Skip: An Epic Science Fiction Fantasy Adventure Series (Book 2)
Page 17
“I got the anchor up!” the man was saying. “I got the anchor up!”
Gregory looked over at the warehouses. The fire hadn’t yet reached them, nor the dozen other moored ships. He peered over at the casting line, on fire but not nearly burnt through.
“Give me your axe!” Gregory said.
He hacked at the rope attached to the mooring cheat. Half a dozen other men joined him. They cut through the first rope, and then moved onto the second. But once free, the ship did not move out to sea as Gregory had hoped. He seized a long plank of wood from the warehouse’s front and began to pry it free.
“Help me!” he called out to the other men.
They hesitated.
“A gold piece to every man who helps me!” Gregory said.
The men ran forward and grabbed the plank and together they pulled it free. They carried it over to the quay, Gregory at the front. They moved toward the ship’s blazing hull. A rope fell into the water, the flames fizzling out. Gregory could feel the heat licking at his face and hands. The men pushed the length of wood forward, leaning with all their weight and strength. The boat moved a tiny fraction.
“Again!” Gregory said.
The men braced the board again and pushed at New Dawn. It very slowly began to move forward. There was a deep crack sound, loud and terrifying. The ship’s mast tilted over and began to fall toward the quay, warehouses and the men. It snapped at an angle, held back by the rigging. A few men relinquished the board and backed away.
“One more push!” Gregory said.
They did, and the boat moved farther out into the dock. The mast fell, splashing into the sea beside the quay, dousing them with salt water, hissing and stifling the fire, steam rising like a sauna. The mast floated toward the harbour entrance.
The men cheered, all but Gregory, who watched the purple flamed leviathan head out to sea with a heat and intensity matched only by the anger beneath his calm façade.
Chapter Forty-Five
“Someone must have dug down and discovered it years ago,” Jera said, looking up at the sky through the hole in the roof.
“But who?” Elian said. “Who else knew it was here?”
“You had best leave,” Elian’s mother said. “You should not be here when the elders discover it gone.”
“We’ll explain we didn’t take it,” Jera said.
“They won’t believe you.”
“Come with us,” Elian said.
Elian’s mother looked deep into Elian’s eyes, and then looked away.
“I can’t,” she said.
“You have a family, a life,” he said. “We can learn to live with this. Dad will be so happy to see you.”
“I have a new family now. I take care of nature. This is a gift. I love you all dearly, but I cannot give up my responsibilities.”
“I’ve only just found you!” Elian said. “Now you want me to go away?”
She reached out to touch his face. The roots in her hand caressed his skin and wound through his hair.
“I’M SORRY,” she said, “BUT IT MUST BE THIS WAY. I’M VERY PROUD OF YOU.”
The wall behind them began to shake, spilling dirt into the water at their feet.
“THEY ARE COMING,” Elian’s mother said. “YOU MUST GET OUT OF HERE!”
Elian looked up at the opening, an intimidating distance away.
“How?” he said.
Elian’s mother placed her hands on the wall. A series of steps shot out from the sides, winding up toward the hole at the top.
“GO!” she said. “NOW!”
Jera and Grandfather Time began to climb the stairs. Elian hugged his mother one last time, and then began to ascend the steps.
A hole began to form in the wall behind Elian’s mother. She turned and placed her hands on the wall. The hole began to close, and then it opened again. She grunted and her body shook. Sticky sap dripped into the muddy pool at her feet. The hole grew larger, until finally a large Tangent ducked and stepped through it. He seized Elian’s mother’s arm and pulled her from the wall, breaking her bond. Exhausted, she put up little resistance.
She looked up to see Elian still making his way up the steps. The large Tangent slammed his hands into the soil. The steps slammed into the wall one by one, picking up the pace, and winding around the room. Elian’s pace slowed with fatigue. He judged each step before taking the leap. He teetered on the edge. A clod of dirt fell, and didn’t hit the ground below for some seconds. Elian jumped, making it to the final step. The steps behind him thunked back into the wall. Elian drew his arms back and threw himself forward toward the ledge. The step beneath his feel disappeared.
Elian reached out to grab something, anything, and latched onto the ledge. Grandfather Time and Jera pulled him up. The large Tangent growled and slammed his arm against the wall.
Elian looked down into the pit at his mother. She smiled. The roof shook and began to cover back over with soil. Elian caught a glimpse of the tunnel, now fully open, and a dozen Tangents entered the room. The soiled slotted into place, covering the hole. Elian pounded the ground with his fists, the blows weak from exertion. His body shook, and he wept.
Chapter Forty-Six
Sergeant Bershard’s teeth chattered. He tugged his pigoose feather down coat closer around himself. Icicles hung off the end of his nose. He stood looking out at the vast white tundra around him in endless, ceaseless miles, as if the world had drained of colour, and wondered why, if he had been promoted for preventing a stash of Gap from entering the port town of Time, had he been posted so far from civilisation in the Icy Tundra. Great white blizzard sheets pelted him like knives jabbing into his face.
Something monstrous roared from the white. A glint of sharp teeth and a cold wet black nose flittered through the ice sheet not ten feet away. Bershard picked up his pistol and raised it, shivering with fear. He pulled back on the hammer, but it was frozen and did not budge.
The ground shook as the great beast bore down on him, and Bershard screamed.
Enjoy Skip?
Book 3 is out now!
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Elian must recruit the help of his former crew to steal the third and final clock piece, housed in the Ascar’s private museum. In their escape, Jera is injured. Elian must return to the one place he fears most of all: home.
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About the Author
Perrin Briar is the author of the popular Blood Memory, Z-Minus and Swiss Family RobinZOM series. He makes his online home at www.perrinbriar.com. You can connect with Perrin on Twitter at @perrinbriar, on Facebook at facebook.com/perrinbriar and you should send him an email at perrin@perrinbriar.com if the mood strikes you.
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Elian must recruit the help of his former crew to steal the third and final clock piece, housed in the Ascar’s private museum. In their escape, Jera is injured. Elian must return to th
e one place he fears most of all: home.
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Copyright © 2015 Perrin Briar
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Perrin Briar.
Cover design by James at goonwrite.com.
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Visit www.perrinbriar.com.