“I’m not helping them,” Averill said with smirk. “I’m making sure Cain continues to have the need of my services for the extended future.”
“I just want my sister back,” Jane said dejectedly.
“Hmmm,” Averill murmured as he tapped his chin. “Pretty girl with long black hair and blue eyes?”
Jane’s eyes flashed angrily, “Where is she!”
Averill stepped back, the sheer fury in her voice surprised him for a moment, “She’s held far from here. However, I think you’ll see her sooner than you think.” He motioned to the far side of the storage room where another door led out into the depths of the Ironship. “That way.”
Jane looked hesitantly at her map and pen but finally followed his instructions and walked to the far door. The passage they entered ran back towards the section of the ship that was under water, and Jane was forced deeper and deeper into the ship with the cold-blooded assassin following her. Behind them they heard shouts as the rebels with Puck finally penetrated the ship and began searching for her. The passage led them into the knee-deep cold water that filled the back of the Ironship and into a cavernous hold that was home to a collection of odd looking machines.
“That one there,” Averill ordered. He pointed to a long round tube machine that was mostly submerged in the water.
“Great, a submarine,” Jane muttered. This was going from bad to worse for her. She waded out to where the metal hatch to the sub was open and waiting for them to enter. The machine was only about thirty feet long and about fifteen feet around, but when she climbed down the ladder the ship grew even tighter. Pipes ran everywhere inside and an odd looking engine was bolted to the center of the small deck area.
“Sit down,” Averill ordered as he slid down the ladder and motioned her to the metal seat across from the pilot’s chair.
Jane complied. Soon she was tied securely to the chair and listening as the engine behind them powered up.
“Here they come,” Averill muttered more to himself then to his unwilling passenger. There was a loud pinging sound as shot from the magical muskets bounced off the hull of the vessel. Averill didn’t seem concerned.
Jane felt the sudden drop as Averill reached up and pulled a long lever attached to the ceiling. A second surge of power, and the propeller bit into the water and pushed them towards the hull of the Ironship. She could not see how he planned on exiting the vessel but her unasked question was answered when he tapped a big red button on the controls before him. Seconds later, the gates exploded outwards in a flash of fire and torn metal.
“Where are you taking me?” Jane demanded as they surged free of the ruined ship and began to sink below the waves.
“To see your beloved sister,” Averill said with a laugh. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? Of course, without you, this minor rebellion will fade, and I’ll finally take my revenge against the little dwarf. Oh, yes, I know who came to you and begged you to help him. Rest assured that there’s a lot about Tasker you don’t know. The mouthpiece of god he called himself when he started his Temple. Thrown out of every city in the old world, he finally came here. He even tried to take over Ireland at one point and was firmly shown the way to leave. Then he found Cain and recognized a popular leader when he saw him, so he trained him in the ways of map making and started using him to gain converts here in the new world. Ah, but before he knew what was happening, Cain took over and started making real changes. Tasker, he got cold feet then, tried to part ways.” Averill laughed. “When you join the Temple you join for life.”
Jane sat silently wondering if she really knew anything at all about the small dwarf Tasker, it seemed each time she met someone outside the rebellion she was finding out new bits of the story behind him. Or it could be the assassin was lying to her. Either way, she was stuck.
“But what does that have to do with me, you ask?” Averill said as he touched the throttle next to the captain’s chair and sent them surging forward through the water.
Jane listened as she watched the great curved window in front of them. Fish scattered as the submarine rocketed through the water, and Averill deftly guided them past towering rock formations. The water this far from shore was still clean and visibility was good. Jane even thought she saw a startled but very human looking face looking back at her at one point. A large compass was built into the control panel, and Jane watched the needle swing around until they were powering north.
“Where are you taking me?” Jane asked finally when she decided that he would not volunteer the information.
“North,” Averill said cryptically. She already knew that much.
“The Isle of Lakes?” Jane said taking a shot in the dark. She must have been right because she saw his eyes widen momentarily before his control re-asserted itself.
“Perhaps,” Averill replied.
Jane sighed and leaned back, trying to place her body in a more comfortable position. It would most likely be a long ride and she saw little chance of her escaping until they arrived. Without her map and anchor she was stuck, thankfully he had not searched her and the compass remained tucked inside the deepest pocket of her jacket.
“By all means, get comfortable. We’ll be there in eight hours,” Averill said almost to himself. He slid his own seat into a more comfortable position and leaned to rest his eyes. “Don’t worry. This ship moves faster than anything afloat and carries ten explosive charges that can take down even the biggest of the Ironships.”
Jane’s face paled as his words sank in. They had captured their Ironships and planned on using them to take back the lands around Lake Superior, but the Adherents already possessed the ability to sink their entire captured flotilla.
“I see you understand,” Averill said quietly. “Yes, I know you’ve taken several Ironships stationed at Madeline Isle. It’ll gain you nothing. This one small vessel already possesses the power to sink every ship you can float. It’s pointless, Jane. Tasker can’t win.” He turned away from her and focused on the controls that guided the submarine through the crystal water of the deep parts of Lake Superior.
Jane leaned back, trying to keep from moving. The ropes were tight but not enough to cut off the circulation in her arms, so she wiggled into a comfortable position and settled in for the trip. Hours passed. Jane dozed once, awakening when the submarine rose out of the water. A grand expanse filled her eyes. This side of Isle Royal was filled with industrial buildings and black smoke belched out, hiding the sun.
“What are you doing to this world?” Jane whispered.
Averill did not respond as he guided the submarine along the surface towards a great bay that filled this side of the island. The natural peninsula that protected the bay had been built up with great granite stones and two more lighthouses had been added to mark the extended water break. The Isle Royal Lighthouse Jane had seen once in a picture seemed to look the same but the old brick house once attached to the structure was gone. In its place she saw a thick-walled fortress that bristled with cannons. Above the structure a flag waved in the wind. A blood-red background provided the backdrop for a fist and forearm that pointed down as though smashing something to the ground. Above the fist were two words in a language Jane couldn’t read. She asked Averill what they said.
“Science and Magic,” he replied. “That was Tasker’s thought when he started his Temple. He wanted to bring the science of your world here to our side of the Divide, claiming he’d make life easier. Some thought differently. They said the old ways were best. That’s why he was asked to leave the Council.”
In front of them the docking berths of the great Ironships stretched out as far as Jane could see from their current position. They slowly cruised the length of the docks, and Jane counted twenty warships sitting peacefully in their berths. Crewmen and soldiers crawled all over the ships, readying them for war. At the innermost parts of the great docking facility, another sight that drew her attention.
Jane stared in awe at the massive behemoth sitting
in a tremendous dry dock. Hundreds of workers swarmed over the hull. The ship itself seemed to be complete. It was double the size of any other Ironship afloat. As they glided by, she saw cannon after cannon being loaded. Then Averill pulled the submarine into a small berth at the innermost part of the shipyard.
“Welcome to the Isle of Lakes,” Averill said as he untied the ropes holding her to the metal chair, and then motioned for her to stand. “Shall we go ashore?”
Chapter 13
The Rebellion Falters
Noon or so
Tasker was in a frenzy. Jane was missing, and the last person to see her was a goblin who reported that she had entered the grounded Ironship south of the fortress. They had searched what parts of the ship they could reach and found no sign of her, but an explosion had been reported soon after she disappeared, and Tasker was forced to assume she was dead in the depths of the ship.
“What do we do?” Eriunia asked as she stepped out of the hulking remains of the ship and looked to where Tasker was sitting on the beach with his head in his hands.
“What difference does it make?” Tasker muttered. “Without a Map Maker to counter Cain’s powers, what chance do we have?” The dwarf waved his hand in a helpless gesture and returned to staring at the ground between his feet.
“Move the weapons to the fortress,” Eriunia said to Braun as she turned away from the dwarf. His will to fight this day was gone. She would have to deal with him later. The elves were involved in this struggle, even if they didn’t want to be, and she wouldn’t let the rebels’ hard-won gains disappear because one dwarf was feeling sorry for himself. “And find the ammunition for them. Those new guns are years ahead of the magic muskets. If we use them at the right time they’ll change the course of at least one battle.”
There were nods among the gathered rebels and a long line formed, passing the heavy crates out of the depths of the ship and stacking them on the rocks. When the ship had been ransacked completely the mound of supplies covered an area almost fifty feet long and twenty feet wide.
Sometime during the work, Tasker had disappeared and left Braun to oversee the hauling of the supplies back to the fortress. When the last of the crates had disappeared up the coast and the ship thoroughly checked one last time, the goblins surrounded the ship started digging. Braun watched for a time as the goblins put their natural tunneling skills to use and removed great sections of stone and earth. Slowly the ship righted itself and settled into the depression they’d dug in the ground. When they completed their efforts, the Ironship was upright and the hull held firmly in the ground. The gaping holes and the crumpled underwater doors were clear and ready to be repaired when supplies were found.
“What do we do about Tasker?” Braun said as he walked with Eriunia towards the distant fortress.
“Give him some time,” Eriunia replied. “He feels much guilt for what’s happened over the last century. His goals when he started his movement were not all bad, if just a bit misguided. Now it seems his chance to set things right and relieve the suffering he caused is slipping away again.”
“Do you really think Jane’s dead?” Braun asked. He hadn’t known the girl long, and her part in all their effort didn’t seem as grand as Tasker thought it was intended to be.
“It’s hard to tell,” Eriunia said as she skirted a rough boulder. “We found nothing inside the ship but the gaping hole in the back. It was blown outward, though, not inward. It couldn’t have happened by an impact with the shore. Something forced its way out of the ship. She may have been taken captive and is still alive. The fact that we found her map and pen and anchor attests to that.”
“She’s on her way to Cain’s grip, then,” Braun interjected.
“That’s possible,” Eriunia agreed. “But look around you. The Prison Isles are prisons no longer, the Lake Huron Fleet is now missing fully half of its strength, and we have at least three Ironships under our control and two more if we can find the supplies to fix them. That doesn’t include the cargo carriers, which can be used to land troops wherever we strike next.”
“You intend to carry this through to the end, don’t you?” Braun asked as he stopped and looked at her. “It was your father’s wish that you return to Tuatha De Danann and be safe.”
“My father has forgotten I was taken from the safety of the elvish retreat with little trouble,” Eriunia shot back. “Someone opened the gate for Cain’s Adherents to enter our safety, and Cain has already converted people among the elvish race who long for a return to this world and for power here on earth. The elvish race is not immune to his message of power and glory. He has led many astray with that siren’s call.”
Braun lowered his eyes and found he could not disagree with her. He knew what was in his own heart. At times what he saw there made him ashamed.
“What is it Braun?” Eriunia said when she saw the normally proud elf seemingly warring with his own emotions.
“Nothing,” Braun replied. He forced away the dark thoughts and focused on task at hand. He’d deal with his own orders from the king later. Now was not the time or the place.
They arrived back at the fortress to a hubbub of commotion and shouts of different people trying to be heard.
“What’s going on?” Eriunia asked a nearby dwarf rebel whose face was scarred from beatings taken from the Adherents.
“We captured an Adherent,” he said with a laugh. “He’s the captain of one of the Ironships that sank during the storm. Tasker’s going to hang him from the tower.”
“That fool!” Eriunia burst out. “Braun, go gather some of the more level-headed fighters we can trust and meet me there.” She didn’t wait to see if he would follow her instructions but rushed off towards the main gate across from the small gate leading south. Already a crowd had gathered, laughing and urging on the proceedings above them. Tasker had already looped a thick rope around an iron ring set in the stone used for holding torches. He was in the process of tying the noose around the bedraggled Adherent’s neck. A wild and unhinged look was in Tasker’s eyes, and his hands trembled as they tried to tie the knot.
“Tasker!” Eriunia shouted, but her voice was lost among the crowd around her. She needed to get closer for him to hear her. She pushed through the packed bodies until she was standing below the gate surrounded by at least four or five hundred rebels. Everyone shouted and chanted insults at the frightened Adherent, then, from somewhere in the crowd, a small pistol shot rang out. A projectile struck the ship’s captain in the leg, and he nearly buckled. Eriunia shouted again, but still her voice was but one of many. The heat of the bodies surrounded her and their anger rolled over her until she could stand it no longer. Suddenly the power of her ancestors burst out from her and rolled out in a wave of power that brought a starlted, sudden silence.
“TASKER!” Eriunia shouted, her voice the only one that spoke. Those around her shrank back in fear as the bared power of an elvish princess was released.
“What!” Tasker responded, his voice filled with barely contained rage.
“Stop this farce immediately,” Eriunia said in a level tone and punctuated each word with a small crack of lightening that sent sparks cascading across the paving stones.
“No,” Tasker replied. “His kind has pillaged and plundered our lands and people for too long. No more!” There was a muttering of agreement from those gathered.
“So we will use the same tactics against them they have employed against us and become the same thing we now fight?” Eriunia reasoned aloud. “Will we kill and torture our way through every city that dares to resist us? Is that what we should do? Shall we start with Duluth?” The bloodlust of the crowd was beginning to wane, and slowly the crowd’s thirst for vengeance faded as cooler heads began thinking once again.
Tasker looked around. His mind began to clear, and the rope in his hand slowly slipped to the ground. He watched as Eriunia mounted the steps and walked to where he stood with the Adherent captain.
“Lock him in one of
the cells,” Eriunia ordered.
The soldiers nodded and escorted the frightened man through the now silent crowd and away from the waiting noose. When they were out of sight, she turned back to Tasker and put her hand on his shoulder. There were tears in his eyes when he looked up at her and finally spoke.
“I started all this,” Tasker said quietly. “The deaths, the horrors that have happened … they’re all on my shoulders.”
“No, old friend, they’re not,” Eriunia replied. “You tried to start something to improve people’s lives and made some mistakes on the way. This world was stagnant. Many of its rulers were corrupt, but what Cain did to you was wrong. He twisted your goals of bringing new science to this world and made it into something you knew was wrong. No one’s worked harder against what he’s doing than you have. We all know that judgment is coming someday for what we’ve done with our time here. I think that, when the creator judges you, he’ll take your actions into account and the fact that you’ve been trying to right those actions.”
Tasker looked up at her, and a new determination filled his face, “You’re right. I think that’s why the elvish people made their refuge so long ago—to avoid the foolish whims of the rest of us.” Tasker wiped away the bit of moisture that had crept up into his eyes, and he felt as though a fog was clearing from his mind. An alertness he had not felt in days came back to him. He looked about, wondering if the Adherents had managed to place someone close to him. The feelings that had affected him over the last few days seemed out of place. He waved to those gathered in the courtyard, “Go. Prepare yourself for the coming days. Our battle is not finished in any way.”
“Now, shall we go speak to the captain you nearly hung?” Eriunia asked. “He may have some important information for us. We haven’t captured anyone so high up in their organization until now.”
“Aye,” Tasker muttered. “A better plan then where I was headed only moments ago.” He smiled at her sheepishly and followed her down the steps to where Braun and his soldiers were getting the crowd moving again in more constructive ways. There was food to prepare, supplies to be stored, and ammunition for the weapons to find and distribute.
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