Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles (52 page)

Raylan looked at his brother. Being called out like that once again strengthened his desire to prove himself to his brother. He quickly took the lead and guided the group, unseen, through the smaller passageways, until they came right upon the outermost airship. Its small cargo doors were closed, its balloon flattened to one side. Raylan only saw two men on deck. It seemed the rest had gone off to check out the chaos Galirras was creating.

I hope they have finished loading up provisions.

During the earlier reconnaissance, Raylan had gotten an idea on how to get aboard the small airship without getting noticed. Together with Kevhin and Richard, he moved to the far side of the ships and crawled under the fabric of the balloon. It felt like a rugged kind of leather, fully worked and oiled to be airtight.

Lifting the fabric, the balloon was much heavier than Raylan would have expected. It took the three of them quite some effort to squeeze themselves under it and to climb up the side of the ship. For a moment he was completely surrounded by it, trapped between the wooden planks of the ships and the greasy skin of the balloon. He felt the pressure push him against the wood. It was the complete opposite of the open air and sea he was used to. He felt like he was suffocating. His breathing increased, as cold sweat broke out on his neck. His hand tightened around the wooden ridge he was holding, and he felt his head start to pound. He needed to get out of there. The heavy skin of the balloon seemed to increase in weight with his every breath, as he looked nervously back and forth.

A hand shot out from under the fabric and grasped his left shoulder.

“Raylan, you okay?”

It was Richard.

“Yea—yeah,” said Raylan, feeling his panic subside.

“Let’s go then. We’re almost there.”

Together, the three of them pushed onward, slowly, finally reaching the handrail on the edge of the deck. Slipping over it, they moved into the space between the rail and the balloon, Raylan going one way, Kevhin and Richard the other. Kevhin moved first, approaching one of the guards on the deck, barely making a sound. In the meantime, Raylan moved in on the other one. Richard headed for the cabin door to check below deck; he disappeared from sight.

“Excuse me,” said Kevhin to the guard who faced away from him.

Startled, the guard turned around, already drawing his sword. Before the guard could do anything, Kevhin used the handle of his dagger to hit the soldier on the side of his head. The guard slammed into the deck immediately, out cold. Raylan quickly moved on the other guard, who reacted to his comrade being taken down by drawing his sword, moving in on Kevhin. The guard did not even make it a step before the hilt of Raylan’s sword hit him in the back of his head, making the knock out count go up to two. It would be a while before they would wake up.

They moved both guards to the side, against the closed handrail, and used some rope to tie them up. Two dirty cloths functioned as primitive gags. No one would be able to see them from the ground.

Suddenly, they heard a ruckus, coming from below the deck. It sounded as if someone was fighting; but before they reached the door, all was quiet again.

Raylan carefully slid along the cabin wall, toward the open door.

“Richard…you there?” he whispered.

No answer. Raylan looked at Kevhin.

“Richard,” the archer hissed, more urgently.

Footsteps were heard coming up the stairs behind the door, but it was still too dark to see far into the interior. Raylan saw Kevhin’s knuckles go white around the handle of his dagger. He raised his own sword and prepared to strike fast.

All of a sudden, Richard’s head popped out, smiling.

“All clear,” he said.

“What was all that ruckus?” asked Raylan.

“That? Oh, I tripped over some rope and knocked over a bucket of water or something.”

“No soldiers?”

“Just one, sleeping. He woke up, so I put him back to sleep again. Someone help me tie him up, he’s quite a big bloke…I already found some rope,” said Richard with a second smile.

Kevhin went below deck to help Richard, while Raylan signaled the others to come aboard. In no time, they had a full crew on board. Taking the armor of the knocked out guards, Harwin, Galen and Sebastian took to the deck, pretending to guard it.

Raylan looked around to take in more of the details of the ship. It was similarly built to the caravel they had seen in the bay, perhaps a little less tall from the deck up, and it felt less wide than the normal seafaring ships Raylan had seen. It felt like a very sleek ship, indeed built for speed.

Instead of masts with multiple sails, the ship just had a single metal pipe, rising out of the deck, near the cabin. It went directly into the bottom of the balloon, where it was clamped with metal and rope. The deck contained dozens of ropes which formed a flexible frame around the balloon, all of them carefully laid out, so they would not tangle. The upper deck, above the cabin, contained the steering wheel to the normal rudder. Two smaller sails could be extended to the side of the upper deck with a setup of pulleys. Although the setup looked complex, and was laid out more horizontally, Raylan was pleased he could easily figure out how it functioned, since the principle of normal sails had stayed the same. Two larger sails could be extended on the main deck, but together the total surface of the sails did not even come close to that of a normal sailing ship.

The front deck was spacious, and without many obstacles; Galirras would fit perfectly, if he did not thrash around too much. A large bowsprit was sticking out the front, with a rope running back toward the balloon again. It was not the only rope, but looking at where the other ones were attached to the rail, Galirras should be able to find a spot where he could still slip through onto the deck. Although, with the speed the dragon grew, Raylan wondered how long he would be comfortable in the available space.
I wonder how big he’ll get…

Raylan saw Gavin bring the two knocked out soldiers below deck. Marek disappeared below deck, too, to get the preparations started, figured Raylan. He quickly followed him to see if he could learn more about the ship and how it worked.

Below deck, the layout was made as efficient as possible. The cargo doors were high on the hull, directly opening in the main hold, where the provisions were stored. There were rooms with hammocks for the crew, multiple thick pelts hanging on the walls to act as blankets. A basic galley and common area was in the back. There were a few smaller view ports in the back wall. Looking out, Raylan saw the single bladed fan below him.

It must enter the ship directly below the galley.

Raylan moved to the lowest deck and found two unwelcome sights in the main hold. Two dormant ghol’ms were positioned along the wall, next to the cargo doors. In the backroom, under the galley, the large iron bar of the fan outside came in through the wall. It attached, after a number of ninety degree corners, into the wall so it could freely turn. It was fortified by a couple of bars, attaching the entire setup to the floor and ceiling of the room. The shape reminded Raylan of one of those hand drills his father had lying around in the workshop. Turning it would turn the wheel of the fan outside, like a reversed windmill.

The rest of the lowest deck was mainly occupied with piles of black stone with green veins in it and some wood. Raylan noticed a number of hatches going up into the main hold, which would be used to move cargo to the lowest deck.

He found Marek on the lowest deck, looking at something that resembled a closed off smith’s oven. Only this oven was made of metal plating, resting on stone support blocks. A pipe ran up through the ceiling to the main deck; it was the one connected to the balloon.

“Okay, letf see itf I can make tfhis work,” Raylan heard Marek say.

“What do you mean ‘let’s see’?” asked Raylan. “You said you knew how to fly this thing!”

“Well, I’vfe seen tfhem do itf so many tfimes…how hard can itf be?”

Marek looked at him with such a blank expression, Raylan did not know what to say, at first.

“How hard can it be? Half of these things, none of us have ever seen in our lives. Until yesterday, it was common knowledge that ships do not fly. For all we know, it could be magic.”

“Evferyone knows tfhere is no such tfhing as magic…”

“Like there’s no such thing as dragons…right?”

“Dragons?”

“Never mind…let’s just figure this out, as fast as possible…what do you know?” said Raylan.

“See tfhis? Tfhis is an ovfen, used tfo burn tfhese stfones,” said Marek, as he grabbed one of the green veined stones. “I’vfe seen tfhem tfhrow in tfhe stfones. As tfhey heatf up and burn, itf releases a green vfapor, forcefully. Tfhe vfapor wantfs tfo go up very much. Tfhey catfch itf in tfhe sack on deck, which liftfs tfhe ship up, if filled enough.”

“Okay, so that makes it float, and the bladed fan thing at the back of the ship pushes it forward, helped by the sails on the side?”

“Yes, I’vfe seen tfhem tfake off lotfs of tfimes. Itf should notf tfake long for our balloon tfo fill, one stfone releases a lotf of green air,” said Marek.

“Leave firing up the oven to me, I’ve done it hundreds of times for my father’s smith’s oven. Get me some of that cut wood and keep those stones ready.”

Raylan found the person who had made the oven very resourceful. Air intakes sucked in constant air to keep the fire from suffocating, while the hatches were placed in such a way as to quickly and efficiently create a full force furnace. In no time at all, the temperature in the oven reached high enough to start burning the rocks. Everywhere were handles on the oven, used to regulate the amount of heat, wood and stones. It took Marek little time to figure out each of them; but, it was a close call or he almost dumped the entire burning load, by accident, while trying to figure everything out.

Raylan ran up to the deck to see how things were going. On his way, he saw that the captured soldiers had been secured in one of the hammock rooms, where Ca’lek kept watch. He passed Gavin and Xi’Lao, who were discussing provisions. And dived past Peadar, who was setting up their stuff, making sure nothing was in the way—but could be found, if needed. Once up on deck, Raylan noticed the sky losing its darkness in the east. The sun would be up soon.

Raylan still could not feel Galirras. He knew the dragon was supposed to stay away while they prepped the ship; but he wondered, if his friend was doing alright. It seemed the chaos on the south side of the harbor had quieted down, somewhat; but there were still fires burning which needed to be put out. The majority of the soldiers would still be too occupied by the mayhem, before returning to their normal duty. At least, that’s what Raylan hoped.

The other small airships nearby, all had their balloons hanging over the side. It shielded the group from the guards on those decks. It was the reason Raylan had chosen the furthest ship, together with the fact that it had been the easiest to get to.

Raylan looked at the balloon. It did not seem to have moved at all. He pushed the fabric, nothing. He raced down into the belly of the ship again.

“Marek! Something’s not right…the balloon is still as flat as ever,” he shouted.

Marek looked at him from behind the metal contraption. A strange moan filled the room.

“What’s that?” said Raylan.

“Tfhere’s tfoo much green air. Itf is building up in tfhe ovfen tfoo much. Tfhe metfal can’tf handle tfhe pressure.”

“Well do something!” shouted Raylan, as another long moan filled the room together with a loud clang.

Marek hobbled round the metal barrel. Checking each entrance, handle, and pipe. He stopped at the main pipe and tapped on it. Another tap, while he held his ear to the pipe.

“Emptfy…”

“What about this?” said Raylan, “did you flip this already, before?”

Marek looked at the part Raylan pointed to. He had not recognized it as a moving part yet, as it looked different from the other handles. He took another look, left and right, finally pushing it upward. It pushed the pipe part that was in place higher, as another slid in its place. Right away they heard the excessive sound of fast moving air pushing through the pipe.

Marek looked at the pipe that had been pushed up and shook his head.

“How smartf. Itf’s a safetfy measure tfhat will automatfically stop tfhe push of vfapor intfo the balloon, if tfhe pressure in tfhe balloon and tfhus the pipe becomes tfoo high. See…tfo protfect tfhe balloon from ruptfuring. Tfhere’s no way tfo release vapor from tfhe balloon quickly, but tfhere is in tfhe oven.”

“As long as it’s working now,” said Raylan, relieved. “It’s almost dawn…we need to get out of here before we’re discovered. Let’s get as much stone burning as possible. The sooner that balloon is full the better.”

Raylan went back up on deck, after filling the metal oven with stones. Marek would keep at it, supported by Rohan. He was pleased to see the balloon already erecting itself, filling up with the green vapors, quickly.

Most of the group remained out of sight. They saw patrols walk by, but none of them had come close. Now that the balloon increased in size and lifted up from the ground, they were bound to draw attention.

By now, the balloon was almost completely off the ground. As it started to float, it pulled the ropes that tied it to the ship skyward. The deck became less cluttered as the ropes straightened out, allowing Raylan to take in the full size of the deck. It was a good size ship, indeed thinner than a caravel, but it had a nice stretched out look with plenty of space.