Aiden nodded and finished getting dressed then went to the bathroom before heading to the where Gavin had said everyone was gathering. As he passed by one of the windows, he looked outside and saw a third small skimmer, though this one looked odd. He paused for a second, staring at it until he realized that this one had needler guns on the front and back. The two floating globes gave the ship a somewhat odd appearance.
The conference room was already filling up with Professor Reivus at the head of the table. He was talking with Stelios and Amanda, the red-headed innkeeper while Skay, another guardsman, and the older militia man from the night before sat close at other seats around the table. Aiden sat down just as Gavin came into the room with two bowls of gravy and sausage, placing one in front of Aiden.
The rest of the table looked at the two boys, hunger clear on their faces and making Gavin grimace at them all. “Hey! Go get your own; I didn’t bring enough for all of you.”
Stelios gave Gavin a sour look but turned to the other guardsman in the room and asked him to get several bowls for everyone. The man, a lieutenant, nodded and walked out but not before smacking Gavin on the back of the head playfully.
“Hey!” Gavin said, reacting as the man left but everyone’s laughter kept the mood from darkening. Gavin himself rolled his eyes and chuckled, shrugging before digging back into his bowl. “Okay, I get it, ask everyone next time. Sheesh.”
Aiden himself was famished and was eating ravenously. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was, having been too focused on Skay the night before to care about his stomach. He looked across the table and met her eyes, watching as she mouthed the words thank you to him to which he nodded.
After the lieutenant had come back with another guardsman helping him carry the food and drinks, Captain Stelios’ became serious, talking while everyone else ate. “Okay, as we all know things became far more difficult much faster than we had anticipated. We owe the Dawad clan much for their sacrifice.” Stelios turned, catching Skays suddenly dark glance and nodded his head low, almost bowing to her. “No one expected things to escalate this quickly from the rumors, but both the Duke and Duchess swear to you they will stand by your people. New ships and whatever else you will need to re-establish your clan, of course.”
“I understand,” she said, her eyes misting for a moment before she continued. “My father and I will accept this offer though we wish to know more about these monsters. Neither my father nor I have ever heard of creatures like this before.”
Professor Reivus had shifted in his seat before he spoke. “It would be unusual if you had, yes, very unusual indeed for these creatures are not native to this planet.”
Aiden watched the wide variety of reactions though most in the room looked baffled. It was only Gavin, Stelios, Professor Reivus, and himself that looked like they understood what the Professor had meant.
Amanda frowned. Despite her being the least likely to understand, at least she was willing to ask a question. “Excuse me, but did you say planet? Don’t you mean ocean?”
Professor Reivus blinked before he looked closely at her and then Skay, even going so far as to lift up his glasses, “Eh? Wait, you are not Ahnarad or Carol, are you? Well, crash course then, hold onto your hats! To put it all into a small box, before the cataclysm, humans could do an amazing number of things and even lived on different planets and solar systems. Do you follow?”
Skay and Amanda exchanged glances, then turned back to the Professor shaking their heads. Aiden piped in, thinking he had a better analogy. He’d been thinking about it off and on for several months. “It’s kind of like people living in different towns, except much, much farther away. Before the Cataclysm, there used to be roads to each of these towns, but during the Cataclysm all of them were destroyed, and no one’s seen someone from a different town since.”
“So,” Amanda said slowly, “each of these towns might have other kind of animals as well, and no one would have seen them either. Is that what you are saying?”
“Precisely!” Professor Reivus exclaimed, slapping the table and beaming at her. “My goodness, you are quite bright aren’t you? Good thing you weren’t eaten. But, let me continue, yes, these creatures have never lived here before, but I do know of them.” The old man leaned forward, his bony hand sliding on the table as he looked intently at everyone around it. “They are called Locust Crabs, quite a fitting name for the unique horror they bring. Even for the ancients, they were a difficult scourge. As you have unfortunately found out, they have an insatiable appetite and a decidedly deadly defense mechanism with their acid. It coats their bodies, and they can expunge it at a distance. They also are still young and haven’t reached full growth.”
Everyone around the table was mesmerized by the professor as he spoke, their eyes slowly widening with the horror he was describing. “Wait, you mean these things aren’t even as big as they will become?” Gavin said, shocked.
“Not even half-way grown yet, I’m afraid,” The Professor said, taking a deep breath. “The largest adult ever seen was well over ten meters long, and no one was sure if that was a fully grown adult since killing them on sight was the order of the day.”
Amanda stood up; her face suddenly clouded with anger. “Who would do this? Bring these creatures to our shores and killing people who have done nothing to them!?”
“It was the Mourning Lords,” Gavin said as he looked Amanda in the eyes. “The same ones from the Cataclysm.”
“Poppycock! Hogwash!” Amanda erupted. “I would believe Mourning lords are behind this as soon as I would believe a Tarfin would give me a kiss on the mouth!”
“No,” Skay said, reaching out and touching Amanda’s arm and making the woman turn towards her in a fury. “It’s true. My people have heard things and seen things. There were skimmers that came out of the sky over Riften and one as large as the castle in Terek. My people saw them. Also, we’ve never heard of these creatures, and my people are of the oceans. Don’t you think we would have known? Ever? Who else would have caused these things to happen?”
There was a cold, clammy silence as the news sunk in with the fiery-haired woman. “Professor,” Aiden said trying to break himself out of freezing at the terror of the situation. “Is there anything we can do? If there are hundreds or thousands of these Locust Crabs in the oceans, won't they wipe out ships and coastal towns all throughout the world, much less Terek?”
Professor Reivus nodded, looking at Aiden and Gavin,” Yes, I believe there is something we can do, or at least we know someone who can. Carol Reid. She’s our only hope with these beasts. I came here to get you, Gavin, and Markam to fly to Reid directly. It would take the same amount of time as going back to Terek and going through the gates. Besides, I think I’m going to need a skimmer at my disposal.”
“What about us and our town?” Amanda asked, concern written across her face.
Stelios took her hand. “We’re not abandoning you. We’re going to use your Inn as a base. We need to send skimmers to all the towns on the coast and try to save as many people as we can.”
Amanda nodded, sinking back down once she heard they wouldn’t be abandoned by the Duke’s men.
“When are we going to leave?” Aiden said though he expected he knew the answer. He was not disappointed.
“Right away,” The Professor said. “These things will grow fast so the sooner, the better. Captain Stelios, we will keep in touch with any information that Carol gives us.”
The Guard Captain nodded, and everyone got up to leave with Professor Reivus coming up to Aiden and Gavin once they were back up on deck. Aiden was standing at the railing looking out over the ocean. The bay was still thrashing and rolling with the movement of all the monsters still inhabiting its depths. There were fewer creatures up on land, but there must be countless in the water.
“They are feeding on each other,” Professor Reivus said, joining him for a moment. “It will mean less of them over time, but those that remain will become more and more terrify
ing. We must be gone.”
Aiden nodded before he turned and followed the old man off of the Stormdancer. They headed over to the other skimmer that Professor Reivus had come in with its odd bulbous weapons. Still, Aiden was glad for them now that the war was becoming more and more real.
As Markam and Gavin came on board, Aiden heard a cry from near the Inn and looked over. Skay was running for the skimmer skidding to a stop at the bottom of the ramp.
“Aiden! Come here; I have something for you,” She called, looking up at him with a mixture of anger and something else.
Aiden came down the ramp cautiously, worried that something else had happened. “Is everything okay, Skay? Is your father all right?”
She stood there, resolute and staring at him intently. “Of course he is all right, Aiden. He conned some poor villager into giving him something to drink so he couldn’t be happier, but everything is also not all right. Did you forget to say goodbye? Perhaps you were running off to that silver-eyed girl from the fair?”
For a moment, Aiden felt confusion war within him but her anger finally made its way through even his young, thick head Taking a half step closer to her, he shook his head and reached for her hands. “No, I did not forget to say goodbye, because I will see you again, Skay.”
She grinned suddenly, that bright, beautiful smile he remembered from when they had danced before she leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. “Good answer, Aiden, now go tend to your business. We will see each other again.” Then she was gone.
Aiden felt his whole body flush before he could turn away, but he had his duty. Someone had already loaded his small skimmer on board, and despite its size, it was taking up quite a bit of room on the deck. He put his hand on it and looked back towards the Ravenwood Inn, watching as it slowly disappeared.
Chapter 15
Aiden was standing by the back railing with Glowby hovering silently by his shoulder when the Professor came up to him, grinning and practically bouncing. It wasn’t entirely out of character for the old man to be excited about something, but Aiden was not certain why he would in this instance. They’d just left a tragedy and were on their way to find an uncertain solution for it.
“Aiden! Aiden dear boy, how are you today?” Professor Reivus said, continuing to grin at him as if he’d just found a piece of candy. “It’s an excellent day, isn’t it?”
Aiden blinked and then narrowed his eyes. He was clearly missing something. When he had been in the old man’s class aid, he could usually pick up on his moods, erratic as they were, but today he was drawing a blank. “It’s, um, well, actually it’s not so great a day, Professor. We just came from some monster attack on one of our towns.” Aiden said, finishing weakly as he watched the professor’s face fall.
“Oh, yes, that is true, isn’t it?” the Professor said lamely, then fidgeted with his hands before continuing. “Dear me, you are totally correct, Aiden. Sorry, I was just so excited to show you the ship that I got carried away. It’s just been so long since I’ve been able to build anything.”
Aiden nodded, realizing now what had gotten his friend so excited. He reached over and patted the small man on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Professor. I was wondering about the changes when I saw the ship this morning. They said you were adding needlers?”
The Professor’s enthusiasm immediately recovered and he grinned, his kindly face wrinkling up from his smile. “Needlers! And some other things. Oh, Aiden, it has been so long since I’ve been able to build anything more complicated than a cup warmer! Brilliant for keeping your tea warm, but not much to brag about, eh? That and Corenthus was never the gushy type. I’m pretty sure I could have made a battleship, and he would have just raised his eyebrow and nodded at me.”
“Other things?” Aiden raised his eyebrow. “What kind of other things?”
Professor Reivus rubbed his hands together before grabbing Aiden’s arm, pulling him towards the back. “First, you have to understand that these skimmers were never meant to be war vessels. They were simple transport ships, used to ferry people from place to place much like a county fair wagon. Immensely powerful by our standards today, but, well, you understand after seeing real combat vessels in Riften, yes?”
Aiden nodded, looking at the needler currently floating off of the stern. Glowby buzzed around it, orbiting it for a few moments as if inspecting it before flashing once and coming back to Aiden. The globe was smaller than the ones on the Skywitch or Stormdancer and didn’t look big enough to fit someone inside of them. “How do they fire them, Professor? They look much smaller than the ones on the big skimmers.”
“Exactly right, my boy! Exactly right. Smaller! Hehe! But also more powerful but not by much. I increased the power plant on her, but I can only do so much on a vessel like this.”
“Professor,” Aiden said, waving his hands in the man’s face. “Don’t forget I’m still learning. What is a power plant?”
“Right, Right,” the professor said, blinking for a moment before nodding. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember that you are from this time! A power plant is what creates power for all the other parts to use. Like more water will make a waterwheel go faster, eh? I, um, did that for this skimmer. It can go faster as well, and I gave her much better shields! Ol’ Betsy is an entirely different girl, now.”
“Betsy?” Aiden asked. “Did you name her? I’ve not heard a name like that before.”
“Oh? Ah, it is a very old name,” The Professor said, sniffing and looking off to the side as if he’d been put out about something. “Her full name is Heavens to Betsy, but that just becomes a mouthful, and the crew started getting angry at me for correcting them, so it’s just Betsy now.”
Aiden decided just nodding along was the right thing to do. It was an odd name, and he agreed with the crew about the longer version. He much preferred Skywitch or Stormdancer. “Did you say we can go faster? How much faster?”
“We can probably beat the Skywitch now, though not by much.” The old man said, looking back at Aiden. “Still, it’s something that could help though it takes me a lot longer to create things than it does you, Aiden.”
“I know Professor. I can make things faster, but I still have a lot to learn on what to make.” Aiden paused, leaning against the rail of the ship and looking out over the ocean. “Did Count Viridian tell you about my trip to the battleground and what I saw there?”
The Professor’s wrinkled face hardened, and he frowned. “Yes. After I had come out of my building trance, we spoke of it. It is most disturbing, Aiden. Most disturbing, indeed. But to answer your real question, I had not heard of these floating creatures before, though as for the other dimension, there were hypotheses and theories before the cataclysm about another dimension, though I never heard of any successes in finding them. I had suspected you might have found one when you first saw the Mourning Lord in Duke Feldar’s study, but I wasn’t sure. Certainly not enough to speculate.”
“That’s not good news, Professor,” Aiden said. “I was hoping you might know something about it or those floaters that were feeding on the soldiers. I’m sure the Mourning Lords were controlling them somehow and that they are the cause of the plague.”
“It very well could be. One more thing to look into, eh?” The Professor laughed, slapping him on the arm. “There was an old Chinese proverb that said may you live in interesting times. More of a curse. One that I think you’ve received in abundance, my boy.”
“Chinese? What’s a Chinese?” Aiden asked, but stopped as he felt the skimmer increase in speed and begin diving towards the waves below. Glowby began to flash red, warning him of something when the air just beyond the skimmer began to shimmer, almost glimmering with a faint blue glow. Several angry flashes impacted against it which shook the skimmer, knocking both Aiden and the professor to the deck below.
“We’re under attack!” Aiden yelled, quickly getting to his feet and helping the Professor up. He looked back and saw two large, blocky craft settle in behind the small
er skimmer, sending more red bolts flying past their ship. “Come on, Professor; we’ve got to get inside. Follow me.” He yelled as the Skimmer rocked a few more times from impacts. Aiden could see the shields glow for a longer time, pushing their limits to fend off the angry red bolts.
They made it to the small bridge just as Gavin opened the door, waving them inside. “Come on, hurry up!” He yelled, pulling them both in once they reached him. The skimmer shook again, rumbling from several more strikes from their attackers and something began to whine deep inside the craft.
“Oh, dear, that’s not a good sound,” Professor Reivus said, looking worriedly down into the craft.
Aiden looked over, watching as Markam held onto a railing at the back of the bridge. He had his eyes closed and was mumbling something, though Aiden didn’t blame him. There was nothing he could do and Aiden knew he was afraid of heights and deep water. This situation had to be one of his worst nightmares coming true. “Professor, what’s wrong? What is that noise?”
“Uh, the shield generator is, um, straining. It makes that sound when it’s beginning to overload.” The Professor paused, blinking and going over to one of the crewmen’s stations and poking at it, getting an irate look from the man sitting there. “Yes, just about five minutes or so. We really should return fire or something, don’t you think, Captain?”
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