by Jeremy Dwyer
“That means you have advantages that other people don’t. I’ve seen a few things I wish that I didn’t – cruelty and dishonesty and worse. I try to forget them,” Jolene said.
“I try to forget what happened to take my vision, but I live with it every day. During the inferno, I got the burning sickness, and had to stay under the crystal archways in Baradaxa. Then, those religious fanatics came and shattered the crystals and blinded a lot of us. It was a rough time – I wasn’t sure I’d make it, and life has been harder than it should be,” Torin said.
“There’s no limit to how hard life can get. You’re here, though, and you’re still living life, so you’re the winner. You just have to believe in yourself – and in hard work – instead of some religion,” Jolene said. She still wasn’t sure if she believed in any higher powers, despite witnessing the faith of Sethunya when that young woman gave herself as a martyr.
“That’s what I believe in. I keep working and going, I just don’t know where I’m going to end up,” Torin said.
“I think you’ll end up somewhere nice,” Jolene said, and she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, more than once.
~~~
The ghost of Captain Tychon stood on the deck of the Obliteration and looked out over the Zovvin Ocean waters. He then turned to look at the floorboards where he saw the lines that had been marked off, indicating the point values for his game of knocking skulls of his victims – using their femurs – along the length of the ship. The game was not currently being played, because all of the previous bones had been cracked, interrupting the tournament. This infuriated him, but something else caught his attention.
A movement in the spirit world swept through the ghost of Captain Tychon and his crew, and they felt an urge to move forward. It was the power of Gadamalto – the Master of Spirits in the Maelstrom of Vengeance – and he was calling to willing spirits to strike at an enemy, in exchange for a reprieve from their suffering.
“Sail east! Strike at the king and sink his fleet!” the ghost of Captain Tychon ordered, changing himself back to a material form. His ghost crew did the same.
The materialized ghost crew set the ship’s course and headed east across the Zovvin Ocean, driven by promises made by a greater spiritual power.
~~~
Pradrock found his way in between other waterfalls, where he saw splashes of water dance around on either side of him, emanating darkness and cold, light and heat. Massimo, Akylas and Niels followed closely behind, and saw the same.
Niels recorded all that he had seen into his book, including the precise path he had walked.
“I could see a person getting lost, if not drowned,” Massimo said.
“If Tychon were a living person, and we could get him to come here, I’d call that a good thing,” Akylas said.
“Since he isn’t, we’re going to have to be creative. We only need to stop him from killing others, not to destroy him,” Pradrock said.
“You’ve gotten the better of Tychon before, so you can probably find a way to do it again,” Akylas said.
“Massimo, can you bend light to look around corners, behind these waterfalls?” Pradrock asked.
Massimo drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial and was energized. He then looked five hundred twenty (520) feet ahead and behind other waterfalls to the left and to the right. Behind them he saw large metal cylinders – over thirty (30) feet in diameter – protruding out of stone walls and going into the ground.
“Behind both, I see large metal cylinders, protruding from the stone walls and bending toward the ground,” Massimo said.
“Water pipes?” Akylas asked.
“Perhaps. Let’s look more closely,” Pradrock said and he continued walking, followed by the others.
Pradrock slowly proceeded along his calculated path until getting to a point where he could look directly behind the waterfalls. He then veered right and approached the cylinders and asked: “This is what you saw?”
“Yes, it is,” Massimo said.
“This is almost certainly a water pipe. It may be attached to a pump, located below ground, to drive the water up through the waterfall,” Pradrock said.
Niels drew a diagram of what he saw, measuring the cylinder by wrapping a cord around it and estimating a portion of its circumference.
“Alright, I agree this means it probably is a machine, rather than a natural waterfall. You have something in mind?” Akylas asked.
“I can’t see into the ground or the machine, only around it. What can we do with the knowledge we have?” Massimo asked.
“There is a way that you can see into the machine,” Pradrock said.
“How?” Massimo asked.
“Follow the water as it drains into the lakes. Choose the clearest water there is – just focus on that and look around the corners into the pipes below – because you will almost certainly find pipes beneath the surfaces of those lakes. There may be a valve that controls the rate of flow. If you can find that, we can turn these waterfalls off or on, or even cause them to flow quickly or slowly, as needed,” Pradrock said.
“There are other waterfalls ahead. The ones behind us have water that is too unclear to follow precisely,” Massimo said.
“Start with those, then,” Pradrock said.
Massimo looked ahead at one of the other waterfalls and was able to bend light to tunnel into the water in the lake at the bottom. He followed the flow of water and found a small pipe that led into the ground and it had numerous bends in it, which soon exceeded his ability to bend light around corners.
“I found a pipe under a lake into which the water flows from the waterfall. The pipe bends more times than I can bend the light, and I saw no sign of anything blocking the water flow, so the valve may not be there,” Massimo said.
“The valve could be deep underground,” Akylas said.
“Or toward the top, but the climb up the cliffs would be too dangerous. Either way, we can’t get to the valve to control it, but we have alternatives which we can control,” Pradrock said.
“What do you have in mind?” Massimo asked.
“We will need to make effective use of the ship, however, to achieve our objective,” Pradrock said.
Niels wrote down this conversation into his book, but he could not draw sketches of what Massimo saw, because he did not personally see it. He only wrote that Massimo said certain things, though he didn’t doubt the man’s words.
~~~
Akantha regularly drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her own vial to stay energized. She sensed a spiritual presence – a malignant one – and it was approaching.
“We’re not alone! Somebody’s approaching!” Akantha said.
“Is it Tychon?” Fritz asked.
“Maybe, but I can’t see the ship yet – I just feel a spirit: a nasty one,” Akantha said.
“We should move the ship out of the way, unless you’re prepared for ship-to-ship combat, or worse,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“Moving the ship is the right answer,” Akantha said.
“I hope Jolene is listening in, so she knows and can tell the others,” Fritz said.
~~~
Torin was surprised at first, and his legs trembled, but he gained his confidence and kissed Jolene back. Their lips probed each other’s necks and they each felt desire, but stopped for want of privacy.
Jolene then put her finger on Torin’s lips and whispered into his ear, saying: “we’ll have more time later, alone time.” She ended it by kissing his earlobe and then she perked up, sensing thoughts from Fritz.
“They’re moving the ship. Someone’s coming – an evil spirit,” Jolene said.
“Where are they moving the ship? Better yet, where should they move it?” Torin asked.
“I’ll ask the captain. He can tell them where he wants it,” Jolene said.
Jolene then made telepathic contact with Captain Pradrock, saying that the ship was moving because Akantha sensed a
n approaching evil spirit.
~~~
Pradrock sensed the thoughts of Jolene in his head, and knew that she was telepathically contacting him. His face became slightly tense and his eyes turned distant.
Akylas saw it and asked: “What is it?”
“Jolene contacted me, to relay a message: Tychon – or some other spirit adversary – may be on his way. They need to move the ship out of sight. I’m going to have them bring it here, after picking up Jolene and Torin,” Pradrock said.
~~~
Jolene heard Pradrock’s thoughts for his response and relayed it back to Fritz.
“They want to move the ship inland, over that waterfall, after picking us up,” Jolene said so that Torin would know.
~~~
“They want to move the ship in that direction. We need to get Jolene and Torin and bring them,” Fritz said.
Akantha took the wheel of the Resolute Traverser and Luuk / Tallak took control of the sails. They converted the ship to an airship – pivoting its masts and sails to the side to become sailwings – and the ship rose to twenty-five (25) feet of altitude.
Akantha then steered the ship over to where she saw a pair of people on the ground in between waterfalls and they lowered a rope ladder.
~~~
When the rope ladder dropped down, Jolene took hold of it and put one end in Torin’s hand, saying: “You go first. I’ll follow as closely as I can, love.”
Torin then climbed the rope ladder with Jolene following behind him, and she guided him telepathically to be sure that he was steady.
Fritz reached out and helped Torin come aboard the Resolute Traverser. Instinctively – despite his lack of vision – Torin turned around and lowered his hand, and he and Fritz reached out and helped Jolene to board the ship.
Akantha saw something in Jolene and her woman’s intuition suggested to her that something had happened between her and Torin.
Jolene sensed the thought and replied, telepathically: “If I want to, then why not? He’s a young man: energetic, sweet, handsome.”
Akantha was glad for the young man, but she still found him too young for her, and she figured that she was about a decade younger than Jolene.
“He wants the ship over there,” Jolene said, pointing.
“Right, that’s what I thought you were telling us,” Fritz said.
Akantha directed the ship along a path that led them between waterfalls, moving slowly and methodically to avoid an impact with the cliff sides.
~~~
Massimo looked into the distance, around the waterfalls, and said: “I see them now.”
“Signal them with light,” Pradrock said.
Massimo generated a beam of light and directed it around corners to signal the ship toward them.
~~~
“I see a light signal. Let’s follow that,” Akantha said.
Akantha then steered the Resolute Traverser toward the beam of light, carefully following the path it prescribed, and she soon saw the rest of the crew below.
“Lower the ship to ten (10) feet,” Fritz said. Despite his injuries – from which he never fully recovered – he was able to summon his strength yet again and walk slowly over to the edge and lower the rope ladder.
Pradrock climbed up the rope ladder, followed by Massimo, Akylas and Niels. Fritz helped up the captain, who then helped the rest board the ship.
“Where now?” Akantha asked.
“To the cliff tops,” Pradrock said.
Massimo looked up toward the tops of the cliffs from which the waterfalls poured. He used his powers of light to estimate the distance and asked: “They are over two hundred thirty (230) feet high. Are ships not limited to one hundred twenty (120) feet?”
“Especially now that the suns have returned!” Akylas said.
“Correct. We’re not going to that height. We’re going to send half of the ship to that height, remotely,” Pradrock said.
“How?” Akantha asked.
“And how will we get it back?” Fritz asked.
“And why?” Luuk / Tallak asked.
“The unoccupied segment can be steered by light aimed selectively at the sail crystals. That will be a highly visible lure for Tychon, and serve another purpose, later. We can return it the same way. Then, we will lead him to a chosen point, with this segment of the ship,” Pradrock said.
“This is a strange scheme, but we’ve come to expect that from you,” Akylas said.
“I know what you have in mind, but it’s risky,” Jolene said, because she read his thoughts.
“I’m not sure if it will work on a ghost, though,” Akantha said, having only deduced what Pradrock was thinking, without having read his thoughts.
“Torin, I need you to remove a single sailing crystal from each side of the second segment of the ship, both in the same relative positions to keep it symmetric. Fritz, I need you to take the crystals and release their energy fully. That will make them receptive to small changes in energy. Then, Torin can replace them,” Pradrock said.
Jolene and Akylas took Torin by the arms and guided him to the second segment of the ship, where they took him to the sailwings, and helped him to safely climb out toward the sails. With Jolene holding his arm for balance, he climbed out onto the mast beam that extended off of the left side of the second segment of the ship and carefully removed one (1) of the crystals from the sail, unraveling the stitching that held it in place. Torin then climbed back and handed this to Fritz. With further guidance, Torin then did the same to a corresponding crystal on the sail on the right side mast beam on the second segment of the ship, handing that one (1) over to Fritz, as well.
Fritz drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and was energized. He manipulated the crystals as if they were clay and released their stored energy. “The energy is released from the crystals,” Fritz said.
“I need you to remold the crystals to store and release charge more readily, so that they’re highly sensitive,” Pradrock said.
Fritz remolded the crystals – altering them on a deep structural level – into a variation of their previous form so that they could change energy levels rapidly, and handed them back to Torin.
Torin replaced the pair of modified crystals onto their respective sails, with Akylas and Jolene again guiding and holding him as he climbed out onto the mast beams extending off of the sides of the second segment of the ship. He was meticulous in his stitching work so that the crystals would be held firmly in place. Jolene read his thoughts as he did this, and was pleased with the great care that he took in his work, hoping that he would give her the same level of care and focus.
“The crystals are in place – will just those two (2) be enough?” Torin asked when he returned to the first segment of the ship with Pradrock and the rest of the crew.
“Yes – that’s all we will need. Now, Massimo and Akantha: I need you to disengage the linkage to the second segment but do not detach it. Then, come back here,” Pradrock said.
Massimo and Akantha went to the other end of the Resolute Traverser and disengaged the linkage between the segments, but did not actually detach them. Then, they walked the length of the ship and returned to Pradrock’s side.
“Now, Massimo, I need you to generate a beam of light to give energy at a low angle, directed at those modified sailing crystals, to give the other ship segment both lift and direction. The other crystals will contribute their stored energy to support the ship segment, but the angled beam of light will effectively steer it using those more sensitive crystals,” Pradrock said, pointing at the remolded sailing crystals on the sailwings of the unoccupied second segment.
Massimo drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial and was energized. He then generated the light beam as directed, gently nudging the unoccupied segment of the ship to sail upwards.
Niels watched and recorded all of this, impressed by the ingenuity of the notion, but more impressed by the deftness of the execution by Massimo.
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“Precision steering. Nice work for a former juggler,” Akantha said.
“That was clever enough. But now you want to catch Tychon’s attention, and that will be dangerous,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“More precision steering will be necessary…along with precision awareness of Tychon’s movements,” Pradrock said.
Akantha drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her vial and was energized. She then probed the spirit world to know the exact location of the ghost of Captain Tychon.
~~~
On board the Obliteration¸ the ghost of Captain Tychon looked out to sea and noticed a ship hovering high above an island – at an altitude far in excess of that allowed for airships, because of the threat of heat from the burning suns sickening the crew.
“Only something of value would lead a captain to fly a ship to that height. Where there is a thing of value, there are fools to covet its value. Where there are fools, there is flesh. And where there is flesh, there is bone. Our game awaits us!” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
The ghost crew of the Obliteration – all in material form like their captain – moved the ship toward the island where the other ship was hovering, looking to prey upon its crew.
~~~
On board the first segment of the Resolute Traverser, Akantha said: “I sense a spirit approaching fast – it is definitely Tychon.”
“The bait worked. Are you ready to spring the trap?” Akylas asked.
“Fritz: be ready to crystallize the waters into solid form,” Pradrock said.
Fritz drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and was energized, ready to manipulate the crystal structure of water.
Massimo drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial and was energized, knowing that he needed to stay at his finest to use the light beams to gently steer the ship with the necessary precision.
“Massimo, begin gently lowering the unoccupied second segment of the ship, in that direction, toward the area between the apparently slow moving waterfall and the dark waters waterfall. Bend the light around to strike at a high angle,” Pradrock said, pointing in the general direction of the waterfalls they encountered earlier.
