chapter 25
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Time passed.
The sign swinging over the door said "Ronal & Sons, Travel Consultants, Since 1852", with a little bell that tinkled whenever the door was pushed open. It was one of those things about a small business, you just had to have a bell that tinkles when the door opens, and nobody actually knows why. Since it's a small shop, you certainly don't need a bell to tell you that a customer has just walked in: seeing it for yourself usually does the trick just as well.
In any case, the bell did tinkle, and a man walked in. He wore a dirty great coat that reeked of sewage, and had a hunted look in his eyes. His right arm was missing: it looked as though it had very recently been cut off at the shoulder, and the empty sleeve swung creepily as he walked. His hair was greyish, but it was a kind of grey that suggested it used to be white, before layers of grime and dirt decided to make themselves comfortable.
Behind the desk, a nervous young man with a pair of tiny spectacles glanced up. "Welcome to Ronal & Sons, sir. How can I help you?" he said, and something in his tone added: 'although of course, it would be better all around if I didn't have to help you at all'. And it's always safer to address a dangerous-looking stranger as 'sir'.
Evangelion stepped forward. "Give me your fastest airship to the Spire, and I want it to leave as soon as humanly possible."
The young man behind the counter carefully noted the use of the word 'humanly', which seemed to be suggesting that this stranger does not operate within normal human limits. "Certainly sir, but that'll be, er, quite an large sum of money. Er..."
"Here," said Evangelion, and plonked a money bag full of gems onto the desk. "That's $5,000 in assorted precious stones. Now... give me the airship."
The boy stared at the gems. They had apparently been stuffed hurriedly into the bag, and now trickled slowly onto the table. He gulped. "Okay sir, I'll, er, see what I can do. Freddie's on the way back now with the skimmer airship, I'll, erm, see to it that he gets here as quickly as he can, erm... maybe, by tomorrow evening...?" and his speech faltered against the cold stare of the stranger's eyes. It was uncomfortably similar to staring into a freshly dug grave.
"What's your name, kid?" asked Evangelion gruffly.
"My name's Acturus, sir, but, erm, everyone calls me Act for short."
"Great. Tell you what, Act. Get me that airship within one hour, and I'll make sure you get handsomely rewarded for your effort. One hour, for an extra $5,000. How's that, hm?" said Evangelion. Money was no object now... the Gifts are worth far more than all the gold in the world.
Act hesitated. $10,000 was a lot of money... there were some recently serviced airships that would do the trick. Oh all right... "Okay, sir, I'll see what I can do. One hour, you said? You got it..."
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
The airship creaked as it sailed clumsily through the air, piloted by a nervous Act. It was built for hauling cargo, not for speed, and so it rumbled along slowly, pulled by a big fat unicorn, with the words "Ronal & Sons" painted on the sides. Evangelion gazed out of a cabin window, into the starry night sky beyond. He was getting very close to the Gifts... once he reached the tunnels, it would be a simple matter to find the Vault and...
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout. The ship banked hard as Evangelion saw something fly out of the clouds...
It was a cloud of homing pigeons, carrying what appeared to be a flaming torches. Evangelion's eyes widened in surprise. The pigeons screeched madly, and collided with the airship. There was a brief 'whooooomp' as the flames spread over the balloon. Evangelion kicked open the window, leapt, and then everything exploded.
* * * * *
At the edge of the City, the Ancients saw the burning airship fall from the sky.
The ship fell apart as it fell, burning bits of wood coming off like dandruff. But there, when you looked really carefully in the midst of the growing fireball, was a figure in a great coat, clinging on to the unicorn as it struggled to break its fall. The unicorn spread its huge wings, slowing itself as it fell.
Clinging on to the unicorn, Evangelion saw the rooftops screaming towards him, the entire City laid out before his eyes and getting closer by the second. And then he leapt away, landing heavily on the rooftops, his coat smouldering. Evangelion grunted, rolled, and then he was still. For a moment there was silence, then Evangelion groaned, pulled himself up, and stumbled off into the darkness.
There was a crash as the airship finally hit the ground.
The Ancients saw Evangelion's narrow escape, so the Key must have made it, too, and the airship was of little concern now. There were other ways to get into the Spire, and if the bounty hunter could survive an airship on fire, then he could certainly find a way to bring the Key to the Vault.
It would take too long to walk back up the Spire, of course. Ancient One spoke first, and his voice was tense. "Our worst fears are now confirmed, brothers: the Key has been taken, and the bounty hunter is heading for the Vault even as we speak. We must move quickly, and take what is rightfully ours before it is stolen from right beneath our noses."
The other Ancients nodded quickly, and three minutes later, the alley was empty once more.
next chapter
Time passed.
The sign swinging over the door said "Ronal & Sons, Travel Consultants, Since 1852", with a little bell that tinkled whenever the door was pushed open. It was one of those things about a small business, you just had to have a bell that tinkles when the door opens, and nobody actually knows why. Since it's a small shop, you certainly don't need a bell to tell you that a customer has just walked in: seeing it for yourself usually does the trick just as well.
In any case, the bell did tinkle, and a man walked in. He wore a dirty great coat that reeked of sewage, and had a hunted look in his eyes. His right arm was missing: it looked as though it had very recently been cut off at the shoulder, and the empty sleeve swung creepily as he walked. His hair was greyish, but it was a kind of grey that suggested it used to be white, before layers of grime and dirt decided to make themselves comfortable.
Behind the desk, a nervous young man with a pair of tiny spectacles glanced up. "Welcome to Ronal & Sons, sir. How can I help you?" he said, and something in his tone added: 'although of course, it would be better all around if I didn't have to help you at all'. And it's always safer to address a dangerous-looking stranger as 'sir'.
Evangelion stepped forward. "Give me your fastest airship to the Spire, and I want it to leave as soon as humanly possible."
The young man behind the counter carefully noted the use of the word 'humanly', which seemed to be suggesting that this stranger does not operate within normal human limits. "Certainly sir, but that'll be, er, quite an large sum of money. Er..."
"Here," said Evangelion, and plonked a money bag full of gems onto the desk. "That's $5,000 in assorted precious stones. Now... give me the airship."
The boy stared at the gems. They had apparently been stuffed hurriedly into the bag, and now trickled slowly onto the table. He gulped. "Okay sir, I'll, er, see what I can do. Freddie's on the way back now with the skimmer airship, I'll, erm, see to it that he gets here as quickly as he can, erm... maybe, by tomorrow evening...?" and his speech faltered against the cold stare of the stranger's eyes. It was uncomfortably similar to staring into a freshly dug grave.
"What's your name, kid?" asked Evangelion gruffly.
"My name's Acturus, sir, but, erm, everyone calls me Act for short."
"Great. Tell you what, Act. Get me that airship within one hour, and I'll make sure you get handsomely rewarded for your effort. One hour, for an extra $5,000. How's that, hm?" said Evangelion. Money was no object now... the Gifts are worth far more than all the gold in the world.
Act hesitated. $10,000 was a lot of money... there were some recently serviced airships that would do the trick. Oh all right... "Okay, sir, I'll see what I can do. One hour, you said? You got it..."
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
The airship creaked as it sailed clumsily through the air, piloted by a nervous Act. It was built for hauling cargo, not for speed, and so it rumbled along slowly, pulled by a big fat unicorn, with the words "Ronal & Sons" painted on the sides. Evangelion gazed out of a cabin window, into the starry night sky beyond. He was getting very close to the Gifts... once he reached the tunnels, it would be a simple matter to find the Vault and...
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout. The ship banked hard as Evangelion saw something fly out of the clouds...
It was a cloud of homing pigeons, carrying what appeared to be a flaming torches. Evangelion's eyes widened in surprise. The pigeons screeched madly, and collided with the airship. There was a brief 'whooooomp' as the flames spread over the balloon. Evangelion kicked open the window, leapt, and then everything exploded.
* * * * *
At the edge of the City, the Ancients saw the burning airship fall from the sky.
The ship fell apart as it fell, burning bits of wood coming off like dandruff. But there, when you looked really carefully in the midst of the growing fireball, was a figure in a great coat, clinging on to the unicorn as it struggled to break its fall. The unicorn spread its huge wings, slowing itself as it fell.
Clinging on to the unicorn, Evangelion saw the rooftops screaming towards him, the entire City laid out before his eyes and getting closer by the second. And then he leapt away, landing heavily on the rooftops, his coat smouldering. Evangelion grunted, rolled, and then he was still. For a moment there was silence, then Evangelion groaned, pulled himself up, and stumbled off into the darkness.
There was a crash as the airship finally hit the ground.
The Ancients saw Evangelion's narrow escape, so the Key must have made it, too, and the airship was of little concern now. There were other ways to get into the Spire, and if the bounty hunter could survive an airship on fire, then he could certainly find a way to bring the Key to the Vault.
It would take too long to walk back up the Spire, of course. Ancient One spoke first, and his voice was tense. "Our worst fears are now confirmed, brothers: the Key has been taken, and the bounty hunter is heading for the Vault even as we speak. We must move quickly, and take what is rightfully ours before it is stolen from right beneath our noses."
The other Ancients nodded quickly, and three minutes later, the alley was empty once more.
next chapter
posted by nerdook at 10:10 PM
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