket counter, halfway up the platform. And seated behind the glass window was a beady-eyed little man, who was for some reason blinking furiously.
"One-way tickets for two adults and one kid, straight to the Spire," said Seraph, still trying to catch his breath. In the distance, the 2pm airship from the Outer Isles was already beginning its descent.
The ticket man pushed a few buttons on the cash register, and it politely spat out three ticket with a soft 'phut phut phut' sound. "Okay, sir. Here you go. Enjoy your flight."
Seraph mumbled a hasty thanks, and the three of them ran on upwards.
* * * * *
Across the City, the Ancients were regrouping.
Ancient One sprinted through the streets, heading straight for the gathering point. After days of listening in dark corners and spying, he had gathered plenty of interesting news. The Key was indeed on the move, and they had to intercept it before the bounty hunter took it to the Vault. Ancient One shook his head... it seemed unlikely that the bounty hunter could have stolen the Key so easily, but he had done it, somehow.
Ancient One frowned. It had been a long time since he had learnt the legend of the Key, and he was rather hazy on the details now. Perhaps the others remember it better... he would be sure to ask them again later.
* * * * *
Mr Porpoise opened a sealed letter.
He was furious: all his efforts to stop the bounty hunter so far had failed miserably. The men he sent had been slaughtered like sheep, and the bounty hunter was still fleeing with the Key. If the bounty hunter already knew about the Vault, then all was lost... Damn, damn, damn, thought Mr Porpoise. He had been very careful to destroy all maps and references to the Vault, but he must have missed something... something small, yet important. Despite appearances, the bounty hunter was the best in the business, and he was as cunning as a snake.
Anyway. He took a deep breath, and read the letter. Fifteen minutes later, it had been torn to shreds, and Mr Porpoise's anger had evolved to a point where he felt extremely calm. The bounty hunter was taking an airship straight to the Spire? Typical, of course. The bounty hunter was famous for acts of bravado and showsmanship: he took it as nothing more than a game, and flying straight for the Spire was nothing but gloating in the face of Mr Porpoise. Nyeh, nyeh, I have the Key, come and get it.
Mr Porpoise clenched his fists tightly. Airship eh? Well, we know how to deal with that. We just shoot it down, and let gravity do the rest of the work.
* * * * *
Elsewhere in the City, Mr Jacobson sat in Mr Miller's office, on opposite sides of the desk.
"I regret to inform you that your men have been found dead, Mr Jacobson, and by all indications, the forger has escaped," said Mr Miller cheerfully. "An unfortunate series of events, of course. Made all the more unfortunate by the happy news that our friend Mr Cabbage, and his colleagues, have been sighted boarding an airship in a great hurry."
A frown flickered for a moment in the corner of Mr Jacobson's mouth. "Minor setback, Mr Miller. I have men hunting every corner of the City for the forger even as we speak, and I believe he cannot hide for much longer. As for Mr Cabbage... well, if he becomes too much of an inconvenience, we can always arrange for a little accident for him. Or for the boy, of course: even if they find the real diamond, it is useless without the boy alive." He smiled.
Mr Miller did not smile. He leaned forward, and steepled his fingers. "Really? It appears Mr Cabbage is a man of significant resource, and he is travelling in the company of a second bounty hunter. The boy will not be easy to take care of, and if Mr Cabbage finds the diamond... well, it would be a great loss to the firm is all that money ends up in his hands." He took a deep breath. "Mr Jacobson, perhaps it will interest you to know that we have done some digging on the identity of the second bounty hunter... and interestingly, she is very high up on the Merchant's Guild's wanted list. The Guildmaster is apparently rather upset with her over the sudden death of a high ranking Guild member."
"Understood, Mr Miller. I will be sure to tip off our merchant friends regarding this... serendipitous discovery," Mr Jacobson said, then rose and left the room.
* * * * *
The unicorn's powerful wings dragged the large airship through the air, as it flew on towards the Spire. This airship was proudly known as the Donkey to its crew members, and it had donkey ears painted on either side of the ship.
Up in the passenger's cabin, Seraph gazed out the window at the bleak tapestry of the City far below, while Penelope nervously glanced around the cabin. She had a bad feeling about this, and clutched her dagger for comfort. Nothing like a sharp weapon to soothe your fears. The cabin itself consisted of rows of worn leather seats, lined up against both sides of the narrow cabin, so every seat was a window seat, of sorts. The cabin was sandwiched between the cargo holds and the giant hot air balloon, and right now it was packed with people headed straight for the Spire.
Cantrip gazed, awestruck, out the window. He had never seen the City from an airship before, and it was a magnificient view. Seraph had seen it before, of course, and everything loses some of its initial charm with time. But for Cantrip, this was the brilliant moment when you encounter something new for the first time, and it etches a neat little groove in the alcoves of your memory.
They were still a quarter of an hour away from the hangars of the Spire when they heard the explosion. Penelope and Seraph instinctively moved away from the windows and flattened themselves on the floor as the airship shuddered. Cantrip, caught off guard, fell as another explosion rocked the airship. Everywhere, the passengers were screaming and searching desperately for something to cling on to. Smoke started to fill the air, and part of the cabin was on fire.
Seraph drew a dagger, and smashed a window with the hilt of his dagger...
* * * * *
Outside, two black airships emerged from the cloud cover beneath the Donkey, bristling with cannons which were pointed directly upwards. These were Dreadnought Class airships, armed to the teeth and ready for battle. The insignia of the Merchant's Guild was emblazoned across the black balloons, and the crew were preparing to fire again.
The Donkey was ablaze now: the first attack had blown a hole in its cargo hold, and several tonnes of freshly imported fish rained down on the City below. The rear of the passenger's cabin was on fire, and the Donkey's unicorn was in a panic.
The Dreadnoughts fired again. It was a spectacular sight (except perhaps to the people who were being fired at): rows of cannons discharging one by one, in a series of high-bass booms and a lot of smoke. Each cannon launched a single iron cannonball upwards at incredible speed, tearing through the Donkey's wood like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Several cannonballs blew right through the hot air balloon, and it burst open like an orange dropped from a great height. The flammable gases inside combusted, and the airship went down, a blazing wreck, like a fireball descending from the heavens, with a one-way ticket to crash somewhere in the City below.
The burning hulk passed right between the two Dreadnoughts, a fiery mess of wood, cloth and cooked fish. And then it continued falling, trailed by clouds of black smoke, before landing with a long, loud crunch on the rooftops below, coughing up a little mushroom cloud of dust and debris.
And then it was silent. The Dreadnaughts circled lazily, looking for survivors, and satisfied that no one could possibly have survived such an inferno, turned and glided back through the clouds.
* * * * *
It wouldn't be much of a story if everyone really died, of course. Roll time backwards like a winebarrel, and...
Seraph smashed a window with the hilt of his dagger, as the entire ship shuddered violently. Wooden beams creaked as the flames spread, and Seraph leapt through the window, and reached back to pull Cantrip through as well.
"Hold on tight!" screamed Seraph, and Cantrip clung onto the bounty hunter as tightly as he could. Seraph crouched to maintain his balance: they were perched precariously on the outside of an airship that was on fire and under attack, and bits fell off as they looked on in horror. The wind snapped at Seraph's hair, and several passengers tumbled out of a cabin window, falling towards the City below. Another window was smashed, and Penelope leapt out, then began running towards the front of the ship.
There was a lot of black smoke coming from the cabin now, and Seraph didn't have much time. He motioned hurriedly for Cantrip to jump on his back, and then he began to run, carrying Cantrip as he sprinted across the body of the dying airship, following Penelope. There was only one way out now...
The unicorn was in a frenzy, and its wings beat madly as the airship dragged it downwards. Penelope cleared the distance between the airship and the unicorn in a single leap, landing neatly on the unicorn's back. It was a huge creature, several times larger than an ordinary horse, with a wingspan twenty feet wide. Penelope gripped its mane, steered the creature around, and the unicorn broke the steel chains anchoring it to the airship's mangled body. And there, Seraph was running along what remained of the wooden frame, and he leapt...
Down below, there was a second round of cannon fire, and the hot air balloon exploded.
The unicorn was carrying only Seraph, Cantrip and Penelope now: freed from the weight of the giant airship, it soared through the air, gliding on its huge wings. Penelope steered it directly into the clouds of black smoke, and they plunged behind the airship, hidden from view by the choking soot. Just before it crashed, the unicorn banked away, swooping down between the rooftops as chimneys flew past like trees in the countryside, and there was a loud and long crunch from behind them, followed by a small mushroom cloud of dust and debris.
And then it was silent, except for the distant beat of a unicorn's wings as it began ascending the sheer cliffs of the Spire.
next chapter
The airship operators constructed and maintained a network of huge platforms all around the island, and these dotted the City like large wooden pimples. Obviously they were not just someone's idea of expensive decoration: they looked rather unsightly, jutting out of the skyline like sore thumbs. Rather, these platforms were an integral part of the public transportation system, as airships swooped downwards, picking up passengers waiting on the platforms. It was an additional (and significant) source of income for the airships, for minimal extra effort.
A long flight of rickety wooden stairs led from the street to the platform itself, and the general public has generously decorated the stairs with litter and graffiti. Seraph, Penelope and Cantrip ran up the stairs two at a time, dodging several old ladies, a couple squirming in a passionate position, several kids, and a few stray chickens.
Panting and out of breath, they finally came to the ticket counter, halfway up the platform. And seated behind the glass window was a beady-eyed little man, who was for some reason blinking furiously.
"One-way tickets for two adults and one kid, straight to the Spire," said Seraph, still trying to catch his breath. In the distance, the 2pm airship from the Outer Isles was already beginning its descent.
The ticket man pushed a few buttons on the cash register, and it politely spat out three ticket with a soft 'phut phut phut' sound. "Okay, sir. Here you go. Enjoy your flight."
Seraph mumbled a hasty thanks, and the three of them ran on upwards.
* * * * *
Across the City, the Ancients were regrouping.
Ancient One sprinted through the streets, heading straight for the gathering point. After days of listening in dark corners and spying, he had gathered plenty of interesting news. The Key was indeed on the move, and they had to intercept it before the bounty hunter took it to the Vault. Ancient One shook his head... it seemed unlikely that the bounty hunter could have stolen the Key so easily, but he had done it, somehow.
Ancient One frowned. It had been a long time since he had learnt the legend of the Key, and he was rather hazy on the details now. Perhaps the others remember it better... he would be sure to ask them again later.
* * * * *
Mr Porpoise opened a sealed letter.
He was furious: all his efforts to stop the bounty hunter so far had failed miserably. The men he sent had been slaughtered like sheep, and the bounty hunter was still fleeing with the Key. If the bounty hunter already knew about the Vault, then all was lost... Damn, damn, damn, thought Mr Porpoise. He had been very careful to destroy all maps and references to the Vault, but he must have missed something... something small, yet important. Despite appearances, the bounty hunter was the best in the business, and he was as cunning as a snake.
Anyway. He took a deep breath, and read the letter. Fifteen minutes later, it had been torn to shreds, and Mr Porpoise's anger had evolved to a point where he felt extremely calm. The bounty hunter was taking an airship straight to the Spire? Typical, of course. The bounty hunter was famous for acts of bravado and showsmanship: he took it as nothing more than a game, and flying straight for the Spire was nothing but gloating in the face of Mr Porpoise. Nyeh, nyeh, I have the Key, come and get it.
Mr Porpoise clenched his fists tightly. Airship eh? Well, we know how to deal with that. We just shoot it down, and let gravity do the rest of the work.
* * * * *
Elsewhere in the City, Mr Jacobson sat in Mr Miller's office, on opposite sides of the desk.
"I regret to inform you that your men have been found dead, Mr Jacobson, and by all indications, the forger has escaped," said Mr Miller cheerfully. "An unfortunate series of events, of course. Made all the more unfortunate by the happy news that our friend Mr Cabbage, and his colleagues, have been sighted boarding an airship in a great hurry."
A frown flickered for a moment in the corner of Mr Jacobson's mouth. "Minor setback, Mr Miller. I have men hunting every corner of the City for the forger even as we speak, and I believe he cannot hide for much longer. As for Mr Cabbage... well, if he becomes too much of an inconvenience, we can always arrange for a little accident for him. Or for the boy, of course: even if they find the real diamond, it is useless without the boy alive." He smiled.
Mr Miller did not smile. He leaned forward, and steepled his fingers. "Really? It appears Mr Cabbage is a man of significant resource, and he is travelling in the company of a second bounty hunter. The boy will not be easy to take care of, and if Mr Cabbage finds the diamond... well, it would be a great loss to the firm is all that money ends up in his hands." He took a deep breath. "Mr Jacobson, perhaps it will interest you to know that we have done some digging on the identity of the second bounty hunter... and interestingly, she is very high up on the Merchant's Guild's wanted list. The Guildmaster is apparently rather upset with her over the sudden death of a high ranking Guild member."
"Understood, Mr Miller. I will be sure to tip off our merchant friends regarding this... serendipitous discovery," Mr Jacobson said, then rose and left the room.
* * * * *
The unicorn's powerful wings dragged the large airship through the air, as it flew on towards the Spire. This airship was proudly known as the Donkey to its crew members, and it had donkey ears painted on either side of the ship.
Up in the passenger's cabin, Seraph gazed out the window at the bleak tapestry of the City far below, while Penelope nervously glanced around the cabin. She had a bad feeling about this, and clutched her dagger for comfort. Nothing like a sharp weapon to soothe your fears. The cabin itself consisted of rows of worn leather seats, lined up against both sides of the narrow cabin, so every seat was a window seat, of sorts. The cabin was sandwiched between the cargo holds and the giant hot air balloon, and right now it was packed with people headed straight for the Spire.
Cantrip gazed, awestruck, out the window. He had never seen the City from an airship before, and it was a magnificient view. Seraph had seen it before, of course, and everything loses some of its initial charm with time. But for Cantrip, this was the brilliant moment when you encounter something new for the first time, and it etches a neat little groove in the alcoves of your memory.
They were still a quarter of an hour away from the hangars of the Spire when they heard the explosion. Penelope and Seraph instinctively moved away from the windows and flattened themselves on the floor as the airship shuddered. Cantrip, caught off guard, fell as another explosion rocked the airship. Everywhere, the passengers were screaming and searching desperately for something to cling on to. Smoke started to fill the air, and part of the cabin was on fire.
Seraph drew a dagger, and smashed a window with the hilt of his dagger...
* * * * *
Outside, two black airships emerged from the cloud cover beneath the Donkey, bristling with cannons which were pointed directly upwards. These were Dreadnought Class airships, armed to the teeth and ready for battle. The insignia of the Merchant's Guild was emblazoned across the black balloons, and the crew were preparing to fire again.
The Donkey was ablaze now: the first attack had blown a hole in its cargo hold, and several tonnes of freshly imported fish rained down on the City below. The rear of the passenger's cabin was on fire, and the Donkey's unicorn was in a panic.
The Dreadnoughts fired again. It was a spectacular sight (except perhaps to the people who were being fired at): rows of cannons discharging one by one, in a series of high-bass booms and a lot of smoke. Each cannon launched a single iron cannonball upwards at incredible speed, tearing through the Donkey's wood like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Several cannonballs blew right through the hot air balloon, and it burst open like an orange dropped from a great height. The flammable gases inside combusted, and the airship went down, a blazing wreck, like a fireball descending from the heavens, with a one-way ticket to crash somewhere in the City below.
The burning hulk passed right between the two Dreadnoughts, a fiery mess of wood, cloth and cooked fish. And then it continued falling, trailed by clouds of black smoke, before landing with a long, loud crunch on the rooftops below, coughing up a little mushroom cloud of dust and debris.
And then it was silent. The Dreadnaughts circled lazily, looking for survivors, and satisfied that no one could possibly have survived such an inferno, turned and glided back through the clouds.
* * * * *
It wouldn't be much of a story if everyone really died, of course. Roll time backwards like a winebarrel, and...
Seraph smashed a window with the hilt of his dagger, as the entire ship shuddered violently. Wooden beams creaked as the flames spread, and Seraph leapt through the window, and reached back to pull Cantrip through as well.
"Hold on tight!" screamed Seraph, and Cantrip clung onto the bounty hunter as tightly as he could. Seraph crouched to maintain his balance: they were perched precariously on the outside of an airship that was on fire and under attack, and bits fell off as they looked on in horror. The wind snapped at Seraph's hair, and several passengers tumbled out of a cabin window, falling towards the City below. Another window was smashed, and Penelope leapt out, then began running towards the front of the ship.
There was a lot of black smoke coming from the cabin now, and Seraph didn't have much time. He motioned hurriedly for Cantrip to jump on his back, and then he began to run, carrying Cantrip as he sprinted across the body of the dying airship, following Penelope. There was only one way out now...
The unicorn was in a frenzy, and its wings beat madly as the airship dragged it downwards. Penelope cleared the distance between the airship and the unicorn in a single leap, landing neatly on the unicorn's back. It was a huge creature, several times larger than an ordinary horse, with a wingspan twenty feet wide. Penelope gripped its mane, steered the creature around, and the unicorn broke the steel chains anchoring it to the airship's mangled body. And there, Seraph was running along what remained of the wooden frame, and he leapt...
Down below, there was a second round of cannon fire, and the hot air balloon exploded.
The unicorn was carrying only Seraph, Cantrip and Penelope now: freed from the weight of the giant airship, it soared through the air, gliding on its huge wings. Penelope steered it directly into the clouds of black smoke, and they plunged behind the airship, hidden from view by the choking soot. Just before it crashed, the unicorn banked away, swooping down between the rooftops as chimneys flew past like trees in the countryside, and there was a loud and long crunch from behind them, followed by a small mushroom cloud of dust and debris.
And then it was silent, except for the distant beat of a unicorn's wings as it began ascending the sheer cliffs of the Spire.
next chapter
posted by nerdook at 9:14 PM
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