For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle

by Jon Del Arroz

  James didn’t seem to hear my question. “Wow,” he mouthed. “I’ll have to get my own when we get back.”

  Cid watched the sky along with James, and then acknowledged me. “We discussed that while you slept. It’s a risk, but it’s the only way we can be sure the Liliana finds us in short order. Traversing through this territory on foot would be far more risky.” The fire paled in comparison to what we’d just seen. The night air behind Devil Mountain held a cool breeze that bent the flame eastward.

  My father sat at Talyen’s side, his hand clutching hers. She’d been laid down, close to the fire lengthwise, with her head resting atop a Wyranth uniform jacket. Another jacket covered her torso, the best comfort that could be mustered in our current position.

  From her side, my father looked up at me, the first to notice that I still held my gun drawn. “Easy there, Zaira,” he said. He sounded amused.

  I set the pistol down against a protruding tree root I’d used as a pillow for the last several hours. Toby sniffed it. “Sorry. I didn’t expect to wake up to such a strange noise.”

  “You should have seen the look on your face,” my father said, then laughed. “I’m so glad that I can see your face again, and that you can make me laugh. You’ve always made me laugh, Zaira.” He sounded nostalgic, then looked away, down at Talyen.

  It was then I noticed her eyes were partially open. She groaned.

  “She’s awake!” I said, moving over. I dropped to my knees beside her, on the side opposite my father.

  “Hi,” Talyen said. Her voice was weak, and she tried to smile, but winced in pain.

  “I thought you… I thought you’d… ” I couldn’t say it. As much as Talyen and I had had our tiffs, I respected her, and she’d become one of my closest friends. Now that we’d shared a terrible experience, imprisoned by the Wyranth and not knowing if we’d ever be able to get out alive, I daresay she became family. I didn’t want to lose her or even consider the prospect of it.

  “Now that we have Theo back, there’s no way I’m going anywhere,” Talyen said.

  My father squeezed her hand. “No, I expect you won’t.” He looked up at me again. “Zaira, I told her about what you thought of the evolved giant back there, and how it might be the thing that’s driving this endless war. At the very least, whatever’s in that goo is being used to supply something in the Wyranth army. We’re all in agreement that it should be destroyed.”

  “Yes, good analysis,” Talyen said. “We talked some logistics.”

  “You say that as if there’s something we can do about it,” I said. I knew we’d have to go back to King Malaky and face him after defying his plans. In all of this, I hadn’t had time to even think of the consequences back home. I’d been too focused on rescuing my father. From the sounds of things, we weren’t going to be heading to Rislandia soon. “Are we going to break back into the Wyranth capital?” I asked, unsure of what Talyen had implied.

  My father laughed again. “No, that’s not what we’re intending at all.”

  Talyen cleared her throat and shifted. She looked as if the pain were about to overwhelm her.

  “Perhaps we should leave you alone, dear. I can fill Zaira in,” my father said.

  “No, no,” Talyen waived him off as best she could. “You may recall that General Carwell made some modifications to the ship before we left, upgrading our combat capabilities. While you saw most of them, there’s one that he and I kept a secret for worst case scenarios.” She paused, collecting her breath. “There’s an explosive device packed into the cargo hold. It has a big enough payload that I’m told it could level the Wyranth castle. We had it in case someone tried to capture the airship. A self-destruct option in case it fell into enemy hands.”

  The whole castle? I couldn’t imagine an explosion that large, and I’d only seen parts of the castle from the inside. My eyes widened. “That’s… ”

  “A last resort. It was prudent. They didn’t intend on using it unless they absolutely had to,” my father said.

  Such destructive force didn’t sit well with me, even if Talyen and my father approved of it. If something went wrong, if Marina had discovered it, such a power could be put to terrible use.

  I glanced over to James, who hadn’t listened at all. He’d returned to his own conversation with Cid seated across the fire from us. He looked so happy, finally getting to achieve his dreams. Perhaps when we left this awful empire I’d feel the same. “How big is it? Are we going to be able to get it into the chamber?”

  “I think we’ll be okay. Takes about six people to carry,” Talyen said. Her eyes drifted off to the side.

  “And I think that’s quite enough, Talyen dear,” my father said, giving her hand a squeeze. He carefully extracted his other arm from behind her, ensuring she was comfortable. Then he stood, stretching. “I’ll be happy when we can blow this thing to bits and get out of here.”

  “It’ll be a long time before then,” said a feminine voice that came from the dark of the forest.

  I scrambled to my feet and spun, hearing James and Cid doing the same behind me. A Wyranth soldier moved incredibly fast, hurdling over the tree root where Toby was hidden. Even though we all stood as fast as we could, the Wyranth had his gun trained directly on me. I couldn’t do anything while he approached.

  “No sudden movements,” he said, his accent thick. None of us dared defy him, as it would have meant my certain demise. He whistled and other Wyranth soldiers approached as well, including someone I hadn’t expected—Marina.

  She grinned and sauntered toward us before putting her gun directly up against my head. “Well, Baronette, you’ve caused quite a stir in the capital. I’ve never heard the populace so panicked. You’re infamous on your own right now.”

  I wanted to shout at her that she was a traitor, that she’d never get away with this, but I didn’t want to press my luck.

  My father didn’t move, but watched Marina, appraising. I couldn’t see what James and the knight did, as they were out of my view. Part of me expected Talyen to fire a well-timed shot right into Marina’s skull, but Talyen remained still, faded from consciousness.

  “Let us go, Marina. It’s over. You don’t need us anymore,” I pleaded. Maybe our friendship could get us through this?

  Marina laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. It’s not over in the least.” Her gun didn’t waiver. “You see, I intend on taking that ship as soon as it arrives.”

  I scanned the forest behind her as best I could to look for Toby, but I couldn’t spot him in the darkness. “That’ll never happen, Marina,” I said. “Come on, back on the Liliana you were a different person entirely, can’t you see that? You’re being influenced here. It’s not natural. Even if you were convinced into spying. There’s someone else within you. There’s good. I’ve seen it.” I tried to communicate my good intentions to her as if by my will alone, hoping that would be strong enough to have some effect, and hoping I was right about her. Whatever that voice had been, the one in my head pushing me to violence, it had influenced her completely.

  I heard a distinct whirring coming from above and to the west. The Liliana had arrived in an untimely fashion.

  The airship’s arrival served as a small distraction to Marina, who turned her head to take a look. Was this the time to jump her? From all I’d seen of Talyen and the others, that’s what the Liliana’s crew would do. I thought that’s what my father would do as well, but he didn’t move. Was he waiting for me? I readied myself for action, then hesitated.

  The moment I could have overtaken her disappeared as soon as it had come, and Marina had returned her focus to me. She frowned. “I hate doing this to you, Baronette. I really do. You were so kind to me on that ship, and still, you show this faith in me…” She faltered. I saw it in her eyes. She shook her head as if fighting off something. “No, we need to be careful. I’ve seen how these people operate. One slip up and they’ll turn the tables.”

  Was she talking to the voice inside her? I shifted m
y eyes to my father, who acknowledged me with the smallest inclinations of his head. How could I reach her? What would you do, father? Honesty was my only hope. “Marina, something has control over you. I don’t know how, I don’t know why. But think. Fight it! You can come with us, return to Rislandia. I promise you’ll have sanctuary there.”

  The other Wyranth soldiers started to rumble. “Orders?” one of them asked Marina as if trying to get her back on track.

  Marina’s eyes met mine and locked there. She studied me, curious at first. Her eyes narrowed.

  I tried to project acceptance, friendship. I’m not sure if I could pull off puppy-dog eyes but, by Malaky, I tried. Please, Marina!

  She lifted her gun into the air. The turbines from the airship caused the wind to pick up around us. My hair blew into my face. A couple of the Wyranth soldiers covered their own faces with their arms. Trees and branches shook. Leaves blew everywhere.

  My father pivoted toward Marina, but I held up a hand for him to stop. I don’t know why I did that then. He had experience in these matters. My gut, however, told me reasoning with Marina would be our best chance to get out of here. It felt right. We’d already had the oddest of days with a strange blob creature being pumped for strange goo. The normal course of actions didn’t seem to be the right course in any of this.

  In keeping with that oddness, my father followed my lead and stopped.

  “Soldiers, I have this covered. The girl is a defector and will assist me in securing these others,” Marina said. “The ship will have sent landing parties west of here though. I overheard them before we took them. Go and find them.”

  The soldiers muttered. Her story smelled fishy. None of them moved despite her orders. Perhaps Marina didn’t have the rank she appeared to when she arrived? Or they could have come to the realization that she had been the one defecting.

  “Now!” Marina shouted at them, with a deep, guttural command that mirrored some of what I’d heard of Talyen projecting over the turbines on the Liliana.

  With that, the soldiers spun and followed her orders. They retreated into the forest.

  Before I could blink, James and Cid had flanked my sides, edging in their shoulders in front of me so to shield me from any potential weapons fire from the Wyranth’s direction. My father was on Marina a moment later, twisting her wrist and knocking the gun out of her hand.

  It fell, but my father grabbed it right out of the air. He twisted it around to press against Marina’s side. “Well then, this is the position I’m much more accustomed to being in. It’s been too long.” A wicked grin crossed his face.

  James drew his sword, doubling the threat to her.

  “No!” I shouted, pushing my way through the men in front of me. They were much bigger than me, even James, and it felt like pushing against solid rocks, but I had determination. I pushed Marina aside and shielded her from what was now my father’s gun.

  Marina turned to run behind me. James cut her off and ensured she wouldn’t be able to follow the rest of her squad.

  “Zaira, she’s working with the Wryanth. This is some sort of trick,” my father said.

  “No, it’s not. I got through to her. Trust me,” I said to him. I pushed the wind-blown hair out of my face once more and touched his arm.

  My father frowned. “Are you sure about this?”

  I nodded. My heart fluttered. It was the second time I’d made a decision and my father deferred to me. Was I getting the hang of this?

  “Zaira, thank—”

  Before she could finish, I grabbed Marina by the shirt and jerked her toward me. She grunted as I brought her face close to mine. “Listen. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because there’s some weird creature in that mountain, and we don’t know what it’s doing to our minds. You’d better not make me sorry, you hear?”

  “I hear,” Marina said, her voice much more subdued, submissive. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Okay then. Ship should be here, yes?” I said, looking up to the sky.

  Sure enough, I saw the bottom of the Liliana’s hull, part of her massiveness covering the moon, but not completely blocking out its light. It wasn’t that high above us.

  Marina spun, tensing as if she heard something. “I think my soldiers realized I lied. They’re back!”

  James had drawn his gun in his non-sword hand and fired. Cid unleashed his own rounds. Howls of pain came from the trees shrouded in darkness behind us. The fire flickered, which gave away our position and left us sitting ducks while the Wyranth soldiers loomed in darkness.

  “Put the fire out!” I yelled. James understood and nodded to me, rushing toward the flame. “Sorry,” he said to Talyen who still laid there unconscious. He grabbed the jacket-turned-blanket off Talyen beside it and draped it over the fire.

  Before he could get the flames out, several shots fired in our direction. Marina hit the ground in front of me and tugged at my ankle to force me down with her. Surprised, I landed on my backside with a thud that sent my tailbone shaking. It would hurt to sit for days. “What was that for?” I asked angrily, trying to catch my breath.

  “I’m saving your life,” she said.

  Now the odds were even. I flipped myself over prone beside Marina. The soldiers could see us as well as we could see them, which was to say not at all. I leveled my pistol toward the darkness, waiting for some sign of movement or sound of footfall.

  My father, James, and Cid all crouched. I could see them making hand motions in the darkness. Then James and Cid headed for a different tree to provide cover. My father stayed beside Talyen.

  “We should find a good place to hide as well,” Marina whispered.

  I crawled toward a tree, but my palm landed on a twig. It wasn’t much of a crack, but with how quiet everyone was being, it was deafening to me. The Wyranth probably couldn’t have heard it above the whir of the airship above, right? I held my breath, unmoving for a long moment.

  Shots fired in our direction once more, and toward me! The Wyranth had heard.

  I rolled away from where I’d been. Bullets sped past me, pelting the ground where I’d been a moment before. My friends returned fire almost instantly. More curses came from the Wyranth soldiers. We did a better job picking them off than they had us, for now.

  This couldn’t keep up forever, though. There were too many of them, even if we’d managed to get lucky at first. If the soldiers were smart, and this close to the capital, they could easily call for reinforcements. Then they would completely overwhelm us. The longer the Wyranth delayed, the greater advantage they had.

  I remembered days before, when Talyen projected her voice so loudly that it spurred the Liliana’s crew on. If we could get the crew down here, we could turn the tides in our favor. I looked up. Was it even possible for them to hear me from this distance?

  The airship hovered, then moved again, back the direction they had come. Panic struck me. What if they thought the flare was a false signal, and they couldn’t find us? We would be trapped.

  I took a deep breath, summoning all the sheer command and strength my voice could produce. “Liliana crew!” I shouted louder than I ever had in my life. My throat burned, but I continued. “We need you here! For steam and country!”

  The Liliana continued in the same direction, and I thought my efforts were for naught. Hope disappeared as sure as the ship moved away. I instinctively reached a hand toward the sky as if that would do anything to bring the Liliana back.

  The moon came back into view, shining its light down on the forest. Though everything had a bluish tint, at least I could get my bearings better. I wasn’t alone in that thought. My party and Wyranth soldiers alike weaved through different trees, seeking new, better covered positions.

  Then the ship stopped, hovering in midair. Someone up there must have heard me. I waved frantically, though I stopped soon after. It was still dark out, the odds of them seeing me were low, but that kind of movement would draw Wyranth attention. I’d been lucky it hadn�
��t already. The Liliana’s crew either knew where I was or didn’t, and nothing would change that.

  I peeled my eyes from the ship to look back down at my surroundings. My shout had done as I’d feared. I spotted too many Wyranth soldiers with guns trained on me. They advanced.

  Before I could raise my gun to fire, shots rang out in the distance. Several bullets came in my direction. I recoiled, blocking my face with my arm.

  The bullets grazed my skin on my sides and my arm. Though none lodged in me, the pain was beyond anything I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t hold myself upright and tumbled into some foliage below me. I hit my head on a rock.

  “Zaira!” my father yelled, firing off several shots at Wyranth soldiers as he dove toward me.

  The world spun around me. Several figures of my father appeared to float about. Just as many or more Wyranth soldiers dropped from gunfire. My father moved in a fury like I’d never seen, and his marksmanship made Talyen’s look like child’s play. I was so woozy, I couldn’t tell if any of it was real.

  The end of a long rope hit the ground beside me, then another in front of me. I managed to twist my head upward and saw commandos sliding down on them. Above loomed a familiar darkness from before. It was so cozy, making me want to fall asleep.

  I heard shouting, some more gunfire, and then feet upon the ground. The crew who descended the Liliana’s ropes hovered around me. Though they tried to keep their expressions flat, I could see grave concern on their faces.

  Toby, wherever he’d scurried off to during the whole incursion, appeared by my side. He licked my face.

  I faded in and out of consciousness for a moment, and the next I saw, my father’s face was in front of me. “Zaira. Zaira! How badly are you hurt?” he said. I’d never heard him in such fervor. His voice was so loud, booming. It hurt my head. I wanted to sleep. I was so tired. It was from the hit on my head more than the gunfire, though those grazes stung like none other. I wanted to tell him that, but I couldn’t manage to speak. Even keeping my eyes open made my head spin, made me sick.